Saturday Morning Cartoons--Superman Meets My Little Pony

 I saw this browsing through YouTube, and it is just brilliant.  Created by an animator named ToucanLDM, the Man of Steel is transported to My Little Pony's world, where he meets those cute, wide-eyed, talking ponies, and battles against both General Zod and evil ponies from taking over the My Little Pony kingdom. 


Saturday Morning Cartoons--Superman Meets My Little Pony:

Saturday Morning Cartoons--Superman "Volcano"

For this morning's Saturday Morning Cartoons, I'm posting 1942's Superman cartoon, Volcano.  From YouTube:

Saturday Morning Cartoons: A Corny Concerto

For this morning's Saturday Morning Cartoons, it is time to get Merrie with Merrie Melodies "A Corney Concerto."  The cartoon is a parody of Walt Disney's 1940 feature film Fantasia, in which the Disney film sets eight animation sequences to classical music.  Directed by Bob Clampett, and released in September, 1943, A Corney Concerto sets up two stories to Johann Strauss' waltzes, Tales from the Vienna Woods, and the Blue Danube.  The film was voted #47 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of All Time by animation professionals.

From YouTube:  A Corney Concerto:

Saturday Morning Cartoons--Happy Harmonies "To Spring!"

 After the week of rain we had here in the Bay Area (and we probably need more rain), the sun is out and Spring is here.  I found this MGM cartoon series Happy Harmonies short cartoon, To Spring!  Happy Harmonies was a series of 36 cartoons, produced by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, from 1934 to 1938.  They were distributed by Metro Goldwyn-Mayer.

Harman and Ising started their animation work with Disney in the early 1920s, however, they dreamed of opening their own animation studio.  The pair created and trademarked an animation character named Bosko in 1928, hoping to capitalize on the new technology of motion pictures with synchronized sound with animation.   After a short stint at Universal, working on the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons,  Harman and Ising created their pilot animation short, Bosko, The Talk-Ink Kid, which emphasized synchronized dialog and speech in animation over music.  Warner Brothers Leon Schlesinger saw the pilot film, and signed the pair to produce cartoons for Warner Brother's new Looney Tunes cartoon series, making Bosko one of Warner's first animation stars. 

In 1933, Harman and Ising left Warner Brothers over budget disputes, taking their trademarked Bosko character with them.  In 1934, they found work at MGM in creating both a new series of Bosko short films, and the Happy Harmonies animation series.  Harman and Ising worked on the Happy Harmonies, until the series went over-budget in 1937 and MGM fired them.  MGM then went on to build their own in-house animation studio, headed by Fred Quimby.

Harman and Ising would continue to work as animation freelancers, selling short films to both Disney's Silly Symphony series, and to Quimby at MGM.  In 1938, Harman created Peace on Earth, an anti-war morality tale which was nominated for an Academy Award.  In 1940, Ising would win the Oscar for his short film The Milky Way, becoming the first non-Disney animation film to win an Academy Award.  While both Harman and Ising attempted to create memorable cartoon characters in their later years, they were unsuccessful.  Where Harman and Ising's work especially shines is in the refined, quality of their cartoons, and their refusal to skimp on such quality to the producers who wanted cheaper budgeted cartoons.  You can view that commitment to quality in To Spring, as the elves wake up and start mining the colors that would grow into the green grass and colorful flowers.  But will Spring ever be able to release itself from the blowing snow and winds of Old Man Winter?  Will the colorful pumps of Spring coldly crash down in that final winter's storm?  Will the black-bearded elf ever get his pair of blue pants on?

From YouTube:  Happy Harmonies, "To Spring!"

Saturday Morning Cartoons--South Park parodies Monty Python's "Dead Parrot" sketch

I found this over at Americablog, and it is just fricking brilliant!  Seems like the creators of South Park created a parody of Monty Python's famous Dead Parrot sketch--one of the best of the series. 

From YouTube:

 

And here is the original Monty Python's Dead Parrot sketch:



I'd like to see how South Park parodies other Monty Python sketches, such as the Spanish Inquisition, or Spam, or even the Upperclass Twit of the Year Games.

Saturday Morning Cartoongs--Top Ten Worst Nostalgic Cartoons

For today's Saturday Morning Cartoons, how about the Top Ten Worst Nostalgic Cartoons?  Presented by Pause / Break Reviews, it appears these are reviews for cartoons shown in the 1990s and 2000 decades.

From what I've seen on cartoons, Cow and Chicken was just too weird of a story for me to watch.  I couldn't understand the show at all.  Sonic the Hedgehog was a bad rip-off of the video game.  In fact, quite a few of the cartoons were bad rip-offs of  video games, or movies, or who knows what toy tie-in.  Ghostbusters as a cartoon?

