World Famous Comics: Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse - The Complete Series
Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse - The Complete Series
Starring: Dal McKennon Directed By: Amby Paliwoda, Reuben Timmins, Sid Marcus Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD Format: Animated, Box set, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC Label: A&E Home Video Number of Items: 4 Region Code: 1 Release Date: October 29, 2002 Running Time: 30 minutes Theatrical Release Date: 1960
Amazon.com: Comic book and comic strip artist Bob Kane (1916-1998) is best known as the creator of Batman (1939), but he entered animation later in his career. His first effort was a spoof of his most famous character: Courageous Cat & Minute Mouse, which debuted in syndication in 1960. Unlike most cat-and-mouse pairs, Courageous and Minute were allies, fighting crime in Empire City. Four or five of the five-minute mini-stories were shown on each half-hour program. Courageous is a generic-looking cartoon cat, while Minute suggests a bargain-basement copy of Mickey. The animation is almost as limited as Crusader Rabbit or Rocky and Bullwinkle, but without the outrageous humor. The one running gag in the series is Courageous's Catgun, which can shoot a noose, disintegrator rays, a cannonball repeller--everything but a bullet. It proves useful against such villains as Professor Shaggy Dog, Rodney Rodent, Flat-Face Frog, and Iron Shark.
This four-disc set includes all 130 five-minute episodes, but the prints have faded badly and there's no evidence of any restoration work. Baby boomers (or Gen-Xers) who grew up on the program may get a nostalgic buzz from watching one or two episodes, but sitting through more than a few quickly cloys. Courageous Cat & Minute Mouse was never a great series, a fact that's more obvious four decades after its debut. Kane went on to develop a second spoof, the marginally superior Cool McCool (1966), a send-up of Get Smart. (Unrated; suitable for ages 5 and older: cartoon violence, tobacco use) --Charles Solomon
come on, bring this dvd set down in price! nobody in their right mind is gonna get this for this much. it needs to be cheap like batfink and cool mccool! its an obscure cartoon that only a handfull of people will even want! i want it but im not gonna pay that idiotic price. bring the price down you bums! come on, its been out for a long time now. hurry up and bring that price down!!!!!!!!!!
Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse - The Complete Series Watching the cartoon brought me back to my childhood. Although the cartoon is rudimentary as compared to today's high tech animation, it was still as powerful as ever. Always loved the string bass in the theme music and The Frog, whose voice was patterned after the late Edward G. Robinson.
$71.99, What Are They Smokin????? Ummm, nostalgia aside, I remember watching this really cheaply made cartoon emass in reruns through my childhood, almost shown as much as the quality WB Bugs Bunny stuff made during the movie era. But over 70.00 for this stuff? Now thats a little out of line. I dont think I'd spend more than 15.00 for this stuff, nostalgia or not, and thats really the only people who would want to watch this stuff. Its really cheap stuff and very repetative. 5 stars for the opening sequence and music and 2 stars for the rest and that pricetag.
Courageous Cat& Minute Mouse Great print, and looks good on big 42inch TV. Friends and kids love it!
Thanks.Glenn from Jersey
Too much of an OK thing If Batman had been concieved for a "funny animals" comic book, this would be the result. It's not a spoof, so much as a shifting of the concept in a different environment. I find it fairly entertaining with a couple amusing gags in almost each cartoon, but it is severely hampered by the five minute episode format -- there just isn't much story that can be built up. It's a shame Bob Kane wasn't given a chance to work with somewhat longer stories to add a little depth. Still it is very interesting to see how Kane adapted his Batman concept to a totally different framework.
It's a shame they didn't bother to digitally remaster this material. It is watchable but the age definitely shows.
As other reviewers have said, it plays best if you watch only 2 to 4 episodes at a sitting. Of course, this is true of most short cartoons (Looney Tunes is the only series I can think of that holds up well to marathon viewing.) These cartoons were never intended to be watched for hours at a time.
My biggest complaint with this set is that it is just too much. Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse was a decent series and deserves release, but does anyone really need all 130 episodes? It wasn't that popular or significant. I think it would have been better served with a single disc "best of" collection.
One final quibble -- Minute Mouse's voice tends to get on my nerves. It makes sense for a mouse to have a squeaky voice, but his is just a bit too squeaky for comfort. Oh, well.
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