Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
However, it wasn’t all sunshine and
roses as Enchancia was threatened by numerous evil forces; some of whom wanted
Sofia’s amulet for themselves and their own ambitions. Among them was the bumbling
royal magician, Cedric
(Jess Harnell), who wanted
to overthrow the royal family; Princess Ivy (Anna Camp), who took over
Enchancia and wanted to make it as devoid of color as her own kingdom; Prisma (Megan Hilty), an evil crystal-conjurer
determined to outclass her sister, Azurine (Rachel MacFarlane), no matter
the cost; Glacia
the Ice Witch (Phylicia
Rashad), who bestowed anyone that brought her a gift with magic; Vor (Paty Lombard), an ancient
enchantress imprisoned in the Locket of Vor for spreading
evil throughout the world in order to conquer it and manipulated Prisma to get free; Slickwell (Christian Borle), a young steward
that sought to replace the royal steward, Baileywick (Tim Gunn); Miss Nettle (Megan Mullally & Anna Vocino), a fairy that sought to surpass
her former mentors, the good fairies; and Morgana (Catherine O’Hara), the egocentric
arch-enemy of Merlin (Jeff Bennet) who sought nothing
more than to defeat him, among others.
Sofia, Amber, James and Miranda.
The series was
created by Craig Gerber
after he was approached by Nancy
Kanter at Disney
Junior for an idea for a show about a princess targeted to 2 to 7-year-olds.
Gerber took inspiration from his life and
family to create Sophia. His son, Miles, liked to play pretend and emulated
fantasy characters he didn’t really have anything in common with. Gerber
decided that his character should go through a lot of the same life situations
Miles would, to serve as a “magic mirror” that would allow him to enjoy the
fantasy while identifying with the scenarios on the show. He also incorporated
his own childhood experiences of being from a blended family and posited what
if Sofia wasn’t always a princess, but became one overnight. It was a way to
modernize the princess dynamic and allow Sofia to be bold and curious as she
explored her new role and the world around her.
Vor manipulating Prisma for her freedom.
Sofia
the First debuted with a Disney Channel
television movie, Once
Upon a Princes, on November 18, 2012. It was the 5th
most-watched program for the week, and the highest for a Disney animated
special since 2009’s Phineas
and Ferb Christmas Vacation! The series proper debuted on January 11,
2013 on Disney Junior.; becoming one of the top 3 broadcasts for girls ages 2-5.
The series ran for four years, picked up Emmy and Humanitas awards, and spawned the
spin-off series Elena of Avalor. For the series’ 10th
anniversary n 2022, a sequel series was announced on social media called Sofia
the First: Royal Magic; which was officially
greenlit in 2024 and set to debut in 2026 (as of this writing). The
original Sofia continues to air in reruns on Disney Junior and on the
official Disney
Junior YouTube channel, and is available to stream on Disney+.
She was a Mexican dubbing actor and director credited as one of the key figures
for the success of anime in Latin America. She voiced Jenny in Space
Kidettes;Melody in Josie and the Pussycats; Judy Franklin in
Return to the Planet of the Apes; Mrs. Anders in Jeannie; Nurse
Chapel in Star Trek: The Animated Series; Wednesday Addams in The
Addams Family (1973); Katy O’Hara in My Favorite Martians; the old
lady in The Fat Albert Christmas Special; and Velma Dinkley in several
incarnations of Scooby-Doo. She also directed the dubbing of Digimon
and Cardcaptors.
He did the music for Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, California
Dreams, The Addams Family (1992), Cave Kids, ChalkZone, Back at
the Barnyard, Bunsen is a Beast and Johnny Test; worked on some music
for Tiny Toon Adventures and Sesame Street; and wrote a song for SpongeBob
SquarePants.
T.K. Carter (January 9) – Actor. He starred as Alex
in Turbo Teen; Anthony Julian, an ophthalmologist and additional voices
in Jem; and Mylo Williams in the Saved by the Bell precursor
series Good Morning, Miss Bliss.
