Friday, April 10, 2026

Tooniversary: Moving Day (1936)

 Today, if you or I were delinquent in paying rent, we'd already be evicted and/or homeless.

90 years ago, Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck were facing eviction for being 6 months behind on rent. Sheriff Pete is authorized to sell their belongings for collateral, but the boys have an answer for that on "Moving Day":


The plot never did explain why they owed six months back rent. Not good.

Rating: B-.

Thursday, April 9, 2026

From Primetime to Daytime: Alejandro Rides Again (Zorro, 1991)

 From season 2 of Zorro (1990's series):

Don Alejandro (Henry Darrow, ex-Zorro & Son, High Chaparral) is reunited with his old unit to hunt down an outlaw. Zorro (Duncan Regehr) provides some covert assistance.


Darrow's casting, replacing Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. at the start of season 2, marked the 3rd different iteration of Zorro for the actor, as he'd voiced the hero in Filmation's adaptation 10 years earlier. Unsurprisingly, Sgt. Mendoza (James Victor, ex-Viva Valdez) happily accepts credit for the bust, and brags to a disbelieving group of party guests afterward.

Tuesday, April 7, 2026

Toonfomercial: Does tax season make you want to sing? (2026)

 With a week to go before the deadline for tax returns, Turbo Tax decided to liven things up with a partially animated karaoke ad, currently in heavy rotation.....


Cute, isn't it?

Monday, April 6, 2026

Saturday Morning's Forgotten Heroes: 4 episodes of Jana of The Jungle (1978)

 Hanging on to episodes of Jana of The Jungle can be dicey.

A YouTube poster has managed to package together four episode blocks of the 1978 series, and these four were, as standalone entries, recently removed from YouTube. They are:

"The Golden Idol of The Gorgas", with Bill Woodson (Challenge of The Super Friends) as a native chief.

"Katuchi Danger".

"The Cordillera Volcano".

"The Animal Snatchers".

All but "The Cordillera Volcano"  have their original title cards.


Rating: A-.

Saturday, April 4, 2026

Retro Toy Chest: Remember Gorzak? (1994)

 Correspondent Steven Dolce tipped me to this next item.

Tyco introduced Gorzak to a consumer world that may not have been waiting in 1994. I say that because the product didn't survive the decade.


Not sure who was commissioned to produce the animation. Gorzak ends up a footnote in toy history.

Toons After Dark: Peter & The Magic Egg (1983)

 After leaving Rankin-Bass, Romeo Muller struck out on his own, and one of his last projects as an independent producer was 1983's Peter & The Magic Egg. Muller borrowed the R-B formula of using a name actor as his lead, in this case, Ray Bolger, who narrates the tale as Amos the Egg. The rest of the cast includes Bob Holt, Joan Gerber, Russi Taylor, Robert Ridgely, and Al Eisenmann, brother of 70's & 80's star Ike Eisenmann.


Peter never aired on a network. It was syndicated, and hasn't seen the light of day, YouTube aside, in years.

Friday, April 3, 2026

From Primetime to Daytime: Zorro in Broken Heart, Broken Mask (1991)

 From season 2 of The New Zorro (as it's known on Retro, no longer available in the 518):

Zorro (Duncan Regehr) intervenes between a friend of Don Alejandro and a traveling gambler (special guest Roddy Piper). The title, however, refers to Victoria (Patrice Canhi) getting shot, which concerns Diego.


Piper would return as a different character in season 3, which also saw guest appearances by Jesse Ventura & Andre The Giant in separate episodes.