Rabid Hunters (1932) Online

The Van Beuren Tom and Jerry (as said already not the famous cat and mouse, this is a human duo that lasted for just under 30 cartoons, 29 if memory serves correct, between 1931 and 1933) series was interesting but uneven and not easy to rate as an overall whole. At the series' best, the cartoons were good, very good in a few cases. At its worst, they were really bad.

As far as the Tom and Jerry series goes, 'Rabid Hunters' is a long way from being one the worst, if anything it's something of a middling effort. It's not one of their best either, and after being pleasantly surprised by 'Rocketeers' (by far the best of the series since their debut cartoon 'Wot a Night') it felt like a step or two down. There are good things, the best thing about it is the music score which is the high point of even the worst cartoons and is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated and full of energy, doing so well with enhancing the action. There is a nicely done setting, some decent attention to detail in a few of the backgrounds and good movement synchronisation with the music.

'Rabid Hunters' highlight scenes are too far and between, but the tree branch hallucinatory gag is deliciously bizarre, which is the style of humour in this particular series of cartoons so this worked perfectly. The supporting characters are fun.

However, once again, most of the animation didn't do it for me. There are worse-looking cartoons in the series, at least the backgrounds and some of the synchronisation was decent, but it is not one of the most visually interesting ones like 'Wot a Night'. Too much of it is crude and simplistic with a fair share of static moments. Tom and Jerry look primitive, and none of the supporting characters are well drawn or look anything like the animals they're meant to be.

It's a paper thin cartoon in story once again and there are not enough gags that work in comic timing or imagination in order to not make that matter. Likewise with any inventive moments or energy, the pace is pretty lacklustre. The absurdist strangeness is certainly here and when it does appear it's good fun, there's just not quite enough. Tom and Jerry are bland.

To conclude, watchable but didn't leave me rabid. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Van Beuren didn't have many good series but one that was often interesting was Tom & Jerry. Don't confuse it with Hanna-Barbera's cat-and-mouse pair. These were two humans who appeared mostly in musical cartoons. Although the cartoons were loosely drawn and cheap-looking, this was usually more than compensated for by a wild, imaginative plot.

After that build-up, it is a disappointment to say that this was the weakest one I have seen, although it is still pretty good. Tom and Jerry take their dog (named "Dawg") and their horse (never named, but probably called "Hoss") and hunt a rabbit. While the gags will come as no surprise to anyone who has ever seen early Bugs Bunny movies, bear in mind this is seven years earlier.