Ro ro, Raggy. Hanna-Barbera is giving the "Scooby-Doo" treatment to literary classics. Make that "gave," because these Storybook Favorites were produced in the late '70s, when the Mystery Machine was in full flower. Scooby fans will recognize the trademark partial animation, background music, Foley effects, and even some of the voices from the Mystery, Inc. series. And you have to tip your hat to the legendary TV animated filmmakers for trying to introduce children to some of the old standards: Gulliver's Travels, The Last of the Mohicans, and Black Beauty.
It's a tough order, though, transforming literary properties for a popular audience, and even tougher to severely condense the novels and adapt them for younger readers or viewers. When I was growing up in the '50s, there was a comic book series called Classics Illustrated, which did a much better job of staying faithful to the originals. These animated versions are awfully far removed from Jonathan Swift's 1726 satirical travel novel (pictured here, courtesy of Monash University Library), James Fennimore Cooper's 1826 Leather-Stocking tale, and Anna Sewell's 1877 children's book. Black Beauty comes closest to the original, which is perhaps no surprise because it's also the shortest book and the least complicated to adapt. Cooper's novel sprawled to nearly 400 pages, while Swift's was close to 300. Like those early Classics Illustrated comics, these are aimed strictly at younger viewers.
"Gulliver's Travels" (1979)
This one was produced by Hanna-Barbera Australia, which also generated "The Popeye Valentine Special," "5 Weeks in a Balloon," and "The Kwicky Koala Show." Of the three classic stories included here, it's the one that offers the broadest appeal for children. In Swift's novel, Lemuel Gulliver was a surgeon on a merchant ship who was washed onto a strange land where the humans were only six inches tall. Here, he's a devoted family man who chooses to serve in the merchant marine in order to provide for his family. Swift intended Gulliver's adventures in Lilliput as a means of showing how small and petty politicians and the monarchy could be, though none of this will be on the minds of children who watch. They'll see a sinister prime minister, a silly king, and a Gulliver who is mostly a benign and bemused voyager. It's all played for laughs.
This adaptation takes the first two parts of Swift's novel and runs with it. Giving voice to Gulliver is that "Wild, Wild West" master of disguise, Ross Martin, with additional voices provided by Hanna-Barbera talents Don Messick, Janet Waldo, John Stephenson, and Julie Bennet. It's pretty sanitized and tame, with Gulliver never in much true danger, and outrageous events softened. In the novel, for example, Gulliver urinates to put out a fire in the Queen's bedchamber, where here it's the whole castle that's on fire, and the perceived giant sucks up a big mouthful of water and sprays it on the flames. When Gulliver is attacked by the miniature fleet belonging to Lilliput's rivals, it's as if they're using toothpicks and miniature Nerf balls. When he's the little one in a world of giants, it's even less menacing than "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." It's all played with a whimsical tone, rather than an ironic or perilous one.
In the novel, Gulliver visits Lilliput in part one, and in part two, Brobdingnag, where he's the miniature in a world of giants. Missing in this film version are parts three and four, in which Gulliver landed on the island of Laputa, and when he encountered the Houyhnhnms (intelligent horses) and Yahoos (beasts in human form with filthy habits--so take that, you Web surfers!). Then again, those were the most difficult sections of the novel, and, in truth, ones that wouldn't have spoken to a young audience.
"Gulliver's Travels" is the one that my children enjoyed the most of this batch. It's really an appealing story, if you think about it. First a man is so large that he can drag an entire navy in his fishing net, then so small that a wasp can menace him. That's hard to top, which makes it surprising that there's never been a truly fantastic animated version of Swift's novel. This one is okay, but . . . why isn't this on Disney's radar? The success of the recent live-action TV version starring Ted Danson certainly proved that Swift's tale still holds appeal.
"The Last of the Mohicans" (1975)
The Last of the Mohicans was the second in Cooper's trilogy about Natty Bumpo, a.k.a. Hawkeye, Pathfinder, and Leather-Stocking. This adaptation features a shortcut script by Draper Lewis, who previously wrote for "The Bell Telephone Hour" and "Josie and the Pussy Cats in Outer Space"--which explains a lot. It begins with a "Scooby"-style teaser, an excerpt from the middle of the episode, and then we go back and start at the beginning and get that teaser again. But with just 50 minutes for each of these adaptations, every minute counts, and that teaser idea seems a bad one. As it is, most of Cooper's novel was cut out. This screenplay covers the first half, and sanitizes it in the process.
