Woodward's Music Department

The other day while flipping though the records at a local thrift shop, I came across this unusual item. It is a small bag, just big enough to hold a 45 rpm record, from Woodward's music department. For those of you who don't know, Woodward's was the name of a department store which operated in Western Canada for one hundred years, before its sale to the Hudson's Bay Company 1993, at which time the Woodward's stores retired to the history books.
I remember that when I was young, most department stores had a pretty decent record department. I did a lot of my record shopping at Planters which was the record department of the Bay. This paper bag was obviously for anyone purchasing and 45 singles, or other smaller items. I assume they also had a larger version for LPs. This one has a flap on the back like an envelope, and you can see where it had been taped shut when the customer made their purchase and left the store.
The front of the bag lists the shopping locations in British Columbia as Vancouver, Oakridge, West Vancouver, New Westminster, Victoria and Port Alberni, and in Alberta in Edmonton, Westmount and Calgary.
When I found this, I was really hoping their might be an original receipt inside so I could see how much was spent on records, but no such luck.
Luckily though, the thrift store clerk let me take this treasure home with me for free!

Little Golden Book Monday #22

I've been reading The Annotated Cat: Under the hats of Seuss and His Cats for the past few days, so I am in a real Seuss mood. So for today's Little Golden book I have chosen the "Cat in the Hat" movie addition from 2003. Adapted by Jesse Leon McCann, Based on the motion-picture screenplay written by Alec Berg & David Mandel & Jeff Schaffer, Illustrated by Christopher Moroney, Based on the book by Dr. Seuss... whew, did you get all that!
It's the story from the Universal Studio movie, but with artwork that looks very similar to the original "Cat in the Hat" and "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back" books from 1957 and 1958.
Although I was not a big fan of the movie, I am certainly a fan of the books. I remember as a young child having a copy of both "Cat and the Hat" and "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back" (which I still have today), and loving to curling up in bed to have mom read them to me, which seems kind of ironic now after reading the Annotated Cat book in which they make a big point of that fact that these books were meant to help kids learn to read by themselves, and even sported the "for beginning readers" and "I can read it all by myself" slogans on he original and subsequent printings of the books. I remember them being books that I loved to have read to me, but I don't really remember reading them myself. I guess I was more of a Dick and Jane reader.
...the Cat in the Hat - singing, and driving his super-splendiferous Housecleaning machine!
Conrad and Sally could scarcely believe their eyes.
When the cleaning crew had finished, the house was spotless. They'd dry-cleaned Mom's dress, scrubbed Conrad and Sally, and even given Nevins a both - all without waking up Mrs. Kwan!
"Good-bye, Cat!" called Conrad and Sally. "Thanks for everything!"
The Cat was still singing as he drove away.

Donald Duck the Milkman 45 RPM

The other day while out thrift shop shopping, I came upon a large collection of picture sleeve 45's... all priced at 49 cents each! One of my absolute favorite things to collect is Disneyland Records, and any time I find a new addition to my Disneyland Records collection, I am very excited! Among the great picture sleeve 45's I found that day, I picked up this great Walt Disney "Little Gem" Record with 2 Fun Stories, "Donald Duck The Milkman" and Donald Duck The Peanut Vendor". The record is copyright 1961 Walt Disney Productions. There is a large white sticker on the front of the record with the price of 39 cents, which I am sure was put on the record back when it was originally on the store shelve back in the 60's. I absolutely love the artwork on the front!
On the back of the record sleeve is a listing of other Little Gem records. If you and your children enjoy this Walt Disney Little Gem record we know that you'll be happy to learn that the Disney Studio has prepared a wonderful library of 12-inch LPs for children.
This Little Gem record, while complete in itself, is only a small portion of the high quality and good musicianship found on the Disney 12-inch LP line. We invite your attention to the following LP titles which are available at your favorite record store:
DQ-1201 SNOW WHITE - Sound Track
DQ-1202 PINOCCHIO - Sound Track
DQ-1203M BAMBI - Sound Track
DQ-1204 DUMBO - Sound Track
DQ-1205 UNCLE REMUS - Sound Track
DQ-1206M PETER PAN - Sound Track
DQ-1207 CINDERELLA - Sound Track
DQ-1208 ALICE IN WONDERLAND
DQ-1209 Walt Disney's FUN WITH MUSIC
DQ-1210 GOOFY'S DANCE PARTY
DQ-1211 MOTHER GOOSE NURSERY RHYMES
DQ-1212 DONALD DUCK AND HIS FRIENDS
DQ-1213M BEST LOVED DISNEY SONGS
DQ-1214M HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND HOLIDAY SONGS
DQ-1215M MUSICAL MONKEY SHINES
DQ-1216 ZOO SONGS
DQ-1217 SONGS OF OUR AMERICAN HERITAGE
DQ-1218 STORIES OF AESOP
DQ-1219 BABES IN TOYLAND
DQ-1220 Walt Disney's DOG SONGS
DQ-1221 ANIMAL SONGS FROM AESOP
DQ-1222 PROFESSOR LUDWIG VON DRAKE
ST-1901 STORY OF DARBY O'GILL
ST-1902 STORY OF GOLIATH
ST-1903 STORY OF THE COUNTRY COUSIN
ST-1904 STORY TO TOBY TYLER
ST-1905 STORY OF GRASSHOPPER AND THE ANTS
ST-1906 STORY OF POLLYANNA
ST-1907 STORY OF SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON
ST-1908 STORY OF 101 DALMATIANS
ST-1909 STORY OF PERRI
ST-1910 STORY OF THREE LITTLE PIGS
ST-1911 STORY OF THE ABSENT MINDED PROFESSOR
ST-1912 STORY OF THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER
ST-1913 STORY OF NIKKI
WDL-1008M A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES
WDL-1016 PETER AND THE WOLF
WDL-1030 LITTLE GEMS FROM BIG SHOWS
WDL-1039 SALUDOS AMIGOS
WDL-4101A RITE OF SPRING / TOCCATA AND FUGUE
WDL-4101B NUTCRACKER SUITE / DANCE OF THE HOURS
WDL-4101C PASTORAL SYMPHONY / NIGHT ON BALD MOUNTAIN

