Of the four Sherlock Holmes series of animated films made for Australian TV, This is the best.
All of these films have two major positive qualities - They are true to the original stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the voice of Holmes is that of legendary actor Peter O'Toole, who does a splendid job bringing a light touch of wit to the character of the famous detective.
All four films also share two major failings: the animation is shoddy and the pacing is slow.
Somehow, these failings are not so intrusive in this version of the Hound of the Baskervilles; my guess is because the original story is by far the most leisurely and most convoluted of the Holmes narratives, with a denouement that is simplicity itself. Consquently it is easy to remove unnecessary slow moments from the story before finishing the script, and to use the major 'clew' to compress the finale - this worked for Hammer in their Peter Cushing version as well. Consequently the version here actually feels tighter than the original.
Won't impress fans of recent animation, but a worthy view for an off-hour for Holmes enthusiasts.
All of these films have two major positive qualities - They are true to the original stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the voice of Holmes is that of legendary actor Peter O'Toole, who does a splendid job bringing a light touch of wit to the character of the famous detective.
All four films also share two major failings: the animation is shoddy and the pacing is slow.
Somehow, these failings are not so intrusive in this version of the Hound of the Baskervilles; my guess is because the original story is by far the most leisurely and most convoluted of the Holmes narratives, with a denouement that is simplicity itself. Consquently it is easy to remove unnecessary slow moments from the story before finishing the script, and to use the major 'clew' to compress the finale - this worked for Hammer in their Peter Cushing version as well. Consequently the version here actually feels tighter than the original.
Won't impress fans of recent animation, but a worthy view for an off-hour for Holmes enthusiasts.