Game Changers: The Olympics Get Animated!

By Michael Lyons

Like all else in the world, this summer's Olympics are much different than they've been in the past.

However, one thing is the same, and that is the Olympic spirit is much needed right now.

As we celebrate the games this summer, it's fun to look back at how the Olympics have also been celebrated through the years in, of all places, cartoons.  Here, through exaggerated exploits, some anthropomorphic athletes have gone for the gold.

 

Laff-A-Lympics (1977)

Originally airing on ABC, as part of the two-hour Saturday morning show, Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics, this Hanna-Barbera series brought together almost every one of the studio's characters created up to that point in a shared universe, where they all competed in Olympic-style games.

The teams were the "Yogi Yahooeys," comprised of classic Hanna-Barbera characters, such as Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, and Wally Gator, just to name a few; the "Scoobie Doobies" were comprised of (then) newer HB stars such as Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Dynomutt and Captain Caveman; and then there were the villainous "Really Rottens," led by Mumbley (who had been a "good guy" detective in an earlier series, but let's not try to unravel "HB logic") and included a number of the studio's most infamous characters such as the Dread Baron, the Great Fondoo and Daisy Mayhem. 

Snagglepuss and Mildew Wolf would serve as the announcers for each episode, which would have very similar plots: the teams would travel the world, compete in various sporting events, and the Really Rottens would attempt to win by cheating.

Amidst the messages of sportsman-like conduct and the downfalls of not playing by the rules, the true Saturday morning magic of this show for a generation of kids was in watching so many comforting, familiar cartoon faces in the same space competing against each other.

Hong Kong Phooey pitching to Quick Draw McGraw in a baseball game or the Blue Falcon uncovering the Really Rottens’ cheating during a pole vaulting event is, to many animation fans, as amazing as an opening ceremony.

 

Animalympics (1980)

This seldom-seen animated feature is unique in so many ways.  It shows the "broadcast" of the Olympic Games (both summer and winter) in the animal world, with very creative touches.  A dragon lights the torch; a gazelle and cheetah compete in track and field; whales, squid, and manta rays take part in the swim meet, and a minx takes on gymnastics.  All of this is broadcast on the "ZOO" network.

The animation in Animalympics is fuller than other television animation from the time, and the character designs of the anthropomorphic animals are so much fun to watch.  Coupled with this is a sharply written script that satires everything from politics to broadcast journalism.

This comes as no surprise when one learns of the talent involved with Animalympics.   Voices are provided by Harry Shearer (before his Simpsons days), Gilda Radner (during the height of her SNL popularity), and Billy Crystal (as his star was beginning to ascend thanks to the TV sitcom Soap).

Additionally, at the helm of directing was Steve Lisberger, who would bring the world Tron just two years later.  Animators who worked on the film were also talents about to rise, among them Roger Allers (who would co-direct The Lion King) and Brad Bird (The Incredibles).

Unfortunately, Animalympics never received the audience it deserved.  It was to be produced as a two-part special for NBC.  The first part, the Winter Games, aired in early 1980, but when the United States decided to boycott the Summer Olympics in Moscow that year, NBC canceled their TV coverage, and the second part (the Summer Games) of Animalympics.

The two specials were paired together as a feature film but never really received a significant release.  Forty-one years later, Animalympics deserves a revisit, especially during this Olympic summer.

The Olympic Champ (1942)

Goofy has shown audiences his athletic side quite a bit in his series of pseudo "how-to" films, like The Art of Skiing (1941), How to Fish (1942), and Hockey Homicide (1945), why not add the Olympics to that?

In this classic Disney short subject, Goofy takes on several aspects of the Olympic games, from carrying the torch (which burns down to a small crisp) to track and field (which results in a hysterical, domino effect of collapsed hurdles he has attempted to jump).

Directing The Olympic Champ is the legendary Jack Kinney, who directed 39 similar Goofy cartoons, where the main character demonstrates his "expertise" on a subject.  Kinney's skill was how to create cartoon acrobatics that seemed to go on forever (here, Goofy winds up being pursued by the pole he is using for pole vaulting!).

Adding to the fun is narrator John McLeish, who provided commentary in a very strait-laced style, which humorously offsets the disasters happening on screen.

The Olympic Champ, like Animalyimpics and Laff-A-Lympics, amid their surrealistic silliness, are all also celebrations of the Olympic games and all they represent in terms of competition, perseverance, sportsmanship, teamwork, inspiration, and collaboration.  

Here's to the Olympic Games!

 

 

 

It's Showtime!: The Movies go to the Movies

By Michael Lyons

 

Last weekend was a very hopeful weekend for movie theaters.  The release of Marvel's Black Widow, which, like so many movies, had its release date delayed by over a year due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, made $80 million at the box office.

