It was a very entertaining episode...Cannon pretends that he's gone rogue. One memorable scene is his drunk act where his intentional obnoxious behavior convinces several members of a gang to allow him to join. One of the members secretly wants no part in the illegal plans and in order to help him out Cannon deliberately drops a gun into the back of the man's car...soon after police show up and haul the man away for possession of a stolen hand gun. Later, Cannon and the gang get into a gun battle in the stadium. The gang's plot was to show up and steal the box office money. There were a lot of plot twists but everything worked out and we realize why Cannon had the "good" gang member arrested for stolen gun possession...he wanted him in jail so the gang member wouldn't be involved in the climatic gun fight at the stadium.
Reviews
13 Reviews
Yankee Doodle Cricket
(1975 TV Movie)
A charming Chuck Jones television special
19 June 2021
As a procrastinator I finally got around to purchasing a DVD release with the Chuck Jones mid 1970's animated specials on them. "Yankee Doodle Mouse" is the one that I watched first and it was a very charming story about the Revolutionary War with a Cricket, a Mouse, and a Cat doing their bit to help the country gain it's Independence from England. Les Tremayne has the lead role of the Cricket as well as Harry. Mel Blanc has the actual starring role as Tucker the Mouse...his voice is heard the most throughout the special...as Tucker as well as a rattlesnake with a head cold and a bald eagle. June Foray has brief vocalization as a Queen bee and as lightning bug, Marsha. The animation is great for it's time (1975) and the fact that it was a made-for-TV production with no huge budget from a movie studio enables it something to behold. The overall look and design is pure Chuck Jones...and I suppose if you're not knowledgeable about American history you won't get the anachronistic humor where contemporary references come out of the mouths of those who lived in the late 1700's. I appreciate this type of ironic humor and I found "Yankee Doodle Cricket" fun to not only listen to but also watch.
Hee Haw
(1969–1997)
Good Ol' country humor and music...HEE-HAW!!!
6 December 2010
Warning: Spoilers
I love the Hee-Haw program and I own 11 of the DVD's that were issued by Time-Life back in the early 2000's. I think 2004-2006, somewhere in that time frame. Anyway...I was practically raised on this show. Yes, I know now that the show was not necessarily aimed at my age bracket...I was born in 1976 and so I was not even a teenager when I first saw this show...but I liked the show nonetheless. Every Saturday the show would air and it would also air repeats at various times on Sunday afternoon. I'd catch the shows whenever I could. For a period of years I'd watch it with my grandparent's on Saturday evenings when I'd spend the weekend with them. I currently watch Hee-Haw on the RFD-TV channel...it airs every Sunday night at 8pm Eastern time and the episode repeats Monday mornings at 10am Eastern. Those who have digital or satellite cable should check your line-up's to see if you get the channel...if so you'll be able to watch Hee-Haw each week again. Currently they're airing 1972 episodes.
Hee-Haw, as it's been commented on, was inspired by Laugh-In. The humor on Hee-Haw was purposely corny. The quick edit style of jumping from one scene to the next in rapid-fire succession, according to the show's producer, was one of the elements of the show that gave it appeal. Before one could groan at a bad joke something else was up on the screen. When I see commentary that insults the show's writers I often take up for them. The jokes were purposely bad and corny...but some jokes and one-liners were actually hilarious...depending on who delivered them. Don Harron's KORN radio character, Charlie Farqhueson, was laugh out loud funny. His mangled English, alliteration, and puns were clever...and if one carefully listens to a lot of his routines you're bound to hear some more R-rated jokes slip in. Sometimes the crew off-stage could be heard howling with laughter...but Harron always managed to stay in character and not break-up.
I could go on and on about the beloved sketches and cast-members of this program but so could any number of other Hee-Haw fans.
The show aired on CBS-TV from 1969 through 1971. It became a syndicated program...airing in the same time-slot on local CBS affiliates...starting in the fall of 1971. It would remain in syndication through the summer of 1992.
Vicki Lawrence saluted the program in May of 1994 on her short-lived daytime talk-show. The Nashville Network aired selected repeats of the show during the early and mid '90s. The show's producer, Sam Lovullo, issued a look-back on the show in the form of LIFE IN THE KORNFIELD, a book that was released in 1996. The show would later rerun on CMT but on very limited air-dates. CMT, in my opinion, insulted the show's audience and everyone involved with the program when they played around with their line-up and basically teased the Hee-Haw fans with infrequent airings of the program. Time-Life issued several DVD collections of the program which went on to become top-sellers on-line.
