Sheriff Hoot Kloot is a diminutive, short-tempered lawman who tries to maintain order in a remote western town. He is aided by his loyal horse Fester.Sheriff Hoot Kloot is a diminutive, short-tempered lawman who tries to maintain order in a remote western town. He is aided by his loyal horse Fester.Sheriff Hoot Kloot is a diminutive, short-tempered lawman who tries to maintain order in a remote western town. He is aided by his loyal horse Fester.
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DePatie-Freleng Enterprises in the 60s and 70s were responsible for a number of theatrical series. The best being the Pink Panther (especially the 60s efforts), The Inspector and the Ant and the Aardvark. And the worst being Tijuana Toads, the Blue Racer and particularly Crazylegs Crane. The Dogfather and Misterjaw cartoons need a rewatch, it's been a long time, but memories are mixed in both cases. The Hoot Kloot series is one of the in between ones quality-wise, like Roland and Rattfink.
The Hoot Kloot series is watchable if inconsistent. A case of the first half of it being better than the second. Quite liked but not loved nearly all the pre-'Giddy Up Woe' cartoons, excepting 'Ten Miles to the Gallop'. 'Pay Your Buffalo Bill' being the best in the series in my view. In the second half, post-'Giddy Up Woe', only two cartoons were above average. They being 'Gold Struck' and 'Mesa Trouble' and all the Bob Balsar-directed outings ('The Badge and the Beautiful', 'Big Beef at the O. K. Corral' and 'By Hoot or By Crook') being notable lesser efforts.
All the Hoot Kloot cartoons have a few things in common in a good way. The music was a consistent redeeming quality, absolute loved its energetic character and the main theme (which has criminally on reflection been neglected to be mentioned by me in my reviews for all the series' cartoons. The titles sequence is fun. Hoot Kloot is a compelling and amusing lead character, with the only cartoon where he didn't do much for me being 'Saddle Soap Opera'.
Fester is a funny and likeable character, who shows sass more than once. His "goldang antihorse bigot" line in 'Apache on the County Seat' was priceless but also relatable. Bob Holt was terrific voicing both characters, contrasting Hoot Kloot's loudmouth brashness with the Walter Brennan-like voice he adopts for Fester. There was a lot of clever and sharp wordplay and interactions and also some strong gags, with a clear Looney Tunes influence, throughout the series. The standout one being the John Wayne impression as a side effect of the medicine in 'Pay Your Buffalo Bill'. Other memorable parts are the door/elevator in a rock that is used as an escape route in 'Strange on the Range', the hiccup transitions in 'Stirrups and Hiccups', the sawing through the stage gag in 'A Self-Winding Sidewinner' and the clever ending of 'By Hoot or By Crook'.
Other aspects varied in execution. There were some good stories, 'Pay Your Buffalo Bill's' storyline was quite creative and 'Gold Struck' was also a good attempt at doing something different, including having a ghost town setting and spooks. Too many of them suffered from being very thin and predictable, and the latter cartoons were very tired when it came to the story. A few suffered from very dull and repetitive middle acts too, especially 'By Hoot or By Crook' and 'Saddle Soap Opera', and 'As the Tumbleweeds Turn' was a case of the scenario feeling out of place within the series and Hoot Kloot not fitting in it.
What also varied was the animation, 'Mesa Trouble' being an example of a Hoot Kloot cartoon where the animation quality was very uneven and representative of both what the series was and what it became. The animation was decent in the early cartoons, with the side effects of the medicine in 'Pay Your Buffalo Bill' being great even, but became very simplistic and sloppy in the later ones. Low points being the hideous character animation for Calamitous Jane (a waste of a great entrance) in 'The Badge and the Beautiful' and the washed out colours in the first half of 'By Hoot or By Crook'. Likewise with the adversaries, the best faring being Wild Bill Hiccups in 'Stirrups and Hiccups' and the vampire in 'Gold Struck'. It was interesting seeing a Granny doppelganger in 'As the Tumbleweeds Turn'. The most recurring adversary was Crazywolf, who struck me as obnoxious throughout with that constant over the top laughter in particular, and Billy the Kidder was like an even more annoying version of Crazywolf in human form. The stereotypes in 'Apache on the County Seat' will also raise eyebrows.
