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In Praise of Walter Lantz ‘Toons…

October 26, 2024

Walter Lantz cartoons often play a distant third to Disney and Warner Bros. creations, but they can be worthy of your attention, and display a level of creativity and simple exuberant ‘toon fun that’s really noteworthy. One of my fave Walter Lantz characters is Smedley, illustrated above. Now Smedley is a dog, but his tail looks rather foxy to me, and if you stare at his face and body type, you can almost see a bit of Yogi Bear reflected. What really struck me is that Smedley’s voice sounded very evocative of Huckleberry Hound…

No coincidence, that…both Smedley and Huckleberry Hound were voiced by legendary voice performer Daws Butler, who also voiced Yogi Bear for many years as well as numerous other cartoon characters. One of those characters included Fibber Fox, who of course I have a personal affection for!

Fibber Fox was drawn somewhat cat-like, and I consider him likable and a good guy, in spite of the fact that he was an antagonist to Yakkey Duck, and would try to eat him while never succeeding. We all knew that Yakkey would never be eaten, however, as he was almost unbearably cute! Death itself in cartoons, of course, is at worst a temporary inconvenience, with many characters sustaining what would have been mortal poundings and mishaps only to emerge whole and none the worst for the wear in the very next sequence…

Getting back to the Walter Lantz stable, Chilly Willy the penguin was another memorable character who sometimes spoke not at all but communicated with expressions and gestures, and at other times spoke in kind of an abbreviated English (example: “Yes, me like!”) . Chilly Willy was largely concerned with finding food and keeping warm, and while cute and appealing was far from defenseless…

The kingpin of Walter Lantz cartoons was of course Woody Woodpecker, he of the iconic laugh, who took on a variety of antagonists, mocking and thwarting their most insidious schemes against him…

All I am saying is that Walter Lantz cartoons are frequently overlooked, and don’t get their proper respect…and voice actor Daws Butler was like the legendary Mel Blanc, but without the size of Mel’s WB paycheck…

Categories: alternative realities, anthropomorphic, cartoons, famous furries, furry, furry art
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Valentine’s Day, and the Insulting Kiss…

February 14, 2024

A Happy Valentine’s Day to all of my readers! Valentine’s Day holds a variety of bittersweet memories for me, and perhaps some of you can relate…

There were those cheesy, pun-laden Valentines I used to exchange with other kids in elementary school…and just look at this guy’s face! Cool and creepy at the same time. The flower in the mouth is a nice touch, adding to the “come hither” look… 💕

…and there were those many years when Valentine’s Day was a torment, leaving me yearning for a vixen when I didn’t have one. They sure didn’t go for the smart, nerdy types. Forever alone… *sighs*. 😩

But let us remember that not all kisses are romantic ones, as Bugs Bunny illustrates in a number of his classic ‘toons. After thoroughly humiliating and mocking an enemy such as Elmer Fudd, he often bestows a big, smoochy kiss on him, the insulting kiss, right before sprinting away…

The insulting kiss is an art form and a sublime expression, perhaps rendered to confuse as well as mock an adversary, leaving him befuddled so as to permit ample time for escape while also conveying the message that “you’re not a serious threat…you’re not even worth my time, and I grow weary of you!” 

Wouldn’t you like to see an insulting kiss planted on the face of a certain Republican presidential candidate? And a Happy Valentine’s Day, one and all! 

Categories: cartoons, famous furries, furry, twisted reality
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Sympathy for The Grinch…

December 16, 2023

Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m the Grinch…of Mt. Crumpit!” – -(to the tune of, “Sympathy for the Devil,” by The Rolling Stones)

At this time of year, my thoughts turn naturally to The Grinch. He was, after all, a furry, and like many of us, misunderstood and much-maligned. Max was a furry too, an anthropomorphic dog, loyal and obedient to his master, even if the Ego to the Grinch’s Id. Max I suspect actually liked Xmas, and probably would have affectionately licked any Whos that he came across…

Now, can you imagine being visibly different as a child, then banished to lonely exile on the foreboding heights of Mt. Crumpit? As Kermit the Frog memorably lamented, “It’s not easy being green!”

