I just came across this article from the famed animation site, Cartoon Brew. It's an article about an upcoming celebration to Tex Avery later this month in Taylor, Texas. You can read about it HERE. The event is called Tex Avery Day and it'll be held on February 22, 2014. The article has a publish date of January 31, 2014 and so it's just a couple days old. The article also gives specifics about the venue, etc. etc.
Tex Avery's name is associated with some of the biggest characters in animation history: Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, BUGS BUNNY, and later on, Droopy. His career has been much ritten about through the years and you owe it to yourselves to look up his cartoons and be entertained in his unique style. His legend is rooted in the Warner Brothers theatrical cartoons but many have argued that his lasting legacy are the zany, wild, and exaggerated cartoons he directed for MGM. The cartoons he did for MGM include dozens of Droopy adventures...also there happened to be a series of cartoons starring a character named Screwy Squirrel and then there are the George and Lenny spoofs (titled George and Junior) that appeared in several of his MGM cartoons. In addition to those recurring characters Tex also brought us one shot cartoons that parodied or spoofed pop culture and fads and featured no recurring character at all. One of those kinds of cartoons is below...
Crazy Mixed-Up Pup comes from Tex's days at the Walter Lantz studio. It features vocal work from the legendary Daws Butler. The story is a funny scenario of a man and a dog changing personalities and the chaos that comes along as a result. The dog looks a little like the future Doggy Daddy of Hanna-Barbera fame.
One Ham's Family is a Christmas cartoon starring a pig family and it parodies a couple of things. The focal point, Junior, is a spoof of the Red Skelton radio character of the same name (note the crop of red hair on the pig's head). Meanwhile, the father's voice could very well be Andy Devine or an impression. Third, a wolf (dressed as Santa Claus) comes complete with a vocal that spoofs The Great Gildersleeve's famed giggle/laughter. The title of the cartoon is a pun of a real series, One Man's Family.
Don't forget...if you're in the area on February 22 go and experience the Tex Avery festivities taking place in Taylor, Texas. The link is in the first paragraph of the blog entry.
Fred "Tex" Avery: February 26, 1908 - August 26, 1980.
Showing posts with label porky pig. Show all posts
Showing posts with label porky pig. Show all posts
Monday, February 3, 2014
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
The Best of Mel Blanc: Man of 1,000 Voices...
this 25 song CD from Collector's Choice Music came along in 2005. This is the only Mel Blanc compilation that I own and so I couldn't tell you if it's better than others but with 25 recordings you can't go wrong. One of the over-looked aspects of Mel's career was his music. The material, of course, was aimed primarily at children but at the same time much like the Looney Tunes cartoons playing in theaters there was plenty for adults to laugh at and enjoy. For example, I don't feel that a child could truly understand why "The Missus Wouldn't Approve" is hilarious beyond the sad, trembling voice he uses on the recording. He uses this voice on another recording, "I Tell My Troubles To Joe", a narrative that adults will understand more quicker than kids. This voice was similar to the one he used for The Happy Postman on the Burns and Allen radio show. There are even love songs on here...there is "My Kind of Love" and "I'm In the Mood for Love"...but everything else is on the comical and off-beat side. One thing a listener will notice right away is the music is typical swing and big-band...sometimes there's a jazz overtone as well. These were the sounds that were considered "popular" prior to the creation of rock music. A few of the songs on this CD reached the Hot 100 in the late 1940's and early 1950's. His albums were primarily aimed at children and at one time he had several albums on the charts. Ironically, though, the more adult-oriented material I wrote of in the previous paragraph were released as singles to keep them separate from the albums that were aimed at kids.
I have the CD cover out of it's case, obviously. The cover is a centerfold where it has quite a few paragraphs from a man named Todd Everett from July 2005. The songs are written in list form and include the songwriter credits. Mel is listed as a co-writer on the song "There's a Hole in the Iron Curtain". Stan Freberg is credited as a co-writer on the song "Money". The songs associated with Mel that are considered the most popular are on the CD: "Woody Woodpecker", "Toot Toot Tootsie", "I Tan't Wait Till Quithmuth Day", "Barney Google", "The Hat I Got For Christmas Is Too Beeg", "Yosemite Sam", and "I Taut I Taw a Puddy Tat". Some more hilarious recordings on the CD are "Yah Das Ist Ein Christmas Tree", "The E.I.O Song", "The Missus Wouldn't Approve", "Morris", "Money", and "I Tell My Troubles To Joe".I would also like to use this blog entry to set the record straight about Mel and carrots. There has long been this myth that Mel was allergic to carrots. There is video footage of Mel on the special, Camera Three: The Boys From Termite Terrace, pointing out the fact that he isn't allergic to carrots. He simply doesn't like them...but the only thing that sounded like a carrot was a carrot...and so when recording the lines for Bugs Bunny he'd chew on the carrot and the recording would stop while he spit out the chewed carrot pieces in a bucket and they'd start recording again. This special was filmed at some point in the 1970's and was hosted by John Canemaker. In Mel's 1988 autobiography, That's Not All, Folks, he makes this similar statement again about not being allergic to carrots. Still to this day, 20 years after his death, people on social network sites like Facebook, Twitter, My Space, etc etc all continue to pass on this Mel was allergic to carrots myth as fact and they won't listen if you attempt to correct their mistake. I guess in their minds it's funny to continue saying Mel was allergic to carrots instead of accepting the truth that he wasn't. I know this paragraph won't erase the decades of belief that Mel was allergic to carrots but for those who do happen to stop by and read this blog entry you'll know the truth.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Daffy Duck's Quackbusters
This 1988 film, built around classic cartoons from the Warner Brothers library and new footage, is a broad spoof of the GHOSTBUSTERS franchise. The obvious title of "Daffy Duck's Quackbusters" will tell you what this clip-fest film will be about. The film features two contemporary cartoon shorts, 1987's "The Duxorcist" and 1988's "Night of the Living Duck". These two cartoons, combined with specific clips edited from classic cartoons, were blended together to showcase a full-length animated feature poking fun at the GHOSTBUSTERS popularity and the language used in the movie. Daffy inherits a fortune because he was able to make a dying millionaire laugh. In a scenario from an earlier cartoon, "Daffy Dilly", Daffy plays a salesman who gets word that a dying millionaire will leave a fortune to whoever can make him laugh. The millionaire was offering a fortune to anyone who was able to give him one good laugh before he died. After arriving at the mansion and out-witting the butler, Daffy did a broad range of stunts that received no laughs but when he accidentally trips and a series of cakes fall on him, the dying millionaire {a dog named Cubish} starts to chuckle and soon breaks out into a fit of laughter. Next we see Cubish in a pie throwing frenzy...hurling one pie after the other in Daffy's face. All through this he's laughing uncontrollably and that's when the original cartoon, "Daffy Dilly", ended. In the continuation, we see that Cubish dies laughing...and his estate goes to Daffy. The only catch is he has to use the money for good purposes or it'll cost him. Also, if Daffy even has the idea to use the money for greedy purposes, it'll cost him. Throughout the film each time Daffy gripes and complains about Cubish we hear thunder and see a stack of money in the vault vanish into thin air. Cubish often appears in ghost form throughout the cartoon. As a side business, Daffy goes into ghost hunting as a public service.
