Saturday Morning Cartoon - The High Note

This week's cartoon is a little-known Warner Bros. gem from 1960, The High Note, directed by Chuck Jones.   By 1960, the Warner Bros. cartoon studio was nearing the end, but was still capable of producing some great cartoons.   In the coming months, they would lose their top two writers, Mike Maltese and Warren Foster, to Hanna-Barbara.  The quality of the cartoons dropped dramatically at this time until the studio closed in 1963.  However, enjoy this one, one of the last great ones from the studio!

Alaskan Cruise, Part Leaven

California, here we are!   With the last installment, we completed our adventures in Oregon and were about to have some California Adventures!  (no relation to any theme parks, living or dead) 

As you enter California, the first thing you pass is a minimart that sells lottery tickets.   But once past that, you are amazed by the beauty extolled in the Lucky Seven casino, run by the local Tolowa Indian tribe.   I was scalped for sixty bucks.   But, once past the casinos, the mini marts and the fruit fly inspections, you soon enter Redwood National Park... the beginning of the largest collection of redwood-themed tourist traps I have ever encountered.  

Now, don't get me wrong...   the scenery was beautiful.   The drive down the coast would prove to be a mixture of beautiful forests, ocean views and historic townsights.   But the Redwood area also contains several tree-themed points of interest, each with a gift shop, snack bar and dirt road leading to a gravel parking lot.  Yes, it was Nirvana for me.   Let's start exploring!

Stop one:   The infamous Trees of Mystery.   Ya like trees?  Well, you better, because you're going to see trees.   Lots of trees.   Big trees.   Little trees.  Trees in odd shapes.  Trees on top of other trees.   Trees carved into unusual shapes.   If this was a 1940's Tex Avery cartoon, we'd now cue a dog screaming, "Trees!  Trees!  Thousands of trees!  And they're mine!  All mine!   Ah ha ha ha ha!"   When you first arrive at the Trees of Mystery, you are greeting by that enemy of trees everywhere, Paul Bunyan and his giant (and anatomically correct) big blue ox, Babe.  He had a little laryngitis, so it was a little hard to hear him, but he still greeted us to the Trees and hoped we'd have a good visit.  I stayed clear of Babe and walked past him to the walking paths.

Along the paths, you'll see several fascinating sites.  Marvel at the upside down tree!   Be awestruck by the cathedral tree!   Wonder with delight at the world-famous candelabra tree!   Finds inner peace at the elephant tree!  It was actually a very nice walk through the forest, with several wood carvings along the way in case trees alone aren't enough to hold your interest.   But the finale of this attraction was the most impressive:   a sky tram through the trees up to the top of a nearby mountain, where you get a breathtaking view of the forests and the Pacific Ocean!   It was truly overwhelming and magnificent...   or so I heard.   Personally, the sky tram scared the willies out of me.   But my travel partner rode it and took pictures, which she showed to me later.   I was awestruck.

In the same area you can find the Tour-Through Tree, which I will review in an upcoming article where I will compare the two drive-through trees.   The infamous Ship Ashore Hotel is also in the area, which I wrote about here.  Also in the area was the Bear River Casino, where I was mauled for eighty bucks.  

Eventually we made it down to Eureka, situated on the Northern Coast in Humboldt County.   This is a beautiful town where I would eventually like to spend more time.  However, one of the best reasons to stay in Eureka is its close proximity to the Samoa Cookhouse, located on the Samoa peninsula.   This eatery is one of the best examples of pure Joe Food that I have ever encountered.  

 

The Samoa Cookhouse opened in 1890 as a cookhouse for the logging operations in Samoa, one of the last company-owned towns in the U.S.   For years, the cookhouse fed the loggers working the camp.   Finally, in the 1960's the logging company closed up, and the Samoa Cookhouse began serving meals to the locals.   Not much has changed since those days.  The restaurant serves two entrees every night, family style and cooked in the big vats and ovens that once served the hungry loggers.  First course:   Fresh-baked bread and homemade soup.  This is followed by salads, then the main courses.  The night I went couldn't have been better... they served fried chicken and meatloaf.   Corn and carrots were the side dishes, along with mashed potatoes and gravy.   Normally I'm not a big carrot fan, but these had been cooked with brown sugar and were just delicious.  Everything was homemade and they kept filling the plates until you were full...  and believe me, it was with a certain pain of sadness when I told them they could stop.   Dessert was a piece of spice cake, baked that day. 

This is the Main Dining Room, my home for the next six hours.

The kitchen.  I want to get a range like that for my house.

Eating dinner.   Notice my fine two-handed eating technique.

The restaurant itself is a relic of the old logging camps.   Inside the side room is a small museum full of logging memorabilia, which is good way to pass the time when waiting for a table.  Be sure to ask for a loaf of bread to take home the minute you get there - they usually run out.   My travel partner was very disappointed to find this out, until they offered to give her a few pieces of spice cake to go.

Another great dining location in Samoa is the Fresh Freeze, a local drive in that has been in operation since the 1950's.   I drove by, but who could eat?   I was full of spice cake.   This is why I need to spend some quality time in Eureka.

In our next thrilling chapter, we'll visit more Redwood Tourist traps, and drive through not just one, but TWO trees!  You won't believe your eyes (and neither did the rental company when I returned the car)!   See you then!

Saturday Morning Cartoon: A Fractured Leghorn

Foghorn Leghorn is one of those cartoon characters that some people love, and some people hate.  I fall in the middle.  Some of his early cartoons are among the best cartoons Warner Bros ever made...   in fact his first one was nominated for an academy award.  On the other end of the spectrum, some of his later cartoons are among the worst ever made.   Check out Mother was a Rooster, The Slick Chick or Strangled Eggs to see the worst.  Look for Walky Talky Hawky or The Leghorn Blows at Midnight to see the best.   You'll notice I didn't create links for the worst; you'll have to find them yourselves.  I won't take blame for that.

A little history about Foghorn Leghorn might be appropriate here.  He started out as a supporting character to Henery Hawk, a character who had already debuted in a cartoon directed by Chuck Jones.   Foghorn debuted in Walky Talky Hawky and literally stole the show from Henery.   The cartoon earned an Academy Award nomination for director Robert McKimson, and a new cartoon series was born.  Twenty eight Foghorn cartoons were made, all directed by McKimson.

Most people think that Foghorn Leghorn was patterned after Senator Claghorn, a character that lived on Allen's Alley on the Fred Allen radio show.  In fact, in his early days he was patterned after a sheriff character that appeared on a 1930's radio show called Blue Monday Jamboree.   However, as the character developed, he began to sound more like Senator Claghorn, picking up many of his catchphrases ("That's a joke, son!" is among the most obvious)

The interesting thing about Foghorn is that, although it may seem like his cartoons are all the same, the writers and directors actually tried to create some variety in the series.  They created several characters to inhabit the Foghorn universe, and each cartoon may differ depending on the supporting cast.  Henery Hawk, the weasel, Miss Prissy, Little Egghead, and Barnyard Dog were among the regulars.  Sylvester and Daffy Duck also made appearances in the series.   This is in contrast to Pepe Le Pew, Hippity Hopper or the Roadrunner, in which every cartoon had the same basic plotline.

The cartoon I'm posting below is Foghorn's fifth cartoon, A Fractured Leghorn, from 1950..   It's a bit different than most of the others, and was rarely seen on television.  No Barnyard Dog, no Henery Hawk in this one.  Enjoy!