Is there not, I say, a little bit of the pre-redemptive Grinch in all of us? Who of us has not had dark thoughts after being exposed to Xmas carols and commercials since Halloween? I mean, how many times can you suffer hearing “I Want A Hippopotamus for Xmas” before you utterly lose it?! 🙀

And let’s face it, The Whos were annoying in their relentless cheerfulness. They represented the overkill aspects of Xmas, and holding us all up to an impossible celebratory standard. Clearly, they needed taken down a few pegs, an infusion of Grinchiness…

Even pre-redemptively, The Grinch had some remarkable qualities. He was a survivor, a strong if solitary spirit who was a master strategist and a genius inventor with many skills, kind of the Wile E. Coyote of Xmas characters. His Road Runner was the Xmas overkill that is everywhere at this time of year. I submit to you that The Grinch was a cultural warrior, a tragic hero who only wanted peace and sanity, and perhaps a little Who Hash…

So respect and honor The Grinch, who meant well but whose reach exceeded his grasp. I shall celebrate The Mean One in my heart always, and save him a generous slice of roast beast…🦊

Categories: absurdities, anthropomorphic, Brilliant but twisted, famous furries, fantasy, furry, movies, seasonal, television
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Art Imitating Art…

April 3, 2023

I have to admit that I’m a big fan of old school gangster movies, even though they predate me. I’m particularly fond of Edward G. Robinson and Peter Lorre in their gangster roles, back in the day when good writing and solid acting alone drove movies.

Bugs Bunny could play that game, too. In the short Racketeer Rabbit (1946), he goes head-to-head with ‘toon versions of Robinson and Lorre, playing them as readily as he often played Elmer Fudd. In this Friz Freleng classic, Bugs is never intimidated, but plays all of the gangland conventions against them, treating a grilling as a sunlamp, ducking under machine gun fire, and treating a gangland “ride” as a delightful outing…

In the end, Bugs has driven Robinson’s “Rocky” character screaming out of the hideout, and Bugs is doing his best Edward G. Robinson impersonation…truly a small masterpiece, a work of art imitating art!

Categories: alternative realities, Brilliant but twisted, cartoons, famous furries, furry, historical
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“OwlKitty” Does Hollywood!

February 16, 2022

Walter, the Chevy Silverado ad cat, is impressive. OwlKitty, however, is awesome! The black female cat’s real name is Lizzy, and OwlKitty is an assumed stage name. Assume the stage she does, being skillfully edited by her owner, Tibo Charroppin, into parodies of iconic scenes from such movies as Titanic, Jurassic Park, Avengers Endgame, Star Wars, and more…

…and OwlKitty can do it all, covering a range from the romantic role of Rose in Titanic to Sith Lord Darth Vader in Star Wars. Give her an action movie, and she can morph in size to substitute for raptors or a T-Rex in the Jurassic Park franchise, or perch atop Captain America’s shoulder in Endgame to seek out Thanos in singular combat, and send him flying, blue energies arcing from her small but mighty body. Still a proper cat, she grooms herself afterwards… 🐈‍⬛

Godzilla on the rampage again? – – No problem, you need a Kong-sized OwlKitty to set that bad boy straight!

So when you have a problem situation, the right man for the job just might be a cat. OwlKitty does lighter, comic-touches, too. The look on her face when Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) dances her around in the Titanic parody is priceless. We haven’t seen a cat this compelling and relatable since Ellen Ripley’s cat Jonesy in Alien…

Categories: absurdities, alternative realities, anthropomorphic, famous furries, furry, furry classics, furry heroes
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“Coyote vs. Acme” In Development!

January 8, 2022

I have some good news, and some bad news. First, the good news; Wile E. Coyote is finally getting his own movie! Now, the bad news; it probably won’t open until July of 2023.

