TRANSKRIP 🔗
WEBVTT
00:00:15.141 --> 00:00:16.524
Hello and welcome to the Extras.
00:00:16.524 --> 00:00:23.899
I'm Tim Millard, your host, and joining me is George Feltenstein to review some of the March Blu-ray releases from the Warner Archive.
00:00:24.341 --> 00:00:27.719
Hi George, Hi Tim, Great to be with you, as always.
00:00:28.591 --> 00:00:31.239
As always, and I love these review episodes.
00:00:31.239 --> 00:00:31.722
You know it's fun.
00:00:31.722 --> 00:00:33.045
We have the announcement episodes and of course that's fun.
00:00:33.045 --> 00:00:36.237
We have the announcement episodes and of course that's the surprise.
00:00:36.237 --> 00:00:37.554
Right, that's the reveal.
00:00:38.292 --> 00:00:39.890
And then the review episodes.
00:00:39.890 --> 00:00:48.517
It's fun to get back and talk with you about how my impressions were in seeing these restorations and, of course, the enjoyment of the film.
00:00:48.517 --> 00:00:53.139
So that's the fun part of kind of both of those the announcement and then the reviews.
00:00:53.139 --> 00:00:54.953
So looking forward to it.
00:00:54.953 --> 00:01:08.871
We've got, uh, two older films, two modern classics, and then we do have the tv series mcgilla gorilla, which we'll talk about, and that has quite a nice story about the restoration, everything.
00:01:08.871 --> 00:01:17.585
So, uh, looking forward to hearing your uh on that and telling us that story a little later on in the podcast.
00:01:17.950 --> 00:01:20.157
It sounds great and I really do.
00:01:20.157 --> 00:01:21.621
I feel the same way as you.
00:01:21.621 --> 00:01:34.360
I'm always excited to hear what you think of what you've seen once the releases are ready and they're in your hands, and I'm always excited to hear your opinion.
00:01:34.360 --> 00:01:41.081
I think it makes these podcasts exciting because they're fresh conversations.
00:01:41.081 --> 00:01:44.378
It's not like we've talked about this stuff prior to recording.
00:01:44.740 --> 00:01:46.286
Yeah, exactly, Exactly.
00:01:46.286 --> 00:01:52.782
Well, I thought we'd start off with the oldest of the films today, and that's Sadie McKee from 1934.
00:01:52.782 --> 00:02:03.230
And I'm going to be a bit of a broken record, because every time we talk about these wonderful Joan Crawford films and this one is over 90 years old George.
00:02:03.230 --> 00:02:16.335
Yeah, 91 years old 91 years old and yet with the restoration work that you guys did, it looks fantastic and that just makes it so accessible for fans.
00:02:16.335 --> 00:02:18.522
Maybe you could tell us a little bit about that restoration.
00:02:19.510 --> 00:02:43.179
Well, we were working from a second generation fine grain master positive that was made as part of MGM's preservation program in the 1960s, and the original negative, of course, is one of the many black and white MGM films that were lost in the fire.
00:02:43.179 --> 00:02:52.944
But these protection elements that were made before that yield us spectacular results, and I think Sadie McKee looks and sounds terrific.
00:02:53.651 --> 00:03:11.757
Yeah, and that's so important with the film that's over 90 years old that it looks this good, because that makes it so much more accessible to younger audiences who have never seen the film, and, of course, it's such a great thing for fans of the film.
00:03:11.757 --> 00:03:14.931
Well, let's talk a little bit about Joan and her performance.
00:03:14.931 --> 00:03:41.883
She, I guess, is this kind of a young woman who is her mom, is a cook for a kind of a wealthy family, I guess, out in the in this town, and she grows up with being friends with some of the wealthy children, but she has a first love and that doesn't really work out.
00:03:41.883 --> 00:03:49.879
So she moves to the city and then she eventually marries for money and I mean it's just rags to riches and it's fantastic.
00:03:49.879 --> 00:03:58.804
It's set, I guess, right in that post-depression era and it's really fun.
00:03:58.804 --> 00:04:06.010
It's a great showcase for her and just reminds me every time I see her of why she was such a compelling and important star of that era.
