For our 250th episode, and our most recent Looney movie episode, which has now grown to include movies made by Warner's 90s animation division, Marc and Jordan cover a classic film that may have killed the Warner animation division but influenced a generation of animators. The Iron Giant was born out of two different stories of love amidst pain, nearly became a movie musical adaptation, and was a product of sheer creativity crushed by an inability to drive in revenue. Warner Brothers saw this only as a vessel for money, and wrote it off when it failed. Little did they know that they'd completely missed the point Brad Bird was trying to make with the film. We say a lot about the Iron Giant in this episode, why it works, why it was unfairly handled by the studio, why it may be one of the greatest American films of its time, and why we won't get fooled again.
Links:
Support us on Patreon
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Bluesky
Join us as we lead up to our movie episode on robots by looking at shorts that have robots in them! Jordan looks at a later era Tweety effort in which Sylvester relies on a robot dog (for 20 seconds) in 'Tweet and Lovely' Marc covers Bugs Bunny dealing with a robot...that doesn't look anything like a rabbit in 'Robot Rabbit' And we conclude with a real clunker of a short with Wile Coyote in 'The Solid Tin Coyote'
Links:
Jonathan’s GoFundMe
Support us on Patreon
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Bluesky
For our fourth episode consisting entirely of Looney Tunes commercials, Marc and Jordan cover a nice mix of misguided 90s ideas, puzzling 60s ideas and pop art greatness. Yes, there will be Tang, but there will also be PSAs, chicken, jams and jellies, crack and much much more. This one got extremely out of hand, and just in time for Christmas.
Links:
Jonathan’s GoFundMe
Support us on Patreon
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Bluesky
Join us as we take a look at a beloved Scooby-Doo film from our youth with a soundtrack that has stayed with an entire generation with 'Scooby-Doo On Zombie Island' !
This commentary was originally recorded in October 2023, as the winner of that month's Patreon YOU CHOOSE Commentary Poll, to access over 20+ commentaries and more exclusives, become a patron!
Join us as we take a look at three more Looney Tunes shorts that have not aged well! Marc covers the Academy Award Nominated (but lost...much to the chagrin of Bob Clampett) with 'Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt' Jordan finds the other Playboy Penguin/Bugs Bunny team-up with a not aged well nemesis with 'Frigid Hare' And we both look at....just....a perfect amalgamation of everthing we don't like about Robert McKimson with 'China Jones'
Links:
Jonathan’s GoFundMe
Support us on Patreon
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Bluesky
Marc and Jordan look at three shorts where characters that arguably should have been in one-shot cartoons are given a second, or fourth, chance. These include 'Greetings, Bait', starring The Wacky Worm, 'Cheese-It, The Cat', starring The Honeymousers, and 'Often An Orphan', starring the much-maligned Charlie Dog. Some of these work, and could have been longer running characters. Some show signs of limitations in their concepts. And some bring us to a two-minute-long laughing standstill.
Links:
Jonathan’s GoFundMe
Support us on Patreon
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Bluesky
Join us as we cover more Hubie and Bertie! Marc looks at an early attempt of the characters (VERY loosely) in 'Trap Happy Porky' Jordan finds Hubie and Bertie in the HOUSE OF THE FUTURE (Hey didn't we just cover one of those? thankfully this isn't a McKimson episode!) in 'House-Hunting Mice' and we conclude with....a little more on the dark side of the Hubie and Bertie story with 'Cheese Chasers'
Links:
Jonathan’s GoFundMe
Support us on Patreon
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Bluesky
It had been a while since Marc and Jordan had covered shorts featuring Mac & Tosh, the Goofy Gophers, and it's mostly because their overly-nice schtick can get old after a while. But there were still a handful for us to cover, including the classic 'A Ham in a Role', featuring an opening minute that animation historians love to showcase [without really going into detail about the rest of it], and a pretty strong outing in 'A Bone for a Bone'. They also had to watch a 1965 short called 'Tease for Two'. It doesn't go as well, but it does lead to funnier bits.
Links:
Jonathan’s GoFundMe
Support us on Patreon
Follow us on Twitter
Join us as we reach the conclusion (as of now) of the Hanna-Barbera film adaptations with 2021's Tom and Jerry! There's Cel shading, Colin Jost, and how is it that THIS nails Tom and Jerry more than the '90s film? (Well, okay, it's not THAT hard, but still!)
