Episode 31: The Emperor's New Clothes (1972)

We'd welcome to Rank and I'm backass an offhand joke that became a rather long winded podcast. I'm your host, Mike White joining me as a swindler who is not welcome in any Danish birds. Chris Dashe I prefer to be referred to as known asshole, known asshole actor Christ, known asshole podcaster Christ. That's how I know you well, also along with us as a podcaster who just likes to go naked, mister Richard Hadham Great Tropical Worsted. On this podcast, we discussed the works of Arthur Rinkin Jr.

And Jules Bass, specifically some of their stop motion and animated work. But man, oh man, this movie has it all. We've got stop motion or AnimagiC, we've got animation, we've got live action. Of course, we're talking about the one and only The Enchanted World of Danny Kay colin The Emperor's New Clothes from nineteen seventy two. With that title, I thought there would have been a whole series of shows called The Enchanted World of Danny Kay where he would do a new special and talk about things.

But this is a one off. Played once February twenty first Think Seen seventy two, two months before I was fucking born. And that's it, just a one hour thing, not even brought to us by Westinghouse for ge as far as I know. Funny, you should say that, Mike, Funny, you should say that, because that was the plan. It was going to be exactly that.

Every week, Danny Kay in your living room presenting another child friendly tale where he would be talking to a bunch of kids as he does in this one, and then it would segue from Danny Kay in person and all the kids in person to the AnimagiC and that was the plan. And actually why that never happened, I don't know they did this one. There's an implication in the book that we all have the enchanted world of Rankin and Bass, which implies there that there was a fast friendship between Danny Kay and Rankin and Bass that then kind of soured, maybe in a weird way, and then it just never happened. But I don't know if that's the case. Anyway, we have this one, we should be thankful.

It's they realize that they were going to have to continue to work with Danny King. I mean again, the known asshole thing is my joke at his expense because he was not necessarily known as a person who was easy to work with. We talked about that a little bit in our Twilight Zone nineteen eighty five episode Dreams for Sale, where we talked about this exact thing, and so we'll mention it here again. Danny Kay Bing Crosby both not necessarily known as guys that were either a good to work with or good towards their family and Bing Crosby's care so but again their outward appearances mister jovial top hat wearer and Yo Yo talking to kids and it's like, oh boy, he probably did not want to be there. This is he was like, I don't want to fucking talk to kids anymore.

It's like, but you want to know, I just won one and done. We're good. It's like, oh, well, you know, I hate to break everyone's heart out there in the listening audience. Sometimes actors are charming on screen, but not so much off screen. Danny Kay one of the most hated men in Hollywood in terms of other actors.

For sure. I'm sure if there were directors or producers who thought they could make a dime off of him. And by the way, he was famous I mean, he had a following. This guy was a kit celebrity. This guy was a get for Ranking and Bass, but people didn't like him people, I mean really almost second only to to Rex Harrison, who no one has ever had a good word about.

Danny Kay not well liked, but but again popular, did movies that did well. Was a beloved and welcome presence on your television screen. So this made perfect sense. This could have, if it had gone, could have really done a lot for Ranking and Bass. This could have been I don't know what.

It would have been, a monthly, weekly, monthly special. They would do U And I got to tell you this one. They spared no expense. This one looks good. This is a good production.

It does to an extent. The Ani magic seems a little rough because I went back and I rewatched parts of The Daydreamer from nineteen sixty six, which was all about Hans Christian Anderson, and it was interesting this confluence of events because we've got Ranking and Bass looking at Hans Christian Anderson in sixty six and then freaking day Kay himself playing Hans Christian Anderson in the movie Hans Christian Anderson from nineteen fifty two, which I tried to watch and I couldn't make my way through it. It was just a little much. The singing was a lot, and it got to me very quickly. I just had a hard time with it.

But yeah, well you mentioned how there was a fast friendship with Kay and ranking and Bass and lest we forget it's about we did a whole special all about Easter movies and he was in. Here comes Peter Cotton Taale right the year previous to this, so playing three characters and then this, I would say he plays two characters. He's only credited as one on IMDb, but really I think he's playing himself and he's playing this Marmaduke character as well, who is not a great dean. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he goes. It appears that he did the Peter Cotton tale one that went really well.

