Speedy "Superchunk" today on CN UK

[hippety hopper]

Today on CN UK they will be showing a Speedy Gonzales(and Road runner) Superchunk,A 2 hour special of just Speedy and Road runner cartoons.

Proof that Speedy still lives.....

well in England at least.

I'll post a list of all the cartoons shown after it.

[hippety hopper]

It was quite good actually,they showed 6 Speedy cartoons and 8 Road runners and concidering I havn't seen Speedy in ages I thought it was very good.

The cartoons shown were

Zoom & bored(Road runner)
Zoom at the top(Road runner)

Cat-tails for two(Speedy)-A VERY good cartoon,I loved Speedys gold tooth.
Gonzales tamales(Speedy)

Wild about hurry(Road runner)
Out & out rout(Road runner)

Here today gone tomale(Speedy)
Going going gosh(Road runner)

War and pieces(Road runner)
Speedy gonzales(Speedy)

Tortilla flaps(Speedy)
The wild chase(Road runner & Speedy)

Zipping along(Road runner)
Whoa be gone(Road runner)

[Thad Komorowski]

That sounded like a good marathon! Reminds me of the good ol' days of Nickelodeon....:)

-Thad:D

[Pietro]

Yeah. It does. I wish the CN here would do the same.

-Pietro

[L00nE2n]

I guess it's only in America he's banned. I wonder if the Mexicans would ever have a Speedy marathon. Most likely they would. Anyway it sounds like a pretty cool "Super Chunk." Actually though if I were running the marathon, I'd have gone Speedy-Road Runner-Speedy-Road Runner-Speedy-Road Runner-etc, and concluded with "The Wild Chase."

[Nelson]

And finish the marathon off with a few of the Daffy/speedy cartoons too.

[Garrett]

Speedy isn't banned in America-he's banned on CN. Look at the Columbia House tapes-one of the eps on the first tape is "Tabasco Road", which CN would never show, since they're babies.

Take it from a fan of Filmation Associates and also of 80s cartoons like G.I. Joe, He-Man, and Dungeons & Dragons. CN has been insulting Filmation in e-mail inquiries (there's threads about it somewhere on the massive message boards at yesterdayland.com), and they're too cheap to take on the kings of 80s animation (which, in addition to the three shows mentioned above, includes shows like She-Ra, Jem, the Transformers, and other shows, primarily liscensed properties' shows), which could draw at least the ratings of Toonami, and likely more.

So, CN will show the worst it has (and, given that they have rights to the H-B library, they've got some real stinkers), just to avoid what they really can show, or purchasing different studios' shows. There's a lot of boobery going on there in the programming department, and there's no reason for any of it.

[hippety hopper]

Originally posted by Nelson
And finish the marathon off with a few of the Daffy/speedy cartoons too.

I love those cartoons with Daffy and Speedy they ALWAYS make me laugh!

[Matthew Hunter]

You have good taste. See, all those people that like to bash Daffy/Speedys are entitled to their opinions, but there ARE people that like them.
-Matthew

[hippety hopper]

Thats a shame,
I didn't know people didn't like the Daffy/Speedy cartoons.
I laugh at anything with Daffy in BUT I think Speedy is the star of the cartoons where both of them star.

[Thad Komorowski]

I always had no problem with Daffy chasing Speedy around. Actually, there was always a good reason for him to be doing it (save job, get reward, or just plain get rid of him for being noisy). I actually like them.

-Thad:D

[Jack]

I don't know, that series is just one I can't warm up to. I liked them a little when I was little, but I could always find something I preferred someplace else. It can make sense for Daffy to want to chase Speedy, but usually the extent of his obsession and complete inabilty to fool the mouse annoys me. I can like it when Daffy loses (he actually loses quite a bit in the 40s and early 50s), but it's only really fun if he one-ups his oponent a few times. I've never thought of Daffy as an unsympathetic villain character.

But I guess everyone is different, you can like whatever you want.


Jack:D

[PorkyandDaffy]

I don't like any of the Daffy/Speedy's, but then again, I don't like any of the post-65 cartoons.

