Ruddigore (1967)

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The animated medium frees this lesser-known G&S comic-opera from the limitations of the theatrical setting to successfully emphasize the supernatural and Gothic elements of the narrative.All these talk about handing out pardon to sneaks, swindlers, ciphers, scums, snakes, scoundrels, scalawags, zeroes, scorpions, scapegraces, psychopaths, sociopaths, and sissies as easy as giving away candies to kids... (Spooky!)It's the Animaniacs (1993) series that introduced me to the music of G&S (Animaniacs reboot, btw, woohoo!) and yes, The Simpsons (1989), who could forget that Cape Feare (1993) episode. This movie, on the other hand, is animation artistry that showcases, yet again, the genius of that well-beloved British duo to the public.The Halas-Batchelor production company's animation, notable for their adaptation of Orwell's Animal Farm (1954)), successfully manages to cram the whole operetta in barely an hour running time which makes for a very effective appetizer if one is to start devouring the G&S repertoire. Splendid earworm-ish tunes. The 2D-animation gives a lighter tone to a work that explores grim themes. It does hold well with the current 21st-century animation output that's known for having their own oblique and grotesque style. A worthy watch during the Halloween season, complete with a whole gallery of ghosts and all.In all the appeal the animation genre brings to this work comes a bit of caveat (that is, of course, only for those unacquainted with the material). The problem with this musical is for it being animated, it does explore the logic (or non-logic) surrounding the issue of suicide. Some people's sensibilities might find this distressing. (But it's Gilbert and Sullivan!) And having Richard Dauntless getting into a seven-to-one ratio action with the bridesmaids:Such lopsided pairing... :-J or (>_<) or :( Definitely not with the #metoo and #timesup movement going around these days and all.But I'm confident kids who are matured enough would manage to pull through such talk by themselves. So, this is definitely a PG-rated cartoon that's sort of a sugar-coated bitter pill, a bitter medication that any human needs to consume, regardless of age. "This particularly vapid talk from an irrelevant rater Isn't much consequential, if it is it really doesn't matter. If it is it really doesn't matter If it is it really doesn't matter If it is it really doesn't matter, matter, matter, matter, matter--" (Basingstoke!)B-plus, it is.

'Ruddigore' is not one of Gilbert and Sullivan's best operettas on the whole, 'The Pirates of Penzance', 'HMS Pinafore' and 'The Mikado' to me are more memorable, cleverer, wittier, funnier and more imaginative.This said, 'Ruddigore' (silly story and all and being occasionally cartoony) is very enjoyable regardless still, Gilbert's lyrics and writing on the most part still entertain, it is very easy to dig the ghosts scene and Sullivan's music as always is sublime. The critical indifference that 'Ruddigore' got at the time and that it's not often performed now (quite the contrary) is a shame and not deserving.When first hearing of this animated adaptation, there was the thought would it work as a very abridged treatment and animated. Further adding to the worry was remembering how dreadfully the animated adaptation of 'The Mikado' named 'The Gentlemen of Titipu', not just the worst 'Mikado' ever but the worst ever treatment of any of Gilbert and Sullivan's work, turned out, and fearing that it would be the same. The good news is this animated adaptation of 'Ruddigore' was surprisingly good, and it is absolutely agreed that it is enormously improved on 'The Gentlemen of Titipu' (then again almost anything is better than that).It's not completely ideal. At just over fifty minutes, it does feel too short and sometimes a bit jumpy as a result of being heavily cut. Meaning that some of the storytelling is flimsier, the characters not as rich and that we lose a lot of Sullivan's music. The animation quality is mixed, though mostly quite good for the time. The colours are lovely (though with the odd flat one) and the backgrounds stylised but meticulous and sometimes magical in detail, but some of the drawing for the characters veer on the rough and scrappy side. The ghosts scene comes off best.On the other hand, it is wonderful musically and played and performed with a lot of liveliness and nuance, as well as alertly and sympathetically conducted. Hearing voices experienced, actually specialised, in G&S was of great interest value on paper and comes over marvellously here and one really couldn't have it any other way. John Reed and Donald Adams stand out.Gilbert's writing is still funny, like with Sullivan's music one wishes that there was more. The story is told with a lot of energy and charm, with a little silliness but never going overboard while not taking things too seriously, but still treating everything with intelligence and respect. The characters while more interesting in the operetta itself, are still fun.In conclusion, surprisingly good. Not completely ideal but for an animated adaptation of G&S when shortened and abridged this is the best you'll get most likely. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This is very easy to watch over and over again, and uses its short runtime for all it's worth. Standing up to repeated viewing is a great strength; I get sick of things pretty easily. It is a shame that the overture and many of the songs were cut (especially Mad Margaret's song) but on the other hand, brevity is the soul of wit. The animation is cheap and wonky for a theatrical release, even for the sixties, but that's part of the charm à la Rocky and Bullwinkle. Gilbert's writing and sense of humor really leans towards the cartoony most of the time. Stephen Sondheim considered this a major flaw of his oeuvre, but if there were ever a place for that, it's as an actual cartoon. Now, consider the scene where the Murgatroyd ghosts come out of their portrait frames. CG was a distant dream of the future for most of the time Ruddigore has been around, so the best way to make the scene work is to make it all animated so nothing looks fake. Showing the backstory of the Murgatroyd curse is also smoother than having someone sing it--"show, don't tell," as they say. I really like the way the characters are drawn (in fact, my profile picture is Mad Margaret.) This is just one of my favorite animated movies ever, and a good way to introduce your friends to G&S. Makes me wonder what a full-length, verbatim animated version of one of their operettas would be like.

Like I said, I am a fan of Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado. So, I came across this animated adaption to another of Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas, Ruddigore. Was it worth a try? Let's have a look.The first positive thing I would like to say is that this cartoon has decent animation. I mean, it's not Toy Story, but what the heck? It's pretty good animation done by Halas and Batchelor at the time. The second positive thing is that this movie has the Doyle-Carte Company as the voices of all the characters in the cartoon. Not to mention that it has songs that are true too the operetta. The only downside is that this cartoon is kinda short, as some of the songs from the operetta were cut from the cartoon.Aside from the fact that it's only 50 minutes long, I think that this is worth a try and it's a much better animated adaption than the Gentlemen of Titipu.