00:04:06.031 --> 00:04:12.515
Oh, absolutely, and this is as she's shifting from the flapper.
00:04:12.515 --> 00:04:24.002
As she's shifting from the flapper, you know, in the late 20s, like our dancing daughters, and we even saw it in Dance Fool's Dance, which you and I talked about, from 1931.
00:04:24.002 --> 00:04:37.721
This is as she's starting to mature a little bit and I think she also improved as an actress, and this is post Grand Hotel.
00:04:37.721 --> 00:04:51.170
So Grand Hotel really was a benchmark for her career in the studio, looking to provide her with, you know, class A vehicles that would show off her talent.
00:04:51.170 --> 00:04:56.423
And this is directed by Clarence Brown, who is one of the great MGM directors.
00:04:57.031 --> 00:05:09.358
It's solid entertainment, it's well-written and it also shows off the MGM house style in terms of the way it's photographed, the sets, the costumes.
00:05:09.358 --> 00:05:26.031
It's everything that helped depression audiences escape the realities and horror of the depression and into this dream world that MGM was able to create really as no other studio could at that time.
00:05:26.031 --> 00:05:30.697
And it's a time capsule for so many reasons.
00:05:30.697 --> 00:05:39.492
And you also have Joan co-starring with her soon-to-be second husband, franchotone.
00:05:39.492 --> 00:06:06.951
Gene Raymond is also a love interest and introduces the song All I Do Is Dream of you, which most people who are listening to this podcast would probably remember more from Singing in the Rain, and you've got Edward Arnold as the wealthy benefactor whose money is very, very attractive to Sadie McKee.
00:06:06.951 --> 00:06:09.398
But will she find true love?
00:06:09.398 --> 00:06:11.463
That's the answer the film provides.
00:06:12.170 --> 00:06:13.877
Load full transcript
Right, right, and it's based off of.
00:06:13.877 --> 00:06:15.912
Was it based off of a play or a book?
00:06:16.052 --> 00:06:22.504
uh, I believe it was a story by vina del mar, who is a popular writer of the year.
00:06:22.504 --> 00:06:24.033
I think she's in the trailer.
00:06:24.033 --> 00:06:27.043
Uh, I'm certain of it.
00:06:27.043 --> 00:06:29.590
Yeah, they show vina del mar at the typewriter.
00:06:29.810 --> 00:06:33.896
You know that's right, that's right, right, yeah, I, yeah, I mean it's, it's, it's highly entertaining it's.
00:06:33.896 --> 00:06:52.139
You know it's got that, uh, that wish fulfillment for folks like you say who were, uh, you know, maybe young women working so hard as maids or or in in, uh, those types of jobs, uh, to to meet somebody wealthy and and to be swept off.
00:06:52.139 --> 00:06:54.283
You know it's got all of that built in.
00:06:54.283 --> 00:07:09.596
But you know, the nice thing about it is that she, she, well, we won't give it away, but she has three different loves and each one kind of represents a different part of her life and her story and her arc and really is is a lot of fun.
00:07:09.596 --> 00:07:13.461
So, and then you have some nice extras on here.
00:07:13.461 --> 00:07:18.471
You've got 1934 cartoons all in HD.
00:07:18.471 --> 00:07:24.453
Pop goes your heart shake, your powder puff and why do I dream those dreams and the trailer.
00:07:24.453 --> 00:07:27.901
So a really great package with this release.
00:07:28.502 --> 00:07:34.963
And of course I am very enamored of the artwork we put on the cover.
00:07:34.963 --> 00:07:40.721
That's one of the original campaigns and it's kind of unique in its design.
00:07:40.721 --> 00:07:45.840
It's a little different and it just makes a nice package to have on your shelf.
00:07:46.641 --> 00:07:49.680
Right, and I forgot to mention the director, clarence Brown.
00:07:49.790 --> 00:07:50.995
Clarence Brown, of course.
00:07:51.516 --> 00:08:01.019
Yep, yep, so terrific fun, and you've been telling classic film fans that there would be some good stuff coming, and so this is, I think, probably right in the wheelhouse.