RFD-TV is currently airing repeats of the program on Sunday nights and they've promised to air the show in chronological order. So far they're up to January 1972.
There were typically 26 episodes of Hee-Haw produced per season...26 first-run episodes and the 26 repeats make up a 52 week calendar year.
Hee-Haw, as it's been commented on, was inspired by Laugh-In. The humor on Hee-Haw was purposely corny. The quick edit style of jumping from one scene to the next in rapid-fire succession, according to the show's producer, was one of the elements of the show that gave it appeal. Before one could groan at a bad joke something else was up on the screen. When I see commentary that insults the show's writers I often take up for them. The jokes were purposely bad and corny...but some jokes and one-liners were actually hilarious...depending on who delivered them. Don Harron's KORN radio character, Charlie Farqhueson, was laugh out loud funny. His mangled English, alliteration, and puns were clever...and if one carefully listens to a lot of his routines you're bound to hear some more R-rated jokes slip in. Sometimes the crew off-stage could be heard howling with laughter...but Harron always managed to stay in character and not break-up.
I could go on and on about the beloved sketches and cast-members of this program but so could any number of other Hee-Haw fans.
The show aired on CBS-TV from 1969 through 1971. It became a syndicated program...airing in the same time-slot on local CBS affiliates...starting in the fall of 1971. It would remain in syndication through the summer of 1992.
Vicki Lawrence saluted the program in May of 1994 on her short-lived daytime talk-show. The Nashville Network aired selected repeats of the show during the early and mid '90s. The show's producer, Sam Lovullo, issued a look-back on the show in the form of LIFE IN THE KORNFIELD, a book that was released in 1996. The show would later rerun on CMT but on very limited air-dates. CMT, in my opinion, insulted the show's audience and everyone involved with the program when they played around with their line-up and basically teased the Hee-Haw fans with infrequent airings of the program. Time-Life issued several DVD collections of the program which went on to become top-sellers on-line.
RFD-TV is currently airing repeats of the program on Sunday nights and they've promised to air the show in chronological order. So far they're up to January 1972.
There were typically 26 episodes of Hee-Haw produced per season...26 first-run episodes and the 26 repeats make up a 52 week calendar year.
Spotlight on Voices
13 December 2009
Warning: Spoilers
This bonus feature is one of my all-time favorites of the many bonus features on the DVD series, GOLDEN COLLECTION. It's featured on disc 4 on Volume Four of the collection. As you see with the long cast-list it sets out to shine some light on the sadly over-looked area in cartoons: the voice acting. While it's true that kids and even adults when they watch an animated program aren't usually thinking of someone standing or sitting in front of a microphone providing the voices. So, in the sense, I can see why the voice-acting area is over-looked by the public. But at the same time I'm kind of quirky myself and I enjoy learning about the voice artists and seeing them do the voices on-screen and so in that sense I wish voice-acting would have been more focused on by the media and the public.
Given that this is Warner Brothers a good number of attention is spent, obviously, on the voice artists at the studio. Mel Blanc, the studio's #1 voice artist, is given spotlight as are Arthur Q Bryan, Bea Benaderet, June Foray, and Stan Freberg. Viewers are also told that one of the cartoon's major writers, Tedd Pierce, doubled as a sometimes voice actor opposite Mel Blanc on a few cartoons. Mel's exclusive contract is explained while June Foray discusses her introduction to the Warner Brothers cartoons and she explains that her two biggest characters of Granny and Witch Hazel had been voiced before by Bea Benaderet but not being a big cartoon watcher she assumed the characters were new. Daws Butler is mentioned in this segment, too.
Those who are into cartoons and have some knowledge of who made cartoons and who voiced some characters will know of Daws Butler and you'll also know that he was Hanna-Barbera's #1 voice artist during the late '50s through the mid '60s.
His spotlight on a Warner Brothers DVD series may seem bizarre given how synonymous he was with Hanna-Barbera but in fact Daws lent his voice to quite a few Warner Brothers cartoons but given the exclusivity of Mel Blanc's contract, no other voice artist could get screen credit until the contract expired. The contract expired in the mid '60s and that's when viewers began to see the other voice artist's names on screen next to Mel on Warner Brothers cartoons. Daws, most famously, lent his voice for the Robert McKimson parody of the Honeymooners called "The Honeymousers". It's Daws who's giving voice to the Ralph and Gnorton mice. June Foray voices Alice. They're not given credit on-screen, though.
