2009 is the 50th Anniversary of Beanie and Cecil Show
Fifty years ago, a star was born--two stars actually.
Fifty years ago, Beanie and Cecil began an animated cartoon story of a boy and his sea-sick sea serpent.
As a puppet show entitled Time for Beany, it originally aired in 1949, with the animated series first appearing in Matty's Funday Funnies in 1959, later renamed Matty's Funnies with Beany and Cecil and finally Beany and Cecil in the USA. Another season was produced in 1988.
The cartoons ran throughout the 1960s and '70s in much of the country. I'm not sure if Beanie & Cecil is shown anywhere today, but with all the different cable and satellite TV channels, it would be surprising if it were not.
In 1988, the show was revived as The New Adventures of Beany and Cecil by DiC. Only eight episodes were ever made, and only five episodes ever aired. This incarnation of the show was produced and directed by John Kricfalusi, who would later create Ren and Stimpy.
Beanie and Cecil relied on hidden adult humor and a ton of puns. Beanie, Cecil and Beanie's uncle, Captain Horatio Huffenpuff, accompanied by their navigator, Crow sailed aboard the ship, Leakin' Lena, to find gold, treasure and other cartoon quests each episode.
Usually, "Uncle Captain" would explain to the crew where they were going using a map that was loaded with puns and hidden cultural references of the day.
BEANIE & CECIL INTRO
Beanie and Cecil was one of the first cartoons to be broadcast in color.
