On paper, 'Snow Foolin' doesn't actually sound very promising in my view. Part of me on my first watch some time ago was certain that, judging from the plot synopsis (less appealing than the cartoons that on watch transpired to be among the series' worst), it was going to be another dull, sugary sweet, too overly cute and very corny cartoon from the interesting but very up and down Screen Songs series that looked and sounded pretty but not much else. Which has been the case with some of the Screen Songs cartoons.
Recently decided to rewatch all the cartoons in the series during such a terrible time and living as a relative recluse. Most of which had not been seen in years, and that is including 'Snow Foolin' here. On first watch when younger, 'Snow Foolin' was actually a lot better than expected. It actually was even better on rewatch, easily one of the best of the series, one of the few very good ones and one of the few to have a singalong portion that actually worked (often a weak link in the cartoons).
'Snow Foolin' is very slight in the plot, though actually on reflection at least it is not non-existent unlike a vast majority of the Screen Songs cartoons, and can be very formulaic. Perhaps slightly too cute later as well.
However, there is very little to find issue with it, am so happy about that being somebody that was preparing myself to be very critical of it. As ever with the Screen Song series, the animation and the music are the best things. 'Snow Foolin' is beautifully animated. The colours are vibrant and there is meticulous attention to detail in the backgrounds, the wintry atmosphere of them is quite stunning on the eye. If there was one aspect that was consistently good in Famous Studios' 1940s and 1950s output, it was the music scoring.
And it is outstanding here in 'Snow Foolin'. The orchestration has a lot of energy and there are some truly luscious sounds throughout. Of all the singalong portions of the whole series, 'Snow Foolin's' has one of the best, being one of the few that worked. Not only is it a great song ("Jingle Bells", which is a perfect fit also) but it is one of the few singalong portions to make me want to get up and dance and sing along rather than cringing, it is amusing and energetic and actually gels with the rest of the cartoon (instead of the cartoon of two halves feel we too often get in the series).
Of all the Screen Song cartoons, 'Snow Foolin' is among the funniest. There are plenty of gags in namely the first two thirds and all raised at least a chuckle, the eight the hard way skating gag is one of my favourite gags of the whole Screen Songs series and am not joking there. It is never dull too, going at a fast and furious rate without getting too hectic. The characters are very colourful and engaging.
In summary, very, very good and one of the series' best and funniest. As well as having by far one of the best singalong portions. 8/10.