Everyone fell in love they did this one and then everyone fell out of love. And by the way, this is a very common Hollywood thing and has to do with a word narcissist. In Hollywood, the narcissist is the charming, charming, amazing person you have a meeting with or you work with, and they give you that feeling like, oh my God, I think I just found my new best friend. Like, this person is amazing, and this happens all the time, and you and if it's a celebrity, you just feel just covered in this golden glow of this guy is famous, and yet I feel a connection. I think it really likes me.

And then then they're your new boyfriend, and and and and we're going to make fifty five movies together and everything is going to be great, and then the other side comes out. Oh boy, yeah, and that's when it gets super ugly. It almost sounds like you're speaking about that from experience, Richard. I have no idea what you're talking about. Okay, all right, Sorry, Marmaduke is not a great Dane, either character or in the portrayal of his character.

I think that's the joke, right, great, great, Yes, that's right, Chris, that is the joke, right right. It's a Heathcliff is a character in the Emily Bronte novel and also a cat. I mean, and we all know Heathcliff is the superior cat to Garfield because Garfield didn't fishbones and Heath. Yeah, but with gar Field ripped off Heathcliff right. End of statement, but this feels like a lesser ani magic because the story is not engaging.

Unfortunately, it's not engaging, and it's also we haven't talked about it. Um, it's pretty racist. Just ride at the beginning. Oh but before we even get there, what is that you haven't heard of? Hans Christian Anderson.

I'm sitting around the fire my friends, and let me tell you a tale. Like I mean, framing device is getting a little old guy Romeo Mueller, I mean, God bless him. I love the man. I think he does a great job. But Jesus, what you haven't heard, Well, gather around.

I just recently talked about like Water for Chocolate, and that movie has a similar opening to Ranking on Bass. Hello there, I bet you're wondering who I am. Let me tell you a story about my family. And it's like, wait a second, I've seen this before. It was fucking a cotton tail.

A rabbit was doing this at one point. It's like, how fucking trite can you get? Idot? So wait, wait, Like Water for Chocolate was a Ranking on Bass. That's amazing.

It was stop motion. I thought it was live action. Okay, it uses that same really tired framing device and ranking on Bass has used it so many times now that that we keep making a joke about it because it's it just doesn't really work. It really was the best way I started watching this. I was like, Oh, here we go.

I mean I haven't heard of this before? Yeah, in certain name here, Yeah, I mean. I used to work at a cable company and there's one lady I worked with who when she would write a commercial, she would always start a commercial exact same way. Where do you go for all your blank? Blank, blank and blank?

We'll come on out to so and so, And it was just like every single time. So I think she would have been real comfortable with this. Oh you haven't heard of Larry's spectacular bash shop, Well let me tell you all about it. Wait, was the word needs involved? Where do you go for all your liquor needs?

Well? And uh a kutrama? No no, no, she was not the person who said this store has everything from the novice to the beginner that made it to air. That made it to air. This person is my hero.

Oh yeah, for me, the person that's my hero is the person who managed to convince Danny Kay to wear the outfit that his AnimagiC character is wearing in the special as a human being because oh boy boy, yeah, oh okay. But but I'm glad you said that because conversely, I would give anything for the suit he's wearing. Oh boy, the brown coat and the and the what is that. It's like a brown coat and gray slacks and a slate colored shirt and a like a purple tie. I don't know.

I was like, that's awesome. I want that outfit, I think, though as much kind of I don't know, as much fun as I did have with kind of having fun at this thing's expense. The story, I mean again, it's a Hans Christian Anderson story that everybody knows. So it's like they don't I don't know if they do enough to really like convince me that this was a story that they couldn't have gone to something else. Like I guess I understand why they did it, because it is something that everybody knows, but it's not in any way, shape or for a dramatic transformation of the pre existing narrative.

Let me put it that way, right, And they so clearly like had to add in a princess and you know, Jasper and all this other stuff. And then when I thought about them doing this, it's like, well, is this gonna be a weekly show or a Suddenly it became clear, why not just do it? Half hour half hour version of this would have been awesome. Yeah, yeah, Well, before we move on too much further, Chris, I interrupted you before or when we were talking about the wonderful representation of all of the countries around the world or at least different areas, and especially just yeah, I'll let you take it from you here. Oh yeah.