00:08:01.019 --> 00:08:04.160
It should make a lot of them very happy to have gotten this.
00:08:05.209 --> 00:08:25.329
Well, and I think this is probably a good time to mention this Davis versus Crawford thing, you know continues to be a thing, for lack of a better word and people have been saying Betty Davis is so underrepresented.
00:08:25.329 --> 00:08:43.243
So we'll get the word out there that we actually have four different Betty Davis movies in different forms of production right now, so people can look forward to more Betty, as well as a bit more of Joan too.
00:08:43.243 --> 00:08:48.020
There's a lot of good stuff in the works right now.
00:08:49.189 --> 00:08:57.103
Well, our next release is really three films, george, from 1949 that are part of what you called Monogram Matinee, volume 1.
00:08:57.103 --> 00:09:00.941
And all three are totally enjoyable.
00:09:00.941 --> 00:09:10.918
I enjoyed all of them, but due to the length of about an hour they really do have that matinee feel, or almost like TV episodes in some ways.
00:09:10.918 --> 00:09:29.303
Almost Really easy to watch, fast paced, because they have the pace of a feature versus a TV series, but they have the, the uh, the only runtime you know, more like TV, but really fun, and I I think that, uh, my vote is a big thumbs up that you continue to do these.
00:09:29.303 --> 00:09:31.794
I hope that the fans will support it.
00:09:31.794 --> 00:09:42.951
But that very first film, mississippi Rhythm, I mean I thought of the three that definitely is the jewel and worth getting this alone just for that one.
00:09:42.951 --> 00:09:45.621
That's my opinion, though I enjoyed all three.
00:09:46.383 --> 00:09:52.936
It's interesting you say that because that film is actually what Monogram the B studio.
00:09:52.936 --> 00:09:57.103
They referred to it as an A-level picture for them.
00:09:57.103 --> 00:10:05.132
Yes, and country singer Jimmy Davis, who was the.
00:10:05.132 --> 00:10:20.509
He was a two-time governor of Louisiana and before this I think we talked about this when we announced it, but he had been in a film for Monogram that was kind of autobiographical, called Louisiana.
00:10:20.509 --> 00:10:32.099
Then he made Mississippi Rhythm and he's very well regarded in country music circles, movie star maybe, kinda.
00:10:32.623 --> 00:10:49.521
But the whole thing of these monogram films is they're so unpretentious and they're so charming, they're so entertaining and they've basically been impossible to see unless we have released them.
00:10:49.521 --> 00:10:53.980
We did a lot of DVDs of monogram cowboy collections.
00:10:53.980 --> 00:10:56.171
We did 10 of those.
00:10:56.171 --> 00:11:07.810
So this is the first Blu-ray attempt to work with monogram productions and I find this library endlessly fascinating.
00:11:07.810 --> 00:11:26.721
And the second and third features feature two of their big cowboy stars Johnny Mac Brown, who had been with Monogram for many years by this point, and Whip Wilson, who was relatively new to Monogram at this point.
00:11:26.721 --> 00:11:45.283
Wick wolson films are about 52, 53 minutes a piece, which makes them pretty much just like a 1950s hour-long tv program would have been right, not counting the commercials.
00:11:45.283 --> 00:12:18.415
So they're incredibly efficient in their storytelling, they're entertaining, they're fun and you haven't been able to see these films really until now Western Renegades, which is the Johnny Mac Brown movie, we had included in one of our monogram cowboy DVD collections, but the other two probably haven't been viewable by anyone unless they had a 16 millimeter print in their collection, probably for 40 years or even more.
00:12:19.097 --> 00:12:22.966
Because Monogram was not a major studio.
00:12:22.966 --> 00:12:49.713
They started to try to be a major studio by creating an A-level subsidiary, allied Artists, and Allied Artists would make two or three A-level movies per year and it eventually became the in the best interest of the company that the company would be called Allied Artists and they phased Monogram out.
00:12:49.713 --> 00:12:52.598
But they still mostly made B pictures.
00:12:52.598 --> 00:13:07.379
But because they weren't one of the big majors, they sold their films to television when all the big studios were afraid to do so because they didn't want to alienate the theater owners.
