Review of The Milky Way

I had completely forgot about that silly old rhyme until I saw this! So the little plot is about these three rambunctious kitten siblings who get sent to bed without any milk for being naughty and losing their mittens, and instead of going to sleep they instead decide to play and let their imaginations run wild and soon find themselves flying up into the stratosphere and then into the starry heavens beyond until they get to a strange fantasy land of cosmic milk-based tasty treats! As a vintage animated short this is quite fun and different but I wouldn't exactly peg it as outstanding enough to deserve an Oscar. There are more than a few Silly Symphonies as well as several marvellous Happy Harmonies that were considerably more deserving than this short.. It's perfectly fine, just shy of being great in my opinion. I don't like the design of the kittens, they look a little goofy and bobbleheaded, they're much more like characters you'd see in a Tom and Jerry cartoon than a Disney one. But the look of it does work for the very cutesy nature of the animation though, and I do love the strong visual style that it has. The rich details and colours that are put into the backgrounds and in particularly the Milky Way sequence is just gorgeous. I especially love everything in that adorable little cat homestead, it looks so cosy, I do greatly miss seeing that classic heartwarming image in animation. The best part of it is the kitten's trip through the stars that humourlessly playing up to their namesakes through sight gags, and of course the Milky Way itself is very impressive and makes clever visual jokes and references to just about every kind of milk you could think of, and to say it isn't toys or candy, the unusual things they built the sight gags around were a lot more visually rich and fascinating than you might expect! I like the way it doesn't go for the old "all-a-dream" twist at the end, for the kittens were never actually sleeping, just playing and getting carried away with their young imaginations! So while it isn't anything heavy or substantial, who cares when a short is this cute! I mean man, it's all so happy-looking - the stars, the kitties, the sheer sweet innocent whimsy of it all is positively delightful! It's definitely one of the most super-adorable old cartoons you're ever likely to come across, the Milky Way is almost too wholesome for this world and I can't help but like it. Not a perfect work but sweet and joyful enough to inject a little cheer into anyone's bad day!! X