Laurel and Hardy

I remember the Laurel and Hardy cartoons when their aired on WNEW-TV (now WNYW-TV) in New York in the early 70s. The cartoons tried to recapture the zaniness of Stan and Ollie but the plots were pretty much the same as they tried to get out of "another fine mess", a line that was frequently used in their movies but never heard in the cartoons.

The one positive thing about the Laurel and hardy cartoons was the voicework of Jim MacGeorge as Ollie and Larry Harmon (who co-produced the series with Hanna-Barbera and Wolper Productions) as Stan. Harmon's portrayal of Stan Laurel was outstanding, especially when he talked normally and when he used a whiny voice to say "I'm sorry, Ollie!"

At a time where Hanna Barbera took out comedy duos (like Abbott and Costello), it was obvious that they would take a classic comedy duo like Laurel and Hardy in their stable of short cartoons.

However, it was not before the mid-70s that then-named French Canadian TV station Tele-Metropole (now TVA Network) purchased the rights of broadcasting version from French company Junior Productions (based in Paris) and dubbed the series at the SND studios there. The late Philippe Dumat provided the voice of Stan Laurel (did forgot who did Hardy...). It was dubbed like the old movies: Laurel and Hardy were dubbed with a bit of English accent in their French-speaking, so it was kind of special...

But what was weird is that this came from Junior Productions but with the style of cartoons and the music especially, it really came from Hanna-Barbera, but however in the credits, it did not show it. Nevertheless, the cartoons were real funny, as we saw guys from the 30s era mingle with 60-70s guys, and of course, always seeing Laurel whining while Hardy tries to solve problems with his positive self...

However, they always do their common hollering when things get bad...

Hope it will be released one day on DVD...and put the French version too...

By the way, Junior Productions did also released Bozo the Clown in French, always with the late Mr Dumat as Bozo (a real funny one !) on the same time...