Walt Disney Treasures Wave 4 Talkback

[Duck Dodgers]

to rewturn to the subject of this thread,i was amazed by mickey's mellerdrammer,you know,billy bletcher is the voice of horace horsecollar in this cartoon...and it's one of the very few(if not the only cartoon)cartoons where horace speaks...

[A. Leal]

My chief regret about Wave 4 is that the sets came out too late for inclusion as possible Christmas presents (and that "True Life Adventures," which I was hoping to get Dad for Father's Day, is not included).

Duck Dodgers, I've long wanted to see Mickey's Mellerdrammer. I'm a longtime fan of Horace. I liked his cameos in the later cartoons (especially as the energetic drummer in Band Concert), but it was his characterization in the Gottfredson' newspaper comics which always interested me. I've long wanted to see Horace as Simon Legree (and the great Bletcher's vocals could only enhance things; he'd go on to play Legree in Uncle Tom's Bungalow for WB). It's always intrigued me the way Uncle Tom was such a popular motif in 30s, and to a lesser extent 40s, shorts.

[Paul Penna]

Re: the flimsily-applied card on the back of the tins. My advice would be to not glue them on permanently, but to carefully detach them, remove the bit of stickum (which rolls off easily), then store them inside the tins. This will eliminate the inevitable scuffing, or even tearing, that would occur when the tins rub against one another when being removed or replaced on your shelf. In fact, the painted-on graphics on the earlier tins will eventually get scuffed in this manner over time. Given the decision not to make individualize bottoms for the tins, I actually appreciate the fact that, apparently, they deliberately made the cards easily detachable.

[Paul Penna]

I've only begun to delve into MMBW2, and I've noticed at least one title that seems to be transferred from a rather rough-and-tumble element, presumably because it's the best that presently exists: "Jungle Rhythm." One particular oddity is the amount of junk around the edges of the windowboxed frame (this may not be visible depending on the amount of overscan on any particular monitor). In fact, it looks like the kind of detritus that typically accumulates around the aperture plate of a movie projector. I'm wondering how this (apparently) became permanently registered in the film element itself. Poor housekeeping practices in the lab that made the intermediate elements sometime in the distant past?

[Merrytoon]

I bought my mom the MMC one this weekend (Christmas gift), and am anxiously awaiting MMBW2 under the tree for ME on Christmas morning.

[David Gerstein]

Originally Posted by duck dodgers

mickey's mellerdrammer [is] one of the very few cartoons (if not the only cartoon) where horace speaks...

Horace also speaks in THE BARNYARD BROADCAST, but he doesn't say much— just "one, two, three, four."
Ironically, in the comics— the one medium where Horace has remained a star over the years— he's a great character because of his speech; insofar as his best stories tend to involve him bragging his way into awkward situations, or enthusiastically outlining an elaborate practical joke he's planning.

Originally Posted by Paul Penna

One particular oddity [in JUNGLE RHYTHM] is the amount of junk around the edges of the windowboxed frame. [...] I'm wondering how this (apparently) became permanently registered in the film element itself.

Your "apparently" is right on the money. Toward the end of the film, an angry ape emerges from a tree to grab Mickey by the tail and toss him across the forest floor. Still-frame the sequence and you'll notice a moment when the film print has some chunks broken out of it. The absence of those parts of the frame also remove the junk around the edges, showing that it's really part of the print (rather than a projection problem, as I originally figured).

[A. Leal]

Originally Posted by David Gerstein

Horace also speaks in THE BARNYARD BROADCAST, but he doesn't say much— just "one, two, three, four."
Ironically, in the comics— the one medium where Horace has remained a star over the years— he's a great character because of his speech; insofar as his best stories tend to involve him bragging his way into awkward situations, or enthusiastically outlining an elaborate practical joke he's planning.

And there's Horace's brief whinny in Symphony Hour, which doesn't count for much. I agree with you, of course, re Horace in the comics ("The Horsecollar Touch"). And then there's the 1945 cartoon animal themed episode of radio's "Command Performance." Not to continue to drag this too off topic, but Dave, would you and the other moderators here mind if I were to post .wav excerpts (or if I can find hosting space, the entire mp3) of that broadcast? For those who haven't heard the show (or even of it), due perhaps to Horace's lack of loquacity in the shorts and a desire to salute the cavalry, sloppy research from the show's writers, or just wanting to mess with the heads of cartoon fans of the time (and today), there's a visit by one "Goofy Horsecollar," played by Pinto Colvig, with the standard "hyuks" interspersed with whinnies!

[Thad]

Originally Posted by A. Leal

would you and the other moderators here mind if I were to post .wav excerpts (or if I can find hosting space, the entire mp3) of that broadcast? For those who haven't heard the show (or even of it), due perhaps to Horace's lack of loquacity in the shorts and a desire to salute the cavalry, sloppy research from the show's writers, or just wanting to mess with the heads of cartoon fans of the time (and today), there's a visit by one "Goofy Horsecollar," played by Pinto Colvig, with the standard "hyuks" interspersed with whinnies!

I'm a moderator here, and I certainly wouldn't mind you posting sound files. Heck, what you described is something I definitley would want to hear!


-Thad

[David Gerstein]

Originally Posted by A. Leal

And there's Horace's brief whinny in Symphony Hour, which doesn't count for much.

Oops! I wasn't thinking of whinnies. To be honest, Horace whinnies (and makes other horselike SFX) in dozens of shorts, starting with THE PLOWBOY. I was only thinking of the few times he spoke actual words.
Hmm, I can think of another one, too: in MICKEY'S BIRTHDAY PARTY, when Mickey is hanging from the chandelier and the others are exhorting him to come on down and join the party, an unidentified male voice is heard that definitely isn't Goofy or Donald. As Horace is the only other guy at the party, it's got to be him.

[Duck Dodgers]

Originally Posted by A. Leal

And there's Horace's brief whinny in Symphony Hour, which doesn't count for much. I agree with you, of course, re Horace in the comics ("The Horsecollar Touch"). And then there's the 1945 cartoon animal themed episode of radio's "Command Performance." Not to continue to drag this too off topic, but Dave, would you and the other moderators here mind if I were to post .wav excerpts (or if I can find hosting space, the entire mp3) of that broadcast? For those who haven't heard the show (or even of it), due perhaps to Horace's lack of loquacity in the shorts and a desire to salute the cavalry, sloppy research from the show's writers, or just wanting to mess with the heads of cartoon fans of the time (and today), there's a visit by one "Goofy Horsecollar," played by Pinto Colvig, with the standard "hyuks" interspersed with whinnies!

oh boy,i can hardly wait to listen it,i hope you'll post this soon...