Quick Draw McGraw Heads to Blu-Ray

Before you say anything, I'll answer both the questions you're probably thinking. Yes, you are reading that headline right, and no, this isn't a late April Fools joke. After literal decades of fan demand, Quick Draw McGraw will make its home video debut on September 29th. 

The set will retail for $40, and, as the packaging mentions, includes all 45 half-hour episodes, newly remastered for this release. That means that not only do you get the entirety of Quick Draw McGraw, but also Snooper and Blabber and Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy as well. This will also include a featurette titled "The Good, The Bad, and The El-Kabong", which was previously seen on the "Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1960's Volume One" DVD set. These sets were also the only time episodes of Quick Draw had been released up to this point, funnily enough.

If you've followed this blog or other HB-centric sites like Yowp's blog, you're probably more than aware of the issues that got in the way of previous attempts at bringing Quick Draw McGraw to home video. There were several reasons, music licensing being the main culprit, but it looks like those problems have finally been solved. It's kinda wild to me, but in a good way. When this blog started, the idea we'd get something like this or Huckleberry Hound released on Blu-Ray seemed like a pipe dream. Now, just a few years later, both of those have become reality. I once again tip my hat to the wonderful guys at Warner Archive, who I'm sure worked their hardest to get both of these projects off the ground. I cannot wait to get my hands on this, and I'm excited to see what they have in store for the future. 

Video of the Week: George Jetson Battles Heartburn

 It seems like The Jetsons had a solution to all the problems of modern life. Or, almost all of them. You'd think heartburn would be a thing of the past, but according to today's video, apparently not. 

This advertisement for Tums QuikPaks aired in 2008, and features George Jetson needing one such pack after eating a nasty chili dog capsule. An admittedly strange premise for a commercial, but the clip itself sports some very nice, albeit a bit stiff, animation that feels right at home with the original series. I also can't speak for everyone, but I recall seeing this one all the time on TV back then. Anyone else feel the same?

Lunch with Yogi and Friends

 Cartoon stars are definitely one of the staples of lunch box designs, and the Hanna-Barbera roster is no exception. There's been a great many releases over the years, but I think my favorite has to be this collection American Specialty Confections released in 1999. These boxes, which were labeled as "Cartoon Network Classics", contained unique candy mixes, as well as a unique design for each box. So let's go through some of these, shall we?

Starting off strong, we have a lunch box decorated with characters you don't often see in merchandise, Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks. The art itself is pretty standard stock art of the guys, but it's still cool to see them in more recent merchandise. If you count 1999 as recent, that is.

Next up is Snagglepuss, whose lunch box is quite literally a star-studded one. I dig the color scheme on this one, and once again, it's a character who you don't see too often in collectables, so it's a welcome addition to the roster.

Third in this set is a Magilla Gorilla centric one. The box features artwork of Magilla, Ogee, Mr. Peebles, and the pet shop. This is also the first one to sport the aforementioned "Cartoon Network Classics" branding. I don't know why only some of these have that distinction, but it's interesting nonetheless.

Yogi Bear is an obvious character to use on a lunch box, so unsurprisingly, there was a Yogi one. I love how the color scheme here feels similar to a picnic basket, but something about Yogi's expression unnerves me. Am I alone on that?

Last but not least, here's the lunch box produced for Quick Draw McGraw. Both Quick Draw and Baba Looey are present in this design, and as far as I know, the art for them here is unique to this lunch box. Maybe it's been used elsewhere, but this is the first I've seen it. 

The Man Called Flintstone Print Ads

 This last Friday, Cartoon Research's Michael Lyons wrote a fantastic retrospective on The Man Called Flintstone, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this month. I highly recommend checking it out, which you can do right here. I contributed some of my own thoughts about the movie to this post, and because of that, I figured I should have a little something to celebrate the film here. So, without any further introductions, here are some great newspaper advertisements for The Man Called Flintstone during its initial release in 1966.

This first piece advertises the flick at a couple different drive-ins found in New York. It proudly touts this as the Flintstones' first full-length movie, and that it has seven hit songs. Can't say I agree with the latter, but to each his own.

Here's a second, more simplistic advertisement for the movie. This time, instead of having seven hit songs, they mention the film having seven great new songs. This is just me, but I feel like you can't be both in this case.

These next ads are more like a two-in-one deal. The two encourage audiences to both laugh it up and down with the Flintstone family. I particularly like the second one's mention of Fred as a secret agent being a shock. Maybe in the first season or so, but considering they straight-up went to the future at this point, it's not too big of a leap.

Video of the Week: Hanna-Barbera on Home Video

 Before they came to Blu-Ray, before they came to DVD, there were the Hanna-Barbera VHS releases, brought to you courtesy of Hanna-Barbera Home Video. The division only lasted a few years before being phased out in favor of the Cartoon Network Video branding, but they released over thirty different VHS tapes in that time. 

Near the end of their run, this commercial appeared on UK tapes of Hanna-Barbera cartoons and other Turner productions. It's a really fun, very nineties sizzle reel showing off many of the most popular Hanna-Barbera characters and series. Check out this fun time capsule below!

Hanna-Barbera Welcomes The Jetsons

The Jetsons, another great new series launched by Hanna-Barbera. So says this 1962 print ad the studio put out in promotion of the series. This would've been found in trade magazines of the time, and features the future family flying in, while Yogi, Quick Draw, Huckleberry Hound, and the Flintstones all wave in support. Unsurprisingly, it looks like Top Cat wasn't invited to the occasion. T.C. or no T.C., it's a great little ad, and it's always fascinating to see how these shows were promoted in their formative years. 

Janet Waldo Looks Back

Here's quite the find. From 2002, here is a two-page interview with Janet Waldo that appeared in the magazine Animerica. For those who don't know, Animerica was a magazine that ran from 1992 to 2005, that covered anything and everything anime. As you may expect, the focus of this interview is primarily on Waldo's work on Battle of the Planets, the American version of the anime Gatchaman that aired in the late seventies. 

That being said, there's also a lot of great discussion about other parts of Waldo's career. She discusses more recent work like King of the Hill, her thoughts on the live-action Josie and the Pussycats film, and other, often understated animated roles she took on in her career. As great as Judy Jetson is, this interview is worth reading just to see her other credits get some much needed spotlight.