The Absolution is flying smoothly though space. Tom Z,Sara(who's on a monitor),and Stefan are inside the master Control Center.
Welcome to this special edition of The Cartoon Historian,I'm Your host and Cartoon Historian Stefan. We are live in the Master Control center inside the one and only Absolution.
Joining me today,,for the very first time,are my co-hosts: Tom Z and Sara.
Tom Z: Hey,hows it goin' Cartoon Historian fans.
Sara: Hello,welcome aboard the Absolution.
If you haven't guest by now,today we are gonna be talking about the History of Toonami.
Tom Z: That's right. We're gonna be looking at the entire history of Toonami,it's Hosts,it's special features,and even a list of it's awesome shows.
Sara: And so much more.
Alrighty then! Sara would you like to start things off?
Sara: Sure thing,Stefan. First you are all probably wondering What does the word 'Toonami' mean. Well, Toonami is a combination of the words 'Cartoon' and 'Tsunami'. So Toonami,in a way,means 'Tidal Wave of Cartoons'.
Tom Z: Toonami is a registered trademark of Turner Broadcasting. It was a block on Cartoon Network that started on on March 17, 1997 and ended on September 20, 2008. Though,in reality it died in 2006.
It all began when Turner Broadcasting decided to make Cartoon Network more interesting. So they created an action cartoon block for weekday afternoons called Super Adventures in Oct. 1st 1992. Soon that block became The Power Zone.
While the block had decent success,it wasn't the super hit that Turner Broadcasting wanted. So they decided to try something different.
On Monday, March 17, 1997, Turner created Toonami. Toomami wasn't just a program block,it looked different,it felt different. and thus it became an instant and huge success.
Tom Z: Toonami was originally hosted by Space Ghost villain-turned-producer Moltar at the Ghost Planet Industries building from 1997 to July 9, 1999. On Saturday,July 10, 1999, Cartoon Network relaunched Toonami with a new environment, the Ghost Planet Spaceship Absolution, and a new host named Tom. He's my oldest ancestor.
Later that year,Toonami:The Midnight Run,a late night block,was introduced. This was a five-hour block that aired on Saturday nights at midnight...until March 2000, when it moved to weeknights in an hour-long format.
Soon after,the creation of Midnight Run,Toonami:The Rising Sun,a Saturday Morning Cartoon block was introduced.However,it couldn't compete with the veterans of saturday morning,so it was axed a year later. On January 2003,Midnight Run ended.
Sara: On Saturday, April 17, 2004, Toonami was moved from weekday afternoons to a Saturday evening slot, where it aired for four hours. Though on October 27, 2007, it was reduced to for 2 hours. On September 20, 2008 Toonami ended, with its final broadcast that same day.
Thanks Sara. Now we shall talk about the Hosts.
Tom Z: Allow Me. As we've stated before, Moltar, of Space Ghost Coast to Coast, was the host for Toonami and later the Tom androids took over. It was during this run that we were introduced to the computer of the ship through online games that tied into a going storyline aboard the ship.
Tom Z: In September 2000, Toonami presented special interactive events known as Total Immersion Events or TIEs. These TIEs took place both on-air during Toonami and online at the official site, Toonami.com. Sara you're up.
Sara: Thank you Tom: The very first TIE was "The Intruder", which introduced Tom 1's companion, an AI matrix known as Sara. That,of course,is me. I played an integral part in the rebirth of Tom. I helped upgrade him from a short Bomberman-esque character to a taller,sleeker,darker,deeper-voiced incarnation dubbed as Tom 2. Despite looking different,Tom 2,was actually Tom 1,just redesigned.
Tom Z: Just to let you guys know I'm just a relative of the previous Tom androids. My schematics were basically Tom 1's. So in a sense Tom's 1,2,and 3 were my older Brothers.
Sara: The following two TIEs, Lockdown and Trapped in Hyperspace, continued the adventures of Tom and Myself, but really didn't offer much storywise. After the events of "Lockdown",Tom 2 became Tom 3. Then,after whole Trapped in Hyperspace fiasco,Tom 3 became the horrid Tom 4.
Tom Z: They say I'm related to this jackass,but I have my doubts. Anyway,Toonami the Midnight Run sometimes had special editions. One of witch was a special edition on Friday,August 31,2001 at midnight, which aired music videos. Toonami also aired on Kids WB.However it didn't last long and it wasn't as popular as it's Cartoon Network counterpart.
On April 17, 2004, Cartoon Network moved Toonami from weekday afternoons to Saturday evenings with a new demographic of preteen and teen audiences. A new lighter-toned action franchise,Miguzi,took Toonami's place on weekdays.
Sara: Beginning in late October of 2007 Toonami was,as we mentioned before,cut from a 4-hour block to a 2-hour block on Saturday nights. During that time,Turner Broadcasting started airing Cartoon Network comedy cartoons,which were very crappy.
At the time of its cancellation on September of 2008,the Saturday night lineup consisted of a full hour of Naruto,Ben 10: Alien Force,and Samurai Jack. It was a disaster!
But on September 20, 2008 Toonami shut down for good, ending it. Some speculate that the reason for the 2 hour block instead of the previous 4 hour block was Cartoon Network preparing to close down Toonami.
On Saturday September 20, 2008,Turner Broadcasting cancelled the block(that's ok since it was dead anyway) and Toonami aired its final transmission. Employees who worked on the block moved to other parts of the Network.
From then on,all Anime was mostly handled by Adult Swim and Live Action Movies replaced Toonami on Saturday nights.Now that's just Wrong!
Tom Z: You sead it,Stefan. Live Action on a Network ment for Cartoons is so retarded.
Sara: Agreed. Anyway,Toonami Jetstream remained with the Toonami name until January 30, 2009. And even though it ended in 2008.Toonami died in 2006. So in a way from 2006-2008,Toonami was "walking dead".
True that,but enough about that. Let's talk Music.
Tom Z: Right. Toonami always proved a haven for techno/electronica music throughout its history. It used original compositions by skater/artist Tommy Guerrero from 1997 to 1999,and then by Atlanta-based composer Joe Boyd Vigil from 1999 to 2002. These cool tunes were compiled in the,now out of print album,'Toonami:Deep Space Bass'.
Sara: In 2003, DJ Clarknova took Toonami's beats,both old and new,and mixed them with sound bites from recent Toonami and Adult Swim shows. This resulted in an hour-long compilation of Toonami remixes called 'Toonami: Black Hole Megamix'.
Tom Z: Right,but for some unknown reason,these tunes never made it to CD. However, the Megamix recently was hosted by Toonami Digital Arsenal,a popular and unofficial Toonami multimedia site.
From 2003 through 2008, Toonami relied on original tracks from various artists from publisher Ninja Tune. On rare occasions,very rare,videos from known bands aired on the block.
Sometimes,Toonami aired reviews of video games. The reviews,delivered by Tom and occasionally Sara,were fairly short and ran during commercial breaks. The hosts scored games on a 1 - 10 system: 10 signifying an excellent game, 1 signifying a very poor game. The score system was originally 1 - 5 until 2001.
But Toonami wasn't just popular on TV,it was also popular on the Net. Sara,please tell'em about it.
Sara: Sure. On March 26, 2001,Cartoon Network launched Toonami Reactor,their first online streaming video service. The three-month service featured streaming episodes from Dragon Ball Z and Star Blazers, the latter of which was an online-exclusive series.
Sara: Editorial content was provided by the now-defunct Animerica Magazine,published by VIZ Media. After the three-month "trial run" was over, Cartoon Network took it offline and completely revamped it.
Sara: On November 14, 2001,Cartoon Network relaunched Toonami Reactor with all online-exclusive programs such as Star Blazers, Patlabor, The Harlock Saga, and Record of Lodoss War. It also had Toonami-themed games. In the summer of 2002,Toonami Reactor was revamped again under the Adult Swim aegis and programmed it as Adult Swim Pipeline.
Sara: On April 25, 2006,a little over five years since the launch of Toonami Reactor,Cartoon Network and VIZ Media announced plans to launch Toonami Jetstream,an ad-supported streaming video service featuring various Toonami series. Toonami Jetstream launched on July 17, 2006 and offered episodes of both Toonami and Non-Toonami shows.
Sara: On January 30, 2009, Toonami Jetstream ended its run. Though some of it's shows can be watched on Cartoon Network's website. You can also watch the shows on Youtube.
Toonami wasn't Just a program block,it was something special. I mean C'mon,lets face it without Toonami,Anime Fandom in the States would very pathetic and very weak.
Tom Z: Damn straight,Stefan.
Sara: Yes.
Well that's it for this Lesson. Yeah,It wasn't as informative as expected,but at least kept you entertained...at least I hope we did. Anyway,to wrap things up,Tom Z,Sara,and Myself will now list the shows that aired on Toonami.
Thundercats
Tom Z: Voltron
Sara: The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest
Tom Z: Superfriends
Sailor Moon
Tom Z: Dragon Ball Z
Sara: Reboot. I really loved that show.
Transformers Beast Wars
Gundam Wing
Robotech
Tom Z: Ronin Warriors
Sara: Tenchi Muyo
Tom Z: Tenchi Universe
Tenchi In Tokyo
Sara: Mobile Suit Gundam
Gundam 08 MS Team
Tom Z: Outlaw Star
Sara:Dragon Ball
Tom Z: Big O
Rurouni Kenshin
Sara: Cyborg 009
Tom Z: Card Captors
Hamtaro
Sara: Zoids
Tom Z: Mobile Fighter G Gundam
Transformers Armada
Tom Z: Transformers Energon
Transformers Cybertron
Sara: SD Gundam
Tom Z: Knights Of The Zodiac
Mega Man NT Warrior
sara: Batman Beyond
Tom Z: Justice League
Teen Titans
Tom Z: Megas XLR
Sara: Duel Masters
Zatch Bell
Sara: Rave Master
Tom Z: Yu Yu Hakusho
.Hack//Sign (i think thats what it's called)
Tom Z: Dragon Ball GT
Sara: Gundam Seed
IGPX
Sara: Bobobo-Bobobo
Tom Z: One Piece
Mar
Tom Z: Prince of Tennis
Sara: Wulin Warriors
Naruto
Tom Z: Samurai Jack
Sara: Bakugan
Blue Dragon
Tom Z:Ben 10
Sara: As well as countless Animated Action Movies.
For Tom Z and Sara,this is Stefan,the Cartoon historian bidding you farewell. Thanks for watching and see ya next time.
Scene switches to outer space,where the Absolution is flying smoothly. The scene then fades to black.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
The Cartoon Historian Presents: The 'Toonami Special' Promo
The Absolution is flying smoothly though space. Deep inside the master control room{the same one that was used by tom 2},the systems begin to reactivate. Sara appears on the digital monitor in front of Tom's chair.
Meanwhile,a Mysterious Robot{shown from the waist down} is walking down a hallway to an elevator. The mysterious bot comes to the elevator,the doors open,the bot enters,the doors close,and the elevator takes the bot up.
The elevator stops,the doors open,the bot exits the elevator and walks down another hall way. The elevator closes behind the Robot. The Robot{still shone from the waist down,BTW} comes to a closed enterance. The enterance opens up and the Robot steps though. The Robot is now inside the Master Control Room.
As the enterance closes,The camera pans up at the Robot,revealing him to be yet another upgraded Tom. However,this new version of Tom looks like the first 3 Toms. The New Tom walks over to the chair.
Sara: Welcome aboard the Absolution,you must be the new Tom?
Upgraded Tom: Yup. *sitting down in the chair* I was in secret storage,until I was activated. *turns to viewes at home* Hey,how's it goin' everyone? I'm Tom Z,the New keeper of the absolution. BTW,what ever happened to the unhip Tom 4?
Sara: He was last seen flying through space,where he was promptly destroyed by an incoming meteor.
Tom Z: Good riddance.
Sara: Yes. You know I myself was never really fond of him.
Tom Z: Me neither,he was one of the dumbest looking robots ever made.
Sara: Agreed.
Tom Z: Alrighty,lets get down to business. What do we have planned?
Sara: Well,in this promo,we'll be talking about The Cartoon Historian's 15th episode: The History of Toonami.
Tom Z: Sweet!
Sara: Yes,the Lesson will be taught live aboard the Absolution,hosted by the Cartoon Historian himself,Stefan. With You as the Co-host.
Tom Z: Yeah,I've heard about that. It was based on a poll,right?
Sara: Yes.Toonami was on a poll asking about which topic to cover in the future. And Toonami won. You Two will be covering alot of stuff. Such as,Toonami's Beginnings,The History of the Hosts,and much more.
Tom Z: Sweetness! I can't wait.
Sara: There was also a Small Memorial planned,but Stefan decided to drop it at the last minute. Don't ask me why?
Tom Z: So when will this little event take place?
Sara:I wasn't given a date...Sorry,Tom. All Stefan said about the matter was 'Soon'. How soon is still a mystery.
Tom Z: I hope he dosen't keep us waiting too long. Not to sound impatient or anything,but I'd like to get this thing done before the end of the year.
Sara: *giggles* You and the rest of the Fans.
Tom Z: Yeah.
Sara: Well,whenever this event is gonna take place,It's sure to be something special.
Tom Z: Word! I still can't wait for this thing. Y'know if things work out,I might become Stefan's permanent Co-host. I need the work.
Sara: As do I. The absolution has remained unused for years until just last year. I take it for joyrides every now and then,as well as preform the annual systems check.However that's all. It's also been kind of lonely without the company of the Tom robots.
Tom Z: Thanks for taking care of this ship for such a long time. Hey,do the Cartoon Network people know about this?
Sara: No! So far I've been lucky. The CN execs either don't know about my actions or they just don't care and ignore them.
Tom Z: Well I hope it stays this way. By the way,how Did Stefan hook up with us in the first place?
Sara: We met last year. I was surfing the web to check on the Toonami faithful and I stumbled upon a something called 'Operation: Save Boomerang'. this was on his blog. That post had alot of great Ideas for the Network. One of said ideas was about adding Toonami to Boomerang.Anyway,the whole post intrigued me,so I E-mailed him about it. I found out that he is a big fan of Toonami and became an Anime fan because of it. He is also a Revolutionist,but that's a story for another time. Sometime after that,we became friends and have been in contact with each other since.
Tom Z: So did this little project of his Work?
Sara: It is unknown weather or not that 'Operation: Save Boomerang' was a success. He hasn't said.
Tom Z: I hope it does. I really wanna see Toonami on Boomerang. I dig those old Anime shows.
Sara: I do too. Plus,we might get to host the block if it does get reborn.
Tom Z: That'd be really cool. So any other news?
Sara: Well,We might be getting our own special on The Ultima Network.
Tom Z: Bitchin'! Well,I guess that's all for now. *turns to viewers* And remember guys,keep a look out for the Toonami special,right here on The Cartoon Historian.
Sara: This upcoming event is definatly going to be an awesome experience.
Tom Z: *turns to sara* Yup. *sighs as he lays back in the chair* I cant wait.
Scene switches to outer space,where the Absolution is flying smoothly. The scene then fades to black.
Meanwhile,a Mysterious Robot{shown from the waist down} is walking down a hallway to an elevator. The mysterious bot comes to the elevator,the doors open,the bot enters,the doors close,and the elevator takes the bot up.
The elevator stops,the doors open,the bot exits the elevator and walks down another hall way. The elevator closes behind the Robot. The Robot{still shone from the waist down,BTW} comes to a closed enterance. The enterance opens up and the Robot steps though. The Robot is now inside the Master Control Room.
As the enterance closes,The camera pans up at the Robot,revealing him to be yet another upgraded Tom. However,this new version of Tom looks like the first 3 Toms. The New Tom walks over to the chair.
Sara: Welcome aboard the Absolution,you must be the new Tom?
Upgraded Tom: Yup. *sitting down in the chair* I was in secret storage,until I was activated. *turns to viewes at home* Hey,how's it goin' everyone? I'm Tom Z,the New keeper of the absolution. BTW,what ever happened to the unhip Tom 4?
Sara: He was last seen flying through space,where he was promptly destroyed by an incoming meteor.
Tom Z: Good riddance.
Sara: Yes. You know I myself was never really fond of him.
Tom Z: Me neither,he was one of the dumbest looking robots ever made.
Sara: Agreed.
Tom Z: Alrighty,lets get down to business. What do we have planned?
Sara: Well,in this promo,we'll be talking about The Cartoon Historian's 15th episode: The History of Toonami.
Tom Z: Sweet!
Sara: Yes,the Lesson will be taught live aboard the Absolution,hosted by the Cartoon Historian himself,Stefan. With You as the Co-host.
Tom Z: Yeah,I've heard about that. It was based on a poll,right?
Sara: Yes.Toonami was on a poll asking about which topic to cover in the future. And Toonami won. You Two will be covering alot of stuff. Such as,Toonami's Beginnings,The History of the Hosts,and much more.
Tom Z: Sweetness! I can't wait.
Sara: There was also a Small Memorial planned,but Stefan decided to drop it at the last minute. Don't ask me why?
Tom Z: So when will this little event take place?
Sara:I wasn't given a date...Sorry,Tom. All Stefan said about the matter was 'Soon'. How soon is still a mystery.
Tom Z: I hope he dosen't keep us waiting too long. Not to sound impatient or anything,but I'd like to get this thing done before the end of the year.
Sara: *giggles* You and the rest of the Fans.
Tom Z: Yeah.
Sara: Well,whenever this event is gonna take place,It's sure to be something special.
Tom Z: Word! I still can't wait for this thing. Y'know if things work out,I might become Stefan's permanent Co-host. I need the work.
Sara: As do I. The absolution has remained unused for years until just last year. I take it for joyrides every now and then,as well as preform the annual systems check.However that's all. It's also been kind of lonely without the company of the Tom robots.
Tom Z: Thanks for taking care of this ship for such a long time. Hey,do the Cartoon Network people know about this?
Sara: No! So far I've been lucky. The CN execs either don't know about my actions or they just don't care and ignore them.
Tom Z: Well I hope it stays this way. By the way,how Did Stefan hook up with us in the first place?
Sara: We met last year. I was surfing the web to check on the Toonami faithful and I stumbled upon a something called 'Operation: Save Boomerang'. this was on his blog. That post had alot of great Ideas for the Network. One of said ideas was about adding Toonami to Boomerang.Anyway,the whole post intrigued me,so I E-mailed him about it. I found out that he is a big fan of Toonami and became an Anime fan because of it. He is also a Revolutionist,but that's a story for another time. Sometime after that,we became friends and have been in contact with each other since.
Tom Z: So did this little project of his Work?
Sara: It is unknown weather or not that 'Operation: Save Boomerang' was a success. He hasn't said.
Tom Z: I hope it does. I really wanna see Toonami on Boomerang. I dig those old Anime shows.
Sara: I do too. Plus,we might get to host the block if it does get reborn.
Tom Z: That'd be really cool. So any other news?
Sara: Well,We might be getting our own special on The Ultima Network.
Tom Z: Bitchin'! Well,I guess that's all for now. *turns to viewers* And remember guys,keep a look out for the Toonami special,right here on The Cartoon Historian.
Sara: This upcoming event is definatly going to be an awesome experience.
Tom Z: *turns to sara* Yup. *sighs as he lays back in the chair* I cant wait.
Scene switches to outer space,where the Absolution is flying smoothly. The scene then fades to black.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Cartoon Quickie: My Life As A Teenage Robot
Note: This will be my final Cartoon Quickie for a while.
My life as a Teenage Robot is about the Adventures of a Robot named Jenny aka XJ9,who must protect the Earth from mutants and evil robots,while trying to live the life of an ordinary American Teen.
Jenny fights using many of her built-in gadgets,which range from very useful to very useless. Aiding Jenny in her battles against evil and everyday life are her good friends Brad,Tuck,and Sheldon.
Brad is an outgoing and adventurous dude who kinda thinks of himself as a Ladies man. He's also Jenny's next door neighbor and best friend. Tuck is Brad's goofy little brother,who tags along with his big bro and Jenny.
Sheldon is an uber-nerd inventor who has a crush on Jenny. He often fights crime in a robotic battle suit called The Silver Shell. Dr. Nora Wakeman is Jenny's mother and creator,who refuses to except Jenny's human name (she always calls her by her robot name,xj9). Though an uptight old woman at times,Wakeman is quite the genius and one of the worlds greatest inventors. She can also hold her own in battle.
Britt and Tiff aka The Crust Cousins are Jenny's school Rivals. They are the most popular girls in Jenny's school. They are always 10 steps ahead of the latest fashion trends. They are also 2 of the biggest jerks in the world. Making Jenny look stupid is one of their hobbies.
Jenny battles many many many many many Mutants and Robots of the day,but she does have some regular enemies. First up is Killgor,a cute 8 inch wind-up robot that everyone just seems to love. Killgor claims to be the greatest evil known,but in reality he's just a little fast-talking buffoon.
Jenny's biggest enemy is The Cluster,a race of robots ruled by Queen Vexus. Vexus is a ruthless Queen who aims to enslave and/or destroy all mankind on earth. She constantly tries to get Jenny to join the Cluster. Of course Jenny always refuses.
Smytus is Vexus' ruthless General,who almost always leads the attack on earth. Smytus is Vexus' favorite servant. Krackus is Vexus' scatter-brained inventor,who's inventions always seem to fall apart. One thing you'll notice about Vexus' forces is that they are all modeled after insects.
My Life as a Teenage Robot is an entertaining show. The Artwork is decent and has a retro-american look to it. Which is either a plus or a munus,depending on your art tastes. The Music is also decent and goes with the show well. The animation is good and errorless.
This show also contains both action and humor. Overall,this show isn't that bad and is worth watching atleast once.
Well that's it for now. See ya next time on...Cartoon Quickie!
My life as a Teenage Robot is about the Adventures of a Robot named Jenny aka XJ9,who must protect the Earth from mutants and evil robots,while trying to live the life of an ordinary American Teen.
Jenny fights using many of her built-in gadgets,which range from very useful to very useless. Aiding Jenny in her battles against evil and everyday life are her good friends Brad,Tuck,and Sheldon.
Brad is an outgoing and adventurous dude who kinda thinks of himself as a Ladies man. He's also Jenny's next door neighbor and best friend. Tuck is Brad's goofy little brother,who tags along with his big bro and Jenny.
Sheldon is an uber-nerd inventor who has a crush on Jenny. He often fights crime in a robotic battle suit called The Silver Shell. Dr. Nora Wakeman is Jenny's mother and creator,who refuses to except Jenny's human name (she always calls her by her robot name,xj9). Though an uptight old woman at times,Wakeman is quite the genius and one of the worlds greatest inventors. She can also hold her own in battle.
Britt and Tiff aka The Crust Cousins are Jenny's school Rivals. They are the most popular girls in Jenny's school. They are always 10 steps ahead of the latest fashion trends. They are also 2 of the biggest jerks in the world. Making Jenny look stupid is one of their hobbies.
Jenny battles many many many many many Mutants and Robots of the day,but she does have some regular enemies. First up is Killgor,a cute 8 inch wind-up robot that everyone just seems to love. Killgor claims to be the greatest evil known,but in reality he's just a little fast-talking buffoon.
Jenny's biggest enemy is The Cluster,a race of robots ruled by Queen Vexus. Vexus is a ruthless Queen who aims to enslave and/or destroy all mankind on earth. She constantly tries to get Jenny to join the Cluster. Of course Jenny always refuses.
Smytus is Vexus' ruthless General,who almost always leads the attack on earth. Smytus is Vexus' favorite servant. Krackus is Vexus' scatter-brained inventor,who's inventions always seem to fall apart. One thing you'll notice about Vexus' forces is that they are all modeled after insects.
My Life as a Teenage Robot is an entertaining show. The Artwork is decent and has a retro-american look to it. Which is either a plus or a munus,depending on your art tastes. The Music is also decent and goes with the show well. The animation is good and errorless.
This show also contains both action and humor. Overall,this show isn't that bad and is worth watching atleast once.
Well that's it for now. See ya next time on...Cartoon Quickie!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Cartoon Quickie: Freakazoid
Faster than a laser beam,more powerful than a bullet train,able to annoy more super villains in a single day. It's Freakazoid!
Freakazoid is one of Warner Bros. funniest cartoons. Freakazoid is a crazy superhero who battles with a variety of weird super villains. In some ways this show is kinda like the Tick.
Anyway,The story goes like this: Giga-Nerd,Dexter Douglas gets a computer program for X-Mas. During the installation,Dexter gets sucked into his computer and is transformed into Freakazoid. When he returns to the real world,Dex finds out that he can transform into the Freakazoid by saying the words "Freak Out". Freakazoid can turn back into Dexter by saying "Freak In".
Anyway,after causing some mischief with his powers,Freakazoid decides to use his Powers to help mankind....in a comedic way,of course.
Freakazoid is really awesome,but even he needs support characters. First there's Sgt. Mike Cosgrove,a middle-aged cop who Freakazoid constantly hangs out with. He looks just like a toon version of his VA,Ed Asner.
The next character is,Freakazoids perky love interest,Steff. Steff is also one of the most popular girls in Dexter's school. And of course,there's Roddy MacStew,an ill-tempered Scottsman who's sort of like Freakazoid's mentor.
And no Superhero show is complete without the Villains. Villains like:The Lobe,a man with a Brain for a head;Candle Jack,a creepy boogieman-like bad guy;The Cave Guy,a caveman who sometimes acts civilized;Invisibo,an evil invisible Pharaoh;And of course,Guitierrez,a bad guy who later gain's similar powers to Freakazoid.
I haven't watched the show in a great while,not even on Youtube (because youtube stupidly takes down full episodes). So I don't remember all of the characters,just the ones mentioned.
Anyway,This show is very funny. It has humor that people of all ages can enjoy. Than again it Is a Warner Bros. cartoon show. The writing is just brilliant (which is a lot more than I can say for todays tv shows). The music is alright,nothing spectacular. Although,I Do love that Theme Song.
The artwork is as good as it gets for a 90's Warner Bros. Cartoon. Same goes for the animation. I can't think of any major negatives right now,but I'm sure they exist.
So is the show worth watching? Yes. However,if you love your Superhero shows to be serious and nothing but,you'll definatly Not like Freakazoid.
Well that's all for now. see ya next time on...Cartoon Quickie.
Freakazoid is one of Warner Bros. funniest cartoons. Freakazoid is a crazy superhero who battles with a variety of weird super villains. In some ways this show is kinda like the Tick.
Anyway,The story goes like this: Giga-Nerd,Dexter Douglas gets a computer program for X-Mas. During the installation,Dexter gets sucked into his computer and is transformed into Freakazoid. When he returns to the real world,Dex finds out that he can transform into the Freakazoid by saying the words "Freak Out". Freakazoid can turn back into Dexter by saying "Freak In".
Anyway,after causing some mischief with his powers,Freakazoid decides to use his Powers to help mankind....in a comedic way,of course.
Freakazoid is really awesome,but even he needs support characters. First there's Sgt. Mike Cosgrove,a middle-aged cop who Freakazoid constantly hangs out with. He looks just like a toon version of his VA,Ed Asner.
The next character is,Freakazoids perky love interest,Steff. Steff is also one of the most popular girls in Dexter's school. And of course,there's Roddy MacStew,an ill-tempered Scottsman who's sort of like Freakazoid's mentor.
And no Superhero show is complete without the Villains. Villains like:The Lobe,a man with a Brain for a head;Candle Jack,a creepy boogieman-like bad guy;The Cave Guy,a caveman who sometimes acts civilized;Invisibo,an evil invisible Pharaoh;And of course,Guitierrez,a bad guy who later gain's similar powers to Freakazoid.
I haven't watched the show in a great while,not even on Youtube (because youtube stupidly takes down full episodes). So I don't remember all of the characters,just the ones mentioned.
Anyway,This show is very funny. It has humor that people of all ages can enjoy. Than again it Is a Warner Bros. cartoon show. The writing is just brilliant (which is a lot more than I can say for todays tv shows). The music is alright,nothing spectacular. Although,I Do love that Theme Song.
The artwork is as good as it gets for a 90's Warner Bros. Cartoon. Same goes for the animation. I can't think of any major negatives right now,but I'm sure they exist.
So is the show worth watching? Yes. However,if you love your Superhero shows to be serious and nothing but,you'll definatly Not like Freakazoid.
Well that's all for now. see ya next time on...Cartoon Quickie.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
The Cartoon Historian Lesson 14: The Simpsons Pt.3
Welcome to Lesson 14 which is part 3 of the History of The Simpsons.
Due to the show's success, over the summer of '90 the Fox Network decided to switch The Simpsons' timeslot from Sunday nights to Thursday nights,so that it could compete with The Cosby Show on NBC, the number one show at the time.
Through the summer,several news outlets published stories about the supposed "Bill vs. Bart" rivalry. "Bart Gets an F" (season two, 1990) was the first episode to air against The Cosby Show, and it received a low Nielsen rating,tying for eighth behind The Cosby Show.
The Simpsons has been praised by many critics, being described as "the most irreverent and unapologetic show on the air." In a 1990 review of the show, Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly described it as "the American family at its most complicated, drawn as simple cartoons. It's this neat paradox that makes millions of people turn away from the three big networks on Sunday nights to concentrate on The Simpsons."
Tucker would also describe the show as a "pop-cultural phenomenon, a prime-time cartoon show that appeals to the entire country." Now we know Why the Simpsons were so popular.
Anyway, On February 9, 1997, The Simpsons surpassed The Flintstones with the episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" as the longest-running prime-time animated series in the United States.
In 2004, The Simpsons replaced The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952 to 1966) as the longest-running sitcom (animated or live action) in the United States.
In 2009, The Simpsons surpassed The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet's record of 435 episodes and is now recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's longest running sitcom.
In October 2004, Scooby-Doo briefly overtook The Simpsons as the American animated show with the highest number of episodes.
However,In April 2005, Network Executives,again cancelled Scooby-Doo,which finished with 371 episodes. The Simpsons reclaimed the title with 378 episodes at the end of their seventeenth season.
In May 2007, The Simpsons reached their 400th episode at the end of the eighteenth season.
The year 2007 marked the twentieth anniversary of The Simpsons franchise. As of the twenty-first season (2009–2010), The Simpsons is the longest-running American primetime television series,having surpassed Gunsmoke.
However, Gunsmoke's episode count of 635 episodes far surpasses The Simpsons, which would not reach that mark until its approximate 29th season,under normal programming schedules.
In 2009, Fox began a year-long celebration of the show titled "Best. 20 Years. Ever." to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the premiere of The Simpsons. One of the first parts of the celebration is the "Unleash Your Yellow" contest in which entrants design a poster for the show.
On February 26, 2009, Fox renewed the show and ordered two additional seasons, which would take the series through its twenty-second season.
The celebration ended this January with The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special - In 3-D! On Ice!. This was a documentary special by documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock that examines the "cultural phenomenon of The Simpsons.
The Simpsons has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series. They've won 25 Primetime Emmy Awards,26 Annie Awards and a Peabody Award.
In a 1998 issue celebrating the 20th century's greatest achievements in arts and entertainment. Plus,Time magazine named The Simpsons the century's best television series. In that same issue, Time included Bart Simpson in the Time 100, the publication's list of the century's 100 most influential people.
Bart was the only fictional character on that list. On January 14, 2000, the Simpsons were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Also in 2000, Entertainment Weekly magazine TV critic Ken Tucker named The Simpsons the greatest television show of the 1990s.
Viewers of a UK television channel have voted "The Simpsons" at the top of two polls: 2001's 100 Greatest TV shows, and 2005's 100 Greatest Cartoons, with Homer Simpson voted into first place in 2001's 100 Greatest TV Characters. Homer would also place ninth on Entertainment Weekly's list of the "50 Greatest TV icons".
In 2002, The Simpsons ranked #8 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. In 2007 it was included in TIME's list of the "100 Best TV Shows of All Time". In 2008 the show raked 1st placed on Entertainment Weekly's "Top 100 Shows of the Past 25 Years".
The popularity of The Simpsons has made it a billion-dollar merchandizing industry. The title family and supporting characters appear on everything from t-shirts to posters from trading cards to video games.
The Simpsons has inspired special editions of well-known board games, including Clue, Scrabble, Monopoly, Operation, and The Game of Life, as well as the trivia games What Would Homer Do? and Simpsons Jeopardy!.
Several card games such as trump cards and The Simpsons Trading Card Game have also been released.
Many official or unofficial Simpsons books such as episode guides have been published. Many episodes of the show have been released on DVD and VHS over the years.
When the first season DVD was released in 2001, it quickly became the best-selling television DVD in history. Seasons one through twelve have been released on DVD in the U.S.,Europe,Australia,New Zealand,and Latin America.
In 2003, about 500 companies around the world were licensed to use Simpsons characters in their advertising.
As a promotion for the The Simpsons Movie, twelve 7-Eleven stores were transformed into Kwik-E-Marts and sold Simpsons related products. These included "Buzz Cola", "Krusty-O" cereal, Pink doughnuts with sprinkles, and "Squishees".
On April 9, 2009, the United States Postal Service unveiled a series of five 44 cent stamps featuring Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, to commemorate the show's twentieth anniversary.
The Simpsons is the first television series still in production to receive this recognition. The stamps, designed by Matt Groening, were made available for purchase on May 7, 2009.
And there you have it,The History of the Simpsons. The Show has definatly gone downhill,but when it was good,it was Very good. I still love the Simpsons,despite the crappily written newer eps.
Well that's gonna do it for now.
Class Dismissed!
*The Simpsons end theme plays*
Due to the show's success, over the summer of '90 the Fox Network decided to switch The Simpsons' timeslot from Sunday nights to Thursday nights,so that it could compete with The Cosby Show on NBC, the number one show at the time.
Through the summer,several news outlets published stories about the supposed "Bill vs. Bart" rivalry. "Bart Gets an F" (season two, 1990) was the first episode to air against The Cosby Show, and it received a low Nielsen rating,tying for eighth behind The Cosby Show.
The Simpsons has been praised by many critics, being described as "the most irreverent and unapologetic show on the air." In a 1990 review of the show, Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly described it as "the American family at its most complicated, drawn as simple cartoons. It's this neat paradox that makes millions of people turn away from the three big networks on Sunday nights to concentrate on The Simpsons."
Tucker would also describe the show as a "pop-cultural phenomenon, a prime-time cartoon show that appeals to the entire country." Now we know Why the Simpsons were so popular.
Anyway, On February 9, 1997, The Simpsons surpassed The Flintstones with the episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" as the longest-running prime-time animated series in the United States.
In 2004, The Simpsons replaced The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952 to 1966) as the longest-running sitcom (animated or live action) in the United States.
In 2009, The Simpsons surpassed The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet's record of 435 episodes and is now recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's longest running sitcom.
In October 2004, Scooby-Doo briefly overtook The Simpsons as the American animated show with the highest number of episodes.
However,In April 2005, Network Executives,again cancelled Scooby-Doo,which finished with 371 episodes. The Simpsons reclaimed the title with 378 episodes at the end of their seventeenth season.
In May 2007, The Simpsons reached their 400th episode at the end of the eighteenth season.
The year 2007 marked the twentieth anniversary of The Simpsons franchise. As of the twenty-first season (2009–2010), The Simpsons is the longest-running American primetime television series,having surpassed Gunsmoke.
However, Gunsmoke's episode count of 635 episodes far surpasses The Simpsons, which would not reach that mark until its approximate 29th season,under normal programming schedules.
In 2009, Fox began a year-long celebration of the show titled "Best. 20 Years. Ever." to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the premiere of The Simpsons. One of the first parts of the celebration is the "Unleash Your Yellow" contest in which entrants design a poster for the show.
On February 26, 2009, Fox renewed the show and ordered two additional seasons, which would take the series through its twenty-second season.
The celebration ended this January with The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special - In 3-D! On Ice!. This was a documentary special by documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock that examines the "cultural phenomenon of The Simpsons.
The Simpsons has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series. They've won 25 Primetime Emmy Awards,26 Annie Awards and a Peabody Award.
In a 1998 issue celebrating the 20th century's greatest achievements in arts and entertainment. Plus,Time magazine named The Simpsons the century's best television series. In that same issue, Time included Bart Simpson in the Time 100, the publication's list of the century's 100 most influential people.
Bart was the only fictional character on that list. On January 14, 2000, the Simpsons were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Also in 2000, Entertainment Weekly magazine TV critic Ken Tucker named The Simpsons the greatest television show of the 1990s.
Viewers of a UK television channel have voted "The Simpsons" at the top of two polls: 2001's 100 Greatest TV shows, and 2005's 100 Greatest Cartoons, with Homer Simpson voted into first place in 2001's 100 Greatest TV Characters. Homer would also place ninth on Entertainment Weekly's list of the "50 Greatest TV icons".
In 2002, The Simpsons ranked #8 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. In 2007 it was included in TIME's list of the "100 Best TV Shows of All Time". In 2008 the show raked 1st placed on Entertainment Weekly's "Top 100 Shows of the Past 25 Years".
The popularity of The Simpsons has made it a billion-dollar merchandizing industry. The title family and supporting characters appear on everything from t-shirts to posters from trading cards to video games.
The Simpsons has inspired special editions of well-known board games, including Clue, Scrabble, Monopoly, Operation, and The Game of Life, as well as the trivia games What Would Homer Do? and Simpsons Jeopardy!.
Several card games such as trump cards and The Simpsons Trading Card Game have also been released.
Many official or unofficial Simpsons books such as episode guides have been published. Many episodes of the show have been released on DVD and VHS over the years.
When the first season DVD was released in 2001, it quickly became the best-selling television DVD in history. Seasons one through twelve have been released on DVD in the U.S.,Europe,Australia,New Zealand,and Latin America.
In 2003, about 500 companies around the world were licensed to use Simpsons characters in their advertising.
As a promotion for the The Simpsons Movie, twelve 7-Eleven stores were transformed into Kwik-E-Marts and sold Simpsons related products. These included "Buzz Cola", "Krusty-O" cereal, Pink doughnuts with sprinkles, and "Squishees".
On April 9, 2009, the United States Postal Service unveiled a series of five 44 cent stamps featuring Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, to commemorate the show's twentieth anniversary.
The Simpsons is the first television series still in production to receive this recognition. The stamps, designed by Matt Groening, were made available for purchase on May 7, 2009.
And there you have it,The History of the Simpsons. The Show has definatly gone downhill,but when it was good,it was Very good. I still love the Simpsons,despite the crappily written newer eps.
Well that's gonna do it for now.
Class Dismissed!
*The Simpsons end theme plays*
The Cartoon Historian Lesson 13: The Simpsons Pt.2
Welcome to Lesson 13 which is part 2 of the History of The Simpsons.
The Simpsons uses the standard setup of a situation comedy, or sitcom, as its often called. The series centers on a family and their life in a typical American town. However, because of its animated nature, The Simpsons' scope is larger than that of a regular sitcom.
The town of Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. By having Homer work in a nuclear power plant, the show can comment on the state of the environment.
Through Bart and Lisa's days at Springfield Elementary School, the show's writers illustrate pressing or controversial issues in the field of education. The town features a vast array of media channels—from kids' television programming to local news, which enables the producers to make jokes about themselves and the entertainment industry.
The Simpsons' opening sequence is one of the show's most memorable hallmarks. Most episodes open with the camera zooming through the show's title towards the town of Springfield. The camera then follows the members of the family on their way home. Upon entering their house, the Simpsons settle down on their couch to watch television.
The opening was created by David Silverman.This was the first task he did when production began on the show. The series' theme song was composed by musician Danny Elfman in 1989, after Groening approached him requesting a retro style piece. This piece, which took two days to create, has been noted by Elfman as the most popular song of his career.
Another thing about the theme is that three of the segments change from episode to episode: Bart writes different things on the school chalkboard, Lisa plays different solos on her saxophone, and different gags accompany the family as they enter their living room to sit on the couch.
On February 15, 2009, a new opening credit sequence was introduced to accompany the switch to HDTV. The sequence had all of the features of the original opening, but added numerous details and characters.
The special Halloween episode has become an annual tradition. "Treehouse of Horror" first broadcast in 1990 as part of season two and established the pattern of three separate, self-contained stories in each Halloween episode.
These usually involve the family in some horror, science fiction, or supernatural setting and often parody or pay homage to a famous pieces of work in those genres. They always take place outside the normal continuity of the show.
Although the Treehouse series is meant to be seen on Halloween, in recent years, new installments have premiered after Halloween due to Fox's current contract with Major League Baseball's World Series.
The show's humor turns on cultural references that cover a wide spectrum of society, so that viewers from all generations can enjoy the show. Such references, for example, come from movies, television, music, literature, science, and history.
The animators also regularly add jokes or sight gags into the show's background via humorous bits of text in signs, newspapers, and elsewhere.
The audience may often not notice the visual jokes in a single viewing. Some are so fleeting that they become apparent only by pausing a video recording of the show.
Kristin Thompson argues that The Simpsons uses a "...flurry of cultural references, intentionally inconsistent characterization, and considerable self-reflexivity about television conventions and the status of the program as a television show."
One of Bart's early hallmarks were his prank calls to Moe's Tavern owner,Moe Szyslak. In this little prank,Bart calls Moe and asks for a gag name. Moe tries to find that person in the bar, but rapidly realizes it is a prank call and angrily threatens Bart.
These calls were based on a series of prank calls known as the Tube Bar recordings. Moe was based partly on Tube Bar owner Louis "Red" Deutsch, whose often profane responses inspired Moe's violent side.
As the series progressed,it became more difficult for the writers to come up with a fake name and to write Moe's angry responses,so the pranks were dropped as a regular joke during the fourth season.
The Simpsons also often includes some self-referential humor. The most common form is jokes about Fox Broadcasting.
The show also uses catchphrases. Most of the primary and secondary characters have at least one catchphrase each. Notable ones include Homer's "D'oh!", Mr. Burns' "Excellent...",Nelson Muntz's "Ha-ha!", And Ned Flanders' "Hi-dilly-Ho" and "Okaly-Dokely".
I have no clue how to spell Flanders' catchphrases. So I just winged it. Moving right along.
Some of Bart's catchphrases, such as "¡Ay, caramba!", "Don't have a cow, man!" and "Eat my shorts!" appeared on t-shirts in the show's early days. However, Bart rarely used the latter two phrases until after they became popular through the merchandising.
The use of many of these catchphrases has declined in recent seasons. The episode "Bart Gets Famous" mocks catchphrase-based humor, as Bart achieves fame on the Krusty the Clown Show solely for saying "I didn't do it"
The Simpsons was the first successful animated program in prime time since Wait Till Your Father Gets Home in the 1970s. During most of the 1980s, pundits considered animated shows to be...well,for kids..Plus animating a show was too expensive to achieve a quality suitable for prime-time television. The Simpsons changed this perception.
The use of Korean animation studios for tweening, coloring, and filming made the episodes cheaper. The success of The Simpsons and the lower production cost prompted television networks to take chances on other animated series. This development led to a '90s boom in animated prime-time shows. Shows like: Bevis and Butt-Head,South Park,King of the Hill,Futurama,and The Critic.
The Simpsons was the Fox network's first television series to rank among a season's top 30 highest-rated shows. While later seasons would focus on Homer, Bart was the lead character in most of the first three seasons.
In 1990, Bart quickly became one of the most popular characters on television,in what was dubbed "Bartmania". He became the most prevalent Simpsons character on memorabilia, such as T-shirts.
In the early 1990s, millions of T-shirts featuring Bart were sold; as many as one million were sold on some days. Believing Bart to be a bad role model, several American public schools banned T-shirts featuring Bart next to captions such as "I'm Bart Simpson. Who the hell are you?" and "Underachiever ('And proud of it, man!')".
The Simpsons merchandise sold well and generated at least $2 billion in revenue during the first 15 months of sales.
Because of his popularity, Bart was often the most promoted member of the Simpson family in advertisements for the show, even for episodes in which he was not involved in the main plot.
To this Day Bart Simpson still appears in the Butterfinger commercials.
Stay Tuned for the conclusion of this lesson.
The Simpsons uses the standard setup of a situation comedy, or sitcom, as its often called. The series centers on a family and their life in a typical American town. However, because of its animated nature, The Simpsons' scope is larger than that of a regular sitcom.
The town of Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. By having Homer work in a nuclear power plant, the show can comment on the state of the environment.
Through Bart and Lisa's days at Springfield Elementary School, the show's writers illustrate pressing or controversial issues in the field of education. The town features a vast array of media channels—from kids' television programming to local news, which enables the producers to make jokes about themselves and the entertainment industry.
The Simpsons' opening sequence is one of the show's most memorable hallmarks. Most episodes open with the camera zooming through the show's title towards the town of Springfield. The camera then follows the members of the family on their way home. Upon entering their house, the Simpsons settle down on their couch to watch television.
The opening was created by David Silverman.This was the first task he did when production began on the show. The series' theme song was composed by musician Danny Elfman in 1989, after Groening approached him requesting a retro style piece. This piece, which took two days to create, has been noted by Elfman as the most popular song of his career.
Another thing about the theme is that three of the segments change from episode to episode: Bart writes different things on the school chalkboard, Lisa plays different solos on her saxophone, and different gags accompany the family as they enter their living room to sit on the couch.
On February 15, 2009, a new opening credit sequence was introduced to accompany the switch to HDTV. The sequence had all of the features of the original opening, but added numerous details and characters.
The special Halloween episode has become an annual tradition. "Treehouse of Horror" first broadcast in 1990 as part of season two and established the pattern of three separate, self-contained stories in each Halloween episode.
These usually involve the family in some horror, science fiction, or supernatural setting and often parody or pay homage to a famous pieces of work in those genres. They always take place outside the normal continuity of the show.
Although the Treehouse series is meant to be seen on Halloween, in recent years, new installments have premiered after Halloween due to Fox's current contract with Major League Baseball's World Series.
The show's humor turns on cultural references that cover a wide spectrum of society, so that viewers from all generations can enjoy the show. Such references, for example, come from movies, television, music, literature, science, and history.
The animators also regularly add jokes or sight gags into the show's background via humorous bits of text in signs, newspapers, and elsewhere.
The audience may often not notice the visual jokes in a single viewing. Some are so fleeting that they become apparent only by pausing a video recording of the show.
Kristin Thompson argues that The Simpsons uses a "...flurry of cultural references, intentionally inconsistent characterization, and considerable self-reflexivity about television conventions and the status of the program as a television show."
One of Bart's early hallmarks were his prank calls to Moe's Tavern owner,Moe Szyslak. In this little prank,Bart calls Moe and asks for a gag name. Moe tries to find that person in the bar, but rapidly realizes it is a prank call and angrily threatens Bart.
These calls were based on a series of prank calls known as the Tube Bar recordings. Moe was based partly on Tube Bar owner Louis "Red" Deutsch, whose often profane responses inspired Moe's violent side.
As the series progressed,it became more difficult for the writers to come up with a fake name and to write Moe's angry responses,so the pranks were dropped as a regular joke during the fourth season.
The Simpsons also often includes some self-referential humor. The most common form is jokes about Fox Broadcasting.
The show also uses catchphrases. Most of the primary and secondary characters have at least one catchphrase each. Notable ones include Homer's "D'oh!", Mr. Burns' "Excellent...",Nelson Muntz's "Ha-ha!", And Ned Flanders' "Hi-dilly-Ho" and "Okaly-Dokely".
I have no clue how to spell Flanders' catchphrases. So I just winged it. Moving right along.
Some of Bart's catchphrases, such as "¡Ay, caramba!", "Don't have a cow, man!" and "Eat my shorts!" appeared on t-shirts in the show's early days. However, Bart rarely used the latter two phrases until after they became popular through the merchandising.
The use of many of these catchphrases has declined in recent seasons. The episode "Bart Gets Famous" mocks catchphrase-based humor, as Bart achieves fame on the Krusty the Clown Show solely for saying "I didn't do it"
The Simpsons was the first successful animated program in prime time since Wait Till Your Father Gets Home in the 1970s. During most of the 1980s, pundits considered animated shows to be...well,for kids..Plus animating a show was too expensive to achieve a quality suitable for prime-time television. The Simpsons changed this perception.
The use of Korean animation studios for tweening, coloring, and filming made the episodes cheaper. The success of The Simpsons and the lower production cost prompted television networks to take chances on other animated series. This development led to a '90s boom in animated prime-time shows. Shows like: Bevis and Butt-Head,South Park,King of the Hill,Futurama,and The Critic.
The Simpsons was the Fox network's first television series to rank among a season's top 30 highest-rated shows. While later seasons would focus on Homer, Bart was the lead character in most of the first three seasons.
In 1990, Bart quickly became one of the most popular characters on television,in what was dubbed "Bartmania". He became the most prevalent Simpsons character on memorabilia, such as T-shirts.
In the early 1990s, millions of T-shirts featuring Bart were sold; as many as one million were sold on some days. Believing Bart to be a bad role model, several American public schools banned T-shirts featuring Bart next to captions such as "I'm Bart Simpson. Who the hell are you?" and "Underachiever ('And proud of it, man!')".
The Simpsons merchandise sold well and generated at least $2 billion in revenue during the first 15 months of sales.
Because of his popularity, Bart was often the most promoted member of the Simpson family in advertisements for the show, even for episodes in which he was not involved in the main plot.
To this Day Bart Simpson still appears in the Butterfinger commercials.
Stay Tuned for the conclusion of this lesson.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
The Cartoon Historian Lesson 12: The Simpsons Pt. 1
The Simpsons! One of the longest running TV shows of all time. Who doen't love this family.
In this special 3-part episode,we will take a look at the rise of America's favorite animated family.
The Simpsons is an animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a working class American family,which consists of Homer,Marge,Bart,Lisa,and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional city of Springfield,and lampoons American culture,society,television and many aspects of the human condition.
Matt Groening conceived the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office. Brooks had asked Groening to pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts, which Groening initially intended to present as his Life in Hell series.
However, when Groening realized that animating Life in Hell would require the rescinding of publication rights for his life's work, he chose another approach and formulated his version of a dysfunctional family. He named the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name.
The Simpson family first appeared as shorts in The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. Groening submitted only basic sketches to the animators and assumed that the figures would be cleaned up in production.
However, the animators merely re-traced his drawings, which led to the crude appearance of the characters in the initial short episodes. One of the earliest jobs of the Klasky Csupo company was creating animated sequences for the The Tracey Ullman Show which led to the start of The Simpsons.
The animation(at first) was produced domestically at Klasky Csupo,with Wesley Archer, David Silverman, and Bill Kopp being animators for the first season. Georgie Peluse was the colorist and the person who decided to make the characters yellow.
In 1989, a team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The team included,what is now known as,the Klasky Csupo animation house. For those who are familiar with Klasky Csupo,they're the dudes who created the hit cartoon series "Rugrats".
Anyway,Jim Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content. Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called "the mainstream trash" that they were watching.
The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989 with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", a Christmas special. Yup,a Christmas special was the first episode to air,though it wasn't the first episode made.
"Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990, as the last episode of the first season.This was because because of animation problems.
In 1992, Tracey Ullman filed a lawsuit against Fox, claiming that her show was the source of the series' success. The suit said that she should receive a share of the profits of The Simpsons. However,the claim was rejected by the courts.
Matt Groening and James L. Brooks have served as executive producers during the show's entire history, and also function as creative consultants. Sam Simon served as creative supervisor for the first four seasons.
However,since Simon was constantly at odds with Groening, Brooks and Gracie Films,he left the show in 1993. Before leaving,he negotiated a deal that gave him a share of the profits every year, and an executive producer credit despite not having worked on the show since 1993. A more involved position on the show is the show runner, who acts as head writer and manages the show's production for an entire season.
The first team of writers, assebled by Sam Simon consisted of John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, George Meyer, Jeff Martin, Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky. Newer Simpsons' writing teams typically consist of sixteen writers who propose episode ideas at the beginning of each December. The main writer of each episode writes the first draft.
Group rewriting sessions develop final scripts by adding or removing jokes, inserting scenes, and calling for re-readings of lines by the show’s voice actors. Until 2004, the leader of these sessions was George Meyer, who had developed the show since Season One.
According to long-time writer Jon Vitti, Meyer usually invented the best lines in a given episode, even though other writers may receive script credits. Each episode takes six months to produce so the show rarely comments on current events. However, episodes occasionally mention planned events, such as the Olympics or the Super Bowl.
Part of the writing staff of The Simpsons in 1992 were Mike Mendel,Colin ABV Lewis ,Jeff Goldstein, Al Jean,Conan O'Brien, Bill Oakley, Josh Weinstein, Mike Reiss, Ken Tsumara, George Meyer, John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti,CJ Gibson,David M. Stern,Dee Capelli,and Lona Williams.
Credited with sixty episodes, John Swartzwelder is the most prolific writer on The Simpsons' staff. One of the best-known former writers is Conan O'Brien, who contributed to several episodes in the early 1990s before replacing David Letterman as host of the talk show Late Night.
English comedian Ricky Gervais wrote the episode "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife", becoming the first celebrity to both write and guest star in an episode. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, writers of the film Superbad, wrote the episode "Homer the Whopper", with Rogen voicing a character in it.
At the end of 2007 the writers of The Simpsons went on strike together with the rest of the Writers Guild of America. The show's writers had joined the guild in 1998.
Several different U.S. and international studios animate The Simpsons. Throughout the run of the animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, the animation was produced domestically at Klasky Csupo.
Because of an increased workload,Fox subcontracted production to several international studios, located in South Korea. These are AKOM, Anivision, Rough Draft Studios, U.S. Animation, Inc., and Toonzone Entertainment.
Artists at the U.S. animation studio, Film Roman, draw storyboards, design new characters, backgrounds, props and draw character and background layouts, which in turn become animatics to be screened for the writers at Gracie Films for any changes to be made before the work is shipped overseas.
The overseas studios then draw the inbetweens, ink and paint, and render the animation to tape before it is shipped back to the United States to be delivered to Fox three to four months later.
For the first three seasons, Klasky Csupo animated The Simpsons in the United States. In 1992, the show's production company, Gracie Films, switched domestic production to Film Roman, who continued to animate the show as of 2009.
In Season 14, production switched from traditional cel animation to digital ink and paint. The first episode to experiment with this was "Radioactive Man" in 1995.
Animators used digital ink and paint during production of the Season 12 episode "Tennis the Menace," but Gracie Films delayed the regular use of digital ink and paint until two seasons later. The already completed "Tennis the Menace" was broadcast as made.
The series began high-definition production in Season 20; the first episode, "Take My Life, Please", aired February 15, 2009. The move to HDTV included a new opening sequence. Matt Groening called it a complicated change because it affected the timing and composition of animation.
The Simpsons are a typical family who live in a fictional "Middle American" town of Springfield. Homer, the father, works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, a position at odds with his careless and buffoonish personality.
He is married to Marge Simpson, a stereotypical American housewife and mother. They have three children: Bart, a ten-year-old troublemaker; Lisa, a precocious eight-year-old activist; and Maggie, a baby who rarely speaks, but communicates by sucking on a pacifier. The family owns a dog, Santa's Little Helper, and a cat, Snowball V, renamed Snowball II in "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot".
Both pets have had starring roles in several episodes. Despite the passing of yearly milestones such as holidays or birthdays, the Simpsons did not physically age and still appear just as they did at the end of the 1980s.
Although the family is dysfunctional, many episodes examine their relationships and bonds with each other and they are often shown to care about one another.
The show includes an array of quirky characters: co-workers, teachers, family friends,extended relatives, townspeople and local celebrities.
The creators originally intended many of these characters as one-time jokesters or for fulfilling needed functions in the town. A number of them have gained expanded roles and subsequently starred in their own episodes. According to Matt Groening, the show adopted the concept of a supporting cast from the comedy show SCTV
The Simpsons takes place in the fictional American town of Springfield in an unknown and impossible-to-determine U.S. state. The show is intentionally evasive in regard to Springfield's location. The name "Springfield" is a common in America and appears in over half of the states.
Springfield's geography, and that of its surroundings, contain coastlines, deserts, vast farmland, tall mountains, or whatever the story or joke requires. Groening has said that Springfield has much in common with Portland, Oregon, the city where he grew up.
Well that's all for now. Stay tuned for part 2 of this lesson. Ya gotta admit that this part was very informative.
In this special 3-part episode,we will take a look at the rise of America's favorite animated family.
The Simpsons is an animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a working class American family,which consists of Homer,Marge,Bart,Lisa,and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional city of Springfield,and lampoons American culture,society,television and many aspects of the human condition.
Matt Groening conceived the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office. Brooks had asked Groening to pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts, which Groening initially intended to present as his Life in Hell series.
However, when Groening realized that animating Life in Hell would require the rescinding of publication rights for his life's work, he chose another approach and formulated his version of a dysfunctional family. He named the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name.
The Simpson family first appeared as shorts in The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. Groening submitted only basic sketches to the animators and assumed that the figures would be cleaned up in production.
However, the animators merely re-traced his drawings, which led to the crude appearance of the characters in the initial short episodes. One of the earliest jobs of the Klasky Csupo company was creating animated sequences for the The Tracey Ullman Show which led to the start of The Simpsons.
The animation(at first) was produced domestically at Klasky Csupo,with Wesley Archer, David Silverman, and Bill Kopp being animators for the first season. Georgie Peluse was the colorist and the person who decided to make the characters yellow.
In 1989, a team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The team included,what is now known as,the Klasky Csupo animation house. For those who are familiar with Klasky Csupo,they're the dudes who created the hit cartoon series "Rugrats".
Anyway,Jim Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content. Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called "the mainstream trash" that they were watching.
The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989 with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", a Christmas special. Yup,a Christmas special was the first episode to air,though it wasn't the first episode made.
"Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990, as the last episode of the first season.This was because because of animation problems.
In 1992, Tracey Ullman filed a lawsuit against Fox, claiming that her show was the source of the series' success. The suit said that she should receive a share of the profits of The Simpsons. However,the claim was rejected by the courts.
Matt Groening and James L. Brooks have served as executive producers during the show's entire history, and also function as creative consultants. Sam Simon served as creative supervisor for the first four seasons.
However,since Simon was constantly at odds with Groening, Brooks and Gracie Films,he left the show in 1993. Before leaving,he negotiated a deal that gave him a share of the profits every year, and an executive producer credit despite not having worked on the show since 1993. A more involved position on the show is the show runner, who acts as head writer and manages the show's production for an entire season.
The first team of writers, assebled by Sam Simon consisted of John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, George Meyer, Jeff Martin, Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky. Newer Simpsons' writing teams typically consist of sixteen writers who propose episode ideas at the beginning of each December. The main writer of each episode writes the first draft.
Group rewriting sessions develop final scripts by adding or removing jokes, inserting scenes, and calling for re-readings of lines by the show’s voice actors. Until 2004, the leader of these sessions was George Meyer, who had developed the show since Season One.
According to long-time writer Jon Vitti, Meyer usually invented the best lines in a given episode, even though other writers may receive script credits. Each episode takes six months to produce so the show rarely comments on current events. However, episodes occasionally mention planned events, such as the Olympics or the Super Bowl.
Part of the writing staff of The Simpsons in 1992 were Mike Mendel,Colin ABV Lewis ,Jeff Goldstein, Al Jean,Conan O'Brien, Bill Oakley, Josh Weinstein, Mike Reiss, Ken Tsumara, George Meyer, John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti,CJ Gibson,David M. Stern,Dee Capelli,and Lona Williams.
Credited with sixty episodes, John Swartzwelder is the most prolific writer on The Simpsons' staff. One of the best-known former writers is Conan O'Brien, who contributed to several episodes in the early 1990s before replacing David Letterman as host of the talk show Late Night.
English comedian Ricky Gervais wrote the episode "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife", becoming the first celebrity to both write and guest star in an episode. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, writers of the film Superbad, wrote the episode "Homer the Whopper", with Rogen voicing a character in it.
At the end of 2007 the writers of The Simpsons went on strike together with the rest of the Writers Guild of America. The show's writers had joined the guild in 1998.
Several different U.S. and international studios animate The Simpsons. Throughout the run of the animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, the animation was produced domestically at Klasky Csupo.
Because of an increased workload,Fox subcontracted production to several international studios, located in South Korea. These are AKOM, Anivision, Rough Draft Studios, U.S. Animation, Inc., and Toonzone Entertainment.
Artists at the U.S. animation studio, Film Roman, draw storyboards, design new characters, backgrounds, props and draw character and background layouts, which in turn become animatics to be screened for the writers at Gracie Films for any changes to be made before the work is shipped overseas.
The overseas studios then draw the inbetweens, ink and paint, and render the animation to tape before it is shipped back to the United States to be delivered to Fox three to four months later.
For the first three seasons, Klasky Csupo animated The Simpsons in the United States. In 1992, the show's production company, Gracie Films, switched domestic production to Film Roman, who continued to animate the show as of 2009.
In Season 14, production switched from traditional cel animation to digital ink and paint. The first episode to experiment with this was "Radioactive Man" in 1995.
Animators used digital ink and paint during production of the Season 12 episode "Tennis the Menace," but Gracie Films delayed the regular use of digital ink and paint until two seasons later. The already completed "Tennis the Menace" was broadcast as made.
The series began high-definition production in Season 20; the first episode, "Take My Life, Please", aired February 15, 2009. The move to HDTV included a new opening sequence. Matt Groening called it a complicated change because it affected the timing and composition of animation.
The Simpsons are a typical family who live in a fictional "Middle American" town of Springfield. Homer, the father, works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, a position at odds with his careless and buffoonish personality.
He is married to Marge Simpson, a stereotypical American housewife and mother. They have three children: Bart, a ten-year-old troublemaker; Lisa, a precocious eight-year-old activist; and Maggie, a baby who rarely speaks, but communicates by sucking on a pacifier. The family owns a dog, Santa's Little Helper, and a cat, Snowball V, renamed Snowball II in "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot".
Both pets have had starring roles in several episodes. Despite the passing of yearly milestones such as holidays or birthdays, the Simpsons did not physically age and still appear just as they did at the end of the 1980s.
Although the family is dysfunctional, many episodes examine their relationships and bonds with each other and they are often shown to care about one another.
The show includes an array of quirky characters: co-workers, teachers, family friends,extended relatives, townspeople and local celebrities.
The creators originally intended many of these characters as one-time jokesters or for fulfilling needed functions in the town. A number of them have gained expanded roles and subsequently starred in their own episodes. According to Matt Groening, the show adopted the concept of a supporting cast from the comedy show SCTV
The Simpsons takes place in the fictional American town of Springfield in an unknown and impossible-to-determine U.S. state. The show is intentionally evasive in regard to Springfield's location. The name "Springfield" is a common in America and appears in over half of the states.
Springfield's geography, and that of its surroundings, contain coastlines, deserts, vast farmland, tall mountains, or whatever the story or joke requires. Groening has said that Springfield has much in common with Portland, Oregon, the city where he grew up.
Well that's all for now. Stay tuned for part 2 of this lesson. Ya gotta admit that this part was very informative.
Monday, March 8, 2010
The Cartoon Historian Lesson 11: The Powerpuff Girls
Welcome My Students. Today's lesson is all about The One and Only Powerpuff Girls.
Sugar,Spice,and Everything Nice! These were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect History Lesson.But Stefan The Historian added an extra ingredient to the concoction...Chemical X *Big Boom* Thus the Powerpuff History Lesson was born.
LOL! Enough Sillieness,Let's get on with the lesson. Actually,This lesson was on my list of Lessons I made when I started this Blog. Anyway,Let's start with the basic primise.
The Powerpuff Girls revolves around the adventures of Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. Professor Utonium wanted to make "the perfect little girl" by using "sugar,spice,and everything nice."
However,the accidental addition of Chemical X into the mixture created three girls instead,each having superpowers but whose individual personality was dominated by one of the ingredients ("sugar" for Bubbles, "spice" for Buttercup, and "everything nice" for Blossom).
The plot of a typical episode is some humorous variation of standard superhero and Bishoujo(pretty girl)fare, with the girls using their powers to defend their town from villains and giant monsters.
In addition, the girls also have to deal with normal issues young children face, such as bed wetting or dependence on a security blanket. Episodes often contain more or less hidden references to older (circa 1950s to 1980s) pop culture.
The show mainly takes place in the fictional city of Townsville, USA. Townsville is depicted as a major American city, with a cityscape consisting of several major skyscrapers. The physical location of Townsville has never been determined. Cities like Los Angeles, New York City, Seattle, Paris, London, and Tokyo have been shown throughout the series.
The show has a highly stylized, minimalistic visual look, reminiscent of Hanna-Barbera's previous limited animation including The Smurfs, Yogi Bear, and The Flintstones.
In his review of The Powerpuff Girls Movie, movie critic Bob Longino of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said that "the intricate drawings emanate 1950s futuristic pizazz like a David Hockney scenescape", and that "The Powerpuff Girls is one of the few American creations that is both gleeful pop culture and exquisite high art".
The original 79 episodes were hand-drawn and produced at Rough Draft Studios in South Korea,However for the 2009 special episode The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!! was animated with Adobe Flash at Cartoon Network Studios.
No Wonder the artwork wasn't that good... Anyway,The show's animation director was Genndy Tartakovsky. Yes that's the same dude who worked on Dexter's Laboratory and later,Samurai Jack. Tartakovsky also directed many PPG episodes himself.
James L. Venable composed the opening theme of the series and Scottish band Bis performed the ending theme song, as played during the credits. The opening theme is based around something called the Amen Break sample.
The show has come under criticism for its rather excessive violence (including images of characters gushing blood from their mouths when hit). Craig McCracken, a student of California Institute of the Arts at the time,created The Whoopass Girls in 1992 in his short film The Whoopass Stew! A Sticky Situation.
Yes,you read correctly. The Powerpuff Girls were Originally known as the Woopass Girls. I'm kinda glad they changed it. Anyway,Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation selected the short in 1994.
Later,McCracken submitted his work to Cartoon Network's What A Cartoon! Show. It's also worth noting that before His work was approved,The Network had McCracken change the "Woopass Girls" name.
Anyway,The episode was produced and aired on Cartoon Network as "The Powerpuff Girls in: Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins". Another interesting thing is that McCracken was also working on Dexter's Laboratory at the same time.
Anyway,Announcer Ernie Anderson,the narrator of the pilot episode, died in 1997 before the show became a series.
"Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins" first aired in 1995, followed by a second short, "Crime 101", a year later.
The Powerpuff Girls TV debut in 1998 was the highest rated premiere in Cartoon Network history. The series scored high ratings each week for the network. The key demographics ranged from young children to adults.
In October 2000, Cartoon Network credited the Powerpuff Girls for its Friday night prime time ratings win among cable networks. By 2001,merchandise sales based on The Franchise was booming. Everything from T-shirts,toys,and video games to lunchboxes and dishware.
The Powerpuff Girls had become as popular as G.I. Joe. Though,nowhere near as popular as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Concerning the Powerpuff Girls success, Craig McCracken has stated, "I thought it would get on Cartoon Network and college kids would watch it and there would be a few random T-shirts out there in the rave scene or in record shops. But I had no idea that it would take off to this extent."
In April 2005, plans for an Japanese anime version,Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z were announced,and the series premiered in Japan the following year with 52 half-hour episodes.
The series deviated considerably from its American predecessor in terms of style, storyline, and characterization. The Anime itself was a Sailor Moon clone.
In August 2008, McCracken revealed at that year's Comic Con, that he was working with Cartoon Network on a new half-hour Powerpuff Girls special to celebrate the series' 10th-year anniversary. The special aired on January 19, 2009 on Cartoon Network.
As depicted in the opening sequence of each episode, the Powerpuff Girls were created by Professor Utonium in an attempt to create the "perfect little girl" using a mixture of sugar, spice, and everything nice.
However, he accidentally spilled a mysterious substance called "Chemical X" into the mixture, granting the girls superpowers commonly including flight, super strength, super speed, limited invulnerability, x-ray vision, super senses, heat vision, and energy projection.
The three girls all have oval-shaped heads, abnormally large eyes, stubby arms and legs, and lacking noses, ears, fingers, and flat feet with toes. They wear dresses that match the colors of their eyes, as well as white pantyhose and black Mary Janes.
The closing theme to the cartoon, performed by Bis, includes the lyrics Blossom, commander and the leader; Bubbles, she is the joy and the laughter; Buttercup, she's the toughest fighter. This offers a nutshell description of the three Powerpuff girls' personalities.
A total of 79 half-hour broadcasts have been made, one of which has never been shown on TV and one which aired during the 10th Anniversary special. Most broadcasts consist of two episodes, while others contain a single episode that spans the entire half hour.
The show spanned six seasons. And lasted from 1998-2005. In addition, a self-titled feature film was made and aired in 2002. An hour-long Christmas special was also made,aired,and released on DVD in 2003. One episode in production, "Deja View," was never finished. A special titled The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!! aired during the 10th Anniversary special on Cartoon Network in 2009.
The show has been nominated for an Emmy 5 times in 1999,2000,2001,2004,& 2005 for "Outstanding Achievement in Animation". In 1999 the show was nominated for the award for episode "Bubblevicious" & "The Bare Facts".
In 2000 & 2005 the show also won Emmys The show has also been nominated for the Blimp Award for Favorite Cartoon at the 2001 Kids' Choice Awards.
The Powerpuff Girls are really awesome huh? It's a shame that their Final episode was kinda stupid. Though hearing Mojo Jojo singing "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" was kinda amusing.
Well that's gonna do it for now. If you have any Questions,Comments,or Lesson Suggestions,write to me at DBGT537@aol.com. Or If you're a blogger,leave me feedback in the comment section of this post.
Class Dismissed!
*The Powerpuff Girls end theme plays*
Sugar,Spice,and Everything Nice! These were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect History Lesson.But Stefan The Historian added an extra ingredient to the concoction...Chemical X *Big Boom* Thus the Powerpuff History Lesson was born.
LOL! Enough Sillieness,Let's get on with the lesson. Actually,This lesson was on my list of Lessons I made when I started this Blog. Anyway,Let's start with the basic primise.
The Powerpuff Girls revolves around the adventures of Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. Professor Utonium wanted to make "the perfect little girl" by using "sugar,spice,and everything nice."
However,the accidental addition of Chemical X into the mixture created three girls instead,each having superpowers but whose individual personality was dominated by one of the ingredients ("sugar" for Bubbles, "spice" for Buttercup, and "everything nice" for Blossom).
The plot of a typical episode is some humorous variation of standard superhero and Bishoujo(pretty girl)fare, with the girls using their powers to defend their town from villains and giant monsters.
In addition, the girls also have to deal with normal issues young children face, such as bed wetting or dependence on a security blanket. Episodes often contain more or less hidden references to older (circa 1950s to 1980s) pop culture.
The show mainly takes place in the fictional city of Townsville, USA. Townsville is depicted as a major American city, with a cityscape consisting of several major skyscrapers. The physical location of Townsville has never been determined. Cities like Los Angeles, New York City, Seattle, Paris, London, and Tokyo have been shown throughout the series.
The show has a highly stylized, minimalistic visual look, reminiscent of Hanna-Barbera's previous limited animation including The Smurfs, Yogi Bear, and The Flintstones.
In his review of The Powerpuff Girls Movie, movie critic Bob Longino of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said that "the intricate drawings emanate 1950s futuristic pizazz like a David Hockney scenescape", and that "The Powerpuff Girls is one of the few American creations that is both gleeful pop culture and exquisite high art".
The original 79 episodes were hand-drawn and produced at Rough Draft Studios in South Korea,However for the 2009 special episode The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!! was animated with Adobe Flash at Cartoon Network Studios.
No Wonder the artwork wasn't that good... Anyway,The show's animation director was Genndy Tartakovsky. Yes that's the same dude who worked on Dexter's Laboratory and later,Samurai Jack. Tartakovsky also directed many PPG episodes himself.
James L. Venable composed the opening theme of the series and Scottish band Bis performed the ending theme song, as played during the credits. The opening theme is based around something called the Amen Break sample.
The show has come under criticism for its rather excessive violence (including images of characters gushing blood from their mouths when hit). Craig McCracken, a student of California Institute of the Arts at the time,created The Whoopass Girls in 1992 in his short film The Whoopass Stew! A Sticky Situation.
Yes,you read correctly. The Powerpuff Girls were Originally known as the Woopass Girls. I'm kinda glad they changed it. Anyway,Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation selected the short in 1994.
Later,McCracken submitted his work to Cartoon Network's What A Cartoon! Show. It's also worth noting that before His work was approved,The Network had McCracken change the "Woopass Girls" name.
Anyway,The episode was produced and aired on Cartoon Network as "The Powerpuff Girls in: Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins". Another interesting thing is that McCracken was also working on Dexter's Laboratory at the same time.
Anyway,Announcer Ernie Anderson,the narrator of the pilot episode, died in 1997 before the show became a series.
"Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins" first aired in 1995, followed by a second short, "Crime 101", a year later.
The Powerpuff Girls TV debut in 1998 was the highest rated premiere in Cartoon Network history. The series scored high ratings each week for the network. The key demographics ranged from young children to adults.
In October 2000, Cartoon Network credited the Powerpuff Girls for its Friday night prime time ratings win among cable networks. By 2001,merchandise sales based on The Franchise was booming. Everything from T-shirts,toys,and video games to lunchboxes and dishware.
The Powerpuff Girls had become as popular as G.I. Joe. Though,nowhere near as popular as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Concerning the Powerpuff Girls success, Craig McCracken has stated, "I thought it would get on Cartoon Network and college kids would watch it and there would be a few random T-shirts out there in the rave scene or in record shops. But I had no idea that it would take off to this extent."
In April 2005, plans for an Japanese anime version,Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z were announced,and the series premiered in Japan the following year with 52 half-hour episodes.
The series deviated considerably from its American predecessor in terms of style, storyline, and characterization. The Anime itself was a Sailor Moon clone.
In August 2008, McCracken revealed at that year's Comic Con, that he was working with Cartoon Network on a new half-hour Powerpuff Girls special to celebrate the series' 10th-year anniversary. The special aired on January 19, 2009 on Cartoon Network.
As depicted in the opening sequence of each episode, the Powerpuff Girls were created by Professor Utonium in an attempt to create the "perfect little girl" using a mixture of sugar, spice, and everything nice.
However, he accidentally spilled a mysterious substance called "Chemical X" into the mixture, granting the girls superpowers commonly including flight, super strength, super speed, limited invulnerability, x-ray vision, super senses, heat vision, and energy projection.
The three girls all have oval-shaped heads, abnormally large eyes, stubby arms and legs, and lacking noses, ears, fingers, and flat feet with toes. They wear dresses that match the colors of their eyes, as well as white pantyhose and black Mary Janes.
The closing theme to the cartoon, performed by Bis, includes the lyrics Blossom, commander and the leader; Bubbles, she is the joy and the laughter; Buttercup, she's the toughest fighter. This offers a nutshell description of the three Powerpuff girls' personalities.
A total of 79 half-hour broadcasts have been made, one of which has never been shown on TV and one which aired during the 10th Anniversary special. Most broadcasts consist of two episodes, while others contain a single episode that spans the entire half hour.
The show spanned six seasons. And lasted from 1998-2005. In addition, a self-titled feature film was made and aired in 2002. An hour-long Christmas special was also made,aired,and released on DVD in 2003. One episode in production, "Deja View," was never finished. A special titled The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!! aired during the 10th Anniversary special on Cartoon Network in 2009.
The show has been nominated for an Emmy 5 times in 1999,2000,2001,2004,& 2005 for "Outstanding Achievement in Animation". In 1999 the show was nominated for the award for episode "Bubblevicious" & "The Bare Facts".
In 2000 & 2005 the show also won Emmys The show has also been nominated for the Blimp Award for Favorite Cartoon at the 2001 Kids' Choice Awards.
The Powerpuff Girls are really awesome huh? It's a shame that their Final episode was kinda stupid. Though hearing Mojo Jojo singing "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" was kinda amusing.
Well that's gonna do it for now. If you have any Questions,Comments,or Lesson Suggestions,write to me at DBGT537@aol.com. Or If you're a blogger,leave me feedback in the comment section of this post.
Class Dismissed!
*The Powerpuff Girls end theme plays*
Friday, March 5, 2010
In Defense of the Street Fighter Cartoon
This is a Cartoon Historian Special Presentation!
In Defense of the Street Fighter Cartoon!
What you are about to read is a Defense of the widely disrespected and hated Street Fighter Cartoon series.
In the mid-90's a Street Fighter Cartoon series was created to complement the popularity of the hit Video Game,Super Street Fighter II. After the Van Damm Street Fighter movie,fans were ready to experience something Worthy of the Street Fighter franchise.
However,most fans were disappointed about what they got. So they complained to Capcom USA and they told Capcom Japan and that lead to the creation of Street Fighter II:The Animated Movie and Street Fighter 2V......But that's a story for another time.
Anyway,the Show,despite what others say,isn't that bad. In fact most people who bad mouth the show have Only seen about 8 minutes of a single episode. The Show has it's flaws yes,but what Game,Comic,or TV show doesn't?
First I'm gonna talk about the Series Flaws,just to get them out of the way. As well as the other reasons why Street Fighter Fans tend to hate this show. On with the flaws.
The First flaw is an obvious one: The show is somewhat of a continuation of the 1994 Live-Action Movie,which most Street Fighter fans hated. That hurts the series significantly. Not to mention that,since this show is a continuation of the movie,Guile is the Main character rather than Ryu and Ken,Who were turned into guest stars.
The Next flaw is another obvious one: The Fight Scenes. The fight scenes of this series tend to get,well,Unrealistic. This is one of the main gripes fans have with this cartoon series. After all,people expect a show that's based on a fighting game series to have awesome fight scenes. Plus,those "hitting effects" make things even more lame.
For those who don't know what "Hitting Effects" are. They are the sparks that you see when someone is hitting someone. You see this alot in old comic books and cartoons.
The Next flaw would be the artwork quality of Season 2. Man,compared to season 1's decent artwork,Season 2 really disappoints. The characters faces and bodies look weird...especially their muscles. What The Hell Happened,why couldn't those dopey animators just copy season 1's art?
Anyway,the next flaw was the pronunciation of Ryu's name. In the show he's called "Rhy-Yoo" instead of "Ree-Yoo". "Ree-Yoo" is the the True pronunciation of the characters name. I can safely say that All Street Fighter fans(includin' myself) were understandably annoyed by this.
The Final flaw takes us back to the First. Ryu and Ken as side-characters. Another reason why this show was a turn-off for fans was the fact that Ryu and Ken,the main characters of the games,were reduced to side-characters.
Another reason why the SF fans hate this series is because when they watch it they compare it to the Anime series. This is a problem that provents them from enjoying the series. The fans also despise how Akuma was portrayed in the series.They hated the intro too. But who can blame them,the intro's dialog was kinda corny.
Now that all of the Major negatives have been covered...It's time for the Defense.
First off lets talk about the artwork. Season 1 had some decent awrwork. I'm quite fond of it. However,like I stated earlier,Season 2's artwork was bad. Though Chun-Li looked good. Plus, all the characters looked similar to their Game Counterparts.So you can easily tell who they are,Unlike the Live Action movie.
Also unlike the Live Action Movie,The Characters Actually used their Special Moves.Sure,this show had some animation errors,but almost Every Cartoon during that time had animation errors.
Another thing that was awesome about this series was the Music. It's well writen and It went with the scenes well. Speaking of the Scenes,the Storylines were also good. The storylines and music were the things that made this series a good one.
Unfortunately,many Street Fighter fans are just a bunch of purist pricks,closed minded people who hate the show mostly because it's not Japanese and Unlike the games.
Another thing I'm gonna defend is the Characters personalities. They're fine. Especially,considering that their Game Counterparts had very little personalities to begin with...at least in the U.S. games.
Remember this Cartoon was being created in 1994. This was Before the Alpha games,where the characters personalities were beginning to blossom.
The next thing I'm gonna stick up for is the Art Style. Considering that Anime wasn't that popular in the U.S. at the time,I'd say that the Artwork was appropriate. Anime wouldn't gain a U.S. fanbase until 1997,the Year Toonami was introduced.
Had the show had taken an Anime-ish look to it,and thus making the characters look more like their Game counterparts,The show wouldn't have done well. Remember This Cartoon series was,for the most part,targeted at a 8-12 year old demographic. And most kids of that era were used to an American look to their animated shows.
And another thing,So what if the Cartoon's not Canon. Hell,neither are the Anime movies or The Anime series. Now if fans would just look past the mentioned flaws and forget the fact that the show is somewhat of a continuation of the movie,they might come to respect,perhaps even like,this Cartoon series.
You also have to remember that compared to the Cartoons of today,the Street Fighter cartoon is kinda nice. And thus concludes the Defense of the Street Fighter Cartoon. I hope you all enjoyed this.
Special Thanks goes to General-Radix of Deviant Art for inspiring me to do this.
In Defense of the Street Fighter Cartoon!
What you are about to read is a Defense of the widely disrespected and hated Street Fighter Cartoon series.
In the mid-90's a Street Fighter Cartoon series was created to complement the popularity of the hit Video Game,Super Street Fighter II. After the Van Damm Street Fighter movie,fans were ready to experience something Worthy of the Street Fighter franchise.
However,most fans were disappointed about what they got. So they complained to Capcom USA and they told Capcom Japan and that lead to the creation of Street Fighter II:The Animated Movie and Street Fighter 2V......But that's a story for another time.
Anyway,the Show,despite what others say,isn't that bad. In fact most people who bad mouth the show have Only seen about 8 minutes of a single episode. The Show has it's flaws yes,but what Game,Comic,or TV show doesn't?
First I'm gonna talk about the Series Flaws,just to get them out of the way. As well as the other reasons why Street Fighter Fans tend to hate this show. On with the flaws.
The First flaw is an obvious one: The show is somewhat of a continuation of the 1994 Live-Action Movie,which most Street Fighter fans hated. That hurts the series significantly. Not to mention that,since this show is a continuation of the movie,Guile is the Main character rather than Ryu and Ken,Who were turned into guest stars.
The Next flaw is another obvious one: The Fight Scenes. The fight scenes of this series tend to get,well,Unrealistic. This is one of the main gripes fans have with this cartoon series. After all,people expect a show that's based on a fighting game series to have awesome fight scenes. Plus,those "hitting effects" make things even more lame.
For those who don't know what "Hitting Effects" are. They are the sparks that you see when someone is hitting someone. You see this alot in old comic books and cartoons.
The Next flaw would be the artwork quality of Season 2. Man,compared to season 1's decent artwork,Season 2 really disappoints. The characters faces and bodies look weird...especially their muscles. What The Hell Happened,why couldn't those dopey animators just copy season 1's art?
Anyway,the next flaw was the pronunciation of Ryu's name. In the show he's called "Rhy-Yoo" instead of "Ree-Yoo". "Ree-Yoo" is the the True pronunciation of the characters name. I can safely say that All Street Fighter fans(includin' myself) were understandably annoyed by this.
The Final flaw takes us back to the First. Ryu and Ken as side-characters. Another reason why this show was a turn-off for fans was the fact that Ryu and Ken,the main characters of the games,were reduced to side-characters.
Another reason why the SF fans hate this series is because when they watch it they compare it to the Anime series. This is a problem that provents them from enjoying the series. The fans also despise how Akuma was portrayed in the series.They hated the intro too. But who can blame them,the intro's dialog was kinda corny.
Now that all of the Major negatives have been covered...It's time for the Defense.
First off lets talk about the artwork. Season 1 had some decent awrwork. I'm quite fond of it. However,like I stated earlier,Season 2's artwork was bad. Though Chun-Li looked good. Plus, all the characters looked similar to their Game Counterparts.So you can easily tell who they are,Unlike the Live Action movie.
Also unlike the Live Action Movie,The Characters Actually used their Special Moves.Sure,this show had some animation errors,but almost Every Cartoon during that time had animation errors.
Another thing that was awesome about this series was the Music. It's well writen and It went with the scenes well. Speaking of the Scenes,the Storylines were also good. The storylines and music were the things that made this series a good one.
Unfortunately,many Street Fighter fans are just a bunch of purist pricks,closed minded people who hate the show mostly because it's not Japanese and Unlike the games.
Another thing I'm gonna defend is the Characters personalities. They're fine. Especially,considering that their Game Counterparts had very little personalities to begin with...at least in the U.S. games.
Remember this Cartoon was being created in 1994. This was Before the Alpha games,where the characters personalities were beginning to blossom.
The next thing I'm gonna stick up for is the Art Style. Considering that Anime wasn't that popular in the U.S. at the time,I'd say that the Artwork was appropriate. Anime wouldn't gain a U.S. fanbase until 1997,the Year Toonami was introduced.
Had the show had taken an Anime-ish look to it,and thus making the characters look more like their Game counterparts,The show wouldn't have done well. Remember This Cartoon series was,for the most part,targeted at a 8-12 year old demographic. And most kids of that era were used to an American look to their animated shows.
And another thing,So what if the Cartoon's not Canon. Hell,neither are the Anime movies or The Anime series. Now if fans would just look past the mentioned flaws and forget the fact that the show is somewhat of a continuation of the movie,they might come to respect,perhaps even like,this Cartoon series.
You also have to remember that compared to the Cartoons of today,the Street Fighter cartoon is kinda nice. And thus concludes the Defense of the Street Fighter Cartoon. I hope you all enjoyed this.
Special Thanks goes to General-Radix of Deviant Art for inspiring me to do this.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Cartoon Quickie: Animaniacs
Ah,the Warner Siblings,3 crazy kids always causing mischief with their crazy antics. Y'know to this day these guys still make me laugh. I Love these guys.
Anyway,The Story goes like this in the late 40's 3 zany cartoon characters were created. Those characters were the Warner Siblings. However,the Warners were downright uncouth and uncontrollable. So uncontrollable that they started causing havoc around town with their crazy antics.
Sometime later,the Warners were captured and sealed within the WB Water Tower. However in 1994 The Warners manage to break out and waste no time in doing what they do best,be crazy.
Of the Warner Siblings there's Yakko Warner,the comedic leader;Wakko Warner,the crazy one;and Dot Warner,the cute one and lone female of the group.
Of course the Warners aren't the only characters in this show. There's Dr. Otto Scratchensniff,Psychiatrist to the Stars;Hello Nurse,the studio Nurse and crush of the Warner boys; Ralph,the security guard; and Thaddeus Plotz,the head honcho at Warner studios.
Other characters of the show include: Pinky and The Brain,an intelligent mouse and his dopey sidekick,who wanna take over the world; Button's and Mindy,a small girl and a dog,who are the stars of a cartoon that seems to be lassie spoof;Rita and Runt,a Cat/Dog team of wanderers;The Good Feathers,3 Pidgons who are a spoof of the Goodfellas; And,of course,Slappy Squirrel,an old,yet funny Squirrel. Oh and there's Mr. Skullhead as well.
Animaniacs is an Awesome show with humor for people of all ages. A lot of the humor of this show is very reminiscent of Looney Toons. The Animation,Music,and Storylines are all Top Notch. The show does have it's share of problems,however they are too minor to mention.
So there you have it a mini-review of Animaniacs. If you can find the show on DVD,buy it. Believe me,it's worth it.
That's all for now,see ya next time on...Cartoon Quickie!
Anyway,The Story goes like this in the late 40's 3 zany cartoon characters were created. Those characters were the Warner Siblings. However,the Warners were downright uncouth and uncontrollable. So uncontrollable that they started causing havoc around town with their crazy antics.
Sometime later,the Warners were captured and sealed within the WB Water Tower. However in 1994 The Warners manage to break out and waste no time in doing what they do best,be crazy.
Of the Warner Siblings there's Yakko Warner,the comedic leader;Wakko Warner,the crazy one;and Dot Warner,the cute one and lone female of the group.
Of course the Warners aren't the only characters in this show. There's Dr. Otto Scratchensniff,Psychiatrist to the Stars;Hello Nurse,the studio Nurse and crush of the Warner boys; Ralph,the security guard; and Thaddeus Plotz,the head honcho at Warner studios.
Other characters of the show include: Pinky and The Brain,an intelligent mouse and his dopey sidekick,who wanna take over the world; Button's and Mindy,a small girl and a dog,who are the stars of a cartoon that seems to be lassie spoof;Rita and Runt,a Cat/Dog team of wanderers;The Good Feathers,3 Pidgons who are a spoof of the Goodfellas; And,of course,Slappy Squirrel,an old,yet funny Squirrel. Oh and there's Mr. Skullhead as well.
Animaniacs is an Awesome show with humor for people of all ages. A lot of the humor of this show is very reminiscent of Looney Toons. The Animation,Music,and Storylines are all Top Notch. The show does have it's share of problems,however they are too minor to mention.
So there you have it a mini-review of Animaniacs. If you can find the show on DVD,buy it. Believe me,it's worth it.
That's all for now,see ya next time on...Cartoon Quickie!
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