Nelvana should've gotten The Get-Along Gang...

[TheGunheart]

Yeah, yeah, I know: "greeting card toon", "the complainer is always wrong", "damn furry", yadda yadda yadda.

Anyway, I saw a couple of eps of the DiC toon, and found it vaguely charming, but the animation was lifeless and the designs were a slavish recretion of the flat, boring card art. It didn't help matters that all the character personalities were dialed down to a few vauge traits (I thought Mongomary was supposed to be awkward and clumsy? Why does Zipper sound like he has a headcold? Is there any difference between Dotty and Woolma?)

Then I ended up seeing the Nelvana-produced pilot episode, and it actually was pretty good. The characters were recognizable, but redesigned to be far more expressive. Zipper sounded like the jerk jock he's supposed to be, Montgamary had a goofy voice and earned his reputation, Dotty was now clearly the cute cheerleader while Woolma was the self-absorbed prima donna. Bingo was now a cunniving gambler, and Portia was a little kid who kept pulling off the impossible.

The music was actually memerable now, albiet it was mostly different lyrics set to the same melody (though the singing was better than expected). And the jokes and slapstick were actually funny, ending in a suprisingly awesome climax where Portia drives an old jalopy in a race against supercars, and actually wins while screaming that she can't drive.

...It...sounds better in context.:sweat:

But yeah, I would've loved this toon as a kid. It's just such a shame DiC ended up making the actual series, and didn't even bother to outsource to TMS.:crying:

[John Dorian]

Well, that was DIC for ya.

[dth1971]

DIC's Get Along Gang is better than Nelvana.

Hope Cookie Jar/N Circle releases the entire DIC Get Along Gang series on DVD someday!

[Mandouga]

This has been mentioned before actually, but a couple years ago, S'More Entertainment (who released The Littles on DVD) tried to release the complete series of The Get-Along Gang on DVD. However, because of certain contractual agreements, American Greetings Corporation, who owns the characters, had the final say on the matter, and they wouldn't have it. Neither S'More Ent., nor the public was ever given a reason for the decision, and there's been nothing about it since then. To this day, no one really knows why AG wouldn't allow the show to be released on DVD (except AG themselves of course, and they're not talking).

I'm actually kind of bummed by this, too. I really would like to get the show on DVD...if it ever happens.

[TheGunheart]

DIC's Get Along Gang is better than Nelvana.

Not to sound antagonistic, but how so?

The most common argument I've heard is Montgomery's voice, though frankly I like him having more of a personality in Nelvana's. Really, Bingo and Zipper were the only characters in the DiC cartoon that seemed to have anything resembling actual personalities.

[fiveofseven]

Anyway, I saw a couple of eps of the DiC toon, and found it vaguely charming, but the animation was lifeless and the designs were a slavish recretion of the flat, boring card art.

(My emphasis)

Just for the record, here are examples of American Greetings' original designs and DiC's take on the same characters. Your mission, should you chose to accept it, is to tell which is which.

(The spoiler tags are for those of you who really enjoy a challenge.;))



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v713/PocusPossum/Caboose1.jpg
American Greetings card art.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v713/PocusPossum/DiCGAG.jpg
DiC character art.

[Hordesman]

I don't think it's entirely fair to compare a pilot with a fully produced show, but based on the Nelvana closing their models seem smoother and cleaner than DiC's.

[Silverstar]

I don't think it's entirely fair to compare a pilot with a fully produced show, but based on the Nelvana closing their models seem smoother and cleaner than DiC's.

Indeed, it isn't fair to compare a stand-alone special to an entire series, but having seen both I do think that the Nelvana special did a better job with the characters and jokes than the DiC show did, and the animation in the special was much more fluid. I would've liked to have seen what Nelvana could have done with a weekly Get-Along Gang series.

[80's guy]

I saw the pictur eof pilot, I was like why wasn't the series like this ?

[TheGunheart]

Plus, if you see Nelvana's work on The Care Bears, you can see the similarities between it's animation style and the Get-Along Gang pilot, though as Care Bears was a full series, there were far more animation errors and off-model moments, but as a whole it still looked better than DiCs Get-Along Gang series.

Also, Fiveofseven, while it's clear to see due to DiC's being simplified for animation purposes, they still have the droopy eyes, the large, rounded faces and stocky bodies. Woolma's the only one in the DiC pic that kinda breaks the tropes, but that looks more like a simple case of being drawn off model.

Nelvana's were taller and slimmer, with more expressive cartoony eyes (especially Bingo, who had a crazy beady-eyed look when he went into gambling mode) and somewhat more angular facial features.