The Emperor's New Clothes

Let’s wrap up the Easter series of films with the Emperor’s New Clothes.

You might be asking, “Didn’t I review Emperor’s New Clothes earlier, and what does this have to do with Easter?” Yes I reviewed the condense version as part of my Daydreamer review, but this is an extended remake. As for the Easter part, it’s not particularly an Easter film, but it’s a spin-off film with Peter Cottontail’s host, Danny Kaye in the same performance and model, just like Fred Astaire in Easter Bunny Is Comin’ To Town, so I’m counting this as an April Fool film. So this film is a remake and a spin-off, and yet tells it different than the other remake and spin-off.

Danny Kaye is the host and the main tailor of the story named Marmaduke…..

(OK, for the sake of the story. I’m not calling him that. While I’m not calling Peter Cottontail Jr. as he’s just a weaker copy. I hear the name “Marmaduke”, and I see a Parade Comic Dog that Daria’s Dad wish he was dead. 

So for the start of the review, I’m referring him as Mr. Sassafras, since he’s the same likable character. No one can capture that, not even Christopher Lloyd. Let’s back to the story!)

Mr. Sassafras and his partner, Mufti is a traveling tailors. They went to Bibbentucker to win One Million Grinklens from the vain Emperor Klockenlocher (voiced by Cyril Ritchard). Mr. Sassafras gains a connection with the emperor’s daughter, Princess Jane. She tells the animated backstory (very well animated) of how the Emperor was advised by Jasper the Jestor of he was best for the pretty clothing, as the budget was spent on the clothing and Jasper.

Sassafras and Mufti was thrown by the guard Ivan to the Boulevard of Rogue with an orphan he adopted as he became an uncle, Mufti the grandpa, and the orphan as his apprentice. They manage to escape to get to the emperor to show them their new clothes. As the visible cloth failed the emperor’s standards, the invisible clothes enchanted to the emperor’s surprise. Only the cloth is seen to though who isn’t stupid and unfit to the office. This leads the emperor doubting himself as he has enlightenment through a trippy depth of a sequence assuming with snuff (yes that exist in this film.) as throughout the film he’s studying books to be smarter.

Mr. Sassafras gets closer with Princess Jane with more detail with Jasper reason to be of royalty, even if she unintentionally kills him.

If you see the Daydreamer review and the story before, then there’s no point putting up the suspense.

Once again, Danny Kaye is perfect as the host and the main tailor, even better than Victor Bory. He’s a lot quicker to be convincing to be a fine tailor than using a violin to be charming. His music is just as good as his music in Peter Cottontail. They’re not as memorable, but it sound nice. The slapstick and his reaction to the princess’ action through sports are funny. Princess Jane is pretty cute, funny, and strong. Not entirely strong will for being married within three days as standards for Hans Christian Anderson story, though not a complete sucker, but strong enough to lift heavy weights and a bowling ball, despite it would be useful for the story.

 

I like how the straight man and the funnyman from the originals in Daydreamer are reversed. Instead of the tailors being the straight men, one is the funnyman, and the emperor went from funnyman (I think, given it is Ed Wynn.) to a straight man. Emperor Klockenlocher is dignified and boastful. The emperor’s reaction when he realizes the truth on the clothes is priceless.

The downside is Jasper the Jestor. How can you have a clown to be an advisor and take him seriously? Unless you’re Batman’s Joker, you’re not convincing enough that only an idiot will fall for him. Oh wait, that’s the ideal with the Emperor! He’s not even funny clown, so he’s unfit for either jobs. The only jobs he can do are to make the tailors less villainous by comparison and to pad out this short story.

Mufti and the orphan aren’t memorable either. Mufti couldn’t top Terry- Thomas as a tailor, but then again, Terry – Thomas is one of many original actors who were in the earlier version hard to beat playing better. Yet the orphan has more of the personality of being cheerful, purpose, and expression than Chris in Daydreamer.

This film is a funny one that I don’t mind popping once in a while. This is one of many Rankin Bass that was released in DVD recently in 2005, and has never reaired on TV, mainly range from nudity in stop-motion as part of the reason that Daydreamer wasn’t on TV either, to the fact it’s not a holiday special. If there’s a channel or collection in DVD that can show every single Rankin Bass films in TV shows, Holiday special, and non-holiday, then that would be worth the effort for either Dreamworks Animation or Shout Factory to sell to the market. This is one of the better non-holiday specials that deserved to be viewed more.

Thus conclude the Easter Special for the Rankin Bass review. Join me next time as hoping the next one isn’t a dud. Oh look, the Red Baron is next! Though who else is producing this film?

*looking through IMDB, (What you do instead of things!) and spotted Filmation as the producer*

Oh geez, what have I done? Time to get some frozen pizza!

The Easter Bunny is Comin' To Town

Now we get to the third and last of the Easter Trilogy, The Easter Bunny Is Comin’ To Town.

The host is Fred Astaire one last time, playing the same mailman from Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town. Instead of traveling by snowmobile, he travels by train with Chugs the Yellow Train That Could.

A town of Kidsville found a baby bunny they named Sunny. He grew up into a one year old full grown rabbit (Rabbit ages is different from people, of course. He’s voiced by Skip Hinnant of Fritz the Cat.). Kidsville plan to deliver eggs from the Hendrew Sisters. (Andrew Sisters. Get it, people over 45!) Sunny goes to a nearby town(s), but there was an interference with Kidsville’s threat, a bear named Gazooks (Smokey the Bear’s Dad?), but he got to the nearby town of Town. (I heard they got great Wine wine at good Tavern tavern.)

Town is ruled by mostly Duren of Dutch, Lilly Longtooth, and the king Bruce the frail, who was too young to rule due to being 7 years old and is miserable.

Sunny brings the first colored easter eggs to Town thanks to a hobo named Hallelujah. King Bruce knight Sunny as the official Easter Bunny. Similar to Burgermeister, Lilly bans the eggs of any shell. Sonny created Jelly Beans and more Easter Eggs, but Gazooks threw away 1/3^rd of the baskets far away. (Yet somehow counts as threw away all of them, or Gazooks threw away the rest off-screen as we don’t see the teacher kid and baker kid holding them the next scene. I don’t get it either.) Suddenly, kids started the Egg Hunt from the result of Gazooks, and the jellybeans were never seen again as Jellybeans Hunt wouldn’t last long. Sunny created the first Easter Outfit for Gazooks as he appreciates the gift as his heart grew few sizes bigger.

As the people of Town grow to celebrate Easter with the kids, Lilly finds this most unorthodox as she sends the guards to as they chant without mixing them up, “Get the children! Get the rabbit!”

The following week, Sunny created a chocolate bunny for the guard, stuff animals for King Bruce, an Easter Parade in Somberto…I mean Town. Sunny was going to rely on Gazooks to carry the load of Easter stuff, but was tripped by Lilly’s guards and was out of the film until the end. So Hallelujah brought up his old co-workers to build a railroad at Big Rock Candy Mountain for a train. (Association with Candy Apple Island filled with medium size Ape.) 

Will Lily foil their plan? Does anyone aside from Irontail ever stop a holiday in a film lately other than Pitch?

The stop-motion animation has improved slightly. The characters design has gotten softer, the pupils for the most have some color (mostly blue), and the lower lips stood out more. I kind of miss the designs of how simple the facials of earlier films, but evolution of the design is essential as long it harm the ideal and film, unlike that “sequel” where their style doesn’t fit into any films. I forgot how striking the color blue is in this film as it helps to focus on the character with it or the background. Sunny is pretty much the stop-motion version of Stuffy, even wearing a similar vest that Peter Cottontail wore. No, this is not another prequel to Peter Cottontail, even if they said Sunny is now the first Easter Bunny. Just like my theory earlier, Sunny is the first bunny, but at Town as part of the territory. Though with Fred Astaire, it just raises more questions with the continuity, especially with the same Santa Claus.

The main issue is this Easter Bunny is Comin’ To Town is a remake of the First Easter Bunny, and a spin-off with the same story as Santa Claus Comin’ To Town. A holiday figure (shot in a nice sunrise scene) discovered by kid size forgotten side character, he wants to spread joy into a gray town (say what you want for New Jersey, we kept our plants while both Sombertown and Town didn’t) lead by a stick in a mud. They have a giant scary figure, but have kindness won him over. They have ways to get around with unlikely transportation, and Fred Astaire is involved.

It has some charm, but not as much as Peter Cottontail. It has a relaxing pace with music and Fred Astaire helps, but not as much as Santa Claus Comin’ To Town. Hallelujah, Chugs the train, and the guards are nice side characters, but the kids don’t stand out.

Lilly is mainly Burgermeister, minus the pain or reason why these colorful things are bad, thus making her as she is a bitch. Though now that I think of it, is she the inspiration for Kyle’s mom from South Park?

“Times have change, our kids are getting worst. They won’t obey their parents, they just want to fart and curse…”

-                                                                           Sheila Broflaski from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

If you want an Easter film that tells the origin different without relying on earlier film, then there’s Easter Fever. The Easter Fever I’ve found recently, and placed in the #3 of my favorite Easter film (#4 if you count Greatest Story Ever Told.). It tells their story different and shows the impact what the Easter Bunny made as he’s about to retire, and the rarest moment when we have a female Easter bunny that isn’t the Cadbury Mascot.

I did watch it a lot when I was young as it was recorded on a VHS I still mostly own with G1 My Little Ponies’ second episode, Frosty’s Winter Wonderland, Leprechaun’s Christmas Gold, and The Year Without Santa Claus. I had nostalgia some the film and still have some soft spot for the film. However, as I watch it in release order with the other Easter films before, it seems less special. So for me, this will be #4 or #5 for my Easter book, unless there are better Easter films out there to have Easter Bunny is Comin’ to Town to be rank lower.  

The First Easter Rabbit

Now we go into the second of the Easter Trilogy of Rankin Bass, The First Easter Rabbit.

Burl Ive reprise himself as narrator as an olde white hare as tells a tale of the First Easter Rabbit. The Rabbit named Stuffy (voiced by Robert Morse) was a stuff doll for a little girl named Glenda (maybe Robotic, yet remind me of the same girl in Frosty’s Winter Wonderland), but she got sick, as the doctor recommend burning all of her fabrics away.

