As of now 'Big Beef at the O. K. Corral' is the highest rated Hoot Kloot cartoon. Personally do not agree with this at all. This is being said with a heavy heart as there are a fair few decent and more cartoons in the Hoot Kloot series, a series of cartoons that started off reasonably well but became more tired at the halfway point. Making it a worthwhile middling series that is neither among DePatie-Freleng Enterprises' best or worst theatrical series.
To me, 'Big Beef at the O. K. Corral' is to me one of the weakest cartoons actually in the Hoot Kloot series, same with the other two Bob Balsar-directed cartoons with them looking and feeling particularly rushed and tired of the second half of the Hoot Kloot series (and overall). That is not being said with malice, just to be reiterated. 'Big Beef at the O. K. Corral' has its moments but it is an okay at best, fairly mediocre and at worst pretty lame effort for the series.
'Big Beef at the O. K. Corral' has good things. Did like some of the vibrant colours and the abstract but not simplistic backgrounds. The music has a lot of character and rousing energy that has an authentic Western vibe.
Regardless of the material, Bob Holt's voice acting was never a problem for me in any of the cartoons of the series and it is no exception here. Hoot Kloot and Fester are still great characters.
Significantly less so Billy the Kidder. It is hard to not expect a lot from a character parodying one of the most fascinating outlaws, but Billy the Kidder is neither remotely amusing or menacing. Instead he is reminiscent of an even more annoying Crazywolf in human form and Larry D. Mann overdoes it with the voice acting. Which really undermines any tension or fun the conflict should have had. The character animation has been worse in other cartoons ('The Badge and the Beautiful' for instance), but there is still a rather rushed look and it does not look appealing at all.
It's another Hoot Kloot cartoon that suffers from a less than energetic pace and from not being very funny, the gags are too few and all the ones that are here are too derivative and bland. The wordplay even is not particularly sharp or witty, and that was what was particularly enjoyable about the best of the early cartoons in the series. The story feels very tired throughout and lacks energy and tension, rather go through the motion and like the studio had run out of interest as well as time.
Overall, lacklustre and okay at best. 4/10.