Vic & Sade and Walt Disney's Christmas Party - OTR Friday

OTR ear candy time again and time to smile with America's Home Folks in the little house halfway up on Virginia Avenue.

Beginning our chronological listent to the surviving "Vic & Sade" shows of 1940, are two gems which feature all the ear-marks of Paul Rhymer's wonderfully tectured writing of mid-western characterization and humor.

From January 2, 1940, Vic gets a letter from the "Starry Knight's of the Milky Way" lodge headquarters in Chicago, offering a service to have his portrait painted for the lodge hall for $50. Showing Vic's love of the pomp and circumstance of lodge life and Sade's opposing view of wasted money, the show also highlights Rush's frustration with being ignored by his elders as he tries to relate a story about Smelly Clark. This show also makes the running gag message of the $2 bill from Kleeburger's which Vic habitually ignores.

Dig in!



The show from January 9, 1940 features another of the show's running gags, with Vic trying to finish up some office work at home, this time soliciting Rush's help. While hurrying to get the chore done before Fred and Ruthie Stembottom arrive to take them for an evening drive to Chenoa, Sade opens her heart and reflects on her hot and cold relationship with Miz Scott.

A lot of indepth character studies for a daily 15 minute radio show meant to be heard only once. Genius.

Enjoy!



I finished sharing the 12 part "Speaking of Radio" documentary on "The Jack Benny Program" with you last week. So why not a little Christmas fun...

CARTOONS ON THE RADIO? Radio was so cool, they could pull this off. From December 23, 1934 and "The Heinz Hall of Fame", here's a special Christmas Party with Walt Disney and all his pals!



They really are all here. Walt (also supplying the voice of Mickey Mouse), Clarence "Ducky" Nash (as Donald Duck) and Pinto Colvig. Although Goofy has not fully been established as a major character in 1934, Pinto does the voices he originated as The Big Bad Wolf, The Practical Pig and The Grasshopper from "The Grasshopper and the Ants".

A young Walt...showman supreme:


Mickey in his black and white glory days. Though Walt does announce in this show that soon all Mickey Mouse shorts will be in Technicolor from here out:

Mickey's Yoo Hoo, little Minnie Mouse:

The Three Little Pigs:

Pluto the Pup:

Donald Duck:

Clara Cluck:

Horace Horsecollar:

And Walt brings along the Silly Symphony Orchestra to do a string of hit songs from the series with the original singers...

"Who's Afraid of The Big Bad Wolf?" from "The Three Little Pigs":

"The World Owes Me a Living" from "The Grasshopper and the Ants":

"The Waltz (from Lullaby Land)":

One of my favorites..."You're Nothin' But a Nothin'" from "The Flying Mouse":

"The Love Duet" from "Who Killed Cock Robin?":

and "Highdy Hade" from "The Goddess of Spring":

A genuinely fun and spriteful listen...it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Talk to you soon.

Springtime Refueling

It's officially spring here in the northern hemisphere...and it couldn't come a moment to soon.

This past couple of weeks, real life has really bitten me on the ass.

Nothing serious, mind you, I should really say it hasn't bitten me, it encroached on my territory and TRIED to bite me.

And even at that it was all nothing really important. Just the money-changers, paper-pushers and spoon-benders out there wanting to waste my time. Wanting me to believe what they do in this world actually matters.

A quick note to all of you bureaucrats, politicians, insurance brokers, municipal "employees", lawyers...in fact, any profession which is just a fancy name for clerical worker. You don't matter. You don't matter because what you DO doesn't matter.

Please remember that. What you do to get to earn money and survive only exists because we are a compassionate society and we have invented those jobs for you.

The world would get along fine without you or the menial tasks you perform. You only exist because the rest of us...you know, the humans?...we've decided that killing all of you just because you have nothing to offer society, would make us feel guilty.

Please attend to your paper filing and policy tending and data entry and other busy work. Keep attending to it until your meaningless lives come to an end.

But STOP BOTHERING ME WITH IT!!!!

Anyhoo. I spent too much time over the last couple of weeks tending to these sheep. I thought I'd be fine, but it has really tapped my energy. Now that I am temporally done entertaining and occupying the minds and desks of countless employees of the State of California (those are my tax dollars paying for their weekend binge on Natural Lite and Nascar, right?) I am feeling a little fatigued.

Bastards!

But, then I remembered that spring has sprung. I feel better. I still need some down-time, but I feel better.

So come share my downtime with me, appreciate some art and watch some springtime cartoons.

Don't worry about that mumbling coming from those grey dismal halls down the road. They're shifting paperwork and mistakenly feeling worthwhile.









Mmmmmmmmm. I feel better already. I hope you do too.

Happy Spring!€

See y'all tomorrow!

Ub Iwerks - Animation Pioneer-Innovator

Born March 24, 1901, Ub Iwerks would be 109 years old today!

Ub Iwerks met Walt Disney in Kansas City in 1919 and there they formed a friendship and business relationship that would last for 47 years. Ub was still working at the Disney studios in 1966 when Walt passed away.

