TheLittleSongbird
None of the "Beary Family" cartoons are animated masterpieces by any stretch, but with all things considering they're better than anticipated. Generally, while not great cartoons, for the studio's final series (which indicates disaster on paper because the studio had declined drastically by the 60s) the "Beary Family" cartoons could have been far worse.'Mother's Little Helper' is not immune to faults. Like many 60s Lantz-studio cartoons, the animation is not good. Time and budget constraints shows in a lot of the animation, which is very rushed looking in the drawing and detail wise it's on the simplistic and careless side with colours that lack vibrancy and a fair share of goofs. The story is pretty slight and contains few surprises or much imagination, while the pace could have been sharper. Bessie this time round has a nagging personality that doesn't make her anywhere near as endearing as in 'Fowled-Up Birthday', here she's annoying.However, the music puts one in a good mood and is rousing and lush. Jack Hannah does a very nice job directing, timing the gags well and making the characters and their interaction engaging, making the most of the animation limitations.The dialogue amuses, especially Charlie's. There are a lot of gags and they are good fun and well-timed, if not hilarious or innovative.While the goose is amusingly acrimonious and cute, well-meaning but havoc-causing Charlie, the most consistently easiest to relate to and funniest, is the best character.Voice acting is very good from Paul Frees, he really succeeds in making Charlie likable and has deft comic timing.Overall, decent. 6/10 Bethany Cox
