The Monkees, "Some Like It Lukewarm," Tribute to Jerry Blavat

 

Today I offer a quick tribute to a beloved Philadelphia icon who passed away last week, with a longer one hopefully to follow soon.

Friday January 20th saw the passing of Jerry Blavat, a longtime radio DJ and nightclub owner here in Philly. Blavat started as a dancer on the original Bandstand show, hosted first by Bob Horn and then Dick Clark. Blavat moved on to being a radio DJ and made connections with many celebritites such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, and worked for Don Rickles.

Blavat became well known enough in show business circles in the '60s to earn a guest appearance in an episode of The Monkees, titled "Some Like It Lukewarm." Here is that episode.

Enjoy! I hope to have more on Blavat soon.

Mel Brooks, The Critic (1963)

 

Sticking with the animation theme, here is another Oscar award-winning cartoon from 1963, created by Mel Brooks and animator Ernest Pintoff, "The Critic."

"The Critic" features a series of abstract images across the screen while light orchestral music plays in the background. Watching the cartoon in an unseen elderly movie patron who is verbally not happy with the cartoon. Brooks improvised his monologue in character while the images play, resulting in a funny three minutes of film.

Ernest Pintoff is a legendary animator who creates several unique short cartoons, some of which I may feature in future blog posts.

Enjoy!

The Dot and the Line cartoon (1965)

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a fantastic holiday season!

Now we get back to normal here--if nomal is even a thing here--as I present the 1965 cartoon The Dot and the Line.

This cartoon, directed by legendary Looney Tunes director Chuck Jones, is based on the 1963 book written and illustrated by Norton Juster. In the story, a dot leaves its partner, a straight line, for the company of a squiggle, leaving the line in a lurch, but the dot and the line learn a valuable lesson about relationships.

It's cuter and more intelligent than it sounds.

The cartoon was an Academy Award winner, and it deserved it. It's a very smart, sweet cartoon.

Enjoy!