1001 CLASSIC COMMERCIALS (2009) Disc 1 / Part 2
July 13th, 2010 by Scott Marks
Perhaps the biggest find in this section of “1001 Classic Commercials” is “Battleground,” a theatrical public service announcement starring Frank Sinatra. Years ago when I was managing Landmark’s Parkway Theatre in Chicago, one of the chain’s reps told me that he heard talk of a PSA starring a wheelchair bound Jerry Mathers as The Polio Victim. For years I asked around to see if anyone else had heard of this outlandish oddity and for years I drew nothing more than cheap laughs and astonished stares. Surely something like this would have emerged on a blooper reel or Dick Clark Production by now.
I had all but forgotten this Holy Grail of bad taste until “Battleground” hit the screen. This had to have been produced in the late 50s somewhere between “The Trouble with Harry” (1955) and right after “Leave it to Beaver” hit the air in 1957. Surely audiences would have cried fraud had this come out after Beaver Cleaver became a household name.
Sinatra at his Sy Devore swinginest walks into a sound stage hospital room to greet little Arnold Gordon “Gordy” Naldi (Mathers) cooped up in his bed playing with toy cowboys and Indians. Frankie gives him a wrapped present (probably a carton of Camels) and a pat on the head, reads his pitch against TB off cue cards and takes it on the arches presumably after one take. Frank is honest enough to admit that this “is a battlefield, make believe and real.” Unfortunately he calls the real battle the one The Beaver is fighting against tuberculosis. Along the way he also informs us that Gordy will spend the next three years of his life in the hospital due to a dissolved vertebra. It’s a good thing that CBS already had him under contract.
Gee, Wally. Maybe we shouln’t hang around Mr. Sinatra. We’ll get TB and turn out like Gwendolyn Rutherford.
This is obviously the PSA that the Landmark honcho had in mind. Like a game of Telephone it somehow got mangled through time and memory until it sounded even more outrageous than it is.
I wish that I could share this spot with you, but after Googling the title and star and all I came up with is a Jordin Sparks song and a PlayStation game. Believeme, this two minute pity pitch was worth the fivebucks it set me back. Long live Big Lots!!!
NOTE: Check the comments section. Prof. Rob Martinez posted a slightly shortened version of “Battleground” for us to enjoy.
DISC 1: TOYS & P.S.A.’s
TOYS (116)
ACTION FIGURES (11)
1. Eldon: Billy Blastoff – “Now He Walks!” (1960s)
2. Topper: The Ding-A-Lings – Get a Ding-A-Ling Shoe Shine (1970) 4 Minutes!
3. Marx: The Great Garloo (1960s)
4. Ideal: King Zor (1960s)
5. Ideal: ”Robert the Talking Robot (1954) 5 ½ Minutes
6. Ideal: Robot Commando (1961) 4 ½ Minutes
7. Marx: Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots (1966) With “Hazel’s” Bobby Buntrock
8. Ideal: The Zeroids (1967)
9. Ideal: Mr. Machine (1960)
10. Hasbro: “Remember: Only G.I. Joe is G.I. Joe!” (1960s)
11. Kellogg’s: Navy Frogmen Premium Comes Complete With a Free Supply of High Pressure Propellant Pills (aka: Baking Powder) For 25 Cents and 1 Box Top (1954)
BOARD GAMES (10)
1. Ideal: A Karate Expert, Samson the Strongman, A Monster Named Marvin & Davy Town of Merrick, Long Island play Wrestle Around (1960s)
2. Pressman: Roger Maris’ Action Baseball (1962) $2.98!
3. Pressman: The Divining Veda Board (1960s) Wasn’t she in “Blonde Savage?”
4. Mattel: Lie Detector (1960) With June Foray
5. Mattel: Sonar Sub Hunt Game to Blast the Russkies! (1960s)
6. Parker Brothers: Twister Rip-Off Funny Bones (1968)
7. Transogram: Monkey’s Uncle (1967)
8. Milton Bradley: Rack-O (1961)
9. Milton Bradley: Mystery Date (1960s)
10. Milton Bradley: Alan Sherman for Camp Granada (1965)
CARS/PLANES/BOATS (16)
1. Gilbert: Auto-Rama (1963)
2. Transogram: Dare Devil Trik Trak (1966)
3. Remco: Flying Fox Toy Cockpit (1959)
4. Marx: Big Bruiser (1960s)
5. Marx: Big Shot (1960s)
6. Remco: Mr. Kelly’s Car Wash (1964)
7. Kellogg’s: Flying Superman Premium 1 Box Top + 10 Cents (1950s)
8. Sold At Food Markets Only: Tiger Joe Tank (1960s)
9. “Toys of the Future” (1950s)
10. Transogram: Dare Devil Trik Trak (1966)
11. Sold At Food Markets Only: U.S.S. Battlewagon (1960s)
12. Remco; Whirlybird Helicopters (1960s)
13. General Foods: Johnny Lightning Double Trouble Free for 3 Cheerios Box Tops (1971)
14. Ideal: Polar-iffic Shark Pack Toy Boats (1960s)
15. Aurora: Speedline (1967)
16. Ideal: Thunder Streak (1960s)
DOLLS (18)
1. Mattel: Barbie, The Teen Age Fashion Doll’s First Commercial (1959)
2. Mattel: Barbie Meets Ken (1961)
3. Mattel: Barbie’s Dream House (1960s)
4. Mattel: Barbie & Ken’s Mix and Match Clothes (1960s)
