Toon Legends: Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976)

Christmas is over, but we still have New Year's Eve & Day later this week, and a pair of New Year's specials are on the ABC docket tonight.

The 2nd half of the double-bill is an encore of 1976's Rudolph's Shiny New Year, a sequel to the 1964 classic, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. This time, Rudolph (Billie Richards) returns from his annual Christmas Eve tour with Santa Claus (Paul Frees), only to be called on by Father Time (Red Skelton) to locate Happy, the baby New Year, who has fled to the Archipelago of Lost Years, unhappy because of his oversized ears (think "Dumbo"). Aeon the Terrible, a vulture, wants to keep Happy from succeeding Father Time so that the current year can continue uninterrupted, but you can't stop the normal nature of things, can you?

Morey Amsterdam and Frank Gorshin are also in the cast for this one, which moves back to ABC this year after airing on ABC Family the last several years.



For a sequel, there is a bit of a continuity error, and it has to do with Rudolph's antlers. Unless they regenerated after breaking, they should be bigger than they appear in the show. Also, around the same time this aired, DC Comics had released an oversize Rudolph comic book, which now is a prized collector's item.

Rating: B-.

Looney TV: Portrait of The Artist as a Young Bunny (1980)

I think this might have been one of the first times this next item has aired on Boomerang.

As part of the cable network's all-day Looney Tunes Christmas Day marathon, a made-for-TV short, "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Bunny", aired in primetime, and probably during other day parts, I don't know. Originally produced for the CBS primetime special, Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over, "Portrait" uses the title card and cue from the network's Bugs Bunny-Road Runner Show, which makes me think this might've eventually been used on the Saturday show as well.



Somehow, Elmer Fudd with corks in his guns really doesn't have the same impact.

Rating: B.

You Know The Voice: Allen Jenkins (1954)

Ask anyone about actor Allen Jenkins, and you're likely to get two distinctive answers:

1. He was a prolific character actor on radio, television, and in movies during the 40's & 50's, or.....

2. He was the voice of Officer Dibble on Top Cat, likely his only cartoon credit of note (1961).

Allen's in the spotlight today in a post that, were it not for my home computer being down again, would've been our last Countdown to Christmas entry. Jenkins guest-starred on The Red Skelton Show's annual Christmas show in 1954, an adaptation of O. Henry's The Cop & The Anthem. In it, Jenkins plays a hobo who's trying to convince Freddie the Freeloader (Skelton) to move to Florida for the winter. Good luck with that.



A lesser known actress, Sara Berner, who went uncredited on a number of shorts for Warner Bros. in the 40's, is also among the guests.

Literary Toons: The Puppy's Further/Great Adventures (1982)

In 1978, Joe Ruby & Ken Spears adapted a little known children's book, The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy, for the ABC Weekend Special. The episode proved so popular, with its annual replays, that ABC commissioned an ongoing Puppy series.

First, the adventures of Petey the Puppy were coupled with Scooby & Scrappy Doo in a hour-long block, which didn't really make much sense. The following year, Petey and pals were spun off into their own half-hour standalone series, under the title, The Puppy's Further Adventures, rechristened The Puppy's Great Adventures when the series went into all-rerun mode, first on ABC, then CBS.

Petey (voiced by Billy Jacoby here) doubles as narrator, and there was some sparks between Petey and Dolly (Nancy McKeon, The Facts of Life), too.

Following is a sample episode:

Too bad Cartoon Network is sitting on this one right now.

Rating: A.

Merry Christmas, everyone. We're off until Friday.

Countdown to Christmas: The Tiny Tree (1975)

I previously posted this next item over at The Land of Whatever a ways back, but it belongs here, too.

The Tiny Tree, produced by DePatie-Freleng for CBS, bowed in 1975. Music by Roberta Flack, and Buddy Ebsen (Barnaby Jones) headed the voice cast as Squire Badger. There's no rating for this one. Just enjoy.

On The Air: Sonic Boom (2014)

Sonic the Hedgehog returns in all new adventures, and on a new home, with the launch of Sonic Boom on Cartoon Network.

Sadly, it seems the bloom's already off the rose for this CGI entry, as CN has slotted it in a double-play block on Sunday mornings at 6 am (ET), hardly a prime spot. The fact that it is, at its core, an action cartoon, moreso than a comedy-adventure show, works against it. Still, the CGI animation works better for Sonic, whose roots, of course, are in video games, than the Japanese anime of his last series, Sonic X.

Some new characters have been added, including Stix, a badger, but those who remember the first series from the 90's will be slightly disappointed to see that Sonic's old sweetie, Princess Sally Acorn, is not around. In fact, there are two schools of thought, if you go by message boards, in regards to Sally, as it seems the mallet-wielding Amy Rose is Sonic's current love. I've been out of the loop with Sonic for so long, so you'll excuse my ignorance.

Anyway, let's scope out this sample clip:



Dr. Eggman, nee Robotnik, hasn't changed. For a guy with a genius IQ, he's still a loser.

Rating: B.

On The Air: Transformers Rescue Bots (2011)

The Hub (now Discovery Family) has kept the Transformers cartoon franchise alive here in the US, with one of the more recent entries being Transformers Rescue Bots. Of course, it is meant to drive sales of the long running toy franchise, especially now that FCC regulations regarding such things have long since been relaxed.

You won't see any of the familiar characters from the main franchise, as Rescue Bots is a sort of beginner level series, aimed at the younger kiddo's. Here's the intro:



Meh. Rating: B.