Daws also voiced the villain, Nasty Canasta, in the Bugs Bunny cartoon "Barbary Coast Bunny". Daws also narrated and did the male voices in the Chuck Jones cartoon short, "Rocket-Bye Baby". In the Bugs Bunny-Elmer Fudd cartoon "Wideo Wabbit", Daws is the one doing the impressions of Groucho Marx and Ed Gnorton, in spite of it being Bugs Bunny "impersonating" those roles. In "Backwoods Bunny" it's Daws providing the voices for the country buzzards, Pappy and Elvis. These characters would appear in other cartoon shorts as well.
There should have been a bigger spotlight on Daws but as others have said Mel Blanc was the heart and soul of the Warner Brothers cartoons.
Robert Bruce is given some exposure via Keith Scott who gives insight to Bruce's origins. Billy Bletcher is also another voice artist whose characterizations are well-known even if his name is not.
So, the bottom line is, this look at voice acting in this installment is a near as thorough look as possible at those artists who provided voices for Warner Brothers cartoons.
Given that this is Warner Brothers a good number of attention is spent, obviously, on the voice artists at the studio. Mel Blanc, the studio's #1 voice artist, is given spotlight as are Arthur Q Bryan, Bea Benaderet, June Foray, and Stan Freberg. Viewers are also told that one of the cartoon's major writers, Tedd Pierce, doubled as a sometimes voice actor opposite Mel Blanc on a few cartoons. Mel's exclusive contract is explained while June Foray discusses her introduction to the Warner Brothers cartoons and she explains that her two biggest characters of Granny and Witch Hazel had been voiced before by Bea Benaderet but not being a big cartoon watcher she assumed the characters were new. Daws Butler is mentioned in this segment, too.
Those who are into cartoons and have some knowledge of who made cartoons and who voiced some characters will know of Daws Butler and you'll also know that he was Hanna-Barbera's #1 voice artist during the late '50s through the mid '60s.
His spotlight on a Warner Brothers DVD series may seem bizarre given how synonymous he was with Hanna-Barbera but in fact Daws lent his voice to quite a few Warner Brothers cartoons but given the exclusivity of Mel Blanc's contract, no other voice artist could get screen credit until the contract expired. The contract expired in the mid '60s and that's when viewers began to see the other voice artist's names on screen next to Mel on Warner Brothers cartoons. Daws, most famously, lent his voice for the Robert McKimson parody of the Honeymooners called "The Honeymousers". It's Daws who's giving voice to the Ralph and Gnorton mice. June Foray voices Alice. They're not given credit on-screen, though.
Daws also voiced the villain, Nasty Canasta, in the Bugs Bunny cartoon "Barbary Coast Bunny". Daws also narrated and did the male voices in the Chuck Jones cartoon short, "Rocket-Bye Baby". In the Bugs Bunny-Elmer Fudd cartoon "Wideo Wabbit", Daws is the one doing the impressions of Groucho Marx and Ed Gnorton, in spite of it being Bugs Bunny "impersonating" those roles. In "Backwoods Bunny" it's Daws providing the voices for the country buzzards, Pappy and Elvis. These characters would appear in other cartoon shorts as well.
There should have been a bigger spotlight on Daws but as others have said Mel Blanc was the heart and soul of the Warner Brothers cartoons.
Robert Bruce is given some exposure via Keith Scott who gives insight to Bruce's origins. Billy Bletcher is also another voice artist whose characterizations are well-known even if his name is not.
So, the bottom line is, this look at voice acting in this installment is a near as thorough look as possible at those artists who provided voices for Warner Brothers cartoons.
An incredible documentary
12 December 2009
Warning: Spoilers
I always loved the Warner Brothers cartoons when I was younger and now that I'm well into adult-hood it's wonderful having DVD's of the cartoons. These "Golden Collection" releases aren't cheap but they're not out of this world expensive, neither. The collections were always chock full of bonus features...something I appreciated because I love hearing from those who worked on the cartoons give their thoughts. It's always nostalgic to watch people reflect back on their days in animation and it's especially refreshing to watch almost everyone talk in amazement and sheer puzzlement at how long-lasting the cartoons have been when originally the directors and writers and everyone else involved with the cartoons assumed the cartoons would get a few showings at theaters and never be seen again.
