The Best and Worst of 2023 (if any)

 

What an unusual year 2023 is ranging from the fear of AI to the writers and actors strikes causing a major dent in the entertainment industry.  While it wasn't a rotten year (though I can't promise that for next year), it hasn't been a peaceful one either.  Shake ups, break ups, and hardly any make ups.  We now look back at the year 2023 as we do traditionally on this site.

Animated Features

As it takes on average about 4 years to make an animated feature, the strikes did not affect the animated film industry much except for when the actors struck causing promotion to slow down by celebrities.  But regardless if Chris Pratt and Jack Black could promote their films or not, it's the characters that sell the show.  And boy did we get a big surprise out of Universal and Illumination with The Super Mario Bros. Movie.  If there is any proof that Mario may be more popular than Mickey Mouse, this is it.  The film made money despite critics trying to destroy it due to no messaging, fans showed up in the movie theater to watch it and love it.  It was a love letter to Nintendo fans everywhere.  Yes, I said movie theaters; this movie could ONLY be seen in theaters.  And it made bank.  Covid is no longer an excuse for when a movie does bad.  Universal had the worst movie with Ruby Gillman, but it was Disney that struggled this year,  Elemental and Wish did.......meh.  Not terrible, but bad news for a Disney film.  Disney's glory days since the 2010's with Frozen and Zootopia may be over.  Paramount released a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie.  Though it didn't do great at the box office, merchandise sales increased and interests of past incarnations of the turtles increased making this, possibly, Turtlemania 2.0 as Turtles were seen promoting both Paramount and Nickelodeon and Turtles were more present than Spongebob in the Nickmas game this year with Raphael helping call play by play.  As I understand the Turtle franchise more, I can't say I'll become a major fan, but rather just something to watch like a Saturday Morning Cartoon for fun.  

Animated TV Series

As we've said time and time again, TV Cable ratings are dying, and they'd had to adapt to new changes.  Like last year, many of the same shows would also be released on Max and Paramount +.  There hasn't been a lot of new shows this year with some shows returning such as Spongebob, Loud House, and The Ghost and Molly McGee with new shows mostly being at Disney Channel such as Hailey's On It and Moon Girl.  As fear of cartoons "indoctrinating kids" these days rose, so too did ratings for older reruns.  This is where Cartoon Network took the cake with adult swim's Checkerboard Past block rerunning old Cartoon Network shows such as Dexter, Ed Edd N Eddy, and Courage.  Me TV continues to air classic cartoons with the return of Woody Woodpecker and Friends.  Discovery Family, meanwhile, begins their reruns of cartoons such as Looney Tunes, Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, Baby Looney Tunes, Paddington Bear, and The Smurfs now that WB has a hand in it.  However, they only own 60% of the channel with 40% still by Hasbro, so My Little Pony reruns continue to dominate the spotlight there.  The Nicktoons Network has brought the classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles back on TV, and it seems the Turtles may be the new face of Paramount, a title once held by Popeye in the 30's-50's.  

Streaming

Hoooooooooooo Doggies this alone could be a separate blog post.  That's because everything has been going on with Streaming.........EVERYTHING.  As I said, some shows were made for both TV and streaming, and Tiny Toons Looniversity is no exception.  But the hatred of Zazlav continues, and I will admit, I was wrong.  This guy knows nothing about the Entertainment Industry.  It's not so much he hates cartoons, but rather he's just a bean counter, and as animation fans and historians would tell you, this is where issues arise.   Coyote vs Acme did very well in test screens, but Zazlav snapped his fingers and now it is on life support for seeing the light of day.  We hope that happens soon.  Meanwhile, Max was able to release the worst cartoon EVER according to IMDB, and the less we talk about it.....the better (Velma).  Disney + meanwhile treated us with some new restorations of old shorts and films, but The Proud Family hit major controversy with its episode where the kids are singing a song about how slaves built this country and using political opinions during a powerful kids segment.  This can be extremely dangerous and kids CAN pick up on stuff like that.  The response to this type of content opened up a new streaming service for kids called Bentkey.  Controversy arises as this is run by the Daily Wire which leans right and the big cartoon is simply a rip off of Bluey.  Granted, the goal with the service is to make it a safe space for kids with no politics whatsoever, but the Bluey fans were still ticked off.  The rise of FAST Streaming linear channels is apparent with many shows being successful on Pluto TV.  Granted, it's all reruns, but enough for Paramount to continue investing with the service.  Paramount also put the Classic Ninja Turtles for streaming and will continue to do so in the new year.  Tubi has also grown a lot with officially licensed titles from Warner Bros. mostly Hanna Barbera bringing all hope that was lost with Velma.  We may be seeing more from Tubi in the near future. 

We couldn't leave the streaming section without talking about The Amazing Digital Circus.  This was well anticipated for a while and produced independently only releasing on the Glitch Youtube channel.  The pilot video had surpass around 10 million views and the fandom exploded doing what fandoms like that does best.....fan art and shipping.  Everybody was picking their favorite character, some picked ships, but most enjoyed the psychological comedic horror it has to offer, and overall, it was trying something new.  New art style, new style of animation, and creative driven.  More is expected to come from this and if you think the major studios aren't keeping an eye on this, you are sadly mistaken.  They'll find a way, whether it's copying the idea or flat out buying it, to make it their own.  For now, independent media was able to dominate the streaming landscape. 

