hey Brian how'd your Nuggets do last night

A late-50s George Harrison playing "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" on the ukulele on his final studio album is one of my favourite sounds in the world. Sometimes, the ukulele is all right.

Everything spanning Dresden Dolls to Theatre Is Evil was very much my thing, I cannot lie. A.P. was in my daily music rotation for years. Now that's in a dusty folder somewhere in the back of my brain.

Oh, I've listened to that.

Uhhhh, not one of her finer works.

Lots of Ben Folds discussion on the new Box Office Gross. While not an artist I've ever enjoyed listening to, he did produce two albums from other artists that I listened to a lot of in high school. Wait a second, is William Shatner responsible for getting Ben Folds involved in Over the Hedge?

What's this??? Not only did Rob record a boutique Ben Folds parody song for this episode, but is also here to announce a chaotic giveaway celebrating the first year (+plus a couple months) of the show?? It's true!! "The Great Fun Best of Box Office GROSS 2005 Giveaway Spectacular" commences today

The Wacky Wabbit (1942) & Any Bonds Today? (1942) Bob Clampett’s first solo directed Bugs Bunny cartoon opens with a title card: “‘The Wacky Wabbit’ Featuring Bugs Bunny” with Bugs’ name in size equal to the fil…

Throughout 2025 I wrote 10 articles chronicling Bugs Bunny's earliest appearances in Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies. After a lengthy break I am back with #11. In this one, I look at a pair of WWII-era Bob Clampett cartoons as he tackles the character on his own for the first time.

Abstract mixed media composition with large overlapping circles and multicolored angled lines and triangles, floating over a gray background.

Abstract painting with thin curving lines in white and grey, over a background of soft brushstrokes in blue, white, and orange.

Abstract painting with thin curving black lines creating looping, swirling, intermingled shapes, with parts filled in with soft white, blue, and yellow gradients, over a deep red background.

Abstract mixed media composition with large overlapping slender triangles in different colors, and some smaller squat triangles and dots along top and bottom, all floating over a sepia background.

Works by Canadian American artist Edna Taçon, 1940s, whose abstract, intuitive compositions pulled from her experience as a musician.

Off-model Mickey hangs out in a window as he lights a cigarette using his toes.

Off-model Mickey hangs out in a window as he exhales cigarette smoke rings.

The Gallopin' Gaucho (1928, Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks)

Hollywood Cartoons page 446

Hollywood Cartoons page 447

Farber is the famous example. Another, from around '43-44, is when the artistry in Chuck Jones shorts started getting serious attention from high-brow arts scenes. Michael Barrier writes this in Hollywood Cartoons:

Abstract-looking frames from a Bugs Bunny cartoon, the forms of Bugs and Elmer are a smeared blur, as the characters are engage in a tussle.

Abstract-looking frames from a Bugs Bunny cartoon, the forms of Bugs and Elmer are a smeared blur, as the characters are engage in a tussle.

Abstract-looking frames from a Bugs Bunny cartoon, the forms of Bugs and Elmer are a smeared blur, as the characters are engage in a tussle. The smear is coming to an end, as Bugs is landing on the ground.

The Wacky Wabbit (1942, Bob Clampett)

I'm gonna add that one to my hope-I-find-someday-on-VHS-at-my-local-thrift-store wish list.

Been hanging back, watching some movies that fall under one of the great cinematic genres and eras: Matrix Plagiarism. Bryan Singer ain't got nuttin' on the Wachowskis, but he sure did try. When there's a green-tinted slow motion wire-fu brawl in a sewer I'm having a good time, even when it sucks.

It's certainty a memorable aesthetic. I don't remember if there was much connection between that series and ReBoot (a fave from my childhood), but I did rewatch all of ReBoot on DVD about 6 or 7 years ago and was impressed by how well I thought it held up.

Fairly significant quality gap between 40s Famous and 50s Famous too. I'd sorta defend 40s Popeye as fairly solid. Kneitel/Sparber kept the Fleischer spirit burning for a few years before getting completely washed up, and Famous resigns to just becoming the tepid Casper the Friendly Ghost studio.

I've heard that those were tape favourites. I didn't have access to many Looney Tunes VHS as a kid, my access to them was mostly through TV, and those shows heavily favored the 50s Jones/Freleng/McKimson era. I didn't experience much of the early '40s era until the Golden Collection DVDs.

🙏Thanks for the follow, and I hope you enjoy reading.

Thanks!

