Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone (1990)

I first discovered this Hanna-Barbera 'toon I hadn't heard of nor watched a while back when I was searching for something else. Later, I read info about it on Wikipedia. The premise intrigued me enough to want to check it out, which I finally did on Youtube earlier this month. I saw a couple of episodes and found them enjoyable. How did I ever overlook this obscure classic? It doesn't seem to be among the H-B shows brought up as much or as often. This is one of the better H-B cartoons of the '90s, as opposed to Yo Yogi!, another H-B series I haven't seen, but know it's one of the true worst from negative reviews I read on it. Not only that, it's one of the best programs in general ever created. This is definitely one of my most favorites from H-B. I'm really glad I came across it.

The creators, Martin and Vivien Schrager-Powell, were on to something when they conceived this, inspired by their own English Springer Spaniel, Potsworth. And what a great concept it is. So much so, that it isn't just a pipe dream. They knew they could make a better kid show after seeing others of the time lack depth, did what they set out to do, and accomplished it. A fine job well done. One of the most imaginative creations I've ever seen. This, in my opinion, is one of the few highlights in the company/studio's history. It's great to see a show made by some people other than the production co.'s co-founders. They gave it the breath of fresh air it needed from it's all too- familiar usual fare. Four kids (Carter, Keiko, Rosie, And Nick) and a dog (Potsworth) somehow end up getting physically transferred to and meeting with one another in a literal dream world known as The Dream Zone, where they convene as the Midnight Patrol, defending the Dream Zone from antagonist, The Nightmare Prince. How novel a phenomenon is that? Aside from the series, the little merchandise spawned included a computer game and a comic series.

As clever as it is, it haplessly would be another one of those short-lived things that fell into that horse-feathers of being dropped too soon. Yo Yogi! was short-lived too, but still ran slightly longer, I think. This deserved so much more than it got. One of the perfect cartoons. I have starting points for a couple episode ideas: Since it seems to have never really been explained, a good one would've been delving into how Potsworth and co. managed to meet with one another in the same place physically after falling asleep. But I guess maybe the creators/writers intentionally left us viewers to use our imaginations and figure that out ourselves. Another would've somehow involved The Sandman. Speaking of pipe dreams, something done with those also would've been neat, at least as a gag if not for a full episode. All those could've been for season two had there been a second season. Of all the H-B animated material that have yet to be brought to DVD, I'm interested in getting this the most. I strongly recommend this to anyone who is looking for an alternative to Yo Yogi! This would be it. Although there are some cartoons I didn't watch growing up and I'm glad I didn't, this is among the ones I wish I did.