It starts out promising enough with Tom and Jerry chasing each other around a museum. There are some decent gags here and Tom and Jerry are the characters we all love. Even this though is not perfect with some obnoxious sound effects and vocal acting for Tom and Jerry (they don't talk only make vocal sounds). After this an ancient artifact transports them to a fantasy world inspired by Chinese mythology. This is where the film really goes downhill. There are some promising ideas here like Tom being hailed as a god and that going to his head.
However, for much of the rest of the movie Tom and Jerry sadly feel like afterthoughts. Instead, we focus on a new group of characters. Unfortunately, these new characters are as bland and forgettable as can be, as well as being obnoxious and annoying. It is impossible to relate to or care about these new characters. Even the design work for these characters is quite ugly. Yet as the film goes on, they continue to get more screen time while Tom and Jerry get less. As the film focuses more on these characters, the story gets messier too. Even for a movie based off a cartoon, this story makes no sense. The whole climax is especially a mess of half-baked plot ideas.
Being a fan of Tom and Jerry, I really wanted to like this movie. Instead, this is a disappointment on every level.
Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church.
Today's musical selection begins with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans with Have You Read the Bible Today. It is important for each of us to read our Bible each and every day. The Bible is not just some book, it is the living breathing word of God. It is easy for our faith and Christian walk to become idle and stagnant and the easiest way for this to happen is to simply not read our Bible. Taking some time each day to read the Bible is the best way for our faith and our walk with God to continue growing and maturing. This recording is the B-side of a 1955 Little Golden Record by Roy and Dale. The A-side was The Bible Tells Me So.
This is followed by Ralph Stanley with Gloryland.
Afterwards is The Marshall Family with Waiting for the Master to Come.
Next comes Johnny Cash with He'll Be A Friend. The song was written by John himself and comes from his 1959 gospel album, Hymns By Johnny Cash. This was John's second album for Columbia records. John would state that his main reason for leaving Sun Records and moving to Columbia is because producer Sam Phillips would not allow him to record a gospel album. This was especially important to John because he never set out to be a country singer or a rock and roll singer, but a gospel singer. Therefore it should come as no surprise that as soon as he left Sun he would set out to make a gospel record. Hymns By Johnny Cash became his first of many gospel albums and proved to be a success with his fans.
Then is Jim and Jessie with Sing Unto Him a New Song. This is the title track of the bluegrass duo's 1966 gospel album.
Now for a new song from Anne Wilson, Who I Am to You.
Today's musical selection concludes with The Sons of the Pioneers with their 1947 recording of The Sea Walker. This song was written by Tim Spencer, one of the group's founding members. Music was a major part of Tim's life from very early on. In fact when he was only 3 years old he was already singing at the church he grew up in. His love of things cowboy and western related also began very early as he had grown in awe of western movies and screen cowboys like Tom Mix, Hoot Gibson, William S. Hart and others were his boyhood heroes. With this it is no surprise that in 1931, he went to California to see how his talents could be used in Hollywood. Yet music always remained a major passion for him. As he worked in a warehouse, he would spend his weekends and time after working going around to all the country music radio shows, getting to know all the people he could. This is how he met fellow founding members of the Sons of the Pioneers, Bob Nolan and Leonard Slye (later Roy Rogers). The Sea Walker as well as being written by Tim also features him as the lead singer. The great Bass vocals in this song are courtesy of Hugh Farr.
Now for a message from the reverend Billy Graham.
Now for the 26th episode of The Lone Ranger TV series.
2 John
1 The elder,
To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth— 2 because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:
3 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
7 I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. 11 Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.
12 I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
13 The children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send their greetings.
Thank you for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again.
Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection begins with Gandy Goose and Sourpuss in Lights Out (1942). During World War 2, multiple cartoons were made featuring these two characters in the army, with Sourpuss as a sergeant and Gandy as a private.
Next we join Daffy Duck in Scrap Happy Daffy (1943). This movie marks Daffy Duck's last appearance in a black and white cartoon. It is also simply a delightful film. The short is directed by Frank Tashlin, who would go on to direct many live action feature films. His Looney Tunes are some of the most cinematic and feature wonderful filmmaking. The use of editing and montage here are excellent and hold up to many of the great live action films of the time. Yet this is also simply a very funny cartoon, including one of the funniest fade-out/fade-ins in the history of cartoons. This cartoon appears in Jerry Beck's book, The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes.