Captain Canuck Vs the Walrus

The other day I was at the library and this particular magazine caught my eye. I could only see half the cover (there is a half cover with text, that can be folded back to reveal the complete picture without text), but the artwork looked very familiar. It turned out it was a drawing of Canadian super hero Captain Canuck, drawn by Captain Canuck creator Richard Comely. It was the February 2007 issue of a Canadian magazine called The Walrus. I took it out along with a pile of other great reads, including the Overstreet Comic Price Guide.
When I got home, I quickly thumbed through the magazine looking for an article on my favorite comic hero, but was disappointed to find that the cover drawing and a small note on the contents page, "Cover: Captain Canuck has been appearing in comic books since 1975. Painting by Richard Comely" were the only Captain Canuck items to be found in the magazine. Inside was an article which said "To The Rescue! Have the Liberals found their Captain Canuck? which is I guess why someone thought it would be a good idea to put a comic book character on the cover.
As for the magazine its self, its one of those magazines where its really hard to tell exactly what the focus (if any) the magazine has. The Walrus magazine is definently not a magazine I will be picking up again, but it was a neat treat to see my favorite super hero on the cover of a recent magazine sitting there at my local library... and now I have a scan of it here on my blog for all to see!

Kinda Related to Last Post...

Today while out checking out my favorite thrift shops, I came across this book called TJ Bearytales: My Bear-riffic Safari Adventure. After Monday's post all about the Knott's Beary Tales attraction, I decided to pick this up.
It turns out this is part of a Playskool musical toy. On the first page it says "Slide the play camera into T.J.'s left paw and during the story, he'll snap pretend pictures!" On the back page it says "Slide switch at top of the backpack to 'on'. Push to start or pause the story. Push 'music note' for activities & songs." So, apparently this is part of a toy that comes with a spoken story & music, stuffed bear (with camera and backpack), and the book which I picked up.

Little Golden Book Monday #21

"Welcome one and all! Ya ‘all come have a ball! Things are very fine, ridin’ on the ol’ Knott’s Berry Line."

Today's Little Golden book is All My Chickens by Robert Kraus, 1993. I picked this one up at a local thrift shop for one thin dime. I immediately liked the cover but didn't really know why until later when I got home and took another look at it. I realized that it was in some small way, reminding me of the long since closed Knott's Berry Farm attraction "Bear-y Tales", which I so fondly remember riding as a 9 year old kid back in 1977. To this day, this silly little attraction is one of the things I remember most about that vacation!
Knott's Bear-y Tales opened at Knott's in 1975. It was a slow moving dark ride that took riders past various adventures of the Bear-y Family. Along the way, you’d see Frog Forrest, the Candy Company and bakery where everyone is making boysenberry pies and preserves, the Gypsy camp, where Sara tells your fortune, and the spiders and creatures of Thunder Cave. And you can’t forget the Weird Woods, home of Crafty Coyote, or the trilling conclusion at the Country Fair.
Some of the most endearing things about Knott's Bear-y Tales was its catchy theme song, boysenberry smell throughout the attraction, and the campy, black-light look through the entire ride. Knott's Bear-y Tales wasn't a mass-produced dark ride. It was 100% Knott's Berry Farm, back before thrills ruled the day and rides were restricted to last only as long as the MTV attention span.
Sadly, when I went back in the late 80's I hoping to ride this attraction again, I found it had been replace with a ride to capitalize on the popularity of dinosaurs. Bear-y Tales closed in 1986 to make room for Kingdom of the Dinosaurs. "KOD" used the exact same ride system, vehicles, and track as Bear-y Tales to take riders on an adventure back to the time of the dinosaurs.
I have since purchased the "Bear-y Tales" DVD from Extinct Attractions Club, which has allowed me to relive all the excitement (or is that disappointment) of that long forgotten attraction. After rewatching my Bear-y Tales DVD today, I realize how much this ride reminds me the Splash Mountain ride thru, with the same sorts of visuals and a theme song that gets stuck in your head while you ride. The only thing missing is the flume at the end!

Batman could totally beat Superman!

