Boyhood Daze (1957)

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

. . . that title reference character Ralph Phillips is generally confined to his family's DISAPPOINTMENTS ROOM. Has he been bitten by a Zika Mosquito, and come down with Microencephaly? No. Has Lon Chaney tried to cast him as Lon Chaney III by bathing his face in acid? No. Was Mrs. Phillips knocked up by a Pachyderm, turning Ralphie into a budding ELEPHANT MAN? No again. Young Ralph is doomed to inhabit a metal cell in a turret because he cannot stop thinking like a Looney Tuner, envisioning the 21st Century Calamities, Cataclysms, Catastrophes and General Apocalypti in store for America. First, BOYHOOD DAZE features an ISIS Guerilla Gang trying to serve up American Tourists as Cannibalistic Hors D'Oeuvres. Then our Chinese nemesis attacks the U.S. with aircraft so advanced that they must be depicted as UFOs for 1950s theater audiences. Finally, an adult Ralph is thrown into a Maximum Security Federal Pen (after he's implausibly outgrown his DISAPPOINTMENTS ROOM). Wouldn't you want to chop down a few of the Trojan Horse-like Pearl Harbor cherry trees if all of this happened to YOU?

I love the three Ralph Phillips cartoons that Looney Toons made. The first two (FROM A to Z-Z-Z-Z and BOYHOOD DAZE) are roughly the same format while the final film consists of Ralph and a friend watching Wiley Coyote and the Roadrunner and making commentary about the film. The character is quite charming and likable and seeing this little boy's daydreams come to life is really a pleasure. In A to Z-Z-Z-Z, these dreams all occur when Ralph is supposed to be listening in class. In BOYHOOD DAZE, Ralph is sent to his room after breaking a window and imagines all kinds of crazy consequences--including a fight with cannibals and a flight in an experimental fighter plane pursued by Martians! In the end, however, the confrontation with Dad isn't so bad after all and we see that Ralph has learned his lesson....or has he?! Highly imaginative and fun, these cartoons represent some of the best Looney Toons had to offer even if they are rather obscure films today. My only quibble, and it's very, very minor, is that the animation style is over-simplified and modern and isn't as highly detailed as you'd see in earlier Looney Tunes cartoons. But, this was the style of late 50s cartoons and this style was a lot cheaper to produce.FYI--George Washington NEVER cut down a cherry tree--that's a silly myth. If you don't believe me, ask an American History teacher!

Semi-sequel to Chuck Jones's earlier "From A to Z-z-z-z", about young daydreamer Ralph Phillips. This time, he accidentally breaks a window, gets sent to his room and has a series of fantasies.While Ralph Phillips only appeared in these two cartoons (plus an educational cartoon in which he enlists in the army), his wild imagination shows childhood at its most innocent. Who didn't, as a child, imagine himself/herself having all sorts of neat adventures? In my opinion, the fine troika of fictional daydreaming characters is Ralph Phillips, Walter Mitty and Calvin (of "Calvin and Hobbes"). I certainly never would have thought up "Martians who got straight A's in arithmetic". I recommend "Boyhood Daze".

I remember sitting and waiting for hours on end on a Saturday morning just hoping this cartoon would come on. There is something innocent and sweet about all of it, even if some of the language would seem a bit sinister by today's standard. This is exactly what every kid feels when he is sent to his room. I wonder if Watterson got his inspiration for Calvin and Hobbes from this show?Com Ralph to HQ, Com Ralph to HQ, over...Ralphie rules!Ralphie makes one previous appearance in 1954's "From A to Z-z-z-z"