This documentary, narrated by Stan Freberg, starts out making reference to Windsor McKay before discussing Walt Disney and the beginning of the animated cartoon. Naturally this is at the beginning of Warner Brothers cartoons and a key figure at the time was Friz Freleng. The story of the cartoon studio is looked back on with loving respect and there's not too many omissions which is what you often get with look back programs and documentary retrospectives. Many animators both past and present as well as voice actors pop up throughout the story. Also seen are animation historians and footage of Friz Freleng and Chuck Jones. The contributions at the studio of Bob Clampett, Frank Tashlin, and Robert McKimson are discussed as well. In fact, Clampett's daughter appears in a segment as does Robert McKimson's son. Frank Tashlin is spoke of in high regard by Jerry Beck and Bill Melendez. The impact of Carl Stalling's music is discussed as is a segment about voice actors. Noel Blanc, the son of Mel Blanc, appears throughout giving anecdotes and recollections of his father and life growing up as the son of a voice artist.
Who's the director that's given credit for being the one person with the Looney Tunes from start to finish? You'll find out when you watch the documentary...and here's a hint...it isn't Friz Freleng.
This documentary, narrated by Stan Freberg, starts out making reference to Windsor McKay before discussing Walt Disney and the beginning of the animated cartoon. Naturally this is at the beginning of Warner Brothers cartoons and a key figure at the time was Friz Freleng. The story of the cartoon studio is looked back on with loving respect and there's not too many omissions which is what you often get with look back programs and documentary retrospectives. Many animators both past and present as well as voice actors pop up throughout the story. Also seen are animation historians and footage of Friz Freleng and Chuck Jones. The contributions at the studio of Bob Clampett, Frank Tashlin, and Robert McKimson are discussed as well. In fact, Clampett's daughter appears in a segment as does Robert McKimson's son. Frank Tashlin is spoke of in high regard by Jerry Beck and Bill Melendez. The impact of Carl Stalling's music is discussed as is a segment about voice actors. Noel Blanc, the son of Mel Blanc, appears throughout giving anecdotes and recollections of his father and life growing up as the son of a voice artist.
Who's the director that's given credit for being the one person with the Looney Tunes from start to finish? You'll find out when you watch the documentary...and here's a hint...it isn't Friz Freleng.
Superior Duck
(1996)
nice installment
29 August 2009
Warning: Spoilers
This cartoon short starring Daffy Duck is rather good. I saw it for the first time yesterday. It's one of the bonus features on the new DVD release of "Daffy Duck's Quackbusters". I liked the cartoon and it's satire on the Superman style, right down to the mangled announcing purposely did for comical intent. By mangled announcing I mean playing with the trademark lines in the Superman opening's of "faster than a speeding bullet..." and at one point "pullet" is said instead of "bullet" which brings out Foghorn Leghorn.
I felt the voice acting was good...I've never really been too fond of Frank Gorshin's take on Foghorn Leghorn but his Daffy impression was right on. Bob Bergen on hand as Porky is a plus. The cartoon being a little less than 5 minutes, give or take a minute, though, made for a rushed delivery. It's almost like the people involved wanted to get the cartoon finished and screened and perhaps thought with a short cartoon there's not much time for restlessness with theater goers. After-all, modern-day movie goers aren't familiar with the theatrical cartoon experience and might wonder what's going on when a cartoon pops up on the screen.
So, that's my theory why the later cartoons during the 1990's were super short by comparison to the classics from the '40s and '50s.
I give it 6 out of 10 stars...if you're not too familiar with these characters like I am, the distinct change in voice in Foghorn Leghorn will not stand-out perhaps. But, given that I'm a big fan of Looney Tunes, it doesn't stand up next to the classics but this doesn't mean this "Superior Duck" isn't any good. It still has Chuck Jones' imprint all over it.
I felt the voice acting was good...I've never really been too fond of Frank Gorshin's take on Foghorn Leghorn but his Daffy impression was right on. Bob Bergen on hand as Porky is a plus. The cartoon being a little less than 5 minutes, give or take a minute, though, made for a rushed delivery. It's almost like the people involved wanted to get the cartoon finished and screened and perhaps thought with a short cartoon there's not much time for restlessness with theater goers. After-all, modern-day movie goers aren't familiar with the theatrical cartoon experience and might wonder what's going on when a cartoon pops up on the screen.
