Touché Turtle and Dum Dum is one of three cartoons, along with Wally Gator and Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har that was part of The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series that debuted on September 3, 1962, and ended on August 26, 1963. Now available on two Blu-ray discs, The Complete Series collects all 52 episodes for the first time.
Buy Touché Turtle and Dum Dum: The Complete Series Blu-rayTouché Turtle (voiced by Bill Thompson) resembles a musketeer with his plumed hat and rapier. He is very determined in his missions. His only weakness, like all turtles, is being on his back. His sidekick is sheepdog Dum Dum (voiced by Alan Reed), although Dum Dum refers to Touché as his sidekick in “Zero Hero.”
They debuted in “Whale of a Tale” which finds Touché getting a call from Captain Ahab on a telephone he keeps within his shell (a frequent gag) and helping him capture Moby Dick. They encounter literary characters in other episodes, including Robin Hood, Red Riding Hood, and Romeo and Juliet. They also have adversaries not found in books, including King Size Bong (a riff on a certain giant ape from the movies), a cannibal plant, and a runaway missile.
Our heroes are typically successful, but not without collateral damage as the Scottish locals in “Lake Serpent” can attest after their town is flooded when Touché battles the Loch Ness Monster. Their missions take them the world over, out West to battle “Billy the Cad” and the Middle East to encounter “Aliblabber and the Forty Thieves.” They are not bound by time either as they go back to the era of The Arabian Knights in “Aladdin’s Lampoon” and help Napoleon at his surrender in “Waterloo for Two.” Even a day off is not without incident as Touche deals with a garden pest in “You Bug Me.”
The video has been given a 1080p/MPEG-4 AVC encoded transfer displayed at its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. From what I have read, the original negatives for the series were produced in 16mm and scanned in 4K. Film grain is apparent. The brightness of the colors and sharpness of the focus varies throughout the collection. The audio is available in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Dialogue, effects, and music sound solid for a ’60s TV series. There is noticeable hiss. There are no extras.
Not as well known as other Hanna-Barbera characters, Touché Turtle and Dum Dum is a fun, imaginative show filled with heroic slapstick. Fans should be happy that the Complete Series has now been made available, even if the A/V quality isn’t as consistent as some would like.
