Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"Boo Boo Runs Wild" is a 21-minute animated short film from 1999, so this one will have its 20th anniversary soon. It was written and directed by Emmy nominee John Kricfalusi and is probably among his most known works. This also has to do with Yogi Bear being a pretty famous character, even if he is not really in the center of it all here as you can already see from the title, even if he and the ranger character get more screen time towards the end. The story here is relatively simple: the title character is sick and tired of humans giving him 1,000 rules and guidelines on how to behave and so he decides to go back to the roots and act like bears always did, careless and wild like the predator he is and not like a human anymore, the way Yogi acts in here. The latter and the ranger try to find a solution to this Boo Boo problem. I personally thought the voice actors did fine, but there are still glaring weaknesses in here. One would be that the runtime is far too long, the material in terms of both quality and quantity is enough for the usual 8 minutes max for cartoons and here we have a truly bloated work. The animation wasn't really to my liking either, but yeah that's at least partially subjective of course. And all in all, the comedy (i.e. the only genre where this film tries to make an impact) was simply not good enough sadly. I found it neither a particularly witty or interesting work, it all feels a bit pointless and all these strange butt comedy references were kinda awkward and felt desperate and try-hard.. It's a thumbs-down from me. Don't watch.
Jake Van Winkle
John Kricfalusi, as most of his fans know, was anti-censorship; and he used the opportunity to make his case against the unnecessary evils of censorship within the entertainment industry. Who these characters represent are players in the entertainment and television broadcast industry; the Park Chief is the FCC, the Park Ranger is an FCC rule enforcer, Yogi is a down-on-his-luck bear (or a television broadcaster/writer/director/artist), trying to make a living within the conditions he has to live with, as hilariously forced to abide by such ridiculous rules as wearing clothing, walking on two legs, talking, etc. (writers/directors/TV producers have to censor content or change it around to the personal liking of those who think otherwise, when all people have to do is regulate the content themselves via V-Chip or other media control devices), and Boo Boo is his younger pal, who could be represented as being John Kricfalusi, who is angry at the confines of the media that he absolutely MUST follow in order to "survive", or otherwise be metaphorically "shot."I knew there was something more to this new rendition of Yogi when I saw it on Adult Swim a few times. I haven't seen many old school Yogi episodes when I saw this, so I can't accurately tell you how close to original it was, but in my personal opinion it had good production values, but that's what you can definitely expect from the good old folks from Spumco.I like a good product, and this is one of them, from the creators of Ren & Stimpy. 9/10
lambiepie-2
Gee..I got a chance to see this the other night on Adult Swim and I am ambivalent about this to say the least. I guess I am still in that "kiddie" mode of the "smarter than the average bear" Yogi, Boo-boo Bear, Cindy Bear and Ranger Smith. Delightful.This was a creative piece of animation and CERTANTLY for adults. It goes one step beyond the cuteness of Hanna Barbera and allows us into a world where cute little Boo-Boo has had enough of Ranger Smith's stupid Jellystone Park rules and becomes...a bear. A REAL bear. Doing all real bear things...loosing the sweet little tie/walking on fours/growling and adult things as well such as going to his best friend Yogi Bear's girlfriends house and....well you can imagine -- and what you're imagining is probably right. Ranger Smith and Yogi sitting down talking about the Boo-Boo situation was also...interesting. I found this all very funny...this was something along the lines of "what if...".But then, there was something a bit strange about actually seeing the "what if". Adult Swim also has another wonderful series called "Harvey Birdman - Attorney At Law" and they did tackle the Yogi and Boo-Boo Bear 'situation', but I found that one more funnier than this. And then there is the real reason why I cringe slightly. I can take a joke. Maybe I'm afraid of other adults who may look at this who can't.
dancing-bug
John Kricfalusi and his demented yet extremely talented Spumco team did a great job re-doing the old Hanna-Barbera characters such as Yogi, Boo Boo, Ranger Smith and everyone else in a modern, twisted, world for a (one time only) special on Cartoon Network. But don't let that last line catch you off guard. Although the humor was dramaticly changed, the same old 50's style music was used and the same bright, colorful backgrounds and paintings were also used to make this cartoon true to the original. The premise: Tired of Ranger Smith's long list of laws and restrictions, Boo Boo takes a stand and rips off his bow-tie, gets on all fours, and creates havok in the park of Jellystone. While he's rumaging through the forest, he finds Cindy Bear (Yogi's girlfriend in the classic series) who surprisingly joins Boob on his wild scurage. The constant drooling and loud growling of Boob kinda reminds you that this is directed by the same guy who brought you the original episodes of The Ren & Stimpy Show. Since the special will probably never air again, (at least not for a long time) I guess I'll let you in on some ending spoilers. At the end, Ranger Smith gets up his courage and decides to shoot Boo Boo with his rifle until Yogi (who acts mostly identical to the original) says that he's doing the wrong thing and gets in an "Ultimate Fighting" type of brawl with the ranger. When "Boo Boo Runs Wild" aired, it also came packaged with 2 classic Yogi cartoons from the 60's and another Spumco remake (a shorter cartoon compared to BBRW) "A Day in The Life of Ranger Smith", which is also quite good.