Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church.
Today's musical selection begins with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans with Jesus Loves the Little Children. Jesus would state, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." There is no doubt that Jesus did love the little children and he loves us big children too. If we will humble ourselves and become like little children, the blessings he has for us are immeasurable.
This is followed by Carl T. Sprague with his 1927 recording of Last Great Round Up.
Afterwards comes Susan Raye with What a Friend We Have in Jesus. This hymn still has an important message for us today. When it seems like there is no one to turn to at any moment of our lives, Jesus is always there. He is always there to listen to us, no matter what. More than that though he deeply cares about every single one of us. A better friend than Jesus could never be found no matter how hard we try. What a friend we have in Jesus indeed. This version of the song comes from Susan's 1973 gospel album, Hymns by Susan Raye.
Then comes Zach Williams and Walker Hayes with Jesus' Fault. This comes from Zach's 2022 album, A Hundred Highways. This album is not to be confused with the Johnny Cash album of the same name.
Next is The Sons of the Pioneers with their 1941 recording of What Wonderful Joy. Though many don't want to give their loves to Jesus because they don't want to give up their sins, the truth is that the joy Jesus can give us is greater than anything we may get out of sinning. This song is about the incredible joy that only Jesus can provide. This recording is very much a duet between two members of the band. Lloyd Perryman and Bob Nolan share the main vocal duties on this song, and both sounds as great as ever.
This is followed by Rhonda Vincent with You Don't Love God If You Don't Love Your Neighbor. This song comes from her 2001 album, The Storm Still Rages.
Afterwards is Vern Gosdin with If Jesus Comes Tomorrow (What Then).
Today's musical selection ends with Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings with The Greatest Cowboy of Them All. This is a song about heroes and all of us have our heroes. While these heroes may be entertainers, writers, political figures, intellectuals and humanitarians, when you put any of them up against Jesus Christ, they simply pale in comparison. This because even someone who is great by human standards is nothing when compared to the glory of God.
Now for a sermon from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Today's movie is Cowboy from Sundown (1940) starring Tex Ritter.
Psalm 146
1 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.
6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
he remains faithful forever.
7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
8 the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
10 The Lord reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord.
Thanks 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 a real classic, Falling Hare (1943). This cartoon features one of the few characters to get the upper hand of Bugs, the gremlin. Despite only appearing in this one short, the character has proven quite popular and has appeared in quite a few Looney Tunes spin offs. The original title for this movie was going to be Bugs Bunny and the Gremlin. However, since Disney was working on an animated feature film about Gremlins (a movie that would never be finished), the studio took the word Gremlin out of the title of this cartoon to appease the Disney studio. The following is a review from The Film Daily, "Literally and figuratively, Bugs Bunny, already a prime favorite among current cartoon characters, gets off to a flying start in the distribution season just started. The buck-toothed, long-eared clown meets up with a gremlin and both find themselves aloft in an airplane, with Bugs or what's left of him being darn glad to get back to earth. There are plenty of laughs throughout. The tough Bunny, if this initial '43-'44 offering of his producer Leon Schlesinger, is any criterion, is in for a further rise in popularity among fans who like humor. Of course, the reel is in Technicolor. It was supervised by Robert Clampett and animated by Roderick Scribner. Warner Foster wrote the story and Carl W. Stalling handled the musical direction." This movie amounts to one of my favorite Bugs Bunny cartoons and it is appropriately in Jerry Beck's book, The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes.
Next comes the Fox and the Crow in Unsure Runts (1946). In short film, the crow tries to sell the fox some accident insurance and goes to great lengths to do so. Though forgotten today, the fox and the crow were Columbia's most popular cartoon stars and would even get a successful comic book series (published by DC Comics).
Now for the Fleischer Screen Song cartoon, The Stein Song (1930). The song in this film is performed by Rudy Vallee and his Connecticut Yankees. Vallee was one of the most popular crooners of his day.