So, that's my theory why the later cartoons during the 1990's were super short by comparison to the classics from the '40s and '50s.
I give it 6 out of 10 stars...if you're not too familiar with these characters like I am, the distinct change in voice in Foghorn Leghorn will not stand-out perhaps. But, given that I'm a big fan of Looney Tunes, it doesn't stand up next to the classics but this doesn't mean this "Superior Duck" isn't any good. It still has Chuck Jones' imprint all over it.
Daffy Dilly
(1948)
"Cubish!!!!"
26 August 2009
Warning: Spoilers
This cartoon short served as the inspiration for the 1988 clip-filled program, "Daffy Duck's Quackbusters". The cartoon short featured Daffy as a salesman who gets word that a dying millionaire will offer a fortune to anyone that can make him laugh. Daffy arrives at the Cubish mansion and after a few entanglements with the snooty butler he marches into Cubish's bedroom and trips. This makes Cubish chuckle...and then he starts laughing and laughing...uncontrollably. Pie throwing enters the equation next as Daffy gets hit in the face with a barrage of pies, one after the other. The cartoon ends with Daffy wiping his face off and saying "it's a living". In the movie, this ending was edited out and new animation was created to show that Cubish died laughing and therefore Daffy inherited the Cubish fortune.
In response to the other comment...MGM has nothing to do with Warner Brothers cartoons. MGM has no ownership of Warner Brothers cartoons. They were both competitors...along with Disney and the Walter Lantz studio. I'm not quite sure what you were asking, though. I think Ted Turner at one time owned the cartoons but I don't believe he has anything to do with them anymore given that the cartoons were released on those extensive Golden DVD collections that I love!! If Ted were still a part of things I would have seen some sort of credit for his company on the DVD case's and I never saw any.
In response to the other comment...MGM has nothing to do with Warner Brothers cartoons. MGM has no ownership of Warner Brothers cartoons. They were both competitors...along with Disney and the Walter Lantz studio. I'm not quite sure what you were asking, though. I think Ted Turner at one time owned the cartoons but I don't believe he has anything to do with them anymore given that the cartoons were released on those extensive Golden DVD collections that I love!! If Ted were still a part of things I would have seen some sort of credit for his company on the DVD case's and I never saw any.
Uphill All the Way
(1986)
"...life is Uphill All the Way..."
18 July 2009
Warning: Spoilers
I saw this movie on a rented VHS from a local video store. My grandparent's and I watched the movie one Saturday night around the time it was relatively new. We were big watchers of HEE-HAW and so it was a natural film to want to see, considering the movie starred Roy Clark and featured Gailord Sartain, both from HEE-HAW. I had not seen the movie since those three play's from the rented VHS but I remember the theme song's title.... "life is Uphill All the Way..." and it carries a western arrangement, obviously. At the time, the scenes I found hilarious were the ones with Glen Campbell...10 or 15 years later, if I were to see the film again, I'd probably find other subtle things funny as well but at the time Glen Campbell's role was hilarious.
It's a nice family movie even if there's some scenes involving women of the night. I saw this film when I was younger, I was 10 years old at the time, spending the weekends with my grandparent's. It would be nice to see the film again...straight through...to get a different perspective. The film was released in 1986 but of course because it's set in the old west it looks older than what it really is. Burl Ives and Elaine Joyce have good roles as well. Naturally, this sort of film isn't going to set the world on fire or inspire millions. It's simply a good ol' boy film...like a western version of DUKES OF HAZZARD minus the probation sub-plot of the TV series.
Booger and Ben, the two lead characters, are on the run after being accused of a crime they didn't commit. It being the old west there wasn't such a thing as a judiciary system as we know it...back then if you were accused of a crime and the mayor, sheriff, or boss of the small town was corrupt you didn't have much of a chance to show your innocence...so the only thing left to do was go on the run or be executed for a crime you didn't commit.
There was a limited release DVD of this movie about 12 years ago but I had no idea of it's availability...it's long out of print now. Hopefully it comes up on DVD again at some point but I doubt it will seeing that it's been 12 years since it's first DVD release. For family-fun and those who like the chase movies like "Cannonball Run", "Smoky and the Bandit", and the TV shows "Hee-Haw" and "Dukes of Hazzard", then this movie is right up your alley.
