The Slap-Hoppy Mouse (1956) User Reviews

One of the funniest later Sylvester, Hippety Hopper and Sylvester Jnr. cartoons

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 21 August 2015]

The first six or seven cartoons in the series are very good to great, however after Bell Hoppy the concept started getting tired, the material wasn't as inventive and while never terrible or worse (with the exception of the last cartoon Freudy Cat) the animation wasn't always as vivid or as wonderfully exaggerated. The Slap-Hoppy Mouse however is one of the better and funnier later cartoons in the series.

Its animation is a case of some of it being very good and some of it not quite so much. The characters are well drawn (though Hippety looks a little basic), Sylvester's expressions are still priceless and the colours are bright warm and colourful apart from the occasional flat ones. Some of the backgrounds are a little limited and not having the amount of detail they could have done, some colours are flat and there's not enough of the wonderfully big expressions and action and they're not quite as inspired as a result. Sylvester and Hippety's chemistry is enjoyable but lacks the same amount of energy and spark as the earlier cartoons, and there's not quite enough of it, Hippety is only mildly amusing plot-device material here too.

Carl Stalling's music is just great though and fits so much better than Bill Lava's very discordant re-scoring used in Freudy Cat, which used a clip from this cartoon. It's lively and dynamic music and it's beautifully orchestrated and some of the use of instruments is clever, fitting wonderfully and adding much to the action. The sound effects are similarly well-used. What Slap-Hoppy Mouse really has in its favour is that it is very funny, with hilarious dialogue between Sylvester and his son and a really well-written conflict between the two that's both hilarious and tense. The gags are every bit as funny, with a riot of an ending. The story is well-paced and, while predictable, really does try also to do something fresh with the rundown mouse infested house idea and makes the most out of it.

Sylvester is as ruthless as ever, and while his comic timing is spot on it's easy to root for him too. Sylvester Jnr. is sweet and very amusing. Mel Blanc's voice work is superb here, some of the best he did in the later cartoons of this particular series. Overall, lots of fun and definitely worth watching. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox

"Oh, stuff and nonsense!"

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 12 September 2015]

Sylvester and son Junior have been enjoying the good life in a swank mansion with their meals served to them by a butler. But the other cats are taunting Junior, saying that his dad has gone soft. Determined to prove himself to his son, Sylvester takes him to a run-down old house by the railroad tracks so Junior can see firsthand that dear old dad still has what it takes to catch mice. Unfortunately for Sylvester, baby kangaroo Hippety Hopper has fallen out of a passing train car and found his way to the house. A great Sylvester cartoon with witty dialogue and funny gags. The animation is nice and the music is cheerful. The incomparable Mel Blanc handles the voices and does a typically flawless job. The only complaint I might have is that the short ends somewhat abruptly.

Warner Bros. continues its Anti-Gun Crusade . . .

[oscaralbert · 8/10 · 23 November 2015]

. . . with this offering in its "Merrie Melodies" animated shorts series, SLAP-HOPPY MOUSE. When Sylvester Senior takes his son mouse hunting, they leave the safety of their home mansion's Gun-Free Zone to venture onto the Wrong Side of the Tracks. Gaining entry to a relic of the 1800's, "The Explorers' Club," Sylvester promptly uncovers an ordinary mouse. Then a passing circus train throws a monkey wrench into the mouse hunt, as a baby kangaroo's crate pops off a railroad car and cracks open near the clubhouse. The playful marsupial is mistaken for an over-sized rodent by the father-son mouser team, and Junior eggs on his dad to confront it. This kangaroo runs roughshod over Pops cat. In desperation, Sylvester resorts to a musket hanging on the wall, left over as an illustration of what America's Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote the Second Amendment. Sylvester shoots HIMSELF three times with this Ancient Right, illustrating Warner's contention that the Responsibility to Bare Arms is an outmoded Quirk of History, not unlike The Right to Own & Abuse Black People (enshrined in the U.S. Constitution Proper, NOT tacked on as a second-class afterthought!). SLAP-HOPPY MOUSE concludes with Sylvester following the lead of all right-thinking Americans and giving up on guns.