Began the morning with a quick breakfast and a spooky Disney short, Runaway Brain. Mickey's last theatrical short for nearly 20 years has him answering an add for a job where he can earn a thousand dollars for a day of "mindless work." Turns out that "mindless work" is literal when a mad scientist switches Mickey's brain for that of his Pete-like monster. Now Mickey has to get his body back and make sure a love-sick monster doesn't try to make off with Minnie.
Did a little writing for an hour after breakfast. They arrive in the busy town, but have to figure out what to do with Bill. Brett finally admonishes him to stay with them. Richard says he'll give out the money while the others wait for his boys and try to find out what happened to the Wizard Gene. Brett says he was imprisoned in the woods, but the black magic in the forest is blocking hers.
Had a very fast lunch while getting ready for work and watching a few horror-themed Popeye Famous Studios shorts. Popeye and Olive are "Spooky Swabs" when they find themselves on an abandoned ship occupied by ghosts who definitely don't want them there! It's a "Fright to the Finish" on Halloween when Bluto convinces Olive that Popeye was the one playing tricks on her. Popeye doesn't need spinach to get him back, just vanishing cream. He claims that "I Don't Scare," but Bluto has no problems spooking superstitious Olive.
Thankfully after all the trouble yesterday, work was mostly fine. I did have to deal with a few too many orders at once later in the day, but I spent most of the earlier part of the afternoon outside with the carts and outside trash and recycling. It was quiet early in the afternoon, and no wonder. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, sunny, bright, and warm, in the mid-60's. It didn't really pick up until rush hour.
I dashed home just in time to use the last roll for a salmon sandwich with one of the salmon patties, spinach, and fried orange pepper strips. Watched Scooby Doo on Zombie Island while I ate, and later as I cleaned up from dinner. Daphne is now a TV reporter with her own talk show, and Fred is her cameraman. She's hoping to find a real, actual, non-masked ghost down in the wilds of Louisiana. Fred invites the rest of the gang along to help. They all run into a lot more supernatural phenomenon than they bargained for when a young Cajun woman invites them to Moonscar Island, which she claims is really haunted. Turns out the "ghosts" are zombies who give them a warning to leave. They, however, aren't the real menace here. While Velma suspects the surly gardener at the plantation, Shaggy and Scooby discover more sinister forces at work on Moonscar Island...no masks involved.
The first Scooby Doo direct-to-home-media movie, and one of the few to play the horror for genuine scares, rather than entirely for laughs. The zombies and monsters really are scary, and their backstory is actually pretty tragic. A sequel just came out; I hope it's as good as this one.
Finished the night with another, more comic animated horror tale, Daffy Duck's Quackbusters. After he inherits money from a financier whom he made laugh, Daffy uses it to open a ghost hunter business. Porky, Sylvester, and Bugs all join in, chasing vampires, mouse ghosts, mini elephants, and an Abominable Snowman who is determined to use them as toys. Meanwhile, the financier proves you can take it with you when he depletes Daffy's vault every time he mistreats one of the other Tunes or engages in unethical practices.
If you can overlook the differences between Mel Blanc's voice in the older material and the shorts made directly for the film, the last of the Looney Tunes compilation films is one of the best. The older shorts are almost as funny as the originals, especially the bizarre opening with Daffy singing (in Mel Torme's voice) to almost every famous monster of filmdom. If you love horror spoofs or the Tunes, this one is worth checking out.
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