Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Thanksgiving Toons: Linus the Lionhearted (1964)

Those of us who grew up during the 60's & 70's will fondly recall the Linus the Lionhearted balloon that appeared every year at Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. While the balloon was retired nearly 20 years ago, let's look back and see just how it came to be, or, at least, from the viewpoint of Linus himself (Sheldon Leonard). Toontracker uploaded the edited open, framing skits, and closing to this program to YouTube:



I freely admit that I barely remember seeing Linus the Lionhearted, if at all, as a toddler. We all know that Sugar Bear was the true breakout star, as he lasted the longest of Post Cereals' mascots. In fact, I'm not even sure if he's still around. Linus was ultimately booted off the air after a 3-year run on ABC after the FCC determined that it was little more than a glorified commercial for Post's line of cereals. Of those, only Alpha-Bits (represented by mailman Lovable Truly) and Super Golden Crisp (formerly Super Sugar Crisp, Sugar Bear's cereal) are still around. By the way, that's Carl Reiner (The Dick Van Dyke Show) as Billy Boid, Linus' sidekick.

Rating: B-.

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