It is rather interesting about how much of a tie-in there is between cartoons and merchandise.  It doesn't matter whether the merchandise came out first, or the cartoon.  I will say that the Number One cartoon in this list is based on a Japanese trading card game (No, not Pokemon).  Hell, I even remember the blatant tie-in between the G.I. Joe cartoons of the 1980s and the rampant toy merchandising that came out the next day.  Seems like nothing has changed.

The one cartoon that I disagree on is his Number Four pic on the Fairly Oddparents.  It is not the best cartoon, but still somewhat entertaining.  The reviewer complains that each episode follows the same plot line structure:  Timmy makes a wish from his godparents, Timmy gets in trouble from making his wish, Timmy and his Godparents find a way to resolve the trouble and turn everything back to normal.  To me, it is not about the story or plot of the show--it is about the details and inside cultural and social jokes within the show that makes Fairly Oddparents entertaining.  I see Fairly Oddparents plot structure similar to the Road Runner cartoons of the 1950s--Coyote wants to catch Roadrunner.  Coyote invents schemes with gadgets in attempt to catch Roadrunner.  Each attempt fails, and Coyote goes back to drawing board to invent new scheme with new gadgets.  The fun part here is seeing the design of the scheme, the gadget, and how the Coyote will fail in the attempt.  I'll take watching Fairly Oddparents over the rest of these cartoons in this list.

Then again, maybe I grew up in a different time in watching cartoons.

From YouTube, Top Ten 10-6:



From YouTube, Top Ten 5-1:

Saturday Morning Cartoons--All the monsters in Scooby Doo--Where Are You?

Time to return to Saturday Morning Cartoons.  This is an interesting video featuring all the monsters in Scooby Doo--Where Are You television series.  From YouTube:

Saturday Morning Cartoos--Superfriends meet Bigfoot

The Superfriends meet Bigfoot. How cool is that? From YouTube:

Saturday Morning Cartoons--To Duck or Not to Duck

That is the question. From YouTube:

Saturday Morning Cartoons--The Baker's Ten

Okay, this insane song has been playing in my mind for the morning. So I'm going to be a real meanie, and play it for a Saturday Morning Cartoon. What song is it? Why, Sesame Street's Baker's Ten song. From YouTube:



And that's our song of ten!

Saturday Morning Cartoons--The Rebel Without Claws

To kick off today's Saturday Morning Cartoons, I found a Tweety and Sylvester cartoon that even I have not seen--The Rebel Without Claws. In this 1961 Civil War drama, the Confederates need to send an important message to General Lee, however all their carrier pigeons are missing in action with the exception of Tweety. So Tweety is given the dangerous mission, only to realize that the Union army is countering with their "Secret Messenger Destroyer," also known as Sylvester--I tat I taw a damn Yankee cat! And the battle jokes are engaged. What is especially nice to see here is Warner giving some better background scenery for this cartoon. You actually see some of the set battles, no man's land, the plantation homes, and even a Confederate ironclad--all serenaded with the rumble of explosions, cannon fire, and rifle shots. So here is Looney Tunes 1961 Rebel Without Claws. From YouTube:

Saturday Morning Cartoons--Springtime for Thomas

Spring is coming, and what is a great way to celebrate spring, than with a good ole fashion Tom and Jerry cartoon. In this case, it is Springtime for Thomas. This 1946 cartoon has Jerry happily ready to be chased by Tom, however Tom is swooning over a cute lady kitty sunny herself by the pool next door. Jerry's evil little devil appears, and provides Jerry with a menage a trios plan on how to break up the romance between Tom and the lady kitty. Springtime is filled with high jinks and disastrous follies. From YouTube:

Saturday Morning Cartoons--Stop! Look! and Hasten!

I haven't done a Road Runner cartoon for a while, so here is the Road Runner, with Wile E. Coyote, in a timeless classic Stop! Look! and Hasten. Watch out for the Burmese Tiger Trap. From YouTube:

Saturday Morning Cartoons--Yogi Bear's Big Break

I haven't done a Yogi Bear cartoon in a while, so here is the first Yogi Bear cartoon, Yogi Bear's Big Break. Yogi premiered on Hanna Barbera's The Huckleberry Hound Show, October 2, 1958. In Yogi Bear's Big Break, Yogi is tired of being patronized by the tourists who are constantly saying "Look at the bears! Look at the bears! Lookatthebears!" Yogi wants to escape Jellystone Park, which is under the watchful eyes of the park ranger. So Yogi devises a number of escape plans, explaining how his plans will work to his pal Boo Boo. Naturally, all of Yogi's escape plans fail. And naturally, the park ranger catches Yogi trying to escape, ordering him back into the park. It is rather ironic how Yogi started off as a supporting character under Hanna Barbera's first star Huckleberry Hound, but has quickly broken out to be the major star--no, the icon--for Hanna Barbera's impressive collection of film animation. So here is Yogi Bear in his Big Break. From YouTube:



Yogi doesn't start stealing pic-a-nic baskets until February 5, 1959 in Bear on a Picnic.

