Customer Reviews

George of the Jungle: The Complete Series

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Looking for a fun DVD set for your kids? You can't do much better than this one. You get a lot of video (17 22-minute programs), all of it filled with the same decidedly offbeat, narrated storytelling style creator Jay Ward made famous in his earlier "Rocky & Bullwinkle" programs. Though "George of the Jungle" doesn't have the sly adult themes of Bullwinkle, it still has plenty of appeal, to kids as well as parents.

My 13-year-old daughter offers this review: "Silly. And 4 and a half out of five stars."

Of the show's three cartoon series ("George of the Jungle," "Tom Slick" and "Super Chicken"), my personal favorite is "Super Chicken." Its far-fetched premise suits Ward's dry sense of humor to a tee. I've read where some parents fear Super Chicken because they think the lead character's continual need for "super sauce" may be a hidden drug reference. Maybe it is, but I can't imagine today's kids being influenced by it. In fact, the whole '60s sense of humor is what makes these shows so funny in the first place. Many of the throwaway lines are simply gems. "The pearl went back to the museum," explains the narrator after a villainous mollusk is captured, "and the oyster went to jail to serve every month with an 'R' in it for the next 30 years."

The show originally aired in 1967 and 1968 on ABC.

As far as these two DVDs go, they're pretty much just what you'd expect. The video is a little fuzzy but it's not bad unless you've got a really large-screen television. For each episode you can either Play All three cartoons, or cherry-pick them out individually. A great plus: There's only one commercial to sit through, a short promo for the new "George of the Jungle" series on the Cartoon Network.

Disc 2 has two neat bonus features -- the pilot cartoons of both "George of the Jungle" and "Super Chicken." The "George" pilot lacks the familiar theme song, but includes a caricature of, of all people, Humphrey Bogart as an elephant hunter. The "Super Chicken" pilot has even more Superman-style premise and, though plenty watchable, is not quite up to par to its later shows. Both pilots, by the way, look tremendous, with brilliant color and crisp definition.

The only two things not to like on the DVD set: There are no subtitles (I am not hard of hearing but I love watching television with subtitles on), and as you start each episode, the "George of Jungle" theme plays twice in a row. You see, and hear, it once as a 60-second show open, and then immediately again as a 30-second introduction to the first cartoon. The theme song is one of the catchiest ever, but hearing it twice in a row every time you play an episode gets old.

After watching these old shows I noticed one of my favorite things about them was their character voices. They're so familiar! George, Tom Slick and Super Chicken are voiced by Bill Scott, best known as the voice of Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right and Mr. Peabody. Tom Slick's girlfriend Marigold (and nearly every other female) is June Foray, the voice of Rocky and Nell Fenwick. Best of all are the contributions of Paul Frees. In the world I run in (note my byline) Frees is best known as the Ghost Host at Walt Disney World's Haunted Mansion, but he also supplied the voice to hundreds of television characters, including the Pillsbury Doughboy. Here he provides, among other things, a dead-on impression of Ed Wynn (the Mad Hatter in Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" and Uncle Albert in "Mary Poppins") for the character of Super Chicken's lion sidekick Fred. Frees did the same voice for Captain Peachfuzz of "Rocky & Bullwinkle" fame.

More than 6 hours of classic "George of the Jungle", "Super Chicken", and "Tom Slick" cartoons plus the never-before-seen pilot episodes of both "George of the Jungle" and "Super Chicken"!

Running for 17 episodes, George of the Jungle was a spoof of the Tarzan story. A "show" consisted of three unrelated cartoons, each running about six minutes. They are "George of the Jungle", "Tom Slick", and "Super Chicken".

"George of the Jungle"
Life in the Imgwee Gwee valley is not easy for George (voiced by Bill Scott). He doesn't quite understand his mate Ursula (voiced by June Foray), "that funny-lookin' fella who never shaves". His best friend is an ape named Ape (voiced by Paul Frees) who sounds Oxford educated, and then there's Shep, George's pet elephant who behaves like a lap dog. Also lots of trees...

