'A Leap in the Deep' is perhaps most notable for seeing Crazylegs Crane in his fifth and penultimate Tijuana Toads cartoon. While not minding him to begin with, he began to grate too early and most of his appearances in the series saw him not being used or written well. Didn't care for any of his six collaborations with El Toro and Pancho, the best being his first cartoon with them (and the series' first cartoon) 'Go for Croak' for having the best gag in the entire series.
He is not used well here and 'A Leap in the Deep' is one of his weakest collaborations with El Toro and Pancho. With the formula now having worn thin and after being tolerable for a couple of cartoons El Toro and Pancho are now here back to being hard to take. As a cartoon, 'A Leap in the Deep' is very lacklustre. Like all the cartoons in the series it has its moments but all the usual flaws are here and the worst aspects are very poorly done indeed.
Sometimes the good things are started off well, usually for the cartoons that are watchable and mixed feelings territory. But as there is not much at all to recommend 'A Leap in the Deep', with the cons outweighing the pros, the bad things are going to be started especially considering that they do stand out badly. Like most Tijuana Toads cartoons, the gags are far too few and are literally retreads of gags that have already been done a lot in previous cartoons elsewhere and much better. You know there is something wrong when the most memorable the humour gets is the very repetitive fish chasing the toads action, which had already been reused more than once in previous cartoons (with different characters of course) with no real variation. The story is very thin and predictable from not being an original scenario and from feeling like seeing the same El Toro and Pancho versus Crazylegs Crane cartoon a fifth time. The only difference being the setting.
El Toro and Pancho's actions are very little different to their behaviour in previous cartoons, it is mostly not funny and is too cruel in for example the "could be seen from miles away" ending. Crazylegs had potential initially but he was already starting to grate (like the toads his behaviour is very reminiscent of how it was in his previous appearances with them), and it was not much better in his Blue Racer appearances and in his own series. The fish was little more than a pointless one joke character. The voice acting is both overdone and stereotyped, El Toro and Pancho's accents sound more like Brooklyn than Spanish. Larry D Mann voices Crazylegs as too much of an oaf, which didn't fit his more slightly more crafty behaviour here. The dialogue is also still stilted and the animation is too sparse and flat apart from the colour of the water.
Having said all of that, there are moments. There is an exception regarding the characters and that is the toad, easily one of the series' best supporting characters and a unique one. The laconic drawl gangster impression is old territory, but it fitted the macho character design perfectly and the character is the only one to have a compelling personality that never bores or annoys. Shame he isn't in it enough.
Moreover 'A Leap in the Deep' also to me started off quite well, with some great verbal wordplay between the toads. Which is why it is sad that it went downhill when the rest of the tension-free conflict came in. The music as always is on point, very characterful and it has a uplifting light heart.
Overall, rather mediocre again. 4/10.
He is not used well here and 'A Leap in the Deep' is one of his weakest collaborations with El Toro and Pancho. With the formula now having worn thin and after being tolerable for a couple of cartoons El Toro and Pancho are now here back to being hard to take. As a cartoon, 'A Leap in the Deep' is very lacklustre. Like all the cartoons in the series it has its moments but all the usual flaws are here and the worst aspects are very poorly done indeed.
Sometimes the good things are started off well, usually for the cartoons that are watchable and mixed feelings territory. But as there is not much at all to recommend 'A Leap in the Deep', with the cons outweighing the pros, the bad things are going to be started especially considering that they do stand out badly. Like most Tijuana Toads cartoons, the gags are far too few and are literally retreads of gags that have already been done a lot in previous cartoons elsewhere and much better. You know there is something wrong when the most memorable the humour gets is the very repetitive fish chasing the toads action, which had already been reused more than once in previous cartoons (with different characters of course) with no real variation. The story is very thin and predictable from not being an original scenario and from feeling like seeing the same El Toro and Pancho versus Crazylegs Crane cartoon a fifth time. The only difference being the setting.
El Toro and Pancho's actions are very little different to their behaviour in previous cartoons, it is mostly not funny and is too cruel in for example the "could be seen from miles away" ending. Crazylegs had potential initially but he was already starting to grate (like the toads his behaviour is very reminiscent of how it was in his previous appearances with them), and it was not much better in his Blue Racer appearances and in his own series. The fish was little more than a pointless one joke character. The voice acting is both overdone and stereotyped, El Toro and Pancho's accents sound more like Brooklyn than Spanish. Larry D Mann voices Crazylegs as too much of an oaf, which didn't fit his more slightly more crafty behaviour here. The dialogue is also still stilted and the animation is too sparse and flat apart from the colour of the water.
Having said all of that, there are moments. There is an exception regarding the characters and that is the toad, easily one of the series' best supporting characters and a unique one. The laconic drawl gangster impression is old territory, but it fitted the macho character design perfectly and the character is the only one to have a compelling personality that never bores or annoys. Shame he isn't in it enough.
Moreover 'A Leap in the Deep' also to me started off quite well, with some great verbal wordplay between the toads. Which is why it is sad that it went downhill when the rest of the tension-free conflict came in. The music as always is on point, very characterful and it has a uplifting light heart.
Overall, rather mediocre again. 4/10.
