Valentoons: We Are In Love (2011)

From The Looney Tunes Show:

We're kicking off our 2017 Valentoons playlist with "We Are In Love", a declaration from Lola (Kristen Wiig) to Bugs Bunny (Jeff Bergman), who would eventually come around long after this video.......

Toonfomercial: Remember Buffalo Bee? (1959)

When I was growing up, the only cereals bearing Nabisco's famous triangular logo were Team Flakes and Shredded Wheat. Wheat and Rice Honeys weren't readily available in my neck of the woods in the 60's and early 70's.

Wheat and Rice Honeys were introduced in the 30's as Ranger Joe's Wheat Honnies & Ranger Joe's Rice Honnies. Nabisco acquired the products in 1954, and rechristened them as Wheat Honeys and Rice Honeys, adding an animated mascot, Buffalo Bee, to promote the cereal for the kids.

Per Ira Gallen, whose TVdays YouTube channel served up this next item, Buffalo Bee made his television debut in 1959. A cowboy bee? Yep, but Buffalo Bee's voice has a certain feminine lilt to it, thanks to actress Mae Questel. Listen carefully, and you may just pick up some of Mae's vocal inflections as Olive Oyl.



Unfortunately, Buffalo Bee became a distant memory well before my mom first took me shopping. The Honeys were gone by the mid-70's after a couple of attempted makeovers failed to raise sales, including a licensing deal to have Winnie the Pooh appear on the box.

Daytime Heroes (?): The Mighty B! (2008)

Consider this for a moment.

A girl scout believes that if she collects all of the required badges, she'll become a superhero. Maybe that's the result of reading too many comic books while selling cookies, but that is neither here nor there at the moment.

The Mighty B! had just 40 episodes, spread over 2 seasons (2008-10), and played into the ground on Nickelodeon as a weekday entry. It sprang from the mind of actress-comedienne Amy Poehler (ex-Saturday Night Live, Parks & Recreation), who had created the character of Bessie in her standup act with the Upright Citizens Brigade and Second City. Poehler also voiced Bessie (naturally). The series launched on a Saturday, but I don't think it was part of the regular Saturday lineup.

Never saw it, since I work during the week, so we'll settle for the intro:



No rating.

Toonfomercial: Remember the Honeycomb Kid? (1965)

Post Cereals introduced Honey-Comb in 1965, adding to a line of cereals that had gained national attention thanks to an ad campaign, and, subsequently, the Linus the Lionhearted cartoons.

Honey-Comb's mascot originally was the Honeycomb Kid, a cowboy hero who could ride on two of any animal, be it horses, buffalo, polar bears, or dolphins. Not sure if Ed Graham's team worked on these ads, though I'd not be surprised if some of the same voice talent that worked on Linus also did these ads.

Here's a sample:



As you could probably guess, Post and its advertising agency were riffing on Jimmie Rodgers' 1957 hit, "Honeycomb". Unfortunately, the Kid rode off into the sunset well before the end of the 60's, as, to tell you the truth, this marks the first time I've actually seen more than one of these ads.

Toons You Might've Missed: Possible Possum (1965)

Possible Possum gets his catchphrase, "It's possible, it's possible", from Deputy Dawg's frenemy, Muskie Muskrat, and one must assume that the folks at Terrytoons had Muskie in mind for a spinoff series.

However, in 1965, it was Possible who was the first spinoff from Deputy Dawg. Problem is, Possible's shorts, produced between 1965-8, aren't in general circulation, unlike a lot of other Terrytoons characters. Lionel Wilson performed all the voices, including the Don Messick-esque laugh of the bull, the villain of the piece in this 1965 short, "Hobo Hassle":



As you could by the name of Macon Mouse, these shorts were set in Georgia, while Deputy Dawg & pals were further down south in Florida.

Rating: B.

Retro Toy Chest: Post Archies toys (1969)

We all know that Filmation's adaptation of The Archies took off like a runaway rocket in 1968. General Foods, then the parent of Post Cereals, picked up a license to produce Archie-related toys as inserts in some of their cereals. They also had cardboard 45's on the backs of Honey Comb, Alpha-Bits, and, later, Super Sugar Crisp.

Let's check out the toys.



Dig the mod fashions, although Veronica accessorizing her red dress with gold polka dot tights suggests a fashion mistake.

Saturday Morning's Forgotten Heroes: The Lone Ranger vs. the Paddle Wheeling Pirates (1966)

The Lone Ranger & Tonto take to the sea to take down Capt. Scavenger and "The Paddle Wheeling Pirates":



You could see the ending of this one a mile away.

Rating: B.