Dinky Duck was a recurring Terrytoons character that never really became particularly popular, and to me it's understandable as to why he didn't make it bigger. He featured in fourteen cartoons, starting from 1939 with 'The Orphan Duck' and finishing in 1957 with 'It's a Living'. All of them are inoffensive watches worthy of one viewing but they are also all fairly unexceptional and don't inspire one to see them over and over, not hugely memorable at the end of the day either.
1950's 'The Beauty Shop', the first Dinky Duck cartoon since about 1946, is a firm example of all of that. It certainly is watchable but only scrapes average level, and although it never makes one want to tear their hair out it's just not an awful lot different at all to the previous Dinky Duck cartoon. The premise is one well worth relating to and can be fun if done right, but it could have been done with more freshness and momentum and is pretty familiar territory in animation. As far as the 1950 Terrytoons cartoons go, 'The Beauty Shop' is a middling effort.
The animation, beginning with the good things, has definitely come on from when Dinky first appeared, and Terrytoons was already starting to improve in the animation department then. Namely because the drawing is smoother and the transitions have more flow, by the mid-late-40s it had become more elaborate and ambitious and that is obvious here. The colours pop out without being drab or garish and the backgrounds are far from static. Cannot find anything to fault the music for, as lush and characterful as always from the studio, adding a lot to what is going on in the animation and story without spelling it out too much.
It is a sweet and well intended cartoon, with a few moments to make one smile. Dinky is easy to root for, always find it hard not to root for characters wanting to be accepted having been there myself, and is a cute character without being overly so.
On the other hand, the story is paper thin and feels very over-stretched. It could easily have been done in 4-5 minutes, with just a little under 7 there was a padded feel and not everything felt necessary. The ending is easy to figure out quite early on. Like all Dinky cartoons, it does get too sentimental and veers on being sugary in places. Not an awful lot in terms of laughs either, am aware that 'The Beauty Shop' was not intended to be that kind of cartoon but there could have been a little to give the cartoon some balance.
As said, the premise is not a new one for Dinky or animation in general and there is nothing here that is done to make it feel fresher. Pace-wise, 'The Beauty Shop' could have done with more oomph as with so much blandness to the story and material it did contribute to the dullness. At the end of the day, 'The Beauty Shop' is not a cartoon that one is likely to remember for a long time after, personally found it pretty forgettable quite soon after watching but maybe that's just me.
Concluding, inoffensive but not an awful lot to it. 5/10.
1950's 'The Beauty Shop', the first Dinky Duck cartoon since about 1946, is a firm example of all of that. It certainly is watchable but only scrapes average level, and although it never makes one want to tear their hair out it's just not an awful lot different at all to the previous Dinky Duck cartoon. The premise is one well worth relating to and can be fun if done right, but it could have been done with more freshness and momentum and is pretty familiar territory in animation. As far as the 1950 Terrytoons cartoons go, 'The Beauty Shop' is a middling effort.
The animation, beginning with the good things, has definitely come on from when Dinky first appeared, and Terrytoons was already starting to improve in the animation department then. Namely because the drawing is smoother and the transitions have more flow, by the mid-late-40s it had become more elaborate and ambitious and that is obvious here. The colours pop out without being drab or garish and the backgrounds are far from static. Cannot find anything to fault the music for, as lush and characterful as always from the studio, adding a lot to what is going on in the animation and story without spelling it out too much.
It is a sweet and well intended cartoon, with a few moments to make one smile. Dinky is easy to root for, always find it hard not to root for characters wanting to be accepted having been there myself, and is a cute character without being overly so.
On the other hand, the story is paper thin and feels very over-stretched. It could easily have been done in 4-5 minutes, with just a little under 7 there was a padded feel and not everything felt necessary. The ending is easy to figure out quite early on. Like all Dinky cartoons, it does get too sentimental and veers on being sugary in places. Not an awful lot in terms of laughs either, am aware that 'The Beauty Shop' was not intended to be that kind of cartoon but there could have been a little to give the cartoon some balance.
As said, the premise is not a new one for Dinky or animation in general and there is nothing here that is done to make it feel fresher. Pace-wise, 'The Beauty Shop' could have done with more oomph as with so much blandness to the story and material it did contribute to the dullness. At the end of the day, 'The Beauty Shop' is not a cartoon that one is likely to remember for a long time after, personally found it pretty forgettable quite soon after watching but maybe that's just me.
Concluding, inoffensive but not an awful lot to it. 5/10.
