Classic Cartoon Showcase: Happy Valley

Third cartoon in the Rainbow Brite special feature, this charming film concerns a happy little place in the country, full of friendly folks and prosperous crops. A little boy's grandfather tells him of the time that the village once almost(GASP!) lost its happiness, inspiring them to rediscover what's really important. A very sweet, feel-good story with a wonderful message. Please enjoy!

Classic Cartoon Showcase: Before They Were Stars: Donald Duck in The Wise Little Hen

Here, in the spirit of the previous post, is Donald Duck's first-ever cartoon! In this classic rendition of the tale of the Little Red Hen, the titular hen finds a kernel of corn which she plans to plant and harvest. The only problem is, she can't convince lazy Donald Duck and Peter Pig to help her with any of the work! What will she do? Please enjoy!

 

 

Fun Fact: Donald's buddy Peter Pig was voiced, like Donald himself, by Clarence "Ducky" Nash; apparently, according to Walt Disney, the reason Peter disappeared after this cartoon was that his voice was even more unintelligible than Donald's. Peter did, however, eventually migrate to the comics, where this wasn't a problem. 

Christmas Music Showcase:Barnyard Christmas by Spike Jones

A cute and amusing ditty by the legendary novelty singer Spike Jones, complete with many cute and funny visuals. Please enjoy!

If you like farm animals and you like Christmas music, this is the song for you!

Jokes of the Week #33:Joke-Pourri*

*Which, to clarify, means jokes that are about a variety of things, rather than jokes about smelly stuff. :-D

 

 

Mimi: "How did you find the weather when you were on vacation?"

 

Josie: "I stepped outside, and there it was!"

 

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What do you have if a dog and a bird get into a stereo?

 

A woofer and a tweeter.

 

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Mom: "Molly, why don't you play Scrabble with Nona any more?"

 

Molly: "Would you like to play with someone who lies and cheats and sneaks extra letters from the box when you aren't looking?"

 

Mom: "Well, no."

 

Molly: "Well, neither would she."

 

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Jake: "I just found a horseshoe-that means good luck!"

 

Lizzy: "Maybe so, but somewhere in this world, some poor horse is walking around in stocking feet!"

 

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Why is it hard to keep a secret in a garden?

 

Because the corn has ears, the potatoes have eyes, and the beans talk!

 

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Did you hear about the farmer who wanted to be a rocket scientist? He put a cow on a scale to see how much milk he weighed. (Milky way.)
 

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A flock of geese is flying south for the winter. One of the geese in the back complains, "How come we always have to follow the same leader?"

 

"Oh hush," the goose next to him replies. "He's the one with the map."

 

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Little Billy is wandering through his front yard, looking around the ground for something.

 

"What are you looking for, Billy dear?" his mother asks.

 

"Well, I heard that it rained an inch and three quarters last night," he replies. "And I could sure use the 75 cents!"

 

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Joe: "Look at that bunch of cows!"

 

Nate: "Not bunch, herd."

 

Joe: "Heard what?"

 

Nate: "Herd of cows."

 

Joe: "Of course I've heard of cows!"

 

Nate: "No, I mean a cow herd."

 

Joe: "Well, I don't see what difference that makes, I don't have any secrets to keep from any cows."

 

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Why are baseballs small, round, and white?

 

Because if they were huge, blue, and heavy, they'd be whales.

 

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What do you get when you cross an alligator with a porcupine?

 

Something you don't want to sit next to on a bus.

 

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Sam: "Will you remember me tomorrow?"

 

Wendy: "Yes."

 

Sam: "Will you remember me two days from now?"

 

Wendy: "Yes."

 

Sam: "Will you remember me three days from now?"

Wendy: "Yes."

Sam: "Will you remember me a week from now?"

Wendy: "Yes."

Sam: "Knock knock."

Wendy: "Who's there?"

Sam: "See? You've forgotten me already!"
 

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Ali Baba walks up to the door of the cave and calls, "Open Sesame!"

A voice calls back, "Says who?"

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A family going on vacation visits a farm. They have an enjoyable time there; the only thing that bothers them is the noise the pigs make. The following year, they're making plans to go back to the farm, so the father writes a letter to the farmer, asking if the pigs are still there. The next day, he receives a letter back, "Don't worry, sir, there haven't been any pigs at this farm since you were here."