It's a nice family movie even if there's some scenes involving women of the night. I saw this film when I was younger, I was 10 years old at the time, spending the weekends with my grandparent's. It would be nice to see the film again...straight through...to get a different perspective. The film was released in 1986 but of course because it's set in the old west it looks older than what it really is. Burl Ives and Elaine Joyce have good roles as well. Naturally, this sort of film isn't going to set the world on fire or inspire millions. It's simply a good ol' boy film...like a western version of DUKES OF HAZZARD minus the probation sub-plot of the TV series.
Booger and Ben, the two lead characters, are on the run after being accused of a crime they didn't commit. It being the old west there wasn't such a thing as a judiciary system as we know it...back then if you were accused of a crime and the mayor, sheriff, or boss of the small town was corrupt you didn't have much of a chance to show your innocence...so the only thing left to do was go on the run or be executed for a crime you didn't commit.
There was a limited release DVD of this movie about 12 years ago but I had no idea of it's availability...it's long out of print now. Hopefully it comes up on DVD again at some point but I doubt it will seeing that it's been 12 years since it's first DVD release. For family-fun and those who like the chase movies like "Cannonball Run", "Smoky and the Bandit", and the TV shows "Hee-Haw" and "Dukes of Hazzard", then this movie is right up your alley.
By Word of Mouse
(1954)
rodent capitalism
9 February 2009
Warning: Spoilers
This economically-driven cartoon short features the story of a mouse who recollects his trip to America, telling his family over-seas about the capitalism of America. It is the last cartoon on DVD #1 in the "Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection, Volume Six". In an effort to make the cartoon contain some elements of a standard Looney Tunes short, Sylvester the cat makes an entrance part way through as the the two mice are being lectured by a Professor mouse on the ways of capitalism. This scenario causes the short to become part instructional/part cat-chases-mice. There's a joke at the end of the short about mass production when the camera pans over to a female mouse.
To correct the voice credits...on here it has Mel Blanc as the voice of all the characters. Mel was the voice of the foreign mouse while Stan Freberg portrayed the American mouse.
To correct the voice credits...on here it has Mel Blanc as the voice of all the characters. Mel was the voice of the foreign mouse while Stan Freberg portrayed the American mouse.
A Message to Gracias
(1964)
off the wall entry
9 February 2009
Warning: Spoilers
in this entry, Speedy is called upon to deliver a message to a General Mouse with Sylvester on Speedy's trail the entire way. This cartoon represents one of the few times where Speedy turns on his own kind...he traps Sylvester and wraps him up in rope and then Speedy finds out this important message was simply a birthday card, this causes him to free Sylvester and in a bizarre turn of events, Sylvester imitates Speedy's catch-phrases and runs after the top military mice as the cartoon fades.
To respond to the earlier post...the reason why Friz started up his own company and continued to release cartoons is because he and the people involved wanted to continue doing what they loved doing. Although Warner Brothers shut down it's theatrical division for the first time in the early 1960's, that didn't mean Friz and company were suppose to retire. So, Friz and his business partner, David DePatie, started up their company. Chuck Jones and his associates started up their company. Then, when Warner Brothers decided to start releasing cartoons theatrically again, Friz and David were on hand to fulfill the demand with a series of Speedy cartoons among other characters. I would not say the cartoons of the late '60s ran out of steam...that's a popular belief, though.
I think those cartoons were a victim of children's advocate groups insisting cartoons be somewhat non-violent and be more appealing to a child's mind...they're good cartoons but they aren't presented with the same execution as the adult-aimed cartoons Warner Brothers had been known for. So, the reason why Friz continued on is because he loved what he was doing as did Chuck Jones. I believe Chuck's company was called Sib Tower 12 and Friz's was simply DePatie-Freleng. I also want to add that THE BUGS BUNNY SHOW and other characters in the Warner Brothers cartoon family ran on network TV for almost 40 years. 1960-1999. Afterward the cartoons have aired on cable-TV...and it's only been the last decade that Saturday morning TV has been without those characters.
I know it sounds bizarre to those outside the loop when it comes to cartoons but 1940's and 1950's cartoons were running on Saturday mornings throughout the '60s, '70s, '80s, and '90s...and someone at ABC-TV, which was the last network to air the theatrical cartoon shorts, came up with the idea to drop the show in 1999. Since they've not been on mainstream TV for 10 years now there's an audience totally unaware of the characters and because they are so different than what's on TV now, you will be lucky to find someone under 20 who will have much knowledge of the cartoon characters.