[Matthew Hunter]

A common opinion, you're not alone. Personally, I think the post-1965 shorts are a lot better than those 1963-4 disasters. Some are good, but if you saw that June Bugs marathon chronologically, you can see the decline in the Bugs series alone...it's just progressive death. I think the post-1965 stuff is a lot more enjoyable, somebody cared when they made those, as opposed to an obvious who-cares, wrap-it-up feeling in the last few films of the so-called"classic" era. Prime example: "Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare'.
-Matthew

[happyheathen]

Originally posted by Matthew Hunter
A common opinion, you're not alone. Personally, I think the post-1965 shorts are a lot better than those 1963-4 disasters. Some are good, but if you saw that June Bugs marathon chronologically, you can see the decline in the Bugs series alone...it's just progressive death. I think the post-1965 stuff is a lot more enjoyable, somebody cared when they made those, as opposed to an obvious who-cares, wrap-it-up feeling in the last few films of the so-called"classic" era. Prime example: "Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare'.
-Matthew

I put the death of the LT/MM's at 1960 - there were, what, maybe 4 decent ones after that?
Nelly's Folly
Three Little Bops
War and Pieces
(your choice for the 4th)

[Jack]

Three Little Bops was made in 1957, so it doesn't even count.

I guess I'll agree that the post 60 shorts aren't as good. I like some of the artsy things Jones did, and Frelend did a few decent things, like "Heir Meets Hare" (though, his Sam shorts were almost always great), but overall, there's hardly anything to write home about from 1960 on, really.

I'd have to say the studio made it's absolute best product between the late 30s and mid 50s. Freleng made his best Bugs shorts, and some top knotch musical cartoons desplaying a great sense of timing and beauty. Clampett made his really far out things, what is thought of as WB style. Avery invented several of the most popular characters on earth, and made some good stuff (though, I prefer his MGM stuff, that's when he really took off as a director). Tashlin made funny and innovative cartoons, and the best black and white Looney Tunes of the 40s. You have nearly every WB cartoon Davis did, and he was unique in how he handled the characters. You have McKimson's funniest and most original work. Jones made his funniest cartoons too, hitting his peak in about 1949/1950 (IMO).


Jack:D

[grundle]

I agree that "Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare" is worse than most of the Daffy/Speedy's. But that cartoon was just awful.

The Daffy/Speedys aren't horrible, but I don't have them on my list of cartoons that I would really like to own. Unlike a lot of you, I don't want a complete collection of all the cartoons. I just want the ones that I really like.

I currently have about 5 or 6 of the first 15 Speedys (there were 15 pre-64 Speedys) on tape. I'd like to have all 15 of those. Maybe Goopy Gear could put Mexicali Schmoes and Mexican Boarders on his site. Please? Aren't those the two best that CN refuses to air?

I agree that there are very few good cartoons from after 1960. Woolen Under Where is pretty good, and maybe 5 or 6 others from after 1960. But 1960 was the last year I really consider to be a classic year. Fastest With the Mostest and High Note came out that year. I was never a big fan of Heir Meets Hare, because Sam was never really any kind of a threat. I much prefer later Sam cartoons such as Horse Hare and Wild and Woolly Hare. (But among all Sam cartoons my favorites are the early ones like Hare Trigger and Buccaneer Bunny).

The only 2 post '64 shorts that I like are Corn on the Cop and Pancho's Hideaway.

[Thad Komorowski]

What about "The Unmentionables"? That's a GREAT one, IMO.

-Thad:D

[hippety hopper]

The only Speedy cartoon that I've seen that I was really dissapointed with was "The wild chase".
I mean what the hell was that?!

[Matthew Hunter]

"The Wild Chase" is essentially a cheater cartoon, but one of the best cheaters. Unlike most of the other clip-toons, that just had clips surrounded by new animation, this was essentially a new Road Runner compilation made from old Jones cartoons, (some rotoscoping and some stock footage). Speedy Gonzales and Sylvester are drawn in as extras. Most people either love this or hate it. I like it a lot, it includes 3 of my favorite characters (Wile E., Sylvester, and Road Runner) and attempts to answer a question most any WB fan has asked at some point or another: would Speedy or Road Runner be faster in a race? Its concept makes up for its cheapness, I think.
-Matthew

[Jack]

I barely remember "The Wild Chase," so I can't say whether on or not it is any good, but recall the ending...

I suppose that cartoon makes sense since both of them live in dessert areas, so it might be a novel thing to watch even though I never thought about Speedy and Roadrunner racing (To me, Looney Tunes didn't work like that.) The animation must be pretty good if the cartoon uses old Jones animation from the old studio. How is the animation, anyhow?


Jack:D

[lislebartman]

I have most of the Daffy/Speedy shorts on tape and on the whole, they are okay. They are some I really dislike (any of the Alex Lovy Daffy/Speedy shorts come to mind) and some which are entertaining ("Snow Excuse," "Daffy's Diner," "Swing Ding Amigo"). I believe that Depatie-Freleng did the best they could, being sub-contractors to Warners and all. If we're going to diss a series, how about the post-Chuck Jones Road Runner cartoons? These are very painful to watch (and that horribly repetitious Bill Lava music doesn't help matters either). I'm glad I have chosen not to have any of those on tape.

