Wild Cartoon Kingdom

Well, we seemed to have drifted into a magazine theme this week. Today’s offering is issue three of WILD CARTOON KINGDOM from 1994, a bizarre journal published by, of all people, HUSTLER’s Larry Flynt! This is the only issue I ever saw and quite frankly, it leaves a bad aftertaste. Parts of it are really good but the elitist attitude that permeates the overall enterprise is a real turn-off.

Edited by FILM THREAT’s Chris Gore (now an IFC game show host!), the emphasis in this issue is on cover feature BEAVIS & BUTTHEAD, a vulgar but clever one-joke premise that stretched out into far too many seasons of TV pointlessness. REN & STIMPY’s Jon Kricfalusi interviews B&B creator (and SPY KIDS actor) Mike Judge in a too-long talk that ranges from truly interesting to "What were they drinking?". Other negative stuff includes a so-called review of the then-new ANIMANIACS that admits the reviewer hadn’t seen the show and then goes on to mercilessly ravage it. Ugh!

The good stuff, though, is choice! Topped by a marvelously (pardon the pun) illustrated article on the various animated incarnations of the FANTASTIC FOUR by one of my favorite fan writers, the amazingly knowledgeable and prolific Andy Mangels (late of AMAZING HEROES. Here’s a link to his website:Andy Mangels Home Page). A lot of Alex Toth’s model sheet design work for the sixties series is seen here along with a bit of Kirby’s from the seventies incarnation with H.E.R.B.I.E.

Another great piece is the article on puppet animation with an emphasis on George Pal’s great and rarely seen Puppetoons. There’s also a long piece on SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK with a complete checklist and a clever, if spurious, history of Elmo Aardvark.

Greg Theakston and Jerry Beck, both known for quality work, turn up in the credits but I can’t figure out what they did. All in all, for a major newsstand magazine on cartoons, this was a bit of a disappointment. I don’t know how long WILD CARTOON KINGDOM lasted but I can’t help but think I didn’t miss much by getting only this issue.

Nostalgia Illustrated

Like yesterday's post, here we have an obscure Marvel magazine. This one, though, was American. NOSTALGIA ILLUSTRATED ran for a number of issues (this is issue 7) in the mid-seventies, attempting to cash-in on the already fading nostalgia boom. Woody Gelman, founder of the legendary Nostalgia Press (listed here as "Woodrow") is cited as a contributing editor. The omnipresent (even then!) Leonard Maltin offers up a nice article on cartoons and prolific sci-fi author and pop historian Ron Goulart presents "What's Your Plan, Charlie Chan?"

Also featured in this jam-packed issue alone are articles about Marlon Brando (then in the midst of his big comeback), Roscoe Arbuckle, Fay Wray, singer Teresa Brewer, boxer Jack Johnson, and STAR TREK's lost captain, Jeffrey Hunter. There's the making of the Marx Brothers movie, COCOANUTS, a piece on old time radio, articles on jukeboxes, fireworks and old jokes and a partially color selection of great movie posters.

Other issues featured Garland, Bogart, Harlow, Gable, Jolson, comic strips, Babe Ruth and Ronald Reagan (who unfortunately could not be consigned to nostalgia at that point after all). Like many mags of this type, the problem was timing mixed with the retailers' likely uncertainty as to where to market the mag. It's about comics, no! Movies? Music? Cowboys? Sports? Where do they put it? Sometimes it got buried on a back shelf. A lot of the times, it was easier just to strip it out and give more retail space to other, known quantities. I believe that's what happened locally as I never once could find an issue new on the stands in the seventies...and I was looking for it! All of the issues we have here at the Library were purchased in mag boxes at comic book conventions. If you like to read about old movies, TV, comics, etc. then NOSTALGIA ILLUSTRATED offered a nice mix written by knowledgable folks. Unfortunately that "mix" with its lack of focus is probably one reason the mag itself quickly became nostalgia.

