After yesterday's torrential downpour, it was wonderful to look outside and see blue skies and blustery fall winds! Kicked off a spooky week with breakfast and Bugs Bunny's Howl-Oween Special. This is another collection of bits and pieces of Looney Tunes shorts, here revolving around Witch Hazel's pursuit of Bugs. Bugs does his best to avoid the cackling biddy and ending up on the short end of her broomstick, like Daffy and Speedy Gonzoles. Meanwhile, Sylvester deals with Tweety going back and forth between a tiny bird and a big, scary monster!
Did Raggedy Ann & Andy and the Pumpkin Who Couldn't Smile while cleaning the bathroom. This rare 1979 special is the second of two cartoons featuring the two dolls directed by Chuck Jones. The duo round up an unhappy pumpkin that's been abandoned and bring him to a lonely boy. The child has been forbidden to go trick-or-treating by his grumpy aunt. Having gotten the pumpkin to his new owners, Ann and Andy remind the aunt what Halloween was like during her childhood.
Had mid-afternoon work again today. It was on-and-off steady, but nothing worse than that. I did carts when I first arrived and gathered the outside trash at one point, but I once again spent most of the afternoon doing returns. (Though I did get stuck in the registers at a few points when a cashier needed to go to the bathroom, and later when another's relief was late.)
It was such a nice afternoon, I took the long way home down Nicholson. Fortunately, the repairs seem to be confined to the train bridge at the moment. Despite the heavy winds, the sun was warm, and the sky was a rich blue. Dodged rush hour traffic until I got to the hill into Oaklyn, where I admired the late-season sunflowers and brilliant gold and green leaves on the foliage.
Worked on my story when I got home. Rey instantly says that she'll go to the frog's home and stay with him in Luke's place. Leia insists on coming along. Luke felt dark magic around the lake and manor - not evil, but definitely dark. The queen wants to know more about these talking half-men, half-frogs. Jessika and Kaydel, hoping for a grand adventure, join them. Leia finally tells Kylo Ren she loves him, but won't have anything to do with him while he's involved with Snoke, before taking the girls to get ready for their journey.
Kylo Ren and his two friends complain to Snoke about Leia's refusal to allow her daughters to marry them. Kylo's worried that Leia may recognize the frog-men. Snoke's not as concerned. Their spells were strong...strong enough to get past Leia's own powers and keep their victims hidden from her.
Had a quick dinner of leftover chili, then tried a no-bake cocoa-peanut butter-oatmeal cookie recipe from a Hershey's baking cook book I found at a yard sale a while back. It ended up very thick and goopy, more like fudge, but still very tasty! Watched Halloween Is Grinch Night while eating dinner. When a sour sweet wind stirs up the local animal population and a lake, the noise sends the Grinch on the prowl with his cart filled of psychedelic scares to Whoville. After he gets lost in the mountains, little Eukeriah Who takes it on himself to make sure that the Grinch never gets down that path.
Did another horror episode of The Monkees while cleaning up from the candy. It's a "Monstrous Monkee Mash" during the mid-second season when a vampire and his daughter lure Davy to their castle. The other three go after him, but Micky and Peter are also trapped by the spooky duo. It's up to Mike Nesmith to make sure they all get out of the castle alive.
Switched to Young Frankenstein before and after my shower. Professor Fredrick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) is the grandson of the famous mad scientist, but he's not terribly proud of his family's weird heritage. It isn't until he inherits his grandfather's castle and laboratory and finds his diary that he considers creating a monster of his own. His assistant Igor (Marty Feldman) brings him an abnormal brain, making the creature (Peter Boyle) more of a fright than a friend. Fredrick has to teach the monster how to live in regular society, while dodging the hook-handed head of the local town (Kenneth Mars) and his prim fiancee (Madeline Khan).
One of Mel Brooks' best works gentles down the satire in favor of a hilarious homage to classic Universal horror movies. The evocative, spooky atmosphere is spot-on, including the use of the sets from the original Frankenstein movies. Wilder and Feldman are having a lot of fun as the only slightly mad scientists; Glenn Close is great as the imperturbable housekeeper Frou Bluker (whinny).
If you prefer your horror more atmospheric than bloody or are a fan of Mel Brooks' other movies, this is a personal favorite of mine and is highly recommended.
Finished the night with another gentle horror tale. The crew in the Hundred Acre Woods is gearing up for Halloween night in Boo to You Too, Winnie the Pooh! While Pooh's hoping to trick-or-treat for honey and Rabbit wishes everyone would stay out of his pumpkin patch, Piglet's scared to death of the very idea of Halloween. Pooh says they just won't do the holiday, but Tigger, Gopher, and Eeyore cry foul. Everyone finally bands together to prove to Piglet that Halloween is really nothing to be afraid of.
If you enjoyed Boo to You, here's some other vintage Halloween specials and shorts I've dug up on YouTube:
Boo To You, Winnie the Pooh!
The Halloween That Almost Wasn't
The Wickedest Witch
Buttons and Rusty In Which Witch is Which?
The Littles' Halloween
Disney's Silly Symphonies: The Skeleton Dance
Disney's Haunted Halloween (Educational Short)
Jack O' Lantern (Rankin Bass Festival of Family Classics)
Ub Iwerks at Columbia: Skeleton Frolic
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