Let's Watch This: An Episode of "Snorks"

Ah, Hanna-Barbera. You've given us some great shows and characters. But if you did have one problem, it's that you kept recycling ideas for shows and characters. For example, Breezly Bruin and Sneezly the Seal likely would've been more popular characters had it not been for the fact that they were blatant knockoffs of Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo. You managed to make a show that stood on its on despite being a blatant attempt to cash in on the success of The Flintstones with The Jetsons, but lightning didn't strike twice when you tried it a third time with The Roman Holidays (we'll be looking at that show another time). And who could forget the multiple Scooby-Doo clones you created?

Another case of Hanna-Barbera recycling ideas was when they saw how much of a success The Smurfs was. For those unaware, The Smurfs was originally based on a series of comics by Peyo. So when they did an adaptation of those comics, and it was a huge hit, they decided to do another adaptation of a comic series about tiny made-up creatures. Hence, Snorks!

Well, okay, there's more to the show's creation than that. Cartoonist Freddy Monnickendam managed to acquire the rights to the characters after they were created by a Mr. Nic Broca because HE - not William Hanna and Joseph Barbera - wanted to recapture the success of The Smurfs. Both he and Nic Broca started a partnership with Hanna-Barbera to adapt the Snorks comics into animation.

So, DID Snorks manage to become the next Smurfs? That would be a no. Oh, the show WAS successful, it just wasn't as big a hit as The Smurfs. Maybe the fact that it's a blatant Smurfs cash-grab is the reason why. Then again, Frozen was a blatant Tangled cash-grab and that became the highest-grossing animated film of all time, so I could be wrong.

But is it really being fair to brush off Snorks as nothing more than a lame knockoff of The Smurfs? I mean, they're not EXACTLY like the Smurfs... they live underwater, the Smurf's didn't do that. They come in a variety of colors, not just blue. They don't use "Smurf" in place of various different words - they use "Snork" instead. That's TOTALLY different!

Also, the Smurfs have noses and ears. The Snorks don't.

Okay, sarcasm aside, what's the premise of Snorks? Well, the Snorks all live in an undersea community called Snorkland. They're called "Snorks" because they have snorkels on their heads, use clams as currency, and are forbidden to leave Snorkland because those in power fear humans and don't want them to find out that Snorks exist. Probably because, knowing humans, if they found out Snorks existed then they'd likely either wind up as a popular kids' pet or as an appetizer in seafood restaurants. Snork cocktail, anyone?

The show premiered in September 1984 and received four seasons, all of which have since been released on DVD. I remember watching Snorks back when it aired on Boomerang, which is the way that I was introduced to most but not all of Hanna-Barbera's pre-Cartoon Network shows. I think even back then I picked up on the similarities to The Smurfs, but that didn't stop me from watching it. Does the show hold up? That's what we're going to find out today.

This is one of those "two segments per episode" shows. We'll be watching the seventeenth episode of the second season, which consists of "Allstar's Freshwater Adventure" and "Dr. Strangesnork". My apologies in advance for the lousy quality of the screencaps, this is the only version of the episode I could find online.

"Allstar's Freshwater Adventure" begins with three of our main characters grabbing a bite at the local drive-thru restaurant, Snork-in-the-Box. First we have Allstar Seaworthy (voiced by Michael Bell), the leader of the main cast and an athletic, smart, brave fellow. Then there's Casey Kelp (B.J. Ward), who I'm guessing is Allstar's love interest as is usually the case with prominent female characters in cartoons. And with them is Allstar's pet octopus, Occy (Frank Welker).

It's actually kind of amusing that the show has the characters eating fast food. Clearly, this was before Super-Snork Me came out, exposing Snork-in-the-Box's eeeeeeeeeevil habit of selling food that's incredibly unhealthy and shouldn't be eaten for six square meals a day for seven weeks straight or whatever the plot of that movie was, resulting in the Snorks demanding that their kids' "Snorky Meals" come with apple slices and bottles of milk instead of fries and milkshakes and putting beloved characters like Ronald McSnorkald out of a job.