Playback

One last British post...well, maybe. Anyway, what you see here is the PLAYBACK COLLECTORS' SPECIAL, a Marvel UK Magazine from a few years back that offers capsule histories/reviews of 50 of the most popular TV series in UK history.

Along with FAWLTY TOWERS, THE AVENGERS, DR. WHO and EASTENDERS, several US TV series like STAR TREK, TWILIGHT ZONE and THE SIMPSONS are included. The real fun of the matter for the anglophile, however, is to read up on the items that never traversed the pond. EDGE OF DARKNESS, Z CARS, CRACKERJACK and BLUE PETER fascinate simply because they can't be readily viewed here in Kentucky.

This was supposed to be a special edition preceding a regular monthly PLAYBACK but I haven't been able to determine if that ever came about. I know this was the only issue I saw...but its a good one!

While we're on the subject of British TV, thanks to my Fink mate, KK,Jr., for turning me on to my new favorite UK series, LIFE ON MARS. Go here and discover it yourself: BBC - Drama - Life On Mars

Red Dwarf

Continuing to mine the British comedy vein I've been in this week, let's catch up to the mining ship, Red Dwarf, from the sci-fi comedy of the same name. For many years my key ring has been the RED DWARF one seen here, offered free in an issue of the Official RED DWARF "Smegazine" that ran in the UK for awhile (and was often found in US comic shops).Although widely available in the US, for those of you not paying attention, RED DWARF is the story of Dave Lister, the last human left alive. Dave has adventures with his cat, a hologramatic companion, a robot servant and the ship's powerful computer. Oh, did I mention that Dave is the ultimate slob, his cat is an evolved, zoot suit wearing humanoid, the hologram is of his biggest rival and the computer has long since become senile?

Begun in 1988 by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor (as "Grant Naylor"), this series has evolved from a vulgar sci-fi sitcom to true, if humorous, science-fiction over the course of eight series. There were best-selling novelizations, a monthly magazine and there's even been talk of a movie. I've been watching the DVDs of season six this morning and if you haven't seen them, the DVD sets are among the best of any series! Each one has new and vintage documentaries with full cast participation. There are bloopers, deleted scenes, isolated music cues, music videos, guest appearances on other programs and cast, crew and even FAN commentaries on key episodes! This is the right way to do a DVD set!

Craig Charles, currently the host of one of those robot war kind of shows, is Dave Lister. Lister is a slob. He hates bathing, likes drinking, messy eating, smoking, screwing (which he can no longer do!) and just generally being vulgar. Found to have smuggled a cat on board the mining ship Red Dwarf, he is put into suspended animation as punishment. When his punishment automatically ends, the ship awakens him. He discovers that the rest of the crew had been killed in an accident centuries before but the fully automated ship continued on, even though Holly, the ship's computer, was not running on all circuits.

Lister's cat, Frankenstein, turned out to have been pregnant and over the centuries, its progeny had flourished in isolated parts of the huge mining ship, building civilizations and having wars even as they evolved into humanoid form themselves. The last Cat, Danny John-Jules, is a walking example of feline traits ("If I don't get at least 18 hours of sleep a day, I won't have enough energy for my big snooze!') and mannerisms, always grooming himself and spraying things with a little spray can ("That's mine, THAT's mine...").

Holly attempts to recreate Lister's best friend as a soft light hologram as a companion but since Lister didn't really have any friends, Holly brings back Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie), noted brown-noser, incompetent and officer wanna-be. Neither Rimmer nor Lister are impressed.

In a later season, they meet Kryten, the butler droid, played originally by actor David Ross. Utilizing unique make-up, Robert Llewelyn makes the part his when it becomes a regular and was, in fact, the only actor asked to repeat the role in the later American attempts at pilots.

