Cartoon Stars Re-Animated: Betty Boop.

 

Today, we look at a character that was involved in one of the most famous rivalries in popular culture. It's right up there with the New York Yankees vs. the Boston Red Sox or Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi. That's right: Walt Disney vs. Fleischer Studios!

Okay, so maybe the idea of that rivalry isn't springing immediately to mind for people. If you're thinking it's about who has the most iconic cartoon character in the U.S., you might think the real rivalry is Disney vs. Warner Bros. If you think it's about theme parks, you might think it's Disney vs. Universal. Or if it was about animated movies, you might think it's Disney vs. Dreamworks (which is also, technically, Universal at this point). Heck, when I was a kid, that rivalry was between Disney and Don Bluth Studios. The thing is that Disney's been able to hang in there so long and other animation studios have changed hands, changed names or gone under so often that Disney has had a lot of rivals. But back in the days when cartoon shorts were still in black and white, the Fleischer Brothers were some of the biggest movers and shakers in animation.

Max, Dave and Lou Fleischer were children of Austro-Hungarian immigrants. Max was an artist and inventor and nominally the head of the studio (it was actually cofounded with Dave). He invented the rotoscope, a device used in animation and special effects studios to this day. Dave was a performer of many stripes and was usually the director of the Fleischer shorts. And Lou was a music arranger and composer and worked in Fleischer Studios music department. While Disney's shorts reflected a sort of Midwestern, country aesthetic, Fleischer's shorts had a sort of urban grit. Probably because they were being made in New York City during the Great Depression.

And one of the characters who gave it that vibe is the one and only Betty Boop.

Betty Boop

Betty Boop first appeared in the cartoon Dizzy Dishes and she was a dog. Not an insult. She was literally designed as an anthropomorphic dog. You see, she was originally created to be the girlfriend of the studio's star Bimbo, who was an anthropomorphic dog living in a world of anthropomorphic animals. In about a year's time, though, Betty had evolved into the human character she's known as today. At that time, Betty became a star and both Bimbo and Fleischer's previous star, Koko the Clown, became Betty's sidekicks.

Betty Boop in her earlier canine form.

Betty was designed as something of a parody of singer and actress Helen Kane. Though, Helen Kane's act and vocal style were themselves stolen from an African-American nightclub singer named Esther Jones aka “Baby Esther”. This actually came up when Helen Kane tried to sue Fleischer Studios for stealing her likeness. Betty was also voiced by a number of different actresses. There was Margie Hines, Little Ann Little, Harriet Lee, Mae Questel and Bonnie Poe during the original Fleischer run and a whole lot afterward. Mae Questel actually got to revisit the role when she voiced Betty for a few lines in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

I don't think a lot of people have actually watched Betty Boop cartoons, just knowing her as more of an iconic image. And in that sense, what most people talk about is her design. Which is understandable, considering how other than her big, cartoon head, she's designed as a leggy woman in a short dress, usually with one garter showing. There was definitely some thought of sex appeal going into that design. But those cartoons, at least the ones from roughly 1931 to roughly 1933, are something else. The thing to remember about Betty Boop is that she's not really the main source of comedy in these shorts, the world is. Betty lives in a world of anthropomorphic animals and surreal rubber-hose style sight gags that looks like 1930s New York City. Crazy things happen around her. Sometimes inanimate objects will be alive for a minute or two for the sake of a joke. This isn't anything unusual for cartoons in the 1930s, but the Fleischers managed to put a nominally human character in the center of it all as kind of an anchor. And Betty just rolls with it. Sometimes she even seems to be thriving in it. She even ran for president in that world.

Betty Boop title card, with subcredits for Bimbo and Koko

The music is also worth mentioning. Fleischer made good use of the music scene that was available to them working in New York City. They even got famed blues artist Cab Calloway to provide tracks for a couple of cartoons, including his famous song “Minnie the Moocher”.

But things don't always last. Those surreal early 1930s shorts went away around 1934 with the introduction of the Hays Code, a set of rules that was applied across the whole movie industry. Betty and her world ended up being toned down. Betty's looks and actions became less sexy and flirty. The surreal animal world ended up being replaced with one largely populated with other humans. And Bimbo and Koko were replaced by a more normal human supporting cast. There was Betty's pet dog Pudgy, her nephew Junior, an erstwhile love interest named Fred and an old inventor called Grampy. The old surreal stuff still popped up every now and then. In the 1934 cartoon There's Something About a Soldier, she recruits soldiers to fight a war against giant mosquitoes. In “The Swing School” she teaches a class full of animals, of which Pudgy is a student. But overall, it all just got kind of boring.

Betty Boop and Pudgy

And so, Betty Boop began to fade as a cartoon star. Which wasn't a big blow to Fleischer because they had a new star by the name of Popeye the Sailor (we'll talk about him next time).

So, what happened to Betty Boop since then?

