Is the Dick tracy show for all ages?

[king zrz]

Just wondering becaus ealot of people keep saying that it is just for the kids despite being a classic.What do you suggest sinc eI am thinking about getting the DVD boxset?

[Steve Carras]

Just wondering becaus ealot of people keep saying that it is just for the kids despite being a classic.

;) I always thought people protested that the show was just for 18+ "racists" due to Jo Jitsu & Go Go Gomez..(I enjoyed it back in the sixties and the several decades thru 1990 thyanks to Disney's forgotten flick of the name when it ws, debatably (!) rerun..). It was oin video for a while.

UPA produced it with Orson Welles Mercury (the now-infamous "War of the Worlds" in '39) radio legend (and composer of the "Andy Griffith theme"!) Everette Sloan as the SELDOM seen "Dick T.", with Go Go Gomez (Mel Blanc in the first; Paul Frees thereafter), Hemlock Holmes, a Cary Grant-Key stone Kop bullsdog (Jerry Hausner, of the same studio's "Mister Magoo", playing lovable college "hick" "Waldo" to Jim Backus's loveable old coot "Magoo"), Heap O'Calorie (early, verneable black/white 50s childrens TV show host, and occasioanl voice, Johnny Coons), and Jo Jitsu (either Frees or Hausner), and those parties (ecept possibly Mr.Sloane who semed only to have that one voice) plus Mel Blanc, Daws Butler, June Foray, Joanie Gardner ("Spunky and Tadpole", BOTH 1960s and 1980s "Jetsons" and EVERY UPA property!), Howie Morris, Benny Rubin, and possibly a few others (in the words of "Linus, the Lionhearted", but that's another show, "bashful bigshots"(good term)) in other roles.

H.P.Saperstein,by then the PERNAMENT (till his 1999 death) UPA owner, buyit it from previous owner Steve Bosustow, and buying it from Columbia, was producing a lot of work here, and hired such folks as sound effects guys Joe Siracusa and Earl "Sir Gas" Bennett, both Spike Jones veterans, noted & venerable from many, respectively aleady out Jay Ward-produced shows and later(post-1964) H-B shows, thus the presence of a lot of odd sound FX combos...writers were Bob Ogle (later a HB and DFE voice actor..think Mr.Jaws's prey Harry HBalibut OR Magoo's (!! small world) small bulldog McBarker,both soudning liek radio/cartoon voice Bill THompson as Droopy (earlier as radio's "Fibber McGee/Molly"'s "Wally Wimple"! and voice for countless Disney characters and HB's beloved Touche Turtle), Dale Hale, and a few others and animators such as Steve Clark, music director Carl Brandt (also with Spike for a whiel and WB's "Mr.Limpet" at the time with Don Knotts).

"Dick Tracy" show had IIRC Abe Levitow, former Jones/WB guy, who returned to him at MGM for Tom and Jerry's, doing directorial chores for thsi and fro ALL UPA product (:)).

[king zrz]

Thanks for all the info.So is it a timeless classic?

[Lord Dalek]

So is it a timeless classic?Due to the blatant stereotyping, no way.

[king zrz]

Due to the blatant stereotyping, no way.Oh.The thing is I don't want to buy something that is just for kids.So is this actually for all ages?

[Eric B]

does anybody remember the Filmation version, that was apart of Archie's TV Funnies? That was the "Dick Tracy" I remembered most, but after that run, you never saw it again, and it was basically forgotten. In fact, if you don't notice in the Cartoon Encyclopedia, it being apart of that show, you will look for it in vain, and wonder if you just imagined it, or something! (Many of the other funnies were rerun as apart of "Fabulous Funnies", but not the Dick Tracy). I don't even remember anything about it, other than the familiar Blais/Michaels score. Whether it was more serious, or kiddish, etc.

[Gary L Thompson]

As a child, I faithfully watched "Dick Tracy" when the show first ran, and I saw it when it came back briefly in reruns when Disney brought out its "Dick Tracy" movie.

From what I remembered, Joe Jitsu always seemed cool and unflappable, unlike the more bumbling Heap O'Callorie or Retouchables. However, rewatching the show as an adult, it was clear that Joe Jitsu and Go Go Gomez were unacceptably stereotypical. Far worse though, was that they were unforgiveably clear ripoffs of the far better Charlie Chan and Speedy Gonzales characters! Not that the Cary Grantish Hemlock Holmes or Andy Devinish Heap O'Calorie were that orginal either. And as noted by Steve Carras, Dick Tracy was rarely involved directly in the stories themselves.

Frankly, given the times, I don't see much wrong with making Dick Tracy as a kids show or a comedy (even though UPA in fact did manage to do a stunning job of capturing the flavor of Chester Gould's strip in the opening theme, and in some law-enforcement public-service spots). The thing that really gets me angry in retrospect, was that if Saperstein wanted to take that approach, he should have gone straight to the mother lode for inspiration. There were ample comic characters and themes in the "Dick Tracy" strip that UPA could have mined for the cartoon show, which could have easily matched "Popeye", "Looney Tunes", "The Alvin Show", "The Rocky Show", "Mighty Hercules", "Felix the Cat", "Supercar", "Flintstones", "Jonny Quest", "Beany and Cecil", etc. for strength of concept: Vitamin Flintheart, the Plentys, Junior Tracy and the kids he ran around with, Dick Tracy's comic-relief partner Pat (rather than the never-seen Sam), and so on. (If Chester Gould seemed to have an exceptional amount of comedy and cartoonishness in his strip at times, that is because Chester Gould was a frustrated bigfoot gag strip artist who ended up somehow doing the great American cop-and-robbers adventure comic strip.)

