Ormonde De Kay (1923–1998)

The Snorks—colorful underwater creatures with a snorkel-like appendage on their heads that could be used for all manner of tasks—lived in the lovely and well-kept Snork City, at the very bottom of the ocean. They maintained their home through the use of the Tide Machine, which cleaned the water, and Allstar's salt mines, which kept the water salty; and they grew their own food in the kelp farms. Watching over all of this activity was Casey, the organized leader of the Snorks. Also keeping watch was the malicious Waterwitch, who wanted to put a stop to all of this cleanliness and order. And so she used her Yuk Yuk minions to kidnap Casey, and transform herself into the Snork leader's doppelganger. Would the other Snorks notice the difference, or would the fake Casey manage to ruin Snork City...?

I had never even heard of the Snorks until I stumbled across The Snorks and the Waterwitch in my ongoing hunt for witchy picture-books—a perennial pet project of mine. Apparently there was a Snorks animated television show which ran from 1984 through 1989, and which was based upon comic-book characters and a comic-book created by Belgian comic artist Nic Broca. It was meant to be a competitor to the blockbuster animated hit, The Smurfs, which I have heard of, and which was also originally a Belgian creation. Having been raised without a television in the home, I rarely watched The Smurfs, but I was certainly aware of the show's existence, as many of my friends watched it, and I occasionally saw it at their homes.

In any case, although the television show about the Snorks didn't begin to air until 1984, this slim paperback picture-book was published in 1983, and is based (according to the statement on the colophon) on the Snork movie, Captured (about which I can discover nothing). The story itself is cute enough, and the artwork is colorful and (naturally) cartoon-like. I can certainly see the story here making for a fun tv film or episode, with its good messages about keeping the ocean clean and working hard, and its adventurous tale of an evil-doer who gets her comeuppance. This sort of thing isn't my wheelhouse, but I found it rather appealing, in a kind of nostalgic way. I did wish that there was more of the eponymous witch, but then, apparently she reappears in other episodes.… (más)