Change a hawk to a little white dove

[austin_dern]

Two of the admittedly many cartoon characters I liked growing up were Heckyl and Jeckyl. One of the cartoons that I saw I know not how many times before I was eight was one I learned later must have been The Power of Thought. In it, they realize that because they're cartoon characters, they can do anything they want because a cartoon is anything it looks like it is. They weren't the first cartoons using that fact, but they were the first I saw doing that. It was inspirational, one of those transcendent moments when I realized that worlds were opening up.

But Heckyl and Jeckyl disappeared from television long ago, with rights in a horrible muddle among indifferent corporations so that the only cartoon of theirs that would ever appear on public-domain tapes or DVDs was The Talking Magpies, their debut, when they were a husband and wife team(!). Other cartoons exploited the knowledge-of-cartoon-ness, most famously Duck Amuck, but my life arranged itself so that when I saw that it was a copy of a copy of this idea. (I actually saw Rabbit Rampage before Duck Amuck. That was the remake of Duck Amuck which Chuck Jones made because he had to make every cartoon twenty times over with variations like this time, Pepe LePew has two toes crossed. Notice that Duck Amuck is always atop Greatest Cartoons Ever lists, while Rabbit Rampage is not.)

Anyway: The Power of Thought crossed my mind when I looked up Google Videos to confirm some Heckyl and Jeckyl trivia, and I discovered: it's now on YouTube. I can watch it any time I want.

So now I'm terrified to. One the one hand, this is something I have been longing to see again for over a quarter century. On the other hand, what if it sucks? This is a nontrivial chance since Heckyl and Jeckyl were made by Terrytoons, and Paul Terry never saw any reason to let things like ``quality'' or even ``minimal watchability'' impair the production schedule, and wasn't about to let ``innovation'' screw up a good thing. How can it stand up to the cherished youthful memory I have? But what if it does, and I don't watch it?

Trivia: In 1942 Paul Terry purchased the animation rights to Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy, which was turned into two cartoons. Source: Of Mice and Magic, Leonard Maltin.

Currently Reading: Astounding: John W Campbell Memorial Anthology, Editor Harry Harrison. Gee. Who'd have expected a story in which humans just happen to have that certain something -- namely, a good-natured ability to be accidentally genetically engineered into supersoldiers by the enemy aliens -- that lets them blow the enemy aliens out of space in a John W Campbell tribute story?

Comments

[bunny-hugger.livejournal.com]

I understand. When I finally found "The Little Mole" on YouTube, it was good in its way, but not the magical thing I remember from my childhood.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

Duck Amuck was better, though Rabbit Rampage had some good moments.

Also, it's Heckle and Jeckle, unless I'm missing something. The referenced cartoon on Yourtube is rather good, and the animation is surprisingly crisp for Terrytoons. It might not match your memories, but it's still good.

Though they spend an awful lot of time sharing the same bed in this particular cartoon. (o_O)

[skylerbunny.livejournal.com]

So now I'm terrified to. One the one hand, this is something I have been longing to see again for over a quarter century. On the other hand, what if it sucks?

I'm someone who has a particular affinity for The Power of Thought, as you already know, and now I find I'm in exactly the same boat, if this is really on YouTube.

The last time I saw that cartoon was on a now-defunct children's show, 'Oscor the Clown', on a local Wisconsin TV station that no longer exists with the call letters it had - probably about two decades and change ago. I've got to imagine that the cartoon is still worth the view, but that I've probably raised my expectations in memory quite high.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I remember that experience. I'd hate to lose the cartoon I remember, although I have to admit what I mostly remember from it anymore is the feelings it inspired, rather than too much of the story.

There are a few scenes I remember with what feel be crystal clarity -- ``If I want to be a mouse -- click -- I'm a mouse. When I want to be myself again -- click -- I'm myself again'' (the click here being the snapping of fingers) -- and a lot of what's tempting me is to see the rest of the context.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I'm relieved to learn the cartoon is actually good by the measure of someone who hasn't got such an emotional investment in it. This may encourage me if I do work up the courage to watch it.

They have to share the same bed, though. It would cost more to draw two beds, and Paul Terry was not going to let money be spent on extra beds when two could fit in one just as easily.

Also I'm shocked to see it is actually Heckle and Jeckle. The play on Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde -- almost certainly intended -- had got in my eyes.

Rabbit Rampage suffers from being too much like Duck Amuck, which has the advantage of being the first time this particular combination was really put together, and there's a strange power that something gets the first time it's done.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I may have to rely on a special panel of friends who don't remember the cartoon at all to watch it and see if they feel it's probably worth watching.

I have to admit I'm a bit surprised to see you had children's shows along those lines as late as the mid-80s. They had disappeared from New York City television before my time, apart from oddities like The Magic Garden.

I'm loving the 1987-1992 WXGZ logo, though.

[skylerbunny.livejournal.com]

It occurs to me that I never actually said the call letters of the station, so you did a little digging! That, and most certainly found the Wikipedia page (WACY). Looking back, a lot of the content was my own additions, and I realize now I actually started the article off four years ago.

I had a soft spot for that television station. It was the first for the Fox Cities, and was very homegrown when it was first founded. Their first 'logo' was simply the number 32 in that font you used to get from machines that did text crawls. You could probably say they'd come a long way by the time they had their 1987 logo, which is a great one.

As for Oscor's Place, it was Sunday morning fodder. It was half Oscor the Clown entertaining a small audience of kids, and half "...and now it's time for another cartoon!" which is where The Power of Thought came in...and it is that moment "Hey, if I say I'm a mouse, *poof*! I'm a mouse!" that I remember with quite a lot of clarity.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Well, sure. It was worth seeing if there were any clips from the show on YouTube, after all. I'm intrigued by the show now that I sort of know anything about it.