Happy Halloween! As is my usual custom every year, I am posting a Halloween-themed cartoon. This year you're getting "The Monster Rally" a Tom Slick cartoon from 1967. Tom Slick was a part of the George of the Jungle cartoon show which ran on ABC for a year, and in reruns forever after.
George of the Jungle was produced by Jay Ward, the man behind Rocky and Bullwinkle. Unlike Rocky which was animated mostly in Mexico, Ward had George of the Jungle animated entirely in the United States, with several veteran animators and directors working on the cartoons. The results were great, but the show ran over-budget and lost money for the Ward studio. It was the last TV series Ward would produce.
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 - ???"
I am continuing my annual tradition of posting a few Christmas-themed cartoons in the weeks before Christmas. This year I'm starting with Santa's Surprise, a Paramount Noveltoon from 1947. This was the first appearance of Little Audrey, who replaced Little Lulu when Paramount decided they no longer wanted to pay for the rights for the Little Lulu character. Little Audrey went on to appear in several other cartoons and a long-running series of comic books from Harvey. Also appearing in this cartoon is one of the most stereotypical set of children since the Our Gang comedies. Still, it's a cute cartoon to launch the holiday season here at JoeFood. Look for the December calendar with only 30 days. Enjoy!
