Beany, a grinning 10-year old boy with blond hair, freckles, and a magic beanie that allowed him to fly, first appeared as a puppet on the local Los Angeles tv series Time for Beany (1949-1954).
A 26-episode animated version appeared on prime time (1962-63), and on Saturday mornings (1962-67). There were also books, toys, games, and comics.
This screencapt is from the short-lived 1988 remake, drawn by John Kricfalusi, implying that the two are boyfriends.
The animators had fun speculating on what was going on underwater, in the parts of Cecil that we don't see.
The plots involved Beany; his adult companion "Uncle Captain" Horatio Huffenpuff; and the giant green phallic symbol Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent. There were a lot of puns which I didn't understand at the time: Hungry I-Land, "Malice in Wonderland," "Phantom of the Horse Opera," Cyrano de Bugs-R-Back (ok, that one is a bit of a stretch).
And a lot of heterosexist puns which I didn't understand: "We're headed for No Bikini Atoll."
Their main antagonist was Dishonest John, a silent movie melodrama villain with a handlebar moustache and a sinister "Nya-ha-ha" catchphrase. He often captured and threatened to torture or kill Beany, whereupon Beany would cry "Help, Cecil, help!" and Cecil would rush to the rescue.
When I was a kid, I didn't notice the heterosexism. It was far more pervasive than in the Hanna Barbera cartoons (Yogi Bear, The Flintstones). The crew explores No Bikini Atoll, an island that looks like a reclining woman. The Captain is in love with a husky woman named Ida, Cecil is dating a female sea serpent named Cecilia, and even Beany has a girlfriend, Baby Ruth.
I just noticed a boy who needed lots of rescues. Beany and Cecil didn't have a romantic bond, but the inversion of the standard female damsel-in-distress plotline paved the way for more overt gay partners, boys who faded-out in each other's arms -- Jonny and Hadji, the Hardy Boys, the Adventure Boys in the Green Library.
The first childhood toy that I remember is a huge, cuddly Beany doll wearing a red turtleneck sweater and blue overalls. When you pulled the string in back, he said random things: "I'm Beany Boy!"; "Let's go explore!"; "Gee, this is fun!"; and "Help, Cecil, help!"
I'm not sure that he should be encouraging five-year olds to go exploring.
Really? Dishonest John? Not only do they plagiarize Pinocchio, but they suck the irony out. (I suppose one can't plagiarize a story that goes back to ancient Rome, but Disney's lawyers will dispute that.)
ReplyDeleteBob Clampett said that he was parodying a car salesman who did a lot of advertising in L.A. in the 1950s. TV Tropes calls the used car salesman trope "Honest John's Dealerships"
DeleteYeah, but Pinocchio was released in the 40s; you can tell by the fact that Pinocchio's creator's name is a racial slur.
DeleteHonest John was the name of the fox who just wants to take boys to an island where they can play grown-up games all day. Certainly not a trafficker.
In the Roman version, it's bawdier, with Pinocchio starring in donkey shows.
Found an episode of the puppet show version in a compilation of Fifties Kids TV shows. It was weirdly disjointed and all over the place and felt rather like they just filmed a rehearsal.
ReplyDeleteI think I have that on DVD. Never saw the puppet version, but since it was a live local broadcast, it would be less polished than we're used to.
DeleteI want to request the lost episodes from 1962-63 Beany & Cecil TV series to Youtube Channel soon.
DeleteI am the fan of classic cartoons it's my favorite hobby during childhood in the Philippines in the 1960's era in popular culture in TV films comics animation & media.
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