March of the Penguins!

Hey, it IS "March"... and they ARE "Penguins"! 

What more is there to know? 

“Bat-Mite Presents: Batman’s Strangest Cases!” Secret Origins!

First, go read THIS POST on the particular episode of BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD named above, for some information on this strange and wonderful entry of that series. 

Friend of this Blog Joecab sent THIS LINK to me as a comment – but I think it merits a post of its own!  Amazing stuff, particularly to someone like me – who fondly remembers the lone Silver Age issue of BATMAN that featured “Death-Man”! 

Also, “BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD Season Two – Part Two” goes on sale this coming Tuesday… March 20, 2012.  This DVD set will contain “Bat-Mite Presents: Batman’s Strangest Cases!”  So, if you haven’t seen it, the wait won’t be too agonizing! 

And, I just learned today that “BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD Season Three Complete” will street on June 19, 2012. 

That set will contain the series finale “Mitefall!”.  Quite possibly one of the GREATEST finales a TV series (animated or live action) has ever had!  You’ve got to see it to believe it!  …And NO SPOILERS from anyone who HAS seen it!  Each and every one of you has got to catch this one “cold”!  …I MEAN THAT!

There are some great Bat-times ahead – and I have GOT to catch up on reviewing these sets, as I’ve had the review for “Season Two – Part One” ¾ written for some time now.   

If only Bat-Mite could help me out, and create the 48 Hour Day!  My luck, I’d probably have to WORK 40 of ‘em! 

Tennessee Tuxedo Update # 1! -- or -- “Confound It, Odie, Where’s My Other Half?!”

Slowly waddling (he’s a PENGUIN, get it?) my way further into “TENNESSEE TUXEDO AND HIS TALES: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION” on DVD, from Shout! Factory, I’ve found nearly everything to be consistent with what I’ve previously observed – in THIS POST. 

…Except for this glaring error!   

I’ve already mentioned that, unlike UNDERDOG, no effort was made to reconstruct anything resembling the original TV show TENNESSEE TUXEDO AND HIS TALES! 

The first disc is divided into THREE SEPARATE SECTIONS: One for Tennessee Tuxedo, one for The King and Odie (King Leonardo), and one for The Hunter. 

Here is the Disc One menu for “The King and Odie” section.  Anyone spot the problem? 

 Okay, I’ll spare you the effort… King Leonardo cartoons were two-part stories. 

On the original KING LEONARDO AND HIS SHORT SUBJECTS series, we would get Part One of King L., then Tooter Turtle, (maybe a short segment like the cereal-ad-based “Twinkles”), The Hunter, and finally Part Two of King L.

And, on TENNESSEE TUXEDO AND HIS TALES, King L. would begin one week, and conclude the next.

So, if all the “King and Odie” cartoons were two-parts, how can this disc have only SEVEN (…and not EIGHT) “King and Odie” segments?! 

Easy, the second part of “Got ‘Em Up Scout”, titled “The King Camps Out”, was LEFT OFF! 

…Yes, really! 

I’ll say it again, for those staring at their computer screens in utter disbelief…

LEFT OFF! 

That’s: L-E-F-T (pause) O-F-F-! 

It ain’t there! 

And, if the episode listings for the set are to be believed, it ain’t anywhere else, either! 

LEFT OFF! 

The King, himself, would say: "CONFOUND IT!"

Now, I’ve given Shout! Factory the benefit of the doubt, when it comes to the tricky task of piecing together a show like this.  In fact, here are my own words, as they applied to the UNDERDOG set:   

“At this point in time, I’m not sure it is at all possible to properly reconstruct multi-segment shows like this – that were “sliced and diced” in countless ways for various syndication packages.  And, I’m certain that Shout! Factory did the best they could in reconstructing the original “Underdog Experience”.  So, I’m willing to concede this, and give ‘em points for trying.”

But, leaving off Part Two of a series KNOWN to always have been shown in two parts, is more than I’m willing to overlook! 