So it's essentially the setup obviously, if you've if you've read or heard the emperors New closes, the emperor is looking for new clothes and he brings in tailors and fashion makers from all around the world. And because of course this is the seventies, we have you know, they mentioned quote the Oriental and quote the Africans, and it's again it's just of a time and of a place. This was acceptable, but now it's just like I don't need this. But again, like it's you end up just laughing at it because it's like it's so fucking tone deaf, You're you're beyond tone. But it's it's it's just the casual kind of racism one expects from seventies TV show.

From time to time, okay to quote, the Arabs are erratic, the Africans pragmatic, correct, the Asians asiatic. Yes, yes, I can't argue. Do you have a problem with that? I failed to see the issue. Yeah, yeah, I mean, look, there haven't been a lot of the Ranking and Bass specials that have any of these kinds of things because most of the time it's set in a world where we don't worry about the real world quote unquote, and Rudolf, they're not like and what are the Huns up to right now?

It's like nobody checks in with them. So it just it was a little weird because it's like, you, this is a fantasy world. You don't have to ground this in any sort of fucking reality. Like you don't even have to make the character look like Danny Kay like it. I want to mention the character of Danny Kay as an AnimagiC character stands out in a bad way because he doesn't he looks like a human being and everyone else is very exaggerated looking at and then it's just Danny Kay and it's like Uncanny Valley.

Maybe not, but yes, yeah, they tried. They did a lot to make that puppet look like Danny Kay. That was a whole idea because clearly it was going to be used again. And and Danny Kay talked about how they would They would, you know, ask him to make different movements, walk, jump, sit, stand, you know, anything the character would do they wanted him to do so they could sketch it. Basically, this was their version of motion capture, but sixty years ago, and they wanted the character to even feel a little bit like it was Danny Kay.

So so that's why they did that character that way. You know, it's funny. I was you were talking about the little beginning part where they're showing characters from all over the world and you see the Asian and the African and the various other kinds of people represented through AnimagiC and I was like, well, what was that one special well where suddenly there were there was a black family and I remembered it was twas the Night before Christmas, Oh right, yeah, remember where suddenly it's like, oh wait a second Rankin and Bass are suddenly bringing in characters of other ethnicities like they're they're acknowledging that there is something other than white people in the world. And I remember how blown away we were and then and then this is a little bit like that, except none of those characters survive into the actual body of the story.

Well, it's like they reused the because I was afraid when they showed the African stuff, because they showed a monkey, writing what a giraffe or something like that, and I was likely fine, but I was like, that's not an African, right, that's a monkey. Right, we are not making any sort of thing. Luckily, no, that oster. But then we get the monk, like the there's a random monkey and what is the other animal that shows up later on? Like they have pets and there's like a cat.

I think, yeah, the monkey and a cat or something. I'm just like, okay, just a little comic relief, I guess, but I don't really do anything in this movie at all. Well, the same thing in Anna remember um oh yeah, and we have to remember the king and I oh, I'm scism and never forget Oh boy, yeah, woke up is going to come after us for talking about that one. Jesus. Oh yeah, just do some woke catch up on my my hamburger here.

So no, but see if you but if you're going to do Africa, then Africa is like an entire continent that that that is like a giant zoo with every animal you can imagine. So a monkey riding a giraffe is totally fine. Yeah, I just want to put this out here because I've now watched several versions of the Emperor's New Clothes. There's this whole thing of why you can and can't see the material, right, which is in this one. I think it's pretty much all the way through.

You're stupid and you're unfit to rule people. And if you're stupid and you're unfit to rule people, you can't see the cloth. So when the guy goes out and he's trapsing around and nobody can see the cloth, isn't that a good thing? Wouldn't he be like, oh ha ha ha, that person can't see the cloth because they're stupid and unfit for office. Well, technically, I mean, because I've always known, you know, it was the whole thing out of the mouths of Babe, somebody says the truth that nobody else will admit.

