Scooby-Doo was a very popular show back in the sixties and when Hanna-Barbera found something that worked they ripped it off alot. Hence why we suddenly got alot of mystery shows from them with one of them being Captain Caveman And The Teen Angels with this show even going as far as to be created by the creators of Scooby-Doo and well I thought that i'd check out the first episode of this show and so then join me as I review the episode that introduced us to the worlds first caveman superhero with the episode in question being called simply just "The Kooky Case Of The Cryptic Keys" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when they are on a road trip Captain Caveman and his friends have to solve a mystery when a woman gives them a mysterious key. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. With the episodes plot right away letting you know that it's a Scooby-Doo clone even down to have the teens driving to someplace that teens in the seventies would do in this case it's going on a road trip and much like with Scooby-Doo they only get stopped from doing that when there's a mystery to solve. Look to be fair if something does work then why not try and repeat that formular to create another hit product the issue is tho is that this episodes plot is so on the nose with what it is that it's ripping off that it robs the show and the episode of it's own identity when this episodes plot would have been alot more better if it was allowed to just be it's own thing or at the very last be a bit more subtle about what show it is tat it's meant to be ripping of in the first place as then we the audience would be able to get a bit more engrossed in this episodes plot without being reminded of another and quite frankly better show and heck the episodes plot isn't even that strong of a plot as before the episode really has a chance to get going the plot is already starting with this episode being the first first episode of the show there really should have been more of a stronger plot to start this show out on just to get it going in the right direction with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Mel Blanc as Captain Caveman , Laurel Page as Taffy Dare and Marilyn Schreffler as Brenda Chance. Also starring in this episode is Vernée Watson as Dee Dee Skyes , John Astin as Additional Voices , Julie Bennett as Additional Voices , Ted Cassidy as Additional Voices , Henry Corden as Additional Voices . Stefanianna Christopherson as Additional Voices , Micky Dolenz as Additional Voices , Joan Gerber as Additional Voices , Florence Halop as Additional Voices , Pat Harrington Jr. as Additional Voices , Hettie Lynne Hurtes as Additional Voices , Nicole Jaffe as Additional Voices , Ann Jillian as Additional Voices , Casey Kasem as Additional Voices , Jim MacGeorge as Additional Voices , Julie McWhirter as Additional Voices , Don Messick as Additional Voices , Heather North as Additional Voices , Gary Owens as The Narrator , Vic Perrin as Additional Voices , Alan Reed as Additional Voices , Mike Road as Additional Voices , Ronnie Schell as Additional Voices , Hal Smith as Additional Voices , John Stephenson as Additional Voices , Susan Steward as Additional Voices , Jean Vander Pyl as Additional Voices , Janet Waldo as Additional Voices , Frank Welker as Additional Voices and William Woodson as Additional Voices.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. With all of the actors that are playing named characters turning in a really good performance in this episode and really being alot more better then what a show like this really did deserve as by all rights no one in this episode should have turned in a good performance as the episode and show doesn't really demand a good performance and yet that's exactly what they all gave us and is something that does stand out in this episode. Wit the best actor in the whole entire episode being Mel Blanc as Captain Caveman this is something that really shouldn't come as surprise to anybody as it's Mel Blanc for crying out loud of course he's going to turn in a good performance as he is THE voice acting legend for a reason with him turning in a really good and fun performance in this episode that yes could have been a little bit more better but that's more due to the how the character of Captain Caveman talks more then his performance as there's only so much that you can do as an actor when your character doesn't speak whole sentences with his own natural charm and charisma really coming through in this episode. With the acting that's in this very episode not really being helped buy the fact that this episodes script is just so bad as it gives none of this episodes actors absolutely anything to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does harm the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
Doing the animation for this episode is the legends and the greats that are currently over at Hanna-Barbera Productions. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. This episodes animation was a bit shall we say rough at times as there are times when the characters have some weird faces especially more towards the start of the episode with it feeling like that the makers of this episode just didn't care enough to go back and fix some simple mistakes. As there are a few errors in this episode like for example there as a scene where Taffy goes from being a blonde to being a red head back to being a blonde again and while she is given red hair later on in the episode that is something that is apart of the plot of the episode but when it happens earlier on in the episode it is something that does come out of nowhere and is a huge animation error as the intro does show show you with her typical blonde here this is something that could very easily and quickly could have been fixed as it's on screen for less then a few seconds and yet no one who was involved with the making of the show bothered to fix it there is another error as well also featuring Taffy where she speaks with Dee Dee's voice but in all fairness when the animation wants to be good it is something that does look good with all of the grounds dripping with gothic atmosphere and looking really nice to look at.
It really does go without saying that this show is a straight up Scooby-Doo clone even down to the fact that the characters travel in a van. Heck this episode even premiered during the Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics block and was apart of that block until this show ended with the only thing that makes this show stand out all that much from all of the Scooby-Doo clones out is the fact that the creators of Scooby-Doo created this show and to be fair they did do there best to try and make it stand out on it's own as having a caveman be the main character of the show is something that Scooby-Doo never did and even going as far as to also make him the comic relief character is something that does make this episode feel fresh but yeah it is hard to deny the fact that this show is just a more dumbed down version of Scooby-Doo Where Are You. Even the episodes title mystery can't be that good due to the fact that this show has alot more shorter of a running time then what the average episode of Scooby-Doo has when a mystery show really dies need a more longer running time in order for the mystery to come across as being good and while it's not that bad of a mystery the episode can't really give us any clues as to whom wants these keys and why an therefor is forced to spell out it us when it's something that would have worked all the more better if we the audience was given the time that we need to work out for ourselfs just who this episodes main villain is meant to be instead of just being told who it is as half the fun of a mystery is working it out for yourself but in all fairness to this episode given the fact that the show itself would have had to fit in several other shows in the same block it would have been impossible to do this episode justice without first changing just how long the block itself is going to be one for.
