A Dopey Hacienda
- Episode aired Jan 1, 1971
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
7
YOUR RATING
Photos
Storyline
Featured review
Dopiness doesn't get much more mediocre
'Tijuana Toads' "A Dopey Hacienda" (1971)
Opening thoughts: Have made no secret about really not caring for most of the Tijuana Toads cartoons (only two reached above average level), but 'A Dopey Hacienda' actually had more potential than all the cartoons that came before it and than most cartoons in the series. The title is endearingly silly and plantation settings are always interesting, despite the concept not being anything special. Any potential that 'A Dopey Hacienda' had is not lived up to at all and it is yet another at best mediocre Tijuana Toads cartoon that has all the series 'most common flaws done badly. Not awful, but nothing special.
Bad things: 'A Dopey Hacienda' has a lot of problems. Apart from one moment, El Toro and Pancho don't appeal as lead characters. They have always come over as annoying and they are mostly here, and they are too broadly stereotypical. Worse though is the cat owner, an unbearable stereotype that one hates from the start and that hate worsens as the cartoon wears on. The voice acting is not good, Don Diamond and Tom Holland try too hard while Anthea Lorde is reduced to scream distasteful insults to a character that does not deserve that kind of abuse.
Once again the animation is less than great, it's not the worst looking cartoon in the series as the beginning doesn't look too bad but on the most part it's too sparse, over simple and rushed-looking. The dialogue always sounds awkward and is pretty generic. The gags are stale rehashes basically and the kicking the cat out of the house gag wore thin the second time and was too mean-spirited. Surely we don't need to see El Toro and Pancho relaxing with more of the same poses (recycled animation?) uttering equally samey dialogue in every cartoon as well? The story is dull and does nothing new with a familiar scenario, also feeling too repetitious.
Good things: Doug Goodwin's score though has a lot of character and charming flavour and the opening titles sequence is upbeat and well animated. The cat character was both fun and also one that one feels sorry for, because of the cruel way he's treated throughout the cartoon. That is up until the end where he shows a more antagonistic side. Did feel sorry for the goldfish too.
When it comes to singling out individual parts, the highlight by far is the ending, both amusing and unexpected, where one sees a different side to Pancho in his shining moment of the whole series and sees that he does care for El Toro. My reaction to seeing him like that was similar to El Toro's.
Closing thoughts: Summing up, didn't do it for me again. Great ending, but oh my goodness that cat owner is nearly on the same level of the Japanese beetle character and that takes some doing.
4/10.
Opening thoughts: Have made no secret about really not caring for most of the Tijuana Toads cartoons (only two reached above average level), but 'A Dopey Hacienda' actually had more potential than all the cartoons that came before it and than most cartoons in the series. The title is endearingly silly and plantation settings are always interesting, despite the concept not being anything special. Any potential that 'A Dopey Hacienda' had is not lived up to at all and it is yet another at best mediocre Tijuana Toads cartoon that has all the series 'most common flaws done badly. Not awful, but nothing special.
Bad things: 'A Dopey Hacienda' has a lot of problems. Apart from one moment, El Toro and Pancho don't appeal as lead characters. They have always come over as annoying and they are mostly here, and they are too broadly stereotypical. Worse though is the cat owner, an unbearable stereotype that one hates from the start and that hate worsens as the cartoon wears on. The voice acting is not good, Don Diamond and Tom Holland try too hard while Anthea Lorde is reduced to scream distasteful insults to a character that does not deserve that kind of abuse.
Once again the animation is less than great, it's not the worst looking cartoon in the series as the beginning doesn't look too bad but on the most part it's too sparse, over simple and rushed-looking. The dialogue always sounds awkward and is pretty generic. The gags are stale rehashes basically and the kicking the cat out of the house gag wore thin the second time and was too mean-spirited. Surely we don't need to see El Toro and Pancho relaxing with more of the same poses (recycled animation?) uttering equally samey dialogue in every cartoon as well? The story is dull and does nothing new with a familiar scenario, also feeling too repetitious.
Good things: Doug Goodwin's score though has a lot of character and charming flavour and the opening titles sequence is upbeat and well animated. The cat character was both fun and also one that one feels sorry for, because of the cruel way he's treated throughout the cartoon. That is up until the end where he shows a more antagonistic side. Did feel sorry for the goldfish too.
When it comes to singling out individual parts, the highlight by far is the ending, both amusing and unexpected, where one sees a different side to Pancho in his shining moment of the whole series and sees that he does care for El Toro. My reaction to seeing him like that was similar to El Toro's.
Closing thoughts: Summing up, didn't do it for me again. Great ending, but oh my goodness that cat owner is nearly on the same level of the Japanese beetle character and that takes some doing.
4/10.
helpful•90
- TheLittleSongbird
- Jan 18, 2024
Details
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content