"Tom Slick"
Tom Slick is a clean-living, stalwart hero type (voiced by Bill Scott). Scott also did the voice of Gertie Growler (his only female role), the mother of Marigold, Tom's girlfriend (voiced by June Foray). The villain, Baron Otto Matic, and the Baron's henchman, Clutcher (voiced by Paul Frees) are the bane of Tom's existence. Tom's vehicle, The Thunderbolt Greaseslapper, is an incredibly versatile machine that can be modified into a car, motorboat, airplane, hot air balloon or whatever Tom and Otto are racing. As Tom would often say: "There's no such word as failure in auto racing, Marigold."

"Super Chicken"
Mild mannered millionaire Henry Cabot Henhouse III (voiced by Bill Scott) undergoes a transformation to the super-powered fighting fowl whenever he drinks his "Super Sauce". This substance is prepared by his valet, Fred, a lion (voiced by Paul Frees), and is generally drank from a martini glass. As Super Chicken he flies around in his "Super Coop", combatting evil, assisted by the non-super, somewhat cowardly Fred who is constantly reminded by his employer, "You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, Fred!"

Watch out for that tree!!

At last, here are all seventeen shows of George of the Jungle. The box says 17 episodes, but that's misleading, because you really get the full half hour shows with supporting segments Tom Slick and Super Chicken. The bonus features are pilot episodes of George and Super Chicken, which show how both shows were later enhanced by their unfogettable theme songs. "Box" is misleading also; the cover opens like a book, with a disc on each side, and an insert with brief info on the shows. Classic Media is now part of Entertainment Rights Group, which has released some Filmation shows. This same simple, attractive packaging was used for Felix the Cat Golden Anniversary Edition, but the George set costs half as much.

The first disc starts with an ad for the new, and very different looking George cartoon running on Cartoon Network. The theme in that version is slightly changed, from "Fellah and Ursula stay in step" to "Maggie and Ursula", probably because in the original George calls Ursula "fellah" and also calls his elephant "Shep", thinking him a doggie. In the pilot, "Fellah's" real name is Jane.

As most fans know, George of the Jungle, which aired in 1967, was the brainstorm of Jay Ward Productions, creators of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Hoppity Hooper, and Fractured Flickers, not to mention commercials for Cap'n Crunch, Quisp, and Quake. The stellar voice cast features Bill Scott, Paul Frees, Daws Butler, and June Foray. One reviewer made a valid point that Classic Media ought to include captioning for deaf viewers. Other than that, unlike so many recent cartoon releases, this one is all good. The menu allows you to play one half hour show or a segment (George, Tom or Super Chicken) at a time. At such a great price, it's a great chance to introduce your kids to, and revisit yourself, a great '60s cartoon.

All 17 shows are included, including the Superchicken story, "The Laundryman", which featured a Chinese stereotype as a villain. I'd feared that this would have been excised from the collection, and I'm glad they didn't, as it's one of the funniest episodes in the series.

For those who are anal-retentive completists (hi, nice to meet you), you'll notice that the 5-10 second interstitials they played between each cartoon are missing. Often, they consisted of one character introducing another character's segment on the show. Those who bought the "George of the Jungle" videotapes from Fox back in the 1990's will remember these. Why they didn't make it to DVD, I wish I knew.

The big bonuses in this set are the original George and Superchicken pilots. They're VERY worthwhile, though the DVD's producers saw fit to monkey with these. First, there's some inauthentic music clipped onto the end of both pilots. I think they borrowed some music from Jay Ward's "Fractured Flickers" series and pasted it in these pilots to make them appear more polished. Second, there are some wipe transitions in the first minute of the George pilot, where a swinging George character does the wipe. That is very unlikely, given that this is a very sophisticated technique to use in a 1960's pilot which was never meant to be seen by the public. The DVD producers did some similar edits to the audio of the Bullwinkle DVD's, and I ***REALLY*** wish they would just leave the source material alone for future releases.

Here's hoping that we won't have to wait much longer for Jay Ward's other animated series, Hoppity Hooper, to come out on DVD.

