The Little Roquefort series was first introduced in the previous year 1950. None of the cartoons were my definition of great, but many were pleasant inoffensive watches as long as you know what to expect. Little Roquefort is not the most compelling of lead characters and in the series (like a fair share of cat and mouse cartoon series) it is often a case of the supporting characters being a lot more interesting in personality. Which was true of recurring character Percy the Cat.
'Seasick Sailors' is another one of the decent, pleasant and inoffensive Little Roquefort cartoons, but also another one of the not particularly great ones as well. There are a lot of good things that help make it worth watching, but there is not an awful lot that is exceptional and it falls short in a few crucial areas. As far as the 1951 Terrytoons cartoons go, 'Seasick Sailors' is somewhere in the middle instead of being one of the best or worst. Certainly much better than the pretty poor Mighty Mouse cartoon that preceeded it ('Injun Trouble').
Like a lot of Terrytoons' output, there are two things that are done very well indeed and raise 'Seasick Sailors' significantly. One is the animation, the studio's most improved component. The ambitious, elaborate detail in the backgrounds is on display, the colours are a mix of vibrant and atmospheric and fluidity of drawing and movement has improved such a lot for the studio. Even better is the music, it is beautifully and cleverly orchestrated and arranged, is terrific fun to listen to and the lively energy is present throughout, doing so well with adding to the action.
Did think that there were a few amusing moments here and there. Percy is a fun and suitably ruthless adversary and did like the cat and mouse chemistry between him and Little Roquefort, which amused.
Little Roquefort himself however, while pleasant enough and not annoying, is quite limited as a character and is not as vibrant a personality, rather one dimensional and bland. Not much different at all from other theatrical series with mice as the titular character.
Also felt that there could have been a higher gag count, as the cartoon is low on that and what there is is not original or hilarious, and the story is very predictable, due to following very closely a very familiar formula, and quite flimsy, barely existent most of the time. And occasionally on the too cute side.
Overall, watchable but very average. 5/10.