But I've just am like, it feels like there's a flaw in the logic of this. Well, it feels like it's trying to make a point, and it's like, to what point? And I feel like, you know, bear with me here that the Rose Tinted Glasses song may in fact have something to do with the point of this, because you know, as someone living in the Year of Our Lord twenty twenty three, let's just say at a time where things are wild, to hear a song all about how I have no interest in being tuned into the world or giving a shit about anybody but myself. Boy that it's like, you couldn't even redeem the character if you wanted. And and like you mentioned, I mean, the weird like they're all it's a stupidity thing is then factored into the reason you can and can't see the clothes.

It's like, what what is the message of this? At the end, he's like, oh, I learned the error of my ways. It's like, but why, how? What through through what way did you learn? Like because a child said something.

It only works if it's just the fact that people are scared of him because he's a king. If it's anything else, it's like he kind of doesn't work. Well, he's not it's weird, he's not the evil care arater Jasper's the evil character, right, so the king is just a little a little deluded, right. Yeah, This whole edition of Jasper is very interesting because you talked about the addition of the princess. She's necessary because of Jasper.

I think, yeah, they sort of had to fill things out, and they and they needed a bad guy that wasn't the tailor's because it's like, well, the tailors who pull off this gag in the story are kind of the bad guys. But if Danny Kay is going to do it, we want him to be a trickster in a rogue, but ultimately lovable. So now we have to, as they did in The King and I, we have to add in a new antagonist, a new character for us to despise, which is Jasper, the sort of iago whispering in the King's ear and secretly running everything. The King himself is just sort of again befuddled. He's just sort of you know, he's not actively evil, So the fact that he gets tricked is like, oh okay, And then you almost get the feeling that the people in the town or the region that he's king, you know, they don't hate him, and they kind of know that he's a little bit nutty, and so when they see him, they're like, Okay, well the thing to do is will all agree with him?

Yes, of course you're right, you know, which is another insight into human beings and how they act around powerful, rich white men. You're a genius. Oh my god, Yes, build a rocket, go somewhere by Twitter, you'll be great. And we all applaud them because we're afraid not to. Yeah, that would be a whole different thing, because they tried to get there, And we'll talk a little bit about or I will anyway talk about Fairytale theater.

They try to get there a little bit with this guy wastes all of our money on clothes. But at no point is that emperor mean and threatening as an emperor ken and probably you know, always was as opposed to this where yeah, he's kind of adult, and you're like, you feel bad for the guy a little bit. You don't feel like he would put you to death if you said the wrong thing, and you kindn't need a real insane megalomaniac to be that person. Yeah. Yeah, Well, they shifted all the weight of the story so that all, you know, technically what you're supposed to be concerned with.

Is Marmaduke's eventual defeat of Jasper through cunning and marriage to the princess. Those are the two things you want to see happen. So we're a little less interested in what happens to the king. We know he's going to play a part in the story, but we're not too wrapped up in like we hate that king, we want to see him fail or oh no, we're afraid he's going to be embarrassed. We're being asked by Romeo Muller too, to put all of our audience interest in what's going to happen for Marmaduke.

Will he get the money? Will he get the girl? Apparently in the original Hans Christian Anderson's story, he gets called out, you know, child blurts out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all. The people realize they've been fooled. Everyone's been fooled, and the emperor, though, continues procession.

He walks more proudly than ever, and you're like, Okay, like every version I've ever seen, he runs away suddenly realizing that he's naked. Yeah, but if he's a likable character, that's the character arc is he's you know, he doesn't care what anybody else thinks. It's like, I guess get that. In this point of this though, like that ends, they're they're kind of making a point that they really weren't driving well in this version. Also keep in mind the Emperor is an exhibitionist and gets a sexual thrill.

There is that he hits the He's like, mommy, and then he walks naked. Yeah, I would watch that. The fuck well it look okay, okay. A couple of things in other versions that I've seen animated versions, the king is wearing underclothes, right, so he's just walking around his underwear. The fact that they went full nude and the magic I was stunned.

Actually, I'm like, wait, okay, so now they've got to like compose every shot. It's like it's like that Austin Powers thing people walking by with you know, potted plants. And then after he's revealed by the child, he makes no effort. He remains nude for the rest of the film. He's sort of like, well, all right, I guess I'm kind of into it, and no one really minds.

So that guy swear to God must have a ten inch long He's just like you know what now you know, I mean, haven't you seen the size of the noses of the characters and ranking and bass wegin with in these antimagic specials? They already have to They already have a phallic thing molded already. Yeah. Yeah, maybe the King's like finally right, I am free ya oh you see my clothes. Mean, Ultimately, this is a story about a pervert who likes to, you know, show everybody his wiener.

