The creators of classic cartoons such as "The Flintstones","Scooby Doo","The Jetsons","Yogi Bear","Huckle Berry Hound","Wacky Races" and many more decided to make a ride based on their works and to promote "The Jetsons Movie" that was coming out. So is this a good simulation ride with the fun and joy of those classic cartoons or is this a clever money maker? On WITH THE REVIEW...
THE PRE-SHOW
As guests walk into the Pre-show, there are three projector screens. On two of the screens you'll see Yogi Bear and Boo Boo but the main focus goes to the middle screen. It starts out with William Hanna and Joseph Barbera teaching the audience about animation. They're first demonstration is hand drawing and his drawing of Elroy Jetson comes to life. Than they demonstrate computer animation by drawing Dastardly and Muttley's spaceship. However, Dastardly and Muttley were somehow in the recently drawn spaceship and kidnaps Elroy as revenge for Hanna and Barbera not having a movie planed for them.
I have to say I really like the educational values from two of the best animators of all time and seeing the villains appear from computer technology, I can't help but feel that there's a meaning to computer animation. With that said, there are a few problems I have with the pre-show. I like that Elroy was drawn to life by animation but I feel like I've seen that cliche done dozens of times before. It's done well here, so I can't really complain. You also have the plot hole of how Dastardly and Muttley appeared; and when the computer screen is about to blow, you see terrible acting from Hanna and Barbera. Still it is a good set up and can be inspiring to young kids who love to draw. By the way in case if you're wondering why I'm not talking about Yogi Bear and Boo Boo in the pre-show, its because I couldn't find any footage of them.
THE RIDE
Yogi Bear and Boo Boo takes the audience to save Elroy. The audience sits in a rocket being piloted by Yogi and Boo Boo and the chase is on. As they travel to the world of Hanna-Barbera they encounter many obstacles from Dastardly and Muttley and pass by many of the many classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters.
With the exception of a few other classic Hanna-Barbera characters missing, all the best ones are there "The Flintstones","Scooby Doo" and "The Jetsons", however, half of the characters from those shows aren't shown on the ride. In the Bedrock Universe we see Fred Flintstone and his pal Barney a lot, however, we only get a second of screen time for Fred and Barney's family. Still there are tons of laughs and thrills in this segment especially when we crash into Fred and Barney. The audience also hits Fred as he's about to slides on the dinosaur in the opening of the show and when we get a close up on his face it kind of looks like his close up on the Hanna-Barbera characters logo.
In the "Scooby Doo" universe we chase the villains in a scary looking Haunted Castle. The only characters we see is Scooby and Shaggy, why not include the rest of the gang? As disappointed as I am I still found myself laughing my butt off. Whenever I see Scooby and Shaggy on screen I just keep laughing because they spend most of the time running away from you; getting hit; and scaring themselves. I'm also pleased that they at least showed the classic "Mystery Machine".
Our last universe is "Orbit City" home of the "Jetsons". This is where things get thrilling because not only are we trying to save Elroy but so are his family, MINUS Judy and Astro. Oh come on, why is this ride letting so many characters out?! I mean sure you can't include every cartoon character that Hanna-Barbera made but at least show all of the main characters in each Universe. It would be like as if "The Simpsons Ride" just showed Bart trying to get away from Sideshow Bob and leaving out his whole family. In case, if you're wondering if we ever see Yogi Bear, we don't see him until the very end (Boo Boo doesn't appear).
Remember earlier when I said that there might be a meaning for why the villains show in computer animation, that's all let down the drain because all the scenery is all computer animated. I'm not against computer animation but I feel like it's being over used like CGI. I mean it can be good many times, but I feel like it's getting to the point where animators don't want to draw anymore and as a result becomes unimpressive and seems like a lazy way to animate. At least they kept the characters looking 2-D than 3-D otherwise I would never have felt like I was in "The Funtastic World Of Hanna-Barbera". At least it doesn't look like "The Simpsons Ride"!
I enjoyed this ride as a kid but looking at it now I understand why I wasn't crazy about it as a kid. Even though the ride did have it's thrills while also being fun for kids, it's very forgettable. Most of the main stars of the universes we go too are completely erased and the animation can be good from time to time but most of it (Especially the designs) feels like I'm looking at a 90s computer game. I'm actually glad they got rid of this ride because if I was going to go back to Universal and see the ride still being there, I'd just pass it and go on a simulation ride that's actually good. Still I'll give the ride credit for trying to bring back these classic cartoon characters and also for being the first CGI ride which I'm sure was impressive at the time.
RATING 2/5
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