The premise of 'Fowl Play' is not an overly exciting one in the first place to be honest. It is one that has been re-visited many times in animation and was already feeling done to death before any of the Blue Racer cartoons were produced. Even though it is slightly different to the formula of Blue Racer's outings with the beetle (seven altogether), even on paper there was an air of familiarity. Am not a fan of most of the Blue Racer cartoons, but they were seen anyway as an animation fan and because DePatie-Freleng Enterprises have done many good to great cartoons.
'Fowl Play' sadly is not one of them. As far as the Blue Racer cartoons go, and most of the series is mediocre, this is one of the weaker ones. Due to not being very funny, having one of the most annoying supporting characters of the series and because Blue Racer's character writing could have been more consistent. And another cartoon that proves that not every Blue Racer cartoon that didn't have the beetle is immediately better, the quality is pretty much the same.
It's not all bad. Am going to start with the good. Doug Goodwin's music still shines. The music is characterful and upbeat with an infectious main theme and the opening credits are well designed. There are some nice colours and the character animation on Blue Racer is fun, especially his frustrated and angry facial expressions.
Despite feeling that Blue Racer's personality did grow over-time, the best or at least most interesting character by far is the tough talking father rooster, who sounds very like John Wayne. Not a likeable character but it's a case of him being a protective and shrewd father that is easily misled. The voice acting is good. There are a few amusing lines, especially father rooster's "noone asked for your two cents mister", and the cliff gag (which is still a familiar one) is the funniest the cartoon gets.
A lot doesn't work however. Blue Racer isn't bland as such and has some nice craftiness and amusing lines, but he is pretty one-joke and is again placed in a scenario where he is treated in such a mean spirited way that one only feels sympathy for him and forgets the craftiness that he showed in other cartoons of his. It doesn't help that the baby rooster is very annoying and bratty, even for a character meant to be that way, and actually doesn't have an awful lot of personality. The chemistry between the two lacks spark, what could have been a battle of wits turned out to be Blue Racer treated too cruelly by two characters.
Very few of the gags are funny, apart from one, and all of them lack originality. That's including the aforementioned cliff gag. The one with the traffic lights is too cruel. Despite the scenario being different for Blue Racer, story-wise it is very formulaic and repetitive. Due to seeing so much of it before, it was easy to tell how things were going to map out with no problem. Despite things seeming to move quickly, the cartoon managed to still feel dull with there being so little to the material. Animation is really not great here, apart from the character animation of Blue Racer. It is very flatly coloured, static and the backgrounds are overly-simple and unfinished looking, even for a purposefully abstract visual style.
Overall, pretty lacklustre. 4/10.
'Fowl Play' sadly is not one of them. As far as the Blue Racer cartoons go, and most of the series is mediocre, this is one of the weaker ones. Due to not being very funny, having one of the most annoying supporting characters of the series and because Blue Racer's character writing could have been more consistent. And another cartoon that proves that not every Blue Racer cartoon that didn't have the beetle is immediately better, the quality is pretty much the same.
It's not all bad. Am going to start with the good. Doug Goodwin's music still shines. The music is characterful and upbeat with an infectious main theme and the opening credits are well designed. There are some nice colours and the character animation on Blue Racer is fun, especially his frustrated and angry facial expressions.
Despite feeling that Blue Racer's personality did grow over-time, the best or at least most interesting character by far is the tough talking father rooster, who sounds very like John Wayne. Not a likeable character but it's a case of him being a protective and shrewd father that is easily misled. The voice acting is good. There are a few amusing lines, especially father rooster's "noone asked for your two cents mister", and the cliff gag (which is still a familiar one) is the funniest the cartoon gets.
A lot doesn't work however. Blue Racer isn't bland as such and has some nice craftiness and amusing lines, but he is pretty one-joke and is again placed in a scenario where he is treated in such a mean spirited way that one only feels sympathy for him and forgets the craftiness that he showed in other cartoons of his. It doesn't help that the baby rooster is very annoying and bratty, even for a character meant to be that way, and actually doesn't have an awful lot of personality. The chemistry between the two lacks spark, what could have been a battle of wits turned out to be Blue Racer treated too cruelly by two characters.
Very few of the gags are funny, apart from one, and all of them lack originality. That's including the aforementioned cliff gag. The one with the traffic lights is too cruel. Despite the scenario being different for Blue Racer, story-wise it is very formulaic and repetitive. Due to seeing so much of it before, it was easy to tell how things were going to map out with no problem. Despite things seeming to move quickly, the cartoon managed to still feel dull with there being so little to the material. Animation is really not great here, apart from the character animation of Blue Racer. It is very flatly coloured, static and the backgrounds are overly-simple and unfinished looking, even for a purposefully abstract visual style.
Overall, pretty lacklustre. 4/10.
