nnwahler Walt Kelly's beloved "Pogo" comic strip was a major piece of my childhood. Even at age four or five I relished the challenge of deciphering its tangles of semi-literate southern dialect. I just cherished the characters. Kelly was one of the unbeatable masters of the humanized animal. I watched this special about three times as a fifth-grader. A lot of the content was over my head, though I did find the animation delightful. I responded happily to Chuck Jones' work, as did any kid. What I hadn't any idea of the bickering that took place behind the scenes: Kelly and Jones had a huge dispute over the script. Jones was main producer, however, and his way of adapting the strip to TV won out over Kelly's; after production was completed and the show aired, Kelly went on record as calling Jones an SOB.I rented out the videocassette about thirty years ago. I still recall it as so much gobbledygook, with the realization-only now-that Jones mercilessly dispensed with the simplicity of the original characters and merely having them spout endless non-squitors. For whatever reason, he also chooses himself to do the voice of Poriy-pine.Anyway, it still gave me a pleasant memory.

shrinkingman06 This came out when I was seven but I only just saw it recently (on YouTube). It had been out on VHS but is not yet on DVD. I enjoyed seeing Kelly's characters come to life via the animation directed by Chuck Jones and Ben Washam; as for the voices, Jones himself is Bun Rab and Porky Pine and Kelly winds up doing P.T. Bridgeport, a song-and-dance-bear at the start--with June Foray just perfect as Pogo and Mlle. Hepzibah. The characters are cute and the backgrounds attractive (I feel like moving there to be with the critters!)It's too bad more wasn't done with Pogo in animation (I have yet to see the 1980 "I Go Pogo" claymation effort).

knsevy ***SPOILERS ON THE BARBIE***This spaces out like a made-for-TV holiday special. It would have been nice if Pogo had had more of a television presence, but I suppose they DID cover every single holiday (plus a few) in this one half-hour.I don't agree with all the voice characterizations, but since Walt Kelly was involved, one can only assume he had final approval, so what we get from him and Mel Blanc are the voices Kelly had in mind for the characters, all along.The special itself is your typical light feel-good fare with a little bit of swamp humor sprinkled in, such as the eternal disagreement over the words to 'Deck Us All With Boston Charlie'. For me, the biggest treat was hearing Kelly's inimitable songs and poetry on the screen.

Randy H. Farb Those loveable characters from the swamp are trying to decide which holiday is the best, and so you get a clever mixture of 4th of July, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Arbor Day, as only Walt Kelly can. Fans of the strip will recognize parts of the storyline. The only thing missing is the running gag about Porky's glum demeanor. The perfect ending would have been a demonstration of how the strip handled Porky smiling.