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Josh walks into a talent office. "I'd like to audition for the talent competition this week, please." he says to the talent agent.

"All right," the agent replies. "What will your act be?"

"I do impersonations." Josh replies.

"All right, let's see one."

"I love you-OUCH! I love you-EECH! I love you-OOH! I love you-YIPE!"

A puzzled look crosses the agent's face. "What was that?"

"Two porcupines hugging."

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Sally sees Danny walking by, carrying a skunk. "Say, where are you taking that skunk?" she inquires.

"Oh, he's my new pet," Danny replies. "He lives in a little kennel in my bedroom, and sleeps at the foot of my bed every night."

"But what about that smell?"

"Oh, he'll just have to get used to it, same as I did."

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Voice on radio: "All right, is everybody ready for your morning exercises? Good! Now, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down. Okay, now the other eyelid!"

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The football coach is in the locker room discussing plays with the team. "All right, Morris," he says. "For the next play, I want you to rush out there and tackle 'em!"

"Okay." Morris agrees. The team trudges out onto the field; seconds later, the coach hears raucous laughter coming from the field. Curious, he traipses outside, and observes the opposing team doubled over with laughter.

"What just happened?" the coach inquires. "I thought you were going to tackle the other team."

"Oh, tackle!" Morris replies. "I thought you said tickle."

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What do you do if a rhino charges you?

Pay him.

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Harold walks into an ice cream shop and orders a milkshake. After it arrives, he has to leave to make a phone call, but he's concerned that someone might take his drink while he's gone. As a preventative measure, he writes, "Property of the world's strongest body builder", and places it on top of the glass.
After he returns from making the call, he discovers that the glass is empty, with a new napkin on top of it, reading, "Thanks for the treat! Signed, the world's fastest track runner."

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Nate: "How do you do?"

Joe: "How do I do what?"

Nate: "I mean, how do you find yourself?"

Joe: "Don't be silly, I never lose myself!"

Nate: "No, I mean how do you feel?"

Joe: "With my hands, of course! Honestly, don't you have anything better to do than ask me these ridiculous questions?"

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Dora: "How was that hotel you stayed in as a hole, Jimmy?"

Jimmy: "As a hole it was great, but as a hotel it was terrible!"

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From Nickelodeon Magazine.

Joke of the Week #32

Farmer Joe goes out to his barn one morning, and discovers that his cows have been painted purple. Angrily, he rushes over to the house next door. He knocks on the door and says angrily, "All right, were you th' one who painted mah cows purple?"

When no one responds, Farmer Joe knocks harder, his voice escalating to a yell. "AH SAID, ARE YOU TH' DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDREL WHO PAINED MAH COWS PURPLE?!"

The door opens slowly, and a huge, mean-looking guy steps into the doorway. "Yeah, ah done it," he growls in a low voice. "Them critters mooing keeps me up all night."

The farmer laughs nervously. "Uh, heh, heh, jus' wanted ta tell ya that th' first coat was dry."

From Nickelodeon Magazine.

Book Review:Rainbow Street Shelter:Lost! A Dog Called Bear by Wendy Orr

Here's a review of the first title of a very nifty new book series from the author of Nim's Island.

The first half of the story features a boy named Logan who lives on a farm, and his beloved border collie, Bear(who's named such because when he was a puppy, he looked just like a little bear-and still kind of does, IMHO). One day, Logan's father sells the farm and moves to a big ranch in the mountains, while Logan and his mother move to the city, taking Bear with them. Unfortunately, on the way to their new house, Bear gets lost, and Logan and his mother search valiantly for him, but their search ends up in vain. :-(



The other half of this story features a girl named Hannah(who coincidentally lives in the same city Logan and his mother are moving to) who loves the beach and, more than anything, would love to have a dog of her very own. Unfortunately, her parents won't consent to this; they give many a reason for why a dog just wouldn't work out for them(Their yard isn't big enough, Hannah might forget to feed the dog, etc.), but Hannah knows better.