In the novel, while Fort William is under attack by the French and Indians, the fort commander's grown daughters, Alice and Cora, are being escorted to the fort by Major Duncan Heyward, Alice's fiancé, and Magua, an Indian guide who is really in the service of the enemy. He's leading them farther away from the fort and into a trap when Hawkeye and his two Mohican friends, Chief Chingachgook and his son, Uncas, intervene. The rest of the plot follows the group as they head for the fort. Though Magua gets his, as in the book, the rest is pretty tame. Shots are fired, but mostly people grab their arms and fall over. This ends not long after the girls are reunited with their father. Had the plot continued, Col. Munro would have surrendered to the French, his daughters would have been kidnapped by two separate Indian tribes, and both Uncas and Cora would have been killed. This version makes it seem as if Alice chooses to go off with Uncas, and people just seem to live a lot happier ever after. Twain would be chortling over that one, because the kiddie version out-romances Cooper's. Is it interesting for kids? Marginally so. But "Jonny Quest" episodes carry more tension. Too much was cut out for this to really pack any whallop.have to confess that I side with Mark Twain, who so couldn't tolerate the romantic excesses of James Fennimore Cooper that he wrote a humorous count-by-count indictment titled "Fennimore Cooper's Literary Offenses." Twain would be heartily amused that this adaptation offers Casey Kasem as the voice of the Mohican named Uncas (and Kasem, you'll recall, was the voice of Shaggy in "Scooby-Doo"). I could almost hear Twain giggling from the great beyond as one of the young women that Natty and his Mohican friends are assigned to escort says, "Natty Bumpo? That sounds like a mosquito bite, or something." Obviously, not Cooper's words, but it's so Daphne.
Black Beauty (1978)
Ironically, this is the only classic of the three that was written for children, and it's the one that's apt to upset small children the most. Black Beauty was the only novel that Anna Sewell wrote, for which she was paid the whopping sum of 12 pounds. Published just three months before she died, the novel remains as a lasting monument.
"Black Beauty" has more colorful animation than the other two entries, with plenty of deep oranges and greens. Black Beauty learns from his mother, "It's a man's world, not a horse's," and he's advised to do what he can to please humans. It won't take long for sensitive children to tear up, because Black Beauty is sold early in the film and must leave his country manor home. The voiceover narrator, Black Beauty (Alan Young, actually, who played opposite a horse in "Mr. Ed") says, "That day in the meadow was the last time I saw my mother." Sheesh. Shades of "Bambi."
The film follows the picaresque style of the children's novel, as we follow Beauty from owner to owner. Some of them are nice, some of them are nasty, and some of them are just clueless--like the young stable boy who doesn't cool down Beauty after she's ridden hard, and almost unintentionally kills her. No matter how hard Black Beauty has it, or how many times his name is changed, it's not nearly as bad as his friend, poor Ginger, who at one point simply says, "All I wish is to be dead and free of the abuse." Cheery stuff, huh? But this is an early example of children's literature, when the whole point was to encapsulate morals into the tales so that they functioned as life-lessons. It's actually the most well made of the three films, but again, ironically, it might be too sad for sensitive children.
It's a tough order, though, transforming literary properties for a popular audience, and even tougher to severely condense the novels and adapt them for younger readers or viewers. When I was growing up in the '50s, there was a comic book series called Classics Illustrated, which did a much better job of staying faithful to the originals. These animated versions are awfully far removed from Jonathan Swift's 1726 satirical travel novel (pictured here, courtesy of Monash University Library), James Fennimore Cooper's 1826 Leather-Stocking tale, and Anna Sewell's 1877 children's book. Black Beauty comes closest to the original, which is perhaps no surprise because it's also the shortest book and the least complicated to adapt. Cooper's novel sprawled to nearly 400 pages, while Swift's was close to 300. Like those early Classics Illustrated comics, these are aimed strictly at younger viewers.
