Treasures From The Bottom of the Dresser

I've had this button since before I can remember...

I'm pretty sure my parents bought this on a very early visit to the park when I was maybe just an infant. I can remember this hanging on a cork board outside our basement playroom when I was very little. I haven't seen the pin in years and then just this week it turned up in an envelope of stuff from my childhood home. Pretty cool button, no doubt, but the back of the button gives us s little piece of Amusement Park Obscura that I love...

Check out the original price tag sticker from a very early 70's Kings Dominion gift shop. Super cool! 

I also unearthed this sweet pressed penny...

In case you're not a connoisseur of fine tourist attraction souvenirs such as myself, a pressed penny 

Is created by dropping two quarters and a penny into a machine, turning a crank and smashing and imprinting a picture onto your authentic U.S. one cent piece.

  Now, the mystery here is figuring out which park this came from. The design of Fred is from a mid-90's make over of Fred, with the bigger nose and playful pose. Most of the Hanna-Barbera elements were removed from Kings Dominion during the 90's which leaves that the coin could also be from Universal Studios Florida. Universal hosted their own Hanna-Barbera attraction in the 90's, so it's possible it could be from there. I don't remember getting it anywhere...so who knows where it came from. It's cool and looks great buried under my socks in my dresser. 

Pebbles Flintstone Costume - The Real Deal

Yabba-Dabba-Goo!

I'm very anxious to dress my daughter up in every Disney Princess costume we can get our hands on, but for her first Halloween I thought it was the perfect opportunity to dress her as the infant daughter from my All-Time Favorite TV Show, Pebbles Flintstone. Not only is she the perfect age as Pebbles was in the original television series, but she would make an awesome compliment to my super awesome Fred costume that my mom and I made 20 years ago. (Yes, I still have it!)

Before we get into Pebbles, let me tell you about my Fred Flintstone costume. My mom and I made this back in 1993 for a costume contest when I was in college. Taking a cue from all the Star Wars, Star Trek and Superhero nerds out there, I wanted my costume to be as accurate as possible. So, in the days before the internet - my mom and I designed the costume with various shots of Fred on VHS, paused on the TV while we jotted down notes. I also had a few old books that stayed true to the original design that we used. So many costumes of Fred Flintstone put an animal print on the tie and put the spots all over the outfit, when in actuality he only had a few. The spots shapes and placement on my Fred costume are modeled after the appearance in several episodes. Also, Fred's tie is pure blue and was always drawn the same way, even though you can't see it in the above picture, the tie is cut to resemble Fred's own tie.

The major difference in my costume versus the 1960's cartoon Fred is that we added some small sleeves so that my fat, ugly arms weren't fully exposed. Hey, I was in school - people make fun of that kind of stuff! But we tried to make the sleeves as minimal as possible and added a smaller version of the jagged cut that is found at the bottom of Fred's outfit.

Anyhow...the costume (along with a friend as Wilma) went on to win First Prize at the Halloween Dance costume contest that year. I've held on to this work of art for many years...I've worn it for various other Halloween events as well as in parades and even at the opening night of The Flintstones live-action movie in 1994.

Now...let's move on to Fred's daughter, Pebbles...

When we first started looking at Pebbles costumes to buy they all came in one of two varieties: a green top or an animal print top. Neither of these felt right to me, yet every picture I found of Pebbles in a book had her in the green top. I popped in a DVD and went to the episode where Pebbles was born. (Still one of the most watched episodes in TV history.) In the first few episodes that Pebbles appears in, she's in a pink baby outfit but fast forward to the next season and she's always seen wearing a brownish/orangish top with diamond and crescent shapes all over...similar to her father's wardrobe.

This time I had the help of the internet for some visual reference. I found a color picture from an actual episode and this nice black & white sketch, which is a later drawing of Pebbles but the basic look of her outfit is the same.

Now, I have absolutely no sewing skills but I figured this outfit was simple enough that I could pull it off. I went to a craft store and found a shade of brown that I was happy with. I them bought enough fabric which was double the length of my 6 month old daughter. My plan was to have enough material that the entire outfit would be the same piece of fabric, avoiding the need to sew shoulders and sleeves. I also purchased a small amount of black material to make the spots. I could have colored them on with a permanent marker, but the actual spots made of fabric look so much better. Also at the craft store I picked up a bottle of Fabric Glue a.k.a. Liquid Stitch which will take the place of any sewing that needed to be done.

