Rufus:

The animation which stuck with me was:

–Sally Cruikshank, “Quasi at the Quackadero”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH7LcVNusQE

Weirdo man-child from the future attends a time-travel amusement park with his manipulative girlfriend. Weirdness ensues.

In the ’70s and ’80s I too attended animation festivals at a local art house in Chicago. A lot of really interesting stuff. One that had something to do with a man living a rather mundane existence meeting a woman with a head like a dove or pigeon haunts me to this day. I have no idea what it was about, or what it was even titled, but something about it stayed with me.

And, of course, there was the classic, “Bambi Meets Godzilla.”

My contribution:
The film [Court Jester] contains three songs (all sung by Kaye), makes heavy use of slapstick comedy and quick-witted wordplay, and is best remembered for the tongue twister “The pellet with the poison’s in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true!”

Wikipedia has the straight dope on her career. Movie fans sometimes forget she was just as big a star on the theater stage, although she started out with supporting roles in film. The first excerpt is for huxley.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Lansbury

….with her mother, attended lectures by the spiritual guru Jiddu Krishnamurti; at one of these, she met Aldous Huxley.

In 1966, Lansbury took on the title role of Mame Dennis in the musical Mame, Jerry Herman’s musical adaptation of the novel Auntie Mame. The director’s first choice for the role had been Rosalind Russell, who played Mame in the non-musical film adaptation Auntie Mame, but she had declined. Lansbury actively sought the role in the hope that it would mark a change in her career. When she was chosen, it came as a surprise to theatre critics, who believed that it would go to a better-known actress; Lansbury was forty-one years old, and it was her first starring role.

However, she was rejected for the movie, and the leading role went to Lucille Ball (who also started as at theater ingenue, and was quite pretty, just like Lansbury).

One of her early roles was in a Sondheim musical, Anyone Can Whistle, and she liked working with his scores.

In March 1979, Lansbury first appeared as Nellie Lovett in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, a Stephen Sondheim musical directed by Harold Prince. Opening at the Uris Theatre on Broadway, she starred alongside Len Cariou as Sweeney Todd, the murderous barber in 19th-century London. After being offered the role, she jumped on the opportunity due to the involvement of Sondheim in the project; she commented that she loved “the extraordinary wit and intelligence of his lyrics”. She remained in the role for fourteen months before being replaced by Dorothy Loudon; the musical received mixed critical reviews, although it earned Lansbury her fourth Tony Award

IIRC, I saw a filmed version of that production, broadcast on tv (probably PBS).

In March 2009 she returned to Broadway for a revival of Blithe Spirit at the Shubert Theatre, where she took on the role of Madame Arcati.

She reprised that role several times in revivals at different theaters.
I played that same role in a summer production at our local college after my senior year in High School. It was great fun.

On 18 November 2019, Lansbury made her final return to Broadway portraying Lady Bracknell in a one-night benefit staging of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest for Roundabout Theatre Company’s American Airlines Theatre. In October 2020, Variety magazine considered her career to “defy all logic” and continued “Though powerful women were sometimes maligned, it was thought you needed to be heartless to survive in showbiz, Lansbury has created a 77-year career and nobody has a bad word to say about her.”

RIP indeed.

Sharon W:

Well, I’m always looking for connections … but isn’t Angela Lansbury kinda like Queen Elizabeth II?

She did her job with competence and loyalty, she didn’t force herself as a center of attention, and she was, by what I’ve read, a decent, moral person.

She seemed to be a somewhat ordinary person in quite unordinary circumstances, yet acquitting herself admirably.

Which is, by today’s standards, extraordinary.

I have seen “Gerald McB-B” before and watching it tonight I’m impressed yet again!

My Sweeney Todd theater friend also exposed me to the Hubleys’ “A Windy Day”, which is quite magical:

–“Windy Day [John & Faith Hubley, 1967] (subtitulado)”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O8VE4qB8-s

I couldn’t find a link without subtitles.

During the 70s and 80s I used to frequent the animation festivals at local rep houses. It’s a lovely form. I haven’t checked in since. I wonder what I’ve missed.

That really was great. I even loved the font and coloration used on the opening credits slides. I’ve mentioned before I’m a huge, Ted Geisel (Doc Seuss) fan. I knew of Gerald McBoing Boing and felt certain I had seen it, but just watching it now I realize I hadn’t (until now). Thanks for posting that!