I'm so glad you highlighted that passage. That sentence made Willow laugh out loud during her reading. I spent a fair bit of time on that sentence, trying to figure out what made that Fat Elmer the best Fat Elmer. I take this stuff very seriously, you see.

The Wacky Wabbit (1942) & Any Bonds Today? (1942) Bob Clampett’s first solo directed Bugs Bunny cartoon opens with a title card: “‘The Wacky Wabbit’ Featuring Bugs Bunny” with Bugs’ name in size equal to the fil…

Throughout 2025 I wrote 10 articles chronicling Bugs Bunny's earliest appearances in Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies. After a lengthy break I am back with #11. In this one, I look at a pair of WWII-era Bob Clampett cartoons as he tackles the character on his own for the first time.

Scout Tafoya and Tucker Johnson’s Stubborn Beast Begins Production We're thrilled to announce that Stubborn Beast, a new feature directed by film critics and video essayists Scout Tafoya and Tucker Johnson, will begin production this month in Savannah, GA. The film, ...

We're thrilled to announce that @honorszombie.bsky.social and Tucker Johnson's #StubbornBeast, starring Paul F. Tompkins, Meredith Salenger, Sam Clifford, Bill Corbett, Lorelai Linklater, and Autumn Noel, is beginning production this month.

Bugs Bunny with scissors in hand, cutting open Elmer's clothes, revealing a corset underneath. Elmer is embarrassed, then angry.

Bugs Bunny with scissors in hand, cutting open Elmer's clothes, revealing a corset underneath. Elmer is embarrassed, then angry. Bugs likes what he sees.

Bugs Bunny with scissors in hand, cutting open Elmer's clothes, revealing a corset underneath. Elmer is embarrassed, then angry. Bugs approves.

Elmer saying to the audience "I bet plenty of you men wear one of these."

The Wacky Wabbit (1942, Bob Clampett)

Four frames that occur in one second, of Bugs Bunny placing a metal lid over Elmer Fudd's head, hitting it with a spoon, lifting the lid, and Elmer's body shaking and vibrating through blurred animation

Four frames that occur in one second, of Bugs Bunny placing a metal lid over Elmer Fudd's head, hitting it with a spoon, lifting the lid, and Elmer's body shaking and vibrating through blurred animation

Four frames that occur in one second, of Bugs Bunny placing a metal lid over Elmer Fudd's head, hitting it with a spoon, lifting the lid, and Elmer's body shaking and vibrating through blurred animation

Four frames that occur in one second, of Bugs Bunny placing a metal lid over Elmer Fudd's head, hitting it with a spoon, lifting the lid, and Elmer's body shaking and vibrating through blurred animation

The Wacky Wabbit (1942, Bob Clampett)

New Bugs Bunny essay coming very soon. My first one for 2026. I didn't mean to take such a long break. It's on the first Bob Clampett-solo directed Bugs cartoons.

I bought 5 Deaf Crocodile releases and one shipped separately, arriving today - Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space. Prior to Paul Thomas Anderson, this was about the closest thing to Thomas Pynchon cinematic adaptation (for The Crying of Lot 49).

I bought 5 Deaf Crocodile releases and one shipped separately, arriving today - Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space. Prior to Paul Thomas Anderson, this was about the closest thing to Thomas Pynchon cinematic adaptation (for The Crying of Lot 49).

New Bugs Bunny essay coming very soon. My first one for 2026. I didn't mean to take such a long break. It's on the first Bob Clampett-solo directed Bugs cartoons.

Four frames that occur together in a fraction of a second, showing the vibrating effects of Elmer Fudd having been hit in the head with a spoon and metal lid.

Four frames that occur together in a fraction of a second, showing the vibrating effects of Elmer Fudd having been hit in the head with a spoon and metal lid.

Four frames that occur together in a fraction of a second, showing the vibrating effects of Elmer Fudd having been hit in the head with a spoon and metal lid.

Four frames that occur together in a fraction of a second, showing the vibrating effects of Elmer Fudd having been hit in the head with a spoon and metal lid.

The Wacky Wabbit (1942, Bob Clampett)

These Lev Atamanov films are some of the finest films I've seen this year: an imaginative hybrid of the greatest technical feats from Disney (multiplane camera) and Fleischer (rotoscope) in telling universally appealing fairy tales through the lens of Atamanov's unmistakably singular vision.

These Lev Atamanov films are some of the finest films I've seen this year: an imaginative hybrid of the greatest technical feats from Disney (multiplane camera) and Fleischer (rotoscope) in telling universally appealing fairy tales through the lens of Atamanov's unmistakably singular vision.

Great Depression animation rules.