Thursday, December 4, 2003

More Pooh

And here's another bit of irony in the Winnie the Pooh case. The lady suing Disney is supporting Michael Eisner in his current battle.

• Posted at 9:59 PM · LINK

'Tis the Season for Magoo

Cartoon Network is running Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol on December 10, which I guess means that NBC, which last year announced they'd be running it in prime-time but never did, won't be running it this year, either. The TiVo listing, like NBC's press release, erroneously lists June Foray in the voice cast.

• Posted at 9:53 PM · LINK

He'll Have Pooh Try On the Gloves

Here's an Associated Press report, which I reprint in full...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The holders of the North American rights to the Winnie the Pooh characters have hired celebrity attorney Johnny Cochran to represent them in their 12-year legal fight with The Walt Disney Co. The heirs of Stephen Slesinger have alleged that Disney owes them millions of dollars because they miscalculated royalties due from the sales of Pooh dolls, books and other merchandise for years. Disney has denied the allegations. The Slesinger's hiring of Cochran is the second major change in lawyers the family has made this year. Cochran will face Daniel Petrocelli, who represents Disney in the case.

All sorts of comments are possible but for now I'll just point out how odd it is that AP didn't note a large piece of irony here. Cochran is squaring off against Petrocelli, who won the civil case against O.J. Simpson.

• Posted at 9:31 PM · LINK

Porky Presents

Here's a treasure trove for those of you interested in cartoon voice work, past and present. Bob Bergen is one of the top practitioners of the art these days, carrying on several of Mel Blanc's characters (including the porcine one at right) and the great tradition set by Mel, Daws Butler, Paul Frees and folks like that. Over at his website, he's put up a number of MP3 audio clips about those gents and what he learned from them. Browse the entire site but don't miss the Cool Clips page, especially the little speech by Daws Butler and the rehearsals of Rocky and Bullwinkle readings. Bob's one of those actors who works all the time so it's nice he took time to make all this stuff available.

• Posted at 7:49 PM · LINK

Too Good to be True?

About 15 hours ago, I posted an item about a new 8-disc Abbott and Costello DVD set for under $25. Brent Seguine informs me that the Amazon listing is wrong; that it's eight movies crammed into two double-sided discs. That's still a bargain but it's not as grand.

The current plan, which presumes this release will sell well enough to warrant more, is for there to be four Abbott and Costello DVD sets which will release 27 of their 28 Universal movies, plus the 1965 compilation film, The World of Abbott and Costello. The last volume would be either be one double-sided disc or it might include some of the other Abbott and Costello features, some of which could be licensed from other companies, some of which are reportedly public domain.

The one Universal film which they presently intend to omit is It Ain't Hay, which apparently has rights problems because it's based on a Damon Runyon story. The Universal folks apparently feel they don't have it cleared to issue on VHS or DVD, though somehow they did license an outside company to put out a cheap VHS version. It's not one of the better A-and-C efforts and I'm told the picture quality of the currently VHS release isn't great but here's an Amazon link to it, anyway. Just in case there's a Bud-and-Lou completist reading this.

I used to like Abbott and Costello a lot and I guess I still do, though more for their radio appearances and the TV series they did than their movies. And of course, I still think Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a classic, if only to see Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi engage in self-parody. Perhaps my patience is atrophying as I get older but I otherwise find it hard to sit through the portions of Abbott and Costello movies that don't involve Abbott and Costello. I'm going to get the DVD set but I may keep one finger on the Fast Forward button as I watch some of those films.

• Posted at 2:57 PM · LINK

Booth Babes on Parade

Not all that many years ago, comic book conventions were mostly Boys' Clubs. There were San Diego Cons where the only women on the premises seemed to be Mrs. Jack Kirby and maybe June Foray. June, by the way, will be a featured guest at the 2004 Comic Con International in S.D. and I'm going to put together something spectacular (I'm not sure what yet) for the occasion.

Anyway, one of the things that has changed about conventions in the last decade or two is the large percentage of ladies who are present, many of them quite spectacular in appearance. There's a photographer named John Chennavasin who goes to glamour-type events and takes pictures of the models, and he's lately taken to visiting Comic Con International with his camera. Here's a link to some photos that he took at the 2002 convention and here are pics from the 2003 con. [CAUTION: Selecting some of the other links on his site could plunge you into sectors of the Internet where ladies cavort without clothing. You will be one click from porn instead of the usual two clicks.]