00:13:07.379 --> 00:13:23.015
So in the late 1940s, early 1950s you would see a lot of British movies on television.
00:13:23.035 --> 00:13:26.760
You would see some independently produced movies on television, but Monogram was all over the channels.
00:13:26.760 --> 00:13:43.329
But Monogram was all over the channels and by the late 60s, early 70s they were basically gone, with the exception of some of the series films that they did, like the Bowery Boys, which obviously were very popular in syndication for decades thereafter.
00:13:43.329 --> 00:13:57.346
But these Westerns were basically overlooked, I would say humbly, until we started the Monogram Cowboy Collection.
00:13:57.346 --> 00:14:06.622
There was just no mainstream effort to focus on these films, and they play an important part of moviedom.
00:14:06.622 --> 00:14:21.778
It wasn't, all you know, big budget motion pictures coming from the big studios, and so it's a nice change of pace, and the fact that we can get three features remastered on one disc provides great value as well.
00:14:22.919 --> 00:14:25.844
Yeah, yeah, and the Western Renegades.
00:14:25.844 --> 00:14:36.837
It really is a great showcase for Johnny Mac and his skills riding horses and his horse is beautiful, and then it puts him in that very historic light.
00:14:36.837 --> 00:14:37.659
I loved it.
00:14:37.659 --> 00:14:40.519
I thought it was fantastic crashing through.
00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:50.332
I thought that one had a pretty decent, really compelling storyline, with the gold shipments on the stagecoach being robbed and everything was very compelling.
00:14:50.332 --> 00:14:57.575
So I think these are definitely worth putting out and I think physical media is a great place to put them.
00:14:57.575 --> 00:14:58.197
You know what I mean.
00:14:58.197 --> 00:15:07.298
I think when you get them restored in HD so that they look good and they sound good, you can really enjoy it.
00:15:07.298 --> 00:15:11.745
And I think it's the collector who's going to want to get these Exactly and love them.
00:15:11.745 --> 00:15:28.849
You know, because these are not going to be the kinds of films that are going to get put on a streaming service, because they barely put any older films on to begin with, and so for the Warner Archive to put these out for collectors to have them on physical media, I think is fantastic.
00:15:28.949 --> 00:15:31.038
That's
part of our mission statement.
00:15:31.038 --> 00:15:41.644
Rare and hard to find is what we started out saying, and we're continuing to try and serve that need as well as others.
00:15:42.029 --> 00:15:46.541
Yeah, and I think this really does that and hits it out of the park.
00:15:46.541 --> 00:15:48.717
So I hope that people support these.
00:15:48.717 --> 00:15:50.215
I really really enjoyed it.
00:15:50.215 --> 00:16:06.426
Well, we'll jump a few decades from 49 to the 70s, george, because we have two films that you released in March and the first one we'll talk about is from 1971.
00:16:06.426 --> 00:16:10.901
And that's the sci-fi film Earth 2.
00:16:10.901 --> 00:16:18.163
And I didn't know what to expect with this film other than what you said in the announcement podcast.
00:16:18.163 --> 00:16:34.834
But this is a really well done, serious film and you can really feel the earnestness of the filmmakers to make this very accurate for its era and the effects and everything.
00:16:34.834 --> 00:16:41.170
And the idea of the space station that's orbiting Earth is Earth 2.
00:16:41.170 --> 00:16:46.701
I mean, considering that we have a space station that does that on a smaller scale.
00:16:46.701 --> 00:16:56.734
Of course, it's not a full, you know, place where people are living per se, but I thought it was really compelling and really interesting to watch.
00:16:56.734 --> 00:16:59.481
It's of its era, but it's really well done, this film.
00:17:00.289 --> 00:17:09.480
Well, and I think that when you watch it, you know I have had a theory that this didn't go to series because of the cost of the special effects.
00:17:09.480 --> 00:17:15.283
Right, because everything else was there in terms of the character development.
00:17:15.283 --> 00:17:19.080
There was a great sense of intelligence to this.
00:17:19.080 --> 00:17:26.182
Right, and you know, casting Gary Lockwood in the lead three years after 2001,.
