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Poster for Spunky & Tadpole (1958)

Spunky & Tadpole (1958)

1958 · Animation · 3 min

  • Family
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Synopsis

Spunky was a small boy and Tadpole was his oddly named teddy bear. The pair traveled along having adventures that were typical of early cartoons. Luckily for Spunky, Tadpole was able to talk and help out whenever things got a little rough. Like many early cartoons, the animation on Spunky and Tadpole was fairly basic. Characters mainly stood perfectly still and spoke their lines to one another, rarely moving. Simple animation aside, the main attraction of the cartoon was the early talents of…

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Details

Running time
3 minutes

Reviews on the Internet Archive

★★★★★ · Lost Masterpiece of TV Land · AtlasFilms · 2011-07-22

Funny - everybody seems to hate this glorious little cartoon series. Me, I think its way under-rated. Firstly, it doesn't have limited animation - there is actually a good deal of animation going on, especially via some playful, repetitive body language and curious eye movements. (Characters like to wink at one another alot). Secondly, S&T is the first TV toon I recall as having had a somewhat sardonic subtext, foreshadowing stuff by Bob Clampett and Jay Ward. (Maybe Crusader Rabbit was actually the first, but S&T carried on the tradition proudly.) There are some clever puns and topical jokes…

★★★★ · All's Well · MrFume · 2016-09-19

This cartoon is typical of the late 50's in that it is pretty basic and story board driven. However there is much here to be admired, the animation is creative and uses a lot of suggestion to fulfill the story objectives. The voicing is crisp, with a definite 'Yogi Bear' sounding Tadpole, pharyngeal tones. The story is simple, but has a lot of humor and implied sardonic elements. Undemanding, and able to be enjoyed by adults as well as kids!

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