Touché Turtle And Dum Dum- The Complete Series Blu-ray Review
“Touché Turtle And Dum Dum” isn’t one of the more memorable Hanna-Barbera animated series.
Originally released on “The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series,” the relatively obscure “Touché Turtle And Dum Dum” is a 1962 Hanna-Barbera animated series comprised of 52 five minute episodes. The episodes include: “Whale Of A Tale,” “Zero-Hero,” “Dilly Of A Lilly,” “Missing Missle,” “Lake Serpent,” “You Bug Me,” “Roll-a-Ghoster,” “Giant Double-Header,” “Loser Takes All,” “Takes Two To Tangle,” “Mr. Robots,” “Touché At Bat,” “Billy The Cad,” “Dog Daze,” “Ant And Rave,” “Black Is The Night,” “Dragon Along,” “Satellite Fright,” “Sheepy-time Pal,” “Hex Marks The Spot,” “Catch As Cat Can,” “Sea For Two,” “High Goon,” “Grandma Outlaw,” “Duel Control,” “Rapid Rabbit,” “Thumb Hero,” “Kat-Napped,” “Romeo, Touché And Juliet,” “The Big Bite,” “Flying Saucer Sorcerer,” “Aladdin’s Lampoon,” “Hunting License,” “The Phoney Phantom,” “Touché’s Last Stand,” “Chief Beef,” “Like Wild, Man,” “Et Tu Touché?,” “Dragon Feat,” “Red Riding Hoodlum,” “Dough Nuts,” “Save The Last Trance For Me,” “Waterloo For Two,” “Robin Hoodlum,” “The Shoe Must Go On,” “Quack Hero,” “Aliblabber And The Forty Thieves,” “Out Of This Whirl,” “Hero On The Half Shell,” “Tenderfoot Turtle,” and “Peace And Riot.”
In terms of the stories, the series is rather formulaic. The sword wielding musketeer hat wearing hero Touché (who sounds like Droopy) and his dopey hat and scarf wearing sheepdog sidekick Dum Dum (who sounds like a goofier version of Yogi Bear) get calls for help and take on random jobs involving taking care of bullies, protection, retrieving objects or animals (like apes and dragons), hauntings, a Princess, and stopping villains, criminals, and thieves. Other stories see them have run-ins with everything from robots and a giant bug to aliens and a dogcatcher swiping Dum Dum. The two heroes also have a tendency to bump into literary characters (like Aladdin and Captain Ahab) and real life figures (Napoleon and Captain John Smith to name a few). Touché (whose catch phrase is “Touché Away!”) may not be the smoothest hero, but he gets the job done (often through trial and error).
If you treasure the catalogue of Hanna-Barbera toons, this set is for you. If you’re more of a casual fan, this repetitive and not very funny series is entirely skippable. There’s a reason these characters never really caught on. They just feel like an amalgam of other better animated characters. You’re much better off picking up the recent Warner Archive “The Huckleberry Hound Show” Blu-ray box set which has a lot more entertainment value and variety.
Video/Audio:
Presentation: 1.33:1 1080. How does it look? The remastered and restored for home video episodes look rather uneven. Episodes like “Dragon Along” and “Red Riding Hoodlum” appear bright and colorful while others such as “Whale Of A Tale” and “Peace And Riot” appear faded and a bit blurry.
Audio Track: 2.0 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? The audio is adequate if a little on the flat side.
No extras.
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