That of course would be Travelodge and its long running character Sleepy Bear
Wikipedia: Sleepy is "a half awake teddy bear wearing a sleeping cap with his name, a robe with the Travelodge logo, and slippers. Some time ago, Travelodge would give a free toy plush bear to any child staying in the Sleepy Bear Den room"
The inspirations are obvious--besides being a cuddly furry animal, and the teddy bears kids have in their rooms, you have the concept of hibernation and also the "who's been sleeping in MY bed?" bit from the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Hibernation pops up in some TV cartoons; in Depatie Freleng's The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas (1973;
on YouTube), a bruin named Ted E Bear journeys to a human city to find Christmas even though he really should be hibernating. The Buttons and Rusty holiday specials show the bear (and fox) family going into or getting out of that long winter's nap. And one comic strip from KEVIN AND KELL
shows a bear couple, the Ursals, waking up after hibernation and contacting Tech Support to help download their emails, etc.
Another old cartoon, Santa and the Three Bears (1970) has two young and frisky cubs encountering Santa even though their (single mother) Mama Bear wants them to just hibernate, already.
Anyway, Travelodge (have stayed at the Burlington VT location, though it may be another chain now?) associates cute cuddly teddy bears with families looking for restful sleep after a long journey...
With a son and nephew (Ash and Kristofferson) learning to appreciate each other; a piano playing mole; Willem Dafoe-voiced security rat; Bill Murray's lawyer/badger; a fast talking rabbit chef and rabid beagles (don't forget the blueberries! Beagles love blueberries.) Visually looks great (would have to watch again to catch various in jokes, etc) and it was funny.
Enjoyed.
Whistle, click-click. That's my trademark.
Did a lot of driving, spent a lot of money, had a lot of fun.
Sat.--drove up to Manchester, where I would be flying from the next day. Saw telephone museum, ate out at a couple fave restaurants, and saw minor league baseball--the hometown
Fisher Cats won
Sun--flew to Nashville then drove to Memphis. Ate at a Corky's BBQ, headed down to Horn Lake MS to check into motel,
then into Memphis to enjoy a little Beale Street blues (great band at Rum Boogie)
Mon--went to a Mississippi River museum at Tunica next to the casinos, then drove to Clarksdale, home to blues greats like John Lee Hooker. Ate lunch at Ground Zero Blues Club
(BBQ) then saw the Delta Blues Museum and shopped at Cat Head records. Drove briefly into Helena, AR, and saw another blues museum; Helena has seen better days...dinner back
in Clarksdale at Abe's BBQ
Tue--drove to Indianola and saw the BB King museum.
Nice lunch next door at the Gin Mill (Kielbasa sandwich,
cole slaw, moon pie dessert) then drove toward Jackson.
After checking into my motel I headed to Vicksburg--
saw Coca Cola memorabilia museum, had a nice dinner,
then went briefly across the line into Louisiana so I could say I've been there!
Wed--To Tupelo by way of Canton (saw museum devoted
to memorabilia from the movie My Dog Skip--many movies have been filmed in that town). Mid afternoon, saw
Elvis' birthplace and a nice car museum. Dinner at an
O'Charley's--nice chain down there. (They have happy
hour, 2 for 1 beers)
Today--an early start; drove very scenic Natchez Trace
Parkway up to Nashville then flew from there to New
Hampshire by way of Baltimore, then drove home. Whew!
Along the way I experienced blues culture, the Deep South,
BBQ food, nice scenery, etc! It was a little hot but the car
had good AC and not as humid as you'd think.
So...I'm back.
One of these days I'll have to do a series of FURRY BLUES
LEGENDS drawings. A natural one would be Howlin Wolf
(Chester Burnett), who was 300 pounds of heavenly joy...
and had so many blues standards as hits. The Wolf!
Anthrocon trip day 6
Last full day; tomorrow I fly back
Morning: breakfast buffet at the hotel rest. then 2 panels by Joe Harris about Underdog, Trix Rabbit, etc. Asked a bunch of questions and bought a book about Total Television Prod. from his daughter. Fascinating stuff!
A quick lasagna wrap at Furnando's, back to hotel to cool off, and the end of the Toonseum panel on Top Anthro Characters of All Time. This is a part of the Pitt. Children's Museum on the North Shore; will have to check out next year. Right now they have an exhibit on Harvey Comics on loan from Cartoon Art Museum in San Fran--but I saw that already at the CAM last year.
A quick look in a Fluff N Such's Invasion of the Body Stockings production then the hilarious benefit performance by Kage and 2...and finally closing ceremonies. 3776 attendees this yr,
640 in the fursuit parade!