“Fire, and lots of it!”

-Dr. Hibbert.

“That’s you answer to everything!”

-Marge Simpsons.

A fairy named Calipee saves the Rabbit by bringing him to life as the Easter Rabbit for a symbol and to go Easter Valley. He meets with a real rabbit trio of Spats, Whiskers, and Flop.

The villain is Zero the Snow Wizard (one of four Paul Frees voices) and Brrruuuuuce the snowball. Their plan is to spread snow to everywhere including Apri…I mean Easter Valley, and get the golden lilly.

Our bunny friends got to Easter Valley through a caverns from a hallow tree, where they meet Santa Claus (once again voiced by Paul Frees.) as he suggest to start Easter at a nearby town.   

This is the weakest of the trilogy, but naturally better than the sequel. Unlike the first and third of the Easter films, I didn’t have any long nostalgia for this film. It’s not the worst, but it’s less magical and most rushed of the films. I had a little theory that ABC either wanted another Easter film only shorter, or ABC like Peter Cottontail, but hated the length of the film, and results in negative that they wanted a longer one while not as long as Cottontail. It’s very similar with the music choice in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer that they like “We’re A Couple of Misfits, but hated the length, as they hated “Fame and Fortune”, but like the length, and made worst for CBS when put the “We’re A Couple of Misfit” audio rushed through the “Fame and Fortune” footage. Thus we have Easter Bunny Is Comin’ To Town, which I’ll be hopping towards later.  

Best time to bring up Robert Morse. This is his first out of three of the Rankin Bass along with young Scrooge and “slightly young” Jack Frost. He does OK as much as everyone except for Glenda here. He’s not as good and active as Casey Kasem as Peter Cottontail (what bunny can aside from Bugs Bunny or Hugh Jackman) He still voice act today for better (the governor in Legend of Korra) and for worst (Santa Claus in Teen Titans Go).

This is the last film Joan Gardner voiced for Rankin Bass after six earlier films, as she moved on to voice in mostly Hanna Barbera TV shows. I do miss the voice as sort of wished they used her more often.

While one of rabbit is Paul Frees (this isn’t the Paul Frees heaviest of the films), the others is Whiskers voiced by Don Messick of then Scooby Doo but in voice range of Ratchet of G1 Transformers, and Flops is voiced by Stan Freberg of Junior (Looney Tunes).

I almost thought Stuffy was a young Colonel Bunniton, but that’s less likely the case, as it is its own Easter film to set in their own town, an unnamed town that I could assume is New York, but it’s not that big and every state has their 6^th Avenue, and yes, they used the Easter Parade song here. I’m better off watching most of the Easter Parade with the host in the next review, Fred Astaire.

As for the film itself, it’s pretty filler with some nice Mushi Studios animation, but this wasn’t fully stuffed for me.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie

WARNING: This is my longest review I’ve ever written. Viewers’ discretion is advised.

Oh the migrants. This is “sequel” to a Here Comes Peter Cottontail, as Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie!

Out of the all of the  Rankin Bass related sequel, this is by far the worst I’ve seen. I know that’s real early to say that before we get to the others, but it’s true. This is the Batman & Robin to Batman ’89, Belle’s Magical World to Beauty and the Beast, the Trolls 2 to live-action Trolls, etc.. I wanted to rip this “film” for a long time, and now I have the privilege and opportunity to review it. Stronger if this was in video recording, but I got my limitations with a lack of a good camera, good recording space, and self-confident, but written review in blogger will do for now.

Peter Cottontail as Chief Easter Bunny has a son, Peter Cottontail Jr. (how original. For the rest of the review, I’ll refer him as Diet. Only Indiana Jones and few others deserve the name “Junior”. He’s just one calorie, not Cottontail enough. While the Senior would be refer as Pepsi One.). Diet wants to be an inventor in an “advanced” April Valley, and doesn’t want to be the next chief bunny (when did Chief Easter Bunny selection went for nepotism?). Peter is annoyed with Diet with how his inventions are a waste, so he has an idea to have Diet to watch the Clock Tower to protect the Spring of Spring, invented by Father Time (So the original film was in the same continuity as Rudolph Shiny New Years. Or is it?) 

The villain, Jackie Frost (Please insert your own Killer Frost/ Elsa/ Snow Queen/ White Bitch/ Susan Frost/ Ice Queen jokes here. She’s voiced by Molly Shannon) wants Winter to be around forever as she lives in her Mount Krumpit. She teams up with Diet Iron Tail (not the son, it’s the same villain, sorta.) to steal the Spring of Spring. Like an idiotic example of the next generation, he let Jackie Frost steal the Spring and left Irontail to “guard” the Clock Tower. Just like his father, he ran away in a rain to make it up his mistake to him. Jackie Frost and Irontail decided to steal the other season’s mcguffins. In assuming Summerville, Diet got bump by a robin named Flutter (Fluttershy: Nay! He’s voiced by Keenan Thompson.) The villains stole the Sun of Summer.

