Old Timers Department

By -

The Barnyard Crowing School

A Mother's Farewell

Animals At Play

R Is For Rabbit

3 Mice


Peter Rabbit

Adorable Otters

Harrison Cady, 1877-1970.  Extremely prolific, he also painted fine art landscapes and worked for advertisers.  The name Peter Rabbit, although already used by Beatrix Potter, was the name Thornton Burgess used for the rabbit stories he told his son, the boy would not let him use another name.  For a time Peter called himself Peter Cottontail, and then that name was never used again until a 1949 pop hit recorded by Gene Autry resurrected it.  Harrison Cady drew the Peter Rabbit strip for 28 years, then it was taken over by Vince Fago.  While Ms. Potter does not seem to have objected to the use of the Peter Rabbit name, she for damn sure was not going to let Disney have him, and it was only recently that Sony defiled that wonderful creation with one of your more genuinely brain dead adaptions of a book like, ever.  She should have sold Peter to Walt, whatever may happen Disney protects their characters from external idiots, preferring to ruin their source material the Magic Kingdom way.  Ask the shade of Lloyd Alexander about The Black Cauldron and what a company that relies on schmaltz and phony American values can do to a great story.


 The 1971 Rankin/Bass Here Comes Peter Cottontail, with Casey Kasem as Peter.  This was adapted from a Thornton Burgess book, The Easter Bunny Who Overslept.  When Rankin/Bass makes a bad movie, so what?  That's like complaining about Ed Wood.  But Disney has no excuse, ever, for what they do to other people's stories and their own.  Oh, and they steal royalties, Gary Wolf had to go to court twice over Roger Rabbit, the Mouse told him it did not make any money.  (RR made 330 million 1987 dollars, and that's just box office).
  And - the 1971 movie had Vincent Price in it.  Game, set and match to Rankin/Bass!  Watch at your own peril: 
 


 The Rabbit Formerly Known As Peter Rabbit
 

Comments

  1. Foxy FlapperSeptember 30, 2020 at 9:39 AM

    Harrison Cady was a fantastic artist and a great part of my childhood! I have watched the Rankin-Bass version of Peter Cottontail when I was a child. I recently watched it again-not the greatest movie-but still enjoyable.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Billy D BunnySeptember 30, 2020 at 10:09 AM

    I just heard of him yesterday, I don't even remember these books. He is a fantastic artist for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AndibiOctober 2, 2020 at 2:41 AM

    Ah yes, "Here Comes Peter Cottontail..." I remember seeing that once or twice as a kid. Say what you will about Rankin-Bass's productions, but they did come up with some pretty imaginative villains!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Billy D BunnyOctober 2, 2020 at 10:28 AM

    Foxy posted on a Rankin/Bass Red Baron production which I have never seen. At the time I thought such shows were cheap and poorly done, now that I know more about the economics of the animation scene I realize we are lucky that we had any cartoons to watch made after 1959.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Abandoned Cat (Sute-Neko Tora Chan)

By -
Image
Abandoned Cat Little Tora, 1947. A family finds an abandoned kitten and takes it in.  But one of the children is jealous of the attention shown to the newcomer and runs away.  In 1947 war orphans were everywhere in Japan. Directed by Kenzo Masaoka.   https://youtu.be/d_nN0_DZPHw       A dream of domestic bliss.   https://youtu.be/-6toCCKMBqo   This ends with the family all together as one on a Christmas, decorated tree and everything.   https://youtu.be/cF4qS1iQ-Gs       What is conspicuous is the lack of a father.  I guess at this time so many Japanese families had their fathers and sons gone that this cartoon designed to comfort and to empathize with those bereft.  In that regard this is a very sad movie, very well made. Life is far too marvelous to be squandered in war. https://misterscribbles.blogspot.com/
Read more

The Cockroach Union and Waterbugs Protective Association

By -
Image
      Hi Guys! I'm back with some more anthro bug weirdness courtesy of Peterman's Roach Food!   This stuff was designed to kill cockroaches and other insect vermin way back in the early 1900s !  It came in a bright red tin covered with microscopic pictures that tell a most distressing story !  Seems that the bugs are up in arms because something is killing them off !  They have formed a " protective association " and are marching in protest kind of like Coxey's Army !           But it's no good !  All that marching has worked up the bugs' appetites !  So they check in to chow down on some of that delicious " roach food ."  Too bad it's poison !  One by one, the roaches eat the tainted feast and they croak , right there on the package !     Man, that's tough !  But I guess if you've got cockroaches marching around in your kitchen , this is how you deal with them !   ...
Read more

Two Different Dragons

By -
Image
  I'm not sure if these dragons are considered "anthro" or "furry"(although they both have a little fur)-but they are both intelligent creatures!  Haku from Spirited Away- He is an eastern dragon with a wolf-like head and white fur/scales and green mane. He can transform into a human boy when he chooses-plus he is also a river spirit/guardian. He never speaks in his dragon form but he is a very intelligent creature. If you have not seen this classic Studio Ghibli movie, please do so! Falkor the luck dragon is from the 1984 movie The Neverending Story. In the original book illustrations, he had the look of a Eastern dragon with a lion's head. In the movie,he had the long body of an Eastern dragon but with a dog-like face. Either way,he is a positive creature who encourages the hero Atreyeu throughout the film. " Believe and good luck will find you"
Read more