With news that Sesame Street will be leaving HBO and Max due to the contract with Sesame Workshop expiring, let's take a look back at one of the half hour episodes produced for HBO, this one a New Year's Eve treat from 2018.
Winter started a week ago, so, let's get into the season with Chuck Jones' 1939 farce, "Snowman's Land", in which a lone Mountie (Pinto Colvig) sets out to capture a dangerous outlaw.
The next Olympics are still a ways off, but let's see how it all began, though the eyes of Goofy in "The Olympic Champ":
This was recently posted to YouTube and Reddit. I was but a toddler when this first aired back in 1966, and have no memory of ever seeing it until now.
The animation is very simple, and so is the point of the message. The tune, by the way, is "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen".
Ah, back in the day, there were those toy trains and matching tracks, competing with Mattel's Hot Wheels line and its competitors. Don't know who Hess commissioned to make their toy trucks every year, but those are still rolling along, even though Hess has given way to Speedway.
Here's a simple little Tyco ad for their trains from 1973. Narrated by Casey Kasem (Super Friends, American Top 40, The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas, etc.):
I had this one up before, but it was deleted many moons ago when it was taken off YouTube. Now, it's back.
In 1975, Hanna-Barbera adapted Franz Gruber's Christmas hymn, "Silent Night", into a half hour special, Silent Night, Holy Night. Produced in Australia.
Lynn Johnston's For Better or Worse celebrates the holiday season in 1992's "A Christmas Angel". Sometimes, the perfect Christmas tree needs a little trimming to fit the dimensions of the house......
Sniffles may be better known for a series of comics stories with a human girl, Mary Jane. However, he made his debut on the big screen in 1938, one of the first creations of Chuck Jones.
While "Bedtime For Sniffles" predated The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas by several years, the basic concept is the same. Sniffles is waiting to meet Santa Claus, but will he make it to midnight?
Dr. Seuss' The Cat in The Hat returned to television, and animated form, with a new PBS series that launched in 2010, and ended production in 2018.
Actor-singer-comedian Martin Short, currently starring in Only Murders in The Building and a series of Wells Fargo ads, both with Steve Martin, has the title role as The Cat, whose aides, Thing 1 & Thing 2, are along for the ride, and, contrary to the original story, 1st adapted by Chuck Jones in 1971, the goldfish is now one of The Cat's pets, too, and changes colors on whim.
Sally and her new friend, Nick, an African American, are The Cat's students. Nick was created for this show for the sake of cultural diversity.
From Season 2, which stretched over 3 years (2012-5), here's the Christmas show.
While DC has launched a new Creature Commandos comic book, featuring revamped versions of the original team, it has little to do with James Gunn's new animated series on Max, which recently launched.
The only link between the two is Amanda Waller (Viola Davis, "The Suicide Squad", ex-How to Get Away With Murder), who is assigning Rick Flag, Sr. (Frank Grillo) the task of leading this new version of the Commandos in the present day.
Max & DC made the series opener available for free screening on YouTube, but we know better than to use it, so we'll sub in a trailer. Mind the language.
Bob Clampett had left Warner Bros., and while the staff at Termite Terrace didn't miss a beat in his absence, Clampett finally had a chance to make a childhood idea come to life.
Time For Beany was a 15 minute nightly puppet show Clampett produced for Paramount that served as a precursor to Beany & Cecil's 1st animated series 13 years later. Clampett came up with the idea of Cecil, the "sea sick serpent", as a youth. Beany was just a typical young boy eager for adventure. Daws Butler was the original voice of Beany, using the same voice he'd later use for Augie Doggie, Elroy Jetson, and Lambsy (It's The Wolf) in later years. Stan Freberg voiced Cecil. However, the two actors left the show after a while, with Jim MacGeorge brought in to fill some of the void.
This item is from the 1st year, with Butler & Freberg.
1952's "Gift Wrapped" purports to have Tweety presented as a Christmas present to Granny, while Sylvester is dissatisfied with his gift, a rubber mouse......
Now, this is one for the books.
Swee'pea calls Popeye's attention to a "Square Egg" he found in the barn. It might be some sort of scientific breakthrough, so Olive suggests calling in Professor O. G. Whatashnozzle, but Brutus is thinking in terms of profit margins.....
We previously wrote up this next item over at The Land of Whatever a ways back, but it belongs here, too.
Sidekicks sprang from a Disney Sunday Movie, "The Last Electric Knight". Gil Gerard (ex-Buck Rogers in The 25th Century) stars as a police sergeant tasked with caring for a young karate master (Ernie Reyes, Jr., whose father choreographed the fight scenes) at the request of a sensei (Keye Luke, seen in flashbacks after the pilot movie).
There was a subsequent movie, "Sidekicks", with Chuck Norris & Jonathan Brandis, six years later, but has nothing to do with this series.
Here, politics and bullies are at issue. Frank Bonner (ex-WKRP in Cincinnati) and Nancy Stafford co-star.
This is getting silly.
Tonight's Monday Night Football game between Cincinnati just got a little cray-cray with Disney's decision to do an animated alternate feed featuring The Simpsons.
Bart (Nancy Cartwright) will captain the Bengals. Homer (Dan Castelanetta) will lead the Cowboys. Hmm, y'think maybe it should be the other way around?
Here's a promo:
MGM briefly had the license to adapt Rudolph Dirks' The Captain & The Kids, but only produced two shorts, including 1938's "The Captain's Christmas".
The Captain (Billy Bletcher) is playing Santa, but is ambushed by Long John Silver (Bletcher again), who takes over the role.
It's never a good idea, if you're a mouse, to set up shop inside a pool table.
As Tom & Jerry demonstrate, a neighborhood pool hall is just as dangerous as it would be at home. Poor Jerry......
Here's "Cue Ball Cat":
Two of TV's most relatable children's hosts met in 1970 when Captain Kangaroo (Bob Keeshan) paid a visit to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Bunny Rabbit & Mr. Moose (Cosmo Allegretti) tagged along and visited the Neighborhood of Make-Believe.
Following is a compilation from an interview with "Mr. McFeely":
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, airing tomorrow, isn't the only Rankin-Bass special turning 60 this year.
Before Rudolph, Arthur Rankin, Jr. & Jules Bass adapted L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz once more, but this time reworking the original story for Return to Oz, which, like Rudolph, premiered on the General Electric Fantasy Hour.
Despite the fact that this references the conclusion of the original story, Romeo Muller's script puts Dorothy and friends back at square one. The animation is the same as 1961's Tales of The Wizard of Oz, as Rankin-Bass used the same animation house as before, Crowley Films.
Donald Duck decides to bring out his sled for some fun in the snow. Nephews Huey, Dewey, & Louie are building a snowman. Chaos ensues.
Clarence Nash has all the voices in "Donald's Snow Fight":
I know, it's only December 1, but let's spend Christmas Eve with Tom & Jerry:
