THE QUEST FOR THE LOST CARTOONS

DAFFY DUCK AND PORKY PIG MEET THE GROOVIE GOOLIES


After the Warner Bros. animation studios had been shut down and stopped producing cartoons in 1969, the company loaned their Looney Tunes characters for one occasion to Lou Scheimer und Norm Prescott of Filmation Associates. Filmation used the so called "limited animation" where only parts of the cartoon figures moved instead of the whole body. This technic was especially common in use for cartoon series on tv. Some of the popularest limited animations came from Hanna-Barbera e.g. "The Flintstones", "Scooby-Doo" and "The Jetsons". Filmation on the other hand has been famous for "Star Trek: The Animated Series", "He-Man" und "She-Ra: Princess Of Power".



In 1972 broadcaster ABC had started its " The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie" where cartoon specials of successors like Popeye and Yogi Bear were shown. One of these specials was "Daffy Duck And Porky Pig Meet The Groovie Goolies". These "Groovie Goolies" were some sort of cartoony Addams Family and a spin-off from the show "Sabrina The Teenage Witch" whose character was a spin-off from the "Archie Show". The Goolies main features where Drac, Frankie, Wolfie, Hagatha, Mummy and Bella La Ghostly. All inspired by actors and figures of classic horror movies. These "Groovie Goolies" met the Looney Tunes Daffy Duck, Porky und Petunia Pig, Foghorn Leghorn, Tweety und Sylvester, Pepe Le Pew, Elmer Fudd, Wile E. Coyote und Yosemite Sam.



Due to the copyright the special has never been released officially in the United States on video tape or DVD. Only bootleg copies of poor quality in black and white are known to exist. Almost nobody knows that "Daffy Duck And Porky Pig Meet The Groovie Goolies" found its release in Europe on British and German VHS tapes with copyright by Filmation. Although the film is non compare to the original Looney Tunes of the 1940s to 1960s, it isn't as bad as cartoon experts like e.g. Jerry Beck (www.cartoonresearch.com) claim.



The plot is indeed weird. But that fits perfect for these creepy Goolie creatures. They sit on a sofa in front of their tv set in their residence called "horrible hall". On the screen Petunia Pig presents the latest news about film director Daffy Ducks current project. It is a movie about King Arthur and his knights of the round table. Suddenly the broadcast is interrupted and the "Phantom Of The Flickers" appears. The mad man promises to sabotage and destroy Daffys work. Immidiatelly Frankie, a huge Daffy Duck fan, decides to go to Hollywood in order to safe the film. No question that the other Goolies join him on his tour.



Right after the Goolies arrive in the Hollywood studios, Daffy mistakes them for stuntmen and makes use of them in the action scenes of his movie. A short time later Daffy, together with the other Looney Tunes characters watches part of the film on a big screen. The Phantom Of The Flickers manages to steal the reel. Disguised as Hauntleroy, Hagathas little cousin, he escapes into "mad mirror land" which happens to be the real world. Hauntleroy jumps through a mirror while the Goolies are on his tracks. At this point "Daffy Duck And Porky Pig Meet The Groovie Goolies" turns into a live action film with real actors. This sequence is missing on the European VHS tapes. It was edited and cut out of the special together with a short close up of Foghorn Leghorn, Pepe Le Pew and Sylvester with his famous words: "Sufferin' succotash!".



Frankie, Drac and Wolfie manage to catch the Phantom and bring him back into the cartoon world. The Phantom appears to be Dracs long lost uncle Claude Chaney. He sabotaged Daffys work because he was upset to the fact that movies were no longer filmed in black and white (as mentioned above, bootleg copies of the special are in black and white, what a coincidence). Chaney was a star in the old times before color film became standard. Daffy instantly offers the Phantom a role in his movie. The finished film becomes a winner at the "Ozzie Awards". Daffy thanks himself on stage and the Groovie Goolies hit for home.



The German dubbed version might be slightly more pleasant than the original. Although there is no such voice talent like Mel Blanc, the laugh track appears only occasionally. The missing live action sequence had been shown in the United States during the syndication reruns of the "Groovie Goolies" show in the episode "The Haunted Heist" and can be watched on youtube in color.

At least three times released on German VHS by
Select Video (Egmont Audio Visual GmbH)
in 1983, 1986 and 1990.

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German version.