Well, barring some of the music from her cartoons being released on vinyl in the '60s and '70s, the biggest thing is that she became a merchandising powerhouse. Marketers rediscovered Betty Boop in the 1980s and before long her image had outpaced her exposure in film. She's benn put on pretty much any consumer good that could be marketed to women. Everything from purses to jewelry to pajama pants to a cuckoo clock. (I'd say she's kind of become the American Hello Kitty, but that's a discussion for another time).

And what else?

Oh, yeah. She went to Broadway! A musical titled Boop! The Musical with music by David Foster, lyrics by Susan Birkenhead and a book by Bob Martin debuted off-broadway on November 19, 2023. It would open on Broadway officially on April 5, 2025. The musical starred Jasmine Amy Rogers as Betty and chronicles an adventure where she travels from “Toon Town” to the real world's New York City. Reviews were positive-to-mixed.

Boop! the Musical

So, Betty's been around even if she's not likely to headline any new cartoons in the near future. In general, she's transformed into more of just a pop culture image. But don't write off those peak era Betty Boop cartoons if you like surreal visual humor (though, all the old disclaimers apply regarding depictions of sexism and racism in old cartoons).

Until next time.

Cartoon Stars Re-Animated: Woody Woodpecker.

Cartoon Stars Re-Animated title card.

I love cartoons. Always have. Growing up, almost any chance there was to watch a cartoon on TV, I'd take it. Saturday morning network cartoons. Sunday and weekday morning syndicated cartoons. Cartoons on cable. Old cartoons. New cartoons. Didn't matter. I'd watch them if they were on. 

 However, it's struck me lately that much of the crop of cartoons once considered “classic” to young and old alike have faded from view. Thanks to a media landscape that has changed from one that simple reruns things throughout the day to one that shows you what you were searching for, kids aren't aware of them like many of us were. 

 Now, what's to be done about this? Well, in terms of what sparked this awareness, I can stop watching theme park videos by Gen Zers where they argue that Universal's Toon Lagoon at their Islands of Adventure park should be rethemed to Spongebob Squarepants because they don't know who Popeye or Dudley Do-Right are. I can also stop doing impressions of characters that my niece and nephew have never heard of in front of them and avoid their quizzical looks. 

 But forget all that! Instead, I'm going to do a series of posts on here about cartoon stars that have faded from view and do a quick assessment of why they may not have the star power they used to. All in a feature I'm calling (for lack of a better title) Cartoon Stars Re-Animated. 

 Now, why don't we start with Universal Studios' supposed cartoon mascot, Woody Woodpecker. 

Woody Woodpecker was a creation of Walter Lantz Productions. And we can't talk about Walter Lantz Productions without talking about Walter Lantz. Lantz was born in 1912 in New Rochelle, New York to a pair of Italian immigrants, Francesco Paolo Lantz (formerly Lanza) and Maria Jarvis (formerly Gervasi). Lantz was interested in art from an early age, completing a mail-order drawing class at age 12. While working as an auto mechanic, a wealthy customer saw his drawings on the garage bulletin board and offered to finance his art studies at the Art Students League of New York. Lantz went on to work a number of jobs both during and after school including as a copyboy, gag writer, chaueffeur, etc. as well as working at numerous animation studios. There's a lot more to it, but I don't have the time and space to write out Lantz's whole biography. Anyway, he eventually makes it to California where he takes over what was then Universal Cartoon Studios at Universal (there's a story that claims he won the right to work on the character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in a card game with Universal president Carl Laemmle in a poker game. But that sounds apocryphal). 

 Anyway, the character of Woody Woodpecker first appeared in the Andy Panda cartoon Knock, Knock in 1940. Andy Panda, for the record, was another fairly active characater from Lantz's studio. He started as a sort of mischevious problem child character who was inexplicably hunted by Pygmy tribesmen (which calls into question which continent Andy's stories took place on) and later evolved into a sort of cartoon everyman in a similar model to Porky Pig or Mickey Mouse. Anyway, early Woody was made out to be a crazy, chaos-bringer in a similar mode to early Daffy Duck. And his design was . . . a work in progress. 

The early, snaggle-toothed, chubby-legged version of Woody Woodpecker

Woody Woodpecker's design and character would evolve as time went on. 

A mid-ish version of Woody.  Actually taken from his 1999 show.

His look was streamlined. Personality-wise, he would stay a chaos-bringing character for a good while. This is especially true whenever he was set up as the comic foil of a character named Wally Walrus. Wally was a walrus with a Scandinavian accent who was probably meant to come across as kind of stuffy and tightly-wound but never quite showed enough personality to hit that home. While there were other situations too, Woody generally bothered Wally when he was after food. And Woody could be quite the glutton. 

 Woody's design would get reworked overtime, becoming rounder and more human-like. 

 And by the 1950s, Woody had developed the pompadour-like tuft of plumage he's become known for. He had also mellowed out quite a bit. He was still something of a glutton at times. However, he was also put up against a new antagonist who was shiftier and much more prone to causing trouble for his own benefit, Buzz Buzzard. This shifted Woody into being in a more reactive role where he was responding more to wrongs done against himself and others. 

The more recognizable modern take on Woody Woodpecker.

