Toonstalgia: Donald Duck and the Nazis

Toonstalgia

Donald Duck has a nightmare where he's a Nazi

You can skip this part.

I am afflicted. Every time new cracks form in the veneer of sanity and decency, I get these violent chills. I know it's a somatoform expression of the overwhelming emotions but it's unpleasant. My hope, my fears, my anger, my heart, my head, my soul physically hurt. I hope the things I'm doing help. I can't do nothing. I promise you, I will never shut up. Even if I have to communicate with carrier pigeons, I will never shut up.

Normally, I seek out topics to take me out of it. Tonight, not so much.

The subject of Nazis has been on my mind for obvious effing reasons. I keep thinking about the Marvel/DC Crossover where the Joker met the Red Skull. Even the Joker hated the Red Skull because he was a Nazi. "I may be a criminal lunatic, but I'm an American criminal lunatic!" This is a little insight into where my brain is right now. The Joker is a psychotic serial killer and even he hates Nazis (although I'm not sure if the crossover is canon. Probably not now if it ever was.)

The Cartoon in Question

I watched @theLindsayEllis deconstruct Der Fuehrer's Face and learned about the Donald Duck cartoon that would never be shown on Disney Channel today (hopefully).

"When the Fuhrer says we never will be slaves. [Bleep]"

I bleeped it in the quote because I don't want to write the next part of that line without a good reason. It's a curse word in my mind. If you want to hear it, watch it. That feeling of profanity made this whole cartoon a bit more unfun than the rest I've watched. I can watch offensive cartoons and view them with an academic interest but this cartoon is just triggering to me.

It's a well done cartoon. The content is somewhat critical of the Nazis (Eff Nazis. Eff every Nazi bastard) but it's critical in a fairly benign way. It's not funny and I don't know if it ever was. The song was a popular parody and that seems to be what the cartoon was known for at the time.

The short was originally called "Donald Duck in Nutziland" but changed to "Der Fuehrer's Face" after the record became a hit. It sold 350,000 and lead to $60,000 in war savings bonds being sold by October 22, 1942.

In attempting to answer this question, "Did they know what was happening?" I looked to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to find my answer, "On November 24, 1942, Wise held a press conference to announce Nazi Germany was implementing a policy to annihilate the European Jews." So there's my answer. Perhaps they didn't know the full extent of the horrors. The violence being committed against the Jewish people was being covered in the American press.

It's natural to try to refract the horror of the world through the lens of parody. Some things just aren't funny.

To cleanse my brain, I will be watching Dough for Dodo and trying to find a break with the lingering cloud of doom. I'm sorry, dear reader. This was kind of a downer.

Resources

Der Fuehrer's Face, a Disney Cartoon

https://www.ushmm.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Fuehrer%27s_Face

The Evening Times, October 22, 1942, Page 6

I, Writer: Level Up Writers

Level Up Writers

I am willfully stretching myself. Work, write, write, write, sleep. Then start again. Why 3 writes? Because I have 3 major projects demanding my attention (aside from little issues demanding my attention).

Writing is my life but it's doesn't get first dibs on my time. It gets dibs on every spare minute. The spare minutes become fleeting when my nephew comes over and wants to sit on my lap so he can watch me play Lego Batman.

When everything is too hard and the world is absolutely effed, I write. Here are some things that have been helping me level up with my writing.

Things Helping Me

1. Twitter #hashtag games

For me, a hashtag game is a healthier goal than a word count. I find the game of the day and work until I have a sentence I feel is worth posting. This can be achieved by writing or editing preexisting text.

I used to be a firm word count person but for me the word counts were more compulsive. With a twitter hashtag game (@WriteEvents), I earn a sense of accomplishment even if I don't have the time to reach the word count that day.

2. Reach a Save Point

Finish a project and move on. A single blog article is an attainable goal. Finishing a project is the hardest thing for me. I'll own that. But I can get an article done. Every piece of writing makes me a better a writer.

3. Reach the Next Level

I'm not a terribly confident person but I have people who are confident in me. And yes, I know how lucky I am to have people around me who believe in me. This gives me the confidence to strive to create things so far outside my skill set. This is the best way to become a better writer. You can do it. It doesn't matter if the people around you believe it, I know it. You can write and you can become a better writer. You just have to work.

4. Extra Lives

This part is not a commentary on reincarnation although I do have many thoughts on the subject. We writers have a million lives inside of us if we're willing to explore them. Just don't lose sight of the life outside. Yes, I want to write my damn book but I wouldn't trade having that kid sitting on my lap cheering my on while I smash Legos inside the game for it.

Looking for Weird - Toonstalgia

Toonstalgia: An Odd Cartoon Binge

On the Hunt for Weird to Watch

I'm already having one of those weeks. I have a list of problems and projects demanding my attention. I decided to procrastinate and work on a post about binge watching some cartoons. So I am doing something, I'm just not dealing with my problematic somethings. Anyway, cartoons here I come.

"Lullaby Land": Fail

I started with the cartoon short "Lullaby Land" and the song was so painfully annoying I shut it off within a few seconds. Skip it unless you're really bored and you're a completest who wants to watch every cartoon ever.

"Ziggy's Christmas"

I learned about "Ziggy's Christmas" on the "TV Crimes" Podcast with Mikey Neuman and Wil Wheaton. My hopes were high because I like bad, weird, insane stuff. The opening song of this cartoon is bad (but not as repugnant to me as "Lullaby Land"). I decided to power through to see what surreal mania the cartoon could offer.