To this episodes defense the mystery itself isn't that bad as the idea of the teens and Captain Caveman having to work out who wants these keys and why is a very good idea. However the issue is tho is that due to how short the episodes are the mystery itself can't be that well developed as the episode has to rush to the next plot point and when it does that it dies mean that that something is going to be getting left behind which in the case of this episode is the mystery and when this is a mystery show and this is the first episode that is the one that really shouldn't have been getting dropped as that's something that is going to get audiences coming back to watch the next episode and yet due to the episodes mystery being about as are bones as it can get there is no reason to watch more of episodes this is despite the fact that the show itself does have a really good hook to it. With the episode just rushing from one plot point to the next it does mean that things like giving us clues as to whom the villain is is something that does get dropped from the show as the makers of this episode don't bother to show us that part yet that is the most important part of a mystery we don't need t have a transition every few seconds but what we do need is more fleshed out mystery and yet the mystery itself is left feeling underbaked heck you could even make the case for the episodes central mystery is feeling like a side character to everything else in the episode something which it could also be argued is true for Captain Caveman altho to be fair in that regard the episode does have an in story reason for him not showing up to help the girls out until the end that being the fact that they've asked him to watch over the key that they were given at the start of the episode.
The one thing that was super annoying in this episode is the fact that in the space of about thirty seconds to a minuet the show had several transition scenes. With them not even cutting to another scene alot of the time as sometimes they are cutting to characters further down a ladder just taking and it was super annoying to see happening as all it does is make the episode look unfinished almost as if the makers of this episode ran out of time to animate alot of the episode and therefor just chose to add in a lazy transition to cover up the fact that there was nothing there which given that this is a Hanna-Barbera show very well could have been the case but here it was just so annoying to watch as it was taking up time that could have been spent on fleshing out the episodes mystery and in giving us things that would have made the mystery alot more fun to watch. Look in all fairness this is an episode that was always going to have an uphill battle due to the fact that it is nothing mor then a Scooby-Doo clone but when your making that uphill battle even steeper your just dooming the show to fail and become obscure which is exactly what happened to this show as while the show did indeed get three seasons which is no small feat on it's own it's also a show that no one talks about and heck alot of people think that Captain Caveman started out as a Flintstone Kids character due to the fact that he appeared on that show but if the makers of this show did help this episode out by easing up on the transitions then it would have freed up time for the makers of this episode to make the mystery more interesting and yet due to how many transitions there are in the episode and how annoying that they are it does mean that the episodes mystery does end up suffering because of it.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly eleven minuets and thirty four seconds. Which to be to this episode is pretty much the bogstandard running time for this show to have as the show would air it's episodes pretty much in segments however even so tho this is an episode that really could have done with being the standard twenty minuets as this is the first episode of the show and therefor you dp want to start the show of on the strongest foot possible and what better to do that then by giving the episode an extended running time and yet for one reason or another the makers of this episode thought that having the show come it at just over eleven minuets was the right move however tho this episode does have the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time in the first place. Yet this episode still doesn't use its running time all that wisely as the episode really doesn't take the time to fully develop its plot as the episode does have to rush alot of it's plot inorder to cram everything in whereas if the episode was a little bit longer then it would have allowed for the episodes plot to fully breathe and it would have allowed room for there to be things added to the episodes mystery that would have made that aspect of the episode even more better with the makers of this episode putting in more thought into the episodes pointless transitions then they did into giving the plot some much needed plot development. This is something that does also effect the characters character development altho in this case you could also make the point that none of other Hanna-Barbera character get any kind if character development and therefor it wouldn't have made sense for the characters in this episode to get any which is fair enough but it still would have been nice if the characters did get some small amount of character development tho but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy tat's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / resented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. Heck the episodes comedy is alot more better then the rest of the episode tho as there is alot of thought and effort put into making the comedy be as good as it could be this is despite the fact that we do get alot of the same gags from other classic Hanna-Barbera shows like for example when the teens are driving on a bumpy road Captain Caveman literally bounced out of his house on top of the van but he lands softly on the floor which is a good gag but it's also one that they've done quite a few times. With the best joke in the whole entire episode being at the start of the episode when Captain Caveman goes to chase down the lady that gave them the key he starts to fly only to quite literally run of steam and land head first into a long which is a good and simple gag that it does end up working and this is where the episodes comedy works really well when it's doing these simple character driven jokes and not repeating something that we've seen done before now as this is when we get to see the creativity behind the show and get a good idea of just how fun and wacky that a show like this could have been with it being helped by the fact that the joke itself was really well animated and does oddly enough feel like a tamer version of some classic Tom And Jerry jokes on top of that with the rest of the episodes comedy being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall whilst this episode did have all of the potential in the world to be a really good first episode its lack of a stronger plot and the fact that it doesn't take the time to fully flesh out its titular mystery are tings that do end up holding the episode back and stop it from being as good as it really could have been in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and aw ell as all of the bad things that are in his very episode in this very review and a such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boy and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Hanna-Barbera Wiki . Com , Amazon . Co . Uk and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very post being the really great Hanna-Barbera Wiki . Com really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Hanna-Barbera Wiki . Com really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.
