Roy Halee
“Songs of America” shows the two on stage, in the studio and on a concert tour across a turbulent country. Their ambitious Bridge Over Troubled Water album had yet to be released and the glorious title song was heard here by the general public for the very first time. The program showed news clips of labor leader/activist Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, the Poor People’s Campaign’s march on Washington, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, JFK and Robert Kennedy and other events that were emblematic of the era. “Songs of America” was originally sponsored by the Bell Telephone Company, but the execs there got cold feet when they saw what they’d paid for—legend has it that they looked at the footage of JFK, RFK and MLK during the (powerful!) “Bridge Over Troubled Water” segment (approx 12 minutes in) and asked for more Republicans! (Not assassinated Republicans, just more Republicans...you know, for balance!) The special was eventually picked up by CBS.
Heckle and Jeckle run a dilapidated old scow that they pass off a sport fishing boat to unsuspecting Dimwit. When things start falling apart, The dopey dog chases the merry birds around the tub until it sinks.
Papa Bear, his cubs and the Hound Dog go duck hunting and, as usual, the experts (Papa and the dog) have nothing but misadventures, while the amateur hunters bag all the ducks. When Papa returns home, empty-handed, angry and frustrated, he throws the ammunition into the fireplace, followed by a barrage of bullets firing upward through the chimney and bringing down a flock of ducks that were flying overhead.
Papa Bear gets extremely tired of his oversized dog Pago causing problems- so much that he is ready to execute him. Of course, he becomes soft-hearted and lets the dog go, only to be treated to another more frustrating experiences as a result of the antics of Pago and his three cubs.
A favorite plot at the studio: a character running around the house being terrorized mostly by his own imagination. A sure-fire setup for freak-out animation by Jim Tyer, Carlo Vinci, Conrad "Connie" Rasinski (the director, after whose dog "Pago" was named) and Paul Sommer.
Heckle and Jeckle, the talking Magpies, are running rampant and causing much havoc in a supermarket mush to the dismay of the proprietor. Seveal wild chase ensue, with the store owner on the short end of most of them, until all three are caught inside of a giant soap bubble and carried skyward. The bubble bursts, and H & J are returned to the cartoonist's inkwell.
The Terry Bears find a dog and want to enter him in a dog show. Only thing they have to do is give the dog a bath....
After watching a television commercial, Papa Bear decides to take up gardening but has more than his share of problems. The little bears give him a bag of 'speedy-grow' in stead of weed-killer, and the weeds thrive and take over his garden. Worms are feasting on his tomato crop, and the anti-worm spray he uses engulfs him rather than the vines. Papa Bear, worn-out, in pain and bandaged, is in his easy-chair when the same commercial, that earlier had inspired him, comes on again, and the angry bear rips open the television set and throttles the announcer.
Heckle and Jeckle, the talking magpies, are in need of upgraded-housing and decide to help themselves to the logs and lumber laying unused in Big Pierre's lumber yard. Big Pierre thinks this a bit high-handed on the part of the two birds, and his objections leads to several battles and mêlées, which leads to a big explosion which causes the logs to fall and form a house. But the house collapses, and Heckle and Jeckle shrug it off and depart the premises.
Papa Bear is off for a relaxing day of fishing at the lake, but he is followed by his little cubs, who proceed to make his day miserable. They catch more fish than he does and use unconventional ways to do it, and they are also responsible for him getting dunked in the water several times.
Papa Bear wants to spend his paycheck on something foolish, but the Cubs think he should purchase some interest-paying defense bonds. Disregarding their advice, he buys a mechanical robot to do all the housework. But robots have a high-maintenance cost, and this one has an attitude as it multiplies itself when Papa Bear tries to destroy it.
Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse is a children's cartoon television show that was produced by Trans-Artists Productions and syndicated by Tele Features Inc. in 1960. The characters were created by Bob Kane as a parody of his earlier works Batman and Robin and in many ways predict the more campy aspects of the later live action series. This series and characters are trademarked and copyrighted and is currently owned by Telefeatures, LLC.
