Capitaine chez les Pygmées

After Fred Quimby had lured Freleng away from Schlesinger's shop, he stuck him in a slot making 'Captain and the Kids' black and white cartoons, an assignment and attitude that he hated so much that when his contract was up, he scurried back to Schlesinger, made YOU OUGHT TO BE IN PICTURES as a way of saying he was wrong to have ever left and spent the rest of his career in the same place -- Depatie-Freleng was, after all a way of making sure the Termite Terrace crew still had day jobs. And, oh yes, they based Yosemite Sam on him.

But despite the opprobrium heaped on Quimby -- whose evil plot was to hire the best people and leave them alone -- there is a vivacity and humor about this cartoons that was lacking before in Freleng's work. Perhaps as the old hand at Schlesinger's studio, he felt he could not adopt the over the top pacing and gags that Avery and Clampett were working on, until he had gone elsewhere. Perhaps he found Scott Brady an easier orchestrator to work with -- certainly Brady's work never sounded better. Whatever the reason, this cartoon, despite it not being a great one, shows a lot of touches that Frelengs work lacked before, but which he continued to use for the rest of his career.

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. Actually appreciate it even more through young adults eyes, due to having more knowledge of it, various animation styles, studios, directors and how it all works.

'The Pygmy Hunt' is not one of Friz Freleng's best cartoons by any stretch, in an uneven "still evolving" period of his long career, and he was yet to be in his full prime and not yet found his style properly. For a relatively early effort, 'The Pygmy Hunt' is above average but not great or a Freleng classic, he would do much better later. It is never what one would call hilarious (but is never unfunny), Freleng's later efforts show more evenness and confidence in directing and the story is flimsy and fairly tame up to the end.

It is fairly predictable story-wise and at times could have had more oomph, which would have been solved if the cartoon was a little shorter.

However, the titular character and the captain are fun characters and the chemistry between the characters elevates 'The Pygmy Hunt'.

The cartoon is amusing and it generally goes at a lively and energetic pace, apart from parts that could have done with more oomph. The dialogue is witty and clever.

Animation is excellent, it's fluid in movement, crisp in shading and very meticulous in detail. Scott Bradley's music is lovely on the ears, lushly orchestrated, full of lively energy and characterful in rhythm, not only adding to the action but also enhancing it.

Voice acting from Billy Bletcher is terrific and full of character.

Altogether, above average but nothing mind-blowing. 6/10 Bethany Cox