Posted in: streaming, TV | Tagged: Bill Leff, MeTV, Toon In With Me

Toon In With Me: Bill Leff on Recreating Saturday Morning Experience

Bill Leff, cartoon curator and host of MeTV's Toon In With Me, spoke with us about cartoons, the Saturday Morning experience, and much more.

Few get the kind of opportunities Bill Leff must entertain audiences while reinventing himself on a platform like MeTV. Starting out playing Cleveland baseball fan Bobby James in the first two Major League films, Leff went on to become a successful DJ in Chicago before embracing his opportunity to recreate the Saturday morning experiences of his youth, not only presenting the classic cartoons from animation giants like Warner Bros' Looney Tunes, Fleischer Studios cartoons featuring Betty Boop and Popeye, Hannah Barbera, and Walter Lantz. Not only does he get to bridge the younger and older audiences alike, but he's also able to challenge himself as an actor, creating original characters for his series Toon In With Me and The Svengoolie Show. Leff spoke to Bleeding Cool about how he got involved with MeTV, balancing any cultural and censorship concerns, and how he differentiates his work between his shows.

How Bill Leff Got to Recreate His Childhood to Share with Audiences on MeTV as the host of 'Toon In With Me'

Bleeding Cool: How did you get involved with MeTV?

It's a story I'm sure you've heard a thousand times, but I will share it with you once again. They do a show run on MeTV called 'Collector's Call,' and Lisa Whelchel hosts it. I happen to be a toy and action figure collector. I was featured in its second season and got along with everybody behind the scenes at MeTV and when they started doing 'Toon In With Me,' one of the producers called me and said, "You should audition for this. You're an 11-year-old in a grown-up's body, and we're looking for that type." I auditioned for it, and they kept narrowing it down, and I was lucky enough to get the role. I've been doing that for four years, and that led to a nice part on 'The Svengoolie Show', and that's been going on for a few years, too.

How has a platform like MeTV and your show, 'Toon In With Me,' persevered with the deluge of options already available?

We've done well for several reasons. Our job is nostalgia, and we're showing classic 'Looney Tunes' with Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Wile E. Coyote, Roadrunner, and the other ones providing newer content. Some others also show the type of cartoons we have, but we're delivering the whole package. We've got the show I'm doing, 'Toon In With Me,' which is styled after the shows of the 60s when, before you go to or get home from school, you'd watch a cartoon show. We're playing into that mindset.

As far as the reception goes, which demographic do you hear from the most? Younger viewers or adults who grew up on classic animation?

It's funny. I didn't know what to expect. A couple of years ago, I appeared in two Comic-Cons: San Diego and New York, and I wasn't sure what the fan base was. I was told it's going to be an older crowd and those who enjoyed these when they were kids and revisiting them. We got such a nice cross-section of the older people I referred to, but certainly teenagers, younger people, and those so elated to see real, true animation. I've always been a fan of the Fleischer brothers' work, the stuff they did with the early 'Popeye' and 'Betty Boop.' That's when animation was at its best, and we're showing them, "Look at how great it used to be. It's black and white, but it's so stylized and active."

Certain characters have been controversial in recent years, and I was wondering how MeTV has addressed those like Pepe LePew and Speedy Gonzalez and if there's been any editing involved.

Great question, Tom. First, here's what goes on. Those decisions are made higher up and what we found is if we edit stuff down, cut out scenes that are objectionable in any way, we hear from people going, "Hey, your job isn't to decide what we can't watch. Your job is to show the cartoons." If we don't cut it out, people call up and go, "It says '2024' on my calendar, and you need to update your sensibilities and change this." We're trying our best to make both sides happy. It's not always easy, but I can see where things produced 30 or 60 years ago may not hold up by today's correctness. It's a high-wire act to give people what they want but also not to offend them at the same time.

How do you compare your work on 'The Svengoolie Show' to your antics on 'Toon In With Me?'

You're pulling out the golden questions now. I'm sure you know a little bit about Svengoolie's history here in Chicago. Rich Koz has been playing the role of Svengoolie for 45 years now. Before Rich had the role, a man named Jerry G. Bishop had it. was one of the kids who, every Friday night, camped in front of the TV because there was no way in the world I was going to miss 'Svengoolie.'

I loved everything about it and never in a million years thought I'd be lucky enough to be a part of it. It was so much fun to watch. First Jerry, and then Rich had such a good time with this character, this scary old guy creates all these great images for kids and shows these wonderful movies. If I'm comparing that to 'Toon In With Me,' it's apples and oranges because Svengoolie's show is horror, bright, silly, and scary all at the same time. With 'Toon In With Me,' we're paying homage to the kids' shows I mentioned earlier. I like coexisting in the two universes, and I feel good about that. It's funny, the fan mail, there are still people, and I've been doing this for a couple of years where I'm straddling both shows, and those still like, "You're not the same guy who's on that other show, are you?" "Yes, ma'am. I'm the same guy who's on the show."

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