RALPH BAKSHI ANIMATED MEAN STREETS 'HEY GOOD LOOKIN'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhATx_YOFWuDMTKoKM42rVd36MKiapvDylupzgRlBE7rMkQ74TMlKnIL__h0Ux3WiOebBpQubkkeasDMyxfv9qnOdqtFmvJ8u1XrFQJe__0diDTxJWAPAR_1puPxh7vgEp1m7SPqslE_xeHq9GBqoy_XQhxe62am8ym7RqOVBXLSDEBuALnbxHy9hs0V23C/s2012/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-11%20at%2010.15.34%20PM-1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1082" data-original-width="2012" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhATx_YOFWuDMTKoKM42rVd36MKiapvDylupzgRlBE7rMkQ74TMlKnIL__h0Ux3WiOebBpQubkkeasDMyxfv9qnOdqtFmvJ8u1XrFQJe__0diDTxJWAPAR_1puPxh7vgEp1m7SPqslE_xeHq9GBqoy_XQhxe62am8ym7RqOVBXLSDEBuALnbxHy9hs0V23C/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-11%20at%2010.15.34%20PM-1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Richard Romanus in HEY GOOD LOOKIN' Year: 1983 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Often compared to <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/09/grease-revisited.html">GREASE</a>, being that the main character... a suave/strutting New York City hood... resembles John Travolta, it seems animation icon Ralph Bashki's HEY GOOD LOOKIN' is more Martin Scorsese's <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/08/goodstreets.html">MEAN STREETS</a> as an adult-oriented cartoon, and for two good reasons...<br><br>The first is that the script and some of the artwork were created in the mid-70's, right after STREETS came out and where Bashki was to originally combine animated and live-action characters... leaving only a few genuine locations, from a dingy poolhall to Coney Island... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

action, cartoon, david proval, eighties, exploitation, fifties-era, gang, ralph bakshi, richard romanus

RALPH BAKSHI ANIMATED MEAN STREETS 'HEY GOOD LOOKIN'

Richard Romanus in HEY GOOD LOOKIN' Year: 1983 Rating: *** Often compared to GREASE , being that the main character... a suave/strutting...

REGENERATING THROUGHOUT 'THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAhf-QUzXSTmd3egCt2tDL9JN6GQRPdo3FLWH0HH7gDO0n7PBxrqFDoOET1DTUfAcgDh6DS1BvJ1dmE5CMjG159A6k0bUh7nMDJkzViAL5yAl2Lt6aa6TkQA6cZRRD9P-x_MBYHpHFS9-YfCQsMz03YBbpo7SeoWVuqXwkvbgfmbnbK2B9xXOV_ZDYeQjR/s1620/Screen%20Shot%202024-09-27%20at%204.47.27%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="1620" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAhf-QUzXSTmd3egCt2tDL9JN6GQRPdo3FLWH0HH7gDO0n7PBxrqFDoOET1DTUfAcgDh6DS1BvJ1dmE5CMjG159A6k0bUh7nMDJkzViAL5yAl2Lt6aa6TkQA6cZRRD9P-x_MBYHpHFS9-YfCQsMz03YBbpo7SeoWVuqXwkvbgfmbnbK2B9xXOV_ZDYeQjR/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-09-27%20at%204.47.27%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Orson Welles heads THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE Year: 1986 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Critics unfairly blasted THE TRANSFORMERS MOVIE as nothing but a prolonged toy commercial while it's really a collected hybrid of brisk, adult-oriented, ultra-violent HEAVY METAL-inspired animation; stylized Japanese anime; 1970's expository-filled Marvel sci-fi comics; Roger Dean's proggy planets inhabited by those titular robots that turn into motor-vehicles and spaceships or are already (in the best scenes) metallic dinosaurs, lizards and sharks... while a planet-engulfing planet derived from George Lucas's STAR WARS weapon <i>The Death Star</i> and <i>V'Ger</i> from <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2022/07/STMP.html">STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE</a> is the truly formidable antagonist... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>In the budding-hero lead, Judd Nelson turns in a kind of deliberately cornball 1950's throwback, befitting the equally cheesy wall-to-wall 1980's stadium-rock/arcade-jukebox soundtrack... while Orson Welles provided his last professional job, voicing that immense world-engulfing villain, splendidly named Unicron...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, cartoon, david mendenhall, eighties, eric idle, fantasy, judd nelson, leonard nimoy, orson welles, robert stack, science-fiction

REGENERATING THROUGHOUT 'THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE'

Orson Welles heads THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE Year: 1986 Rating: **** Critics unfairly blasted THE TRANSFORMERS MOVIE as nothing but a prol...

