wile_E2005

I really enjoyed this made-for-video production. As a longtime fan of "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo," I was a little nervous about it at first (because Warner Bros. Animation had screwed up before with "What's New, Scooby-Doo?", some of the made-for-video movies and "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!") but the movie had the charm of the 1988-1991 TV series, except it was done in puppets! You have Velma's same walk, Scooby turning into a rocket after eating Scooby snacks, goofy takes, the characters dancing to a rock song relating to the plot, and more. Though the Jim Henson Company/Muppet studio had no involvement, many Muppet performers including David Rudman, Matt Vogel, Eric Jacobson and Peter Linz all had a hand in performing the puppets, and they did a great job with it. For the most part, the puppets actually looked like characters right out of the show (except for Fred, Daphne and Shaggy having dots for eyes.) The puppet version of Young Velma reminded me quite a bit of Prairie Dawn from "Sesame Street" for some reason, and the evil parrot and Gnarlybeard puppet designs had "Classic Jim Henson monster" written all over them. Though there were a few things I did miss. Like the theme song and the show's groovy music, and the character Red Herring. Hopefully Warner will soon incorporate the latter into any future similar movies!

With Walt Disney's death in 1966, and many of Disney's best animators gone (the nine old men either retired or died, and Don Bluth left with several other animators to open a competing studio), the Disney animation studio was going through hard times. They had a few good post-Walt stuff prior to the Disney Renaissance (like "Robin Hood," "The Rescuers" and even "The Fox and the Hound,") but for the most part the magic seemed to be disappearing. It also didn't help that their "The Black Cauldron" (which didn't resemble a Disney animated film very much) was a major failure. So a smaller crew, featuring four directors (including Burny Mattinson of "Mickey's Christmas Carol," and Ron Clements and John Musker, both of whom later went on to direct some memorable Disney animated features afterward), put together "The Great Mouse Detective" on a much smaller budget. Development took quite a while, but with the advancements on digital technology, the actual production only took a year! Also, it did very well at the box office and gained several positive reviews, which convinced Disney that their animated films had a future, and if it weren't for this film's success, we may not have had a Disney Renaissance! Aside from that, this is definitely Disney's best movie from their pre-Renaissance slump. You've got likable characters, great voice acting, a perfect music score (complete with theme tunes for each main character!), well-done animation and effects, and even a few songs for Disney tradition's sake! Vincent Price tends to steal the show with his excellent performance as Professor Ratigan (no wonder he got top billing!) I also enjoy Basil's ingenious thinking and over-the-top acting for a detective that can fit in the palm of your hand (I can't help but notice he almost looks like an anime character at times, the way he is designed.) Dr. Dawson and Olivia are also great characters, and Fidget is good at raging from downright creepy (his two horror-style jump-scare scenes) to your typical comical sidekick (what's not to love about a big-eyed one-legged bat that's unable to fly?) I also liked hearing Alan Young using his Scrooge McDuck voice for Mr. Flaversham. The songs are for the most part your standard Disney musical fare, but like I said, they're a lot of fun. Especially fun is Miss Kitty's "Let Me Be Good to You" musical number (that had to be a scene by Ron Clements and John Musker; they're known for crazy stuff like that, as seen in "Aladdin" and "The Princess and the Frog!") The animation also has a very classic look and feel to it, which is rare for a Disney movie of this era. It also uses computer animation much better than "The Black Cauldron" did, and the climactic scene at Big Ben was quite thrilling and enough to keep you at the edge of your seat! I guess you could say that not only did Basil and company save London, they also saved Disney's feature animation division!

There's also a fun use of Basil Rathbone's vocal performance as Sherlock Holmes (from a record version of "The Red-Headed League") during a shadowed cameo of the REAL Sherlock Holmes. Fun stuff for the Holmes fans, too!

Halloween has always been one of my most favorite times of year, ever since I was a kid. Now I'm 30, but I still love the holiday. You're never too old for Halloween... AND you're never too old for Halloween cartoons. Every year, I celebrate the holiday with watching "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown," "Garfield's Halloween Adventure," "Halloween is Grinch Night," several Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror" specials, "Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School," "Doug's Halloween Adventure," "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "The Halloween Tree." When I first decided to check it out, I thought it was going to be lame. Hanna-Barbera had really lost their touch by this time, and their cartoons would never be the same (the studio would have been dead by the end of 1994 if it weren't for their admittedly cool and creative "What a Cartoon" shorts from 1995-1997!) Now I'm glad I watched it. It has become a Halloween tradition of mine! True, it doesn't resemble your usual Hanna-Barbera cartoon in any way. Instead it feels more like Nelvana or Film Roman made it. (From what I read, Ray Bradbury wanted his animator friend Chuck Jones to bring it to life. I think a Chuck Jones version would have been even better!) But regardless, it's still fun. It helped me understand several Halloween origins and customs, and can be a bit creepy at times. Perfect! Leonard Nimoy does a great job voicing Mr. Moundshround, and Ray Bradbury does an equally great job narrating his story. The animation, like I said, isn't the usual Hanna-Barbera style you would expect. It's not totally perfect, but is still pretty good for a 1990s animated TV special, at times up to par with Walt Disney Television Animation's stuff of the time (then again, bad animation became increasingly rare in the 1990s, with a few exceptions like H-B's poorly-animated "Arabian Nights" TV movie from 1994!) John Debney's music is also really good, especially the haunting opening theme, though it does get a bit Disney-esque at times (there were times in the 1990s when H-B felt they needed to mimic Disney!) I'm watching it as I type this review, and it's helping put me in the Halloween mood more. "Oh my gosh!" look at the time. "Ready, set, go!"