That's what the Emperor's nucle if you made it in twenty twenty three for the TikTok crowd, that's what it would be. As you said, Chris, Ultimately, this is about a pervert. Danny, Kay, well this is interesting that, kay. You know, Kate only only was in like thirty three things TV and movies, including a segment of The Twilight Zone, which we talked about on Our Wonderful Twilight his own film. After this, he would be in Peter pan From in seventy six, Pinocchio in seventy six could make a movie a t a movie called Skokie all about fucking Illinois Nazis.

He'd be in the Twilight Zone. And then he was in one episode of the Cosby Show, and that's it. Like from nineteen seventy two on, he was in five Things. Yeah, I thought he died way earlier than that, So he was alive into the eighties to do a Cosby show. He died in eighty seven Cosby Wow Dan zhang Zuo.

The other thing I wanted to point out real quick was that the guy who plays the Emperor is he was voiced by Cyril Richard r I T h A r D. Who I mostly know him from. He was the artist who I believe gets killed in Alfred Hitchcock's Blackmail, one of the first like quasi talkie like shot originally silent and then they added they went back and reshot parts of it and added sound, and so I'm just like, you gotta be kidding me that he was doing that. But then he after this, he went ahead and just did a ton of Actually, he was also in The Daydreamer. He did some voice work.

He did a lot of voice work, and he also was in another sorry ranking and bass production. He was the voice of el Rond and the Hobbit. So he was pretty darned busy. This guy forty nine things in his career. Take that Danny Kay, yeah, but no one knows him as an unforgivable prick.

And it was I'm trying to remember we have talked about Imaging Coca on this We've talked about her before. I don't know if we've talked about her on the show. Yeah, she was in another ranking on ranking, right, I just did the same thing and rankings cranking and Bass. Yeah, okay, she was. She was in the Mad Monster Party.

I think that's right right back same year. Yeah, yeah, it was. I mean, this was a big year for these guys. Yeah, nineteen seventy two is huge. But it was interesting because Imaging Coca and I know we talked about her before Chris on Night Gallery.

Yeah, it was just recently too. Yeah, and it was pretty much only her voice, which was interesting. But she I love Imaging Coca. She was a very unusual looking lady, so to have her puppet look so ravishing, I was just like, wow, Okay. The other thing I noticed a lot guys was looking at the crowd in uh in the city of what's uh what's the name of this thing, like Hot and Tot or something, Bibb and Tucker.

Yeah, it's a company that you can go take your shirts to to get impressed and dry. Oh, which, now I understand where the fuck the name for that company comes from. Has to do it this thing? I thought it was a concentration camp bergen Belsa. Thank you, sorry, but there are so many red headed women in Bibb and Tucker.

Did you guys pick up on this? It's like they had all of the different models from like Santa claus Is coming to town or whatever, and just like stock those hats on these bodies or just were that woman from Santa claus Is coming to town just populating the city, because they all had like slightly different expressions on their face, And like, is this the cheap way of doing crowd scenes for Rank and a Bass. They just take the same dummies and use them over and over again. It's great. The answer is yes, yeah, I didn't notice that, But but I did think about the point you just mentioned about Imogene Coca, who was not who was a fabulous actress and comedian, not known for her beauty, and the fact that they sort of used her personality.

It's like, well, let's get someone The character itself will sort of be a traditional princess, but her personality will be a little quirkier, which I really appreciate it because I think if they had just made her the Oh I am the Princess, it would not have been as entertaining. So the degree to which they decided, well, let's make the princess as a character. She'll still be beautiful in a traditional sense, but she'll have a more offbeat personality, will have imaging coke of voice it and and that'll be a better match for Danny Kay anyway, and I think it was. I agree. I actually don't dislike the female character in this, which is shocked because for the most part, they're very underrepresented in most of these AnimagiC things.

Yeah, most of these things honestly underrepresent anybody but the main character as it is, so it's kind of surprising. I guess it does speak also more to the idea that Danny Kay is just kind of playing Iam Zel, so it needed to be somebody else that you could kind of latch onto as an audience that is more arismatic and interesting than he is just playing himself. I think there the three most important characters in all of these tend to be the protagonist, the antagonist, and the funny sidekick. Those are the top three. The fourth might be a kind of love interest.

