TheLittleSongbird
Not as good as the previous Little Audrey cartoons, and the weakest of her cartoons up to this point, but still a long way from bad. 'Hold the Lion Please' (not to be confused with the Bugs Bunny cartoon, which couldn't be more different) very cute and well made but also a little bland.The story is very slight, even for a Little Audrey cartoon, and also pretty simplistic and predictable, with a friendship sort of story that was a familiar theme in cartoons before and still is and not much new was done with this friendship theme.Little Audrey's cartoons also tend to work better with dream sequences forming the basis of the stories, when there is a message of some kind or when more slapstick oriented, which give way to more visual imagination and humour. It's the general lack of those in 'Hold the Lion Please' that makes it a little on the bland side. Some may object to the character of Petunia the maid, not me as there are far more blatant and worse stereotypes around but she is a little annoying here.However, the animation is rich and colourful, with very meticulous and beautifully drawn backgrounds and well-rendered character designs that don't look too stiff. Winston Sharples provides yet another outstanding music score, even in mediocre or worse cartoons Sharples' music was never among the flaws (if anything always one of the strengths or the best asset).Also love the lusciousness of the orchestration here and how characterful and whimsical the music was without going overboard in either, even better was how well it fitted in the cartoon and how it merged with the action. The main song is very infectious too.On top of that, 'Hold the Lion' does have a few entertaining moments, such as the scene with the seals, the consequences of the lion's roar and the reactions to the Lion that are reminiscent of back when the reactions to Casper the Friendly Ghost were inventive and funny. The cartoon predominantly centres around Little Audrey (an adorable and endearing character that falls on the right side of sweet) and the Lion, and it is a very charming friendship helped by great chemistry between the two.Despite being slight and predictable, one doesn't feel too nauseous thankfully as the sugary sweet levels are not sent sky high through the roof. The voice acting is good.In conclusion, cute but a little bland as well. 7/10 Bethany Cox
