Eva's Retro 60s Flashbacks

Boing! Boing! Beany Beany-Copter

One draft emanating from the Cold War between the  United States and the Soviet Union (1957 – 1975) was the rivalry for outer space supremacy. Each world power viewed conquering no man’s land symbolic of technological and ideological superiority. So, the proliferation of launching artificial satellites, orbiting around the earth, and landing lunar ensued. One small step backward for mankind, Jonathan King’s 1965 hit single, “Everyone’s Gone to the Moon,” sent earthlings reeling into orbit through lyrical lunacy, purportedly intended as a satire on Bob Dylan’s meaningful meanderings: Cars full of motors painted green; mouths full of chocolate covered cream; arms that can only lift a spoon; Everyone’s gone to the moon...

Bang! Zoom! Straight to the moon! Bob Clampett went into orbit with the idea for the animated cartoon series, Beany and Cecil, when just a young boy.  Seeing a dinosaur swimming at the end of the 1925 film, The Lost World propelled his imagination to take flight. Originally created as a puppet show, Time for Beany (1949-1954), Clampett gave it a new spin and retitled his creation, The Beany and Cecil Show.  This aired prime time on Saturdays in 1962 on ABC.  Some 26 shows, including 78 cartoons, were rerun for the next five years.  The two main characters—Beany boy, and Cecil, the Sea-Sick Serpent, embark on a series of adventures where ancient civilizations and artifacts are discovered. 

Beany’s—what else—“Beany Copter” replete with helmet and propellor, enable him to fly. To the tune of Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah: Beany, Beany-Copter! Boing! Boing! Wind it up, put it on, pull the chord. It’s a Beany-Copter!  Watch it fly in the sky! That TV commercial sucker punched many a kid to fly the friendly skies in blade only.

Ooooh, two copter blades! You can tell it’s Mattell, it’s swell.  My sister and I each had our own Beany-Copters, even though we’d perfected flying off the handle aplenty without such gadgetry.  I just happened to espy a vintage Beany-Copter for the asking price of $74.99.  If that doesn’t send you into a tailspin for not hanging onto your hat…Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah

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