"I MUST FIX THAT FOGG!"
Hi there everyone, and welcome back to Andrew’s Funshine All-Star Superstar Supercade Saturday! ...Show 72!
Today we're starting out in Australia for this next one. No, it's not about a talking soda can lid and champagne lid of a pal, a canine medical professional, a family named after burning underwear, a clan of teeth toiletries, a female whom isn't a cat or anthropomorphic bananas wearing matching pyjamas (how they spell pajamas). (You can tell how much I enjoyed this. And how much you're probably not.) But it's a version of one of the most finest pieces of literature ever put from pen to paper.
If you haven’t heard the story, let’s go TL;DR:
Meet Phileas Fogg, a wealthy but humble and modest yet finicky man. He is so wealthy yet so damn fussy, that he’ll fire and replace his valet for giving him shaving water slightly hotter than the usual temperature. One day at a swanky gentleman’s club called the Reform Club, Fogg gets into a shouting match with other members over an article from the Daily Telegraph reporting that, thanks to a new India railway system, anyone can travel the world in 80 days. Intrigued, Fogg agrees to a bet to take the challenge for 20,000 pounds.
Fogg agrees, and takes his French valet Jean Passepartout along for the ride. Sounds easy, right? Well not with Scotland Yard Detective Fix on their trail. Since you know the ending, I won’t say it here.
Phileas Fogg is in love with a woman named Belinda Maze. And she reciprocates his feelings. But her uncle, Lord Maze, does not like or appreciate Fogg - as he is a commoner (that’s fancy talk for ‘poor’). However, he does give Fogg a challenge to prove he does have what it takes to prove his sweet affection for his beloved niece: travel the globe under a certain amount of time. If he loses, he must stay away from Belinda, but if Phileas makes it back just in time, he’ll win the challenge, Lord’s blessing and Belinda’s hand in marriage. Fogg agrees, and takes his French valet Jean Passepartout along for the ride. Sounds easy, right? Well not with hired thug Mr. Fix on their trail.
It's Around the World in Eighty Days (loosely adapted by Chester "Chet" Stover from the 1873 novel by Jules Verne).
Plot:
Each episode follows the same sequence:
- Fogg sequesters Passepartout to his hotel room and informs him of the adventure of the day
- Fogg tells Passepartout a proverb (Here they are in order:
The motto of the wise is, be prepared for surprises. London, Buckingham Palace
Don't jump to conclusions, or conclusions may jump on you. Paris
There is always a way to save the day. Switzerland and the Alps
Don't put the cart before the horse. Rome
Don't make a mountain out of a molehill. Naples, Pompei
Doubting your chances before you're done, may cost you the race you might have won. On the other hand: If you're over confident, you might miss the boat. Mediterranean Sea, Greek islands
There is a time and a place for everything. Greece, Athens
Always think a problem through, before deciding what to do. Egypt and the pyramids
The cure to most fear is knowledge. Sinai and Petra
The little things in life are like links in a chain: they never seem important by themselves. Gaza, Damascus and Palmyra
To win life's game without a fall, keep your eyes open and on the ball. Persia, Isfahan
We always help ourselves whenever we help others. India, Udaipur
Honesty is the best policy. China sea, China
Our rewards will be sweet, if we keep our world neat. Japan, Tokyo, Mount Fuji
Don't let your thoughts get in a rut; the knife which spreads may also cut. United States, California, San Francisco
Learn to use what you have got, and you won't need what you have not. United States, Louisiana, New Orleans; boat to England.
)
- Fogg asks Passepartout for random items to take along, with the latter questioning it
- Fix hears of their itinerary, schemes to squander it & stop them from catching their next ride
- Fogg & Passepartout fall into a trap, latter flips while former stays calm and thinks up plan B
- Fix messes up somehow, giving the two heroes an out and make their next trip just in time
- Passepartout says/does something & Fogg ends the episode with “Good show, Passepartout!”
Despite the repetitive plotting (and version of the story), the show is still somewhat fluid and creative with great characterizations and entertaining moments.
Characters:
-- Phileas Fogg (voiced by Alastair Duncan [who may or may not be British]): Fogg is a sharp, sensible, well-bred and well-dressed man with strong ideals and values. He's sharp as a tack, thanks to his proverbs and strange yet superb idea of collecting random household items and tools to get out of Fix’s jams. While he always ends up caught in Fix’s tricks and traps, he always manages to stay calm, collected and cool as a cucumber and use said ideas to escape and successfully mark the stops on his journey. The fact that he never resorts to cheating or any other crime at any point in the race is incredibly admirable. He also shows his care and compassion for not only Passepartout (who reciprocates) but also for the natives he meets during his trips, proving he has a giant heart that’s not just for Belinda.
-- Jean Passepartout (voiced by Ross Higgins [who is not French]): Passepartout is Fogg’s loyal and faithful servant who travels close to his monsieur’s side - along with his pet monkey Toto - and helps him stop Fix from strongarming his failure to destroying his . While he isn’t stupid and loopy, he can devolve into histrionics whenever he and his master have been had by Fix, with Fogg calming him down with the proverb. Passe-- uhh, Jean (I’m not even C+Ping his name here) may sometimes question his employer with his out-there but brilliant methods of . Passepartout is my favorite character because of his love and affection for Toto, his care and unwavering loyalty to monsieur Fogg across their challenge and his deliciously sloppy and over-the-top French accent and mannerisms (again, Higgins is not French), and frequent shouts of “FIX TRICKS!” whenever he figures out they’ve been fooled and foiled by their fat fuck foe. Speaking of…
-- Mr. Fix (voiced by Max Osbiston [who is not British]): Fix is a well-dressed thug hired by Lord Maze to sabotage Fogg from reaching the goals -- finishing the race and marrying Belinda. Despite his large girth, he’s light on his feet and quick to sprint in the shadows to carry out his plans. While things start well for him to carry out his schemes against them, either Fix somehow always screws up or he’s no match in quick wits against Fogg and Passepartout (both happen in almost equal measure). He also has this tic of talking to himself (no big deal; lots of people do it, including me). But what’s strange and concerning yet hilarious about it is that he does this as if he’s two different (yet similarly named) people in conversation (Even I don’t do that. Right, Andrew?). This alone proves Fix as a sinister and batshit yet silly-as-shit villain you could take seriously, but his always backfiring schemes makes him mostly affable. Also, later episodes spotlight the irony of Fix ignoring Fogg’s proverb of the week only to show regret after he is caught and his schemes inevitably fail.
---Alongside Passepartout, Fix is the best part of the series. His schemes are pretty wicked, and the way they play out are sloppy but well-done, but dammit if they aren’t entertaining and hilarious. Also hilarious, his flimsy costumes/disguises that somehow fool both Fogg and especially Passepartout enough to carry out the main scheme for the time being.
-- Lord Maze (voiced by Owen Weingott [who is not British]): He is the uncle of the woman of Fogg’s sweet baboo Belinda. He does not appear much outside the title sequence, but is still remembered thanks to the cranky way he speaks and his begrudged agreement to the bet and 20,000-pound pot sweetener. (It would’ve been nicer to see him at the end of the last episode to see his reaction to the finish of the race [which I won’t say here]. I would’ve laughed my nuts off to see him react in his own way.)
-- Belinda Maze (voiced by Janet Waldo [who is not British]): Phileas’ cherie amour. At first glance, she appears as a sweet, timid and intuitive (in the title sequence, she warns Fogg and Passepartout of her not-father’s plan and Fix’s schemes), but becomes even more intuitive and independent in several episodes where she helps the two upfront -- showing how much the result of the race matters to her as much as it does Fogg, and that she loves him equally. Now, that is true love. (Just like her uncle, I would’ve loved to see Belinda’s reaction to… the finish of the race.)
