On DVD: Uncle Sam Magoo (1970)

The nearsighted Mr. Magoo returned with a 1-shot special that serves as an appropriate follow-up to his 1964 series, The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo, which we've previously covered.

Uncle Sam Magoo was the last production to roll out from UPA Pictures in 1970, and, as such, the creative personnel took an opportunity to poke fun at the company, as you'll see in the following clip. For example, Magoo (Jim Backus, ex-Gilligan's Island) mistakes a coat rack for his agent, Henry, in reference to executive producer Henry Saperstein. While the UPA logo would never be seen again, Magoo, of course, would remain, serving as a pitchman for General Electric before landing his last series, What's New, Mr. Magoo?, in 1977, and, yeah, we've covered that, too.

Magoo takes us on a whirlwind tour through history, from the pre-Colonial days to the then-present. The supporting cast includes Len Weinrib (who was working on Dr. Doolittle at the time as a writer-producer and actor), Barney Phillips (ex-Shazzan), and relative newcomer Bob Holt, who, like Weinrib, was mostly working for DePatie-Freleng during his career.

Edit, 1/19/24: We've removed the preview, and replaced it with the full show.



It stuns me that this hasn't been used on a Saturday morning, and should.

Rating: B.