Doozy

Children from the 1960s and 1970s will be familiar with the Hanna-Barbera cartoons shown on Saturday morning TV, such as Tom & Jerry, The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo. Many will remember the studio’s iconic style. What fascinates filmmaker Richard Squires even more, however, is the voice behind the many villains in Hanna-Barbera's stable, that of actor/comedian Paul Lynde. Doozy uses his often hysterically laughing and campy bad guys to examine the relationship between sexual ambiguity and crime, the importance and meaning of voices and laughter in cartoon series, as well as the often uncomfortable symbiosis between a character and its voice: where does the former end and the actor start? The documentary also inventively echoes its subject. Full of colourful cartoon characters and brightly coloured backgrounds, Doozy turns the traditional talking heads documentary into a feast for the eyes. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)