Mina: Welcome to part 2 of The Rise and Fall of Cartoon Network. In this 2nd and Final part of this episode,we will be talking about the Fall of Cartoon Network. Well,here we go!
On April 10, 2006,Cartoon Network changed it's slogan once again,this time it was the simplistic “Cartoon Network — Yes!,” and was spoken by Fred Fredburger, a character on The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy.
The network also used bumpers featuring the cast of Camp Lazlo (2005) as stick puppets and characters in front of a red background. How Stupid!
The 2006-2007 campaign featured three different styles of bumpers. The first style is "Lunchbox of Doom", featuring an assortment of show clips inside a CGI Gothic lunchbox,witch was a reference to an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.
The second is "VS.", comparing two cartoon characters. Their final style was a remake of the 2004 CGI City look.
Jim Samples,2nd president of the Cartoon Network,resigned on February 9, 2007 due to the Boston Mooninite Scare. Samples had been network president for three years after Shawn Grove.
Stuart Snyder,aka The Man Who Made Everything Worse,was named as Samples' successor and he took control on May of 2007.
Mina: Under Snyder's control, Cartoon Network underwent a number of terrible changes. Through 2007,Cartoon Network retained the image campaign that began in 2006.
Mina: On September 1, 2007, the networks look was revamped. Bumpers and Station Identification were themed to The Hives song "Fall is Just Something That Grown-Ups Invented". These aired for several months. It was a disaster to say the least.
Mina: A month later, on October 15, the channel began broadcasting in high definition. It was Suckage in HD.
True That! Anyway,every October since 2007, Cartoon Network airs Goosebumps,a show that once aired on Fox Kids program. In April 2008, Cartoon Network began airing a one minute sign-off bumper, depicting a child's daily activities from sunrise to nighttime. In the end, it reads "Good Night. See you tomorrow!" before the Adult Swim program block began.
It was their first sign-off bumper after 7 years of showing such a nightly block. This sign-off was later revised to match the network's new look. It now simply shows a square saying "10:00", followed by "Check Ya Later" and the new CN logo.
In 2008,Cartoon Network announced that it was working on a new project called "Cartoonstitute", which was headed by animators Craig McCracken (as executive producer) and Rob Renzetti (as supervising producer). Both report to Rob Scorcher, who created the idea.
Mina: The program would've worked in a way similar to What A Cartoon! However,Cartoonstitute was eventually cancelled, and only one of the shorts,Regular Show,was selected.
Cartoon Network had also begun to air some imported Canadian programs from Teletoon such as George of the Jungle, 6teen,The Total Drama Series,and Chaotic. This was one of the Stupidest errors that Cartoon Network has ever made. Snyder,you Suck!
Mina: Amen!Stefan Amen! On May of 2008, Cartoon Network began airing animated shorts, called Wedgies. These shorts were used to fill in spots between shows.
On July of 2008, the network changed looks yet again. This new look was created by Tristan Eaton and Kidrobot. The bumpers of that era had white, faceless characters called Noods. The Noods look similar to the do-it-yourself toy known as Munny, also created by Kidrobot. This look was retarded.
A Nood would often come in contact with a color blob or a color bar and absorb the color to become either a Cartoon Network character or change into another color. Other bumpers featured characters interacting with one another. Various commercial parodies starring the characters of Carton Network also aired.
Mina: From July 2008 to October 2008, Greg Cipes, Kevin's voice actor in Ben 10: Alien Force,became the network's announcer.
He has since been replaced with Will Arnett. The programming blocks were also changed to fit in with this look, with different Noods being used.
In June 2009, a block of live-action reality shows began airing in a programming block promoted as CN Real.[which has now ended]
Mina: The network has also aired some limited sports programming, including Slamball,during the commercial breaks. On February of this year, Cartoon Network started using bumpers that feature Noods being formed by real-life objects such as paint, grass, and confetti. Sometime later,the Noods were replaced.
Earlier this year,Cartoon Network debuted a third logo. This logo was featured on the network's "Move It Movement" tour. It made its television debut in May along with a new theme and new bumpers. Also,the Noods were phased out.
Also Earlier this year,The CN Real block ended. Thank God! And Stuart Snyder was replaced as Cartoon Network President. I forgot the new presidents name,but I doubt he'll be able to fix CN. The damage is already done.
Mina: I have to admit that this part of the lesson was very painful to talk about. Thank God this is over.
Tell me about it. Cartoon Network is dead now. But we'll never ever forget the many cool things it gave us.
Mina: Amen to that! Retro CN Rules!
It most certainly does. Thats gonna do it for this lesson. See ya next time on The Cartoon Historian.
Mina: See Ya!
[fade to black. credits roll as the cartoon historian closing theme plays]
Monday, July 26, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
The Cartoon Historian Lesson 20-A: The Rise and Fall of Cartoon Network Pt. 1
Welcome to another Cartoon Historian. I'm your instructor,Stefan and this is my assistant,Mina. Because you voted for it,This episode is gonna be all about Cartoon Network.
Mina: In this special 2-part episode we 're gonna be talking about the Networks roots and how it became damaged beyoned repair. It's the Rise and Fall of Cartoon Network on The Cartoon Historian.
[Cartoon Historian Theme Plays]
As you are well aware,Cartoon Network was once the Best place for Cartoons. Unfortunatly,today,it's just a pathetic shell of it's former self.
Cartoon Network aka CN was created by Turner Broadcasting in October of 1992. It's goal was to air 24-hours of Animated shows with the Bugs Bunny short Rhapsody Rabbit being its first-ever aired program.
Mina: Since 2003, Cartoon Network began airing a small amount of live-action programming, mostly movies from Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema, both of which are also owned by Time Warner.
Over the succeeding years, Cartoon Network has become more aggressive in its live-action development resulting in a lot of harsh criticism from fans as well as its downfall.
Word! However we'll talk about that later. Anyway,although Cartoon Network began in 1992,it's origins date back all the way to the 80's.
In 1986,Ted Turner's cable-TV conglomerate acquired most of the MGM film library (which included Gilligan's Island),The a.a.p. catalog(which includes the pre-1950 Warner Bros. film library),Merrie Melodies,and the Popeye cartoons.
In 1988,Turner Network Television,aka TNT,launched and had gained an audience with its film library. In 1990, it purchased animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions and acquired its large library as well as most of the Ruby-Spears library. leter that year these cartoons were given their own special program block that aired daily.
Mina: So,Cartoon Network was originaly part of TNT before it became its own seperate Network? Interesting.
By October 1, 1992, Cartoon Network was created as an outlet for Turner's library of animation. The Launch programs for the network were reruns of classic Warner Bros. cartoons,Popeye cartoons, MGM cartoons,and Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Many Hanna-Barbera TV cartoons like Magilla Gorilla were often used as time fillers.
Mina: Most of the short cartoons aired in half-hour or hour-long packages, usually separated by character or studio. For example,Down Wit' Droopy D aired old Droopy Dog shorts, The Tom and Jerry Show presented the classic cat-and-mouse team, and Bugs and Daffy Tonight provided classic Looney Tunes shorts.
Mina: Late Night Black and White showed early black and white cartoons (mostly from the Fleischer Studios), and ToonHeads aired themed cartoon shorts with original, unique bumpers and trivia about the cartoons they were showing.
Mina: Another early show was High Noon Toons, which was a programming block hosted by cowboy hand puppets Haas and Lil' Jo. I never heard of that block before,but from the sound of it,I bet it was Lame with a Capital L.
I'm certain it was. Anyway,the classic toons that was shown on Cartoon Network no longer airs on a regular basis, with the exception of Tom and Jerry and Scooby-Doo.
The network's first original show was The Moxy Show and was created in 1993. In 1994,Hanna-Barbera's new subsidiary,Cartoon Network Studios was founded and started production on The What-A-Cartoon! Show (also known as World-Premiere Toons).
The show premiered in 1995 and was made up of a series of independent short cartoons. It was also the network's third original series,with the second being Space Ghost Coast to Coast.
Mina: The main purpose of The 'What A Cartoon Show' was to help Cartoon Network expand its library of exclusive programming. It introduced a number of new cartoon ideas. Six of them were spun off into their own series runs.
Mina: These six series were: Dexter's Laboratory (1996), Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken (1997), The Powerpuff Girls (1998), Mike, Lu and Og, and Courage the Cowardly Dog (1999).
Mina: These shows were the first batch of Cartoons known as Cartoon Cartoons. I Am Weasel (1997) and Ed, Edd n Eddy (1999) were the first two Cartoon Cartoons not to be introduced in a What A Cartoon short.
In 1996, Turner merged with Time Warner. This consolidated ownership of all the WB cartoons, so now post-July 1948 cartoons (which Warner Brothers had reacquired in the 1960s)were being shown on the network. This lead up to a 2000 announcement that Cartoon Network would be the exclusive TV home of the classic Warner Bros. animated library.
Mina: Sadly this isn't the case anymore.
Newer WB animated productions also started appearing on the network as old Kids WB reruns. Though some modern WB cartoons,such as Teen Titans and Justice League,were Cartoon Network exclusives.
Mina: In 1997,2 popular program blocks made their debut,Toonami and Cartoon Cartoon Fridays. Toonami was a weekday afternoon block that aired Action Cartoons and Anime. The block was first hosted by Moltar of Space Ghost Coast to Coast and then by the Tom androids.
Mina: Toonami was,without question,Cartoon Networks most popular program block...well,until 2006 that is,where the block itself was decimated. The block ended in 2008.
Mina: Anyway,Cartoon Cartoon Fridays otherwise known as CCF was a Friday Night Block that was hosted by the Cartoon Cartoons themselves and later by 2 human hosts. This block ended in late 2006 and was replaced with the crappy Fried Dynamite.
Cartoon Network underwent its 2nd makeover (the first being in 1996)on June 12, 1998,launching the Powerhouse theme that was used until June of 2004.
The Powerhouse theme had bumpers involving characters from most of the cartoons it aired or objects and places with the Cartoon Network's Checkerboard logo. The word NEXT was used in several "Coming up Next" bumpers.
There were multiple color variations for the bumpers backgrounds: Yellow for morning timeslot, Green for afternoon timeslot, Blue for evening timeslot, Purple for action cartoons (used in all timeslots),Black for overnight timeslot (starting at midnight),Red for specials and Thanksgiving,Black with Orange outlines for Halloween,and White and Light Blue for Christmas.
Often, an announcer would say something witty over these bumpers...up until 2003 that is. Other times they had a music cue that was a cross between the show's theme and Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse".
There were also animated bit segments,with several variations for each one. In 2003,the "Powerhouse" theme music was replaced with the show's own theme song.
Mina: Don't you wish Cartoon Network still did this? Anyway,In 2004,Miguzi made it's debut and replaced Toonami on the weekdays. Toonami was moved to Saturdays and Adult Swim was introduced.
On June 14, 2004, Cartoon Network updated its logo, and its slogan: “This is Cartoon Network!” This is also the first CN era with a female voice announcer. Although she was eventually replaced with no such voices announcing for the network since.
Cartoon Network's 1st president,Shawn Grove,left Cartoon Network due to a major heart attack.Jim Samples took his place. The first program ever aired on the relaunched Cartoon Network was Rescue Heroes,a shitty Canadian show that used to air on the,now extinct,CBS Saturday Morning Block.
Mina: And thus the Canadian Invasion begins. An invasion that should've been prevented.
I hear ya,Mina. In fact,Canadian Cartoons are one of the many reasons why Cartoon Network is damaged beyond repair.
Anyway,The new bumpers featured 2D cartoon characters from their shows interacting in a CGI city made up of sets from their own shows.
By now, nearly all of Cartoon Network's classic cartoon programming had been relocated to its sister network Boomerang,which was created in 2003,to make way for new programming. However,they did manage to keep Tom and Jerry and Scooby-Doo. 2 shows that are currently being milked to death by those lowlife CN executives.
Mina: On April 10, 2006, the network removed more shows from the 1990s and scrapped the CGI City look. Later that year,shows like Time Squad (2001), Mike, Lu & Og (1999), I Am Weasel (1997), Looney Tunes,and Sheep in the Big City (2000) were also taken off the network. What Jerks!
Agreed. Well that's all she wrote for the Rise of Cartoon Network.
Mina: Next up,the Fall of Cartoon Network.
Mina: In this special 2-part episode we 're gonna be talking about the Networks roots and how it became damaged beyoned repair. It's the Rise and Fall of Cartoon Network on The Cartoon Historian.
[Cartoon Historian Theme Plays]
As you are well aware,Cartoon Network was once the Best place for Cartoons. Unfortunatly,today,it's just a pathetic shell of it's former self.
Cartoon Network aka CN was created by Turner Broadcasting in October of 1992. It's goal was to air 24-hours of Animated shows with the Bugs Bunny short Rhapsody Rabbit being its first-ever aired program.
Mina: Since 2003, Cartoon Network began airing a small amount of live-action programming, mostly movies from Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema, both of which are also owned by Time Warner.
Over the succeeding years, Cartoon Network has become more aggressive in its live-action development resulting in a lot of harsh criticism from fans as well as its downfall.
Word! However we'll talk about that later. Anyway,although Cartoon Network began in 1992,it's origins date back all the way to the 80's.
In 1986,Ted Turner's cable-TV conglomerate acquired most of the MGM film library (which included Gilligan's Island),The a.a.p. catalog(which includes the pre-1950 Warner Bros. film library),Merrie Melodies,and the Popeye cartoons.
In 1988,Turner Network Television,aka TNT,launched and had gained an audience with its film library. In 1990, it purchased animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions and acquired its large library as well as most of the Ruby-Spears library. leter that year these cartoons were given their own special program block that aired daily.
Mina: So,Cartoon Network was originaly part of TNT before it became its own seperate Network? Interesting.
By October 1, 1992, Cartoon Network was created as an outlet for Turner's library of animation. The Launch programs for the network were reruns of classic Warner Bros. cartoons,Popeye cartoons, MGM cartoons,and Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Many Hanna-Barbera TV cartoons like Magilla Gorilla were often used as time fillers.
Mina: Most of the short cartoons aired in half-hour or hour-long packages, usually separated by character or studio. For example,Down Wit' Droopy D aired old Droopy Dog shorts, The Tom and Jerry Show presented the classic cat-and-mouse team, and Bugs and Daffy Tonight provided classic Looney Tunes shorts.
Mina: Late Night Black and White showed early black and white cartoons (mostly from the Fleischer Studios), and ToonHeads aired themed cartoon shorts with original, unique bumpers and trivia about the cartoons they were showing.
Mina: Another early show was High Noon Toons, which was a programming block hosted by cowboy hand puppets Haas and Lil' Jo. I never heard of that block before,but from the sound of it,I bet it was Lame with a Capital L.
I'm certain it was. Anyway,the classic toons that was shown on Cartoon Network no longer airs on a regular basis, with the exception of Tom and Jerry and Scooby-Doo.
The network's first original show was The Moxy Show and was created in 1993. In 1994,Hanna-Barbera's new subsidiary,Cartoon Network Studios was founded and started production on The What-A-Cartoon! Show (also known as World-Premiere Toons).
The show premiered in 1995 and was made up of a series of independent short cartoons. It was also the network's third original series,with the second being Space Ghost Coast to Coast.
Mina: The main purpose of The 'What A Cartoon Show' was to help Cartoon Network expand its library of exclusive programming. It introduced a number of new cartoon ideas. Six of them were spun off into their own series runs.
Mina: These six series were: Dexter's Laboratory (1996), Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken (1997), The Powerpuff Girls (1998), Mike, Lu and Og, and Courage the Cowardly Dog (1999).
Mina: These shows were the first batch of Cartoons known as Cartoon Cartoons. I Am Weasel (1997) and Ed, Edd n Eddy (1999) were the first two Cartoon Cartoons not to be introduced in a What A Cartoon short.
In 1996, Turner merged with Time Warner. This consolidated ownership of all the WB cartoons, so now post-July 1948 cartoons (which Warner Brothers had reacquired in the 1960s)were being shown on the network. This lead up to a 2000 announcement that Cartoon Network would be the exclusive TV home of the classic Warner Bros. animated library.
Mina: Sadly this isn't the case anymore.
Newer WB animated productions also started appearing on the network as old Kids WB reruns. Though some modern WB cartoons,such as Teen Titans and Justice League,were Cartoon Network exclusives.
Mina: In 1997,2 popular program blocks made their debut,Toonami and Cartoon Cartoon Fridays. Toonami was a weekday afternoon block that aired Action Cartoons and Anime. The block was first hosted by Moltar of Space Ghost Coast to Coast and then by the Tom androids.
Mina: Toonami was,without question,Cartoon Networks most popular program block...well,until 2006 that is,where the block itself was decimated. The block ended in 2008.
Mina: Anyway,Cartoon Cartoon Fridays otherwise known as CCF was a Friday Night Block that was hosted by the Cartoon Cartoons themselves and later by 2 human hosts. This block ended in late 2006 and was replaced with the crappy Fried Dynamite.
Cartoon Network underwent its 2nd makeover (the first being in 1996)on June 12, 1998,launching the Powerhouse theme that was used until June of 2004.
The Powerhouse theme had bumpers involving characters from most of the cartoons it aired or objects and places with the Cartoon Network's Checkerboard logo. The word NEXT was used in several "Coming up Next" bumpers.
There were multiple color variations for the bumpers backgrounds: Yellow for morning timeslot, Green for afternoon timeslot, Blue for evening timeslot, Purple for action cartoons (used in all timeslots),Black for overnight timeslot (starting at midnight),Red for specials and Thanksgiving,Black with Orange outlines for Halloween,and White and Light Blue for Christmas.
Often, an announcer would say something witty over these bumpers...up until 2003 that is. Other times they had a music cue that was a cross between the show's theme and Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse".
There were also animated bit segments,with several variations for each one. In 2003,the "Powerhouse" theme music was replaced with the show's own theme song.
Mina: Don't you wish Cartoon Network still did this? Anyway,In 2004,Miguzi made it's debut and replaced Toonami on the weekdays. Toonami was moved to Saturdays and Adult Swim was introduced.
On June 14, 2004, Cartoon Network updated its logo, and its slogan: “This is Cartoon Network!” This is also the first CN era with a female voice announcer. Although she was eventually replaced with no such voices announcing for the network since.
Cartoon Network's 1st president,Shawn Grove,left Cartoon Network due to a major heart attack.Jim Samples took his place. The first program ever aired on the relaunched Cartoon Network was Rescue Heroes,a shitty Canadian show that used to air on the,now extinct,CBS Saturday Morning Block.
Mina: And thus the Canadian Invasion begins. An invasion that should've been prevented.
I hear ya,Mina. In fact,Canadian Cartoons are one of the many reasons why Cartoon Network is damaged beyond repair.
Anyway,The new bumpers featured 2D cartoon characters from their shows interacting in a CGI city made up of sets from their own shows.
By now, nearly all of Cartoon Network's classic cartoon programming had been relocated to its sister network Boomerang,which was created in 2003,to make way for new programming. However,they did manage to keep Tom and Jerry and Scooby-Doo. 2 shows that are currently being milked to death by those lowlife CN executives.
Mina: On April 10, 2006, the network removed more shows from the 1990s and scrapped the CGI City look. Later that year,shows like Time Squad (2001), Mike, Lu & Og (1999), I Am Weasel (1997), Looney Tunes,and Sheep in the Big City (2000) were also taken off the network. What Jerks!
Agreed. Well that's all she wrote for the Rise of Cartoon Network.
Mina: Next up,the Fall of Cartoon Network.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
The Cartoon Historian Lesson 19: Thundercats
Well,It's safe to say that I've covered every Iconic Cartoon of the 80's....except for one. And that's the one I'm gonna cover Today. It's Thundercats on the Cartoon Historian.
[Cartoon Historian Theme]
Welcome to the Cartoon Historian,now before I go on to talk about the Thundercats,I'm gonna wait for my assistant Mina,who's 5 minutes late. For those who seen The Spider-Man Cartoon Trilogy episodes,you'll know who I'm talkling about.
[enter mina]
Mina: Sorry I'm late,Stefan. I had a crapload of things to do.
Don't do this to me again,Mina.
Mina: Or What?
Or I'll tickle torture you.
Mina: Oooh Kinky.
*sigh* Anyway,The ThunderCats were produced by Rankin/Bass Productions in 1985. They were based on characters created by Tobin "Ted" Wolf.
The animation was provided by Pacific Animation Corporation, the working name for a group of Japanese studios including Topcraft,the group who would later go on to form Studio Ghibli.
Season 1 of the show aired in 1985. In 1986 a Thundercat TV movie was made,ThunderCats - HO!
Seasons 2-4 followed a new format of twenty episodes each, starting with a five-part story; these aired from 1987 to 1988, 1988 to 1989, and 1989 to 1990, respectively.
The series was originally distributed by Telepictures Corporation (which would later merge with Lorimar Productions).
Near the end of 1988, Lorimar-Telepictures was purchased by Warner Bros., whose TV syndication arm would assume distribution of the show.
Mina: In other words,Warner Bros. owns Thundercats.
Mina: On March 17, 1997, ThunderCats was seen on Cartoon Network's Toonami. The series would depart and return in various timeslots including Saturday mornings and late night marathons until 2002.
It was announced on June 5, 2007, that Aurelio Jaro was making a CGI-animated feature film of ThunderCats, based on a script written by Paul Sopocy. In October 2007, Variety magazine revealed that Jerry O'Flaherty, veteran video game art director, had signed on to direct.
The film is being produced by Spring Creek Productions. It was originally set for a summer 2010 release, but it has since been reported that the movie is on hold. Concept art for the film has also been leaked online.
Mina: Interesting. I wonder how this movie's gonna turn out?
Probably a big pile of crap. Y'know how Hollywood is.
Mina: Really? Ya think? Anyway,ThunderCats follows the adventures of a Cat-Humanoid alien heroes from the planet of Thundera. The series pilot begins with the dying Thundera meeting its end, forcing the ThunderCats to flee their homeworld.
Mina: The fleet is attacked by the Thundereans's enemies, the Mutants of Plun-Darr, who destroy all the starships in the "ThunderFleet," but spare the flagship hoping to capture the legendary mystic Sword of Omens they believe is on board.
Mina: The sword holds the Eye of Thundera, the source of the ThunderCats' power, which is embedded in the hilt.
Mina: Though the Mutants damage the flagship, the power of the Eye drives them back. The damage to the ship means the journey to their destination of "Third Earth" will take decades longer than planned.
Mina: Lion-O's elderly guardian, Jaga, volunteers to pilot the ship while the others sleep in capsules; however, he dies of old age in the process, but not before ensuring they will reach their destination safely.
Mina: The flagship contains the young Lord of the ThunderCats, Lion-O, as well as ThunderCats Cheetara, Panthro, Tygra, WilyKit and WilyKat, and Snarf.
Mina: When the ThunderCats awake from their suspended animation on Third Earth, Lion-O discovers that his suspension capsule has only slowed his aging, and he is now a child in the body of an adult. Wicked!
Mina: Together, the ThunderCats and the friendly natives of Third Earth construct the "Cat's Lair," their new home and headquarters.Soon however,the Mutants have followed our heroes to Third Earth.
Mina: The intrusion of these two alien races upon the world does not go unnoticed,The demonic, mummified sorcerer, Mumm-Ra, recruits the Mutants to aid him in his campaign to acquire the Eye of Thundera and destroy the ThunderCats so that his evil might continue to hold sway over Third Earth. So that was Mumm-Ra's goal,huh?
Anyway,According to the first chapter of the Comic,Thundercats Origins: Heroes and Villains;Third Earth is actually Our Earth in the future. Mumm-Ra comes from ancient Egypt, where he first met the Ancient Spirits of Evil and acquired his tremendous powers.
He's the one responsible for destroying the human race, after he broke free from the onyx pyramid’s burial chamber where a Pharaoh imprisoned him.
Mina: Whoa,who thought Mumm-Ra could be such a Hard-Core Villain? Sweetness!
Anyway,Mumm-Ra's the main Bad-Guy for most of Season 1 and served as the basis for a vast array of stories that freely mixed elements of science fiction and fantasy into a traditional good-versus-evil tale that steadily introduced more and more recurring allies and villains into the world of the ThunderCats.
Futuristic technology is just as central to the series as magic and myth, but even with all this all this action, the series never under-emphasizes the importance of moral values in solving problems.
Each episode would normally include a short moral lesson. The characters,after the events of the story,would take the time to single out a personal value or wholesome approach that helped save the day, or could have done so if they had not overlooked it.
Mina: A PSA within the show,folks. And this was Before the FCC 'Educational Value in Action Cartoon' ruling. But we'll get into that another time.
The first half of Season 1 featured a gentle continuity, with early episodes following on from one another and establishing recurring concepts, although this became less common as the season transitioned into its second half, which were mostly one-shot adventures.
Mina: Tying the second season together was the five-part adventure "Lion-O's Anointment,". In these episodes,an unarmed Lion-O faced off against the other ThunderCats to truly earn his title as Lord of the ThunderCats.
The 1986 TV movie "ThunderCats - Ho!" featured the first major shake-up to the status quo of the series, introducing three new ThunderCats who had also survived the destruction of Thundera.
A massive cast of returning heroes and villains were incorporated into the story to make it the most epic ThunderCats adventure yet,and it concluded with the apparent destruction of Mumm-Ra.
Mina: When the series returned in 1987, however, this was quickly proven not to be the case in the opening mini-series, "Mumm-Ra Lives!", as the evil wizard survived his fate.
Mina: "Mumm-Ra Lives!" set the pattern for the show's final three seasons, which each began with a five-part mini-series that established the new characters and concepts that would go on to influence the rest of the series.
In the case of "Mumm-Ra Lives!", these concepts included the debut of the Lunataks, who became the 3nd set of BadGuys and the new team of ThunderCats from The Movie being given their own headquarters, vehicles and so forth.
Mina: The 1988 season began with "ThunderCubs," a miniseries named for its plot about the ThunderCats being transformed into children, but which was principally about Mumm-Ra reconstructing Thundera in order to retrieve both the weapon that had originally destroyed it (the Sword of Plun-Darr) and the legendary Treasure of Thundera.
Mina: In the course of the adventure, the treasure - containing the Book of Omens, a tome holding all the secrets of the ThunderCats, and many other mystical items - was scattered across the New Thundera, ushering in a new concept for the series: a season with an actual story arc.
Continuity between episodes became tighter as the ThunderCats, Mutants, Lunataks and Mumm-Ra alternated their adventures between Third Earth and New Thundera, searching for the treasure and exploiting its powers.
Mina: The season also featured the running theme of the Ancient Spirits of Evil having to take a more active hand in pushing Mumm-Ra into action. Ultimately, the villain failed, and was banished to the farthest corner of the universe by the spirits.
However, Mumm-Ra returned for the 1989 season. In the opening miniseries, "Return to Thundera!", the ThunderCats returned to New Thundera to rebuild their society, but before departing, they destroy Mumm-Ra's pyramid, enraging the Ancient Spirits of Evil to the point that they bring Mumm-Ra back, and install him within a new pyramid on New Thundera.
Mina: The season proved to be quite divorced from what had gone on before, with adventures consigned almost entirely to New Thundera, and most villainous opposition coming from either Mumm-Ra or assorted new villains.
Mina: The Mutants and Lunataks returned for one episode each, however. In the series finale, several conclusions are reached. Such as:Mumm-Ra standing up to and asserting himself over the Ancient Spirits of Evil, the mystery of the Book of Omens was at last solved, and the terrifying environment of Thundera was at last rendered peaceful and pristine.
Mina: Now,here's some interesting info about the Voices.
Despite its large cast of characters, ThunderCats featured a rather small circle of voice actors, with only six actors providing voices for the entire first season.
Every actor provided multiple voices, although the distinctive baritone of Earle Hyman (Panthro) left the actor providing only very occasional guest voices in comparison with his fellow performers.
Mina: For those who are unaware,Earl Hyman was the Old dude who played Russel Huxtable,Cliff's Father on The Cosby Show.
Very Good,Mina! Lynne Lipton (Cheetara and WilyKit) was the seasons Only female actor and provided voices for every single female character that appeared in the season.
Above all others, however, actor Bob McFadden would most regularly provide the voices of the male guest characters as well as Thundercat Companion Snarf and Mutant Leader Slithe.
Mina: Despite introducing a large number of new regular characters, the show's second season brought in only two new actors: Gerrianne Raphael and Doug Preis. Gerrianne Raphael was brought in to voice Pumyra. This provided Lynne Lipton with some relief by adding a new actress.
Mina: I'm surprised they didn't take a page out of Voltron's book and had the Male Actors play Female Characters. I can't believe the people behind Voltron actually did that.
Anyway,While actor Doug Preis is regularly credited on the Internet as the voice of Lynx-O,though in reality,it was Bob McFadden who provided that voice. Preis played Lunatak Alluro.
Mina: That info was likely taken from IMDb,a fountain of missinformation. Just goes to show you,you can't trust everything youn read.
Yup. Anyway,In January 2009, IGN named ThunderCats as the 49th-best show in their Top 100 Best Animated TV Shows.
Mina: Next Year,A new Thundercats series will debut on Cartoon Network [wasted potential?] and will be produced by Warner Bros. and animated by Japan's Studio 4C.
I Hate Cartoon Network. I swear to God I do.
Mina: You and the majority of Americans.
Well that about wraps it up for the Cartoon Historian,See...
Mina: *cuts me off* Wait What!? That's It? I thought there'd be more inside info on the series?
Unfortunatly this is all the data that I could aquire. As I was saying,See ya next time on The Cartoon Historian.
Mina: See Ya!
[fade to black. credits roll as the thundercat closing theme plays]
[Cartoon Historian Theme]
Welcome to the Cartoon Historian,now before I go on to talk about the Thundercats,I'm gonna wait for my assistant Mina,who's 5 minutes late. For those who seen The Spider-Man Cartoon Trilogy episodes,you'll know who I'm talkling about.
[enter mina]
Mina: Sorry I'm late,Stefan. I had a crapload of things to do.
Don't do this to me again,Mina.
Mina: Or What?
Or I'll tickle torture you.
Mina: Oooh Kinky.
*sigh* Anyway,The ThunderCats were produced by Rankin/Bass Productions in 1985. They were based on characters created by Tobin "Ted" Wolf.
The animation was provided by Pacific Animation Corporation, the working name for a group of Japanese studios including Topcraft,the group who would later go on to form Studio Ghibli.
Season 1 of the show aired in 1985. In 1986 a Thundercat TV movie was made,ThunderCats - HO!
Seasons 2-4 followed a new format of twenty episodes each, starting with a five-part story; these aired from 1987 to 1988, 1988 to 1989, and 1989 to 1990, respectively.
The series was originally distributed by Telepictures Corporation (which would later merge with Lorimar Productions).
Near the end of 1988, Lorimar-Telepictures was purchased by Warner Bros., whose TV syndication arm would assume distribution of the show.
Mina: In other words,Warner Bros. owns Thundercats.
Mina: On March 17, 1997, ThunderCats was seen on Cartoon Network's Toonami. The series would depart and return in various timeslots including Saturday mornings and late night marathons until 2002.
It was announced on June 5, 2007, that Aurelio Jaro was making a CGI-animated feature film of ThunderCats, based on a script written by Paul Sopocy. In October 2007, Variety magazine revealed that Jerry O'Flaherty, veteran video game art director, had signed on to direct.
The film is being produced by Spring Creek Productions. It was originally set for a summer 2010 release, but it has since been reported that the movie is on hold. Concept art for the film has also been leaked online.
Mina: Interesting. I wonder how this movie's gonna turn out?
Probably a big pile of crap. Y'know how Hollywood is.
Mina: Really? Ya think? Anyway,ThunderCats follows the adventures of a Cat-Humanoid alien heroes from the planet of Thundera. The series pilot begins with the dying Thundera meeting its end, forcing the ThunderCats to flee their homeworld.
Mina: The fleet is attacked by the Thundereans's enemies, the Mutants of Plun-Darr, who destroy all the starships in the "ThunderFleet," but spare the flagship hoping to capture the legendary mystic Sword of Omens they believe is on board.
Mina: The sword holds the Eye of Thundera, the source of the ThunderCats' power, which is embedded in the hilt.
Mina: Though the Mutants damage the flagship, the power of the Eye drives them back. The damage to the ship means the journey to their destination of "Third Earth" will take decades longer than planned.
Mina: Lion-O's elderly guardian, Jaga, volunteers to pilot the ship while the others sleep in capsules; however, he dies of old age in the process, but not before ensuring they will reach their destination safely.
Mina: The flagship contains the young Lord of the ThunderCats, Lion-O, as well as ThunderCats Cheetara, Panthro, Tygra, WilyKit and WilyKat, and Snarf.
Mina: When the ThunderCats awake from their suspended animation on Third Earth, Lion-O discovers that his suspension capsule has only slowed his aging, and he is now a child in the body of an adult. Wicked!
Mina: Together, the ThunderCats and the friendly natives of Third Earth construct the "Cat's Lair," their new home and headquarters.Soon however,the Mutants have followed our heroes to Third Earth.
Mina: The intrusion of these two alien races upon the world does not go unnoticed,The demonic, mummified sorcerer, Mumm-Ra, recruits the Mutants to aid him in his campaign to acquire the Eye of Thundera and destroy the ThunderCats so that his evil might continue to hold sway over Third Earth. So that was Mumm-Ra's goal,huh?
Anyway,According to the first chapter of the Comic,Thundercats Origins: Heroes and Villains;Third Earth is actually Our Earth in the future. Mumm-Ra comes from ancient Egypt, where he first met the Ancient Spirits of Evil and acquired his tremendous powers.
He's the one responsible for destroying the human race, after he broke free from the onyx pyramid’s burial chamber where a Pharaoh imprisoned him.
Mina: Whoa,who thought Mumm-Ra could be such a Hard-Core Villain? Sweetness!
Anyway,Mumm-Ra's the main Bad-Guy for most of Season 1 and served as the basis for a vast array of stories that freely mixed elements of science fiction and fantasy into a traditional good-versus-evil tale that steadily introduced more and more recurring allies and villains into the world of the ThunderCats.
Futuristic technology is just as central to the series as magic and myth, but even with all this all this action, the series never under-emphasizes the importance of moral values in solving problems.
Each episode would normally include a short moral lesson. The characters,after the events of the story,would take the time to single out a personal value or wholesome approach that helped save the day, or could have done so if they had not overlooked it.
Mina: A PSA within the show,folks. And this was Before the FCC 'Educational Value in Action Cartoon' ruling. But we'll get into that another time.
The first half of Season 1 featured a gentle continuity, with early episodes following on from one another and establishing recurring concepts, although this became less common as the season transitioned into its second half, which were mostly one-shot adventures.
Mina: Tying the second season together was the five-part adventure "Lion-O's Anointment,". In these episodes,an unarmed Lion-O faced off against the other ThunderCats to truly earn his title as Lord of the ThunderCats.
The 1986 TV movie "ThunderCats - Ho!" featured the first major shake-up to the status quo of the series, introducing three new ThunderCats who had also survived the destruction of Thundera.
A massive cast of returning heroes and villains were incorporated into the story to make it the most epic ThunderCats adventure yet,and it concluded with the apparent destruction of Mumm-Ra.
Mina: When the series returned in 1987, however, this was quickly proven not to be the case in the opening mini-series, "Mumm-Ra Lives!", as the evil wizard survived his fate.
Mina: "Mumm-Ra Lives!" set the pattern for the show's final three seasons, which each began with a five-part mini-series that established the new characters and concepts that would go on to influence the rest of the series.
In the case of "Mumm-Ra Lives!", these concepts included the debut of the Lunataks, who became the 3nd set of BadGuys and the new team of ThunderCats from The Movie being given their own headquarters, vehicles and so forth.
Mina: The 1988 season began with "ThunderCubs," a miniseries named for its plot about the ThunderCats being transformed into children, but which was principally about Mumm-Ra reconstructing Thundera in order to retrieve both the weapon that had originally destroyed it (the Sword of Plun-Darr) and the legendary Treasure of Thundera.
Mina: In the course of the adventure, the treasure - containing the Book of Omens, a tome holding all the secrets of the ThunderCats, and many other mystical items - was scattered across the New Thundera, ushering in a new concept for the series: a season with an actual story arc.
Continuity between episodes became tighter as the ThunderCats, Mutants, Lunataks and Mumm-Ra alternated their adventures between Third Earth and New Thundera, searching for the treasure and exploiting its powers.
Mina: The season also featured the running theme of the Ancient Spirits of Evil having to take a more active hand in pushing Mumm-Ra into action. Ultimately, the villain failed, and was banished to the farthest corner of the universe by the spirits.
However, Mumm-Ra returned for the 1989 season. In the opening miniseries, "Return to Thundera!", the ThunderCats returned to New Thundera to rebuild their society, but before departing, they destroy Mumm-Ra's pyramid, enraging the Ancient Spirits of Evil to the point that they bring Mumm-Ra back, and install him within a new pyramid on New Thundera.
Mina: The season proved to be quite divorced from what had gone on before, with adventures consigned almost entirely to New Thundera, and most villainous opposition coming from either Mumm-Ra or assorted new villains.
Mina: The Mutants and Lunataks returned for one episode each, however. In the series finale, several conclusions are reached. Such as:Mumm-Ra standing up to and asserting himself over the Ancient Spirits of Evil, the mystery of the Book of Omens was at last solved, and the terrifying environment of Thundera was at last rendered peaceful and pristine.
Mina: Now,here's some interesting info about the Voices.
Despite its large cast of characters, ThunderCats featured a rather small circle of voice actors, with only six actors providing voices for the entire first season.
Every actor provided multiple voices, although the distinctive baritone of Earle Hyman (Panthro) left the actor providing only very occasional guest voices in comparison with his fellow performers.
Mina: For those who are unaware,Earl Hyman was the Old dude who played Russel Huxtable,Cliff's Father on The Cosby Show.
Very Good,Mina! Lynne Lipton (Cheetara and WilyKit) was the seasons Only female actor and provided voices for every single female character that appeared in the season.
Above all others, however, actor Bob McFadden would most regularly provide the voices of the male guest characters as well as Thundercat Companion Snarf and Mutant Leader Slithe.
Mina: Despite introducing a large number of new regular characters, the show's second season brought in only two new actors: Gerrianne Raphael and Doug Preis. Gerrianne Raphael was brought in to voice Pumyra. This provided Lynne Lipton with some relief by adding a new actress.
Mina: I'm surprised they didn't take a page out of Voltron's book and had the Male Actors play Female Characters. I can't believe the people behind Voltron actually did that.
Anyway,While actor Doug Preis is regularly credited on the Internet as the voice of Lynx-O,though in reality,it was Bob McFadden who provided that voice. Preis played Lunatak Alluro.
Mina: That info was likely taken from IMDb,a fountain of missinformation. Just goes to show you,you can't trust everything youn read.
Yup. Anyway,In January 2009, IGN named ThunderCats as the 49th-best show in their Top 100 Best Animated TV Shows.
Mina: Next Year,A new Thundercats series will debut on Cartoon Network [wasted potential?] and will be produced by Warner Bros. and animated by Japan's Studio 4C.
I Hate Cartoon Network. I swear to God I do.
Mina: You and the majority of Americans.
Well that about wraps it up for the Cartoon Historian,See...
Mina: *cuts me off* Wait What!? That's It? I thought there'd be more inside info on the series?
Unfortunatly this is all the data that I could aquire. As I was saying,See ya next time on The Cartoon Historian.
Mina: See Ya!
[fade to black. credits roll as the thundercat closing theme plays]
Friday, July 2, 2010
Cartoon Quickie: Captain Planet
The Planet is in danger! Gaia,the spirit of Earth,can no longer withstand the devastation plaguing the planet. So to counter the pollutants,she sends 5 special Rings to 5 special teens from around the globe.
Kwame,from Kenya,has the Power of Earth. Wheeler,,from the U.S.,has the Power of Fire. Linka,from Russia,has the Power of Wind. Gi,from South Korea,has the Power of Water. And Ma-ti,from a South American Nation[i forgot which],has the Power of Heart.
When these 5 powers combine they summon Earth's Greatest Hero,Captain Planet. The Power Is Yours!
Captain Planet and the Planeteers is basically a group of 5 teens,called planeteers,who go around the world battling super polluters,with the most famous one being Hoggish Greedly.
Other Super Polluters include: Duke Nukem[no not that one],an Atomic Monster Man; Dr. Blight,a Mad Scientist who has a skin problem on the right side of her face[its covered by her hair];Verminous Skumm,a Mutant Rat Man;Sly Sludge,a waste dumper; Looten Plunder,a Rich Man who funds criminal projects and sometimes organizations; And Finally Zarm,an evil interdimentional Warlord who was once the Guardian of Earth.
Each Planeteer has an elemental power that comes from their rings. When the Teens combine their powers,they form Captain Planet.
Captain Planet is a master of elements,sort of like Avatar Anng..only with a head of hair and a corny sence of humor. His strengths,of course,are the elements. While his weakness is pollution.
The artwork is good and the Animation suffers little to no errors. The music and sound are of good quality. The ending theme itself is kinda catchy.
There's really nothing more to say about this series except,It's a decent show and worth watching atleast twice. Oh,before I forget,here's a small factoid about the show itself: The first season was done by DiC,while the other 2 were done by Hanna-Barbara.
Well that's gonna do it. See Ya Next Time on Cartoon Quickie.
Kwame,from Kenya,has the Power of Earth. Wheeler,,from the U.S.,has the Power of Fire. Linka,from Russia,has the Power of Wind. Gi,from South Korea,has the Power of Water. And Ma-ti,from a South American Nation[i forgot which],has the Power of Heart.
When these 5 powers combine they summon Earth's Greatest Hero,Captain Planet. The Power Is Yours!
Captain Planet and the Planeteers is basically a group of 5 teens,called planeteers,who go around the world battling super polluters,with the most famous one being Hoggish Greedly.
Other Super Polluters include: Duke Nukem[no not that one],an Atomic Monster Man; Dr. Blight,a Mad Scientist who has a skin problem on the right side of her face[its covered by her hair];Verminous Skumm,a Mutant Rat Man;Sly Sludge,a waste dumper; Looten Plunder,a Rich Man who funds criminal projects and sometimes organizations; And Finally Zarm,an evil interdimentional Warlord who was once the Guardian of Earth.
Each Planeteer has an elemental power that comes from their rings. When the Teens combine their powers,they form Captain Planet.
Captain Planet is a master of elements,sort of like Avatar Anng..only with a head of hair and a corny sence of humor. His strengths,of course,are the elements. While his weakness is pollution.
The artwork is good and the Animation suffers little to no errors. The music and sound are of good quality. The ending theme itself is kinda catchy.
There's really nothing more to say about this series except,It's a decent show and worth watching atleast twice. Oh,before I forget,here's a small factoid about the show itself: The first season was done by DiC,while the other 2 were done by Hanna-Barbara.
Well that's gonna do it. See Ya Next Time on Cartoon Quickie.
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