I’m going to attempt to write earlier in these coming weeks. I usually write my weekly post on Wednesday night, and Jerry manages to get it put together and formatted at the 11th hour each week. We both have a crazy schedule this semester, so I’m hoping I can manage the time on Tuesdays.
At Thunderbean, the office is busy sending Rainbow Parade Volume 2 discs and special discs while we’re waiting for a UPS delivery of one of the titles that has gone MIA. UPS has never lost one of my packages before, but this one has been just sitting near Bowling Green, Ohio for 8 days now! Other than that all is going well. The next Thunderbean Blu-ray titles are moving forward nicely, and there will be a trip soon to help move a whole bunch of reels across the country to scan before they fuse together. Busy times!
And, onto a little cartoon break!
My own personal favorite Boing Boing Show segment is this one: Outlaws, from 1956. Here’s what I wrote about it last time:
I had to pull some stuff off one of the very first HD scan archives tonight for tomorrow’s animation history class, and on that same archive was Outlaws – a segment of the The Boing Boing Show. I’ve always loved it for its silliness, and was surprised we never had it up here for Thunderbean Thursday.
The interesting thing about the Gerald McBoing Boing Show is that segments were merrily unapologetic in their direction and humor. UPA director Osmond Evans and designer Roy Morita provide a well timed and designed film. Stan Freeberg fans will recognize him on the soundtrack. The film is full of invention in every shot, almost too much to absorb. The whole short is just silly fun, but completely unpretentious and aware of its cartoonyness the entire time.
Over the years I’ve hoped to find a better print, and I did recently- sort of. This Kodachrome print was on eBay, missing the ending, but otherwise much closer to the color it should have. The ending on the Kodachrome was pretty beat up, and the last few shots missing, so I’ve combined the other print and attempted to match color for the last part. The title card is also different here (appears to be the original version). I wonder how kids reacted to these little flights of fancy, much closer to a children’s contemporary storybook than the offerings of older cartoons or other TV fare.
While we are on the subject of UPA – filmmaker Kevin Schreck (Persistence Of Vision) has been working with the Bosustow estate to complete a documentary – begun years ago by Steven Bosustow’s son, Tee – on the subject of United Productions of America. Apparently the film is now complete – and is being offered up to the festival circuit in 2027 – and from the looks of this recently released trailer Schreck has hit this one out of the park. Can’t wait to see it… Here’s a “first look”:
Have a good week all, and cross your fingers that UPS manages to find the missing replicated disc package soon!
Steve Stanchfield is an animator, educator and film archivist. He runs Thunderbean Animation, an animation studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan and has compiled over a dozen archival animation DVD collections devoted to such subjects at Private Snafu, The Little King and the infamous Cubby Bear. Steve is also a professor at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.
UPA was a law unto itself. The right people came together at the right time to produce timeless animations. If UPA is remembered today, it’s most likely through Mr. Magoo, but the whole story goes far beyond that one character. They may have started out by trying to be an alternative to Disney, but they ended up with something that was far greater than the sum of its parts. Even their misfires are noteworthy.
I had often read or heard about The Boing Boing Show, but only through postings on Cartoon Research have I learned more of what the show was all about. It looks like a remarkable accomplishment, far ahead of its time. Hopefully someday there will be a season set release.
I can’t wait to see the UPA documentary in its entirety!
Hey Steve!
Just wanted to tell you that last Saturday i finally got my first 3 Thunderbean Blu-Rays: “Fleischer Rarites 2”, “Cubby Bear” and the out of print “Classics from The Van Beuren Studio”! (all second hand but still….., and idk how they got to Sweden to a seller at a Retro convention here, but i didn’t hesitate)
Even tho i’ve lost a huge part of my film collection (off topic sry) this is another (new) beginning (i may order directly from your site next time, no way im buying from Amazon)
I’m not seeing that Thunderbean has released a Fleischer Rarities Vol. 2…?
There are 2 releases with that title, the first (wich i don’t have, yet) is the one with “Gulliver’s Travels”
I have the second one.
I wonder if stuff like “Jerky Journeys” and this short inspired Schoolhouse Rock’s use of repetitions in animation to cut corners.
Anyways are you still going to mail your customers Rainbow Parades volume 2 without the missing package? I really feel your pain.
Let me know.
Glass platen was not fully down for a few noticeable frames around the 2:30 mark. UPA didn’t do a retake (perhaps) because it was not a theatrical release.
I’d like to see that documentary, and for that matter, read a book about UPA.
When Magoo Flew: The Rise and Fall of Animation Studio UPA
by Adam Abraham
Published Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, CT, 2012
This book is a great resource for learning about the UPA Studio. A real treasure.
I helped fund this documentary back when it was on Kickstarter. 😉
Incidentally, I compared both your prints on YouTube, Steve and both appear to contain alternate shots as well..
Does there exist anywhere a full episode or episodes of The Boing Boing Show? I remember seeing bits of it like Outlaws on local TV station daytime cartoon shows (the kind TV guides called “babysitters”) while not having any idea where they came from or what they were other than strange. I also saw one called or with a song called “Be Quiet Kind and Gentle” and another that was a cartoon biography of Samuel F.B. Morse that I’m pretty sure was from the Boing Boing Show.
Have yet to see a complete Gerald show with original titles and bumpers – these didnt even make it to the now faded Eastmancolor 16mm prints of McBoingBoing show segments that circulated a few years ago, this playlist has many cartoons from the TV series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrB02LITl-I&list=PLZ4oWeMmrubHuN8zncthbFhX6Gv5hzqsm
will “Spooky Cartoony Halloween” be shipping out on the 24th?
I hadn’t seen this short before, thank you so much for uploading! The more I see of UPA’s stuff, the more I like it. The only exposure I had when I was a kid was Mr. Magoo. The UPA cartoons and commercials on your various Thunderbean sets have really opened my eyes. I just now snagged the OOP Jolly Frolics DVD set (the original digibook with liner notes booklet 🤓😎) off eBay for a stomachable price, and found the Mr. Magoo Theatrical Collection DVD set on Amazon for $17.99, so I’m really looking forward to catching up with UPA’s jazzy MCM output. I’m guessing there isn’t a hope in hell for a Blu-ray upgrade of those sets, so DVD will have to do. I also ordered the Blu of Gay Purr-ee. I’ll be having my own private UPA festival soon!