Author Archives: dcaligari

August 27, 1938 – The Looney Tunes short, Wholly Smoke, directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Porky Pig, was released on this date. This is the final Looney Tunes cartoon that Frank Tashlin directed during his first stint at the studio (and thus his old unit that would later be given to Chuck Jones), asContinue reading “Wholly Smoke premiered”

August 27, 1949 – The Looney Tunes short, The Windblown Hare, directed by Bob McKimson and starring Bugs Bunny, was released on this date. The three little pigs from this cartoon would reappear with different voices in The Turn-Tale Wolf, once again as the aggressors, this time picking on another Big Bad Wolf.

August 27, 1955 –The Looney Tunes short, Hyde and Hare, directed by Friz Freleng and starring Bugs Bunny, was released on this date. Bugs pays tribute to the piano-playing entertainer Liberace before starting to play Frédéric Chopin’s Minute Waltz. Note the candelabra on the piano, a Liberace trademark. He also says (a la Liberace), “IContinue reading “Hyde and Hare premiered”

August 27, 1966 –The Beach Boys’ single, God Only Knows peaked at No.2 on the UK singles chart. Surprisingly, it only managed to scrape the Top 40 in the United States. That’s because it was released as a B-side, partly because of fear that radio stations would refuse to play a song with “God” inContinue reading “You never need to doubt it”

August 26, 1972 –Looking Glass‘ single Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl) hit No. 1 on this date. This was not typical of the band’s sound, which caused a problem at concerts. While audiences expected pop songs like this one, the Looking Glass played rock, which left the crowds disappointed. The band broke up less thanContinue reading “I apologize for the earworm”

August 26, 1939 – The Merrie Melodies short, Detouring America, directed by Tex Avery, was released on this date. This cartoon was nominated for an Academy Award in 1940, making it the second Warner Bros. cartoon to get a nomination, and the first color cartoon from the studio to be nominated.

August 23, 1933 – The Merrie Melodies short, We’re in the Money, directed by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, was released on this date. The final Warner Bros. cartoon to be produced by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising.

August 26, 1944 – The Looney Tunes short, Buckaroo Bugs, directed by Bob Clampett and starring Bugs Bunny, was released on this date. This was Bugs Bunny’s second appearance in the Looney Tunes series. His first was a short cameo in Porky Pig’s Feat, though not in a starring role, therefore making “Buckaroo Bugs” hisContinue reading “Buckaroo Bugs premiered”

August 26, 1957 –The Hammer horror film The Abominable Snowman (US title: The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas), directed by Val Guest and starring Forrest Tucker (the man who go head-to-head with Uncle Miltie in a match-up) and Peter Cushing opened in the UK on this date. The film is based on The Creature, aContinue reading “The Abominable Snowman premiered”

August 26, 1968 –Warner Bros.-Seven Arts released Paul Newman’s directorial debut, Rachel, Rachel, starring Joanne Woodward, Estelle Parsons, James Olson, and Geraldine Fitzgerald on ths date. The production was a small-scale one, with a small budget (reportedly only $700,000) but it eventually emerged as quite a big moneymaker, as well as being one of theContinue reading “Rachel, Rachel opened”