Toons You Might've Missed: Philbert (1963)

 Philbert was a hybrid live-action/animated produced by WB for ABC, which passed on it. Rather than shop it around, the studio did some editing, and reissued Philbert as a 26 minute short subject in theatres.

Had it worked, William Schallert (ex-Dobie Gillis) might not have landed a role on The Patty Duke Show in the fall of 1963. Friz Freleng not only directed the animation, but wrote the story, too, a rare case of Freleng writing for live-action.

It was ahead of its time.

Rare Treats: An animated open for Rawhide (1965)

 You all know that DePatie-Freleng was commissioned to produce the animated opens for 2 freshman series in 1965, I Dream of Jeannie (NBC) and The Wild, Wild West (CBS). Well, it turns out that CBS also asked for the studio to produce this next gem.

Rawhide had entered its final season, and was cut before the holidays. Artist Ken Mundie, who later was involved in the first Fat Albert pilot a few years later, is the man behind the sketches. Have to assume it was also Mundie who did the artwork for Wild, Wild West.

Anyway, here it is, complete with the iconic theme song, performed by Frankie Laine. They subbed in an instrumental for the closing theme.

Still can't figure how DFE got the contract for the Jeannie open away from Screen Gems' then-sister company, Hanna-Barbera........

Rare Treats: A UPA pilot that never made it: Bric & Brac (1959-60)

 By the end of the 50's, UPA was in trouble. Their distribution deal with Columbia had ended, and Columbia had moved on to work with Hanna-Barbera. Gerald McBoing-Boing was slowly being rejected by movie-goers, even with a crossover with Mr. Magoo.

So, the studio, with United Artists as a prospective new distributor, tried selling a new set of characters to networks or syndication. Bric & Brac, a rabbit & a mole, to be particular, were introduced in "Bric's Stew", which was pitched in 1960, though it had been copyrighted a year earlier. Ever-busy Dallas McKennon handled all the voices for this Harvey Toombs-directed short.

A rabbit that doesn't like carrots? Bric seems to be reluctant to have any. Toombs would later work for King Features on Popeye, while Sam Singer signed McKennon for Courageous Cat.

Rating: C.

Toons You Might've Missed: Barnacle Bill (1930)

 From the Fleischers' Talkartoon series comes "Barnacle Bill", with Bimbo in the title role. During this period, Betty Boop (Margie Hines) has more of a canine appearance, before her evolution into the icon we would know.

Anyway, Bimbo gives himself a shore leave so he can see "Nancy Lee" (Betty).

Five years later, Fleischer & Paramount referenced Barnacle Bill again, this time with Bluto in the role as a villain (as per normal) in a Popeye short. The character of Barnacle Bill was introduced in a song recorded by Hoagy Carmichael in 1928.

Rating: B-. There's a reason Bimbo was reduced to a supporting player when Betty was given her own series.......

Rare Treats: Muppets After Dark, before the Muppet Show (Out to Lunch, 1974)

 Jim Henson had been shopping a primetime project for his Muppets for years, after Jimmy Dean's ABC variety show had ended. In 1974, ABC took a chance with a primetime special that brought together the gang from Sesame Street with the cast of The Electric Company, plus guests Elliott Gould, Barbara Eden (ex-I Dream of Jeannie), & Carol Burnett, plus a cameo by ABC newsman Bill Beutel.

Out to Lunch aired two weeks before Christmas. Unfortunately, no video footage is available, just some audio clips. Basically, the Muppets (i.e. Bert & Ernie, Cookie Monster, Oscar, Big Bird) take over ABC to do some movie, TV, & commercial parodies.

Promo ad illustrated by Jack Davis.

While the network takeover gimmick didn't fly with network suits, Henson tweaked the idea, and, with help from Lord Lew Grade at ITC, launched The Muppet Show, with Kermit now joined by a new troupe of Muppets. The series ran for 5 years.

The emergence of the audio clips and accompanying promo advertising is a case of perfect timing, since a new Muppet series is set to launch next week on ABC and Disney+, looking to recapture the spirit of The Muppet Show as it marks its 50th anniversary.

Now, if only someone would find the videos.......