For the most part characters that originally appeared in Disney's animated feature films did not appear in the studio's short films. There were however exceptions to this. One of the most interesting of these exceptions was The Winged Scrouge (1943), which features the Seven Dwarfs. This is not your typical Disney short. During the time when the studio was making a series of South American films (some of them celebrating South American culture and some made for South American audiences) as part of the US's Good Neighbor Policy, The Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (or the CIAA) commissioned the studio to make a series of films about health and safety. This is the marked the first of these films and the only one to use already established characters. Originally going to be titled The Mosquito and Malaria. Because of the nature of this film, it was made with the CIAA working closely with the Disney story team. The CIAA in fact sent specialists to work with the Disney story crew. Working with them on this film were Dr. Edward C. Ernest, acting director of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau and Assistant U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. E.R. Coffey. The studio came up with a format of the first part of the film being played completely seriously and essentially a lecture. The second part would introduce the dwarfs and bring some slapstick comedy into the film. However with this second part Walt warned, "The only reason to bring in the dwarfs is to add a little interest; when you get into gags and impossible things, you're not accomplishing the job you are supposed to do - show in a simple way how to get rid of the mosquitoes. If you make it look like a tremendous job, they'll say, hell, I'll take the mosquitoes." Even with this not being your typical Disney short, it had a great cast of animators, which even included two of Walt's future Nine Old Men, Milt Kahl and Frank Thomas. John McManus animates much of the first more serious part of the film. Milt Kahl animates the introduction of the dwarfs, Doc and Sneezy in a boat, Happy spraying oil, Dopey with a dipper and an oil can, Bashful and the birds applying the green color, Sleepy digging the ditches, Grumpy chopping the stump, dwarfs with the deer and the cart, Doc with the wheelbarrow and Grumpy with the Woodpecker. Frank Thomas animates the sequence with Dopey and the mosquitos. Harvey Tombs animates Happy with the rain barrel, the dwarfs hanging the screens, Sleepy with the birds and the dwarfs snoring.
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Now for the New Three Stooges cartoon, Goofy Gondoliers (1965).
Next comes a wonderful, animated short from Disney, Goliath II (1960). This film was released to theaters alongside the live action Disney movie, Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus (1960) and the live action documentary short Gala Day at Disneyland (1959) creating a full Disney night at the movies. This short film was directed by Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman, who would later direct, The Jungle Book (1967). This cartoon has a very similar look to that later feature.
Up next is the Van Beuren, Rainbow Parade cartoon, A Waif's Welcome (1936). The Rainbow Parade series was started by Burt Gillett. The Van Beuren studio was no receiving the same success that the Disney or Fleischer studios were and it was felt that brining in a successful director in to head the animation studio was the best solution. So Burt Gillett who had directed the most popular cartoon short at that time, Disney's The Three Little Pigs (1933) would become the head of the whole cartoon studio. There were however constant riffs between him and those who had worked at the studio for a long time. Animator Jack Zander would later say, "He worked like Walt did. We'd do pencil tests. Of course when we were working at Van Beuren, nobody ever heard of a pencil test. We'd just animate and they'd ink and paint it and that's all there was to it, He initiated pencil tests and movieolas. We'd have to animate this stuff and look at it; he'd look at it and then he'd make changes. It was a very stimulating thing. The only ones who had any trouble were the real old animators, animating for years in a set manner. They found it to difficult to adjust." Animator I. Klein went much further on the last comment stating, "The people who were there before him felt, 'why the hell did they take this swell-head from Disney?' They often took that attitude, you know; very seldom did they say, 'Gee that's great - a good man came in,'" However one can't argue that some of the animosity was partly Gillett's fault. Klein also stated, "He was constantly firing people. There was a swinging door all the time, people coming and going." The following is an exhibitor's review from The Motion Picture Herald, "A Waif's Welcome: Rainbow Parade Cartoons - Just a colored cartoon and not so hot. Why not stay by Molly Moo Cow. C.L. Niles - Niles Theatre, Anamosa, Iowa. General Patronage."
Now let us 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
The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes edited by Jerry Beck
Two Gun Mickey marked the directorial debut of Ben Sharpsteen. About Sharpsteen Walt would write, “Concerning Ben Sharpsteen and his contributions to the development of the Disney organization, I want to say he played a very important part.” Sharpsteen was born in Tacoma, Washington, on November 4, 1895, although he was raised in Alameda, California. He studied agriculture at the University of California at Davis. In 1917 he joined the marines serving in World War 1. After the war he went into animation working for the Hearst International Film Service. Later he came to work at the Max Fleischer Studio. A mutual friend introduced Ben to Walt. Walt valued Sharpsteen so much that he hired the artist at $125 a week. This salary was higher than even Walt's. It was also higher than Walt's head animator at the time, UB Iwerks who was only making $90 a week. In 1933, Ben would establish an in-house animation training program. He would also supervisor new animators. In this he was assisted by his cousin in law George Drake. Few people at the Disney studio were as hated by the artists as Drake, who was known for firing people for no good reason. Ben's opinion on some of these new artists was not much higher. Ben once told an inbetweener, "Listen, you artists are a dime a dozen and don't you forget it." Starting with this short, Ben would direct 21 cartoon shorts for Disney. He would then move on to features as soon as the studio started making them, first as a sequence director then a supervising director then a production supervisor. He would even get involved with the studio's live action output, producing the True-Life Adventure nature documentaries then the anthology Disneyland TV series. Ben retired in 1962. He would pass away on December 20, 1980, in Calistoga, California.