This was a record domestic opening for the Pandemic-era, breaking a record set just a few weeks prior by F9, the latest film in the Fast & Furious franchise.  Additionally, A Quiet Place II has been doing more than respectable business.

Sure, a "chunk" of Black Widow's earnings came from its availability on the Disney+ streaming service, but box-office numbers that haven't been seen in well over a year signal a hopeful sign that moviegoers are coming back to theaters. 

Any film fan will admit that as comfy as our couches are, nothing replaces the communal experience of watching a movie in a theater with others, sharing in laughs, gasps, and applause. At the same time, the comforting smell of popcorn wafts through the air.

Filmmakers know this too well.  Through the years, many films have celebrated the experience of going to the movie theater.  We continue to cross our fingers and revel in the hope that Black Widow and other recent releases have given us: that movie theaters are on a long-awaited upswing.  Let's take this time to look back at some movies that have celebrated going to the movies.

La La Land (2016)

Writer/director Damien Chazelle's musical love letter to movie musicals and the city of Los Angeles itself features a sequence in which the film's two stars (Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone) attend a screening of 1955's Rebel Without a Cause.  The scene, although brief, speaks beautifully to the romance of a darkened movie theater.

Scream 2 (1997)

A scene in a horror movie taking place in a movie theater showing a horror movie is "meta" before the word was a big part of our movie lexicon.  In this sequel to their blockbuster original, writer Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven celebrate the collective fear found in theaters showing a scary movie.

Matinee (1993)

Another era of moviegoing is at the center of this underrated movie from Gremlins' director Joe Dante.  Matinee is about the "Golden Age" of gimmicky "B" movies and the fun that went along with seeing them in a theater.

Last Action Hero (1993)

One of the most beloved bombs Hollywood has ever made.  Say what you want about this Arnold Schwarzenegger behemoth; it perfectly captures the feeling of going to see one of Hollywood's event movies released during the multiplex era.

Cinema Paradiso (1988)

A young boy in a small Italian town becomes enchanted with film by spending his free time in the titular neighborhood movie theater.  Writer/director, Giuseppe Tornatore's film, won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and it's easy to see why.  This is a beautiful movie with a scene in a movie theater at the conclusion that's one of the most heartbreaking and touching moments in film history.

Radio Days (1987)

Woody Allen's story of a family in Rockaway, New York, during World War II features a lovely scene filmed at the iconic "Showplace of the Nation," the beautiful one-time movie palace, Radio City Music Hall, in all of its art deco glory.

The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)

Another Woody Allen gem, this time fantasy about a character who – literally- steps off the screen into a movie theater.  Beautiful, funny, thought-provoking, and sad, The Purple Rose of Cairo speaks directly to dreamers who sit wide-eyed in a darkened movie theater.

The Muppet Movie (1979)

The Muppets' first film is bookended with scenes of Kermit and company watching the movie in a theater (there's also a funny theater moment in the middle of the film).  Sure, they're all in a screening room, technically and not in a movie theater, but the Muppets watching The Muppet Movie this way is a magical conceit that makes a film lover just a little dizzy. 

Grease (1978)

"Stranded at the drive-in..." sings John Travolta as Danny Zucko in this blockbuster movie musical, as the song "Sandy" begins.  It's just part of a scene in which he and co-stars Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway, and director Randall Kleiser bring back to life the magical era of watching movies through car windshields in drive-ins.  

Due to necessity over the past year, the drive-in resurfaced, one of the few cheerful bright lights to come out of 2020.

Blazing Saddles (1974)

Toward the end of Mel Brooks' comedy masterpiece, there is a scene at another iconic movie palace, Grauman's Chinese Theater (now the TCL Chinese Theater) in Hollywood. It’s here that the film's villain, Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman), goes to see Blazing Saddles in the theater.  He then has a showdown with the movie's hero, Bart (Cleavon Little), out in front of the theater, among all the famous footprints in cement.

Singin' in the Rain (1952)

Arguably the most outstanding movie musical ever made, which tells the story of the advent of sound in film.  The "movie within the movie," The Dueling Cavalier, is screened for an audience in a movie theater with disastrous results for the filmmakers and hysterical laughs for the audience.

Sullivan's Travels (1951)

Writer/Director Preston Sturges' brilliant comedy follows a famous Hollywood director (Joel McCrea), who decides to live life as a tramp to gain real-world experiences for his upcoming film.  Toward the end of the film, through a series of misadventures, he winds up with a prison chain gang.  One night, the Disney cartoon Playful Pluto is screened for the prisoners, and Sullivan finds himself laughing along with them.  A realization for the filmmaker of the joy and escape that going to see a movie with others in a theater provides to so many.

 

All these movies (and so many others not mentioned here) do the same.  They all reflect that magic found in a movie theater as the lights dim and the show begins.

Here's hoping for more of these magic days in our near future.