Suddenly, Diet and Flutter went to (Fallville?) to save a mouse name Munch (you wouldn’t know the name until the third act. She’s voiced by Miranda Cosgrove of ICarly.), as the villains stole the Leaf of Autumn as part of the complete collection.

They stumble upon “Mr Sassafras” in Color Land and he has them travel in a bubble, but stumble the squidbilly of the East by South Wind named Wind (why not Southeast Wind?)

  

There’s not much worth to spoil, so here’s the rest.

The “heroes” got to Jackie Frost’s lair to retrieve the mcguffins. They got away through snow sliding from the Ice Age movie, as they get to the Winter Clock. Diet steals the Flake of Winter (that’s what I call it and they don’t.) to make a deal with the villains to get the mcguffins back. The villains get defeated from each other (twice, and even Jackie Frost’s ice beam got rebound from a key to the clock tower. Strange that she can easily freeze the clock tower, but not the key to one?).

As the heroes returned the mcguffins back to their respective season, and Diet saved April Valley.

At least with other related sequel, they at least capture the spirit of the original source, but not this abomination. It’s pretty bad when Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys (what was originally the worst CGI Rankin Bass film) has capture their spirit, voices, and design of the original Rudolph film. This is the second and last CGI film of the sequel, and thanks God! The production was done by Classic Media, they’re mostly known best for distributing most of the Rankin Bass films and Casper, but they’re known for their worst when they actually produced their original films. This film is the first of many of their crappy line-up in terrible eye bulging, chibi CGI with Casper Scare School aka Pre-Monster High, terrible hand drawn with Legend of Frosty the Snowman, and terrible flash animated with George of the Jungle and Kung-fu Magoo, which would end them. This is why Dreamworks Animation bought most of the properties from them. Yes, I know it’s direct to DVD films, but it’s pretty bad when a company pump out this many crap in the worst time for animations in the late 2000’s, and this was release in the same year as Chicken Little.

From the first second we open with crappy unemotional pop song that's throughout the film with flash animated bunnies that’s more suited for another film to a minute and fifty second to spot a horrendous design of Mr. Sassafras. Yeah, look at this; he looks nothing like the original! I know Danny Kaye is dead, and would be disrespectful to use his shell, but he was his own character and it could have been easier to say he’s a relative of his along with his identical cousin, Marmaduke (Emperor’s New Clothing). This tall man Oompa-Loompa is on par with another Christopher Lloyd CGI character of Mr. Clipboard from Foodfight, if not, worst.

Of course it’s a sign of bad sequel to not get the character right, but made bad when they use footage of the original Peter Cottontail follow with the new design. Just like these following bad animated sequels such as Secret of Nimh 2,

Then there’s Iron Tail. What in name of Edgar Allen Poe did you do to the villain, film? I didn’t care much that they changed his fur from purple gray to crap brown as it helps stick out from the winter sky background despite purple rarely blend into anything that I proved with photoshop, but they didn’t even try on the voice. 

The voice actor is Roger Moore of James Bond. While he’s not a bad actor, he’s the wrong signature voice for a signature Vincent Price character. Don’t even tell me there’s no Vincent Price impressionist, there’s about a few to name! Dan Castenella did his voice in the Super Bowl episode of Simpsons, Duck Dodger has Sinestro voiced by John de Lancie (yes, Discord from My Little Ponies: Friendship Is Magic.) that does sound close to Vincent Price, even Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated brought Vincent Van Ghoul (Vincent Price’s character in 13 Ghost of Scooby Doo, this time voiced by Maurice LaMarche.) back years later. There’s no excuse here, unless they had some auditions, but so much actors realized how crappy this was.

Speaking of Scooby Doo, I know Casey Kasem didn’t reprise his role. Granted, he was going to retire the Shaggy voice as he was going to make his last brief voice role as Uncle Albert in Shaggy and Scooby Doo Get A Clue. His replacement is Tom Kenny, voiced Senior and Junior Cottontail. He’s not a bad choice, yet every time I hear them, I don’t hear an older Cottontail or a different character; I end up hearing Johnny Test’s Dad and Raimundo (Xiaolin Showdown) speaking in dull techno babble and often useless as Brainy Smurf. Diet (Peter Cottontail Jr.) spend majority of the film making a catapult that went nowhere, fixes his mistake that it was his fault for being stupid, most of the happened on their own. You can take him out, and he wouldn’t affect much, except when he removed Winter to make worldwide doom. Remind me again who the bigger villain is?

Peter married Darla or not, no one refer her as her first name, but assuming it’s Daria due to some connection with Peter, yet still appeared a lot less than the first film, thus making her as useless as Antoine (who I know noticed has swap main color with Irontail, making him look like he was frozen today), and we kept cutting to him searching as much as the dogs looking for Scamp in Lady and the Tramp 2. In fact, it’s not the same Antoine since the first film ends with him as a butterfly. He’s more likely to be his descendant since caterpillar’s lives are shorter, so it’s Antoine the 5^th or 10^th or whatever year this film take place.

