While it was an inconsistent series, the Kartunes series from Famous Studios was still worth watching, even if for most of the cartoons it was one time watch level rather than repeat viewings. Some of the cartoons were not great, with the first half generally being better than the second in most of them. But the weakest ones still managed to not be misfires (unlike the better known Screen Song cartoons), more watchable but uneven, and the best surprisingly very good, like for example the first 'Vegetable Vaudeville'.
The third Kartune cartoon 'Off We Glow' is not as good as the previous cartoons in the Kartunes series, but its sizeable number of good things (the best excellently done) help make it a decent effort. It could have done with a lot more imagination, the pacing problems are more obvious here and veers on being a little too cute, but the animation and music in particular are enough to make 'Off We Glow' worth a look. Even if it doesn't quite glow as much as it could have done. Generally quite liked it, but wasn't blown away.
'Off We Glow' is a long way from flawless or great as has been indicated already. The second half is not as good as the first, it's made up of the singalong and while the song itself is a lot of fun the singalong material wise felt too cutesy and was in serious need of variety.
It is also in this half where there are some serious pacing issues as a result, with the pace being quite tedious. Actually did find the pace on the dull side throughout, but the singalong was where it was at its most obvious. As to be expected, the plot is non existent and a series of gags of the blackout kind and it is generally very predictable.
However, there was a lot liked about 'Off We Glow'. It is beautifully animated. The colours are vibrant and there is meticulous attention to detail in the backgrounds. If there was one aspect that was consistently good in Famous Studios' 1940s and 1950s output, it was the music scoring. And it is outstanding here. The orchestration has a lot of energy and there are some truly luscious sounds throughout.
Furthermore, the gag count in the first half is quite high, and while most are corny and unoriginal from having seen them before, they are still amusing, smile worthy and have enough invention visually. The characters are not complex but have personality.
Concluding, decent if unexceptional. 6/10.
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