'The Bongo Punch' (1957)
Opening thoughts: Alex Lovy's work as director and associate producer varied a lot, but when he was on form the cartoons had a lot of good things. When he was not, which was primarily in his later career where tighter deadlines and lower budgets affected the quality, the cartoons in question were average or less. Very much the same with Walter Lantz's output overall. 'The Bongo Punch' is not one of his worst. It is also nowhere near one of his best as well. When it comes to the cartune special cartoons, 'The Bongo Punch' is not one of the best or one of the worst of them. It is one of the average middling ones in my view, a cartoon that did start off slow and bland but did get better. It also could have done with being funnier and having more excitement and punch, and not just by a little, we are talking quite a lot.
Good things: Of course there are good things. The best thing is the animation, which is absolutely beautiful. The colours are vibrant and lush, while the meticulous and elaborate attention to detail in the backgrounds and fluid transitions are notable, as are some nice humorous touches. Close behind is the music score, which is fantastic throughout the entire cartoon. Even when the story is uneven in pacing the energy and character in the music are consistent and in a great way.
Also thought that the boxing action was quite fun and cleverly and strikingly animated. There is tension and the climax has energy. A few amusing moments can be found.
Bad things: However, it could have been better. The first half for my tastes felt very bland and took too long to get going. Was expecting the story to be slight, common for the cartunes series, but too much of it is very thin to near non existence and predictable. Mostly, the energy is not there, meaning that it felt pedestrian.
None of the characters appeal and have very little personality and the cartoon is very low on laughs and is too cutesy generally. Only really at the end does it pick up. Some of the character designs lack finesse.
Closing thoughts: Concluding, pretty average.
5/10.
Opening thoughts: Alex Lovy's work as director and associate producer varied a lot, but when he was on form the cartoons had a lot of good things. When he was not, which was primarily in his later career where tighter deadlines and lower budgets affected the quality, the cartoons in question were average or less. Very much the same with Walter Lantz's output overall. 'The Bongo Punch' is not one of his worst. It is also nowhere near one of his best as well. When it comes to the cartune special cartoons, 'The Bongo Punch' is not one of the best or one of the worst of them. It is one of the average middling ones in my view, a cartoon that did start off slow and bland but did get better. It also could have done with being funnier and having more excitement and punch, and not just by a little, we are talking quite a lot.
Good things: Of course there are good things. The best thing is the animation, which is absolutely beautiful. The colours are vibrant and lush, while the meticulous and elaborate attention to detail in the backgrounds and fluid transitions are notable, as are some nice humorous touches. Close behind is the music score, which is fantastic throughout the entire cartoon. Even when the story is uneven in pacing the energy and character in the music are consistent and in a great way.
Also thought that the boxing action was quite fun and cleverly and strikingly animated. There is tension and the climax has energy. A few amusing moments can be found.
Bad things: However, it could have been better. The first half for my tastes felt very bland and took too long to get going. Was expecting the story to be slight, common for the cartunes series, but too much of it is very thin to near non existence and predictable. Mostly, the energy is not there, meaning that it felt pedestrian.
None of the characters appeal and have very little personality and the cartoon is very low on laughs and is too cutesy generally. Only really at the end does it pick up. Some of the character designs lack finesse.
Closing thoughts: Concluding, pretty average.
5/10.