I’ve always loved Wile E. Coyote, and it’s not just because foxes and coyotes are kinda cousins. Wile E. has always taught valuable life lessons about the value of persistence. No matter how many cliffs he falls off of, how many explosives ravage him, or how many anvils to the head he receives, Wile E. Coyote is never dissuaded from his goal of catching the Road Runner. It helps, of course, that the coyote is functionally indestructible even if he at times appears to be worse for the wear…

Now Coyote vs. Acme will reportedly be set in the Acme warehouse, that legendary source of all items used in the Looney Tunes universe. Since many of these items seems to be defective or malfunction, I don’t know if litigation against Acme will figure in the plot. The movie may also be using a combination of animation and live action techniques.

So get your Acme Rocket Roller Skates ready, because the endlessly resourceful Super Genius is coming as the champion of all of us losers! Meep-meep! 🦊

Categories: absurdities, alternative realities, anthropomorphic, Brilliant but twisted, cartoons, famous furries, furry, furry movies
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Space Jam: A New Legacy…

July 5, 2021

Perhaps the alarmed expressions on the faces of the Looney Tunes characters is a reaction to their new movie, Space Jam: A New Legacy, opening July 16th in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously. A key question is whether the world really needed a sequel to 1996’s original Space Jam movie, and the consensus of opinion is not only no, but hell no!

Now the sequel a quarter century later involves basketball superstar LeBron James’ young son Dom being captured and held by a rogue A.I. in a digitized world from which he will be released only if LeBron can best the A.I.’s team in a game of basketball, with LeBron’s team consisting of the classic Warner Bros. Tune Squad characters.

They’re almost all there, with Pepe Le Pew having been deleted due to criticisms that he “normalized rape culture.” I kind of miss the lusty French skunk already, and hope that somehow the character will be reintroduced someday, although probably it will be in a contrite, sanitized form. Well, first they came for Mr. Potato Head and then Pepe Le Pew, and now it would appear that Lola Bunny has also been subjected to cultural revisionism as having been overly sexualized in the original Space Jam movie. – – Give me a break! I’m a furry but not of the ‘toon subdivision. Now Cheetah from Wonder Woman 1984 was a stunning anthropomorphic shifter, much more to my liking. But I digress…

Now the redrawn Lola Bunny (left) is rendered less curvy than her 1996 predecessor shown to the right. Lola is also rendered more fully clothed and styled less like a teenager than her previous incarnation. We wouldn’t want Bugs Bunny to be considered a pedophile, after all. A previous love interest for Bugs introduced in 1966 was Honey Bunny, although she was dropped as she overly resembled Bugs, and might have been him in drag. So now we have the revised Lola Bunny, looking less hawt than before…

..So Space Jam 2 is a mixed bag, with some things that are painful to see, like Porky Pig performing in a rap battle. But other things are a hoot, like Granny channeling Trinity and Speedy Gonzalez doing the honors as Neo in a take-off on the The Matrix. “Abuela, let’s do this!,” exults Speedy before effortlessly dodging bullets like a furry Flash.

Just don’t tell Yosemite Sam to “shoot the ball,” because that’s exactly what he does! And may Speedy have a long run!

Categories: alternative realities, anthropomorphic, Brilliant but twisted, cartoons, famous furries, furry, furry movies, movies
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“Jellystone” Is Coming!

June 26, 2021

William Hanna and Joe Barbera are sadly dead, to begin with. Thankfully not so Warner Brothers Animation, which is producing a major revival of classic Hanna-Barbera characters in a new HBO Max series streaming beginning July 29th and appropriately called, Jellystone, named after the fictitious park where Yogi Bear raided pic-a-nic baskets, and plagued Ranger Smith. In this incarnation, however, Jellystone is not a park but rather a town where the characters live, play, and work, inevitably interacting with and causing one another difficulties. The mayor of said Jellystone is none other than Huckleberry Hound, who was notable for holding a variety of diverse jobs in his day.