Classic? Well, it had its moments, but no. I think with a better approach, it could well have become a classic. Just look at the "Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo" episode that UPA did gueststarring Dick Tracy. That was far and away as the best episode of that TV series, and easily ranks as the best "Dick Tracy" animation ever made.

does anybody remember the Filmation version, that was apart of Archie's TV Funnies? That was the "Dick Tracy" I remembered most, but after that run, you never saw it again, and it was basically forgotten. In fact, if you don't notice in the Cartoon Encyclopedia, it being apart of that show, you will look for it in vain, and wonder if you just imagined it, or something! (Many of the other funnies were rerun as apart of "Fabulous Funnies", but not the Dick Tracy). I don't even remember anything about it, other than the familiar Blais/Michaels score. Whether it was more serious, or kiddish, etc.

I remember it very well. Hallmark Entertainment reran all the old "Archie" shows on its cable channel (except for "Sabrina") before it lost the rights to Filmation shows. All too often, cartoons I loved years ago don't stand up to my viewing of today. However, I found the Archie shows to be amazingly pretty much as I remembered them: "The Archie Show" was great, clearly one of the best of its era; the sequel which had the gang doing musical numbers and one-liners for a live audience was as wretched as I remembered it; "Archie's TV Funnies" was a mixed bag of good and bad, and "U.S. of Archie" was well-meaning but dreadfully dull. I would rate "Dick Tracy" as the best of the "TV Funnies" segments, actually far more faithful to the comic strip than UPA was (then again, this is the 1960s-era comic strip that many Dick Tracy fans disdain--unjustly I think, the early 1970s were the real nadir of the strip in my opinion--so many Moon Maid haters may consider that a mixed blessing). Basically the show seemed to be mostly Tess Trueheart and Moon Maid getting themselves in genuine jeopardy by meddling in Dick's cases, and Dick Tracy generally had to bail them out (at least he was fully involved this time).

What I would love to see is some American animator have the balls to actually do a straight adaptation of a classic American comic strip, the way many anime series are adaptations straight from manga. To my knowledge, no one has ever done it. (With the sole exception of the "Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show", the sole example of actual comic strip panel sequences being adapted into animation that I know of. And of course, "Peanuts" was a gag-a-day strip that didn't do extended story sequences until later decades--but Charles Schulz may have been the only comic strip artist of recent vintage possessing enough clout to clear the way to do it.)

[king zrz]

So is the set worth buying...at all for a guy going on 18?

[Lord Dalek]

It's designed to appeal to Baby Boomers so I suppose.

However if you've read the reviews, the series is locked in a 60's mindset so it isn't for everyone.

[king zrz]

It's designed to appeal to Baby Boomers so I suppose.

However if you've read the reviews, the series is locked in a 60's mindset so it isn't for everyone.Oh.So its nothing like the tex avery cartoons or hanna barbera cartoons or loony toons?

[Lord Dalek]

Oh.So its nothing like the tex avery cartoons or hanna barbera cartoons or loony toons? Its on the level of Hanna Barbara animation which is pretty limited (UPA created that style in the first place).

If you're looking for an authentic adaptation of the comic however, this isn't it.

[king zrz]

Its on the level of Hanna Barbara animation which is pretty limited (UPA created that style in the first place).

If you're looking for an authentic adaptation of the comic however, this isn't it.Oh.Thanks for all the info man.So what I understand is that it is kind of kiddie in a way with not so good animation.I really wish there could have been Dick tracy cartoons with thye Fleischer animation style.That would have been cool.

[Martianinvader]

As a child, I faithfully watched "Dick Tracy" when the show first ran, and I saw it when it came back briefly in reruns when Disney brought out its "Dick Tracy" movie.
You're right...it came back in syndication during the summer of 1990, and is one of the only old-school kid programs I watched AS a kid. The thing that has stuck with me all these years is Joe Jitsu's signoff of "SAYONAAAA-RAAAAAA!" I still mimic that to this day.

[Lord Dalek]

If you're really curious... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R27L0PJ7QK4)

[Juu-kuchi]

If you're really curious... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R27L0PJ7QK4) WTF?

[Lord Dalek]

WTF?
It gets worse. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFpvAbsYnHk)

[king zrz]

If you're really curious... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R27L0PJ7QK4)Thanks.I sure as hell won't be buying this.

[Steve Carras]

I saw some, onYouTube..two with Jo Jitsu and one with Go Go Gomez who doesn't even bother with the show trademark of "Hold Everything" though he still finds time to break in to bring Dick Tracey up to spped.

The episodes I saw had larely Jay Ward sound effects and Hanna-Barbera ones (atually, most of these HB wouldn't pick up on for about half a decade). The cartoons note Jerry Hausner, veteran character actor (Waldo in the Magoo series ) as "Dialogue Director" and some fellow named "Glan" as one of the producers.

THe average year of these was 1960. (The year I was born.This was the same year the Magoos were done for TV.)