Then a leisurely burger repast at the Steel City Diner with my roomies plus Slothpuck etc. Now getting ready for trip back,
Post con depression,
Till next Year...
Anthrocon trip day 7
I didn't cover yesterday, did I? Monday? Well, we checked out of the hotel after settling a billing snafu, then I headed to the airport. As there was little traffic I actually had time to do the breakfast buffet at the Eat N Park again. Then when going thru the security line, the guy doing the X-raying called some co-workers over and started to snicker and chuckle. There it was...right on the X ray of my black bag...a raccoon doll. A 47 yr old man with a raccoon plushie! Yes, they could tell I was a furry! I just smiled and thought of the $3 million in revenue
we brought the city.
Pitt. to Baltimore, Balt. to Manchester (picked up car), then from
there to home. It will take me awhile to catch up.
Rain outside today here back home. Ugh. Oh as for the pictures: be aware I'm a horrible photographer and I buy $7 disposable cameras. The pic in the Buca di Beppo (Pope Room)
was too dark to post. I could upload more but do you really want a pic of the outside of the Carnegie Museum? Shots of
the football and baseball stadia?
Another trip coming next week: Memphis and the Mississippi Delta
Not too bad. Not more rain! But it seems to be over now. We got back to the hotel, rested a while,
and got our Con books, etc. by mid-afternoon.
The Buca di Beppo dinner is at 5:30; we will walk 20 min to go there.
My roomies may go to a room party tonight. I may just rest up and read the Con material.
We had huge fun at the Buca! 18 people went and we had lots of laughs, delicious food and drink, and good times. Thanks very much to Joatman for all his help! I talked with him as we both walked back to the hotel...nice guy.
May go to "Absent Friends" panel tonight 9-11...
Just looked thru schedule...so much good stuff! Tomorrow's includes Kage's Story Hour, Anthropoly (game show), a Joe Harris (UNDERDOG) panel or two, "How to talk to the public about furry" and more
Day 4
Whoa another busy day.Breakfast at the hotel restaurant, the Bigelow Grille (pretty good). I drove the two roomies down to the Monongahela Incline and we got a quick ride up and a nice look down at the city--then came rains again but only for a minute...Saw opening ceremonies then walked down Ft Duquese Blvd. to Point State Park for free show by blues band Mahajibee (I play them on my radio show). Enjoyed! Then went to point area and looked across at Heinz Field. Walked down Liberty Ave to get back to the Con.
Saw panel about how to properly tell others about furry. Underdog/Trix Rabbit creator Joe Harris was late due to an airline snafu; no panel from him but he did get to the hotel by 3:30 and he was welcomed by many furs, plus someone in an Underdog costume! Looked around dealer's room then joined the roomies for a nice Chinese buffet at nearby Golden Palace. Nice pork, hot and sour soup, etc. $9.95 incl drinks.
7 pm was Anthroconopoly and Uncle Kage's Story Hour (funny) followed at 8:30...Kage was introduced by The Late Billy Mays, talking about a new product that would bring you back to life! (And Mays was from Pitt. area...)
Now back to hotel. 2 more days of the Con then leaving Monday!
Day 5
Another awesome day! Began with brkfst at Steel City Diner then a 10 am -11:30 am panel, Joe Harris,, etc. on Sat Morning Cartoon memories. Lots of background on Underdog and I mentioned the panic over the fact that he was taking power pills--thus leading youth astray on subject of pill popping! So it got edited out. He doesn't have control of U-Dog and had nothing to do with the Disney-dist. movie but told some funny stories surrounding it, etc.
Lunch was Golden Palace again tho no buffet, just dumplings, hot n sour soup, and lo mein--but good again. Afternoon brought a Poink and Ezra pawpet show and dinner was a quick bite at Cody's, followed by THE. BEST. MASQUERADE. EVER!
Some hilarious acts (Furry Translator; poking fun at FurAffinity and yes they were in on it) good music and dance and some patriotic moments as well.
Would have gone to 2 but line was stretching for miles.Preferred seeing fireworks from top of conv center--unbelievably awesome! Oh and there was the matter of the fursuit parade earlier...640 of them!
Maybe I should move here. I love Pittsburgh!
This morning a nice breakfast at the Steel City Diner then I drove my 2 roomies to Oakland where we saw the Carnegie Mus of Natural History. More rain tho it seems to be over now. Got our Con books etc...and headed out (walking) to Buca di Beppo. A great time--superb food and drink and low priced (one gentleman paid for drinks for the _18_ of us so it came to a very low price! FUN time. Now I'm relaxing here because next 3 days will be hectic. Some panels will include Underdog creator Joe Harris (he gave us the Trix Rabbit too), "how to talk to others about furry", the Fluff n Such videos, puppeteering, Sat. morning cartoon memories and much more. Fursuit parade with a July 4th theme on Saturday.