Ziggy is a mess of a human being (Is he human?). The cartoon isn't that bad given what it is (a low budget Christmas special). The cartoon special is really bad for the part of my brain that demands answers to pointless questions like "Who keeps their snow boots in their dresser?" (Ziggy does but does anyone else keep snow boots in the dresser?).

"A Family Circus Christmas"

I also learned about this cartoon from "TV Crimes". The music continues the streak of terrible offenses to my ears. These kids are annoying but I made it through. The problem "A Family Circus Christmas" and "Ziggy's Christmas" share is they are hastily assembled animated specials with key images mined from the comic strips to please the fans. They're not actually good. I can accept the twisted logic of their universes but I cannot enjoy the poor quality. Not the poor animation quality but the poor scripting, the poor music, and the lack of joy.

8-Bit Cinema - The Big Lebowski

I still haven't seen the film. Although I've seen enough commentaries on the movie that sometimes I feel like I have. A cartoon adaptation and a movie are completely different experiences. Even as someone who has never seen "The Big Lebowski", I enjoyed the cartoon.

I generally like cartoons better than movies because a short cartoon is a contained glance into a large universe. It's the same reason I like comics better than graphic novels. Even if the episode or issue is part of an ongoing story, I like the capsule of art and ideas and the overall aesthetic of condensed storytelling.

Looney Tunes: Marvin the Martian

I finished my binge with a few Marvin the Martians. The architecture of Marvin the Martian's world stands out (possibly caused potent nightmares when I was younger about a surreal mall where I would fall to my death). The architecture is so unique. Marvin's cartoons give a window into a larger world that I would love to understand better. W

Cinematically Speaking: Le Voyage Dans La Lune

Le Voyage Dans La Lune by George Méliès

Respect

Producing anything is a pain in the butt. I've been working on a pair of podcast pilots today. It's harder than I thought. Just editing the audio is a pain and all I have to do is highlight the section and push the button. I can't imagine the kind of aggravation Méliès went through to accomplish his masterpiece.

The Dirt

Méliès got screwed out of most of the profits from the American release for his brilliant film by piracy. In the 1930s, he was running a toy shop and he merely asked for recognition of his contributions to cinema. He wanted his place in history. I wish he knew how many generations his film would touch.

Thomas Edison was one pirate of Méliès' work. I acknowledge the concept of film piracy probably didn't quite exist then. Except, Edison did copyright his itty-bitty films.

Le Voyage Dans La Lune is brilliant. It's over 100 years old. It's an inspiring work of art. The costumes are beautiful, the story is clearly told and the special effects are special. Without any caveats, the movie is fantastic. It has style, story and meaning. With the sets and the costumes, they knew how to do the work well. Méliès had experience in film production and the vibrant theater in France provided the actors, the set designers, the costumers and script writers.

The movie is 13 minutes and well worth that tiny expenditure of time.

The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie: Learning to Construct Better Scenes

Learning to Construct Better Scenes 

By Watching the "Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie"

My Hobby

I always have a novel in progress. Novel writing is my pressure release valve so the content is inextricably tied to my emotions and what's going on in my life. My posts, articles and things like that are different because I work on each with the mission to finish, share and move on.

Eventually, I might finish the magnum opus that I'll put out into the world. Until then the lessons I learn about storytelling from working on novels apply to the other things I write.

Stories engage readers. Like all skills, it takes practice and study to tell a good story. The novels give me plenty of practice. I study in many different ways.

In this article, I will discuss how "The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie" improved my ability to construct an effective scene. Side note, I'm incapable of saying this title without affecting a weird accent for "bourgeoisie". The word demands a weird accent.

Comments on Film Commentary

"What a good scene does is dissolve the actors and the sound stage and the costumes and makeup and camera angle into a living and breathing reality."

Nerdwriter1

Batman v Superman: The Fundamental Flaw

Listening to the ideas and analysis of other people expands my perspective of the work. Videos like Nerdwriter1's Batman v Superman: The Fundamental Flaw or Jack O'Brien's Spit Take "4 Movie Straw Men That Keep Showing Up" make me think about things I might not have thought about before. Even when I disagree I find great value in such commentary videos because I'm not watching these videos to hear my own thoughts. I'm watching them to hear thoughts I might never have on my own.

"The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie"

I think every work of art can educate us. But we need to take the right lessons. A book cannot be written the same way a movie is written. Novels and films have different requirements for their storytelling. Films can still teach us many lessons about how to write better novels.

"The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie" helped make me build better scenes. This movie made me more conscious of the emotional impact of a well-crafted scene.

A movie scene has reason and purpose. The director chooses a shot and specific cuts to achieve an impact. If all the elements are done well, we don't even notice we're emotionally invested in the events of the story until we acutely feel what the characters are going through.

In one tense scene between an assassin and a target, we're pulled through the story with smooth camera transitions. The director's thoughtfulness is evident when you're watching and wondering what is going to happen next. A breakdown of the scene here would not help nearly as much as what I did with what I learned from the scene.

I endeavored to achieve this effect with a scene involving my main character fighting with an attacker. The scene does not waste a sentence with unnecessary dialogue and relies heavily on show. Every sentence is at least one action in the fight and the sentences are edited for optimum clarity. It's an easy to read section but not a nice one. Every action is telegraphed by something preceding it (no Spanish inquisition rushing in).

When the emotional aftermath of the fight hits, it's a relief to the reader because the action has stopped for that moment but it's not a relief for long because the physical and emotional consequences of the fight will echo through out the remaining chapters. Much of it coming in the main character dealing with being capable of the violence of the fight.

Mission

Try it. Take a work you enjoy or something you've never seen before. Watch it and mentally dissect it. Then apply whatever lesson you glean from it. Happy writing.

