MOVIE REVIEWS : ‘YOGI BEAR’ RETURNS; STILL SMALL FRY FARE

Over the last two decades, limited animation has grown more limited and less animated, as “Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear!” (in reissue, citywide) demonstrates.

When the film was released in 1964, it seemed stiff and frozen to audiences accustomed to the fully animated cartoons of Disney, Warner Bros. and MGM. Today, after 20 years of increasingly static films featuring the Care Bears, the Littles, He-Man, etc., “Yogi” looks positively lavish.

Many of the animators who drew this film were veterans of the great Hollywood studios: They understood how poses and gestures can be substituted for elaborate motions, and created movements that are minimal, but effective. This deft use of limited animation and the clean, simple character designs give “Yogi” a strong visual appeal. If the story had the verve of the graphics--or the short cartoons from the character’s popular TV show (1961-63)--”Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear!” would be a delight, instead of the rather sodden entertainment it unfortunately is.

“Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear!” was the first feature-length cartoon from the Hanna-Barbera Studio, and much of the film seems tentative and uncertain. The story is fragmented, the pacing slow and stolid. The faltering progress of the plot is impeded by a series of unnecessary and forgettable songs. A fantasy sequence about Venice, set to a tune performed by James Darren (!), brings a long chase scene to a grinding halt, destroying what little momentum the sequence has managed to generate.

The bright colors and straightforward graphics of “Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear!” may appeal to small children, but older ones, raised on more tightly structured, faster-paced contemporary entertainment, will quickly grow impatient with it.