I had no idea both Laurel and Hardy were deceased by the time Hanna-Barbera produced their animated series. I only learned that after buying a book about American theatrical and TV cartoons.
But that fact didn't mean the shorts weren't enjoyable. I got a load of laughs from seeing the duo's antics. BTW, I can't say I saw their live action films, except for the tail end of one. It was a riot seeing them contend with enemy agents, robots, and witches. Not to mention their lookalike little nephews, who occasionally stopped by to visit. And several years later, there was also their guest appearance in "The New Scooby-Doo Movies," when they helped the gang solve the mystery of Bigfoot at a ski resort. I liked that, too.
But there's one episode I'd like to forget. They mistake a clock for a time bomb, and try to prevent it from going off. This may have been just a gag back in 1966, but since it was all about a suspicious package, it would most likely be banned today.
I believe Oliver Hardy died in 1957 and Stan Laurel passed away in 1965.
Larry Harmon played Stan Laurel's voice and Jim MacGeorge played Oliver Hardy's voice. Harmon and MacGeorge reprised their roles for Laurel and Hardy's cartoon appearance in The New Scooby Doo Movies in 1972.
MacGeorge impersonated Stan Laurel and Chuck McCann impersonated Oliver Hardy in the 1970s and 1980s in various tv commercials (Anco Wiper Blades and Parkay Margarine as two examples) and variety show appearances. McCann played a more sinister Oliver Hardy impersonator in an episode of "Matt Houston"...McCann's character was a member of a gang of homicidal crooks who were celebrity impersonators with the leader being a Charlie Chaplin look-a-like, played by Andrew Robinson.
I remember seeing a few H-B Laurel and Hardy cartoons when a local tv station ran it in the 1980s. The animation couldn't exactly capture Hardy's live-action facial reactions to Laurel's misunderstanding of things or the clever scriptwriting in the original Hal Roach Laurel & Hardy shorts that caused Laurel to comically misunderstand things often but the familiar sound effects and supporting voice actor cast (Don Messick, Hal Smith, Janet Waldo) made it a comfortable watch
I remember Hanna-Barbera's "Abbott and Costello" cartoons from 1969 more with Bud Abbott playing Abbott in cartoon form and Stan Irwin playing Lou Costello (The real Costello died in 1959). Abbott was reportedly destitute and in ill health at the time (he needed physical assistance to enter the Hanna Barbera studio to record his voice for the cartoons) and needed the paychecks. Again, the familiar sound effects, animation style, and supporting voice cast (Mel Blanc, John Stephenson, Don Messick) made it fun, even if Costello yelled "Heyyyy Abbott!!" once too often.
H-B took their technique of designing characters around around celebrity voices to its logical conclusion - but it was a step too far for me. I'd grown up watching the old Laurel and Hardy shorts in the 50s and 60s - so this series was just a travesty - their comedy lay not just in their voices but more importantly in their performance - and the original value of 'character' voices in H-B cartoons had been to carry personality when limited animation couldn't. I just watched the episode Plummer Pudding on YouTube - and realised that it would have worked fine (for me) if the characters had been funny animals who sounded like Laurel & Hardy - but the fact that they were supposed to be L & H but didn't perform like them just seemed like a failure.
The CGI series Chaplin & Co. is the first TV series I've seen that actually uses a comedian's performance at its comic core. Of course, Chaplin's comedy was only visual: Laurel & Hardy (like W. C. Fields) carried silent comedy over into the talkie era. I suppose Abbott & Costello worked better, being that theirs was essentially verbal comedy - but as in all H-B shows they were still held hostage to the plot - no attempt to give them any kind of doubletalk routine, for example.
peterhale said:H-B took their technique of designing characters around around celebrity voices to its logical conclusion - but it was a step too far for me. I'd grown up watching the old Laurel and Hardy shorts in the 50s and 60s - so this series was just a travesty - their comedy lay not just in their voices but more importantly in their performance - and the original value of 'character' voices in H-B cartoons had been to carry personality when limited animation couldn't. I just watched the episode Plummer Pudding on YouTube - and realised that it would have worked fine (for me) if the characters had been funny animals who sounded like Laurel & Hardy - but the fact that they were supposed to be L & H but didn't perform like them just seemed like a failure.The CGI series Chaplin & Co. is the first TV series I've seen that actually uses a comedian's performance at its comic core. Of course, Chaplin's comedy was only visual: Laurel & Hardy (like W. C. Fields) carried silent comedy over into the talkie era. I suppose Abbott & Costello worked better, being that theirs was essentially verbal comedy - but as in all H-B shows they were still held hostage to the plot - no attempt to give them any kind of doubletalk routine, for example.
DePatie-Freleng animated the series "Baggy Pants and the Nitwits" around 1976 or so..."Baggy Pants" was a Charlie Chaplin-like cat complete with oversized shoes, little mustache, derby hat, and cane and engaged in short adventures without dialogue...only the rinky-dink old-time piano background music and cartoon sound effects were audible. The cartoons were pleasant but not exactly a laugh riot or capturing Chapin's brand of visual comedy and pathos.
Trivia Question 91: "Sinbad Jr" was co-produced with American Films International, and "Abbott And Costello" with RKO-Jomar. With what live action film company was "Laurel And Hardy" co-produced?
Trivia Answer: These cartoons were a join effort from Hanna- Barbera and Wolper Productions.
