Cartoons Archives - chimesfreedom

As a kid growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, Saturday mornings were always special. In those days before everything was available 24/7 on the Internet, kids had to wait until Saturday mornings to catch a string of mindless fun programs aimed at their age group.

I remember anticipating the new season of shows every year. I looked forward to waking up early on Saturdays, pouring myself a bowl of Quisp cereal, and sitting back in my own world of television. Occasionally, there were some lessons, such as in the Schoolhouse Rock segments, but mostly it was just for fun.

The following video compiles clips from Saturday morning cartoons and commercials. If you grew up during this time span, the video will bring back a lot of memories of your favorite shows, as well as memories of the toys you had and the ones you always wanted. Maybe you remember when the child Mason Reese was famous for his commercials, or maybe you remember The Hudson Brothers, or maybe you remember commercial catchphrases like “I’m the sole survivor!”

On the other hand, if you did not grow up during this time, the video will show you what we used to do in the old days. For example, before we had cell phones we had to play Spirograph and a game that shoved a pie in our faces. Check it out.

What is your favorite Saturday morning memories? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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Barbara Dane’s Cool Musical Legacy: “Wild Woman,” “Gasser,” “Hard-Hitter”

Joan Baez in Concert

I Heard Her Pray the Night Chicago Died

Happy Birthday Woody Woodpecker!

Take the 1966 Music Quiz

A Coen Brothers Movie About Dave Van Ronk?

(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

On November 25, 1940, Woody Woodpecker made his first appearance in an Andy Panda cartoon called “Knock Knock.” As a recent CBS Sunday Morning segment explained, Walter Lantz created the animated bird from inspiration from a woodpecker knocking on his roof.

I loved Woody Woodpecker when I was a kid. When we watched 8mm home movies, my dad had two non-family reels for the projector with one of the Three Stooges and one of Woody Woodpecker. Like home movies back then, they were silent, so we enjoyed the short films without Woody’s famous laugh, which was created by Mel Blanc and later voiced by Lantz’s wife Grace Stafford. I also had a toy where you looked in a viewfinder toward a light source and cranked a little roll of film so you could see part of an episode of a Woody Woodpecker short.

You do not see Woody Woodpecker around so much today, perhaps because Lantz stopped making new cartoons in 1972 or perhaps the abrasive Woody does not teach life lessons as do modern children’s characters. Still, I like to think that Woody did not make me obnoxious, and he gave me a lot of fun.

There have been reports of Woody Woodpecker movies in the works (albeit with a “modernized” version of the character). Update: In 2013, Illumination Entertainment signed animator Bill Kopp to work on a film about Woody Woodpecker, although as of 2016 the status of that possible Woody Woodpecker movie is unclear.

Another Woody Woodpecker movie will be released in October 2017 in Brazil., apparently because many classic cartoons are now more popular in other countries besides the U.S. That film may see some type of DVD release in the U.S.

For now, we will have to be satisfied with the real classic cartoons we can find on the Internet. Check out one below as you celebrate Woody’s birthday.