Animation:
Considering the fact it was produced and animated in Australia, this show looks like it was professionally drawn by twelve year-olds. And that’s okay. It’s still perfectly bright, colorful and cartoony (especially where the brief scene transitions are concerned; those are a damn trip) to enjoy. The characters, their outfits and the locales look correct as can be for the 1400s, the characters look handsome/pretty (even if Belinda’s face looks more like that of a cartoon glass doll than that of a cartoon human), their movements look pretty wooden, but are still well serviced. Also, the one-shot characters from the countries they visit don’t look exaggerated (which is a breath of fresh air), but there’s still something about them that still screams stereotypical. The voices (more than probably by white people)? The simplistic view and recreations of the people and their traditions and customs? The automatic perception that any cartoon from the late 20th century features foreign characters in a negative light? You decide.
Title Sequence:
While not exactly memorable at first, this one is effective in telling the story’s start: Fogg and Passepartout go to Lord Maze’s office, where the latter tells the former that if he (Fogg) wants his (Maze) blessing to marry Belinda, he must… well, you know; and the rest of it does just that. This portion is alright, but gets better once Mr. Fix comes in. All of his antics -- popping up from under a small table to get his orders from Maze, and secretly following the two in his own ways (riding an old British bicycle, swimming on a surfboard, and commandeering a submarine) -- were super hilarious. Also hilarious was Fix getting squished through a brick wall by the ass of an elephant. The sequence (Passepartout producing a mouse that freaks it out) barely makes sense (Unless he saw Fix, but we didn’t see that), but the playoff had me ROTFLing. Anyone can die from this freak accident, but Fix? Just a shake of the head and he’s back on their tail. That’s dedication. This title sequence feels like the first episode either condensed to a minute and a half or is unfinished recycled so it’s not wasted. Since I’ve seen the actual first episode and nothing from it is seen here, I’ll believe it’s the latter. It’s light, fun, and fits the show’s tone and humor like a glove. As for the music accompanying it…
Theme Song:
For a cartoon about a man going on a big race across the globe to win the thing he wants most-- the heart of the woman he loves, the theme song also has to match it in bright and charming yet goofy and tone. And lo and behold it does. The song (written by… someone; Wikipedia says the dude is unknown) is a fun and charming piece that greatly explains the premise in a few simple lines and rhymes (though I bet the reason Lord and Belinda were surnamed Maze was because they needed a last name that rhymes with Maze).
Oh and the several times “Passepartout!” was uttered? Probably two reasons: because they wanted to have something fill in the empty spaces between lines, and they wanted the young viewers to know how to pronounce it correctly. Otherwise, there’s no reason for it to be there, cause no one cares anyway, and Fogg says it enough in each episode (including his episode-ending catchphrase).
Music:
…oh yeah. There is no original music here. After reviewing two cartoons that feature singing in every episode, this is what I’m expecting to discuss (and no doubt will continue to this season). But the background music isb still really good. The pieces perfectly match the mood of the particular scene and add the right tone to whatever is happening. There is one piece that plays during calm, quiet dialogue-heavy scenes that got stuck in my head from the first time I heard it, and rather mightily enjoy it.
Conclusion:
This loose adaptation of the novel is really good. The dialogue is well-written for a kids show, the jokes are funny, Fix’s schemes dialogue and goof-ups are hilarious, Fogg and Passepartout’s close relationship and bond are sweet and endearing, the subtle love and affection Fogg and Belinda have for one another is adorable, and when everyone work together to stop Fix and get ever so closer to reaching the finish line is awesome.
Around the World in Eighty Days is a fun and charming cartoon to watch, and while not as high on my recommendations, I still say give it at least one watch to pass the time.
And that does it for my review of the 1972 loose adaptation of Around the World in Eighty Days.
And at this point, that’ll do it for -- for now. I’m going on hiatus to work on my reviews of the other cartoons that aired in 72 and will be back in February with my reviews of:
- Kid Power (5)
- The Houndcats (12)
- The Roman Holidays (19), and
- The Barkleys (26)
(No, I didn’t make them up. I really would have used extra brain power to come up with them. These are real titles of real cartoons.) If you’d like to see them for yourself, they’re currently found (mostly) in full on YouTube, to tide you over until my reviews drop. Enjoy the rest of the month, and I’ll see you again next month.
Until then, I’m Andrew, and “Good show, Passepartout!”
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