My Week In Movies - Did You Hear the One About the Tramp and the Fat Kid?

Dirty Girl (2011) It's rare that I see a trailer for a film on a DVD and then end up watching that movie a week or so later, but such is the case with Dirty Girl. I thought the trailer looked pretty cool and it just so happened that it was released to DVD on that same week. I popped it on my Netflix queue and it was in my mailbox the next week. And I'm glad it was because I really enjoyed it. It's the 1980's and the class slut gets paired up with the class fat kid to do one of those projects where they have to pretend to be married and take care of a sack of flower. I always thought that was a cool project, and they did it in the 8th grade at my school...except the year I was in the 8th grade they decided to take a break from it. So, I never got fake married. But I was the class fat kid and I would have been all about being fake married to the class slut. So perhaps in a way, this is kind of a fantasy piece for me - but the movie is really good besides that point. There's a great 80's soundtrack and some genuinely funny and touching moments as these two kids from opposite ends of the high school hierarchy become good friends. I'm always a sucker for a happy film with an upbeat pace, and I'm always a sucker for movies about friendship...and sluts.

(500) Days of Summer (2009) I also loved this odd romantic comedy that actually manages to break the conventions of a romantic comedy. Zooey Deschanel is perfectly cast as the beautiful new girl in the office, Summer. Joseph Gordon-Levitt takes a liking to Summer and she likes him, but she is quick to point out that she's not interested in a relationship. Eventually, the two arrive at a crossroads where one wants more than the other. The story is told out of sequence, but not in a confusing way. There are several clever scenes that play with the audience's expectations of storytelling. It's all a really fun movie and well done all around. I could not have enjoyed it more.

Beauty and the Beast (1991) OK, I love this movie...I think we all know that. It's easily in my top 5 favorite Disney films of all time, possibly in the top 3. I've been super jazzed about seeing it in 3D but alas with one kid afraid of 3D movies and a busy schedule between my wife and I, it just worked out better that I took the kids to see it at a theatre in the next town over that had one 2D showing a day. And you know what, I don't think I need the 3D...even though it would be cool to see the ballroom scene in three dimensions. When my buddies and I were young animation geeks, the computer generated chandelier in the ballroom scene just about literally made our jaws drop! I've seen Beauty and the Beast in the theatre 5 times now, not to mention an additional time on the IMAX screen back in 2001. Plus I've seen the Broadway production, the Ice Show, the Walt Disney World stage version...I've seen this story in many mediums, but you just can't beat seeing on the big screen - 3D glasses or not!

The Hangover Part Two (2011) By now you've probably heard that this follow up wasn't that good. It's pretty darn funny, almost as funny as the original. The real problem is that the story is EXACTLY the same as the first movie. Sure, the guys get into different wacky misadventures but the story structure is just a retread of the first film as the same three guys go back and try to piece together the drug induced antics of the night before. Same story, different town (Bangkok this time) and equal laughs, but just not a good sequel.



Cindy and Donna (1970) Another drive-in "classic" that I was thrilled to get a chance to see. Yet again, this trashy drive-in flick is just about completely unwatchable except that the ending is so great. I'll give it away because I'm sure no one reading this is ever going to see it. Cindy and Donna are stepsisters, Donna is slutty and Cindy is just discovering her womanhood. Cindy watches her sister get it on with everyone from her boyfriend, her boyfriend's friends and yes, even Cindy's father. Cindy's father is also having an affair with a teenage prostitute, that storyline literally goes nowhere but I thought I'd mention it. So then Cindy decides she is ready to make the big move into adulthood and it turns out Donna's boyfriend is more than happy to help out. While they are getting it on on the sofa, Donna walks in and sees them. Donna's boyfriend takes a moment from having sex with her sister to pick Donna up and violently toss her outside. Donna cries and runs into the street where she is promptly hit by a car and dies. Cut to Cindy riding on a swing, for one last panty shot...THE END. It's profound, people!

Cinderella (1950) Simply put, a masterpiece of film making and the epitome of everything that a Disney animated film should be!

Class (1983) This flick doesn't know if it wants to be a raunchy teenage comedy or a mid-life crisis drama. It's neither, as Andrew McCarthy unknowingly has an affair with his roommate's (Rob Lowe) mother. There's no point to this movie although I suspect to 1983 audiences seeing Jacqueline Bisset's naked body roll around in the sheets with a guy half her age was a point worthy enough of a ticket price.

