Ollie Johnston, Last of the Nine Men

Ollie Johnston, the last of Disney's nine men, died April 14, 2008 at the age of 95. (NYT Obit)

Back in the day, when FDR called the nine Supreme Court Justices his nine men, Walt Disney, as a joke called his top nine animators his Nine Men. The group included Marc Davis, Milt Kahl, Les Clark, Eric Larsen, Ward Kimball, Woolie Reitherman, Frank Thomas, John Lounsbery, and of course Ollie Johnston. Here's more on the Disney's Nine Men.

All the Disney greats we remember - Snow White, Bambi and on and on. Thank the nine men. If you want to see a terrific example of Ollie Johnston's animation work, watch Susie the Little Blue Coupe. Narrated by Sterling Holloway, the voice of Winnie the Pooh.

TV Classics about the Tax Man

Time to serve up some TV comedy classics about the tax man. First place goes to Granny, who is ready to shoot the revenue man since he might also wanna mess with her still by the cement pond that makes her Spring Tonic. The episode is called Jed Pays His Taxes. Now imagine the I.R.S. has a worst nightmare, what would that person be like. Well look no further - I think Grace Allen would win this prize. Check out 2 hilarious episodes where Gracie's spacey intellect get the best of The Tax Man and the Property Tax Assessor.

You might also want to check out the Frank Random preview of My Man Godfrey, where Eugene Pallette laments that his family spends 50% of his income while the federal government want 60% for taxes. One final tax video concerns Al Capone, who went to jail for tax evasion.

Ooops, we forgot to mention this yesterday - but April 14th is the day the Titanic sunk after it hit an iceberg. Make sure you check out the One Step Beyond episode about the Titanic called the Night of April 14th. We offer that episode with 2 other episodes as a DVD iso download to subscribers or a la carte. But no worries TV fans, the Flash and Real streams are free to watch.

Olympic Tradition - Politicians and Terrorists

We continue our mini blog series on Olympic Furor over the years. This last part looks at how the Olympics has been used by politicians and terrorists to attempt to make a point, but in the end it usually is a pretty futile and silly gesture. A bunch of countries (Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland) boycotted the games way back in 1956 because of Soviet aggression in Hungary. Cambodia, Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt boycotted the same games because of the Suez Crisis. In 1972 & 1976, a bunch of African nations boycotted the games because South Africa, Rhodesia and New Zealand were not banned from the games. And there's other instances as well. So by the time the USA boycotted the games in 1980 (we were livid over the USSR invading Afghanistan... kind of ironic huh?) it was old hat. And yes, Russia responded along with a large group of Eastern bloc countries by boycotting the 1984 games in Los Angeles. Remembering all this as a kid, it really stunk. The Olympics were much less fun with only one of the big boys. I mean what's the point? That's like an ACC tournament with only Duke or UNC showing up, but not both. This year looks to be no different as a bunch of countries are considering boycotting the games because of Chinese human rights violations. Come on folks - you got 4 years between the games to talk all you want and work it out.

But politicians are the only ones who have chosen to disrupt the games, terrorists have too. Back in 1972, the Munich games were really creepy as a bunch of terrorists killed Israeli atheleles and then blew themselves up at the airport.

Olympics, All Greek To Me

We continue our Olympics theme this week in the blog. In case you missed the last post, check it out. If time is tight, at least watch the 1 minute clip of Jesse Owens winning the 100m in the 1936 Berlin games. Hitler is quite upset. Sweet!

Today, we are suggesting some lighter fare - as the videos take you way back to ancient Greece, the place where the Olympic Games started in the ninth century, BC. First up, Popeye in Greek Mirthology. Popeye is trying to get his nephews, Pipeye, Peepeye, Pupeye and Poopeye to put away their ice cream and eat some spinich. So Popeye tells a story about ancient Greece. Popeye plays Hercules, and Bluto comes in to challenge Hercules, because Bluto thinks he's the strongest by far. Oddly enough, Popeye is into garlic for most of the cartoon, before he gets slammed by a Bluto punch that throws him into a spinach patch. And in a surprise ending, the nephews bolt the table, leave their spinach on the plate and get some ice cream from the ice cream man, played by Bluto. So Bluto wins this round, well kind of.

