ReFrederator Blog

Put me among the number of those who love Popeye.

But I do have questions.

Popeye eats spinach all the time, right? What exactly triggers the specific physiological response brought on by the vegetable consumption? I mean why do his biceps transmogrify into big block letters ‘T.N.T’ one time, and a kicking mule the next? Is this kind of like Superman and red kryptonite where the fantastic reaction is never the same twice? And if that were the case, how can Popeye’s own physical being and/or the spinach itself know how to calibrate the sometimes shockingly appropriate transformation at hand? In other words, what determining agent says now would be a good time for his forearms to become an enormous horseshoe magnet instead of two gigantic maracas? And what about those instantaneous costume changes, not to mention the music cues?

I think the answers to this line of scientific inquiry would make a [Read more…]

It’s kind of depressing, how often I run into baloney about Popeye. Even in our office a few of our colleagues groaned when they saw that he was a part of the upcoming line-up.

I’ve heard complaints ranging from “corny” to sexism.

But heck with them. I think the Popeyes are just plain entertaining. Characters for the ages. Fun stories. And amazing animation, don’t you think?

So, get used to it. Popeye is going to be a great part of the future of ReFrederator.

I am, always will be, a sucker for obscure cartoon charters from the 1930’s. Willie Whopper, Hunky and Spunky, Scrappy, Little Cheeser, Flip the Frog, Farmer Al Falfa, Gabby, Wiffle Piffle, Puddy the Pup, Pooch the Pup, Bosco, Cubby Bear, Kiko the Kangeroo, Buddy, Tom and Jerry (not the cat and mouse characters, but the same named human beings who looked a little like Mutt and Jeff with little black jelly bean noses.) These are MY people… well, people, mammals, amphibians, whatever.

I love the fact that several of these animated footnotes, forgotten though they be, actually had long and relatively successful careers. Many of them came with their own jaunty theme songs and some of them were even merchandised aggressively. A few years ago, I was at an antique show and saw some gorgeous bisque figurines of Columbia cartoon star Scrappy. The dealer selling them didn’t have a clue [Read more…]

They are the cartoon elite. Animated super stars. Actually “Super
Star” is a pretty anemic term for the tiny clique of vintage
characters at the top end of the cartoon food chain. Bugs Bunny. Betty Boop. Superman. Porky Pig. Woody Woodpecker. Little Lulu. Mighty Mouse. Daffy Duck. Popeye. We’re talking about that exclusive club of cultural icons who have graced movie and television screens, comic books and lunch boxes for decades. Generations have been born into the world accepting these characters at face value, as constant as sunlight or gravity. For all practical purposes, there has always been a Mickey Mouse for most of us. He was here when we checked in… we’re pretty sure he’ll be here when we check out.

Clint Eastwood, now Clint Eastwood is a super star. The guy has been
keeping asses in movie seats for… what? Around forty years? An amazing accomplishment! I walked into a store last [Read more…]

Frogs with teeth, mice with explosives, lisping mallards, cross dressing rabbits, lecherous spiders, harmonizing houseflies, chickens who can slip in and out of feathers like a union suit and at least one skinny little sailor who has animated pictures of dynamite on his biceps.

Just a few of the reasons I love really old cartoons. Can’t get enough of ‘em.

Luckily, it won’t be very long before I’m guaranteed at least one every morning. The dawn of ReFrederator is just over the horizon.

A cartoon a day. Hot Damn!

Dave Kirwan

Wow! A daily dose of vintage animation! A cartoon a day, five days a week … as handy as your morning weather forecast (and, admit it, a lot more relevant to YOUR lifestyle than a weather forecast.) A cartoon classic every morning. Now that’s an idea who’s time has come.

Actually a second coming. Long before the age of Sponge Bob… heck, long before the age of HeMan, Smurfs and Scooby Doo… Baby Boomers raced through breakfast, hoping they could sit in front of the family’s one and only television set for seven and a half minutes before Mom threw them outside to catch the school bus. Just one quick cartoon, that’s all they wanted. A fast glimpse of the early morning kiddy show, before long hours memorizing multiplication tables and state capitols. The cartoon in question was probably ancient —twenty, thirty, maybe forty years old — which made it’s [Read more…]