I've known about this now-mostly obscure T.V. cartoon series for some time. But reading about it on a few sites like Toon Tracker got me interested enough to want to check it out, which I was finally able to do some nights ago earlier this month on my usual go-to-site: Youtube. It's so rare nowadays, both the previous edition of this series and this one are hard to come by and there are hardly any episodes available online for viewing currently. There are two: One in English and the other in Polish. Additionally, there are a couple episodes that are on the Worst Cartoons Ever DVD, presented by animation historian Jerry Beck. The first of these I've seen so far is "The Magic Spigot".
From the info about how many episodes there are in total of both series, it's hard to say exactly as they're inconsistent. One site mentions 43, another states it's 52, yet another claims it's 88. I don't know for sure, I'm only presuming or speculating, but if there are 88 episodes from both series combined, then my theory is that the first 36 episodes are from the first Pow Wow show and the remaining 52 are from the second, which would add up to 88. Before getting into what the episode I saw is like, I just thought I'd point out something I deem noteworthy first. Anyway, I read that the production qualities and technicalities of earlier episodes (which might be from the original program) are poor and they ran for 15 minutes. When the second program of the same title followed and arrived, the newer episodes were reduced to 5 minutes and the presentation quality of those is much better. A couple of the episodes I saw seem to attest to this and what as far as I can surmise must be from the 1956-'58 series. Episodes were also originally in black-and-white, but I'm not sure how nor when any of them were later switched to color: Either color is found in only the latter show as a whole, in later episodes of that series that had color added, or if both shows had color replacing the grayscale eventually.
To the point of what the show is about, it resolves on a young Native American boy named Pow Wow. He may put in minds of being reminiscent of another Native boy known as Little Hiawatha. Episodes often involve him coming across and to the aid of some animal or protecting it, and the forest from whatever threats come to them. These Native folktales provide morals and life lessons. Other characters include the Medicine Man, who Pow Wow sometimes went to for advice, and a young Native girl who's a friend of Pow Wow's and possible love interest.
Concerning the first episode I saw, "The Magic Spigot", there's a drought and a miraculous solution must be found to have the rain pouring down some other way rather than waiting for that weather to come naturally or on its own. It's similar to the Porky Pig short, "Porky the Rainmaker" and the one-off Native-based,WB cartoon short, "Sioux Me". But also different and distinctive in it's own right. Instead of using a rainy weather pill, the titular spigot is what's used. After Pow Wow does a good deed for an old, Native man, the latter rewards him with the spigot, which is the answer to the problem. But it will work if and when Pow Wow operates it only. Once that's done, the inhabitants are saved.
As aforementioned, the animation quality is an improvement over earlier episodes, one of the few or even rare examples of T.V. cartoons from the '50s that are fully animated rather than limitedly animated. Pow Wow himself is a positive representation of Native Americans and free of any negative stereotypes. The soundtrack features good, traditional Native music. The colors, backgrounds, and layouts are good enough. There's no dialogue nor voice acting, other than a narrator who provides the monologue to explain what's going on in each episode, as it's more action-based. The writing for, what I can only imagine, at least, the majority of episodes have good storytelling. The exceptions being the Worst Cartoons Ever DVD episodes, "Pow Wow Gets Even" and "Pow Wow's Lucky Duck".
Despite this being one of the only episodes I've seen, I still enjoyed what I have watched so far. Since there are so many who are so obsessed with rebooting past properties, this should get a reboot, even though I'm not very big on them. But this is one of the exceptions I'd make. This time around, I'd like to hear the characters' voices, no just a narrator's, which is one of the reasons this mostly fantastic series would be one of the few I consider rebooting and would like to see actually rebooted. That would bring and add something different. I highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for cartoons of the Native peoples shown in a more positive light, along with the WB cartoon short, "Mighty Hunters" and the 2005 Yakari T.V. series.
From the info about how many episodes there are in total of both series, it's hard to say exactly as they're inconsistent. One site mentions 43, another states it's 52, yet another claims it's 88. I don't know for sure, I'm only presuming or speculating, but if there are 88 episodes from both series combined, then my theory is that the first 36 episodes are from the first Pow Wow show and the remaining 52 are from the second, which would add up to 88. Before getting into what the episode I saw is like, I just thought I'd point out something I deem noteworthy first. Anyway, I read that the production qualities and technicalities of earlier episodes (which might be from the original program) are poor and they ran for 15 minutes. When the second program of the same title followed and arrived, the newer episodes were reduced to 5 minutes and the presentation quality of those is much better. A couple of the episodes I saw seem to attest to this and what as far as I can surmise must be from the 1956-'58 series. Episodes were also originally in black-and-white, but I'm not sure how nor when any of them were later switched to color: Either color is found in only the latter show as a whole, in later episodes of that series that had color added, or if both shows had color replacing the grayscale eventually.
To the point of what the show is about, it resolves on a young Native American boy named Pow Wow. He may put in minds of being reminiscent of another Native boy known as Little Hiawatha. Episodes often involve him coming across and to the aid of some animal or protecting it, and the forest from whatever threats come to them. These Native folktales provide morals and life lessons. Other characters include the Medicine Man, who Pow Wow sometimes went to for advice, and a young Native girl who's a friend of Pow Wow's and possible love interest.
Concerning the first episode I saw, "The Magic Spigot", there's a drought and a miraculous solution must be found to have the rain pouring down some other way rather than waiting for that weather to come naturally or on its own. It's similar to the Porky Pig short, "Porky the Rainmaker" and the one-off Native-based,WB cartoon short, "Sioux Me". But also different and distinctive in it's own right. Instead of using a rainy weather pill, the titular spigot is what's used. After Pow Wow does a good deed for an old, Native man, the latter rewards him with the spigot, which is the answer to the problem. But it will work if and when Pow Wow operates it only. Once that's done, the inhabitants are saved.
As aforementioned, the animation quality is an improvement over earlier episodes, one of the few or even rare examples of T.V. cartoons from the '50s that are fully animated rather than limitedly animated. Pow Wow himself is a positive representation of Native Americans and free of any negative stereotypes. The soundtrack features good, traditional Native music. The colors, backgrounds, and layouts are good enough. There's no dialogue nor voice acting, other than a narrator who provides the monologue to explain what's going on in each episode, as it's more action-based. The writing for, what I can only imagine, at least, the majority of episodes have good storytelling. The exceptions being the Worst Cartoons Ever DVD episodes, "Pow Wow Gets Even" and "Pow Wow's Lucky Duck".
Despite this being one of the only episodes I've seen, I still enjoyed what I have watched so far. Since there are so many who are so obsessed with rebooting past properties, this should get a reboot, even though I'm not very big on them. But this is one of the exceptions I'd make. This time around, I'd like to hear the characters' voices, no just a narrator's, which is one of the reasons this mostly fantastic series would be one of the few I consider rebooting and would like to see actually rebooted. That would bring and add something different. I highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for cartoons of the Native peoples shown in a more positive light, along with the WB cartoon short, "Mighty Hunters" and the 2005 Yakari T.V. series.
