But I've still got it, Eddie
According to Wikipedia, today marks the 75th birthday of Betty Boop, who appeared in her first cartoon on this day in 1930. Not many people today are familiar with Ms. Boop's work, except perhaps for her cameo in what may be the finest movie ever made. However, thanks to the glory of the Internet, many of her cartoons can now be seen online. Today, then, seems like a good time to salute Ms. Boop and other moving-picture wonders of the Internet.
If you have never seen a Betty Boop cartoon before, I recommend you look at the assortment of "classic cartoons" on Internet Archives. The main reason these cartoons are so entertaining is their extreme weirdness. "Minnie the Moocher", to give an example, features Betty running away from home, which is understandable after her father's head suddenly turned into a record player. She hides in a cave, which turns out to be haunted by the singing, dancing ghost of a walrus. Yes, I said the ghost of a walrus. Best of all, the walrus is beautifully played by jazz legend Cab Calloway (aka "Curtis from the Blues Brothers", but you already knew that, right?). Calloway also appears-- again as a ghost, for some reason-- in Betty's even-more-bizarre version of "Snow White", in which he sings the classic blues song "Saint James Infirmary", a highly appropriate song for a dead guy to sing.
Internet Archive, in fact, has a number of interesting "Classic Cartoons" that can be watched online. Besides a LOT of Betty Boop cartoons, there are also bits starring Woody Woodpecker, Popeye, and Superman. Of special interest to history nerds like me is "The Eleventh Hour", produced during World War II, which is basically ten minutes of Superman trashing the Yokohama Navy Yard.
Before I close my post on the miracle of online videos, there is one more thing I have to share. If you haven't witnessed it already, the William Shatner rendition of "Rocket Man" is an absolute must-see. I simply cannot recommend it highly enough. I've watched it 5 or 6 times now, and it gets better every time. Among other things, it always makes me envision Elton John weeping into a large and very frilly handkerchief.
POSTSCRIPT: I'm sure Frau Skippy will be commenting any minute now, to remind me that I did not include Shatner's version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" or Leonard Nimoy's "Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" among the treasures of online video. So here is one of them, although I refuse to link to the other, as its very existence is a sin against nature. If you really want to see it, use Google and find it yourself. On the plus side, though, it did show me that there is a man, and only one man, who could play Prince Namor in the movies. You be the judge:
If you have never seen a Betty Boop cartoon before, I recommend you look at the assortment of "classic cartoons" on Internet Archives. The main reason these cartoons are so entertaining is their extreme weirdness. "Minnie the Moocher", to give an example, features Betty running away from home, which is understandable after her father's head suddenly turned into a record player. She hides in a cave, which turns out to be haunted by the singing, dancing ghost of a walrus. Yes, I said the ghost of a walrus. Best of all, the walrus is beautifully played by jazz legend Cab Calloway (aka "Curtis from the Blues Brothers", but you already knew that, right?). Calloway also appears-- again as a ghost, for some reason-- in Betty's even-more-bizarre version of "Snow White", in which he sings the classic blues song "Saint James Infirmary", a highly appropriate song for a dead guy to sing.
Internet Archive, in fact, has a number of interesting "Classic Cartoons" that can be watched online. Besides a LOT of Betty Boop cartoons, there are also bits starring Woody Woodpecker, Popeye, and Superman. Of special interest to history nerds like me is "The Eleventh Hour", produced during World War II, which is basically ten minutes of Superman trashing the Yokohama Navy Yard.
Before I close my post on the miracle of online videos, there is one more thing I have to share. If you haven't witnessed it already, the William Shatner rendition of "Rocket Man" is an absolute must-see. I simply cannot recommend it highly enough. I've watched it 5 or 6 times now, and it gets better every time. Among other things, it always makes me envision Elton John weeping into a large and very frilly handkerchief.
POSTSCRIPT: I'm sure Frau Skippy will be commenting any minute now, to remind me that I did not include Shatner's version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" or Leonard Nimoy's "Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" among the treasures of online video. So here is one of them, although I refuse to link to the other, as its very existence is a sin against nature. If you really want to see it, use Google and find it yourself. On the plus side, though, it did show me that there is a man, and only one man, who could play Prince Namor in the movies. You be the judge:
posted by Skippy | 1:04 PM
1 Comments:
Dammit woman, stop spreading evil on my blog!
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