What A Cartoon! - Disney's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Added 2019-10-14 04:01:00 +0000 UTCThanks to the generous patronage of Devin Hoffarth, this week's episode of What A Cartoon! features a Halloween classic that just celebrated its 70th birthday! Making up one half of the oddly named package film The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Disney's adaptation of the classic Washington Irving story drove generations of children to madness with its terrifying depiction of the Headless Horseman. But while most people remember these vital eight minutes of the film, most forget the preceding antics featuring a hungry (and thirsty) schoolmaster that play out more like a Popeye short than anything Disney ever made. Listen in and prepare to relive childhood trauma as we shine new light on a cartoon classic!
Comments
Listening to the jazzier parts of Ichabod ... dunno if this this in the pipeline or not but, y’all really REALLY need to cover “Over the Garden Wall” for Halloween next year.
John Simon
2019-10-22 04:50:19 +0000 UTCYou're right. That was my mistake. He was only an assistant in various departments at that point. Should've known better than to trust the Looney Tunes Wiki for giving me all the facts. And yeah, "Catch as Cats Can" is one of those really funny Looney Tunes that rarely seems to be talked about or even shown in any capacity. Probably because it was one of those shorts that never got a reissue.
KaiserBeamz
2019-10-16 02:52:26 +0000 UTCI don't think Scrib was a full-animator at that point. What's your source? Bing was also depicted as a dick in Art Davis' much later "Catch as Cats Can", with him as a parrot enlisting a dopey, non-lisping Sylvester to knock off a Sinatra canary for "vitamins". The film ends with Sly eating Bing and adopting his "buh-buh-boo", hat, and pipe. "Ah there's nothin' like vitamins." (The original ending was supposed to pan to the backyard with Bing's tombstone: "Came in before his horse." Which is why it fades out abruptly.) One of my all-time faves. You just know Friz was paying attention and wanted Davis for his unit once he saw the way Art staged cat-canary gags.
Thad Komorowski
2019-10-16 02:23:09 +0000 UTCSince you guys brought up Bing Crosby parodies from the Golden Age of Animation, I feel the need to mention a time when Warner Bros took a bridge too far with their parodies. In 1936, Bing Crosby, along with Paramount Pictures for some reason, sued Warner Bros Cartoons for making cartoons that portrayed him in a defamatory light and tried to get them pulled from distribution. The first was “Bingo Crosbyana”, a Merrie Melodies short about a titular Spanish fly with Crosby’s voice and mannerisms who swoons all the bug ladies at a party. However, when a giant spider invades the party, Bingo flees and hides. Crosby objected to this as he felt it portrayed him as a vainglorious coward. The second was “Let It Be Me,” another Merry Melodies short about a Bing Crosby-expy rooster who seduces a bright-eyed, star-struck chicken named Emily with his singing. However, when he takes her to a nightclub, the Bing rooster immediately starts hitting on other chickens while literally kicking Emily to the curb while she’s in tears. Obviously, Crosby objected to this as he felt like it portrayed him as an unfaithful cad. The lawsuit wasn’t successful. We don’t know if it went to court and they lost the case or if it was thrown out by judge. The only thing left to say is that both shorts were directed by Friz Freling, with “Let It Be Me” being one first projects to have on an uncredited Rod Scribner.
KaiserBeamz
2019-10-16 01:16:03 +0000 UTC
