What do you think of 'Yogi's Gang' (1973)? - Yogi's Gang (1973) Discussion

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] J. Spurlin 15 years ago

I didn't even know Warner Bros. had released a Saturday Morning Cartoons collection: http://www.amazon.com/Saturday-Morning-Cartoons-1970s-Vol/dp/B001QU880 W.

In their defense, the 1970s were a very bad time for American animation. It's not as if they had a wealth of great material to choose from. A lot of cartoons were hampered by the new restrictions on violence and by do-gooders' crusades to make children's programming educational. And for reasons I don't fully understand, the limited animation of the 1960s became downright shoddy by the 1970s. Had the budgets decreased? Was the talent pool getting thinner?

Things didn't improve much, on TV or on the movie screens, until the 1990s.

...Justin

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[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] J. Spurlin 15 years ago

Thanks for mentioning the DVD, by the way. I have a copy of it from the library, but I haven't watched it yet.

The characters in "Yogi's Gang" couldn't be themselves because they all had to be goody-two-shoes role models for the kiddies. No stealing picnic baskets. No shooting outlaws. No schemes to get rich quick. They had to be good, that is, until some villain turns them into bigots or litterbugs or whatever. But then they're all goody-two-shoes again at the end.

...Justin

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[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] J. Spurlin 15 years ago

By the way, since you seem to post on slow or obscure boards, you should probably allow email notifications so that you know when someone has replied to you (assuming you don't already get them).

If you want to do this, you can click "My Profile" in the upper-right-hand corner of your screen. And then you can check the box that says, "Notify replies to messages with an email."

...Justin Glory be, Delbert, you should eat! You're a count, for God's sake!

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[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] richard.fuller1 12 years ago

I was seven. It was horrible. I recorded 13 episodes off Cartoon Network. However many there usually were, like 16, then I am absent 3.

I don't have this Mr. Hothead one mentioned here tho.

But they were not fun to watch, it is overly preachy. I just looked over what I have and in the Mr. Smog episode, Snaggle Puss takes to his soapbox and starts up that 'Something should be done about smog!'

It was a kids cartoon, for crying out loud.

But the Gossipy Witch one to me is truly the worst of the lot. Mainly for attempts to make her gossipy to the other characters' reactions.

When she approaches Quickdraw with the gossip, "Atom Ant is muscle-bound," Quickdraw politely but forcefully responds with "I don't mean to be rude, Gossipy, but I have work to do."

Horrendous dialogue.

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[–] SpunkeeMunkee 12 years ago

I remember the Gossipy Witch of the West episode. The Hillbilly Bear had pajamas with hearts all over them, and Peter Potamus had a teddy bear. After Gossipy found out, she was on a telephone switchboard spreading her juicy gossip. She probably even reached "The National Enquirer." What was the lesson we were supposed to get out of this? Not to gossip--or not to sleep with a teddy bear? Just imagine if the Internet had been around back then. Gossipy would have spread her gossip using Twitter!

I never watched the show when it was originally on. I saw it when it showed up in reruns on "Fred Flintstone and Friends" (1977). Each episode was chopped up into three parts, so it took three days to watch just one complete episode. After about 10 minutes, it was time for a commercial. Fred would come on and tell us to watch more of Yogi and his gang tomorrow. After the commercial break, we'd get 10 minutes of an episode of "Goober and the Ghost Chasers." Stay tuned for the next two days to see Part 2 and then the conclusion. It was like watching a soap opera.

But I agree that this show was a turkey. The bad guys were spreading smog, sloppiness, greed, litter, and gossip to our pal Yogi and friends. At least they were more fun when they got together again for the "Laff-a-Lympics."

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[–] Oddark123 12 years ago

I disagree as this was one of my favorite tv shows growing up and is one i await the most on dvd, and even though i prefer to go in order, i will want this one the minute they put it out.

I don't see what's wrong with the characters being the "do-gooders" of the time, when the major ones in this series were "do-gooders" most of the time anyway. They wanted to find "the perfect place" in the movie and this series since their homes where they were themselves were no longer viable.

A lot of the time they could have used more characterization but overall i don't think there is too much to be complantsive about from the time.

The villains in this show often were hilarious fodder adaption of the evils of man. This show educated me what a lot of the big words (to me at the time) meant in the story of Pandora's box. They had to make them sillier due to the fact it was a kids cartoon but the message still got through to ths kid.

In the Gossipy Witch episode, the message seemed clear to me. You shouldn't gossip and spread rumors or truths that they might seem embarrassed about. People still do it today and people still commit all the acts the villains in this show turned into comedy charaizations from greed, bigotry, envy and hot-headedness.

Yogi and the crew may have suffered a little watered down period because of the time but they adjusted and did maintain there personalities even if there actions couldn't always be the same. Along with great memorable villains who looking back you can see the elements of parody and on-purpose over characterization, this show is always going to remain one of my favorites.

Still not to this day perfect but one i can't wait to finally relive with all the episodes on dvd. I'm thrilled the Warner Archive has started remastering this one to kick off the combined series sets. My order is going to be ready for when it's here.

I refuse to argue on IMDB until the general populous actually uses their brains

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[–] eternalhennessy 9 years ago

I agree with all the reasons folks pan this brief series. And yet, I still watch it sparsely every now & then. As mentioned, all the HB 60's characters are bland, losing all their familiar traits that made them popular. But what I like about the show is the odd and unique look and clothes of the villains. Their aura were sooo 70ish. And the villains featured some pretty fun voice work that made up for the dull proceedings. Rose Marie's 'Lotta Litter' voice is my fave.

Odd side note...a few of the villains outfits struck me as gay. Hot shorts, little clothes, bare chested...they had a gayish aura in looks if not manner. But that's just my opinion.

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