A Kick in Time

The bizarre donkey heroes of the cartoon "Hunky and Spunky" return! Once again, Spunky is captured for manual labor and Hunky must come to his/her rescue. This time Hunky has to go to THE BIG CITY to find her dear friend, and trouble ensues. Hunky and Spunky look a little different in this cartoon--a little cuddlier and, well, less freakish. And while the cartoon is always entertaining, the events in the city are somewhat confusing and hard to follow, making this an only average cartoon from the Fleischer studios.

Dave Fleischer was responsible for many gems. Ones that were amusing and charming, though over-cuteness did come through in some efforts and the stories were always pretty thin, with appealing characters, outstanding music and visuals that were inventive and with innovative animation techniques.

That being said, he and the studio have done far better than the Hunky and Spunky series, pretty much all of the seven cartoons not doing much for me for pretty much the same flaws. 'A Kick in Time' is one of the best of the series, but it feels rather bland and is easily forgettable after a couple of days if even that. Far from a bad cartoon, let alone a terrible one. Just that there is not much that is great, excepting two elements.

'A Kick in Time's' best asset is the animation. Simply put it is great, very colourful and atmosphere with smooth character designs, meticulous if not innovative attention to detail and gorgeously detailed backgrounds.

The other outstanding asset is Sammy Timberg's music score. It is both lively and lush and adds a lot to the cartoon's mood and what's going on. The villain is the most colourful character in the whole, providing fun and menace and the conflict is less jarring and more consistent tonally than most Hunky and Spunky cartoons.

Hunky and Spunky look better and more amiable-looking and there are a few amusing moments.

Against all this, Hunky and especially Spunky are too sickly sweet and not particularly interesting.

Hunky and especially Spunky are too sickly sweet and not particularly interesting. It is agreed that the city events tend to be hard to follow.

Furthermore, 'A Kick in Time' is far too cloying (Fleischer are no strangers to cuteness and sentiment, but the Hunky and Spunky cartoons took them way too far), drags in especially the first half and there generally is not enough laughs.

Overall, one of the more watchable cartoons in the series but average at best. 5/10 Bethany Cox