POPEYE In "Popeye, The Ace Of Space" - 1953

I've been looking for this Popeye cartoon for a long time, and finally, here's one of the wildest adventures you could ever ask for!

It starts with Martians going to Earth to find an average puny Earthling to perform their weird experiments on, and, they have found one...

As Popeye drives his boat-mobile on a bright and shiny day, the Martians close in on him and he's brought into the saucer for the trip back to Mars.

The Martians speak in Martian, so, we get the translations in English to understand what they're up to. He's put on a 'cosmic ager' device for his first test.

The Martian drops the tube over Popeye and ages him to 125 yeas old!

The Martians cheer in delight as they have put the puny Earthling in his place.

But our hero pulls out his trusty can of spinach, pours some down his throat, and reverts back to age 2, he spits out a bit and viola, he's 40 again. The Martians can't believe their eyes.

This could possibly be my favorite atomic science device, up there with Forbidden Planet!

So, Popeye's neck is stretched to its limits, and his 'atom' apple is centered perfectly. But again, he takes another hit of spinach!

And, the huge solid metal smasher breaks clean in half. Popeye quips... That tickles! Needless to say, the Martians are in an uproar!

Next up is the electronic disintegrator, which basically erases him. Popeye is wiped out but his can of spinach rolls over to one of the Martians.

The Martian acknowledges that this can of mysterious weed (has a different meaning nowadays) was responsible for the Earthling's super strength.

Then, other Martians want some too!

Here's what the Martian holding the can has to say...

All the Martians start fighting over it, and during the scuffle, the can of spinach is flung back to Popeye, who slams some down and returns back to normal.

Popeye gets into the Martian scuffle and the brutes start flying. One of their devices breaks down and the Martians end things with a May Pole dance!

Popeye commanders the saucer and heads off back to good old Earth.

Popeye is... The Ace Of Space! Love this one, and thanks to our pal Brian J. Riedel who sent me the link for today's outstanding post, here at The Dungeon!!

13 OF THE COOLEST WOODY WOODPECKER CARTOONS from 1951 to 1963

 

This Saturday Night Special is a presentation of thirteen of the coolest Woody Woodpecker cartoons because they all tie in with either Science Fiction, or Friction in this case, Horror, and/or other things we like.

I'll start with the newest ones first because the title cards just get cooler the older they are.

"Science Friction" was a story about a mad scientist that Walter Lantz Productions released in 1963.

The voice of the mad scientist was Benny (Antonio Zucchini Salami Gorgonzola dePizza) Rubin, and Grace Stafford did the voice of Woody Woodpecker. Grace was Walter Lantz's wife, and she was also the voice of Woody Woodpecker from 1950 into the 1980's! 

 

1962 saw them come out with "Rocket Racket."

In this one Daws Butler was the voice of the Gabby Gator.

Over the years Daws has been the voice of almost everybody in the Hanna-Barbera Studios including Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, and Quick-Draw McGraw, just to name a couple.

"Franken-Stymied" came out in 1961.

In this one Daws Butler was the voice of the mad scientist.

Covering all the bases in 1961, they went from Frankenstein to Voodoo!

Daws Butler is back as Gabby Gator again.

Still in 1961 and they had one more movie title to parody!

The art has all been good so far, especially "Franken-Stymied," but now when we drop back down into the 50's you're going to see a big change.

In this one Dal McKennon was the voice of Dirty McNasty. Dallas McKennon has been the voice of Archie and Gumby, just to name two out of hundreds.

 

Getting a little more exciting with "Woodpecker In The Moon" from 1959.

Dal is back as Professor P. Cosmo Klunk.

Simpler but still effective was "Misguided Missile" from 1958.

Dal is the voice of Dapper Denver Dooley.

I don't know if it was Walter Lantz or Director Paul Smith, but somebody was a little obsessed with the planet Mars. This title card from "Round Trip To Mars" in 1957 was superlative!

Dal is Professor Dingledong.

 

This title card from the 1956 "Woodpecker From Mars" was not even in the same league.

Dal is an unnamed Professor in this one.

"Witch Crafty" from 1955 was the only one of these that predominately displayed Director Paul J. Smith's name.

Grace Stafford was the voice of Woody as always, and as it was in many cases, she was totally uncredited!

 

Out of the realm of Sci-Fi and horror, as it is today, wrasslin' was really popular in 1953!

Dal is the voice of Bull Dozer!

 

This was really the title card that made me want to do this!

From 1952......"Termites From Mars."

Dal was the voice of the Radio Announcer, and Danny Webb did the voices of the Termites. Danny was also an excellent impersonator, and when he worked for Warner Brothers, he did almost all the voices that Mel Blanc didn't do.

 

I'm wrapping this up with "Destination Meatball" from 1951.

Speaking of Mel Blanc, he did the voice of Woody in the opening title sequence when he says "Guess Who?"

 Lionel (The Bride Wore Crutches) Stander was the voice of Buzz Buzzard in this one!

Thanx to our buddy, and comix artiste extraordinaire Brian J. Riedel for reminding me about Woody's cool adventures!

13 VINTAGE MEXICAN ROMANTIC MUSICAL COMEDY POSTERS

 Today we gots some examples of great Mexican poster art with a style used in the fifties and sixties, they are colorful with a focus on sexy women, from back in the day when that meant something. The style is unique in the world of poster art. Today, we just use computers to do the thinking for us, which makes up for any lack of talent.

In every case, these movies involved romance, hot women, stupid guys, music and comedy, a formula they used for years, and why not, that's a winning formula. Tin-Tan was in most of them, like in this really nice poster where they're talking about Cats!

Some starred rubber-faced Resortes, looks like this one has to do with cowgirls and lassos (and probably cactus for a laff).

Resortes is back in this hot rumba musical with girls in sexy costumes, and dumb-ass dudes running the show of course.

This time those three gals there are the stars, and I'd bet that they're all on the hunt for guys! That's the other angle with the formula.

Tin-Tan is back in a story about a doctor who is obviously distracted by the beautiful women that come to him for medical help. That poster is indescribable, I'd like to have one. 

This time Tin-Tan goes to Havana, Cuba, for more fun and frolics with scantily clad women and music. Man, that poster is great!

It's fun to throw some ghosts into the mix, which is another well used motif. Love the big intruder on the left eye-balling a gorgeous gal.

Looks like Resortes has his eye on three gals, and you know that route is doomed to fail.

Not quite sure to make of this poster, but, it looks a little kinky. Check out the guy at the bottom there behind the bars, possibly her real boyfriend, making for some whacky hilarity.

Great lobby card, but Hey, Tin-Tan! Watch those hands, pal!!

Uh-oh, I think Cupid is going to cause a lot of trouble here! The title refers to loving, adornment, endearment, being warm-hearted and more. Take your pick.

This one has Tin-Tan playing freaking Sinbad, or something. All I know is, man, those are some tight and revealing bikinis there! Along with the skin.

Looks like Tin-Tan is playing some sort of doofus, a guy named Pito-Perez. I wonder if he even gets a girl in this one! So, hope you enjoyed this trip into the past.

SAMURAI 7 - "The Master" (2004)

 

Tonight's Weird Wednesday feature is a guilty pleasure of mine call "Samurai 7" from 2004. I'm not a fan of anime or Japanese cartoons in general, but this show is something else.

 

Just like "The Magnificent Seven," "Samurai 7" is based on the original "Shichinin no Samurai" written and directed by Akira Kurasawa in 1954, and released in English as "Seven Samurai."

 

I don't remember exactly what year it was, but when HD TV first appeared on the scene, there were scattered shows in HD but only DISH network had a whole series of independent channels that were all broadcast entirely in HD. One of them was "The Kung Fu Channel," and one of them was a cartoon network. It was a hot Summer, and I'd come home after work every day and watch one of these episodes. I had never seen anything like it before, and it was dazzling. They took a classic story and combined what looked like a Japan from the 20's or 30's with a Science Fiction story that must be at least 200 years in the future.

Episode one was called "The Master."

Let the rice wars begin!!

The basic story is still playing out today. You've got a bully, and a weak victim calling out for help!

The big guys want all the rice, and they want the little guys to grow it for them for no profit, and barely keep any for themselves.

The animation will keep you glued to the screen as it combines very flat images and totally intricate Sci-Fi stuff like you've never seen, or at least hadn't seen.

 

The village peoples don't know what to do. They are all but starving!

And whatever you do, don't get them mixed up with these guys!

The Elder tells the people what they need to do. They need to find a Samurai who will come and defend the village, and somebody will have to go to the city and find one!

And so the trek begins!

 

The City!

Now this is the kind of Wow animation I'm talking about!

In the city, they've got more than just rice to eat!

Nothing is etched in stone, but slowly the team starts to form.

This guy is a larger than life character!

And this is going to be the future Captain of the team whether he likes it or not!

The Water Princess's stones signal that he is the chosen one............End of the first episode!

I have tried many times over the years to find this show streaming or on DVD, but it never was, and the DVD's were always too expensive, but now since there are eighty-seven thousand streaming services out there, I was able to find one who streamed the whole series for free. There are lots of commercials which I loathe, and I had my doubts as to whether I would still think it was good, but after one episode, I have to say that it is just as interesting as the first time I saw it!

You can give it a try for free at 

FUNIMATION!