The Milky Way

This is dated, big-time, with most of the "narration" done is song and in the old-fashioned harmony of the '30s singers. It's a trip through space by three little kittens in a makeshift air balloon.

The three little kittens had lost their mittens, so it was no milk and an early bedtime for them. They gaze at the stars, see the Milky Way, and figure if they could get up there, they'd have all the milk they want. So, with the aid of a basket and three balloons, they head up into the heavens.

Where the film must have impressed Oscar voters was the depiction of the cheese-filled moon, comets, shooting stars from Mars, the big and small dippers, and all the variations of milk products in the Milky Way. All of those were portrayed fairly cleverly, but nothing exceptional. In fact, the whole thing looks pretty primitive and one wonders what kind of competition there was for the award that year. To have this win an Oscar is very puzzling. It's okay, but that's it.....just okay. I mean, it's a "cute" cartoon but not funny.

I saw this as part of a Marx Brothers DVD which a double-bill with "Go West" and "The Big Store."

Three little kittens lose their mittens. Their mom punishes them to go to bed without any milk. They tie balloons to a basket and ride up to The Milky Way where milk is everywhere. This is adorable. This is directed by Rudolf Ising. It reminds me of when I was a kid, I didn't understand the phrase, "raining cats and dogs". So I wrote a story for school assignment. The teacher thought that I was imaginative when in reality, I was just dumb.

OK, so I didn't love the squeaking singing as we meet the three little kittens who've lost their mittens - and it's freezing out there! Mama isn't impressed, so it's no milk and off to bed. These critters aren't happy that they've got no supper but are soon distracted by the Milky Way in the sky. How can they get there? There'll be loads of milk there, surely? Balloons might help, and a basket? There's the green cheese moon, the comet train, Martian shooting stars, and then they navigate the Dippers before arriving in a lactose Eutopia where there's loads of song-free fun to be had. Thing is, the moral of the story has yet to arrive! This is good fun with plenty of childish fun as the mice mess about in just about every milky substance know to man - or mice.

"A Wild Hare" was nominated for the Academy Awards Best Animated Short Film, but was nudged out by the winner, MGM's June 1940 "The Milky Way" was the Academy Awards Best Animated Short Film, the first time Walt Disney, placing most of his resources on his feature films at the time, didn't earn an Oscar in that category. In fact he was shut out of the three nominated. Besides "A Wild Hare," MGM's "Puss Gets the Boot," a forerunner to Tom and Jerry cartoons, was the other nominee. In back of their minds the Academy voting members must have remembered the Disney look since "The Milky Way" resembles Walt's 'Silly Symphonies's' cartoons, which he ended in 1939.

The Rudolph Isling-directed "The Milky Way" has three kittens punished by their mother for losing their mittens while playing in the snow, to which they're sent to bed without their milk. They dream of going on a balloon space flight to the Milky Way, where all forms of milk is delivered and gulped down by the ravenous kittens. When they wake up, their mother regrets what she's done and prepares a dinner for them-of milk. The three kittens' stomachs churn just at the thought of milk.

MGM did a movie tie-in with the National Dairy Council, promoting "The Milky Way" with milk bottle caps as well as cards displayed in grocery store windows. The studio also advertised the cartoon on billboards alongside the National Milk Month logo.

THE MILKY WAY is a bit of a transitional film from the schmaltzy cartoons of the 1930s and the more enjoyable and irreverent films of the 40s and 50s. Younger viewers might not know that in the 30s, many (way too many) cartoons were filled with sappy music and cutesy images and in many ways THE MILKY WAY is one of the last of these dreadful films. Considering that it was made by Rudolf Ising (who made a career of this style film), it isn't at all surprising that I hated the film. There's just so much singing and saccharine that I found myself wanting to see it infused with some Tex Avery sensibilities.

On the positive side, the animation was exceptional and showed that even before good writers and directors came to MGM's cartoon division in subsequent years, the animation was already stellar. In many ways, you could see the roots of the upcoming and very successful Tom & Jerry cartoons in this film. If only this film had an edge--it might have been a lot better. As it is, it's only a very pretty bit of treacle with a few nice touches.

Amazingly, it somehow garnered the Oscar for Best Animated Short. Apparently, the Academy were saps for this sort of stuff.