Category — Kids

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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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

More sad new today, The Weinstein Company are making a live-action “Fraggle Rock” movie.

Is nothing sacred? Are the 80s just pure fodder for film remakes? And why can’t they stay true to the original format? Not so long ago, if the original tv show had puppets, then the movie would obviously have puppets (i.e. The Muppet Movie). Or if it was a cartoon, then the movie would be a cartoon like with The Jetsons: The Movie. Honest and true to the source.

I don’t see the absolute need for a “live-action” interpretation. I really think movie audiences can handle the puppets. Plus, I’d much rather have it stick close to the original instead of turning into some bloated cgi-character mess like Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Source: I Watch Stuff

“DuckTales” is another old school cartoon favorite of mine. It follows the adventures of Scrooge McDuck and his three nephews, Launch Pad — their bungling pilot, Gyro — the inventor, and Mrs. Beakley — the housekeeper. Scrooge & the gang travel the world seeking treasure and adventure. Meanwhile, The Beagle Brothers or Magica De Spell always try to steal Scrooge’s money either by breaking into the vault or casting a spell.

I can’t believe it was on for only three seasons (1987-1990). There are still episodes that are new to me airing on Toon Disney. I do remember watching the movie, DuckTales: The Treasure of the Lost Lamp), in theaters though back in 1993. And many days, the “DuckTales” video game was paused on my Sega Genesis (since there were no such things as memory cards back then). I bet the kids today would deem the show unfit for their plasma television lifestyle.

Watch the intro (with lyrics typed out!) here.

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.