User Reviews

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.

Excellent version of the Classic Story. Contains nearly all the elements of the book, so (as previous reviewer stated) is a perfect introduction for kids.

Superb voice casting, with Peter O'Toole lending great authority here. With enough drama/action to satisfy adults too.

Spoiler Alert!!!

Sherlock Holmes helps a young Henry Baskerville, who has just arrived from Canada, to become the new Lord of Baskerville Hall. It's all here; The escaped convict, Barrymore, and Sir Hugo getting his throat ripped out by The Hound.

Also available on DVD too; are other Sherlock Holmes Adventures.

'The Sign of Four' , 'Valley of Fear' and 'A Study in Scarlet' (Again, voiced by O'Toole). Check out Amazon for a bargain too.

I have always been an avid fan of Sherlock Holmes, ever since seeing the Jeremy Brett adaptation of The Sign of Four. And I love animation when it's done right. And generally Burbank Films Australia's animations are done right, there are about five or six very underwhelming exceptions, but The Baskerville Curse isn't one of them. It does suffer from a number of failings, the animation is flat and shoddy especially in the character designs, the music while not badly composed does get too much after a while and drowns out the dialogue at times and while the story itself was slow to begin with some scenes are still rather pedestrian here. However, the dialogue is intelligent and thought provoking when it is heard, the hound is a very foreboding creature and the characters especially Holmes and Watson- a good thing as they are the crux of every mystery of theirs- do engage. Peter O'Toole is splendid as Holmes, quick-witted and thoughtful in equal measure. The rest of the voice work is generally serviceable, though there are some monotone moments. The star is how the story is handled. The pace of course could have been much tighter in the more expositionary scenes, but the adaptation is faithful in detail and spirit to the story and each scene that is included does have impact in some way or another. All in all, far from perfect but not bad. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Okay, so it's not Disney.

And in the age of computer animation, video games, and anime, these cartoons seem archaic, but I remember they were pretty watchable.

Peter O'Toole certainly has the voice for a good Holmes. It would have been cool to see him as the detective in a live action movie, but this is as close we're likely to get. We can only speculate what might have been.

There is something about the story, the casting, and the atmosphere that for me makes up for the rough animation. For kids they are a good introduction to Sherlock Holmes. Pity they are not likely to be released on DVD.

This feature-length Australian TV animated version of The Hound of the Baskervilles is one of the most faithful adaptations I've seen. The animation looks a tad crude today, and some of the character designs (including Holmes) are a bit bland, but others (Watson, Sir Henry, Stapleton) are better. The background art (London, Dartmoor) is nice - especially the moors at night - and the Hound is pretty impressive. Scenes of the flashback to Sir Hugo and the origin of the legend are pretty obviously influenced by the 1959 Hammer version (no criticism!). But the most interesting thing is that Holmes is voiced by the great Peter O'Toole - who plays it with just the right sense of detachment, tinged with occasional sarcasm. No other big names in the voice cast, but they all do a good job (highlighted by the fact that although Holmes/O'Toole is sidelined for much of the story, the rest of the cast still hold the attention). The letdown is the music, which is clearly just a guy sitting at his synthesiser; the obvious electronically generated sounds jar badly with the 1800s setting. But that not withstanding, it's a pretty fun watch. 6/10.

Never have I been so bored watching a movie as I was while watching this one. I'd seriously rather watch paint dry than to expose myself to this piece of crap again. For the first time ever I nearly fell asleep while watching a film - and I was wide awake when I started watching. The animation is terrible, the lip movement doesn't match the audio, the actors are all doing terrible jobs at making the dialog sound interesting. It is, on a completely different note, interesting to hear that Peter O'Toole is the one that sounds LEAST interested in the job he was doing of them all - he probably realized too late that what he had taken upon himself to do was complete garbage! The film is terribly slow paced, the dialog terrible and talked at such low speed you've nearly forgotten what they started saying in the first place once they reach the end... The original story by Doyle is excellent, but the treatment it has received here makes it look like SH*T! There isn't one single interesting or exciting part in the whole movie, and that is actually quite an accomplishment considering the material they had to work with... This is the worst offense anyone has ever done to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and should be avoided at all cost. Watch any other adaptation of the legendary book, and preferably the excellent 1939-version with the ultimate Holmes and Watson; Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce!

This film deserves negative marks, but seeing as that's not possible, it gets a very solid 1/10!

These Four Sherlock Holmes cartoons, as well as the literary adaptations done by Burbank Studios Australia, are fun little pieces. They were made in the 80's, and played on TV, sometimes on Saturday mornings, but mostly on school holidays to give kids an alternative to Soap Operas in the days when there were only three channels from which to choose.

For kids raised on anime, these will seem boring, they also lack all the high pitched screaming and shrieking prevalent in the cartoons on TV today.

The cartoons give a nice representation of Victorian England both in locations and in the characterizations.

Definitely recommended for fans of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and cartoon adaptations of literary classics.

I've been a lifelong fan of mysteries, as was my father before me, and it's a tradition I've tried to pass down to my nieces and nephews. I recently came across these four animated Sherlock Holmes specials from the early 80s with acting legend Peter O'Toole voicing the greatest detective of all time. I'd never heard of these before, and boy was I in for a treat! Peter O'Toole has an amazing vocal quality that brings the right amount of sincerity and wit to the role, and his ability to have fun within character makes him a real treat for children. The animation is on par with any Hannah Barbera production from the era, and it reminded me of one of my other all time favorite animated shows, Scooby Doo, only with the higher quality writing of the Arthur Conan Doyle original stories. I can't wait to see these again, as I've heard a DVD release is pending. Wonderful family entertainment, and a great way to get kids reading. Highly recommended!