Category — Animation

Hasbro Toys is coming out with a new line of My Little Ponies to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Some of the ponies will be designed by celebrities (like James Spader?). Who knew so many people loved plastic pony dolls?

I can’t remember whether I loved the dolls or the “My Little Pony” television show first, so I guess the cartoon worked its magic on me.

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After learning the title of the new dvd movie for “Futurama”, The Beast with a Billion Backs, I thought to myself that those crazy kids must really love alliteration!

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I loved Cartoon Network’s revamp of “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” when it aired back in 2002. I even have a few episodes saved on vhs. This version focused on the origins of the classic characters: He-man, Evil-lyn, and Skeletor. The graphics were quite fantastic as well. And Young Adam still had the magical sword, but his gang got some new fangled toys that certainly proved useful.

Check out this clip from the first episode to see for yourself:

I guess I probably liked the new series mostly because the animation beats out the original on every level. Plus, the story developments are way more engaging. If you like what you see, the entire “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” (2002) series was released on dvd in two volumes. Guess I can finally toss those vhs recordings.

Since the Wachowski’s Speed Racer has been giving the franchise a bad wrap, I decided to scour the internet for fond memories of the “Speed Racer” cartoon. Maybe by doing so, people could forget about the bad reviews.

Let’s start off with a little historical background from SpeedRacer.com:
“Speed Racer began as a Japanese “Manga” entitled Mach Go Go Go created by Tatsunoko Productions in 1966.

In 1967, the 52 episodes of the series were dubbed into English and syndicated nationally on television. For nearly 20 years, Speed Racer ran in the afternoons five days a week. During this time the world of Speed Racer was deeply etched into the memories of millions of youngsters who would rush home from school to see the show.

Speed later enjoyed a comeback on TV in the 90’s on MTV, and then ran for almost 5 years on the Cartoon Network.”

I’m pretty sure I watched it on Cartoon Network in the wee hours of the morning. I don’t remember much about the plot but I do love the characters.

In both the film and the show, I’m most drawn to Racer X.

Maybe “Speed Racer” was too simplistic and thus wasn’t the best candidate to become a movie. I know it’s supposed to be a kids movie, but that’s no excuse for mediocre screenwriting. Even “Dora the Explorer” has a plot that makes sense and is entertaining.

My advice is to skip the IMAX version and just watch it on a lcd television, so at least you can still enjoy the special f/x without having to stress about the meandering plot.

Nostalgic for the early 90s? Then, check out the New Kids on the Block reunion on “The Today Show”.

Ah, the mega mix almost made me misty right until they did that remixed version of “Right Stuff”. Now, it just makes me feel old. Their performance reminded me of a tired wedding act. I cannot believe grown women camped out since Wednesday in the RAIN to see that. That is way worse than me liking their terrible NKOTB cartoon show.

Source: People

Mental Floss has an enlightening article about “6 Sci-Fi TV Show Concepts You Didn’t See”. Most of the list is pretty dead on, but I resent them putting down “Daybreak”. I was way more into that show than “Journeyman”. And yes, I did watch the online episodes…

And “The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang” definitely is the craziest thing (and worst cartoon idea) I’ve seen all day. Even worse than “Hammerman” and I’d thought that was impossible! Check the clips and decide for yourself.

Fonz’s:

OR

Hammer’s:

Boomerang, Cartoon Network’s sister channel, started showing “Justice League Unlimited” every weekday at 8pm. That’s right when I get home from work, so I’ve caught quite a few of these episodes on my panasonic tv.

My favorite ep so far is “The Balance” where Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl reluctantly work together to save Hades from the evil Faust robot. They must travel back to Wonder Woman’s home to restore balance to the underworld, Tartarus.

So many things happen in this episode: Wonder Woman learns Hades is actually her father, she reconnects with her mom and finally makes peace with Hawkgirl.

Plus, all the allusions to greek myths are fun to watch.

Back in the day, I loved this cartoon called “Fluppy Dogs“. After searching online to buy it on dvd, it turns out it wasn’t a series at all. I figure they must have showed the tv movie repeatedly on The Disney Channel, since I certainly remember watching it a bunch as a kid. The tv special premiered on November 27, 1986 on ABC.

I had no luck finding an official copy to buy, although I did find a blurry You Tube version.

I could probably buy a DVD-R that was burned from someone’s vhs copy. But I’d much rather have a Disney sanctioned dvd. What gives, Disney? I thought they loved money and would release just about anything from their library.