Ducky-23

I remember watching this film in the 1960s on Kukla, Fran and Ollie's Children's Film Festival. I recall it being such a powerful message on the value of friendship and believing in yourself. The story revolves around a lonely and overweight boy (Oyama) who moves to a new city and a new school. He is disliked and teased almost from the start because of weight. Another boy (Komatsu) befriends him despite what the others think, and he begins to effect the way the others and even Oyama sees himself. A few years ago I purchased the video online and watched it again. It was as good as I remembered and I have shown the film to many of my elementary students. I highly recommend this movie!

The Mighty Mightor was a prehistoric human who could change into a masked superhero by raising a stick in the air and shouting "Mightor!" He was magically transformed into a being with great strength who could fly with the aid of his club. His dinosaur pet would also morph into a dragon. He'd take on a T-Rex or anything else that threatened his tribe. The program had many of the same sound effects and feel of Jonny Quest. While it may not have been higher quality animation, the mixture of a superhero, dinosaurs, cavemen, and fierce battles looked pretty cool to a 9 year old back in the 1960s and an old baseball bat was the perfect "club" to imitate The Mighty Mightor. I never could get mine to fly though.

I was a big fan of Captain Nice and Mr. Terrific. I have some video of the Captain Nice program and after much searching, I recently bought the pilot for Mr. Terrific. Here's the big surprise - Alan Young, not Stephen Strimpell was the original Stanley Beamish, alias Mr. Terrific! Yes, the Alan Young from Mr. Ed. Mr Ed finished in 1966, so he must have filmed the pilot right after. Young was 47 when this was shot, but appeared to be trying to play someone in their late twenties or early thirties. He just seemed to be a little to old for the role, perhaps that's why Strimpell ended up with it.

It was very enjoyable to watch, regardless. It WAS silly. But I'll take that over the garbage that passes for comedy today!