It’s a Wednesday night as I write this, and I’ve just arrived from back from Gobles, a town about 20 minutes west of Kalamazoo, after spending the day helping my friend and project collaborator Chris Buchman. As I was replacing shingles on the side of his house on this beautiful day, we were talking about the Lantz interview he did back in 1981 when he worked for a PBS station in South Bend, Indiana. He noted the Lantz cartoons he had as a child on 8mm film, with one of his favorites being a cut-down b/w silent print of Hollywood Matador. Seeing the film in that form is a different experience than on a big screen in Technicolor, or even on a color TV. This was in the late 40s of course, so it would be some years before one could even dream about seeing the film in color at home otherwise. He remembered preparing the film and syncing it to the William Tell Overture, on a 78. The conversation continued, and as usual, we talked about all sorts of animated things, from Ted Eshbaugh to Bakshi. Chris, of course, loved presenting films throughout his life, so it wasn’t surprising that he ran nights of movies in the speakeasy basement of the Peabody Book Store in the late 60s and early 70s, ran the campus film showings at John Hopkins, and later hosted that PBS show that, in addition to Walter and Gracie, was also visited by Carmine Coppola, Buddy Rogers and other notable guests.
On the two plus hour drive home, I spent some time thinking about what today’s article would be about, and my thoughts turned back to the earlier conversation I had with Chris. The thread that ran through the conversation wasn’t only about the films, but *when and how* each of us had seen this cartoon or that. So, I thought it would be a fun day to open the conversation up about your experiences seeing animated films, including things like who you remembering seeing them with if you wish, where or other details. Since I have the bully pulpit here (!) I’ll share a few of mine first! I’ve mentioned some of this before I’m sure since some of these are pretty burned in memories.
So, here’s some of mine, in no particular order:
Gone Batty (1954), with childhood friends Kevin, Eddie, and Stan:
This isn’t really *seeing* the cartoon, but hearing it! The day before, I took my tape recorder (something I was obsessed with for a little while) and put it up to the speaker of our console TV and taped this particular cartoon. It turned out it was one of the favorites of all my friends when I played the tape at lunch. I think I might have been 8. I think it was the first time I realized that other people were maybe as into some of the cartoons as I was. Kevin could actually recite a lot of the cartoon, without the aid of a cassette tape!
Raggedy Ann and Andy (1977) for the third time or so. The Briarwood mall in Ann Arbor opened in 1973, and in the summers growing up I saw a lot of films there. It wasn’t far from our house, and on Saturdays my Mom liked going to church in the late afternoon, so she would sometimes take us to Briarwood to see a cartoon feature matinee while she shopped at the mall. I was pretty obsessed with this particular film, and saw it multiple times that summer. I specifically remember coming out of the theater, running up to my mom, and asking if she could take me again next week. I’m pretty sure that was the last time I saw it until I was an adult.
Pinocchio (1940) with my Dad after a long day of installing floors
My dad really was a hero to this cartoon-obsessed kid. They had already taken me once to see Pinocchio in 1978, and now, maybe a week or so later, in a rare time without my brother, he was taking me to Pinocchio. It might have been my birthday. Funny enough, that clearly wasn’t’ the important part. I remember looking over at him during the escape from Pleasure Island scene to see him completely asleep, and have thought often of how he must have been exhausted, but wanted me to be able to see the film one more time.
Hysterical High Spots in American History (1941) on channel 50 in Detroit Channel 50 played the Woody Woodpecker package that consisted of mostly 40s through the early 60s cartoons from the studio. There were a handful of films that were especially odd in the package as well as funny jokes or odd moments that especially stuck with me. One of the oddest films was ‘Hysterical High Spots in American History’ with it’s bizarre (to me) character designs and a whole series of references to what was popular culture in the early 40s that was, by the early 70s, a complete mystery. The scene where Edison plays back the recording he’s just made, with the recording saying “that ain’t the way I hear-ed it!” stuck around in my mind as a kid, and became one of those things you say over and over to other kids.
Ok- so there’s a few. Now it’s your turn. Put a few of your memories here of seeing animated films- and feel free of course to respond to other’s memories.
Have a good week all!