Now for the Screen Songs cartoon, Comin' Round the Mountain (1949). The title song is one I am sure you are all familiar with (so you have no excuse not to sing along). Most of you probably know it as a children's song. However, it was originally a 19th century African American spiritual. The song is believed to have been originally intended to be about the second coming of Christ.
Next comes the only theatrical cartoon short to star the comic strip character Skippy, The Dog Catcher (1938).
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Next comes a great early Mickey Mouse cartoon, Barnyard Battle (1929). This cartoon takes place back when Mickey was a simple country mouse. One thing I love about the early Mickey cartoons is these barnyard settings. They provide the films with a good sense of atmosphere and are full of gags that come from the setting. Like the Our Gang kids these cartoon characters make all sorts of inventions out of simple barnyard objects. This gives the films a charm and creativity that the later Mickey's never fully captured. This was also before Walt came up with the idea to do away with some of the more cartoony gags where characters bodies could do impossible things. While I love many of the Disney studio's shorts of the 1940's and 50's I wish these gags didn't fade away because they are a lot of fun. This cartoon features Mickey going to war with a bunch of cats (that all look like Pete) and in many ways feels like a follow-up to such previous Disney war cartoons as Oswald's Great Guns (1927) and the Alice Comedy, Alice's Little Parade (1926). In fact, many of these gags would have felt right at home in those pre-Mickey cartoons. This movie would be banned in Germany due to the cat's helmets resembling German army helmets.
Now we join the mightiest of superheroes, Mighty Mouse in Mother Goose's Birthday Party (1950).
Next is Porky Pig in Rover's Rival (1937). This was the first Looney Tune to use The Merry Go-Round Broke Down as the theme song. It would remain the Looney Tunes theme song long afterwards. This was also the first cartoon to end with Porky popping out of the drum and saying, "That's All Folks." The film was directed by Bob Clampett, whose black and white Porky cartoons helped solidify him as the character we all know today. Clampett wasn't the only legendary animation director who worked on this short film. One of the animators was Chuck Jones, who really gets to show off his skill here. He gets to deliver some excellent character animation including such scenes as Rover leaving the kennel towards the start, the little pup fetching the dynamite and then bring it back after Porky throws it away and Rover's shock after reading what dynamite is. Bobe Cannon, who would direct some fantastic films for UPA animates the little pup blowing Rover to the ground.
Now comes the Color Rhapsody cartoon, The Little Moth's Big Flame (1938).
Now to close with a song.
Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.
Resources Used
Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin
The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes edited by Jerry Beck
Run Time: 18 minutes. Studios: Larry Semon Productions, Chadwick Pictures Corporation. Directors: Larry Semon, Noel M. Smith. Writers: Larry Semon, Noel M. Smith, Leon Lee. Producer: Larry Semon. Cast: Larry Semon, Dorothy Dwan, James J. Jeffries, Oliver Hardy, Frank Alexander, William Hauber, Grover Ligon.
To many Kid Speed may be just a typical run of the mill silent comedy short. However, it is one that holds a special place in my heart. That is because it is one of the first silent films I ever saw. I was already a fan of some of the Laurel and Hardy talkie films, when my grandpa got me a DVD set of Laurel and Hardy. The set featured Laurel and Hardy's two public domain feature films, the first silent short film the duo made together (The Lucky Dog (1927)), a public service short featuring the two (Tree in a Test Tube (1947)) and a selection of silent short films featuring either Stan Laurel or Oliver Hardy before the two teamed up. This set ended up being my very first introduction to silent film and I quickly became a fan.
This short features Oliver Hardy in the type of role that he most often played in his days before teaming with Stan Laurel. Here he plays a heavy or in other words a villain that goes up against the main comedian. The main comedian here is Larry Semon. Though mostly forgotten today, Larry Semon was incredibly popular in his time. His work often favored fast paced action over characterization and story. His best works may not have the artistry or inventiveness of the films of Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton, but they move quickly enough that they still can entertain.
In this film Larry Semon and Oliver Hardy play rivals participating in a car race hoping to win the affections of a wealthy businessman's (who is sponsoring the race) daughter.
Kid Speed is one of Semon's best films. True to the title, this film moves at a very quick speed. This is the type of comedy that Semon's sensibilities were best suited for. The gags and action come so quick here, that it almost doesn't matter if they are actually funny. The pure energy is enough to make the film entertaining. Yet despite this there are actually some pretty good slapstick gags here. The boxing scene (featuring former heavy weight champion Jim Jeffries) especially always puts a smile on my face. Most of the action though is more fun and energetic than actually funny. The climatic race sequence also features some very impressive stunt work that still looks great today.
