Halloween: The Haunted Mansion

Kind of a sentimental choice today. I loved this album as a kid which came with a nifty fold out book. Starring 'Opie' Howard as 'Mike' and Robie "Oh Mike' Lester as Karen. Pete Renoudet as the psychedelic flaming Ghost Host. . 

Side One: The Song and Story From The Haunted Mansion (1969, Disneyland STER-3947)

Side Two: The Song and Story From the Haunted Mansion (1969, Disneyland STER-3947)

"The coward's way out! He chose the coward's way out! Caw! Caw!"

Happy Howl-O-Ween.

Halloween: Scrappy's Ghost Story

Today I'm posting the wonderful "Scrappy's Ghost Story" from 1935. I really like how Harrison, Gould and Love interpreted the Scrappy design in this cartoon! The quality and integrity of the drawing, not to mention the sheer amount,  is really quite amazing. The layouts and backgrounds are also top notch. Too bad it's not better known. 

Halloween: Boogie Men

"Lullaby Land" (Disney Silly Symphony, 1933) is not an easy cartoon to get through. I will give it credit for being one of the more overtly Freudian cartoons of the early 30's but as I said: kinda dull. However, it does have 57 seconds of pure joy which occurs unexpectedly about three quarters in. This is "The Dance of the Bogey Men" and I believe it was animated  by Dick Huemer coming fresh from the Columbia Scrappy series. There was a great 78 RPM picture label disc issued of the song which I would love to hear some day!

As an added bonus today I am posting also the song "The Boogie Man" as recorded by Todd Rollins and his Orchestra. As the liner notes state: "Boo! Simply, one of the most disturbing lyrics in the entire western pop canon." I agree whole heartedly.

Halloween: Hell's Bells

Long before Heavy Metal musicians ever thought they were the first people to write a song about Hell there was "Hell's Bells". The song was written, presumably in 1932, by Chicago saxophonist Art Kassel and must have had something of a vogue in the early 30's. The year following it's publication the song was recorded by Sid Peltyn and his Orchestra under the all-purpose (and much used) pseudonym "The New Yorkers". In 1934 the song was used in two cartoons: "Red Hot Mamma" (Betty Boop, Fleischer Studios) and "Hell's Fire" (Willie Whopper, Ub Iwerks Studio). After that it seems to have vanished all together. Can anyone tell me if the song appears in any other film?

The song as recorded by Sid Peltyn and his Orchestra (AKA "The New Yorkers")

The song as it appeared in the 1934 film "Hell's Fire". Sadly, the 35 elements for this film are missing (at least for the moment) and both 16mm prints (one B&W and the other color) are, until better turns up, incomplete - therefore the two are cobbled together to form a complete clip. Go here to see the full film. This particular version of "Hell's Bells" also incorporates the song "How Dry I Am".

Lastly, the song as it appeared (in lyrically truncated form)  in the classic Betty Boop cartoon "Red Hot Mamma".

Halloween: The Haunted House

Here's a fun tune ...

"The Haunted House" (1931, Ray Noble and the New Mayfair Orchestra)

"The Haunted House" (Disney,  1929)

"Midnight Frolics" (Charles Mintz/Ub Iwerks 1938)

"The Friendly Ghost" (Famous Studios, 1945)

Lonesome Ghosts (Disney, 1937)

"Krazy Spooks" (Charles Mintz, 1933)

"Spooks" (Ub Iwerks, 1932)

Halloween: A Song a Day

Just a little Halloween audio to get things started - in this case "Mysterious Mose" as recorded by Harry Reser and the Radio All-Stars. The song was issued in 1990 on an excellent compilation CD "Halloween Stomp" with cover artwork by Milton Knight. Man, I miss Jass Records!

Click here to see the song as performed by Betty.

The song, as recorded here, was also used for a strongly muppet influenced film here.

Also you can click here to hear the song as performed by Cliff Perrine & his Orch (but be warned - the visuals are kind of lame)

More Eye Magic!

Same nightmare ('Svengarlic' Krazy Kat, 1931), earlier scene  ...

"ha HAA ha HAA ha HAA"