Snork-in-the-Box serves "quarter-FLOUNDERS" as opposed to quarter-pounders. I'm guessing
there are a lot of underwater-themed puns in this show.

While they're munching on their oh-so-fattening food, it starts to get windy, which according to Allstar is the result of "Hailey's Current" making it's seventy-five year appearance. Casey heads off to help her aunt with some show she's putting on, and the current dumps some trash on top of Allstar's head. Oh, look, a gag about water pollution. I thought pushing environmentalism in cartoons didn't start until the 1990s.

With the trash comes a strange-looking Snork that has TWO snorkels instead of one - and a nose.

So, if this Snork has more than one snorkel, plus a nose, does that make him a higher-evolved Snork?

The two-snorkeled Snork introduces himself as Lucky, and Allstar offers to take him on a tour of Snorkland. Lucky talks about how in his home turf, the River-World, trash is always falling on top of them. But suddenly, Lucky starts to have difficulty breathing! Allstar and Occy take him to Allstar's Uncle Galeo (Clive Revill), your typical goofy cartoon scientist with bushy white hair and a mustache.

And only one eyebrow, apparently.

Uncle Galeo saves Lucky and explains that he comes from a world where the "aquasphere" has no salt. "This is a temporary solution, Allstar. Your new friend will have to return to his world very soon," he says. In about two hours, the "half-wave" that brought Lucky there will close, and if he doesn't hitch a ride on it he'll be stranded in Snorkland for seventy-five years.

They manage to catch back up with "Hailey's Current", but the freshwater that Uncle Galeo gave Lucky starts to wear off, and he becomes too weak to swim inside. Now it's up to Allstar to carry him into the current, only to get sucked in himself. Uh-oh...

The current spits them out in Lucky's home turf of the River World, where human stuff keeps falling in. I gotta admit, this is a much more subtle way of talking about how bad pollution is than, say, Animals United's having a lion and a meerkat sic clothes-eating bugs on people at a luxury resort...

Upon seeing a Snork with a nose, Allstar starts to question how he's able to smell things without one.

Lucky takes Allstar back to his house, and Allstar comes up with an idea to stop the amount of sludge that keeps falling in. They build giant "snorkfilters" (these things that they use to keep from breathing in the sludge) to trap the sludge, then they construct a makeshift catapult to fling the trash out of the water and back to the surface. But by the time they're done, the two hours that "Hailey's Current" is around for are almost up. Fortunately, Lucky and the other residents of the River World manage to get him into the current in time. Allstar makes it home, and the residents of the River World continue pelting garbage at fishermen. The end.

Now, on to "Dr. Strangesnork". I'm amused by the fact that they named an episode of a kids' show after a black comedy film.

Our little group of designated main character Snorks are arriving at a science show. In addition to Allstar and Casey, we also have Tooter Shelby (Frank Welker); a green-skinned Snork who speaks in sound effects, Dimmy Finster (Brian Cummings); an orange-skinned Snork with aspirations of being a comedian, and Daffney Gillfin (Nancy Cartwright); whose shtick according to Wikipedia is that she's obsessed with her looks. Hosting the science show is Uncle Galeo, who has invented a shrinking machine that he calls a "Miniatureizer".

Looks like he found that other eyebrow in-between episodes.

Yes, apparently the Snorks have developed the technology to shrink things long before us humans have. Clearly they are a much more advanced species than us, even if they don't have ears.

But then this shady-looking fella sneaks into the room...

Remember, people in trenchcoats and fedoras are never to be trusted. In cartoons, anyway...

And, after introducing himself to the audience as Dr. Strangesnork - though I'm guessing we all could've guessed that for ourselves - he swipes the Miniatureizer! Allstar and Occy take off in hot pursuit after him, but he manages to make it back to the safety of his mysterious laboratory.

Quick question, if you're going to have an evil lair, shouldn't it be designed to look like a place that no one would ever suspect as being an evil lair? If you plot your evil schemes in a place like this, you're just ASKING for the neighbors to get suspicious, look into what you're doing, and have you sent to the local mental asylum.