Rare Treats: An Archies album you didn't know existed (1976-2006)

 After US of Archie was cancelled for good by CBS in 1976 (the series moved to Sundays for its rerun cycle), Filmation decided to package the earlier series from 1968-73 into a syndicated package under the umbrella title, The Archies. Even though there was plenty of music to be had from 1969's Archie Comedy Hour, it went unused, as Filmation skipped past most of it, instead asking actor Dallas McKennon (Archie, Hot Dog) to record some new tracks, and we have to assume for now that the instrumentals were from studio music director Ray Ellis, as Don Kirschner was long gone by this point, fronting his weekly, syndicated Rock Concert series.

So Dallas recorded 13 new tracks, most of them as Archie, making him the 3rd vocalist, after Ron Dante and the Doodletown Pipers' Tom McKenzie. Here's one that Dallas recorded as Hot Dog, "Animal House", 90 seconds of spoken word silliness.

30 years later, the tracks were collected for an album, "Drive The Boulevard", as shown in the thumbnail. This was not an authorized release, but a bootleg. Good luck trying to find this on the convention circuit.

Rare Treats: If you thought you knew the Mighty Mouse theme song.....(1958)

 We all know that the late actor-performance artist Andy Kaufman introduced us to the full lyrics to the theme from Mighty Mouse on Saturday Night Live. However, while Andy used a recording of the original theme, another icon released a version of the song years earlier.

Mitch Miller released his version, with vocals by the Terrytooners, in 1958:

And, here's Andy, nearly 20 years later:

Of course, Andy was lip-syncing, as the glass of water was just another prop in his act.

Rare Treats: A CBS promo reel from Terrytoons (1957)

In 1957, CBS had asked Terrytoons to produce a promo reel for network affiliates. No, you wouldn't see classic Terrytoons characters like Mighty Mouse (who had made his CBS debut 2 years earlier) or Heckle & Jeckle, but an experimental new style of animation under the direction of Gene Deitch.

Depth Study, I don't think, was ever shown over the air. All the voices, apparently, are performed by Allen Swift. There's also vintage footage of I Love Lucy, The Ed Sullivan Show, Person to Person, & The Jack Benny Program, among the CBS shows.

Deitch, then, would be credited with the development of someone like, say, Tom Terrific, maybe?

Rating: B--.

Rare Treats: Behind The Scene (1979)

 Behind The Scene takes a look at comics and comics conventions in this 1979 documentary that appears to have been produced for use in schools. Actor-comedian Jonathan Winters is the narrator.

Though the copyright date is 1979, it appears the producers took at least two years to put this together, what with a discussion between Marvel's Archie Goodwin & Stan Lee regarding the development of the Human Fly series, based on a real-life stunt performer, circa 1977.

Rating: A.

Rare Treats: The Globetrotters album (1970)

 Pop impresario Don Kirshner, while still pumping out Archies records, added the Harlem Globetrotters to his music stable, coinciding with the team's first animated series in 1970.

Reportedly, the players actually recorded the songs themselves, backed by a studio band. This would explain why Meadowlark Lemon was credited on the show, but not other players like Curly Neal and Herbert "Geese" Ausbie.

Some of you might recognize this track, "Meadowlark", used in an episode of the series. The big surprise? Co-written by pop icon Neil Sedaka with Howard Greenfield. This might've inspired Sedaka to start recording his own songs again four years later.

We've got a screen cap of the actual 7" single, instead of using episode footage, which for this particular song may not be available right now.

Sedaka, Greenfield, & Jeff Barry were the principal songwriters on the album.

Rare Treats: There was actually a concept for a Beach Boys cartoon (1976)

 Now, we all know what the Class of 1976 meant for Hanna-Barbera.

Mumbly, Jabberjaw, & Dynomutt debuted for ABC. Clue Club was launched on CBS, early, due to the network's commitment to the US Open tennis tournament.

But, what if H-B had actually been able to close the deal on a license to adapt one of the most famous bands in the world into an animated series?

Well, peeps, feast your eyes on this:

Yep, the Beach Boys. "America's Band".

Consider H-B's track record with pre-fab bands:

The Banana Splits: Hosts of a 2 season anthology series (1968-70) for NBC, converted to animation for a ABC Saturday Superstar Movie.

Josie & The Pussycats: Licensed from Archie Comics for 2 1-season series (1970, '72) and the short-lived In The Know interstitals that were the forerunner to In The News.

Butch Cassidy: Rocker/spy, like the Splits an in-house creation, lasted one season for NBC (1973), but deserved a better fate.

Now, does anyone think that Joe Ruby & Ken Spears were asked to create Jabberjaw after the deal for the Beach Boys fell through? I think so.

As Paul Harvey used to say, that is the rest........of the story. We think.

Rare Treats: A Burger Chef radio ad (1976)

  After sponsoring the syndicated Festival of Family Classics, Burger Chef's ad agency expanded their reach into radio with a series of spots, like this one from 1976.

The voices are the same as the TV ads, with Paul Winchell and Lionel Wilson.

Rare Treats: US of Archie on record (1974-5)

 Concurrent with the series, Peter Pan Records was licensed to adapt the US of Archie into audio dramas, featuring the show's cast (Dallas McKennon, Jane Webb, John Erwin, Howard Morris, and guests).

Two episodes on each album. The music, however, is not the same as the original soundtrack from the show. 

You probably remember the format. Each episode started with a vignette in the then-present, with Archie taking us back to the days of the gang's lookalike ancestors.

Here's "The Great Divide", with Erwin and, I assume, McKennon, doubling up as Lewis & Clark.

To be honest, I didn't know these albums had even been released.

For educational & entertainment purposes only, so, no rating.

Toonfomercial: Alice in Wonderland shills for Jell-O (1956)

 The Mock Turtle & the Gryphon were characters from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland that were left on the cutting room floor in Disney's adaptation.

However, Disney opted to use them after all, along with Alice herself, to make a pitch for Jell-O in 1956. Sterling Holloway narrates.

Rare Treats: CBS sends a message to its viewers (1966)

 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".

Now, here's Santa in a department store:

Rare Treats: Time For Beany (1949)

 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.

Time For Beany was the most successful iteration of the franchise, as it lasted six years (1949-55) before signing off. Clampett produced one season's worth of Beany & Cecil for ABC in 1962, and the network kept it around in reruns for an extra five years.

No rating. Just a public service.

Rare Treats: Captain Kangaroo meets Mister Rogers (1970)

 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":

15 years later, Captain Kangaroo would move to PBS after the series was cancelled by CBS. What I'm not sure of is if Fred Rogers ever returned the favor.......

Rare Treats: Lost bumpers from The Porky Pig Show (1964)

 Following is a collection of bumpers from The Porky Pig Show, some of which made their way to syndication, while others were left out of the mix. 

It's clear that WB recycled some footage from some of Porky's shorts, with Mel Blanc dubbing in new dialogue. In addition, newer bumpers produced by Hal Seeger including Porky interacting with Elmer Fudd, who sounds like it's either Blanc or Hal Smith (Davey & Goliath, The Andy Griffith Show). The open & close, sans closing credits, close the video.

Rare Treats: There was almost a Moon Mullins show (1960)

 Before Space Angel. Before Clutch Cargo. Cambria Studios had planned on introducing their infamous synchro-vox system with an adaptation of the comic strip, Moon Mullins. Check this promo:

Unfortunately, Moon Mullins didn't clear enough markets to make it to the air. As we all know, Filmation acquired a license 11 years later, so Moon made his TV debut on Archie's TV Funnies.

Rare Treats: Little Orley (1940's)

Well before he became Bob Keeshan's right hand man as Mr. Green Jeans on Captain Kangaroo, Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum had appeared on radio on Fred Waring's show during the 1940's. Brannum, as Uncle Lumpy, spun short yarns of a little boy named Orley, backed by Waring & the Pennsylvanians. 

Brannum actually had his own show, Uncle Lumpy's Cabin, a New York children's show, in 1951, 4 years before Captain Kangaroo. However, that series appears to be lost.

For now here's "Little Orley's Big Concert":

Aside from a few tweaks (i.e. substituting "Indians" with Native Americans), there is a good chance these stories could be brought back for today's audience with a different narrator.

Rating: B.