Anime

A while back anime was all I kept my eye on.  Nowadays I seem to be out of it.  Anime still tends to be popular though, with hit franchises still being hits.  We now have a new main character in Pokemon, but I haven't caught up with Pokemon in a while.  Many journalists are listing Scott Pilgrim as a hit anime, but is it really an anime.  The only new one I saw this year is a movie called Suzume from the same people that brought you Your Name and Weathering With You.  One Piece's fandom is growing as Luffy is now a balloon at the Macy's Parade, and we hope to see more of our old favorites by next year.

Woody Woodpecker Walkaround Costumes

 

Since his creation in 1940, Woody Woodpecker had brought laughter and joy from his own laughter all over the world becoming one of the most popular cartoon characters at one point in time.  While not as popular anymore due to waning television airings he still would sometimes get around even in Universal and Portaventura theme parks.  In honor of Me TV bringing Woody Woodpecker back to television, here is a lookback on some of the walkaround costumes used over the years

Please note that this is not comprehensive, and some of the costumes may not be official.  Names of each costume is given by me; no official names have been given for any of these costumes.  Dates are approximate as track records of these costumes were lost to time.

Universal Studios Tour (early 1970's at least-late 70's early 80's)

It is unclear what the earliest of these costumes were and what year, but as far back as 1972 we found this from an old postcard from back when Universal was just a Studio Tour and entertainment center.  Woody looks a little bit plasticy probably with the head made out of paper mache.  His suit is very baggy.  Not the best looking woodpecker, but being among the earliest, not too bad.

 Old Chicago Woody (1976)

In 1976, Woody Woodpecker appeared during the holiday season at Old Chicago Amusement Park along side Santa Claus.  This is a very good Woody costume; he's much more furry and not baggy.  His head has distinct features.  It's unclear if this costume was used anywhere else nor is it clear if this is an official costume or not

Creepy Woody (early 1980's-late 1980's)

Universal Studios found the need to redo the Woody costume at its studio tour, but it looked bad.  While Woody looked much furrier his head is much smaller.  It literally looks like a man in a woodpecker suit.  Now to be fair, I'm going by this picture alone, but there is another one from 1987.

This makes the costume look much more decent, but by how much?  It still looks a bit cheap.  At least his head looked slightly detailed

Classics 34 Woody (1981-mid 80's)

When Woody turned 40, Walter and Gracie Lantz appeared on a local PBS show called Classics 34 which showcased old movies.  As part of the interview, Woody Woodpecker made an appearance on set.  The costume is really well done.  Similar to Universal's, but much more elaborate.  Woody's got a bigger head with bigger eyes and is much more furrier.  His top knot is much fuller.  This is an official costume since it appeared with Walter and Gracie Lantz on set.  

If you want to see it in action, I recommend the Thunderbean DVD A Conversation with Walter and Gracie Lantz which has the show with the interview.  This costume also appeared in Walter, Woody, and the World of Animation in 1983.  It must have toured with Walter and Gracie whenever they went somewhere or did something on camera.

Universal Studios Woody (late 1980s-late 1990's)

With the new Universal Studios Florida opening up in Orlando, it was time to update Woody again.  He had a pointier beak, skinnier eyes, and bigger smile.  He is no longer cheap looking than he was at Universal beforehand and is accompanied by Winnie, Chilly Willy, and Andy Panda.  This costume would be used for years and seen on shows such as Coach and Kids for Character as well as a special video to promote recycling.  

BONUS: Restored version of the costume

Sometime recently, someone was able to dumpster dive from Universal and found the head of the costume.  They restored it, fixed it up, and made a new body to go with it.  While not exactly how it was in the 90's, this version of Woody now looks better than ever and gives an idea on what he looked like if it were made today.

Universal Studios Woody ver 2 (around 1994-late 1990's)

Another version of Woody was refined in the mid 90's, but it wasn't seen as much.  His eyes are much bigger and his head is more detailed, but it lacked the friendliness of the previous costume.  This would be retired shortly

New Woody Woodpecker Show/Kidzone Woody (1999-present)

With the new Woody Woodpecker Show airing on Fox Kids and with the opening of Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone, it was time to update the costume to make him more refined.  As a result of the character design for the show looking similar to what he did in the 1940's, his costume would be designed the same way.  His top-knot is bent back and the character has distinctive features such as a birdlike grin on his beak, very detailed eyes which were somewhat skinnier, and he also got a little more fat.  Winnie would also have updates too.  This costume would be used in Universal Parks as well as Portaventura in Spain.

Islands of Adventure Woody (1999-late 2000's)

Likewise with the opening of the new theme park, Islands of Adventure, a similar Woody was made for the park only this time in his safari gear and a skinnier top-knot so that it could fit through the hat.  Woody doesn't appear much at this park anymore, and when he does, it's usually the standard version without the Islands of Adventure gear.

Why does America HATE Woody Woodpecker

 

In celebration of the return of classic Woody Woodpecker and Walter Lantz cartoons to television, I wish to do an opinion piece and try to answer a question that has been bugging me for the last decade or so......does the general public HATE Woody Woodpecker????!!!!!!

