Author Archives: dcaligari

July 16, 1976 –The Universal sports comedy (produced by Motown Productions,) The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings, directed by John Badham (in his directorial debut), and starring Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones, Richard Pryor, Stan Shaw, and Tony Burton, was released on this date. Richard Pryor’s character pretends to be Cuban toContinue reading “The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings premiered”

July 15, 1949 – The Merrie Melodies short, Knights Must Fall, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Bugs Bunny, was released on this date. Bugs calls Sir Pants A Lot a new Dick Tracy character, Accordion Head. This is a nod to the unusual array of folks appearing in the popular comic strip.

July 15, 1964 – The Looney Tunes short, False Hare, directed by Bob McKimson, and starring Bugs Bunny, was released on this date. This is the final Bugs Bunny short released during the classic Warner Bros. Cartoon period.

July 16, 1977 –The Commodores‘single Easy was No. 1 on the R&B Billboard Charts on this date. Commodores lead singer Lionel Richie wrote this song, which became a crossover hit for the band, bringing them into pop and adult contemporary territory when they were previously pure funk. This led to more soft hits for theContinue reading “Know it sounds funny …”

A group of giraffes is called a tower. Given that giraffes are the tallest animals on Earth, this is one of the more accurate collective nouns in the English language.

July 15 1956 –Although not in the same league as Plan 9 from Outer Space, It Conquered the World was released upon an unsuspecting public on this date. (American International released the film on a double bill with The She-Creature.) Though the film was later featured and mocked on an episode of Mystery Science TheaterContinue reading “I’ll see you in Hell first!”

July 15, 1988 –The film that made Bruce Willis a star, Die Hard, co-starring Alan Rickman, and Bonnie Bedelia opened in limited release in the US on this date. Only a couple of the actors who played the German terrorists were actually German and only a couple more could speak broken German. The actors wereContinue reading “It may or may not be a Christmas movie”

July 15, 1939 – The Looney Tunes short, Porky’s Picnic, directed by Bob Clampett, and starring Porky Pig, was released on this date. This short is the first appearance of Petunia Pig not directed by Frank Tashlin; however, she had been originally scheduled to appear in Porky’s Party and had a visual cameo debuting herContinue reading “Porky’s Picnic premiered”

July 15, 1939 – The Merrie Melodies short, Dangerous Dan McFoo, directed by Tex Avery, was released on this date. Tex Avery would later do another parody of The Shooting of Dan McGrew at MGM called The Shooting of Dan McGoo, which starred Droopy as the mild-mannered canine protagonist, Slick Wolf as the lecherous antagonist,Continue reading “Dangerous Dan McFoo premiered”

July 15, 1944 – The Looney Tunes short, Brother Brat, directed by Frank Tashlin, and starring Porky Pig, was released on this date. Porky wears pants in this cartoon, something he did not wear in most of his other cartoons.