ThadBlog

Jaime Weinman posted a great piece from 1952 written by Frank Tashlin for the New York Times about his picture, the Bob Hope comedy Son of Paleface. It’s great to see that Tashlin was proud enough to tell of his ‘unique’ filming of Jane Russell’s legs.

I have written a piece and have posted (using my own money) all of the “Censored 11″ Warner shorts here. Please read and comment in this post.

Eide’s Entertainment store (the only one in downtown Pittsburgh that isn’t a porn shop) was having an anniversary sale, so I took advantage of the savings by picking up the Strangers on a Train Special Edition, the new Dan DeCarlo pinup book, and a pile of New Funnies and Phil DeLara Daffy’s. I’m glad that I haven’t become a curmudgeon who doesn’t find them funny anymore.

While ransacking their funny animal boxes, I also found a copy of Our Gang #34 (May 1947), featuring a Barney Bear & Benny Burro story by Carl Barks. These were stories that Barks really didn’t want to do, though for some reason he was bound to do them for several years (1944-47). They’re a little more violent and cynical than his contemporary Donald Duck work as a result.

Barks introduced a hellion neighbor for Barney, Mooseface McElk (a direct ripoff of Neighbor Jones he created for the Donald strip) who became a regular character for years after Barks left the Barney strip. This story also proves that there was an unwritten law at Western that every character had to deal with the postwar housing shortage at least once.

Sequels rarely top the original and this one is no exception… but here’s a follow-up to my epic Jim Tyer video from January.

There’s a few scenes in this reel of the Mighty Mouse “miscasting” Mark Mayerson has written about in the past, where Tyer is not given comedy scenes, but action scenes that are supposed to be taken seriously. I’m not sure if it really matters though, because, one, the Terrytoons are so hackneyed in nearly all aspects that it wouldn’t matter even if Tyer was used appropriately; and two, who actually seeks out seriousness in a Terrytoon?

I have to wonder if 20th Century Fox was embarrassed by their ties to Paul Terry’s studio. Fox only has a small distribution credit under Terry’s name, not a logo like Warner Bros., MGM, RKO, Paramount, Columbia, and Universal. I can’t picture a Terrytoon being attached to the latest Fox noir, musical, or Betty Grable/Marilyn Monroe comedy without an apology, can you? Compared to all of the other studios, Terry really was “socially retarded” artistically. They were the “Twilight Zone” of classic animation… time doesn’t pass.

My personal favorite of Clampett’s black-and-white cartoons, which got pretty mediocre really fast after this one. The Fleischer influence is clear, what with the rubbery animation and designs of the walrus and Flat Foot Flookey (which may be the greatest name for a dog ever). I think John Carey animated the scene where Flookey morphs his head into all the celebrities. Stalling does a great job utilizing “Mutiny in the Nursery” on the soundtrack. It’s great how Flookey is able to pinch off his parasite with that huge shoe on too.

Since it’s been announced that Disney’s latest release of Saludos Amigos is still censored, here’s the El Gaucho Goofy segment with Goofy’s cigarette and puff intact.