The husband & wife animating team of John Halas & Joy Batchelor's first feature-length production since 'Animal Farm' in 1954 was intended to be shown on American television after a short theatrical run, hence its short running time; with the result that almost as soon as one has settled into it it's over!.Less technically elaborate than 'Animal Farm' (never mind Disney - compare 'Ghosts' High Noon' with 'Night on Bare Mountain' over a quarter of a century earlier in 'Fantasia'!), but with an authentic D'Oyly Carte soundtrack it washes over you pleasantly and the score is now firmly embedded in my head for the time being as I write this!

'Ruddigore' is not one of Gilbert and Sullivan's best operettas on the whole, 'The Pirates of Penzance', 'HMS Pinafore' and 'The Mikado' to me are more memorable, cleverer, wittier, funnier and more imaginative.This said, 'Ruddigore' (silly story and all and being occasionally cartoony) is very enjoyable regardless still, Gilbert's lyrics and writing on the most part still entertain, it is very easy to dig the ghosts scene and Sullivan's music as always is sublime. The critical indifference that 'Ruddigore' got at the time and that it's not often performed now (quite the contrary) is a shame and not deserving.When first hearing of this animated adaptation, there was the thought would it work as a very abridged treatment and animated. Further adding to the worry was remembering how dreadfully the animated adaptation of 'The Mikado' named 'The Gentlemen of Titipu', not just the worst 'Mikado' ever but the worst ever treatment of any of Gilbert and Sullivan's work, turned out, and fearing that it would be the same. The good news is this animated adaptation of 'Ruddigore' was surprisingly good, and it is absolutely agreed that it is enormously improved on 'The Gentlemen of Titipu' (then again almost anything is better than that).It's not completely ideal. At just over fifty minutes, it does feel too short and sometimes a bit jumpy as a result of being heavily cut. Meaning that some of the storytelling is flimsier, the characters not as rich and that we lose a lot of Sullivan's music. The animation quality is mixed, though mostly quite good for the time. The colours are lovely (though with the odd flat one) and the backgrounds stylised but meticulous and sometimes magical in detail, but some of the drawing for the characters veer on the rough and scrappy side. The ghosts scene comes off best.On the other hand, it is wonderful musically and played and performed with a lot of liveliness and nuance, as well as alertly and sympathetically conducted. Hearing voices experienced, actually specialised, in G&S was of great interest value on paper and comes over marvellously here and one really couldn't have it any other way. John Reed and Donald Adams stand out.Gilbert's writing is still funny, like with Sullivan's music one wishes that there was more. The story is told with a lot of energy and charm, with a little silliness but never going overboard while not taking things too seriously, but still treating everything with intelligence and respect. The characters while more interesting in the operetta itself, are still fun.In conclusion, surprisingly good. Not completely ideal but for an animated adaptation of G&S when shortened and abridged this is the best you'll get most likely. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Like I said, I am a fan of Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado. So, I came across this animated adaption to another of Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas, Ruddigore. Was it worth a try? Let's have a look.The first positive thing I would like to say is that this cartoon has decent animation. I mean, it's not Toy Story, but what the heck? It's pretty good animation done by Halas and Batchelor at the time. The second positive thing is that this movie has the Doyle-Carte Company as the voices of all the characters in the cartoon. Not to mention that it has songs that are true too the operetta. The only downside is that this cartoon is kinda short, as some of the songs from the operetta were cut from the cartoon.Aside from the fact that it's only 50 minutes long, I think that this is worth a try and it's a much better animated adaption than the Gentlemen of Titipu.

I saw this on the television....the animation as has already been commented on is adequate, certainly up to contemporary Halas & Batchelor standards (as per "Foo Foo & Go Go") The voice cast are from the D'Oyly Carte Opera company at the time and I suspect that the voice track may have been edited from the then current LP version of Ruddigore. I would recommend this certainly against the Brent Walker sponsored version of the 1980's which does not take itself as seriously as the plot (a parody of Victorian melodrama) needs to be in order to work. Ruddigore itself has a somewhat chequered history since it fared ill on the work's original presentation, being unfavourably compared to "The Mikado" which preceded it at the Savoy Theatre. It was tinkered with during the original run, and then further mutilated in 1920 when some numbers were cut which also necessitated the provision of a new overture. It has recently been given in a version close to the original however the version that the animation uses is of course the 1920 revision.