I have never considered myself a comic nerd, but I do love comics. I have been collecting them since the early 80's when I got my first issues of Captain Canuck, Silver Surfer and Rom: Space Knight. I have been going to comic shops almost as long as I have been reading comics, but it seems there is never enough time to really spend digging around my favorite comic shops. I'm always in a hurry, or have someone waiting for me, or worse yet, have my 2 year old son with me while I try to browse!
There has been the odd time where for some reason I wasn't in a rush and we able to hang out at the comic shop. I got to listen to and partake in some of those bizarre conversations about which comic book heroes would beat who, or discussions on why something that happened in a recent issue could never have happened the way it did. Real geek speak stuff... and just the kind of stuff that makes me smile.
So, while reading though an old copy of Wizard I picked up recently, I couldn't help but get a chuckle out of the following article.
Can it be done? The Flash's breathing rate. With DC's Scarlet Speedster sprinting toward a new era in his career, we got to wondering - since all living things process oxygen to perform physical acts like running, wouldn't the Flash use up all of Earth's oxygen during one of his light-speed dashes?
Professor James Kakalios of the university of Minnesota has the answer. "A student of mine asked that question in class, and I loved it so much that I used it in my new book," said Kakalios, author of The Physics of Superheroes (2005). "If you do some calculations using the Flash's body mass, the volume of oxygen used to run a mile and the number of oxygen molecules in that volume, and assuming he runs at the speed of light, you come up with a number like a trillion trillion oxygen molecules that he inhales per second. But since Earth's atmosphere contains 20 million trillion trillion oxygen molecules, he's have to run that fast for about 27 million years before he exhausted all the oxygen in the atmosphere."
That sound you hear is us breathing a sigh of relief. [Reprinted from Wizard magazine, issue 169]
The comic cover shown with this blog entry is from "The Flash", issue #118, from October 1996. This cover has been on display on the comic spinner in the basement for some time now, and I was thrilled to have an excuse to scan it and use it on my blog!

Little Golden Book Monday #20

Today's Little Golden book is "Buster Cat Goes Out" by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Rose Mary Berlin, 1989. Not sure why I liked this one so much, but it stuck out from all the other books I saw at the thrift store the other day. The artwork and story inside are nothing special, but I really liked the cover. I'm not sure if it's Buster, or the cute little squirrel climbing the tree that I like so much!? And without giving anything away, Buster does end up meeting the cute little squirrel near the end of the story.
On the inside front cover of my copy, it says "This little Golden Book belongs to Emma and Eric W." I hope Emma & Eric were OK with Mom (or Dad) sending this treasure off to the thrift store.

Chimp-Artist Will Paint For You!

Commission a canvas for yourself or an art-loving friend... a genuine primitive by the world's first professional chimpanzee artist! Not a dabbler, not a fingerpainter, talented Pablo uses brush and palette (sometimes 2 brushes) for his spectacular abstract originals. Created individually for you in oils on canvas, the painting comes handsomely wood-framed (12" x 18") with a gleaming engraved metal plaque that tells the world who it's been commissioned for. Included are documentary photos of Pablo at work. Fantastic art value - untouched by human hands! Be sure to specify the name of the fortunate recipient. Primitive Painting... $9.98
This was in an old 60's comic book. If this was available today, I would be sending off my $9.98 right away!

This ad also got me thinking... here is a drawing my two year old son Kaden drew recently. I wonder if we could put ads in he back of comic books today, selling "Toddler-Artist Will Paint For You!". we could sell Kaden's artwork as a PDF file sent to the purchaser via email along with a few photos of him creating their artwork!
Anyone want to commission a Kaden Blaze masterpiece?

Little Golden Book Monday #19

Today's Little Golden Book is "From Trash to Treasure" which seems very appropriate for me right now, as I have been on a real Thrift store kick recently. There is a certain thrill in finding some treasure amongst a pile of junk at the local thrift shop, and recently I have been venturing into a lot of said thrift shops!
So, in honor of my recent trash to treasure finds, I bring you the 1993 CTW Sesame Street "From Trash To Treasure" in which Ernie and Bert, along with the rest of the Sesame Street gang learn about recycling, in which "new things can be made from trash."
So I guess what this book teaches me, is that I am actually helping the environment by buying all this stuff and keeping it out of the land fill! Makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over just thinking about my planned visit to some new thrift shops tomorrow afternoon.

Hey, City That Never Sleeps...

Here is a great advertising stunt by Flogers coffee. They have placed this picture of a cup of cover with the slogan "Hey, City that Never Sleeps. Wake up. Folgers" over manhole covers in New York City. There are holes in the picture that line up with the holes in the manhole cover which allows the steam to come up through the holes to make it looks the the cup of coffee is steaming hot. Brilliant!

Polaris Nuclear Sub, just $6.98

Here is a great 70's ad from inside a comic book. It's for the Polaris Nuclear Sub... for only $6.98. It's over 7 feet long, seats 2 kids, has controls that work, rockets that fire, real periscope, firing torpedoes, and an electrically lit instrument panel. This sub does everything but get wet!
This is one of those items that I remember seeing all the time in comics and wishing I could buy. Now as an adult, I wish I could buy one for two reasons; 1) it would be really cool to have this item in my collection - I'm sure the packaging is very retro cool looking. 2) I would love to see what it actually looked like. As a kid, I thought it was an actual sub that you could go into the ocean with and shoot rockets and torpedoes etc. I'm sure I never read the ad closely enough to actually read the fact that it was made of fiberboard - hardly something that was going to be seaworthy! Like so many of the items from comic ads, I would absolutely love to see the actual items today, just to confirm all of the thoughts I had as I got older, about how hokey these items really were, and to see how accurate the ad text of these ads really were!
Here is what the small print on the ad had to say about the Polaris Nuclear Sub. How proud you will be as commander of your own Polaris Sub - the most powerful weapon in the world! What hours of imaginative play and fun as you and your friends dive, surface, maneuver, watch the enemy though the periscope and fire your nuclear missiles and torpedoes! What thrills as you play at hunting sunken treasures in pirate waters and exploring the strange and mysterious bottom of the deep ocean floor!
Hours and hours of adventure. Sturdily constructed of 200 lb. test fiberboard. Comes complete with easy assembly instructions. Costs only $6.98 for this giant of fun, adventure and science. (Because of the Polaris Sub's giant size we must ask for 75 cents shipping charges.)
Money back guarantee. Order today and we will rush your Polaris Nuclear Sub to you. use it for 10 full days. If you don't think it is the greatest ever - the best toy you ever had - just send it back for full purchase price refund.
Luckily this item came with a 10 day free trail, so it had to be good, right!?

