TheLittleSongbird
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.1936, like all the other years for Terrytoons, saw a hit and miss batch, more so than the other years even. Of which 'The Sailor's Home' is one of the middling ones ranking it in correlation with the rest of the Terrytoons and one of the middling 1936 cartoons. It is an unexceptional, nothing exactly special cartoon and has the same amount of problems as it has the amount of strengths. 'The Sailor's Home' is also watchable, completest sake is the main reason to see it but it's not the only reason.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, as is the comparatively improved fluidity of drawing and movement, and some synchronisation is neat.A few amusing moments, some imaginative and there is some zest and natural charm, and parts of it and the basic set up are affecting. There is a fun antagonist, showing the most personality of the characters even if he is a fairly typical Terrytoons antagonist.Outside of the backgrounds and more fluidity than seen previously however, the animation is primitive and crude sometimes.Likewise, the story is paper thin and formulaic, once again with nothing new to a melodramatic and old premise. Gags aren't enough, they are not always very organised (fairly scattershot), and there is not much especially memorable about some and some don't serve much point. The cartoon tends to veer towards being too cute and a lot of it is pretty predictable. Some choppiness too and the cartoon feels very old fashioned with not all the characters being particularly memorable.Overall, watchable if unexceptional. 5/10 Bethany Cox
boblipton
Paul Terry is co-credited on this one, a variation on the "under the sea" seas cartoons that he produced over the decades. In this one, a retired sailor explains the tattoo on his chest as a remembrance of his wife -- a blonde mermaid.After the Code was set up, Terry concentrated on cartoons for small children, so this is about as racy as he got. He offers us some nice detail work on the sailors' faces, but most of his gags are fairly standard for him: dog fish that look like Airedales, a villainous octopus that looks spidery: all tropes and images that his staffs had been using since the silent era. Nonetheless, the prologue and epilogue at a home for retired seamen, helps shape the story-telling very well.
