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Friday, 14 November 2025

Touché Turtle and Dum Dum: The Complete Series (Blu-ray Review)

  • Reviewed by: Tim Salmons
  • Review Date: Nov 13, 2025
  • Format: Blu-ray Disc
Touché Turtle and Dum Dum: The Complete Series (Blu-ray Review)

Director

William Hanna, Joseph Barbera

Release Date(s)

1962-1963 (September 30, 2025)

Studio(s)

Hanna-Barbera Productions (Warner Archive Collection)
  • Film/Program Grade: B-
  • Video Grade: B-
  • Audio Grade: B-
  • Extras Grade: F

Touché Turtle and Dum Dum: The Complete Series (Blu-ray)

Buy It Here!

Review

Segments from what was produced collectively as The New Hanna-Barbera Cartoon Series originally aired in syndication from September of 1962 to August of 1963, comprised of 52 segments for the characters Wally Gator, Touché Turtle and Dum Dum, and Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har. These cartoons were eventually shown in different markets and in various forms throughout the 1980s and beyond. Though all of the segments with Wally Gator and Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har were released on DVD in 2019, Touché Turtle and Dum Dum remained absent from home video, outside of a VHS release featuring on a couple of random episodes.

Since all three cartoons began airing with new remasters as part of the MeTV Toons programming line-up, Touché Turtle and Dum Dum have finally been given the home video treatment by Warner Archive with Touché Turtle and Dum Dum: The Complete Series. In truth, The Complete “Collection” would be a little more accurate and less confusing as a moniker since Touché Turtle and Dum Dum never actually had their own show. Nevertheless, seeing them for the first time with newly-minted transfers is a dream come true for Hanna-Barbera fans. Each cartoon is a little over five minutes long, with a combined total of well over four hours of content.

For the uninitiated, Touché Turtle is a well-known fencer and hero, forever answering the call (a literal one since his telephone is inside his shell) to help those in need. His dimwitted but lovable and devoted sidekick Dum Dum follows and aids him on his various quests around the globe. Touché Turtle is voiced by Bill Thompson, who many will instantly recognize as the voice of Droopy, the White Rabbit from Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, and Mr. Smee from Disney’s Peter Pan, among other things. Dum Dum is voiced by Alan Reed, the voice of Fred Flintstone. Other voices throughout the show are provided by Hanna-Barbera regulars Don Messick, Daws Butler, Hal Smith, John Stephenson, Jean Vander Pyl, Doug Young, Howard Morris, and Bea Benaderet.

Touché Turtle and Dum Dum lack the familiarity of some of Hanna-Barbera’s more popular characters, but their adventures, brief though they may be, are nonetheless fun as they battle a variety of foes. Touché Turtle, though certainly a capable swordsman, isn’t always on top of every situation, despite the constant support of Dum Dum who proclaims him to be one of the greatest heroes in history, which Touché Turtle always fully embraces. They’re simple but enjoyable cartoons, and even if they’re not top tier Hanna-Barbera, they’re still worthy of a Blu-ray release.

Touché Turtle and Dum Dum was produced using traditional cel animation on 16mm film, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The Warner Archive Collection brings all 52 segments of the show to Blu-ray for the first time, restored in 4K using a combination of the original camera negatives and release prints, and presented on two dual-layered BD-50 discs. Unfortunately, some of the original camera negatives no longer survive, but the majority of the show appears to be from the OCN. It’s not quite as sharp as 35mm-sourced material, with heavy grain and bitrates that sit mostly in the upper range of 30 and 40Mbps. Outside of the obviously print-sourced cartoons, the color palette is bursting with greens, reds, and blues of all sorts, with deep blacks and excellent contrast. There’s some telecine wobble and very mild color breathing in specific segments, but with over two hours of programming encoded to each disc, and given the limits of the source material, these cartoons look wonderful.

Audio is included in English 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio with optional subtitles in English SDH. It can sometimes be uneven in terms of quality, but volume is never an issues. Some episodes are more limited than others when it comes to treble, and there’s some minor hiss and crackle. However, dialogue discernment is never an issue.

The Warner Archive Collection’s 2-Disc Blu-ray release of Touché Turtle and Dum Dum: The Complete Series is housed in a blue Amaray case with artwork that was revised prior to release (the original artwork was apparently temporary artwork). There are no extras, but the following segments are included:

DISC ONE (SEGMENTS 1-26)

  1. Whale of a Tale (5:09)
  2. Zero-Hero (5:09)
  3. Dilly of a Lilly (5:09)
  4. Missing Missile (5:09)
  5. Lake Serpent (5:09)
  6. You Bug Me (5:09)
  7. Roll-A-Ghoster (5:09)
  8. Giant Double-Header (5:10)
  9. Loser Take All (5:09)
  10. Takes Two to Tangle (5:09)
  11. Mr. Robots (5:09)
  12. Touché at Bat (5:09)
  13. Billy the Cad (5:09)
  14. Dog Daze (5:09)
  15. Ant and Rave (5:09)
  16. Black Is the Knight (5:09)
  17. Dragon Along (5:10)
  18. Satellite Fright (5:09)
  19. Sheepy-Time Pal (5:09)
  20. Hex Marks the Spot (5:09)
  21. Catch as Cat Can (5:09)
  22. Sea for Two (5:09)
  23. High Goon (5:09)
  24. Grandma Outlaw (5:09)
  25. Duel Control (5:09)
  26. Rapid Rabbit (5:09)

DISC TWO (SEGMENTS 27-52)

  1. Thumb Hero (5:09)
  2. Kat-Napped (5:10)
  3. Romeo, Touché and Juliet (5:09)
  4. The Big Bite (5:10)
  5. Flying Saucer Sorcerer (5:09)
  6. Aladdin’s Lampoon (5:09)
  7. Haunting License (5:10)
  8. The Phoney Phantom (5:11)
  9. Touché’s Last Stand (5:09)
  10. Chief Beef (5:09)
  11. Like Wild, Man (5:09)
  12. Dum de Dum Dum (5:09)
  13. Et Tu, Touché? (5:09)
  14. Dragon Feat (5:09)
  15. Red Riding Hoodlum (5:09)
  16. Dough Nuts (5:11)
  17. Save the Last Trance for Me (5:10)
  18. Waterloo for Two (5:10)
  19. Robin Hoodlum (5:10)
  20. The Shoe Must Go On (5:09)
  21. Quack Hero (5:09)
  22. Aliblabber and the Forty Thieves (5:09)
  23. Out of This Whirl (5:09)
  24. Hero on the Half Shell (5:09)
  25. Tenderfoot Turtle (5:09)
  26. Peace & Riot (5:09)

Audio from the 1965 children’s record The Reluctant Dragon Starring Touché Turtle & Dum-Dum could have been included as an extra, not to mention some of the Hanna-Barbera comics, but Warner Archive’s release of Touché Turtle and Dum Dum: The Complete Series is a more than welcome release of a show that has never had its due on home video before. For Hanna-Barbera fans, this is a highly recommended purchase.

- Tim Salmons

(You can follow Tim on social media at these links: Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd. And be sure to subscribe to his YouTube channel here.)

 

Tags

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