josephbrando

This is the first cartoon released outside of the Hanna Barbera productions - and boy did they shoot them far outside. For the next 13 entries, Tom and Jerry would be thrust into much different inhomogeneous surroundings, looking a bit different (heading in the direction of stylized UPA toons) and definitely sounding different with a new spacey soundtrack featuring lots of echoey sounds, springs, bleeps and zaps. Yes they are not the same as the HB ones and many can't seem to accept that - but I find them weird and wonderful! Even as a child, I remember being able to discern that these cartoons stood out as strange and unusual from the rest. And I certainly like them better than the Chuck Jones years were he makes Tom look like The Grinch.

This premiere outing takes place at a remote mountain top Gothic castle, complete with a very mad, mad scientist and his laboratory - where all kinds of weird experiments take place. He switches the brains of a cat and dog and this results in a would-be foe becoming a fierce protector of little Jerry from Tom's attempted attacks. Lots of sci-fi gags and medieval meanderings make this one a must for fans of the horror/sci-fi genre and a very cool one to dig out at Halloween season. Check it out!

These are the kinds of Gothic movies I adore, and they seemed to make them with such ease in Italy during this time. They cranked them out in very little time, with ridiculously little budget, yet churned out enchanting films like this that are a million times better than ones with bigger names, bigger budgets and a 2-year production. Here the "story" takes a backseat to emotion, atmosphere, and creepy beauty. It's based on the lesbionic vampire tale "Carmilla" which predates "Dracula" and was also the inspiration for 2 other Gothic classics from roughly the same era: "Blood and Roses" from '60 and Hammer's "Vampire Lovers" from '70. All three of these are gorgeous Gothic classics that you can hardly tell are constructed around the same story. Christopher Lee, as always is great as the father of Laura (played by the tantalizing giant-doe-eyed Adriana Ambesi) who is growing weaker and stranger which he suspects is due to an age-old curse put upon his family. He calls upon a researcher (handsome and charming José Campos) to investigate through the vast archives and find out the truth. It is at this time that a lovely girl, just around Laura's age (played by gorgeous Ursula Davis) surprisingly becomes a guest at the castle and at first seems to help bring life back to her dim soul. But soon things become darker than they were initially. Of course there's also a sinister housemaiden in black played to foreboding perfection by Nela Conjiu and many other terrifying tropes that a trip to Gothic Horror land could not be without.

Don't worry about the plot though ... Shut the lights down low, turn off your phone and get transported away to the bewitching crypts of this far-away castle of doom from the past.

There are many sweet episodes of Hazel, but this is one of the sweetest - truly rivaling any of the great dog-themed films. Hazel gets it in her head that dog-training school would be great for the new family dog, Smiley (whose "he followed me home" acquisition was the basis of a story several episode prior). As usual - after some trickery - she gets her way. But lo and behold the dog trainers recognize Smiley and contact his previous owners, from whom the dog was stolen. Though the man is very pleasant, he also has a child, a daughter that loves the dog very much too and the Baxters are forced to give him up. Needless to say, they are all heartbroken, especially their son Harold (who I pause here to mention, is my favorite "kid" from any sitcom - so cute and natural) . But in the middle of the night, Smiley escapes and runs back to the Baxters house. Of course the owners come back for him in the morning but Hazel has one last trick up her sleeve. I won't reveal the ending but it's truly one of the most kind, warm, touching and human resolutions of any TV show. Especially the very last moments which are just wonderfully heartwarming.

Like I said, you could string together the episode where the Baxters get Smiley followed by this one and have almost a move-length story that would give any of the classic Disney animal films a run-for-their-money.