# "Clutch Cargo" cartoon series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [September 16, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971 "2010-09-16T15:10:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971/21 "2010-09-26T20:17:55Z")
> [@fgasparini](#): > > > [@ftg](#): > > > > My mother once bought some videos for my kids that were made by Disney. Winnie the Pooh and a Robin Hood thing, if I recall correctly. They consisted _only_ of stills captured from the real movies with narration. Complete ripoff. > > > > Now that’s cheap, which goes with Disney of course. > > That doesn’t sound like Disney, actually. One of the things they’re known for is the quality of the animation. Even the direct to video movies are done well. I doubt they would jeopardize their reputation by selling such a product. I wonder if your mother acquired some kind of bootleg without realizing it. I mean, why would Disney bother to make a crude no-animation version of its own movie, instead of just making a dub of the whole movie? It would actually cost more to do the ‘cheap’ version. (Although, for that matter, why would a bootlegger not just copy the whole movie? Hmmm…) Anyway, it seems unlikely that these were official Disney products. I don’t suppose you still have them around? Identified. These are from the Disney “Animated Storybook” line. The words flash up on the screen as they are being read. They weren’t sold as cheap animation, but as reading tutorials. See [http://www.amazon.com/Winnie-Pooh-Honey-Tree-Animated-Storybook/dp/B000ZQ1KEY](http://www.amazon.com/Winnie-Pooh-Honey-Tree-Animated-Storybook/dp/B000ZQ1KEY). ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971/22 "2010-09-27T21:58:06Z")
Thanks ftg and John. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971/23 "2010-09-28T23:57:01Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > There was an early Marvel Comics series that consisted of still images taken directly from print form. The images were moved around on the screen, but there was rarely any further animation. But the artwork was much higher quality than anything in a Clutch Cargo episode. [They did something like this for _Watchmen_ around the time the movie came out.](http://www.watchmencomicmovie.com/watchmen-motion-comics-episodes.php) It was very interesting to see the drawings from the comic get up and move around (to the limited extent they did) but the fact one guy did everyone’s voice was… distracting. (Yes, that means a male voice for Laurie Juspeczyk. _Not_ what I wanted during the sex scene between her and Daniel Dreiberg.) > [@](#): > > Even the minimal animation in South Park is accompanied by a story and jokes that some people enjoy. South Park is done on computer now. Also, it’s a political commentary show, so a quick turnaround time is _vital_ to the plots they want to do; having the lead-times associated with traditional animation would kill them. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971/24 "2010-09-29T11:53:06Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > South Park is done on computer now. And it has been since the second episode, if I remember correctly. ---
**Author:** ![ZeroZanzibar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/5f9b8f/32.png) [@ZeroZanzibar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZeroZanzibar)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971/25 "2010-10-13T05:55:03Z")
As a supplement to the Straight Dope answer, I can report (from fond memory) that they probably saved money an additional way with this bizzare technique. The synchronization was frequently awful to non-existent. I remember because my brothers and I used to make fun of it by constantly moving our lips and then speaking the words of the line in-between movements. This pretty effectively simulated what you actually saw on the show. Lips often moved when there were pauses in the actual speech. Ultimately, then, what they eventually seem to have resorted to was filming the lips moving exactly once and then _simply reusing the same sequence over and over again_, whether it had anything to do with what was being spoken or not. I don’t know what they said, but perhaps it was simply that old stand-by (when you’re in a choir and forget the words) of “banana banana banana.” If it wasn’t, it should have been. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971/26 "2010-10-13T14:25:02Z")
\ Hi \*\*ZeroZanzibar \*\*. I went ahead and merged your response (fine response by the way) to the existing thread. No problem, you’ll know for next time. \ ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971/27 "2010-10-13T19:19:03Z")
> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#): > > > [@fgasparini](#): > > > > That doesn’t sound like Disney, actually. One of the things they’re known for is the quality of the animation. Even the direct to video movies are done well. I doubt they would jeopardize their reputation by selling such a product. I wonder if your mother acquired some kind of bootleg without realizing it. I mean, why would Disney bother to make a crude no-animation version of its own movie, instead of just making a dub of the whole movie? It would actually cost more to do the ‘cheap’ version. (Although, for that matter, why would a bootlegger not just copy the whole movie? Hmmm…) Anyway, it seems unlikely that these were official Disney products. I don’t suppose you still have them around? > > Identified. These are from the Disney “Animated Storybook” line. The words flash up on the screen as they are being read. They weren’t sold as cheap animation, but as reading tutorials. See [http://www.amazon.com/Winnie-Pooh-Honey-Tree-Animated-Storybook/dp/B000ZQ1KEY](http://www.amazon.com/Winnie-Pooh-Honey-Tree-Animated-Storybook/dp/B000ZQ1KEY). No when I’m talking about awful direct-to-DVD animated Disney movies, I’m talking about awful direct-to-DVD Disney movies. Like this one: [The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea (Video 2000) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240684/) Or this one: [The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (Video 1998) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120131/) Or this one: [Mulan II (Video 2004) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0279967/) Or this one: [The Jungle Book 2 (2003) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283426/) Seriously, they’re all pretty awful. (Except, as I mentioned, the Aladdin sequels.) For some reason, in the late 90s/early-00s, Disney had a huge problem just leaving their high-quality properties well enough alone. They decided to create direct-to-DVD sequels to all of them, which are almost universally awful. Of course, they have the Disney logo, so they sold far out of proportion of their quality. And that’s not to mention their TV series, Timon and Puma, Emperor’s New School, Lilo and Stitch, the Hercules one, which are all… well, mediocre at best. Anyway, if you think Disney = quality, you’ve obviously never seen any of their direct-to-DVD or TV animation. Or Treasure Planet, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971/28 "2010-10-13T19:29:19Z")
> [@Blakeyrat](#): > > [ > Anyway, if you think Disney = quality, you’ve obviously never seen any of their direct-to-DVD or TV animation. Or Treasure Planet, for that matter. It is sad, and it’s one of the things that Lassiter was supposed to fix when he took over as head of animation for Disney. I don’t have access to that industry anymore due to a career change, so I don’t know how much good he did, but I haven’t noticed a terrible sequel since he was put in charge. But not all of the TV animation from that period was terrible. I recall the Tarzan TV show was fairly good, and I know there was at least one other that surprised me with its quality. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971/29 "2010-10-13T20:15:17Z")
> [@Blakeyrat](#): > > > [@John\_W.Kennedy](#): > > > > Identified. These are from the Disney “Animated Storybook” line. The words flash up on the screen as they are being read. They weren’t sold as cheap animation, but as reading tutorials. See [http://www.amazon.com/Winnie-Pooh-Honey-Tree-Animated-Storybook/dp/B000ZQ1KEY](http://www.amazon.com/Winnie-Pooh-Honey-Tree-Animated-Storybook/dp/B000ZQ1KEY). > > No when I’m talking about awful direct-to-DVD animated Disney movies, I’m talking about awful direct-to-DVD Disney movies. > > Like this one: [The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea (Video 2000) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240684/) > Or this one: [The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (Video 1998) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120131/) > Or this one: [Mulan II (Video 2004) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0279967/) > Or this one: [The Jungle Book 2 (2003) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283426/) Those are not the ones that were being talked about in the first place, and they are nowhere near as low quality as “Clutch Cargo” or the early Marvel animation. The Disney “Animated Storybook” DVDs _are_ that bad, considered as pure animation, but they were not made or sold as regular cartoons to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971/30 "2010-10-13T20:32:07Z")
I would love to see Jack Chick tracts animated in this style. It would be perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971/31 "2012-05-13T19:00:06Z")
