Grimerlana Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

voicemaster71 If you ask me what are some of the things I remember about the 80's one of them is Mr. T. I knew who the guy was, but was not yet watching the A Team. It wasn't until this cartoon of Mr. T came on in 1983 that I finally began watching the A Team on Tuesday nights. Plus in 83, I missed the SuperFriends on Saturday mornings and needed something action oriented to watch that year. In live action, he was B.A. Baracus on the A Team, but in animation, Mr. T played himself and he was a coach and protector of a group of teenage gymnastics who were on tour all over the US. And like the Scooby Doo characters, they solved mysteries and cracked cases. It's been 20+ years since I've seen this and I can't believe I still remember most of the characters. Alongside Mr. T, you had a lady named Ms. Bisby, who was a pretty mild mannered lady who helped drive the bus and assisted in many ways. As for the teen gymnasts, you had Robin, The red headed girl with the freckles who was obviously the leadership figure of the teens.Kim, the Asian girl who was the brains and had the photographic memory.Jeff, the handsome and apparently rich whitebread guy with a massive ego. Sometimes you just wanted to strangle him.And Woody, the young well educated black guy with intelligence and a good head on his shoulder. Woody was introduced as the new guy in the first episode. And I was amazed to discover that he was voiced over by MAD TV's Phil Lamarr, who later voiced over Green Lantern on the Justice League (Unlimited) series. There were other teen gymnasts like Garcia, Vince, and Courtney, but their roles were not as big as the four I've mentioned. Last but not least, for comic relief, you had a dog with a mohawk named Dozer, and Robin's little bratty kid brother named Spike who was a Mr. T wannabe. This little snot would mostly speak in a voice imitating Mr. T. To me, Spike was to Mr. T what Marvin and Wonder Dog were to Superman on the SuperFriends. Annoying nuisances. But aside from that, Mr. T was a great cartoon and it was something to watch in 83 until the SuperFriends were back on Saturdays the following year. And I enjoyed that notion that a tough guy like Mr. T could be a good role model and teach lessons. TAKE IT FROM ME!! MR T!! Two thumbs Up!!!

rcj5365 If you were on top of your game,and had a hit television series in prime-time during the 1980's,all you had to do was basically come up with a great catch phrase and be a outstanding role model for kids,then you can be just like Mister T. This is how he got his own Saturday Morning cartoon show.Ruby-Spears Productions(another animation studio founded by former Hanna-Barbera producers Joesph Ruby and Kenneth Spears during the late 1970's and continued into the early 1990's),the creators of such Saturday Morning shows as "Fangface","The Adventures of Plasticman", "Goldie Gold and Action Jack","Heathcliff and Marmaduke",and the greatest Saturday Morning action adventure cartoon ever made "Thundarr The Barbarian" came up again with another winner as well which became one of the milestone cartoons of the 1980's,"The Adventures of Mister T",or aka "Mister T",that premiered on NBC's Saturday Morning schedule in 1983. At the time this show came on,Mister T was one of the most celebrated stars on television,playing the tough as nails B.A. Baracus opposite George Peppard in prime-time on one of the network's most highly rated show,"The A-Team". In the cartoon which was devised by legendary comic artist Jack Kirby and scripted by cult comic writer Steve Gerber(who also wrote the pilot episode). In the cartoon,Mister T plays basically himself as a coach and mentor not to mention protected guardian to a group of gymnasts who travelled the world while becoming involved in and solving various mysteries. At the beginning of each episode(and this was the live-action introduction)features Mister T himself to explain what is going on. And at the end of each lesson,Mister T narrates a moral lesson for the audience. In the animated segment of the show Mister T gets to tour around the world with a group of kids who were members of the U.S. Gymnastics team (which consists of an diversity of kids from different countries and cultures)along with their well-mannered team bus driver Ms. Bisby. Not to mention a dog with a mohawk and one of the kids' little brother too who is a Mr. T wannabe with the sleeveless denim shirt and jewelry...and get this as far as the comic relief was concern in some of the episodes,it wasn't the dog with the mohawk,but that stupid little annoying brat who was the most infantile of characters! As far as the episodes were concern,yeah it was a blantant rip-off of the Scooby Doo formula,but still the action never lets up with the gang encountering crimes that take place along the tour,and basically making the badguys PAY! Some of the episodes followed the same pattern by having some crime occurring and one of the kids finding out about it and telling Mister T what they saw. Then Mister T and the gang would catch up and take care of business. During some of the action,the young gymnastics would learn some valuable lesson and doing things the right way...Whilst Mister T steps in to do some damage to the baddies and would often used violence as a last resort(the violence in this show was very mild but always under the radar from the advocate of censors that were consistingly watching the show!!!)During some of the segments,Mister T often gave out great advice to kids as well as some of the morals lessons in just about every episode like He-Man and G.I. Joe. These lessons involved safety tips for kids like for example telling kids not to talk to strangers and develop a special code or bond with their friend using "the buddy system". Also more interesting enough was him telling kids in case a stranger was picking them up who was NOT a member of the family(inpersonation of a family member)or NOT to except gifts or other stuff from strangers. Geez imagine how many less missing or exploited children there would be if someone told them this? He also mention to kids what can you do in your neighborhood. At the end ,T would punctuate his advice by pointing his finger to the camera to the baddies by saying,"Take it for me MR.T!" Mister T would also blazed the trail for other animated shows featuring Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos,and Rambo:The Force Of Freedom that would set the standard during the 80's.

