Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The Terrytoons are oddly interesting, mainly for anybody wanting to see (generally) older cartoons made by lesser known and lower-budget studios. They are a mixed bag in quality, with some better than others, often with outstanding music and with some mild amusement and charm and variable in animation, characterisation and content.1934, like all the other years for Terrytoons, saw a hit and miss batch, more so than the other years even. 'Why Mules Leave Home' manages to be one of the best ones. Not great as such, but it is pretty decent with some flaws but even more strengths. Flaws and strengths typically seen with Terrytoons generally. While its main reason for viewing is as a Terrytoons completest, 'Why Mules Leave Home' has more to it than that.Best asset is the music, which predictably is incredible. It is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated and arranged, is great fun to listen to and full of lively energy, doing so well with enhancing the action. The ambitious, elaborate detail in the backgrounds is still great to see. Synchronisation is neat. There are more gags than typically seen in the 1934 Terrytoons and while not inventive as such they help make 'Why Mules Leave Home' one of the more amusing, the best of the gags are hilarious even, Terrytoons from that year and are very well timed. There is zest and a natural charm. Pacing is lively, while Farmer Al Falfa is good fun and the animals are more colourful than the usual characters seen with Terrytoons.Parts of the animation, like some of the character designs and transitions, are a little crude still however.Likewise, the story is paper thin and formulaic, not an awful lot new here. While generating a little tension, the conflict can be fairly predictable. Occasionally, the cartoon is a little choppy. Overall, decent. 6/10 Bethany Cox

This is a cartoon in the Farmer Al Falfa series produced by Terrytoons. There will be spoilers ahead: Paul Terry was interested in making a profit and his studio probably used every cost-saving measure Terry could come up with toward that end. While that's still evident here, this cartoon is still quite good, particularly for Terrytoon.The cartoon opens on the start of the day for Al's farm. A rooster's crow wakes up Al's alarm clock, which begins ringing and then gets up and pulls the blanket off of Al to wake him up! Al then proceeds to wake up everyone else. The farm is a business and you see animals punching a time clock! Meanwhile, as the animals begin working, Al begins to pitch hay toward a barn to feed his mule. There are some good gags with the mule eating the hay. Then you see the horse trying to swat flies with a flyswatter he holds in his tail.A bee comes in and stings the mule, who kicks holes in the barn. Al gets angry and fires the mule, who says he quits instead. The mule then encourages several other animals to leave with him because they aren't treated properly.Just after several of the animals leave, a band of wolves dressed as Indians attack the farm. The battle sequences are hilarious, with some good gags, a few of which are old standbys. The wolves capture the farm and Al, but a duck catches up to the mules and company, telling them what happened. They all go charging back, the mule scares off the wolves and there's a tender reunion.This cartoon deserves to be more widely seen.