Just wanted to acknowledge that the final entry in the ‘One’ of My All-Time Favorite Movies Blogathon managed to come through, despite her ill health. Phyllis Loves Classic Movies posted her entry for Mickey’s Gala Premiere late last night. Please click here to read it! And thanks again to her and all of the other entrants for all of their wonderful blog entries for making the blogathon such a success!
It looks as though we had a no-show for the blogathon…but that’s all right, because we also had a may-I-show-at-the-last-minute, and that more than made up for it. So let’s take a final bow with
We were happy to see Tom & Jerry represented in the blogathon by Dell on Movies, who gave us his angle on the cartoon Jerry’s Cousin. (If you missed this entry, click on the blog’s name, above, to link to it.)
And 365 Days 365 Classics took a look at Chuck Jones’ fantasy about some drunken musical notes, High Note.
We want to thank all of the talented and enthusiastic bloggers who gave their time and energy to this blogathon, as well as those who stopped by to read the entertaining entries. You all made the ‘thon a smashing success, and we might just take up one blogger’s suggestion to make this subject an annual tradition. And now, to coin a phrase…
We continue to cry tears of joy over the enthusiasm of our bloggers’ entries. See why as we present the spoils of
Day 2 consisted of a couple of blog entries related to the golden past and recent present of the Walt Disney Studios. (If you missed them the first time around, click on the blog’s titles to link to and read their entries.)
Silver Scenes critiqued The Reluctant Dragon, Disney’s depiction of his step-by-step cartoon-making process as well as the final product.
And Let’s Go to the Movies gave a detailed description of why she loves the love story of Aladdin, as well as its verbal showcase of the late, great Robin Williams.
And that’s not quite all, folks! We’re still awaiting two more blogathon entries, and then our blog has an announcement about a new blogathon for the final weekend before Christmas. So keep us bookmarked!
POSTSCRIPT – BLATANT PLUG. If you like classic cartoons so much, why don’t you join me at Twitter.com tonight? Every Sunday night at 7:25 p.m. EST, I host a Live Tweet titled Popeye & Friends where I show a half-hour of old cartoons, in the style of the old kids’ TV shows. You can follow along, watch the cartoons, and even comment on the proceedings if you’d like. To find me on Twitter, my Twitter name is @MovieMovieBlogB, and the hashtag that I use for the show is #PopeyeFriends. Hope to see you there!
Apparently, when you invite bloggers to write for a cartoon blogathon, you open up a door to their second childhood! Find out what we mean as we review the entries from
Movie Movie Blog Blog has never before had such an enthusiastic response to a blogathon topic; only 3 more entries await submission. We had no idea that others were as eager to chat about their favorite cartoons as we are! If you missed any of yesterday’s entries, click on the appropriate blog name below to link to the blog and read the entry.
Our first double feature comes from Love Letters to Old Hollywood, who extols the obvious virtues of the Disney movies Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmatians.
BNoirDetour extols the virtues — obvious and otherwise — of Who Framed Roger Rabbit‘s fulsome heroine, Jessica Rabbit.
Epileptic Moondancer appreciates the trippy imagery of the Disney theatrical feature Alice in Wonderland and the TV series “Rick and Morty.”
Serendipitous Anachronisms enjoys watching Pluto develop a sudden craving for Thanksgiving turkey, in Cold Turkey.
Take the pop movie quiz offered by Silver Screenings, and see how many legendary celebrities you recognize in Tex Avery’s short Hollywood Steps Out.
Monsters lead such in-teresting lives, as Moon in Gemini proves when she chronicles Bugs Bunny’s encounters with orange-haired Gossamer in Hair-Raising Hare and Water, Water Every Hare.
Bugs Bunny strikes again, as VocareMentor.com critiques Bugs’ adventures in Sherwood Forest in Rabbit Hood.
The Movie Rat covers Daffy Duck’s battle with an unseen animator in Duck Amuck.
The Wonderful World of Cinema expresses her enjoyment of the rich cats in the Disney feature The Aristocats.
Mildred’s Fatburgers discusses the unique affection felt by a vociferous bulldog for a nonchalant kitten in Chuck Jones’ Feed the Kitty.
Sylvester the cat and his friends have quite a rousing evening — much to the consternation of Sylvester’s master, Porky Pig — in Bob Clampett’s Kitty Kornered, the bill of fare for Movie Fan Fare.
Here’s Bugs Bunny one more time — this time in outer space, as he matches wits with Marvin the Martian in Hare-Way to the Stars, courtesy of The Midnite Drive-In.
And you didn’t think the blogmeister wasn’t going to chime in on this topic, did you? I had to offer my take on two of my all-time faves, the theatrical Popeye cartoon The Spinach Overture and the Looney Tunes TV spin-off “Tiny Toon Adventures.”
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We still have three more ‘toon entries to go, so keep us bookmarked. And if you’re interested in participating in a Christmas-themed movie blogathon, keep the last weekend before Christmas open on your calendar. As soon as our ‘toon blogathon is over, we have an announcement to make about a new, upcoming blogathon!