Sound good, right? Cherished animated characters from your childhood? The animation style you may find a bit disquieting, however, as the characters do not exactly resemble the classic renditions. The animation has been compared to that of the infamous ThunderCats Roar series. Consider Yogi here; this is a cartoon of a cartoon, and Yogi, Boo-Boo, and Cindy Bear provide medical services…hah, and you thought your health care plan was bad!

Well, I’m at least glad that they’re getting the band back together, even if they look rather different. The town of Jellystone, by the way, is best known for producing the hats and ties that its denizens and presumably other ‘toons wear. You wouldn’t want them running around naked, after all…

Some of the characters depicted haven’t been seen on television for over thirty years, and will include “deep cut” as well as mainstream Hanna-Barbera creations. It’s just hard to improve on the originals… 🦊

Categories: anthropomorphic, cartoons, famous furries, furry, furry television
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Vintage Furry Advertising…

May 31, 2021

In the past as now, there were furry icons who represented a brand, and memorably served as spokesmen. Back before Esso gas became Exxon, there was the tiger used to admonish motorists to “put a tiger in their tank,” the tiger representing power and performance. A promotion was even done where stuffed tiger tails that could be affixed to gas caps were available to customers as visible proof that they indeed were driving with such a tiger. This was back in the days when fuel attendants would routinely clean your windshield and check your oil without being asked! Don’t hold your breath waiting for such amenities today. The tiger himself was an impressive dude rendered with attitude and fine attention to detail; rather awesome, actually.

The sadly nameless Esso/Exxon tiger was predated by the Kellogg’s product icon of Tony the Tiger, and there were distinct similarities in depictions of the duo. Despite this, the two tigers co-existed amicably until 1992 when trademark infringe wars erupted as Exxon tried to open Tiger Marts. It’s Tony the Tiger who seems to have best survived the Tiger Wars, and may still readily be seen today…

Categories: advertising, animal elements, animal presence, animal spokepersons, anthropomorphic, commercials, famous furries, furry, furry commercials, iconic, television
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Geico’s “Bear Country” Commercial…

May 18, 2021

  
Geico Insurance has already featured Rocky and Bullwinkle and Casper the Friendly Ghost in commercials, so we shouldn’t be surprised that they’re punching the nostalgia ticket another time with a crossover commercial featuring Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo.

We’re introduced to some couples enjoying a barbecue while rejoicing that they’ve finally found their dream home in the mountains when the occasion is crashed by the two Hanna-Barbera ursines, first introduced in 1958.  It is bear country, apparently, and while the humans beat a hasty retreat, Yogi and his diminutive partner help themselves to the goodies, all without Ranger Smith in sight.  I’m kind of disappointed in Boo-Boo, who in the vintage ‘toons would kind of serve as the voice of reason to Yogi, or at least try to rein him in a bit, usually unsuccessfully. Here Boo-Boo is an all-too-willing participant, helping himself to the chicken and other edibles, which include corn on the cob and even steak.

Living in bear country may not be easy, but from their safe sanctuary within their house the people are relieved that Geico at least makes bundling their homeowners insurance easy and saves them money…and when Yogi and Boo-Boo have departed, one of the humans, Jack, can be coaxed down from his perch in a tree. We also get to hear Yogi’s trademark boast that he’s “Smarter than the average bear” when he suggests leaving the scene with a cobbler to go.

But hey, this isn’t Jellystone Park, and a barbecue at a house doesn’t constitute a pic-a-nic basket raid!  Call Animal Control, someone…Yogi’s apparently becoming an invasive species, and may become the recipient of a tranquilizer dart or worse if he keeps this up…and why do bears need ties, anyways?!  I don’t even like ’em…   🐻

  

Categories: advertising, anthropomorphic, cartoons, commercials, famous furries, furry, furry commercials, furry television, television, twisted reality
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