Swiss Cheese Family Robinson

Mighty Mouse actually had a bigger number of cartoons in most previous and succeeding years than the number he had in 1947, though his theatrical series still dominated Terrytoons' output that year. Alternating with the, for me superior, Heckle and Jeckle series, their cartoons from 1947 also being quality-wise more consistent. While still being a bit up and down, compared to previous and succeeding years this was actually one of Mighty Mouse's least inconsistent years.

'Swiss Cheese Family Robinson' though to me is one of the misses when it comes to the 1947 Mighty Mouse cartoons and is among the lesser cartoons from that year for the studio, in one of its less uneven years (still with ups and downs but the divide between best and worst isn't as wide). 'Swiss Cheese Family Robinson' had its good things, none of the Mighty Mouse cartoons are irredeemable, but the bad things outweigh them and are pretty much the same as most of his other cartoons.

The good things are going to be started off with. The most consistent asset of all Terrytoons' output was always the music, and it is once again the best asset here. Being one of only two things to be outstanding. It is its usual lush and characterful self, not just adding to the action but enhancing it as well and also love how wild it is. The animation is equally great in quality, especially the backgrounds and landscapes, the characters are well drawn and the colours are really beautiful on the eye.

Despite 'Swiss Cheese Family Robinson' being very thin on material, there were sporadic moments of mild amusement. The food raft agreed was a nice touch, but where 'Swiss Cheese Family Robinson shines most is the little touches in the ritual dance such as the piano keys-like white grin in the freeze frame.

Unfortunately, 'Swiss Cheese Family Robinson' has too many bad things for me to recommend it. The mice are very, very bland characters and basically more of the same variations (with nothing distinct) of the typical mice in peril characters seen a lot in Terrytoons characters. The villains, tending to be cats, often shone in the Mighty Mouse cartoons, but the cats' very caricaturish manner and the racially stereotypical portrayal of them take away somewhat from their menace. The conflict lacks tension and is too predictable, little more than standard mice vs cat Mighty Mouse cartoon conflict.

As for Mighty Mouse, he doesn't make things better. Like too many of his cartoons he feels too shoehorned in, his presence being pretty pointless other than plot device material that could have been filled by any character, and despite being the titular character is merely a very underused supporting character reduced to very more of the same action tacked on at the end. Apart from a few moments, there is very little funny here and nothing is inspired (pretty stale actually).

One of the biggest problems is the story, or should we say lack of it. The story is paper thin to the point of non-existence and takes forever to get going. The action has glimpses of amusement but has very little spark or tension, as well as being very predictable with everything practically being seen from miles away. Despite the cartoon being short, 'Swiss Cheese Family Robinson' really does struggles with having enough content to sustain the length which meant that the first half drags badly and feels padded. Little more than bland and repetitive cat and mouse conflict. The last one or two minutes feel very rushed and almost pointless, with a tone that is so different from the rest of the cartoon that it was like it was lifted from something else (a common problem for the series).

Concluding, pretty mediocre. 4/10.

The Swiss Cheese Family Robinson, a trio of shipwrecked mice (mother, father and daughter), float on a raft made of Swiss cheese, which grows smaller as its passengers grow hungrier. The raft is nearly gone when the mice are attacked by swordfish. A turtle, making like a motorboat, rescues the mice and deposits them on an island. But they aren't safe yet. The island is overrun by cannibal cats, who quickly capture the poor mice and begin their ritual dance in preparation for the feast. Luckily, while on the raft, the father had sent off a message in a bottle. With verbal assistance from the off-screen narrator, the anthropomorphic bottle finds its way to Miami Beach, where Mighty Mouse is relaxing. Mighty Mouse, with more nudging from the narrator, finds the bottle, reads the message and flies off to the rescue.

"Swiss Cheese" is a routine Terrytoon with some bright moments. I like the idea of a raft that is also food. And there's a funny moment during the jazzy ritual dance where the picture freezes and a cat's wide grin mimics the piano keys that are playing on the soundtrack. The cannibal cats, which are black caricatures, may distract modern viewers from the general blandness.