The following is my second of two entries in my ‘One’ of My-All Time Favorite Cartoons Blogathon, being held at this blog on Nov. 6-8, 2015. Click on the above banner, and read entries about terrific ‘toons that these bloggers just can’t resist!
Steven Spielberg is already immortalized in Hollywood for far more noble ventures — but for me, if he’d never been responsible for anything but Tiny Toon Adventures, he’d have a huge place in my heart.
When this TV cartoon was first publicized in 1990 (the 60th anniversary of Warner Bros. first talking cartoon, and the 50th anniversary of the “birth” of Bugs Bunny), I cringed. I felt a little comforted when veteran Warners cartoon director Friz Freleng said he saw a preview of the series and thought it looked as good as any theatrical cartoon. When the cartoon finally debuted, I thought I’d died and gone to animation heaven.
The characterizations are obviously a nod to the “classic” Looney Tunes characters. Buster Bunny is obviously patterned after Bugs, Plucky Duck is a distant relative to daffy Daffy, and so on. The connection is even more obvious because the Tiny Toons attend Acme Looniversity, where the Looney Tunes veterans tutor them in the art of getting laughs. Well, the Toons have obviously earned their diplomas, because they do the job quite well on their own.
The gags and pacing are top-notch, and the pop-culture level is easily up to that of “The Simpsons.” (How many kids’ cartoons would even attempt a parody of Citizen Kane, let alone pull it off?) Production of the TV series has long ceased, but happily, most of the best of the series is available on home video.
A good intro to the style is the direct-to-video feature “How I Spent My Summer Vacation,” worth the price of the rental just for its caricatures of Hollywood stars. But the acme (so to speak) is the tape “Tiny Toons Music Television,” with a number of MTV-style videos of classic and obscure hits performed by the Tiny Toons.
(I’ve posted a clip from that episode below. It’s probably my favorite “Tiny Toons” segment, their hilarious interpretation of They Might Be Giants’ song “Particle Man.” In another nod to Looney Tunes history, that boxer/wrestler who always came up a cropper in Chuck Jones’ Bugs Bunny cartoons such as Rabbit Punch finally holds his own with Plucky Duck here.)
As critic Manny Farber once said about the original Looney Tunes cartoons, the great ones are masterpieces and the bad ones aren’t a total loss.
(If you’ve enjoyed reading this blogathon entry, please click here to read my first entry on the 1935 Popeye cartoon The Spinach Overture.)
The following is my first of two entries in my ‘One’ of My All-Time Favorite Cartoons Blogathon, being hosted at this blog from Nov. 7-9, 2015! Click on the above banner, and read bloggers’ entries about great ‘toons that have stood the test of time!
(WARNING: Major spoilers abound!)
Bluto: “With all due respect to the great maestro…”
It’s hard not to think of this thoroughly enjoyable short as a sequence in a long line of classical-music inspired cartoons: first Walt Disney’s The Band Concert (1935), then this one, followed by Disney’s feature-length Fantasia (1940), followed by a huge list of Warner Bros. Looney Tunes too numerous to mention here.
Here, though, as in the later Looney Tunes, the music is mainly a springboard to some very inventive gags lampooning said music’s pretentiousness. The cartoon begins with Popeye conducting a rather undignified orchestra, with Olive Oyl essentially doing Harpo Marx (she even uses one of her spindly legs to reach a string at the far end of her harp), and Wimpy doing Ringo Starr (he uses his cymbal as a “frying pan” to baste his omnipresent hamburger).
It’s not surprising that this makeshift crew might be the target of some derisive laughter. What is surprising is that the laughter comes from a nearby orchestra led by Bluto (in a Leopold Stokowski wig)! Did Bluto get a brace of culture at some point when nobody was looking?
Bluto plays first on the violin, then on the piano, and then he challenges Popeye to do the same. (Because as any concert-goer knows, a conductor has to be ready to improvise on an instrument should one of his orchestra members call in sick.) Popeye fails miserably, to the surprisingly derisive laughter of his usual followers Olive and Wimpy, who go off with Bluto to join his ensemble. (Olive, honey, you’re belittling Popeye after playing a harp with your foot??)
A dejected Popeye reaches into the piano and finds an errant can of spinach, which he munches on unthinkingly. Next thing he knows, he’s playing like Duke Ellington and scat-singing like Ella Fitzgerald. So after all this time, he couldn’t have figured out beforehand that the spinach might pep up his musical outings?
In a grand finale, Popeye plays and conducts flawlessly, gets a bout in with Bluto for good measure, and squeezes in a mock-classical version of his theme song for a “strong-to-the” finish. Bravo!!
On a rating scale of 1 to 4 spinach cans, I give this cartoon: 
(If you enjoyed this blogathon entry, please click here to read my second entry about the terrific TV cartoon, Tiny Toon Adventures.)