Hanna-Barbera’s
previous effort sought to subvert television restrictions on violence by making
Tom and Jerry friends. Filmation decided to restore the more adversarial nature
of the property; but rather than enemies, they were simply rivals always
competing against each other. They also got rid of the bowtie Hanna-Barbera
added to Jerry in order to section off his head for their animation style and
restored the element of slapstick comedy. Bulldog father and son Spike and Tyke
also returned to give the pair additional foils. Occasionally, another Tom
and Jerry character would make an appearance: the diaper-wearing orphan
mouse Nibbles (renamed “Tuffy” here), who first appeared in the 1946 short, The
Milky Waif.
Droopy going to work with Spike.
Filmation
decided to load up the show with additional MGM properties. Sandwiched between
two Tom and Jerry story segments was a Droopy segment. Droopy was a lethargic
and depressed-sounding Basset Hound created by Tex Avery for the 1943
short, Dumb-Hounded (although
he went unnamed on screen until his 5th short, 1949’s Señor
Droopy). His voice and personality were modeled after the character
Wallace Wimple from the radio program Fibber Mcgee and
Molly, and was initially portrayed by Wimple’s actor Bill Thompson before and after
serving in World
War II. Droopy’s demeanor and size hid a great strength, which was often
utilized as a recurring gag for whenever he got upset (well, upset for him)
or easily moved an obstacle out of his way. Like other characters of the era,
Droopy was often featured in a variety of scenarios and occupations. He
appeared in 24 shorts until MGM shut down their cartoon division in 1957, with his
last one shown in 1958.
Slick Wolf up to his old tricks against Droopy.
Another featured
Avery creation was the villainous Slick Wolf, who had undergone several
different names over his career: Big Bad Wolf, Adolf Wolf, Wally Wolf and
McWolf. He made his debut in 1942’s Blitz Wolf—Avery’s
first for MGM—in a WWII-influenced retelling of The
Three Little Pigs. His most memorable short was most likely 1943’s Red Hot Riding Hood,
where he’s aroused by the buxom Red’s song and dance number (this short was
seen and referenced in the 1994 film The
Mask). While simultaneously starring in more girl-chasing shorts, he
would also be used as a frequent foe against Droopy until his last appearance
in 1952. Filmation once again utilized Slick to be a frequent foe and rival
against Droopy. Spike would occasionally be paired up with Slick or replace him
as the story’s antagonist, taking the place of Avery’s own Spike
character (later renamed Butch to avoid confusion between the two
characters) that appeared in Droopy’s shorts.
Barney Bear interfering with Slick Wolf's scheme.
Another MGM
character that played supporting roles in both Tom and Jerry and Droopy’s
segments was Barney Bear. He was created by director Rudolf Ising, who also initially
voiced him, and debuted in 1939’s The Bear That Couldn’t Sleep.
Barney was a sluggish, sleepy bear that often wanted nothing more than peace
and quiet and constantly struggled to attain either, or set out to accomplish a
task and ended up overdoing it or just completely mucking it up. He had a
grumpy yet pleasant disposition based on Ising’s own personality, and his
mannerisms were largely based on actor Wallace Beery’s. He appeared in
26 shorts, ending his run in 1954.
Droopy painting in the scene for the wraparound segments.
The Tom
and Jerry Comedy Show, also known as The New Adventures of Tom and Jerry,
debuted on CBS on September 6, 1980. As well
as starring in his own segments, Droopy would also introduce wraparound
segments by using a comically-large paintbrush to paint a scene into view in
which a short routine would follow with the series’ speaking characters. Frank
Welker was tapped to provide all of the voices on the show. He completed
recording six episodes’ worth of material when a Screen
Actors Guild strike occurred, forcing him to stop work. Producer Lou
Schimer ended up assuming the voices for the remainder. Additional voices were
provided by an uncredited Linda
Gary, Jay Scheimer, Alan Oppenheimer, Erika Scheimer and Diane Pershing. A very limited score was
composed by Norm Prescott (as
Jeff Michael) and Ray Ellis
(as Yvette Blais) modeled after ragtime
to give the shorts a vintage feel (although theatrical shorts generally used swing and big band music).
Vehicles being added to the classic chase.
