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Tom Riggin

@tomrig.bsky.social
764 followers 260 following 446 posts

Animator, Director & Storyboard Artist, now retired. Space Jam (the original), Bob’s Burgers, The Super Hero Squad Show, Bebe’s Kids and a bunch of other stuff you might have seen.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Three recent releases and a Frank Capra classic. As usual I’m putting my comments below. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched
Art cards for the films “You Can’t Take It With You” (1938), You Had To Be There (2025), “The Mandalorian and Grogu” (2026) and “Coyote vs Acme” (2026).
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
If you see this, post a vampire that isn’t Dracula.
Matt Berry as Laszlo Cravensworth in the television series “What We Do in the Shadows” (2019 - 2024).
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Main title card from “Little Johnny Jet” directed by Tex Avery.  The theatrical cartoon short was released by M. G. M. in 1953 and featured the voices of Daws Butler and June Foray.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
You may be on to something, Frank. Kirby did draw him once:
Promotional art by Jack Kirby for the short-lived sitcom “Captain Nice” depicting the titular reluctant superhero flying over the city and pursued by a variety of supervillains that the show never had the budget for.  William Daniels played Captain Nice.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
A terrific Billy Wilder noir, a Disney animated classic, a fun documentary about one of baseball’s all-time greats and a superhero who honestly deserved better. As usual I’m putting my comments below. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched
Art cards for “Captain America: Brave New World” (2025), “Say Hey, Willie Mays!” (2022), “The Jungle Book” (1967) and “Double Indemnity” (1944).
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
“My Mother the Car”. Why yes, I am older than dirt. Thanks for asking.
A still from the mercifully short-lived American sitcom “My Mother the Car” (1965-66). Series star Jerry Van Dyke sits behind the wheel of a red 1928 Porter automobile which is animated by the soul of his late mother.  His co-star Maggie Pierce is seated next to him.  Ann Southern provided the voice of the car.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
The Marx Bros, An Ernst Lubitch classic paired with a Friz Freleng Daffy Duck cartoon and the most recent Jack Ryan adventure. Only one of the 3 features seems of the current moment… and it ain’t Jack Ryan. My comments will be in the replies below, as usual. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched
Art cards for “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War” (2026), “Daffy - The Commando” (1943), “To Be or Not to Be” (1942) and “At the Circus” (1939).
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Couldn’t get in a fourth feature this week, but it seemed appropriate to revisit the original cinematic Superman! I’ll add some comments in the replies below shortly. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched
Art cards for “The Mechanical Monsters” (1941), “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” (2026), “Miss You, Love You” (2026) and “Supergirl” (2026).
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Still getting in under the west-coast wire for #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched It’s a mixed bag this week. As usual, my comments will be in the replies below.
Art cards for “My Mom Jayne” (2025), “The Thin Man Goes Home” (1944), “Heads of State” (2025) and Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass”.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
1/ In honor of SDCC ‘26, here’s my first thumbnail and finished art for page 1 of “Bizarre Bazaar”, published in issue #4 of Dynamite’s “Bob’s Burgers” comic book in 2015. It was reprinted in the collected “Bob’s Burgers: Medium Rare”, now sadly out of print. #bob’sburgers #originalcomicart
My first fast-‘n’-dirty thumbnail/page layout for “Bizarre Bazaar” from issue #4 of the “Bob’s Burgers” comic book.  Digital (Photoshop), 2015.  Bob and Louise are walking through the local farmers’ market trying to come up with ideas for a new “Burger of the Day”.  After rejecting Brussels sprouts and Caramel Corn, Louise spots a stand that neither of them has seen before.  Behind the counter inside the tent is a mysterious looking old lady…Scan of my finished art for “Bizarre Bazaar” from issue #4 of the “Bob’s Burgers” comic book.  Ink over blue pencil on Bristol Paper, 2015.  Bob and Louise are walking through the local farmers’ market trying to come up with ideas for a new “Burger of the Day”.  After rejecting Brussels sprouts and Caramel Corn, Louise spots a stand that neither of them has seen before.  Behind the counter inside the tent is a mysterious looking old lady…
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Two recommended entertainment documentaries and a pairing of an all-time great feature with a classic cartoon. Comments to come in the replies. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched
Art cards for “The Man on the Flying Trapeze” starring Popeye (1934), “It Happened one Night” (1934), “Marty, Life is Short” (2026) and “Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery” (2025).
