The Ant and the Aardvark

Whether Saturday morning cartoons or the 4:30 pm showing after school back in the 70s, the Pink Panther Show was great, and The Ant and the Aardvark were a great part of it.

The ant was cool, always just a step ahead of the aardvark. They both would talk to the camera with humour and witticisms. The voice of the aardvark, with his attitude, was among the best in cartoon history.

Somehow, these great cartoons have got to be archived, if only they could be retailed in a collector's series or something, I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd be ready to buy in an instant.

They sure don't make cartoons like they used to.

As grateful fan of growing up and watching Warner Bros., cartoons over the years, with the crazy slap-stick humor of Foghorn Leghorn, Wile E. Coyote ("Super Genius"), Bugs Bunny and so on, I also made watching the Pink Panther series as a religious event. So thank goodness, I was able to enjoy United Artist's additional cartoon segments that would accompany the Pink Panter, "The Ant And The Aardvark."

"The Ant And The Aardvark" episodes were just hilarious, one right after the other. It was a great 'cat-n-mouse' cartoon between an ant who was constantly being pestered by a determined and sometimes too-clever-for-his-own-good ardvark. Even just listening to the cartoon was funny, the ant had a casual, relaxed voice, while the aardvark had an accent almost to the tune of "Rocky" (Sylvestor Stallone). I loved the sound effects whenever someone would fall, get crushed or run into something.. I can still hear it all now. Man how I miss watching those cartoons.

It's a shame it isn't on regular broadcast channels anymore, or as an opening for a movie, like cartoons once were in the theaters and drive-ins back then. If ever available to rent or buy, do it, you won't regret watching these characters.

Did feel that the numerous theatrical series from DePatie-Freleng Enterprises were a mixed bag, some good and others not so good as an overall whole. There were three particularly good theatrical series. One is the Pink Panther, or at least in its prime, not so much in the mid-70s onwards. One is The Inspector, a few average cartoons but most were good to great. Another is that for the Ant and the Aardvark.

The Ant and the Aardvark series was made up of seventeen cartoons, the first ('The Ant and the Aardvark') produced in 1969 and the last ('From Bed to Worse') from 1971. It was not completely perfect, but there was not a bad cartoon in the lot. The weakest are still pretty good and the best great, most are in the very enjoyable category. It was, and still is, one of the most popular DePatie-Freleng Enterprises theatrical series and it is justifiably so. It is one of the best and one of the more consistent ones.

Admittedly, the series and most of the cartoons are very formulaic on a story level and the formula is not new at all, there is a clear Roadrunner/Wile E. Coyote influence to it and 'From Bed to Worse' for instance reminded me of the Sylvester and Tweety cartoon 'Greedy for Tweety'. They are also very thin and the early cartoons did suffer a bit from having a story that felt too short for the already short durations. A few of the cartoons, such as 'Ants in the Pantry' and 'Science Friction' are a bit ordinary and could have been fresher.

Not an awful lot wrong otherwise with the individual cartoons in the series. The drawing did lack finesse, some more so than others. Have never liked the ending for 'The Froze Nose Knows', just found the treatment of the aardvark too cruel, and the frequent sucking objects through the nose gag did tend to get a touch repetitive.

Most of the animation, although it won't work for others, for me had a very appealing charm. Always did like the richness of the colours, seen in the likes of 'Dune Bug', and the stylised/abstract backgrounds. A great job was always done with the aardvark's expressions and how he reacted to things. A huge part of why the series worked so well was the music, it never had a heavy hand, was very infectious and the light-heartedness was hugely appealing. The main theme and the clever opening title credits are hard to forget.

Regardless of the story, that never stopped all the cartoons from being very funny to hilarious and from the energy never being lively. There were welcome and admirable changes of pace, with 'Scratch a Tiger' and 'Don't Hustle an Ant with Muscle' being good examples of having more story for example. 'The Froze Nose Knows' ending was the only one that came off clumsily. The gags were always well timed and brought a smile to the face, although they were not particularly original, but always did feel that the verbal humour shone more. The witticisms, sarcasm, the aardvark's way of almost narrating the cartoon and the talking to the audience/breaking the fourth wall made for some quite deliciously irreverent and priceless writing (the aardvark having a lot of the best) that was much better than that of the late-60s Looney Tunes cartoons. "I hate you, Instant Hole" in 'Hasty But Tasty', the ant's public service announcement in 'I've Got Ants in My Plans', any of the aardvark's breaking the fourth wall and most of the aardvark's dialogue from 'Rough Brunch'.

Both the ant and the aardvark are equally compelling and funny, the aardvark getting the slight edge, one shouldn't expect anything multi-dimensional but found myself endeared to and amused by both throughout the series. The supporting characters were mostly terrific, especially the computer in 'Technology, Phooey', the tiger in 'Scratch a Tiger' and the green aardvark in 'I've Got Ants in My Plans' and 'Odd Ant Out'. The lifeguard in 'Dune Bug' was also memorable, despite him being a complete idiot. John Byner's voice acting, in a vast majority of the cartoons being a one-man show showed a lot of versatility in giving individuality to both the ant and the aardvark and maintaining that throughout the series.

All in all, very entertaining series. 8/10

From 1969 to 1971, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, the same studio responsible for the often wonderful Pink Panther and The Inspector cartoons, produced 17 cartoons featuring The Ant and the Aardvark. They always focused on a frustrated aardvark (for those who don't know, aardvarks are a species closely related to anteaters) in his hopeless pursuit of one clever, smart-mouthed ant. The characters were designed in same witty style as the Pink Panther and Inspector characters, and John Byner, who was at the time a very popular TV comedian, did both their voices perfectly. The title sequence was charming, with the letters coming to life and chasing each other, and most of all, the delightfully upbeat music, composed and conducted by Doug Goodwin, was so good that every member of the studio band was listed in the credits.

Unfortunately, the Ant and Aardvark cartoons were just never that funny. Despite having the same writers as the Pink Panther and Inspector, the jokes and slapstick almost always fell flat. Part of the problem was that the basic concept was derived from the Tweety and Sylvester cartoons which producer and studio head Friz Freleng had directed during the 40s and 50s. The Ant and the Aardvark series was never able to transcend its derivative nature, to the point where the final cartoon, "From Bed to Worse," was a scene-by-scene ripoff of one of the Tweety and Sylvester cartoons.

This is a real shame, because there was potential here for something much more enduring. The Ant and the Aardvark is one of the few cartoon series that I actually would like to see remade by modern animation talents, in the hopes of unearthing that potential.

Back when in the States, I was like about 7 or 8, I always woke early, just to watch this, together with a whole bunch of other cartoons like HootKloot, The Road Runner Show, The Pink Panther. But this was perhaps one of the most memorable and funny animated works out there, and I still find it very funny today, I'll never forget the episodes, like the one where two aardvarks were fighting over the can of chocolate ant pudding? or the one where the aardvark is trying to reach the island where all the ants are at, and my personal favorite, the one where the ant, the aardvark and a dog end up in an animal hospital, which would later be the basis of a similar Looney Toon cartoon with Sylvester, Tweety and the bulldog. This is one of the most unforgettable cartoons out there in which anyone would love to revisit, I would. An excellent series.