There are lots of sophomoric jokes throughout but somewhere along the way, RED DWARF slowly develops heart and the characters become more real. The stories take on real sci-fi themes and the writers play with elements of the series such as making the Red Dwarf ship itself disappear completely for a couple of seasons before returning, with its entire crew recreated for the final (to date) series! The special effects get better, the sets more realistic but ultimately, it's the evolving relationships between these disparate, stereotypical characters that makes the show stand out and makes me hope they do get around to that film version.

Keep watching THIS site to see when that's likely to happen:Red Dwarf

Dudley Moore

I was going to include this book, DUDLEY MOORE, AN INFORMAL BIOGRAPHY by Jeff Lenburg, in my Peter Cook post earlier this week but apparently it had been misplaced on the shelves. I found it today in the Lenny Bruce section.

As stated before, Dudley, a talented sketch comedian and a natural on jazz and classical piano for the first half of his career became a most unlikely Hollywood leading man for the latter half.

Dudley Moore broke up his on/off act with Peter Cook more or less for good in 1978. He surfaced immediately in a scene-stealing supporting role in my all-time favorite Hitchcockian suspense comedy, FOUL PLAY. This led to his replacing George Segal in the lead role in Blake Edwards' "10," a film that saw "Cuddly Dudley" rolling around naked with the world's latest sex obsession, Bo Derek (to the tune of Ravel's BOLERO yet!) while surprisingly establishing himself as a real actor.

His follow-ups weren't always well-chosen (WHOLLY MOSES, SANTA CLAUS, SIX WEEKS) but his place in cinema history was cinched with ARTHUR, the 1981 romantic comedy about an insanely rich alcoholic man-child who falls for Liza Minnelli (in a variation on her patented quirky role). The film went through the roof and even took home Oscars for the great John Gielgud (as Arthur's butler) and the beautiful but astonishingly overplayed theme by Christopher Cross, THE BEST THAT YOU CAN DO. After a whirlwind turn in the Hollywood lifestyle and a downhill slide on his major films, his last film as a lead was called CRAZY PEOPLE (1990). I enjoyed it immensely. From what I understand, I was perhaps the only one.

After a series of bizarre situations involving a perceived real-life drinking problem and charges of spousal abuse, it was revealed that Dudley Moore suffered from a rare debilitating disease called Supranuclear Palsey. His appearances became sporadic and his later roles were confined to voiceovers. He died in 2002.

My own favorite memory of Dudley Moore is a late seventies-early eighties episode of a PBS show (NOVA?) entitled IT'S ABOUT TIME. This was a science documentary about time that opened with Dudley on piano and continued with a disembodied HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY-style voice explaining the ins and outs of time and its various concepts to him in easy to understand fashion. Isaac Asimov also appears in a skit to demonstrate the impossibilities of time travel. Parts of the show play like a deadpan, educational version of DUCK AMUCK with Dud as Daffy. In the end, I can't help but think that's how he'd like to be remembered-a little daffy.

Carry On Blogging

If you live outside of the UK, it’s entirely possible that you may never have heard of CARRY ON. Too bad. I guess I was privileged in that, along with the Three Stooges and Abbott and Costello, I grew up watching old British comedies starring the likes of Bob Monkhouse, Cliff Richard and the Belles of St. Trinians. I had long been fascinated by the occasional review or other mention I would see of the CARRY ON films but, except for the original CARRY ON, SARGEANT, they never, ever turned up on TV. In the early 1980’s that changed as several of the earlier comedies turned up in a package picked up by a local independent channel and I became hooked.

The best word to describe the humor is "bawdy." It isn’t really dirty but at the same time much of it would be questionable in a workplace environment. It’s burlesque, music hall and vaudeville with leering double entendres and pies in the face all delivered by one of the biggest ensemble casts in the history of film, mixing and matching from one movie to another.

Beginning in the late fifties with the aforementioned CARRY ON, SARGEANT (which actually starred future Doctor Who, William Hartnell) the series continued MAD-style parodies of films and genres up through the early seventies. There were even ventures into stage and television and an attempted revival in the early nineties. Unfortunately, by that point, most of the series brilliant rep company had died and the new folks just weren’t the same.

