Never been to anything like it.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Wow.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Quiet, please.
I've watched a lot of cartoons throughout my life. Like most kids I was on a steady diet of Looney Tunes throughout my childhood (and beyond- I still usually make it over for a night or two of the annual Bugs Bunny Film Festival at the Brattle). But one particular cartoon has always stuck out in my mind, and I have never been able to find it. For years I have been looking around, hoping I would come across it on TV, but I never did. It occurred to me recently to look around the internet for it and of course, about 2 minutes of searching yielded success on You Tube. Not sure why I hadn't thought of it before. In any case, I present Tex Avery's cartoon short from 1955, "Sh-h-h-h-h-h".
Watching this years later, it is easy to know why this particular cartoon stands out for me- safe to say I can identify with the main character a bit more than I'm comfortable with. I remember finding this whole thing hilarious, and it still holds up for me. The slapstick section is fairly standard, but I love the reaction of the hotel clerk when Mr. Twiddle asks for the room, and the little sound signs are brilliant.
But the thing that really struck me after watching this now is just how completely odd, and very dark, this short is. It is easy as an adult to pick up on themes in cartoons that we would have missed as kids, and there are often the intentional "wink-wink" jokes in children's shows and movies that are intended only for the adults who are watching. But it is hard to tell exactly what is going on in a cartoon where we have an anxiety-ridden protagonist who ends up exploding in a fit of rage.
Weirder still is our trombone playing doctor. Why exactly is he at the Hush Hush Lodge playing trombone? Why is he playing this sad song? And why on earth is it making him and his wife laugh so hard? I suppose the point isn't to understand why, it's just supposed to be funny on its own. And it is. But I couldn't help but think that there was more going on here- was Avery making some kind of a statement with one of his final shorts?
Unfortunately some research didn't reveal too many answers about this in particular, but it did give some insight into the trombone and laughing. Turns out it is from an old novelty 78 called "The Okeh Laughing Record", recorded in 1922. It's basically three minutes of what you hear in the short- a slow, maudlin performance interrupted by uncontrolled laughing. Apparently this kind of thing was a big hit back then- you would gather the family in the parlor, crank up the victrola and put this on, and laugh, laugh, laugh. And we all wondered what we did before video games.
Anyway, here's the original recording. Kind of creepy when removed from the already strange context of the cartoon.
Boomp3.com
But the thing that really struck me after watching this now is just how completely odd, and very dark, this short is. It is easy as an adult to pick up on themes in cartoons that we would have missed as kids, and there are often the intentional "wink-wink" jokes in children's shows and movies that are intended only for the adults who are watching. But it is hard to tell exactly what is going on in a cartoon where we have an anxiety-ridden protagonist who ends up exploding in a fit of rage.
Weirder still is our trombone playing doctor. Why exactly is he at the Hush Hush Lodge playing trombone? Why is he playing this sad song? And why on earth is it making him and his wife laugh so hard? I suppose the point isn't to understand why, it's just supposed to be funny on its own. And it is. But I couldn't help but think that there was more going on here- was Avery making some kind of a statement with one of his final shorts?
Unfortunately some research didn't reveal too many answers about this in particular, but it did give some insight into the trombone and laughing. Turns out it is from an old novelty 78 called "The Okeh Laughing Record", recorded in 1922. It's basically three minutes of what you hear in the short- a slow, maudlin performance interrupted by uncontrolled laughing. Apparently this kind of thing was a big hit back then- you would gather the family in the parlor, crank up the victrola and put this on, and laugh, laugh, laugh. And we all wondered what we did before video games.
Anyway, here's the original recording. Kind of creepy when removed from the already strange context of the cartoon.
Boomp3.com
Monday, October 13, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
We're the one!
What a lineup! So crazy that this is from 1978- I remember all of these shows so clearly, but considering that I was 2 at the time I guess I was watching them all years later in reruns. But I never knew that they were all on the same network in the same year.
Some other observations:
- I miss cross-TV show guest appearances. The fact that Mork's world would somehow intersect Fonzie's is awesome.
- What is that weird depression era show? I have no memory of that at all. Also, the grandfather on it seems to be the exact inspiration for Mr. Stokes on Extras.
- I forgot how big of a deal it was for a movie to be on TV. Think about it- Pre video, when a movie finished a run in theaters, there was basically no way to see it again until they showed it on TV. I completely remember having big dinners around the TV and staying up late when something like Star Wars was on.
- Only 30 years ago, that insane ending song was allowed to happen. Let us never let it happen again.
Some other observations:
- I miss cross-TV show guest appearances. The fact that Mork's world would somehow intersect Fonzie's is awesome.
- What is that weird depression era show? I have no memory of that at all. Also, the grandfather on it seems to be the exact inspiration for Mr. Stokes on Extras.
- I forgot how big of a deal it was for a movie to be on TV. Think about it- Pre video, when a movie finished a run in theaters, there was basically no way to see it again until they showed it on TV. I completely remember having big dinners around the TV and staying up late when something like Star Wars was on.
- Only 30 years ago, that insane ending song was allowed to happen. Let us never let it happen again.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
This old house
2 weeks, tons of dust, and lots of money later, our new paint job is done.
Before:
During:
After:
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