Daffy, Porky, and Bugs are billed as "Paranormalists at Large". Throughout the film a spoof commercial pops up promoting their ghost hunting business. Part of the commercial includes a now-popular phrase among Looney Tunes fans where Daffy explains the objectives of their business and tells potential clients something like: "spooks spooked, goblins gobbled, ufo's k.o'd, aliens alienated, and monsters remonstrated.". One of the memorable aspects of the film was how effortlessly the classic clips blended together. This wasn't the first time clip-filled animated films had been released by Warner Brothers but it was the first, to my knowledge, where two relatively new theatrical cartoons had been responsible for the commission of a full-length movie release.
And so...in between the classic clips we see new animation of Bugs, Daffy, and Porky bridging the clips along. We'll see the hilarious "but I did see an elephant in my bird bath" clip and pieces of Porky and Sylvester's adventures when Sylvester was cast as a cowardly feline and Porky was his annoyed owner. The 1987 clip of "The Duxorcist" is hilarious...particularly for those familiar with what it's spoofing, The Exorcist. In it, Daffy investigates a strange case of a female duck who's possessed and it's in this cartoon where the female utters all sorts of rubbish, but plainly enunciating in a sweet voice "Mary had a little lamb..." and then shouting in her possessed voice: "BUT I ATE IT!!!!".
Sharp eared listeners will note the differences in Daffy's voice when it segues from contemporary to classic footage. I believe they didn't speed up Daffy's voice enough in the new animation and so it sounds like Sylvester, more than it should. The difference between those two character's voices had always been that Sylvester had Mel Blanc's own voice with a lisp added to it while Daffy was actually the same voice only sped up a few octaves in the playback process to get a little higher tone.The cartoon as a whole is 5 star material. It's funny, cute in places, satirical in places, and who can resist the Mel Torme contribution of "Monsters Lead Such Interesting Lives" that Daffy sings in a monsters club after spraying his throat with Torme liquid. This scene happens near the start of the movie, within "Night of the Living Duck". The bonus features include the cult favorite "Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24th and 1/2 Century" along with "Superior Duck" and "Little Go Beep".
This is the first time this 1988 Daffy Duck movie has been released on DVD.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Looney Tunes: Spotlight Collection Volume 2
In this particular installment, we're treated to 30 cartoons. These cartoons are also featured on the more in-depth Golden Collection, Volume Two.
As with all of my DVD commentaries, it will include spoilers...so if you don't want to know much about the cartoons and their punch-lines and sight-gags prior to watching for yourselves, then this blog site isn't for you.
The first DVD in the collection is almost entirely Tweety and Sylvester. "Bad Ol' Putty Tat", "All A-Bird!", and "Room and Bird" are laugh out loud with their visual humor. Friz Freleng, the director of the Tweety and Sylvester cartoons, put his cartoons together timed to music. His cartoons often featured musical accompaniment to almost every action. Sylvester stomping around on the floor would be accentuated musically...his climbing a set of stairs or a ladder...you'd hear the "da da da da da da" music as he's walking...the higher he gets on the steps the higher the musical notes become. "Room and Bird" is a stand-out for me...it's about a wacky hotel who has a NO PETS ALLOWED policy so Granny sneaks in Tweety while another older woman sneaks in Sylvester. There is also a dog that figures into the mix...all the animals have to keep their presence a secret...so, whenever the landlord is making his rounds they have to hide. The landlord is over-the-top...pounding on doors of suspected guests with animals. "Open up!! Open up that door!!! Open up I said!!!". Later, the landlord has all that he can stand and he makes a broadcast on the loud speaker about if anyone has pets in this building, they're to be removed and the pay-off comes with an entire zoo of animals running out of the hotel. In "All A-Bird!", the familiar crew of Tweety and company are on a train ride where the conductor looks after Tweety as his owner has dropped him off at the depot. The conductor assures the woman no harm will come to the bird...later, Sylvester tries to grab Tweety and the conductor interrupts and becomes a protector...warning Sylvester to behave because he'll have his eyes on him. "And remember, CAT, no tricks!!". Figuring into the mix is Hector the bulldog...in a cage in the same car as Tweety and Sylvester...one of the memorable scenes is the train going up and down a hill...slamming Sylvester's crate into the dog's...which causes the dog to punch Sylvester in the face each time.