TUE 6/30--flew from Manchester NH to Philadelphia but my plane was stuck on tarmac in Phil.for an hour due to weather issues to the west. Finally got to Pit by 4 pm and checked into the hotel in 'Moon' (tonite only). Took a drive west on US 30 and then veered off into Raccoon Creek State Park. Beautiful--nice lake. Only there briefly--I have never been in West Virginia so I headed west again...nice scenery. A bit of a hillbilly feel...Then mere minutes later, I'm in Ohio! So I headed back, grabbing dinner at the Hoss' steakhouse nr my motel (been there before--burgers, steaks, and a huge salad/soup/dessert bar that comes with the meal.
Now relaxing, recording a Pirates game off 104.7 for a friend...tomorrow I meet up with Cachette & Scooter and see the downtown!
Weather mostly OK, a few sprinkles.
day 2
Headed out of the Motel 6 this morning and had breakfast buffet at the Eat n Park nr the airport. From there a brief time back at Raccoon Creek State Park, walking and looking at the beach, and then into Pittsburgh. I spent 3 hours at the John Heinz history museum--great! Pitt. 250, history of all the great innovations by those from the area; the Pitt. Sports Museum with a film about Negro Leagues, stuff on Lincoln etc.
Then I headed toward the Doubletree and found my roomies had already got there. It took me awhile to correctly find the place but got into my room, then I showed them the conv. center/hotel set up and we had the $5 special at FURnando's.
A bit later I went to Pirates game (they lost to Cubs 4-1 and one Cub is named Fox how cool is that?) Nice park, good game...and I had a sandwich from Primanti Bros. (has fries and cole slaw inside). After walking over bridge I noted that the Doubletree shuttle was there so I took advantage of it. much more tomorrow incl buca di beppo!
Enjoyed Cinematic Titanic last night at the Somerville Theater. It was Joel, Josh (J Elvis),
Trace, Mary Jo, and "DVD's Frank" making fun of a horrible kung fu blaxploitation flick,
"The Dynamite Brothers". We were in mezzanine. Seats a bit cramped for those of us with some weight, but hey, everyone weighed 90 pounds when the ST was built. (Have been
there before for a Bullwinkle festival or something.) The warmup act featured a bit called "Radio Stations That Only Play Bits of Songs" (a spoof of the Jack, Mike, etc. phenomenon). My friend Joe and I didn't want to wait in the long line for autographs at the end, but it was a great time. And I was smart in that I got there early (7 pm for an 8 pm show) to make sure I got a good parking space/ heck, _a_ parking space!
http://www.cinematictitanic.com
(I also bought their DVD version of "Santa Conquers the Martians" there)
My story "The Earthling Pet" (clean) got some nice reviews at
http://www.macrophile.com
Dark Mist: "I was just thumbing thru the storys to find some new growth I possibly missed and came across this story. I enjoyed it quite a bit and was very surprised to find something non-adult that held my attention. Keep up the good work. I seriously see a writing career in your future if you decide to persue it"
http://forums.macrophile.com/viewto
Been posting a lot of YouTube videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/foxvermont
including Hanna Barbera, Depatie-Freleng, and furry con highlights.
Oh, if only raccoons could be this big (or I could be that small!)
From The GnomeMobile, which someone posted on YouTube.
Here's the wonderful lyrics to the closing theme of WKRP in Cincinatti.
Don't make any sense? Of course not! The creator of this theme figured he'd
just put nonsense lyrics in--partly to show how rock songs can have
unintelligible lyrics, AND the network announcer would probably talk
over it anyway!
Sing along!
Mad tooth bar chin-up box zing outta her hair
Still do the modern day whack-a-mole ditto
What's that?
Good bartender
I'da hat-beer'n'head out
I said I wouldn't do it
If a poodle had a lid on
for the 1969 Hanna Barbera series The Cattanooga Cats, Michael Lloyd and
Peggy Clinger were in a group called October Country. Here's a great tune
done by them (with a nice video made a bit more recently!) of a song that eventually wound up in the show: My Girlfriend is a Witch (1968)
The Cattanooga Cats version (starts 38 seconds in):
Here are two superb punk covers of "Panther Pink Panther", one of two Doug
Goodwin PP themes (the other being Pantherly Pride). (Also check out my stuff
for youtube--LOTS of Depatie Freleng added recently!
http://www.youtube.com/user/foxvermont
Los Hermanos Dalton:
Expulsados.
The original. Doug Goodwin.
