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.
1941's Terrytoons were hit and miss, though more consistent than previous years. 'The Bird Tower' is one of the lower middling ones ranking it in correlation with the rest of the Terrytoons and one of the weaker 1941 cartoons. It is generally a little below average, and has the same amount of problems as it has the amount of strengths with the Terrytoons in general. 'The Bird Tower' is watchable but lacklustre, completest sake is the main reason to see it.
Like with all the Terrytoons cartoons, the 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. Very close behind, joint best in fact, is the animation. The animation from the mid-late-30s onwards for the studio had come on leaps and bounds from when they first started, the more ambitious, elaborate detail in the backgrounds is still great to see, as is the comparatively improved fluidity of drawing and movement, and some synchronisation in movement and sound is neat. The best thing about the animation though is the gorgeous lush colour.
There is some zest and natural charm and a few amusing moments, and parts of it and the basic set up are nicely done.
However, the story is paper thin (completely plotless, basically stringing along a series of too brief travelogue sequences with not much connection to each other) doing little with a premise that's hardly new. Gags aren't enough and not really what one would call gags, and what little there is is only sporadically amusing. There is definitely a sense of the studio having run out of ideas and just re-treading old premises and material.
A lot of it is pretty predictable and lacks variety. Some choppiness too and the cartoon feels very old fashioned and basic. The characters are bland and little more than brief glimpses of different birds doing various things and it is all cuteness and no conflict, complete with pretty tedious pacing. 'The Bird Tower' also attempts some caricaturing, but while they are recognisable they don't make much impression, due to being seen so many times in cartoons before during and since and far more memorably.
Summing up, cute but lacklustre. 4/10 Bethany Cox