Larson, single panel: What’s his name as last day of sound panel
Duck Amuck, at least for cartoon shorts.
Kewl! Rabbit of Seville is there too!
Are we counting Pixar shorts as “cartoons”? Because I think “One Man Band” is brilliant!
I can def understand why you feel the way you do about Hanna Barbera. I also can’t stand to watch any of their shows today because they just seem so cheaply made compared to the “full animation” cartoons that were created for show in movie theaters.
There is another side to the story however but I am not knowledgeable enough to present it very well. Part of it is that the cost of producing a weekly 30 minute show with full animation would have been just about impossible at the time when the Flintstones were made.
I know that I saw someone explain that side of the story once. It may have been in that Mel Blanc documentary that I listed in my first post in this thread. But I’m just not sure.
Some people might say that hating on Hannah & Barbera today because their products look so cheap and primitive would be like hating on Charlie Chaplin because his short movies also look so grainy and primitive by today’s standards.
But regardless of what anyone says about Hannah and Barbera, I agree with you insofar as The Flintstones and all the other cartoons that were produced in a similar way are very difficult to watch today.
IMO, the one exception is Rocky & Bullwinkle. Despite the fact that it was produced for children, this show still holds up well today. The humor and the view of world politics they presented was just amazing given it was produced for kids. My favorite part of that show was, “Fractured Fairy Tales”. Remember that? I used to watch that show every week so I wouldn’t miss that. There was no way to record TV shows circa 1960.
Marvin the Martian. “Where is the kaboom? There was supposed to be a kaboom.”
Followed by Rocky and Bullwinkle.
Add one more One Froggy Evening fan.
I don’t know if I would call this an absolute favorite, but when I was a child I had an old Fisher Price Movie Viewer and exactly one cartage for it, featuring Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Donald Duck as busters of ghosts. Not long ago I googled it up again and found that the video is an abbreviated version of Lonesome Ghosts. (The video embedded in the article is the full original short–this is the version in the toy.)
Hank Azaria pointed out something interesting about that cartoon - namely, the challenge of voicing one of the characters impersonating the other, and vice versa.
As One Froggy Evening seems to be taking all the honors, my choice for 2nd place is “Hillbilly Hare”.
Also, some of the puns in “Peabody’s Improbable History”, and “Fractured Fairy Tales” had me rolling in the aisles.
Am I the only person who’d choose a Tom and Jerry episode? I’ll come back with a specific example once I’ve had a chance to do some “research”.
Man, it is really hard to pick just one. Fleischer’s Superman - The Mechanical Monsters - influenced so many things like Sky Captain and Iron Giant, and probably every giant robot that came after.
There are a handful of Simpsons episodes that would be in the running. Bart Gets An Elephant, Deep Space Homer and El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer are among the best, IMO.
No love for the Roadrunner and Coyote cartoons? Of course they kind of blend into each other so it’s hard to pick one.
If I had to pick one, it would be Rabbit Hood, mainly because of his interaction with the Sheriff of Notingham.
**Bugs:** "In the name of my most Royal Majesty, I knight thee! (strikes Sheriff over the head with his sceptre) “Arise, Sir Loin of Beef!”
(strike) "Arise, Earl of Cloves!”
(strike) “Arise, Duke of Brittingham!”
(strike) “Arise, Baron of Munchausen!”
(strike) “Arise, Essence of Myrrh!”
(strike) “Milk of Magnesia”
(strike) “Water of Thames!”
**Sheriff:** (dazed, slurred, but still on his feet) “You are too kind, your majesty.”
**Bugs:** (breaking the fourth wall) “Got lots of stamina!”My favorite cartoon is the Bloom County Christmas special, “A Wish For Wings That Work”. Voices, artwork, characterization-it all comes together beautifully.
Warner Bros Birth of a Notion
“Give me your wishbone!”
Oh, yeah! Big second!
I didn’t know you could bake a cake that fast.
“Don’t you worry! Never Fear! Robin Hood will soon be here!”
The universe of great cartoons is so vast and diverse that I could never hope to pick a favorite. But Kiwi! certainly merits a mention.
That is so happy/sad.
I don’t think I can pick one favorite, any more than I could pick a favorite food.
I had a college professor who chose Duck Amuck as the perfect example of existentialism. Almost all of the early Coyote vs. Roadrunner are as classical examples of Greek tragedy as can be found - the doomed hero failing again and again in an uncaring universe, and the catharsis we feel from identifying with him.
But as pure cartoon, nothing beats Hillbilly Hare. It has all the necessary elements of the perfect Bugs Bunny cartoon - the innocent Bugs being attacked, his ultimate triumph, and especially the inescapable internal logic of the plot. It’s Bugs - of course he can tie a shotgun barrel into a bow, and of course he can dress up as a woman and have the hill billies fall in love with him instantly. And then the perfect moment, when Bugs doffs the women’s outfit, picks up a magically available violin and slouch hat, kicks the plug from the juke box, and takes over their reality with perfectly rhymed and metered song when he becomes the square dance caller. Bugs struggles, and then ultimately is master of the situation, and justice is restored to the universe.
I can sing most of the song by heart -
Whirl, whirl, twist and twirl,
Jump around like a flying squirrel,
Now don’t you cuss and don’t you swear
Come right out and form a square
As they are spit out of the hay baler that the song morally compelled them to jump into.
Struggle, dominance, and ultimate triumph. There is hope for the universe, because justice has prevailed.
Regards,
Shodan
Has the “Whoa dragon” scene. Just found out it was the only Bugs cartoon to win an Oscar.
Also this one, with “Whoa camel.” https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xk2y90
You should write a column/blog about cartoons.