Avenger Penguins (1993–1994) User Reviews

Weird and loved it

[setacourse_engage · 8/10 · 18 February 2011]

I remember this! I haven't seen head nor tails of it for years, but I loved it at the time.

It really shouldn't have surprised me to learn that it was made by Cosgrove Halls and had Jimmy Hibbert involved. These guys have turned up some quality fantastic stuff.

Avenger Penguins was not set up to be as epic as Count Duckula and the age bracket it aimed at was a lot narrower than the long running Danger Mouse. However it was certainly tricky, inventive and fun which really appealed to me at the age of 9.

I really don't remember much. I recall how sweet the Christmas episode was with the minion changing heart and how freaky the date-match TV show episode was with the gold jacket and the homicidal maniac that was programmed to destroy anything that was coloured black and white.

Boy, this show had some weird stuff. I'd sure love to see it again.

Alright. But certainly not as good as previous Cosgrove Hall Features!

[ian-1211 · 5/10 · 19 December 2006]

Surely after the success of "Count Duckula" Cosgrove Hall should of had more imagination than this! This so-so new cartoon series from 1993 was not terrible but certainly was not great! They might of been in the 1990's but they could of keep the original 1980's Cosgrove Hall animation style other than modernising it to keep up with the tastes of that period. Getting to the point, the shows is about three bike-mad penguins trying to foiling of a mad scientist. Right? Right! The stories are good but the humour and the animation drags it downs. You shouldn't make a cartoon in the style of the period you're living in, you should do animation how you like and how it fits your image. I also thought the characters were cheesy and the message was overdone. If you are looking for a cartoon to revive your nostalgia of the mid 90's, than this is the thing you're looking for. I just didn't think it was that great! But I'm going to be generous and give it 5/10. I feel for Cosgrove Hall Productions, after the likes of "Danger Mouse" and "Alias the Jester" this is a step down! Fair? 5/10

Avenger Penguins was ..... GREAT fun.

[roger-stennett · 10/10 · 14 August 2007]

I thought Avenger Penguins was great .... but I'm biased. I was one of the writers of the series.

It was a pleasure to make though, and the last CHF show to be made using traditional cartoon animation.

We followed up with Fantomcat which was CG, and fun, but not as much fun as Penguins.

Mike McShane as Caractacus P.Doom was a pleasure to work with, and the whole thing was a joy.

The whole writing for animation business was a pleasure when working with Brian and Mark at CHF, and I enjoyed the camaraderie between writers.

Jimmy Hibbert ( who also voiced several characters) and I went on to work on other series, and I heard from him only yesterday, which is always a questionable pleasure.

And to think they said that I was MAD!

[amorrice80 · 9/10 · 13 June 2006]

What can I say about the last great cartoon to emerge from th doors of Cosgrove-Hall? I'll section it into bits:

ANIMATION: Fantastic. Full of expressive actions and memorable character designs. Lots of good use of full and limited animation and various instances of the 'smear' effect. Not above taking the mickey out of themselves either (ie. The deliberately scruffy-looking Badly Drawn Brothers)Unfortunately the last time Cosgrove-Hall used cel which always looks 100 times better than computer in my humble opinion.

WRITING: What you've come to expect from CH. Sharp, satirical and funny. Probably the chief reason CH hasn't had many intelligent top-rated shows in recent years. There is too much dumbing down these days that has made clever series like this suffer. Good solid characterisation makes these cartoon characters really seem real.

VOICES: Incredible when you consider there are only three men and a woman doing ALL the voices. They all sound individual and even though there are numerous instances of doubling-up, one never notices it. Great delivery derives comedy from lines that aren't necessarily funny on paper. Another thing that's good about the soundtrack is the use of sound effects to enhance the mood. For example if a character speaks about a dog one can hear a bark sound in the background or if we see a close-up of something horrible we hear a scream coming from nowhere.

Overall a great show, half parodic and half serious. If you liked Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Danger Mouse then you'll like this healthy mixture of the two.