Ready to make the costume (a day before the Halloween party we were going to,) my first instinct was to just trace my daughters outline onto the cloth but then I got the idea to take a dress of hers and trace that instead. I used a dress that's a bit big on her, I also folded up the sleeves for the Bedrock fashionable sleeveless look. I actually traced the dress once onto a piece of fabric that was folder over to create a two-ply effect. I also did not trace or cut out a hole for the head just quite yet.

Since I free handed the area around the arm holes/sleeves, I folded the dress across from left to right and lined up the arm holes and trimmed both sides together so they came out evenly. I cut a small hole for a head, using the fold in the double-ply fabric as the shoulders of the outfit. I didn't want the head hole to be too big for my baby so I tried it on once and it was not going over her head. I cut a small slit in the neck line on the back of the dress to give a little leeway, and that did the trick. I was planning on using a safety pin to close up the slit, but it turned out the costume didn't need it.

I used the fabric glue down the sides of the dress from under the arm holes to the bottom of the dress. Unlike Fred, Wilma and Barney, Pebbles' outfit does not have the jagged zigzag cut at the bottom. Actually, her dress usually doesn't come all the way down past her tummy. My version is a little longer, I thought about cutting it but decided to just leave it long since it was cold outside at this point in time.

The shapes on her dress are a mixture of random patterns. I like the look of the shapes in the black and white sketch pictured at the top. They have a very 1960's Hanna-Barbera feel to them, but they were hard to cut out and look that good so I just cut random shapes from the black fabric. I went with 5 on the front and an additional 3 on the back.

London as Pebbles with her cousin Lucas in his Chewbacca costume

The bone in her hair is a bone hair clip that I found in the Caveman/Cavegirl section of the Halloween store. Since my daughter does not yet have enough hair to support a hair clip, we went with clipping the bone onto a headband of hers. I suppose an animal print headband or a brown one matching the costume would have been most appropriate but I used this pink one that we had, not only because the bow was small and the bone covered it nicely but I thought the pink added a slight touch of femininity to sell that she was a baby cavegirl. In the cartoon Pebbles always wore a black diaper cover with her dress. Since it was chilly out, we opted for black leggings and a long sleeve t-shirt underneath to keep her warm.

I'm pretty proud at the way it turned out considering I had no idea what I was doing with the materials I bought. The fabric cost $4.00, if that. The bone hair clips were $7.00 for a pack of two, fabric glue was $5.00, we had the shirt and I bought leggings (which she can wear with other things) at Target for $6.00.

Besides all the work put into the costume, it was really cool to get to add my daughter to my Fred costume and obsess over a 50 year old cartoon just a little bit more!

A New Flintstones Movie Is Announced!

To me, this is bigger movie news than Star Wars Episode VII! Earlier this week, World Wrestling Entertainment and Warner Bros. announced that they are teaming up to bring a new Flintstones animated movie to screens in early 2014! While it's not quite the way I'd love to see The Flintstones return to the spotlight, it's still great news that Fred and the gang will star in their own Direct-to-Video movie. Scooby-Doo has been making new movies at a clip of one a year for the past 15 years, so perhaps this will be the beginning of a string of new Flintstones movies. In fact, Scooby-Doo's next movie due out next spring is the first co-production between WWE and WB. In that film, Scooby and the kids help solve a mystery at Wrestlemania. The film also celebrates the 30th anniversary of the iconic wrestling event.

Here's the press release for The Flintstones:

WWE and Warner Bros. Head to Bedrock STAMFORD, Conn. May 29, 2013 – Warner Bros. and WWE Studios (NYSE:WWE) today announced they are once again teaming up; this time to co-produce a Flintstones animated movie to be released in early 2015.

Fred, Barney and the whole Bedrock gang join up with Vince McMagma (Vince McMahon), and WWE Superstars and Divas including John Cenastone (John Cena®) and CM Punkrock (CM Punk®) as part of the very first WWE main event. “WWE is family-friendly entertainment, so partnering with Warner Bros. on a Flintstones/WWE project was a natural extension of our Scooby Doo deal,” said Michael Luisi, President, WWE Studios. “This new, animated feature allows us to showcase our brand with young fans and loyal Flintstones enthusiasts alike.”

