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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
LEAPIN' LOMPOC! ROGER RAMJET FLIES AGAIN!,
By
This review is from: Roger Ramjet - Hero of Our Nation (Deluxe Collector's Edition) (DVD)
"Roger Ramjet" just might have been the quirkiest cartoon of the '60s. A homegrown Hollywood product, created and executed by UPA artist Fred Crippen and a gaggle of top L.A. comedy writers and radio pros, this is truly a 'toon like no other. Where else could you find the simplest sort of animation, an old-time radio feel, soap-opera organ music, and some clever MAD magazine-level scripts? Roger, that "All-American Good Guy and Devil-May-Care Flying Fool", is a scatterbrained superhero who's put into all kinds of places: period movie/TV landmarks (the Blunderosa Ranch), outer-space places (a space ship that steals beauty queens), a tennis match against a kangaroo ("Pancho Pouch")...you get the idea. I know I'd have loved this back in the day, but I don't believe it even aired here in New England.It's never too late to discover a lost cartoon, however, and "Roger Ramjet"- whose likably-crude animation, cleaned up nicely here, made the work of Hanna-Barbera and Jay Ward look like Looney Tunes technicolor (check out the misspelled dialogue cards!)- is very enjoyable primarily due to the writing, all of which was done by a prolific comedy writer and L.A. kiddie-show host named Gene Moss, and one of the best groups of voice talent I've ever heard in the medium. First among them, of course, is one of my lifelong idols, the incomparable Gary Owens. In the mid-'60s, Gary was just making his name as a very witty drive-time deejay on local radio. His million-dollar voice and patented delivery of silly sayings with same really makes it. So does Dave Ketchum, a real sitcom warhorse with acting and writing credits longer than your arm, who took the stentorian narrator role in the tradition of "Bullwinkle"'s William Conrad and tweaked it with little winks and nods that showed he was having a great time pulling kids' legs. Gary and Dave are joined by Moss himself (as mini-mobster Noodles Romanoff), Bob Arbogast(an unsung comedy hero who created the "Question Man"/"Carnac" skits) and several others to give "Ramjet" an uncanny radio comedy sketch tone that not only would have been at home on many period AM stations, but gave these sometimes-dumb episodes a surprisingly classy feel. These were some of the best yuk-meisters in Hollywood cutting up after hours for kids of all ages. An impressive 120 episodes (out of 156) appear on these CDs. There are no extras whatsoever, unless you count the little foam glider inside (talk about an el-cheapo bonus!) The episodes are listed by title only, and there's no way you can skip over the "Yankee Doodle"-style theme song which opened and closed each one. Fortunately, the menus- all rendered in old-time movie title-card form- neatly split the shows up into six or seven-episode clusters. And what of Lompoc? That real-life town in central California was Roger's home base, along with his sidekick kids, the American Eagles. The kids are appealing side characters- Yank, Doodle, Dan and Dee (get it?) And, once every three episodes or so, you might catch not only some lame puns or non-PC guests (Beef and Chicken Enchilada, anyone?), but some great name-drops (Vera Hruba Ralston, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, even Rusty Warren). Like I said, these guys were pros who wrote for everyone from Bob Hope to Carol Burnett in non-'toon life. If you're a fan of old-time radio comedy, classic TV variety/comic skits, or vintage MAD-level satire, "Roger Ramjet" is truly a lost find. Anyone who could slip the name "Rusty Warren"- a sassy singing comedienne (and classically-trained pianist) who was anything but kid stuff in the '60s- into a cartoon is OK by me. The lack of extras and bare-bones look keep this from getting a higher rating, but- OK, I'll admit it. I love Gary Owens. So ends this belated review of these 100-plus insegrevious episodes and adventures of "Roger Ramjet and the American Eagles!" (Cue Roger stumbling over a bucket).
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Missing a few titles, but Roger still rules,
By
This review is from: Roger Ramjet - Hero of Our Nation (Deluxe Collector's Edition) (DVD)
So from what I've been able to figure out of the 156 Roger Ramjet cartoons, 120 are featured on this set, 30 of them are on the Image collection of 2 DVDs and the remaining 6 are either lost or too damaged to put out. Judging from the quality of some of these shorts, i buy that story. This is not to be confused with the restoration job done on the Looney Tunes.I really get a kick out of these cartoons. Gary Owens has the perfect voice for the pill popping Patriot. And I enjoy seeing the various ways they cut corners to make the limited animation work. The only bad thing is that unlike Image, the Wonder folks didn't come up with a way to play all without the theme song. So we're talking 240 plays of the Roger Ramjet theme in a complete viewing. Kinda frightening to think I have 150 of these adventures on my shelf.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good collection-but why not ALL the episodes,
By
This review is from: Roger Ramjet - Hero of Our Nation (Deluxe Collector's Edition) (DVD)
I've been anxiously awaiting this title for months - having already purchased the 2 individual DVD's of RR that have been out for a few years. I honestly thought this would be the be all to end all for our Devil-may-care-flying-fool. What we do get is 120 episodes when there are a total of 156 5 minute shorts produced. Having a little bonus foam glider in the package is nice, but why not give us 4 discs and ALL the episodes. This set does have nice packaging-and a quick glance through the episides-they seem to be cleaned up reasonably well-though certainly not to the same quality as the Warner Bros or Hanna Barbera sets.Still a must have for any Roger fan, but I really wish when companies think to do a package of this sort that they'd go all the way with it and give us a complete set.
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