A Gander at Mother Goose (1940)

A Gander at Mother Goose Review

A Gander at Mother Goose is a 1940 animated short film from the Merry Melodies series. It is a pretty solid entry.

This is a spot gag cartoon meaning that it consists of gag after gag from beginning to end. Now obviously that means that some gags are weaker than others such as that unfortunate ending as well as the beginning. I also did not care for the butt jokes as they were immature and obvious cartoon jokes of its era. The cartoon definitely is flawed and too short, but still pretty solid owing to some excellent gags.

The Jack and Jill segment is terrific and very mature. Little Miss Muffer is short but hilarious and The Three Little Pigs segment is definitely very amusing in its punch line albeit too similar in character design to the famous Disney film. The first half of the cartoon is much stronger than the weaker second half, but the score and especially the animation is top-notch throughout with excellent designs and a charming color palette.

A Gander at Mother Goose is uneven in quality of its segments, but those that work do have excellent, very funny gags.

My Rating – 3.8