Depatie Freleng's Here Comes the Grump: Beware of Giants
Does a bear play baseball in the woods?
bits for Here Comes the Grump and yes, there are different lyrics for
the closing bit!
Don't you hear that clump
And that strange kind o' thumpity thump
Well you'd better skeedaddle, don't dilly don't daddle
cause... Here comes the grump!
He's a funny sight and his bark is much worse than his bite
But regardless of this or that, you'd better skitter skat
Here comes the grump
He's always naggin' his jolly green dragon
but that dragon keeps laggin behind, so
Don't you sit and rest 'cause you're really not rid of that pest
If you think that you're safe and sound take a good look around
here comes the grump!
© Doug Goodwin
Goodwin music project I've been trying to put together. In the meantime,
YouTube has recently added more DFE clips he's done music for, such as The Blue Racer, Hoot Kloot, and this one: the very catchy HERE COMES THE GRUMP.
And whomever sang this (Goodwin himself?) also sang themes for Houndcats,
Barkleys, New Pink Panther, etc.
Update: Some themes are now here
http://depatiefreleng.freehostia.co
Here comes the grump here comes the grump! Here comes the grump!
In a magic place, there's a princess caught in a chase
And no matter how fast she goes, right on her heels and toes
Here comes the grump here comes the grump! Here comes the grump!
There's a Bip, her pet; and Terry, a boy she just met
And although he's from far away, he's gotta save the day
Here comes the grump here comes the grump! Here comes the grump!
Grump's always taggin' his jolly green dragon but the dragon
keeps laggin' behind
Now our friends agree when you search for the magical key
You must be always at your best, you can't afford to rest
Here comes the grump here comes the grump! Here comes the grump!
lyric © Doug Goodwin
OK, now on to the rest of the trip
Fri--took an Amtrak train to a light rail bus to another bus and finally
got to Gilroy for garlic fest. Much like a state fair, with entertainment,
lots of food, and arts and crafts for sale. I had some garlic bread and
garlic ice cream. It was hot (90 plus, but not humid)--though later in the
day I'd shiver at the ballpark...
Took Caltrain on the way into SF and watched Giants lose as cold breeze blew
in off the water. Fans in our bleacher section razzed the left fielder.
Sat--took earliest tour to Alcatraz--nice ferry ride and an informative
audio tour of the place! On way back, Mark contacted a friend he hadn't
seen in 20 years and he met us at Boudin's at Fisherman's Wharf (clam
chowder in sourdough bread bowls). We hung around the pier watching the
sea lions then moved into a city neighborhood where I had a huge, nice
burrito at Mariachi's. At that point the friend headed back...we took
the N Judah line in to the Haight (just some old hippie shops). Nice
view from Coit Tower.
Sun--back into SF via Bart, to see the free railroad and cable car
museums. We would grab one cable car on the Powell-Hyde line back
toward Fish. Wharf. The cartoon art museum was great (SSC/WMWM's Keith
Knight featured in one entire room!) then we grabbed a bus that took
us over the Golden Gate into (briefly) Saucelito, where we grabbed an
ice cream and took the ferry back.
Mon--Oakland day; brief look at Jack London Sq.; FDR's Potomac yacht
was not open to the public that day, however. Lunch at Nation's Giant Burgers followed by a long but invigorating (and scenic) walk around
Lake Merritt in downtown Oakland. From there, a bus to a scenic view
at a Mormon temple and then back into downtown for nice BBQ at Everett
and Louis', then the A's game. Home team lost again; though not as cold
as AT&T Park. Prob should have gone for all you can eat section but
didn't know how food would be (then again I did like the BBQ place
we went to). Left early Tue. to grab 9:30 am plane (did have a nice
if slightly pricey omelette at a place in the airport). A long day of
travel back (arrived in NH at 9:15 pm or so my time), and had heard
(via phone call to Phil while at BWI) of the earthquake in southern
Calif. It wasn't huge and was a good 400 miles south of where I'd
left (and happened 2 hours after I left_)
my San Fran trip eventually! But in the meantime some more Nichols and May
ads for Narragansett.
There have been many predator vs. prey cartoons through the years and in some cases
there's a character who's bigger and stronger than the predator and winds up
helping to protect the prey. For example, Chopper the dog who helped defend
Yakky Doodle from Fibber Fox. Or...this Tiger, who helps out the Ant (and
other ants) as repayment for a favor (the old "I took the thorn out of your paw" deal).
The tiger (who poses a problem for the Aardvark) is voiced by Marvin Miller.
(Not the attorney but a bass-voiced actor...
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0588922/
Anyway:
Profile
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
anthrocoon- AnthroCoon
- microfurry.com
Syndicate
