DePatie-Freleng Enterprises really did vary when it came to their various theatrical series. They did some good ones, with their best being Pink Panther closely followed by The Inspector and the Ant and the Aardvark which were great at their best. A couple were middling, such as Roland and Rattfink and Sheriff Hoot Kloot, the latter being more variable. A few didn't work for me, those being Tijuana Toads, Blue Racer and especially Crazylegs Crane.
The Blue Racer series is probably the least bad of those three. Most of the series was lacklustre, with nearly all the cartoons ranging between 4 and 5, but there were two pleasant surprises that were pretty decent. One being 'Blue Racer Blues'. The other being 'Freeze a Jolly Good Fellow', the best of the series. Whereas the Tijuana Toads series had two a little above average cartoons and the other cartoons being mediocre and all the Crazylegs Crane cartoons were pretty much misfires. Haven't seen The Dogfather or Misterjaw cartoons in a while, so can't say yet what categories they fit in.
Animation is uneven. It does have some nice colours and the Blue Racer had some clever character animation and reactions (with 'Support Your Local Serpent' and 'Freeze a Jolly Good Fellow'), but most of the time it was flatly coloured, rushed looking in drawing and the abstractness of the backgrounds was taken to extremes. Giving it a simplistic feel. Doug Goodwin's music is the best thing about all the Blue Racer cartoons. Very upbeat in a jazzy way and full of rhythmic character. Very catchy theme tune accompanied by a nice titles sequence.
Writing has amusing moments with The Blue Racer, and the best non-Blue Racer lines come from the father rooster in 'Fowl Play' ("noone asked for your two cents mister") and Crazylegs Crane in 'Aches and Snakes' (the dirty work at the crossroads line). As well as 'Support Your Local Serpent's' flytrap exchange. There are a few amusing sequences in the series too, such as the ending in 'Freeze a Jolly Good Fellow'. A few of the supporting characters are good, especially the bear in 'Freeze a Jolly Good Fellow' and the John Wayne-sounding father rooster in 'Fowl Play'. Larry D Mann does a good job as Blue Racer once he settled, it took a couple of cartoons to do so but when he did he did just fine.
Quite a lot of the voice acting is not good, either being ill-fitting (Mann as Crazylegs Crane where he sounds too goofy and oafish for a character meant to be crafty) or stereotypical (especially Tom Holland for the beetle, with a thick, broad accent that made some of his dialogue incomprehensible, Paul Winchell as the leprechauns in 'Killarney Blarney' also doesn't fare well). Most of the characters are poorly done, being either bland (Crazylegs and even Blue Racer to begin with), annoying (Blue Racer's love interest in 'The Boa Friend', the baby rooster in 'Fowl Play') or stereotpical (the leprechauns in 'Killarney Blarney'). Worst of all, and perhaps the nadir of the series, is the character of the beetle, supremely irritating and offensive and basically a beetle version of Mickey Rooney's character in 'Breakfast at Tiffany's').
Did like some of the animation, but despite being abstract deliberately this is taken to extremes often that it becomes simplistic. Resulting in too many not so vibrant colours, rushed looking drawing and incomplete looking backgrounds. The dialogue has moments, but can be too perfunctory and lacking in wit. The beetle's is embarrassing whenever it is understandable. Too many of the gags are stale retreads of tried and tested gags and some of them are mean-spirited (i.e. The traffic lights gag in 'Fowl Play'). The stories are always predictable and can be repetitive, 'Little Boa Peep' also made the mistake of taking a promising concept and making too much of the action excessively silly to in need of suspension of disbelief effect. Blue Racer himself has always left me mixed, he was bland to begin with but grew in personality but towards the end he had not varied or evolved all that much. He was at his best when in crafty mode and not when he is made too sympathetic by being treated too cruelly.
In conclusion, didn't do it for me on the whole with two exceptions. Hence the 5/10 rather than the 4 that it nearly was (was very conflicted on which of the two to give it). 5/10.
The Blue Racer series is probably the least bad of those three. Most of the series was lacklustre, with nearly all the cartoons ranging between 4 and 5, but there were two pleasant surprises that were pretty decent. One being 'Blue Racer Blues'. The other being 'Freeze a Jolly Good Fellow', the best of the series. Whereas the Tijuana Toads series had two a little above average cartoons and the other cartoons being mediocre and all the Crazylegs Crane cartoons were pretty much misfires. Haven't seen The Dogfather or Misterjaw cartoons in a while, so can't say yet what categories they fit in.
Animation is uneven. It does have some nice colours and the Blue Racer had some clever character animation and reactions (with 'Support Your Local Serpent' and 'Freeze a Jolly Good Fellow'), but most of the time it was flatly coloured, rushed looking in drawing and the abstractness of the backgrounds was taken to extremes. Giving it a simplistic feel. Doug Goodwin's music is the best thing about all the Blue Racer cartoons. Very upbeat in a jazzy way and full of rhythmic character. Very catchy theme tune accompanied by a nice titles sequence.
Writing has amusing moments with The Blue Racer, and the best non-Blue Racer lines come from the father rooster in 'Fowl Play' ("noone asked for your two cents mister") and Crazylegs Crane in 'Aches and Snakes' (the dirty work at the crossroads line). As well as 'Support Your Local Serpent's' flytrap exchange. There are a few amusing sequences in the series too, such as the ending in 'Freeze a Jolly Good Fellow'. A few of the supporting characters are good, especially the bear in 'Freeze a Jolly Good Fellow' and the John Wayne-sounding father rooster in 'Fowl Play'. Larry D Mann does a good job as Blue Racer once he settled, it took a couple of cartoons to do so but when he did he did just fine.
Quite a lot of the voice acting is not good, either being ill-fitting (Mann as Crazylegs Crane where he sounds too goofy and oafish for a character meant to be crafty) or stereotypical (especially Tom Holland for the beetle, with a thick, broad accent that made some of his dialogue incomprehensible, Paul Winchell as the leprechauns in 'Killarney Blarney' also doesn't fare well). Most of the characters are poorly done, being either bland (Crazylegs and even Blue Racer to begin with), annoying (Blue Racer's love interest in 'The Boa Friend', the baby rooster in 'Fowl Play') or stereotpical (the leprechauns in 'Killarney Blarney'). Worst of all, and perhaps the nadir of the series, is the character of the beetle, supremely irritating and offensive and basically a beetle version of Mickey Rooney's character in 'Breakfast at Tiffany's').
Did like some of the animation, but despite being abstract deliberately this is taken to extremes often that it becomes simplistic. Resulting in too many not so vibrant colours, rushed looking drawing and incomplete looking backgrounds. The dialogue has moments, but can be too perfunctory and lacking in wit. The beetle's is embarrassing whenever it is understandable. Too many of the gags are stale retreads of tried and tested gags and some of them are mean-spirited (i.e. The traffic lights gag in 'Fowl Play'). The stories are always predictable and can be repetitive, 'Little Boa Peep' also made the mistake of taking a promising concept and making too much of the action excessively silly to in need of suspension of disbelief effect. Blue Racer himself has always left me mixed, he was bland to begin with but grew in personality but towards the end he had not varied or evolved all that much. He was at his best when in crafty mode and not when he is made too sympathetic by being treated too cruelly.
In conclusion, didn't do it for me on the whole with two exceptions. Hence the 5/10 rather than the 4 that it nearly was (was very conflicted on which of the two to give it). 5/10.
