User reviews

While not one of my favourite cartoon characters, Barney Bear was a very funny and likable character where his sluggishness was a huge part of his charm. He was also interesting for being modelled on both his creator Rudolf Ising (who also was his first voice actor until 1941) and the mannerisms of Wallace Beery.

After the Preston Blair and Michael Lah unit stopped after just three (and pretty good too) cartoons, 'The Bear and the Bean', 'The Bear and the Hare' and 'Goggle Fishing Bear', Dick Lundy was the fourth director to take over the Barney series after Ising (10 cartoons), George Gordon (3) and Blair/Lah, and turned out to be the joint-longest-serving director after Ising with 10 contributions to the series. 'Sleepy-Time Squirrel' is among the lesser Lundy Barney Bear cartoons and a disappointment somewhat coming after one of the series' best 'The Impossible Possum'. That is not saying it's bad, it's actually pretty good, it's just not great.

Story-wise, the premise is very familiar, being somewhat typical of the earlier Barney cartoons with Ising and even some of the material lacks freshness, at times almost derivative. The over-familiarity does slightly take away from the enjoyment. Maybe it could have done with more energy, the pace was already in Lundy's cartoons less frenetic but it needed a little more kick here.

However, Barney is fun, adorable and very easy to root for. He is also of the later Barney cartoons the closest here to his original personality, thanks to a premise that even with the over-familiarity actually plays to his strengths and what defined him as a character in the first place. The squirrel character is both cute and a suitable pest.

Animation is nicely drawn and colourful, if slightly lacking the finesse and meticulousness of the earlier entries of the Barney Bear series. The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed, even enhancing the impact of actions and gestures.

'Sleepy-Time Squirrel' is always charming, amusing and the timing while not always consistent is good. The chemistry between the two characters is well-characterised.

On the whole, pretty good but lacking in a few areas for it to be better than that. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Barney Bear allows a squirrel to sleep in his cabin. They don't get along.

Pretty much every description of a Barney Bear cartoon can be summed up in those words "they don't get along", but that's not a problem. That's a formula, and a pretty dependable one. This may not be the best cartoon in the series, but it is a pretty funny one.

When the story begins, it's snowing and Barney Bear is getting ready for a long hibernation for the winter. Part of that involves chopping down trees and collecting logs for his fireplace. After all, Barney is a VERY civilized bear and lives in a lovely house. But when Barney chops down one tree, it turns out to be rthe home of a squirrel...and the squirrel complains to Barney that it has no place to live...so nice bear Barney invites the squirrel to live with him. He'll come to regret the decision, as the squirrel is anything but a good house guest!

I just kept thinking...'Barney...you're a bear...just eat the squirrel and be done with it'. But of course, this is a cartoon and it just doesn't work that way.

So is this any good? Well, it IS made by MGM during a period in which the studio was making some very nicely animated cartoons. By the mid-50s, the quality was not as exquisite as the 1940s but still, compared to their competitors, it was very nice. As far as the cartoon itself goes, it was surprisingly shallow on laughs. Enjoyable but I was expecting so much more.

Barney Bear is preparing to hibernate for the winter. He cuts down a tree for the firewood. It happens to be the home of an annoyed squirrel. Barney allows him to stay but he turns out to be a terrible house guest. Then they gets an even less welcome guest.

This is fun for the most part. The ending comes out of nowhere. It needs setting up. Maybe the intruder should be foreshadowed by the squirrel's dream. The turn is too sharp and threatens to derail this simple story track.