The following is an exhibitors review from Moving Picture World.
"KID SPEED. (Larry Semon Special Comedy). Star, Larry Semon. A real comedy with more thrills and spills than ever put before in a comedy. We class it as the very best comedy for many moons. James J. Jeffries in the cast helps get 'em in. Buy "Kid Speed." Boost it and it will not fail to please. Tone, good. Sunday, yes. Appeals to everyone. Ned Pedigo, Pollard Theatre (800 seats), Guthrie, Oklahoma."
The following is a review from The Moving Picture World.
"The first subtitle tells you all about it: 'The tale of two bold men, both loving a maiden fair. To decide the case, they entered a race, the loser to take the air.' In this Larry Semon, special comedy produced by Chadwick Pictures Corporation, the star is all bent to on winning a girl. Opposition is furnished by another automobile racer, and the two of them have it hot and heavy on the racetrack with a bit of dirty work at the crossroads. There you have the story in a nutshell, except for some hilarious, slapstick developments in a blacksmith shop presided over by James J. Jeffries, former champion fighter. This Semon subject is a pippin of a thriller comedy. The racing scenes are some of the most exciting to ever be seen on screen, with much exploding of the villain's dynamite, much skidding on the turns, and some reckless driving through houses and fences. Woven among the thrills are real bits of comedy, with Semon playing a fairly straight role and excelling at it. Among the players are Dorthy Dawn, Oliver N. Hardy, Frank Alexander, William Hauber and Grover S. Ligdon. - S.S.
Moving Picture World, 1924
To watch this delightful comedy short, you can click on the YouTube video below.
Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church.
Today's musical selection begins with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans singing In the Sweet By and By. This song came about because of a friendship between composer, Joseph Webster and poet, Dr. Sanford Fillmore Bennett. One day Webster was depressed and Dr. Bennett recognized this. Dr. Bennett asked his friend what was wrong. Webster replied, "Oh nothing. Everything will be alright by and by." These words brought up an idea in Bennett and he wrote down three verses and a chorus to this song as soon as he could. He handed it to his friend saying, “Here is your prescription, Joe.” Webster loved the lyrics and wrote music for them in practically no time at all. Dr. Bennett later said, “It was not over thirty minutes from the time I took my pen to write the words before two friends with Webster and myself were singing the hymn.” The hymn was first published in 1868 and went on to great fame since. This version of the song comes from Roy and Dale's 1973 gospel album, In the Sweet By and By.
This is followed by Rex Allen and Patti Paige with their 1950 recording of Farther Along. They are backed up on this recording by The String Dusters and Jerry Byrd.
Afterwards is The Marshall Family with When I Wake Up To Sleep No More.
Next comes The Sons of The Pioneers with their 1937 recording of One More River to Cross. Our good friend Leonard Slye (aka Roy Rogers) takes the lead vocal here, but like many of the best Sons of the Pioneers recordings, the highlight is the group's great harmonies. The incredible Hawaiian steel guitar player, Sam Koki joins the boys on this recording and does a fine job.
Then comes Porter Wagoner and The Blackwood Brothers Quartet with I'm Using My Bible For a Road Map. This comes from their 1966 gospel album, The Grand Old Gospel.
Now we remember Dolly Parton with her beloved self-penned song, Coat of Many Colors. This song was based off of Dolly's own childhood.
Today's musical selection ends with another song remembering the late great Dolly Parton, with her recording of Power in the Blood.
Now for a message from the Reverand Billy Graham.
Now for the 25th episode of TV's The Lone Ranger.
Book of Jude
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,
To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
The Sin and Doom of Ungodly People
3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
8 In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. 9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.
11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.
12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
A Call to Persevere
17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
Doxology
24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again.
As many of you know, we almost never got to see this movie. Warner Brothers didn't release it originally instead using it as a tax write off. Luckily for us, Ketchup Entertainment picked it up and gave it the theatrical release we were all hoping for. When this movie started to get such great reviews, I was initially skeptical. I was wondering if it was actually as great as us Looney Tunes fans wanted it to be or if people were just so happy to actually see it that they exaggerated how good it was. I am happy to report that this is a wonderful movie.
