The talking Magpies sell tickets and hot dogs to view a construction site.The talking Magpies sell tickets and hot dogs to view a construction site.The talking Magpies sell tickets and hot dogs to view a construction site.
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Featured review
Heckle and Jeckle on construction
'Steeplejacks' (1951)
Opening thoughts: Of all the various theatrical series starring recurring characters from Terrytoons Studios up to this point and in their entire filmography, the one for Heckle and Jeckle is the only one to have all its early cartoons consistently good in quality, something that those running longer (i.e. Mighty Mouse) never achieved. From when they were first introduced right up to their last appearance, the Heckle and Jeckle series for me was the best of all of Terrytoons' theatrical series, though their earlier cartoons are better than the later ones.
1951 was expectedly a very mixed bag of a year for Terrytoons. The Heckle and Jeckle cartoons were very enjoyable and the Terry Bears cartoons from that year surprised me in a good way. Mighty Mouse had some decent cartoons too. Was actually expecting a good deal from 'Steeple Jacks', due to liking so many of the previous Heckle and Jeckle cartoons, but was a little disappointed. It is above average and amusing, but other efforts in the series had more freshness and energy.
Bad things: Beginning with the not so good things, a vast majority of the previous Heckle and Jeckle cartoons had fresher and funnier material, what there is here in 'Happy Landing' is amusing but never hilarious and has been seen before. Although the Heckle and Jeckle cartoons are often very anarchic and darkly so, part of me felt that it occasionally was on the mean spirited side.
The story is fun enough and has energy but not much new is done with a pretty samey formula.
Good things: Despite how all this sounds, there is actually a lot good here in 'Steeple Jacks'. Have nothing to fault the animation for. Vibrant colours, nice attention to detail, far from static or simplistic backgrounds, the drawing is so much smoother than when the studio first started and the transitions are much more fluid and less choppy, nowhere near as much recycling or cutting corners either. The music never disappointed with Terrytoons, always the best asset of their worst efforts and it is one of the best things here still. Actually would go as far to say that it's even better than the animation. It is so lovely to listen to and there is such an uplifting vibe hearing it because of the snappy character it has.
Gags in general are well timed and amusing and there is a high gag count. The humour doesn't always land, but most of it is true to the darkly anarchic tone of most of the series and there is enough energy. Heckle and Jeckle are great characters here as usual, their movements, the way they talk (in the use of language and the voices themselves) and their expressions make them quite unique characters for Terrytoons.
Closing thoughts: Concluding, not one of Heckle and Jeckle's best but still above average.
6/10.
Opening thoughts: Of all the various theatrical series starring recurring characters from Terrytoons Studios up to this point and in their entire filmography, the one for Heckle and Jeckle is the only one to have all its early cartoons consistently good in quality, something that those running longer (i.e. Mighty Mouse) never achieved. From when they were first introduced right up to their last appearance, the Heckle and Jeckle series for me was the best of all of Terrytoons' theatrical series, though their earlier cartoons are better than the later ones.
1951 was expectedly a very mixed bag of a year for Terrytoons. The Heckle and Jeckle cartoons were very enjoyable and the Terry Bears cartoons from that year surprised me in a good way. Mighty Mouse had some decent cartoons too. Was actually expecting a good deal from 'Steeple Jacks', due to liking so many of the previous Heckle and Jeckle cartoons, but was a little disappointed. It is above average and amusing, but other efforts in the series had more freshness and energy.
Bad things: Beginning with the not so good things, a vast majority of the previous Heckle and Jeckle cartoons had fresher and funnier material, what there is here in 'Happy Landing' is amusing but never hilarious and has been seen before. Although the Heckle and Jeckle cartoons are often very anarchic and darkly so, part of me felt that it occasionally was on the mean spirited side.
The story is fun enough and has energy but not much new is done with a pretty samey formula.
Good things: Despite how all this sounds, there is actually a lot good here in 'Steeple Jacks'. Have nothing to fault the animation for. Vibrant colours, nice attention to detail, far from static or simplistic backgrounds, the drawing is so much smoother than when the studio first started and the transitions are much more fluid and less choppy, nowhere near as much recycling or cutting corners either. The music never disappointed with Terrytoons, always the best asset of their worst efforts and it is one of the best things here still. Actually would go as far to say that it's even better than the animation. It is so lovely to listen to and there is such an uplifting vibe hearing it because of the snappy character it has.
Gags in general are well timed and amusing and there is a high gag count. The humour doesn't always land, but most of it is true to the darkly anarchic tone of most of the series and there is enough energy. Heckle and Jeckle are great characters here as usual, their movements, the way they talk (in the use of language and the voices themselves) and their expressions make them quite unique characters for Terrytoons.
Closing thoughts: Concluding, not one of Heckle and Jeckle's best but still above average.
6/10.
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- TheLittleSongbird
- Jan 11, 2024
Details
- Runtime7 minutes
- Sound mix
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