You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘judo’ tag.
Directors: William Hanna & Joseph Barbera
Airing Date: December 30, 1960
Stars: The Flintstones
Rating: ★★½
There’s a prowler in town and Betty and Wilma are taking judo lessons to protect themselves.
Fred doesn’t approve and to prove that this self-defense is all nonsense he dresses up like a burglar himself to scare the wives. When he and the real prowler turn up at the same time, this causes a lot of misunderstandings.
This is a particularly slapstick-rich episode, with Fred and Barney trying to get Fred through Barney’s window, Fred repeatedly running into the real prowler, and Fred getting a beating from Betty, Wilma and the prowler.
There are also two nice prehistoric gags: Fred uses a bee in a shell for a razor, and a dinosaur lawn mower.
Unfortunately, the episode is hampered by the backward depiction of judo professor Rockimoto, a foul caricature of a Japanese, with the obligatory round glasses, big teeth, and phony accent.
Barney’s voice wavers a little during the episode.
Watch an excerpt from ‘The Prowler’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Flintstones Season One Episode 14
To the previous Flintstones episode: The Drive-in
To the next Flintstones episode: The Girl’s Night Out
‘The Prowler’ is available on the DVD-set ‘The Flintstones: The Complete First Season’
Director: Gene Deitch
Release Date: August, 1962
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★★½
Review:
‘The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit’ is based on an original idea and this makes the short arguably the best of the Gene Deitch Tom & Jerry cartoons.
Nevertheless, the initial idea of a ‘Tom and Jerry cartoon kit’ is badly developed, as it is based on two extended gag routines: one featuring water melon seeds, and another focusing on Jerry’s judo skills (which the animators confuse with karate).
The cartoon is rescued by some clever gags and by daring monochrome featureless backgrounds, creating a fairly surreal atmosphere. The dancing animation, too, is nice to watch, and the montage in which Tom learns boxing is well-timed for a change. Moreover, this short contains probably the most original gag of all Gene Deitch’s Tom & Jerry cartoons: the one in which Tom’s thinking process makes his eyebrows knit a sweater.
Watch ‘The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 123
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Dicky Moe
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Tall in the Trap
‘The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit’ is available on the DVD-set ‘Tom and Jerry – The Gene Deitch Collection’
Dr. Grob's Animation Review 