ANIMATED POTBOILER OF 'RETURN TO THE PLANET OF THE APES'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFChmkTk5j7XJdQWOE1KhM-lPyCr9TQdQBTADOldr0ZocQFc-NBWYvdEQqkpwRkoETBoVLJCmNBtlERr36EFMFxUx9qsVLhaZRkJoEsgCuHU7vyJzVzsvjwkM2OahllOlzCuw5qXneO5Qskrj8xJUce-NWD-FD8tDxRHazGgFRRpcgeXejXVKXOV4lgERJ/s926/Screen%20Shot%202024-05-01%20at%203.16.21%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="926" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFChmkTk5j7XJdQWOE1KhM-lPyCr9TQdQBTADOldr0ZocQFc-NBWYvdEQqkpwRkoETBoVLJCmNBtlERr36EFMFxUx9qsVLhaZRkJoEsgCuHU7vyJzVzsvjwkM2OahllOlzCuw5qXneO5Qskrj8xJUce-NWD-FD8tDxRHazGgFRRpcgeXejXVKXOV4lgERJ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-05-01%20at%203.16.21%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Harry Corden in RETURN TO THE PLANET OF THE APES Year: 1975 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With RETURN TO THE PLANET OF THE APES, they finally faithfully covered the titular planet created by source novel author Pierre Boulle, whose evolved apes had everything modern-day humans enjoy (that couldn't be afforded on the big screen): from airplanes to full-fledged military weapons/transports to cities that don't look out of the stone age... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The animation is of the 1970'x cost-cutting low-budget Hanna-Barbara-type, but is also coolly stylized and visually intriguing, including establishing still-shots of the sun or lightning or various character expressions, seeming more like frequently moving matte-paintings than an animated cartoon catered to Saturday morning children... </p><span></span>

action, adventure, animation, austin stoker, cartoon, harry corden, planet apes, post-apocalyptic, science-fiction, seventies, TV

ANIMATED POTBOILER OF 'RETURN TO THE PLANET OF THE APES'

Harry Corden in RETURN TO THE PLANET OF THE APES Year: 1975 Rates: **** With RETURN TO THE PLANET OF THE APES, they finally faithfully cover...

AWESOMELY RADICAL ANIMATION OF 'PINOCCHIO IN OUTER SPACE'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIw7p3k9KIFDfCrTtw73ZsvyFfbtRcv73xDb5JE8KV2SCxIkmne1hy9t7Jmm_5sxaK9aBo55btSqPf4eKHSc6V7jpv2huPtcOxM7W-19-4tlOYBvgMfxxfNRJ0XvyT5ZS8Dc-auA5QvJ_DLTHzaEJuybGlK6Ol6SBSxs1FdauJs3cO5ZOhQwbefatGBX2B/s640/Picture%202.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="640" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIw7p3k9KIFDfCrTtw73ZsvyFfbtRcv73xDb5JE8KV2SCxIkmne1hy9t7Jmm_5sxaK9aBo55btSqPf4eKHSc6V7jpv2huPtcOxM7W-19-4tlOYBvgMfxxfNRJ0XvyT5ZS8Dc-auA5QvJ_DLTHzaEJuybGlK6Ol6SBSxs1FdauJs3cO5ZOhQwbefatGBX2B/w400-h285/Picture%202.png" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year of Arrival: 1965 Pinocchio in Outer Space Scores: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Take away a dingy song during the first half-hour dealing with our main character at home, who's a puppet again after a naughty montage of ditching school, bullying a dog and getting bad grades, and you have relatively frightening scenes that are, or seem, surprisingly aimed at adult audiences: including a shadow appearing over our famously phony boy's head, and chasing him around a field with a fitfully suspenseful, formidable score...<br> <br> Turns out to be a spaceship manned by a friendly turtle-creature (voiced by Arnold <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Stang</span> in the expository <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Jiminy</span> Cricket mantle) who takes Pinicchio up to outer space to seek a flying, planet-destroying whale. They land on Mars and are attacked by mysteriously derived giant sand crabs that resemble cartoon versions of something Ray <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Harryhausen</span> would devise. Followed by the best scenes where the duo investigate the Red Planet's desolate domed city, holding many secrets and more aggressive foes. And then, back in outer space: the discovery of, capture from, battle with, and eventual taming of Orbit the Whale is quite intense. All making for a bizarre cartoon experience <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">definitely</span> worth the watch. Again and again and again some more. <br> </p><p></p>

action, adventure, animation, arnold stang, cartoon, cult, exploitation, fantasy, kids, science-fiction, sixties

AWESOMELY RADICAL ANIMATION OF 'PINOCCHIO IN OUTER SPACE'

Year of Arrival: 1965 Pinocchio in Outer Space Scores: **** Take away a dingy song during the first half-hour dealing with our main chara...

