Category: Sci-Fi

KHAAANNNNN!!!!!

Two Sci-Fi movie favorites and a silent Max Fleischer cartoon, with its own Sci-Fi elements, have made it into the National Film Registry this year.

https://newsroom.loc.gov/news/25-films-named-to-national-film-registry-for-preservation/s/55d5285d-916f-4105-b7d4-7fc3ba8664e3

I am especially pleased with the addition of Invaders from Mars.

Original Martian Mutant Costume from Invaders From Mars

Also getting the nod this year is Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the feature that put Trek on a different track from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Speaking of Trek, William Shatner is scheduled to appear once again at the Star Trek Original Series Set Tour in Ticonderoga, New York. I’m semi-seriously considering being there. A lot this coming year will depend on my medical status.

https://startrektour.com/product-category/2025-06-shatner/

Kudos to animation historian Jerry Beck for helping to make the restoration of “Koko’s Earth Control” happen.

December 7, 1941, 1979, 1999

Three anniversaries today. 1941 you know about. 1979 one of you remembers. 1999 was the day when the retina in my left eye spontaneously detached, beginning one of the most difficult periods of my life.

Twenty-five years! Just like Pa Kent, it don’t hardly seem that long. Uh, oh. Looks like Pa had the afib real bad!

Wait. What 25th anniversary did the neighbors think the Kents were celebrating? Pulling baby Clark out of a burning rocket from outer space?

Sam the Red Snowman

Folk singer and actor Burl Ives was a Communist sympathizer who cooperated with HUAC; however, Ives’ most enduring legacy is almost certainly his narration of 1964’s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

A tip o’ the Dog Rat toupee to twinster Jeanie Beanie for letting me know that Rudolph is returning to NBC after decades at CBS, for a special 60th anniversary airing.

Jean and I have a possible connection to Burl Ives through our maternal grandfather. Our parents met at Eastern Illinois State College, where our grandfather, Eugene Waffle, was an English professor and later chairman of the department.

Eugene Waffle, Eastern Illinois State College (now University)

The connection with Ives is explained at this link:

However, during a “Beowulf” lecture in his English class, Ives decided to stop pursuing his degree and he wanted to become a singer. He left in the middle of class. Allegedly, the teacher made a nasty remark about him as he left and Ives slammed the door behind him, shattering the glass.

https://www.dailyeasternnews.com/2021/10/04/the-person-behind-burl-ives-studio-hall/

My grandfather became an English professor at the college in 1926, as seen here:

https://thekeep.eiu.edu/archives_faculty_sz/259/

With Ives attending the school from 1927-30, I wouldn’t be surprised if my prickly grandfather was the English professor who made the snide remark.

J.R.R. Tolkien lectured on Beowulf, having completed his translation of the epic poem in 1926. I wonder if anyone ever walked out of his class?

Following the Fellowship

Illustration by J.R.R. Tolkien

Brian Sibley’s 1981 adaptation of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings for the BBC garners well-deserved praise on Screen Rant.

https://screenrant.com/lord-of-the-rings-bbc-radio-adaptation-overcomes-trilogy-problem/

With Archive.org recovering from its recent hack attack, you can now listen to Brian’s radio play.

https://archive.org/details/lord-of-the-rings-10_202401/Lord+of+the+Rings+01.mp3