“Warner Bros. is thrilled to continue our partnership with WWE Studios as we begin production of the latest Flintstones animated feature,” said Jeff Brown. “Our recent production collaborations have proven successful and we have the utmost confidence that the latest tag team between the WWE Superstars and The Flintstones will deliver the same results.”

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will handle worldwide distribution on Blu-ray, DVD, VOD and digital download. The film will be co-produced by Warner Bros. Animation and WWE Studios. WWE will utilize its extensive global reach through its television, digital media and print assets to market the release of the film."

I don't watch wrestling at all, but was very much into the WWF (WWE) when I was a kid. I'm excited about this movie just to get some new Flintstones material out there. There hasn't been anything new since a 2001 Cartoon Network special and the 2000 live-action feature "Viva Rock Vegas!"

The Scooby-Doo movies have been good. The last few I've seen have been really well done including this years "Scooby Doo and the Mask of the Blue Falcon" which not only tied in the old Hanna-Barbera series Blue Falcon, but also had references to The Flintstones.

You best believe whenever this film's release date is announced, I'll clear my schedule to check it out on release day!

Freddy Flintstone Sells Firewood

I'm always on the lookout for unusual & homemade tributes to The Flintstones. While on vacation this summer, somewhere in the backwoods of Western Pennsylvania I spotted this old sign advertising firewood for sale. I quickly spun the car around and circled back to snap a picture. The sign features Freddy Flintstone from the late 80's series The Flintstone Kids, chopping away at some wood. It's not often you see anyone take the time to immortalize the Flintstone clan in their younger days.

 

Also check out The Flintstone Wall that I found in Virginia a few years ago.

Happy Land of Hanna-Barbara Canada

Here's a great areal shot of the Hanna-Barbera section of Canada's Wonderland (sister park of King's Dominion)...

From Wikipedia: Hanna-Barbera Land opened in 1981 with three sections. The first section was Yogi's Woods, based on The Yogi Bear Show, which featured the attractions Balloon Race, Yogi's Cave, Boo Boos Buggys, and the Woodland Theatre (now the Playhouse Theatre). Scoobyville was the central town site, where a carousel and other attractions were included. On the opposite end of Scoobyville from Yogi's Wood was Bedrock, based on The Flintstones. Saltwater Circus was also in the section. In 1984, Smurf Village replaced Yogi's Woods; the section featured the newly popular Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Smurfs. A walk-through attraction, Smurf Village closed at the end of the 1992 season. For the 1993 season, the Smurf Village section of the park became Kids Kingdom. In 1998, KidZVille replaced the Kids Kingdom and its two rides, the "Kid's Castle Playland" and the "Jumbo Bumps" were renamed to "The Candy Factory" and the "Twizzler Twist" (and renamed again the next year to "Sour Cherry Blaster Twist"). Along with five new rides for KidZVille, "The Busy Little Town" was launched, and it included the characters from Nickelodeon's Rugrats series.[3] The Playhouse Theatre still had a Hanna-Barbera themed show, Scooby Doo's Scary School Daze.[3] On slower days, the Scooby-Doo walkaround character may venture through this section of the park. The Bedrock section of the park met its end soon after, being replaced by Nickelodeon Central in 2003. Only the bumper cars were kept, turned into the Rugrats Toonpike. The restaurant was de-themed, and turned into a Pizza Pizza. In 2010 Hanna-Barbera Land was replaced with Planet Snoopy.

  I had the fortune to visit the park in it's heyday back in 1986. I mostly remember the Smurf Village walk through attraction, which replaced Yogi's Cave and a live Smurf show that we saw.