In fact, the cast was everything with CARRY ON. The main players were:

Kenneth Williams- Prissy, effeminate and stuck up, his broad, camp delivery was hilarious. He was hugely popular in England (Peter Cook wrote material for Williams early on) and published several books and autobiographies as well as his diaries.

Sid James-A big, boisterous Archie Bunker type with a perpetual grin, little fazed Sid in these films. Although hardly a leading man type, Sid was probably the best straight actor in the series.

Charles Hawtrey- Tall, skinny, bespectacled and with a uniquely swishy delivery, Hawtrey, too, became immensely popular to the point where he’s even mentioned by John Lennon in the ad-lib that opens the Beatles’ LET IT BE album.

Barbara Windsor-All teeth and giggles and cleavage, she was the typical burlesque cutie but with a great scream also.

Hattie Jacques-The quintessential "fat lady" matron character, she’s usually someone’s angry spouse but sometimes, such as in CARRY ON CABBY, shines on her own.

Joan Sims-The long-suffering wife stereotype, she was rarely given anything to do but was always a familiar presence.

Kenneth Connor- Short but reasonably normal looking, he was often what passed for a leading man.

Jim Dale-Although he didn’t really appear in many, his roles were pivotal and he was the only major star of the originals to return for the ill-fated CARRY ON COLUMBUS. Dale, of course, went on finally to world-wide fame as the award-winning voice of the Harry Potter series on audio (unless of, course, you’re in the UK itself where the great Stephen Fry has that distinction).

Others who passed through the series at various times included Frankie Howerd, Jon Pertwee (the third Doctor!),Terry Scott, Peter Butterworth, Bernard Cribbins, Liz Fraser, Harry H. Corbett and even Juliet (sister of beloved Hayley!) Mills!

There have been a number of books published on the CARRY ON series in England but I’ve only managed to snag a couple here. The first twelve films, along with a 1977 feature-length documentary, were released on DVD in the US a few years ago but didn’t sell due to lack of the recognition factor. The TV series met a similar fate. Earlier, the same thing had happened when many of the later CARRY ON’s were released on cheap, sell-through video.

In this country, the CARRY ON movies may be an acquired taste. They're generally not as smarmy as Benny Hill but not as cerebral as Python, a bit more frenetic than ARE YOU BEING SERVED but not as deadpan as MR. BEAN. All I know is that I like to laugh and the CARRY ON movies never fail to make me do so. I love British humor!
For more on CARRY ON, here’s an excellent websource: Carry On Line - The Latest Carry On News

Beatles/Starlog

I'm on record as being a big Beatles fan but quite frankly, my very first Beatles record was THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD, their last official pre-breakup release. Oh, I'd seen the movies and heard them on the radio a bit but for the most part, they just weren't my "thing" at the time. Thus it was that, in the early seventies, I was trying to catch up both on the music and the history of the group. At that time, the thousands of books on the Fabs and their place in history were mostly still in the future. One of the first items I came across to give me a Cliffs Notes version at least of their whole story was this 1973 magazine published by Norman Jacobs and Kerry O'Quinn.

Now for all I know they'd been publishing mags together for years but this is the only one I had ever seen at that point. In fact, until tonight, I'd never even noticed that the pair had produced this one-shot. I recognized their names from a later project, though. In 1976, Jacobs and O'Quinn launched STARLOG, at the time one of the few places for sci-fi/fantasy news. I followed it religiously as imitators came and went in the wake of the sci-fi boom started by STAR WARS and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND the following year. The mag has gone through a lot of changes in its nearly thirty years but I saw a copy on the stands recently. I hope some young fans are still as excited about it as I was. Maybe they'll take that excitement and create something even better for the next generation, the same way Jacobs and O'Quinn took the experience from their Beatles book into their now-classic sci-fi mag.