5. Mattel: Barbie’s Color ‘N Curl (1960s)
6. Mattel: Malibu Barbie (1971)
7. Ideal: Have Fun Shampooing Betsy Wetsy’s Rooted Saran Hair (1960s)
8. Ideal: Betsy Wetsy Promotional Short (1954) 4 minutes
9. Mattel: Chatty Cathy (1960)
10. Mattel: Matty Mattel, Casper, Sister Belle Talking Dolls (1961)
11. Ideal: Patti Playpal (1950s)
12. Ideal” Shirley Temple Doll (1962)
13. Palitoy: Teeny Tiny Tears Doll (1965)
14. Hasbro: Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head With Cars and Trailer (1950s)
15. Ideal: Beautiful Crissy Has Beautiful Hair That Grows (1969)
16. Ideal: Beautiful Crissy Has Beautiful Hair That Grows (1969)
17. Ideal: Beautiful Crissy’s Cousin Velvet (1970)
18. Topper Toys: Suzy Cute Louis Armstrong (1964)
PLAYSETS (15)
1. Marx: Best of the West (1960s)
2. Sold Only At Food Markets: Deluxe Man in Space Set (1959)
3. Ideal: Mr. Machine Bumper (1960s)
4. Ideal: Count Down Electronic Missile Base, Wherever Good Toys Are Sold (1961)
5. Mattel: Major Matt Mason (1968) He Lives on the Moon (We May All Live There Soon)
6. Remco: Project Yankee Doodle Test Center (1964)
7. Remco: Voice Controlled Kennedy Airport (1968)
8. Ideal: Steve Canyon’s Jet Helmet (1959)
9. Marx: Carry-All Action Play Sets (1968)
10. Colorforms (1950s)
11. Remco: Movieland Drive-In Theatre with Patty Duke (1959)
Continue reading 1001 CLASSIC COMMERCIALS (2009) Disc 1 / Part 2
Tags: 1001 Classic Commercials, Ads, Barbie, Barbie and Ken, Barbies Dream House, Beautiful Crissy, beaver cleaver, Best of the West, bicentennial, Big Lots, Billy Blastoff, Billy Mumy, Bing Crosby, board games, Bobby Buntrock, Bugs Bunny, Captain Midnight, Cheerios, classic commercials, Clint Eastwood, Commercial, Commercials, Coney Island, Cowboy, Cue Cards, Danny Thomas, Dick Clark, Elmer Fudd, Etch-A-Sketch, Frank Sinatra, Game, General Foods, Greenie Stick-Em Caps, Gwendolyn Rutherford, Ideal, jack narz, James Cagney, Jerry Mathers, Joe DiMaggio, John Wayne, Johnny Seven, Kelloggs Cereal, Kurt Russell, leave it to beaver, Lionel Trains, Louis armstrong, Major Matt Mason, mark hamill, marx Toys, Mattel, Matty Mattel, Mental Illness, Milton Bradley, Movie, Mr. Machine, Nabisco, Ohio Arts, Otis Campbell, Ovaltine, parker Brothers, Parkway Theatre, Patty Duke, polio victim, Porky Pig, public service announcement, Remco, robert clampett, Rock Em Sock Em Robots, Roger Maris, Sears, Secret Sam, Short, Smokey the Bear, Steve Canyon, Superman, Suzy Cute, sy devore, Tab Hunter, Talking Dolls, Tiger Joe Tank, Topper, Toys, Trailer, Transogram, Two way Wrist Radio, U.S.S. Battlewagon, Union Station, Variety Club, VD, Wham-OWalt Disney and Bob Clampett recycled
April 7th, 2009 by Scott Marks
Former student and current Facebook friend Julie Mynatt sent me this meticulously researched and assembled comparison reel showing how later day Disney raped the bones of Uncle Walt. Go to YouTube and search “Disney Deja Vu.” You’ll be surprised to see just how much of this stuff there is.
The Jungle Book (1967) was Walt’s swan song, the last animated feature he personally oversaw from beginning to end. Disney gave the green light to The Aristocats (1970) which turned out to be the studio’s first animated feature to be released after his death. You’ll notice that none of the reused footage appears in a film that Disney signed off on. He would never let reused animation sully a production he personally supervised. Honestly, I have never seen The Aristocats or Robin Hood (1973). They opened at a time in my upbringing when it was hip to reject cartoons in favor of trying to sneak into R rated pictures. Even with the voices of Phil Harris and Pat Buttram, these clips may have forever scared me off these two pictures.
Legend has it that without Walt to guide them, Robin Hood quickly went over budget and the studio had to cut corners. That is what probably motivated the tracings of cels past. The same can’t be said of Robert Clampett. Clampett was the star student who didn’t apply himself. Instead of spending the entire week on a homework assignment, Clampett wrote seven of the ten assigned pages and the night before it was do plagiarized the rest. While the folks at Disney were working under sudden budget restraints, Clampett was just plain lazy. He’s still my favorite animator in the Warner Bros. stable, but some of what follows is uncalled for.
WARNING: Much of what follows is politically incorrect. It reflects past thinking, not contemporary society. I hope…
Tags: bob clampett, disney cartoons, Looney Tunes, merrie melodies, recycled animation, reused animation, robert clampett, robin hood, the aristocats, the jungle book, Walt Disney, warner bros., warner bros. cartoons, warner brothers cartoonsFiled Under Rants