As for the post-1960 shorts, I agree with Matthew. After many years of production, you can actually see the decline in quality and care that went into making these films. This is not to say that these cartoons are bad; it's just that they are not up to par with what one can expect from a Warners 'toon.

My favorite post-1960 shorts:

"Lighter Than Hare"
"Beep Prepared"
"The Rebel Without Claws"
"War & Pieces"
"Compressed Hare"
"Cannery Woe"

[J Lee]

The real falling-off-the-table moment for WB cartoons was not so much when Maltese, Foster and Pierce left betwenn 1959 and 1961 as when Milt Franklyn died and William Lava became the musical director in 1962.

Even in the bad WB cartoons between 1960-62 at least the musical scores and overall soundtracks were still good. When Lava took over in the middle of "The Jet Cage" it sounded like Warner's took away about half the musicians that were working with Franklin.

Lava did some decent scores when the cartoons were decent ("Woolen Under Where," "To Beep Or Not To Beep," "Claws in the Lease" and "The Unmentionables,") but even there the music screamed out budget-cutting cheapness that showed people at the studio cared a lot less about the cartoons than they once did.

IMHO, Lava and Walter Green's scores for the post-1964 cartoons are less annoying, because the action on screen is far more limited due to the (even lower) budgets WB allowed. My problem with the post-64s is Rudy Larriva was just going through the motions when he made those 11 Road Runner shorts (possibly a hangover from the UPA anti-Warner's snobishness of the 1950s) and the Daffy-Speedy scripts were very forced -- so much so that one of the best ones was "A Taste of Catnip," which at least tried to explain why a duck was so obsessed with catching a mouse.

[Matthew Hunter]

Perhaps what made Bill Lava so different was his style. It'd be fine in a TV show or something, but it's a shock compared to Carl Stalling or Milt Franklyn. why? Let's look at "Porky's Garden" for example. Stalling was not just a musical director, but a musical humorist. When Porky plays football with the pumpkin, it's "Freddy the Freshman" you hear in the background. The chicken with the apple? "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree." the fair? "The Merrie Go Round Broke Down". Also, in many films, he had staple tunes that may or may not have been popular in the day, but fit either in tune or title to the action on screen. If there was a train, "California Here I Come". There was also something called "Arkansas Traveler" he did whenever a hillbilly appeared, and also Beaky Buzzard, who popularized the tune as 'I'm Bringin' Home a baby Bumblebee". Bill Lava just tried to do a musical score, but, it seems, with half the orchestra Stalling/Franklyn had and half the budget, time, and creativity.
Walter Greene the one who scored "Feather Finger", right? I liked the music in that one. Where'd he come from, anyway? I'll have to check that cartoon companion site...is he listed?
-Matthew

[PorkyandDaffy]

THE WILD CHASE wasn't half as good as it could've been. They didn't take as much advantage of the great premise as they should have.

[Jack]

Yeah, Walter Greene scored "Feather Finger," he also scored "Swing Ding Amigo," among others. And some Pink Panter stuff, I think.

Also, how could you forget "The lady In Red?" Stalling liked that one. I once read that there was a joke about Stalling and that song, but I don't know what it is. It's as mysterious as the "Hold Onto Your Hats, Folks, Here We Go Again" joke....

Jack:D

[J Lee]

Lava could do some good scores -- I actually like his music for the catapult scene in "To Beep or Not To Beep" better than Franklyn's original music for the same scene in "Adventures of the Road Runner". It's just that when Lava saw a flat, lifeless cartoon it seemed like he couldn't work up any enthusiasm to do much with the score, turning it instead into a series of clangs, dings and screetches. And the guy had worked for Disney in the late 1950s, so it wasn't as if he had never scored a cartoon before.

BTW -- Lava's clangs, dings and screetches do work much better as part of the musical score for "F-Troop" than they did in any of the WB cartoons.

Walter Greene, meanwhile, was working for Walter Lantz at Universal when Lava apparently got pre-occupied with scoring some TV shows for Warners and took a break from the cartoon work, with Greene taking his place at D-FE, both on the Daffy-Speedy cartoons and on the Pink Panther and Inspector shorts.

[Bobby B]

Originally posted by hippety hopper
The only Speedy cartoon that I've seen that I was really dissapointed with was "The wild chase".
I mean what the hell was that?!


It was probably inspired by "The Great Race", a 1965 WB feature film that's been called "a live action cartoon".