Quag7 Well meaning but ultimately poor quality cartoon from the early 80s, typical of that time period. Corny with stilted voice performances and painfully trite dialogue, its value today is mainly kitsch, which explains its extremely late night/early morning showing now on Adult Swim.Like GI Joe and other cartoons of the period, the cheap, unimaginative animation is accompanied by a morality lesson. Unlike those shows, however, the plots are generally oriented in some form around the central moral lesson rather than merely tacked-on as a didactic lecture by the cartoon lead at the end (though there is a non-animated "wrap up" of the lesson by Mr. T at the end).I give it credit for trying hard to teach basic values, but I was 11 years old when this came out and I would have found it cheesy (had I seen it during its original airing - frankly, I don't remember it).Personally I do not understand, beyond basic nostalgia for Saturday Mornings and so on, why so many people consider the 80s some kind of golden age for animation; it wasn't. Animation was cheap, much of it looked the same, and the artwork was poor, generic - workmanlike, even.Nickelodeon in many ways set the standard for at very least making cartoons look distinctive. This cartoon, like most others of the period, pale in comparison with more recent offerings like Spongebob Squarepants, Dexter's Laboratory, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, and so on. These cartoons may not have the Reagan-era moralizing, but they do have style (and surrealism, and imagination) and considerably more talented voice actors and far, far less stilted dialogue. (Not that every modern cartoon has something unique to offer but there are far better choices now.) Speaking of voice actors, I notice that Phil LaMarr did some of his first voice work on this cartoon. He would become a considerable talent (voice-wise) in years to come.In some sense Mr. T is a good example of a time when animation was not taken seriously as an art form; rather, it was sold as "product" to kids, and like many sugar cereals advertised during showings of these kinds of cartoons, there's not much substance here, artistically.

MovieCriticMarvelfan First of, this show is not really a spinoff, and no Mr. T was not a guest star!! He was actually in every episode (Duh the name of the cartoon is Mr. T).This is one the great early cartoon which talked to morals to kids in every episode like He-Man and G.I Joe.In fact, Mr. T, often gave out advice that is almost stupid and obvious today, but most parents did not tell their kids!!!T often told his "kids" not to talk to strangers and develop a special code with their kids, in case a stranger was picking them up , impersonation a friend of the family!!!!Geez imagine how many less missing and exploited childrenm there be if someone told them this? ManyOverall it's a great cartoon and like Mr. T. "I Pity the Fool", who says it isnt.Give a 9 out of 10