December 13, 2004
THE FOX AND CROW ARE IN THE HOUSE
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We've been reviewing big HDTV sets for PC WORLD and DIGITAL WORLD, and our setup includes a satellite TV feed from Voom, the HD-centric service. One of the service's many channels is Animania, an all-cartoon network--no relation to Dave Mruz's gone-but-not-forgotten fanzine. Part of that channel's lineup is a block called THE CLASSICS. I just got done watching about 45 minutes of it.
In this case, "classic" seems to consist of stuff that nobody else cares to run--including UPA Dick Tracy cartoons and Joe Oriolo Felix ones. In high-definition, they seem twice as long and twice as bad as in standard-def, though I confess I sat transfixed by their sheer awfulness and the fact that the HD broadcast let me see the dust on the cels. (It's not just me: Two less animation-obsessed coworkers happened by me as I was watching, and stopped to to partake in low-rent 1960s animation for awhile themselves.)
What I was really interested in was Animania's Mr. Magoo show (part of the CLASSICS block) since I'd heard it ran Magoo theatricals and Fox and Crows, possibly among other cartoons of interest. Which, tonight, it did--though the F&C was UPA's ROBIN HOODWINKED rather than a Columbia. And the half-hour Magoo block consisted of just one Magoo and the F&C, filled out with two Oriolo Felixes, which segued into...a full half-hour show of Oriolo Felixes. (The Felix show is followed by a Pink Panther one, but I didn't watch long enough to check if it was early theatrical Panthers or what.)
Sadly, THE CLASSICS are only shown in prime-time and late at night, which means I'll need to stay at work until 8pm to have a hope of seeing the Fox and Crow or other obscure Columbias. (We don't have a setup at the moment which would let us record and time-shift HD.)
But I often hang around work until lateish anyhow, and if I could reliably see a theatrical cartoon or two I wasn't familiar with--and there are plenty of UPAs and Columbias I haven't seen--it would be a nice way to wrap up the day.
Stay tuned for further notes.