"The Duxorcist", "Night of the Living Duck" and "Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers" are combined to form this TV special.
Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers is a Bugs Bunny short subject directed by Greg Ford and Terry Lennon and released in 1992. The cartoon was intended for theatrical release but eventually aired as part of the television special Bugs Bunny's Creature Features. Its premise is modeled after the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and it is considered subversive and a lampoon of cheaply-drawn animation.
The Duxorcist has Daffy Duck receiving a call from Melissa Duck that her house is being haunted. Daffy quickly rushes over and checks the house. When he opens the oven, it is a frozen wasteland with small people living in an igloo. When he opens the refrigerator, fire leaps out and burns him. When the cupboard door is opened, there is a train heading straight towards him. He quickly slams it and goes to talk to Melissa. He soon finds out that she is possessed, so he gets a book and starts reading corny ghost jokes. The three ghosts that possessed Melissa to jump out and chase Daffy down the street.
Night of the Living Duck finds Daffy Duck reading a scary comic book called "Hideous Tales". The story ends in a cliffhanger, and Daffy rifles his bookcase looking for the next issue ("It's a veritable collector's item!"). A Smogzilla clock falls, and beans Daffy, making him think he's the featured act in a nightclub. All the customers at the nightclub are classic movie monsters. Fortunately, there was a bottle of "Eau de Tormé" in Daffy's dressing room, which makes him sing like Mel Tormé. He sings "Monsters Lead Such Interesting Lives" to the room, and they love it. Then he goes around the room, greeting the patrons, but his good-natured ribbing of "Smogzilla" doesn't go over well with the giant lizard, who eats Daffy. Daffy wakes up, to find himself stuck in a wastebasket, along with the comic he was looking for, with "Smogzilla" on the cover. Daffy scoffs, and the Smogzilla on the cover comes to life, saying, "You were expecting maybe Calvin Coolidge?"
Not the best collection of Halloween spooky shorts but fun to revisit. So sit back and enjoy this 1992 VHS tape.
When you are done make sure to hop on over to the Countdown to Halloween headquarters for more Halloween goodies.
Synopsis: A boy named Harley and his family (brother Austin, mother Beth, and step-father Mitch) attends a taping of The Banana Splits TV show, which is supposed to be a fun-filled birthday for young Harley and business as usual for Rebecca, the producer of the series. But things take an unexpected turn -- and the body count quickly rises. Can Harley, his mom, and their new pals safely escape?
WWWWWWHAT a show from my childhood is coming back! So freaking cool or at least I had hoped so. I have to give Warner Brothers credit for going way outside of the box buy taking a kid's franchise from the 70s and giving them a dark side. And it works well I mean they were creepy when I was a young lad. I was just there for the Adam Ant cartoons. So give these guys a chance to go rogue and see what happens.
Let's clear something up first this movie is really flat for the first forty-five minutes to an hour. My reasoning for this comes down to the dull and stiff cast. This family is so depressing you just never get attached so when the shit finally hits the fan you're not invested. Part of what makes horror fun is your invested in the cast and your pulling for them. In this one you can't wait for them to die - that sounds so bad but it's true.
Once the carnage begins it never slows down allowing the last thirty minutes to be brutally fun. Some kills where cleaver and based on the show where others well they are fine but the whole time we had no tension to build upon thanks to those lame families.
For what its worth Banana Splits is a fun romp that is worth the look, last year this played on SyFy every day during the Halloween season so I'm sure they will bring it back this year. It's a good idea just takes time to develop.
Wow, only a few days to go, man, the time flew fast! I sure hope everyone is having the time of their lives counting down to Halloween. Here is the last Halloween short for you to enjoy.
Popeye the Sailor is an American animated series of comedy short films based on the titular comic strip character created by E. C. Segar. In 1933, Max and Dave Fleischer's Fleischer Studios adapted Segar's characters into a series of Popeye the Sailor theatrical cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures. The plotlines in the animated cartoons tended to be simpler than those presented in the comic strips, and the characters slightly different. A villain, usually Bluto, makes a move on Popeye's "sweetie," Olive Oyl. The villain clobbers Popeye until he eats spinach, giving him superhuman strength. Thus empowered, the sailor makes short work of the villain.
Sticking to the classics here is a nicely restored "Frankenstein's Cat" staring a very young Mighty Mouse. From 1942this animated short is the second cartoon short of the Mighty Mouse theatrical series, even if his name, and the series, at this point was Super Mouse.
A community of mice and birds are living and playing peacefully until the arrival of Frankensteins Cat. The Cat is nothing more than a mechanical cat who wants to eat so he picks a bird to take to his castle. All of the bird's friends follow the victim there but many are given electrical shocks when they confront the cat. A mouse who lives in a supermarket hears a distress signal on his radio and, after eating Limburger cheese, turns himself into the costumed superhero Mighty Mouse. As he flies to the castle, Mighty fights and defeats the mechanical cat as the head falls off and the bird escapes making possible another happy ending.
So enjoy this little gem and let me know in the comments below what you think.
