Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done | |
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Directed by | Bill Melendez |
Written by |
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Story by |
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Based on | The works of Gilbert and Sullivan |
Produced by | Steven C. Melendez |
Starring | Victor Spinetti Peter Reeves Miriam Karlin Barry Cryer Long John Baldry |
Edited by |
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Music by |
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Production company | |
Distributed by | Cinema International Corporation |
Release dates |
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Running time | 81 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done is a 1975 British animated musical comedy film directed by Bill Melendez and designed by Ronald Searle,[1][2] based on the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan.[3]
The comically convoluted plot, by Robin Miller and Leo Rost, with additional material by Gene Thompson and Victor Spinetti, is a pastiche of many of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, particularly Trial by Jury, The Sorcerer, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, Patience, Iolanthe and The Mikado, in which the protagonist, Able Seaman Dick Deadeye (voiced by Spinetti), 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 new or modified lyrics by Robin Miller and orchestrations updated in a contemporary popular style by conductor Jimmy Horowytz.