Toy Tinkers (1949)

Do you remember a few years ago I told you about Sweden's Christmas Eve tradition with Donald Duck? No!? Well, you should click here and read it! Anywho, here's a Donald Duck Christmas Cartoon to make your spirits bright...

edTunes - When We're Human

Trailer Tuesday - Lilo & Stitch (2002)

My Week In Movies - Hot Summer Flicks

Wet Hot American Summer (2001) Just a helpful tip for any young filmmakers out there: if you want to guarantee at least one person sees your movie, include a scene where a grown man talks to a can of vegetables. Have the can's lid serve as it's mouth for speaking purposes. If you do this, I will be certain to watch your film and enjoy at least the scene with the talking prepackaged produce. In addition to a talking can of vegetables, this great summer camp spoof sports an incredible cast including Paul Rudd, Amy Pohler, Elizabeth Banks, Janeane Garofalo and Molly Shannon...just to name a few. The film plays as both a summer camp flick and a slightly off-center parody of such flicks. I saw it ten years ago when it came out and really enjoyed it, I finally got around to watching it again and enjoyed it just as much. Approaching it's tenth anniversary, Wet Hot has achieved somewhat of a cult status. Available on Netflix streaming.


North Shore (1987) Gotta admit, I'm kinda psyched to see Blue Crush 2 which is out on DVD now (I'll wait for my Netflix DVD to show up) but in the meantime I queued up this 80's surfer flick which tosses up a handful of surfing movie cliches and offers nothing much new in the process. Nia Peeples costars as the attractive local Hawaiian who catches the eye of the visiting surf wannabe. You might remember Peeples from her stint hosting Nia Peeple's Dance Machine which was on right after Arsenio Hall. No? You don't remember Nia Peeple's Dance Machine. Well, then you have absolutely no reason to see this movie.


The Jungle Book (1967) This has got to be one of my all-time favorite Disney films. I knew we were due for a screening when I was helping my kids pick up the playroom the other day. "Put the Mowgli figure back on the shelf," I said to one of my kids. "What's a Moogy?," he responded. I knew then that I had failed my children as a parent. The Jungle Book is near the top of my list for it's great songs, awesome voice work and it's swinging 60's score and lingo. Even though this might be one of Disney's most dated animated films, it still plays like a timeless world of it's own.

Seven Shows I'd Like To See On Broadway

Last week when I was putting together my list of Vegas shows that I'd like to see, I got to thinking...it takes me less time to drive to New York City than it does to fly to Las Vegas! I should really get up to New York more often, especially since I enjoys me some live theatre. I've only ever been to one, actually honest-to-goodness Broadway performance. When I was a senior in high school we took a bus trip up to see Les Miserables. I didn't understand a second of it. Years later, Debbie Gibson took over one of the lead roles and I would have been delighted to see her in it but all I got out of it was somebody stealing a piece of bread, a spinning stage and the French Revolution! I also saw the touring company production of Disney's Beauty & The Beast, which was one of the earlier dates my wife and I went on. That was a memorable evening.

I really, really wanted to see the stage version of The Little Mermaid, and had every intention of doing so but then it closed so quickly! Sadness. Anywho...here's some stuff that's playing now on The Great White Way that I'd love to see:

The Book of Mormon - Eugine O'Neill Theatre All I need to know about this show (and just about all I really know) is it was written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the guys behind South Park. I pretty much don't pay much attention to South Park anymore, but Parker and Stone are two brilliant and funny guys. You might not be able to get past their obsession with obscenity, but they are masterful when it comes to parody. The South Park movie blows me away every time I see it. They are also responsible for a hilarious marionette action film Team America World Police which is painfully funny in so many directions. Their Broadway debut takes aim at religion in this country and as with all their work, it backed by what I'm sure is some fantastic music.

The Lion King - Minskoff Theatre It seems everybody has seen a production of this Disney hit but me. If Disney is setting up shop somewhere, I'm in. I'd love to see this show which is just about as critically acclaimed as a show can get yet I still haven't seen it. It's also running in Las Vegas, but this kind of a thing doesn't really feel like a Vegas type show. I'll stick to comedy and boobs out there and hopefully make a concerted effort to catch Simba & Co. next time the touring company comes around.

Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark - Foxwoods Theatre I don't care what the media has been shoving down our throats for the last couple of months, I think this show looks awesome. I'd pay some big bucks to see a fight take place above my head. I'd also really love to take my older son to see this, I think he'd think it was awesome too. I'm not sure his appreciation for the show would match the ticket prices. I'd probably be better off just waiting for Spidey to make an appearance at a car show.

Mary Poppins - New Amsterdam Theatre I know what you're thinking - Ed, you'll go see anything with the Disney name slapped on it. Well, not necessarily true as I wasn't really hankering to ever catch a glimpse of Disney's Broadway version of Tarzan. But when it does come to Disney, Mary Poppins is at the core of everything that is great about the Wonderful World of Walt Disney. I'm sure this would be as spectacular as an evening in one of their theme parks.

The Addams Family - Lunt Fontanne Theatre I'm not a huge Addams Family fan, but I bet this would be a fun show. The stage show is more inspired by the original comic strip than the popular television series, but it still has the good sense to retain the TV show's theme song. A simple step that shows they're doing something right. I've heard Broadway Addams is alot of fun!

Avenue Q - New World Stages Here's the rub, my brother couldn't basically give two rat's behinds about theatre and he's seen this show! It's an off-color, puppet filled take-off on Sesame Street. Have I ever mentioned how much I enjoy the art of puppetry? There's a touring company of this show too. When they scheduled a performance near the WWoB offices I tried to sell my wife on justifying forking over the dough to go see it. I knew going in that it was an uphill battle trying to get her to go to a $50 puppet show...and still I have not seen this show.