And please make sure your stopping by The Countdown To Halloween page so you can check out the other bloggers celebrating the Spooky Season! If your coming from that site make sure to say Hi in the comment section.
Witch's Night Out
1978 | PG | 28 Min | Family | Leach/Rankin Productions
Director: John Leach
Writers:
John Leach
Isobel Jean Rankin
Stars:
Gilda Radner
Bob Church,
John Leach
A witch, disgruntled by the fact that no one takes Halloween seriously anymore, decides to stir things up and disrupt the social gathering in her old house as well as turn a couple of kids who love monsters into actual monsters.
Yes! Another one off the bucket list this year. I really wanted to dive into this last year as Witch's Night Out celebrated 40 years of entering us on Halloween. Witch's Night Out is an independent animated Halloween film that premiered on NBC on October 27, 1978. Produced by Leach/Rankin Productions, whose only other work was the 1978 movie The World Beyond. Witch's Night Out was the sequel to 1974 special, The Gift of Winter (also on this year's bucket list). It featured the voices of Fiona Reid as Nicely, Catherine O'Hara as Malicious, and Gilda Radner as the washed-up witch.
With its unique art style that was very popular in the 70s' (Fritz the Cat, Heavey Metal) it found a new home on the very popular Disney Channel every year from 1989 to the late 1990s. I did find its way to VHS in 1986 and finally brought back to life via DVD 20 years later. Thanks to its DVD release fans have been going crazy about the nostalgia this Halloween special brings. And for a great reason 40 plus years later Witch' Night Out is still a fun Family special that brings joy to the witching season.
The story takes place in ANYTOWN. The plot involves a depressed witch who is 'summoned' by a pair of children, named Small and Tender, who are upset at not being able to scare anyone on Halloween. The witch turns them into a werewolf and ghost based on their Halloween costumes they wore earlier in the day also their babysitter Bazooey gets the Frankenstein's monster treatment.
Meanwhile, the town is planning a Halloween party at the Witch's house due to them thinking it was abandoned. However, the citizens of the town get offended when the kids show up at the party. The town is not ready for real monsters so they quickly form a mob. During all the chaos the witch loses her magic wand, which gets attached to Malicious, and is unable to turn Bazooey and the kids back to humans. The group is then chased through the town and forest by the mob in true cartoon storytelling fashion, eventually losing them.
Picture found on the official site. But I wanted to post as I ask the question Is she naked?
Malicious and her partner, Rotten, begin to misuse the wand's powers causeing damage to the town but they also summon the witch and the kids to their location. Regaining her wand, the witch uses its power to turn Malicious and Rotten into monsters, while turning the Frankenstein monster, ghost and werewolf back into Bazooey, Tender and Small. Eventually, the witch uses her powers to restore everything to normal, showing the town that she is not evil. The town quickly accepts the witch, and she starts turning people into what they want to be for Halloween!
The artwork is still amazing and the new HD transfer allows the colors and charters to really pop off the screen! Gilda Radner really gets into character and at times you forget she is the voice, and that is a wonderful treat. And before she did Sally from the Nightmare Before Christmas Catherine O'Hara brings us the voice of badass (And Naked?) Malicious.
Witchs Night Out warmed this old man's heart and should warm yours as well. Do not let this one pass you by and watch it for free today on VUDU or TubiTv. If you have Amazon Prime you can catch it there as well with no adds.
And the song man that song Witch Magic is pure 70s gold! Here take a listen.
ComiColor Cartoon, directed by Ub Iwerks, based on "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Released to theatres 1 Oct 1934. Music by the legendary Carl Stalling. The series was the last produced by the studio; after losing distributor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1934, the Iwerks studio's senior company Celebrity Pictures had to distribute the films itself.
Let us start the Countdown to Halloween on a softer side. We all love Halloween Specials no matter your age. Charlie Brown always sparks joy into your season but today we take a look at the 1930's sexpot and often controversial (by today's standards) Betty Boop. Take a few minutes out of your day for a little Max Flischer short where it isHalloween, and Jack Frost in his ice-covered airplane covers the fields below. A chilly scarecrow plucks a wind-blown piece of paper out of the air; it is an invitation to Betty's Hallowe'en party. Maen, while Betty is mass-producing jack o' lanterns with the help of her animal friends and the partygoers, starts to arrive and join with Betty in song. Meanwhile, a hulking gorilla gatecrashes the party and threatens to ruin the evening. Betty disguises as a black cat, and her friends turn the table on the beast and scare him out of the party.
Make sure to get into the spirit by following along with all the Halloween maniacs by heading over to Countdown To Halloween
Lucy has the winning bid on a painting at an auction and asks Vincent Price to appraise it for her. Lucy suspects it may have great value. Remembering that former client Vincent Price is a collector, Lucy calls on him for consultation. Vincent mistakes Lucy for an actress in his new horror movie and proceeds to rehearse a scene in his newly created evil laboratory.
Being a fan of I Love Lucy I knew this show existed but never really watched it. This time around Here's Lucy stars Lucille Ball and her long-time partner Gale Gordon and her real-life children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. It was broadcast on CBS from 1968 to 1974. So Needless to say I was quite young when this was on. I was delighted to see a Halloween style episode starring Vincent Price to use as my springboard.
