Monday, November 25, 2013

Saturday Morning's Forgotten Heroes: Hong Kong Phooey vs. Iron Head & the Cotton Pickin' Pocket Picker (1974)

Hong Kong Phooey (Scatman Crothers, ex-Harlem Globetrotters) has two cases to solve in this episode. First, it's a safe-snatching robot and his safecracker master, and then, the "Cotton Pickin' Pocket Picker". The sparse backgrounds in the open and some scenes were what passed for normal at Hanna-Barbera at the time, at least for their comedy cartoons.



With HKP marking his 40th anniversary next year, I wouldn't count on the dunderheads at WB or Cartoon Network doing anything to mark the occasion. After all, the series is on DVD, and that seems to disqualify it from ever airing on Boomerang again.

Rating: B.

2 comments:

magicdog said...

Looks like Ironhead took his entrance and exit cues from Mac, the robot assistant from The Jetsons!

I used to watch HKP back in the day, but the show just doesn't hold up well - even giving it nostalgia points isn't enough. I always liked Scatman though, and I think that was the saving grace for the show!

Did you hear Hollywood has been working on a live action HKP - with a CGI Penry Pooch?? I happened to lucj out and caught a clip that was briefly circulated showing an "effects test".

Let's just say seeing HKP drinking out of a toilet and eating urinal cake was NOT what I'd call funny! HKP deserves better.

hobbyfan said...

I was afraid of that. I knew about the project---with Eddie Murphy attached, the last I knew--but the toilet humor doesn't belong with HKP. It's just the crap that gets tossed into almost every comedy nowadays because the idiots in charge think we all find it funny.