Saturday Morning Long Ago
I saw an item in the paper about Johnny Depp's portrayal of Willy Wonka (no, haven't seen it but intend to); some people have seen a resemblance between his pale, prissy, slightly whacked interpretation and Michael Jackson. Depp says Jackson was not the inspiration; he remembered hosts of local children's shows he watched, and went for the slightly milquetoasty and strange manner he thought they projected.
Which made me think, of course, of Mr. Peppermint, our home-grown cartoon host
http://www.wfaa.com/s/dws/spe/2002/wfaafifty/sets3.html
. . . who could have served as such an inspiration. But then there was the other side of the coin:
http://home.texoma.net/~kgreg/slam_bang.html
I thought of my sibs while playing the theme song -- what a time trip! We watched Icky Twerp and Slam Bang Theater religiously. I loved The Three Stooges and Our Gang.
. . . and then there were the commercials by Artie Grindle ("I wanna sell YOU a car!"), who followed me to Florida and went into politics. I don't know how many kids were buying his used cars, but he relentlessly showed them between cartoons on Saturday morning; someone would drive a car up in front of Artie, who would take a big cardboard sign with the price on it off the windshield, hold the card up and yell about it for fifteen seconds, then throw the sign down as the next car drove up.
One car, priced at $28, gave up the ghost on camera and had to be pushed off screen by two of Grindle's henchmen.
Which made me think, of course, of Mr. Peppermint, our home-grown cartoon host
http://www.wfaa.com/s/dws/spe/2002/wfaafifty/sets3.html
. . . who could have served as such an inspiration. But then there was the other side of the coin:
http://home.texoma.net/~kgreg/slam_bang.html
I thought of my sibs while playing the theme song -- what a time trip! We watched Icky Twerp and Slam Bang Theater religiously. I loved The Three Stooges and Our Gang.
. . . and then there were the commercials by Artie Grindle ("I wanna sell YOU a car!"), who followed me to Florida and went into politics. I don't know how many kids were buying his used cars, but he relentlessly showed them between cartoons on Saturday morning; someone would drive a car up in front of Artie, who would take a big cardboard sign with the price on it off the windshield, hold the card up and yell about it for fifteen seconds, then throw the sign down as the next car drove up.
One car, priced at $28, gave up the ghost on camera and had to be pushed off screen by two of Grindle's henchmen.
posted by Kathy at 7/24/2005 01:44:00 PM
8 Comments:
Did some surfing around and many of the critics are insistent about the Jackson connection while audiences are not so sure. I've only seen the trailers but a resemblance didn't occur to me; now, of course, I'll be looking for it when I watch the film.
All the Weissmuller Tarzans are fun. I loved Cheetah getting into Jane's toiletries in the hotel room . . .
But as you say, funny that Ebert would be so insistent about it.
Haley just called me as she came out of the movie and I asked her about it -- she said she didn't think of Jackson, but someone else . . . damn, senior moment. But of course Doo's mind wouldn't run like anyone else's, I guarantee you.
I loved the picture of the "Nightmare" hallway -- except that it's upside down. I loved that intro as much as the movies.
"When the night falls . . . and the shadows become deep, and black . . . and the silent pall of EV-il settles upon the earth . . . who dares to search . . . who dares to SEEK what walks in the night . . . IF you dare . . . welcome . . . to ---
NIGHTMARE!" (thunder crashing, evil laughter)
I forgot, or never knew, that the character's name was Gorgon.
Haley made the same point about Willy Wonka being a scary character -- no doubt he really is; he ends up fond of Charlie but watched the other kids go through some scary stuff. The scene in the tunnel with the chickens getting their heads chopped off -- what weirdo thought of that?
One Banana
Two Banana
Three Banana
Four
Four Bananas make a bunch
and so do many more
Over hill and highway
the Banana Buggies go
Comin' out to bring you
The Banana Splits Show
As a young teenager I used to get up at 9 a.m. on Saturdays, make myself a big breakfast, and eat it while watching the Banana Splits and H. R. Pufnstuf. Adored Jack Wild. I remember this as a solitary practice so my sibs must've had other interests. But I was nuts about both shows.
Here you go, Trace -- I was singing along to the good ol' theme song this norning. Bet my neighbors loved it at 6 ayem: TRA LA LAAAAA, TRA LA LA LAAAAAA . . .
http://www.melaman2.com/cartoons/
singles/banana.html
(remove the space before "singles" if you cut 'n' paste)
Does Lee play . . .okay, now I'm forgetting EVERYthing -- the spy Charlie thinks is evil but who turns out . . . well never mind if you haven't seen it?
I'm confusing Christopher Lee with Christopher Plummer, who played such a great bad 'un in "Nicholas Nickleby" -- one of my favies.
Yes, Arabian Nights! And there was a live action series on Banana Splits, too -- like a Treasure Island? There was some blond chick in a red shirt who was always getting tied up.
Yes, H. R. Pufnstuf had Witchy Poo and Jack and his Magic Flute. WP, Billie Hayes, has her own website. I was sorry to see that Jack Wild has not had an easy time of it after childhood stardom . . .
I don't know what "nipadoo" means but it's something you can whisper conspicuously in front of outsiders to make them feel uncomfortable . . .
Also liked "Where the Action Is" which was more of a teenaged show and had Paul Revere and the Raiders on it -- I was a fan.
Oh yeah -- remember I saved my lunch money and had those little "Watch the Monkees" fliers made up to distribute around White Lake Hills, believing that would help the series stay on the air?
Ah, youth.
He was a cutie but "my" Monkee was Peter Tork.
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