Though today, Mickey Mouse is known as a company mascot and a straight man to the more comedic characters of Donald and Goofy, in the 1920's and early 1930's Mickey was often cast as a fun-loving adventurer and a Fairbanks-ian action hero. One of his earliest screen appearances was The Galloping Gaucho (1928), where he swoops in and saves Minnie from Pete in a true Fairbanks inspired role. He is a tough character in that film with a fearless devil-may-care attitude, even drinking, smoking and being quite forward with Minnie. That cartoon would be remade as The Catus Kid (1930) with Mickey fully in the guise of an American cowboy. With the early Mickey being a rugged adventurer, it was only natural that he would play a cowboy again in Two Gun Mickey. This film would also follow the basic premise of The Galloping Gaucho with Mickey saving Minnie from the villainous Pete.
Though Pete is best known today as Mickey's nemesis, he actually dates back further than Mickey, first appearing in Walt Disney's silent Alice Comedy, Alice Solves the Puzzle (1925). Walt and co. would continue to use the character as an adversary for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in that character's silent cartoons.
Walt Disney provides the voice of Mickey here as he does in most of the Mickey cartoons of this era. Marcellite Garner voices Minnie. The voice of Pete is by Billy Bletcher. Billy Bletcher is one of the main voices for cartoon villains in the 1930's. Most famously he provided the voice for the Big Bad Wolf for Disney's Three Little Pigs (1933). As well as his work at Disney, he also provided the voice of Papa Bear from Chuck Jones' Three Bears cartoons at Warner Brothers. Before his cartoon work, Bletcher appeared in many live action comedy shorts during the silent era.
In true cowboy fashion, this film uses traditional folk songs on its soundtrack. These include She'll be Coming Around the Mountain and Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie. She'll be Coming Around the Mountain is a folk song based off the Christian Hymn When the Chariot Comes. Two of the earliest known recordings of the song are Henry Whitter in 1924 and Vernon Dalhart in 1925. The earliest known written version of Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie appeared in John Lomax's Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads in 1910. The earliest known recording was by singing cowboy Carl T. Sprague in 1926.
The following is an exhibitors' review from an issue of the Motion Picture Herald (Dated December 7, 1936).
"Two Gun Mickey: Mickey Mouse - The Mickey and Silly seem to go over well second-run. Would advise everyone to pick them up. - C.L. Niles, Niles Theatre, Anamosa, Iowa, General Patronage."
This cartoon was released to theaters on December 15, 1934. It would be reissued to theaters in 1936. The film would make its TV debut with an episode of The Mickey Mouse Club that aired on October 7, 1955. It would later appear again on an episode that aired on March 27, 1958. It is available on the DVD set Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Black and White.
Animation
Leonard Sebring (Minnie in at iris; horses stop at puddle of water; C.U. horses-Minnie falls into water; Mickey and horse laugh-talk; Minnie sitting in puddle)
Archie Robin (Mickey's horse drinks- let's water out; Mickey and Minnie on horse)
George Drake (L.S. Minnie into town; Lasso pans to limb)
Nick George (M.C.U. Pete - Minnie "hello keed" C.U. poster; Pete sees Minnie coming; Pete accosts Minnie)
Jack Kinney (Minnie in bank; Mickey on mt. - sees smoke; L.S. Mickey sees chase; Shadow truck back to Mickey; Mickey throws lasso)
Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman (Minnie on to the wagon; Pete on horse-whistles; Pete Pursuing; Minnie on springs out -reins shot away; Minnie across log - Pete follows; L.S. Mickey and Minnie towing Pete)
Don Towsley (Bandits leave town; C.U. Cellar Door; Pete and gang)
Ugo D'Orsy (Minnie startled - dips down around bend - gang follows; Minnie-wheels are shot off wagon; Minnie ono bridge-bridge shot away; L.S. bridge shot away- bandits reconnoiter)
Louie Schimdt (Horse and Mickey into action)
Paul Allen (Mickey to rescue on inclined pan; Mickey downhill; Horse skids to stop; Mickey firing)
Earl Hurd (Minnie in chariot)
Cy Young (Last of wagon torn away wheel spins; Bandit cactus deflated hole reamed in ledge - bandits fall through; Bandits around catus - mushroom gag; Bandits firing from pinnacle; Bandits down pinnacle X-Dix; Mickey across chasm - horse bites Pete)
Art Babbitt (Minnie escapes Pete - rec Posses logs; Pete tilts log; Pete shakes leg; Pete catches Minnie - bites gun muzzle; Pete in air; Mickey catches Pete in pistol - shoot; Pete in air - shoe; Pete lands on Mickey - fight; Mickey puts on hat; Mickey into clothes - Mickey kicks him over chasm; Mickey and Pete fight on ledge; C.U. Pete pulls knife; Mickey eludes Pete - hangs onto root; Pete gets cactus on fanny. Ledge breaks)
Ed Love (Minnie running on log)
Ed Smith (Minnie grabs top of log; Minnie falls; Pete falls past Mickey; Pete onto cactus X-Dis)
Frank Oreb (L.S. Bandits)
Roy Williams (Mickey fires a la artillery; bandit sneaking; Bandit shot in fanny - leaps off cliff; Mickey fires like machine gun)
Eric Larson (Mickey sees shadow - throws gun on lasso)
Story: Minnie is out west and wishes to take care of herself. Pete tries to tell her to let him help her, but she refuses. When it turns out the Pete is a bandit and he pursues Minnie, Mickey rushes to her rescue.