[since posting this, I found this great post over at the Secret Fun Blog. It includes a photo and description of the actual sub!]

Little Golden Book Monday #18

Today's Little Golden Book is The Amazing Mumford Forgets the Magic Words! featuring Jim Henson's Muppets (1979). This book combines three of my favorite things; Little Golden Books, the Muppets, and magic! And I love the artwork in this one. Check out this two page spread from the book, which shows The Amazing Mumford standing outside the theater where he is about to preform. Luckily it looks like Santa Claus is going to be able to see the show as it is only ALMOST Sold Out.

I don't want to give the whole book away, but that "D" on the marquee is going to fall and hit poor Mumford on the head, and cause him to forget who he is and where he is. That sure is going to make things tough for him to put on a good show.

Happy Birthday Big Pile Of Stuff!

Today is the first birthday for my blog, Ronn's Big Pile of Stuff, which I posted the first entry to on July 30th, 2006. When I started, I thought it would be an interesting experiment to see if I could post an entry a day for a full year (or more). My experiment lasted 75 days, until on October 13th I forgot to post an entry, and my streak was over. Since then, I have not been posting daily, but I have been posting a few entries a week. I even started a weekly feature called "Little Golden Book Monday" where I post one Little Golden Book each Monday, and I have been thinking of adding a few more daily features. We'll see if I get around to it.
This blog has been a fun way to write about and show things that I am interested in, and I plan to continue posting stuff to the Big Pile Of Stuff for a long time to come.
Hopefully in our second year someone else besides myself will find the blog and enjoy it as much as I do!

Who Framed Rick Flint?

Yesterday while visiting some new thrift stores, I picked up some great records, games, and lots of books! I am a big fan of the 1988 classic Disney film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" and always love adding something new to my Roger Rabbit collection. I found these two great items;
1) Disney Adventures issue from April 1992 with Jessica Rabbit on the cover along with Daisy Duck and Minnie Mouse. Although Jessica is on the cover, there is nothing to do with Roger Rabbit in side this one. I also have another issue of Disney Adventures with Jessica on the cover - if I remember correctly she with standing with a bunch of Disney female characters and someone from one of the Star Trek series.
2) Roger Rabbit: Who Framed Rick Flink? from 1991 is a graphic novel style reprint of issues #10 and #11 of the Roger Rabbit Disney Comics. The title of this graphic novel comes from the title of issue #11, which is printed first in this collection. If you never saw the Roger Rabbit comics from Disney Comics in the 90's, they are well worth checking out. Being a big comic book and Disney fan, I bought all the comics that Disney put out in this line of comics including Roger Rabbit and Roger Rabbit's Toontown.

Little Golden Book Monday #17

Today's Little Golden Book is Cartoon Network's The Powerpuff Girls, Special collector's edition from 1999.
I remember seeing the first Powerpuff Girls cartoon "The Powerpuff Girls in: Meat Fuzzy Lumkins" as part of the Cartoon Networks World Premiere Toons show. Soon after, Powerpuff mania hit North America and Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup hit the big screen in 2002 with "The Powerpuff Girls Movie".
Craig McCracken, a student of California Institute of the Arts, created The Whoopass Girls in 1992 in his short film The Whoopass Girls in A Sticky Situation. Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation selected the short in 1994; McCracken submitted it to Cartoon Network while working on Dexter's Laboratory.[2] As the word "whoopass" was deemed inappropriate for younger audiences, the word was replaced by "powerpuff".
This book titled "Big, Terrible Trouble?" is illustrated by Craig McCraken and Lou Romano. On the inside title page is states: Craig McCraken is the creator of the Emmy-nominated animated series, The Powerpuff girls. he wrote and illustrated this special collector's edition exclusively for Golden Books.

Goofy Card Tricks

I have loved magic ever since I was a young child. I even wanted to be a magician when I was younger and performed for kids parties etc. I had piles of magic tricks, was subscribed to the British "Magic Magazine", I used to get up early on the weekend to watch the Magic Castle TV show and I had two identical black gerbils which were a part of my act. I also loved to collect any books on magic I could find.
I remember that any trip to Disneyland (also Knott's Berry Farm) was a great chance to visit a magic shop.
This weekend I found a great used book shop where I ended up finding all kinds of treasures including this great 66 page, 1977 Walt Disney's Goofy Card Tricks book, which I image was sold in the magic shop on the Main street of Disneyland back in the 70's.
I can't pass along any of the tricks in the book, a magician never revels his secrets, but here is the introduction from the book:
Magic is fun... for the magician and for the audience. Magic can make people laugh [as a kid magician, my audiences seemed to laugh a lot!], it can make them wonder, it can make them marvel. The magical card tricks in this book are mystifying but easy and fun to do. Here are some tips from Goofy on giving a good magic show:
1. Never tell anyone your secrets-not even your best friend or your mother! [Ronn: go ahead and tell your dad though!] If you do, all the mystery will be gone!
2. Never perform the same trick twice in front of the same audience. The second time, your audience will notice much more, because they will know what to expect.
3. Practice, practice, practice! Learn to perform your tricks smoothly and with ease. If you can, practice in front of a mirror; this way, you will be able to see yourself as your audience sees you.
Good luck, and good magic!

