Rankin Bass' Around the World In 80 Days

Let’s get packing for another tale from Jules Verne with Around the World in 80 Days.

Phileas Fogg made a deal with the Reform Club to travel around the world in 80 Days. He and his partner, Patu will travel through-out Europe, Asia, and US to return to England in 80 Days. Our heroes get chased by Detective Thicks to arrest him for “stealing” Twenty Thousand Pounds. Along the travel, they meet a monkey, an elephant, an Indian princess named Aouda, and other obstacles.

Phileas is a great. He’s always prepared on every part of the journey, even at a few hiccups here and there. If he was too perfect, then he would found every way to travel quicker than 75 Days with plenty of deux ex machina. Someone else such as Santa Claus or XJ9 would travel around the world in 80 minutes. I was almost disappointed that they didn’t go to every place in 80 Days, but only the places that have a means of transportation to get there as possible. That’s pretty much the charm of Jules Verne’s story is the different ways to have an adventure. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is the adventure to the sea, Journey To the Center of the Earth is an excavation, From Earth to the Moon is to space exploration, so this makes Around the World in 80 Days is a global adventure. Though they’re more groundbreaking in live-action than animation in life, unless they made a groundbreaking animated film to adapt Jules Verne least popular story.  

The villain, Detective Thicks is of course forgetfully generic. He’s just a conflict to what could have been a too perfect kind of adventure. If he wasn’t in it, the story would be too perfect that it’s boring. If he’s in it, he may drag unless he’s different than what we got.

Would this animated version get me hooked for the original live action version? It’s most likely no. I was partly introduce to the name with Simpsons, while story was introduce to me in either an episode of Pinky and the Brain, and Tweety’s High Flying Adventure. On a side note, “High Flying Adventure” should be a dead term we need to stop using. However, if you want a funny version of the story, go to The Great Race with the funny villain, Professor Fate, played by Jack Lemon.

It’s an OK version of the story of Around the World in 80 Days. Sorry if many of them would only get an OK review, but it’s what the Festival of Family Classics is all they offer so far. It’s not like they would adapt a terrible story or go lazy with character designs. Ha ha, ha!

*the design of Phileas appeared sliding next to Dr. Staywell (Johnny Appleseed) and Professor Hinkle (Frosty the Snowman).*

Exact character design to be lazy is worst!  

Now let’s travel our next film to review to see some Puss in Boots….wait, we’re in October? Crap, I got bored and depressed in a town and business of nothing! OK, we’ll return to our regularly schedule to review the HALLOWEEN TRILOGY!!! Stay afloat to a party, A MAD MONSTER PARTY?!