When the classic Jay Ward series Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends was first announced for a DVD release back in 2003, I was already thinking how great it'd be to finally own the complete "George of the Jungle" series on DVD. Who knew it'd be FIVE YEARS before it finally happened? But happen it has, and it was definitely worth the wait. The episodes aren't remastered, but still look pretty good considering the age of the show. The included never-before-seen bonus pilot episodes of George of the Jungle & Super Chicken more than make up for the missing interstitials that originally linked the episodes. Though presented from a 1960s perspective, the humor within the episodes remain timeless. Therein lies the appeal of this set, having all these wildly humorous cartoons in one convenient collection to covet for yourself or to share with your family. It's great to see "George of the Jungle" finally preserved on DVD. And like the Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends sets, this set is also reasonably priced. George of the Jungle - The Complete Series is a 2-disc (198 min.) set featuring all 17 episodes in their original three segment form (George, Super Chicken, Tom Slick; Chicken and Tom switch up by Episode 7) for a total of 51 segments; Full Frame (1.33:1) video; plus extras which include an episode guide insert. Here is a breakdown of the discs straight from the episode guide insert:

Disc 1:

Episode 1
George of the Jungle - The Malady Lingers On
Tom Slick - Monster Rally
Super Chicken - One of Our Statues Is Missing

Episode 2
George of the Jungle - Ungawa the Gorilla God
Tom Slick - Snow What?
Super Chicken - The Oyster

Episode 3
George of the Jungle - Oo-Oo Birds of a Feather
Tom Slick - Send In a Sub
Super Chicken - Wild Ralph Hiccup

Episode 4
George of the Jungle - Monkey Business
Tom Slick - I've Been Railroaded
Super Chicken - The Elephant Spreader

Episode 5
George of the Jungle - The Desperate Showers
Tom Slick - The Cupp Cup Race
Super Chicken - Rotten Hood

Episode 6
George of the Jungle - Little Scissor
Tom Slick - The Great Balloon Race
Super Chicken -The Easter Bunny

Episode 7
George of the Jungle - Next Time, Take The Train
Super Chicken - The Geezer
Tom Slick - Dranko The Dragster

Episode 8
George of the Jungle - The Trouble I've Seed
Super Chicken - The Noodle
Tom Slick - Overstocked

Episode 9
George of the Jungle - Big Flop At The Big Top
Super Chicken - Salvador Rag Dolly
Tom Slick - The Sneaky Sheik


Disc 2:

Episode 10
George of the Jungle - Rescue is My Business
Super Chicken - Merlin Brando
Tom Slick - The Apple-Less Indian 500

Episode 11
George of the Jungle - Dr. Schpritzer, I Presume?
Super Chicken - The Fat Man
Tom Slick - The Double Cross Country Race

Episode 12
George of the Jungle - The Chi Chi Dog
Super Chicken - Briggs Bad-Wolf
Tom Slick - The Cheap Skateboard Derby

Episode 13
George of the Jungle - The Treasure of Sarah Madre
Super Chicken - The Laundry Man
Tom Slick - The Irish Cheapstakes

Episode 14
George of the Jungle - A Man of All Hunting Seasons
Super Chicken - The Muscle
Tom Slick - The Badyear Blimp

Episode 15
George of the Jungle - The Forest's Prime Evil
Super Chicken - Dr. Gizmo
Tom Slick - The Swamp Buggy Race

Episode 16
George of the Jungle - Kings Back to Back
Super Chicken - The Wild Hair
Tom Slick - The Mack Buster Trophy

Episode 17
George of the Jungle - The Sultan's Pearl
Super Chicken - The Zipper
Tom Slick - The Bigg Race

Special Features:
Never Before Seen Pilot Episode - George of the Jungle & Super Chicken


Highly Recommended!

Can it really be? ....One of the most unique comedy OR cartoon series ever, in its entirety, uncensored, finally available on the medium of choice?! Part of me's almost still in denial of it, I swear.

This is the series which I came back to again and again as a gradeschooler; the swift tangles of dialogue I forever longed to unravel, not to mention the frenetic pacing, inventive storylines and the most offbeat trilogy of animaniacs ever to hit the boob-tube: George, Super Chicken and Tom Slick.

Series producer-writer Bill Scott (who additionally VOICED this trio) said that he and co-producer Jay Ward took enormous pride in having rendered subversive an entire generation. And, when inquired why his studio would never get another network show after this '67 effort, Ward answered, "CBS doesn't like us; ABC hates us; NBC despises us."