First of all I can say for certainty that he isn't a forgotten character.  The iconic laugh, one of the first things to come to mind when you think of woodpeckers is Woody.  The original cartoon series lasted from 1940-1972 outlasting Bugs Bunny by 8 years and the original Tom and Jerry by about 14 years (both series debuted the same year as Woody).  Even when the cartoons went into TV reruns whether it was syndicated or Saturday Mornings, Woody Woodpecker continued to grace the theater screens even if the budget got lower and lower as the years progressed.  Woody Woodpecker at one point became the mascot for Universal Parks and Resorts (now Universal Destinations and Experiences), and many of his adventures have been released on DVD and Blu-ray.  The 1944 cartoon Barber of Seville had been listed in Jerry Beck's 50 Greatest Cartoons Book and the theme song was even nominated for an Academy Award.  Lantz himself would receive the award for Lifetime Achievement.  

So.........What Happened???!!!!  Could it be Universal's fault for not using Woody enough?  Could it be the general public's fault for not caring enough for Woody?  Or maybe the combination of the two?  Or is it something else?  Well, I've tried figuring this out for myself.  After all, Woody Woodpecker was a star character in his day and he should have been Universal's own Bugs Bunny since he came from the same era.  The problems, it seems, could have started in the late 80's early 90's.  By that point, Woody hasn't been on TV as much.  The Program Exchange had begun syndicating the cartoons real cheap, but still could not achieve the success of their other programs like Bullwinkle.  Universal on their own began seeking out other properties to buy in order to find a beloved character because their own character, somehow, did not achieve the beloved-ness.  First they bought some rights to Jay Ward's Rocky and Bullwinkle, but it only worked for a while (though even now, Bullwinkle remains more beloved than Woody Woodpecker).  They made an agreement with the Bagdasarians for Alvin and the Chipmunks and all sorts of projects only to be dwindled down to 2 monster themed movies and giving that share back to the Bagdasarians.  Now they're going for Illumination and Dreamworks which are much more beloved.

As far as theme parks they tried Woody Woodpecker, but by the time Universal Studios Florida was conceived, two other headliners were at the park that would gain more attention than Woody: Hanna-Barbera and Nickelodeon.  In fact, Universal almost bought Hanna-Barbera only to be outbid by Turner.  They brought in Barney the Dinosaur, but his popularity would peak over the years and he too would overstay his welcome.  Dr. Seuss was brought in and seems to be working, but not a true headliner like Mickey Mouse.  Harry Potter was brought in, but that franchise isn't really the face of Universal despite its massive popularity.  The Simpsons were brought in, but how long will that last now that they are Disney property?  When Woody Woodpecker returned with a new show in 1999, Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone opened in Florida with Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster.  Alas, no new updates were ever done to the area, and NOBODY really liked the area.  Even complaints about the coaster was enough to say "oh yeah I'm done with Woody Woodpecker".  By 2023, the Kidzone was no more, and by that time it was clear now what the plan is to out Mickey the Mouse with Nintendo.  The first Super Nintendo World opened in Japan in 2021, the second in 2023 in Hollywood, and a third coming when Epic Universe opens in Orlando.  Pokemon arrived in Japan in 2023 with hopes to expand to other parks.  Pokemon by itself gets the highest sales in merchandise more than Mickey Mouse.  One could argue that Mickey is more popular than Mario, and I believed that as well.......until The Super Mario Movie in 2023.  With Mario having 4 decades under his belt, he has become a beloved character from multiple generations giving Universal the "cartoon" ambassador it needed all these years.

There are many reasons we as a whole do not like Woody Woodpecker all that much.  Perhaps the most obvious one could be that Woody never was able to materialize in an era of cartoons that brought back the classic style such as Animaniacs.  Disney was able to compete during their Disney afternoons with Ducktales, Darkwing Duck, Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers, and more.  Warner Bros. had their share of shows like Tiny Toons and Animaniacs, but while it took a few years for new series with classic characters, constant reruns of the classics and how well they held up gave them everlasting power.  Even Mighty Mouse with Mighty Mouse the New Adventures was able to appear in this new era.  Woody meanwhile.....an occasion rerun in syndication?  Maybe at a not so regular time slot?  With not the best cartoons airing?

Therein lied another problem, while the 40's Woodys held up pretty well, most of the cartoons Woody was in was during the 1950's and 60's.  As each year progressed, the budget on the cartoons got cut more and more, and while they were great for old cartoon reruns, they couldn't hold the same quality that other golden age theatrical cartoons had in the 40's and 50's.  And it certainly isn't a generation issue either as Popeye is much older and obviously looked at as an old cartoon, but constant reruns had helped the Spinach Eatin Sailor continue to remain a classic.  It also didn't help that the most exposure of Woody may have been Pantry Panic as it is in the public domain, and as such, many VHS and DVD companies have used the same faded prints of it over and over again showing its age to the eyes of the younger generation. 

In recent years, however, we discovered that some foreign countries absolutely love Woody Woodpecker.  Brazil, in particular, absolutely LOVES the laughing woodpecker, and because of this, Universal does see the need to do more Woody Woodpecker stuff including an awful live action movie and a new series starting in 2018.  Why Woody is beloved in Brazil?  Well, from what I was told (and I could be wrong) it may have something to do with a lot of exposure down there via some sort of public television station.  It's basically the same way we as Americans love Sesame Street.  Whatever the reason is, the discovery of the popularity happened when Universal began uploading old episodes of The Woody Woodpecker Show and The New Woody Woodpecker Show to YouTube where millions of views were counted. 

