Sherlock Holmes and a Study in Scarlet

I've been a lifelong fan of mysteries, as was my father before me, and it's a tradition I've tried to pass down to my nieces and nephews. I recently came across these four animated Sherlock Holmes specials from the early 80s with acting legend Peter O'Toole voicing the greatest detective of all time. I'd never heard of these before, and boy was I in for a treat! Peter O'Toole has an amazing vocal quality that brings the right amount of sincerity and wit to the role, and his ability to have fun within character makes him a real treat for children. The animation is on par with any Hannah Barbera production from the era, and it reminded me of one of my other all time favorite animated shows, Scooby Doo, only with the higher quality writing of the Arthur Conan Doyle original stories. I can't wait to see these again, as I've heard a DVD release is pending. Wonderful family entertainment, and a great way to get kids reading. Highly recommended! I agree with another's comments that this is a very close adaptation of the original novel, perhaps THE closest ever. One of the directors has been the chief layout artist for many Disney films in recent years, too.

In regard to Burbank's Sherlock Holmes adaptations I do like them. None of them are perfect with all of them having similar flaws to the rest but they have pretty much the same pros as well. A Study in Scarlet is one of the better animated adaptations, for me second to The Baskerville Curse. It is not easy to translate a literary source to television let alone for animation, and A Study in Scarlet does laudably in that regard. The animation is at times rather shoddy- some of the backgrounds are handsome but the character designs look stiff to me-, some scenes come across as pedestrian and some of the line delivery for the side characters is on the monotone side. However, the music here is an improvement on The Baskerville Curse, it is much more subtly used and not as overbearing. The dialogue is intelligent, and the story is surprisingly very faithful with the crucial scenes at least having degrees tension and suspense. Holmes and Watson continue to be interesting characters, and Peter O'Toole's voice work as Holmes is splendid. Overall, a thoroughly decent animated adaptation, though not one of my favourites. 7/10 Bethany Cox

These Four Sherlock Holmes cartoons, as well as the literary adaptations done by Burbank Studios Australia, are fun little pieces. They were made in the 80's, and played on TV, sometimes on Saturday mornings, but mostly on school holidays to give kids an alternative to Soap Operas in the days when there were only three channels from which to choose.

For kids raised on anime, these will seem boring, they also lack all the high pitched screaming and shrieking prevalent in the cartoons on TV today.

The cartoons give a nice representation of Victorian England both in locations and in the characterizations.

This Study in Scarlet is the closest I've seen to the book. The 1954 TV show with Ronald Howard used the elements of this story in several different episodes. The meeting. The carriage wheel tracks outside the location. The writing of a word in blood on the wall. Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century also used some of the elements. The 1933 version with Reginald Owen goes off in an entirely new direction with a secret society and a Chinese brothel. This version with Peter O'Toole actually stays with the book to the end. As it is a cartoon for kids, all mention of Sherlock Holmes pharmicudical endeavors are non-existent.

Definitely recommended for fans of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and cartoon adaptations of literary classics.