'Hop and Chop' was the cartoon that introduced the character of the japanese beetle, a character that would later go on to being a regular one in the Blue Racer cartoons. Whether one enjoys this cartoon is very dependent on what your thoughts on this character is, as he is a heavy focus here and the only way one can at least appreciate 'Hop and Chop' is if the character does anything for you. Also if El Toro and Pancho do mucb for you as characters.
Both do little for me, but all the Tijuana Toads cartoons were re-seen as a big animation fan and as a DePatie-Freleng Enterprises completest. Have always never cared for the series, but it was not without its moments. 'Hop and Chop' is for me towards the lesser end of the 17 cartoons that make up the series, and it has always been that way. It has its moments, but the usual bad things are here as well as one aspect that brings down the cartoon significantly.
There are good things here, though actually not many this time. The music is once again very characterful and has an energy that everything else does not have. The main theme is another winner from Doug Goodwin, and the opening credits likewise.
Moreover, there were a couple of amusing moments. All of them towards the end. The crocodile/alligator gag fares best of the gags and did make me laugh, and the birds' final lines at the end are memorable too.
Sadly, there is not an awful lot to recommend about 'Hop and Chop'. El Toro and Pancho are both bland and annoying characters, Pancho next to pointless here. Other than the aforementioned moments, there is very little amusing or memorable here and the gags are not very many. Or at least that is how it felt, the series always did feel low on the gag count and most were derivative. So were the ones here. The animation is scrappy and simplistic, dominated by the hideous character animation for the beetle and the sickly use of orange in the background art that was like looking like out of date thrown up orange juice.
Furthermore, the story is best not worth mentioning as there isn't really one and it's a very over-familiar scenario with no freshness whatsoever. The pace is routine at best and the voice acting is again too broad and caricaturish (especially Tom Holland as the beetle). What really brings down 'Hop and Chop' is the character of the beetle, the series was full of stereotypical characters but not to this extent. What's more not to this distasteful an extent, it takes a lot for me to be offended by cartoon stereotypes but the beetle character here and even more so in the Blue Racer cartoons has always left a bitter taste in my mouth and is like the insect version of Mickey Rooney's racially offensive character from 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' (a good film otherwise).
Overall, mediocre. 4/10.