In Spain, PortAdventure has seen many success still using Woody Woodpecker despite not being a Universal Park anymore.  There, you can meet Woody in his home as you would Mickey in Disneyland and there are Woody Woodpecker themed rooms at their hotel . To the dismay of Coaster Studios who is based in America (see where I'm going) most if not all of the merchandise centers around Woody Woodpecker. Because of foreign countries loving Woody Woodpecker, we as fans lucked out because that gave Universal the means necessary to restore more Woody Woodpecker cartoons whether in HD or not.  You may see the cartoons in excellent quality on Me TV when they come on.

Will Woody's return to TV work?  Time will tell.  This could gain awareness to the bird, but let's face facts; time has not been kind to Woody, and half of the classic stuff is pretty much lackluster to Disney, Warner Bros., or MGM.  Still, I hope the general public will see once again that Woody Woodpecker is a great fun character to watch.

Stories of Childhood: Introduction to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a Lookback at Turtlemania

 

I was born 30 years ago.  I would have been way way way too young to remember even a slither of Turtlemania.  Now, 30 years later, as I research and understand the appeal of the Ninja Turtles for about a year now, I've decided to talk about it from the outside looking in since we have a new movie coming out and also the classic series had a bit of a resurgence.

As I said, I was born near the bitter bitter end of Turtlemania.  My mania would have been Barney the Dinosaur at the time, and the Y7 crowd was starting to lean towards Mighty Morphan Power Rangers.  That didn't mean Turtles weren't popular anymore; it just meant that pop culture was changing, and Turtles, for the time being, was no longer top dog.  It would return for a while with a new series in 2003 that would last through the decade, and Paramount took good care of them under the Nickelodeon brand for the next decade at least in terms of brand recognition.  

That said, my introduction to the Turtles could not have been better.  I mean it could, but certainly better than me finding out about it years later like with most old franchises.  If anyone remembers this fast food restaurant, our local Rax had a dining area with 2 arcade games.  One was Trog which was claymation looking dinosaurs.  The other....the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game.

Rax was no arcade place, nor was it like a Chuck E Cheese or a Roller Skating Rink.  Therefore, in a place like Rax, if an arcade machine made noise, and with very little games to chose from, it was easy to tell where it came from, and the demo reels for TMNT when not being in action always made noise.  Over and over you heard "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles......Heroes in a Half Shell; Turtle Power" hence me familiar with the classic theme song, and also who they were.  Though the words that stood out to me and most other general public people were Ninja Turtles.  They were ninjas, and they were turtles.  It was a typical licensed Konami fighting arcade game like the Simpsons and Sunset Riders, so of course I enjoyed watching demo reels and other kids playing the game.  

As such, I associated Ninja Turtles with the arcade game for a little while.  Years later in 5th grade Turtles snuck back in with my teachers.  My science teacher would always put a Ninja Turtle stamp on good grades and my history teacher briefly talked about how each turtle was named after a Renascence artist.  Sure I've heard the names in TV commercials, but it was an educational lesson as to how the Turtles became the Turtles.  What sparked my interest briefly (VERY briefly) was the fact that my teachers talked about them as if they were old hat, and me interested in old stuff especially cartoons made me think "hmmmm...." and had my curiosity burning.  Unfortunately the original TMNT had been off the air since the 90's, and when I saw the 2003 series, I was disappointed.  I guess I was more into funny animals, and while the original had funny animals, the animals here were more action packed, which lost my interest.  Years later I come to realize that fans actually like this series.

My journey in the live action Turtle world was very brief as a child.  I remember only once seeing Ninja Turtles the Next Mutation when it aired, but it didn't last.  They added a female Turtle.....that I remembered.  Fast forward to high school and we watched the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie from 1990 in World History for a little break.  Why in World History?  Because.....Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Donatello; all of which were artists of World History named for the famed Turtles.  Watching them as Jim Henson creations were a treat; watching them fight and say words like "damn" was even better.  My favorite part was when they were watching an old Aesop and Son from Bullwinkle with the Tortoise and the Hare where they were rooting for the Tortoise and saying things like "Ninja kick the damn rabbit".   But even then our teacher recollects how he used to always set up his son's Ninja Turtle playsets when he was a kid, so there really was something there about Turtles in the past.

By and by my interest on the Turtles waned and almost rightfully so; there was an instance of me watching a little bit of the new Nickelodeon series from 2012 because Jesse Ventura guest voices a villain.  Otherwise, I hadn't thought much about them.  At one point I was even asked what was the purple one's name and I was like "uhh....I dunno...."  "What da ya mean you don't know; you're supposed to be like this cartoon expert."  Yeah I will admit that was one of my weaker points, but that was because it wasn't my thing.

Flash forward to 2021 and Nickelodeon All Star Brawl; this is where some interest came in as the Turtles in the game went back to their original designs from the 1987 cartoon.  There was a strange sense of nostalgia from looking at them.  Then came a Youtube video about the history of Turtlemania which I said, "ok....I'll take a look; maybe I'll be educated on something."  Boy did I learn a lot.  The Turtles were THE thing in the late 80's/early 90's.  By comparison, how Pokemon was in the lat 1990's.  Kids having Ninja Turtle birthday parties, kids wanting the latest Ninja Turtles toys, parents concerned over the violence because....duh.....it's something new that mainstream media doesn't like, Ninja Turtles having a live on stage concert tour, Ninja Turtles at Disney World, video games, movies, etc.  