Disney offers new CD format CDVU+

This week Walt Disney Co. music label Hollywood Records is offering a
new CD format with extra features to encourage compact-disc purchases
in a bid to reverse declining CD sales.
Hollywood Records on Wednesday unveiled its new CDVU+ (CD View Plus)
format with digital magazine extras, song lyrics, band photos and
other extras to boost fan loyalty. The new format also replaces the
traditional CD booklet and plastic jewel case with recyclable
packaging. Teen punk band Jonas Brothers will be the first act to use
the technology when they release their self-titled album on August
7.Disney executives hope to hold the interest of fans by offering
content similar to the extras on movie DVDs and convince them that
pure music products still offer good value. The content on a CDVU+ can
be downloaded and accessed online and off. The label said the extra
content had been produced for the new format rather than using the
band's outtakes or widely available material, such as existing music
videos.

Black Hole Collectables

"A journey that begins where everything ends!"
The other day while searching though some local thrift shops I found two great Walt Disney "the Black Hole" items. The first is the Walt Disney Productions' "the Black Hole" coloring book from Whitman, and dated 1979. Amazingly, this coloring book is in mint condition and completely uncolored, which is not something you see very often from coloring books you find at thrift shops! I'm not sure what the original price of this item was, but I paid a whopping 25 cents.
The second item is the 1979 novel written by Alan Dean Foster, from Del Rey Books, with a cover price of $1.95. This one cost me 50 cents.
Strange that I found both items at the same shop. I wonder if they both came from the same home, perhaps belonging originally to another "the Black Hole" fan.

Happy Birthday Disneyland

Happy Birthday to Disneyland park which is celebrating its 52nd birthday today. The park opened to guests on July 17, 1955. I have had the opportunity to spend many July 17th's at the park, and I must say I wish I was there today! I'm going to watch my copy of "Dateline Disneyland" the opening day live special that is part of the Walt Disney Treasures DVD set titled Disneyland USA. Happy Birthday to you Disneyland!

Little Golden Book Monday #16

Today's Little Golden book is "Quick Draw McGraw" and is copyright 1960 by H-B Enterprises. As always, this one is filled with wonderful artwork, and who doesn't love Quick Draw and his sidekick Baba Looey.
On the first inside page it says, "This is a brand-new book, illustrated especially for Golden Books".
Something a little unusual for me is the back page of this one. Instead of the familiar Little Golden Books characters and story of Little Golden Books, this one has an ad for Golden Capitol Adventure Kids - These handsomely boxed kits (15 x 10 x 1 1/2") contain all the equipment and information the junior natural scientist needs to begin his hobby. $2.95 each." Titles include; Rocks, Sea Shells, Insects, Birds, Stars, Weather, and Plants.

Coming July 15 to a theatre near you

Back in 1937 Walt Disney released the first full length feature film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" which went on to be rereleased many times over its 70 years. Here is an ad for its July 15th, 1983 theatrical rerelease in North America.

Walt Disney's New characters in his first full-length production!

The Happiest, Dopiest, Grumpiest, Sneeziest movie of the year.

The Best Loved Musical Of All Time

The Show Sensation Of The Generation!

Walt Disney's First Full Length Feature Production

Behold - The Miracle Of The Movies! - Coming To Amaze You, Charm You, Thrill You!

The One That Started It All

Still the fairest of them all!

Little Golden Book Monday #15

Today's Little Golden book was picked out by my 2 year old son Kaden. It's called "Make Way for the Highway" (edition 310-55, 1961) and is all about the construction of a brand new highway using lots of big vehicles.
When I saw the cover I immediately thought of Kaden as he is always pointing out diggers and other assorted large vehicles while we drive around town. He loves construction vehicles.
I also got a kick out of the title which seemed to say, "the highway is important, and everything else better get out of the way!" As I read though the book, it certainly delivered on it's title.
On page 4, we see Mike and his bulldozer pushing a rock out of the way, which displaces a family of foxes, "Under the rock lived a mother fox and her four babies. When the rock began to move, they got scared. The mother fox and her babies dashed off toward the woods."
On the next page we again see Mike, this time, "turning his bulldozer toward a clump of bushes. A cottontail rabbit who had his home in those bushes shook with fear when he saw the great machine coming. Away dashed the rabbit as fast as he could."
Then, "Mike steered the bulldozer toward a tall elm tree. The tree had been there for a hundred years. But now it had to go. Away flew a pair of robins whose nest was in the tree. 'Sorry,' called Mike, 'but the highway must go though!'"
Four pages later, "All at once Mike stopped his bulldozer. Right in the path of the highway stood a little old house. Tall trees grew around it. Yellow roses climbed over the front door. 'I Guess we'll have to take that house down,' said Mike. Mike's bulldozer could knock a house down in a half hour."
"No you don't," said the little old lady who lived there.
"You'll be paid for your land," said Mike. "Money isn't everything," said the little old lady. Mike scratched his head. "I'll have to talk to the Big Boss," he said.
Next day, the Big Boss came to the little old house. "I'm sorry, ma'am," he said, "This house must come down."
"Young man," said the little old lady "I've lived in this house for seventy years. I watched these trees grow. I planted that rose bush. I'm not leaving."
"But the highway must go though," said the Big Boss. "People want the shortest, quickest way these days."
"What's their hurry?" asked the little old lady.
The Big Boss shook his head. He didn't know.
[Sarcastic mode on] Luckily for everyone involved, Mike and his crew were able to save the little old ladies house by directing the highway around the old house. Now the little old lady is able to enjoy all the sights and sounds of the highway right outside her front door [sarcastic mode off].