 His voice changed too. He was originally voiced by prolific voice actor Mel Blanc. Then, the role went to Danny Webb, Kent Rogers, Dick Nelson, Ben Hardaway and Grace Stafford. One should note that Grace Stafford was actually Walter Lantz's wife, and she slipped her audition tape in without him knowing. Later, the role would be taken up by Billy West and Eric Bauza. The voice was refined in a number of ways, sometimes using technological means to help attain his high pitch. However, Woody's trademark laugh remains. 

 Walter Lantz Productions continued making cartoons longer than a lot of other big Golden Age cartoon studios. Though, not without some sacrifices in animation quality. And Woody remained Lantz's big star. He made the leap to toys, comics, and even had an Academy Award-nominated song back in the '40s. In 1982, he was even made into a balloon for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which lasted until 1996 (it may have been one of the first places I saw the character). Woody made the leap to TV in 1957 with ABC's The Woody Woodpecker Show. The show featured three Walter Lantz cartoons bookended with host segments featuring Walter Lantz himself interacting with an animated Woody Woodpecker. Though, the structure with the host segments was clearly copied from The Wonderful World of Disney, which started life as Walt Disney's Disneyland in 1954, there is a notable difference. While Walt Disney generally used his wraparound host segments as means of marketing his upcoming projects, Walter Lantz used his to cue in kids to how the animation process worked. There would also be The New Woody Woodpecker Show on Fox Kids in 1999. 

The Woody Woodpecker parade balloon

But beyond all the history and such, what do I think of Woody Woodpecker as a character? Well, I personally like him. I know he's not always the most popular with cartoon and animation fans. I know a number of people who see him as either “annoying” or even “psychotic” based on his earlier chaos-causing persona. And his adversary in those cartoons, Wally Walrus, despite being a bit pompous, doesn't seem bad enough to deserve what Woody dishes out. Woody would eventually evolve into a more morally-driven trickster in the Bugs Bunny mold, after he started squaring up against Buzz Buzzard. But by then, the animation quality of the shorts had taken enough of a dip that it didn't really help with a lot of people. I don't mind seeing the chaos Woody brings. I know of far worse and more annoying cartoon characters (Screwy Squirrell for example). And the fact that in many of his early cartoons have him chasing after food gives him a relatable drive in a sort of animal way. Though he walks and talks like a person, in many ways he's like a badly trained dog, or a pigeon chasing after stray bits of popcorn. I also find that he's one of the cartoon characters whose evolution is fairly easy to trace, going from agent of chaos to more moral trickster. It would be presumptuous to say that there's a platonic ideal of Woody Woodpecker that could be found if you combined different versions of the character. But it is something to think about. 

So, how did Woody Woodpecker fade from popularity? Well, like a lot of older cartoon characters, lack of exposure. It starts a little earlier with Woody than some of the others, though. In the 1990s, the way for older cartoon characters to stay in the limelight was through repeated play on cable tv. And that usually meant being on Nickelodeon or, more likely, Cartoon Network. Woody didn't play on Cartoon Network. At least, to my knowledge. He did get a new show on Fox Kids in 1999. But on Fox Kids it was easily to be overlooked or muscled out by other shows, especially as kids' tastes changed and Fox Kids started to enter its anime era. It might have been something of a blessing in disguise that Woody Woodpecker never played on Cartoon Network, though. Most of that channel's lineup at the time was the result of Turner Broadcasting buying up every cartoon library and studio it could get its hands on, which eventually ended up in the hands of Warner Animation. So, Universal got to keep Walter Lantz Productions and Woody as a result. 

 There is one exception to that: the country of Brazil. In Brazil, Woody Woodpecker is very well known. Though he just goes by the name Pica-Pau (which just means Woodpecker in Portuguese). And near as I can tell, the popularity is just the product of good dubbing and a lot of local television play. 

 So, what's become of Woody since? Well, a hybrid live action/CGI movie was released to theaters in South America and DVD in the United States. I've seen it. Aside from some scatalogical humor, I don't hate it. Though, the story is a bit out of joint in places. A sequel titled Woody Woodpecker Goes to Camp which reunites him with antagonists Wally Walrus and Buzz Buzzard was released in 2024. I haven't seen that one, because it appears to only be on Netflix, which I don't have at the moment. In 2018, a new series of animated shorts were released to YouTube. They're not quite my personaly cup of tea. I'm not sure if they were popular, because I'm not sure how many people would actually look for them. He also still appears at Universal Studios as a walkaround character sometimes, but his presence has decreased (he used to have a kiddie coaster). 

 The older shorts are still available in different places, though. Last I checked, The Woody Woodpecker Show was being run on MeTV Toons. And a blu-ray titled The Woody Woodpecker Screwball Collection was released in 2021. Keep in mind that these shorts are a product of their time before watching them, though. Some may include common racial and ethnic stereotypes of the era. 

 Anyway, stay 'tooned as I raid my physical media collection for more cartoon stars to revisit. Until next time.

How the Newspaper Helped Save my Sanity.

