Warner Brothers – Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian

A while back, I asked some blogger friends if they’d want to write a piece for my Share Your Nostalgia feature. In the past we have looked at Favorite Childhood Toy and Favorite Childhood Book. Today, we go back to Saturday mornings. This was when we sat in front of the TV with our favorite cereal and watched hours of cartoons. So I asked my guests to write about their favorite cartoon or cartoon character growing up.

Today’s guest blogger is someone that I recently connected with on WordPress. I enjoy her writing so much that she has already contributed a guest blog here. Her blog, Regular Girl Devos, is full of gems. Some of her features are a Monday Motivation piece, Quotes that will make you think, Praise pieces, blogs to Find Your Purpose, and various Stories. I’m glad to have Dana here again. I wonder what her take on cartoons is …

Thank you, Keith, for inviting me to write about such a fun subject! I’m going vintage, so hop in my time machine as I dial in the spring of 1963…

My mom worked to make ends meet, so I spent my days at grandma’s house. Every Monday, grandma and I would go to the grocery store. As she drove the old Chevy, I would stand on the bench seat next to her, excited for the treat soon to come.

In my bare feet, I ran past the western pony ride in front of the store to the Kiddierama Cartoon Theater Booth, just inside next to the checkout lanes. Slipping past the red velvet-like curtain, I would slide onto the wooden seat and wait for grandma to push the button on the outside. It was dark, but not scary. As we were usually there on Mondays, I wouldn’t have to share my little movie theater with anyone. Soon, images would flicker on the small screen and the music would play.

I delighted in the dancing woodland creatures, insects, and even trees and flowers. I experienced all kinds of music, from classical to swing-time jazz and barbershop quartets. When it stopped, I hopped out to push the button again—no coins needed!

I remember many of these musical animated short films, but until I began my research, I didn’t realize how many studios produced them. Disney began making Silly Symphonies in 1929, and Terrytoons began the same year. Walter Lantz Productions followed with Swing Symphony, MGM had Happy Harmonies, and Warner Brothers had Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes.

Most of those I saw in that little booth were from the early days and I loved them! Stories told only with music and dancing violins, what is not to like? Here are a few links to my favorites:

Silly Symphonies, “The Cookie Carnival” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRB2YlQOSBI

and “Music Land” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dihJ1w48Jh0

Terrytoons, “Harvest Time” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7pxBkSVHy8

Of course, the most popular animated musical movie was Disney’s “Fantasia,” released in 1940. The cartoons produced during the “Golden Age of American animation,” from 1928 through the 60s, are the best!

Because I also love vintage movies, I enjoy the cartoons starring classic Hollywood actors like Clark Gable, Bing Crosby, and Jimmy Stewart, just to name a few. One, by Merrie Melodies, is called “Hollywood Steps Out.” It includes caricatures of over 40 of Hollywood’s most popular performers. Here is a link to IMDb if you would like to learn more: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033724/?ref_=ls_t_2

If you appreciate vintage comedy, watch this one by Looney Tunes from 1942 of Abbott and Costello called “The Tale of Two Kitties.” It is hilarious!

Does anyone else remember these tiny theaters in the stores?

“A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22

It was on this day in 1891 that the amazing Carl Stalling was born. You may not know him by name, but I guarantee you know his work!

Carl is probably best known for arranging and composing music for cartoons and animated films. If you have ever watched a Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies cartoon, you have heard his music. While at Warner Brothers, he averaged one complete score each week, for 22 years!

As a young man, he played organ accompaniment to silent films. It was about this time he met Walt Disney. Walt had him arrange some music for a few of the early shirts. He even had Carl do the voice of Mickey Mouse in 1929’s The Karnival Kid. He worked with Disney for two years.

In 1936, he began working on music for Warner Brothers. From 1936 onwards, Stalling was the film score composer for almost every theatrical animated short released by the company until he retired.

Director Chuck Jones was asked about Stalling:

A few years back, Carl’s music was released on an album called The Carl Stalling Project. A year or so later, they released a second volume. It is actually very cool to listen to!

You can listen to the amazing soundtrack on YouTube! Some of the cuts have studio chatter, which I always love listening to. Here is a link to the albums:

Back in 1969, a childhood staple premiered on National Educational Television, a precursor of PBS. 55 years later, Sesame Street continues to entertain and teach children everywhere!

I grew up watching the show. I always got a kick out of Ernie and Bert. I even had an Ernie hand puppet.

Kermit the Frog was the newsman I trusted most as a kid. I loved watching Grover mess up that one guy’s order at the restaurant. I remember that artist who painted the number of the day on whatever he could find. Guy Smiley seemed to host whatever show was happening and Cookie Monster couldn’t get enough cookies! I loved Count Von Count and the fact that there was always a thunder clap and lightning when he laughed!

They were my first TV friends. Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird, the Martians, the Twiddle Bugs, Mr. Hooper, Susan, Bob, Gordon, Maria, and Luis kept me company and helped me learn so much. I remember having the Sesame Street Little People, too!

We played, we learned, and we sang songs! Who can forget the Pinball Song? The Lady Bugs Picnic? “C” is for Cookie? I Love Trash? The People In Your Neighborhood? Sing? The Alligator King? It Ain’t Easy Being Green? I Don’t Want To Live On The Moon? Rubber Duckie? I had Rubber Duckie on a 45 and played it on my portable record player!

The format has changed a lot and so has the cast. Additional Muppets have been added, and some new humans have replaced old ones. The show has been shortened to 30 minutes, and it is mostly Elmo now. The number and letter of the day are just throwaways now and only get a brief mention. It lacks so much of what it had, but it is still going!

I could always count on Sesame Street to do exactly what its theme song said it would do – chase “the clouds away!” Great memories for sure!