As promised, Randall has dropped in with his latest review, for the Cartoon Network spoof Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law: Volume Three, the show that takes classic Hanna-Barbera characters, shoves them in a sticky situation, and has ol’ Harvey the toon lawyer attempt to win their cases. Believe it or not, I’ve still not to catch the show myself, even though I like the sound of the nutty premise, but Rand obviously seems to find some guilty pleasure in it, remarking that “one must be ready to forgive the show for desecrating so many classic characters” and admitting that “they managed to tickle my funny bone, in a somewhat guilt-producing way. I still have mixed feelings about the show; but again I found myself laughing more than I was wincing, and there’s not a dud in this bunch of episodes. You can tell that the creators also have some affection for these Hanna-Barbera creations, and their send-up is all done with a nod and a wink”. Based on those good words, I have to say I’m very tempted!

I’ll be back with that The Jungle Book review hopefully by tonight, or if not by Wednesday morning, but in the meantime, our Animated News & Views Forum is starting to buzz with links to the first preview for Roadside Romeo, the first of many planned films being co-produced by Disney out in India. Take a peek at that link and you’ll find the preview and the many comments that are starting to build up. Interesting times!

Very exciting for classic animation fans is the ASIFA-Hollywood announcement of a screening of Richard Williams’ messy but unique Raggedy Ann And Andy: A Musical Adventure, the 1977 feature that saw many artists from the Golden Age pass on their experience to many of today’s big names. A box-office fiasco, the movie was only issued once on LaserDisc, from which I have a copy, in an odd half-anamorphic transfer that cropped a little from its original CinemaScope ratio but vertically stretched out the image to include more than we would have normally seen. With this 30th Anniversary screening, those in LA should make an attempt to see this rarely screened feature (from an original 35mm widescreen print, no less) and make enough noise to convince rights holders Fox to put it out again as one of their Family Fun Editions.

Back soon with The Jungle Book! – Ben.