So now, as an outsider looking in, I must say this so called Turtlemania is unbelievable.  I'm a fan of past kids pop culture, and this one was interesting.  It really feels like Jingle All the Way to best describe it.  Especially when watching the live tour that happened in the early 90's.  You can hear all the kids booing at Shredder like their lives depended on it (and to them....it did, or at least it felt like it; though they weren't in any real danger being just a show, but they don't know that).  

Regardless of what you think of Ninja Turtles, they are here to stay, and I think that's ok.  These anthropomorphic super hero turtles are both fun and entertaining.  Not everything they did was great, but their brand seems to have not been tarnished too much yet (the worst stuff has been long forgotten).  While I won't declare myself a fan, I think I've been well educated on a subject that has been weak for me.  Let's see......Leonardo is Blue, Raphael is Red, Donatello is Purple, and Michelangelo is Orange.  HAH!  And I did that in my head.  Looks like I fixed my Ninja Turtle weakness. 
  

Blu-ray Review: Mickey and Friends

 Following the release of Mickey and Minnie on Blu-ray, Disney continues the trend of releasing classic shorts to Blu-ray for the 100th anniversary of the Disney company with a volume two called Mickey and Friends.

Continuing where Mickey and Minnie began back in the winter, this set would be considered just as exciting as cartoon shorts are far and few shown, especially on Blu-ray.  The last great year for classic shorts on Blu-ray was 2018 with Celebrating Mickey.  So when Mickey and Minnie and now this set, Mickey and Friends, were announced, fans were intrigued to buy it in hopes of more releases to come.  Like the last set, the art cover makes it look like a very attractive set with many of the famed characters in their classic form.  It's the same helping as last time however, 10 cartoons, all of which we have seen over and over again.  This time, however, it's not just about Mickey Mouse.  You get Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Daisy, Chip and Dale, and a few others.

As much as you liked Mickey and Minnie if you enjoyed that Blu-ray, this one's slightly better.  Content wise it features some of the best of the famous characters.  If you were to show off some vintage Disney cartoons, these are some of the best selections like The Band Concert, which was Mickey's first color appearance in the series and features Mickey conducting to the William Tell Overture competing against Donald's Turkey in the Straw.  Other memorable shorts include Pluto's Party, Pluto and the Gopher, Mickey's Trailer, Pluto's Sweater, and Lonesome Ghost.  While Goofy cartoons appear to be absent, the Goof does easily appear in some Mickey Mouse cartoons alongside Donald Duck.  Not all of them are as funny as other studios like Warner Bros., but still enough to be entertained especially for a Disney fan.  Content wise, however, many shorts are overlapped from the Celebrating Mickey Blu-ray, so fear of double dipping is evident.

Since these are the same restorations used for the past decade, no surprises here with picture quality.  Since the shorts don't come around as much as the features, Disney never went too far with restoring the shorts.  Still, it varies from cartoon to cartoon as to how far they went to clean them up.  Some like Lonesome Ghosts being one of their first ones to be restored in HD look very natural.  Some of the recreated titles still looked photoshopped, but some fans have noticed a few corrections compared to previous HD releases.  I wouldn't know that, and I don't think I can prove that, but maybe one with a good eye can second that.  One minor thing they fixed this time around is that all the cartoons don't dissolve in and out like the Mickey and Minnie Blu-ray did, but they still have the character introductions in the beginning of each cartoon.  Again, just VOs of the characters looking back on memories with no historical context, and possibly will hit a nostalgia vib with some 80's and 90's fans who grew up seeing these on VHS.

Like with Mickey and Minnie, Mickey and Friends will easily please the Pixie Duster in your family wishing to celebrate 100 years of Disney.  It's got a mix of different shorts with different characters spanning at least 3 decades worth.  It's still not comprehensive, and sadly it overlaps too much this time with Celebrating Mickey, but it feels much more collectible than the previous Celebrating Mickey Blu-ray with an attractive art cover, variety of characters, and since it's considered volume 2, that makes it more an addition with Mickey and Minnie.  Hopefully this trend will continue with more releases if sales are successful. 

Blu-Ray Review: Looney Tunes Collector's Choice vol 1

 

Time for another Blu-ray review.  This time it involves Looney Tunes with a big release, Looney Tunes Collector's Choice vol 1.  How does it hold up?  Let's find out

I've been watching and collecting Looney Tunes for over 20 years now.  In fact, it will be 20 years since the Golden and Premiere Collections on DVD which started a revolution of collecting Looney Tunes on disc.  What's more is that Warner Bros. began doing new restorations of these cartoons since many of these were only dubbed versions and some were airing in faded prints on Cartoon Network.

But there were cartoons snubbed from previous releases.  While the majority of the releases had a lot of what fans want, it wasn't EVERYTHING that they wanted.  Most of the issues ranged from a mastering issue to just being passed over.  This what we hope to be a new line of sets was to correct that.  20 new to Blu-ray cartoons appear on this disc ranging from 1945-1959 making this all golden age cartoons.

