"Q.T. Hush" was a cartoon adventure serial that ran in syndication on American TV. It was never transmitted in Britain, although several episodes were brought over to London in the mid-1960s by an American TV executive who hoped to syndicate them in Britain. I saw these episodes whilst I was working at Broadcasting House for the BBC. I mis-heard the title character's name as 'Cutey Hush', but the syndication executive explained to me that the character's name was part of an American slang phrase: to do something 'on the Q.T.' is to keep it quiet, softly-softly.
'Q.T. Hush' is a detective, so of course he wears a deerstalker cap and smokes a calabash pipe. (Was this cliché ever funny?) He also looks a lot like Elmer Fudd. Hush (a private eye) is assisted by a 'private nose' ... namely, his bloodhound Seamus, who also wears a deerstalker and walks on his hind legs. They travel to their stakeouts in Hush's yellow jalopy.
The most amazing thing about Hush is that his shadow has a mind of its own, and can detach itself from Hush's body. Hush's shadow is named Quincy. Q.T. Hush is short and plump, but his shadow Quincy is tall and thin. The shadow wore a trenchcoat and a trilby (wot, no deerstalker?), and smoked a stinky cigar. Quincy had no face, or perhaps his face was shrouded in the depths of his trenchcoat. Being an animated shadow, Quincy was able to slip under doorcracks, flatten into two dimensions, and do all sorts of other things that Q.T. and Seamus couldn't do. Quincy had his own office at the Finkerton Detective Agency, which is only fair: he was definitely an autonomous figure in his own right, and not dependent on Q.T. Hush. I wonder if this character was inspired by the Shadow from the old 1930s radio serials. Frankly, I couldn't understand why Q.T. Hush was the main character in this series, since he is upstaged by his own shadow: Quincy is a much more interesting (and more versatile) character.
The Q.T. Hush cartoons were meant to be funny, but I found them rather eerie, due to the presence of the spooky faceless Quincy. If Hush's shadow could detach itself from his body and move about independently, mightn't the rest of us lose our shadows too? Why don't Quincy (the shadow) and Seamus (the private nose) ditch Q.T. Hush and set up their own detective agency? They could call it the Shadow Nose.
Q.T. Hush was one of those (fictional) private eyes who are constantly called in by the police to solve cases that baffle the police force. (This hardly ever happens in real life.) A typical Hush nemesis was Dr Tickle, who drank something called 'Meany Mix' that turned him into the monstrously evil Mr Snide. (Tickle and Snide, geddit?) There was also a jewellery thief named Baffles (geddit?) and a gang called the Scavenger Hill Mob: these are British-based puns which I should think would be completely over the heads of American children, and they would likely be over the heads of most British children too.
Like 'Rocky and Bullwinkle', Q.T. Hush's adventures were serialised cliffhangers: each adventure ran for 10 instalments. 'Hush' was better-drawn and better-animated than 'Bullwinkle', and also had much more elaborate backgrounds. (Interestingly, the interior shots of the police station often featured a carefully-drawn American flag.) However, 'Bullwinkle' was much better-scripted and is definitely funnier than 'Q.T. Hush'.
'Q.T. Hush' is not one of the all-time great cartoons, but it's much better (and more intelligent) than most of the brainless and unattractive animations that are polluting children's television nowadays. I can't understand the tremendous popularity of a cartoon series like 'Scooby-Doo', in which every single episode has exactly the same plot and the same 'surprise' ending. 'Q.T. Hush' at least showed some imagination and intelligence, and some glimmerings of wit. Someone should revive this show and take 'Scooby-Doo' off the air.
'Q.T. Hush' is a detective, so of course he wears a deerstalker cap and smokes a calabash pipe. (Was this cliché ever funny?) He also looks a lot like Elmer Fudd. Hush (a private eye) is assisted by a 'private nose' ... namely, his bloodhound Seamus, who also wears a deerstalker and walks on his hind legs. They travel to their stakeouts in Hush's yellow jalopy.
The most amazing thing about Hush is that his shadow has a mind of its own, and can detach itself from Hush's body. Hush's shadow is named Quincy. Q.T. Hush is short and plump, but his shadow Quincy is tall and thin. The shadow wore a trenchcoat and a trilby (wot, no deerstalker?), and smoked a stinky cigar. Quincy had no face, or perhaps his face was shrouded in the depths of his trenchcoat. Being an animated shadow, Quincy was able to slip under doorcracks, flatten into two dimensions, and do all sorts of other things that Q.T. and Seamus couldn't do. Quincy had his own office at the Finkerton Detective Agency, which is only fair: he was definitely an autonomous figure in his own right, and not dependent on Q.T. Hush. I wonder if this character was inspired by the Shadow from the old 1930s radio serials. Frankly, I couldn't understand why Q.T. Hush was the main character in this series, since he is upstaged by his own shadow: Quincy is a much more interesting (and more versatile) character.
The Q.T. Hush cartoons were meant to be funny, but I found them rather eerie, due to the presence of the spooky faceless Quincy. If Hush's shadow could detach itself from his body and move about independently, mightn't the rest of us lose our shadows too? Why don't Quincy (the shadow) and Seamus (the private nose) ditch Q.T. Hush and set up their own detective agency? They could call it the Shadow Nose.
Q.T. Hush was one of those (fictional) private eyes who are constantly called in by the police to solve cases that baffle the police force. (This hardly ever happens in real life.) A typical Hush nemesis was Dr Tickle, who drank something called 'Meany Mix' that turned him into the monstrously evil Mr Snide. (Tickle and Snide, geddit?) There was also a jewellery thief named Baffles (geddit?) and a gang called the Scavenger Hill Mob: these are British-based puns which I should think would be completely over the heads of American children, and they would likely be over the heads of most British children too.
Like 'Rocky and Bullwinkle', Q.T. Hush's adventures were serialised cliffhangers: each adventure ran for 10 instalments. 'Hush' was better-drawn and better-animated than 'Bullwinkle', and also had much more elaborate backgrounds. (Interestingly, the interior shots of the police station often featured a carefully-drawn American flag.) However, 'Bullwinkle' was much better-scripted and is definitely funnier than 'Q.T. Hush'.
'Q.T. Hush' is not one of the all-time great cartoons, but it's much better (and more intelligent) than most of the brainless and unattractive animations that are polluting children's television nowadays. I can't understand the tremendous popularity of a cartoon series like 'Scooby-Doo', in which every single episode has exactly the same plot and the same 'surprise' ending. 'Q.T. Hush' at least showed some imagination and intelligence, and some glimmerings of wit. Someone should revive this show and take 'Scooby-Doo' off the air.