Lakeside's Demolition Derby

This weekend I found a few new thrift stores and I ended up finding some great stuff! Among my finds were 10 Whitman "Tell-A-Tale Books", 12 Little Golden books, another 15 assorted books including a Walt Disney "Black Hole" novel, 7 Disney records, and a very cool Demolition Derby game from Lakeside games.
From the box: "You do the steering - smash the pop-up cars - race the closing gate"
"On your make! Get set! Open the gate! 12 pop up cars are on the field! Demolition Demon is moving out! He pops one in the air! CRASH! The Demon bounces off the wall! He fishtales across the field! BAM SMASH! Two more pop out, they're flying high! 10 seconds to go. The pit stop is closing up! Get back! Hurry up! 3 more gone! As he slides home safe! What a champ!"
The plastic gameboard, which is about 13" square, has a series of two-dimensional colored plastic target cars set on it which are triggered by rubber bands located beneath the board. A small area of the board is sectioned off (the Pits) behind a gate which serves as the timing mechanism for each person's turn. A small car (the 'Demon') that relies on a ball bearing for mobility is placed behind the gate which is released by an opponent when all the targets are in position.
The instructions describe several variations of the game but all basically involve bumping into as many of the target cars with the Demon as possible and returning to the Pits before the timing gate closes.
As soon as I saw this on the shelve I knew I had to have it! The great artwork on the box first drew my attention, and when I saw it was a demolition derby game, I snapped it up! As soon as I got home I had to try it out and luckily almost everything was still in the box. It is missing two of the plastic target cars and the two handles for moving the board are missing - but it is easy enough to more without the handles. I popped in the target cars and proceeded to move the board up and down to direct the Demon car to fly around the board bumping into the other cars, sending them flying into the air!
Ahh, what fun to be had for a buck!

Flake Magazine

I have previously posted about my cereal box addiction, but here is some proof of how addicted to cereal box collecting I was. Back in 1993, I had a subscription to Flake Magazine, the Breakfast Nostalgia Magazine. That's right, an entire magazine dedicated to cereal and the boxes they come in!
For me, cereal box collecting started innocently enough. I was buying many breakfast cereals with cartoon characters on the boxes, and I started keeping the ones I especially liked the looks of. Some time in the late 80's the cereal manufacturers started going crazy creating new cereals to tie in with new movies, TV shows etc. A trip to the supper market cereal isle and you would be inundated with all kinds of amazing boxes filled with some pretty amazing looking stuff - not good tasting most of the time, just amazing looking!
I used to pick up all the new and cool looking cereal boxes and when I got them home, I would carefully open the bottom of the boxes and take out the bag of cereal to give to my mom who would give them to the food bank. I wasn't gonna eat that stuff, and I figured that some poor kid might be thrilled to get the chance to eat some florescent blue and pink cereal filled with crunchy marshmellows. Better them than me!
Two of the silliest cereal boxes I own are: Urkelos (Steve "Did I do that?" Urkel from the 1991 TV sitcom Family Matters) which was basically a two colour Froot Loops, and Mr. T Cereal which was pretty much Cap'n Crunch.
My favorite tasting kids cereals of all time were 1984's Strawberry Shortcake Cereal and Cap'n Crunch Peanut Butter... mmmm, my mouth is salivating just thing about them!

Pizza Hut Pete

On June 15, 1958, brothers Frank and Dan Carney took advantage of the "pizza craze" sweeping the country by opening the first Pizza Hut in Wichita. A year later the first Pizza Hut franchise opened in Topeka, and the move to become a national chain was on.
One of the first symbols of the company was "Pizza Hut Pete," shown here in the form of a plastic sign that was part of Pizza Hut oven toy for children. I found this one at a local thrift shop. Too bad they didn't have the toy oven to go with it. I'm sure my son would have loved it, as we love going to Pizza Hut every Friday afternoon for the "All You Can Eat" pizza buffet. Pizza Hut was one of the first things Kaden learned to say!
"Pete" was used by the company into the mid-1970s, when the familiar red roof logo began to appear. "Pete" might simply have outlived his usefulness, or perhaps he was seen as too much of an Italian stereotype to be an effective image for the company.

Little Golden Book Monday #14

Today's Little Golden Book is Disney's Home on the Range.
Home on the Range is a 2004 animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures on April 2, 2004. The film is the forty-fourth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon.
Prior to the film's release, Disney stated that it would be their last film in their animated features canon to use traditional animation. Although Disney animated films have featured some computer-generated effects for many years, Disney announced plans to move entirely to computer animation after Home on the Range, beginning with 2005's Chicken Little, and laid off most of its animation department. However, after the company's acquisition of Pixar in early 2006, new leaders John Lasseter and Ed Catmull decided to revive traditional animation, and announced the upcoming 2-D film, The Princess and the Frog. Still, Home on the Range is the final feature in the canon to use the CAPS system, which was first fully used in The Rescuers Down Under.
As you can see from the cover drawing, the characters in this book are drawn in a "cute", "cartoony", "little kids" style unlike the actual movie characters. It would seem they were trying to appeal to a young toddler crowd with this release. It does make for a fun read.

Some Great Magazine Ads

Here are a couple of the great ads that were in the 1983 issue of Muppet Magazaine. The first is for Disney videocassettes in collectors packages with video and hat. The second ad is introducing Disney RCA VideoDiscs. "A world of Wald Disney, Mr. Rogers, the Muppets, Charlie Brown, "Annie," Star Trek," great educational shows and more. All on your own TV. What's more, the RCA VideoDisc player is so simple to operate, a child can do it. Basic players start at $299. Discs as low as $14.98. And for your kids, the magic goes on and on."
I remember having one of those VideoDisc players. It was great, as when be bought the player, it came with a one year unlimited VideoDisc rental plan. I was able to take as many movies as I wanted, so I would take out 2 or 3 movies a night. I must have watch hundreds of movies that year... some, over and over again!
Funny enough, our family had VideoDisc and Beta. We didn't get VHS until both Beta and VideoDisc had faded into obscurity. When the VideoDisc systems were being dumped by video stores, we bought a bunch of the movies on Disc for next to nothing. I have some great VideoDisc titles in my collection including: The Pirate Movie, Friday the 13th, The Pink Panther, Pink Panther Strikes Again, Gold Finger and A Night at the Opera.

Muppet Magazine

While digging in the basement looking for something the other night, I found these two issues of Muppet Magazine from 1983 and 1984. I was a huge Muppets fan back in the70's and 80's and I am sure I pretty excited when I found these magazine on the local news stand. I do remember that at the time I thought they were pretty expensive at the high price of $1.50 an issue! Here were have two great covers; first is Battle of the space heroes (aka Star Wars), featuring Kermit, Gonzo and Piggy in Luke, Vader and Leia. The second cover features a young Ricky Schroder of of the TV sitcom Silver Spoons.

Also being a collector of ads, I was thrilled to see how many great full page ads there were in these two magazines. I will post a few of them once I have the time to scan them all.

589-ROAR #2

Here is the second in a series of BC Lions print ads. This one shows a Hamilton Tigercats fan sitting amongst a stadium full of Lions fans. I am going to guess that there will be ads featuring each of the other 7 CFL teams, so hopefully I can find the other 5 ads to display here on my blog!

Little Golden Book Monday #13

Statler: "I like this movie so far"
Waldorf: "It hasn't started yet"
Statler: "That's what I like about it!"

Today's Little Golden Book is Muppet Treasure Island. This wasn't their best movie, but I love the Muppets and was thrilled to find this fun adaptation of the movie. This book came out in 1995 (the movie was released in 1996). If you have not seen the movie yet, it is worth seeing just for the song "Cabin Fever", a song that will get stuck in your head for days!

"Cabin Fever"

I got cabin fever it's burning in my brain
I've got cabin fever it's driving me insane
We got cabin fever, we're flipping our bandanas
Been stuck at sea so long we have simply gone bananas

Ariba!
Chica chica boom
A chica chica boom boom chic
Chica chica boom
A chica chica boom boom chic

We got cabin fever we've lost what sense we had
We got cabin fever, we're all going mad

*** [does not appear in movie, but is on the soundtrack]

My sanity is hanging by a thread
Since we're going nowhere I've gone out of my head
We were sailing sailing over the bounding main
(Lew Zealand:) And now we're not! Ha ha heh!
***

Grab your partner by the ears
Lash him to the wheel
Do-si-do step on his toe
Listen to him squeal
Allemande left, allemande right
It's time to sail or sink
Swing your partner over the side
Drop him in the drink

We got cabin fever
No if's, and's, or but's
We're disoriented
And demented
And a little nuts

Ach du lieber Volswagen car
(Yodel-lay-ee-hoo)
Saur braten viener schnitzel
Und a vunder bar
(Yodel-lay-ee-hoo)

We were sailing, sailing the wind was on our side
And then it died

I've got cabin fever
I think I've lost my grip
I'd like to get my hands on
Whoever wrote this script
Si!

I was floating 'neath a tropic moon
And dreaming of a blue lagoon
Now I'm crazy as a loon

Cabin fever has ravaged all aboard
This once proud vessel has become a floating psycho ward
We were sailing, sailing headed who knows where
And now though we're all here
We're not all there

Cabin fever!

The International Hockey League is back... sort of!?!

I had today marked on my iCal as the day that the UHL would be announcing the changes for the upcoming 2007/08 hockey season. I knew that a bunch of the teams that payed last season would be gone for next season, as two teams are moving to other leagues and a few others are folding. But what I saw when I visited the UHL site tonight was pretty surprising!
The first thing I noticed when I clicked on my UHL bookmark was the the url quickly changed from theuhl.com to ihl-hockey.com. Then as the site showed up in my browser I saw that the UHL had indeed shrunk in teams from 10 last season down to 6 for the upcoming season. But more interestingly, the league had also changed its name from the UHL (United Hockey League) to the IHL International Hockey League).
My immediate reaction was that of excitement, after all, the IHL was my favorite hockey league until its demise in 2001. I was very disappointed when IHL folded.
Happily six of the IHL teams (including my favorites: Manitoba Moose & Grand Rapids Griffins), moved over to the AHL. I have a great T-shirt with those logos and the slogan, "the Original Six", as a homage to the original six of the NHL.
I always wished that IHL had not gone away, or at least that after a season or two they could have come back to play another season.
So here it is 2007, and we once again have the IHL, albeit a very different IHL.
Part of me thinks its wrong to change the name of the UHL to a name that already existed, but, at least 3 of the 6 teams playing in the new IHL were teams that played in the original IHL, so I guess that make this seem just a little 'less wrong', and possibly even OK.
I'll be very anxious to see the new IHL season begin this coming October. Once the season get going, I'll make up my mind if this is the greatest hockey move ever, or the worst move ever. Lets just hope they don't make a mockery of the IHL name.

Little Golden Book Monday #12

Today's Little Golden Book is not actually a Little Golden Book at all. Rather, it is a LGB that I WISH had been released. You see, Atlantis The Lost Empire is my favorite modern Disney animated movie, and I love collecting anything to do with Atlantis. The problem is that when it came out in 2001, there was some sort of falling out between Disney and Little Golden Books. So, at the time when they should have been releasing an Atlantis the Lost Empire Little Golden Book edition, they were instead re releasing titles such as Poky Little Puppy, Shy Little Kitten and Saggy Baggy Elephant. Happily, only a couple of years later Little Golden Books was once again releasing Disney titles. It's my guess that Little Golden Books saw a huge decrease in sales with the absence of Disney titles, and I'm sure Disney missed the easy profits to be made from licensing their properties - not to mention the added benefit of putting their characters on book selves and in toy stores all across North America in front of young impressionable children who would then grown up reading their favorite Disney titles.
That's all well and good, except that Atlantis came out during the time when Little Golden Books was not releasing Disney titles, and once they started releasing Disney titles again, they did go back and release a few tiles such as a book based on the Incredibles, but unfortunately, Atlantis had not preformed well enough at the box office to warrant a book release long after the movies theatrical release. If only they had been doing Disney titles when the movie came out, they would have released an Atlantis book at the time of the movies release, then even though the movie tanked at the box office, it would not matter, as I would already have a copy of the book in my collection.
So, what you see above is what I have created for myself. A digital (cover only) version of the Little Golden Book Atlantis the Lost Empire edition as I've imagined it. Sigh...

Bloops Cereal

To go along with my last post about Kellogg's looking to cut down on their animated cereal pitch men (characters), I thought I would share this really neat creation with you. Its over at the Beehive blog. This guy has created his own cereal character Cap'n Bloop, and even made a mock up of the Bloops cereal box. You can follow along on the web site with the creation and evolution of Cap'n Bloop. If you are an animation/cereal box junkie like I am, you will want to check it out!

Kellogg's sends Tony the Tiger Packing

As reported in the Globe and Mail: Facing threats of lawsuits and dire warnings about childhood obesity, Kellogg Co. has decided to put itself on a diet.
The Company, maker of Pop Tarts and Fruit Loops, said yesterday it's getting out of the business of marketing these and other foods of dubious health value to children.
It also plans to cut the amount of fat, sugar and salt in many of its snacks and cereals.
The decision could mark the beginning of the end of a Saturday morning tradition - cartoon-like ads pitching sugar-laced treats to kids.
Kellogg, along with its Canadian subsidiary, said that by the end of next year all of its products will be reformulated to meet new, tougher health standards or they won't be advertised to children under the age of 12.
The company also vowed to stop ;using cartoon characters, such as Shrek or Tony the Tiger, for products that fall short of the new standard.
Last year, 10 major food and beverage companies promised that at least half their advertising aimed at children under the age of 12 would promote healthier foods and exercise. The companies, including McDonald's and General Mills, also pledged to stop advertising in elementary schools and to cut back on the use of cartoon characters to pitch products. Yesterday's announcement comes in the wake of negotiations with two groups that had threatened to sue Kellogg over its advertising to children.

Little Golden Book Monday #11

Todays Little Golden Book is Disney/Pixar's Ratatouille (rat.a.too.ee). Being a big fan of Disney and Pixar, I was really hoping to find a Ratatouille Little Golden Book, and was thrilled when I found it at our local Zellers last night amongst a large assortment of Ratatouille picture books, coloring books, novelizations, sticker books etc, all in a large Ratatouille display. Its always a little strange to see Little Golden Books such as this one illustrated with watercolor style drawings when the movie is actually a CGI animated film.

589-ROAR #1

I saw this ad in the local newspaper at work this past week and had to yank it out and bring it home for my collection. The CFL football league started pre season this past week and our local BC Lions have started their new promotional campaign. This ad shows a Saskatchewan Roughriders fan sitting amongst a hoard of Lions fans... and he looks a little scared! Funny stuff.

Little Golden Book Monday #10

This weekend I went to my local Talize (a super sized thrift store) because they were having a special 50% off everything sale! It took me over an hour to go though all the bookshelves full of kids book and by then I was ready to go, as was my 2 year old son, so we didn't even get a chance to look at anything else in the store! I ended up spending $12.23 for 46 book including a hard cover Bill Peet book, some Disneyland Records song books, a bunch of Little Golden Books and many other assorted treasures. Todays book is one of those books. Its called "Welcome to Little Golden Book Land" and is from 1989. It is not a Little Golden Book, but rather a "Big Golden Book", as it is a larger size (8 1/2" x 11") and does not have the traditional gold stripe down the left hand side that the Little Golden Books have. I especially liked this one as its front cover shows a picture of Tootle the Train on the front cover with the familiar characters riding in the train cars trailing behind him, much like the drawing on the back of many of the Little Golden Books.
The back of the book explains, "Little Golden Book characters have been children's favorites for generation. Now join Poky Little Puppy, Shy Little Kitten, tootle, Scruffy, Tawny Scrawny Lion, Saggy Baggy Elephant, and others as they come together to share excitement, adventures, and dreams in their wondrous new home - Little Golden Book Land!"