00:17:26.182 --> 00:17:38.464
The Space Odyssey, all the elements were there for something that could be very successful and it never went beyond this two-hour TV slot telefilm.
00:17:38.464 --> 00:17:46.703
But we've found that there was even more footage in the camera negative.
00:17:46.703 --> 00:18:02.052
There was even more footage in the camera negative which we attribute to a very limited international theatrical release and the trailer on the disc is from that international marketing initiative.
00:18:02.974 --> 00:18:07.211
So you know, some people were saying, well, I don't think this ever got an international release.
00:18:07.211 --> 00:18:11.061
Well, it did, but it just wasn't very significant.
00:18:11.061 --> 00:18:17.123
Right, but many studios, including MGM, most notably, I think, universal.
00:18:17.123 --> 00:18:37.084
Universal used to frequently put telefilms out in the theatrical market overseas, in the theatrical market overseas, and MGM did it a lot during the 1960s, especially the man From UNCLE double episodes
became big movies all around.
00:18:37.084 --> 00:18:39.534
Nonetheless, this is.
00:18:39.534 --> 00:18:41.901
I think it looks gorgeous.
00:18:41.901 --> 00:18:53.038
That was the thing I was the most excited about because we had released this on DVD I'm going to say either in 2009 or 2010,.
00:18:53.038 --> 00:18:55.191
And it looked old, you know.
00:18:55.191 --> 00:19:02.115
Now, with a 4K scan off the camera, negative, it really hits the sweet spot, especially for sci-fi fans.
00:19:02.576 --> 00:19:06.692
Right, and of course, so much good sci-fi you know, later in that decade.
00:19:06.692 --> 00:19:28.566
So much good sci-fi of course comes from the 70s and it felt like in watching, like the sets in this, george and the effects that it did a really good job of creating, probably in some ways almost establishing a look that was used by probably other TV shows later in that decade.
00:19:28.566 --> 00:19:38.162
So it was very interesting to see the production value and the production design in this for a 1971 telefilm.
00:19:38.162 --> 00:19:40.111
So that was a lot of fun to watch.
00:19:40.111 --> 00:19:50.401
Well, george, we have one more 70s film from 1972, and that's Hitman.
00:19:51.923 --> 00:20:04.091
And this is another urban action film, similar to the other films you've recently released Black Eye and Black Belt Jones and just like those films, it brings the goods.
00:20:04.091 --> 00:20:17.299
If you're a fan of these edgy urban stories, you're going to enjoy that look of the 70s, that film grain, the music it just takes you back to that era.
00:20:17.299 --> 00:20:30.977
You've got the action and Bernie Casey is really good in this role of Tyrone, a man who's looking into the death of his brother, and the action is it just keeps his story really, really moving.
00:20:31.941 --> 00:21:03.715
I mean you can tell that he had star quality and that's why he became such a popular leading man in the 70s in these films and, as we've discussed, when we announced this, this was actually a remake of Get Carter, which had only come out the year before the film with Michael Caine, which was a big hit, and MGM was having serious financial troubles in 1972.
00:21:03.715 --> 00:21:21.743
And it was very inexpensive to take that script and basically tailor it for someone like Bernie Casey to lead an action packed, you know, tightly made, well constructed action film.
00:21:21.743 --> 00:21:34.746
And it really does take you back because it's certainly a product of its time and, yes, there is a lot of film grain visible, because that's what the film stocks were like at that time.
00:21:37.870 --> 00:21:38.812
And we're not, you know erasing that.
00:21:38.832 --> 00:21:48.705
This was a 4K scan off the camera negative and we retained the grain so that people see the film as it was meant to be seen.
00:21:50.351 --> 00:21:54.762
It's as simple as that, yeah, and we can't, you know, not talk about this.
00:21:54.762 --> 00:22:00.635
The appearance of Pam Greer in here as well, and she's very compelling in this film.
00:22:00.635 --> 00:22:04.435
She's, she looks very young she was very young.
00:22:04.656 --> 00:22:12.980
Yeah, this was one of her earliest films and she's I believe she's billed as Pamela.
