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 (hence why some reiteration reviewing them). Generally 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.
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.
'Vitamin Hay' is another example of the supporting characters making more of an impression than the leads do. The goose and gander characters spice the cartoon up a bit in the latter part of the cartoon and their contribution doesn't disjoint tonally. A few parts are mildly amusing.
However, Hunky and especially Spunky are too sickly sweet and not particularly interesting, Hunky has little to do even and Spunky is not a relatable enough lead.
When it comes to the story, it is very flimsy and also very predictable, with no surprises as to what will happen next let alone at the end. There is too a tendency to be repetitive, not much variation to Spunky's antics.
Furthermore, 'Vitamin Hay' 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 is not much at all in the way of humour, when there is any it is too few and is not very funny.
Overall, lacklustre in most areas. 4/10 Bethany Cox
