Ruddigore - Animated 1967

Description

[@TGWTGCensored]

Fun fact: Ann Hood, who voiced Rose Maybud in this film, would go on to play Mad Margaret in a later production of _Ruddigore_ by Gilbert & Sullivan For All, a smaller theatre company founded by former D'Oyly Carte members Thomas Round and Donald Adams (the latter of whom voiced Roderick here).

[@ebmosier1]

This is truly just...so wonderful. The animation, to me, is exquisite, especially those hands. And Murgatroyd post-transformation is so delightfully over-the-top evil!

[@sergioosea7974]

I'm a G&S purist in that I don't believe in cuts or additions in full-scale productions. But, if you accept that this was never designed to be a full-scale production of "Ruddigore" it's highly enjoyable. The singing is excellent and the animation of Halas and Batchelor fits the work well, especially in the wonderful "Ghosts' High Noon". It's a pity that it was the first and last time a G&S opera was done in animated form.

[@browncoatkevin]

The animation is a bit crazy, but that is perfect for Gilbert and Sullivan's world of topsy-turvy. I'm glad my two favorite songs were represented in full here (When The Night Wind Howls and My Eyes Are Fully Open) despite some songs being cut entirely or left as partial instrumentals (There Grew A Little Flower, I Shipped D'ye See, To A Garden Full Of Posies). It's definitely one of the underrated G+S shows, having premiered to replace the incomparably popular The Mikado, but it's as charming as any of the others.

[@richardlbowles]

I always thought that it was foolish of Sir Despard in Act 2 to try to get Sir Ruthven to return to the straight and narrow. By doing so, he is not only effectively condemning his brother to death, but also putting himself back in the firing line as next direct heir.

[@harrietrosejimenez]

That's the point, no? Everyone in this opera is so desperate (no pun intended) to adhere to their narrative roles that Despard, as a "good" person, must be an agent of lawfulness and goodness to the point of being totally blind to the obvious consequences

[@NekoChanSenpai]

I freaking LOVE John Reed in this!!!

[@whhrms]

NekoChanSenpai John was one of the most awesomely versatile singer/actors I ever met! And he could create such a bond between himself, the other performers, and the audience. RIP, Dear John! We love you!

[@ericaryon9932]

Great way to introduce children to Gilbert and Sullivan. I remember as a child I went to Gilbert and Sullivan birthday parties

[@RonaldOrenstein]

Delighted to see this here. G&S is ripe for animation (how about Iolanthe, for example?. I had the privilege of seeing this for the first time in the home of Peggy Ann Jones, who plays Mad Margeret here. Peggy Ann was never properly represented in recordings despite being a D'Oyly Carte favourite,, and this is the only recording I am aware to preserve her wonderfully funny Mad Margaret. Here's to you, Peggy Ann!

[@seanmaher3518]

Ronald Orenstein An animated Iolanthe sure would be nice

[@WillScarlet16]

I like to play with the idea that Dick Dauntless is really Dick Deadeye from HMS Pinafore before he lost his good looks. Think about it - Dick Deadeye feels forced to be a villain because he's ugly and has a villainous sounding name - Dauntless is good-looking and has a heroic name, but everything he does is villainous.

[@trinitymplayers]

Of all the G&S operas, RUDDIGORE has the most open ending, particularly in the fate of the ghosts. Originally, it ended with all the ghosts resuming their existence, but because of the initial audience' reaction to that, Gilbert modified the finale so that only Sir Roderic comes back to life, and the other ghosts remain portraits (and the male chorus come back as the Chorus of Bucks and Blades from Act 1, which got cut from this version).

[@bloodrunsclear]

Baronete 'I made a false income tax return!' Ghost 'Nothing! Everyone does that!' XD

[@user-kh2pf4vw1s]

This legendary British animated full-length film really rocks!

[@trinitymplayers]

So in this version, it ends with Sir Roderic only coming back to life, but the ghosts are seen leaving the castle along with the ghost of the witch who cast the spell in the first place, as well as the living suit of armor, obviously all freed. I think it's cute that Richard pairs off with all the bridesmaids instead of just the one as in the original, and totally in character.

[@WillScarlet16]

I always wish it would end with Richard getting more comeuppance for all his backstabbing.

[@kennethwayne6857]

@@WillScarlet16 The comeuppance would be that he gets Rose taken away from him, except he doesn't seem to mind so much. Maybe Colonel Fairfax deserves some comeuppance.

[@stepheneinbinder2604]

Like the 1966 Mikado video, this one is remastered a half-step too high, so for example, the opening Bridesmaids' chorus, in the key of E flat, sounds like the key of E. Also: Batman coincidence. Rose Maybud addresses Robin Oakapple as "Master Robin" as Alfred (Bruce Wayne's butler) addressed Batman's sidekick Robin.