00:22:12.980 --> 00:22:24.201
You know she didn't become Pam yet, but she just skyrocketed to superstardom and her popularity continues.
00:22:24.201 --> 00:22:27.015
I think this is no big secret.
00:22:27.015 --> 00:22:48.440
But when she did Jackie Brown for Quentin Tarantino, which was 28 years ago, dear God, you know, that reestablished her cinematic legacy because she worked so often, she was in high demand and she had star quality.
00:22:48.440 --> 00:22:58.225
That's why, when you put Bernie Casey and Pam Grier in a film, you've got dynamic duo, star quality.
00:22:58.225 --> 00:22:59.375
It's absolutely true.
00:22:59.871 --> 00:23:00.230
Yeah, it's.
00:23:00.230 --> 00:23:18.824
I mean, hopefully people have been collecting these that you've been putting out so that they can build their collection at home, because these are really a lot of fun and I love the fact that now they look, you know, with the restoration and being in HD and everything, they look really good and I love the grain.
00:23:18.824 --> 00:23:26.100
I just immediately, when I see these films, the look takes me to that era immediately.
00:23:26.100 --> 00:23:30.918
That, along with the music, of course, is so key to these.
00:23:31.190 --> 00:23:32.254
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
00:23:32.254 --> 00:23:33.298
I really am.
00:23:33.298 --> 00:23:36.539
I was looking forward to what your thoughts were.
00:23:37.612 --> 00:23:50.237
And I hate to mention this, george, only because and maybe I'll have to cut this out of the podcast, but you know I love that era that led right into that blaxploitation.
00:23:50.237 --> 00:24:01.210
And then those early martial arts films, right, and I'm hoping that this is you know, that these can lead to more of that genre in the future from the world.
00:24:01.269 --> 00:24:02.961
We have many more in the works.
00:24:02.961 --> 00:24:04.049
That's terrific.
00:24:04.971 --> 00:24:15.442
Well, I mentioned earlier that we would be talking about the gorilla in the room, mcgilligrilla, so I think we should do that now, since we've gone through all the others.
00:24:15.442 --> 00:24:56.189
But I know there's a really interesting story about what went into bringing this to the fans, and I did want to give you a chance to tell us about it, because when I watched the episodes having all of the music in there, having the ads, having the bridges, bumpers, all of these things really added to the enjoyment and the experience of watching these.
00:24:58.135 --> 00:25:13.741
So the task here was to try to reassemble these shows as they were first seen, and I know I spoke a bit about this when we talked about the announcement.
00:25:13.741 --> 00:25:20.191
But this was a huge
archaeological expedition.
00:25:20.191 --> 00:25:28.201
Huge archaeological expedition Because if you go to our inventory and you type in McGillicorilla Show, nothing will pop up.
00:25:28.201 --> 00:25:46.310
I think that may be different now, but we started working in earnest on many Hanna-Barbera projects as long as two years ago with the hopes of upgrading the quality of what we had.
00:25:46.310 --> 00:26:07.351
And, to be blunt, Hanna-Barbera shows with the exception of, let's say, the Flintstones or the Jetsons, these segmented shows that had multiple characters, were chopped up and the segments themselves were isolated.
00:26:07.351 --> 00:26:16.744
And that's how you saw them, let's say, on Cartoon Network, Boomerang or even the DVD that came out of the McGillicuddy Gorilla Show.
00:26:16.744 --> 00:26:21.866
It didn't have the theme song on there, one of the most famous TV theme songs.
00:26:22.194 --> 00:26:24.432
Right didn't have the theme song on there one of the most famous tv theme songs, right, and I don't really know.
00:26:24.432 --> 00:26:31.395
I was here but my responsibilities were primarily, uh, built only around theatrical catalog.
00:26:31.395 --> 00:26:35.961
So, um, no one consulted me on what.
00:26:35.961 --> 00:26:42.406
The dvd when it came out and I got and I was like, where's the theme song?
00:26:42.406 --> 00:26:44.328
Why?
00:26:44.328 --> 00:26:57.385
I think they may have had some kind of a sample on there, if I recall, but these were not presented as the McGillic gorilla show, it was just segments and it was the same way on television.