Gazillion Bubble Show - New World Stages You're going to do a show where you just blow bubbles? Lots and lots of bubbles? For 90 minutes, you're just going to blow bubbles. Bubbles of all sizes you say? Like a gazillion of them? Who do I make my check out to?

My Week In Movies - Roly Poly Fish Heads

Piranha (2010) Anyone who is interested in seeing this movie should not be disappointed. This 3-D adventure from last summer is wall-to-wall gore and nudity and it's all done in the name of fun. I'm not one for gory pictures, but Piranha is so much fun. It doesn't take itself seriously and it's hard to really buy into the over the top gore. One of my favorite actresses, Elizabeth Shue, is on hand as the local police officer who must save her Spring Break crazy town from the tiny little jaws of prehistoric mutant fish. Trust me, you haven't seen this much blood and boobies since a double feature at an 8th grade sleepover. This movie is filled with reasons for it's R rating: strong language, graphic nudity, sexual situations, gory horror violence, and recreational drug use.

Ernest Goes To Camp (1987) My kids and I have been watching the Ernest TV series which I finally picked up on DVD and they are loving it. They wanted to see more of ol' Ernie Baby so we popped in the first of Ernest's nine feature length films. It's a great summer movie that really captures the spirit of summer camp and it serves as a great vehicle for the Ernest character. Ernest is a handyman at a camp where he dreams of one day being a full fledged counselor. His dreams finally come true when he's put in charge of a group of misfit kids from a local detention center. There's a food fight, Ernest gets hit with alot of different things and tons of bits from Ernest's famous commercials are worked into the story. Before it's all over, the camp goes head to head with an evil land developer. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love evil land developers! As with all the Ernest movies, it's rated PG - this time for some violence. Good fun for the whole family.

Lady and the Tramp (1955) There's not much to say about this Disney classic except that it's easily in the top ten of Disney's greatest animated achievements. My kids love dogs and dog movies so it really was a crime that they hadn't seen this one yet. They loved it! It's rated G, although there is some discussion of canine promiscuity.

February Movie Count: 14
Best New Viewing: Splendor in the Grass
Best Rewatch: Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird
Worst Movie: The Filthiest Show in Town
2011 Movie Count: 34

Goofy For Disney Cruise Line

This is a piece of animation done to promote a new feature with the Disney Cruise Line check in process. It was done in the style of Goofy's "How To" cartoons from the 40's & 50's. Very brief, but Big Fun!

My Week In Movies featuring The Greatest Movie EVER

The Little Mermaid (1989) This will come as no surprise to anyone reading this blog, but I absolutely adore every single frame of this movie! The Little Mermaid holds my personal record for movie I've seen most times in the theatre...7 to be exact. (The Flintstones is second place with 6 screenings.) I had to twist my kids ankles to watch it because they think it's a girlie movie which brings me to my thesis on why I hate the Princess marketing campaign. But once we were two minutes into the movie, both my boys were totally into it. And for good reason, the music is fantastic, the colors are awesome to look at and the story is so tight and zippy that you can't deny The Little Mermaid is a masterpiece of film making! (And easily the best Disney film since 1967's The Jungle Book.) Rated G - nothing offensive but some little ones find the climatic ending a little too intense.

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947) This wasn't the first time I've seen this classic comedy, in fact I'd probably mark it down as one of my favorite older movies. Cary Grant is always awesome. He plays an artist who becomes the object of affection to high school student Shirley Temple. Through a series of wacky
"only-in-the-movies" mishaps, Grant is court ordered to pretend to be interested in the younger girl in the hopes that her crush will die off quicker. It all results in madcap black & white hilarity! If you are only familiar with Shirley Temple as the little curly haired doll singing Good Ship Lollipop, let me just got on record here as saying Mrs. Temple grew into a pretty hot teenager. (I can say that because she was 19 when she filmed this movie and I'm pretty sure the statute of limitations has run out on lusting after a teenager in a 64 year old movie.) After her string of popular movies as a little girl, she took some time off from acting and then staged a comeback in her teen years. Most of those films are obscure finds on video and DVD, Bobby-Soxer is considered one of her later classics. Good stuff! Not rated because it's old.

Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel (2010) This engrossing documentary should be mandatory viewing for anyone whose given someone a hard time about saying they read Playboy for the articles. In fact, naked girls and other such things only make up about 5% of this movie. Not only did Hefner usher in the sexual revolution, he was also instrumental in the civil rights movement. He is a vastly creative man who projects and talents reach out in many different directions. I've seen a few television documentaries on Hugh before, and this one forgoes interviewing subjects who've been documented before. In fact, I was more than a little disappointed to only find my gals from Next Door only pop up in a few archival clips. This is an engrossing, well done documentary that stays away from cheap titillation and focuses on the story of one of modern times most influential people. Rated R nudity (almost exclusively stills from the magazine,) sexual discussion and some profanity.

The Ugly Dachshund (1966) I was so proud of my kids when they chose this classic Disney comedy as our Friday night movie. This is light, fluffy Disney entertainment at it's best with Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette as a young couple with a houseful of dogs. Mrs. Garrison loves her four dachshund puppies while Mr. Garrison prefers his Great Dane. The real problem is Brutus, the great dane, thinks he a tiny little dachshund...and then the fun begins. Great Danes can't be as mischievous and rascally as dachshunds! Oh, the destruction! There's three major set pieces to this film, each involving mass chaos when the dogs go on a destructive rampage. Each scene more elaborate than that last. When you watch the film, and remember that this was made in the mid-60's, you gotta wonder what kind of animal actor laws they had in place back then. It sure looks like they hurled those dogs into all sorts of things. There was no CGI back then, and 1960's special effects usually stick out like a sore thumb. But hey, what do we know? This is a great, fun movie. Not rated but classic wholesome Disney fun in every frame.

The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000) You would think that I would be appalled at a made-for-video sequel to one of my tippy top all-time favorite movies. This lower budget production is by no means a "good movie" but it's not all that bad either. The story this time picks up a few years after the original tale with Ariel and Eric happily married sharing life with their daughter Melody. Ursala's sister shows up to seek revenge for her sister's death, and before long Ariel has to get her fins back and "return to the sea" to help rescue her daughter. The animation is not horrible, but, again, it's not very good either and poor Ariel looks off-model in several scenes. There's not much of an attempt to make this go-around a musical. There is a brief opening number and a closing number but that's about all that is needed since the songs are no where near as good as the stable of classics from the original film. It's Disney, so of course it's all rated G - even the climax is a little softer for the younger kids to stomach.

My Week in Movies - Let's Hear It For Animals in Clothes

Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009) An awesome documentary about the Walt Disney Feature Animation Studio between the years 1980 and 1995. What's so special about those years, you may ask?! This is the time period when the studio went from making movies like The Black Cauldron and The Great Mouse Detective to making classics like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. Besides the fact that this is a very well made Disney documentary, filled with rare clips and interesting facts and stories...this movie really spoke to me. I've mentioned before how much I love The Little Mermaid and how it's always been a special movie to me because after years of idolizing the old classic Disney animated movies, The Little Mermaid was the first one released in my lifetime that really hit a home run and was every bit as magical and magnificent as the old films Walt Disney himself had produced. So here's a movie that takes this little moment from my life and blows it up and puts a spotlight on it and shows that it was really a turning point for the legacy of the Walt Disney Company as a whole. It is perhaps one of the most captivating documentaries I have ever seen. It features scores of behind the scenes footage of the making of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. Two of the highlights in the film, for me, were a clip of a lecture that Mermaid lyricist Howard Ashman gave to the animators about the role of music in animated film. Another was a brief clip of Ashman in the studio coaching/directing the voice of Ariel, Jodi Benson, through the recording of Part of Your World. Both of these clips appear briefly in the movie but the DVD includes expanded scenes from the film which included 10 minute clips of both the lecture and the recording session. The Mermaid recording session is especially magical. A wonderful movie; a must for Disney fans but I think anyone would find it pretty darn interesting. Rated PG for a couple of curse words tossed off in interviews.




Easy A (2010) Really funny, very fresh and very likable teen sex comedy has Emma Stone leading a talent heavy cast in this high school retelling of The Scarlet Letter. It's pretty clever in parts and there's alot of energy throughout the whole picture, best of all it's just laugh out loud funny the entire time. Emma Stone shows she can really carry a picture. The supporting cast includes Amandy Bynes, Thomas Haden Chruch, Lisa Kudrow, Alyson Michalka, Stanley Tucci and SNL's Fred Armisen. I really enjoyed this movie alot and found it to be easily the best high school movie to come out in a while. It's Rated PG-13 for language and sexual discussion.

Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks With The Circus (1960) One of the few live-action Disney films that I hadn't seen it, I caught it on the Hallmark Movie Channel (which, by the way, has the most obnoxious and intrusive promos pop up at the bottom of the screen during the movie!) Disney staple Kevin Corcoran plays Toby, who leaves his somewhat abusive adoptive parents for life in the circus. Walt Disney's love of nostalgia is on display here with lovingly recreated scenes of the circus parade making it's way down old fashioned Main Street U.S.A. There was an excitement about the circus back then that is simply lost today. The movie is pretty plot-thin, even for an old Disney film. But of course it makes up for it with plenty of charm and good wholesome fun. Plus, it's hard to frown at a movie that features a chimpanzee in overalls and in one scene he holds a town hostage with a pistol. Let's face it folks, chimps wearing clothes and toting guns is pretty darn hilarious. This movie is also a nice snapshot of what life in the circus was like back in the old days. Not rated - it contains nothing objectionable except for maybe a monkey with a gun.

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010) There's been alot of very positive talk about this documentary which follows comedian Joan Rivers as she tries to stay busy at age 75. There's a bit of a backstory about her career and her early days, but the focus of the movie is Joan's attempts to reinvent herself and her drive to keep on working after all these years. It's entertaining enough and fairly interesting, but it's hard to find too much sympathy for someone who brings their troubles upon themselves. Rated R for crude and vulgar language of the first degree.

My Week In Movies - Let's Go, 2011

Super Mario Bros. (1993) The poster says "This Ain't No Game," but what it should say is "This Ain't Nothing To Do With The Game!" My kids were pretty excited when they learned from their old man that at one time somebody had made a Super Mario Bros. movie with "real people." I remember thinking the movie was pretty clever when I saw it in the theatre 18 years ago. Unfortunately, this is yet another movie that I'll have to move off the list of movies I saw when I was younger and really liked to the list of movies that I can barely sit through anymore. This jumbled mess of a motion picture has little to do with the classic Nintendo video game which it's based upon. Instead, we get a fairly confusing tale of two plumbers who get sucked into another dimension and have to save the world from the ruler of an alternate universe where everyone evolved from dinosaurs instead of apes. Sound confusing? It is. It's one of those movies where they've created this whole other world and while it's supposed to be futuristic and really cool - it's just plain weird and confusing. The filmmakers didn't even include any of the iconic sound effects from the game. The only thing this film has in common with the video game are some character names. Bob Hoskins (of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? fame) plays Mario and John Leguizamo is his brother Luigi. Hoskins is a British actor and Leguizamo is usually associated with Latino roles. Casting these two as brothers, is only the beginning of where this movie goes wrong. Still, without it's association with the source material it's an okay popcorn movie. My kids seemed to enjoy it. Rated PG for some action, silly violence and a few off-color words.

The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story (2009) You might not know who the Sherman Brothers are, but you sure know their music. They are mostly associated with Disney movies starting with Mary Poppins and continuing with The Jungle Book, Winnie the Pooh and so many others. This recent documentary, put together by children of the subject matter, offers a history lesson and a look at the tensions between working siblings. A rivalry that has gone fairly undetected by Disney fans up until now. There are plenty of juicy rare clips as well as plenty of toe tapping tunes. At more than one occasion, you'll be surprise to discover that "they wrote that song too!" Although the movie starts off teasing a dark side to the brothers' that never really pans out, The Boys is a fascinating and entertaining documentary. It's non-fiction film making done right! Rated PG for some adult themes and a few mild curse words tossed off in conversation.

Francis (1950) If you know me, ya know I like my movies feather-weight. I'm not much for story or any of that nonsense, I'm just looking for some laughs and smiles. I'm starting to discover, the further back in Hollywood's history you look there are some super light weight movies that have less story than a Police Academy marathon. Which brings me to the Francis the Talking Mule series. There were seven movies made in the 50's staring Francis, a talking Army mule who only spoke to Donald O'Connor and then a few other people if the situation called for it. This is all a precursor to Mr. Ed, the more famous talking horse which was produced by the same people as Francis. In the first movie, hilariousness abounds as Francis befriends Peter, a young Army soldier. Francis gives Peter insider information which helps Peter further his career in the Army. Of course when Peter gives his buddy Francis all the credit, good times ensue! Good stuff!

Francis Goes to the Races (1951) I liked Francis so much, I watched the sequel the next night. The second film picks up right where the first one left off and moves briskly along. Since we've already met Francis at the top of the film, the laughs start off quickly. Here, Peter and Francis end up at a race track and Peter gets mixed up with some mobsters when they discover Peter has some insider tips on who's gonna win each race. Guess who gave him the tips? I'll give you a hint...it's someone who can talk to horses! More fun! Can't wait to get my hands on the third instalment. Not rated but does contain scene involving a drunk mule.

The Fox and The Hound (1981) It's kinda lame that my kids had never seen this semi-classic but they've seen the silly direct-to-DVD sequel a handful of times. The Fox and the Hound is a beautifully made movie. It's very moody and quiet and comforting. I was a bit disappointed to discover my copy is not widescreen. Rated G.

Cavegirl (1985) Here's the plot of this gem...a nerdy high school kid (who looks like he's in his early 30's) goes on a field trip and somehow gets zapped back in time to the caveman period. There he meets a beautiful young bikini-clad cavegirl. Instead of trying to find a way home, he invests all his time and energy into getting the cavegirl into bed. He even builds a bed. They actually attempted to make this movie funny throughout, but most of the gags fall flat. The cavegirl is very easy on the eyes, but the rest of the cast is hard to stomach - both their appearance and their acting. Rated R for language, nudity and sexual situations.

Disney Afternoon Fan Themes

How great would a Darkwing Duck revival be!? Apparently, I'm not the only one who would think so...



And also for your viewing pleasure, the theme song to Disney's DuckTales:

Classic Commercial Sunday - #43

My Week In Movies - Ducks, Turtles, Giant Birds and a Sexy Robot

DuckTales The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990)[G] My, how I love this movie. This was the one and only film to come from Disney's MovieToons department, which was basically a unit set up to release animated films from Disney's television animation studio and not have them be lumped in with Disney's treasured classic cartoons. (This was at a time when Disney still announced every animated release with "Walt Disney's 28th Animated Masterpiece" or whatever number it was.) DuckTales was to be followed the next summer with a Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers movie but sadly that never happened. What we did get from Disney MovieToons is this great kid-friendly action/adventure pic modeled loosely on the Indiana Jones films. Uncle Scrooge and the rest of the cast from the afternoon cartoon show travel the globe looking for lost treasures. As the title implies, somewhere along their adventures they find a lamp and we all know what happens in movies when lost lamps are found and then rubbed. The Gennie, who just happens to be another duck, is voiced by comedy legend Rip Taylor. That's worth the price of admission alone! I've always loved this movie. It's bright and cheerful and has a fairly tight story and not once does anybody...or any duck...break into a song. The most amazing thing about watching this movie in this technological age is that it's all done by hand. There is no computer animation anywhere within the film's brief 72 minute running time. It will be a cold day in Duckburg before we ever see a truly 100% traditional animated film roll down the pike ever again! This gem is rated G because it was made in 1990 before it was a federal law that every kids movie had to have a fart joke in it.

The Living Desert (1953)[G] We had a rare double feature screening at the WWoB headquarters this week, and followed up the DuckTales movie with a visit to the desert via this 69 minute film which was the first picture to win the Best Documentary Oscar. The Living Desert is the first of several True-Life Adventure nature documentary films that Walt Disney produced. Back before 24 hour Animal Planet and Discovery Channel, or even PBS, this was people's first filmed glimpse at the world around them. If you've never seen one of the True-Life Adventures you are missing out on a great series of films. Each movies captures great footage of the plant and animal kingdoms and presents them in a humorous and informative way. In this particular instalment, you'll see giant turtles fight it out, tarantulas attacking their prey, snakes being snakey and all kinds of other cool creatures from the desert. My kids really enjoyed the footage and laughed and thrilled along to most of the segments. The narration is a bit over the heads of today's kids, with alot of phrases and sayings that you just don't hear anymore but with a bit of personal narration from Mom and/or Dad any kid should really enjoy this movie. It's also rated G, as all good old Disney films are. The grimmer parts of nature are left to the imagination. In 2000, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Rodan (1956)[NR] This Japanese thriller about a giant bird/dragon thing that terrorizes the planet is from the same people that brought us the original Godzilla film and 50 other similar tales of enormous creatures stepping on model sized buildings. Rodan actually starts off pretty intense when a group of miners discover dead bodies in their underground workspace and then discovery a giant caterpillar that tries to kill them. I wasn't expecting a killer caterpillar so when he made his first appearance I had an actual, genuine scare. The Japanese army kills the caterpillar in the first half of the movie and we somehow end up discovering another oversized creature, this time Rodan. Rodan terrorizes the globe much in the same fashion that Godzilla did a few years earlier. With a brief running time of 72 minutes, Rodan manages to stay fairly focused for one of these kaiju films. It's not rated but it was a bit more graphic and intense than other movies of it's kind. Still, in today's movie market it would probably rank a PG rating. If your kids wanted to watch it, they can probably handle it.

Galaxina (1980) [R] I realize that admiting on the internet that I watched DuckTales The Movie and Galaxina in the same week probably puts my name on some sort of FBI watch list, but I'm keepin' it real folks! Galaxina stars legendary Playboy Playmate of the Year Dorthy Stratten as a robot servant on a space cruiser police ship. It's an attempt at a space-age sex farce mixed with a lampoon on Star Wars and Star Trek. This film is fairly legendary among lovers of bad films. Perhaps if I had seen it when I was younger it would have a special place in my heart. The film tries hard to be silly and wacky but it's just so boring that it's bad. The first seven minutes alone consist of nothing more than scenes of spaceships flying and docking. Let's not forget that I didn't even crack a smile once during this deep space pile of do-do. Sure, Dorthy Stratten is hauntingly beautiful but that can't carry a film. Not even (one of my favorite) character actors, Avery Schreiber, could get me into this groove on this camp classic. The R rating is for innuendo galore however there is very little nudity.

Funny Little Bunnies

There's actually not a lot of Easter-themed material from the Walt Disney Studios early years. Walt Disney felt that Easter wasn't as marketable in other parts of the world so the resources were never put into backing many Easter cartoons. In fact, here's about the closest Disney ever came to an Easter cartoon - the 1934 Silly Symphony Funny Little Bunnies.

Happy Easter!

Classic Commercial Sunday in Wonderland

Mickey in Wonderland

From 1936...

Riding Through Wonderland

There's a big new Alice in Wonderland movie coming out this weekend. My son is really looking forward to it and I'll probably take him to see it. But besides the 1951 Walt Disney movie, I wouldn't really consider myself a fan of Wonderland. However, I did come up with enough Wonderland related ideas to hold our first theme week here at WWoB.

When it comes to amusement park rides, Disneyland and Walt Disney World's Mad Tea Party ride has been duplicated so many times at other parks, that the term "Teacups" is most often used to describe the ride at any park. At the Disney parks, the popular Scrambler ride was built with cars resembling tea cups and the whole ride was given an Alice in Wonderland theme using the Mad Hatter's Tea Party scene as it's inspiration. East Coasters who have only ever been to Disney's Florida park might be surprised to know that in Disneyland Alice is also the star a very cool dark ride.

The Alice in Wonderland ride is similar to other rides in Fantasyland but for some reason I think of all the Disney storytelling dark rides, Alice in Wonderland really hits the nail on the head! Here's a YouTube video of the ride...as with all ride videos, this video isn't perfect. These rides were built to experience first hand, but the clip does give you a feel for what the ride it like:



While searching for this video I found out about another Alice in Wonderland ride. This one stands at Pleasure Beach Blackpool in England. According to whoever posted this next video, the ride was built in 1961 by the Arrow Dynamics Company after a licencing agreement with Walt Disney Productions. I don't know if that's true or not. The Alice in Wonderland story is in the public domain, and this British ride doesn't seem to borrow much from the Disney film, actually the song playing in the ride sounds an awful lot like "I've Got a Golden Ticket" from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. (???)

Again, this is an amature video - and half of it is out of focus, but it's neat to see a glimpse into this other Wonderland attraction.

Wuzzle Sighting!

The other day while I was checking out the used video tapes at my local Goodwill establishment, who did I see stareing back at me from one of the shelves but a couple of old friends of mine from The Wuzzles. What the heck is a Wuzzle, you ask!? They are perhaps one of the most obscure groups of Disney animated characters to ever come from the Mouse House.

But before I go on, let me just say this...I would never in a million years buy a stuffed animal from Goodwill (or a yard sale or any other type of thrift store for that matter!) I don't know why, but there is just something remarkably disgusting about owning someone else's stuffed animal. Stuffed animals are a personal thing. Once you are done loving your stuffed animal it should be taken out in the backyard and burned. 'nuff said!

But moving on...The Wuzzles were a group of animals that were part of one animal mixed with another. Pictured above are Bumblelion who is part Bumblebee and part Lion (he was very athletic and liked to work out) and Eleroo which as you could now guess was part elephant and part kangaroo (he was very worrisome too!) There were others like Moosel and Rhinokey and they all lived on The Isle of Wuz where they got into all sorts of wacky adventures.

The TV show came on Saturday mornings on CBS in 1985 and was one of the first shows on in the morning. The 8 and 8:30 shows were always kind of like hidden gems because not everyone was up and watching TV yet, so they weren't as widely known. My Saturday mornings always started off in the 7:30 show...sometimes earlier so I was just a huge fan of this new Disney cartoon that nobody knew of. At the time, Disney animation had been pretty quiet for a number of years and they had never done an animated series for television. As a young Disney nerd, it was all pretty exciting.

The Wuzzles not only had their TV show, but there were books and action figures and of course the plush toys seen above. Thirteen episodes were only ever made of The Wuzzles, and they reran them for two years over two networks - I'm sure I watched each episode at least 5 times. Then the Wuzzles disappeared as quietly as they arrived under the radar. The Wuzzles however paved the way for Disney's The Gummi Bears, Ducktales, Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers and all the other great cartoon shows Disney put out for the next decade!

Yes, I can keep going...

According to Wikipedia, there were characters that appeared in the books and as toys but never made it to the television show. They include Pandeaver - part panda part beaver; Dragonpus - a dragon octopus mix; and Ladyfish - half ladybug half swordfish (I don't even think they were trying with that one!) Perhaps it was a wise decision to leave them out of the cartoon show. I suppose somewhere in the history books of The Isle of Wuz there are tales of a time when the inhabitants of Wuz went on a wild crazed sex binge and species of all sorts mated without regard of the consequences. It was a dark time for the Isle of Wuz, I'm sure!

The Best Cartoon Video Games

Hey! Did you know that I like classic cartoon characters!? I like them in my movies, I like them on my breakfast cereal, and I like them in my video games. More often than not, a cartoon based video game is slapped together quickly - sometimes the game doesn't even have anything to do with the cartoon. For instance, Snoopy's Silly Sports Spectacular where you have to help Snoopy and his brother Spike carry a stack of pizzas over a finish line...in Italy?! Other times, cartoon gaming experiences are pure joy! Here's some of the best video games based on cartoon properties that I've ever played...

The Little Mermaid (NES) Here's a game where you'd think it was going to be only for four year old girls. But instead, the great game developer Capcom created this multi-level intricate platform game where you swim Ariel through six levels of undersea peril. This was the first video that I played all the way through and beat. That was about 20 years ago and I still talk about it...pretty sad, eh?

Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (NES) Here's another Capcom Disney game that I beat. Based on the Disney Afternoon series of the same name, this game allowed two players at the same time running through the city and picking up and trowing everything in sight. This was a fast paced game with alot of tricky obstacles and challenging enemies. Even though the cartoon show took some liberties with the Chip `n Dale characters, the video game stayed very true to the spirit of the show. Just don't get me started on how we all got gypped out of a Rescue Rangers movie.

Popeye (Arcade) This might be the first arcade video game to feature a classic animated character and I think most video game aficionados would agree that Popeye is one of the all-time classic old school games. Popeye has to catch the little hearts that Olive Oil is tossing out. He's got to catch them before they reach the water at the bottom of the screen. Standing in Popeye's way is his ol' nemesis Bluto. Luckily, Popeye can always grab a can of spinach and punch Bluto square in the face, or he can hit a punching bag and drop a bucket on Bluto's head. The game even works the obscure Sea Hag character into the mix! Even the cartoons forgot about the Sea Hag!

Donald Duck in Goin' Quackers (Playstation/PS2) This game really blew me away because it's just as challenging and complex as any Mario Bros. game you'll ever play. There's level after level of frustrating situations to make Donald mad. One of the neatest features of this game is that they worked in the animation of Donald's trademark temper tantrum. There's also a full cast of supporting characters from Donald's hometown of Duckburg. An all around really well-done game that took me months to beat...but I did it!

B.C.'s Quest For Tires (Commadore 64) Perhaps the best game ever that you can play with the arrow keys on your keyboard. Thor the caveman must ride his stone unicycle while jumping over rocks, animals and holes in the ground all on his way to save his girlfriend from an evil dinosaur. Good times! A better game has never been put on one of those gigantic black floppy discs.

Sorcerer's Apprentice (Atari 2600) Mickey Mouse has starred in at least a dozen video games over the past few decades, this is one of the earliest and the only one I've ever really gotten into. Based on the sequence from the 1940 film Fantasia, this primitive game was made up of two screens. The first, pictured here, involves Mickey shooting and catching stars. I never really got this stage and never spent much time playing it, but if you exit the screen to either side you got to the meat of the game. On the other screen you had to stop the walking brooms from making their way to the bottom of a staircase and dump their bucket of water. The more brooms you missed, the higher the water lever rose in the room. Quick, simple game play that was also addictive and fun. (There's a new Wii game around the corner called Epic Mickey that looks pretty darn cool!)

Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle (Colecovision/Atari 2600) You have no idea how bad I wanted this game when I was younger! After years of lusting over it, I finally got to play it on a neighbor's Colecovision. It was pure video gaming heaven for this young Smurf fan. Not only does this game incorporate the world of the Smurfs into it, the game is made up of the greatest basic objective in all of video game history: run through a forest, jump over things, collect things. It's all as simple as that! Later on in high school, somebody mentioned that they had this game and I made them dig out their old Atari games and find it for me so I could finally sit and play it. Another check-off on my bucket list! (Here's a link to the old commercial.)

The Simpsons: Road Rage (PS2/Game Cube) The Simpsons have had a long career in video games since the show debuted 20 years ago. I remember playing a game called Bart vs. the Space Mutants quite feverishly back in the day, and The Simpsons arcade game stands out as a classic. But I really loved this 2003 variation of the hit game Crazy Taxi. Road Rage is almost the same game except that it's filled with The Simspsons brand of humor and wonderful cast of characters. The game looks an awful lot like the TV show and you get to drive around town exploring all the nooks and crannies of Springfield. Probably one of the games I've logged the most hours on in my adult years.

Tiny Toons 2: Trouble in Wackyland (NES) In my book, when you mix amusement parks with video games there is much goodness to be had. Using a theme park as it's center, this game was a collection of mini-games based on different theme park rides. There was a roller coaster game, bumper cars, a train ride, and a log flume. They were all pretty addictive, if I recall correctly. I'm not sure how well the game captured the spirit of the Tiny Toons cartoon but it sure was a fun game.

The Flintstones: Rescue of Dino & Hoppy (NES) Like others on the list, The Flintstones have popped up in more than one video game. This Nintendo game was my favorite as it was built around the simple side-scrolling platform engine that I've come to adore in video games. Of course you've got Fred and Wilma and the whole cast of characters from one of my all-time favorite TV shows and there's lots of rocks and boulders to smash. I don't think I ever got past the end of level 2 where you had to beat Joe Rockhead at a game of basketball. Thanks Joe Rockhead!

Darkwing Duck (NES) Finally one last fantastic Disney Afternoon inspired game from the folks at Capcom. Darkwing Duck was a show I really enjoyed and I loved the video game just as much. I consider this one of my all-time favorite video games. The game play is so smooth and fun, with lots of things to shoot at and grab hold to and jump on and over...it's just alot of fun. The game also incorporated the entire world of the show very nicely. I easily burned way too many hours playing this in my Community College days. Tell well spent if you ask me!

Please share with us any toon games you've loved over the years...