Why even call it “The Movie”? The runtime to this film is only 10 minute more than the original. Is it considered to be one, because that extra 10 minute means it count as a movie on TV (despite it was mostly seen once on This TV and Cartoon Network)? I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Hop is better than this. At least EB want to do a hobby of being a drummer that wasn’t connected to the factory, the CGI on the rabbits are better rendered, and the factory look slightly better, but never as good as Willy Wonka’s. I’m pretty sure there’s some catapult part of the updated factory in phoned April Valley, so Diet’s inventions wouldn’t matter if his invention is an improvement in an “improving” setting. Only other idea he has is to change old clocks to digital with rapping. Not worth the downgrade.

Speaking of the setting, the background is overly bright colors on par with Speed Racer and Teen Titans Go (except for night, snow, and rain), and real fake. It’s pretty bad when the plants in the Garden of Surprise are looking better color balanced, better detailed, better rendered, and more three dimensional that this flat land. Same for the side characters.

    

The only good thing in this film was a line from Munch.

“If I wasn’t so bored, I would have some buffalo wings.”

                                                                        -Munch.

“What!”

             -Flutter.

Bottom line, this film is a rotten egg. I didn’t like it when it was first released. I gave it a second chance and more, and there’s no point of changing its label, it leads failure. I have a perfect expression from the first film to sum up this sequel.

To who’ll obnoxiously or calmly ask “How will you do this film better?” I have an idea on how to do a good continuation of Peter Cottontail. Peter Cottontail enjoyed the traditions of Easter and the enjoyment from the kids’ reaction of joy. However, he grew some doubt as Chief Easter Bunny as time went on to 1985. The kids he knew in the nearest town grew up and mostly stop celebrating Easter and the next generation has less interest in the holiday. Closest friends he got are Donna, Antoine’s kids, aging Mr. Sassafras, and Bonnie’s group. Peter decided to get together with the other Easter Bunnies in America, thus retcon the other Easter films as they’re the represented Easter Bunny of their location oppose to just one Easter Bunny in the entire world. Irontail can be involved without scheming, and even connect to the other Easter film’s villain, but Peter almost had a moment that Irontail could be right at the timing of 1985. The story is sort of Year Without Santa Claus with the believing part of Rise of the Guardians, but relating with the feeling of Easter, and may be a parallel to Rankin Bass’ career and films. Best if this was made in stop-motion, but have CGI to help with the stop-motion than being distracted. Best actor to play Peter Cottontail is either Scott Manville or Matthew Lillard since they have experience playing Shaggy currently.

  For now, if I can gather up all the DVD of this film and separate it from the special feature of the original in a double feature, then I shall hide this “film”, where you will never find it again! 

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

Growing up I had the holidays to celebrate. I had favorites I used to look forward to with Halloween and Easter, but had to give them up (at least their best aspect with Trick or Treat and big Egg Hunt). Certain part of the holidays I didn’t give up and always look forward is the holiday specials. Halloween had the Simpsons Halloween Specials, as Easter had few specials. So it’s best to talk about the Easter Trilogy, “sequel”, and even spinoff. The first of the trilogy is Here Comes Peter Cottontail.

Danny Kaye as Mr. Sassafras tells the story of a white bunny named Peter Cottontail (voiced by Casey Kasem), for he has been chosen to be chief Easter Bunny of April Valley by Colonel Bunniton, but villain, Irontail (voiced by Vincent Price) challenged him to a contest on who can deliver the most eggs mainly to get even with the kids for running over is fluffy tail and was surgery replaced with a tail made of iron. The contest begins on Easter, but Irontail cheated by altering Peter’s Rooster Clock by giving him corn flavored bubblegum, as Peter overslept. Irontail defeated Peter and became chief Easter Bunny with one egg delivered, as he took over April Valley to celebrate Easter in a grim way while the bunnies forever sleep. Peter was in disgraced as he banished himself from a corrupt April Valley. He stumbled onto Mr. Sassafras in the Garden of Surprise, where he helped him with his Yestermorrow Mobile with Antoine the Caterpillar as his pilot. They fly through time and space to get back to Easter of Yesterday, but Irontail sent his spider on a rocket to sabotage the Yestermorrow Mobile, thus preventing to go yesterday and land further tomorrow in different later holidays such as Mother’s Day, Independent Day, Halloween with a witch named Madame Esmeralda (voiced by Joan Gardner), Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all those good holidays. Antoine gives a suggesting song to improvise that he can’t deliver Easter eggs on other holidays, so go deliver specific holiday eggs in hoping he can be chief Easter bunny to save April Alley.

Right from the start, Danny Kaye is a perfect host for the film. He’s energetic, funny, charming, and simply magical. The design captures Danny Kaye to a tee. He does voice other characters with Colonel Bunniton and Antoine in his “French” accent that he did similar in White Christmas. He’s so good; he can have a spin-off film (Emperor’s New Clothing, which I’ll get to that.)

That’s Casey Kasem voicing Peter Cottontail, fresh off from Shaggy in Scooby Doo. He’s just as likable, wide eyed, and boastful yet not obnoxious. He does have character flaw of simply lying, as his left ear droop with a low note trumpet playing, which looks and sound funny.