A true shame, for whenever voice artists Scott, Daws Butler, Paul Frees and June Foray got together at a microphone, the results were inevitably comedy gold. Happily, their work graced every Quaker Oats cereal commercial of the late 60s and 70s.

After four decades, it's still not difficult to see why the commercial networks didn't want such an apparently intelligent cartoon--its dialogue occasionally filled with double entendre (indeed, there was even something raunchy with the way George rippled his pecs at the beginning of every episode). The scripts even seemed to dare the viewers to gasp or groan at the numerous puns it got away with. In fact, in episode #11, in which George and Ape set out to rescue the missing Dr. Alfred Spritzer--who practiced in the small village of You-Wanna-Buy-A--Ape grins in embarrassment when referring to the missing surgeon as "the You-Wanna-Buy-A doc"!

But again: the real miracle is that myself & so many others can finally watch this underrated series completely at will....no sticking around for special revivals (apparently, it became an immediate success and a cult classic in syndication, but from my neck of the woods, there were no such rebroadcasts, apart from a selection of only the "George" episodes and not the Super Chickens or Tom Slicks). There were VERY brief revivals on Fox & ABC in the 90s, but if you so much as blinked you missed them. MY only outlet in those days was across-the-map tape swapping. And that was for only 4 episodes.

Tom Slick's been virtually a lost series these last few decades; Super Chicken's been fortunate enough to have half his episodes on YouTube.

Some miscellaneous trivia connected with this series' original run on ABC: after 1968, some network affiliates mysteriously deleted the George cartoon from Episode #14, as well as the Super Chicken from Episode #2, never repeating them again. But the MOST outrageous piece of censorship occurred when certain rural states like Colorado and Wyoming BANNED the Super Chicken cartoon from Episode #3--where the hero battles the villain Wild Ralph Hiccup (a John Wayne lookalike and soundalike). Some in these states found distasteful the whole idea of John Wayne being depicted as a villain, so it TOO was deleted in its original network run!

Be sure to look for the caricature of Jay Ward as the title villain in the Tom Slick from Episode #9, "The Sneaky Shiek"; and also the caricature of Bill Scott as the "simple country witch doctor" in the George cartoons from Episodes #1 and #12 (Scott also voices THIS character).

Also, the 30-second intro which started every George cartoon in syndication, wasn't actually used in episodes #2 to #9 (though it was in the others).

The only (minor) complaints I have with this 2-DVD set is that the three 15-second trailers in the original series trumpeting the scenes from "next week's episode" could EASILY have been included here (AND the two still pictures preceding each program, advertising it "IN COLOR"....yes, folks, it was still a novelty & status symbol in those days). Also, watch out for discs with (very minor) picture-jump. 'Twould be nice if it had captioning, too.

I ordered the George of the Jungle series and it was everything I remembered. That coupled with Super Chicken and Tom Slick took me back to when I was 6 watching these cartoons on after Popeye on KTLA 5 on Sundays. I highly recommend this to show kids vs some of the lame crack influenced cartoons that are on these days. The shipping was fast too, but it usually is when ever I order from Amazon.

In the opening theme, there ia a tin lizzy that is jumping over a shack. (Obviously it will drop to the ground even though the drop isn't shown). Does any body out there know what that clip was taken from? I'd like to get the whole thing, which is certainly a silent movie. Thanks all.

Nothing comes close to the original humor. In this DVD, George, Ursula, Ape and the others stay true to their now politically incorrect selves. Current cartoonists try to wimp out male cartoon characters and masculize female characters making for very few laughs. We miss that original Jay Ward and Company's humor.

Until buying the CD, I didn't realize how few episodes there were. I must have seen them all before. I could remember details of some shows from many years ago, such as The Zipper villain in one Super Chicken episode. The Zipper puts out a dummy of himself with a bomb inside. People pass by, including a baby in a carriage, saying, "Look - a dummy of The Zipper." Super Chicken, however, thinks it IS The Zipper, and gets blown up, cartoon-style. The theme music and lyrics for all the characters couldn't be more perfect.