huckleberry hound tunes

chibi cartoon doggies

from top to bottom:
–scooby doo, great dane (scooby doo franchise)
–hakuro, siberian husky (ginga nagareboshi gin)
–belladonna, whippet demon (all dogs go to heaven the series)
–chief, mongrel (isle of dogs)

Boo Brothers!

Alice May: “Alice in Wonderland, or What’s a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This?” (1966 Hanna-Barbera cartoon special)

This 50-minute cartoon musical is an Alice of and for the ‘60s. Its young heroine (voiced by Janet Waldo, a.k.a. Judy Jetson and Penelope Pitstop) is a modern-day Alice trying to finish reading Alice in Wonderland for a school book report. But then her over-exuberant dog Fluff knocks her over, causing her to bump her head, fall unconscious, and dream that she follows Fluff through her TV screen into a Wonderland that Carroll would hardly recognize as his own. Its residents include a playful White Rabbit (Howard Morris), a jazzy beatnik Cheshire Cat (Sammy Davis Jr.), a Mad Hatter (Harvey Korman) with a glamorous female assistant named Hedda Hatter (Hedda Hopper), a two-headed Caterpillar whose heads resemble Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble (Alan Reed and Mel Blanc), a Hispanic-accented White Knight (Bill Dana as his character of José Jiménez), a Bogart-like “hard-boiled” criminal egg named Humphrey Dumpty (Allan Melvin), and glamorous Hungarian-accented Queen of Hearts (Zsa Zsa Gabor).

(Interestingly, two of the voice actors would go on to appear in Irwin Allan’s 1985 live action TV Alice, in different roles: Sammy Davis Jr. as the Caterpillar, Harvey Korman as the White King.)

Of course, this special doesn’t even try to be a faithful adaptation of the books. It just uses them as a basic framework for its own comedy and creativity. But any fan of the classic '60s Hanna-Barbera cartoons should still enjoy it. The animation might not be the most sophisticated, but the visuals are full of imagination and color, the characters are appealing, and the starry voice cast has great fun with their roles. The songs by Charles Strouse (of Bye Bye Birdie, Annie, and All Dogs Go to Heaven fame) are infectiously catchy too.

A high art Alicethis isn’t, but as a joyful, colorful cartoon snapshot of 1966, it’s worth watching.

@ariel-seagull-wings,@superkingofpriderock,@faintingheroine,@the-blue-fairie,@amalthea9