While Coslough Johnson and Jack Hanrahan were the series’
primary writers, with additional scripts by Charlie Howell
and Eddie Fitzgerald, a
number of the animation staff ended up getting writing credits as well;
including Mike Joens, Steve Clark, Tom Minton, Mike O’Connor,
Jim Mueller
and Wendell
Washer. During the show’s production, a rivalry had developed between the
writing and animation staff. The writers wanted their scripts to be followed to
the letter. The animators, many of them new additions to the Filmation crew,
wanted to make Tom and Jerry as comparable to their classic shorts as
possible. They attempted to make them livelier than the usual Filmation output
every chance they could, which was not well-received by others at the studio. Unscripted
sight gags were added to the storyboards, as were classic animation techniques
inspired by theatrical shorts. Layout artist John Kricfalusi was heavily
inspired by Chuck Jones’ The Dover Boys at Pimento
University and tried to incorporate abstract elements into a zip-pan
shot, which angered background department head Erv Kaplan. In the unreleased book
The
Art of Spümcø and John K, Kricfalusi alleged that animator Lynne Naylor was almost fired
by Scheimer for incorporating “smear frames”—a method of simulating a motion
blur to convey fast movements without requiring multiple drawings—in a Droopy
segment. Additionally, many of their attempts at subversion would end up
sterilized as the art went through the process before making it to their
episodes. Scheimer would state in his own book, Creating
the Filmation Generation, that they tried to encourage the staff to go
“as wild as possible” despite budget restrictions.
Alberto De Mello's model sheet for Tom.
The
production also encountered two more hurdles. Lead character designer Alberto De Mello was introduced
to classic model sheets and Preston
Blair’s animation
instruction books. The old techniques excited De Mello and he attempted to
design the show’s characters using them—completely misunderstanding how to use
them in the process. Following the classic breakdown of characters into
geometric shapes resulted in De Mello’s models looking like sausage-fingered
horror balloons. The crew chose to follow older model sheets instead. The other
hurdle was CBS executive Faith Heckman. She
felt that characters balling up their hands into fists just before they started
running—a classic cartoon action—was too violent and potentially threatening to
their kid audience. Every instance of fists had to be redrawn to show the hands
as being open.
Tom at Spike's mercy.
Despite
their intentions to outdo Hanna-Barbera’s effort, Filmation’s rendition of the
show didn’t fare much better. While arguably the most lively and dynamic out of
Filmation’s offerings, it still didn’t compare with the theatrical versions of
Tom and Jerry fans had come to know and love. No further episodes were ordered,
but the show did remain on the network schedule until the new 1982 season
began. The following year, it was absorbed into the syndicated Tom and Jerry
packages from Turner
Television.
Jerry's super-strong identical cousin comes for a visit. Chaos ensues.
The poor
reception of the series during its initial broadcast has left no urgency in
current rights-holder Warner Bros. to
release it on home media. “Jerry’s Country Cousin”, however, was included on Tom
and Jerry: The Deluxe Anniversary Collection in 2010, and “Snowbrawl”
was a bonus cartoon on the DVD Tom and
Jerry: Snowman’s Land in 2022. All of the Tom and Jerry segments
and 8 of the Droopy segments were available to stream on the Boomerang
app until it was
closed in 2024. Reruns had also aired on Cartoon Network and Boomerang, as well as Pop
in the United Kingdom.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“Farewell, Sweet Mouse / Droopy’s Restless Night / New Mouse
in the House” (9/6/80) – Jerry takes advantage of Tom thinking he’s dead by
pretending to be a ghost. / Spike seeks to get revenge on Droopy for constantly
getting him in trouble with their foreman. / Tom tries to trap Jerry with a
remote-controlled female mouse.
“Heavy Booking / Matterhorn Droopy / The Puppy Sitter”
(9/13/80) – Tom chases Jerry into a library where he must keep him quiet to
prevent the large librarian from waking. / Slick pretends to run a rescue dog
school to take Droopy’s money. / Jerry tries to make Tom’s job of babysitting
Tyke difficult.
