"Hamateur Night" looks like a talent show presented in front of a live audience. Just like if it was in a Broadway theater.
The show begins with an orchestra and their conductor. But it's the maestro alone who plays all of the instruments, while the supposed musicians conduct him. It's almost if he was a part of the show.
The host is a white dog, but he's far from extravagant or flamboyant. He seems very cold and he doesn't look to have a lot of interest for what he does. In a sense, it makes him a funny character.
The candidates follow one after the another, but they're all pitiful and they all disappear, either behind the curtain or in a cartoon trap which appears everywhere it's needed. First, there's a pianist who plays by putting a nickel in his piano (!) Second, it's an owl whose voice rises at the same time that he lifts in the air. There's a guru who performs the trick of the basket pierced by his sword while there's somebody in it. Unfortunately, his stuff must has been bought in a dollar store. Then, it's a tiny female flea who tells what is supposedly a funny joke, but we can't notice any word because of her high voice. She's followed by a performing dog who, when he's asked to talk, delivers a speech. A fox then tries to deliver the famous first lines of "Hamlet". It ends with two chickens embodying Romeo and Juliet.
The graphics are not terrific and sometimes, the colors don't follow. What saves the show are its funny moments. The silly performers are fairly funny. The different audience reactions are sometimes even funnier, especially with that Tex Avery-voiced hippo.
So, it's not a classic but, because of its age, it deserves to be kept.