In summary, worthwhile if very inconsistent and middling series. DePatie-Freleng Enterprises did better, but they did worse too. 6/10.
The Hoot Kloot series is watchable if inconsistent. A case of the first half of it being better than the second. Quite liked but not loved nearly all the pre-'Giddy Up Woe' cartoons, excepting 'Ten Miles to the Gallop'. 'Pay Your Buffalo Bill' being the best in the series in my view. In the second half, post-'Giddy Up Woe', only two cartoons were above average. They being 'Gold Struck' and 'Mesa Trouble' and all the Bob Balsar-directed outings ('The Badge and the Beautiful', 'Big Beef at the O. K. Corral' and 'By Hoot or By Crook') being notable lesser efforts.
All the Hoot Kloot cartoons have a few things in common in a good way. The music was a consistent redeeming quality, absolute loved its energetic character and the main theme (which has criminally on reflection been neglected to be mentioned by me in my reviews for all the series' cartoons. The titles sequence is fun. Hoot Kloot is a compelling and amusing lead character, with the only cartoon where he didn't do much for me being 'Saddle Soap Opera'.
Fester is a funny and likeable character, who shows sass more than once. His "goldang antihorse bigot" line in 'Apache on the County Seat' was priceless but also relatable. Bob Holt was terrific voicing both characters, contrasting Hoot Kloot's loudmouth brashness with the Walter Brennan-like voice he adopts for Fester. There was a lot of clever and sharp wordplay and interactions and also some strong gags, with a clear Looney Tunes influence, throughout the series. The standout one being the John Wayne impression as a side effect of the medicine in 'Pay Your Buffalo Bill'. Other memorable parts are the door/elevator in a rock that is used as an escape route in 'Strange on the Range', the hiccup transitions in 'Stirrups and Hiccups', the sawing through the stage gag in 'A Self-Winding Sidewinner' and the clever ending of 'By Hoot or By Crook'.
Other aspects varied in execution. There were some good stories, 'Pay Your Buffalo Bill's' storyline was quite creative and 'Gold Struck' was also a good attempt at doing something different, including having a ghost town setting and spooks. Too many of them suffered from being very thin and predictable, and the latter cartoons were very tired when it came to the story. A few suffered from very dull and repetitive middle acts too, especially 'By Hoot or By Crook' and 'Saddle Soap Opera', and 'As the Tumbleweeds Turn' was a case of the scenario feeling out of place within the series and Hoot Kloot not fitting in it.
What also varied was the animation, 'Mesa Trouble' being an example of a Hoot Kloot cartoon where the animation quality was very uneven and representative of both what the series was and what it became. The animation was decent in the early cartoons, with the side effects of the medicine in 'Pay Your Buffalo Bill' being great even, but became very simplistic and sloppy in the later ones. Low points being the hideous character animation for Calamitous Jane (a waste of a great entrance) in 'The Badge and the Beautiful' and the washed out colours in the first half of 'By Hoot or By Crook'. Likewise with the adversaries, the best faring being Wild Bill Hiccups in 'Stirrups and Hiccups' and the vampire in 'Gold Struck'. It was interesting seeing a Granny doppelganger in 'As the Tumbleweeds Turn'. The most recurring adversary was Crazywolf, who struck me as obnoxious throughout with that constant over the top laughter in particular, and Billy the Kidder was like an even more annoying version of Crazywolf in human form. The stereotypes in 'Apache on the County Seat' will also raise eyebrows.
In summary, worthwhile if very inconsistent and middling series. DePatie-Freleng Enterprises did better, but they did worse too. 6/10.
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- TheLittleSongbird
- May 26, 2021
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