 Okay, so I know I usually reserve this space for lighter things and talk about movies, TV and comics. But I'm going to take a slightly different tack today. You see, things have been rough in terms of world events lately. A lot of people feel distraught and anxious lately. And I was (and sometimes still am) among them. And I'm going to tell you how reading the newspaper helped me stay informed in a less anxiety-inducing way.

A stack of newspapers

Yes, really.

I know it sounds strange that somehow reading the newspaper as opposed to not reading the newspaper made me feel better rather than worse. But in order to understand that, you need to understand how I got my news before. Before reading the newspaper, I got my news second-hand. Usually from social media. Now, there are numerous reasons why getting news from social media is a problem. Part of the problem is just that it is social media, a type of media that's designed to keep people endlessly scrolling. The other reason is accuracy. There are a number of sketchy sources online. But the thing that was the problem for me regarding news on social medis was a lack of emotional regulation.

Most of the news I was picking up on social media was second-hand and posted by users. So, it wasn't straight news. It was the users reaction to the news. So, it was something like Joann376 posting on Bluesky “I can't believe they just did that! This is the end of democracy as we know it”. Or Big_Bob24 posting “They have gone too far! We must rise up in protest!” It was all emotion and outrage first and information second. Reading the paper, aside from the editorials which are all very measured and reasonable in their own way, it was information first. I got to receive that information, think about it, and decide how I felt and would react to it without being hit by someone else's reactions first. I had already been trying to ease up on my use of social media because I had found that taking in everyone's opinions is exhausting and that even doomscrolling in a place where more people agree with you is still doomscrolling.

But even reading the paper can get to you at times. There can be enough news that inspire negative emotions that it can drag you down. Sometimes you need a respite. Luckily the paper has that covered as well.

Now don't tell this to any serious journalist, because I have a feeling they'd balk at it, but the parts of the newspaper that aren't serious news are vital. Once you feel down and distraught about bad things happening in Washington, your hometown and also halfway around the world, you know what you have to do. You take a break and read the comic strips. Maybe you read a newspaper that doesn't have comic strips like the New York Times. Well, then you take a break to do the crossword puzzle. Or maybe you read your horoscope. Or you could look at recipes. Or maybe, if you like bizarrely complex card games, you read the bridge column. Even the community announcements can be a balm (Yes, please, tell me about what children's play is being staged locally and about next week's spaghetti dinner and raffle at the Elks Lodge). Heck, I imagine the Sports page can do that for a lot of people. It isn't for me because I'm not a sports guy. But it is the opinion of this reader that a well-constructed newspaper allows some kind of break from hard news. Not enough to outweigh the amount of actual news, but just enough. Personally, I've always been a fan of the comics page and I've just started doing the puzzles recently. Now, I tend to read my paper from a library database on a computer screen, just because my Library Assistant job usually has me sitting in front of a screen waiting for someone to come ask me for help. So, it can be a little hard to do the crossword, word search and jumble because you can't write on it. But it doesn't mean I can't hop on over to the New York Times website and do Wordle, Mini and Connections. So, even with some hurdles there are ways to make it work.

A crossword puzzle

There are other advantages too. Right now, discussion is dominated by Federal news. But by reading the newspaper I was able to find out about more local events. In fact, it was finding out about a local event that drove me to read the news more in the first place. I also found that by reading the newspaper, I was able to hear more about when someone tried to fight back against something bad happening or hold someone accountable (like, say, when a group of states hold injunctions against the administration in Washington).

More newspapers

So, if you still want to stay informed about the world, here are my suggestions. Get off social media. Pick up a newspaper. Read what seems pertinent to you. Pace yourself as you read through it. Take a break to read the comics page. Then take a moment to think and decide how you'll respond to the information you just acquired.

No guarantees, but you might be glad you did.

The Christmas Movies Time Forgot, Part 2

 More deep cut Christmas movies . . .

Forgotten Christmas Movie #5: We're No Angels (1955) starring Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov and Aldo Ray. Three convicts (and their pet venomous snake Adolphe) escape Devil's Island prison in the French colony of Guyana. As they prepare to rob a store of clothes and food and flee the country by ship, the three discover that the store is beset by financial problems among other issues while posing as workmen trying to fix the roof. As the three cons spend Christmas with the store-keeper's family and start to develop some sympathy for their intended marks, they decide to help them out in their own less-than-scrupulous way.

This is certainly an off-center Christmas movie. Not only does it star three criminals, it also takes place in the tropics far from the usual Christmas imagery. Still, there's something there. There's a certain charm and cathartic quality in seeing a few rogues do good deeds in a bad way. I mean, this is a Christmas movie where problems are solved because other less likable (but not criminal) characters die from venomous snake bites. But it works. I'd suggest this one to folks who like more off-beat, less traditional Christmas movies.