Well, his partner in this is not that interesting though to me. Well, he can't be because he can't outshine Danny kay right right, So he can be the funny sidekick who doesn't get any of the jokes because those a lot should go to Danny, right, true. So I like the guy's voice. I like Alan Swift's voice as Mufti quite a bit. Yeah and yeah again, very very prolific voice actor.

I mostly know him as Simon Barr Sinister from Underdog, Oh Underdog, Yes, Oh my god, that's a blast from the past. The name Muffy isn't meant doesn't make you laugh like it did, just make me corpse over here, I don't know, at the point of a muff or muffer. Yeah, and you know what though, Bob McFadden once again showing up and taking absolutely pleasure in playing like eight million goddamn characters again, like including Jasper obviously, but then like a whole host of other people. So I appreciate that we do still get some of the returning people because there is no you know, there's no uh, there's no Paul Freeze. Paul Freeze or Billy Richard.

There's no Billion Richards either, which I mean again like I was kind of hoping or Thurl Ravenscroft some music or something like I was. I was hoping for more of the usual people, and they kind of this kind of is its own thing. Other than Danny Kay having showed up in Bob mcfadd, yeah, I would have. Um, I definitely missed Paul Freeze, but um, but it is, you know there, it's such a small voice cast. There's really only like five or six people in this.

I expected to see a giant list and and there's a lot of characters but not a lot of actors doing them, which is Look, it's kind of cool. And I thought the music was decent. None of these are songs that I'm gonna rush out and buy the LP four, but I thought that, you know, and we're this one. It's solid Maury Laws and Jules Bass, so we're good there. And they made an effort.

They made an effort to make them Danny Kay songs, the patter songs. It's like, okay, we got to write songs where there's just a lot of words and a lot of word play, and and and it's and it's all, you know, delivered at a machine gun pace, because that's what Danny Kay was always known for in the musicals that he did. So I think they really made an effort. I mean, I this was not the most enjoyable to watch, but on no level did it feel like they were. Because sometimes some of these specials we've watched it has felt like they weren't really bringing their all, right, this one felt like they were.

It just ultimately, when you're doing stories like this, it's the Emperor's new clothes, it's Google delayed, the Golden Egg. It can only sustain so much interest, and at least for an adult audience, and certainly for an adult audience. In twenty twenty three, I realized that was not the intended audience. But still, and I think that's where it falls apart. I think if you like Danny Kay at all, you would have been happy to watch this.

And I wonder what they feel like they didn't say with sixty six is the Daydreamer, Like I genuinely wonder why they felt like. I mean again, I get why they did it from a logistical and business standpoint. Are these are public domain stories, so who cares if you adapt them. Hans Christian Anderson's family is not coming after you, but they already adapted Hans Christian Anderson's body of work. And as like I just I guess I didn't feel like The Daydreamer did a whole lot to really have a lot to say about Hans Christian Anderson.

I think this is better than that was. But I think that this has a similar problem of like Hans Christian Anderson in nineteen seventy two, why well, it's Danny Kay. It's like, we want to do something with Danny Kay. What can we do with Danny Kay? That also is our thing?

Okay, it'll be an anthology. Okay, we'll go to public domain. It'll be all those stories that the kids love hearing over and over, and we'll just do we'll sort of, you know, do live action Danny Kay wraparounds and interstitials and then he'll voice the rest and we're good to go. And we've got a legit star in the title of the show. I mean, no one is going to say no to that.

I find that the weakest part of this whole thing is the clips with the kids and just this whole going around. I guess it's not where these stories were written, because, like he says, something like, just a little ways from here, all these stories are written. I'm like, why aren't you there? What? Get over there?

Just go go to that place? Yeah? Please? Is it that far? You want taxi money?

Do you need an uber? And Denmark ain't that big? It's the size of West Hollywood, right, Please just go? But yeah, I like I said at the very beginning, it's interesting that they're mixing all of these different things. That you've got animated sequences.