After being tricked into a winning bid for a bad piece of art at an auction Lucy is struggling to find a way to pay for her mistake. Lucy happens to work for "Carter's Unique Employment Agency" where she learns that the painting could hold something more valuable and thanks to the agency's connections she gets in touch with Prices' Wife to set up an appraisal for the painting. And that's when the fun begins.
Price is filming a new horror film titled Who’s Afraid of Virginia’s Wolfman? He says it has the best title since he starred in The Giant Chihuahua That Ate Chicago. Price thinks Lucy is an actress who has come to his home studio to audition for the role of a victim in his new film. He locks her in the study and straps her to an examining table. Lucy’s terrified reaction makes Price wonder aloud if she uses the Stanislavski method.
When Vincent Price says the painting under the painting could be a Peter Paul Rubens Lucy asks what a Peter Paul and Rubens is worth. Of course, this now becomes a bidding war between her bachelor brother-in-law Harry, played by Gale Gordon. Harry says he could sell the painting to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a tidy profit. Lucy, of course, sells him the painting for 250 clams.
Of course, the joke is on Harry (no spoilers here) but the last laugh goes to Vincent who at the end of the episode, says he charges $250 for art appraisals: “That’s Vincent’s price!”. For never seeing an episode of the show I'm hooked. This was fantastic, funny, and just the right amount of fluffy humor that the world is missing today. Lucy and Vincent lit up the small screen for a solid 10 minutes of per laugh out loud entertainment. I have already jumped to episode one to make sure it was not a fluke and so far so good.
“The Lucy Show” did a monster-themed episode titled “Lucy and the Monsters” (S3; E18) but instead of airing at Halloween it aired in mid-January. I will be checking out that episode tonight. If you have Amazon Prime you can check out the episode and it is worth tracking down.
Hey Lucy...I give you a hearty
4 Bloody Heart's out of 5
Hey, have you checked out the other bloggers counting down to Halloween? Well, why not click the button below or forever be turned into a toad!
Popeye and Son There Goes the Neighborhood
1987 | Color | 30 Min | Animation | TV-Y | Hanna-Barbara
Director: N/A
Writer: Eric Lewald
Stars:
Susan Blu
Philip L. Clarke
Jeff Cohen
Nancy Cartwright
Rip Taylor
Jeffery Tambor
Synopsis:
After 58 years of Popeye and Bluto fighting over Olive Oyl, they've all decided to finally settle down and start families. Popeye and Olive got married and had a son who hates spinach. Bluto also got married and had a son who's a bully to Popeye's kid. Wimpy has also started his own burger chain and tries his best to refrain from eating his own burgers.
Ah, those wonderful Saturday Morning Cartoons of the 80's when animation studios would make a cartoon about anything. You know like Mork & Mindy and Laverne and Shirley, for goodness sake. And they also made shows about established characters suddenly with children, or sometimes as children, such as Muppet Babies and The Flintstone Kids. Now, all of those surely have at least someone who thinks of them fondly. I mean even I like the Police Acadamy cartoon but for some reason, no one loves Popeye and Son. Why? Because it took away Popeye's most defining characteristic - violence. Just imagine if somebody remade Tom and Gerry to be all buddy-buddy, it would be so wrong. Neither Popeye nor Bluto, not even the kids take a shot at one another instead we get a feel-good story.
The animation style would be your typical 80's fashion for the time. We get big hair, skateboards, and strange creatures. Unlike the Popeye I grew up with this one was more about the moral of the story. For example, this episode is a story about not passing judgment just because people are different. Oddly enough Popeye's son Jr. along with Bluto's son Tank never really scuffle sadly Tank is more of a bully this time around.
So when the new kid shows up Tank's gang does nothing but pick on him as to where Jr and his gang are just not sure what to think. Shortly after school, the new kid has invited everybody over for a Birthday Party.
As usual, the kids are too scared to go and typical cartoon parents, of course, tell them they have to go! And thankfully we get to meet his wonderful Family.
Dad
Mom
And OF Course Uncle Frank!
Such a cute family.
Of course, the villagers come crashing in to chase the strange looking family away. Sounds familiar doesn't? Leave it to Bluto and his evil bullying ways to accidentally set the house on fire!
With the families trapped it is up to Jr. to save the day.
Did I mention that Jr., unlike his dad, does not like Spinach? So every time he eats his power up he proclaims loudly "Yuck", I think the only reason I ate spinach was from mom saying but Popeye loves it and he grows big and strong Jr your not much of a role model!
Thank god there was a water tower next to the creepy old house!
I think you know where the rest of this story is going. As for the show you know it was fun to revisit something that has faded from memory. Is it really Popeye The Sailor Man well no but that is ok this show works.
Sadly the show only lasted one season with most episodes on YouTube all thou I was able to check out the whole season on Amazon Prime. If your a fan of Popeye and do not remember this show or in fact have never seen it before give it a go.
3 out of 5 stars
This post is part of the Popeye Blogathon make sure to check out the other great post's.