With the exception of the first two cartoons, watching them in one sitting has very good and easy transitions from Bugs to Daffy, then to Porky, then Sylvester (with some Tweety) to the Road Runner and Foghorn Leghorn until finishing off with Art Davis and The Three Bears.  The first two cartoons meanwhile was to premiere two new restorations made specifically for this disc:  Beanstalk Bunny and Catch as Cats Can.  The contents are a mix of "why weren't these out on the Golden Collection in the first place" like Daffy Doodles and Beanstalk Bunny while others are cartoons that deep down the fans wanted such as Catch as Cats Can, other Art Davis cartoons, and His Bitter Half.  No cartoon is a stinker, and even the worst cartoon on here is not even that bad.  All cartoons are enjoyable and fun.  What should be interesting to note is that Sylvester appears the most, and what's more you see how different Art Davis's Sylvester is compared to Friz's original.  There must be something very special about that cat as every major director at Warner Bros. had a hand in directing Sylvester.  Even Bob Clampett did one and had plans to do more, and Chuck Jones did some cartoons with him a few times.

For the first two cartoons, the restorations are stunning.  At this point though, I have been used to seeing Looney Tunes restored, so I guess I couldn't get as excited as it feels like I've seen them restored before even though they weren't.  And yeah I must agree, it's about time Beanstalk Bunny has been restored.  The rest of the cartoons have been restored for the former HBO Max streaming service though not all ended up on there (some would end up on Me TV).  Those look pristine and good too, though a difference can be felt once we get to those.  The good news is that with the exception of A Mouse Divided, the photoshopped titles have either been fixed or at the very least zoomed in to feel much more authentic.

While not perfect, Looney Tunes Collector's Choice vol 1 is a must have to your collection.  20 beautifully remastered and restored cartoons filled with a different helping of cartoons than what we've been used to on home video.  True that none of these films are rare, but they are all what we want on Blu-ray, and should make a major addition to your Looney Tunes Collection.  After all, it IS the Collector's Choice.

Blu-ray Review: Max Fleischer's Superman

 

With the 100th Anniversary of Warner Bros. going on, they have been raiding the vaults somewhat with different Blu-ray releases included 4K releases of the Superman Movies, and because of this, they decided to do a separate Blu-ray release of the Max Flesicher Superman cartoons.  But is it worth it?  Let's check it out. [PLEASE NOTE: at the time of me receiving this set, I came down with Covid, and I am still recovering from the left over residue from it.  If I get something wrong, please let me know).

It's no surprise that Superman is one of the most well known figures in pop culture, being first in comics then of course, movies, animation, TV, and theme park attractions all over the world.  For this series of cartoons, not only was it the first animated series for Superman, but the first on screen series for a superhero franchise period.  And as far as content is concerned, this is superior.  Some of the greatest cartoons ever made.  They were as if they were feature films themselves.  Using the actors from the radio show Superman, these films still hold a strong standard as to making a good superhero cartoon only somewhat matched by Batman The Animated Series in the 90s.

It's hard to believe that these were made by the same studio that brought us Popeye, Betty Boop, and others, but it is, and for Flesicher, it's one of their bests.  Contrary to popular belief, Max Fleischer was gung ho with making these cartoons.  He was a visionary with special effects being an inventor himself such as the rotoscope and 3D backgrounds in a 2D cartoon.  Unfortunately by that time it was too late.  Paramount would have already ousted the Fleischers and run the studio themselves.  While the series continued under Paramount's Famous Studios and in the same quality, eventually they would end the series and would replace it with Noveltoons and Little Lulu.  Paramount continued to have films rights to Superman however until the late 40's using the brand in one of George Pal's Puppetoons, a Little Lulu cartoon, and who could forget the infamous Popeye cartoon, She Sick Sailor, where Popeye faces off against "Superman".

However, because of the unknown as to who truly owned the films, Paramount or DC (it ended up being DC), all of them ended up in the public domain.  A few TV airings happened in syndication, but no where near as widespread as other Paramount cartoons.  There were many VHS releases from various companies over the years.  An Image laserdisc release is said to be the best one which would be re-released on DVD.  Warner Bros. who would own the master material when merging with DC did do a restoration in the mid 2000's which was in HD, but there were still some issues when released on DVD.

Starting in 2018, Warner Bros. begun restoring stuff in 4K starting with some Dr. Seuss specials but quickly went to the theatrical cartoons.  Superman would be part of this program.  How is it?  Well, I'm mixed.  On the one hand, the cartoons are the most pristine they've ever been.  No signs of dirt or damage to the film.  On the other hand, the picture looks to be DNR'd somewhat and some of the color choices are meh.  It's not in the same level that Disney would restore the cartoons, but it still feels pretty close.  None of the audio has been restored; that to me is the biggest gripe.  As for the bonus features, all were rehashed from previous releases, and only the 2006 featurette is worth something.  The newest featurette is pretty much people from DC Comics talking about how great these are whereas the 2006 featurette contains historians and experts on Superman/Fleischer Studios talking about who the Fleischers were and how Superman got made.

If you are a fan of DC Comics, you may love this Blu-ray.  It is nice to have a compilation of these historic toons on Blu-ray.  Just don't get your hopes up too much, and make sure you have back up releases before you purchase this set.  

Stories of Childhood: Introduction to Bozo and maybe anime???????

I wanted to tell this story for a few weeks now.  I originally was going to do this as part of the series of public domain posts I have done, but this story for this company outweighed the actual public domain cartoon releases.  Only baby boomers and older generations than that could claim they grew up with the history of animation.  Boomers specifically because EVERYTHING was on TV back in the day.  However, somehow thanks to my sharp memory even when blurred at times made me realize I was lucky enough as well to have grown up with the history of animation.  Quick, brief, but impact memories make for good storytelling such as how as a kid I knew Baby Huey, how often I saw public domain cartoons in school, and a possible bootlegged tape I own.  This may be the most bizarre stories with major mysteries involved I have ever told, and I invite you to go into the rabbit hole right now.

