Good movie but grossly overrated

A lot of fun.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

. . . Warner Bros. affirms in its animated short, CANNED FEUD. I've seen mice during waking hours in the midst of family gatherings in my city-based grandpa's living room, my farm aunt's dining room, and my mom's suburban kitchen. Mice were INSIDE another grandma's refrigerator, but at least they had the excuse that SHE was a sloppy housekeeper (unlike the first three families). Warner's Sylvester always seems to be based in a household plagued with mice, and CANNED FEUD is no exception. CANNED FEUD features a CURRENT or ACTIVE mouse infestation, since Sylvester interacts with at least one living mouse. Obviously, the first three rodent invasions I recalled just above were in the same category as Sylvester's in CANNED FEUD. What's particularly aggravating is a situation where you find mouse droppings and half-eaten "food" (which can be almost ANYTHING for a mouse)--as in my sloppy grandma's fridge--WITHOUT seeing a mouse moving around. Unless you're an expert on rodent scat (and how many of us are?), you don't know if these droppings were left by a mouse still extent, or one who passed away Seven Generations earlier. Perhaps Sylvester has the best policy: Always have loads of dynamite at your fingertips!

Canned Feud is an excellent cartoon- very funny, very clever and very inventive. While it could've been perhaps a tad longer, I enjoyed every minute. We know right from the start the mouse is not someone to be reckoned with. Is he likable? No, but that was the intention I think. Besides, it is very fast paced and along with Falling Hare has one of the most effective character mental break downs in cartoon history. The animation is excellent, the music is energetic and the whole cartoon is one funny and clever sight gag after sight gag after sight gag. Sylvester is wonderful to watch, and you do feel seriously sorry for him which was nice considering most of the time he is quite crafty and takes the laughs of each cartoon he features in. Overall, great. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Canned Feud (1951) *** 1/2 (out of 4)Hilarious cartoon has Sylvester being left alone for two weeks and thankfully he has a cupboard full of food to eat. Sadly the mouse has the can opener so Sylvester must do battle in order to get it. I'm really not a big fan of Sylvester but this is a great short with one wonderful joke after another. The movie gets off to a very fast and furious pace and never slows down until the final credits come on. There are many great moments but my favorite would have to be seeing the fur-less Sylvester. That site is certainly worth anyone's seven minutes. The final gag at the end also works quite well. The mouse here is certainly the bad guy even though poor Sylvester takes all the beatings.

Sylvester the Cat is left alone in his house all by his lonesome by his neglectful owners who lock him in with nothing to eat or drink. He finds a stash of canned tuna, but a deviant mouse has stolen the can opener and holds it just out of his reach, needlessly tormenting him. This is a somewhat amusing shot, but the mouse is just being a dick for the sake of being a dick which kind of tainted the overall feel of the short a tad. This animated short can be found on disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 1 and features an optional commentary by Jerry Beck.My Grade: B