The collection also contains "Tweety Pie", the cartoon that paired the two together for the first time. In the cartoon Tweety is being tormented by the cat...whose called Thomas, instead of Sylvester...but this is only a minor difference as the character is the same. "THOMAS!! YOU BRUTE!!!" is the cry of the owner each time she notices that the cat has harmed the bird. Sylvester and Porky Pig are depicted in "Kitty Kornered", a cartoon about a pack of cats who taunt and torment Porky, spoofing the WAR OF THE WORLDS panic about martians invading Earth. The cat isn't called Sylvester but he has the same speech pattern. In a departure of sorts, "Old Glory" is featured here. This was a cartoon made to promote patriotism. Porky Pig doesn't understand the importance of the Pledge of Allegiance and so in a dream he's taken back through time, via Uncle Sam. It appears between "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery" and "Baby Bottleneck"...which sort of looks out of place sandwiched between two zany cartoons like that.
Bob Clampett created the Tweety character but Friz took over the character and added yellow "feathers" on him...actually, the character was painted yellow over censors objections to the bird looking naked without them.
"Snow Business" is about a blizzard hitting a rural area. Granny is stranded while Tweety and Sylvester are up in a cabin. The two start to get hungry...Tweety says there's nothing to worry about because the cabinets are loaded with bird seed. Sylvester hollers about not having cat food. Innocently, Tweety asks the cat what they eat. Sylvester names off a list of items...but becomes quiet realizing that birds is a food cat's love. So, the rest of the cartoon is Sylvester attempting to eat Tweety for supper. Later, Granny makes her way to the cabin with the news that she's brought food...but the cruel irony is she's brought more bird seed.
"Gift Wrapped" is a funny cartoon about Christmas. Granny gets Tweety as a Christmas gift...Sylvester notices this and before she wakes up to open gifts, Sylvester switches the bird with a rubber mouse. Granny notices the mistake and walks in to get her real gift...only to see Sylvester laying back like he's stuffed...coughing up feathers. Granny freaks out and demands: 'DROP HIM!! DROP HIM!!" as she literally pounds the bird out of Sylvester's stomach. The dog gets into the action later...he pounces on Sylvester and swallows him whole...after Sylvester had swallowed Tweety whole. So, Granny freaks out again and pounds on the dog who coughs up Sylvester...then she pounds on Sylvester who coughs up Tweety. 'DROP HIM!! OPEN YOUR MOUTH!!! DROP HIM!!!'.
The second DVD in the collection focuses on the music-related cartoons and some of the Hollywood spoofs. "Have You Got Any Castles" and "Hollywood Steps Out" are featured on this DVD as are a 13 more music-enhanced productions. Sylvester fancies himself as a singer...so in the opening cartoon "Back Alley Uproar" we see him singing his heart's content all at the expense of an impatient and sleepy Elmer Fudd. "Katnip Kollege" is an older cartoon spoofing the new sound of jazz/swing music. The cartoon is about a cat who isn't familiar with this new sound...the teacher is a parody of Bing Crosby vocally...by cartoon's end he learns how to perform in the new style. Jazz is also featured on "I Love To Sing-a" about an owl family whose father wants his children to be successful...one of his sons has a talent for singing but the parent's are horrified that the boy sings jazz instead of pop music. The boy, named Owl Jolsen, finds his way to a talent show and wins with his jazz performance. "The Hep Cat" is another spoof of pop-culture...this time it's about a cat who fancies himself as a Don Juan and ends up having a date with what he thinks is a knock-out but is in reality a hand puppet being performed by a bullying dog. This DVD also features classics: "One Froggy Evening", "What's Opera, Doc?", "Rhapsody Rabbit", and the live action blend with animation "You Ought To Be In Pictures".
In addition to those, we also have "Stage Door Cartoon", "Corny Concerto", and "The Three Little Bops", the latter a cartoon voiced/sung by Stan Freberg. "One Froggy Evening" is the famous cartoon about the singing frog who only sings in front of the man who found him and nobody else. The frog is now known as Michigan J Frog and it the mascot of the Warner Brothers network, The WB for short. The frog is famously known for singing bits and pieces of 'Michigan Rag' and 'Hello, My Baby' as well as 'I'm Just Wild About Harry' and other pop-standards. Chuck Jones directed the cartoon and he also directed "What's Opera, Doc?". That particular cartoon, like several others on DVD #2, seem to have lives of their own...going beyond just being a 7 minute cartoon. "You Ought To Be In Pictures" is the mini-biography of Friz Freleng's departure from Warner Brothers to a rival studio and how after his contract was up at the rival, he immediately rushed back to Warner Brothers. However, this was slightly changed for cartoon's sake and the story was about Daffy Duck tricking Porky Pig into leaving Warner Brothers for a much bigger career in movies. Porky gets out of his contract...talking with Leon Schlesinger, mixing animation and live action. He heads to the studio's for his big break but finds contempt and confusion...not to mention the rage from a security guard played by cartoon writer Michael Maltese with the voice of Mel Blanc.
Here's the story about that...it's accurate to the best of my knowledge: Warner Brothers didn't want to pay the writer an "actors fee" for speaking on camera and so they dubbed Mel's voice over-top of Michael's lines so they didn't have to pay extra...and Mel was their voice actor anyway...so that's the story i'd read as to why Mel's voice is heard when Maltese is "speaking" in the cartoon.
Porky ends up making his way back to Warner Brothers where he overhears Daffy telling Leon how Porky wasn't really much of a star or a talent anyway...he's attempting to become the star of the cartoons but Porky makes his presence known to Daffy...a sweaty, nervous Daffy sees what's happening. Porky motions for Daffy to step outside...then we hear thrashing and fighting. Porky rushes into the office and asks Leon for his job back. Leon chuckles and tells Porky he really never ripped up his contract. Daffy, shown in bandages, whispers to Porky about a new offer elsewhere...showing us Daffy hadn't learned his lesson.
