Customer Reviews

Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose [VHS]

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this is a great movie, it's full of wonder and some of your favorite hanna-barbara characters. this is a very good movie. if you have not seen this movie then i recommend you do

This is another in the Hanna-Barbera Superstar 10 series, which revived the classic characters in the late 80s while most of the original voice talent was still around to portray them. This one again features the inimitable Daws Butler as not only Yogi Bear, but as cartoon favorites Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, and Quick Draw McGraw, among many others. It's great to see these made-for-TV movies finally making their debut on DVD.

Yogi is conducting a guided tour of the great landmarks of the USA, and happens to bring the whole gang on a tour of the Spruce Goose while it was still residing in Long Beach, CA. Predictably, Yogi and the gang get trapped inside the Goose and take off on a "magical" flight around the world. They encounter a feisty little girl named Bernice, who accompanies them on a series of loosely connected adventures. There are some great, even dazzling, backgrounds in this film as well as some classic bits from the various characters. Quick Draw McGraw actually dons his old El Kabong costume in one scene! Eventually they encounter their old nemesis from the Laff-a-Lympics, the Dread Baron and his accomplice, the dog Mumbly--thinly disguised variations on Dick Dastardly and Muttley from the Wacky Races.

Overall, it's a fun film! Don't expect too much from it, and you won't be disappointed. The storyline and characterizations seem to be aimed much lower than the usual family audience--the movie appears to be trying to play to very, very young children of five or younger. Nothing very dangerous ever happens, and every villain or problem is quickly and painlessly dealt with. However, the personalities of Yogi, Boo Boo, Huckleberry, and the rest are presented intact, and if you love these classic Hanna-Barbera characters, you will find much to enjoy in this movie. The early scenes of the plane taking off and Yogi attempting to fly it are indeed "magical."

I had hoped that this kids' movie would be an entertaining introduction to the famous aircraft. Instead, it is an insipid,uninspired waste of time and an insult to the intelligence and taste of viewers, whether they be kids or their parents. Hanna-Barbera cartoons were never on the intelligence level of others such as Warner Brothers (Bugs, Daffy,et al), but at least in their heyday they had SOME entertainment value. This later effort by the studio is truly lame. The voice 'talent' sounds more annoying than even when the actors were in their prime, and the script is beyond ludicrous. Unless you are a desperate collector of cartoons featuring Yogi and his unfunny pals, or are a devoted collector of any films that feature historic aircraft, you will probably be better off spending your money elsewhere.