"I never thought it was such a bad little Saturday Morning Cartoon Show."

We've made it through! Things got downright crazy this month for ol' DJ Muppet and I must apologize for the lack of updates, but I shall make up for that right now with a massive post featuring all of the holiday special shows. Here you go! :)

Podcast for 12/05/09 - How The Grinch Stole Christmas & Twas The Night Before Christmas

Podcast for 12/12/09 - The Pee Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special

Podcast for 12/17/09 - Eureeka's Castle Christmas & A Rugrats Chanukah

Podcast for 12/26/09 - A Wish For Wings That Work & A Charlie Brown Christmas

We'll see you in the new year for a day for this gem, by very special request.

Be safe on the 31st and come back to us on the 2nd in one piece, ready for another totally sweet year of cartoons, giant puppets, and chicanery of all kinds. Enjoy!

- DJ Muppet

"I got a Saturday Morning Cartoon Show..."

At last we have come to the end, the final farewell, the ultimate expression of Halloween frivolity and the bittersweet truth that many of us are just too old to get away with door-to-dooring it any more. I need a candy beard... Oh right, you came for cartoons. I can scheme later.

Our first offering today is a tale of both sweet belief in humanity and an pumpkin who probably listens to a lot of Joy Division, The Pumpkin Who Couldn't Smile. While Raggedy Ann and Andy have spent a lot of time in their lives, animated or otherwise, trying to help people, there may be no more pathetic a cause than that of a squash with low self-esteem and an old woman who's afraid of living. Bet you didn't think these things got so deep, eh? (Check out the Toonopedia entry about these dolls, 'cause that's quite a history.) No fear, however, as any cartoon with June Foray (*coughGoBuyHerBookcough*) and Daws Butler just can't manage to stay sad. It's a nice salve to all the things that make us want to hide under the blankets 'round this time of year.

And what Halloween season would be complete without a dog who thinks he's World War II people, the tender faith of a little boy, and a sack of Halloween Rocks? Of course, I'm talking about It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Aside from being one of the longest running and most beloved Halloween specials, this beauty give us excellent last minute costume possibilities. I'll say no more, as I know you guys are eager to get the celebrations started. :)

Podcast for 10/31/09 - Halloween 5 - The Pumpkin Who Couldn't Smile & It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

If you're headed out tonight be safe, have either a flashlight or designated driver as appropriate for your activities, and have a great time! Bring us candy. ;)

Next week? Ka-preview!

Enjoy!

- DJ Muppet

"The Saturday Morning Cartoon Show had a little lamb...BUT I ATE IT!"

Hey all! Sorry about the delay is getting the podcast up. You may or may not know that my car and I were hit last week and dealt a rather nasty blow. I'm safe and, thanks to my dad being awesome, my car is at least drivable, but because of the setbacks in my schedule I wasn't able to get back to the studio and get the podcast uploaded. But I have now!

This show features some truly classic cartoons from the Warner Bros. universe. Both Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes are represented, as well as some of the newer offerings that will send listeners of a certain age back to footy pyjama evenings hiding under a blanker in front of the TV. Since long time WB animation fans are no doubt familiar with most of today's offerings I won't go into great detail commentary wise, however, I do want you to pay special attention to the orchestration and sound effects on the Porky Pig/Sylvester shorts. There's a suitably other worldly quality to these cartoons that I've never heard anyone able to match Carl Stalling on and these are pieces worth taking special note of.

Podcast for 10/17/09 - Halloween 3 - Looney Tunes

I did want to share one of my favorite spooky Bugs Bunny cartoons with you, but alas, we didn't have the time, so below the entry you'll find it in video form. What's a Halloween celebration without Gossamer, after all? ;)

Tomorrow morning we'll be featuring two more full length Halloween specials from our collection, one of which is even a request, so make sure to tune in and, if you've got 'em, send us your requests for music and cartoons for the final week of the SMCS Halloween Extravaganza!

Enjoy!

- DJ Muppet

Quick, run to your TVs...

...and program them to record five hours of Chuck Jones awesomeness!

Turner Classic Movies is having a mini Chuck Jones-athon tonight beginning at 8pm. Here is the full schedule, which includes a new documentary on one of the SMCS's favorite cartoon creators and - perhaps of more interest to those who follow the blog - two airings of his beloved adaptation of The Phantom Tollbooth in between a whole mess o' Loony Tunes. Since so many of our listeners dig this movie and it's so hard to find through legitimate means, it seemed like the kind of thing you'd want to be advised of. Of course, if it hadn't been for the diligent and cartoon/civic minded Mark Evanier I wouldn't have known about this at all. Do check out his blog. Comics, cartoons, and soup: go, you'll like.

I also wanted to pass along a link to a Beany & Cecil segment that amused me to know, if for no other reason that it's one more tie that B&C have to The Muppet Show and Lionel Hampton. Two very cool people/things in my book. It's called "DJ the DJ," and once you've seen it you can imagine why I enjoyed it so throughly. There are a ton of good B&C 'toons on YouTube, so have some fun exploring. I certainly did.

If you look to your left, you'll see we have a new poll up. Please, please, please vote! We can only air two episodes on any given show and since several requests have come in, I think we ought to be democratic about it. Vote on! And we'll take whatever's in the lead come showtime. ;) For a summary of what is in each episode, get your Wikipedia on.

Enjoy!

- DJ Muppet