Yogi's Home Up North

Here's (what appears to be) a promotional photo of the Hanna-Barbera gang outside of the Yogi's Cave attraction at Canada's Wonderland, a sister park to Kings Dominion. I swiped the picture from the amazing Flickr feed of user Mr. Flintstone. Canada's Wonderland opened in 1981 in Ontario and featured similar attractions to those found at KD and Kings Island. By the time I made it to Wonderland in 1986, Yogi's Cave had been transformed into Smurf Cave. Of course, at the time, that was OK with me! Here's the write up about the Smurf attraction from Wikipedia:

A funhouse-like cave building that featured scenes of Smurfs in their "natural" habitat. This attraction was actually converted from Yogi's Cave in Yogi's Forest (1981–1983) before the area was changed to Smurf Forest for the 1984 season. Also featured near the end of the cave was a section of Gargamel's house where Gargamel would be playing his organ. Gargamel's house was formerly the Ranger's Cabin during its use in Yogi's Cave. Smurf Village was removed and replaced by an arcade until 1998 where it housed Meet-and-Greets with the Rugrats. Currently it functions as a gift shop and mini-arcade in the Zoom Zone area.

Earthquakes: Be a Prepared Bear

In light of yesterday's earthquake that rocked the East Coast, I thought I would rerun this bit from April 5, 2007...

If ever an earthquake were to hit our small town I would first gather the family up and make sure they were safe and secure in the basement or a sturdy doorway. Then I would selflessly risk my very own life to rush to my bookshelf and grab my copy of "Earthquake Preparedness for the Family" hosted by Yogi, the Be-Prepared Bear. Who doesn't remember all the earthquakes Yogi and Boo-Boo endured on the classic cartoon show!? Actually, this is a series of three public service books that I have put out by the State of California and featuring one of my all-time favorite cartoon characters: Yogi Bear. It seems kind of odd to use Yogi as a spokesbear for earthquake safety. I mean, perhaps his priorities are different than my own. All I'm saying is, I don't know if I'd save my picnic baskets before members of my own family!

This book is filled with all sorts of bizarre illustrations like this one (to the left) of Yogi Bear attaching a hot water heater to the wall. There's just something funny about Yogi Bear and a hot water heater, I don't know what it is!? But seriously, if you live somewhere that securing your hot water heater to the wall, before an earthquake strikes, is a good idea than maybe it's time you looked for a new house!

I'm looking forward to the next two books in this series: "The Jetsons Prepare for Avian Flu" and "Captain Caveman Prevents Identity Theft"

Trailer Tuesday - C.H.O.M.P.S. (1979)

You have no idea how much I love this movie...

...ok, I guess you have some idea.

It Looks Like I Picked A Bad Week To Not Speak Spanish

Classic Commercial Sunday - #51

You "Auto" Get This DVD!

I could not have been more excited when I heard the news that Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch was heading down the road to DVD. Good gracious, that is a fine animated program that I can't wait to get my hands on! I professed my love for Wheelie in a post four years ago and now in 2011 he's coming to DVD!

Warner Bros. is doing a great job of opening the flood gates and diving into the Hanna-Barbera vault to bring some great stuff to the screen that hasn't been seen in years. If I were to make a list of H-B shows I'd like to have on DVD, Wheelie would be at the top of my list!

Here's the write-up on the series from the Warner Bros. website:

Zoom into gear with Wheelie, the world’s greatest stunt racing car, and his girlfriend Rota Ree as they outmaneuver the sneaky motorcycle gang Chopper, Revs, Riser and Scrambles in this 3-Disc, 13-Episode Complete Series Collection! Not the smartest bike in the bunch, Chopper’s schemes range from scaring Wheelie with ghost cars at the car cemetery, tricking a trail bike into spying on Wheelie and cheating at a tractor-roping competition, plus many more shenanigans that never end well for the gang. Besides outwitting Chopper in these 39 adventures (3 per episode), Wheelie aids other vehicles needing a helping wheel, like a lost scooter, a sick tow truck and a stranded bulldozer. Honk for great family fun and motor to the couch for a night of drive-in entertainment!

I'm the first one in line for a good car pun, but I don't think I even get "motor to the couch".

Here's the super-catchy theme song and you can thank me later when you are humming it in your head all day!


Anyways, the DVD comes out next Tuesday and it looks like you'll have to order it online from the Warner Bros. Studio Shop. Or you could just come on over to the WWoB offices and we'll run it in our screening room!

