Toyland (1932) watch online HD

Here's a Christmas cartoon sure to put a smile on your face. This late synchronized cartoon has Santa delivering presents by throwing them out of his sleigh and a sequence in which a dog wakes kittens so they can get their gifts off the tree.

It's a short cartoon and although it may seem that they ran out of ideas after three and a half minutes, it grows wilder and more chaotic as it goes on.

I am not usually a fan of Paul Terry's sound cartoon. They often seem aimed at small, stupid children. This one, however, is quite clearly and unabashedly cute, particularly the sequence in which the dog barks at the toys, which seems to have been animated by Art Babbitt.

The Terrytoons are oddly interesting, mainly for anybody wanting to see (generally) older cartoons made by lesser known and lower-budget studios. They are a mixed bag in quality, with some better than others, often with outstanding music and with some mild amusement and charm and variable in animation, characterisation and content.

Like with the Terrytoons from 1930 and 1931, the 1932 batch has been very mixed, the best being above average if not mindblowing and the worst being weak. 'Toyland' is one of the better 1932 Terrytoons easily, being one of the pretty good ones if not one that blows the mind. As said a few times already in my previous reviews for the Terrytoons, the main reason for viewing is mainly for anybody striving to see every Terrytoons available like me but has more to it than that.

Best asset is the music, which predictably is incredible. It is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated and arranged, is great fun to listen to and full of lively energy, doing so well with enhancing the action. The animation is an improvement to usual, still crude and stiff in the character designs, but generally transitions are smoother, there is no obvious repetition, recycling or cheating and the backgrounds are some of the most detailed and ambitious of the 1932 output.

There is a charm that is natural and never forced, one that is also sweet and fun. A vast majority of the gags are amusing and the pace never loses its lustre even in the sweeter moments. The characters aren't annoying while having enough personality to stop them from being bland.

However, some of the animation is still crude and stiff. The story is pretty thin and formulaic and gets a little too chaotic towards the end when things get wild.

The trap of being too saccharine is fallen into at times in 'Toyland' too.

Overall, nice cartoon and one of the better 1932 Terrytoons. 7/10 Bethany Cox