Author Archives: dcaligari

August 17, 1963 – The Merrie Melodies short, Chili Weather, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Speedy Gonzales and Sylvester the Cat, was released on this date. Most of the Guadalajara Food Processing Plant factory footage where vegetables are processed consists of recycled animation from I Gopher You.

August 17, 1957 –The Merrie Melodies short, Ducking the Devil, directed by Bob McKimson, and starring Daffy Duck, and the Tasmanian Devil, was released on this date. The only cartoon in the Golden Age of American Animation where Taz is not paired with Bugs Bunny.

August 17, 1946 – The Looney Tunes short, Of Thee I Sting, directed by Friz Freleng, was released on this date. Bugs Bunny appears on a mosquito fighter as a mascot. WW2 era bombers were similarly adorned with illustrations and names.

August 17, 1935 – The Merrie Melodies short, The Merry Old Soul, directed by Friz Freleng, was released on this date. This short was likely inspired by the Disney cartoon released two years prior, which featured Old King Cole and characters from Mother Goose. Studio borrowing was common at the time.

The term Cat Night harks back to a rather obscure old Irish legend concerning witches and the belief that a witch could turn herself into a cat eight times, but on the ninth time (August 17), she couldn’t regain her human form. This bit of folklore also gives us the saying, “A cat has nineContinue reading “Today is known as Cat Night”

August 17, 1979 – Handmade Films released the classic religious satire film, Monty Python’s Life of Brian in the US on this date. Originally financed by EMI, which backed out because it considered the script blasphemous. The Pythons sued EMI and settled out of court. George Harrison, a huge Monty Python fan, thought it wasContinue reading “He’s a very, very naughty boy”

August 17, 1960 –A great George Pal sci-fi classic, The Time Machine was released on this date. George Pal wanted the disk on the machine to spin clockwise for travel into the future and counter-clockwise for travel into the past. Due to the way the mechanism was built it was deemed too expensive and time-consumingContinue reading “The Time Machine opened”

Each year on August 16th, many people at amusement parks and theme parks across the country participating in National Roller Coaster Day which is celebrated on this date. J.G. Taylor received one of the earliest patents (US patent #128,674) for an inclined railway in 1872. In 1878, Richard Knudsen received a patent (US #198,888) forContinue reading “If you don’t get on the ride, you won’t experience the adventure.”

August 16, 1985 –The comedy, Volunteers, directed by Nicholas Meyer, and starring Tom Hanks, John Candy, and Rita Wilson, opened in the US on this date. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson met for the second time while filming this movie. Wilson originally met Hanks in 1981 on the set of Bosom Buddies when she guest-starredContinue reading “Volunteers premiered”

August 16, 1940 –The first of Alfred Hitchcock’s war-time thrillers, Foreign Correspondent, starring Joel McCrea, Laraine Day and Herbert Marshall, premiered on this date. Producer Walter Wanger and Alfred Hitchcock clashed repeatedly during shooting. Wanger kept wanting to have the script re-written with every news story reporting changes in the European situation. Hitchcock, who hatedContinue reading “they’re the only lights left in the world!”