Bad job, folks!  Sorry!

I just hope there are no more such surprises to be discovered. 

I Gotta Get Coffee Somewhere Else!

THIS happened to me again, today! 

Guess I'm more of a handsome devil than I realize! 

The Simpsons Meet Uncle Scrooge? In Your Dreams!

I wonder how many Disney Duck comic fans saw the March 11, 2012 broadcast of THE SIMPSONS, titled “How I Wet Your Homer”. 

And, did those fortunate fans feel a faint familiarity? 

You see, suffering a guilty conscience over throwing his co-workers under the bus to Mr. Burns, Homer develops a bed-wetting problem! 

To get at the root cause of his shame-fueled sheet soakings, the rest of the family – with the help of “convenient source of miracles” Professor Frink – infiltrate and live within HOMER’S DREAMS, and have a wild ride doing so! 

Yes, really… See HERE! 

Now, go to your bookshelves and long-boxes and pull out your copy of 2004’s UNCLE SCROOGE # 329, and re-familiarize yourself with Don Rosa’s “The Dream of a Lifetime”, in which Donald Duck – with the help of “convenient source of miracles” Gyro Gearloose – infiltrates and lives within SCROOGE’S DREAMS, and has a wild ride doing so!

Yes, once again… See HERE! 

Hey… I’m not gonna say that anyone involved with THE SIMPSONS has even the tiniest shread of awareness of Duck comics, but…

Naaah!  It’s probably just another one of those “Coincidences in Writing”! 

Or, maybe there was some movie or sumpthin' that did the same thing...

Nevertheless, it’s really kinda cool to have UNCLE SCROOGE and THE SIMPSONS do the same story! 

And, anyway… Bob Clampett did it first with Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, back in 1946! 

Th-Th-That's All Folks!  

See, See, Seeing Tennessee Tuxdeo! Initial Observations.

Just got my copy of “TENNESSEE TUXEDO AND HIS TALES: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION” on DVD, from Shout! Factory on Thursday, March 08

For similar “Initial Observations” on Shout! Factory’s “UNDERDOG THE COMPLETE COLLECTOR’S EDITION”, please go to THIS POST. 

I’ve only gotten about half way through of Disc One (of TWO multi-disc sets contained therein), so it will be a long time (if ever) until I get around to doing one of my “Loooong DVD Reviews” of the entire package.  But, as with UNDERDOG, I will offer some early observations…

The “Early Returns” would find me less satisfied with this set, than I was with UNDERDOG. 

First and foremost, unlike UNDERDOG, no effort was made to reconstruct anything resembling the original TV show TENNESSEE TUXEDO AND HIS TALES! 

The first disc is divided into THREE SEPARATE SECTIONS: One for Tennessee Tuxedo, one for The King and Odie (King Leonardo), and one for The Hunter.  We will presume the other discs follow a similar pattern.

What would be the point in doing this, when a typical episode of the original series consisted of those three series?  Couldn’t Shout! Factory have just strung “one each” of these three series together to reconstruct the feel of an episode of TENNESSEE TUXEDO AND HIS TALES? 

But, no… That’s not what we got!  If you wish to recreate that “original run feel” on your own, your can always go to the “Tennessee Tuxedo” menu and select an episode, go to “The King and Odie” menu and select an episode, and finally go to “The Hunter” menu and select an episode. 

Needless to say, there are (at least to the point I’ve reached thus far) no interstitial segments – at least for Tennessee Tuxedo.  (King Leonardo and The Hunter have their own “introductory interstitials" – ported over from the earlier KING LEONARDO AND HIS SHORT SUBJECTS series.) So, Friend of This Blog “Joecab” can stop dreading the specter of the “Tennessee and Chumley Riddle Segments” (Fans of the show KNOW what I’m referring to!) endlessly repeating. 

