Fresh takes on retro pop culture
THE WEE MEN is a wee bit o’blarney about Leprechauns, one of Paramount Picture’s Noveltoons series. It’s the story of Paddy, just turned 121 years old, and entrusted with the important task of leaving new shoes on doorsteps for St. Patrick’s Day… until the Greediest Man Alive captures him and demands to be taken to that fabled pot o’gold! Directed by former Disney animator Bill Tytla, enjoy THE WEE MEN (and yes, it’s in the Public Domain!):
Before Rudolph, Charlie Brown, and The Grinch, nearsighted cartoon star Mr. Magoo (voiced by Jim Backus ) headlined the first animated Christmas special, MR. MAGOO’S CHRISTMAS CAROL. First broadcast on NBC-TV in 1962, the special is presented as a Broadway musical, with Magoo as Ebeneezer Scrooge. Directed by Chuck Jones acolyte Abe Levitow , it features songs by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill (FUNNY GIRL), and a voice cast that includes Morey Amsterdam , Jack Cassidy , Royal Dano, Paul Frees (of course!) , Jane Kean, and Les Tremayne. And yes, that is Magoo’s fellow UPA cartoon stablemate Gerald McBoing-Boing as Tiny Tim! Besides 1938’s Reginald Owen version , this may very well be my favorite adaptation of Dickens’ Christmas classic! So here’s my Christmas gift to you all, MR. MAGOO’S CHRISTMAS CAROL in its entirety!:
Merry Christmas from Cracked Rear Viewer!
October is usually reserved for all things Halloween, but today just happens to be Friday the 13th! Originally considered a day to avoid bad luck, the superstition has been superceded by Jason Vorhees and the FRIDAY THE 13TH series of slasher films. ‘Triskaidiskaphobia’ runs rampant in the 1946 cartoon THE STUPIDSTITIOUS CAT, a Paramount entry starring Buzzy the Crow, voiced by Jackson Beck as an Eddie ‘Rochester’ Anderson parody and directed by Seymour Kneitel. Toss some salt over your shoulder and enjoy THE STUPIDSTITIOUS CAT!:
What do you think of that, Jason?
Captain America and his costumed cohorts made their television debuts way before the Marvel Cinematic Universe began dominating box offices around the world. THE MARVEL SUPER HEROES debuted in 1966, at the height of the BATMAN camp craze, with Cap, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and The Sub-Mariner the rotating stars of this limited animation series. And I do mean limited – Grantray-Lawrence Animation literally made copies of the comic book artwork of Jack ‘King’ Kirby, ‘Sturdy’ Steve Ditko, and other Bullpen artists, transferred them to film and basically just animated the character’s mouths and an occasional swinging fist!
The cartoons (and I use that term loosely) were syndicated to local stations, who filled holes in their time slots with the mighty Marvel heroes. Some stations ran them as stand-alone series, while others used the segments as part of local kid’s shows. Up here in New England, we watched on WNAC-TV (Channel 7 at the time), with an actor named Arthur Pierce dressed as Cap, constantly asking if anyone out there in TV Land had seen his pal Bucky!:
Eat yer heart out, Chris Evans!
Marvel’s Rogue’s Gallery of swingin’ super villains were also on hand.. after all, what good’s a superhero without a nefarious scheme to thwart? Baron Zemo, The Enchantress, The Mandarin, The Mole Man, Super-Skrull, and dastardly Dr. Doom himself all made their way into the stories. The Avengers assembled in various iterations (Giant Man and The Wasp, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and The Scarlet Witch all appeared), as did mutant teen team The X-Men, called the ‘Allies for Peace’ because Grantray-Lawrence didn’t own the rights to them (the more things change….)
The voice cast was strictly unknown, with two exceptions: Sandy Becker, a New York kid’s show host and voice actor (KING LEONARDO’s Mr. Wizard, GO-GO GOPHERS), who played Cap, and actor John Vernon. That’s right, ANIMAL HOUSE’s Dean Wormer himself did the voices of Iron Man, Sub-Mariner, and the Hulk’s nemesis Major Glenn Talbot. But for me, the most memorable part of the program was the individual theme songs for each hero:
Excelsior!
