Boo-Berry is a well-known parody of Peter Lorre, but less known is exactly which role Boo is spoofing. Boo-Berry is specifically based on Lorre's appearance in "Rope of Sand" (1949), in which he plays a black-market diamond salesman who constantly irritates the other characters by appearing mysteriously out of nowhere to pitch his sale. Sound familiar?
Personally, Boo-Berry is one of my favorite Peter Lorre parodies. Far too often PL spoofs just fall back on the old "Loony Tunes" caricature, which besides being needlessly grotesque, is just a very stiff and watered-down take on Lorre. Boo on the other hand is not only an original Peter Lorre spoof, but parodies his fluid movements and otherworldly vibe. It's also great to see PL's adorableness get its due recognition.
Unfortunately, the cereal itself tastes like sugary Styrofoam. I'm still glad I bought it though, because the cover is so damn cute.
The most pants-pissingly terrifying monsters to watch for Halloween are vintage celebrity caricatures.
(Continue reading at your own risk.)
I will never understand why this hideous style was so popular with cartoonists back in the day. Many of these stars are almost unrecognizable in these cartoons. And lord are they creepy. "Meet the Feebles" has nothing on these old Hollywood caricatures.
To be fair, these animators didn't have screencap websites or even VHS covers to refer to. They probably had to base these caricatures off of lobby cards, posters and production stills, which were already somewhat stylized and/or not great quality.
Peter Lorre's freaky caricature has lived on longer than the rest, leading to the modern misconception that Peter Lorre wasn't handsome or sexy. Confusingly, Peter Lorre himself once said that he found his caricatures "most gratifying."
This might not seem very gratifying, until you see how Peter's costars were done. Interestingly, the "lead men" types of Hollywood actually tended to get the worst of it.
Here's Jimmy Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, and a third unfortunate actor I don't know. (Or maybe I do, but the caricature is just so nutty I can't recognize him.)
Here's Greta Garbo...
...and here's cartoonists' takes on Greta Garbo:
...and here's what the fuck they did to Hollywood "heartthrob" Clark Gable.
This is "Peppermint Park" levels of nightmare fuel.
Your guess is as good as mine of who any of these people are.
I don't know who these two people are, but God have mercy on their souls.
Most of these horrors can be seen in the Tex Avery short "Hollywood Steps Out."
I used to wonder why these Peter Lorre caricatures made him look so grotesque, when he was really so cute. I now realize that this was how "cute" was represented, in that vomitous style.
Nevertheless, I'll always prefer the original Peter Lorre spoofs over the Loony Tune cliche. I have nothing against shows like "Spongebob" doing homage to the classic Loony Tune caricature. But it will always be a cheap, watered-down knock-off. The best PL parodies are the ones made by someone who actually watched some of his movies, and made their own spoofs. Those tend to capture his movements, expressions and adorableness quite well. (I love how in "Sam and Max" the rabbit even says "Can we keep him?")
Okay, the "Duckman" one is a bit of a mixed bag, but that character is bizarrely adorable, in a freaky way. And hilarious. And again, he was one of the less ugly looking caricatures in the episode. Bogart was done like this:
Anyway, if the finished products of those Tex Avery cartoons weren't nauseating enough, here are some of the sketches:
For the record, I think in the 1930s, they were still marketing "health products" with radium in them.
General Mills Cereal Monster Vac-Tastic Masks! Ok, they’re not really masks... unless you have a very large head. These things are 19-inches tall... and I kinda want ‘em all! Each mask comes with an awesome display box... and best of all... a FREE SPOON!
It had been much too long since my last big breakfast, and what better place to return to than Country View in Brooklyn, CT? My companions and I got a greek omelet with wheat toast, scrambled eggs with white toast, maple bread pudding crepes, a taco omelet with homefries and rye toast, corn beef hash, banana bread french toast, and Boo-Berry pancake: boo-berry cereal, blueberries, chocolate chips, oreo cookies and a whipped cream and chocolate syrup ghost.
Result: Failure. We left about a third of the pancake (no one but me would eat it, I don’t understand). I need to get back in practice.
