SPOT'S DOGS AND THE ALLEY CATS

The rivalry between Spot's dogs and the alley cats--both unattractive gangs who dress like human bums and behave like children--is the focus of four comix-style episodes told with a combination of running narrative, balloons, and busy colored cartoons. When the dogs rent a car to go to the beach, the cats see that they get a ""bargain"" Cadillac which blows up on the way home. The dogs retaliate by setting a fish trap that spills paint and tin cans onto the cats. At the fair, cat boss Claws steals a film star's jewels but dog Simpson accidentally catches him in the act. And finally, ""just this once the dogs and cats forget their old quarrels"" when the dogs throw a Christmas party for the orphans and the cats join in with gifts and good cheer. The pictures show much activity (some of it extraneous, as when a diver at the beach fishes up a mermaid in Iris net), and the Wilds invite partisan involvement by telling the story from the dogs' point of view. That's enough to hold attention--but is that enough?