Here is the original version of this film.
And here is the colorized version.
Resources Used
Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by David Gerstein and J.B. Kaufman
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin
The Life and Times of Ward Kimball: Maverick of Disney Animation by Todd James Pierce.
A mostly successful reimagining of the Dracula legend.
This movie reimagines Dracula as tragic romantic figure (almost similar to the titular character in The Mummy (1932)), who has waited 400 years to be reunited with his dead wife. For the chance reunited with her, he will do anything no matter how violent nor how it affects others. This take on the character creates a quite engaging and emotionally charged story that ends on a surprisingly emotional note. Caleb Landry Jones' performance perfectly captures that this is a horrifying character but also one whose love for his wife marks his one true virtue. You both get a sense of a horrifying and scary monster while also believing that he truly loves this woman. This creates a truly engaging character, who gives an emotional resonance to this horror story. Christoph Waltz as the priest, Zoë Bleu as his reincarnated wife and Matilda De Angelis as a creepy female vampire round out this great cast.
Being directed by Luc Besson, naturally this movie has a very stylized look to it. This look is one of the film's greatest assets. The whole movie has a delightfully gothic look to it that perfectly suits this type of story perfectly. Even the brighter colored scenes (such as those at the carnival) have a dark and sinister look to the way they look. There are visual moments here that will stay in your mind long after the movie finishes.
These movie does have some rather large flaws though. Some scenes that are supposed to feel sexually charged are instead unintentionally funny. One gory scene feels like it is only there because modern horror movies are supposed to have them. As great as this film looks there are also moments of surprisingly bad CGI, especially those involving the gargoyles.
This is a very flawed film but the things that work here are fantastic.
This is the third segment of the fifteenth (and final) episode of The All-New Super Friends Hour, unlike most other Super Friends formats, this one had hour long episodes that were made up of various shorter cartoons. The first segment would be an adventure staring two members (or three in some cases as Batman and Robin would often team with another Super Friend) of the Super Friends. The second would be a morality play staring the Wonder Twins. The third would be a typical half hour Super Friends adventure. The fourth and last segment would feature one of the main Super Friends (or two in the case of Batman and Robin) teaming up with a special DC Comics guest.
In this cartoon, the villainous Gentleman Ghost (a real comic book supervillain who is called Gentlemen Jim in this episode) once again rises from the grave. He wants to get revenge on Superman and Wonder Woman who stopped his evil deeds the last time he rose from the grave. All the Super Friends team up together to stop him.
This is a wonderful episode. There is a real atmospheric feel here that gives the whole segment a great Halloween-y feel. This is especially seen very well in the great gothic background art. This artwork is reminiscent of the best Scooby-Doo episodes. Gentleman Ghost is a wonderful villain here. He is actually kind of creepy for a Super Friends villain. The way he turns people into ghosts makes him especially creepy. He also feels like a real threat to our heroes here, creating a great sense of suspense throughout. The climax is especially exciting and effectively creepy. Though the villain's plan is aimed against Superman and Wonder Woman, this episode makes great use of each Super Friend.
This is simply a very exciting and atmospheric episode.
This is the second segment of the fifteenth (and final) episode of The All-New Super Friends Hour, unlike most other Super Friends formats, this one had hour long episodes that were made up of various shorter cartoons. The first segment would be an adventure staring two members (or three in some cases as Batman and Robin would often team with another Super Friend) of the Super Friends. The second would be a morality play staring the Wonder Twins. The third would be a typical half hour Super Friends adventure. The fourth and last segment would feature one of the main Super Friends (or two in the case of Batman and Robin) teaming up with a special DC Comics guest.
In this cartoon two teenage girls get in trouble when they stowaway on a yacht. The Wonder Twins must save them.
This is one of the better Wonder Twins cartoons. While the dialogue can still feel overly didactic, the action is pretty fun here. This is thanks to some strong artwork, including some great effects animation. The climax is actually kind of exciting. The two teenage girls though are as bland as can be and speak only in forced dialogue that drives the message home further.
