Nestor-4

Copying some old episodes of Rolf's Cartoon Club from tape to DVD recently, it dawned on us how much more educational and valid Tony Robinson's approach was. It's absolutely true that not only was Rolf tracing his "freehand" drawings, but his segments were just filler between cartoons.

Robinson provided necessary information for those watching, putting the cartoons in historical context. There were a couple of occasions were he had to explain that a certain animation was from an age were social values were different, including the use of the racist term "s*mbo".

There are probably very few people in possession of copies of this show, and with copyright being what it is, we'll never see it again, and this is a damn shame. Sure, you can buy sets of cartoons on DVD, but they only come from individual studios, and you have to put up with people like Leonard Maltin dripping smarm as he recounts their history.

You'll never see a finer showcase than this one.

This travesty has only come into the public arena because of its release as part of the Ultimate Superman collection. After watching it, it comes as no surprise as to why it has been hidden away for so long...

If those out there in TV land thought that kiddies would watch any old garbage shoved in front of them, they were proved wrong with The Adventures Of Superpup.

Not so much a pup, more a mange-ridden mongrel, Superpup is really Bark Bent (non-US English-speaking countries will get an added laugh with this name), mild-mannered reporter, but has a head so big that if he didn't have super powers, his neck would snap if he was the passenger in a car (or a locomotive) that was hit from behind by another vehicle.

The sheer awfulness of this lousy pilot has to be seen to be believed - Superpup is aided by an annoying hand-puppet that provides expository dialogue (in one instance, this puppet is even employed to cover over a HUGE continuity error!). This character is SO annoying that one would wish arthritis on the person operating it.

The models of the main characters aren't too bad (the Perry White bulldog character looks like something from Peter Jackson's Meet the Feebles), and there is enough action to keep the most undemanding kids amused (though they would probably not be allowed access to sharp objects), but the sheer ghastliness of trying to create an extension of the hugely popular Superman TV show leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

If there was one moment of unintentional hilarity, it comes when Superpup's sidekick, Mongomery Mouse (a glove puppet), has to call the police - the operator of the puppet makes no attempt to try and use the hands of the puppet to pick up the receiver, instead just grabbing the thing the way anyone wearing a glove would pick up a receiver. Funny stuff! The Adventures of Superpup only gets a 2-star rating because of the hysterical moment mentioned above - otherwise, it's an abomination.

Thankfully, Superpup was neutered and didn't beget a full series.

...by booking yourself in for an unnecessary proctological examination.

This truly is one of the worst movies it has ever been our sad duty to sit through.

The acting, direction, editing, lighting, cinematography, scoring, and pretty much everything else is among the very worst you will ever experience. If you thought that some of Jess Franco's lesser movies were painful to endure, then, to quote Jolsen "you ain't seen nothing yet" This movie has more aliases than the aforementioned Mr Franco, but whatever name is travels under, it is always appalling.

If you have truly lost the will to live, then you will want to head toward the light after watching this abortion of a movie.