| Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Bill Melendez |
| Written by | Robin Miller (story) Leo Rost (story) Gene Thompson (additional material) Victor Spinetti (additional material) |
| Starring | Victor Spinetti |
| Music by | Arthur Sullivan |
| Editing by | Roger Donley Steven Cuitlahuac Melendez Babette Monteil |
| Studio | Bill Melendez Productions |
| Release date(s) | July 1976 (USA) |
| Running time | 81 min. |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done is a 1975 British animated film musical, based on the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan.[1]
The comically convoluted plot is a pastiche of many in the Gilbert and Sullivan canon, particularly Trial by Jury, The Sorcerer, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, Patience, Iolanthe and The Mikado, in which the principal character, Able Seaman Dick Deadeye, is sent by Queen Victoria on a quest to recover the "Ultimate Secret" from the Sorcerer, who has stolen it. The music is borrowed from many Savoy operas, with the orchestrations being updated in a contemporary (for 1975) popular style.
Animation was by Bill Melendez, who produced the Charlie Brown television cartoon, based on character drawings by veteran cartoonist Ronald Searle. The film's release was accompanied by the original release of a deluxe-jacketed LP soundtrack recording and a colorful storybook by Jeremy Hornsby, with colourful Searle-inspired art.[1]
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The following is the voice cast of the film, together with role played, and opera in which the role appears:
The film was a box office failure.[2] It was intended to appeal both to children and to Gilbert and Sullivan fans, but due to the complex and risque plot, and the updating of much-loved songs to a modern style, it failed to appeal to either audience.