Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Captain Hareblower (1954)

Posted on April 9, 2025 by Phil Hall

Captain Hareblower (1954)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Manuel Perez, Ken Champin, Virgil Ross, Arthur Davis
Music by Carl W. Stalling

Yosemite Sam returns to 18th century oceanic miscreancy, this time as Pirate Sam with a schooner that he sails all by himself. Just the thought of encountering him creates panic on well-manned ship – the crew abandons their vessel when Sam approaches, leaving only Bugs Bunny, a stowaway in a carrot crate who never heard of Pirate Sam and has no fear of what he can create. Sam bellows for Bugs to surrender, reminding him that “I’ve got you outnumbered one to one.” However, Sam quickly discovers his new long-eared foe is no pushover.
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Life Without Soul (1915) — The Lost Frankenstein Film

Posted on April 7, 2025 by Phil Hall

For many years, the 1910 version of “Frankenstein” was the subject of endless speculation when the film was believed to be irretrievably lost. The agitation over its absence was understandable, since it represented an early foray into the horror genre and it was the first film adaptation of the Mary Shelley novel.

Strangely, much less interest has been generated by the second film version of the Mary Shelley novel. This 1915 production, titled “Life Without Soul,” was somewhat closer to its source material than the 1910 film, and it was later at the center of one of the most unusual intellectual property legal cases to emerge in the 1930s.
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The Bootleg Files: Strawberry Fields

Posted on April 4, 2025 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 902: “Strawberry Fields” (unfinished animated feature from the 1980s).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube and Internet Archive.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Unfinished production with music rights clearance issues.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

During the 1960s, producer Al Brodax experienced back-to-back career peaks thanks to the decade’s most influential band – he was the driving force behind the animated television series “The Beatles” and the 1968 animated feature “Yellow Submarine.” In the mid-1980s, Brodax tried to score yet another Beatles-fueled triumph with an animated feature film called “Strawberry Fields.” Unfortunately, the project fell apart well ahead of its completion and the surviving footage went unseen until last year when the unauthorized upload of a work-in-progress reel appeared on the Internet.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Robot Rabbit (1953)

Posted on April 2, 2025 by Phil Hall

Robot Rabbit (1953)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Ken Champin, Manuel Perez, Arthur Davis, Virgil Ross
Music by Carl Stalling

Carrot farmer Elmer Fudd is frustrated at having Bugs Bunny pilfering his harvest, but his attempts to fatally shoot the long-eared miscreant amounts to naught. Elmer places a call to Acme Pest Control and quickly receives a robot designed to obliterate irritating varmints. The robot initially gets the best of Bugs with a solid punch to the face and by digging him out of his hole, the rascally rabbit uses a mix of old and new tricks to speed the demise of his metallic foe.
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Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video (1979)

Posted on March 31, 2025 by Phil Hall

Initially planned as a TV special to air when “Saturday Night Live” was on hiatus but rejected by NBC for being too risque and vulgar, “Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video” created a minor brouhaha in 1979 when it was theatrically released. Viewed today, however, there is absolutely nothing edgy or provocative to be found in Michael O’Donoghue’s spoof of the classic shockumentary “Mondo Cane.” In fact, the film is downright tame and dull by contemporary standards.
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The Disney Princess That Never Was: Mary Pickford as Alice in Wonderland

Posted on March 28, 2025 by Phil Hall

There has been a great deal of talk about whether Rachel Zegler was the right person to play the title character in Disney’s “Snow White.” However, the first woman who was considered to be a Disney was even less likely for the role she was considered to play.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Duck! Rabbit! Duck! (1953)

Posted on March 26, 2025 by Phil Hall

Duck! Rabbit! Duck! (1953)
Directed by Charles M. Jones
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ken Harris, Abe Levitow, Richard Thompson, Lloyd Vaughan, Ben Washam
Music by Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn

The final entry in the “Hunting Trilogy” that pits Bugs Bunny against Daffy Duck against Elmer Fudd, “Duck! Rabbit! Duck!” is the weakest of the three films due to joke repetition and an uneven balance among the characters.
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