Who started this trend of turning '60s cartoons into new live action? I'd say Spielberg with The Flintstones. That one, at least, worked. But it was, sadly, the camel's nose under the tent.
Did Hugh Wilson even WATCH any Dudley Do-Right cartoons as a kid? Did he rent videos or catch the Cartoon Channel? None of that shows.
The classic scene of the cartoon, Snidely tying Nell to the tracks ... is STILL a cartoon here. They didn't even try to render the credits it in live action as with The Flintstones.
Dudley, a blonde in the cartoon, was a brunette actor. He smiles a lot, has a big hero's chin, and is sort of dim but not such a stumblebum.
And Nell, a redhead in the cartoon, was a blonde actress. But wait ... Sarah Jessica Parker isn't REALLY blonde. She had to color her hair or wear a wig and STILL got it wrong.
Nell in the cartoon was content to live at the camp. But she was NOT stuck between Dudley and Snidely. Rather, she was stuck on HORSE!! And what happened to Horse's Mountie shirt and hat? This one in the movie was just a regular saddled horse.
Inspector Fenwick in the cartoon is the camp commandant, a fist-pounding boss, not a soft-spoken retiree. And he wears the red uniform, just like Dudley. Was Hugh Wilson being "accurate" by having someone of the inspector's rank wear black? Why bother being accurate on this obscure point if you can't get the obvious things right?
The real Snidely Whiplash has green skin. I forgive Alfred Molina for not donning greasepaint through the film. But at least we get a scene of him with a green face in the mudbath. Snidely is the ONLY character they got right.
Other problems: The cartoon very obviously took place during the Klondike or Yukon Gold Rush days. The player-piano score gave it away. We;re talking late 19th century. They would NOT have helicopters, cars, tanks, etc.
I remember, back in the '60s, the trend was the turn our beloved live-action heroes into cartoons and see them REALLY soar. Gone were the expenses of having to string George Reeves up on wires to have Superman fly. Now we could see Superman really fly and take on actual comic-book supervillains instead of always gangsters. And we got the Lone Ranger, Batman and eventually Star Trek in toon form and they all worked by doing things that would have been way too expensive in live action.
Don't any of the directors remember that these cartoons were made for a reason? Too expensive to film live!
Spielberg made The Flintstones work as nostalgia because he has the cash to be exacting in detail. For Hugh Wilson and all the rest, the lesson is simple: Watch the cartoon, note recurring themes, and most of all, don't do the show if you ain't got the dough!
