Monster of the Day #328

Updated on September 23, 2011 By Ken Begg 17 Comments

Of course, he started like this:


This is the old fart in me talking, but I do occasionally wonder if we were better off when you had to use your imagination a bit more.

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  • Ericb

    The puppet on the right in the photo is the scariest Monster of the Day to date.

  • Mr. Rational

    The old fart in me agrees with you.

  • roger h

    I remember having a Cecil hand puppet/wash cloth. I also remember all the puns, some of my favorites, the singing Dinah Saur and the Nobikini Atoll.

    I got to see Bob Clampett at a convention once. Only termite terrace person I ever met and I will always appreciate the opportunity. He was great.

  • roger h

    ericb, I assume you meant that the Beanie Boy puppet on left is scary. You could not mean dear seasick Cecil could ever cause nightmares.

  • KeithB

    Hey Old farts, how about the one where you had to draw items in crayon on the TV screen!

    (Winnie Winkie?)

  • roger h

    Winky Dink

  • Ericb

    roger, oops, my dyslexia hits again (seriously I have to consciously think about left vs right all the time).

    BTW, I’m an old fart and I have no idea what this is.

  • roger h

    Beanie and Cecil look up on youtube, some funny stuff.

  • Sing it with me…
    “A Bob Clampett cartooooOOOOOON!”

  • Rock Baker

    SOME station was still airing the cartoon when I was a child, so I have some vague memories of that (mostly, I kept trying to figure out what Cecil’s lower half looked like, as I recall an episode where he was standing behind some rocks on level with Beanie and it looked like his feet and everything could only be a few inches worth of space at the base of a huge neck. Very weird).

    I’d love to see more of this stuff. Has the series (puppet or cartoon, or better yet both) been released in a full collection yet?

    By the way, not many folk remember that Bullwinkle Moose started out this same way….

    And yes, such shows were better. I’ll take Stingray any day over, well, whatever kids’ shows are on the air these days. The last cartoon show I really enjoyed before leaving broadcast television behind was Duck Dogers.

  • Flangepart

    Ah, yeah…I remember, in an interview with Dr, Demento, Stan Freberg, who did voices on the live version, talking about the time Fat bat, a black baloon with wings, got stuck in his cave, and when they wiggled the baloon too much, it blew up. First time a kid show character ‘died’ on live TV.

    Can’t didd a show Albert Einstine loved.

    BTW, the last toon I respected was DAVE THE BARBARIAN, a show with writing up there with ANIMANICS, FREAKAZOID, EARTHWORM JIM and DARKWING DUCK.
    I miss those shows…

  • And yet, they used cartoons in film BEFORE live-action puppets. The puppets were cutting-edge technology that made imaginary things more real and thus enabled you to use your imagination less. You’ve got it all backwards.

    Also, a thousand curses upon John M. Hanna!! Until he repeated the ending line of the show “A Bob Clampette carTOOOOOON!!” I was sane. Now for all the rest of the day I must hear the theme song of Beanie and Cecil. Argh I say.

  • Mr. Rational

    Sandy: Serves you right for “Jimmy, the Boy Wonder.” :)

  • This old fart had a Beany and Cecil lunchbox and thermos in first grade. I wonder what something like that is worth now?

  • You get no sympathy from me. My mom threw out all my copies of Famous Monsters in Filmland.

  • MatthewF

    Was childen’s TV better when I was a child? Or was it just that I was a child? I can’t tell and I guess it’s impossible to say.

    It’s like looking at the top forty (hey kids!) and saying “well pop music was better in my day, these days it’s just all the same rubbish.” I know intellectually that it’s just because I’m not 14 years old any more and it isn’t made for me, but you still think it.

  • Guest

    Lovable, gullible, armless, harmless,
    ten-foot-tall and wet!
    Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent,
    created by Bob Clampett!

    So come on, kids, let’s flip our lids!
    Higher than the moon!
    And now for Beanie and Cecil in (your very own)
    Bob Clampett cartooooooOOOOOOOOOOnnnnnnn!