Betty Hutton - A New Favorite

 

For now this will be an ongoing series of posts. 

The first time I ever truly knew about this actress was just yesterday. I was exploring around various 40s music, until I stumbled across her song, Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief. The version I watched was her appearance in movie The Stork Club (1945). 

I was absolutely amused by her performance and I needed to know more about her immediately. Later as I realized, I really associate her eccentric personality, usually when a person sings, they just go along with it in a normal perspective, when she sings she does these zany movements it makes it even more entertaining. 

I'll prove it to you.

When I first watched this, I was laughing, she was so full of spirit it's hard to dislike it because she's having fun with her performance and y'know that makes me extremely contented. 

Observe as she sings "I'm Just A Square In A Social Circle" Great song!

Normally, I love old songs, the people sound gentle, and the rhythm, melody is all whimsical and calm, sometimes the song can go over-the-top ridiculous in many great ways like with my favorites from Glenn Miller, and Tony Pastor. My favorite music decades are the 30s and 40s and almost every song sounds comforting to listen to. 

But in that vain of normal goodness, it's always rare to see a music number be so astonishing and impressive to me, I have a playlist on YouTube with all my favorite songs and there's only a course of 30 I put in so far I could listen on repeat. That's saying alot from a person who listens to over a million songs. 

However with Betty Hutton's performances, all I seen so far, she's perfect in all of them. I'm not kidding. How did I not grow up with this actress? 

This is another great one!

She was one of the most comedic, most overlooked entertainers in the 20th century if you ask me.

There are over hundreds of actors/actresses/musicians I have admired, I can go all day telling all about them, but if you were gonna ask individuals I think nailed classic entertainment and had influence on me the most it would be quite a few.

The Three Stooges were more than just a comedy group, they had unique and distinct voices for each stooge, the slapstick was absolutely hilarious, each short is like an adventure only for it to be taken in normal society, and the characters had such influential and comedic force. If you want to watch any of their short films, good for you, YouTube has all 190 of the shorts free to watch, my favorites are We Want Our Mummy, Disorder In The Court, and A Pain In The Pullman.

Billy Gilbert astounded me the most when I first experienced him, his favorite roles were in The Three Stooges and Laurel and Hardy shorts. Reasons why I honor him is that he's got alot of strength whenever he gets enraged like with The Music Box (1932), still one of the best outrageous performances in film history. 

Bing Crosby is arguably the most important, and most influential singers of the 20th century, while he's most notable for his songs, his acting is just phenomenal too. He makes a few funny facial expressions here and there, and he's got the most perfect personality I seen in an actor. His laid-back demeanor and unique calm voice really shows how entertaining his films can be. 

Gene Kelly's dancing is like nothing I ever seen, while Fred Astaire is magnificent and enormously talented, there's just something more to Gene's dancing than others. He adds alot more variety to his dance numbers, instead of the usual tap-dance and foxtrot routines. His dances are extremely sharp, has a fine voice and is geniuely reliable.  

Just like I said with other talents I mentioned, Betty Hutton will always be remembered and not to be forgotten, it's no wonder as to why I never experienced her until now. She's absolutely marvelous. I would recommend to check out her stuff. 

Major Influences On Artmania - Three Stooges and more

 

Here's some new enamel pins. 

Ey if I ever get a job, this might be useful, just make money by drawing stuff and advertising it.

These are all my main characters, don't they look appealing? 

I'm taking advantage into creating characters in a style of the classic 2D handdrawn animation almost everyone thinks is timeless. 

While everyone who has experienced my blog knows that I was inspired by most of the classics, recently I tried to study three stooges gags.

The Three Stooges especially in their early run were filled with funny moments, I love when a random human falls and gets hit by some random object. It's quick, yet appropriately timed. 

You should watch at least one of their short films, An Ache In Every Stake, Hoi Polloi Pardon My Scotch, and Idle Roomers are all comedic genius.

Here's my all-time favorite moment, 

THE ETERNAL SPRING! 

These were rough sketches of simple shape models but I managed to accurately fit the original gag where it came from.

Of course if you have seen Hoi Polloi, you may remember this, I even chuckled when I drew this.

I admire the classic Three Stooges shorts so much that even their lesser funny stuff is amusing and inspirational. The close-ups and especially the expressions are all priceless. I drew Szac with a mechanical cigar in his mouth, relating to Moe's harmonica scene.

