Buddy's Theatre

Now a fairly obscure character, Buddy was the second Warner Brothers Looney Tunes character, after Bosko and followed by Beans the Cat. Buddy didn't last long, being retired in 1935 after 23 cartoons starting in 1933.

'Buddy's Theatre' is one of the average Buddy cartoons of a mixed bag of a filmography, ranging between mediocre and decent with a fair share of average ones. After the two previous Buddy cartoons being one of his best (especially 'Buddy's Adventures', one of the few very good efforts), 'Buddy's Theatre' struck me as middle-of-the-road and towards the lesser half.

Starting with the good qualities, the animation is nicely drawn and detailed with the black and white looking crisp, also some of the most imaginative of the Buddy cartoons. Even better is the music score. Music played a big part in the Buddy cartoons and it was essential for it to work, it's catchy and very fitting here.

Of the characters, the most colourful and interesting is the gorilla. While somewhat of a stock character Cookie is appealingly charming. There are some amusing gags and a little energy. The voice acting is good.

However, the story is barely existent (basically stringing along formulaic scenes) and predictable. Other parts of 'Buddy's Theatre' could have done with more energy.

Another part of the problem is Buddy himself in yet another cartoon of his where the support characters are more interesting than he is and with more compelling personalities, Buddy tends to be bland and he is here. Occasionally, it's a little too cutesy and a few other gags lack lustre.

Overall, average. 5/10 Bethany Cox