Then you have the villain, Iron Tail, voiced by Vincent Price. This is the first animated character he voiced that isn’t narration or as invisible, and does he knock it out of the park. He’s very despicable and devious that we like him for being deliciously evil and scheming with a plan for everything, even if some may compare his design to a certain dictator that sadly rivals Bugs Bunny.

The music is good. Danny Kaye sings majority of it while Vincent Price sing one villain song and Casey Kasem sings the valentine song, and they’re all nice and mostly memorable to listen to, and motivating.

  

The only downside is Darla is a forgettable love interest. She’s is cute, and understanding with Peter’s mistake, but she doesn’t appear much in the film. She appears less than Bonnie the Bonnet, and she mostly appeared in the last third. Love Interest rarely worked in any of the Rankin Bass, but it was most likely required to include them for the time, yet wasn’t allowed to be main character in animation unless you’re an Alice or paired with a male character that will get more screen time .

There’s some sets and characters reused from Santa Claus Coming To Town with Somber Town and even the same Santa (this time voiced by Paul Frees). April Valley is simple, yet only the simplest factory and tower would stand out. We won’t get a better Easter theme location until Rise of the Guardian.

The atmosphere is real relaxing in a good Southern feel, and I rarely like Southern stuff with Country Music and generic hillbillies. Each of the Holidays has their respective theme in setting and music. Garden of Surprise is both a pretty place and a pretty cheap place with all the plants designed yet flat. It would have been time consuming to make multiple skinny plastic plants that may break easily just for one tracking scene. Then again, a garden to me is mostly a flat display that I can barely touch and glance over.

This made me realize if Tim Burton was inspired by this film for Nightmare Before Christmas. Everyone usually credit just Rudolph as the only inspiration, but it’s the Christmas that was part of it, but Peter Cottontail is the inspiration in plot point and characters. The fact that each of the holidays have their own gateway (Cottontail had a Calendar for the holiday, as Nightmare Before Christmas has trees for holiday.), Vincent Price is his iconic favorite he use him in Vincent and Edward Scissorhead as his last film (not count earlier recording in Thief and the Cobbler.), there’s a Pumpkinhead in Halloween, and an Easter Bunny is what Oogie’s kids.

This is my favorite Easter film of all time. Is it the greatest Easter film of all time? Easter with Rabbits, yes, unless you prefer Charlie Brown and the Easter Beagle. In terms of the holiday in religious aspect, no, usually Greatest Story of All Time is usually regarded as the best, along with Tenth Commandment as being aired every Easter on ABC. It’s a shame to talk about the later Easter films as the opinion might be a bit unfair, but it’s a bigger shame of the existence of the “sequel” of this classic. Oh I’ll get to that disgrace of the film after this review. In the meantime, enjoy the egg hunt for the kiddies, as the adults enjoy relaxing and other stuff we’ll rarely do anything else.

  

Happy Easter, everyone!

The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians (1970)

Originally I was going to review the Wacky World of Mother Goose, but there’s no complete film of it available on youtube and in stores.  So I exchange a collection of different stories to a collection of comedians and their “stories” with The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians. 

There are about five short stories, and I mean short for less than 4 minutes in a 25 minutes project.

.

Flip Wilson tells a looser story of Christopher Columbus, as looser as the Magic Voyage.

Jack Benny and George Burns have a conflict with a cop at the tollbooth. This is about on par with Fox and Crow at a tollbooth.

Groucho Marx of The Marx Brothers is the emperor, Napoleon and his empress Josephine. She’s cheating with Alfredo (played by Chico), Francois and Gaston (played by Harpo).

Paul Frees as W.C Field and Rich Lady at a snow ski with a snow dog.

The Smother Brothers are at the medieval time to sing to the maiden in a castle.

Henny Youngmen and Phyllis Diller did a scene that went nowhere as Jackie Leonard and Georgie Jessel appearance as it mostly chat to segway to the performers.

Perhaps I can get some good stuff from these skits, and there’s a few to name.

This is the first time in this review order for three things in this film. The first is Mushi Studios. This was a major step up from the previous traditional animation, The Tale of the Wizard of Oz and Return to Oz. While it’s not as good as most of the best animated tv shows, but it still looks great to look at, even at times they are considered Awkward Animation. The earlier films the production did were Frosty the Snowman, which I couldn’t review due to Holiday deal of the review.

The second is Paul Frees. Paul Frees is known to play certain quack of both meanings. He would become a staple for Rankin Bass films as he started in Cricket on a Hearth as mostly side characters and/ or villains. Him playing W.C Field, the rich lady, the royal caller, and the cop (who I swear is the same cop from Frosty the Snowman) sound distinct with each other. Why W.C Field in this film? I don’t know, maybe they were going to bring him back as an unknown playing him forever since the real one is dead since 1946, just like how Henry Calvin played Oliver Hardy as Dick Van Dyke played Stanley Laurel, or they needed to test Paul to see if he can do impressions for more than two characters. Strange that Rankin Bass had a W.C Field impressionist with the Wizard of Tales of Wizard of Oz, voiced by Carl Banas. Maybe he was busy with other Mushi Studios animated films around the time.

