Author Archives: dcaligari

May 15, 1928 –Plane Crazy was the first animated cartoon to feature Mickey Mouse as well as Minnie Mouse (Mickey’s girlfriend). The short was co-directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. Iwerks was also the main animator for this short and reportedly spent six weeks working on it. Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising were creditedContinue reading “First Mickey Mouse cartoon produced by Walt Disney”

May 15, 1943 – The Merrie Melodies short, Greetings Bait, directed by Friz Freleng, debuted on this date. This short was nominated for an Academy Award in 1944, but lost to the Tom and Jerry cartoon The Yankee Doodle Mouse.

May 15, 1943 –The Looney Tunes short, Tokio Jokio, (a propaganda short during World War II,) directed by Norman McCabe, debuted on this date. The cartoon is no longer shown due to its offensive racist depictions. The character “Lord Haw Haw” was a caricature of a real person. William Joyce, an American-born Nazi propagandist whoContinue reading “Tokio Jokio premiered”

May 15, 1937 –The Looney Tunes short, Porky and Gabby, directed by Ub Iwerks, starry Porky Pig and Gabby the Goat (in his first appearance,) debuted on this date. This is the first time Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones are assistant directors. Eventually after Ub Iwerks left Warner Bros. Cartoons, Clampett took his place asContinue reading “Porky and Gabby premiered”

May 15, 1993 –Janet Jackson’s (Miss Jackson, if you’re nasty,) single, That’s The Way Love Goes, goes to #1 on this date. It remains No. 1 for eight weeks – longer than any other single by either Janet or her famous brother. James Brown demanded approval of the lyrics before he would allow Janet toContinue reading “That’s The Way Love Goes topped the charts”

Today is National Chicken Dance Day – Although I’m sure that Werner Thomas, the creator of the original Chicken Dance music ( Der Ententanz (The Duck Dance)) never had Beyoncé’s dancing in mind

May 14, 1960 – The Merrie Melodies short, Hyde and Go Tweet, directed by Friz Freleng, starring Sylvester and Tweety, debuted on this date. Sylvester breaks the fourth wall when he asks the audience if he has a choice whether to jump or not..

May 14, 1949 – The Merrie Melodies short, The Bee-Deviled Bruin, directed by Chuck Jones, starring The Three Bears, debuted on this date. Junyer Bear is modeled after the character Lennie, from the story and film Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.

May 14, 1938 – The Merrie Melodies short, Now That Summer Is Gone, directed by Frank Tashlin, debuted on this date. It would make sense that squirrels would save their nuts at the First ‘Nut’ional Bank – an obvious play on First National Bank.

May 14, 1999 – A lavish rendition of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Michael Hoffman, and starring Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer and Rupert Everett, Stanley Tucci, Calista Flockhart, Anna Friel, Christian Bale, and Dominic West, opened on this date. Although it appears to be an idyllic location, the shoot was anything but.Continue reading “A Midsummer Night’s Dream premiered”