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
One from 2014: Barris Kustom City at the corner of Lankershim and Riverside in North Hollywood, CA. The legendary custom shop of George Barris and the birthplace of iconic vehicles for movies and TV including the ‘66 Batmobile. #lostLA #valleyrelics #batmobile
Barris Kustom City at the corner of Lankershim and Riverside in North Hollywood, CA.  The legendary custom shop of George Barris, creator of iconic custom vehicles for movies and TV including the ‘66 Batmobile, which resided behind the display room window.  The location closed in 2021 and relocated to Ventura, CA.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
🎶 One of these things is not like the other, 🎶
A squirrel’s stash of acorns in the hollow of a tree.  Among the acorns is the cork from a wine bottle.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
And Doom has cookies! Cookies… of DOOM!
On a dessert plate sit two Oreo cookies.  On the side facing down the chocolate flavored wafers bear the traditional Oreo design, but on the side facing up they bear the iconic iron mask of Marvel Comics supervillain Doctor Doom.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Here’s another Sunday Night Soother. Unmute for best results.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Ah, Spring in L. A.! What the world presumes are our perpetually sunny skies have been replaced by the May Gray (soon to be followed by the June Gloom) and I’m engaged in battles with my allergies and the aphids in our garden. Turns out those little suckers are born pregnant! Like tribbles!
William Shatner as Capt. James T. Kirk is buried in an avalanche of Tribbles falling from a grain storage bin in Star Trek season 2, episode 15: “The Trouble With Tribbles” originally broadcast on December 29th, 1967.  The small furry creatures were an invasive species that were born pregnant, multiplying so rapidly that they would quickly overwhelm the resources of any environment into which they were introduced.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Attended a couple of industry screenings this week: an advance showing of “Remarkably Bright Creatures” and a second viewing of “John Candy: I Like Me”. As usual, my comments are in the replies below. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched
Art cards for “John Candy: I Like Me” (2025), “Remarkably Bright Creatures” (2026), “Silver River” (1948) and “Without Love” (1945).
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
Fun factoid: the J. Edgar Hoover-esque actor who appears in the live-action bookends of “Who Killed Who?” is Robert Emmett O’Connor, best remembered for being given the works by the Marx Bros in “A Night at the Opera” (1935).
Robert Emmett O’Connor as the eternally exasperated Sgt. Henderson is given the run-around by Chico (pretending to be a chair), Harpo (sitting on Chico and knitting) and Groucho (wearing a false beard and reading a newspaper) in the hotel scene from the Marx Bros 1935 classic “A Night at the Opera”.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Superman Day, eh? Well here’s a couple of generations of super-suits for the pleasure of all who celebrate!
Costumes worn by Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane), David Corenswet (Clark Kent/Superman) and Nicholas Hoult (Lex Luthor) in the 2025 feature film “Superman”.  Photographed at the Warner Bros. Studio Tours, Spring 2025.Costume worn by @lyndacarter.bsky.social in the title role of Wonder Woman in the 1975 - 1979 TV series, displayed alongside the costumes worn by Marlon Brando (Jor-El) and Christopher Reeve (Superman) in the  1978 feature film “Superman”.  Photographed at the Warner Bros. Studio Tours, Spring 2025.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Hollywood Bvld this afternoon:
A wreath of flowers placed on Sid & Marty Kroft’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.   Sid Kroft died on April 10th, 2026 at the age of 96.  He and his brother Marty, who died in 2023 are best known for the Saturday morning children’s TV shows they produced including H. R. Pufnstuf (1969 - 1970) and The Land of The Lost (1974 - 1977).A black banner with white text reading “War is Not the Answer” hangs over the entrance of Hollywood’s iconic Amoeba Music.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Quote post with something good that lasted longer than the Confederacy (1861 - 1865) The classic sitcom Taxi (1978 - 1983)
The cast of the classic American sitcom Taxi.  Back L to R: Andy Kaufman, Carol Kane, Danny DeVito, Judd Hirsch.  Front L to R: Tony Danza, Marilu Henner, Cristopher Lloyd.  

The series, set in the Manhattan garage of the Sunshine Cab Co. gave DeVito and Lloyd their breakout roles; DeVito as the company’s unsavory dispatcher Louie De Palma and Lloyd as the lovable ‘60s burnout Jim Ignatowski.  Hirsch, as world weary cabbie Alex Reiger, anchored one of the all-time great sitcom ensembles, including Kaufman parlaying his “Foreign Man” character into the sweetly innocent mechanic Latka Gravas, Kane as Latka’s girlfriend and later wife Simka, Jeff Conway as struggling actor Bobby Wheeler, Henner as single mom Elaine Nardo and Danza as boxer Tony Banta.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Best Star Trek Captain. Wrong answers only.
Leslie Nielsen as Commander Adams in “Forbidden Planet” (1956).  

Only half joking with this one.  In many ways “Forbidden Planet” was the foundation upon which Star Trek would be built a decade later.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
At Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, a SoCal institution for over a century. #vroman’sbookstore #greatbookstores #distopianfiction #makeorwellfictionagain
A display at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, CA.  Lettering above the bookshelves reads “Make Orwell Fiction Again.”  Among the displayed books are “A Clockwork Orange”, “Lord of the Flies”, “V For Vendetta”, “The Handmaid’s Tale”, “Player Piano”, “The Plot Against America” and “It Can’t Happen Here”. Posters depicting the map of The Republic of Gilead,   Big Brother from Orwell’s “1984” and The 74th Annual Hunger Games are among those placed above the books.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Best Star Trek crew, wrong answers only
Not a Star Trek crew.  The cast of the sitcom “30 Rock”.  From L to R: Tracy Morgan, Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Jane Krakowski and Jack McBrayer.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
It’s been a few weeks since I posted one of these. Putting a few comments in the replies below. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched
Art cards for “The Frisco Kid” (1979), “Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story” (2025), “Zootopia 2” (2025) and “Blue Moon” (2025).
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
I have a page of original art from this issue, purchased at a midwestern comics show back in the ‘80s.
A page of original art from Marvel Comics’ “Thor” issue 283 penciled by John Buscema and inked by Chic Stone.  It depicts a sequence of action in which one of the Celestials, Gammenon The Gatherer, snatches an airliner out of the sky and snaps off one of its wings.  Thor flies in to challenge the gigantic being and rescue the passengers.  He strikes at its helmet with his hammer.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Image of the Winter Warlock from the 1970 stop-motion animated television special “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town”.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
I don’t usually get to participate in #caturday but we made friends with these two on a recent trip.
Two small cats, a tortie and a tuxie stare up at us during dinner.  We did not disappoint them.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
For anyone who might need it, here’s another Sunday Night Soother. Unmute for best results.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
#LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched Busy week. Might add comments later when the dust settles.
Art cards for “The Fantastic 4: First Steps” (2025), “Key Largo” (1948), “Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man - Part 2” (2026) and “K-Pop Demon Hunters” (2025).
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
My first #LetterboxdFriday - #LastFourWatched of the new year is bookended by two documentaries, both featuring Mel Brooks! As before I’ll add a few comments in the replies below.
Art cards for the films “Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man Part 1” (2026), “China Seas” (1935), “Shadow of The Thin Man” (1941) and “The Automat” (2021).
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
We were watching Adam West “Batman” last night (hey, you de-stress from current events your way and I’ll de-stress mine) and spotted a young Sid (Captain Spaulding) Haig chewing the scenery as King Tut’s Royal Apothecary! Season 2 episodes 7 & 8.
Sid Haig (1939 - 2018) as he appeared in 2 episodes of the ‘60s TV series “Batman” in the role of King Tut’s Royal Apothecary.  Haig  became a horror icon as Captain Spaulding in Director Rob Zombie’s “House of 1000 Corpses” (2003) and “The Devil’s Rejects” (2005).
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Hmmmm.
“Disney’s DuckTales” #9 (cover date October 1989) published by Gladstone Comics.  The cover illustration for the story “The Oil Pirates” depicts one of the villainous Beagle Boys pushing Scrooge McDuck and Launchpad McQuack from a boat toward the waiting jaws of a pair of sharks.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
I had forgotten that DC did this back when they had the license. I’m not the biggest Howard Chaykin fan, but serious respect to him for that drawing of Harcourt Fenton Mudd. #dccomics #startrek #howardchaykin #uhura #spock #harrymudd
Comic book cover for “Who’s Who in Star Trek” published by DC Comics in April 1987.  The cover illustration by Howard Chaykin depicts Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Harcourt Fenton “Harry” Mudd (Roger C. Carmel).
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Here’s some photos I snapped back in 2023 of artifacts from “Casablanca” at The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Hope you enjoy! Descriptions in the alt text.
The iconic front doors of Rick's Café Américain from the 1942 Warner Bros. feature “Casablanca”.Above: The prop passport of Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) from the 1942 Warner Bros. feature “Casablanca”.  

Below: The real life “green card” issued to actor Paul Henreid by the United States department of Labor.Sam’s Piano, in which were hidden the all-important letters of transit, from the Rick's Café Américain set of the 1942 Warner Bros. feature “Casablanca”.  This is reportedly the original piece.  A reproduction, made for a 1983 television series, resides in a prop warehouse and can be seen in some of the Warner Bros. Studio tours.Sam’s piano from the La Belle Aurore set from the Paris flashback sequence in the 1942 Warner Bros. feature “Casablanca”.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Wants to be Darth Vader but he’s only Dark Helmet.
Still of Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet in MelBrooks’ “Spaceballs”.  The film is an affectionate parody of the original “Star Wars” trilogy.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
It’s a mixed lot for the 2nd Holiday #LastFourWatched. Two films with Reginald Owen in the same week?!? As with last time, I’ll be adding some comments below. #LetterboxdFriday
Art cards for “Song Sung Blue” (2025), “Mary Poppins” (1964), “The Man Called Flintstone” (1966) and “A Christmas Carol” (1938).
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
Holiday Edition Last Four Watched! Adding a couple of comments in the replies below. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched
Art cards for “A Christmas Story” (1983), “A Christmas Carol” (1984), “Elf” (2003) and “The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
Santa’s little helper:
 Panel from the 10th issue of “Superman” (1941) by Jerry Siegel and Paul Cassidy.  Superman gets a confession out of a fraudster by threatening to drop him down the chimney of an industrial plant.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
You will be visited by three spirits.
Barney Fife, Gomer Pyle and Sheriff Andy Taylor (Don Knotts, Jim Nabors and Andy Griffith) in a scene from the American sitcom “The Andy Griffith Show” (1960-68) also known as “Andy of Mayberry” in syndicated reruns.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
You will be visited by three spirits.
Dom Bell, Marty Eggs and Mel Funn (Dom DeLuise, Marty Feldman and Mel Brooks) cruise through the streets of Los Angeles in Mel’s yellow roadster in a scene from Brooks’ “Silent Movie” (1976).
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Darkseid and Vermin Vundabar are most pleased!
The final panel of the comic book series “Mister Miracle” by Jack Kirby shows Darkseid, the dictator of the planet Apokolips, enjoying an uncharacteristic fit of laughter.  The comic was one of the titles in Kirby’s “Fourth World” story cycle.  A comic panel from Jack Kirby’s “Fourth World” story cycle depicting Vermin Vundabar engaged in one of his favorite activities.  Vundabar, a native of the planet Apokolips, affects the look of a Prussian officer as he serves as an elite agent of the galactic dictator Darkseid.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Not a turkey in the bunch. “Addams Family Values” has become a Thanksgiving tradition in our house. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched
Art cards for “Addams Family Values” (1993), “John Candy: I Like Me” (2025), “Devil in a Blue Dress” (1995) and “A Mighty Wind” (2003).
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
I had to set the Waybac machine a couple of years earlier for this one.
Frame grab from the title sequence of the short-lived 1982 sitcom One of the Boys in which Nathan Lane costarred with Mickey Rooney, Dana Carvey and Scatman Crothers.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Not a full turnover from the last post, what with the time spent watching the playoffs & the World Series. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched
Art cards for “My Little Chickadee” (1940), “The Phantom of the Opera” (1925-29) “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mister Toad” (1949) and “Ed Wood” (1994).
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
To whom it may concern: In the story of Robin Hood, Prince John is NOT A ROLE MODEL! Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Claude Rains as the villainous Prince John in “The Adventures of Robin Hood” (1938).  Seated to his right is Basil Rathbone as the nearly as villainous Sir Guy of Gisbourne.In a still from the 1973 Disney animated feature “Robin Hood”, the infantile despot Prince John runs his fingers through a sack of Ill-gotten gold while his lackey Sir Hiss looks on.Richard Lewis as Prince John in Mel Brooks’ 1993 comedy “Robin Hood: Men in Tights”.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
Dinny has the right idea. #dinnythedinosaur #cabazondinosaurs #cabazoncalifornia #roadsideattractions
Photo of “Dinny” at the Cabazon Dinosaurs, a classic Southern California roadside attraction.  Dinny is currently painted bright red with a white heart shape is on his side containing the slogan “Choose Love.”
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
#LetterboxedFriday, #LastFourWatched
Cover art for the films “Ed Wood” (1994), “Another Thin Man” (1939), “Wayne’s World (1992) and “Real Life” (1979).
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
Some days there’s no better mood adjuster than watching Bugs Bunny run roughshod over Yosemite Sam.
Vintage movie theater lobby card for “Hare Trigger”, a 1945 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by the great Friz Freling.  The illustration shows Yosemite Sam as a train robber trying to intimidate Bugs Bunny, who is costumed as a Western movie hero.
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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
My current shopping bag of choice:
Photo of a reusable shopping bag given out at the 2017 Emmy “For Your Consideration” event for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.  It reads: “Comedy with a BIG SACK”.
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