Before I start this post, allow me to introduce you to today’s co-reviewer:
This is my young friend James. I first met him when I was working with his mother. He was a shy three-year-old whose father had disavowed him. He was mistrustful of most adults, but for whatever reason, he took a liking to me, and “adopted” me as his best friend. I’ve become somewhat of a mentor to him, and we have lots of fun going places like Chuck E. Cheese, the park, the zoo, and the movies. He’s ten now, and a big Lego fan, so naturally we saw THE LEGO MOVIE together. When I asked him if he wanted to see THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE, he got super-excited. I must admit I was too, being a huge Batmaniac myself.
So today we went to check it out. James told me his school friends said it was “cool” and “wicked funny”, and you can’t get any better recommendations than that from a bunch of ten-year-olds! We arrived at the theater early, purchased our tickets, and proceeded to spend lots of my money on video games like “Terminator Salvation” and “Fast & Furious”, as well as numerous claw machine games, which the boy is really good at! Then, after buying our popcorn and sodas (and a pack of Oreo Minis for James’ sweet tooth) at the snack counter, we settled in to watch the show.
THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE is a visual treat, a film that both kids and adults will enjoy. The Lego Universe is different from Batman’s DC Universe, and takes a lot of liberties with the characters. Batman (voiced once again by Will Arnett) is an egomaniac who has difficulty letting anyone into his life, due to the loss of his parents. He can’t even commit to calling The Joker (Zach Galifianakis) his “greatest enemy”, which hurts the Clown Prince of Crime’s feelings. So much so that Joker decides to turn himself in to the authorities, along with the rest of Gotham’s Rogue’s Gallery. New Police Commissioner Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) declares there’s no longer a need for a masked vigilante now that all the super-villains are locked in Arkham Asylum and wants Batman to work as part of a team, which really sticks in the Caped Crusader’s cowl.
But The Dark Knight thinks Joker’s up to no good, and decides to steal Superman’s Phantom Zone Projector to banish the baddie forever. Then he discovers he’s unwittingly adopted a young orphan named Dick Grayson (Michael Cera, who’s pitch perfect). He orders faithful butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes) to send the child back, but instead Alfred brings the boy into the Batcave. So Batman trains Dick (now clad as Robin) to bust into the Man of Steel’s Fortress of Solitude to grab the Projector while he keeps Supes occupied.
The Dynamic Duo accomplish their goal (with a funny cameo by the entire JLA!) and send Joker to the Phantom Zone, only to be locked up for their trouble by an angry Barbara. But the still-on-the-loose Harley Quinn manages to steal the Projector and free Joker, who in turn unleashes the World’s Greatest Villains from the Phantom Zone (including Voldemort, Sauron, Dracula, King Kong, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the shark from JAWS, The Wicked Witch of the West, and assorted Gremlins and Daleks!) to destroy Gotham City once and for all. Can Batman learn to get along with everyone in time to stop the carnage??
I’ve got to say both James and I were enthralled by the action unfolding onscreen. I know I do a lot of complaining about CGI on this blog, but the graphics were just great. James’ friends were right about this being “wicked funny”, but I think I laughed more than him, mainly due to all the in-jokes and references to Batman movies, comics, and TV shows past (anyone remember Bat-Shark Repellent? Zan and Jana?). All the major Bat-villains are well represented here – my personal favorite was the Vincent Price-inspired Egghead! And the “Who’s the (Bat) Man” song is without a doubt the greatest Batman tune of all time! Big name stars like Mariah Carey, Hector Elizondo, Seth Green, Jonah Hill, Eddie Izzard, Brent Musberger, Conan O’Brien (an inspired choice for Riddler), Channing Tatum (Superman), and Billy DeeWilliams lend their voice talents to the cast, and video game composer Lorne Balfe delivers a jaunty score.
In THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE, the Caped Crusader learns that it’s okay to let people into your life, and that families can be made of more than blood ties. Just like me and James.
cracked rear viewer 