The Blob Show!

Tony gets emotional in the time of COVID-19 talking The Muppets with Charley who, despite Tony's protests, has shown little affection for the felt troupe.  We also make a triumphant return to the format discussing Muppet Babies in a Blob Bites segment of episode "Invasion of the Muppet Snackers."

In this latest installment of Charley-On-Charlie, we cover the the 1928 Chaplin film THE CIRCUS and its similarities to the 1984 Konami action arcade game CIRCUS CHARLIE (サーカスチャーリー, Sākasu Chārī) as ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System (1986).  We haven't watched the kid one yet.

A special Charley-on-Charlie episode of The Blob Show in which Charley discusses Charlie Chaplin's 1925 film The Gold Rush and the potential of a Charlie Chaplin-themed birthday party next month.

Happy New Year from The Blob Show!  This week Charley and Tony give the full scoop on some of the important animated features of 2020.  We're talking Aardman; we're talking Pixar; we're talking WolfWalkers; we're drafting Lupin's crew.

Films discussed: A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (2019), Shaun the Sheep (2014), Soul (2020), Inside Out (2015), Onward (2020), Over the Moon (2020), Up (2009), Gnome Alone (2017), Lupin III: The First (2019), WolfWalkers (2020), The Secret of Kells (2009), Song of the Sea (2014).

On this sixth day of Christmas, Charley and Tony cover the 1926 Robert F. McGowan Our Gang short Good Cheer and NBC's animated The Little Rascals' Christmas Special directed by Charles Swenson and Fred Wolf in 1979.  This is followed, at Charley's suggestion, by a completely impromptu countdown of our six favorite Christmas films which turns out much smoother than expected.  

Films discussed: Good Cheer (1926), Gremlins (1984), The Little Rascals' Christmas Special (1979), "The Little Rascals" (1955), Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1977), The Shop Around the Corner (1940), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Remember the Night (1940), The Grinch (2018), A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), Frozen (2013), Batman Returns (1992), It Chapter Two (2019), Joker (2019), "PJ Masks": Gekko's Nice Ice Plan (2015), Black Christmas (1974), WolfWalkers (2020), Babes in Toyland (1934), Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983), "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse": Mickey Saves Santa (2006).

From all of us to all of you

The Bird Show returns with a look at the 19th Century lithographs produced/commissioned by British ornithologist John Gould of birds featured in the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas".

Pieces discussed include:

·Mute Swan, Birds of Great Britain Pl. 289 by Joseph Wolf, 1862

·Red-breasted Goose, Birds of Europe Pl. 351 by Edward Lear, 1832-1837

·Black Ouzel, or Blackbird, Birds of Europe Pl. 72 by Elizabeth Gould, 1832-1837

·Grey Junglefowl, Birds of Asia Vol. 7 Pl. 66 by William Matthew Hart, 1877 

·Turtle Dove, Birds of Europe Pl. 246 by Elizabeth Gould, 1832-1837

·Barbary Partridge, Greek Partridge, Birds of Europe Pl. 261 by Gould/Lear 1832-1837

Charley and Tony are joined by special guest and frequently-referenced member of the Blob Show family, Uncle Marky to discuss one of his childhood Yuletide fears: Joe Dante's GREMLINS.  This is a rare film that scratches every Blob Show itch: it is structured like THE BLOB, references THE WIZARD OF OZ, is full of practical effect creatures with a strong in-world mythology, and is seasonally appropriate to boot!

Charley gets introduced to the comedic power duo Laurel and Hardy through their 1934 Christmas feature BABES IN TOYLAND aka MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS.  Charley has some very strong feelings as to whether this qualifies as a Christmas film, and Tony waxes nostalgic for his introduction to Stan and Ollie at a young age.  We also draft nursery rhyme characters, sort of.

Charley and Tony cover the nearly-forgotten stop-motion animation films of Snap The Gingerbread Man created by John Burton at Kinex Studios for distribution to in-home subscribers to the Kodak Cinegraph service.  It's likely these pictures never screened theatrically or on television, but that can't snap the Blob Show from its comprehensive gingerbread coverage.

Films covered in the program:

IN WILDEST AFRICA or WILDEST AFRICA

THE MOON SPECIAL

MUSH ON

THE WITCH'S CAT

CLIMBING THE ALPS

THE CANNIBAL ISLE

HINDU MAGIC