Cartoon Friday: Popeye's Halloween

Welcome to the Halloween edition of Cartoon Friday. I was originally going to post the Halloween special: It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, but as I was starting to embed the clips (it is split into three clips) I noticed an ominous copyright notice link from the cartoon syndicate—United Features as I recall. Seems to me that if they really had a problem with it being up, they could easily have had Youtube take it down. Anyway, I'm not sure what to make of it and the last thing I need is any kind of legal troubles, so I really don't feel comfortable embedding them on my blog. However, if you want to see it here is the link to the Youtube channel where I found them.

As a replacement feature I offer a Halloween Popeye cartoon from 1954. I consider this to be right in the middle of Popeye's Golden Age, and the thing I often notice is that the settings are so cool. In this case, it's Olive Oyl's house, mostly the inside but there are a few exteriors that show a pretty nifty little bungalow. It was contemporary at the time, of course, but now it is such a rich slice of vintage awesomeness. One thing in particular, I really like is the standing ash tray, which was a pretty common item back in the days when doctors would actually recommend smoking, but now you rarely see them. Oh, and see if you notice what's missing from this Popeye cartoon.

Have a safe and very Happy Halloween.

Enjoy!

Duck Dodgers in the 24½ th Century

Hello and welcome to another Cartoon Friday. This week's offering is one of the all time great classics from Merrie Melodies: Duck Dodgers in the 24½th  Century, I believe circa 1943. Truly one of Chuck Jones' finest cartoons, and I realize this probably sounds like laziness, but honestly there really isn't anything else to say about it, because it speaks so well for itself.

Enjoy!

Movie Trailer: Charade

Friday was date night, and we watched How to Steal A Million, with Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole, and now we seem to be in the midst of an Audry Hepburn phase, much to my delight. So, tonight after football will be Charade with Ms. Hepburn and Cary Grant, I can't recall, but I think this might have been his last film. I've never seen the actual movie, but I've always wanted to, and I do remember seeing this trailer at the Guild Theater in downtown Portland when I was a youngster. Probably as part of the bill for a Thin Man Festival or something of that nature. Anyway, I'm looking forward to it.

-Enjoy

Cartoon Friday: The Farm of Tomorrow

Happy Cartoon Friday to you and yours. Today's featured cartoon is a Tex Avery picture from MGM, called The Farm of Tomorrow. Keep an eye (or nose) out for the Smell-O-Meter.
-Enjoy!

The Excitement of the Mundane

This is an old educational film about the dangers of being a teenage girl in the 50's. As a film it has a tragic charm to it, but what I found intriguing was the backdrops.The grocery store, the cars & trucks, the quaint neighborhoods, and of course, the malt shop with its 23¢ hamburgers; truly unexpected treasures. Certainly at the time this film was made, all of this stuff would have been as mundane and boring as a day in our modern lives, but to us retrophiles these scenes are a fascinating glimpse at daily life in the past.

-Enjoy!

My First Youtube Clip Featuring Some Vintage Jazz.

Today's offering is  a little different, it is my own clip, basically my first attempt at a Youtube commercial for some Halloween products now available in my Vintage 66 Graphics shop on Zazzle. Anyway, I found a feature on Youtube that allows you to add songs that have already been cleared by the legal department, as far as copyright concerns go. So the song I'm using is called Salt Peanuts by Charlie Parker. Perhaps that seems like an odd choice for a Halloween commercial, but when I think of Halloween, I can't help but think of that animated holiday classic, It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. So, there's your tie in.

-Cheers!

Sorry I'm Such a Pinhead !

When I first set up this blog I thought I had it laid out pretty well and was all good to go. Well, it recently came to my realization that evidently I did not have the comments notifications set up the way I thought I had, meaning that I haven't been getting notified of comments. So, if you have left comments and I have (seemed) to ignore them, I sincerely apologize, it was not intentional, it was merely technology getting the best of an old pinhead.

Popeye: Taxi Turvy

Welcome to Cartoon Friday. Today's offering Taxi Turvy features our old pal Popeye the Sailor, and was made in 1954. In my opinion that was the best Popeye cartoon era, although I do consider the old black and white cartoons to be a very cool historic curiosities. Poor Olive Oyl is in the middle again as Popeye and Bluto battle over her, this time in some cool vintage taxi cabs, both with suicide doors no less! Of course, spincah comes to Popeye's rescue, a requirement in any one of his cartoons. As a side note, when I was a little kid I always had a pretend can of spinach for anything I might have to do that would require a little extra umph!, I really was an amusing child.

-Enjoy