A Doonesbury Special

Nominated rightfully for Best Animated Short, the theme is close to "Jonah Who Will Be 25 In the Year 2000" -- what happened to the civil rights movement of the 60's into the 70's.

Things change, as Zonker says at the end. Things evolve. It's a pity this short doesn't get more attention.

Summoned from the pool for his dinner, "Zonker" watches a bit of "Thudpucker" on the television before settling down to a dinner prepared by "Mike" that might just be lasagne. It's an extension of this quizzicality that starts to evaluate the changes in society that have occurred since their earlier lives sharing just about everything. Is that era truly finished? Is that even their concern any more? What is worth fighting for nowadays? Steeping in more reminiscences accompanied by some sort of Bob Dylan-esque folky ballads, we take a trip (literally, I think) into their tear-gassed past; play some American football and listen to an increasingly meandering, anodyne and frankly quite annoying tirade of dialogue that I found just a bit too contrived and not at all funny. Spaced out or timed out? I didn't really care after ten minutes of this overlong depiction of things "totally incoherent". It might well resonate better with US audiences, but not being one of those I found it all a bit facile. Sorry, but my heart and mind was elsewhere, especially when it went into philosophical crêche mode followed but the worst parody of a nativity play I've ever experienced. As ever with Hubley animations, there is a quality of animated continuity that cleverly reflects the narrative - there's just way too much of that chat.

For a short time,Image Entertainment bundled this cartoon onto a single DVD with two other pieces directed by Faith Hubley:"The Hubley Collection:"Everybody Rides The Carousel'". Unfortunately,this is a collectible item-at the time of this post,one seller at Amazon listed a copy for a low,low 250 dollars. My savvy son picked up a used copy a couple of years ago for under five bucks.Till then,the only copy I had found was a Beta version of the Doonesbury Special and I was unable to get anyone to dub a copy to VHS. Like a starving man with a can of beans and no can opener...

Thirty years since its original broadcast and,like Mike in the film, many of us are still wondering what happened to all of us and that spirit to change the world for the better. Trudeau still fights the good fight,one daily comic strip at a time.

I enjoyed this short from the 70s as much as I've enjoyed any animated cartoon. The key players from the strip at that time are all there -- Mike, B.D., Boopsie, Joanie, Mark, Zonker -- and even some personal favorite minor characters, like Jimmy Thudpucker, make an appearance.

The premise is simple: The characters reflect on how the turbulent socio-political climate of the past decade has changed them. What ensues is an episodic, heart-warming and hilarious series of flashbacks and current events including B.D.'s offensive line engaging in philosophical discussions with their backs pinned against the goal line and the aforementioned Thudpucker doing his best Bob Dylan impression. It's an amazingly faithful translation of the comic strip, the likes of which we may never see again.

I saw this true work of art the first and only time it aired on broadcast TV, Thanksgiving weekend 1977. It left a deep and lasting impression (I was already a big DB fan), and I've spent the intervening 4 decades trying to see it again. Finally did, and found it just as good.

The storyline of this short little piece is dense with satirical references to its time (rock concert coverage conventions, Barry Manilow, Baby Boomers losing the mission, first-wave feminism, the Vietnam vacuum, hip youth pastors, and on and on); makes me homesick. And of course the thunderously talented Hubleys, possibly the Michaelangelos of animation. (Their magnum opus, a run-down of Ericsonian psychology theory [!] called Everyone Rides the Carousel, is another hard-to-see must-see.)

A Doonesbury Special is one of the few cartoons you'll ever see with ordinary voices and realistic drawing; no funny clownish performances, just actors talking like themselves. And as others here have said, the adaptation of the comic strip to animation is seamless; it feels neither contrived nor unfaithful, and manages to be both a delight for DB fans and entertaining for newcomers.

Hard to believe it was all once cutting-edge; the idea of a cartoon for adults, on adult themes, presented without burlesque.

If you have any interest in Doonesbury; the 60s; the 70s; animation; humour; history; or art, see this short.

If you can.