You may recall that way WAY back in the summer of 2011, I wrote two long, weird posts about The Double Disappearance of Walter Fozbek by Steve Senn, a short, weird book that I mostly remembered for it's very short, very weird animated adaptation that aired as part of the anthology series "CBS Storybreak". I strongly recommend reading those posts because there's a lot of information in them. Like I said, this is a very weird book. (You'll also get to enjoy some early-installment weirdness. Who the hell is this person who actually enjoyed the taste of an IPA? Certainly not I?)
As happy as I was to finally find the book, I still longed to watch the cartoon again. I figured by now that it was lost to the ages, Lost Media if you will. But it turns out that there's a small but dedicated contingent of YouTubers finding and uploading as many "CBS Storybreak" episodes as they can find.
And, miraculously, "The Double Disappearance of Walter Fozbek" is among them! What a great way to kick off the new decade! Here it is:
Goodness.
I remember practically every minute of this strange little cartoon. It's really close to the book, aside from a somewhat streamlined ending, "Flintstones"-ish prehistoric gags and all. There's also a touch more existential angst. Like, certainly "The Last Unicorn" this ain't. But that scene where Walter (remember he's the only human in a world of anthropomorphic animals) is face-to-face with the fossil remains of another human (remember humans are extinct in this world); that kind of thing messes you up as a kid.
Between the New Kids on the Block Christmas Special and "Walter Fozbek", this has been a very good time for “Yay I KNEW it was real! And, now that I can finally watch it after 20-30 years, I completely understand why everyone looked so confused and slightly concerned when I tried to describe it to them.”
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Art! A cute pudgy Unicorn and her tiny Fairy friends to bless our 2020's.
