All the previous six Ant and the Aardvark cartoons, 'The Ant and the Aardvark', 'Hasty But Tasty', 'The Ant from Uncle', 'I've Got Ants in My Plans', 'Technology, Phooey' and 'Never Bug an Ant', are very solid and enjoyable cartoons. 'Technology, Phooey' being great and one of the best of the whole Ant and the Aardvark series, which is in my view one of DePatie-Freleng Enterprises' better and more consistent series by quite some way.
'Dune Bug' is another one of the series' best, with the story having a fresher and less slight feel than what tends to be found in a narratively formulaic series which is surprising considering cartoons following one formula often went the opposite way. Also think that 'Dune Bug' is one of the funniest Ant and the Aardvark cartoons, especially the dialogue in a series full of gems for lines and where the verbal humour nearly always made more of an impression on me than the physical/visual comedy.
There is hardly anything to dislike and outweighed by the numerous great things. Although the lifeguard is a lot of fun as a character, a very entertaining foil for the aardvark and his repeated line just about avoids feeling too repetitive too early, some suspension of disbelief is in order as he is also a total idiot of a character. One actually questions out loud in a can't believe what they're seeing/hearing way how could anybody mistake an aardvark for a dog, mistaken identities seldom get any stupider than that in animation or anywhere.
With all that being said, the rich and varied colours help make the stylised backgrounds further interesting and the animators definitely had fun with the aardvark's expressions and reactions. The finesse in the drawing is not always there but it never looks amateurish, the beach setting so vividly rendered that it makes for one of the series' better looking cartoons. One of the best assets is the music, a joy to listen to and light-hearted with an unforgettable main theme.
Like what was said above, 'Dune Bug' to me is one of the series' funniest. There are some clever gags like with the anchor, but the funniest moments are dialogue-based. The repeated off the beach line made me smile in alternative to groan (the last one was especially funny), but there are also some real jewels such as "how do you like that, that was my lawyer" and when the cartoon breaks the fourth wall. The story is not the most original but it is more than compensated by the irresistible energy, not a dull moment here, and the on-point material.
Material delivered to bravura effect by John Byner, a strong example of voicing more than one character and not making them sound the same which helps make the characters individual from each other. Despite the aardvark being the funnier and more interesting character here, the ant is not given short shrift.
In summary, great. 9/10
'Dune Bug' is another one of the series' best, with the story having a fresher and less slight feel than what tends to be found in a narratively formulaic series which is surprising considering cartoons following one formula often went the opposite way. Also think that 'Dune Bug' is one of the funniest Ant and the Aardvark cartoons, especially the dialogue in a series full of gems for lines and where the verbal humour nearly always made more of an impression on me than the physical/visual comedy.
There is hardly anything to dislike and outweighed by the numerous great things. Although the lifeguard is a lot of fun as a character, a very entertaining foil for the aardvark and his repeated line just about avoids feeling too repetitive too early, some suspension of disbelief is in order as he is also a total idiot of a character. One actually questions out loud in a can't believe what they're seeing/hearing way how could anybody mistake an aardvark for a dog, mistaken identities seldom get any stupider than that in animation or anywhere.
With all that being said, the rich and varied colours help make the stylised backgrounds further interesting and the animators definitely had fun with the aardvark's expressions and reactions. The finesse in the drawing is not always there but it never looks amateurish, the beach setting so vividly rendered that it makes for one of the series' better looking cartoons. One of the best assets is the music, a joy to listen to and light-hearted with an unforgettable main theme.
Like what was said above, 'Dune Bug' to me is one of the series' funniest. There are some clever gags like with the anchor, but the funniest moments are dialogue-based. The repeated off the beach line made me smile in alternative to groan (the last one was especially funny), but there are also some real jewels such as "how do you like that, that was my lawyer" and when the cartoon breaks the fourth wall. The story is not the most original but it is more than compensated by the irresistible energy, not a dull moment here, and the on-point material.
Material delivered to bravura effect by John Byner, a strong example of voicing more than one character and not making them sound the same which helps make the characters individual from each other. Despite the aardvark being the funnier and more interesting character here, the ant is not given short shrift.
In summary, great. 9/10
