Dogtanian - The Complete First Series [DVD]

 

 

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Wow- this was my must have purchase as as a child I was dogtanion fanatic. It even got to the point my Mum would lie to me and tell me it wasn't on. Dogtanion is an 80's cartoon classic and every child should get the opportunity to experience it. It is a superb cartoon with lovable characters and a gripping plot and what makes it even better it doesn't have to have any special effects or zany frightful characters to make it amazing.
Buy it today and bring back all those fantastic nostalgic memories from what in my opinion was and still is the best children's cartoon of all time!

This is a true quality children cartoon,
complete for a very low price.
Join the three musketeers in this astonishing tale that will move you, excite you,
and even make you laugh.

At least buy it for your kids.
They will love it, and have Dogtanian and his friends as their heroes for months to come.
The alternative is Digimon and Pokemon, so you really don't have a choice now do you.

I loved this cartoon as a young kid (I'm 26 now). Instead of writing a review in the usual format I'd rather write a list of reasons why I loved it then and love it equally now:

* It's always great fun and the episodes are consistently good.

* The presence of story. It's all very corny but entertaining: a boy (or puppy, to be exact) with exceptional fencing talents from the rural backwaters of France decides he wants to be a royal musketeer (or, as they are called in the show, a muskehound). He waves a tearfelt farewell to his parents, journeys forth to Paris on a wonkey donkey to seek his fortune, makes friends with the Kings Guard, meets the king, makes enemies of dastardly evil villains, meets and falls in love with a cute pretty-in-pink maid-in-waiting girl, is forced to bomb about all over the place rescuing her when she can't keep away from kidnappers, discovers that his nose often gets suggestively bigger and redder when he talks to attractive girls, swashbuckles, meets more bad guys, ends up in a jungle at some point, swashbuckles some more. As you do.

* It has two great central messages: the first being that friendship and loyalty are important. The second, girls can't leave the house without being kidnapped so either keep them indoors or risk losing them forever.

* The look of it. The colours are far more subtle than the cartoons that have followed since, being fairly realistic in tone and never garish. Pokemon this is not.

* The carefully handpainted backgrounds. Old Paris, the rural countryside, palaces, all lovely.

* It's very engaging, especially as far as the characters are concerned. You care what happens to them. The good guys are warm, friendly, and loveable without being saccharine, but also courageous and resolute without the show-offiness of many cartoon heroes. The bad guys are classic cartoon fare and very memorable, being either total buffoons or moustache-twisting Machiavellian schemers. As they always were in real life, of course. No evil cackling though or exaggerated Skeletor types. The main villain always seems paced, quiet, intellectual. You can see him calculating. He has his henchmen of course, all of them, "Idiots!".

* The minute-long opening (and song) that introduces it. A lot of cartoons don't have that these days, they tend now to make them short, possibly so as not to lose their audience. I used to love the opening song to this show and remember it off by heart two decades later! "One for all and all for one, Muskehounds are always ready...".

* Dogtanian's oversized bright red hat. I always wanted one! I even drew Dogtanian wearing it for an art class in first school.

* It can be funny to watch as an adult, especially as one of the musketeer characters (despite being a wannabe lothario) is decidedly camp.

* It's fairly innocent so anyone who is very cautious about what their children view shouldn't be offended by anything in it. Obviously the musketeers are hardened fighters who like nothing better than to have skirmishes, punch-ups and to brandish their swords (often all at once) but there is no blood shown and the fighting is too cartoonish to fuss about. Admittedly the characters are sometimes seen with a well-earned mug of ale in hand, often during the day too, but that's authentic seeing as they are 17th century characters and French to boot! This aspect isn't a big deal as they are never seen to drink excessively. Genuine drunks are portrayed as clumsy idiots.

I realise I am writing this as an adult, but I could still happily pass half an hour of a weekend watching this and would gladly show it to kids who were curious. Highly recommended for children aged 3-33 (I think when I hit my mid-thirties I may have to consider quitting my nostalgia for cartoons... maybe).

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5.0 out of 5 stars A muske-buy!
I bought this for my 5 year old's birthday. Apart from wanting (but not allowed) to watch the whole boxed set in one sitting, he loved it. Read more

Published 3 months ago by HowzThat

4.0 out of 5 stars Legit
Loved this when I was a kid, and enjoyed re-watching it recently. Some of the dialogue is just brain-dead exposition - too much of the dialogue is exposition, to be honest - and I... Read more

Published 4 months ago by 6e10forever

4.0 out of 5 stars It's still got it
Bought in the hope my 7, 5 & 2 yr old would watch together & it's worked. The dialogue is a lot more clumsy than I remembered, I assume they mush have tried to fit the words to... Read more

Published 4 months ago by NJR

2.0 out of 5 stars Oh no!
I watched this as a child, and I have fond memories.

When the title screen started I was almost bouncing along with the familiar theme tune - This was going to be a... Read more

Published 10 months ago by Mo8ius

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent!
Every bit as good as I remebered it from my childhood, and my 6 and 8 year olds enjoyed it every bit as much as I did. We have just ordered the second series. Read more

Published 13 months ago by Gabrielle

5.0 out of 5 stars Nostalgia and entertainment for the next generation
Bought this for my 6 year old son to watch and have to admit I enjoyed watching an episode or two with him. Good clean fun and an entertaining story. Can't fault this at all.

Published 17 months ago by Growling Cam

5.0 out of 5 stars Blast from the past, Phillips Schofield's broom cupboard.
this was a cartoon i watch after coming home from school. loved it and still do it happens. but when my kids arrived there going to know all about what i used to watch too.

Published on 8 Feb 2010 by Y. Chan

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!
I saw "Dogtanian" for the first time in 2009 - and I loved it! Based on "The Three Musketeers", this cartoon is delicious. Read more

Published on 12 Dec 2009 by Gisele

5.0 out of 5 stars one for all...
Yes, its the first season. It's good. It's what you remember it to be. Now try and get that pesky theme tune out of your head.

Published on 17 Nov 2009 by Mrs. N. Y. Papoushado

5.0 out of 5 stars one for all and all for one
I hadn't seen this series since i was about seven years old but for some reason it had always stuck in my head as being a very serious cartoon, and very detailed. Read more

Published on 10 Sep 2009 by J. Winn

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