Sorry that our blogathon couldn’t wait for Saturday morning, but we’re so excited to talk about our favorite animated films! Join us over the next three days as a golden collection of bloggers share their favorite cartoon memories with everyone!
If you are one of the participating bloggers:
If you are one of our visitors, click on the appropriate blog and/or cartoon title below to link to the blogger’s entry about said cartoon. Keep us bookmarked, as we will continue to update the list below throughout the weekend as bloggers submit their entries. This blog will also be doing end-of-the-day wrap-ups of blog entries submitted on each day.
So sit back this weekend, and enjoy a guilt-free line-up of classic cartoons on us!
Here are the blogathon entries:
Movie Movie Blog Blog – Popeye in The Spinach Overture (1935) and Tiny Toon Adventures (1990-1995)
Love Letters to Old Hollywood – Sleeping Beauty (1959) and 101 Dalmatians (1961)
BNoirDetour – Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Epileptic Moondancer – Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Rick and Morty (2013- )
Serendipitous Anachronisms – Pluto in Cold Turkey (1951)
Silver Screenings – Tex Avery’s Hollywood Steps Out (1941)
Moon in Gemini – Bugs Bunny and Gossamer in Hair-Raising Hare (1946) and Water, Water Every Hare (1952)
VocareMentor.com – Bugs Bunny in Rabbit Hood (1949)
The Movie Rat – Daffy Duck in Duck Amuck (1953)
The Wonderful World of Cinema – Disney Studios’ The Aristocats (1970)
365 Days 365 Classics – Chuck Jones’ High Note (1961)
Phyllis Loves Classic Movies – Mickey’s Gala Premiere (1933)
Mildred’s Fatburgers – Marc Antony and Pussyfoot in Chuck Jones’ Feed the Kitty (1952)
Movie Fan Fare – Porky Pig and Sylvester in Kitty Kornered (1946)
The Midnite Drive-In – Bugs Bunny in Hare-Way to the Stars (1958)
Let’s Go to the Movies – Disney Studios’ Aladdin (1992)
Silver Scenes – Disney’s The Reluctant Dragon (1941)
Dell on Movies – Tom & Jerry in Jerry’s Cousin (1951)
We’re exactly one month away from the One of My All-Time Favorite Cartoons Blogathon! Do you have a favorite cartoon that warms your heart or tickles your funny bone? Share your love of it with us! Click on the above banner to get more info about the blogathon and to sign up for it!
Flush with success as I am from my recent See You in the ‘Fall’ Blogathon, I cannot resist jumping on the ‘thon wagon again. Ergo, I hereby announce the
Here’s your opportunity to sound off about one of your favorite animated films! Does a particular cartoon make you laugh, cry, think, or just plain fill you with joy? Post a blog entry about it here, and share your enthusiasm with the world!
Notice that I said it can be one of your favorite cartoons. This is not a contest in which you have to summon up superior evidence that your cartoon of choice is the greatest one ever made. Just write about the reasons why you like it.
The cartoon you choose can be of any length (short subject, feature film, television special) from movies or TV. It can be in “traditional” hand-drawn format or CGI. If you choose to write about a TV cartoon series, you can write about either the reasons why you like the entire TV series so much, or you can focus on a particular episode of the series. As long as you write an entertaining and reasoned blog in support of your choice, it will be accepted here. Also, duplicate entries are acceptable at this blogathon.
The rules are simple:
That’s all there is to it! Have fun with your blog entry, and show everyone that the best cartoons aren’t just for kids to enjoy, but are meant for everybody!
Here is the list of entries so far:
Movie Movie Blog Blog – Popeye in The Spinach Overture (1935) and Tiny Toon Adventures (1990-1995)
Love Letters to Old Hollywood – Sleeping Beauty (1959) and 101 Dalmatians (1961)
BNoirDetour – Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Epileptic Moondancer – Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Rick and Morty (2013- )
Serendipitous Anachronisms – Pluto in Cold Turkey (1951)
Silver Screenings – Tex Avery’s Hollywood Steps Out (1941)
Moon in Gemini – Bugs Bunny and Gossamer in Hair-Raising Hare (1946) and Water, Water Every Hare (1952)
VocareMentor.com – Bugs Bunny in Rabbit Hood (1949)
The Movie Rat – Daffy Duck in Duck Amuck (1953)
The Wonderful World of Cinema – Disney Studios’ The Aristocats (1970)
365 Days 365 Classics – Chuck Jones’ High Note (1961)
Phyllis Loves Classic Movies – Mickey’s Gala Premiere (1933)
Mildred’s Fatburgers – Marc Antony and Pussyfoot in Chuck Jones’ Feed the Kitty (1952)
Movie Fan Fare – Porky Pig and Sylvester in Kitty Kornered (1946)
The Midnite Drive-in – Bugs Bunny in Hare-Way to the Stars (1958)
Let’s Go to the Movies – Disney Studios’ Aladdin (1992)
Silver Scenes – Disney’s The Reluctant Dragon (1941)
Dell on Movies – Tom & Jerry in Jerry’s Cousin (1951)
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