Bimbo's Initiation - Toonstalgia

Bimbo's Initiation and Real Secret Societies

Toonstalgia

Bimbo's Initiation
Released 1931
Voices by Mae Questel and Billy Murray
Animation by Grim Natwick

Bimbo and Poodle Betty

A secret society wants Bimbo to join and Bimbo's not on-board.

Grim Natwick (besides having a cool name) exemplifies the word "prolific". That man worked hard and did not always get credit like with this cartoon which doesn't credit him.

Betty Boop isn't the traditional Betty. She's poodle Betty and she's saucy.

A Ripped from the Headlines Cartoon

The probable inspiration for "Bimbo's Initiation" isn't an actual secret society unless the Fleischers or a member of their team were in one. I think this is unlikely because the secret society is portrayed as coercing Bimbo's acceptance through violence and generally being as creepy as possible. Likely the stories and the representations of secret societies in the press inspired this work.

In the early part of the 20th century, secret societies were a serious issue in high schools and college in the United States. In California, they had many including the "Golden Goat Society" and the "Scum and Dirt" society as reported by The Los Angeles Times on July 23, 1911.

Bruce Bliven manages to explain the candy box part of an initiation with as much delicacy and class as is humanly possibly considering the candy box. Basically, the initiate would be compelled to go around campus and offer girls candy from a box.

"Johnny will appear upon the college campus, carrying a box of candy elegantly wrapped and tied. In the front of his trousers there will be a hole--not too small--say about six inches square. And through the live-long day Johnny, bravely ignoring the unrepaired state of his upholstery, will approach every young lady he sees...."

-Bruce Bliven

I wandered through the news reports of twisted rebellion. I chose Bliven's article to highlight because I fell in love with his writing even though it is one of the early articles I saw. It contained many of the themes that repeated. Also Max Fleischer would have been in his late 20s, early 30s in the 19-teens and Dave Fleischer would have been in his teens. So I think this is where their ideas about secret societies would have formed.

The basics of the stories about the societies were the same. The authorities didn't like them, the kids did like them and they did some strange things. Some of the stories related in the articles of the time seem inflated to me. Accurate or not, these were the stories being shared in the press. Stories of drinking, minor debauchery, cruel games, physical assault and amusing torments. People seemed to fear that they didn't know the full extent of the students' activities.

Perhaps the cruelest part were the "fake" societies. A "prank" where students would set up a fake secret society, encourage freshmen to join, abuse them then reveal the "prank". Reportedly some students would laugh it off and others would leave school.

"These are really huge, practical jokes, played upon some unsuspecting soul,
usually a freshman of particularly virulent emerald hue."
-Bruce Bliven 

Secret societies are all different in activity, organization and inspiration. From the outside, a secret society is bad. From the inside, it might still be bad.

"Secret societies are generally considered to be anti-social: to contain elements
which are distasteful or harmful to the community at large."
-Akron Daraul

With any news as salacious as the secret societies, it's necessary to read the news stories critically. These societies were a threat to the social order, the authority of schools and a source of empowerment for some student bodies. They were also a source of abuse and designed to exclude some students. This cartoon is essentially ripped from those headlines then converted to a cartoon.

Sources

The Los Angeles Times - "Pranks of Goat Make Johnny Take a Tumble" by Bruce Bliven - Sunday, July 23, 1911

Bimbo's Initiation - Fleischer Studios Talkartoon - 1931

A History of Secret Societies by Arkon Daraul (1962)

Super Friends - The Power Pirate - Toonstalgia

Toonstalgia: The Limits of Aquaman's Appeal for Me

Super Friends - The Power Pirate

Season 1, Episode 1
Premiered: September 8, 1973

The Power Pirate episode is basically about...

Aquaman and the Super Friends work to stop the Power Pirate from draining the world of energy. The friends are Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Robin, Superman, Marvin, Wendy, and Wonder Dog. The episode is a clunky cautionary tale about the wanton abuse of our natural resources with no real villain.

Super Friends features budget animation, a message, familiar voices, 70s concepts of the superheroes and a Scooby-lite set of characters.

Big props to the Narrator. He is a champion here.

On to the point...

The Limits of Aquaman's Audience Appeal

Aquaman is a comically maligned character. I think Aquaman's relatively limited appeal when compared to characters like Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman is related to the limits of his reinvention, the easy jokes at his expense and his core meaning.

Batman is a malleable character. He could be anything. He can be a different person altogether and he (or she) will retain the essence of Batman. We don't have to love every version and the versions I love might not be the same you love. You might hate Batman but just replace Batman in my argument with any oft reinvented superhero and the point remains the same. The version I love might have stark differences from the one you love.

Aquaman could be anyone but he would still be a guy that talks to fish. The most recent reconceptualization of Aquaman is grim and gritty. I have issues with the current movie franchises that I won't go into. There's a quirky weirdness about the ability to talk to fish (until you consider he could ask a shark to tear you apart). It's easy to think of jokes. It's hard to take him seriously when the jokes come so readily.

I am fond of Jason Momoa. I watched him on Stargate Atlantis. Stargate the movie was my favorite part of the franchise and SG-1 was great though it had more than its share of shark jumping moments. Momoa was a stand out character on Atlantis. While the show was populated by some characters I have to struggle to remember because they were common tropes among scifi series of the time, I never forgot about him. He did fill a typical role but Momoa did not fill it in a typical way. He is a charismatic actor. I'm sure he'll do well with the role of Aquaman.

Aquaman and Aqualad have changed over the years. If you're anything like me, you get attached to the character in your head. The version of a character that you imagine them to be. It's what drives people to write fanfiction and craft headcanon.  When I think of Aquaman, the first thing that comes to mind is an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Batman sees Aquaman mourning the loss of a whale's life. Batman brings him on an adventure. That is the Aquaman I like. One who faces tragedy and recovers his unbelievable optimism. I'm not like an optimist. I found myself wishing there was an Aquaman to fight for the oceans and sad there wasn't.

For me, a character is who I imagine him to be and what he means to me. To be invested in him, I need a moment where I form the attachment. It could be anything including a fanvideo, a commercial for an episode, a great moment like Mrs. Hudson's stand out moment in The Lying Detective episode of Sherlock or a small moment from a single episode like Aquaman's pain over the whale. That's the problem with Aquaman and me. In my headcanon, he doesn't deal with the world because the people on land are destroying the oceans and making jokes about him. It's easier to embrace the jokes about him chatting with tuna because his character makes me feel helpless. He reminds me of ongoing tragedies happening far beyond my reach without giving me the feeling I could fix something.

Maybe I take this all too seriously.

8-Bit Cinema - Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Toonstalgia

8-Bit Cinema: Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Toonstalgia

I don't just watch cartoons from the 20s and 30s. I do watch new things. 8-Bit Cinema's Ferris Bueller's Day Off was released in 2015 and based off a movie from 1986.

I judge how much I like something based on a few categories including how much I laugh, whether I want to watch it again and whether it inspires me. 8 Bit Cinema got me in all three categories.

8-Bit Cinema is posted on YouTube to the Cinefix account.

Details, Details, Details

One of the best parts of cartoon shorts are the details skilled animators are able to fit into seven minutes. 8 Bit Cinema only had 3 minutes to adapt a classic comedy film. They did and infused the short with so many perfect details. Like the pixelized version of A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.

The Parts They Adapted

The script is perfect in my opinion. The plot of the short is limited to Ferris Bueller's experiences during the course of the movie. The temporal real estate is so limited that much had to be sacrificed to tell the story but I didn't miss anything.

The Music

The soundtrack of the movie makes the cartoon so much better. Ferris Bueller had a well  familiar song cues like Blue Danube Waltz (the song Ferris plays with sick noises on his synthesizer), the theme from I Dream of Jeannie, Love Missile F1-11 by Sigue Sigue Sputnik, The Celebrated Minuet (in the restaurant), 

I'm sure I missed a couple references. I had to watch it several times to figure out the music. Enough times that I still enjoyed it with every view but I did notice they called the restaurant "Chez Luis" when it's "Chez Quis" (The L is a very stylized Q).

Inspiration

One of my favorite episodes of Community was Digital Estate Planning. I've played Journey to Castle Hawkthorne a few times and this cartoon makes me wish for a Ferris Bueller game. It would be even better and if you watched Digital Estate Planning you would know why a Ferris Bueller game would be better than a game conceived by a fictional hate filled monster.

I think, the adaption of Ferris Bueller works perfectly because the original movie was a mission by Ferris with places to go and goals to achieve much like a video game of this style. If I were a different sort of person (the kind capable of learning to program. I keep trying!), I would build the game but I would do a retrotastic dream Batman first because Bats...anyway...This takes me back to my point from the beginning. This episode and this show inspired me to work.

I have no more experience with vaguely pixel artwork than the art for this post but I wanted to create a fitting title card.

Sources

Ferris Bueller's Day Off on Wikipedia
Journey to Castle Hawkthorne the game

8 Bit Cinema: Ferris Bueller's Day Off on Youtube

Ko-Ko's Hypnotism and How to Hypnotize Someone - Toonstalgia

Toonstalgia

The Inkwell Imps: Ko-Ko's Hypnotism

Inkwell Studios Short

Created by Max and Dave Fleischer
Released 1929
Original Shown in the theaters with "3 Live Ghosts"
Review: Perfect

You are under my power.

An animator reads a book on hypnotism. He immediately sets to work abusing his newly earned skills for his own amusement. Ko-ko and Fitz decide to get him back.

The cartoon is a mix of video and animation with interactions between the actors and the animated. They had fun with it and I love it. I found two versions, one silent, one with audio. Find the video with audio.

How to Hypnotize Someone (One Method)

Hypnotism relies on the magnetism of the hypnotist and the willingness of the subject.

1. Find a willing subject and assure him you mean no harm. Instill confidence.
1. The key is for the subject to believe in you and your ability to hypnotize him.
2. Have your subject sit in a comfortable chair a few yards away from you.
3. Ask the subject to look into your eyes.
4. Hold their gaze until they have a "vacant" and "trancelike" stare
5. Begin making suggestions and exert control over your subject
6. That's it according to De Laurence. 

Sources

Directions adapted from "Hypnotism" by Lauron William De Laurence (1900)
Inkwell Imps: Ko-Ko's Hypnotism (1929)

Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle - Toonstalgia

Toonstalgia: Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle

A Fleischer Studio Cartoon

Directed by Dave Fleischer and Shamus Culhane
Animated by Shamus Culhane, Seymour Kneitel, Bernard Wolf
Betty Boop, Voiced by Mae Questel
Released 1932
Music by The Royal Samoans

The Royal Samoans

The Royal Samoans were a group that toured the United States performing in the 1920s and 30s. They provide the score for the cartoon and feature in the opening.

Bimbo meets Betty while traveling in the islands. Bimbo disguises himself and blends in with the natives. This all goes awry when they see through his disguise. From there, Betty and Bimbo must make a hasty escape.

Highpoints

The parts where the cartoon shines are where the characteristic Betty and Bimbo comedy and the dance modeled on the Royal Samoan dancer.

Pre-code

Betty wears a "fau" skirt (erroneously known to many as a grass skirt) and a "asoa" or "ula" garland. The provocative image would not have been approved after the code's enforcement. But I propose she wasn't just wearing a garland. Betty's dancing was based on the dancer in the beginning of the cartoon who is wearing a floral top. The animators may have simplified the costume for the ease of animation, left out the side straps to emulate her normal dress and unintentionally created the image of Betty just wearing the garland.

Is it racist?

At the time of this cartoon, American Samoa was a part of the United States and it still is. This cartoon was created 3 years after American Samoa was approved as a territory because the "Senate couldn't find them on the map" prior to that (Fairest Eden 1931).

It is racist. It is progressive. Hear me out. It was progressive in 1932 but it also includes stereotyped images. The Fleischers featured a non-white singing group in a cartoon. They also featured footage of the singing group in the beginning of the cartoon, their music through out and based Betty's dance on the Royal Samoan dancer. Their portrayal of a native culture features stereotypes and portrays islanders as savages. The cartoon is both racist and progressive for the era.

I know that's a strange argument to make. The world was pretty damn messed up then (not claiming it isn't now). In the 1930s, people believed in eugenics, "human zoos" existed in the early 1900s, the animators grew up on cartoons and media that often portrayed native cultures as savages and also no one had the ability to look up "Samoan Culture" on a computer.

I am only speculating as to the thoughts and intent of the writers and animators. They may have been repeating images and ideas they had seen all their life and as a result become inured to them. They may have attempted to create a cartoon celebrating the culture of Samoa and lacked the knowledge to represent a native culture. It may have all been a joke to them and the result of the exaggeration from which they drew humor for their cartoons. No one in Betty Boop cartoons is portrayed sensitively. People are dim, dumb, or caricatured as animals. Betty Boop herself is a caricature of a flapper.

Sources

Fairest Eden - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMwng_7ApD0

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samoa

http://shop.polynesia.com/blog/grassskirts/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lei_(garland)

Betty Boop's Bamboo Isles. Dir. Dave Fleischer. Perf. Mae Questel. Paramount Pictures, 1932.

The Dollop, Not a review, A reflection on the effect

The Dollop

Not a Review, A Reflection on the Effect on my Brain

"The Dollop"
Created by Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds

Rating: Just listen to it.

http://thedollop.libsyn.com/

Okay, technically this part is a review

This is a reflection on the personal impact this show has had on me.

I downloaded The Dollop because of a name drop on another podcast and I've been working my way through the shows for the past couple months. I recommend it frequently. It's a fascinating show where Dave Anthony reads a story to Gareth Reynolds (Or Gareth reads to Dave) from American (or Australian) history and he reacts. It's funny, informative and entertaining.

The topics run the gambit of American (and Australian) history. We are a really messed up country. I Not just now...we are historically messed up. Listening for the first time was a little like when I learned about Christopher Columbus in school. Now, this might sound silly but it always ticked me off when they made that stupid song celebrating him discovering America because he didn't. The thought process wasn't any deeper than that.

The Dollop changed my perception. This is not a unique event for me. Occasionally, I'll hear a thing and it will upend my thoughts and ideas about the world. It's usually a fun experience I actively pursue.

My Mental Windmills

I was researching my great-great-grandfather tonight. I don't know how the man died. It's a question I've been trying to answer on and off for a while. I know his daughters were put into an orphanage and his sons were sent to live with relatives. I don't know why my great-grandmother's life was torn apart when she was a little girl. I don't know the answer because of the name. She was Polish so the name was not easy to spell. Dedkrowski...Decrosky...it depends on the paperwork. I might never know.

I was searching through the lists of deaths in different newspapers around the time and place he was supposed to have died. I noticed a jarring headline on one of the pages and read the story. A police officer in 1903 was arrested for brutalizing his six-year-old son. The boy's mother was arrested as well. While the father was out on bail, he committed suicide by throwing himself off a bridge. The article in the newspaper described how all his bones had been broken. Authorities speculated he might have been aiming for the river and missed. They talked to his other son who said the man would be kind one moment and cruel the next.

I don't know the ending to the family's story. I don't know if that little boy lived. I know that piece of their story and I know that my great-grandmother was put in an orphanage. It's dissatisfying to have chunks of stories. I keep gathering these chunks while I research my own thing.

When I research, I don't typically seek to write a historical narrative. I seek context for pop culture to understand what works of art meant when they were released. I seek to understand what was happening then.

The Dollop has made me reevaluated my writing and made me a better writer and a better person by making me aware of things I didn't want to know about. I'm grateful to anything that makes me better. I think anything that forces you to confront an ugly truth and can make you enjoy it is valuable.

Thank you, The Dollop for making me up my game.

Betty Boop M.D. - Toonstalgia

Toonstalgia: Betty Boop M.D.

A Fleischer Studio Cartoon

Directed by Dave Fleischer
Animated by Willard Bowsky and Thomas Goodson
Betty Boop, Voiced by Mae Questel
Released 1932

Rating: Effects may vary

Buy Jippo

Betty, Koko and Bimbo are in a small town selling their Jippo medicine causing effects like hair growth, aging and death.

Important Message about Patent Medicines

"Betty Boop M.D." draws attention to the dangers of patent medicines. Jippo produces many effects including death. Also transforming a baby into Mr. Hyde for the final shot of the cartoon. Thank you to classic cartoons for elucidating the reference. You can see their article on Betty Boop M.D. here.

At the time, many products were sold that claimed to be medicines but weren't. The Great Depression meant people didn't have money for doctors so they looked elsewhere for help. People profited from this desperation by selling elixirs that promised to cure their ills. Unscrupulous businessman made promises to desperate people...some things never change.

The twist in this cartoon is everyone knows Jippo is bad. It says it on the wagon but they buy it anyway because Betty is so beautiful. They suffer the consequences of not heeding the warnings.

Cartoons were not necessarily for kids.

This short shown before 3 different precode films when it ran in the theaters according to the advertising of the time, "The Mask of Fu Manchu", "Love Me Tonight" and "Blonde Venus". I have trouble imagining these movies would be of interest to kids or approved for kids in the case of "The Mask of Fu Manchu" but I don't know. I haven't been able to turn up a conclusive yes or no in my research.

"The Mask of Fu Manchu" is about a group of Englishmen fighting to keep Genghis Khan's weapons out of the hands of Dr. Fu Manchu and his daughter, played by Boris Karloff and Myrna Loy. The movie was a thriller with violent and sexual elements.

While filming the movie, Karloff worried whether his Chinese fans would "object to his British accent" (The Evening News, August 27, 1932). Considering the racist content of the film, worrying about the British accent is strange. The character was so offensive that in 1945, just 13 years later, the Chinese government stopped a new movie from being produced in Hollywood.  Sax Rohmer, the creator of Fu Manchu, objected and claimed he loved China. Sax Rohmer was an Englishman. He had a lucrative contract in place for the new movie (The Des Moines Register, February 23, 1945).

"Love Me Tonight" is a musical, romantic comedy set in Paris and also with Myrna Loy in the cast. I mention this because I like Myrna Loy. She plays a countess with three interests: men, the fun life and getting her hands on her money. Anyway, in the film a tailor falls in love with a princess while pretending to be a Baron and they sing.

In "Blonde Venus", Marlene Dietrich plays Helen, a cabaret singer. She is unfaithful to her husband with Nick, played by Cary Grant, while he is overseas being treated for radium poisoning. He returns and learns of her infidelity. This leads to the breakup of her marriage. The threat of losing custody of her son makes Helen flee.

Cinema was different before the code was enforced. Their content was more "scandalous" and "immoral". The cartoons themselves were precode and they would change later to meet code but not for a few more years.

Sources

Betty Boop, M.D. Dir. Dave Fleischer. Perf. Mae Questel. Paramount Pictures, 1932.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Boop,_M.D.

http://classiccartoons.blogspot.com/2009/06/betty-boop-md.html

Carroll, Harrison. (1932, August 27). Behind the Scenes in Hollywood. The Evening News, pp.2.

(1945, February 23). Called 'Bad Propaganda' Wicked Fu Manchu Dies. The Des Moines Register, pp.3.

Betty Boop's Bizzy Bee - Toonstalgia

Toonstalgia: Betty Boop's Bizzy Bee

A Fleischer Studio Cartoon

Directed by Dave Fleischer
Animated by Seymour Kneitel and Bernard Wolf
Betty Boop, Voiced by Little Ann Little

Rating: Don't eat the food.

"Made of pen and ink. She can win you with a wink. 

Ain't she cute? Boop-boop-be-doop. Sweet Betty."

-Betty Boop's Bizzy Bee

You could watch the short and skip this

Betty Boop is a chef at a lunch wagon where everyone goes to get fill up on her wheat cakes. Bimbo and Koko visit her lunch counter. Everyone overindulges. Even the moon needs to take a break to recover from Betty's cuisine while a lamp fills in.

Details noticed after a dozen views

The orchestra used easily recognizable music melodies like "Singing in the Bathtub" when the plates are bathing and "A Bicycle Built for Two" when a little chef is riding an egg beater in a bowl. This is part of the style of the cartoons at the time. The orchestra used these common songs as shorthand like animators used visual symbols. Koko's soup is shown to be cold by the flies skating on it, a joke that has been repeated a thousand times.

The man with big round ears could be a reference to Mickey Mouse who debuted four years earlier or possibly a common image used to indicate a mouse in the same way the the big oval jaw with two clearly defined nostrils. He just looks a lot like Mickey.

Little Ann Little, the voice of Betty Boop

Betty is voiced by Little Ann Little. She had the look of Betty and won the role through a contest by Paramount. According to her dance teachers, she was a precocious kid. They would let her into class even when her parents couldn't pay because they "found themselves enjoying a free vaudeville show whenever Ann was around" (The Winnipeg Evening Tribune, June 13, 1930).

Sources

Betty Boop's Bizzy Bee. Dir. Dave Fleischer. Perf. Little Ann Little. Paramount Pictures, 1932.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Boop%27s_Bizzy_Bee

(1930, June 13). Stage. The Winnipeg Tribune, pp. 6.

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In: A Salute to Minutiae (In Progress) #Bippy

Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In

An In-Progress List of More than You've Ever Wanted To Know 

(18/140 episodes)

I started this list because I was trying to remember which episode they did a salute to pills and I could not find the information online. There are so many episodes and gags that I'm going to keep updating this list of interesting details as I watch my way through the series. It's long but not comprehensive. Every episode of Laugh-In is manic and gag filled.

I don't understand all the references so I'll describe them as well as I can. I'll beef up the entries to tell you more than you ever wanted to know about Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In.

The list includes singing numbers, the Celebrity guest featured in the door introductions and anything that makes me stop and go, "What?"

This is all because I was trying to find the picture of an interesting costume. I'm not normal.

"Here come the judge."

