TheLittleSongbird
Paul J. Smith is best known to me for his Chilly Willy and Woody Woodpecker cartoons. Both cartoons series saw a mix of good (great in the case, as far as he goes, of Chilly Willy's debut and Woody's 'Niagara Fools', two of the better "Walter Lantz Studios" cartoons of the 50s) cartoons, average ones and less than average ones.Was curiously interested in seeing other cartoons of his and Walter Lantz studios not featuring either character, including lesser-known and short-lived characters like Sugarfoot the horse and Maw and Paw. Mainly to see if their cartoons were as bad as heard and whether one could see why the characters didn't last long. While Maw and Paw's debut cartoon 'Maw and Paw' is one of the better Maw and Paw cartoons, it was still average. 'Plywood Panic' is not an improvement, pretty lacklustre actually. Another example of seeing why the series and characters were short lived.Once again, the best character is actually the pig Milford, proof that one can say little or nothing and still compel and entertain in a scene-stealing sense. Milford is by far the most, the only in fact, interesting and funniest character here, also the most educated and intelligent (again the only one), and while he steals every part he's in he is somewhat under-utilised.A couple of gags are amusing, if not much more than that. They are the one with the measurement tape gag, made funnier by Milford's involvement, and the one with the washing machine.The early barnyard setting is very detailed and beautiful-looking, while Clarence Wheeler's music score is very characterful with lots of energy and lush, clever use of orchestration. The voice actors do their best and do a professional job.On the other hand, the character designs are scrappy and pretty ugly, sometimes repetitive too, particularly in the titular characters. Neither of the titular characters are particularly compelling, Paw's absent-mindedness and clumsiness is overdone while Maw is annoying and over-bearing. Their lack of intelligence is not endearing at all and their increasing dumbness makes one wonder how on earth Milford ever stayed with them.With the exception of two gags, which were only amusing rather than hilarious, the numerous gags suffer from less-than-sharp timing and not being very funny, not even reaching raise-a-small-smile-territory. Gags that were repeated throughout the series strained to be funny first time, but weren't (especially with Paw), and became over-stretched quickly.'Plywood Panic', like 'Maw and Paw', is light on plot (though there is a little bit of one this time) and that the cartoon is dull and mostly unfunny with unappealing characters (apart from one) makes it very difficult to get any kind of enjoyment out of it. The ending also can be seen from miles off.All in all, very lacklustre execution of a decent premise. 4/10 Bethany Cox