I always imagined Szac sounding alot like Moe, his voice is just too timeless and funny, it's so unique alongside his brother Curly and Larry, Curly's nyuk laughing in particular is just fascinating to me everytime he does that it truly never get old in the slightest. 

Something I'm wanting to do with my own original characters is having rhythmical purpose. Most people don't get easily impressed by musical cues in between scenes, I certainly love it myself. I listen to old music every day and would come up with dance scenes or dance scenes that have been done before this list could go on but here's a few examples.

-Baloo dancing with King Louie

- Bugs Bunny tap dancing in Slick Hare

- Jose Carioca and Donald In Blame It On The Samba

- Any of Gene Kelly's scenes

- Peter Pan Tiger Lily

- Snow White's Silly Song

- Fantasia Satyrs

Whenever I'm using menacing characters like the forthcoming Ox Fisher, I like to act like I'm awakening the audience for a second by the way he gives off that creepy expression. It's a key to making a decently interesting character. 

Back to the drawing board, I studied more on The Disney Illusion Of Life book. I actually animated the usual bouncy ball on Digicel, I wish I would show you it, maybe soon. 

Ooh, here's something a little fun, I've been liking to use the line of action from the Preston Blair resources so it doesn't feel obvious that I drew in the wrong direction. 

Fashion Is The Best Distraction

 

Fashion can be really easy to appreciate and love, it can be more fresh, attractive and vibrant to how you can express yourself.

Wouldn't it be great to make people entertained by the way you look or how other people look? 

I think cartoons barely go for special occasions where they dress casually or in special, unique ways.

It makes the character have more personality and a chance at being iconic.

I've been loving this genre ever since I watched The Three Stooges, almost every episode they would have different and fun outfits. 

I love the duo/trio group trope. I'm doing it myself with my characters. I think having just one character isn't as easy as it sounds. It's all fun in games when you bring another pal, or even a few more of them.

Drawing characters and making them wear clothing takes alot of work and adds more attention to the audience. They can't just be bare-naked, they have to fit into the right atmosphere and setting.

Look at Porky Pig here. In the Charlie Dog cartoons, he always wears his usual blue coat and red bow tie, here he's fit into the farmer archetype. The straw hat, overalls you name it. It's more sensible and fitting.

Characters like Bugs Bunny don't need to have too much clothes because his natural and witty personality fits perfectly with how he looks, however when he does wear fashion, it's less expressive than you think but it's still able to work decently. 

In fact, Bugs absolutely looks fine in various outfits. 

I love stuff like this. The poses, the amusing talking, A Hare Grows In Manhattan in particular is really underrated, and well told. 

It takes inspiration and influences to create something just like The Three Stooges and Bugs Bunny and this proves otherwise. 

You barely see anyone wear fashion like this anymore and it's really good to explore and experience the past. It's also visually pleasing. Everyone looks slim, clean and confident. 

I love a good bit of quirkiness and whenever one of my favorite cartoon characters or actors just go to the silly route, it's a really interesting ride. 

Sometimes weird can be funny and I believe that. When I first saw Three Stooges's Creeps (1956), I was absolutely floored by how uncanny but hilarious Moe, Larry and Shemp are dressed as babies. The short is a clip-show, but I think it has some good clips. 

While we all love to wear whatever we want and try not to be too modest and classy especially in the modern world of today, we still have to appreciate what styles and trends we have experienced so we can talk about them and send love and passion for it. We gotta be grateful somehow. 

Even in those animated versions, you can still like it and appreciate the appeal. 

I love Cock O' The Walk. It has some fantastic dance scenes, and underrated silent characters.

Not only does this 90 year old cartoon have personality but it's widely acceptable for the era. Seeing anthropomorphic roosters dance and having a rubbery boxing match feels like true cinema. I really miss stuff like this. If this ever happens again, don't make it have useless talking involved, make it have exceptional dialogue and trust-worthy and reliable characters who know how to dance and feel at ease and spirit. I'm begging for this genre to come back. 

I think the post renaissance of fashion and entertainment was the 90s and 2000s. I grew up with one of the most creative, sharp and collected TV shows I ever watched. Backyardigans was full of exploration and I loved alot of the music. I think it was clearly inspired by the classics. It's really fun and perfect for younger audiences.

