ROSIE THE RIVETER - Cappy Barra Boys and The Smoothies Trio (1943)

Happy Independence Day 2015!
We can do this!

If you don't know the story of "Rosie The Riveter" then your history school teacher did a pretty shitty job! When all the men went off in World War II, the only workforce America had to turn to was it's women, and they proved way back then that they were perfectly capable of doing anything a man could do, and maybe even better! "Rosie The Riveter" was the classic example!

This is just a three minute short that is probably viewable on YouTube, I didn't even bother checking! The copy I have was downloaded from the Internet Archive! This is a great little swingin' tune, and  an early precursor to MTV music videos that features The Smoothies, who were known individually as Babs, Charlie, and Little, doing the vocals with backup by the fantastic Cappy Barra Harmonica Boys! They just don't make music like this anymore!
Hit It Boys!!!

I love these two shots, the guys look like they're eating weird cobs of corn! Munch, munch, crunch, crunch!

Here's The Smoothies!

For some reason the character of Rosie remains unidentified unless one of you knowledgeable readers know who she was!

When I started this blog back in 2007, I thought it would be cool to listen to music from films never released as an audio recordings, so that's why we like to present you with an mp3, so you can listen to the music on a music player of some sort without having to watch a video! The Buggles said "Video Killed The Radio Star," but to my knowledge, nobody ever made the followup that would have been titled "Video Killed The Video Star!" Sometimes you just don't need, or have time for a video!

Ring around the Rosie! She probably should have been President a long time ago!

"Rosie The Riveter" was an American icon based on real workers like Rosie Bonavita and Rosalind P. Walter! A full blown movie was released in 1944 starring Jane Frazee!

So, there you go, Happy Fourth Of July to all! 

For the next couple of weeks I'm going on a literal vacation, and will be gone a lot, so instead of just hanging up the 'Gone Fishin' sign, I'm going to stick to my cartoon format; something I might have time for, so tune in, or tune out, it's your choice! Thanks to Rosie and all the gals like her, it's actually still a free country!

NEGADON: The Monster From Mars / Studio Magara - 2005

I picked up this little Japanese gem over a year ago after reading a review about it. It is a computer generated short movie that's about a cargo-spaceship that crash-lands on the streets of Tokyo and it unleashes a giant monster from Mars. It's up to Dr. Narasaki and his mecha robot Miroku to save the Earth...

I've spent most of my life visualizing various space scenes, I get turned on with images like this one of a space station orbiting the Earth because of how realistic it looks.

I've got a little sound clip for your approval, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button over by our crashed up space capsule, NOW, Rufus The Gnat!.. Here's a sample of... NEGADON!

This is Dr. Narasaki, a distraught scientist who lost his daughter in an accident during an experiment in the lab. He's also the creator of an awesome giant robot called Miroku.

Here's the space cargo ship returning to Earth from Mars as it explodes.

The pieces from the cargo ship crash into Tokyo (what else) and the Negadon monster rises from the explosion only to start destroying everything around it!

Dr. Narasaki decides it's time to bring his robot, Miroku, out of moth balls, and, it isn't long before he locates the monster with his robot sensors.

Miroku has a special drill bit that is made from the strongest metal ever made, a handy device if you have to go up against something like Negadon!

Dr. Narasaki decides he needs to take the fight into space, near the Moon, where he can grapple with the thing without destroying any more of Tokyo.

After following Miroku into space, Negadon activates its deadly weapon, ready to fight!

But, Dr. Narasaki has other plans, you can hear him in the sound clip cursing the Hellish thing.

Miroku attacks and the drill bit grinds its way through the creatures brain, then the doctor hits a button that explodes both of them into oblivion! A bitter sweet end to this tale... Eegah!! is back tomorrow for a special 4th of July post, be there!!

PORKY IN WACKYLAND - "Beaking The Fourth Wall" (1938)

I'm kicking Summer into high gear with a new feature starting tonight called The Weekly Wacko Cartoon! I've been watching quite a few cartoons lately (the internet is alive with cartoons), and it just reminds me of how much time I spent watching cartoons as a kid! I'm sure I wasted more time watching cartoons than I did movies! So I hope you dig it as much as I plan to, and without further delay, from 1938, here's the first featured cartoon in the series.......

"Porky In Wackyland!"

Looney Tunes! Two words that say it all, and the music from the mad mind of the genius Carl Stalling just punctuates the whole experience!

 

The sheer volume of work put out by Bob Clampett, Carl Stalling, Mel Blanc, Leon Schlesinger, Norman McCabe and I. Ellis is a testimonial to mad genius!

Porky Pig's first appearance on the big screen was in a 1935 cartoon called "I Haven't Got A Hat," and his voice was done by a guy named Joe Dougherty! By 1937, Mel Blanc had totally taken over the role, and continued doing the voice of Porky all the way into the late 80's! It's really hard to imagine!

This portrait of Porky in the cockpit is a beautiful exercise in simplicity!

The jokes never end, it's like their brains were on fire!

In Wackyland, this big ferocious monster turns out to an effeminate sweetheart! There are also two moons in the sky!

A flower blossoms with a drum solo!

Wackyland seems like a cross between Rube Goldberg, Basil Wolverton, and.....

..............Salvador Dali!

In 1938, "Looney Tunes" = Anything goes!!

Seriously, wouldn't you like to know the story behind each and every one of these characters?

This is the classic half-cat and half-dog creature that spends all it's time chasing and fighting itself, taking tail chasing to a whole new level!

Speaking of Rube Goldberg, the first film that ever featured what would be later known as "The Three Stooges," was written by Rube Goldberg, and called "Soup To Nuts," and was unleashed on the public on my birthday in 1930. They weren't known as the stooges yet and in fact, Moe wasn't even using the name Moe, but was billed as Harry Howard. By 1938, "The Three Stooges" were so popular that of course they'd be parodied by Bob Clampett and the gang!

Just like this blog, you want information, then you've come to the right place!

Some people don't like cartoons, because they think they are stupid! I'm just the opposite, I think you're stupid if you don't like cartoons!

Once Porky catches up with the Do-Do, everything just get worse!

Gee, maybe they weren't going extinct after all! This final shot and concept personifies what's wrong with the world today! If you don't get it, then I guess you just haven't watched enough cartoons! The internet is a classic cartoon lover's dream, between YouTube, and the Internet Archive, there's a virtual lifetime of cartoons out there that you can watch for free, so fire your therapist and your pharmacist, and get the best high-speed internet connection available, and let's all start laughing again!