Feelings on The Dogfather cartoons were a very mixed bag as a child, they had their moments but DePatie-Freleng Enterprises did far better and far more memorable theatrical series. Decided to watch all the cartoons to see out of curiosity how well they stood up by young adult standards, whether they would be better on rewatch, the same or worse. Some of DePatie-Freleng Enterprises' theatrical series were good, some were mediocre at best or in one case bad.
Wasn't really that wowed by either of the previous Dogfather cartoons, though 'The Goose that Laid a Golden Egg' was an improvement over 'The Dogfather'. Wasn't really wowed by 'Heist and Seek' either, although it is the best of the three and one of the better cartoons in the series overall. Thanks to two characters working well and one gag that worked well. Like the previous two cartoons, it just suffers from predictability, cheapness and not being particularly funny generally.
There are good things about 'Heist and Seek'. Daws Butler gives a bravura performance, especially as Sam Spaniel. Who is the best character in the cartoon by quite some way, one of the best and craftiest opponents of the series and reminiscent of Bugs Bunny in personality. Rocky is also a suitably dastardly character and has some menace, there is a definite Rocky from Looney Tunes influence to this character.
Although the laughs are too far and between, Sam Spaniel does have a few amusing lines and the ending is very clever and actually wasn't expected. The music has upbeat energy and the theme song is quite catchy.
'Heist and Seek' could have been a lot better. The animation is not good, the previous two cartoons did have some nice colours but other than on the character design for Sam Spaniel 'Heist and Seek' doesn't really have that. As usual, it is sparse, flat and limited looking and actually even more so, as said the studio did have purposefully abstract animation but took it to extremes in the 70s to the point it looked shoestring budget. Bob Holt has next to nothing to do here and Pug is completely bland and is given little to do other than act like a bumbling oaf contrasting with the dastardly brains of the duo Rocky. Their chemistry lacks tension and has a seen it all before vibe.
Furthermore, the story is nothing to write home about. Very thin and derivative with very little energy, as well as too derivative of 'Bugsy and Mugsy'. Which is true of the gags too, which are too few and too much like stale retreads of pre-existing past-prime Looney Tunes gags, shining only really sporadically with Sam Spaniel. The cartoony violence is too tame, while the at times childish comedy by adult standards and complicated mobster terminology that will go over younger viewers' heads doesn't ever gel and made me question the target audience. The Dogfather was best not being present as for a titular character he is completely unmemorable here and has no impact.
Nothing special overall. 5/10.