Links:
Jonathan’s GoFundMe
Support us on Patreon
Follow us on Twitter
Join us as we take a look at even more Foghorn Leghorn cartoons, because doing one Robert McKimson episode wasn't enough! Marc sees the first appearance of the Weasel in the Foghorn cast with 'Plop Goes the Weasel', Jordan watches a short that seems a little too similar to a certain rabbit with 'The Dixie Fryer', And we round out with Henry Hawk trying to get a chicken with 'Leghorn Swoggled'
Links:
Jonathan’s GoFundMe
Support us on Patreon
Follow us on Twitter
Marc and Jordan cover three different Robert McKimson Daffy Duck shorts that features Daffy paired with a love interest. That's it, that's the theme of this one. Is it that shocking that we didn't especially like these? Be it a noir-ish takedown of a femme fatale in The Super Snooper, a beachside show of machismo in Muscle Tussle or a European spy caper in Boston Quackie, McKimson and his crews have no shortage of things to groan at.
Links:
Jonathan’s GoFundMe
Support us on Patreon
Follow us on Twitter
Join us as we cover the salesman antics of Daffy Duck! Marc sees Daffy try to make JB Cubish laugh in 'Daffy Dilly'. Jordan finds Daffy trying to sell life insurance to Porky Pig in 'Fool Practice', and we both watch Daffy try to sell the home of the future to Elmer Fudd in 'Design For Leaving'
Links:
Jonathan’s GoFundMe
Support us on Patreon
Follow us on Twitter
For our latest movie episode, Marc and Jordan cover the Warner Animation feature film...though technically the credit for this one goes to Turner's animation department with Cats Don't Dance. Released in early 1997 to literally no fanfare, its failure at the box office was engineered by a studio who had no interest in its success [sound familiar?] Yet the cult following for this animated tribute to 40s Hollywood and 50s musicals has persisted to this day, and we're going to take a look at why.
Links:
Jonathan’s GoFundMe
Support us on Patreon
Follow us on Twitter
Join us as we commentate on the most recent attempt at a Scooby-Doo film with 2020's Scoob! There are miscast leads! Trying to make a cinematic universe happen! And we are. NOT. HAPPY.
Links:
Jonathan’s GoFundMe
Support us on Patreon
Follow us on Twitter
Join us as a lead-up to our next movie episode as we look at the historic (and Clampett-y) Cats of Termite Terrace! Marc covers the first Technicolor Looney Tunes short with the BIG NAME SENSATION of 'The Hep Cat' Jordan watches a Porky vs 4 Cats cartoon that divulges into madness with 'Katty Kornered' And we both see a more simplified Frelelng effort with 'Pizzacato Pussycat'
Links:
Jonathan’s GoFundMe
Support us on Patreon
Follow us on Twitter
Join us as we take a look at a character that Robert McKimson tried to make happen, but didn't with the W.C Fields inspired Dodsworth! Jordan sees his origins, with a kitten that's a better lead than our main character with 'Kiddin' The Kitten' Marc finds the return of THE WOODPECKER in 'A Peck O' Trouble' And to make this episode fun for us, we conclude by looking at the Academy Award Nominated Sylvester 1960 short 'Mouse and Garden'
Links:
Jonathan’s GoFundMe
Support us on Patreon
Follow us on Twitter
In this episode, Jordan and Marc cover three Tweety & Sylvester shorts from the late 50s and early 60s, to end their month-long journey into the duo's golden age history. The shorts range from passable, like 1956's Tugboat Granny, to infuriating, like 1958's A Bird in a Bonnet, to whatever the hell 1962's The Jet Cage was going for.
Links:
Jonathan’s GoFundMe
Support us on Patreon
Follow us on Twitter
Join us as we continue Tweety June by looking at more Sylvester and Tweety shorts from the early to mid '50s! Jordan sees Tweety and Sylvester spend a Christmas together in 'Gift Wrapped' Marc watches an Arthur Davis Beach-themed short that...leaves a lot to be desired in 'Sandy Claws' And we conclude with a Tedd Pierce written classic, 'All A B-i-i-i-i-r-d'
Links:
Jonathan’s GoFundMe
Support us on Patreon
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Bluesky
Follow us on Instagram
Continuing our Tweety June, where we dive into previously underlooked Tweety and Sylvester cartoons, we cover 3 from the early 50s, right around when Freleng and Foster got the formula down. Two of these are on the soon-to-be-released Looney Tunes' Collector's Vault that Warner Archive is putting out. Two of these were among Jordan's favorites from his years watching the Golden Collections. And one of these is something we've been meaning to cover for a while.
Links:
Jonathan’s GoFundMe
Support us on Patreon
Follow us on Twitter
Join us as we look at even more Sylvester and Tweety shorts, this time all from the year 1951! Jordan sees Warren Foster come into the writing stylings of S+T with 'Putty Tat Trouble' Marc sees double Granny's (and a whole ot of animals) in 'Room and Bird' And we finish with a short that gives us serious questions about the origins of Tweety with the simply titled 'Tweet Tweet Tweety'
Links:
Jonathan’s GoFundMe
Support us on Patreon
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Bluesky
Follow us on Instagram