Forgotten Christmas Movie #5: All Mine to Give (1957). This one was actually not on the list. I got it from the library by accident due to the 4 Film Favorites : Classic Holiday Collection Vol. 2 being cataloged strangely. I was aiming for Holiday Affair but they sent this. But why look a gift horse in the mouth? Because after some screwball comedies and a big splashy musical, this gives me another one of the big genres of Golden Age Hollywood. That's right, folks. This one is a Western. Though, not a tall-in-the-saddle, Texas shoot-em-up type Western. More of a bittersweet coming-of-age in the Wisconsin forests kind of Western. For the most part the story is of the lives and later deaths of a pair of Scottish immigrants who move to the wilds of frontier-era Wisconsin and carve out a life for themselves. Then it's about what happens to their six children after their untimely demises. As for how it's a Christmas movie, for large chunks of its runtime it isn't. But Christmas is intergral to the movie's climax. I won't give away how, because it seems like kind of a jerk move to do so. It's apparently based on the book The Day They Gave Babies Away by Dale Eunson, which in turn was based on events from Eunson's life. If so, I feel bad for Eunson. Because the whole movie is a rather downbeat affair encompassing things like poverty, prejudice, illness, separation, loss of loved ones and a 12-year-old boy having to take the weight of his whole family on his shoulders. If you're going to watch this one make sure you've got the grit for it.

Forgotten Christmas Movie #6: Holiday Affair. A widowed mother played by Janet Leigh finds herself caught between two men (Robert Mitchum and Wendell Corey) and is challenged to move on from the past and not be afraid of the future. And a surprising amount of the movie hinges on a toy train that Leigh's son receives for Christmas.

It's actually just a nice, tight little character drama. I will let you know ahead of time that not once in the movie does Leigh appear how she does on this poster, posed like a pin-up girl. But boy is that an eye-catching image.

Forgotten Christmas Movie #7: The Man Who Came to Dinner. Famous author, radio presenter and bon vivant Sheridan Whiteside (Monty Woolley) comes to a small town in Ohio on a lecture tour in the weeks leading up to Christmas and proceeds to slip on the ice outside the home of a local factory owner. Now confined while he convaleseces, the imperious, bombastic, venom-tongued Whiteside proceeds to sow chaos in his new environs as he receives both movie stars and paroled murderers as guests and is delivered live animals like an octopus and a quartet of penguins. However, he encounters trouble of a more personal nature when his long-suffering secretary (Bette Davis) falls in love with a local newspaperman.

As Christmas movies go, this one is also a bit on the offbeat side. Based on a play that was in turn based on the real person of theater critic Alexander Woollcott. Whiteside is a blast to watch and listen to but ultimately a rather petty, selfish person for much of the film. However, the owner of the house he's invaded is likewise not very likable (A decidedly anti-labor factory owner). In this case, the most sympathetic characters are Whiteside's secretary Maggie (played by Bette Davis), her new beau, as well as the factory owner's two children who Whiteside gives some good though somewhat self-serving advice to. The Christmas setting is more set dressing and is used more as a way of showing off what famous friends Whitside has. Jot this one down as another unconventional choice. Not very Christmassy but fun as hell.

Forgotten Christmas Movie #8: Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella (1973), aka Three Wishes for Cinderella aka Three Gifts for Cinderella aka Three Nuts for Cinderella (that's the name on Amazon Prime Video). Okay, all cards on the table: this one isn't forgotten, it's just foreign. Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella is a Czech film chronicling what I'm assuming is a popular Czech version on the "Cinderella" story (A quick check says it's a Bohemian version, which doesn't clear things up as my European geography is rusty. Anyway, I should buy a book of Czech folk tales). It chronicles young Cinderella's attempts to avoid her stepmother's mistreatment and woo a prince using three magical hazelnuts that either crack open to reveal or simply transform into full costumes for our unusually spunky Cinderella. It's fairly well done though a bit slowly paced. I imagine many people would see this as a very new, original take on the Cinderella story. Personally, as someone who's read way more fairy tales than a lot of other people, I recognized all the fairy tale motifs but thought the arrangement of them was interesting.

Anyway, though not specifically about Christmas, this movie is a Christmas tradition in many European countries where it airs on TV every year. Those countries include: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Norway and it's sometimes aired in Sweden, Ukraine and Russia. Norway even made a remake of it which, if I recall correctly, made it to Wal-Mart shelves in the US. It kind of reminds me of how It's a Wonderful Life would air every year on Christmas Eve or how The Wizard of Oz aired every year for a long stretch of time on Thanksgiving. Would I recommend it? Depends, what's your tolerance for slower paced movies and subtitles.

Forgotten Christmas Movie #9: It Happened on 5th Avenue. Another one not on the initial list, but it popped up enough on compilations that I wanted to give it a look. This one concerns a transient named Aloysius T. McKeever who spends his winters in the boarded up mansion of the second richest man in the world, Michael J. O'Connor, while O'Connor winters in Virginia. McKeever also ends up taking in an ex-GI, Jim Bullock, who was evicted from his apartment so O'Connor could build a skyscraper and O'Connor's own daughter Trudy who ran away from finishing school (and concealed her own identity from the others). Pretty soon, the mansion is filled up with Mike's old army buddies and their families who are effected by a housing crisis. But things really start to happen when, at Trudy's request, O'Connor himself and his estranged wife join the group under false identities.