So let's go back into time.  It was the summer of 1998, my second trip to Cedar Point.  This time well knowing what was there: rides, roller coasters, the beach, and more importantly...the Bears (Berenstain that is).  Matter of fact the ONLY thing in my book.  So when the rest of the family wanted to do something else like go to breakfast outside Cedar Point property, my mother would tell you I was stubborn.  More than stubborn.  But what could I do, I was outnumbered.  In any case, while all I wanted to do is see the "Bears", we ate at I believe a Ponderosa Steakhouse.  Given the amount of families with young kids coming to the Sandusky area to visit Cedar Point, they had on television with kids shows.  The strange thing was, these weren't Nicktoons or PBS or anything like that.  These were very different shows I remembered watching instead of eating breakfast (again....stubborn).  Seeing that the Berenstain Bears were on my mind, it was easy to see or me to think that all but one looked like Berenstain Bears ripoffs.  Until my adulthood, these shows I saw once and only once.  So I had to go by memory for at most two of the three shows I remember.

So let's play a game for a moment and see if you can guess the animated program based on my description of my memory for at the time.  You'll probably get at least one of them right and I can guess which one too:

1. A bunch of kiddie woodland creatures with the main focal one a bear.  They get chased around by some reptiles who were the villains and the female adult bird turns out to be a villain as well.  They get scared away by the adult woodland creatures.  And oh yes, in the end credits the NBC logo appears.

2. A giant bear (possibly a polar bear) is with this wacky professor testing out his latest inventions on the bear.  Some scenes take place in the city.  Had an Inspector Gadget vibe to it

3. A live action clown is the star and host of his show doing juggling acts and such and shows off cartoon episodes starring said clown.  He said things along the lines of "I hope you are enjoying the show" or "You seem to be really enjoying the show"

So the 3rd one was obviously the easiest one to figure out as it was for me.  Yup, it was Bozo.  A year or so later going to Chuck E Cheese, Bridgeville had the arcade kiddie skeeball type game called Bozo's Grand Prize Game, stemming of course from the actual game on the show.  As the years went by I knew to learn how important Bozo the Clown both was and is, especially in the Chicago area as it was franchised to many local TV stations unlike many kids shows.  There are tons of videos, articles, and other stuff to research on Bozo the Clown if you want more info, and while I have been enjoying going down this rabbit hole as to its rich and unique history, I don't claim to be an expert to continue this discussion.  Now.....I knew that the last Bozo Show was in 2001, so I thought maybe this was WGN's Bozo Show, but this had no live kids so I figured "ok, maybe this was one in the Cleveland Toledo area", but I wasn't sure. Later on I learned there were live kids, but they weren't "live kids".  Instead, it was a prerecorded edit into the program which was in all actuality a compilation of some Bozo cartoons.  Regardless, the 3rd cartoon was Bozo.

That leaves 1 and 2.  1, eventually, I found out.  Whether it was on the animation boards or me doing my own research searching for "cartoon bears of the 80's" or something like that I've forgotten.  Regardless, it was one of the two, and the key clues were 1. it was somewhat an NBC production and 2. it was a little cub bear, not a Yogi Bear type character.  The problem was that those type of bears were all over the 80's.  Care Bears, Gummi Bears, Berenstain Bears, Paw Paw Bears, the list goes on and on, but it was finally solved....Kissyfur.  It basically stars a Bear Cub and his Papa.  I can't really say anything too special about the cartoon since I never grew up with it, but it's just like I remembered; typical 1980's Saturday Morning funny animals type show.  A little bit frightening, but in a fun cartoony way.  And by the way, an all star talent too with names like Frank Welker, Russi Taylor, Ed Gilbert, Lennie Weinrib, and more.  Whether I found out about it on accident or through my own research through memory I can't remember, but either way, that solves cartoon number 1.

That leaves number 2.  What in the world was it?  Nobody's brought it up on the animation boards unlike Kissyfur and Bozo.  Every once in a while I tried researching it using keywords like "bear, scientist, professor, polar bear", but nothing came of it, so I would give up, forget about it, and maybe a year or so later try again with the same results.  Rinse, wash, repeat, then finally forget..............until one night I had a dream that we had Peacock on our house and for some reason we had on Beethoven the Animated Series.  As I watched it I said, "ah...ha.....THAT'S what I saw, and it wasn't a bear, it was a dog!"  But like all dreams, then end when you figure it out.  Beethoven was based on the movie series and was one of those family movies about a real life dog causing trouble.  The dog didn't talk, this character on the mystery show did.  And I could have swore he was all white regardless of species.  So, research happened again.  Same keywords, same results.  Rinse, wash, repeat, but then I had an idea; usually shows would syndicate a la cart.  Bozo was decades old by this point, so I shoved that aside, but if I could find some sort of connection with Kissyfur be it studio or distributor, I might be able to solve a 25+ year long mystery at last.  So a Google search for Kissyfur began....images first for some reason.  One such image was a VHS cover.  So I clicked on that finding a distributor, and when I saw it was Celebrity Home Entertainment I said "Wait a minute!"  Although Celebrity did a line of public domain cartoons, they also did sub-licensing mainly from Filmation among others.  One such license........was through Larry Harmon for Bozo the Clown.  

"Bozo was distributed by Celebrity," I thought, "And I know I saw that one over there with Kissyfur.  What if what I saw was NOT from broadcast TV but rather from a best of VHS tape."  So a Google search of Celebrity Home Entertainment was done.  Some VHS covers appeared of compilations.  Not the one I saw, sadly, but enough to know they were the ones who did such releases.  So going through them on Images, I saw tons of different 80's cartoons similar to Kissyfur, but no match.  There was one about a Dragon.  Ok, a big animal as I remembered, but the description of the story does not compute.  Going with the "What if it was a dog?" idea I checked Foofur, a show I've heard about.  But there were too many dogs, not enough humans, and the design did not match.  On Wikipedia, I saw a list of shows sub-licensed to Celebrity, so I went through the list through process of elimination.  Obviously shows like Ghostbusters weren't it, and I searched through all kinds of names.  "Sherlock Hound........nah......"  All hope seemed almost lost as I was clicking on almost anything.  I saw one that said Wowser.  I clicked on it, and sure enough I was met with disappointment as the picture of a comic showed no animal characters and the wrong type of design.  But wait a minute.......this is a page for the WORD Wowser and the comic is just one that uses said word.  "See [link to Wowser TV show]".  I clicked on the link........................

There it was......that was the show I remembered seeing only once.  And just like my dream.....it was not a bear......IT WAS A DOG!!!!!  It's a story about a wacky professor testing out his inventions on his dog, Wowser.  The show, of course, totally cartoonland because Wowser and the Cat, Ratso, talked and everyone understood them.  No one questioned why they talked, they just did.  But then it gets even crazier....this show.......WAS AN ANIME!  In my years I touted that Sailor Moon was my first anime I ever saw, so I looked up when that anime debuted on Cartoon Network......it was darn close to when I saw Wowser.....June 1998.  I assume I saw Wowser in July or August, and Sailor Moon was not to far behind or ahead my first time seeing it.  There is now a 50% chance I saw Wowser first and a 50% chance I saw Sailor Moon first.  Compare that to a solid 95% chance being Sailor Moon.

But wait, it gets weirder.  This is a LOST anime.  Some episodes have been uploaded online, but no sub seems to exist anymore.  Thanks to the VHS releases of the series by Celebrity, we have a good number of episodes to watch.  Mediatoon Distribution claims to have distribution rights to the series.  All that may be needed is someone like Discotek Media to pick this up cheap.  Seeing this back officially is not out of the question.  

Bozo, Kissyfur, Wowser......none of these (at least in animated form) are all that special.  But if I was able to remember even the slightest memory of all these shows, then they must have done something right to make a brief impact on my childhood.  Whether it was a possible first taste of anime, the earliest education of the World's Most Famous Clown, an early sighting of rare TV animation, or all of the above, none of these should be forgotten.  ALL animation is history, and these examples are why animation history preservation is important right now, because somebody remembers, and the memories are fading fast 

NCAA Cartoon Tournament part 3.....The Final Four (2023)

 

I'll make this quick because we are probably going to lose power in our area due to high winds, but these are the final 4 characters left in the tournament.  

All but 1 comes from the Warner Bros. Cartoon Library.  Chilly Willy comes from Universal.

You got one comic book character, 2 golden age characters, and 1 Cartoon Network character.

All #1 seeds are eliminated, there are no more left.  In fact, they all left by the Elite Eight.

The Final Four are Porky Pig, Batman, Johnny, Chilly Willy.

NCAA Cartoon Tournaments part 2...Sweet 16 (2023)

 

Here is the Sweet 16 for the Cartoon Tournament.  2 #1 seeds went down and plenty of upsets.  Anime is very strong in the tournaments.  

Continue to watch the basketball games to see if your character moves on to the Elite Eight then the Final Four.  

NCAA Cartoon Tournament 2023

 

March Madness has arrived once again.  It's time for the cartoon tournaments.  How it works: Each character had been picked randomly and would represent each team on the same bracket of the NCAA Tournament.  There is no voting involved, just characters representing a basketball team.  But first....let's welcome in our #1 seeds:

Fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight.  Early on running from a real fight, she is the overall #1 seed.  Sailor Moon is coming out strong after her 30th anniversary with more access to the anime, and two new movies coming very soon.  You can watch Sailor Moon for free now on Youtube and 24/7 on her Pluto channel.  All this makes her a top contender.

POPEYE THE SAILOR

While not as strong of a #1 seed despite eating his spinach, he still packs a punch.  Popeye has continued to endure on Me TV reruns, but also on Boomerang reruns.  There's now a graphic novel featuring Popeye and is still a beloved character after all those years.  We hear a new restoration of Sinbad the Sailor is taking place by the Fleischer family.  This makes him a #1 seed

AMY ROSE

Amy somehow snuck into the #1 spot in her region.  Though not always liked by Sonic fans, she still packs a punch as well.  Don't mess with Sonic, or you'll get a taste of her.  Let's see how far she can go in the tournaments this year.

GOKU

Finally, from one popular anime character to another, it's Goku.  While not too much has been going on with him aside from Macy's Day Parade appearances and a new movie, he still rules the anime world with his Ka-Me-Ha-Me-Ha!  Competitors better watch out if he turns Super Sayan; it may just cost them their lives (or the very least, the next round in the tournament). 

Full bracket below: