Category — Animation

I’m officially adding “Talespin” (1990-1994) to my list of favorite Disney cartoons. I never watched these episodes in order, but if Baloo was on the television set, I was definitely glued to the screen.

“Talespin” follows the adventures of Baloo, the loveable sloth bear pilot of the Sea Duck, his protege, Kit ‘Li’l Britches’ Cloudkicker, and Rebecca Cunningham, the manager of their air delivery company. They make deliveries from their home base in the ficitonal Cape Suzette. Eventually, in almost every episode, Baloo winds up into trouble with either the Air Pirates led by Don Karnage, the Thembrians, or Shere Khan’s gang.

Fueled by nostalgia, I scoured the internets and discovered that two episodes of “Talespin” were actually banned after airing originally on The Disney Channel. What harm could little ol’ Baloo do to impressionable young minds?! Apparently enough to ruffle Disney’s feathers, especially if you have plots involving Thembian terrorist bombs and a not so PC depiction of a Japanese-esque island called Panda-la! It’s speculated that you can see the blacklisted eps in Canada or if Toon Disney accidentally shows them again.

I wouldn’t count on those episodes to be released on dvd. Nevertheless, you can buy “Talespin” Volumes 1 & “Talespin” Volume 2 today for less than $25 bucks. Supposedly, a volume 3 is in the works.

At least on the Internet and TV re-runs. Before there were movie marathons, there were Saturday mornings at local movie house that kicked off with ten free cartoons, an episode from a movie serial like “Superman,” followed by a double feature. Among the cartoons thee were sure to be several “Loony Tunes and Merry Melodies.” What a shelf life these classic animated shorts have had.

Good old Bugs Bunny was the best of all the Loonies. He was one of the first anti-heroes (later we had “Bugsy,” whose name must have somehow derived from “Bugs”), a walking contradiction, half con man, half lovable innocent. The same crazy rabbit who kept asking, “What’s up, doc?” also said: “Don’t take life too seriously. You’ll never get out alive.”

And what cartoon character ever had a funnier nemesis than the stuttering, clueless Elmer Fudd. I laughed at Looney Tunes all through childhood. So did my kids. Their kids will too.

Here’s a taste of the great Bugs in action on YouTube:

“Home Movies” is a hilarious cartoon about three eight year old kids (Brendan, Melissa, and Jason) who love to remake popular movies with their home video camera. The low-fi spoofs, especially the ones that feature original music by Scab*, are beyond ridiculous with the homemade costumes and props. Brendan is always the director and takes harshly to criticism, despite his young years. Still, my favorite moments in the series are the scenes where I find myself cracking up at Coach McGuirk, the kids’ soccer coach who is one the most immature adults ever put to screen.

Coach McGuirk in his “element”:

Actually, most of the adults on the show are generally acting crazy. Brendan and his friends simply sit back in awe. Brendan’s mom, Paula, is always saying inappropriate things in front the kids about how she really needs to get laid or is fat. Brendan assumes the role of friend or parent and always consoles her. Same thing goes for Melissa’s Dad who is an eccentric single parent. As for Jason’s family, they’re so weird he’s ashamed of them and avoids them at all costs.

Watch random episodes of “Home Movies” on AdultSwim, which airs on Cartoon Network. Or own the gang’s cinematic masterpieces on dvd. Beware, sadly, only the first season was done in squigglevision.

*corrected

Home Movies - Season One

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.