00:26:57.727 --> 00:27:28.926
So the task at hand for my colleagues in the preservation department and the mastering department and yours truly, our goal here was to present the McGillicuddy Gorilla Show as it originally first was seen in first run syndication the beginning of 1964, with all the references to Toys put back into the programs, and it was very, very exciting to make that happen.
00:27:28.926 --> 00:27:45.107
Making it happen was an enormous task because pretty much from the later part of the 1960s forward people were only concerned with the segments.
00:27:45.107 --> 00:28:01.864
So our inventory would just say Magilla Gorilla and have the names of the Magilla Gorilla cartoons, the segments, but not the half-hour shows, and we had to reconstruct them.
00:28:01.864 --> 00:28:20.145
We had to go through files that were over 60 years old, or almost 60 years old, to try to find the proper documentation because McGillig, gorilla and the Peter Potamus show were both produced simultaneously.
00:28:20.145 --> 00:28:24.090
Peter Potamus came on, I think, in September of 64.
00:28:24.090 --> 00:28:48.396
But Ideal Toys was involved in supporting both shows and they eventually moved out of first run syndication to the Saturday morning slot for McGill and Gorilla on ABC and Peter Potamus was on Sundays on ABC and then they went into syndication reruns after that.
00:28:48.396 --> 00:28:59.280
But what happened was McGill was a big, big hit and Peter Potamus didn't quite catch on with the audiences in the same way.
00:28:59.280 --> 00:29:13.342
So they took the Ricochet Rabbit segments, I should say, from the McGilligurrilla show and put them into Peter Potamus' show, and they took the Goofy Guards from Peter Potamus' show and put them in McGilligurrilla.
00:29:13.342 --> 00:29:26.167
So they were messing with it as early as the late 1960s and all references to Ideal Toys were never to be seen again.
00:29:26.848 --> 00:29:34.786
So our goal was to put all this back together and nothing was inventoried properly.
00:29:34.786 --> 00:29:47.105
And the fact that we found as much as we did in terms of the bridges and the bumpers was really kind of remarkable and I am just so grateful for that.
00:29:47.105 --> 00:29:58.385
And I think I did mention that we did reach out to a collector friend who had the curtain call.
00:29:58.385 --> 00:30:20.967
We did not have any film on the curtain call that comes right before the end credits on the McGilligrilla show, and a very wonderful person was kind enough to lend us his beat up 16 millimeter print which we were able to bring most of the color back to and clean it up.
00:30:20.967 --> 00:30:38.461
Bring most of the color back to and clean it up, and I'm delighted with the result and, even more, the response we've gotten on social media from consumers who've bought it.
00:30:38.461 --> 00:30:40.423
They're just flipping over the quality and that's what we're here to do.
00:30:40.423 --> 00:30:46.423
So very, very pleased that it turned out to be such a great release and there's more Hanna-Barbera to come.
00:30:46.423 --> 00:30:48.021
We're just getting started.
00:30:49.375 --> 00:31:01.036
Yeah, I mean that's a fascinating story to hear because of how it was cut up for syndication, the kind of the treasure hunt that you had to go through to find all of these little bits and pieces reassemble.
00:31:01.036 --> 00:31:02.538
To find all of these little bits and pieces reassemble.
00:31:02.538 --> 00:31:08.844
And that means that probably these haven't been seen like this, george, since the original run.
00:31:09.924 --> 00:31:10.484
Exactly.
00:31:10.484 --> 00:31:17.451
I mean even because they kind of swapped segments as part of the original run.
00:31:17.451 --> 00:31:50.807
There were 23 half hours that had all three characters and then they mixed things up a little bit by rerunning certain segments, but they made an additional eight McGilligurla cartoons because there were only 23 half hours that were specifically carved out with the other characters Ricochet, rabbit and Droopalong and Mushmouse and Punkinpuss.
00:31:50.807 --> 00:32:39.377
So to have it all together the way it was originally seen is very important to people who love the Hanna-Barbera history and you know Hanna-Barbera lives within Warner Brothers and we want to shine a light on as much of the
Hanna-Barbera output as we can, the Hanna-Barbera output as we can, and putting these things back together is a huge task and we had done this about, I'm going to say, seven, eight years ago for DVD.
