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OK, I said I'd be back and here I am.


DangerMouse
I'm not linking to video, because this is definitely not public domain (check out the full DVD release in the US & the UK), but I'll link to Cosgrove Hall's official website: http://www.chf.co.uk/shows/past/dangermouse/

DM is the world's greatest secret agent, despite being "assisted" by the world's most incompetent sidekick (the narrator's words, not mine ). His base of operations is a replica pillar box (post box to you young'uns) on a corner of Baker Street (described as Mayfair, but technically I believe Bloomsbury, fact fans). His arch nemesis is the villainous Baron Greenback, abetted by Stiletto Mafiosi (a surname which I think was quietly dropped in the US and you poor souls also got a mockney accent for him, whereas the UK was treated to a very bad Italian accent). Like all the great villains, he has a white furry pet to stroke while plotting evil - in his case, a caterpillar named Nero.

The Cosgrove Hall writers must have been sniffing the paint, because some of the adventures are particularly surreal. They must also have been fans of Monty Python and they amused themselves by putting in references to amuse the parents who would doubtless have to watch the show as well as the sprogs.

They topped off this masterpiece by getting some rather good actors on for the voices - David Jason, Terry Scott & Edward Kelsey were already well known (or at least in Edward Kelsey's case, I saw an episode of either the Persuaders or the Champions or Randall & Hopkirk with him in).

The show ran for 10 years, although I must admit I don't recall seeing new episodes of DM after Count Duckula aired. I think the secret to the appeal was basically the voice actors, the crazy plots & the dialogue - and the fact that it didn't talk down to children. Words such as "schizophrenic", "labyrinthine" and "monocular" were used and there was one episode that featured a conversation on the difference between and derivation of "acrobatics" and "aquabatics". Even the Narrator gets in on the fun and is a character in his own right.

I'm halfway through the 12 disc boxset at the moment and it makes me laugh as much (if not more) than it did when DM first started in the eighties. You could write a book of all the puns and plays on words they put in the episodes - and if Cosgrove Hall ever did, I'd be first in the queue to buy it!


Count Duckula
Another Cosgrove Hall production, official page to be found at http://www.chf.co.uk/shows/past/countduckula/

This was technically a spin off from DangerMouse, although this particular reincarnation (last in a long line of vampire barons) bore little resemblance to the Transylvanian terror that appeared in episodes of DangerMouse. This particular vampire duck was a vegetarian, to the everlasting despair of his butler. His favourite meal was a broccoli sandwich - something the famous "wampire" hunter, Doctor Von Goosewing, never quite grasped.

The Count's base of operations was a tumbledown old Castle in the Transylvanian Alps, which had the added trick (besides a distressing tendency to lose bits from its walls in high winds) of being able to transport itself anywhere in the world at the behest of its master - albeit it always had to return at dawn, Eastern Transylvanian Standard Time. This allowed the week's plot to unfurl pretty much anywhere in the world.

Again, one of David Jason's finest performances, joined again by Brian "Stiletto" Trueman and Jack May (already known to thousands in the UK as some guy in the Archers - can't tell you who, because I didn't listen to that radio show).

The programme was apparently at least part-funded by Nickelodeon and it definitely had a more transatlantic feel; however that didn't stop it gently ribbing Americans as well as British and anyone else it felt like. The plots were not as surreal as DM's could be, but there was plenty of snappy dialogue and puns.


Darkwing Duck
For image, see my avatar Daring duck of mystery, and champion of right - with an "ego the size of a planet" which could easily rival SatAM era Sonic. Darkwing Duck was Disney's answer to Batman (with homages probably to the Shadow and various superheroes throughout the ages), albeit in a more comedy fashion. Darkwing protects the city of St Canard from the predations of various supervillains, supernatural entities and criminal scum. The citizens to be honest don't quite know what to make of him and the police reckon he's another nutter and probably a criminal. His base is high in the tower of the Audubon Bay Bridge, although he has a suburban home for his alter ego, Drake Mallard. Drake's life is further complicated by the presence of his adopted daughter, a "spirited" kid who must make his home insurance premiums the highest mankind has ever seen ("This punishment will have to be pretty good - I used all my best stuff when she blew up the bathroom!").

