Wally Gator is an animation creation of the Hanna-Barbarians, as they became known, during the early era of the “dark years” of cartoons: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. They were former masters of the craft during the golden age then turned to crap.
Wally is a free spited “swinging” alligator of the swamp, as sung in the theme song, who lives in a city zoo. He wears the standard hat and collar to humanism him and his goal is to explore what it’s like in the outside world and his natural environment. The conflict of being kept in captivity and exposure to the natural world explores a theme of humankind and their effects on the other creatures that share the planet.
Creature Features
Wally is voiced by one of the masters Daws Butler doing his best comedian Ed Winn imitation and supported by other master craftsman legends Don Messick and Mel Blanc. The animation is extremely limited. One of the tricks employed by the studio is to use the same body figure stills and just reanimate the head for dialogue. Lame but cheap so they could crank them out. 52 episodes for this series. It’s cheap fun but maybe it gives you something to think about. It also makes you wonder if thinking is overrated.
Let's Give It Some Thought
The cartoon follows the same formula the studio established with other shows. Yogi Bear, Jellystone Park, Magilla Gorilla, pet store, Top Cat, slums of New York, all wanting to escape for what they naturally perceive is better than captivity or where their trapped but wind up back where they were. Disney explored this same theme over 40 years later with the movie “Madagascar”. Wally is the product of, as with the others noted, in a human controlled environment restricted in the boundaries enforced upon them.
Respected animation historian Christopher P. Lehman noted that the zoo life and captivity seem to be the proper place for them no matter how much that try to fit in the society of the outside world they remain “the other” and doomed to fail after every unsuccessful attempt at change.
Can this also be said for people as well?
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