“Most Wanted Cat / Pest in the West / Cat in the Fiddle”
(9/20/80) – Jerry must get Tom to come back to the house before the owner calls
in pest control. / Slick and Spike attempt to rob Droopy’s stagecoach. / Jerry
tries to keep Tom from disastrously playing the violin.
“Invasion of the Mouse Snatchers / The Incredible Droop /
The Plaid Baron Strikes Again” (9/27/80) – Tom tries to fool Jerry into
thinking he’s a hostile invading alien. / Droopy uses a Jekyll and Hyde formula
to keep a scientist’s ray gun out of Slick’s hands. / Spike’s model airplane
gets destroyed when Tom chases Jerry into it.
“Incredible Shrinking Cat / Scared Bear / When the Rooster
Crows” (10/4/80) – Jerry uses a mad scientist’s size-modifier on Tom and
himself. / Slick disguises himself as a ghost to chase Droopy and Barney out of
an old house where they search for treasure. / Jerry uses a stranded circus
rooster to constantly wake up Tom.
“School for Cats / Disco Droopy / Pied Piper Puss”
(10/11/80) – Tom is sent to military school where Spike is his instructor and
Jerry is on hand to make him miserable. / Droopy engages Slick in a disco
contest. / Tom uses a flute to capture Jerry and Tuffy.
“Under the Big Top / Lumber Jerks / Gopher It, Tom”
(10/18/80) – Jerry gets Tom involved in a circus act he subsequently sabotages.
/ Droopy and Slick compete to see who’s the best lumberjack. / Jerry keeps Tom
from capturing a gopher in his master’s garden.
“Snowbrawl / Getting the Foot / Kitty Hawk Kitty” (10/25/80)
– Tom and Jerry attempt to lock each other out on Christmas Eve. / Droopy and
Slick compete to see who can get a picture of Bigfoot for their paper. / Tom is
chosen to be the test pilot for the Wright Brothers.
“Get Along, Little Jerry / Star-Crossed Wolf / Spike’s
Birthday” (11/1/80) – Tom chases Jerry onto a ranch and ends up becoming a
reluctant cowboy. / Slick wants to get into a Hollywood studio but is
constantly foiled by security guard Droopy. / Tom is ordered to guard Spike’s
birthday food and Jerry is intent on ruining it.
“No Museum Peace / A Day at the Bakery / Mouse Over Miami”
(11/8/80) – Spike keeps kicking Tom out of the museum where Jerry and Tuffy
absconded with his fish. / Droopy and Spike compete to make the best cake for a
gorgeous movie star. / Lifeguard Spike protects Jerry from Tom.
“The Trojan Dog / Foreign Legion Droopy / Pie in the Sky”
(11/15/80) – Tom tries to get the upper hand on Jerry and his robot dog. /
Droopy is assigned to capture Alley-Ben Slick. / Tom chases Jerry into a
construction site where he has to deal with Spike.
“Save That Mouse / Old Mother Hubbard / Say What?”
(11/22/80) – Tom’s owner’s sister believes Jerry to be a hamster and won’t let
Tom near him. / Droopy must keep Slick in check while they’re in Storybook
Land. / Jerry teams up with a new pet parrot to give Tom trouble.
“Superstocker / Droopy’s Good Luck Charm / The Great
Mousini” (11/29/80) – Tom chases Jerry around a supermarket to protect the food
stock from him. / Slick and Spike attempt to get back the good luck charm Slick
sold to Droopy after Spike tells him it’s legit. / Jerry joins the circus with
a magic act and Tom as his assistant.
“Jerry’s Country Cousin / The Great Diamond Heist /
Mechanical Failure” (12/6/80) – Jerry’s identical and super-strong country
cousin comes for a visit. / Inspector Droopy is on the trail of a stolen
diamond. / Tom and Jerry use a new robot maid against each other.
“A Connecticut Mouse in King Arthur’s Cork / The Great Train
Rubbery / Stage Struck” (12/13/80) – Tom dreams about chasing Jerry in a
medieval setting. / Slick attempts to steal a bank package from mail clerk
Droopy. / Tom get jealous of Spike’s appreciation for Jerry’s dancing ability.
