parks@noao.UUCP (Jay Parks) (11/09/85)
(remotely submitted for a friend)
B-- Hey Rocky, watch me pull a Flanamation outta' my hat.
R-- Again?
It's Son of Flanamation!
The Flanamation (Jr.) Scale
6 See it, record it, watch it several times a day. (Chuck Jones
Cartoons)
5 Record it, watch it while some dreck is playing on T.V. (Most
Micky Mouse shorts)
4 Watch it if you happen to be in the room at the time. (Danger
Mouse)
3 Not offensive, not impressive. (Tom and Jerry)
2 Dreck, but with some redeeming factors. (Woody Woodpecker)
1 Dreck. (He-Man)
This is a special Flanamation for all those "Funny Animal" fans out
there. I won't do many of these, but There are a few shows I'd like
to comment on.
Note the first (jr.)-- There is no such character in animation as
Chuck Jones. He is a director of animation. Most people know him for
his Warner Bros. work on Bugs Bunny, though I know for sure he's
directed some MGM Tom and Jerrys. Chuck Jones worked on almost all
the most famous Warner Bros. cartoons like: "What's Opera Doc?" the
Wagner opera take off, almost all (if not all) of the Road Runner
cartoons, the best Daffy Duck shorts, and a uncountable number of
others.
My son the note the second-- What's this? You say that He-Man is not a
funny animal? Are you sure we're watching the same thing?
Here's the moment you've all been waiting for, Mister Know-it-all!
Danger Mouse-- What happens when all of London is filling up with
custard in a dastardly plot to take over the world? Why, you'd call
on a pair living in an ordinary pillar box in Mayfair. They are:
Danger Mouse, the world's greatest detective, and Penfold, the world's
worst assistant! Danger Mouse is a well conceived funny animals
cartoon that has played in Britain for the past seven years. It is
known in America for it's Nickelodeon appearances, and the video
tapes.
Danger Mouse is a secret agent for Britain's animal secret
service. One day Penfold came to his door and Danger Mouse just
hasn't had the heart to send him home. Their chief enemy, but hardly
their only enemy, is Baron Silas Greenback, the most evil of frogs,
he's trying to figure out a way to control the world! Together with
Stiletto, the crow, and Nero, the caterpillar they try such schemes
as shrinking all of the national monuments all over the world,
unleashing Count Duckula on an unsuspecting Britain, and cloning
Penfold over a million times.
Danger Mouse is a wonderful cartoon for it's writing, and humor.
It is not so good for it's animation. The stock footage is numerous,
the actual time doing a episode seems minimal, and the backgrounds
are washed photos of parts of London. BUT...
The good parts-- Danger Mouse is actually funny. Some of it
hilariously so. The adventures of Danger Mouse the incomparable, and
Penfold the incompetent (aay?) are far fetched enough to be amusing,
But the thing that makes DM so fun are the characters. All are
appealing, several are endearing, additionally the range of accents is
exceptional.
One might get the impression that I like this cartoon. I'm not
so carried away with it that I'd compare it with Bugs Bunny, but it
stacks up favorably with any made-for-TV animated show.
Danger Mouse rates a 4 on the Flanamation Scale.
And now here's something we hope you'll really like!
Bullwinkle and Rocky-- Many people know more about this show than I.
I just watch it every chance I get. There is too much in the show for
me to examine in a couple of paragraphs. Apart from the episodes the
show was named for, there's Dudly Do-Right of the RCMP, Peabody and
Sherman, Fractured Fairy Tales, Aesop and Son, and Hopity Hooper, all
are classics and have received the status of house hold words (with
the probable exemption of Hopity).
How do you review a household word? I'm certainly biased for
these cartoons by the fact that I grew up watching them. Even now I
still see episodes I missed as a child and laugh like I did then (a
high pitched giggle). I'll start out by saying that the animation is
terrible. I've seen little worse (Marvel Super Heroes stands out as
something worse). No one has ever watched Rocky et al to see beautiful
animation, good thing too.
The reason any one watches the program is for the wonderful
writing: the puns, one liners, and running gags! People see and
appreciate the time and effort put into the series to make it funny.
That is why you can say some one is a Dudly Do-Right today and every
one knows what you mean. I guess all I'm saying is: I don't care if
you're a hundred and six, or an executive VP for some multi million
dollar industry, you'll enjoy this show.
Here's a 4 on Flanamation for The Bullwinkle and Rocky Show.
On a final note (but seriously folks)-- I've noticed several people
saying: while they might agree with the review, they don't think a
show from the early age of TV animation should be compared with
today's shows. I agree. However, the stations are showing these
ancient substandard shows right next to the more recent (substandard)
shows. I feel that anything that's cluttering up todays afternoon TV
is available for review. This has been a Flanamation Editorial Reply,
and does not necessarily reflect the views of the net.
Have fun.
Bill Flanagan
((I am now telling the computer exactly what it can do with a
lifetime supply of chocolate))
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