This is a Hanna-Barbera obscurity and rarity I hadn't heard of, and I wasn't aware of its existence until I came across it while searching for another H-B cartoon a couple nights ago on Youtube. It caught my attention, so I decided to check it out right away. I've got to say, I find it enjoyable enough. It's certainly a standout from H-B's other animated sitcoms and comedy cartoons in general. I just wish it were closer to a half-hour instead of the measly few minutes that featured the little the viewers do get to see instead. This is one of those cartoon pilots that deserved so much more than what it got instead of being so overlooked.
This begins with caricatures of the defunct animation studio's co-founders and co-creators, the late William Hanna and the late Joseph Barbera, discussing what this is all about in the intro. There is hardly any animation to the cartoon versions of them, as the visuals have more of a slide show feel to them. It would've been nice to see this part animated better than it ended up being. After that, the cartoon follows. What sets it apart from other animated, family sitcoms is it has a family consisting of a husband, wife, their biological daughter, eleven other kids who are adopted, and a sheepdog going on roadtrips around the U. S. rather than remaining at home as the main setting. Each episode would've made references to the country's various landmarks and the family would've been featured in live-action scenes with those landmarks. There probably would've been some educational values and history lessons as well in that case. Another thing is its revolutionary in that the group of kids is interracial, as multiethnic mingling and diversity was beginning to become more commonplace at this time following the Civil Rights Movement. Although this happened to be created around the time of The Dark Age of Animation and I don't care for 1970s animation as much as some of the animated works that came in other decades following it, had it been expanded into a T. V. series, I think it would've been one of the exceptions, as well as one of my favorites by H-B (although the standalone pilot still has been already added to my list already and instantly) and of all time. I believe it had plenty of potential. While visiting a national park, the family come across a bear who steals the dad's bowling ball and the dad is determined to get it back as it's a special, precious souvenir for him with comical results.
The art style is typical of H-B cartoons of the 1970s and the animation, despite being limited, is still better than the visuals with Hanna and Barbera in the intro. The writing isn't too bad. The character designs look nice enough, the voices, which also included the late Casey Kasem and the late Janet Waldo, sound pleasingly and finely acted, the music is fine as well.
This is definitely another intriguer to me. I can't help wondering what other adventures would've been featured and I would've loved to see more. This is over half-a-century old now and I wish I had learned about it, and found it, sooner. Even though it is great to discover less renowned gems like this that I previously hadn't heard of at all. Despite its short-lived existence, I still find it well-done for the aforementioned things I explained. Anyway, for those who may also be just as curious about seeing this as I was, I say it's worth giving it a go. I wish I could've gotten to learn and know more about the characters and so badly wish this was accepted by some network. This would've been a better H-B series of the 1970s I feel in my view and should've gotten more focus over those H-B cartoon programs that did become series like the Partridge Family 2200 A. D., which came three years later. If the networks that rejected it did so because they had no faith in it or they were more interested in airing low quality material (though I might be wrong and just don't know the real reason behind, what I think, is their dumb decision), then they must've had poor judgment when it comes to choosing what shows are were worthy of being aired I presume. It could've been even more of a breath of fresh air as a series. Recommended.
This begins with caricatures of the defunct animation studio's co-founders and co-creators, the late William Hanna and the late Joseph Barbera, discussing what this is all about in the intro. There is hardly any animation to the cartoon versions of them, as the visuals have more of a slide show feel to them. It would've been nice to see this part animated better than it ended up being. After that, the cartoon follows. What sets it apart from other animated, family sitcoms is it has a family consisting of a husband, wife, their biological daughter, eleven other kids who are adopted, and a sheepdog going on roadtrips around the U. S. rather than remaining at home as the main setting. Each episode would've made references to the country's various landmarks and the family would've been featured in live-action scenes with those landmarks. There probably would've been some educational values and history lessons as well in that case. Another thing is its revolutionary in that the group of kids is interracial, as multiethnic mingling and diversity was beginning to become more commonplace at this time following the Civil Rights Movement. Although this happened to be created around the time of The Dark Age of Animation and I don't care for 1970s animation as much as some of the animated works that came in other decades following it, had it been expanded into a T. V. series, I think it would've been one of the exceptions, as well as one of my favorites by H-B (although the standalone pilot still has been already added to my list already and instantly) and of all time. I believe it had plenty of potential. While visiting a national park, the family come across a bear who steals the dad's bowling ball and the dad is determined to get it back as it's a special, precious souvenir for him with comical results.
The art style is typical of H-B cartoons of the 1970s and the animation, despite being limited, is still better than the visuals with Hanna and Barbera in the intro. The writing isn't too bad. The character designs look nice enough, the voices, which also included the late Casey Kasem and the late Janet Waldo, sound pleasingly and finely acted, the music is fine as well.
This is definitely another intriguer to me. I can't help wondering what other adventures would've been featured and I would've loved to see more. This is over half-a-century old now and I wish I had learned about it, and found it, sooner. Even though it is great to discover less renowned gems like this that I previously hadn't heard of at all. Despite its short-lived existence, I still find it well-done for the aforementioned things I explained. Anyway, for those who may also be just as curious about seeing this as I was, I say it's worth giving it a go. I wish I could've gotten to learn and know more about the characters and so badly wish this was accepted by some network. This would've been a better H-B series of the 1970s I feel in my view and should've gotten more focus over those H-B cartoon programs that did become series like the Partridge Family 2200 A. D., which came three years later. If the networks that rejected it did so because they had no faith in it or they were more interested in airing low quality material (though I might be wrong and just don't know the real reason behind, what I think, is their dumb decision), then they must've had poor judgment when it comes to choosing what shows are were worthy of being aired I presume. It could've been even more of a breath of fresh air as a series. Recommended.