The third is Joan Gardner. This is her first role in Rankin Bass, and she does decent as the straight woman to Groucho. She’s best known as side female characters in a few other Rankin Bass films such as Tanta Kringle in Santa Claus Comin’ To Town in months later after this special, and Bonnie the Bonnet from a better film I’ll review next. She had experience voice acting, including Tiny Tim/ Ghost of Christmas Past in Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol.

Now to talk about the negatives and boy there’s so much it’s simply obvious.

Stand up sketches in TV or movies are either a hit (Caddyshack, most of the original MAD TV and Wayne’s World) or miss (Master of Disguise and most SNL movie), but The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians is definitely a miss.

Animated films based around comedians are mostly misses with films such as Rover Dangerfield and 8 Crazy Nights, and this film is one of them. It’s one thing to include laugh track; it’s another to literally draw attention to laugh track. Including Popeye? For TV animated comedy at the 70’s, there’s no chance for any of the comedians to use their “A” Game with the swearing or roasting, or good slapstick without easily offending the censors /parents/ soccer moms at the time. Tom and Jerry in the 70’s has suffered badly when they lost their best traits of slapstick, and only got some of it back in Tom and Jerry Kids in the 90’s.

Now let’s to judge the comedians in this film and not in general, and sadly they’re not close to mad. Flip Wilson is very annoying with his high pitch impressions. He can redeem himself with his own show shortly after this special. Jack Benny can work as the straightman as he has experience including in Looney Tunes, but George Burns isn’t quite the funny man to balance off. Maybe he needs to be older than 60 to be funny, or maybe the script or writer.

“Buh-Buh-Buh, Oh the sunshine on my old Kentucky home. Buh-Buh-Buh! Trust me, it’ll be funny when I’m an old man.”

-                                                                                                                                                                                      -Young George Burns in The Simpsons.

W.C Field, Smothers Brother, and the rest are just there and not funny. The only actors that can be funny are Groucho Marx. Groucho is one of those few actors that can be both sophisticated and (lack for a better word) Mad, along with actors such as Jerry Lewis, Mel Blanc, and too little to name a few.

   

The rest shows how unfunny they are, and show why mostly audio from live performance are a dead art, as 2010 animated Alice In Wonderland proved it won’t work now. I would most of the sketches a “Boo!”, or in George Burns’ case, a “Boo-urns!”

Now I can’t be a complete expert of comedy, but what makes me laugh shows they’re doing comedy right or drama wrong enough to be unintentional comedy. Even I did something funny, but more on physical comedy and timing. I’m not going to write anything funnier as I focus on the film to review.

If you have little kids, they might laugh, but mostly about anything on the screen. If not, this is one of many comedy shows I can change the channel away from.

Ballad of Smokey the Bear

Many of us are aware of Smokey the Bear with his slogan of “Only YOU can prevent forest fire!” He has made his brief appearance in commercials and in cartoons. His own film, Ballad of Smokey the Bear is where to review from here.

His older brother, Big Bear (voiced by James Cagney of Yankee Doodle Dandy) tells the Ballad of Smokey the Bear from his childhood. Smokey as Sonny (Original young voice I swear is Billie Mae Richard, but later he's voiced by a young Barry Pearl, who would later be Doody in Grease.) was a naive little bear with a girlfriend, Delilah. In a peaceful forest, he had neighbors of bees, beavers, foxes, a turtle, rabbits, and all those cute animals. One day, a fire happened in the forest as it scarred Smokey, including his mom and the assuming that Delilah died as we never see them after the forest fire. (Where his father went? Who knows? Maybe he’s dead, out further in another acre, or scaring people of Kidsville.) After physical recovery, they discovered footprints of a threat to the animals and forest. It’s not man, but its close in the animal kingdom, yet rose by it, which you’ll have to see for yourself.

The song was written by Johnny Mark, who wrote the music for Rudolph. Where in Rudolph, the music either moved or expressed the story.

The music numbers are nice to listen, but is pointless and stops the film too much. When it does move the story, it does sound better. My favorite is the opening theme as it sounds legendary as folklore could be in musical form. Either the older brother is singing in his story for padding, or his kids listen to the story are dosing off thinking a musical number for fun.

The story is less about Smokey and more about the brother, Big Bear, since little Smokey was mostly scared and brooding in the second act of the film. Much of an ego, but it makes more or less sense since he witness most of it. Though how he knows what happened when he wasn’t around was more connections to the other characters in the story. Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense.

The side characters are generic, but purpose to show some life in the forest. Beavers are kind of annoying with the constant snickering at the beginning of their sentences, the fox is sort of Comet the Reindeer, and the turtle is generally wise and old.

I don’t get into the environmental films, since majority is the same with nature or man dooming the world as the main characters try and will survive, as proven with Ferngully, Power Rangers Wild Force/ Gaoranger (the most of the series that tackle the environment, with Power Rangers Megaforce/ 2^nd part of Goseiger, and few episodes of Mighty Morphin as runner up.), CGI Lorax, Captain Planet, Cars 2, Once Upon Forest, and Norm of the North. It’s usually more effective when the world starts as damage, but over the course of the film and series will find ways to bring the world to peace. This can be done right in Avatar: The Last Airbender (not James Cameron’s Avatar), Sonic SAT AM, Wall-E, and Power Rangers RPM. This film fit somewhere close to the middle.

