{"id":86088,"date":"2024-07-10T00:01:10","date_gmt":"2024-07-10T07:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/?p=86088"},"modified":"2024-07-10T00:23:34","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T07:23:34","slug":"in-the-center-ring-part-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/index.php\/in-the-center-ring-part-26\/","title":{"rendered":"In the Center Ring (Part 26)"},"content":{"rendered":"\"\"\n

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Every time I think I\u2019ve reached a point of moving into the era of the Disney Afternoon, Hanna-Barbera seems to get in the way. Digging deep into unfamiliar territory, I\u2019ve discovered yet another string of circus episodes churned out by the animation grist-mill in the 1970’s and 1980’s. We\u2019ll try to dart through them as quickly as possible. During this period, skill of execution is often lacking, but a few show at least the glimmer of some respectable writing. At present stage of research, there\u2019s enough here for a full chapter today, plus at least four more left for next week, I\u2019ll take them in no particular order, skipping around according to taste, so if an episode is passed that you know, it may possibly appear next week. <\/p>\n

\"\"Two circus episodes aired on the same day? It really happened. I\u2019ll give them to you n bad news – good news order, saving the better one for last. We begin with \u201cThe World\u2019s Greatest Animals\u201d<\/strong> (Inch High, Private Eye<\/em>, 11\/17\/73) – I\u2019ve generally found what episodes I\u2019ve seen of this series nearly as aggravating as the later \u201cInspector Gadget\u201d – who may have taken lessons in being ego-centric from this guy. The title character is always preposterously sure of himself, though always on the wrong scent – yet in an unfunny way. Many other detective types could be incredibly wrong yet confident, and yet deliver punch lines that would at least register a smile with the audience. Inch never seems to have a line that reads anything but predictable and corny, and, with all episodes stretching material to a half-hour more suited for a 10-minute short, he tends to become quickly irritating and boring. H-B tried to find obstacles for him to play against his diminutive size, but even these rarely seemed incredibly clever or creative, and generally fail to capture the imagination. Inch was never a Tom Thumb, nor an Incredible Shrinking Man, when it came to delivering the goods.<\/p>\n

The slim plot of this half-hour has B.T. Farnum, world\u2019s richest man, in ownership of the greatest home, greatest car, greatest everything – except for his circus, which is only the Second Greatest Show On Earth. He reasons, how can you have the greatest show unless you have the greatest animals? But the world\u2019s greatest animals are not for sale. Thus, he hires two thigs to steal all the animals for him. The favorite disappears from the Kentucky Derby. A Rajah\u2019s prize tiger disappears from under his eyes. Even the world\u2019s greatest goldfish is pilfered from the bowl of Inch\u2019s own boss – making his assignment to the case a matter which is \u201cpersonal\u201d. Inch as usual is chosen for the job because all other agents are out on assignment. Also as usual, he immediately goes off on a tangent hunch that is completely off-base, believing that the thief must be a \u201cpro\u201d, so interrogating a golf pro. This only results in him being driven down the fairway, clinging to a golf ball. He somehow ends up inside a kid\u2019s toy balloon, adrift in the zoo, where the world\u2019s only pink elephant is kidnapped right under his nose. When the pachyderm is delivered to Farnum, the villain comments with one of the only memorable lines of the episode: \u201cI won\u2019t even ask how something that big passed under a nose that small.\u201d Inch\u2019s niece Laurie suggests that Inch stake out a dog show, where the World\u2019s Greatest Dog is on display. Inch repeatedly calls the theory a wild goose chase and a total waste of time – but when the lights go out at the show, they come up again with a disappearance. Inch\u2019s St. Bernard mount Braveheart is missing, with Inch aboard, having been standing right in front of the display area over which the \u201cWorld\u2019s Greatest Dog\u201d sign was posted, in a case of mistaken identity. Inch\u2019s mutt is presented to Farnum, who only believes that the dog is the world\u2019s greatest when he hears a talking voice emanating from him. It is only, of course, Inch, trying to make an arrest. Eventually, the bad guys wind up in a pursuit of Inch, who briefly winds up on the end of a balancing pole of a tightrope walker, but surprisingly does not take to the trapeze, high dive, lion\u2019s cage or cannonball act. Instead, he spends much of his time popping around in well-buttered condition in a popcorn machine, and stuck in a cone of cotton candy. Without much in the way of complications, his radio call for assistance is answered by Laurie and an officer in a helicopter, and the bad guys are captured. The goldfish is returned to Inch\u2019s boss, who finally has to utter a \u201cthank you\u201d instead of an insult. The case closes without a payoff or punch line.<\/p>\n