User reviews

I am not a huge fan of this particular series either, though I adore Looney Tunes. Too Hop to Handle is for me one of the better cartoons with Sylvester vs. Hoppity cartoons. I do think the cartoon could've been longer and a little less rushed, but while the story was standard it was entertaining thanks to the good dialogue and the well-thought out gags. The animation is colourful and quite lush compared to some of the other entries of this series, and the music is as infectious as ever. Sylvester takes the laughs well, and Hoppity is cute and doesn't feel like a plot device like he can be. Mel Blanc does a stellar job with the voices. All in all, a good cartoon and one of the better ones featuring these two characters. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Once again, Sylvester tries to catch baby kangaroo Hippety Hopper, with embarrassing results (for him, that is). Robert McKimson's "Too Hop to Handle" features Sylvester Jr. making a pipe with the aim of attracting mice, only to attract the marsupial. It wasn't until now that I realized that the younger cat's voice sounds like a cross between Daffy and Porky. Then again, Mel Blanc COULD do any voice imaginable.

It's an enjoyable, if not that significant short.

A fun short directed by Robert McKimson and starring Sylvester and Hippety Hopper. Hippety receives above-the-title billing here. The plot has Sylvester, Jr. trying to use a pipe to lure mice a la the Pied Piper and instead attracting kangaroo Hippety Hopper, who's once again escaped from the zoo. Sylvester, believing Hippety to be a large mouse, does his best to catch him. Great voice work from Mel Blanc. He was never better, in my opinion, than when doing the exchanges between Sylvester and son. Lively, jaunty music. The animation is very nice, if a little sketchy. The colors are bright and vivid. It's a simple but fun short with lots of laughs and cute, likable characters. Hippety and Junior aren't everybody's cup of tea but they always make me smile.

This is probably the best of the standard Sylvester vs. Hoppity cartoons. Although I am no particular fan of this series, or, indeed, its director, Robert McKimson (a very competent cartoon director, but compared with his fellow Looney Tunes director, last among equals), the writing on this one is sharp, the gags are good, including the closing one, and the dialogue is funnier than usual.

McKimson, although a fine draftsman -- he did the style sheet for Bugs Bunny -- had begun to shift his cartoon direction towards a sketchier, UPA-style of visuals -- doubtless a largely financial choice as the costs of cartoon production continued to skyrocket while the money available remained flat and demand continued to decline in the face of television's competition.