If you want to know the history of Smokey the Bear, this is a close film to know the basic of him, while there could be some documents about him. There’s an animated series with Smokey, but that’s another Ballad of a review for another time.    

The Daydreamer

Following Willy McBean is another film involving different stories we explore with a male lead, this time it’s tied to an author’s story than different timeline. With that said, let’s read into The Daydreamer.

  

A young Hans Christian Anderson (or Chris to the film) lives with his shoemaking father in Odense, New Yor...I mean Denmark. His father tells the legend of the Garden of Paradise. Inspired by him and the Sandman (voiced by Cyril Ritchard), he ran away to seek the Garden. On the way, he meets characters he would loosely write.

He got drowned at the North Sea as the Little Mermaid (voiced by Haley Mill) saved him. She risked her life to revive his with a potion from a sea witch, in exchange that if he doesn’t love back, she’ll never return back to the sea.

After ditching the mermaid, he came across to the crooked tailors (skinny one voiced by Victor Borge, and the fat one voiced by Terry - Thomas), as they meet the emperor of the Emperor’s New Clothing (voiced by Ed Wynn), who hated these clothing from his tailors, yet love Beer Run or Tea Run every time they have a clean cup. The crooked tailors convince the emperor with they’re the best not with hypnotism (no, none of that!), but with a violin to move his mood about the invisible cloth.   

He got caught by the game warren for “kidnapping” an ugly duckling, as he chained in the middle of the woods. He stumbles upon Thumbelina (voiced by Patty Duke) as he shrank to her size from a tulip seed to be free (something that anyone can have access yet won’t). They travel until it became winter as a rat (voiced by Boris Karloff) cares them in his hole in the ground. The rat had an idea, an awful idea. The rat has an wonderful awful idea to arrange Thumbelina to marry the mole (*shutter* that Barry Manilow terrible music. Anyway, the mole is voiced by Sessue Hayakawa). 

Will Chris reach to the Garden of Paradise to get smarter?

I really love the opening with the cast of characters with their drawing of the actors’ presents to show and music to look forward to be something unique in each of them. Why repeat the credits after you just did the credits is just padding when they could of show the second half of the opening, but would cut Robert Goulet’s music.

This film is loaded is big name stars with some big simple scenery. Most of them are perfect in their respective role. I do love Patty Duke as Thumbelina as so far is the better version while the rest range from forgettable (Tale of Hans Christian Anderson, and Tom Thumb & Thumbelina) to annoying (1993 anime version and Don Bluth’s version). Though there are some who’s not great enough, nor terrible in performance or design to name a few.

The Sandman might be a bit lazy as he’s just a paper ghost on par with that spirit from Red Sonya, yet it’s so mysterious and his haunting voice.

Ray Bolger as a Pie Man is pointless, unless he was essential to Demark, as Margret Hamilton is essential to be Miss Gulch in this film. 

Burl Ives as King Neptune is mostly “there” as he tells the mermaid about death, despite they never question where all the seafood goes when they eat them. Funny he went from Sam the Snowman to Neptune the Oceanman.

The biggest problem is Chris himself. He does looks like teenage Stewie Griffin, but that’s just a microscopic problem of the major part of the cover than some details and pages we turn to. He’s not good in live action and animated. Usually in most live action transferred to animation, the live performance are less active while their animated counterpart have so much expressions since the animators are usually the better actors than the actor. While this is the only live action film Rankin Bass that’s tied to the story, as they’re one of many people that can work better with animation than live action. He has about two expressions (smile and stoic for live action, as shocked and smile in animated) and monotone voice & singing voice in both versions.

On top of that, he’s a dull jerk. He abandon the little mermaid and Thumbelina to be stranded just to get to the Garden of Paradise after they saved his life. Granted, Thumbelina has the bird to fly to, unless he breaks his wing after flying and then leaving her stranded. Next time a Little Mermaid sees Hans Christian Anderson, she’ll let him drown in his submarine. Then again, he did write that she have to give up her tongue for legs. He doesn’t deserve the Garden of Paradise. Any other Hans Christian Anderson would have done better to get there. Unless he’s played by Danny Kaye that he found the Garden of Paradise and will convert into the Garden of Surprise.

Speaking of which, there are better films starring Hans Christian Anderson. One with Danny Kaye that’s so good, that the Muppet Show used one of his music, Inch Worm. In fact, he’s good enough to star in one of the stories in the film with the Sandman voicing the emperor, but that’s another to tell. The other is an animated film of The World of Hans Christian Anderson where this Hans is focused as a young likable story teller and actually daydreams. This film he spend half the time asleep, which is more Dreamer than Daydreamer.

If you’re interested to see this film, there are some decent scenes in it. Yet to negative scenes is the Daydreamer himself. We can’t have a Day dreamer-less version, otherwise we can simply split this film into three shorts and change Chris’ hair color. I would choose this film over Screen Gem’s edited version of Little Matchstick and Golden Film’s Little Mermaid any day. It’s a give or take with this film.