> [@rootbeer277](#): > > …Bonus trivia: In Pulp Fiction, during the flashback scene with Christopher Walken, there’s a Clutch Cargo cartoon playing on the TV in the background. I just noticed this last night! Cool. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971/32 "2012-05-13T19:10:19Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > The animators I have spoken to have always given me the impression that it doesn’t so much define the bottom of the scale as it defines what the scale might look like if it were on drugs. > > It \*is \*very well loved though. Hah, that reminded what animators said about the nightmare scene from Dumbo: When Kimball was asked: “were you guys on drugs when doing this?”, he answered “Sure we did, Alca-Seltzer and Pepto-Bismol. We were just trained to think this way.” ---
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971/33 "2012-05-14T20:18:53Z")
> [@Blakeyrat](#): > > Or Treasure Planet, for that matter. Now you’re just being mean. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the animation on _Treasure Planet_. Did you even see how they used computer animation and hand-drawn animation simultaneously for a single character? There may have been story issues, but knocking the animation quality of any of Disney’s feature releases is just bizarre. The direct-to-video releases (which Lasseter did put a stop to) were certainly not up to the same quality as the theatrical releases, but any one of them is still leaps and bounds beyond the hand-drawn animation being done at the time by any American company, short perhaps of Don Bluth. Seriously, aside from Studio Ghibli, and the Bluth offerings, is there any animation company that even comes close to the quality of Disney’s 1990s/2000s television and direct-to-DVD animation offerings? Powers &8^] ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971/34 "2012-05-15T17:32:41Z")
> [@rootbeer277](#): > > Bonus trivia: In Pulp Fiction, during the flashback scene with Christopher Walken, there’s a Clutch Cargo cartoon playing on the TV in the background. Yeah, the “I got the watch from your daddy and hid it on(?) my person” scene. Classic, and set the atmosphere for 1960’s… – Why knock Treasure Planet for animation quality? The story was formulaic and not well thought out, and as one critic said - “Who is this aimed at? Teen boys with angst issues don’t go watch cartoons; little kids don’t want to watch moody big brother as hero”. (Just like guys who like fantasy adventures don’t want to watch preteen girls as heros, in the movie “The Golden Compass” which also bombed) Know your audience and write for them. However the animation was very good. ---
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971/35 "2012-05-17T00:04:02Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > The story was formulaic and not well thought out, The story came from Robert Louis Stevenson! It’s a classic! > [@](#): > > and as one critic said - “Who is this aimed at? Teen boys with angst issues don’t go watch cartoons; little kids don’t want to watch moody big brother as hero”. Eh, I don’t buy that. Little kids soaked up _The Lion King_ like sponges, and Simba was just as moody and angsty there. I was in my early twenties and enjoyed _Treasure Planet_ quite a bit. Powers &8^] ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971/36 "2012-05-18T15:01:27Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > [How did they make those weird lip movements in the old Clutch Cargo cartoon series? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/373/how-did-they-make-those-weird-lip-movements-in-the-old-em-clutch-cargo-em-cartoon-series) > > I’ve never heard of this show before, or this freaky dialogue technique. I can see why it was never too popular: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFnLirXjjto](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFnLirXjjto) I was in first grade when Clutch debuted weekday afternoons on WCCO, Channel 4 in Minneapolis. John Gallos (aka, Officer Clancy) waxed rapturous over this new technique, which was going to revolutionize cartoon-making. I always thought it was a really cool series, when I was a little kid. I remember seeing it for the first time in twenty years back in the early '80s and thinking “Holy crap! They just superimposed real mouths on the cartoon characters! That’s gross!” ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971/37 "2012-05-18T15:09:26Z")
I think we can all agree that the world is finally ready for a feature length Clutch Cargo movie. Ideally, in IMAX. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971/38 "2012-05-21T00:00:35Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > I think we can all agree that the world is finally ready for a feature length Clutch Cargo movie. Ideally, in IMAX. Nah. Tim Burton would just fuck it up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clutch-cargo-cartoon-series/553971.md?page=1)