00:32:39.377 --> 00:32:54.192
We did it with Peter Potamus and that was kind of a dry run for what was needed for McGilligrilla and I'm delighted with the way it's turned out and the response that it's gotten.
00:32:59.640 --> 00:33:02.172
And there will be more of this ilk coming soon.
00:33:02.172 --> 00:33:17.707
Well, that's great news for animation fans and a Barbera fans, and you have been presenting quite a few of these shows recently and, of course, we have another one coming here in April Wacky Races and you're saying there's going to be more beyond.
00:33:17.707 --> 00:33:23.386
So, wow, it's been a great time to be an animation fan and Hanna-Barbera fan, george.
00:33:24.256 --> 00:33:27.500
And all the other fans who like very different things.
00:33:27.500 --> 00:33:38.006
We try to have a nice smorgasbord of choices so that we're hitting various different fan groups of different things.
00:33:38.006 --> 00:33:46.778
And you know there are people out there that groan that there isn't enough from the 30s or 40s.
00:33:46.778 --> 00:33:53.219
And then when we put things out for the 30s and 40s, people say, well, there's not enough in the 70s.
00:33:53.219 --> 00:33:56.205
And where are the cartoons?
00:33:56.205 --> 00:34:01.358
And we just in for our May releases, which we just talked about.
00:34:01.358 --> 00:34:10.969
There isn't an animation release in there and some people were thrilled about that and some people were upset about that.
00:34:10.969 --> 00:34:20.923
So we're trying to make everybody happy, which is impossible, but we're doing our best to get more of the library from our vault to people's home shelves.
00:34:21.443 --> 00:34:31.699
Yeah, there's another film, of course, that was released in March we're going to hold off talking about for a little bit later and that is Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
00:34:31.699 --> 00:34:37.639
You throw that in there, george, and I think you covered quite a few decades in the month of March.
00:34:38.139 --> 00:34:38.981
Absolutely.
00:34:38.981 --> 00:34:41.467
And that's going to be very fun to talk about.
00:34:41.467 --> 00:34:43.237
I can't wait to hear your thoughts on that.
00:34:43.677 --> 00:34:43.958
Yes.
00:34:43.958 --> 00:35:00.023
So while there might not be something in March for everybody, you sure covered a lot of territory and I think there's something in March for most people who are fans of the Warner Archive and fans of all the great work that you and the team there at Warner Brothers do.
00:35:00.023 --> 00:35:02.389
So well, this is a great month.
00:35:02.389 --> 00:35:20.164
Looking forward to another month here in April, as we get those a little bit later, but, george, it's always a lot of fun to go over these with you and I hope the fans will support the Warner Archive and all of these great releases that you're bringing to them.
00:35:20.974 --> 00:35:23.364
I share your sentiments emphatically.
00:35:23.364 --> 00:35:25.717
Thanks, George.
00:35:25.717 --> 00:35:27.704
Thank you so much, Tim.
00:35:32.856 --> 00:35:42.181
I forgot to mention that Magilla Gorilla also has a nice amount of extras, and I watch all of them and those are on there and they look terrific.
00:35:42.181 --> 00:35:53.822
If you'd like more information about any of the films that we talked about today and Magilla Gorilla, be sure and check out our Facebook page and our Warner Archive Facebook group.
00:35:53.822 --> 00:36:06.400
We always have information there and people can talk about the films and the TV shows and what they love about them as well, and also post reviews and things of that nature, so check that out.
00:36:06.400 --> 00:36:13.128
You'll find links in the show notes here, as well as order links for each of the films.
00:36:13.128 --> 00:36:19.128
If you haven't yet subscribed, or if you're not following the show at your favorite podcast provider, I encourage you to do so.
00:36:19.128 --> 00:36:28.150
It helps the show and that way you'll get everything delivered to you, because we have a lot of exciting announcements and reviews coming in the future.
00:36:28.150 --> 00:36:31.481
Until next time, you've been listening to Tim Millard.
00:36:31.481 --> 00:36:34.148
Stay slightly obsessed.