Pebbles and More Pebbles

On the back of the boxes of the latest batch of Post Pebbles Cereals is an ad for Pebbles Treats. Just like Rice Krispie Treats, Pebbles are set to soon be prepackaged and ready for on-the-go snacking and lunch boxes everywhere. What makes them better than Rice Krispie Treats is that the packaging will feature the likeness of a one Mr. Frederick J. Flintstone. I haven't seen them on my grocer's shelf yet, but in the meantime I'll enjoy this ad from the back of the cereal box. The image of Barney licking the giant stone wheel is a little off-putting but, hey - we take what we can get, right!? Also, check out below these two cool ads for the new treats featuring Wilma...

Earlier last year, Post also introduced Cupcake Pebbles which filled a void the breakfast world had been calling out for - Cupcake flavored cereal! This stuff tastes like dumping one of those little sugar packets down your throat! But, again, the packaging is really cool - this time giving Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm the spotlight.

The back of the package features the whole gang and little place cards you can set out at your party along with a cut out game "Pin the Tail on Dino!" I can't imagine anyone hosting an actual party and using cutouts from a cereal box, but hey who am I to judge? Here's also a print ad for the Cupcake flavored cereal featuring suggestions for other things to do with the breakfast product besides actually eating it for breakfast.

You shouldn't have any trouble finding Cupcake Pebbles in the stores now and we'll keep you posted on the Treats.

A Wendy's Pic-a-Nic

Well, my life is now complete thanks to the release of Yogi Bear this past weekend. It was actually kind of sad how excited I was to see the movie. I'm happy to report that Yogi Bear did not disappoint. They made a nice family movie that really stuck to the spirit of the old cartoons. The new movie is funny, sweet and wholesome for the whole family. I even sprung for a 3D screening and the effects were really cool. Do yourself a favor and go out and catch a screening of the movie critics are calling "the crowning achievement since the advent of photography!" I should mention that said achievement grossed $16.7 million this past weekend and that said critic's quote was made up by me.

I should have gotten to this earlier, but we've been meaning to get around to Wendy's Yogi Bear Kids Meal. If you ask me, Yogi (and the public) really got ripped off when it comes to the Happy Meal department. I would have liked to seen McDonald's do a whole holiday promotion tied into the movie. The Happy Meal boxes could have looked like picnic baskets, they could have introduced some new Jellystone burger, and the whole restaurant could have been decked out in a red and white checker picnic theme. Oh well, what do I know. At least somebody had a Yogi kids meal, even if it was Wendy's - who never really seems to get the top notch properties for their kids prizes.

Wendy's is offering five different Yogi Bear movie prizes with their kids meals right now. The idea of the prizes is that they are supposed to be games and activities that kids and parents can do together. I would have preferred little toy figures, but good ol' Wendy gave it a nice try.

I stopped by my local Wendy's the other night and the kid behind the counter was nice enough to go back into the storeroom and crack open each of the cases and prizes and snag me one of each...well, he could only find 4 - but that was still awesome of him!

Here's what we got...

This first one ties into the movie nicely, even if it's execution is a little off. The Waterski Spin Top Maze tries to recreate a pivotal scene from the movie where Yogi tries to show off his waterskiing talents. In the movie, his efforts don't pay off and neither will yours trying to spin the tiny little top on this cardboard lake. The idea of the game is to maneuver the top around the various cut-out obstacles in the lake. It's a nice little memento from the movie, the top has a picture from the film on it - but as a toy/prize it falls a little short.

The Basket Fishing Game is pretty cool. It comes with a neat fishing pole with Yogi's picture on it and several little pic-a-nic baskets that you punch out of cardboard. Each basket has a different food item and points under it, so the idea is to take turns and see who can fish up the most points. Some of the food items are different Wendy's items, which I thought was a nice touch. Who doesn't want to use a fishing pole to snag themselves a delicious creamy Frosty!?

In the Feed Yogi game, you try to shoot different food discs into Yogi's mouth. You may have seen this disc launcher before, either as a prize in cereal of a birthday party goodie bag. I can tell you that this Wendy's version is somehow supersonic and we ended up shooting a Frosty into parts unknown on the very first try. We've still got the corn and the Jr. Hamburger though. Thank goodness!