I have rarely heard an audience laugh so much in a movie theater at a modern comedy than I did here. And I went to a late-night showing, so this was not an audience of kids but of adults who grew up with and love these characters. Simply put this is just a darn funny movie. In the style of classic Looney Tunes cartoons, this film offers one gag after another. What is even more amazing is that nearly every gag hits here perfectly. There are times when the space between very funny gags is only enough to take a breath between laughing. Also like the classic Looney Tunes shorts, every type of humor is employed. There is simple silly slapstick, brilliantly clever satire and everything in-between. What most impressed me is the slapstick gags. It is rare to find a modern comedy that captures the perfect sense of timing that was so evident in the classic Looney Tunes shorts. Yet the timing of these slapstick gags is absolutely perfect.
What is more surprising though is that the storyline is also great as well. We actually truly care about and relate to the characters' plights. This is not only true of the classic cartoon characters but the live action humans as well. Will Forte as the live action lead is fantastic and brings some real heart to what is still a silly movie. There are scenes where we want to stand up and cheer for what happened.
If I had to fault this movie it would be on the basis of the combination of live action and animation. Sometimes these two don't always blend together extremely well. There are times when the animated characters and the live action characters, don't seem to fully occupy the same space the way they did in Space Jam or Back in Action. However, this flaw is completely overcome but how great everything else is.
If you are a Looney Tunes fan (like me) this is a must watch.
Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again, it is time for some animated treasures.
Today's cartoon selection begins with Midnight Frolics (1938). This Columbia Color Rhapsody cartoon was directed by none other than Ub Iwerks, co-creator of Mickey Mouse and at one time Walt Disney's right-hand man.
Now for more singing and dancing ghosts here is the Terry Toons cartoons, Seeing Ghosts (1948).
Though Chuck Jones would be one of the main contributors into Daffy Duck changing from his early wild, unhinged and well Daffy personality into the later self-absorbed and greedy duck, Chuck's earliest cartoons with Daffy featured the duck as completely crazy. In my opinion one of the best of these films is To Duck or Not To Duck (1943). This is a wild and crazy and very funny cartoon that is instantly quotable. This short has fallen in the public domain and therefore those who collect VHS and DVDs of classic cartoons will instantly recognize it. A review in The Film Daily stated, "Leon Schlesinger has turned out another ace Technicolor cartoon featuring the characters of Daffy Duck and the Goofy hunter."
When Ub Iwerks had his own cartoon studio, it unfortunately had the same problem that many forgotten studios did. Ub's studio struggled to find a character that would fully win over movie audiences, the way the Warner Brothers and Disney characters did. One of the forgotten characters from the studio was Willie Whopper, a young boy who told great tall tales and tried to pass them off as stories from his life. Here is one of the Willie Whopper cartoons, Rasslin' Around (1934). While his cartoons have a certain charm to them, it is easy to see why the character never took off like Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny.
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Now we join Dingbat in The Hard-Boiled Egg (1948). This is the first of five theatrical cartoons starring this crazy yellow bird.
Today's cartoon selection concludes with one of Walt Disney's great Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons, The Ocean Hop (1927). Like the early Mickey Mouse cartoon, Plane Crazy (1928), in this film Oswald takes to the skies in his self-made plane. Here though Oswald is in a race against a variety of competitors including an early version of the later Mickey Mouse nemesis Peg Leg Pete. When it comes to the early Disney cartoons, the animator most cartoon buffs think of is Ub Iwerks. However, Iwerks animates surprisingly little footage in this movie. Still, what he does animate shows his skill to its finest level. For instance, there is an incredible scene (animated by Iwerks) in which Oswald's "plane" is spinning wildly out of control and rotating around the sky. Rollin "Ham" Hamilton's animation looks crude in comparison with other Disney animators, but there is some great acting in his scenes that come across perfectly. This is something that is well seen when Oswald tells a couple of mice to blow up a balloon. Hugh Harman animates the majority of action in this cartoon including a great scene in which Pete uses a stick of gum to prevent Oswald from winning. There is unfortunately a missing scene from this film. That scene involves the dog falling into a taxi's engine and coming out as a series of sausages. While that joke sounds mean spirited today, it was a common joke during this time period and Walt Disney himself had previously used a similar gag in the Alice Comedy, Alice’s Mysterious Mystery (1926). These Oswald cartoons were later released in the 1930's with new soundtracks and unfortunately scenes shuffled around and left out.
Next is the Mickey Mouse cartoon, Orphan’s Picnic (1936). The original story outline for this film had the orphan mice playing various practical jokes on Mickey. However in the finished film, these jokes are aimed at Donald instead.
Now let us close with a song.
Thank you for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.
Resources Used
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin
Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein
