This Day in Pop Culture for December 18

1963: Pink Panther’s First Animated Short

Although the Pink Panther was first brought to people’s minds during the opening and closing credits of the comedy film The Pink Panther in 1963, it was on this day a year later that the cat first appeared in his own animated short. The Pink Phink featured the panther and “little man” (aka “big nose”) working as painters and arguing if a house should be painted pink or blue.

Directed by Friz Freleng and produced by David H. DePatie (aka DePatie-Freleng Enterprises) the short featured the classic music from Henry Mancini. It won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film in 1964 and was the first of many other “pink” cartoons, but it was the only one to win an Oscar.

1997: Festivus for the Rest of Us

Festivus Poles (Matthew Keefe, F. D. Richards, Michael Homan, Festivusweb
and Bart Everson/Wikimedia)

Most Americans became familiar with Festivus from the Seinfeld episode which aired on December 18, 1997, but this day was actually created in 1966.

According to author Daniel O’Keefe, the date celebrated his first date with his future wife. His son, Dan O’Keefe wrote for Seinfeld and included the family tradition in the episode which included the traditions of the Festivus pole, the airing of grievances and feats of strength. This made-up holiday “for the rest of us” is celebrated on December 23.

1985: ‘Out of Africa’ Surprises

A man and a woman talk on the grass. — *(TVDB)*

More often than not, movies that win Oscars usually have high Rotten Tomatoes scores, but that is not the case with Out of Africa which holds a 63% “fresh” rating. The website claims that the low score was due to the movies” excessive length and glacial pacing.” Still, in the end, the movie did well for itself making $227.5 million in box office sales on a $31 million budget.

Loosely based on the autobiographical book of the same name by Isak Dinesen (or Karen Blixen who used “Dinesen” as a pseudonym), the movie also contains some material from Dinesen’s later book from 1960, Shadows on the Grass. Directed by Sydney Pollack, Out of Africa starred Robert Redford, Meryl Streep and Klaus Maria Brandauer.

The movie was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won seven for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay (based on material from another medium), Art Direction, Cinematography, Original Score and Sound.

2017: ‘Ellen’s Game of Games’ Debuts

Featuring games shown on Ellen DeGeneres’ former talk show, Ellen’s Game of Games premiered on NBC on this day in 2017. The show starred DeGeneres of course along with Stephen “tWitch” Boss who served as a sidekick announcer.

The primetime show was very popular. It ran for four seasons with one of TV’s loudest audiences ever. Games that were featured on the show included “Aw Snap” where two contestants were strapped with a bungee cord attached to each other’s backs; “Blindfolded Musical Chairs” and “Buckin’ Blasters” where contestants would mount giant cannons and shoot portraits of their opponents to win.