I want to say, that's the credits, but we've seen that before. We've seen we've seen where they mix AnimagiC and animation, you know, talking about Santa Claus has come to town, the whole thing of you know, here's here's the past families, and here's what happened to Burger Meister Meister Burger. And so we're going to do that as animated sequences, whereas the rest is AnimagiC. Here, it's more like the opening credits and a couple I want to say, there's at least one another sequence that is animated. Yeah, it's sort of a flashback where where they're they're sort of talking about the relationship between Jasper and the King, right, thank you?

Yeah. Yeah, It's like okay, cool, well that's interesting to do. But then they just keep taking those breaks, and I imagine that those breaks with the kids are to reintroduce the story after commercial breaks and just a craven attempt to indicate that this is for kids. And there's always been a belief, which I think is accurate, that kids want to see kids on screen, then they know they're part of whatever the drama is. So it was not a wrongheaded notion to say, well, it's going to be it won't just be Danny Kay walking through an environment.

He'll be interacting with kids and that will make it very very clear and that oh, kids have a role in this and kids will watch it. So I mean again, we're all going way to say why why is he making that girl sit on his lap? I'm uncomfortable. I was swarming a little as well, right, But in context of when and where and everything, that's how you did those things. They're much more to say about this.

Guys. Where was she? She was the little kid, she was the third little kid over to the side. Did you guys have a chance to watch that fairytale? Theater.

I watched a little bit of it. Yeah, a little bit is the key fucking phrase. Well, I think I liked it more than you did. I watched the whole Darten thing, but it wasn't the best episode of Fairytale Theater, but just the cast so good. Those things were well regarded, they were they were a big deal when they were being man.

I remember people talking about it like, oh my God, is the greatest thing. You've got to see it? And I never did. Some of them were fantastic, I want to say them. Pinocchio one with Paul Rubens as Pinocchio, and I can't remember.

It might have been Carl Reiner as Jeppetto. That was really good. And it's not that I just liked it. It's just this. I this Emperor's New Clothes story to me is not a interesting story.

No, it's just so boring, Like it's such a boring one note story. There's it's like a call back to Night Gallery and Dreams for Sale. It is a blackout sketch in story form, like it's you know, it's meant to teach a message and that's fine, but for me, it's just their Hans Christian Anderson wrote more compelling things, and this is not in that group. And you know, even if it's Art Carney and Alan Arkin talking on a log together, yes, I agree with you, that is better than the rank and amass thing. But it's still the same boring, trite, overdone story, and that can't be escaped.

Because they wanted to make something about the Emperor's new clothes. What's interesting that Jasper. The addition of Jasper and the princess separates it and actually makes it a little bit more interesting because now you've got Jasper's motivation because he's the first person to be like, oh wow, look at that beautiful fabric, and then he's all scheming to get rid of the Emperor and take over the position himself, which you don't have from Murmured Duke and Mufti. You know, it's or any of these other two swindlers that come to town. They just want to get rich.

And that was the thing I liked about about The Emper's New Clothes Fairytale Theater was that you get to see how the Emperor's addiction to fashion is affecting all the people in the town and them saying we are so super poor, because this asshole just keeps taking all of our taxes and ups the taxes all the time so you can buy more clothes. This guy's a total close horse, and I'm like, oh, yeah, that's really a big thing. And then this whole thing of they want to steal all the money, you know, the Marba Duca Muffe type characters want to steal all the money one at one. It's like, well, shit, we really shouldn't because these people are suffering. And when they teach Dick Shaun a lesson, it's like, oh, I'm going to be a better person.

I'm going to start giving away money and clothes and things to my people rather than just be this asshole who wants to look really good. Yeah. I mean, I think they're both interesting versions of the story. I mean, Rank and Ranking Ambasses version. Again, I'm just the story is not interesting for me, but I appreciate that they do add things that they do.

You know, the Fairytale Theater is a much more classic telling of the story. And then the Ranking and Bass one. Yeah, it King and Eyes, but at least there's no overtly racist character for Darryl Hammond to play. So those are the benefits. Jasper is just a diminutive gesture.

They don't constantly call him a dwarf or a midget, thank god so, and you didn't want him to be Chinese with goofy stereotypically large buck teeth. No, I had my fill with Darryl Hammond from like minute two of that movie. Right, I'm sorry about zero must Sell. I should have said tie, but I think his his The racial stereotypes he was employing were directed at the Chinese, so forgive my mistake. More at the Chinese, which makes lots of sense at least Desi Ardoniz Junior wasn't hanging out on a kite for that one.

