Feelings on The Dogfather cartoons were a very mixed bag as a child, they had their moments but DePatie-Freleng Enterprises did far better and far more memorable theatrical series. Decided to watch all the cartoons to see out of curiosity how well they stood up by young adult standards, whether they would be better on rewatch, the same or worse. Some of DePatie-Freleng Enterprises' theatrical series were good, some were mediocre at best or in one case bad.

The premise for 'Money Spells Love' is a very familiar one, having seen it or at least some kind of variation of it at least three times with Looney Tunes and twice in the Roland and Rattfink series also from DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. 'Money Spells Love' does absolutely nothing new with it and a vast majority of elements in the cartoon have a very tired feel to them. While there are worse cartoons about certainly, this just felt very mediocre and forgettable.

'Money Spells Love' has a few good things. Did like the voice work from Bob Holt, which had a lot of variety and spirit. The music fits well enough and the theme song is catchy.

Although there is not much memorable or funny, the ending is very clever and amusing. It is also the only time where the cartoon is not predictable. Rocky is a fun tough character.

However, a lot doesn't work. Pug has very little to do and what he has does not stick out in any way, and there is not much this time to Dogfather's material. The love interest is more annoying than charming and didn't really get what the characters saw in her. The character interaction is bland, apart from the odd mildly amusing rapport with Dogfather and Rocky. The animation as usual for the Dogfather series is sparse, flat and limited looking and actually even more so, as said the studio did have purposefully abstract animation but took it to extremes in the 70s to the point it looked shoestring budget.

Furthermore, the story is nothing to write home about. Very thin and derivative with very little energy, as well as too derivative of the likes of 'Hare Trimmed', 'His Bitter Half' and 'Honey's Money', which executed the premise with more humour and imagination. Which is true of the gags too, which are too few and too much like stale retreads of pre-existing past-prime Looney Tunes gags, only the ending stands out in terms of memorability. The cartoony violence is too tame, while the at times childish comedy by adult standards and complicated mobster terminology that will go over younger viewers' heads doesn't ever gel and made me question the target audience. There is no energy here and everything feels tired.

Very mediocre all in all. 4/10.

Animation is a form of visual storytelling that involves creating visual art and motion through the use of various techniques and technologies. In animation, images are manipulated to create the illusion of movement, bringing characters, objects, and environments to life. Animation can encompass a wide range of styles, themes, and intended audiences, making it a diverse and versatile form of storytelling.

Daveigh Chase, Rumi Hiiragi, and Mari Natsuki in Spirited Away (2001)

The short form refers to creative works characterized by their brevity and concise storytelling. Unlike full-length feature films, short films have a running time of less than 45 minutes, while TV shorts have a running time of less than 22 minutes.

Benedict Cumberbatch in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)

The Dogfather tries to marry a widow exclusively for her money, but has to compete with a rival gangster for who gets the woman.

The Biggest Movies and TV Coming in September

"The Gentlemen" and "Slow Horses" return this fall, while the "Reacher" spin-off series "Neagley" makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

2026 Fall TV and Streaming Watch Guide

&quot;The Gentlemen&quot; and &quot;Slow Horses&quot; return this fall, while the &quot;Reacher&quot; spin-off series &quot;Neagley&quot; makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

M-o-n-e-y Spells Love

Photos

Top Cast2

User reviews1

More like this

Related interests

Storyline

Did you know

Top picks

Details

Tech specs

Contribute to this page

More to explore

Recently viewed