I like this one a fair bit. It's got a nice Christmas-y message about the limits of wealth and caring for others like A Christmas Carol does. Don DeFore and Gale Storm as romantic leads Jim and Trudy are perfectly enjoyable. Charlie Ruggles as O'Connor works well with what he's given and is perfectly frustrating as he fusses and fumes and eventually s-l-o-w-l-y changes his ways (You didn't think it would be easy for him, did you?). But the whole thing is anchored by Victor Moore as McKeever, a character who may technically be a criminal who trespasses but is redeemed by being a kind soul who values people far more than wealth.

Give this one a shot.

And I think that's all I've got. At least until next Christmas.

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The Christmas Movies that Time Forgot! Part 1

 With the help of Amazon Prime Video and my local library, I'm going through a list of supposedly "Forgotten Christmas Movies" from Good Housekeeping (the first few are arguably forgotten.  The last few, are definitely not forgotten).  After I watch them, I do a brief write-up on my Facebook account.  But I'll post round-ups of them right here on Universes Beckon!  Perhaps you'll find one you'd like to check out!

Let's begin . . . 

Bachelor Mother (1939)

Starting with Bachelor Mother, because I'm a sucker for stories of unexpected families coming together. It's a comedy about an unexpected shopgirl who unexpectedly gets "gifted" a baby for Christmas when she spots a baby being left on the door step of a foundlings home. Spotted by the people inside as she picks the child up, everyone now thinks she's the mother of the child, which leads to unexpected responsibility but also unexpected sympathy for the "poor unwed mother". I enjoyed it. Though it was an odd movie because at one point the female lead just decided it's easier to live the lie everyone's forced on her. She does warm up to the child, but it's hard to pinpoint when. David Niven also plays the fabulously wealthy love interest.

Also, a strange amount of Donald Duck in the shop scenes.

The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

In The Shop Around the Corner, James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan play bickering Budapest shop workers who can't seem to get off of each other's nerves. But secretly they're pen pals who are falling for each other.

So . . . it's You've Got Mail. Or rather, You've Got Mail is a remake of this movie. It's just this one is far more Stewart and Sullavan screwball comedy and less Hanks and Ryan romcom. Regarding its status as a Christmas movie, it just seems to be that some of it takes place around that time. But that's often the case with Golden Age Hollywood movies aimed at adults. They're really not trying to deliver a message about "the magic of Christmas".

Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

Barbara Stanwyck plays a writer for a housekeeping magazine who writes a column where she shares recipes and tells stories of her farm in Connecticut where she lives with her husband and baby. One day, her publisher gets wind of a request to host a recently returned sailor (Dennis Morgan) for Christmas at her home in Connecticut. There's only one problem: it's all fiction. She's not married, she has no baby, she doesn't live on a farm in Connecticut and she can't even cook. She's just good at leveraging the experiences of her cooperative friends into the form of an article. But her overbearing boss (played by Sydney Greenstreet) won't take no for an answer.

A screwball comedy as expected. But this one feels a bit less charming than the others. And the female lead seems a bit less than sympathetic. The best part in it is probably Greenstreet as the blowhard boss. This is another one that's been remade. This time as a TV movie in 1992.

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Meet Me in St. Louis. Not really forgotten and not really a Christmas movie. Though, it was nice to watch a big roadshow musical instead of a screwball comedy for a change. It's really a musical about a year in the life of a family in St. Louis in the turn of the century. Featuring some of the most recognizable music in the American musical canon, including "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (which is probably what got it listed as a Christmas movie on the list I found online). The copy I got from the library was scratched all to hell and my blu-ray player wouldn't play it. But I found it on Tubi which is free. It was my audio accompaniment as I wrote out this year's Christmas cards (I'm getting them out a bit early this year).

A decent enough film, but I don't think I'd watch it as a Christmas movie every year.

There will be more to come.

Not-Quite-a-Review of Shin Ultraman.

Okay. So, start off with: this isn't exactly a review. Or a critique. Or any sort of useful, impartial judgement of objective quality. My emotions are way too involved for it to be that.

So, you've been warned.

So, for the past four years or so, I've been really into a Japanese science fiction television show called Ultraman or the Ultra series. The history of the show actually starts in 1966, with an anthology TV series named Ultra Q. The show wouldn't really reach its most iconic form until it introduced the concepts of an alien who would fight with monsters on behalf of Earth and a defense team of humans who would investigate strange phenomena called the SSSP (Science Special Search Party). This show would also premiere in 1966, but just the latter half. (For context, that's three years after the United Kingdom's Doctor Who and the same year as the United States's Star Trek. Just in case you're wondering where we are in terms of 1960s science fiction series).

Anyway, yeah, the show went on to spawn roughly fifty years of content with different variations on the concept like The Return of Ultraman, Ultraman Taro, Ultraman Tiga, etc. right up until the recent series Ultraman Decker. I haven't managed to watch all of them, but it's safe to say I've become a fan since they started releasing the show on blu-ray and DVD here in the United States in 2019.

The same year that they released a movie reimagining the franchise in Japan: Shin Ultraman, written by Hideaki Anno and directed by Shinji Higuchi.

