The Unexpected Pest

Looney Tunes, Sylvester and Robert McKimson are a good mixture, the Looney Tunes cartoons are childhood favourites that a vast majority of the time hold up very well and are even better from an adult perspective, Sylvester is a great funny character who can work equally well with another character or on his own and Robert McKimson(while somewhat in the shadow of Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett and Fritz Freleng) has been responsible for lots of fun cartoons and some classics also. The Unexpected Pest doesn't see either of them at their best, with a predictable set-up and a few gags that while nice we've seen many times already and since(ie. throwing objects from a great height, getting hands caught in mouse-traps). The beginning sets the cartoon well but there isn't really anything that wows, it's really when the mouse comes on the scene when The Unexpected Pest comes to life. The animation is very good though, simple but colourful and careful in design, while the music score keeps the energy levels high and brings much character to the proceedings. While you have seen some of it before, that doesn't stop The Unexpected Pest from being strong amusing entertainment, with nicely timed gags and very witty dialogue(Sylvester gets the best lines). The set-up is predictable, but the execution of the actual story is neat and is paced well with some nice twists. The ending works especially well, with a turning-of-the-tables sort of situation. The mouse is a fun character as well as cute, Sylvester as ever is the one who steals the show. Mel Blanc's vocals are superb, every single character he voiced came to life and largely because of him. He was one of those few voice actors who could voice more than one character in the same cartoon and not only give them different personalities and such but also make them funny and memorable. To conclude, familiar but neat and amusing. 7/10 Bethany Cox