Their destinies intertwine when Hannah finds Bear in the back of her dad's pickup truck. Hannah is pleasantly surprised by this, and as such, dubs the dog "Surprise". Upon noticing his collar, however, Hannah discovers that the dog has an owner already, and, in hopes of reuniting him with his real owner, takes him to the Rainbow Street Animal Shelter. Will Logan ever find Bear again? Will Hannah ever get the dog she hopes for?

My thoughts:This is a very sweet, moving, and heartwarming book. The two main characters are very likeable, relatable, and sympathetic, the story is extremely well-written, and the illustrations are simply beautiful. Anyone who loves dogs or has a beloved dog of their own is sure to love this book. (A box of tissues is highly reccommended while reading this book, BTW.) :*)

Buy it on Amazon!





Book Review:George's Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl

Something's cookin' in the kitchen!

Here's a review of yet another Roald Dahl classic.

George is a little boy who lives on a farm with his parents, and has a kinda'...sorta'...(VERY!) huge problem:his grandma. You see, she isn't your typical kind of grandma, the sweet, kind, loves-her grandkids-like-crazy, gives-plenty-of-hugs-and-kisses, takes-her-grandkids-out-for-ice-cream-and/or-to-the-zoo kind. No, she's the meanest, nastiest, most hygeine-deficient old lady you'd ever care to meet, and constantly bullies poor little George.(George even wonders if she might be a witch...Honestly, she missed a good bet if she wasn't!)

George is in charge of giving Granny her medicine; he notes to himself that it never seems to her any good, because it never improves her demeanor at all. So, George decides then and there that he'll cook up a medicine that hopefully will change her attitude. He then sets about roaming around the house, gathering up various household items(shaving cream, floor wax, birdseed, hairspray, antifreeze et al.) and mixing them up in a large cooking pot.

When George gives this concoction to Granny, however, it ends up having an effect he hadn't reckoned on...it causes her to grow to a GINORMOUS size!(Unfortunately, however, it doesn't improve upon her mood at all.) :-(

Granny doesn't believe that George's medicine caused this, so George endeavors to prove it to her by feeding the medicine to a nearby chicken, which also not only grows huge, but lays a massive egg.

George's father is very intrigued by this, and asks George to dose several other farm animals(chickens, cows, pigs, sheep et al.) as well. George's father wants to market the medicine...but can George remember the formula? And what about Grandma?


My thoughts:Honestly, this is one of Dahl's funnier books, with animals(as well as Granny!) jittering around, flying into the air, and screaming "OWEE!", and many weird, wacky things happening. (Triple LOL with whipped cream and a strawberry on top!)
:-D :-D :-D

My only beef about this book is:

-Like a few other people that have reviewed this book, I didn't much go for what ended up happening to the grandma.(To embellish upon a quote from this Littlest Pet Shop episode, "The old lady was creepy, but even she didn't deserve that!)

All in all, a good, humorous, well-written book that any Roald Dahl aficionado is sure to enjoy.

Buy it on Amazon!

U.S. Acres:Jim Davis' Lesser-Known Comic Strip

U.S. Acres was a newspaper comic written by Jim Davis, creator of Garfield, in 1986. The strip(which was known as Orson's Farm outside America) followed the wacky hijinks of several kooky farm animals. The cast consisted of the polite, intellectual pig Orson who was the strip's main character, the bossy, loudmouthed rooster Roy, the cowardly but lovable duck Wade, the feisty little chick Booker who would often try(and fail) to catch a worm, his easygoing little brother Sheldon(no relation) who lived inside an egg shell which had similar properties to Snoopy's doghouse, the friendly but not-too-bright sheep Bo(he was more of a surfer dude type in Garfield and Friends), and his grumpy sister Lanolin who would often spar with Roy.

In Garfield and Friends, the group was often antagonized by Orson's three big, nasty brothers Gort, Mort, and Wart(who had appeared in the strip previously, albeit for only the first few weeks). Orson's brothers lived on the farm next door and would often come over to Orson's farm to steal food or cause some sort of trouble.(Which they fortunately were never successful at!) Further antagonists were a weasel, a fox, and a wolf, all of whom had the same goal:to steal chickens. (Honestly, IMHO, it would've made more sense for the wolf to be stealing sheep, but there it is.)