Like many superheroes, he needs a good sidekick, a role filled ably by Launchpad "LP" McQuack, thus making this a spin-off from DuckTales. There has never, however, been a real cross-over episode, just references. LP has been back to Duckberg a time or two and every so often Gizmoduck turns up to thwart villainy in St Canard, much to Darkwing's disgust.

His on-off love interest is a witch (and part-time criminal) named Morgana and from time to time he works for SHUSH, a government agency with a director who sounds awfully like Man from UNCLE's Mr Waverley. While working for SHUSH, he is up against FOWL, the Fiendish Organisation for World Larceny (also to be seen in DuckTales).

I think Darkwing's charm is in its snappy dialogue and its crazy supervillains. The hero, despite needing to be taken down a peg or too from time to time, is actually very good at what he does when he's not busy posturing and playing to the media. His relationship with his daughter is also a strong theme and played quite well.


Mysterious Cities of Gold
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mysterious_Cities_of_Gold

An anime from the early eighties, although I think it may have been a co-production with France - it was certainly very popular there and those lucky souls got soundtrack releases. The rest of us have to watch eBay with an eagle eye to pick up "re-orchestrated" CDs, since Saban managed to lose the master tapes.

It is set in the 16th century when Europe is conquering the New World. Esteban, an orphan from Barcelona and apparently "The Child of the Sun", falls in with a guy of refreshingly ambiguous morality - you spend most of the time thinking he's a bad guy and then he does something which completely changes your perception of him. Esteban ends up on a Spanish ship sailing for South America, together with a kidnapped Inca girl named Zia, in search of the fabled City of Gold.

They have adventures while journeying through the lands of the Inca, the Aztecs & the Olmecs, finding amazing artefacts and trying to avoid the attentions of Pizarro's Spanish army.

This was something of cult viewing in the UK - I certainly recall that everything stopped before teatime in order to watch the week's episode on Children's BBC. However, I don't know that we ever saw the final episode - maybe a fellow Brit can let me know? I was 6 at the time, so it's a little hazy!

I am a bad person, in that I got the UK boxset for Christmas last year and I still haven't opened it. My only defence is that I bought and watched the French boxset the year before.


Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogtanian

This was originally a Spanish-language cartoon, produced by BRB Internacional in Madrid, sometime around 1980, although it took a few years to make it to the UK. BRB would go on to make Sandokan and 80 Days Around the World with Willy Fog. As a side note, the PR department in BRB are very nice and took the time to answer my e-mail when I was living in Madrid and wondering when the DVDs were coming out.

It is an adaptation of Dumas' Three Musketeers, although towards the end of the series it sought other inspiration, including influences from the Scarlet Pimpernel. Athos, Porthos & Aramis are unchanged, but D'Artagnan has become Dogtanian (an inspired pun which isn't actually there in the original, named Dartacan). For some reason, Porthos is the leader, while Athos has great strength. All the main characters are dogs, although there are also pigs and Milady de Winter is a cat. Athos is a St Bernard, Porthos is a German Shepherd and Aramis is something akin to a King Charles Cavalier spaniel. Dogtanian himself has been described (on the official DVD release, no less) as something like the lovechild of Snoopy and Lady from Lady & the Tramp.

As you would expect in a children's show, Dogtanian does not have the philandering ways of the original D'Artagnan. Instead, his love is faithful to Juliet, unmarried lady-in-waiting to the Queen. The Duke of Buckingham is not overtly the Queen's lover (unlike in the later Albert the 5th Musketeer, where it was pretty obvious from him hiding under the Queen's bed!).

The main bones of the story are still there, however, particularly Cardinal Richelieu, Rochefort, Milady and Monsieur de Treville, the stealing of the Queen's diamonds etc. And the themetune was great in whatever language

DW

So where does Tweeg come into it? I'm sure I recall him being a bad guy for a while. And what was the name of his stooge, the thing that looked like a Boglin?

Of course, I could just go look that up... *does so*

EDIT: Answer: Tweeg is in it and is a bad guy, albeit incompetent. The Boglin thing was called LB.

DW