Saturday Morning Cartoon: Christmas Comes But Once a Year

“Christmas Comes But Once a Year,”  Fleischer Studios, 1936. Voice actors: Jack Mercer and Mae Questel. Director: Dave Fleischer. Animation: William Henning, Seymour Kneitel. Music: Bob Rothberg, Tot Seymour, Sammy Timberg.

Related:

“A Very Fleisher Christmas,” FleischerStudios.com

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Bette Davis on Honesty, Brains and the Sexes

Film star Bette Davis (1908 – 1989) was interviewed in 1963 by columnist Shirley Eder.  The recording  was recently animated by Patrick Smith of Blend Films for Blank on Blank (PBS Digital):

Herb Jeffries, ‘Bronze Buckaroo’

Herb Jeffries, who sang with Duke Ellington and starred in early black westerns as the singing “Bronze Buckaroo,” died last week. He was believed to be 100 years old.

Shirley Temple, 1928 – 2014

Shirley Temple Black, a former Meglin Kiddie whose mamma afflicted her with Mary Pickford’s hairdo, passed away yesterday. A Depression-era child laborer, she toiled in the film industry until she no longer resembled the effigies of her likeness sold to parents of millions of girl children. Divorced from John Agar, she married a decorated intelligence officer, raised a Republican family, hosted a TV show, and was U.S. Ambassador to a European country that no longer exists.

The artistic highlight of Mrs. Black’s career was, undoubtedly, her memorable pas de deux with master dancer/choreographer Bill Robinson:

Have Yourself A Merry

“Have Yourself A Merry little Christmas,” by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blaine, performed by Judy Garland in the 1944 film “Meet Me in St. Louis.”
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Baby, It’s Cold Outside

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” words and music by Frank Loesser. Performed by Ricardo Montalbán and Esther Williams in the 1949 MGM movie “Neptune’s Daughter,” and reprised later in the film by Red Skelton and Betty Garrett but with the roles reversed. The song won the 1949 Academy Award.

A classic winter duet, the tune has been recorded by countless couples including Steve and Edie, Louis Jordan & Ella Fitzgerald, Rod Stewart & Dolly Parton, Lady Gaga & Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nora Jones & Willie Nelson, and Zooey Deschanel & Leon Redbone.

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Blockbuster Waives Late Fees, Waves Goodbye

The last 300 Blockbuster Video stores will close by the end of the year. The brand will live on in the video-streaming service of parent company Dish Network and on the facades of 50 stores owned by franchisees. The Blockbuster video rental chain was once the country’s largest, with 60,000 employees and 9,000 stores.

More:

“OBITUARY: Blockbuster Video: 1985-2013,” Alex Pappademas, Grantland 

“I Loved You, Blockbuster,” Alexis C. Madrigal, The Atlantic

“The miseries and pleasures of Blockbuster Video,” By Dana Stevens, Slate

“As Blockbuster Prepares To Close, Fans Line Up To Stock Video Libraries,” CBS Los Angeles

“Why Blockbuster’s Death Doesn’t Matter,” Daniel Carlson, Pajiba

“Blockbuster closure could cost Dish $30M,” L. Wayne Hicks, Denver Business Journal

Take My Wife — Please! — To the Catskills

Filmmakers Mevlut Akkaya and Ron Frank interview the alter kockers and big machers of Borscht Belt stand-up in When Comedy Went to School. It’s opening this month, so you can spend 98 minutes in the Catskills this summer. Warning:  The food won’t be as good (and such small portions …).

Lucas and Spielberg: The Film Industry is Dead.

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg were on a panel at the University of Southern California with Microsoft’s president of interactive entertainment Don Mattrick. The discussion took place in the new USC School of Cinematic Arts Interactive Media Building, and the filmmakers could see the writing on those new-media walls.

Superman

“I’m too weak, I’m so thin / I’d like to fly, but I can’t even swim.”

Related:

“10 Sciencey Stats on the Man of Steel,” Kyle Hill, Scientific American blog

“Superman: Flying to a church near you,” Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog

“Superman Turns 75,” The Onion

“How The National Guard Is Using ‘Man of Steel’ To Recruit You,” Asawin Suebsaeng, Mother Jones

“Why Can’t Anyone Recognize Superman?” Kyle Hill, Slate

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