A pair of temporary additions to the cast were Cody the dog and Blue the cat(The latter being of obvious coloration). This may be just IMHO, but it seems that part of the reason for these characters' short-lived career(although they did appear in the various kids' books) seemed to be the fact that they didn't have quite as much personality as the rest of the cast(Cody in particular didn't seem to have any personality at all other than chasing and attacking the other animals). On a related note, for unknown reasons, Cody and Blue also never appeared on Garfield and Friends. (One could possibly call them "The Lymans of U.S. Acres.")

The comic had a small fanbase, though it never became quite as popular as Davis' more famous strip, Garfield, and only ran for three years.(Although the franchise had a much longer lifespan on Garfield and Friends.)

Overall, U.S. Acres was a fun, humorous, and very nifty comic with a good, likeable cast. Despite it never having quite the popularity Garfield did, it's definetly worth a read! (Or, "worth a watch" in the case of Garfield and Friends.)

Here are a couple of my favorite strips below(although, honestly, it was hard to pick just two!):

The entire comic series has been released in book form; the books are available at the links below(some, regrettably, are a little pricey, but well worth it for any U.S. Acres fan):

U.S. Acres Goes Half Hog

U.S. Acres Counts its Chickens

U.S. Acres Rules the Roost

U.S. Acres Runs Amuck

U.S. Acres Hams it Up

Orson's Farm Cuts the Corn

For younger fans, there were also several kids' books made, which are available at the links below*:

Wade Dives In!

Happy Birthday, Sheldon!

The Big Camp-Out

Beware! Rooster at Work!

Wade's Haunted Halloween

Sir Orson to the Rescue!

Let's Play Ball!

Booker Meets the Easter Bunny

*There are also two other books in this series entitled "The Great Christmas Contest" and "A Most Special Easter Egg" which, regrettably aren't currently available on Amazon, but they do occasionally show up on Ebay.

There were also plushies made of the characters, which show up on Ebay from time to time.

Hmm...the animals in the last panel of this comic look...familiar, somehow.

Book Review:Pound Puppies in Problem Puppies

Here I'm opting to review another Pound Puppies book; one of the more common ones.

We're first introduced to a (very cute!) little brown dog named Sassafras who lives on Farmer Brown's farm(One point of interest about Sassafras is that in the Golden Book Video version, he speaks with a very adorable southern accent). His job is to chase away the rabbits(who, BTW, are also very cute; they look kind of like Pound Bunnies!)* that come by, but he, being good friends with these bunnies, prefers to play with them(Another point of interest, BTW, is that one of the rabbits' names is revealed to be Cottontail in the video version). Such results in the rabbits getting into the farmer's prized vegetables and gobbling them up, which causes him no end of aggravation. Farmer Brown angrily bawls Sassafras out for this, tells him that he's going to take him to the pound and that he's going to get rid of the rabbits himself.

Living not that far from the farm is another (equally cute) dog of obvious coloration named Pumpkin, who also has a bit of a problem; his young owner, Hannah(who looks a little bit like Holly, or possibly a junior version of Tammy from Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw) hasn't stopped sneezing since she got him(In the video version, she asks her mom, with false hope, if the sneezing might be being caused by their dusty house; her mom, regrettably, knows better). Hannah loves Pumpkin, but, due to her allergies, her mom regrettably has no choice but to take him to the pound.

The dogs and their owners arrive at the pound at about the same time. Doc Weston(who, in the video version, even says, "I've never seen two sadder looking dogs, or three sadder looking people.") tries to comfort them all, knowing meanwhile that Cooler and the other Pound Puppies will do whatever they can to remedy this situation.

Cooler and the other dogs welcome these newcomers with open arms; despite this, however, Sassafras is too upset to relate his story. Nose Marie(here referred to as, "The Nose" due to this book being made before the TV show) sniffs around him, upon which, smelling hay, cows, vegetables and rabbits, indicating that he's a farm dog. Upon the word "rabbits," Sassafras tells the group his sad story; he feels like a failure. (Poor little guy. Sniff! :*C) Pumpkin, who's feeling no better, relates his story next:Hannah so wants a pet, but she's allergic to dogs.