Saturday Morning Cartoons--For Scent-imental Reasons

It is a Valentines Day weekend. And to celebrate Valentines Day, there is only one cartoon character who shows us the true nature of being in love--yes, we're talking about Pepe Le Pew! Here is Pepe in his 1949, Academy Award winning cartoon For Scent-imental Reasons. Directed by the great Chuck Jones, this short film is unique in that ABC had cut out two suicide sequences for television viewing. The first was where the female cat, later named Penelope Pussycat, had locked herself in a glass case, with Pepe arguing for her to come out. Penelope refuses, pantomiming that Pepe stinks. Pepe pulls out a gun, points it to his head, and then walks out of sight. Moments later, the gun is fired. A horrified Penelope rushes out of the case, and into the arms of Pepe, who tells her, "I missed, fortunately for you," continuing his lavish kisses on Penelope. A second suicide sequence was also cut out, where Penelope stands on a window sill, threatening to jump. Pepe believes that Penelope is trying to prove her love to him by committing suicide, and that he will save her. Pepe grabs Penelope, but then drops her. Pepe declares his own love for Penelope, saying "Vive l'amour! We die together." Pepe falls into a paint can, while Penelope falls into a barrel of water. ABC cut the scene of Pepe trying to save Penelope from jumping, and the line "We die together." This is the uncut version, showing both suicide scenes. From YouTube:

Saturday Morning Cartoons--Chilly Willy in Polar Pests

Saturday Morning Cartoons--Chilly Willy in Polar Pests

For today's Saturday Morning Cartoons, we have Polar Pests, starring that famous penguin Chilly Willy. At the Kalamazoo Zoo, Zookeeper Clyde discovers that the Antarctic penguin has escaped--going south for the winter. The zoo's director then sends Clyde south to catch another penguin, saying quietly, "If you fail, YOU'LL LOSE YOUR JOB!" So Clyde heads south to Antarctica, where he discovers Chilly Willy ice fishing. And the chase begins. Try and count how many times Chilly Willy and Clyde the poor walrus, who is also trying to fish through the ice for his food. From YouTube:

Saturday Morning Cartoons--Cat Fishin'

With the nasty winter weather blowing in all over this country, I thought it would be appropriate to look ahead to those wonderful days of spring--and all the great fishing to waste away on those warm spring days. And what is more fun than going Cat Fishin' with Tom and Jerry. This 1947 cartoon has Tom sneaking into a private fishing hole, guarded by Spike the Bulldog, to go cat fishing by using Jerry as the lure. Hilarity follows. From YouTube:

Saturday Morning Cartoons--Rabbit Hood

Today's Saturday Morning Cartoons is a fun Bugs Bunny cartoon, where our wrascally wrabbit tangles with the Sheriff of Nottingham in Rabbit Hood. Watch for the surprise visit of the real Robin Hood at the end of the picture. From YouTube:



Nah, that's silly. It couldn't be him.

Saturday Morning Cartoons--Popeye in Let's Celebrake

The new year of 2009 is about to begin next week. For today's Saturday Morning Cartoons, I found a very interesting Popeye cartoon Let's Celebrake. This 1938 cartoon has Popeye and Bluto strolling over to Olive Oil's place to pick her up for a New Year's evening of dancing and celebration. They are met at the door by Olive Oil's grandmother, who is staying home New Year's Eve, knitting by the fireplace. Popeye feels a little sympathetic that Olive's grandmother will be home alone, so he brings her along to the party. At the party, Bluto asks to dance with Olive Oil, while Popeye ends up trying to dance with a shaky Grandma. Wimpy then announces a dance contest with the prize being a loving cup. Who will win the dance contest? Bluto and Olive Oil, or Popeye and Grandma? I will not divulge the outcome of this contest, however, Popeye's spinach is used, and this is one of the few Popeye cartoons where both Bluto and Popeye do not get into a fisticuffs fight--where Popeye usually wins the fight over Bluto because he "eats his spinach." With that, have a Happy New Year enjoying Popeye in Let's Celebrake! From YouTube:

Merry Christmas!

Time for some eggnog, Santa, and lots of presents! Here is a little holiday treat for Christmas, a 1940 Merrie Melodies cartoon Bedtime for Sniffles. Sniffles the Mouse attempts to stay awake the entire night, before Christmas, in an attempt to see Santa Clause. Needless to say, staying awake all night for Santa is not an easy task. Not even a good cup of hot coffee and the Good Mousekeeping magazine can help Sniffles stay awake. Will Sniffles stay awake long enough to see the Big Guy himself? Find out on YouTube:



Have a Happy Holidays!