[@ARCtheCartoonMaster]

I think that has to do with it being in the PAL format, since a lot of my old British and Australian VHS tapes have the same problem. For example, my _Shrek_ tape has “All Star” in G major instead of F-sharp.

[@LeonoraBassisty104]

It's so sad G&S isn't famous at all in my country :( The text and singing is so good (especially when it's John Reed who sings)

[@LifeOutsideTheBubble]

What country?

[@LeonoraBassisty104]

@@LifeOutsideTheBubble France

[@LifeOutsideTheBubble]

@@LeonoraBassisty104 You all have Offenbach though. Pretty snazzy.

[@LeonoraBassisty104]

@@LifeOutsideTheBubble Offenbach is cool but some of his Operas are a bit.... hmm How to put that into word... norm eccentric? I mean I am sure you know the duet where a fly tries to reproduce with a woman. Many of the jokes aren't suited at all for kids. I love the Grand Duchess of Gerolstein and The Carrot King. + Sullivan Orchestrations is, in my opinion better. Though I would have love to see a Gilbert&Offenbach Collaboration.

[@trinitymplayers]

For anyone who's interested, I've just done a synopsis of the musical numbers that were used in this film adaptation: From Act 1: 1. "Sir Rupert Murgatroyd" (abridged) 2. "Fair is Rose" (first verse) 3. "If somebody there chanced to be" (music only) 4. "I know a youth" (verse 1 and 3) 5. "From the briny sea" 6. "I shipp'd, d'ye see, in a revenue sloop" (Hornpipe only) 7. "My boy, you may take it from me" (first two verses) 8. "If well his suit has sped" 9. "Cheerily carols the lark" (music only) 10. "Oh, why am I moody and sad?" (abridged) 11. "You understand? I think I do" 12. Finale Act I (abridged) "Hail the bride of seventeen summers" (abridged) "Recit- Hold Bride and Bridegroom!" "As pure and blameless peasant/When I'm a bad Bart, I will tell taradiddles!" "Recit - Who is the wretch that hath betrayed thee?" "Recit - Farewell! Thy face I shun!" "Oh, happy the lily" (last verse) From Act 2: 13. "I once was as meek" 14. "Happily coupled are we" (music only) 15. "In bygone days" 16. "Painted emblems of a race" 17. "When the night wind howls" 18. "He yields, he yields" 19. "I once was a very abandoned person" (first two verses) 20. "My eyes are fully open" 21. "Melodrame" 22. Finale Act 2 (abridged) "For happy the lily" (reprise)

[@HlootooThunderhammer]

Impressive how they fit all that in less than 50 minutes.

[@yuukokagami]

I wonder if anyone in the future will come here from Animation Pilgrimage, cause that's where I came from. For anyone who's asking, Animation Pilgrimage is a series made by a young married couple by the names of Tennelle and Shawn Flowers! They have a playlist online available on KZbin that has a review of this movie since they're goal is to review every single internationally theatrically released film in chronological order (if they can access them all). It's a great series for anyone who's interested in Animation and they are just a delight to watch! Here's their channels and the video where they review this movie for anyone who's interested! :) Tennelle: kzbin.info Shawn: kzbin.info Ruddigore's review: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGWagqebaNV9bbs

[@ARCtheCartoonMaster]

For me, it was the other way around - I discovered _Animation Pilgrimage_ through their review of this movie.

[@TheITinFIT]

@@ARCtheCartoonMasterMe too!

[@c.f.8801]

Utterly delightful! Thank you for preserving this forgotten treasure.

[@sunnyday-gb7fe]

One of my favourite cartoons. I think that Ruddigore is a little jewel of animation. :)

[@BlueSkyTune]

My very favorite G & S -- where has this been all my life??

[@teddyfurstman1997]

Halas and Batchelor were Great Britain's very own UPA or Hanna Barbara of its time. They were the folks who gave us the 1954 adaptation of Animal Farm and other animated works from across the pond. Gilbert and Sullivan's music works wonders for Animation.

[@iolson38536]

Such a pity this show gets underlooked. I think it's just as great as Pinafore, Iolanthe, and Trial By Jury (but not Pirates - my favorite).

[@verdew8181]

I've been waiting to see this, so happy to finally find it! It was great even if it had to leave out some of my favorite music.

[@Fenris77]

Gods I haven't seen this in ages. Really good musical, I had thought this version lost but thanks for sharing it.

[@expectationofplenty]

What an absolute gem

[@robgosnell7899]

Thank you for posting this: it's one of only three G&S cartoon adaptations that I know of (the others are "Gentlement of Tittipoo" & "Dirk Deadeye"). My only complaint is the animators didn't make enough of their medium; why show your characters dancing around like stage performers when you could fill the screen with every daft image suggested by the lyrics? I understand this was meant as the first of a possible series; if they had been a little more adventurous, perhaps it would have taken off.