"Gulliver's Travels" (1979)
This one was produced by Hanna-Barbera Australia, which also generated "The Popeye Valentine Special," "5 Weeks in a Balloon," and "The Kwicky Koala Show." Of the three classic stories included here, it's the one that offers the broadest appeal for children. In Swift's novel, Lemuel Gulliver was a surgeon on a merchant ship who was washed onto a strange land where the humans were only six inches tall. Here, he's a devoted family man who chooses to serve in the merchant marine in order to provide for his family. Swift intended Gulliver's adventures in Lilliput as a means of showing how small and petty politicians and the monarchy could be, though none of this will be on the minds of children who watch. They'll see a sinister prime minister, a silly king, and a Gulliver who is mostly a benign and bemused voyager. It's all played for laughs.
This adaptation takes the first two parts of Swift's novel and runs with it. Giving voice to Gulliver is that "Wild, Wild West" master of disguise, Ross Martin, with additional voices provided by Hanna-Barbera talents Don Messick, Janet Waldo, John Stephenson, and Julie Bennet. It's pretty sanitized and tame, with Gulliver never in much true danger, and outrageous events softened. In the novel, for example, Gulliver urinates to put out a fire in the Queen's bedchamber, where here it's the whole castle that's on fire, and the perceived giant sucks up a big mouthful of water and sprays it on the flames. When Gulliver is attacked by the miniature fleet belonging to Lilliput's rivals, it's as if they're using toothpicks and miniature Nerf balls. When he's the little one in a world of giants, it's even less menacing than "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." It's all played with a whimsical tone, rather than an ironic or perilous one.
In the novel, Gulliver visits Lilliput in part one, and in part two, Brobdingnag, where he's the miniature in a world of giants. Missing in this film version are parts three and four, in which Gulliver landed on the island of Laputa, and when he encountered the Houyhnhnms (intelligent horses) and Yahoos (beasts in human form with filthy habits--so take that, you Web surfers!). Then again, those were the most difficult sections of the novel, and, in truth, ones that wouldn't have spoken to a young audience.
"Gulliver's Travels" is the one that my children enjoyed the most of this batch. It's really an appealing story, if you think about it. First a man is so large that he can drag an entire navy in his fishing net, then so small that a wasp can menace him. That's hard to top, which makes it surprising that there's never been a truly fantastic animated version of Swift's novel. This one is okay, but . . . why isn't this on Disney's radar? The success of the recent live-action TV version starring Ted Danson certainly proved that Swift's tale still holds appeal.
"The Last of the Mohicans" (1975)
The Last of the Mohicans was the second in Cooper's trilogy about Natty Bumpo, a.k.a. Hawkeye, Pathfinder, and Leather-Stocking. This adaptation features a shortcut script by Draper Lewis, who previously wrote for "The Bell Telephone Hour" and "Josie and the Pussy Cats in Outer Space"--which explains a lot. It begins with a "Scooby"-style teaser, an excerpt from the middle of the episode, and then we go back and start at the beginning and get that teaser again. But with just 50 minutes for each of these adaptations, every minute counts, and that teaser idea seems a bad one. As it is, most of Cooper's novel was cut out. This screenplay covers the first half, and sanitizes it in the process.
In the novel, while Fort William is under attack by the French and Indians, the fort commander's grown daughters, Alice and Cora, are being escorted to the fort by Major Duncan Heyward, Alice's fiancé, and Magua, an Indian guide who is really in the service of the enemy. He's leading them farther away from the fort and into a trap when Hawkeye and his two Mohican friends, Chief Chingachgook and his son, Uncas, intervene. The rest of the plot follows the group as they head for the fort. Though Magua gets his, as in the book, the rest is pretty tame. Shots are fired, but mostly people grab their arms and fall over. This ends not long after the girls are reunited with their father. Had the plot continued, Col. Munro would have surrendered to the French, his daughters would have been kidnapped by two separate Indian tribes, and both Uncas and Cora would have been killed. This version makes it seem as if Alice chooses to go off with Uncas, and people just seem to live a lot happier ever after. Twain would be chortling over that one, because the kiddie version out-romances Cooper's. Is it interesting for kids? Marginally so. But "Jonny Quest" episodes carry more tension. Too much was cut out for this to really pack any whallop.have to confess that I side with Mark Twain, who so couldn't tolerate the romantic excesses of James Fennimore Cooper that he wrote a humorous count-by-count indictment titled "Fennimore Cooper's Literary Offenses." Twain would be heartily amused that this adaptation offers Casey Kasem as the voice of the Mohican named Uncas (and Kasem, you'll recall, was the voice of Shaggy in "Scooby-Doo"). I could almost hear Twain giggling from the great beyond as one of the young women that Natty and his Mohican friends are assigned to escort says, "Natty Bumpo? That sounds like a mosquito bite, or something." Obviously, not Cooper's words, but it's so Daphne.
Black Beauty (1978)
Ironically, this is the only classic of the three that was written for children, and it's the one that's apt to upset small children the most. Black Beauty was the only novel that Anna Sewell wrote, for which she was paid the whopping sum of 12 pounds. Published just three months before she died, the novel remains as a lasting monument.
"Black Beauty" has more colorful animation than the other two entries, with plenty of deep oranges and greens. Black Beauty learns from his mother, "It's a man's world, not a horse's," and he's advised to do what he can to please humans. It won't take long for sensitive children to tear up, because Black Beauty is sold early in the film and must leave his country manor home. The voiceover narrator, Black Beauty (Alan Young, actually, who played opposite a horse in "Mr. Ed") says, "That day in the meadow was the last time I saw my mother." Sheesh. Shades of "Bambi."
The film follows the picaresque style of the children's novel, as we follow Beauty from owner to owner. Some of them are nice, some of them are nasty, and some of them are just clueless--like the young stable boy who doesn't cool down Beauty after she's ridden hard, and almost unintentionally kills her. No matter how hard Black Beauty has it, or how many times his name is changed, it's not nearly as bad as his friend, poor Ginger, who at one point simply says, "All I wish is to be dead and free of the abuse." Cheery stuff, huh? But this is an early example of children's literature, when the whole point was to encapsulate morals into the tales so that they functioned as life-lessons. It's actually the most well made of the three films, but again, ironically, it might be too sad for sensitive children.
Ro ro, Raggy. Hanna-Barbera is giving the "Scooby-Doo" treatment to literary classics. Make that "gave," because these Storybook Favorites were produced in the late '70s, when the Mystery Machine was in full flower. Scooby fans will recognize the trademark partial animation, background music, Foley effects, and even some of the voices from the Mystery, Inc. series. And you have to tip your hat to the legendary TV animated filmmakers for trying to introduce children to some of the old standards: Gulliver's Travels, The Last of the Mohicans, and Black Beauty.
It's a tough order, though, transforming literary properties for a popular audience, and even tougher to severely condense the novels and adapt them for younger readers or viewers. When I was growing up in the '50s, there was a comic book series called Classics Illustrated, which did a much better job of staying faithful to the originals. These animated versions are awfully far removed from Jonathan Swift's 1726 satirical travel novel (pictured here, courtesy of Monash University Library), James Fennimore Cooper's 1826 Leather-Stocking tale, and Anna Sewell's 1877 children's book. Black Beauty comes closest to the original, which is perhaps no surprise because it's also the shortest book and the least complicated to adapt. Cooper's novel sprawled to nearly 400 pages, while Swift's was close to 300. Like those early Classics Illustrated comics, these are aimed strictly at younger viewers.
"Gulliver's Travels" (1979)
This one was produced by Hanna-Barbera Australia, which also generated "The Popeye Valentine Special," "5 Weeks in a Balloon," and "The Kwicky Koala Show." Of the three classic stories included here, it's the one that offers the broadest appeal for children. In Swift's novel, Lemuel Gulliver was a surgeon on a merchant ship who was washed onto a strange land where the humans were only six inches tall. Here, he's a devoted family man who chooses to serve in the merchant marine in order to provide for his family. Swift intended Gulliver's adventures in Lilliput as a means of showing how small and petty politicians and the monarchy could be, though none of this will be on the minds of children who watch. They'll see a sinister prime minister, a silly king, and a Gulliver who is mostly a benign and bemused voyager. It's all played for laughs.
This adaptation takes the first two parts of Swift's novel and runs with it. Giving voice to Gulliver is that "Wild, Wild West" master of disguise, Ross Martin, with additional voices provided by Hanna-Barbera talents Don Messick, Janet Waldo, John Stephenson, and Julie Bennet. It's pretty sanitized and tame, with Gulliver never in much true danger, and outrageous events softened. In the novel, for example, Gulliver urinates to put out a fire in the Queen's bedchamber, where here it's the whole castle that's on fire, and the perceived giant sucks up a big mouthful of water and sprays it on the flames. When Gulliver is attacked by the miniature fleet belonging to Lilliput's rivals, it's as if they're using toothpicks and miniature Nerf balls. When he's the little one in a world of giants, it's even less menacing than "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." It's all played with a whimsical tone, rather than an ironic or perilous one.
In the novel, Gulliver visits Lilliput in part one, and in part two, Brobdingnag, where he's the miniature in a world of giants. Missing in this film version are parts three and four, in which Gulliver landed on the island of Laputa, and when he encountered the Houyhnhnms (intelligent horses) and Yahoos (beasts in human form with filthy habits--so take that, you Web surfers!). Then again, those were the most difficult sections of the novel, and, in truth, ones that wouldn't have spoken to a young audience.
"Gulliver's Travels" is the one that my children enjoyed the most of this batch. It's really an appealing story, if you think about it. First a man is so large that he can drag an entire navy in his fishing net, then so small that a wasp can menace him. That's hard to top, which makes it surprising that there's never been a truly fantastic animated version of Swift's novel. This one is okay, but . . . why isn't this on Disney's radar? The success of the recent live-action TV version starring Ted Danson certainly proved that Swift's tale still holds appeal.
"The Last of the Mohicans" (1975)
The Last of the Mohicans was the second in Cooper's trilogy about Natty Bumpo, a.k.a. Hawkeye, Pathfinder, and Leather-Stocking. This adaptation features a shortcut script by Draper Lewis, who previously wrote for "The Bell Telephone Hour" and "Josie and the Pussy Cats in Outer Space"--which explains a lot. It begins with a "Scooby"-style teaser, an excerpt from the middle of the episode, and then we go back and start at the beginning and get that teaser again. But with just 50 minutes for each of these adaptations, every minute counts, and that teaser idea seems a bad one. As it is, most of Cooper's novel was cut out. This screenplay covers the first half, and sanitizes it in the process.
In the novel, while Fort William is under attack by the French and Indians, the fort commander's grown daughters, Alice and Cora, are being escorted to the fort by Major Duncan Heyward, Alice's fiancé, and Magua, an Indian guide who is really in the service of the enemy. He's leading them farther away from the fort and into a trap when Hawkeye and his two Mohican friends, Chief Chingachgook and his son, Uncas, intervene. The rest of the plot follows the group as they head for the fort. Though Magua gets his, as in the book, the rest is pretty tame. Shots are fired, but mostly people grab their arms and fall over. This ends not long after the girls are reunited with their father. Had the plot continued, Col. Munro would have surrendered to the French, his daughters would have been kidnapped by two separate Indian tribes, and both Uncas and Cora would have been killed. This version makes it seem as if Alice chooses to go off with Uncas, and people just seem to live a lot happier ever after. Twain would be chortling over that one, because the kiddie version out-romances Cooper's. Is it interesting for kids? Marginally so. But "Jonny Quest" episodes carry more tension. Too much was cut out for this to really pack any whallop.have to confess that I side with Mark Twain, who so couldn't tolerate the romantic excesses of James Fennimore Cooper that he wrote a humorous count-by-count indictment titled "Fennimore Cooper's Literary Offenses." Twain would be heartily amused that this adaptation offers Casey Kasem as the voice of the Mohican named Uncas (and Kasem, you'll recall, was the voice of Shaggy in "Scooby-Doo"). I could almost hear Twain giggling from the great beyond as one of the young women that Natty and his Mohican friends are assigned to escort says, "Natty Bumpo? That sounds like a mosquito bite, or something." Obviously, not Cooper's words, but it's so Daphne.
Black Beauty (1978)
Ironically, this is the only classic of the three that was written for children, and it's the one that's apt to upset small children the most. Black Beauty was the only novel that Anna Sewell wrote, for which she was paid the whopping sum of 12 pounds. Published just three months before she died, the novel remains as a lasting monument.
"Black Beauty" has more colorful animation than the other two entries, with plenty of deep oranges and greens. Black Beauty learns from his mother, "It's a man's world, not a horse's," and he's advised to do what he can to please humans. It won't take long for sensitive children to tear up, because Black Beauty is sold early in the film and must leave his country manor home. The voiceover narrator, Black Beauty (Alan Young, actually, who played opposite a horse in "Mr. Ed") says, "That day in the meadow was the last time I saw my mother." Sheesh. Shades of "Bambi."
The film follows the picaresque style of the children's novel, as we follow Beauty from owner to owner. Some of them are nice, some of them are nasty, and some of them are just clueless--like the young stable boy who doesn't cool down Beauty after she's ridden hard, and almost unintentionally kills her. No matter how hard Black Beauty has it, or how many times his name is changed, it's not nearly as bad as his friend, poor Ginger, who at one point simply says, "All I wish is to be dead and free of the abuse." Cheery stuff, huh? But this is an early example of children's literature, when the whole point was to encapsulate morals into the tales so that they functioned as life-lessons. It's actually the most well made of the three films, but again, ironically, it might be too sad for sensitive children.
It's a tough order, though, transforming literary properties for a popular audience, and even tougher to severely condense the novels and adapt them for younger readers or viewers. When I was growing up in the '50s, there was a comic book series called Classics Illustrated, which did a much better job of staying faithful to the originals. These animated versions are awfully far removed from Jonathan Swift's 1726 satirical travel novel (pictured here, courtesy of Monash University Library), James Fennimore Cooper's 1826 Leather-Stocking tale, and Anna Sewell's 1877 children's book. Black Beauty comes closest to the original, which is perhaps no surprise because it's also the shortest book and the least complicated to adapt. Cooper's novel sprawled to nearly 400 pages, while Swift's was close to 300. Like those early Classics Illustrated comics, these are aimed strictly at younger viewers.
"Gulliver's Travels" (1979)
This one was produced by Hanna-Barbera Australia, which also generated "The Popeye Valentine Special," "5 Weeks in a Balloon," and "The Kwicky Koala Show." Of the three classic stories included here, it's the one that offers the broadest appeal for children. In Swift's novel, Lemuel Gulliver was a surgeon on a merchant ship who was washed onto a strange land where the humans were only six inches tall. Here, he's a devoted family man who chooses to serve in the merchant marine in order to provide for his family. Swift intended Gulliver's adventures in Lilliput as a means of showing how small and petty politicians and the monarchy could be, though none of this will be on the minds of children who watch. They'll see a sinister prime minister, a silly king, and a Gulliver who is mostly a benign and bemused voyager. It's all played for laughs.
This adaptation takes the first two parts of Swift's novel and runs with it. Giving voice to Gulliver is that "Wild, Wild West" master of disguise, Ross Martin, with additional voices provided by Hanna-Barbera talents Don Messick, Janet Waldo, John Stephenson, and Julie Bennet. It's pretty sanitized and tame, with Gulliver never in much true danger, and outrageous events softened. In the novel, for example, Gulliver urinates to put out a fire in the Queen's bedchamber, where here it's the whole castle that's on fire, and the perceived giant sucks up a big mouthful of water and sprays it on the flames. When Gulliver is attacked by the miniature fleet belonging to Lilliput's rivals, it's as if they're using toothpicks and miniature Nerf balls. When he's the little one in a world of giants, it's even less menacing than "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." It's all played with a whimsical tone, rather than an ironic or perilous one.
In the novel, Gulliver visits Lilliput in part one, and in part two, Brobdingnag, where he's the miniature in a world of giants. Missing in this film version are parts three and four, in which Gulliver landed on the island of Laputa, and when he encountered the Houyhnhnms (intelligent horses) and Yahoos (beasts in human form with filthy habits--so take that, you Web surfers!). Then again, those were the most difficult sections of the novel, and, in truth, ones that wouldn't have spoken to a young audience.
"Gulliver's Travels" is the one that my children enjoyed the most of this batch. It's really an appealing story, if you think about it. First a man is so large that he can drag an entire navy in his fishing net, then so small that a wasp can menace him. That's hard to top, which makes it surprising that there's never been a truly fantastic animated version of Swift's novel. This one is okay, but . . . why isn't this on Disney's radar? The success of the recent live-action TV version starring Ted Danson certainly proved that Swift's tale still holds appeal.
"The Last of the Mohicans" (1975)
The Last of the Mohicans was the second in Cooper's trilogy about Natty Bumpo, a.k.a. Hawkeye, Pathfinder, and Leather-Stocking. This adaptation features a shortcut script by Draper Lewis, who previously wrote for "The Bell Telephone Hour" and "Josie and the Pussy Cats in Outer Space"--which explains a lot. It begins with a "Scooby"-style teaser, an excerpt from the middle of the episode, and then we go back and start at the beginning and get that teaser again. But with just 50 minutes for each of these adaptations, every minute counts, and that teaser idea seems a bad one. As it is, most of Cooper's novel was cut out. This screenplay covers the first half, and sanitizes it in the process.
In the novel, while Fort William is under attack by the French and Indians, the fort commander's grown daughters, Alice and Cora, are being escorted to the fort by Major Duncan Heyward, Alice's fiancé, and Magua, an Indian guide who is really in the service of the enemy. He's leading them farther away from the fort and into a trap when Hawkeye and his two Mohican friends, Chief Chingachgook and his son, Uncas, intervene. The rest of the plot follows the group as they head for the fort. Though Magua gets his, as in the book, the rest is pretty tame. Shots are fired, but mostly people grab their arms and fall over. This ends not long after the girls are reunited with their father. Had the plot continued, Col. Munro would have surrendered to the French, his daughters would have been kidnapped by two separate Indian tribes, and both Uncas and Cora would have been killed. This version makes it seem as if Alice chooses to go off with Uncas, and people just seem to live a lot happier ever after. Twain would be chortling over that one, because the kiddie version out-romances Cooper's. Is it interesting for kids? Marginally so. But "Jonny Quest" episodes carry more tension. Too much was cut out for this to really pack any whallop.have to confess that I side with Mark Twain, who so couldn't tolerate the romantic excesses of James Fennimore Cooper that he wrote a humorous count-by-count indictment titled "Fennimore Cooper's Literary Offenses." Twain would be heartily amused that this adaptation offers Casey Kasem as the voice of the Mohican named Uncas (and Kasem, you'll recall, was the voice of Shaggy in "Scooby-Doo"). I could almost hear Twain giggling from the great beyond as one of the young women that Natty and his Mohican friends are assigned to escort says, "Natty Bumpo? That sounds like a mosquito bite, or something." Obviously, not Cooper's words, but it's so Daphne.
Black Beauty (1978)
Ironically, this is the only classic of the three that was written for children, and it's the one that's apt to upset small children the most. Black Beauty was the only novel that Anna Sewell wrote, for which she was paid the whopping sum of 12 pounds. Published just three months before she died, the novel remains as a lasting monument.
"Black Beauty" has more colorful animation than the other two entries, with plenty of deep oranges and greens. Black Beauty learns from his mother, "It's a man's world, not a horse's," and he's advised to do what he can to please humans. It won't take long for sensitive children to tear up, because Black Beauty is sold early in the film and must leave his country manor home. The voiceover narrator, Black Beauty (Alan Young, actually, who played opposite a horse in "Mr. Ed") says, "That day in the meadow was the last time I saw my mother." Sheesh. Shades of "Bambi."
The film follows the picaresque style of the children's novel, as we follow Beauty from owner to owner. Some of them are nice, some of them are nasty, and some of them are just clueless--like the young stable boy who doesn't cool down Beauty after she's ridden hard, and almost unintentionally kills her. No matter how hard Black Beauty has it, or how many times his name is changed, it's not nearly as bad as his friend, poor Ginger, who at one point simply says, "All I wish is to be dead and free of the abuse." Cheery stuff, huh? But this is an early example of children's literature, when the whole point was to encapsulate morals into the tales so that they functioned as life-lessons. It's actually the most well made of the three films, but again, ironically, it might be too sad for sensitive children.
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