Kukla, Fran and Ollieween

This is the Halloween broadcast of Kukla, Fran & Ollie I mentioned the other day that aired 74 years ago tonight, on October 31, 1949.
 
It follows up on the episode a few nights earlier, when Beulah Witch was preparing for her fellow alums and teachers from Witch Normal college coming to town for a Halloween convention – but a small crisis comes up that she has to avert.  As things develop, the other Kuklapolitans excitedly prepare for trick-or-treating, and sing a bunch of songs along the way – my favorite being Beulah Witch’s rendition of “That Old Black Magic.”
 
The episode also shows off Burr Tillstrom’s artistry well – though it’s subtle because he does it with such ease. 
 
The first is the opening of the show when music director Jack Fascianato plays the KF&O theme “Here We Are Again,” and he’s joined by two Kuklapolitans accompanying him on toy pianos.  It’s amusing and generally just plunking on the keys, except if you listen closely he actually is getting some of the theme music correct.  (And made all the better because one of the two is my fave, the lunatic Cecil Bill.)  And the other comes later in the episode when Kukla, Fran and Ollie sing a trio – with Tillstrom going back and forth with the two voices.  As I said, it’s comes across with such natural ease, but it’s no small trick singing a duet with yourself.
 
By the way, I noticed a bit of information posted with this video.  Over 700 episodes of the show were transferred to digital thanks to funding from the Burr Tillstrom Copyright Trust and fans of the show – as well as, most interestingly, the Jane Henson Foundation.  As I’ve written in the past, Jim Henson always said that Burr Tillstrom and Kukla, Fran and Ollie were one of his big inspirations to get into puppetry and ultimately create The Muppets.  And his wife’s helping to fund this clearly supports that.  Special thanks were given, as well, to the Chicago History Museum for its invaluable help in the process.
 
And now – trick or treat!