Van Beuren cartoons are extremely variable, especially in the number of gags and whether the absurdist humour shines through enough (sometimes it does, other times it doesn't), but are strangely interesting. Although they are often poorly animated with barely existent stories and less than compelling lead characters, they are also often outstandingly scored, there can be some fun support characters and some are well-timed and amusing.
Like 'The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg', 'Neptune Nonsense' is most interesting for being a Felix the Cat cartoon that is in colour and has sound. As far as the Van Beuren "Rainbow Parade" cartoons go, all three Felix the Cat cartoons, of which 'Neptune Nonsense' is perhaps the best, are among the best of the "Rainbow Parade" series. Not great as such, being fairly bland compared to the earlier silent black and white Felix the Cat cartoons which had more vigour and humour of the surreal/absurdist kind. Also worth the while, despite how all of the above sounded.
A lot of strengths in 'Neptune Nonsense'. The best being the pretty great animation, one of the best looking of the "Rainbow Parade" series, having more refinement in the drawing than usually seen, and one of the best looking Felix the Cat cartoons. Compared to the animation in the Cubby the Bear, most of the (human) Tom and Jerry and other cartoons of Van Beuren, their production values came on a long way when switching to colour. The background detail is meticulous and even better are the ravishing colours that pop out at you.
Just as good is the music score, it is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated, is great fun to listen to and full of lively energy, doing so well with enhancing the action. The synchronisation is sharp and neat. Wasn't bored, while not completely excited.
Really enjoyed the fun and cute without being too cute fish characters, some sweet and amusing material with them and the creatively rendered underwater world. There is a good deal of charm here and most of it isn't too saccharine.
However, the story is over-familiar and very thin, with not an awful lot new brought to the table. Quite a lot of it is total nonsense as well. The ending can be seen from quite some distance away and any messaging is lost unde the excessive sugar that it has.
Felix is likeable enough and strong enough a personality to be a good lead character but there is a preference too for his original personality, one that was much stronger, if not as likeable, and one that set him apart from other silent animated characters from that era.
In the laughs department, 'Neptune Nonsense' is lacking. Not completely humourless, but there isn't enough and not much that sticks in the mind anyhow. For Felix the Cat, with the surreal/absurdist humour missing, this was pretty tame, how he caught up with the boat was an exception.
Overall, decent but not great. For "Rainbow Parade", it's pretty good. For Felix the Cat, it underwhelms somewhat. 7/10 Bethany Cox