The British-American animated fantasy film Alice in Wonderland was
produced by Walt Disney Productions and is the 13th film in the Walt
Disney Animated Classics series. It was first released in London on
July 26 for its world premier. The comedy-adventure film features the
voices of Kathryn Beaumont as Alice, and Ed Wynn as the Mad Hatter.
English writer Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pen name,
Lewis Carroll
Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny from the cartoon, A Wild Hare
While Porky’s Hare Hunt was the first Warner Bros. cartoon to feature a Bugs
Bunny-like rabbit, A Wild Hare, directed by Tex Avery is widely considered to
be the first official Bugs Bunny cartoon. It is the first film where both Elmer
Fudd and Bugs are shown in their fully developed forms as hunter and
tormentor, respectively; the first in which Mel Blanc uses what would become
Bugs’ standard voice; and the first in which Bugs uses his catchphrase,
"What’s up, Doc?". A Wild Hare was a huge success in theaters and
received an Academy Award nomination for Best Cartoon Short Subject.
Freddie Slack and singer Ella Mae Morse
"Cow Cow Boogie” is a "country-boogie" style blues song written for the 1942
Abbott & Costello film Ride ‘Em Cowboy. The first recording was by Freddie
Slack & his Orchestra, featuring 17-year-old vocalist Ella Mae Morse. The
record was the first release by Capitol Records and their first million-seller.
Although Ella Mae’s follow-up recordings sold fairly well, she never obtained
a huge following, but continued to make records until 1957. Morse died of
respiratory failure in Bullhead City, Arizona in 1999 at age 75.
From left: comedy team of Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin, 1946 poster
The duo of Dean Martin (“straight man”) and Jerry Lewis (“comedian”) first
met in 1945 and staged their first show together as a replacement act when
the scheduled singer was unable to perform at Club 500 in Atlantic City, NJ.
Their success at the club led to a series of well-paying engagements up
and down the Eastern seaboard, culminating with a triumphant run at New
York’s Copacabana. The team split up in 1956.
