Victor and Hugo
|
|
Victor and Hugo, Bunglers in Crime is an animated series made by Cosgrove Hall and screened on ITV during the 1990s.
The series centres on the exploits of two bumbling French criminals - the eponymous brothers of the title. Despite referencing the French author Victor Hugo in their names, neither brother was particularly intelligent.
The plot of each episode dealt with Victor and Hugo and their English-based business "Naughtiness International" being hired by crime figures to steal something. Victor would come up with a "meticulous plan" to achieve this goal, which was routinely botched by Hugo. The episodes would traditionally end with the brothers imprisoned.
| Contents |
Recurring Characters
Victor
The taller of the brothers, Victor was also clearly the leader of "Naughtiness International". Victor's two most striking characteristics were his fedora hat (worn all the time) and his manicured moustache, which enabled him to appear suave. Victor's English was significantly better than Hugo's, however he was constantly at risk of spoonerisms. Victor was voiced by Jimmy Hibbert.
Hugo
Victor's little brother, Hugo always wore a beret and looked like a burglar (right down to his ever-present eye-mask). Always subservient to "my Victor", Hugo was often the butt of slapstick comedy. While his intelligence and English skills were notably inferior to Victor's, Hugo was able to make sense of some of his brother's spoonerisms. Hugo's voice bears a striking resemblance to the Goon Show character Bluebottle, and the two characters often make similar exclamations. Hugo was voiced by David Jason.
Interpol
A talking parrot with attitude, Interpol lived in Victor and Hugo's van and provided a voice of reason in rapid-fire Cockney English. It is not saying very much to comment that Interpol was by far the most intelligent of the group. Aside from residing in the van constantly, Interpol was also able to function as a telephone - his beak was put to the person's ear. Victor also used him to dial out by pressing his chest like a keypad. In one episode, Hugo used Interpol as a makeshift pair of scissors. Interpol was also voiced by David Jason.
Lord and Lady Hobbes-Suttecliffe
The token "English country family" from which the brothers would often have to burgle, the Hobbes-Suttecliffes lived at Hobbes-Suttecliffe Hall, where Lord Hobbes-Suttecliffe kept his elephant gun and his wife hosted dinner parties.
The Dog
A small dog played a very important role in every episode. At various points - often when the plot appeared to be flagging - this dog would run up one of Victor's trouser legs, remove his underpants and run off with them down his other leg. This running gag also appeared at the end of every episode, prefaced by the statement by a glum Victor that "At least in here, nothing else can possibly go wrong". Hugo particularly enjoyed the appearances of the dog, often muttering "good doggie".
Penelope
Penelope was Hugo's pet earwig who lived in a matchbox. Hugo would always affectionally refer to her as 'My Penelope'. Penelope did not actually speak, instead communicating by squeaking, and rarely came out of her matchbox. On the rare occasions that she did come out, she looked like a small green bug with blonde hair and a dress.
The Plot
An important ingredient in the series was the reappearance of particular situations in which the viewer always knew exactly what would happen, while the characters didn't appear to.
The Opening Crime
Most episodes began with the brothers on the run from having committed another crime. However, as the opening dialogue continued, it always became apparent that Hugo had done precisely the wrong thing. One episode, for example, has Victor asking Hugo about how he thought they went in robbing "The Duke of Battersea's Home". Hugo's response is "The Duke of Battersea, he is having a lot of doggies, yes?", to which Victor corrects him, "The Duke of Battersea, he is having a lot of doggies, no! That was the Battersea Dogs Home!" Similarly, an episode begins with a news broadcast about the theft of the Christmas lights from Piccadilly Circus. Over this report, we hear Victor telling Hugo that, "I said 'Pull up the van at the lights in Piccadilly Circus', not 'Pull down the lights in Piccadilly Circus and put them in the van'!"
The Phone Call
With only one exception, the brothers receive their latest commission (around which the plot of the episode revolves) by telephone. The phone is located in the van and Victor answers it - as Hugo is engaged in driving (badly). In one episode, Hugo attempts to assume superiority in the partnership and answers the phone himself. The standard greeting on the phone is "Hello, this is Victor of Victor and Hugo: Naughtiness International, no crime too big, no crime too small. How may I help you?", delivered in the cod-French accent adopted by Victor. Hugo's alternate rendering begins, "Hello, this is Hugo of Hugo and Victor: Naughtiness International, no big small crime too..." before trailing off.
The Meticulous Plan
In his capacity as the brains of the partnership, Victor would devise a "meticulous plan" and explain it to Hugo - who at one point refers to it as a "ridiculous plan". Hugo would then repeat it back to Victor in a garbled form, full of spoonerisms and other puns. One example of this is the plan to steal a quick-growth formula from Professor Peak at St Spooner's Hospital in order to let a criminal mastermind grow an army of giant ants to devour the world. Hugo renders this as "We peek at the spoon in the hospital and grow quickly a professor's formula for devouring ants".
Hugo, did you...?
Invariably, the plan goes awry. This is usually flagged by Victor's question of "Hugo, did you [perform a particular action]?" Hugo's response takes the form of, "Yes" (at which Victor looks pleased) "And no" (at which he looks crestfallen) "And mainly no" (at which something exceedingly dangerous occurs).
The Arrest
Generally as a result of the dangerous omission by Hugo, the brothers are arrested and jailed. Victor takes this opportunity to explain that "At least in here, nothing else can possibly go wrong" - at which point the dog steals his underpants.
Other Humour
References
Throughout the series, there are many references to other Cosgrove Hall cartoons. Victor and Hugo's genesis can be traced back to characters in Count Duckula and in fact Duckula and his servants appear in one episode. Another reference can be found in an early episode in which the brothers attempt to gatecrash a fancy dress party. Hugo suggests that he could attend as Duckula because, "I can do the voice, you know" (David Jason, the voice artist responsible for Hugo's character, was also responsible for Duckula).
Another episode features a crossover between Victor and Hugo and Dangermouse, with the hapless pair being hired by Baron Greenback to combat the character referred to by Hugo as "Monsieur Danger Mousings".
French Language
The two brothers' first language was French and many of their expressions are English loan-translations of French. Hugo often asks Victor "What is it that it is that...?", which is a direct translation of the French "Que c'est que ce c'est?". Likewise, Victor sometimes confuses English tenses and makes statements such as "Then we will be to steal the painting" or "We have succeed" (at one point, "We are succeed"). Both brothers engage in the French genitive case exercise known to all students of that language, "The gun of the man", "The fuse of the dynamite" and so on.
Victor also refers to Hugo as "You brain of a ...", usually where the item is a thing either starting with B or clearly lacking in intelligence. "Brain of a bedpost" is one example. At one point, an almost apopleptic Victor shouts at Hugo, "You brain of a ... of a ... of a thing which is have no brain!"
In one episode, Victor's term of abuse for an ambulance driver is translated literally as "Sort of an idiot!", a reference to the French insult "Espece d'...".
English Language
The script features many examples of English wordplay.
Victor often makes a form of spoonerism which Hugo corrects. An example is the famous "Then, like the printer, we pants". Hugo's response is generally of the form, "And even, like the panther, we are pouncing", to which Victor responds, "That is what I said". Victor's spoonerisms tend to afflict him at tense moments, such as when he is accused of making a mistake ("My good sir, I do not stake the matchsticks") and on needing to beat a hasty retreat ("Thankfully, I have observed the exigency erpt", as opposed to the "emergency exit").
On other occasions, Hugo takes Victor's spoonerism further. At one point, a plan is described as being reminiscent of "Butch Dancing and the Cassidy Kid", to which Hugo politely enquires whether his brother means the waltz or the tango.
In one episode, Hugo actually tricks Victor into making a spoonerism by following the same procedure as above.
The "Wyatt Eartle" Dialogue
In one episode, the brothers find themselves in Tombstone, a Wild West frontier town. As part of their stay, they meet the Marshal of the town - Wyatt Eartle (a reference to Wyatt Earp, and also the fact that the character is a turtle). The ensuing dialogue has become a classic of cartoon comedy:
- Eartle: "I'm the Marshal round here, Wyatt Eartle."
- Hugo: "I don't know, why a turtle?"
- Eartle: "Yup. That's m'name."
- Hugo: "Hello, Monsieur That."
- Victor: "Hugo, his name is not -"
- Hugo: "Oh, his name is Not!"
- Victor: "His name is not Not."
- Hugo: "Ah, Not-Not. That is a double-barrelled name!"
Much later, Marshal Eartle surprises the brothers in the act of committing a burglary. Hugo greets him pleasantly, "Hello, Monsieur Not-Not".