The authenticity of the Tennessee Tuxedo viewing experience is further compromised by the soundtrack of the original theme song to TENNESSEE TUXEDO AND HIS TALES being REPLACED by a vastly inferior version.  Surely, you recall the theme: “C’mon and see, see, see…Tennessee Tuxdeo!”  “Parachuting for your pleasure… Sailing seas in search of treasure… Annn-eee-thing so he can measure… Up to Man!”

Oddly, the LYRICS are the same as I remember them. But the VOCALS (that were, by my recollection, originally sung by the show’s voice cast – including George S. Irving and others) are replaced by a small number of male and female singers. 

This is especially irritating to my “trained and ingrained ear”.  All the more so because it plays both BEFORE and AFTER every Tennessee Tuxedo segment. 

At least the original animation remains intact – but, along with the original vocals, the SOUND EFFECTS for the theme sequence have also, apparently, been lost.  This particularly undermines the ending of the sequence – where, in what may be the ultimate non-sequitar, a pair of huge artillery cannons are inexplicably aimed directly at our heroes (Tennessee Tuxedo the Penguin and Chumley the Walrus) and blast the pair into oblivion!    

Gosh!  How often do you see an opening sequence end like that – and now it’s no longer punctuated by an explosive sound effect!  “Silence”, it would seem, is not always “golden”!  Except, maybe, when you’re replacing original vocals with inferior ones!      

Oddly, there is an ALTERNATE VERSION to the theme sequence, originally used as an interior interstitial, that is used here as the theme sequence for certain episodes (presumably, in the interest of “changing things up”).  Hearing this, makes listening to the inferior version all the more grating. 

The versions of King Leonardo and The Hunter that I’ve seen so far are (correctly) the ones that were produced for TENNESSEE TUXEDO AND HIS TALES, giving the set some needed points in the “authenticity department”. 

Indeed, if memory serves, the first King Leonardo segment of the set WAS the first King Leonardo segment to air on TENNESSEE TUXEDO AND HIS TALES.  I can remember that clearly, because it heralded a change in format to the King L. series, introducing the new villain “Mr. Mad” – a rather creepy guy, at least by Total TeleVision standards. 

It looks as if some segments from the previous KING LEONARDO AND HIS SHORT SUBJECTS series, including "Tooter Turtle" – and even TTV’s later “Klondike Kat", will work their way into the set as well – in the second set of discs. That is welcome news, because I still feel that “King Leonardo” was the best TTV series. 

One easy way to tell if a segment was produced for TENNESSEE TUXEDO AND HIS TALES is to listen for Winston Sharples scores (animation fans will know what I mean – and my apologies to the rest, because explaining that in a soundless Blog is too difficult) recycled from other 1950s and early 1960s cartoons. Sharples is not credited as the series composer, indicating the existing scores were just purchased for this use. 

Also, on the plus side, there seem to be many more Tennessee Tuxedo segments than I recall – so, I’m certain the run is complete.  The additional TTV “stable characters” material is much appreciated – as, alas, they will probably not merit DVD releases of their own.

There are commentaries featuring TTV’s founder Buck Biggers (who is surprisingly candid in his view of Tennessee Tuxedo’s voice actor, comedian and TV series star Don Adams), voice actor and comedian Larry Storch, and others. 

Mark Arnold also writes a great 16 page booklet on the background of TENNESSEE TUXEDO AND HIS TALES – and profiles many of the voice actors as well. 

The picture quality of all the segments I’ve seen so far is quite good – the exceptions being the King L. and Hunter interstitials. 

Honestly, just because I’m so hung up on “authenticity”, I can’t rate this set as highly as I did UNDERDOG.  But, as I said in that review:

“At this point in time, I’m not sure it is at all possible to properly reconstruct multi-segment shows like this – that were “sliced and diced” in countless ways for various syndication packages.  And, I’m certain that Shout! Factory did the best they could in reconstructing the original “Underdog Experience”.  So, I’m willing to concede this, and give ‘em points for trying.”