Best Decades

 

You know how people always think to themselves they would watch something that feels special to them, maybe it's something old, but they've wished to be living in that decade?

Some people might say the 80s, the 60s, the 70s, to me it would be the 40s.

This is why the 1940s was the greatest

BIG BANDS!

WACKY CARTOONS!

MUSICAL MOVIES!

THE MODEST FASHION!

Everything about this decade was fantastic. But what about other decades? 

I love the 1930s too. So does the 50s, every other decade is good but not as powerful. That being said I think alot of good has happened after the golden age of entertainment passed on, but man the 30s to the 50s, were probably the best the entire world has to offer.

When I watch an old film, I like how more logical and sensible the characters and actions are. This was also the course where things start to get even funnier. 

Throughout the course of the early 20th century, films were silent, and you couldn't even get the knowledge of laughing too much or relating to the characters.

The late 20s, to early 30s, everyone was talkin' and it became more lively and natural.

There was a potential rise to cartoons as well. There were a few exceptions to cartoons back then like Out Of The Inkwell, and Winsor McCay's shorts but that's it really. 

There was strong characters in the 30s through the 50s. Every character that is still considered popular today was created this period of the century. 

I'll name a few characters 

Bugs Bunny

Porky Pig

Goofy

Donald Duck

José Carioca 

Foghorn Leghorn 

Droopy

Man, I would've lived my whole life expecting something fresh and iconic more commonly than today. Disney Movies were a big exception by the 30s-40s.

The reason why I think the later Disney movies don't do much to me anymore it's because of the amount of dialogue you have to be awake to. 

This is Bambi, a movie that barely has any dialogue whatsoever. Sure, it does have some speaking in it, but it isn't stuffed with drama too often. Not to mention that the calm and quiet environments is what makes a movie focus.

I imagined Artmania especially my TV show to have dancing scenes and music just like the classics because you just can't beat THE CLASSICS! 

When I worked on Artmania's Spirit Of Christmas last December, one post I payed tribute to the big bands like Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and Tommy Dorsey. With all those unique and stylish names, I created band leader, Vinn Kringle. 

What happened to this type of music? Where did it go? 

I seem to think every musician and song I love best doesn't get the impact and recognition they really deserve anymore. I know we have to move forward, but it really staggers me that for such a chaotic world we're living in right now, I can't see why the most calm piece of entertainment is hidden by most people. I mean it's free to experience and explore around.

YouTube isn't all about content farms and trends you know.

If your a fan of classics and both exploring social media, you would know you shouldn't be afraid to search random clips of talents and performances. You don't have to pay online for movies if you don't want to, you can just freely experience around 2-5 minutes of fun. 

Speak for yourself.

The Andrews Sisters were special to me. I remember first experiencing and listening to their biggest hits, and something about these three just felt easy to appreciate and they had a sense of humor mostly when they were on screen.

Attractiveness

There was something so unique about how people looked and dressed like back in the golden age of hollywood. 

Judy Garland is one of those actresses that shine just the way you look at the fashion, and style. I truly love her, her singing voice is full of beauty.

The Amount Of Funny Stuff You'll Get

I watched a few Three Stooges shorts lately and I think it's one of the most hilarious series of entertainment I ever seen. 

If you get the outlandish speech given with one of the characters, you'll easily find it more normal to experience. The jokes and gags felt more creative and simple back then. 

Tex Avery for example would add a sign to one of his cartoons and I always found those to be hilarious since it's a sign of reality. 

I also think this is how comedy should work and not a bunch of horrendously bad celebrity roasts and shock value.

Drawn Energy

I call it this because these films can easily get stuck in your mind, and whenever your playing a song that sounds groovy to listen to, you can draw your mind into the classic animated movements of characters or real people dancing along with the song.

Remember The Three Caballeros? I usually have those dance scenes drawn into me even ever since I first watched them.

This is one of my favorite scenes from that movie. 

You see movie posters nowadays, they look good, but they're kinda lazy in terms of the cast of characters.

When I look at these, it just warms my heart because artists back then used their artistic skills to paint all these people and advertise it.

This is me bringing back that old-school spirit.

The best decades of all time relate to my drawing style and perspective of how I view creativity and knowledge.

I hope you all liked what I enjoy about these decades and their wonderful chemistry of entertainment and timeless value.