Most of The Inspector cartoons ranged from above average to very good. There were some average ones but there were also a few great ones. Really like The Inspector himself as a character and although not all his cartoons worked he was never one of the problems in the lesser outings, it was the story and humour that tended to be hit and miss, if anything apart from a few times where he was upstaged by another character and one doesn't endear to him as much he is one of the good assets.
His last cartoon 'Carte Blanched' is not too bad a note to go out on, but it is neither one of the series' best or worst. Would consider it a just above average middling effort with a lot of good things but also with things that could have been done better. Others are far funnier and far more imaginative, though there are enough still of the usual strengths that The Inspector series has throughout.
'Carte Blanched's' best component is the animation. Simple, especially in the abstract backgrounds, but lovingly drawn and detailed, while the colours are rich and pop out. The music is suitably jaunty and slinky. No matter how good or disappointing the cartoon is, The Inspector himself is an enormously fun character. His bumbling is very amusing and doesn't feel too brutal or tired. The narrator avoids being over-used and over-explaining, which are bugbears of mine when it comes to narration and seen a lot.
There is a certain degree of charm and it is amusing, none of the gags misfire as such and the shopping cart is used quite inventively and put to good use. Pat Harrington does a great job as always as The Inspector.
Story however is very predictable throughout and could have done with much more spark on the energy front. More gags would have been more welcome and what there were could have been a little more imaginative, pretty standard somewhat here.
Other The Inspector cartoons are sharper in the physical comedy and wittier and more ironic in the verbal humour.
In a nutshell, decent end but doesn't have one jumping out of their chair. 6/10
His last cartoon 'Carte Blanched' is not too bad a note to go out on, but it is neither one of the series' best or worst. Would consider it a just above average middling effort with a lot of good things but also with things that could have been done better. Others are far funnier and far more imaginative, though there are enough still of the usual strengths that The Inspector series has throughout.
'Carte Blanched's' best component is the animation. Simple, especially in the abstract backgrounds, but lovingly drawn and detailed, while the colours are rich and pop out. The music is suitably jaunty and slinky. No matter how good or disappointing the cartoon is, The Inspector himself is an enormously fun character. His bumbling is very amusing and doesn't feel too brutal or tired. The narrator avoids being over-used and over-explaining, which are bugbears of mine when it comes to narration and seen a lot.
There is a certain degree of charm and it is amusing, none of the gags misfire as such and the shopping cart is used quite inventively and put to good use. Pat Harrington does a great job as always as The Inspector.
Story however is very predictable throughout and could have done with much more spark on the energy front. More gags would have been more welcome and what there were could have been a little more imaginative, pretty standard somewhat here.
Other The Inspector cartoons are sharper in the physical comedy and wittier and more ironic in the verbal humour.
In a nutshell, decent end but doesn't have one jumping out of their chair. 6/10