Japanese poster for Shin Ultraman

Now, mind you, us here in the U.S. weren't even sure we would get to see this film. However, it did end up coming to the United States as two special Fathom Events showings. And, as excited as a child headed for Disneyland, I had my ticket in hand and went to see it this past weekend.

If you don't want to know anything more, be aware that from here forward there will be SPOILERS.

So, first of all, the thing you need to know is that I was probably a little too excited. So, I wasn't quite able to engage with it as I might have hoped.  At least, not enough to give an objective analysis.

The truth is that it was pretty good but not really what I expected. The movie referenced and drew from a lot of stories used in the original series. However, it took some rather sharp departures. For one thing, the SSSP was a totally new group. Instead of an action team with a host of gadgets and vehicles and aggressively orange uniforms, they were a group of government analysts who tried to figure out how monsters and aliens operated and then directed the JSDF (Japan Self Defense Force, the actual defensive military of Japan) as to how to deal with it. All the characters were new with new skills and backgrounds. The movie's SSSP is not the Special Science Search Party but the S-Class Species Suppression Protocol. Even Ultraman's alter ego is new. Instead of Shin Hayata, it's Shinji Kaminaga formerly of the National Police Agency Security Bureau (best description I can give is that it's kind of like Japan's answer to the FBI).

All this kind of caused my excitement to wane a little. And I sort of slid back as I watched the movie from “super-excited” to “Hmm. Interesting. I wonder why they made that choice.”

Ultraman firing his Spacium Beam.

And like I said, not a bad movie in concept. It does work with the central theme of the Ultraman series, which is belief in humanity. Ultraman himself is an alien but he believes in the people of Earth. And the people of Earth mainly find themselves in the most trouble when they either choose to rely too much on Ultraman or other aliens. Twice in the movie, humanity gets taken in by aliens that do not have Earth's best interests at heart (Zarab and Mefilas).

But I still found myself missing things from the original show. Things I didn't think I'd miss too. I've said before that I really like the Ultra shows that sidestep the militaristic defense squads. However, I missed them here. Maybe it's because this group weren't as likable as the protagonist's motley collection of friends in Ultraman Geed or the ragtag group of paranormal investigators in Ultraman Orb. They did at least give a nod to the old vehicles by having one character's desk covered with plastic models of planes and rockets not dissimilar from the ones used for the effects in the older shows.

And they had some other interesting additions. One of the traditional limits on Ultraman is that he expends energy quickly, which is usually indicated by a device called a color timer. Here they did away with the color timer but replaced it with Ultraman himself changing color. The idea of an Ultra changing color is probably a nod back to late '90s shows like Ultraman Tiga where the character would change fighting modes.

One thing I really did love about the movie though, is just how much of a science fiction movie it is.

Ultraman can be kind of a hard thing to pin down for a lot of people. Some look at it and say it's a “kaiju show” meaning it has giant monsters in it. But it's more than just monsters stomping through a city. Others look at it and say it's a “superhero show”. But while it does have a heroic, super-powered protagonist, it doesn't follow the traditions of superhero tokusatsu shows that came after it by having a hero or team of heroes fighting against a series-long villain. The truth is that Ultraman is a “science fiction show” because every episode has the characters dealing with some kind of science fiction concept or predicament. The concept or predicament just happening to lead to a giant monster fighting a giant superpowered alien. And one thing this movie definitely had in spades is people trying to solve problems with science.

Ultraman with the SSSP at a helipad

So, Shin Ultraman did not become my new favorite thing. Or even my new favorite Ultra thing. But I hesitate to call it a bad movie. The only really big flaw it had as a film is that the final act got kind of messy. And not only am I glad I saw it, I'm glad I got excited over it. I mean, as an adult, how often do you get to experience that “kid in a candy store” level of excitement?

And I look forward to viewing the movie again and reassessing it.

Until next time.

Grown-Ass Manga vol. 2

Okay, folks.  I think we’re going to continue on the subject of manga with adult characters and adult themes (not naughty themes, just grown-up ones).  Why?  Because I’ve been reading a lot of manga lately.  It’s as good a reason as any other.

So, once again I’ll raise the colors.

 The same rules apply as the last time I raised the pirate flag.  I’m not going to tell you where to find the series in question.  I urge you to support any official releases these manga may get.  Also, I will give you one completely legal recommendation.

So, our theme for today’s post is: Parenting.  Yeah, I know it may feel like a throwback to my “superhero moms” and “superhero dads” posts.  However, as I’ve gotten older and seen my peers take on the role of parent, I’ve developed a new respect for the moms and dads out there trying to do their best to raise their kids up right.  There are some good and some unique depictions of parenting in manga.  There are also some questionable ones.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  Here are my favorite manga featurimng parents at this time:

I’m a Middle-Aged Man Who Got My Adventurer’s License Revoked , but I’m Enjoying a Carefree Lifestyle Because I Have an Adorable Daughter Now by Fumi Tadaura and Manimani Ononata.

