From Patrick Malone : The return of Humphrey
the Bear! And about time, in my book. Humphrey was always one of my favorite
Disney characters so I can't help but get what may be seen as a little too
critical here. The short itself was dandy, nice set-up and plotting; pretty
much what we'd expect from a Humphrey short. But there were a few troubling
things. Humphrey himself seemed a little stiff; he seemed not to have any
weight or flexibility to his body as if he was a cardboard cut out in a few
scenes. Another thing that bugged me was that, while Humphrey was
anthopomorphized a lot in the original 50's shorts, he was still just a bear,
and followed the rules of a bear. Consequently, he wouldn't have had a"closet"
tummy or "swiss-army" fingers. He would have gotten into Donald's trailer
the "real" bear way.
The other troubling thing was the internal consistancy of the short. Donald's
trailer was a nice gag; just a little bit less complex than "Mickey's Trailer."
But in that short, even though the trailer folded out magnificently, inside
it was still as cramped as it would have seemed from the outside. The gag
that threw me was when Donald was trying to get back inside the trailer and
zips through 8 different windows in a row trying. There just simply didn't
seem to be enough room for a row of 8 windows.
Okay, so I'm nitpicking. I think the important thing at this point, is not
just to bring back the older "minor" characters, but to start to develop
them as well. I'm firmly convinced (as I've written elsewhere) that Humphrey
could have been a major Disney star had they not shut down the shorts department
not too soon after his debut. Let's see more (and maybe Ranger Woodlore as
well.)
From Lee Suggs : Welcome Back Humphrey! Here,
once again in Brownstone Park, Humphrey encounters Donald Duck. Tried of
his wet, cold cave Humphrey decides to check out Donald's Motor Home. This
mobile marvel (inspired no doubt by the classic short "Mickey's Trailer")
has all the comforts of home. Humphrey wastes no time moving in. Of course,
Donald is none too happy to find him when he returns from an unsuccessful
fishing trip. This short is a lot of fun with Donald and the bear playing
off each other very well. The animators really out did themselves with sight
gags here, and the short has non-stop action. Let's hope we see more of Humphrey.
From Emily : Humprey the Bear has been my
son's favorite cartoon chacter since he was little, and at age 18 still is.
From Shlakers : I too have always loved Humphrey
and enjoyed seeing him return. But I was dissapointed insome of the gags
used. As mentioned by Patrick Malone, Humphrey is just a bear. I think Disney
has been watching too many Warner Brothers cartoons of late. The cartoon
was funny, but it was not in the classic Disney style. Nonetheless, I am
glad to see Humphrey once again and hope to see more of him.
From Aja Ramos : Nice to see Humphrey back,
but I do agree with everyone else that the slapstick was a little dissapointing.
Like when Humphrey had a closet stomach and swiss army fingers [As mentioned
by Patrick.] These cartoons with Humphrey in them just don't seem to be as
classical as the older ones. Except for 'Hot Tub Humphrey' and 'Donald's
Fish Fry.' They were one of the better Humphrey cartoons which I'd rate them
a 9. We even got to see Ranger Woodlore and the Brownstone Bears.
