The StLJN Saturday cartoon: "Minnie the Moocher"

Saturdays are often slow news days here, and as a member of the Baby Boom generation, I grew up believing in every American's inalienable right to watch cartoons on Saturday morning.

Put these two seemingly disparate facts together, and perhaps you'll understand why some recent jazz-related animation links at Cartoon Brew have inspired me to share some of the vintage 'toons found there with StLJN readers over the next few Saturdays.

True, there's no St. Louis connection, but that's why the little blurb up at the top of the page includes the convenient catch-all phrase "plus assorted other music-related items". And you will need some sort of of broadband connection; dial-up users are, sadly, out of luck with regard to the whole streaming video thing.

But hey, it's Saturday, so if you've got the bandwidth, go grab yourself a box of your favorite heavily-sugared cereal, and take a few minutes to check out this once-banned version of "Minnie the Moocher" from 1932. It was directed by Dave Fleischer and features a soundtrack by Cab Calloway and a starring role for Betty Boop.