• Season 1
• Episode 3 
• Song and Dance
• Gimme, Gimme, Gimme Money - Cher and the Ladies of Laugh-In in fur coats
• Celebrity in the Doors: Cher
• Episode 10
• Song and Dance
• Falling in Love with Someone - Ruth Buzzi falls off a ledge
• Undiscovered Stars of Tomorrow Today - Dancing Dromedary
• Corrected the next week, actually a Dancing Bactrian
• Undiscovered Stars of Tomorrow Today - International Opera Star, Snookie Lanson
• News Across the Nation - the Ladies of Laugh-In as clowns in black and white dresses.
• "There are fairies in the bottom of my garden." - Joanne Worley
• Mod, Mod World - Looks at Communication - The Cast of Laugh-In, Barbara Feldon and Flip Wilson
• Celebrity in the Doors: Barbara Feldon, The Bee Gees(Album) and Flip Wilson
• Sock it to Me - Judy hides in a tank and still gets drenched.
• Details: Flies "Your man is open.", Wind-up Lady
• Marijuana sketch - Acapulco Gold and Panama Red
• Episode 11
• Song and Dance
• News Across the Nation - the Ladies of Laugh-In as Italian Dancers
• Googled and it seemed to be the closest. They were wearing dresses, flowers in their hair and holding tambourines with ribbons. If I am wrong, please correct.
• The Ladies of Laugh-In as the Ladies of the USO at Fort Dix New Jersey
• Mod, Mod World - The adventure of being a woman in the world and getting sexually harassed - The Ladies of Laugh-In
• Shudder, shudder
• Potpurri - "It's a quarter to 3..." Joanne Worley
• Celebrity in the Doors: Pamela Austin, Flip Wilson
• Morgul as the Friendly Grelve
• Party Scene Joke of Note - "For my birthday Boris gave me a Polish goldfish. It drowned." Joanne Worley
• Remember Polish jokes? I do with my Polish great-grandparents and all. This is a weird one. It's a variation on the submarine joke.
• Undiscovered Stars of Tomorrow Today - Lucky Pierre - The ventriloquist and the dying dummy
• Undiscovered Stars of Tomorrow Today - The dog act
• Sock it to Me with a Judy getting beheaded by a guillotine, a magician saws her in half, and knives thrown at her.
• The Doors - "What happens if cross a chicken with a dalmatian?" "A spotted chicken that chases fire trucks."
• Episode 12
• Song and Dance
• Judy Carne tap dancing in roller skates and singing "I found in my mother's eyes"
• The Pansies - "Sock it to Me Sunshine"
• News Across the Nation - The Ladies of Laugh-In in pink gown in a "Sweet Charity" Pastiche?
• Kaye Ballard - "I Just Kissed My Nose Good Night"
• Here Come the Judge with the Guys of Laugh-In
• "The Law is on her Side" with the Ladies of Laugh-In
• Celebrity in the Doors: Kaye Ballard, the Curtain Calls
• Morgul as the Friendly Grelve
• Hung Jury (really dark joke)
• Episode 14
• Song and Dance
• News Across the Nation - Barbara Feldon and the Ladies of Laugh-In wearing blue and white striped outfits
• "Pays to Advertise" with the Cast of Laugh-In and Barbara Feldon
• Celebrity in the Doors: Barbara Feldon, Tim Conway
• Morgul as the Friendly Drelb (seriously, how do you spell that?)
• Episode 15
• Song and Dance
• "God Bless You Tiny Tim" Ode to Tiny Tim
• News Across the Nation - Offensive stereotype Native American costumes
• Season 2
• Episode 1
• Song and Dance
• Up with Higher Education - Barbara Feldon and the Ladies of Laugh-In in college gowns
• News Across the Nation - the Ladies of Laugh-In as Tiny Tim
• Details: Richard Nixon
• Episode 12
• Song and Dance
• News Across the Nation - the Ladies of Laugh-In as wind-up dolls in pastel dresses
• Toys of Self Destruction - The Cast of Laugh-In as Elves
• The 12 Weapons of Christmas - The Cast of Laugh-In as Elves
• Celebrity in the Doors: Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
• Details: Judy Carne wears a beautiful striped dress in the Party scene
• Flying Fickle Finger of Fate: Toy manufacturers of America
• Episode 13
• Song and Dance
• News Across the Nation - the Guys of Laugh-In dressed up as the New Year's Baby
• Celebrity in the Doors: Kate Smith, Vincent Price, Rich Little
• Eerie Presidential primary debate
• Episode 18
• Song and Dance
• News Across the Nation - the Ladies of Laugh-In and Don Rickles in pink leotards
• Celebrity in the Doors: Don Rickles
• Episode 19
• Song and Dance
• Hello Love and Marriage - Davy Jones, the Cast of Laugh-in at a wedding
• Celebrity in the Doors: Davy Jones
• Episode 20
• Song and Dance
• News Across the Nation - The Ladies of Laugh-In in Valentine's costumes and Tiny Tim in a white suit, top hat and tails
• Celebrity in the Doors: Tiny Tim
• Details: Morgul the Friendly Grelb played by Gary Owens
• Season 3
• Episode 12
• Song and Dance
• News Across the Nation - The Ladies of Laugh-In in Green Pilgrim minidresses
• Privacy - The Ladies of Laugh-In and Dick in yellow gowns with orange feathers
• Celebrity in the Doors: None
• Details: Appearance of Supercreep Mickey Mouse. Oh, the nightmares!, The Frog Quickie
• Episode 14
• Song and Dance
• And Everybody Laughed it Off - The Cast of Laugh-in and Greer Garson telling bad jokes in boater hats and suits
• News Across the Nation - The Ladies of Laugh-In and Greer as Mae West
• Celebrity in the Doors: Greer Garson
• Details: Most horrifying Mickey Mouse ever!, Farkle
• Episode 15
• Song and Dance
• News Across the Nation - The Ladies of Laugh-In and Nancy Sinatra as drunk New Year's revelers
• Nancy Sinatra and the Cast of Laugh-In - "A Whoopee Party"
• Nancy Sinatra and the Ladies of Laugh-In - "Made it through the Sixties"
• Celebrity in the Doors: Nancy Sinatra
• Details: Farkle family...I just got the joke
• Episode 21
• Song and Dance
• Quickies - Theresa Grave
• News Across the Nation - The Ladies of Laugh-In as the Ladies of Russian Laugh-In
• Do The Farkle - The Cast of Laugh-In
• Celebrity in the Doors: Carl Reiner (The Dick Van Dyke Show)
• Episode 23
• Songs and Dance
• News Across the Nation - The Ladies of Laugh-In as possibly Middle Eastern? They're ululating and wearing a traditional costume.
• Celebrity in the Doors: Ringo Starr
• Details: Farkle
• Episode 24
• Song and Dance
• News Across the Nation - The Ladies of Laugh-In as Marionettes
• Celebrity in the Doors: Danny Kaye
• Details: Farkle
• Season 4
• Episode 12
• Song and Dance
• News Across the Nation - Dinah Shore in a red gown and the Cast of Laugh-in Suits and Bowlers
• You Gotta Smile Through Everything - Dinah Shore and the Ladies of Laugh-in as Clowns
• High Joke 
• Mod, Mod World - Dinah Shore Sings about the working girl then the ladies of Laugh-In continue the song as show girls
• Celebrity in the Doors: Dinah Shore
• Character on a skateboard, can't identify.
• Mime

