Forget about a slasher in a hockey mask running amuck through a summer camp, the most impactful icon of the superstitions connected with Friday the 13th might just be a cute little kitten. In Bad Luck Blackie, the classic MGM cartoon from 1949, a kitten is befriended by the titular black cat, creating bad luck […]
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The Spy Who “Rock”-ed Me: The 55th Anniversary of “The Man Called Flintstone”
August 6th, 2021 
Michael Lyons Talk about a “mash-up.” Spy Films and The Flintstones, two completely different pop-culture hallmarks of the 60s, came together fifty-five years ago this month for the full-length feature, The Man Called Flintstone. Hanna-Barbera’s landmark prime time animated series about the “Modern stone-age family,” which debuted in 1960, wrapped up its run in 1966 when the […]
Comic Relief: The 75th Anniversary of the Warner Bros. short “The Great Piggy Bank Robbery”
July 30th, 2021 Michael Lyons Before there was the term “fandom,” there was The Great Piggy Bank Robbery. In this classic Warner Bros cartoon short, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this month, none other than Daffy Duck proves to be a comic book “fanboy’ (or is it “fanduck?”). As The Great Piggy Bank Robbery opens, Daffy is on the farm […]
Babes in the Woods: The 40th Anniversary of Disney’s “The Fox and the Hound”
July 28th, 2021 Michael Lyons For a film that is so pure, quiet, and earnest, The Fox and the Hound arrived at Disney during one of the studio’s most tumultuous times. In what has become a well-documented and pivotal moment in animation history, during production on The Fox and the Hound in September of 1979, Don Bluth led a walkout […]
A “Bugs” Life: The 25th Anniversary of the Original “Space Jam”
July 16th, 2021 Michael Lyons Movies have been inspired by books, TV shows, comics, songs, and toys. But commercials? How could the 30 to 60-second world of product sales give light to a full-length feature? Space Jam, the live action/animated Warner Bros. film from 1996, knew how. Four years before the film’s release, Nike sneakers debuted two creatively funny TV […]
Holmes Sweet Holmes: The 35th Anniversary of “The Great Mouse Detective”
July 14th, 2021 Michael Lyons While it was in production, The Great Mouse Detective was like a “wallflower,” just waiting for a dance. The film was developed at Disney in the ’80s, a time of significant change at the studio. Michael Eisner had just joined the company as CEO, with Jeffrey Katzenberg coming on board with him, taking charge of […]
Classic TV Cartoons Go “Fourth!”
July 2nd, 2021 Michael Lyons As Independence Day approaches, in addition to firing up the grill and settling into the backyard, you may want to pour a big bowl of sugary cereal and sit down in front of the TV. When television cartoons ruled the airways on Saturday mornings and weekday afternoons, there were several that were patriotic in their […]
A Novel Approach: The 25th Anniversary of Disney’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”
June 25th, 2021 Michael Lyons The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo’s brooding literary classic wouldn’t be most people’s first response to the question: “How will Disney follow-up The Lion King and Pocahontas?” So, why was it chosen? “What appealed to us was the characters of the piece and the opportunity to tell a story about a character who was […]
Goofy for Dad: Father’s Day With Real Character
June 18th, 2021 Michael Lyons His name may not immediately come to mind when thinking about exemplary examples of fatherhood, but he certainly is the most earnest…and funniest. Goofy, one of Disney’s most enduring and endearing characters has become associated with the role of being a Dad through the years. In honor of Father’s Day this weekend, what follows are […]
A “Short” Trip: Classic Cartoons on Vacation
June 15th, 2021 Michael Lyons As the summer season approaches, are you still undecided as to what to do for vacation? After a year of being “stuck inside,” there is a need to get out and get away. But then, there are the costs and the plans and all of the other worries that now come with our world. If […]
Making Waves: The 20th Anniversary of “Atlantis: The Lost Empire”
June 7th, 2021 Michael Lyons Disney’s 41st animated feature, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, was born at a Mexican restaurant. During lunch in 1996, it was there that producer Don Hahn and directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale (who had all collaborated on Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame) met to talk about movies and potential future […]
Duck and Cover: Donald’s World War II Short Subjects
May 31st, 2021 Michael Lyons With his short temper and lack of respect for authority, Donald Duck doesn’t seem as if he’d be the first choice to represent the patriotic American soldier during World War II. Despite this, it was precisely the role he played in several short subjects produced at Disney during the War As America entered World War […]
Triple Threat: Bugs, Daffy, Elmer & the 70th Anniversary of “Rabbit Fire.”
May 22nd, 2021 Michael Lyons Moviegoers have seen some impressive conflicts depicted on screen: Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, The Avengers, and Thanos. But few, if any, reach the heights of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, head-to-head, shouting at one another, while Elmer Fudd stands nearby with his shotgun at the ready This month marks […]
Fractured Fairy Tale: The 20th Anniversary of DreamWorks’ “Shrek.”
May 15th, 2021 Michael Lyons When Shrek opened in theaters on May 18, 2001, Entertainment Weekly’s film critic Lisa Shwarzbaum called the film “A kind of palace coup, a shout of defiance and a coming of age for Dreamworks.” In retrospect, this was a perfect description. Jeffrey Katzenberg, who had shepherded Disney through that studio’s animation renaissance of the 1990s […]
A “Short” Tribute to Mom!
May 7th, 2021 Michael Lyons Perhaps Lindsay Lohan, playing identical twins in the 1998 remake of Disney’s live-action classic The Parent Trap, summed it up best when she declared: “My mom is too cool!” We can all relate. As we approach Mother’s Day and plan to celebrate our moms or fondly remember moms who are no longer with us, we […]
