Devlin, o Motoqueiro

Well, of course the animation isn't perfect, this is a 1974 TV cartoon, and we know all the tricks used to make it cheap enough to be profitable, I mean, that's what the technology of the time allowed. The bike jumping the cars animation is used in almost every episode, and it seems bad by today standarts, the bike flies over the cars at 10 mph. But all we can do is to think "ok, it's 1974, we forgive you".

The plot for the episodes is actually good, but it does get corny and silly sometimes. All in all, it's quite entertaining, and yes, it's watchable.

If they remade "Devlin" with the proper animation, and working harder on the episode plots, it could be a hit.

The short-lived animated Hanna-Barbera series DEVLIN was shown mostly on Saturday Mornings on ABC-TV's Sunshine Saturday Morning Line-Up that lasted one season and produced 17 episodes,all in color. DEVLIN was loosely based on the motorcycle daredevil stuntman Evel Knieval. The synopsis of the story consisted of the Devlins. They were a trio of orphans who supported themselves through their daredevil motorcycle act. The lead character and support figure,Ernie Devlin(Michael Bell)was a 22-year old professional stuntman who drove the motorcycle and the car during the stunts while his younger brother,teenager Tod(Mickey Dolenz) oversaw the mechanical work and designed routines for Ernie's acts. Ernie's kid sister,11-year old Sandy(Michele Robinson)basically provided assistance and support whenever she was needed,plus other additional duties. They work,lived and travel on the highways and byways of the country in their huge Winnebago motor home as part of a traveling circus. Hank(Norman Alden),the owner of the circus in which they worked,served as a surrogate father figure whenever Ernie or his teenager brother or kid sister needed support and guidance during troubled times.

Interspersed with some of the stunts along with the hair-raising thrills and high adventure along with some interpersonal drama were tips on motorcycle safety(given by Ernie himself)to let young viewers know the Devlin's occupation and to let them know about using the proper equipment when riding a motorcycle as well. Out of the 17 episodes that this show produced,DEVLIN had plenty of risks and cliffhanging suspense that came along with the territory. Also to point out,and since this was a Saturday Morning animated cartoon aimed at pre-teenagers and older kids under 12 years of age,DEVLIN was ABC's answer (or Hanna-Barbera)to cash in on the craze of Evel Knieval(who was in 1974 at the peak of his fame),and the whole motorcycle fad of the early and mid-1970's along with cashing in on the huge popularity of the Japanese-produced animated series Speed Racer(which became a HUGE HIT during the 1970's when it was shown in syndicated repeats). The original episodes ran as part of ABC's Sunshine Saturday Morning schedule from September 7, 1974 until August 30, 1975. After its run on Saturday Mornings,ABC moved to Sunday Mornings in repeated episodes from September 7, 1975 until its last telecast on February 15, 1976.

I have seen this cartoon many times from the time I was a little kid to now.

This show is good because you get to see a motorcycle rider doing ramp stunts and solving problems for other people. The scenes where it shows Ernie Devlin in the air when his bike is doing the jumps what looks like to others as him just going 10 Miles per hour is where they are really showing him doing his stunt in slow motion because real motorcycle stunts like that have those motorcycles going so fast that many people who are on the opposite side of the big top could not focus in time to see the rider going up the ramp. This show has him in slow motion so everyone watching can see how he does his stunts. This show should have all of it's episodes released on DVD box sets like some of the other Hanna-Barbera shows because it is a classic and much better than the shows that have been made in the last 11 to 15 years.

Hmm, I dunno what they were thinking when they made this cartoon. It seems to be trying to get in on the whole 70's motorcycle fad, and maybe trying to cash in on Speed Racer's popularity. Devlin has some pretty lame plots, but the thing that makes it actually fun to watch is how horrible the animation and art is. I'm the first to admit that I can't draw, and thats why I do not attempt to make cartoons. I only wish the makers of this show had the same frame of mind. The actual characters look like typical Hanna-Barbara humans, though not cartoonish humans, just normal 70's humans. The backgrounds are the really funny part. Almost every background has HUGE, and very visible brush strokes. I dont mean little brush strokes like you might see on other cartoons of the time, I mean these backgrounds look like someone took a huge house painting brush, dipped it in a can of paint, and slapped it across a peice of paper once, then claimed it to be a background. This may sound like an exaggeration, but it isnt. Just see for yourself, this show still comes on Cartoon Network, in the wee hours of the morning on weekends. Also, the animation has a lot of copouts in it. Instead of animating a car or motorcycle, they just move the same drawing of it. And when he turns around on his motorcycle, they dont animate it, they have him drive off screen, then have the same animation cell, flipped over, come back on screen. I don't see how this show lasted as long as it did. The plots were just as bad as the art, I mean Speed Racer might have some bad animation, and bad dubbing, but the plots are wonderful and keep it entertaining. Though with this artwork, I don't think anything could have saved Devlin.

Ernie Devlin was revived for the 2004 episode of Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law "The Devlin Made Me Do It". Ernie Devlin is sued when a child is hurt duplicating his stunts and Harvey takes the case. Life hasn't been easy for Ernie. Ernie looked like the many accidents suffered by Evel Knievel had taken their toll. Toby Huss, the voice of Cotton Hill and Kahn Souphanousinphone on King of the Hill, voices Devlin and Adult Swim used different voices Sandy and Tod (originally voiced by Mickey Dolenz) also appear in the HB episode. Ernie makes several cameo appearances thereafter in the series riding his motorcycle or girlfriend through scenes and generally crashing into or through something.