What's the point of hiring the most talented stop-motion animator of his day if you're not even going to let him do any animating? It's like hiring Fred Astaire and then telling him he's not to do any dancing.
This doesn't really follow the story in the Conan Doyle novel, but contain a few interesting twists and Challenger is certainly well-portrayed. However, the token female character (not in the novel) has a voice which is so badly dubbed-on that it's embarrassing. And who exactly thinks that lizards with spikes and frills stuck to them, not to mention Mexican Red-Kneed Tarantulas with green lights shone on them, are either frightening or convincing in the slightest? There is also a scene where two animals fight in very realistic fashion. One is reminded of cheap exploitation films where animals are forced to suffer indignities and suffering for the sake of cheering ghouls.
What could have been an entertaining film is just a tacky let-down.
This doesn't really follow the story in the Conan Doyle novel, but contain a few interesting twists and Challenger is certainly well-portrayed. However, the token female character (not in the novel) has a voice which is so badly dubbed-on that it's embarrassing. And who exactly thinks that lizards with spikes and frills stuck to them, not to mention Mexican Red-Kneed Tarantulas with green lights shone on them, are either frightening or convincing in the slightest? There is also a scene where two animals fight in very realistic fashion. One is reminded of cheap exploitation films where animals are forced to suffer indignities and suffering for the sake of cheering ghouls.
What could have been an entertaining film is just a tacky let-down.