And there's lightning underwater now, apparently.

After Allstar and Occy are sucked inside Dr. Strangesnork's evil lair, he gives them - and us - some exposition. He's Uncle Galeo's brother, technically making him Allstar's uncle too, but apparently Uncle Galeo never thought to mention him around Allstar.

Why do so many cartoon villains have hair that's both black AND white at the same time?

Dr. Strangesnork stole the Miniatureizer so that he could use it to take over all of Snorkland. I expected him to use it to shrink all of Snorkland and its residents, but apparently he thought that was too cliched. So instead, he uses it to shrink down a camera-like device he calls his "Mind-Swapper". He plots to swap minds with Snorkland's governor. Then all the other Snorks will think that HE'S the governor and he can take over!

But first, he has to test his Mind-Swapper, and guess who he decides to test in on? If you guessed "Allstar and Occy", you're right. You don't win anything, but you have the satisfaction of being right.

I don't recall Occy being taller than Allstar a few minutes ago...

So now Occy is in Allstar's body and Allstar is in Occy's. Occy-Allstar swims off to warn the governor, Dr. Strangesnork leaves so he can become governor, and Allstar-Occy chases after the mad doctor's literal catfish, Finneas.

There's just one problem... see, usually in cartoons, when two characters swap bodies, they retain their actual voices. This is usually done so the audience will remember who's in whose body. But in THIS show, it's a bit more inconsistent. Initially, Occy-Allstar speaks with Allstar's voice, and Allstar-Occy communicates in Occy's barking and yelping. But when Occy-Allstar tries to warn the governor, all the governor hears is Occy's barking and yelping. Huh?

I mean, I know the whole "other Snorks can't understand Occy-Allstar" thing is so we can have
some WHACKY SHENANIGANS, but it's still a headscratcher...

Speaking of inconsistencies, how come some Snorks have full heads of hair, some Snorks just have SOME hair, and some Snorks have no hair at all? Is Snork Pattern Baldness a problem for these creatures?

Anyhow, Allstar-Occy catches up with Dimmy, Tooter, and Daffney, while Occy-Allstar catches up with Casey and drags her back to Dr. Strangesnork's lab... where Dr. Strangelove promptly traps them in cages.

Look at Casey. She just has pigtails sticking out of her head. No other hair whatsoever.

Fortunately, when Uncle Galeo sees Allstar-Occy, he immediately deduces what's going on - his brother, Dr. Strangesnork, put Occy's mind in Allstar's body! They all follow Finneas to Dr. Strangesnork's evil lair and free Occy-Allstar and Casey, who fills them in as to where Dr. Strangesnork is.

Before Dr. Strangesnork can swap minds with the governor, Uncle Galeo swips the Mind-Swapper, puts Occy and Allstar back in their rightful bodies, and explains to the governor that Dr. Strangesnork was plotting to swap minds with him and take over Snorkland. The governor dubs Allstar a hero... even though it was technically Uncle Galeo who saved the day.

"I'm a hero! Even though I really didn't accomplish anything aside from swim around in the body
of my pet octopus..."

Meanwhile, Dr. Strangesnork has escaped back to his evil lair, which as it turns out is on the back of a giant sea turtle, allowing him to get away without leaving the comfort of his home. And that's how it ends. With the bad guy getting away scott-free. Uh, okay...

What's the Verdict?

Despite being a blatant Smurfs cash-grab, I think Snorks stands pretty well on its own. It has a likeable, colorful cast of characters and a lot of talented voice actors lending their voices to 'em, and the things they do with the underwater world the Snorks inhabit gives me SpongeBob SquarePants vibes. As a big fan of SpongeBob, I don't consider that a bad thing at all. I'm kind of surprised nobody's attempted to revisit the Snorks. You'd think that with the success of the Smurfs movies, somebody would've greenlit a Snorks film or two as a way of cashing-in.

Then again, considering how bad the live action Smurfs movies are, maybe it's for the best that we never got a Snorks movie.