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.
Very like 'Yogi Bear's All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper', 'Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose' has a lot of what is appealing about Yogi in the first place and is enjoyable fun in its own right. It is not quite as good as that special, but as far as the Yogi specials go it's one of the better ones and much better than 'Yogi's Great Escape'. It also fares well in ranking the "Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10" series of TV specials made in the 80s.
It does go on for a little too long, occasionally momentum is lost in scenes that are less eventful. It could easily have been half an hour shorter and things would have felt consistently tighter. The story is a very neat idea, mostly done well, but it is pretty standard for Yogi, meaning some scenes having somewhat of a formulaic nature, and at times episodic.
While it was a delight to see Yogi's friends, some of them could have had more to do with some of them not being in it quite long enough. At least they were true to character.
Best thing about 'Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose' is the titular aircraft itself, it looks great, gives the special a little magic that wasn't quite there in some of the storytelling and like a character of its own. The brief black and white clip of the plane being flown by Howard Hughes himself was a lovely touch.
Much of the animation is well done, especially in the meticulously detailed backgrounds. Lots of vibrant colour too. The music is luckily not cheap-sounding and isn't heavy in repetition.
'Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose' has some amusing writing that is true in spirit to the Yogi Bear show and what made it so appealing in the first place. There is a real sense of fun and nostalgia, though perhaps 'Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose' just lacks the heart of 'Yogi Bear's All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper', which had a sincere and heartfelt representation of Christmas.
Characters mostly are great, with Yogi and Boo Boo likable characters and Dread Baron and Mumbley suitably dastardly villains. Who cannot help love seeing Quick Draw in his old El Kabong costume? The voice acting is very good, with Daws Butler giving a bravura performance in multiple roles.
In summary, not quite magical but fun. Die-hard fans will like it and so would those not demanding too much. 7/10 Bethany Cox