DOUBLE REVIEW OLD & NEW OF DISNEY'S SWORD IN THE STONE

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWLrd68v0fhR0CjJ8KZq-rrvnKYkOAkc5vc2HUEGsEBdcndS4tjsB1Ef4MnYkUEp11fvff7SBlJ5DbM1GnZlcS7gG5t47yX4NQT9cGGaPGcLaOcnpZywXdildNFDam8iF2EUmeyfeZQA9jCDhRzsSYmIbQiY4k-q4yWIS6zpEJr0Yd6S73ukATHWlbjrF7/s2350/Screen%20Shot%202024-12-26%20at%203.01.06%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1208" data-original-width="2350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWLrd68v0fhR0CjJ8KZq-rrvnKYkOAkc5vc2HUEGsEBdcndS4tjsB1Ef4MnYkUEp11fvff7SBlJ5DbM1GnZlcS7gG5t47yX4NQT9cGGaPGcLaOcnpZywXdildNFDam8iF2EUmeyfeZQA9jCDhRzsSYmIbQiY4k-q4yWIS6zpEJr0Yd6S73ukATHWlbjrF7/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-12-26%20at%203.01.06%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u style="font-size: 12.8px;">First Summary Short review of THE SWORD IN THE STONE from an old archived short version writeup: Disney Score: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table> This has as much to do with King Arthur as The Phantom Menace does with Darth Vader as a clumsy pre-teen squire named "Wart", working for a mean step-father and bullying brother, befriends the wizard Merlin, more goofy than wise, and his talking pet owl.<br> <br> Merlin turns the kid into several animals including a fish, squirrel and bird, teaching him more about Darwin's natural selection than anything that'd aid him in his future position as King of England, which is only shown for the last five minutes after "Wart" pulls the titular sword from the stone with inevitable ease. The songs aren't too annoying, the animation looks good, and it definitely won't bore the kiddies. Adults, however, might take a snooze.<br>

adventure, animation, cartoon, disney, fantasy, sebastian cabot

DOUBLE REVIEW OLD & NEW OF DISNEY'S SWORD IN THE STONE

First Summary Short review of THE SWORD IN THE STONE from an old archived short version writeup: Disney Score: *** This has as much to do w...

SWORD IN THE STONE HAS MOVED

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBtxsWy6fXRBb5s2oB-XoKHGma45ugzkGtyB1kdEm_BEQRZOTwPOkeSdg1gA-XLi5H0o7bHQuf0T2hbmUYiWBfFFilwvmZ-z-oq6q9my4ouBQPx4zGNO_talSQYlc_KwO1AWH7vse82Z0/s1600/1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBtxsWy6fXRBb5s2oB-XoKHGma45ugzkGtyB1kdEm_BEQRZOTwPOkeSdg1gA-XLi5H0o7bHQuf0T2hbmUYiWBfFFilwvmZ-z-oq6q9my4ouBQPx4zGNO_talSQYlc_KwO1AWH7vse82Z0/s320/1.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2017/12/SITS.html">REVIEW HAS MOVED HERE</a></td></tr> </tbody></table> <br />