[@ellendouglas5332]

Imagine if Ruddigore was nominated for Best Animated Feature but lost to Disney’s hit The Jungle Book.

[@planetpihl660]

this musical tale of ghosts witches curses and murder inspires walt disney's the haunted mansion!

[@anthonyhanssens7011]

Wauw I love it I feel like Walt Disney opera ❤

[@the.youtube.of.sam.gotter]

42:47 My Eyes are Fully Open

[@richierella1128]

I’ve never seen a Ruddigore cartoon in my life

[@paulGtown]

Dissenters have your say! This is fabulous! Particularly compared with some of the trash we are exposed to today. G&S snobs please consider the whole picture here...this was made in 1967. No computers. The 60's in full swing. It's amazing that this was even thought of, never mind drawn and put on celluloid. G&S will be on stage for eternity, but we are lucky to have captured this gem. I would like to find out more about it's conception. The drawing style is amazing and appropriate to the time...check out Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmatians. I wonder if the narration at the beginning was Kenneth Williams...I also recognize Dolye Carte Company particularly John Round. Any other thoughts?

[@trinitymplayers]

John Reed provided the narration at the beginning, and he was the voice of Robin Oakapple/Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd, a role he played along with many other famous comedy roles with the D'Oyly Carte. Other D'Oyly Carte stars of that time that were heard on this soundtrack included Ann Hood as Rose Maybud, David Palmer as Richard Dauntless, Kenneth Sandford as Sir Despard Murgatroyd, Peggy Anne Jones as Mad Margaret, Christene Palmer as Dame Hannah Trusty, and Donald Adams as Sir Roderic Murgatroyd. Rounding out the cast were Jennifer Toye as Zorah, George Cook as Old Adam Goodheart, and the D'Oyly Carte Opera Chorus as respectively the Bridesmaids, Ancestors, and Villagers.

[@p.c.thompson2881]

+Hugh S The voice of Old Adam is George Cook, not John Banks. P.C.Thompson.

[@DeGuillac]

+paulGtown Tha animators were Halas & Bachelor, who also created the early film of Animal Farm and the animated series based on Gerard Hoffnung's cartoons.

[@drewbakka5265]

Charming art style if cheep animation. Good casting (I can recognise a lot of D'Carte actors in there), if poor sound quality for the choral works. Bretty gud for the 60's

[@Spazzbert]

THANK YOU FOR UPLOADING THIS YOU ARE MY HERO. :,)

[@trinitymplayers]

I think there originally were credits, judging from the beginning of the trailer, and the fact that "officially" the cartoon was supposed to be five minutes longer.

[@mothpawbs027]

This movie is a _delight_

[@calonkat]

Made for WBC-TV in the U.S.A., but shown theatrically in the United Kingdom. Original opening song in this video: 1967 Ruddigore Cartoon Theatrical Trailer

[@chriswilson6494]

A story such as this would be worth $1,000000's today, so much is written to day but where is the humour? Ruddigore needs a great production - even a film, the best version I've seen was on Dvd with Vincent Price - even his singing was great.

[@zelalife2559]

I love john reed! The role of Robin was tailor-made for him!

[@trinitymplayers]

For the most part, I thought it was well edited. But I think the opening narration was unnecessary, and marred what was otherwise a fine prologue sequence. I'm glad they kept in The Ghost's High Noon, I Once Was a Very Abandoned Person, and the Patter Trio.

[@justinecase8182]

"The Ghost's High Noon" is my absolute favorite part of "Ruddigore." The singing was great here, I thought, but I wish the number had been sung slower. I understand that things had to be moved along in a cartoon, but I like to savour the chorus singing the "High Noooooon" part. :D

[@trinitymplayers]

I agree. I did like the reanimated suit of armor though.

[@theRealPlaidRabbit]

Why on earth did they not follow the portrait of "Sir Gilbert" with "Sir Sullivan"?

[@troytrexler5459]

Slow down the playback speed to 0.75 for improved experience.

[@ARCtheCartoonMaster]

14:00 Sam Sparks meets Katie Mitchell, colourised

[@user-zr3ms7kj8v]

A great lesson for all of the Savoy children so they know why you shouldn't go searching though your older cousins safe.

[@georgesoros6415]

All I know is that to be a part of the whole D'Oyly Carte system must have been the very pinnacle of human achievement, having to keep all these VERY wordy and complex musical bits together, ready to bring forth at a moment's notice. Aside from The Mikado and Pirates, it is all very much of a kind. How did they not, from sheer quantity and perhaps boredom, not just change the play in the middle, by accident? The leads in these things must be the most amazing brains, simply to keep it all straight.