For More Information

Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In entry on Wikipedia

Betty Boop-Stopping the Show - Toonstalgia

Stopping the Show - A Betty Boop Cartoon

Toonstalgia

A 1932 Fleischer Studios Cartoon

Directed by Dave Fleischer

Animated by Roland Crandall, Rudolph Eggeman, Al Eugster

Mae Questel, voiced by Bonnie Poe

Rating: Boop-boop-be-do

Fleischer Studios

In 1931, Chicago Tribune published an article by Tom Pettey. He visited Fleischer Studios. He had the same fun with the cartoons that I do.

"Betty Boop is the sort of a girl who goes to parties and loses her head and sometimes both legs. She flies, swims, crawls and grows or reduces to fit the occasion."

-Tom Pettey, Chicago Tribune, August 24, 1931

According to his article, it took 8000 drawings to create a single short and employed about 200 people. The 200 people included everyone involved in the production including the orchestra. 

He said this "destroys a lot of 'illusions'". It doesn't for me. The sheer scope of effort and work that went into the cartoons makes them more impressive.

It's worth noting, the reporter refers to Bimbo as a dog and Betty's "boy friend". Bimbo's status as Betty's boyfriend was controversial for canine reasons. I don't know if he meant the grade school "boy that is her friend" boy friend but I doubt it. It's one piece of evidence that Betty and Bimbo were an item.

"Stopping the Show"

The first Betty Boop cartoon (not the first appearance of Betty Boop) was "Stopping the Show" and it's a work of meta goodness. The cartoon is set in a theater. A Koko and Bimbo cartoon plays before Betty's live show of imitations. 

The first imitation is Helen Kane and Betty sings "He's my weakness" but she doesn't reference Kane. She doesn't need to change her appearance because Betty was based on Kane. Helen Kane was cut out of later prints due to litigation she was involved in over the studio using her likeness when designing Betty.

Second is an imitation of Fanny Brice who sang "I'm an Indian" in the 1928 lost film "My Man". It's a cringy sequence to those with modern sensibilities. The images are stereotypical symbols people thought of at the time when they thought Native Americans like her dress and a teepee. The animators wanted to quickly and easily communicate the theme of the song.

She also imitates Maurice Chevalier when she sings "50 Million French Men can't be Wrong". He was also the singer of the "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" and as I hate that song. I didn't know he sang it until I looked him up for this.

The cartoon has the usual gags but most of the attention is on Betty's act as it should be.

Sources

Stopping the Show. Dir. Dave Fleischer. Perf. Mae Questel, Gus Wickie. Paramount Publix Corporation, 1932.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stopping_the_Show

Pettey, Tom (1931, August 24). Gotham's Goofiest Place Spotted. Chicago Tribune, pp. 5.

Toonstalgia: Betty Boop in Blunderland

Betty Boop in Blunderland

Toonstalgia

A 1934 Fleischer Studio Cartoon

Directed by Dave Fleischer
Animated by Roland Crandall, Thomas Johnson
Betty Boop, voiced by Bonnie Poe

Rating: Callooh, Callay

Lewis Carroll's novels, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass, are dreamy, weird, fantastique classics. They have been reconsidered, reimagined, reconceptualized and remade hundreds of times. Betty Boop took on Alice's role in a loose adaptation of both though it draws more inspiration from Wonderland than Looking Glass. An adaptation released around the same time was a box office flop named Alice in Wonderland by Norman Z. McLeod in 1933. It sticks fairly close to the source material. Betty subverted Alice back before subverting Alice was cool. The oldest adaptation was only 31 years old, released in 1903.

Many, many characters are included from the novels including Jabberwock, Mad Hatter, the Caterpillar, the Duchess, the playing cards and Humpty Dumpty. The cartoon features clever touches like Shrink-ola and different visual puns. Betty sings a song but the music is not noteworthy in this short. Of course, there's tee-hee humor like Betty adding a clip to her skirt when she is falling down the rabbithole to keep it shut. But it wouldn't be a Betty Boop cartoon without a little of that.

Sources

Betty in Blunderland. Dir. Dave Fleischer. Perf. Bonnie Poe. Paramount Pictures, 1934.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_in_Blunderland