Hooked Bear (1956)

The movie is wildly uneven but lively and timely - in its own surreal way

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

While not quite as good as Rugged Bear or In the Bag, Hooked Bear is still an excellent short that contains much fun and pleasure. The animation is nowhere near as rich or detailed as in Rugged Bear or In the Bag, while never terrible standard(credit is due for the work done on Humphrey's exaggerated facial expressions and body movements) limited budgeting- that was showing by the late 50s/early 60s- does seem evident here. That said, the music is beautiful to listen to and has much lively energy, complete with a title tune that is recognisable and easy to remember. Hooked Bear also has a charming and warmly told if slightly routine story and crisp pacing going for it, as well as that the humour is genuinely funny and endearing, the fish eggs sprouting into plants and the rainbow trout gags being the best ones. The same can also be said about the characters, Ranger Woodlore is a very amusing character and very distinctively voiced by Bill Thompson and the bears all have personalities that are interesting, even their facial expressions delight. But it is Humphrey who steals the show, a silent character who is both adorable and hilarious but sadly he's one of Disney's most unjustly underrated characters, a shame really because he is a great example of silent characters being just as effective as those who do speak. The things he does are very silly but also induce a great deal of laughs for the audience, Humphrey for all the mistakes he makes is wholly likable and really it is how he reacts to his situations and his interaction with Woodlore that makes his shorts as entertaining as they are. Overall, not Humphrey's best short but still an excellent one. 9/10 Bethany Cox

this is a great short it even had an opening theme that would be used for two cartoons,el gaucho goofy morris the midget moose and it should ring a bell to the ears of disney video collectors(like me) as that theme would late be used to open the walt disney cartoon classic videos.

A Walt Disney HUMPHREY BEAR Cartoon.Humphrey becomes a HOOKED BEAR by stealing as many tasty fish as possible, always trying to keep one step ahead of the Little Ranger...This short film has some very funny moments, centered around the personalities of dimwitted Humphrey & fusspot J. Audubon Woodlore - voiced by Jim Macdonald & Bill Thompson respectively.Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.

I just love this series of shorts! I have no idea why, but I think they're marvelous. Humphrey usually winds up the loser in whatever is going on and the expressions on his face are hilarious. The animation is quite good for 1950s animation and Humphrey and Ranger Woodlore are well developed as characters. Too bad these aren't in print. Well worth looking for. They run these on The Ink and Paint Club. Most recommended.