I fully appreciate the challenges in reconstructing a show like this – especially, in view of the fact that most of those purchasing such a set are probably critical, fannish types possessing their own cherished memories of the original run. 

But, it seems to me that Shout! Factory’s commendable efforts at reconstructing THE UNDERDOG SHOW could have also been applied to TENNESSEE TUXEDO AND HIS TALES. 

Still, there’s LOTS TO LIKE – if not outright LOVE - about the contents therein!  And, it ain’t never gonna be done better than this, so just buy it and enjoy.   

Underdog Update # 1!

“Time again for THE UNDERDOG SHOW, featuring that champion of champions… Underdog!” – so says narrator George S. Irving, at the beginning of THE UNDERDOG SHOW – and for this update. 

If and when we uncover additional information about “UNDERDOG THE COMPLETE COLLECTOR’S EDITION” on DVD, as we slowly work our way through this wonderful set, we’ll have updates right here!   

First, please read the ORIGINAL POST, if you’ve not done so already.

In that post, I discussed the interstitial segments.  Over the course of Episodes 6-9, more of them are revealed.

Episodes 6-7 feature the four part Underdog serial “The Great Gold Robbery” (at the usual two chapters per episode).   “The Great Gold Robbery” introduced Underdog’s other recurring nemesis (after Simon Bar Sinister), the gangster “Riff-Raff”. 

Picture the basic look and dapper dress of Golden Age Hollywood, Warner Bros. movie tough-guy George Raft (thus the admittedly-reaching pun of his name) designed as a wolf in the TTV style, and that’s what you get!  In “The Great Gold Robbery”, thanks to the diligent efforts of Underdog, Riff-Raff falls from “Public Enemy # 1” to “Public Enemy # 5280”! 

In order to regain his lost “malevolence mojo”, Riff plans the (per the title) the greatest gold heist in history – by setting a speeding train carrying a huge gold shipment on a collision course with another, oncoming train, while confusing and preoccupying Underdog with Sweet Polly Purebred’s safety. 

All in all, this is quite a good episode of Underdog – introducing a new recurring character, and nicely balancing some humor and the typical Underdog-ian melodrama.  Nicely scored too, for TTV that is.

Funny thing is, for these two shows that introduce Riff-Raff, THE UNDERDOG SHOW opening – from which I quote to open this post – is MISSING and, in its place (acting as the show’s opening) is an interstitial segment that features Riff-Raff! 

Underdog fans will know this as the bit with the song: “When criminals in this world appear… and break the laws that they should fear… and frighten all who see or hear… the cry goes out both far and near… for Underdog!” 

This song played on all previous shows – but over the interstitial of Simon operating a clawed, jawed, and big-toothed mechanical monster, that grabs Sweet Polly… from which this illustration is taken. 

Here, it plays over Riff-Raff shaking down a news-dealer, and getting knocked into jail by Underdog.  We did not see this interstitial until we reach this point.    

And, it gets better.

For Episodes 8-9, THE UNDERDOG SHOW opening is BACK – followed by the THIRD version of this interstitial that I recall, where a big, ugly GIANT is knocking down city buildings, until Underdog puts a stop to it – destroying more buildings in the process.  ALL TOGETHER NOW: “When criminals in this world appear… and break the laws that they should fear…”.

So, despite seeing the “Simon version” of this interstitial for the previous FIVE SHOWS, we now get several in a row that vary the rotation!  All other interstitials remain as they were up through Episode 5. 

Episodes 8-9, while on the subject, feature the Underdog serial “Fearo The Ferocious”, UNDERDOG’S version of “King Kong”, down to a sea voyage to an island of prehistoric beasts.  And, for those keeping score of “Firsts”, this makes the first appearance of Underdog’s “Vitamin Pill Ring”.  Makes me wonder where Roger Ramjet kept his “Proton Energy Pills".  “Fearo” is another serial I remember well. 

Still having fun with this set.  Feel free to comment on your own observations when viewing.