[@DeGuillac]

+George Soros Obviously they were originally staged one at a time, and with exceptional care and skill. Gilbert was the producer, and a consummate man of the theatre who knew exactly what he wanted and worked hard to get it. Actually they're a lot less alike than you suggest, too -- certainly much less so than our own Offenbach, whose pieces are much more interchangeable, or the average German operetta, or even large chunks of Mozart and Rossini. Any well-trained opera singer can easily cope with keeping this kind of thing straight -- it's the great stretches of Verdi and Mussorgsky and Wagner that get really difficult!

[@slashermaster28]

I have to admit, I really like this. It's especially admirable when people try to make something like this more accessible to families. The only gripe is that it suffers from the same problem as the Peanuts musical adaptations and Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas, in that it only covers a small fraction of the story. Keep in mind, I get making the film shorter than the play. That makes sense. After all, animation, even of this quality, is expensive and time consuming, but they couldn't make it feature length? The Peanuts musical films were also a little under 50 minutes. (Which is kinda funny considering each stage play actually is short enough to work as a full movie) Even Elf is only 45 minutes. Because of this, the stories can feel rushed and awkward in a few places. At least Shinbone Alley had the right idea. Yeah, multiple scenes are in a different order and they even added a song that wasn't from the stage show, but at least that was feature length and told a much more complete story. And yeah, as poorly executed as this was, even The King and I had a decent length. It's a shame that adaptations like this can't really do that and as such, multiple plot points that need more time aren't really given that. Again, I did really enjoy this, but even making it, like, say, a half hour longer would have been nice.

[@planetpihl660]

it has a haunted castle and ghosts comes out of the pictures in the walls!

[@alexmacleod3728]

The characters look like background characters from The twelve tasks of asterix

[@unclerabbit254]

So, the witch's magic made his dead uncle back to life, so he can married this woman who was going to marry someone else. 🤔

[@planetpihl660]

sir rupert reminds me of captain hook from disney's peter pan!

[@sakuotaku-2647]

Woo, the comment section is open again!

[@trinitymplayers]

Thank you for sharing this. I've wanted to see this for so long. But were there any credits?

[@45calebt]

46:54 did Gilbert collaborate with M.Night Shyamalan on this one?

[@HeidiLandRover]

Another gem from Halas and Batchelor.

[@aarondaguio7179]

This feels like a Tim Burton project

[@lucamagic]

I enjoyed this a lot. My only issue was not understanding everything they sang as I’m not a native speaker but that’s fine :)

[@andrewdensmore4019]

Pure jay wards rocky and bullwinkle if ever I had seen it but if it had super chicken it would be better or George of the jungle but then with the Puns then the oprea would stink to high heavens but being a music lover and a old Saturday morning cartoon fan of the past then why not I would love more of the Gilbert and Sullivan cartoons if they were made in the Hanna and Barbeara yogi bear cartoons

[@daisydad1488]

Love this thx tennel

[@planetpihl660]

disney meets UPA for the first time!

[@juniorxeastny8169]

delightful.

[@Lairdodunces]

17:41 best song tbh

[@JackSarfatti]

Wonderful

[@richierella1128]

I got to mow the lawn…

[@sullyb23511]

What fun. :-)

[@richierella1128]

I like the dresses

[@daisybtoes]

I've got mixed feelings about this. The singing, as it naturally would be, is excellent. The story is a bit edited down, but tolerably so. It is the overall look of the production that bothers me, and I'm not entirely sure why.

[@luizgonzagateixeira7890]

doesnt matter é uma canção que aparece também em Penzance. Não sei se a letra é a mesma. mas é muito boa.

[@trinitymplayers]

luiz gonzaga Teixeira Actually, the patter trio is actually from Ruddigore. It was used in Joe Papp's famous stage production of Penzance and was also included in the film version.

[@luizgonzagateixeira7890]

Thanks Hugh S.

[@trinitymplayers]

Also, Papp had the lyrics slightly altered not only to accommodate the three Pirates characters singing it, but also to reveal at the end that it was actually from Ruddigore!

[@planetpihl660]

ruddiegore rocks!

[@cbranalli]

luv it

[@richierella1128]

This is interesting

[@HarleyQuinn257]

A witch w pink hair, she did it before it was cool!

[@richierella1128]

Where did this air

[@d-manthecaptain1382]

Man, the DVNR they used to restore this looks pretty awful in some spots.

[@richierella1128]

Bizarre

[@SamIAmxoxox123]

I'm so confused lol

[@pauljacques2133]

24:57

[@richierella1128]

😳

[@user-dp9fd2qj8l]

🤔🤔

[@rayubinger9780]

Rolled r's are NOT ENGLISH!

[@Jiamaavindur]

They were a feature of Old and Middle English. They gradually fell out of common usage, but even now it is not incorrect to roll an r when speaking modern English. People will just think you are pretentious if you do.

[@crapstermcduck6593]

Not really my thing.