Yes, that is the full title.  There seems to be a trend of manga, anime and light novels with very long, descriptive titles these days.  This is a series set in a video game-esque fantasy world.  The main character is a magic-user named Douglas.  Once an adventurer, now in his late 30s his powers and health seem to have declined and his adventurer’s license is revoked.  He resigns himself to a life of aimless travel and odd jobs until he comes upon a cursed little girl named Ravi.  He soon finds that his own illness and Ravi’s curse may not be so random and they both seem to point in the same direction.  That’s just one thing occupying his mind though, as Douglas is also preoccupied with work, travel and taking care of the little girl who has fallen into his life.

While I enjoy this one so far, I’m including this one a bit tentatively.  That’s because there’s a bit of a trend in adoptive parent stories in manga, anime and light novels like this one that I am desperately hoping this series does not stray into.  I’ll discuss that more later.

Musuko ga Kawaikute Shikataganai Mazoku no Hahaoya by Zyugoya.

 In English, the title translates to “My Son is so Cute, I Just Can’t Help Myself!”.  Think of this series as a sort of spiritual companion to the “Demon Bride” series I talked about in the last post.  The series is largely about a demon named Lorem and her baby son Gospel as they go about their daily lives.  Other characters that pop up include Lorem’s sister Meri and her human friend Sera.  For the most part it’s a very light series with much cuteness in it.

  

Bambi to Dhole by Okaue Ai.

 Teen parenthood is a tough topic to tackle anywhere.  And it’s easy to think that with its sometimes strict approach to family and education, it wouldn’t happen in Japan.  But the truth is that it happens pretty much everywhere.  This manga (among others) takes on this thorny topic to some extent.  Yukimi (called Bambi because the characters of her name can also be read that way) is a seemingly strict student council president who has a less law-abiding side herself.  She runs afoul of a lone wolf named Tetsu Nagasawa who seems to flout her authority.  She later discovers that there’s more to Nagasawa than she thought, including that he’s father to a two-year old boy named Raichi.  This one is a shoujo manga (aimed at teenage girls), but it does aim for some tougher material.  In addition to teen parenting, chronic illness also figures in as well as Yukimi’s past as an abandoned child.

I Became the Mother of the Strongest Demon Lord’s 10 Children in Another World by Ema Toyama.

 Speaking of teenage parents, and by extension teen pregnancy.  I’m including this one too even though it’s a bit of a guilty pleasure.  High school girl Akari lives with her single mother until tragedy strikes and Akari’s mother dies saving her from an oncoming truck.  After that day, coping with the loss, it becomes Akari’s dream to be as good a mother as her own was.  That dream doesn’t keep Akari from being lonely.  Then suddenly she’s summoned to the world of a fantasy video game that her mother bought her for her last birthday.  There, she is told that she is the “Great Priestess” and it is her duty to bear the children of the Demon Lord Gran so that they may defeat the human kingdom.  This is admittedly a bit of a strange one.  So far, Akari’s had two children and they were both born through magical means with no sex involved.  The first chapter even suggests that they’ll all be born while Akari’s still a virgin.  Despite its strangeness, it can also be kind of a sweet manga about finding a home and building a family in an unexpected place with unexpected people and through unexpected means.  It also has its funny moments.  A similar manga for those who like this one would be From Maid to Mother.

Now, onto my un-pirated recommendation.  But before I get to that, I’d like to express how difficult it can be to find the kind of manga I’m looking for.  Because of cultural differences and sometimes because of manga’s general tendency toward wish fulfillment, sometimes they include elements that don’t really gel with American sensibilities.  One recent series that has raised a few eyebrows in three different forms (light novel, manga and anime) is Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks.  The series is about a 15-year old boy and his mother who get transported to another world.  The problem is that the series finds humor in placing the two characters in awkwardly sexual situations with each other (though, I give the series credit for including an attractive woman over 30 in the form of the mother.  So often, the good-looking characters in manga and anime are teenagers or barely out of their teens).  Probably the most infamous series of the like is Usagi Drop, which starts out looking like a story of an unprepared man learning to care for his adopted daughter ends up being a story about a man who raises the woman who eventually becomes his wife from childhood.  It’s definitely a strange idea from an American perspective.  I don’t think it’s common in Japan today but it does have historical precedence and even shows up in probably the most influential work of fiction in all of Japan The Tale of Genji.  That’s what I’m afraid is going to happen with that Middle-Aged Adventurer manga I listed above.  So, for this I’m going to pick Sweetness and Lightning by Gido Amagakure. 

 Sweetness and Lightning is the story of a widowed schoolteacher named Kohei who’s struggling to raise his daughter Tsumugi by himself.  This is particularly the case in terms of cooking healthy meals.  Things change though when he makes friends with his lonely student Kotori whose culinary expert mother is always working.  Together, with the aid of Kotori’s mother’s recipes, the three of them tackle the job of learning to cook and bond over the food they make.  It’s sweet, heartwarming stuff.  I will warn you that I think Kohei and Kotori might end up as a couple toward the end, but that’s a taboo to discuss on another day.

So, there are my choices for manga on the grown-up subject of parenting.  As always, keep an eye out for official releases and happy reading.