Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Ralph Bakshi: James Hound/ Mouse Trek

I love the designs in Ralph Bakshi Terrytoons like James Hound and The Mighty Heroes. It's very distinct, very cartoony and very appealing. The style seems to have been influenced by the early MAD, especially Don Martin and Wally Wood, mixed with Weird-oh's model kits and maybe Chuck Jones' angular late- 1950's style. Wherever it came from, they are just fun to look at.

Most people skip over this stuff when discussing Bakshi, but I love these cartoons. The documentary on the new Mighty Mouse dvd has some pristine clips of The Mighty Heroes, so I hope someone is working on getting them out on dvd.

These grabs are from the James Hound cartoon "Monster Master", available on youtube.








Mouse Trek: