Before Mr. Ed, a forgotten show of the 1950’s called The People’s Choice starred Jackie Cooper but the real attraction was a basset hound called Cleo who appeared to be talking or at least projecting her thoughts to the human characters…
Now Jackie Cooper was one of the few child stars who actually found work as an adult actor once his 1930’s role in The Little Rascals was over. In The People’s Choice (1955-1958), he played an aspiring politician who initially was secretly married to the mayor’s daughter. Cooper would later go on to play Perry White in the first three Superman movies…but this post is about Cleo, who would offer sardonic commentaries upon the human actions about her.
This was hokey 1950’s comedy, but the concept of a talking dog was innovative for its time, and Cleo often did steal the show,paving the way for Mr. Ed and future anthropomorphic animal characters. Hard to find now, some full episodes of The People’s Choice may be viewed free of charge on YouTube…Woof!
I rather like the notion of having anthropomorphic internal organs that can function outside of our bodies without killing us by their absence, and come complete with their own sets of organs, such as limbs, eyes, mouths, and apparently brains, as such ambulatory organs can talk. We’ve earlier seen commercials for stand-alone organs such as the bladder (Myrbetriq), who (below) kind of resembles a large red apple with very soulful eyes…
Now wouldn’tit be cool if you also could at will detach various of your internal organs, and take the whole family out for, say, a walk in the park? Or perhaps send them on missions to do your bidding, even to freak out or scare people? There’s got to be a good horror movie in that scenario, with you having a perfect alibi for the police while your organs went out to terrorize the neighborhood!– –This could give a whole new meaning to venting your spleen! Why, with autonomous, detachable organs, you could even bring new meaning to the old song, “I Left My Heart In San Francisco!“I’ll bet that the heart could really belt out the old standards, I tell ‘ya!
(A heart in a piano bar, performing a medley of Tony Bennett songs…)
But I weirdly digress…the heart in this Repatha commercial is a sweet if wounded soul, wearing a bandage on her head to denote having suffered a heart attack. I’m assuming here that the heart has the same gender as its possessor, as it does have rather feminine eyes, eyelashes, and lips…but we’ll leave the matter of secondary sexual characteristics in organs to wiser heads than mine, such wasn’t covered in my biology courses…
Repatha is used to control LDL cholesterol when statins alone don’t do the job, and both the lady and her detached organ don’t want another heart attack. Appropriately enough, the sound track to the commercial is the song, “Listen To Your Heart…”
So a Happy Easter to all, and please leave your organs within your body, or at least keep them on a leash…don’t leave your muscles in Brussels! And if you leave your heart in San Francisco, maybe high on a hill, it will call to you…
Little Caesars has brought back it’s Pretzel Crust pizza touted in this commercial, and it’s all that office anthropomorphic sheep worker Brian can think about…so much so, in fact, that he keeps bleating that “It’s BAAAAACK,” at one point pounding his hooves on his computer keyboard to bring up the BAAAAACK legend on his computer screen…
While bosses would like to have sheepish, compliant workers, I doubt that those hooves of worker Brian would be capable of hitting individual keys on the keyboard.Brian does, however, sport good office attire, so we can perhaps forgive him if he acts a bit sheepish…
Flow is a 2024 animated movie that features a young black cat with large, expressive eyes who is trying with other diverse creatures to survive a flood of almost Biblical proportions. His companions include a lemur, a secretary bird, several dogs, and surprisingly, a capybara…
Victims of circumstance, the unlikely menagerie are swept up in extensive flooding of their homelands, places that are never precisely specified or illustrated, and wind up clambering onto a small, well-worn sailboat that serves as their life raft and conveyance through a watery wasteland. This is a “journey”type of movie…
These animals are not anthropomorphic, and do not speak but make animal sounds appropriate for their species. For the most part, their movements are completely believable for the animals depicted. While essentially realistic, the animal companions are not finely detailed or photorealistic, nor are the habitats that they pass throughon their survival journey. At one point, a fantastic whale-type creature unlike anything I’m familiar with vaults over the small craft. There’s nary a human in sight, although we are shown abandoned if nondescript settlements. While there is no dialogue, there’s a soothing musical background soundtrack, and the combined effect is somewhat magical or mystical. This is neither Disney nor Wild Kingdom…
The nameless black cat is kind of the cast protagonist, plucky and adaptable, rolling with the punches and reversals of their journey while retaining feline curiosity and wonder. He is endearing, resourceful, resilient, and at times comical, and you want to root for him and his survival. This cat grows on you, and he’ll endure…
There’s no violence or death in Flow, unless you count the fish that the cat catches and shares with his fellow travelers. Flow would likely be captivating viewing for any child, and can be a hypnotic, rather zen-like experience for adults as well. There’s no profound or transformative lesson conveyed here, although the values of co-existence, toleration, and cooperation emerge. We could all benefit from more of that in 2025. Recommended for all fans of animation, Flow was formerly shown in theaters,may now be seen on HBO, and it’s good stuff…
People or furries who go to salons or beauticians seeking a “whole new look” are brave souls. I have worn the same hairstyle for decades, knowing what helps me blend in so I can almost pass for human…
Alpacas are adorable animals; who doesn’t like them? And so it’s easy to relate to this courageous little alpaca in the NJM Insurance commercial who goes to their salon seeking that total makeover. Her hairstylist is up for the challenge,and so demonstrates a variety of different styles on the client…
One hairstyle looks rather EMO; another is a Mohawk. Still a third may be a Mullet. But our customer Alpaca isn’t quite satisfied with any of these possibilities…
Sothe alpaca’s stylist summons the salon’s master stylist, Gloria. That woman appears in a portal, and in greeting says, “Come to Momma!” The alpaca makes a sound that may be a mixture of fear and excitement. Be careful what you wish for, I guess!
“Whatcha doin’,” inquires hubby of his wife in this recent NJM Insurance commercial. “Just shopping for new car insurance,” she chirps while on the internet. That’s all it takes, apparently, because then the Mascots come!
A bear is repeatedly ringing the doorbell…a rabbit is knocking on the window…the phone is ringing insistently…windows are popping up on the computer…and a pair of bird legs is struggling to emerge from the fireplace!
“We should have known!,” despairs hubby as he grabs an umbrella to jab at the bird legs, and repel the invader!
Now I, for one, have always wanted to seek out the furry mascot army, and join their hellish crusade, so I would embrace the invaders, and go off with them! Just let me grab my fox fursuit. – -My time would have finally arrived, Ahahahaha! 🦊
(What?! – –You think I’d rather watch the Trump coronation?! Not in this life! 😼 )
(Warning:visual content not suitable for children!)
As classic characters are entering the public domain, they seem to be swiftly given the horror treatment in movies. This happened to Winnie the Pooh (Blood and Honey), and Peter Pan (Neverland Nightmare). Now, sadly, it seems that beloved cartoon character Popeye the Sailor is being given the full Jason Voorhees treatment in the film, Popeye’s Revenge… 🙀
It would seem that counselors looking to explore opening a camp near the ocean are also intrigued to explore the “myth” of Popeye the Sailor and his reputed ghost, only to find that they’ve tapped into far more than they anticipated. This “Popeye” is quite the gory killer, and his preferred instrument of dealing death is, appropriately enough, an anchor…
While a fan of horror, I’m not fully on board with this kind of gore-fest, preferring more of an intelligent or psychologically-themed use of the genre. One hopes that the viewing public would soon get their fill of revised to evil cultural heroes from childhood, but I guess that the cycle must play itself out, or simply become unprofitable.– – That ought to kill the trend off!
Just in case one Popeye horror movie isn’t enough for you, a second one is coming later this year. What else would it be called other than Popeye the Slayer Man!
Spinachmay never be seen the same way again! Is he a monster? As Popeye might say, “I yam what I am!”
(Hey!– maybe I can get a piece of this evil Popeye thing! I’m Foxy…the Sailor Man…Toot-Toot!)
It’s official...coming in July 2025, we will be privy to seeing the first furry superhero on the big screen, discounting such notable characters as Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy, of course!
When the new James Gunn Superman movie trailer opens, we see The Man of Steel as being terribly vulnerable, in a world of hurt, actually…cut, bleeding, spitting up blood, and actually in dire need of help! Fortunately, Supes has his best friend Krypto available to save his tail, taking the injured superhero from his frozen crash site home by the cape!
Yes, Krypto in the upcoming movie is more than just a cute pet, but rather an underrated powerhouse…and he promises to have significant roles in other upcoming DC movies as well! Thankfully, Krypto will not speak in the movie as he has in some of the animated cartoon versions, but only bark. He’s a dog, but one with formidable powers…
The new Superman movie seeks to further humanize the titular character, making him more relatable. Yes, this Superman is an alien, but his heart is human. He can shoot beams from his eyes, but you don’t have to be afraid of him. The entire tone of the movie is brighter, reflected in the color schemes.Allin all, I think that this is a good course correction…
The ambitious scope and nuances of the upcoming movie are too vast to cover in a single post, so this blog will probably return to it. For now, enjoy the official trailer, and the upcoming holiday, no matter how you may celebrate it…
Aww!–It’s Xmas season again! And what could be a better antidote for that than Dean Winters playing an overworked elf!? Doesn’t the above scene look Christmas-y? A coating of snow, seasonal yard decor, and…gasp!– –Santa and his sleigh on the rooftop!
But there’s a rub…the Mayhem dude is playing Santa’s overworked assistant, and he’s ready to call it a night! Mayhem is wearing his suit, but clearly the worse for the wear. There’s soot on his face, maybe some bruises,and his tie is askew…it’s been a long night! Clearly, the elves need to unionize..
But I’ve always disliked elves of the relentlessly-cheerful variety. I like my elves world-weary, and a bit sarcastic, and Winters fits that bill perfectly! He’s already had a hard night, and so when he hands Santa his pack (“here you go, Boss!”), he fumbles, and the gifts go tumbling down the chimney! It gets worse, too, ’cause there a fire burning in the hearth! An expensive Apple laptop impacts and is broken open, and other gifts ignite! If you have ever dropped electronic devices even a short distance much less ignited them, you’ll know that this does not bode well for their functionality. Yuppers, Allstate insurance sure is needed for protection of these electronics, or as as our elf tells us, you’ll be “Ho-ho-SO out of luck!“
I alsolove the fact that Winters apparently has names for the reindeer other than what we are used to, referring to one of them as “Cliffton.” I’d be in favor of re-naming most of the reindeer, giving them relatable names such as Frank, Harry, and Clyde. This reindeer looks somewhat startled by the spectacle that he has just witnessed…
Dean Wintershas given us Xmas elves before, memorably playing The Elf on the Shelf just a few years back. That elf was dressed in traditional elfish attire, and as human-sized, brought the shelf down that he was sitting on due to his weight. “Elf down!- -Elf down!,” he alerted from the floor…
So enjoyDean Winters in this year’s holiday offering…he’s a national treasure, really!
It’s important to realize that many cartoon characters, like ourselves, have backstories. In the 1951 cartoon Let’s Stalk Spinach, we are shown that Popeye came from an impoverishedfamily background (above). We are shown Popeye’s mother, who looked like Popeye himself, complete with a squinty eye, sporting a pipe, and sadly, suffering from the same enlargement of lower arms that was passed on to her son. From seeing the young Popeye in this cartoon wearing shorts (or knickers?), we also learn that Popeye suffered from similar enlargement of his lower legs! Clearly, medical research needs to be done on these conditions…
(Popeye and his mother…Observe the hideous bodily limb deformations!)
Well, we also are shown Popeye’s four nephews, who not only look like miniature versions of himself, but also suffer the apparent genetic abnormalities. Their names are Pip-eye, Pup-eye, Poop-eye, and Peep-eye. Such names seem to me to be uncommonly cruel, as if the physical stigmata weren’t enough…
Well, the sailor-man had prepared lunch for his nephews which consisted of spinach sandwiches. I’m not surprised by this, nor was I surprised that the nephews upon taking a bite of the sandwiches spit them out. One can hardly blame them for this! Popeye then tells the nephews the story of how he discovered the virtues of spinach, which involved confrontation with a giant who easily thrashed Popeye until he was thrown into a giant-sized can of spinach, acquiring super-strength from ingesting it . The tide of battle then predictably turned, and Popeye bested the giant!
So Popeye’s nephews upon hearing the tale then eagerly consumed their sandwiches, and the battered giant makes an appearance at the end to testify to the veracity of Popeye’s story. Giants usually do not come out on top despite their clear advantages of size and strength, and are often depicted as dim-witted. They really deserve better…
A similar revelation I experienced recently is that Yosemite Sam, who might be considered the poster-boy of the gun lobby, had a brother! This brother looks identical to Yosemite Sam, other than the fact that his bushy eyebrows and prodigious mustache are black in color rather than reddish-orange. In the cartoon Along Came Daffy (1947), Yosemite Sam and his brother are bested by Daffy Duck rather than Bugs Bunny, the usual match-up. In his role as a cookbook salesman, however, Daffy proves himself easily up to the job… and speaking of abnormalities, check out Yosemite’s four-fingered hand… 🙀
In the aftermath of the election, we may at least be glad that our parents didn’t name us, Poop-eye… 😸
FOXSYLVANIA 
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