- Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done
-
Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done Directed by Bill Melendez Written by Robin Miller (story)
Leo Rost (story)
Gene Thompson (additional material)
Victor Spinetti (additional material)Starring Victor Spinetti Music by Arthur Sullivan Editing by Roger Donley
Steven Cuitlahuac Melendez
Babette MonteilStudio Bill Melendez Productions Release date(s) July 1976 (USA) Running time 81 min. Country 
UKLanguage English Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done is a 1975 British animated film musical, based on the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan.[1]
The comically convoluted plot is a pastiche of many in the Gilbert and Sullivan canon, particularly Trial by Jury, The Sorcerer, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, Patience, Iolanthe and The Mikado, in which the principal character, Able Seaman Dick Deadeye, is sent by Queen Victoria on a quest to recover the "Ultimate Secret" from the Sorcerer, who has stolen it. The music is borrowed from many Savoy operas, with the orchestrations being updated in a contemporary (for 1975) popular style.
Animation was by Bill Melendez, who produced the Charlie Brown television cartoon, based on character drawings by veteran cartoonist Ronald Searle. The film's release was accompanied by the original release of a deluxe-jacketed LP soundtrack recording and a colorful storybook by Jeremy Hornsby, with colourful Searle-inspired art.[1]
Contents
Voice cast
The following is the voice cast of the film, together with role played, and opera in which the role appears:
- Victor Spinetti – Dick Deadeye (H.M.S. Pinafore)
- Peter Reeves – Sorcerer / Captain of the Pinafore (The Sorcerer / Pinafore)
- George A. Cooper – The Pirate King (The Pirates of Penzance)
- Miriam Karlin – Little Buttercup / Utopian Maiden (Pinafore / Utopia, Limited)
- John Newton – Nanki Poo (The Mikado)
- Linda Lewis – Yum-Yum (Mikado)
- Julia McKenzie – Rose Maybud (Ruddigore)
- Francis Ghent – Monarch of The Sea / Major General (Pinafore / Pirates)
- Barry Cryer – Judge (Trial by Jury)
- Beth Porter – Yum-Yum (Mikado)
- Long John Baldry – Monarch of The Sea / Major General (singing voice)
- Liza Strike – Rose Maybud (singing voice)
- Ian Samwell – The Pirate King / The Prisoner (singing voice)
- Casey Kelly – Nanki Poo (singing voice)
Critical reception
The film was a box office failure.[2] It was intended to appeal both to children and to Gilbert and Sullivan fans, but due to the complex and risque plot, and the updating of much-loved songs to a modern style, it failed to appeal to either audience.
References
- ^ a b Smith, Winfield. "Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done", review in Issue 30 (May 1991), Precious Nonsense, The Midwestern Gilbert & Sullivan Society
- ^ Shepherd, Marc. "Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done (1975)" at The Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, accessed 9 February 2011
External links
Categories:- English-language films
- British animated films
- Works inspired by Gilbert and Sullivan
- Films directed by Bill Melendez
- 1976 films
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
