Woody Woodpecker’s 1944 cartoon The Barber of Seville is a dizzying display of cartoon comedy and animation artistry. It’s easy to see why The Barber of Seville was counted among The 50 Greatest Cartoons in Jerry Beck’s 1994 book of the same name (Barber came in at number 43). In the book, contributor Joe Adamson wrote, “We can still ask the logical...

First some really quick Thunderbean news: We’re working hard to get a big batch of the seven ‘Special’ discs out the door right now, along with the Sneak Preview 2024 disc. We should be through them by Friday. Buster Bear has been freed! We’ve also opened the ‘Special Disc’ vault for old special discs, but only through Sunday— so if you’ve missed...

Quite a bit of ground to cover today, as we deal with the last gasps of the theatrical short, then move on to big top action from the screwball television world of Jay Ward. Seal on the Loose (Lantz/Universal, Woody Woodpecker, 1/26/70 – Paul J. Smith, dir.) – As all followers of Lantz’s product know, Woody Woodpecker by this time had long before...

September has always heralded the somber end of summer and the inevitable start of the school year. For several generations however, the sad farewell to vacation days and re-emergence of three ring binders came with only one glimmer of light: the beginning of a new Season of Saturday Morning TV. Forty-Six years ago, Saturday Morning Cartoons were...

Last month I posted about the surprising number of cover versions there were for “The Mickey Mouse Club March”. The positive reaction to that post had me considering covers of other such songs that emenate from animated cartoons. Could this be the beginning of a new series… I don’t know. But it’s fun to think about. Beyond the mega hit “Who’s Afraid...

What’s your favorite episode of The Brady Bunch? Is it the one where the kids sing “Time to Change,” and Peter’s voice cracks? Maybe it’s when Jan pretended to have a boyfriend named George Glass? Or perhaps it was the episode where the kids met Wonder Woman? Wait, what?!? Yes, that last episode happened, and yes, it was part of the “Brady Universe,”...