While not one of my favourite cartoon characters, Barney Bear was a very funny and likable character where his sluggishness was a huge part of his charm. He was also interesting for being modelled on both his creator Rudolf Ising (who also was his first voice actor until 1941) and the mannerisms of Wallace Beery.
After the Preston Blair and Michael Lah unit stopped after just three (and pretty good too) cartoons, 'The Bear and the Bean', 'The Bear and the Hare' and 'Goggle Fishing Bear', Dick Lundy was the fourth director to take over the Barney series after Ising (10 cartoons), George Gordon (3) and Blair/Lah, and turned out to be the joint-longest-serving director after Ising with 10 contributions to the series. His fourth Barney cartoon 'Cobs and Robbers' is a slight let-down after the previous cartoon 'Barney's Hungry Cousin', but is another solid Barney cartoon. Even with a slower pace than the usual frenetic energy one and Barney's simplified design and nicer and less gruff character than those in the Ising and Gordon cartoons. The story is slight and formulaic but very amiable and charming.
Barney is very easily watchable, lots of fun and is adorable, his frustration rootable. There is just a preference personally for his more nuanced and detailed original character design and his crankiness and gruffness made his frustration easier to empathise with (there is evidence of that here but it came through stronger before). The scarecrow and crows provide amusing conflict.
Animation is nicely drawn and colourful, if slightly lacking the finesse and meticulousness of the earlier entries of the Barney Bear series. The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed, even enhancing the impact of actions and gestures.
'Cobs and Robbers' is amusing and the timing, even with the not as frenetic and more laconic pace, is still spot on. Really liked the characteristic silly charm that makes the series so likable.
In conclusion, good solid effort but not one of the best Barney cartoons. 7/10 Bethany Cox
