'Polar Pals' may leave you a bit cold

Polar Pals (1931)
Starring: Anonymous singers and voice actors
Directors: John Foster and George Rufle
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

Tom and Jerry are shipwrecked and wash up on the frozen shores of a land inhabited by music-loving animals, such as walruses, penguins, and bears

"Polar Pals" is at the middle-to-low end of the quality scale of the episodes in the Tom & Jerry series. There is no plot to speak of, the gags are simple (simplistic even), and nothing makes any sense, even within a world where animals are fully sentient and they just happen to have pianos around for if humans get shipwrecked who are able to play them. And then there's the way the film deals with the environment: Characters are swimming in the frigid polar waters, but don't get cold until they notice they are in a polar environment. It makes no sense.

Even more damning is the indifferent quality of the animation. Simple or non-existent backgrounds are common in "Tom & Jerry" cartoons, but the character animation here is as sloppy as anything I've seen in any entries in this series. It's so bad that a walrus's tusks disappear, reappear, and disappear again, because they reuse cells where the animators couldn't be bothered to draw the tusks and no one would be bothered to fix the error. (I thought initially that perhaps I was missing a joke, but I watched that bit three times, and I am convinced it was just a sloppy error that no cared to spend the time or money to fix.)

I think the nature of this, the second "Tom & Jerry" cartoon, is also the first sign that the Van Beuren team didn't have a clear idea of who the target audience was for this series. The level of humor and story-telling in this cartoon seems squarely aimed at young children, while the opening installment felt more like something for older kids or young teenagers. Other entries in the series feel like they are for older teens, or, perhaps still for a young audience with some multi-layered jokes thrown in to keep adults entertained as well, like "Doughnuts". Finally, a few, such as "Spanish Twist" and "Piano Tooners" feel like they were going for the same adult audience that the Fleischer Studio was trying to appeal to with the "Betty Boop" cartoons. 

Ultimately, the highlight of "Polar Pals" is the musical number that forms its climax. The animation is nothing to cheer about, but the music is upbeat and the animal dance party it brings about it cute. As with many of the "Tom and Jerry" episodes, the music is the primary reason for watching. No matter how weak everything else may be, generally the songs are enough of a reward for the time spent watching the screen. Also, for all my complaining above about the mostly non-existent and completely nonsensical plot, I did appreciate the fact that this film actually gives a solid ending. (It's even sort of amusing.)

But why don't you check out "Polar Pals" for yourself and see if you agree with my take on it. It's only seven minutes long, and who knows? My estimation may be completely offbase, and you may find this to be the greatest cartoon you've ever seen. If that's the case, be sure to tell me below, or on my Facebook page.