Ranking and Bass folks, they're culturally sensitive. We mentioned this before. But yeah, in nineteen seventy two, m Person who Clothes Mad Mad Mad Monsters, Willie Mays and the say Hey Kid and the Red Baron all coming out in the same year. We have a Godfather, right, not as important the AnimagiC version of the Godfather. What haven't you heard of Don Corleone here, come along with me.

We're about to attend his wedding. Oh, Larry's got all the AnimagiC versions of the character voice by the actors. You got Pecino, you got con, you got Duval. You know, everybody's still there. Anything for that?

Oh yeah, I know. It's got a toilet with the chain, you know, you pull it and I'll put the gun back there. Yeah, I'll have you know. It's not personal, it's just business. I would look and what they did to my boys.

Oh my god, get crowd fund us right now, motherfucker's you want this. We're we're writing. Let's go. That would be friends, close enemies, closer, friends, close enemies closer. Oh my god, you got it.

Got the guy making the spaghetti and stuff, and there's like the cartoon cat hanging out on his shoulder and stuff. No, if the meatballs would have arms and legs and they'd be walking down the spoon and jumping into the sauce. Right. Oh oh oh, you guys, we gotta do it. You got Luca Brotzi literally sleeping with fishes.

Yeah yeah, it cuts him just in bed yep. I'm game for this man. Yeah boy, what a year seventy two was. Well, speaking of the Red Baron, We're gonna be coming back next month to talk about the Red Baron. Uh.

In the meantime, I just want to think everybody for tuning in, and I want to thank Abby Stabby for our artwork as well as the Great Octopus for our theme music. And yeah, coming I'm back with the Red baron until then, Chris, where can people find you and what you do? Sir? You can find everything that I work on over at weirding Way in place. Ulture Cast is the weekly movie podcast that I do.

Bollywood Cinema Club. That's a biweekly movie podcast that I do. Yeah, Weirdingwaymedia dot Com. And I do want to say shout out too, because we know who he is. Now.

Shout out to Rankin and bass Wiki rob WICKI as we should be calling you, um because he heard the episode. I'm not going to name names, but he reached out to us on Facebook. I was like, hey, I'm just a big fan of the Smokey the Bear Special, so fucking a I'm I hope you enjoyed the conversation and uh yeah, thank you for keeping the good word going because yeah, this is a labor of love for the three of us. So yeah yeah, but yeah, he was like, thank you, but I did. I do love the special.

So there's the answer to the question that we were wondering, so, well, is he Is he listening to all of our episodes or just that one? I don't know. I don't know. I don't Come on, man, check out all of our episodes. There's I think there's like ninety of them.

But the small digression aside, where Dingwaymedia dot com is where you can find me? What about you, mister Haddam? Where can they find you? You can find me on the picket line. Usually I'm in Universal, but sometimes I hit Disney or Warner Brothers Writers Guild of America, still looking for a living wage from the AMPTP.

And you can find me on Twitter. Oh okay, are you allowed to write tweets? Now? If you're allowed to write tweets because you're not writing for one of the Struck studios? Oh okay, okay.

So theoretically I could, you know, I could be writing a novel. Theoretically I'm not right right fucking hard. And theoretically, Mike, where could people find the things that you work? Theoretically they could find me at Projection Booth podcast dot com, or theoretically they could find me over at Weirdingmamedia dot com as well, where, Yeah, there's even more things. Whatever Chris said, there's like five more things at least that you can listen to, including Ladies of the Eighties and hear all about the great detectives shows, eighties TV ladies mine.

Oh shit, I think the Ladies of the eighties moving into white castles. Richard is going to correct you, but not plug at himself. Yeah, I'll plug your wife. I was trying to throw it to you, and then clearly it was, you know, an incomplete pass Eighties TV Ladies. Susan Lambert had him.

Let me tell you the guests, the insight, the fun, the laughs, the feminism, the rage. It's all there the podcast, the rage, all the rage, the rage. All right, folks. Until then, be sure to rate and review the podcast wherever you get it, Tell your friends, tell your family, and please stay weird.