To respond to the earlier post...the reason why Friz started up his own company and continued to release cartoons is because he and the people involved wanted to continue doing what they loved doing. Although Warner Brothers shut down it's theatrical division for the first time in the early 1960's, that didn't mean Friz and company were suppose to retire. So, Friz and his business partner, David DePatie, started up their company. Chuck Jones and his associates started up their company. Then, when Warner Brothers decided to start releasing cartoons theatrically again, Friz and David were on hand to fulfill the demand with a series of Speedy cartoons among other characters. I would not say the cartoons of the late '60s ran out of steam...that's a popular belief, though.
I think those cartoons were a victim of children's advocate groups insisting cartoons be somewhat non-violent and be more appealing to a child's mind...they're good cartoons but they aren't presented with the same execution as the adult-aimed cartoons Warner Brothers had been known for. So, the reason why Friz continued on is because he loved what he was doing as did Chuck Jones. I believe Chuck's company was called Sib Tower 12 and Friz's was simply DePatie-Freleng. I also want to add that THE BUGS BUNNY SHOW and other characters in the Warner Brothers cartoon family ran on network TV for almost 40 years. 1960-1999. Afterward the cartoons have aired on cable-TV...and it's only been the last decade that Saturday morning TV has been without those characters.
I know it sounds bizarre to those outside the loop when it comes to cartoons but 1940's and 1950's cartoons were running on Saturday mornings throughout the '60s, '70s, '80s, and '90s...and someone at ABC-TV, which was the last network to air the theatrical cartoon shorts, came up with the idea to drop the show in 1999. Since they've not been on mainstream TV for 10 years now there's an audience totally unaware of the characters and because they are so different than what's on TV now, you will be lucky to find someone under 20 who will have much knowledge of the cartoon characters.
Inch High, Private Eye
(1973)
Inches and Inches
21 November 2008
I would also like to comment that the version of the series I saw featured Inch High in his green trench coat solving mysteries with the help of the girl and the boy. Finkerton was actually my favorite character on the show...I don't really know if it's because of the character's voice or because the character was funny, period, with his outbursts and rants about everything he didn't like about Inch High. The voice John Stephenson used for Finkerton is based on Joe Flynn's character on "McHale's Navy". He used this voice again on other cartoon's. INCH HIGH would feature him on the telephone in the opening sequence, dialing a number using his body, because his fingers were too small. So, I don't know the version that was previously written about when it was stated that Inch High could rise or shrink. The series I saw, Inch High was always an inch high. I saw the series for the first time on the USA Cartoon Express.
good look-back
13 August 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This is an amazing account of Jack Benny...in all facet's of his showbiz career. Everything from vaudeville, to radio, to TV, to the many TV specials, and so on, are covered in this BIOGRAPHY episode. Several of the participants of this episode give their take on Jack's marriage to Mary Livingstone. You, as a viewer, will be treated to some feelings from Joan Benny herself...and some other comments regarding Mary that may surprise you. Steve Allen's appearance is a welcome addition...as are the personal recollections from Fred De Cordova and Irving Fein and some others who knew Jack personally. All in all, though, the BIOGRAPHY episode doesn't take away from who is being honored: Jack Benny!
Caricature Characters
30 July 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This short goes hand-in-hand with several others from Warner Brothers cartoons depicting Hollywood's Golden Age celebrities. The other, closely resembling this cartoon short is "The CooCoo Nut Grove". However, in this one, "The Wood's Are Full of Cuckoo's" we are treated to the cartoon caricatures of the biggest stars of that era. Ben Birdie and Walter Finchell are spoofs of Ben Bernie and Walter Winchell. There is basically no real plot...only a series of one-liners or silly situations spoofing Hollywood's elite at that time. The fox that hollars "Why Doesn't Somebody Tell Me These Things!" in this cartoon is a parody of Fred Allen, it's a joke about Fred's constant battles with censors and time constraints on his radio show. The female who says "you're singing the wrong song" is a parody of Fred's wife, Portland Hoffa. Louella Possums is a parody of Louella Parsons, a gossip reporter, interviewing Jack Bunny, an obvious spoof of Jack Benny. Andy Bovine is a spoof of Andy Devine. Again, no real plot to the cartoon, but for those who get a kick seeing Hollywood's golden age celebrities in a humorous light, check out the cartoon for yourself.
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