The climax of the film involves the Baskit Nabber 2000, and this "3D Puzzle" is a pretty cool replica of the contraption Yogi builds. However, I have a feeling Yogi had an easier time building the real one that you...or any kid would have putting this puzzle together. It's basically a card stock paper model with one zillion steps to assemble. It literally took me an hour to put it together, but I gotta say it was fun and it now looks pretty cool sitting on my desk at the WWoB offices!

The last toy in the collection, that I haven't snagged yet, is the Yogi Basket Stack Game. It comes with a little Yogi figure with his arms spread out and you try and stack little blocks with food on it and hope not to topple Yogi over. This one looked the neatest and hopefully a return visit to the prize gods at Wendy's will secure me a Yogi Basket Stack game for my collection.

If you are interested, Wendy's will have the toys for a few more weeks before their Smart Links promo starts. You heard me, Smart Links???

H-B Holiday Parade Sightings

I found a very cool Flickr photostream yesterday from a fella named Kerrytoonz, chock full of cartoon goodness. Here's a couple of images he found from some recent holiday parades...

First up is an awesome Jellystone Park float headlined by that smarter than the average bear and his little sidekick, Boo Boo. This image is from a parade in Toronto, Canada. Those Canadians have all the fun, eh?
Here's the mighty Fred Flintstone towering over a puny Captain America at a pre-Thanksgiving parade in Stamford, Connecticut earlier this year. I would have wet my pants if I had seen that down the parade route.

This one's not an officially licenced appearance, but you gotta love when people try. This photo was snapped by a friend of mine at the nearby Gettysburg Holiday Parade. I've never been to that parade before, but this picture is all the invitation I need to hit it up next year!

Vintage Yogi Bear Christmas Golden Book

One of the many books in our collection which was an awesome yard sale find, actually an Antique Mall find - Yogi Bear - A Christmas Visit, is a 1961 holiday themed release from the fine folks at Little Golden Books. It was written by S. Quentin Hyatt with pictures by Sylvia and Burnett Mattinson. As you can see from the cover, this copy is fairly beat up on the outside but the inside is pure goodness. The picture on the cover is ripped off a bit and it looks like the book's previous owner, Amy Gallagher, took some red pen to the lettering on the front. However, you can't deny that the special Christmas red foil replacing the traditional gold is a nifty touch! I wanted to share some of the festive vintage holiday illustrations from this neat little book.





Everytime I read this to the kids, it cracks me up. Boo-Boo refers to Alaska as "one of the new states." Oh, early 60's!

I dig Yogi and Boo Boo's Christmas vests.

Here's a double page layout featuring Yogi and Boo Boo with Yogi's extended family in Alaska; Uncle Northman, Aunt Kate and the twins Yukon and Klondike.

A beautiful piece of artwork from the title page.

Photo Quiz

Why am I running this photo today?

A) Because it features my little brother (in the stripped shirt) and his buddies on their 8th grade field trip back in 1990.

B) Because the one kid is wearing a Lowenbrau beer t-shirt at age 13 on a Catholic School field trip.

C) Because the picture features a glimpse of walk-around character Quick Draw McGraw circa 1990 Kings Dominion.

The answer is C, of course.

B.C.- 10/17

Hanna-Barbera in Wonderland

Now, I wouldn't have done an Alice in Wonderland week here at WWoB if we couldn't find some way of working The Flintstones into the picture - so today we present the television special Alice in Wonderland or What's a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This. Hanna-Barbera produced this 1966 ABC special that presented an animated retelling of Lewis Carroll's story. This time, instead of falling down a rabbit hole, Alice takes a tumble into her TV set and meets Sammy Davis' Cheshire Cat and Zsa Zsa Gabor's Queen of Hearts. Janet Waldo provided the voice of Alice, you'd probably recognize her voice as Judy Jetson...and a million other Hanna-Barbera female characters.

Making a guest appearance on the program were Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble - together taking on the role of the caterpillar, after all in this production it's a two headed caterpillar! Fred and Barney perform the musical number "They'll Never Tear Us Apart".

It appears the show has never surfaced on VHS or DVD, making it perhaps an ideal candidate for Warner Bros. new Archives Collection DVD-R service.

Here's the very groovy opening and closing segments along with the original sponsors...