cartoon, disney, sixties

SWORD IN THE STONE HAS MOVED

REVIEW HAS MOVED HERE

THE MAN CALLED FLINTSTONE

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdfVpXmuO4cnynxklhSusD0g6BkK_yr2qs_E3FMUolJ9Mdu5KKZt2wviE0qSA1Hoq-Q1cpDASmIYXWDBLmW6iTXrq-1mhPJOSccdiTOYIgBLFo0zBUzA377PCu82Y6nsCay3Jq38T58Tz/s1600/title00_205129259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdfVpXmuO4cnynxklhSusD0g6BkK_yr2qs_E3FMUolJ9Mdu5KKZt2wviE0qSA1Hoq-Q1cpDASmIYXWDBLmW6iTXrq-1mhPJOSccdiTOYIgBLFo0zBUzA377PCu82Y6nsCay3Jq38T58Tz/s400/title00_205129259.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1967 rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: white;"></span>Fred Flintstone, that lovable blue-collar caveman from Bedrock, becomes a spy in this feature length cartoon: Hanna Barbara’s farewell to the six season television series...<br /> <br /> Begins with a fantastic mountainside car chase involving two goons and a suave James Bond-like spy, Rock Slag, who looks exactly like Fred. The chase results in Rock being injured...<br /> <br /> Cut to Fred and his marble-eyed sidekick Barney taking a failed shortcut home. They wind up at the hospital where Fred’s given an assignment to replace his double: The Flintstones and Rubbles go on a European trip where Fred learns of a nefarious criminal, The Grey Goose, and his plot to blow up the world.<br /> <br /> Loads of fun action – mostly involving those two thugs attempting to kill Fred. But when various musical numbers are thrown in… the worst concerning a hippie-dippy "progression" of children that has nothing to do with the plot or characters… what begins as a clever spoof gets derailed. But the good stuff returns with a chase through an abandoned theme park: including a nod to Orson Welles's LADY FROM SHANGHAI fun house: What would have made a great hour-long two-part episode, sans the musical interludes, winds up a flawed Flintstone journey – yet even the bad parts are creatively bizarre... it was 1966, after all.

cartoon, children, harvey korman, sixties

THE MAN CALLED FLINTSTONE

year: 1967 rating: *** Fred Flintstone, that lovable blue-collar caveman from Bedrock, becomes a spy in this feature length cartoon: Han...

THE SWORD IN THE STONE

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_wnv9b6lJ1-7_DBsrQjDTdiNh4dFy9ERJe5HeS6ESe4jBkI65zrG2PMVal2Nncuiv5YjeAYXHWqE7Ti54KJbNYUztVik-NYV0RR6Uosv2PC8OYZ8rpG7VMucCiwg576jUgSiQ54qAIMYU/s1600/the-sword-in-the-stone-classic-disney-5014085-768-576.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_wnv9b6lJ1-7_DBsrQjDTdiNh4dFy9ERJe5HeS6ESe4jBkI65zrG2PMVal2Nncuiv5YjeAYXHWqE7Ti54KJbNYUztVik-NYV0RR6Uosv2PC8OYZ8rpG7VMucCiwg576jUgSiQ54qAIMYU/s640/the-sword-in-the-stone-classic-disney-5014085-768-576.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/03/DisneySATS.html">CLICK HERE FOR THE NEW HOME AND REVIEW OF SWORD IN THE STONE</a></b></td></tr> </tbody></table>

cartoon, disney, sixties

THE SWORD IN THE STONE

CLICK HERE FOR THE NEW HOME AND REVIEW OF SWORD IN THE STONE

THE IRON GIANT

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjdaG3ibCxlHtmdMFWUjgHRcBxK8qub68IqQfOf8SqcvwdwfENgG5x3mKPyM1kxm6sK3gm2zV_J16vax2uXoB2YU6jTxYhhQ04i82UCNlQhihF6yOUpahHECWQfRke5LY3INPhIhvPyaE/s1600/iron%252Bgiant.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592167329071064594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjdaG3ibCxlHtmdMFWUjgHRcBxK8qub68IqQfOf8SqcvwdwfENgG5x3mKPyM1kxm6sK3gm2zV_J16vax2uXoB2YU6jTxYhhQ04i82UCNlQhihF6yOUpahHECWQfRke5LY3INPhIhvPyaE/s200/iron%252Bgiant.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 197px; height: 200px;" /></a><strong></strong><strong>title: </strong>THE IRON GIANT<br /><strong>year:</strong> 1999<div><strong>voices:</strong> M. Emmett Walsh, John Mahoney, Vin Diesel<br /><div><strong>rating:</strong> ***<br /></div><br /><div></div>Beautifully drawn cartoon in a simple old school fashion, centering on a robot from another planet aka The Iron Giant landing in a small town. He's discovered by a young boy, who teaches it to speak and that violence isn't good. The direction, with suspenseful, anticipating moments much like a live-action Speilberg film... as boy and robot stay clear of a cunning CIA agent... is quite good. Set in the 1950s, the G-MAN is overly paranoid for security reasons, making the only other good guy an artistic beatnik who keeps our heroes safe: till the second half as the government wants the gentle giant destroyed. Here's where the movie descends into typical Hollywood fare, depicting the U.S. Military as cliched villains wherein the budding relationship between boy and robot, the best aspect of the film, ends too soon.<br /></div>

cartoon, m. emmett walsh, nineties

THE IRON GIANT

title: THE IRON GIANT year: 1999 voices: M. Emmett Walsh, John Mahoney, Vin Diesel rating: *** Beautifully drawn cartoon in a simple old ...