"Show Biz Bugs" is about Bugs and Daffy competing in a song and dance routine. It was directed by Friz Freleng and it made use of Daffy being jealous of Bugs Bunny's fame and popularity.
The "Stage Door Cartoon" is a gag-filled cartoon about Elmer and Bugs in a vaudeville theater. There is a scene with a southern sheriff who some say became the model of Yosemite Sam...his voice is similar in tone to both Sam and Foghorn Leghorn. Bugs is in disguise as the sheriff and while in the theater the film shows a scene of Bugs dressing up as the sheriff...Elmer thinks "I got him!" and he runs over and rips the sheriff's clothes off to reveal it's a real person. Bugs closes the cartoon Durante style... "I got a million of 'em!".
Funny collection for those not too interested, unlike myself, in having the Golden Collection with all of it's extra features. These 30 cartoons as I mentioned previously, can be found on the 60 cartoon Golden Collection, Volume Two.
As with all of my DVD commentaries, it will include spoilers...so if you don't want to know much about the cartoons and their punch-lines and sight-gags prior to watching for yourselves, then this blog site isn't for you.
The first DVD in the collection is almost entirely Tweety and Sylvester. "Bad Ol' Putty Tat", "All A-Bird!", and "Room and Bird" are laugh out loud with their visual humor. Friz Freleng, the director of the Tweety and Sylvester cartoons, put his cartoons together timed to music. His cartoons often featured musical accompaniment to almost every action. Sylvester stomping around on the floor would be accentuated musically...his climbing a set of stairs or a ladder...you'd hear the "da da da da da da" music as he's walking...the higher he gets on the steps the higher the musical notes become. "Room and Bird" is a stand-out for me...it's about a wacky hotel who has a NO PETS ALLOWED policy so Granny sneaks in Tweety while another older woman sneaks in Sylvester. There is also a dog that figures into the mix...all the animals have to keep their presence a secret...so, whenever the landlord is making his rounds they have to hide. The landlord is over-the-top...pounding on doors of suspected guests with animals. "Open up!! Open up that door!!! Open up I said!!!". Later, the landlord has all that he can stand and he makes a broadcast on the loud speaker about if anyone has pets in this building, they're to be removed and the pay-off comes with an entire zoo of animals running out of the hotel. In "All A-Bird!", the familiar crew of Tweety and company are on a train ride where the conductor looks after Tweety as his owner has dropped him off at the depot. The conductor assures the woman no harm will come to the bird...later, Sylvester tries to grab Tweety and the conductor interrupts and becomes a protector...warning Sylvester to behave because he'll have his eyes on him. "And remember, CAT, no tricks!!". Figuring into the mix is Hector the bulldog...in a cage in the same car as Tweety and Sylvester...one of the memorable scenes is the train going up and down a hill...slamming Sylvester's crate into the dog's...which causes the dog to punch Sylvester in the face each time.
The collection also contains "Tweety Pie", the cartoon that paired the two together for the first time. In the cartoon Tweety is being tormented by the cat...whose called Thomas, instead of Sylvester...but this is only a minor difference as the character is the same. "THOMAS!! YOU BRUTE!!!" is the cry of the owner each time she notices that the cat has harmed the bird. Sylvester and Porky Pig are depicted in "Kitty Kornered", a cartoon about a pack of cats who taunt and torment Porky, spoofing the WAR OF THE WORLDS panic about martians invading Earth. The cat isn't called Sylvester but he has the same speech pattern. In a departure of sorts, "Old Glory" is featured here. This was a cartoon made to promote patriotism. Porky Pig doesn't understand the importance of the Pledge of Allegiance and so in a dream he's taken back through time, via Uncle Sam. It appears between "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery" and "Baby Bottleneck"...which sort of looks out of place sandwiched between two zany cartoons like that.
Bob Clampett created the Tweety character but Friz took over the character and added yellow "feathers" on him...actually, the character was painted yellow over censors objections to the bird looking naked without them.
"Snow Business" is about a blizzard hitting a rural area. Granny is stranded while Tweety and Sylvester are up in a cabin. The two start to get hungry...Tweety says there's nothing to worry about because the cabinets are loaded with bird seed. Sylvester hollers about not having cat food. Innocently, Tweety asks the cat what they eat. Sylvester names off a list of items...but becomes quiet realizing that birds is a food cat's love. So, the rest of the cartoon is Sylvester attempting to eat Tweety for supper. Later, Granny makes her way to the cabin with the news that she's brought food...but the cruel irony is she's brought more bird seed.
"Gift Wrapped" is a funny cartoon about Christmas. Granny gets Tweety as a Christmas gift...Sylvester notices this and before she wakes up to open gifts, Sylvester switches the bird with a rubber mouse. Granny notices the mistake and walks in to get her real gift...only to see Sylvester laying back like he's stuffed...coughing up feathers. Granny freaks out and demands: 'DROP HIM!! DROP HIM!!" as she literally pounds the bird out of Sylvester's stomach. The dog gets into the action later...he pounces on Sylvester and swallows him whole...after Sylvester had swallowed Tweety whole. So, Granny freaks out again and pounds on the dog who coughs up Sylvester...then she pounds on Sylvester who coughs up Tweety. 'DROP HIM!! OPEN YOUR MOUTH!!! DROP HIM!!!'.
