Loved Yogi Bear as a child, and still have a soft spot for it now. It is a funny and charming show with appealing, funny and smart humour and likable characters, plus the characters are well voiced.
While not awful, 'Yogi's Great Escape' was less than great. To me actually it was pretty bland and doesn't have the charm of 'The Yogi Bear Show' and doesn't have enough of what makes it work so well. Of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 series of TV specials, 'Yogi's Great Escape' is generally one of the lesser ones. On the most part the animation is serviceable, the backgrounds are bright and colourful with nice detail and some of the colours are vibrant though some are also garish. The character designs are a little rough though.
Another strength is the voice cast, who do a typically terrific job with what they're given, giving an energy that is lacking elsewhere. Then again those involved were very talented voice actors who always gave their all no matter the quality of the material. Yogi and Boo Boo are likable characters who haven't lost their spark and have a nice chemistry together.
It is agreed that the Mississippi River and boys' hideout scenes are standout scenes.
However, the story is very episodic and very, very slight with a good deal of repetition going on. The fun and excitement is just not there and it does feel like more than one episode strung together. The fun and smartness is also lacking here, laughs are very scarce and what there is is barely amusing.
As said, the character designs are rough and too many of the characters are both underused to the point of being wasted (their screen time is far too brief and their material is tastelessly weak) or woefully mistreated, Quick Draw is a good example of a wronged character made to look stupidly incompetent.
The cubs are not that memorable and the stock music score is every bit as repetitive as the story.
Overall, not awful but less than great, instead pretty bland. 5/10 Bethany Cox
