Stan Freberg, Comedy Pioneer, Passes Away

vienna · 04-09-15, 01:21 PM

I thought "Dragonet" was in the list; my mistake. Steve, I kinda thought you, of all people on the forums, would be a Freberg fan. When I first came to LA on vacation in 1961/62, I was introduced to the anarchic world of "Beany & Cecil", a show billed as a children's cartoon and puppet show; it was way more than that and was way more sly, in an adult way, than any mere kid's show. It was rather like "Rocky & Bullwinkle": a show the kids could enjoy and the adults could understand on a whole other level. Here is a clip of Cecil, the Seasick Sea Serpent (voiced by Freberg), singing a song accompanied by a puppet version of "President Harry Truman" playing piano:

Here's a clip of the cartoon version of "Beany", written by and with the voice of Freberg as Cecil, where they poke fun at "Davy Crockett":

Besides Daws Butler, Freberg collaborated with a large number of character actors, such as Jessie White, who was a staple of early television.

More info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Freberg

I don't know if it's just me, but it seems like an awful lot of "kid's shows" in those early day of television were more adult, socially, and politically aware than the cartoon 'infomercials' inflicted on kids today. I know I learned a lot about current events, culture and politics from a lot of those early shows...

<O>

04-09-15, 01:21 PM	#3
vienna Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Anywhere but the here & now... Posts: 7,726 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	I thought "Dragonet" was in the list; my mistake. Steve, I kinda thought you, of all people on the forums, would be a Freberg fan. When I first came to LA on vacation in 1961/62, I was introduced to the anarchic world of "Beany & Cecil", a show billed as a children's cartoon and puppet show; it was way more than that and was way more sly, in an adult way, than any mere kid's show. It was rather like "Rocky & Bullwinkle": a show the kids could enjoy and the adults could understand on a whole other level. Here is a clip of Cecil, the Seasick Sea Serpent (voiced by Freberg), singing a song accompanied by a puppet version of "President Harry Truman" playing piano: Here's a clip of the cartoon version of "Beany", written by and with the voice of Freberg as Cecil, where they poke fun at "Davy Crockett": Besides Daws Butler, Freberg collaborated with a large number of character actors, such as Jessie White, who was a staple of early television. More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Freberg I don't know if it's just me, but it seems like an awful lot of "kid's shows" in those early day of television were more adult, socially, and politically aware than the cartoon 'infomercials' inflicted on kids today. I know I learned a lot about current events, culture and politics from a lot of those early shows... <O> __________________ __________________________________________________ __