The second DVD in the collection focuses on the music-related cartoons and some of the Hollywood spoofs. "Have You Got Any Castles" and "Hollywood Steps Out" are featured on this DVD as are a 13 more music-enhanced productions. Sylvester fancies himself as a singer...so in the opening cartoon "Back Alley Uproar" we see him singing his heart's content all at the expense of an impatient and sleepy Elmer Fudd. "Katnip Kollege" is an older cartoon spoofing the new sound of jazz/swing music. The cartoon is about a cat who isn't familiar with this new sound...the teacher is a parody of Bing Crosby vocally...by cartoon's end he learns how to perform in the new style. Jazz is also featured on "I Love To Sing-a" about an owl family whose father wants his children to be successful...one of his sons has a talent for singing but the parent's are horrified that the boy sings jazz instead of pop music. The boy, named Owl Jolsen, finds his way to a talent show and wins with his jazz performance. "The Hep Cat" is another spoof of pop-culture...this time it's about a cat who fancies himself as a Don Juan and ends up having a date with what he thinks is a knock-out but is in reality a hand puppet being performed by a bullying dog. This DVD also features classics: "One Froggy Evening", "What's Opera, Doc?", "Rhapsody Rabbit", and the live action blend with animation "You Ought To Be In Pictures".
In addition to those, we also have "Stage Door Cartoon", "Corny Concerto", and "The Three Little Bops", the latter a cartoon voiced/sung by Stan Freberg. "One Froggy Evening" is the famous cartoon about the singing frog who only sings in front of the man who found him and nobody else. The frog is now known as Michigan J Frog and it the mascot of the Warner Brothers network, The WB for short. The frog is famously known for singing bits and pieces of 'Michigan Rag' and 'Hello, My Baby' as well as 'I'm Just Wild About Harry' and other pop-standards. Chuck Jones directed the cartoon and he also directed "What's Opera, Doc?". That particular cartoon, like several others on DVD #2, seem to have lives of their own...going beyond just being a 7 minute cartoon. "You Ought To Be In Pictures" is the mini-biography of Friz Freleng's departure from Warner Brothers to a rival studio and how after his contract was up at the rival, he immediately rushed back to Warner Brothers. However, this was slightly changed for cartoon's sake and the story was about Daffy Duck tricking Porky Pig into leaving Warner Brothers for a much bigger career in movies. Porky gets out of his contract...talking with Leon Schlesinger, mixing animation and live action. He heads to the studio's for his big break but finds contempt and confusion...not to mention the rage from a security guard played by cartoon writer Michael Maltese with the voice of Mel Blanc.
Here's the story about that...it's accurate to the best of my knowledge: Warner Brothers didn't want to pay the writer an "actors fee" for speaking on camera and so they dubbed Mel's voice over-top of Michael's lines so they didn't have to pay extra...and Mel was their voice actor anyway...so that's the story i'd read as to why Mel's voice is heard when Maltese is "speaking" in the cartoon.
Porky ends up making his way back to Warner Brothers where he overhears Daffy telling Leon how Porky wasn't really much of a star or a talent anyway...he's attempting to become the star of the cartoons but Porky makes his presence known to Daffy...a sweaty, nervous Daffy sees what's happening. Porky motions for Daffy to step outside...then we hear thrashing and fighting. Porky rushes into the office and asks Leon for his job back. Leon chuckles and tells Porky he really never ripped up his contract. Daffy, shown in bandages, whispers to Porky about a new offer elsewhere...showing us Daffy hadn't learned his lesson.
"Show Biz Bugs" is about Bugs and Daffy competing in a song and dance routine. It was directed by Friz Freleng and it made use of Daffy being jealous of Bugs Bunny's fame and popularity.
The "Stage Door Cartoon" is a gag-filled cartoon about Elmer and Bugs in a vaudeville theater. There is a scene with a southern sheriff who some say became the model of Yosemite Sam...his voice is similar in tone to both Sam and Foghorn Leghorn. Bugs is in disguise as the sheriff and while in the theater the film shows a scene of Bugs dressing up as the sheriff...Elmer thinks "I got him!" and he runs over and rips the sheriff's clothes off to reveal it's a real person. Bugs closes the cartoon Durante style... "I got a million of 'em!".
Funny collection for those not too interested, unlike myself, in having the Golden Collection with all of it's extra features. These 30 cartoons as I mentioned previously, can be found on the 60 cartoon Golden Collection, Volume Two.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection 6
I don't know if I'm sub-consciously writing more about Warner Brothers cartoons or not. I may have touched upon this in a previous entry but I tend to not write as much about the Warner cartoons because there's so many people who do...I tend to spotlight the lesser-known or the made-for-TV programs from Hanna-Barbera simply because there's not a whole wide spectrum of sites that specialize in those cartoons whereas the programs from Warner Brothers are embedded into pop-culture so much what isn't there to know?
However, I wanted to spotlight one of the latest spotlight collections, number 6. It's a DVD collection of 30 cartoons on two disc's which comes to 15 cartoons on each. There are 8 more cartoons featured as bonuses: 4 on DVD #1 and 4 on DVD #2. I hadn't had the time to watch DVD #2 but i've watched DVD #1 a couple times. The theme of DVD #1 is "Cartoon Superstars". It features cartoons that star each of the main characters. The first, "Baby Buggy Bunny", centers around Bugs finding an orphan of sorts...actually, some money has been stolen from a bank that finds it's way to Bugs' hole in the ground. The thief, a midget, adopts the identity of a baby and arrives at Bugs' hole as an orphan. Bugs at first is unaware of the baby's true identity...the baby's name is Fenster. After repeated attempts from the baby to grab the money, Bugs excuses himself and later spies the baby shaving and smoking a cigar in the bathroom. Coincidentally, a news report flashes on the TV about a bank robber on the loose...Bugs gets that 'look' on his face that he's been tricked and then gets the devilish look that he's going to get his revenge. He strolls in and starts whipping the kid and throwing him up in the air and shaking him...it's quite a funny scene as guns and weapons start falling everywhere all the while Bugs is still spanking him "Oh Fenster! What a naughty, naughty, boy!!!". The anger in Bugs' voice as he's getting his revenge is quite satonic but that makes it all the more hilarious.
In the next short, "Broom-Stick Bunny", Bugs is out on Halloween dressed as a witch and he stumbles upon the castle of Witch Hazel. This cartoon's plot is Witch Hazel trying to get the "witch" {Bugs} into a pot of boiling water...periodically she stops at a magic mirror asking who's the ugliest one of all. She gets great delight in being declared ugly...she also gets delight in making jokes, causing her to go off into a fit of cackling laughter. Bugs reveals himself as a rabbit which causes Witch Hazel to grow even more determined to fulfill her magic potion. She is about to kill Bugs when he gives her the pouty-eyes routine and she starts crying, thinking about memories of Paul. Bugs turns the tables and offers the witch a drink. She drinks it and turns into a Cinderella-type...and then she goes to her magic mirror asking who's the ugliest one of all...the genie in the mirror doesn't even bother answering her...one look and he hops on his carpet in hot pursuit and flies out of the mirror chasing her.
"To Duck or Not to Duck" is a cartoon starring Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd. The cartoon is basically about a boxing match between the two of them...with a lot of duck's in attendence cheering on Daffy while only one in the stands cheers on Elmer, namely the hunting dog Ladamore. Each time he cheers on Elmer he gets pelted with fruit. The referee introduces Elmer amidst a series of laughter...and the audience boo's. The referee then turns his attention to Daffy...and in a scene that often becomes a subject of mockery, the referee brings on Daffy with some of the most sentimental words imaginable...going so far as to climb upon Daffy in an intimate way, blinking his eyes and wrapping an arm around Daffy's shoulder, becoming quite affectionate in the process. This, of course, is a spoof of boxing in general...how it often comes across that referee's have favorites and that the fighting is rigged...which is spoofed when the referee goes into his "I wanna clean fight" routine. Elmer, at cartoon's end, turns the tables on the scheming ducks. The cartoon fades out as Elmer's throwing the ducks all over the boxing ring.
"Birth of a Notion" is one of the more hilarious ones. In this, Daffy gets tangled up with an evil scientist wanting his wish bone. The scientist is a caricature of Peter Lorre. Daffy was brought to the castle by a dog named Leopold...Daffy, not wanting to fly south for the winter, befriended the dog and was soon in the castle. Daffy overhears the scientist's plans of needing a duck's wishbone and soon it's a battle of wits between him and Daffy. The action takes place between the two of them so much that in one segment it shows Leopold griping about his lack of screen-time. In one of the most singled-out moments in the cartoon, Daffy attempts to throw a baseball bat at the scientist only for Leopold to grab it in time. This, however, causes the scientist to think his own dog is out to kill him and the scientist breaks the bat into tiny pieces. Daffy attempts to murder the scientist with a knife but the scientist is prepared...he lets out with a creepy, perverted giggle as he chases after Daffy, who, runs off hollering his trademark "hoo hoo hoo hoo".
The two Foghorn Leghorn cartoons appear on "Crowing Pains" and "Raw! Raw! Rooster". In the first cartoon, we see Henery Hawk on a quest for a chicken. The character has never really been written as a smart guy...more of a little tough guy instead...who can never recall what a chicken looks like since he's so easily fooled by Foghorn in all the cartoons. So, he usually listens to Foghorn's stories and claims about other animal's being chickens. In "Crowing Pains" the action revolves around Foghorn, the Barnyard Dog, and Sylvester the cat...although some cartoon purists would say it isn't Sylvester because the character doesn't have a patch of white fur on his tail...but the character design and speech pattern is definitely Sylvester. So, the three of them are consistently fighting amongst each other while Henery just wants to know which one of them is a chicken. This is one of the earlier Foghorn cartoons as Mel Blanc's vocal performance is more in step with bellowing and hollering his words instead of delivering them as the refined southern blow-hard the character became.
Foghorn likes to play tricks on the dog...and Sylvester's presence causes the dog to be after the cat, natural instincts. Foghorn plants an egg under Sylvester at one point...further confusing Henery, who's actually inside the egg...a device Foghorn came up with. Henery finally decides to wait until sunrise to see which animal crows...Sylvester, prone to keeping his mouth open even when he isn't talking, has his mouth open a little as the sounds of a rooster is heard. The Dog looks over at Sylvester and gets a disgusted look because he knows Foghorn's tricks...and Henery drags Sylvester away.
"Raw! Raw! Rooster" is one of the later Foghorn cartoons...you'll notice the difference in Mel's delivery. The cartoon is about one of Foghorn's rivals coming for a visit...the rival is a big practical joker, which doesn't sit too well with Foghorn, who would rather play jokes on others instead of having them played on himself. The rival, known as Rhoad Island Red, mingles with Foghorn and has all the hen's love-struck, which causes further jealousy to mount. Rhoad Island Red was voiced by Daws Butler. Foghorn sends his rival away by the end of the cartoon and has a few going away prizes...filled with dynamite.
In "My Favorite Duck", Porky Pig attempts to have a relaxing time at a camp site only to be tormented by Daffy at each attempt. The joke of the cartoon is that the woods has a strict fine on hunting ducks...people aren't even allowed to harass or bother ducks. This, of course, allows Daffy to become over-bearing and do all sorts of things to Porky...who can't do anything because each time he attempts to strangle or hit Daffy, this would cause Daffy to whip out a sign that read "No Duck Hunting" or "No Harming Ducks". Later in the cartoon, the tables are turned, and Daffy finds himself as a most-wanted duck...each sign that he comes up with invites Porky to kill and shoot...one sign I think read "Open season on ducks...no limit". The cartoon ends rather Tex Avery-like with Porky and Daffy chasing one another around and around a tree...before long the cartoon's "film" starts to go haywire and it snaps into. Daffy pokes his head into the scene and goes about telling us how the film ended...only to be pulled off-camera by Porky, who finishes beating him up...with the cartoon ending as Porky drags Daffy across the screen.
"Jumpin' Jupiter" is a surreal cartoon...it involves Porky and Sylvester camping out in a dessert area. Later, aliens come down to Earth and literally lift the camp ground up and fly off with it into outer space. Sylvester awakens and reacts to all of this while Porky remains asleep. Even after the gravity pull is gone, Porky is clueless of what's going on...then the camp site appears on the planet Jupiter. Porky wakes up...Sylvester was up all-night experiencing everything. Sylvester spots one of the aliens...Porky meets the alien but mistakes him for some sort of Indian. Gags from this cartoon were re-used years later on the Daffy Duck film Daffy Duck's Quackbusters including the gag of Sylvester being so scared he turns stiff as a board around Porky's face and when thrown off, hits the ground with a hollow thud. Another re-used gag was the phrase "yellow dog of a cowardly cat", Porky's affectionate description of Sylvester.
In "Satan's Waitin", we see the story of Sylvester and his nine lives. The cartoon centers around a bulldog Devil wanting Sylvester to go through the last 8 lives rather quickly...often causing Sylvester to get into all kinds of predicaments, with his lives evaporating one by one. Each of his lives sit together on a rock couch down in the pits of fire...he soon decides to hide himself in a bank vault where no harm can come to him...since he only has one life left. Later, bank robbers blow up the vault and everyone's killed. The cartoon fades out with Sylvester and the bank robbers all taking a trip down to meet the devil.
The rest of the cartoons on DVD #1 are just as good as those that I mentioned. "Dog Gone South" is a laugh-out-loud cartoon about a dog's adventures on a plantation. In "Often an Orphan" we have the same dog being the victim of owner abandonment. At the start of the cartoon we see the dog purposely being left at a camp site by his master. The dog talks his way into Porky's life by trying to convince him he needs a dog. This goes back and fourth throughout much of the cartoon...near the end we see Porky and the dog in a very familiar scene at a camp site ready to have a picnic. Porky tells the dog to fetch a stick but being through that routine too many times the dog jumps into Porky's car instead and speeds off as the scene fades.
However, I wanted to spotlight one of the latest spotlight collections, number 6. It's a DVD collection of 30 cartoons on two disc's which comes to 15 cartoons on each. There are 8 more cartoons featured as bonuses: 4 on DVD #1 and 4 on DVD #2. I hadn't had the time to watch DVD #2 but i've watched DVD #1 a couple times. The theme of DVD #1 is "Cartoon Superstars". It features cartoons that star each of the main characters. The first, "Baby Buggy Bunny", centers around Bugs finding an orphan of sorts...actually, some money has been stolen from a bank that finds it's way to Bugs' hole in the ground. The thief, a midget, adopts the identity of a baby and arrives at Bugs' hole as an orphan. Bugs at first is unaware of the baby's true identity...the baby's name is Fenster. After repeated attempts from the baby to grab the money, Bugs excuses himself and later spies the baby shaving and smoking a cigar in the bathroom. Coincidentally, a news report flashes on the TV about a bank robber on the loose...Bugs gets that 'look' on his face that he's been tricked and then gets the devilish look that he's going to get his revenge. He strolls in and starts whipping the kid and throwing him up in the air and shaking him...it's quite a funny scene as guns and weapons start falling everywhere all the while Bugs is still spanking him "Oh Fenster! What a naughty, naughty, boy!!!". The anger in Bugs' voice as he's getting his revenge is quite satonic but that makes it all the more hilarious.
In the next short, "Broom-Stick Bunny", Bugs is out on Halloween dressed as a witch and he stumbles upon the castle of Witch Hazel. This cartoon's plot is Witch Hazel trying to get the "witch" {Bugs} into a pot of boiling water...periodically she stops at a magic mirror asking who's the ugliest one of all. She gets great delight in being declared ugly...she also gets delight in making jokes, causing her to go off into a fit of cackling laughter. Bugs reveals himself as a rabbit which causes Witch Hazel to grow even more determined to fulfill her magic potion. She is about to kill Bugs when he gives her the pouty-eyes routine and she starts crying, thinking about memories of Paul. Bugs turns the tables and offers the witch a drink. She drinks it and turns into a Cinderella-type...and then she goes to her magic mirror asking who's the ugliest one of all...the genie in the mirror doesn't even bother answering her...one look and he hops on his carpet in hot pursuit and flies out of the mirror chasing her.
"To Duck or Not to Duck" is a cartoon starring Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd. The cartoon is basically about a boxing match between the two of them...with a lot of duck's in attendence cheering on Daffy while only one in the stands cheers on Elmer, namely the hunting dog Ladamore. Each time he cheers on Elmer he gets pelted with fruit. The referee introduces Elmer amidst a series of laughter...and the audience boo's. The referee then turns his attention to Daffy...and in a scene that often becomes a subject of mockery, the referee brings on Daffy with some of the most sentimental words imaginable...going so far as to climb upon Daffy in an intimate way, blinking his eyes and wrapping an arm around Daffy's shoulder, becoming quite affectionate in the process. This, of course, is a spoof of boxing in general...how it often comes across that referee's have favorites and that the fighting is rigged...which is spoofed when the referee goes into his "I wanna clean fight" routine. Elmer, at cartoon's end, turns the tables on the scheming ducks. The cartoon fades out as Elmer's throwing the ducks all over the boxing ring.
"Birth of a Notion" is one of the more hilarious ones. In this, Daffy gets tangled up with an evil scientist wanting his wish bone. The scientist is a caricature of Peter Lorre. Daffy was brought to the castle by a dog named Leopold...Daffy, not wanting to fly south for the winter, befriended the dog and was soon in the castle. Daffy overhears the scientist's plans of needing a duck's wishbone and soon it's a battle of wits between him and Daffy. The action takes place between the two of them so much that in one segment it shows Leopold griping about his lack of screen-time. In one of the most singled-out moments in the cartoon, Daffy attempts to throw a baseball bat at the scientist only for Leopold to grab it in time. This, however, causes the scientist to think his own dog is out to kill him and the scientist breaks the bat into tiny pieces. Daffy attempts to murder the scientist with a knife but the scientist is prepared...he lets out with a creepy, perverted giggle as he chases after Daffy, who, runs off hollering his trademark "hoo hoo hoo hoo".
The two Foghorn Leghorn cartoons appear on "Crowing Pains" and "Raw! Raw! Rooster". In the first cartoon, we see Henery Hawk on a quest for a chicken. The character has never really been written as a smart guy...more of a little tough guy instead...who can never recall what a chicken looks like since he's so easily fooled by Foghorn in all the cartoons. So, he usually listens to Foghorn's stories and claims about other animal's being chickens. In "Crowing Pains" the action revolves around Foghorn, the Barnyard Dog, and Sylvester the cat...although some cartoon purists would say it isn't Sylvester because the character doesn't have a patch of white fur on his tail...but the character design and speech pattern is definitely Sylvester. So, the three of them are consistently fighting amongst each other while Henery just wants to know which one of them is a chicken. This is one of the earlier Foghorn cartoons as Mel Blanc's vocal performance is more in step with bellowing and hollering his words instead of delivering them as the refined southern blow-hard the character became.
Foghorn likes to play tricks on the dog...and Sylvester's presence causes the dog to be after the cat, natural instincts. Foghorn plants an egg under Sylvester at one point...further confusing Henery, who's actually inside the egg...a device Foghorn came up with. Henery finally decides to wait until sunrise to see which animal crows...Sylvester, prone to keeping his mouth open even when he isn't talking, has his mouth open a little as the sounds of a rooster is heard. The Dog looks over at Sylvester and gets a disgusted look because he knows Foghorn's tricks...and Henery drags Sylvester away.
"Raw! Raw! Rooster" is one of the later Foghorn cartoons...you'll notice the difference in Mel's delivery. The cartoon is about one of Foghorn's rivals coming for a visit...the rival is a big practical joker, which doesn't sit too well with Foghorn, who would rather play jokes on others instead of having them played on himself. The rival, known as Rhoad Island Red, mingles with Foghorn and has all the hen's love-struck, which causes further jealousy to mount. Rhoad Island Red was voiced by Daws Butler. Foghorn sends his rival away by the end of the cartoon and has a few going away prizes...filled with dynamite.
In "My Favorite Duck", Porky Pig attempts to have a relaxing time at a camp site only to be tormented by Daffy at each attempt. The joke of the cartoon is that the woods has a strict fine on hunting ducks...people aren't even allowed to harass or bother ducks. This, of course, allows Daffy to become over-bearing and do all sorts of things to Porky...who can't do anything because each time he attempts to strangle or hit Daffy, this would cause Daffy to whip out a sign that read "No Duck Hunting" or "No Harming Ducks". Later in the cartoon, the tables are turned, and Daffy finds himself as a most-wanted duck...each sign that he comes up with invites Porky to kill and shoot...one sign I think read "Open season on ducks...no limit". The cartoon ends rather Tex Avery-like with Porky and Daffy chasing one another around and around a tree...before long the cartoon's "film" starts to go haywire and it snaps into. Daffy pokes his head into the scene and goes about telling us how the film ended...only to be pulled off-camera by Porky, who finishes beating him up...with the cartoon ending as Porky drags Daffy across the screen.
"Jumpin' Jupiter" is a surreal cartoon...it involves Porky and Sylvester camping out in a dessert area. Later, aliens come down to Earth and literally lift the camp ground up and fly off with it into outer space. Sylvester awakens and reacts to all of this while Porky remains asleep. Even after the gravity pull is gone, Porky is clueless of what's going on...then the camp site appears on the planet Jupiter. Porky wakes up...Sylvester was up all-night experiencing everything. Sylvester spots one of the aliens...Porky meets the alien but mistakes him for some sort of Indian. Gags from this cartoon were re-used years later on the Daffy Duck film Daffy Duck's Quackbusters including the gag of Sylvester being so scared he turns stiff as a board around Porky's face and when thrown off, hits the ground with a hollow thud. Another re-used gag was the phrase "yellow dog of a cowardly cat", Porky's affectionate description of Sylvester.
In "Satan's Waitin", we see the story of Sylvester and his nine lives. The cartoon centers around a bulldog Devil wanting Sylvester to go through the last 8 lives rather quickly...often causing Sylvester to get into all kinds of predicaments, with his lives evaporating one by one. Each of his lives sit together on a rock couch down in the pits of fire...he soon decides to hide himself in a bank vault where no harm can come to him...since he only has one life left. Later, bank robbers blow up the vault and everyone's killed. The cartoon fades out with Sylvester and the bank robbers all taking a trip down to meet the devil.
The rest of the cartoons on DVD #1 are just as good as those that I mentioned. "Dog Gone South" is a laugh-out-loud cartoon about a dog's adventures on a plantation. In "Often an Orphan" we have the same dog being the victim of owner abandonment. At the start of the cartoon we see the dog purposely being left at a camp site by his master. The dog talks his way into Porky's life by trying to convince him he needs a dog. This goes back and fourth throughout much of the cartoon...near the end we see Porky and the dog in a very familiar scene at a camp site ready to have a picnic. Porky tells the dog to fetch a stick but being through that routine too many times the dog jumps into Porky's car instead and speeds off as the scene fades.
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