Fortunately, Cooler, resourceful as ever, comes up with a solution. He reasons that Hannah probably isn't allergic to rabbits, so if they bring the rabbits to Hannah's house, not only will they now be her pets, but they won't get into Farmer Brown's vegetables any more. (Two birds, one stone and all that.) Cooler powwows with Barkerville and they come up with a plan, then giving each of the Pound Puppies a special task. First, Scrounger is sent to gather the fixings for a stew, as well as some sleeping powder, which Chef Louie then uses to prepare the aforementioned. Then, Brighteyes and Howler(who, also due to this book being made before the TV show, howls rather than speaking English) seek out Catgut and mention loudly, within his earshot, the delicious stew.

 Catgut evinces interest in this, and informs the pound guard dogs about the stew. As planned, they steal the stew and drop off almost immediately. (Oddly, in the video version, the sleeping powder is never used or mentioned; Catgut and the guard dogs simply gobble down the stew and fall asleep despite this sequence making no sense without the sleeping powder.)

Cooler, Barkerville and Nose Marie make their way to the farm via their network of tunnels under the pound. They arrive there just in time to see Farmer Brown pointing a gun at the rabbits! (GLEEP! :-O) The panicked Pound Puppies, frantically wondering how to save the bunnies, brace themselves for the worst...

...But Farmer Brown just can't bring himself to harm the cute little guys. On top of that, he misses Sassafras and regrets being so harsh to him. (One point of interest is that in the video version, Farmer Brown's gun was Disneyfied into a net.) While he isn't looking, the Pound Puppies gather up the bunnies and spirit them away to Hannah's house. They deposit the rabbits on the doorstep, ring the doorbell, then quickly hide in the bushes.

 Hannah is surprised, albeit pleasantly so, to see them. She picks up and hugs her new pets, and fortunately doesn't sneeze. (Oooh, the bunny on the right is kissing her! THAT'S SO CUTE!!)

The dogs quickly hurry back to the pound, upon which Nabbit barges in, loudly complaining that Cooler's gotten out again. (Have mercy, the artist drew Nabbit badly here!) Doc Weston informs him that Cooler is only showing the new dogs how to shake hands, beg, and roll over; as such, Sassafras and Pumpkin, who have become good friends by now, show him. (What Nabbit doesn't know won't hurt him, right?)

At this very moment, Farmer Brown comes in asking about getting his dog back; Sassafras seems quite happy to see him, but Pumpkin is sad that his new friend is leaving. Upon noticing this, Sassafras starts growling and backing away from Farmer Brown, which confuses both him and Doc Weston due to the fact that only a moment prior, Sassafras had seemed happy to see him. (In the video version, this is changed to Sassafras crying.)

  One look at Pumpkin, however, clears up this matter. Farmer Brown happily takes both dogs home home with him. (You see, again we have the problem of no one understanding dog-speak. If only Holly had been there...)

Sassafras and Pumpkin are living happily on the farm, Hannah's happy with her rabbits, and all's well that ends well, as they say. :)



My thoughts: This is a cute book. Sassafras and Pumpkin and their respective owners(and even the bunnies!) are good characters, and the storyline is interesting. Some of my main beefs, however, are:

-Not to sound picky, but the plot was kind of weak, and the writing wasn't the best, especially compared to some of the other books in the series.

-The artwork also wasn't the best(e.g. the way Nabbit was drawn, as noted, and, in the picture of Catgut shown above, he has terrier-like whiskers).

-Catgut is described as being the dogcatcher's(i.e. Nabbit's) pet; he's actually supposed to be Bigelow's pet. Granted, Bigelow doesn't appear in this particular book, but still.

-For that matter, the Golden Book Video version suffered from a bit of Adaptation Decay, as noted above.

Despite these things, this book is by no means terrible (Ditto the video). In fact, it's a good, easy-to-come-by, and usually affordable choice for any Pound Puppies fan/collector.

*For those interested BTW, Pound Bunnies will occasionally be available on ebay. Regrettably, they'll sometimes be a little expensive, but well worth it for any Pound Puppies collector.


UPDATE 5/17/12:I'd like to share this picture of this Pound Puppy I recently got who looks almost exactly like Sassafras.

Buy the book on Amazon!

Buy the mini-book on Amazon!

Buy the video on Amazon!