Another fun cartoon with that ancient Greek flavor is It's a Greek life. This classic toon features a Centaur who is a cobbler, and he needs to fix up Mercury's sandals. Oooops, I need to stay Greek - that would be Hermes' sandals.

Olympics Furor Redux

Once again, there's trouble brewing in the Olympic games, as a bunch of people are using the festivities to promote their own agenda or in this case, a complaint against the Chinese for human rights violations. Now, rest assured we are all for human rights. My problem is looking at the event from the standpoint of an athletic competitor. (why back in 1968... when i competed in the Mexico games.... just kidding. I am not an athlete anywhere approaching that caliber, not that there's anything wrong with that either). Anyway... i can imagine myself as an athlete, ok.... and darn it, if i worked all those years, i would like a shot to compete at that level without all the other political nonsense. Go do that somewhere else... who picked this venue anyway?

But historically, the Olympics were often the center of social and political issues coming home to roost. In 1936 Berlin, Germany we have our first modern day problem as the games are filled with Olympic Furor. Big problem... as the master of ceremonies is Der Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler himself. He was planning to use the games to spotlight how supposedly terrific those Arian fellas were. Germany had some of the best sprinters on the scene and were favorites in the 100m dash. Hitler came to watch the event but was so disappointed with the outcome, he left the stadium. You see this terrific young American named Jesse Owens popped on the scene and dashed to victory. Check out the movie Olympia, part one and two, directed by an amazing women named Leni Riefenstahl. She was also the one responsible for many of the most insidious and nasty propoganda films of the Nazi era, but she was never tried or convicted as a war criminal, always maintaining she was just a filmmaker. In any event, all this makes Olympia a very interesting movie.

We'll continue this blog topic during the week and add more interesting Olympic Games related video clips. Until then, check out the 1936 Olympic Games, and see for yourself that everything old is new again.

I'm in the Army Now

Oh how the times have changed. Check out this classic popeye cartoon, I'm in the Army Now, which takes place at the army recruiting headquarters. Bluto and Popeye are fighting tooth and nail, vying for the last open slot as a recruit. Why are they so enthused? Because Olive wants to go out with a military man.

Another Army related classic toon - Rookie Review, which features a bunch of green recruits and a pun every 20 seconds or so. Quite entertaining for a classic cartoon.

And finally, for some entertaining light comedy related to the Army, check out Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin in At War With the Army. Loads of laughs, plus it features Polly Bergen, no relation to legendary ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, operator of Charlie McCarthy and father to Candace Bergen. Polly Bergen was born in Knoxville, Tennessee nee Nellie Paulina Burgin, on July 14, 1930. But back in the day, Polly Bergen was a big deal and a hard working actress. One of her most notable performances was in the original Cape Fear from 1962. She played Gregory Peck's wife, and was stalked by a maniacal Robert Mitchum.

But I digress, let's get back to the army. Our final suggestion today for a fun Hollywood treatment of being a soldier comes from Laurel and Hardy. Ollie gets his heart broken and decides to join the French Foreign Legion with his good buddy Stan. Trouble follows in their wake. Very funny stuff. Check out Flying Deuces. This movie also is available as a DVD iso download.

Okay... one more. This is hilarious. George Gobel remembers his time spent in military service, stationed in Oklahoma during World War II.

Simone Signoret Rocks

Simone Signoret was born today March 25th in Wiesbaden, Germany, way back in 1921. Her acting career spanned four decades and she spent most of that time working hard. Simone Signoret won an Oscar for Best Actress in 1960 for Room at the Top. (sorry, I wish we had that movie too, but no). A few years before she played an amazing nasty mean girl in Les Diaboliques. Her acting range in this movie is scary. So good that you'll be very careful to ever trust a woman again.

Simone Signoret was married twice, the first lasted 4 years, but her second marriage to Yves Montand lasted till her death on September 30, 1985. And who is Yves Montand you ask. He was a very slick singer and was included in the first Europe to US satellite transmission via Telstar. He also starred with Marilyn Monroe in Let's Make Love in 1961. Rumor has it the two followed through on the title and had an affair during production. Forgive and forget, his marriage to Simone Signoret lasted till her death in 1985. Montand died November 9, 1991. In any event, Happy Birthday to Simone Signoret, a remarkable actress. Don't believe me? watch the movie Les Diaboliques and see for yourself.