Sorry I haven't posted in a while, life sometimes gets in the way of regular posting. I may farm that work out to someone else so I can have more time to post.
Today's cartoon posting is "Spooks" a 1930 Oswald the Rabbit cartoon produced by Walter Lantz. Oswald cartoons were originally produced by Walt Disney for Universal, but Walt had the termerity to request more money for each cartoon and had the character taken from him. Oswald eventually ended up in the capable hands of Walter Lantz, who used the character for several years in some of the more bizarre cartoons you'll ever see.
This cartoon is a take-off of "The Phantom of the Opera," and while not as spectacular as the Andrew Lloyd Webber version, I was grateful that this version told the same story in three hours less than Webber's version (not a Phantom fan). I don't recommend that you watch the entire cartoon, as it drags around the second act. I direct your attention to the ending, which is one of the most bizarre endings to a cartoon I've ever seen. Watch it, starting at about the 5:53 mark, and understand that Oswald has been pursued by this phantom for the last six minutes. I'm sure your reaction will be the same as mine: "What the - ???"
We've listed seven, and finally reached the TOP THREE in our listing of Worst Cartoon Characters of all Time! We are now at the point of severe badness. Up to this point, the cartoon characters listed had SOME redeeming quality that kept them from being ranked higher. These last three entries... are really rank. They are the true bottom of the barrel. As I have warned you before, shield your eyes from the videos as we start into listing number three....
10. Baby Huey
9. Squiddly Diddly
8. Buzzy the Crow
7. Hippity Hopper
6. Loopy De Loop
5. Go Go Gophers
4. The Blue Racer 3. The Beary Family
Walter Lantz had one of the longest careers in animation and was truly an animation pioneer. He began his career in 1916 working on silent films and by 1924 he was starring in his own live action / animated cartoon series entitled "Dinky Doodle". Any of the Dinky Doodle cartoons are better than
the best "Beary Family" cartoon ever produced.
In 1928, Walter Lantz was given the character "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit." whose cartoons were formerly produced by Walt Disney and Charles Mintz. Walter eventually set up his own independent cartoon studio and churned out over a hundred Oswald cartoons for Universal Studios, any of which is better than the best "Beary Family" cartoon that was ever planned to be produced.
In the coming years, Lantz would come up with a variety of cartoon stars, such as Andy Panda, Chilly Willy, Wally Walrus and of course, Woody Woodpecker. Any of the cartoons with these characters are, of course better than any "Beary Family" cartoon that you could imagine being produced (with the exception of the last few years of Chilly Willy cartoons).
In the 1960's, as theatrical cartoons became less and less popular, Lantz tried coming up with a new cartoon series that he hoped would grab the public's attention. There was Inspector Willoughby, who almost made this list of "Worst Cartoon Characters of all Time." There was Hickory, Dickory and Doc. There was Windy and Breezy. And finally, the one that lasted the longest, the Beary Family.
The Beary Family was a take off of the family sitcoms that permeated television in the late 1950's. Think of "The Life of Riley" and you've got it. The characters included Charlie Beary, the usual loud mouthed, long-suffering father, Bessie, the nagging, long-suffering wife, dimwitted teenage son Junior and cute (and long suffering) daughter Suzy. Daughter Suzy got smart and left the series after the first few years, deciding life in an orphanage was better than a career with the Beary Family. The plots of these cartoons usually dealt with some household activity, such as installing a spare room, that would end in disaster. As the Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia notes, most cartoons in the series contained two lines of dialogue similar to this:
Bessie: "Charlie, we really need a ___________________" (fill in blank with new TV, spare room, new oven, swimming pool, bomb shelter, etc.)
Charlie: "OK, but I won't pay $10 to install it. I'll do it myself!"
The next six minutes would play like a bad Laurel and Hardy short (all of which are better than any "Beary Family" cartoon ever produced) as Charlie and Junior would wreck the house trying to install the TV arial, the gas pipes, or whatever it may be. Unfortunatley, all the Beary Family cartoons feature poor music, bad gags, uninspired plots and limited animation. Plus the characters themselves were worn cliches even by 1962, inspiring neither laughter or sympathy.
Walter Lantz produced almost 30 Beary Family cartoons from 1962 until 1972, when the studio officially closed. Andy Panda, a legitimate cartoon success, appeared in only 27 cartoons. Hollywood is fickle and unfair.
Please think it over carefully before you hit "Play" on the video below. Life is good, your friends and family love you, you make a significant contribution at work... why spoil the rest of your life by watching one little video? Here is "Let Charlie Do It" released to an unsuspecting public in 1972. I'm imagining the audience for 'The Godfather" who got this cartoon shown to them before the feature. Being killed by the mafia must've seemed like a welcome relief.
Animation drawing from the cartoon above.
Below: There was some merchandise produced, such as puzzles, books and the like. Here is a coloring book featuring the family when Suzy was still around.
Sorry I haven't posted in a while, life sometimes gets in the way of regular posting. I may farm that work out to someone else so I can have more time to post.
