Brilliant and touching

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.Also have much admiration for Tex Avery, an animation genius whose best cartoons are animated masterpieces and some of the best he ever did. 'One Cab's Family' is not one of his best, animation limitations show in some of the backgrounds and it lacks the imagination and hilarity of his best work. It is nonetheless a very nicely done cartoon with a good deal to like, managing to make a story about a taxicab family entertaining, endearing and full of human emotion which can't have been an easy thing to do but was achieved.'One Cab's Family' is somewhat a two-halves cartoon, but despite how that sounds it's not disjointed. Just that one half is one tone and the other is more another. The first half is amusing, if not hilarious, and cute, the more dramatic second half has pathos and a good nature with a poignant ending.The characters are very engaging and easy to like and the voice work is very good.Expectedly, Avery fares very strongly in the directing, even if other cartoons show off his unique wild and wacky style more. As well done and charming 'One Cab's Family' is, for Avery it's fairly tame.Some limited backgrounds aside, the animation is colourful and expressive. The music is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed, a lot of the action is even enhanced by the music.In summation, very nicely done but Avery is not at his best. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Well.. long before actually. This is an 8-minute cartoon from famous animator Tex Avery and he made this one over 60 years ago. A little cab is born and quickly the parents realize that he has a need for speed. This gets him and his dad in serious danger near the end. The first half is mostly fun, an argument here and there, but all pretty cute, the second half has more drama and a nice emotional twist near the end. That one really elevated the film. Thumbs up. Apart from that, I also liked the car/human references, for example that the worst word of the little one is actually the sound of his motor or also near the end the way in which the father wipes away his tears. Good stuff all in all with competent performances by the two voice actors (June Foray will be 100 soon!) and I recommend it.

With few changes, this is basically a remake of Friz Freling's Streamlined Greta Green (1937). The juvenile car chooses the wrong career, gets tanked (literally and figuratively) on premium and races a train, only to end up in a car hospital after a bad crash, followed by reconciliation. Avery reprised with Little Johnny Jet (1953), with the baby born a jet rather than choosing jethood (jetdom?).