When all of Walt's animators jumped ship in 1927 to take his character of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to Universal, Ub was the only one to remain at his old friends side. Single handedly animating the first 3 Mickey Mouse cartoons ("Plane Crazy", "Gallopin' Gaucho" and "Steamboat Willie"), Ub was clearly the artistic and technical force behind the birth of Walt's empire.

Ub also was instrumental (along with musical director Carl Stalling) in the Silly Symphony series, again single handedly animating the first one, "The Skeleton Dance".

Ub separated from Walt as well in the early 1930's, beginning his own animation shop which supplied cartoons to MGM and Columbia as well as other clients, but by the 1940's he was back home with Disney.

Ub was a technically brilliant man who also invented the multi-plane camera, which he built out of old Chevrolet parts, and brought that innovation back to Disney with him. He became the director of special optical effects or something similarly titled, and designed all the special effects used in Disney's live action films. Everything from the visual magic tricks used from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" to "The Shaggy Dog", from "The Absent-Minded Professor" to "Mary Poppins" sprang from the mind and hand of this man.

Enough blathering about what so many of you already know, let's watch some cartoons!

An early Silly Symphony by Ub:

One of my favorite Comi-Color cartoons he did. The Pincushion Man villain in "Balloon Land" is an all time favorite of mine:

Finally, for those who want to know more about this man (and you should) here's a documentary all about him called "The Man Behind the Mouse". Part one is posted here and you can just click through the YouTube links at the end to see the entire thing. This is also available on the "Walt Disney Treasures" DVD devoted to Oswald the Rabbit, something that's well worth owning!

Thanks Ub, for all your art and you ability to bring others artistic vision to life!

Walt Disney - A Magical Creator/Innovator/Visionary - NOT for Revisionists to Slander

Walt Disney was born today in 1901, he WOULD be 108 years old...damn cigarettes!

See how dumb that sounds?

Walt Disney was an incredibly talented man. He saw what he wanted to accomplish, and had the chutzpah to get it done. The things that he did cannot be wrangled by anyone in this day and age; in fact, this day and age would partially not be what it is if not for some of the things he did to drag us from the century before last into the modern age of today. He caused great technological advancements for all the right reasons. Spawned by creativity and an artistic sense, that technology was needed to help him achieve his goals.

Too often now, people create the technology and look for reasons to use it instead of the other way around...bad news for us. Take a look at that motion-capture travesty of "A Christmas Carol" that's being released with Walt's name on it. Horrid! Makes me want to wretch.

Enough about all that nonsense though. This blog is about positive influences. This blog is about the truth. For more about steps (leaps) made by Uncle Walt, see my earlier post here.

Walt was a storyteller above all else. He had a knack for telling a joyful story in and entertaining and appealing way. Walt put together the best and the brightest and guided them in the right direction...then let them work their magic. And magic, it was.

THAT's his legacy.

What better way to enjoy that legacy than admiring the work of the man himself. Since Christmas is sneaking upon us, here's some Disney cartoons with a Christmas theme, enjoy!

From 1932, here's Mickey (as voiced by Walt himself) and Pluto in "Mickey's Good Deed":



A color "Silly Symphony" from the same year, "Santa's Workshop":



And from 20 years later, 1952, here's Pluto, Mickey and Chip an' Dale in "Pluto's Christmas Tree" (watch for cameos by Goofy, Donald Duck and Minnie Mouse at the end):



Thanks Walt!

Again and again and again!

Carl Stalling: Maestro of Symphonies, Melodies and Tunes

Born this date in 1891, Carl Stalling would be 118 years old today.

The musical heart and genius behind 100's of cartoons, Carl taught us about the rhythm and timing of good comedy.

He first befriended a young Walt Disney back in Kansas City, where Walt was producing his "Laugh-O-Gram" and "Alice" cartoons and Carl was a movie house organist. After the success of "Steamboat Willie" and Walt's foray into "sound cartoons", Walt sent for Carl to join his new crew in Hollywood.

Front row above: Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney, Carl Stalling

Carl did indeed join up and added much to the effort. It was Carl who first suggested the "Silly Symphonies" series.

Above: Carl and Ub seated with Walt standing directly over them.

When Ub Iwerks and Walt had their falling out, Carl went with Ub and worked at his studio, creating music for "Flip the Frog", "Willie Whopper" and Ub's "Comi-Color" series'.

After Ub's failure to compete with Disney, Carl made his last move. He joined the team at Warner Brothers, where 3 other Disney confederates had established a real cartoonists haven in the "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies" series, Hugh Harman, Rudoph Ising and Friz Freleng.

This is where Carl truly blossomed and left us with a legacy of sounds and music that has become a part of all of us.

Carl's training as a movie theatre pianist/organist had ingrained in him such a library of classical music, and adding to that Warner Music Publishing's vast library which was easily stamped on his grey matter he created a whole new way of cartoon and film storytelling.



...and the "kids" still rock it today!

How boring would life be without the creativity and musical ability of this man running through the backs of our heads?

Very!

Thanks Carl!