Search - Rikki Tikki Tavi/Yankee Doodle Cricket on DVD

Susan F. from FLORENCE, KY
Reviewed on 5/7/2008...

This was my favorite cartoon growing up, I remember it being on TV every year and watching it with my parents. To this day Cobras are my favorite snakes because of this movie. Its the story of a family who saves a mongoose and because of that the mongoose saves the family. This cartoon may not be anything special by todays standards but it will always have a place in my heart.

4 of 4 member(s) found this review helpful.

Typically fine and faithful Jones adaptation of a classic

Nicholas Edwards | Belchertown, MA United States | 01/25/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This was one of my favorite stories when I was a kid. I had always heard of the existence of this film, and was never able to see it until the release of this DVD. Judging from those of Jones' kid-lit adaptations I had seen (the wonderfully witty "Dot and The Line" of 1965; the glorious "Grinch" of 1966; "Horton Hears A Who" [1970]; and the lovely "Cricket In Times Square" of 1976) I was expecting great things, and was largely satisfied. The music and the writing ("oh Rikki-Tikki,
you ARE brave and beautiful!") tend to be a tad cloying. But these are minor cavils: the tone is, by and large, splendidly consistent. A good deal of the Kipling text is used, and Orson Welles reads it with terrific brio. The voice characterizations,
particularly those of June Foray, are as note-perfect as one could wish. The 4:3 transfer is decent, the mono sound perfectly adequate. The color is not as brilliant as it might be, but I suspect the source material and transfer are not to blame for this. It must be said, finally, that the production staff Jones had at his studio in 1975 were not as capable
of sustained flights of visual fancy as the staff Jones had at MGM only ten years earlier. Many of those artists were veterans
of the great Warner Bros. period, and were thus linked to a great tradition. The visual scheme in the "Rikki Tikki" film is pleasant enough, but one misses, for example, the almost manic inspiration of Gerry Chiniquy or Maurice Noble. In short: this is a terrific film by anyone else's standards, but alongside Jones' best work it must be judged a mixed bag. Still, it contains some of the finest character and action animation in any Jones film, and no animation afficionado should miss it for this reason, as well as the pleasure of seeing a great story told very well indeed."

IT"S ABOUT TIME

Brian J. Glendinning | Pflugerville, TX United States | 11/20/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Short and simple review- great movie for the family back in the time when the WHOLE family could watch a family movie. I've been waiting for this to be on DVD for ever!!!!!"

Kipling's Mongoose Comes to DVD

L. M Young | Marietta, GA USA | 12/21/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My CBS-recorded copy was full of drop-outs, so I was delighted to find out this great Chuck Jones adaptation of the Kipling Jungle Book tale was finally on DVD. Although the story is animated in the usual Jones style, it has been done more in an effort to look like book illustrations. Although the mongoose is cute--much more adorable than the real thing--parents should be warned that all these Jungle Book stories have been taken word-for-word from the actual book and not from the cutesy-poo Disney flick, so the cold-and-sinister cobras and other snakes hissing about death may be frightening for very young children.

Included on this DVD is the third story in Jones' Chester Cricket cycle, Yankee Doodle Cricket. I had not seen this cartoon before and was quite disappointed by it, especially after reading a review saying it was the funniest of the three. It has none of the charm and humor of the original Cricket in Times Square or the delightful silliness and holiday spirit of A Very Merry Cricket. Your mileage may vary!

This DVD is practically perfect. There are some dust specks and flecks visible; however the colors and lines are bright and clean and the sound is good. The only downside to this DVD is the interminable previews that you are automatically subjected to. Hint: pressing the menu button on your DVD remote won't help, but once the previews start, you CAN skip through them by pressing the chapter button until you get to the actual menu."