All Hail 80's Saturday Morning Cartoons

This promises to be one of the sweetest DVD releases of the year! Saturday Morning Cartoons 1980s is a two-disc set of old school animation set to be released May 4. Warner Bros. has already put out two volumes each of cartoons from the 60's and 70's, and now they are adding another decade worth of toons to the collection. Some of this stuff is super awesome; here we go:

• Mister T - I loved this show! Mr. T ditches the A-Team and instead travels around with a gymnastics team solving crimes. Oh, that's good stuff!

The Flintstone Kids - The Bedrock gang as little kids wasn't quite as fun as the earlier adventures but it was a law in the mid-80's to turn every franchise into a baby or kiddie version. It was still a pretty good show and the end of 20 years of Flintstones spin-offs.

The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley - Martin Short's SCTV/SNL character came to Sat AM in this pretty funny show which featured a great voice cast and some live action skits spun off from SCTV classics. I can't wait to see this one again!

The Kwicky Koala Show - Even though as a flat rule I hate koala bears, this early morning show was a real gem. A throwback to the cartoon shorts of decades earlier, Kwicky was produced by animation god Tex Avery - who did the original (and side-splittingly hilarious) Droopy cartoons.

Thundar The Barbarian - My tastes always leaned towards funny animal shows, I always loved this action packed fighting show with Thundar and a bunch of other pelt-clad dudes riding around on various winged creatures and saving the world from some pretty ugly bad guys. It don't get much better than this, folks!

The set also includes episodes of Chuck Norris - Karate Commandos (which I'm pretty sure wasn't actually on Saturday mornings, it was strip syndicated for afternoons), Dragon's Liar (the cartoon based on a video game that was also a cartoon), Galtar and the Golden Lance, The Monchhichis, The Biskitts (which I believe was syndicated to Sunday mornings), and Goldie Gold and Action Jack (which I remember nothing about except it had a really cool announcer!)

If you're not like me and don't have to have every major cartoon title on DVD in your own personal collection, you should also be able to rent the two discs from Netflix. I'll definitely be pouring myself a big bowl of dry cereal and vegging out with these Saturday Morning Cartoons real soon!

Yogi Yahooeys Fan For Life

An exciting treasure from the Hanna-Barbera vaults finally made it's way to DVD this week. Scooby's All Star Laff-A-Lympics Volume 1 features four episodes from the fondly remembered 1977 - 1979 Saturday morning series. This has always been one of my favorites from the guys at H-B and I was pretty excited to see the show get a DVD release. Judging from the cover art, Warner Bros. is hoping to ride off the immense popularity of Scooby-Doo. He's featured prominently in the show's opening segment and in most of the episodes but for most H-B fans Laff-A-Lympics stands out due to it's cast of dozens of cartoon superstars.

The Laff-A-Lympics is an Olympics style event, actually a parody of ABC's Battle of the Network Stars. In each episode, three teams compete in an assortment of athletic events at venues all over the world. The teams are: the Scooby Doobies - made up of Hanna-Barbera characters from half hour mystery shows like Scooby Doo, Dinomutt, Speed Buggy and Captain Caveman; the Yogi Yahooeys - featuring the gang from H-B's classic animated shorts like Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Wally Gator and Quick Draw McGraw; and there's the Really Rottens - who look similar to other Hanna-Barbera bad guys but are mostly all original creations for this show. The teams compete in different events and are awarded points throughout the competition. Of course, the Really Rottens always try to cheat and it always backfires on them!

One of the coolest aspects of the show was the guest cameos that pop up from time to time. In the four episodes on this collection there are brief appearances from Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble and Jabber Jaw. The other fun thing about this show is how much my kids got into it! They both really got behind the Scooby Doobies and were cheering them on and hooting and yelling like they were watching something on ESPN. Myself, I'm a life long Yogi Yahooeys fan so the line was drawn down the middle of our house and the kids took great delight in seeing their team squash mine. I really like when my children appreciate the simpler cartoons from the past.

I also have to add that "Laff-A-Lympics" is a totally great title! I'm a big fan of 70's programing that incorporates the words "Laugh", "Comedy", or "Smile" into their title.

Here's a rundown of who's who on the Laff-A-Lympics teams: