Character Study: Captain Caveman

UNGA-BUNGA!!

Hello there, fellow toonsters. Ever since Stefan reformatted this page, he has given us a chance to do anything retro, especially doing "What ifs", retro reviews on cartoons and gaming and the very subject of what I am doing today, character studies. And since we are in the subject talking about retro cartoons, I will do one particular character, straight from the Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera. In this character study, I will talk about this very prehistoric superhero. NO! I am not talking about THAT superhero (which I will draw parallels to), I am talking about the OTHER prehistoric superhero. I am, of course, refering to...

Captain CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVEMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!

Let's begin, shall we?

History: First appeared in Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels on September 10, 1977, Captain Caveman, or Cavey to his friends, was a furry prehistoric superhero, thawed out by the aforementioned Teen Angels, Brenda, Taffy and Dee Dee, who travel across the world solving mysteries ala Scooby-Doo, but also parodying Charlie's Angels. He later appeared on Scooby-Doo's All-Star Laff-a-Lympics, where he was a part of the Scooby Doobies. It wasn't until the 80s, with the Flintstone Comedy Show (aka Flintstone Funnies), where we learn where Cavey originated from. It was established in his own segment that Captain Caveman was the chief hero and protector of the town of Bedrock, a straight parody of Superman, if you will, since Cavey's day job was that of a copy boy named Chester, working at this universe's version of the Daily Planet, the Daily Granite. Then, later, around the mid 80s, he appeared in The Flintstone Kids, where he is partnered by his own son, Cavey, Jr.. Although underrated for the most part, Cavey is best known for one thing, yelling out his name when he goes out into battle. He voice is so loud, he can shatter the sound barrier. OUCH!

Design: Judging from how he looks, he was based on Rock and Gravel, the Slag Brothers, from the original Wacky Races, except for being a bit more active and more funny. That and adding a leopard-print cape. And as Chester the copy boy, Cavey wears glasses and a bow tie, which changes to his aforementioned cape when need to.

Profile: Physically, he is 4', weighs about 200 lbs. black eyes and brown fur all over. Personality-wise, he is both brave and silly, kind-hearted and stupid, heroic and clumsy. He has superhuman strength, he has gadgets and dinosaurs inside his fur and most used item, his trusty club, which grants him the ability to fly, just like Thor's hammer, Mjonir. But unlike Mjonir, Cavey's club often malfunctions every once in a while. He has no known relatives besides his mother and his own son, Cavey, Jr.. And above all else, he was voice by the late, great Mel Blanc. When he said his own battlecry in the recording room, he did it only once and the rest, as they say, was history.

Parallels to Other Characters: Cavey may be a prehistoric superhero, but he wasn't the first. That title goes the very hero who was the original Captain Caveman before Captain Caveman came to be and that is the mighty Mightor. Where Cavey was clumsy and overzealous, Mightor was brave and heroic when fighting rogue dinosaurs, monsters and other evil-doers and his club doesn't break down and it shoots beams of light. So in a sense, while the Captain Caveman segments parodied Superman, Cavey himself is a parody of Mightor himself, right down the club. Did I forget to mention that Mightor had a drago-saur for a companion? Cavey should have one, too, since he had so much dinos inside his fur anyway.

Crossover Ideas: Not much ideas with Cavey here. However, on the subject of both he and Mightor, there should be a crossover or two featuring the two prehistoric superheroes. For instance, what if Cavey and Mightor switch places with each other in their own parallel worlds. Or Mightor ends up meeting Cavey in modern times with the Teen Angels while pursuing a dangerous villain who has transcends dimensions. Think of the possibilities.

And that concludes my character study of Captain Caveman. In this day of age, where Scooby-Doo and Tom & Jerry are being milked alot, we definitely need more love for the other Hanna-Barbera characters and Captain Caveman here is a start. I will leave now with a clip from one of his shorts where Cavey, as Chester, does his quick change into the aforementioned hero himself. Till next time, toonsters. Stay Frosty!

We Stand With Vic!

And because we do,Vic Mignogna might go into the Hall of Heroes soon.

As you have heard,Vic no longer works for FUNimation and is suing Monica Rial,Jamie Marchi,Ron Toye,and the company itself for defamation,contract tampering,and prospective business relations interference.

Hope he wins. Let's cheer him on.

Months ago,several women and "eyewitnesses" (wrongfully?) accused Vic of sexual harassment. Monica Rial and Jamie Marchi being 2 such accusers. Because of this FUnimation fired Vic and the rest is history.

In this country everyone is innocent until proven guilty,but FUNimation and some of it's talent sure as hell don't think so....unless the accused happens to be a great friend. FUNimation's guys didn't like Vic much. Why? Dunno. He seems like a cool guy.

Was it because he was a Christian? Was it because he had a different cultural philosophy? Was it because he has differing political opinions? Who's to say. Regardless,FUNimation came really close to completely ruining this mans life. Hell,even FUNi's Biggest Player,Chris Sabat has thrown Vic under the bus.

FUNimation may have screwed you,but we at the Retro Rebellion have your back,Vic.

Stay Gold,Space Cowboys.

#IStandWithVic
#WeStandWithVic

Top 10 Worst Of Street Fighter

Ah,Street Fighter,the greatest Fighting game franchise of them all. I have so many fond memories of playing Street Fighter II and it's updates. The games themselves were the perfect thing to play on a weekend afternoon.

But,like all franchises,where there is good,there is also the bad. Here are the Top 10 Bastard Children of the Street Fighter Franchise.

Honorable Mention 1 - Street Fighter (The Animated Series): I like this series very much,but there's no denying it's flaws. The fight scenes were sloppily done,some of the earlier episodes had a bit of cheeziness to them,some scenes were weird,and the animation could've been better. Being a follow-up to the 1994 movie didn't help either. Despite all of this,Street Fighter: The Animated Series has many good qualities,qualities that I'll talk about in the future.

Honorable Mention 2 - Street Fighter 1: The 1st game was also one of the worst. Bad controls,mediocre music,and creepy voice clips. Still,without this game,there would be no Street Fighter II,and thus no Street Fighter Franchise.

10 - Super Street Fighter IV OVA: The sequel to The Ties That Bind. It has some improvements from it's prequel,like the action scenes and it stars Juri Han,one of my favorites. But that's all I'm gonna give it. The story is terrible,the english voice acting is sub-par,and the english script is bad. If ya gotta watch this - watch the English subbed version.

9 - Street Fighter IV - The Ties That Bind: Worse than the Juri OVA. The action sucks,the story sucks,the english voice acting isn't great,and the english script is pathetic. Plus,I hate C.Viper. If you gotta watch this -watch the Japanese Version with English Subtitles.

8 - Street Fighter Alpha Generations: While the 1st Alpha movie was ok,it's sequel was bad. The story was lame,the animation didn't look right,and the english script was not very good. The english voice acting wasn't that great either. All and all,if you need your Street Fighter Alpha Animated fix,skip this one and watch the first instead.

7 - Street Fighter - The Movie (The Game;PSX and Saturn): Based on the 1994 Movie. This game was a weaker version of Super Street Fighter II Turbo. The game plays slowly and the CPU is downright evil. The play controll isn't that great either. The music is this game's Only saving grace. Ignore this one and just play Super Street Fighter II Turbo.

6 - Street Fighter (Movie;1994): Ah,the Van Damme Movie. It was also Raul Julia's final major film before his untimely passing. In recent years,this Movie has gained a cult following and has achived "So Bad,It's Good" status. As a Street Fighter Movie,there are many things wrong with it(too many to list). But as a film by itself,it's not too bad,not Awesome,but not bad. It's a decent film,that totally fails as a Street Fighter property.

5 - Street Fighter II (Tiger LCD Game): The greatest thing we had to a handheld Street Fighter,until the Game Boy games. Overall,though,the game wasn't all that great,it was slow and beepy,per the norm for LCD Handheld games,really. You could play as 6 characters: Ryu,Guile,Ken,Zangief,E.Honda,and Blanka. They made one for Super Street Fighter II as well,but it was ignored and eventually forgotten about. Stick with the Game Boy version of this game,it's way better.

4 - Street Fighter II (Korean Live-Action Show): Did you know that in the 90's Korea created it's own Live-Action Series based on Street Fighter II? Me neither until a few years ago. I've watch a few episodes Unsubbed (there are no subbed versions available) and lemmie tell ya,it was Weird. Dhalsim and Honda were bad guys,Eliza was in love with Vega,Ken eventually becomes evil and Bison's successor,Guile was a neutral character,Chun-Li was weak,and Everyone (and I mean Everyone) used Kung-Fu...including Balrog,though he mostly stuck to Boxing. The fight scenes were a mix between Kung-Fu Movies and Tokusatsu. The fight scenes were very fun to watch,but eveything else just sucks.

3 - Street Fighter (Malibu Comics): Did you also know that Malabu Comics made Street Fighter Comics? Yup and they were horrible. In 1993,Capcom licenced the franchise to Malibu Comics and the result wasn't pretty. Everything about these comics is just so screwed up. Take it from me,when I say Avoid These! Thankfully,Udon has created a pretty decent Street Fighter Comic Series,so forget about Malibu and stick with Udon.

2 - Street Fighter - Legend of Chun-Li: This P.O.S. Movie makes the '94 film look like a Real Street Fighter Movie in comparison. The acting was bad,the dialogue was crap,the story was trash,and the characters didn't look or act like they're supposed too. Oh,and they white-washed Chun-li too. Chun-Li is played by a white actress with some Chinese blood. *facepalm*. This movie fails as both a Street Fighter property and as a Movie. Burn It!!!

1 - Street Fighter 2010: The Worst Street Fighter Game and the Absolute Worst thing to come out of the franchise. This game is completely unfair and it pisses in the faces of gamers. The play control was bad. The hit detection was horrible. The enemies were much quicker than you. And you lose all power-ups when you get hit. This game is Shit! Anyone who praises this game is either a Total Dumbass or a Total Masochist. The Only redeeming quality of this game was it's music.

And there you have it,the Absolute Embarrasments of the famed Street Fighter Franchise. Avoid These At All Costs!

May do one for Mega Man someday. Until Next Time - Stay Gold,Space Cowboys!

What If?! - FUNimation dubs Sailor Moon!

Hey there, Toonsters!

Thought I take a break from all the reviews for a while and start a new blog series which I like the call "What If?!" Based on the Marvel Comics one shot alternate stories of what if this superhero never truly became a hero or a group of heroes having the same powers (e.gs. Spider-Man stopping the burglar and becoming an actor full time and the Fantastic Four having the same powers after their exposure to cosmic rays), this series will tell us about scenarios that WOULD happen, if certain issues didn't happen today, especially around the world of fiction and non-fiction. That being said, let us talk about the subject at hand, shall we?

As we all know, that as of late, I have not been the biggest fan of FUNimation that I use to be, regarding Vic Mignonga. But, there was a time that I was the biggest fan of FUNi, especially when it comes to the quality of dubbing anime, the right way, compaired to 4Kids. Long ago, FUNimation use to do a survey on what anime they would dub in their future projects. One of them is doing the whole original series of Sailor Moon, including Sailor Stars. Unfortunately, they goofed on that chance and the rights to redub the original (along with the reboot, Sailor Moon Crystal) ended up on the door step of VIZ Media, and the rest, as they say, was history.

And with Sailor Stars preparing to be released on May of this year, I am still planning to get all 5 seasons before getting the movies and Crystal. And until I get all the seasons, I will not do a review on the redubs for now. Believe me, I got a lot to say. But I assure you, my opinions will be honest and level-headed. That being said, VIZ Media thus far is doing a decent job on making sure that this redub stays true to the original Japanese version. Some of the voice actors I know did other works like in other animes and in video games, including Patrick Seitz, Kate Higgins, Veronica Taylor, Michael Sorich and Barbara Goodson. But, what if, what if all 5 seasons of Sailor Moon were dubbed, officially, by FUNimation? So sit back, relax and prepare to be amazed on what suggests I thought of if FUNimation DID redub Sailor Moon. After all, I did a video on this once, but I lost the main file. So, I will salvage whatever I can remember.

The following is a list of thoughts and suggestions that would make sense if FUNimation DID redub Sailor Moon:

- It would stay true to the original Japanese version.

- Original character names, transformation phrases and attack names would stay true to the original Japanese.

- English credits for both the opening and ending credits

- True High Definition quality for the DVDs and Blu-Rays, especially making it fit to all HDTVs (16:9 would make more sense better than 4:3; no black bars from left to right!)

- Every season would have a completed booklet, emphasis on "Complete" (VIZ Media almost got it right until the botched up the limited edition booklets for season 4; "WHAT DO YOU MEAN "To Be Announced" VOICED QUEEN NELHALENIA?!).

And last, but certainly not least, the right voices for the characters. For instance:

Laura Bailey: She would be a shoo-in to voice Usagi. I mean, her voice for Usagi is a cross between Sana Kurata from Kodocha and Touru Honda from Fruits Basket, both funny and sensitive at the same time. But, Usagi wouldn't be the only character she would voice. Ms. Bailey, addition voicing little girls and teenagers, can deepen her voice to sexiful levels, especially with Alv from Kiddy Grade, Rayne from BloodRayne, Lust from Fullmetal Alchemist and Christie from the Dead or Alive series, for I picked her to voice Haruka Tenoh/Sailor Uranus as well.

Eric Stuart: I know what you are thinking. "But Jason, Eric Stuart was 4Kids bound. He was Brock, James and Seto Kaiba. He would never work for FUNimation!" But, he wasn't always 4Kids bound, for he did anime voice work elsewhere, for he did voiced Gourry from Slayers alongside Lisa Ortiz as Lina Inverse. And although he would only voiced him in the first dozen episodes of the first season, Mr. Stuart would be perfect as the voice of Jadeite. I would take his Seto Kaiba voice into an even more dark direction. But a boy can dream, can't I?

Lastly, since VIZ Media goofed in finding the voice of Usagi's brother, Shingo, if this was done by FUNimation, they would've gone the Veronica Taylor/Billie Lou Watt approach and use a female voice actor to voice Usagi's bratty brother. Probably Mona Marshall, who knows?

And there you have it. My first episode in my new blog series is now complete. If you have any suggestions and opinions on this blog, leave me a comment. Hope you find it fun and informative. Until next time, Toonsters. I will leave you with this fan video of the very subject I was talking about.

Saraba da! (Farewell!)

The Reality of the Disney-Fox Merger

Ever since Disney acquired FOX a few weeks ago,there has been mass hysteria coming from the Mainstream Media against this merger. (i guess the recent lay-offs doesn't help disney's case).

But I'm here to tell you Why the Disney-FOX merger was a Good Thing.

The Marvel properties aside,with FOX under Disney's House,the crouded "entertainment company" field has just shrunk a bit,leaving a spot or 2 open for newer studios. Now that there is room,these Newer Companies can get a share of the spotlight and the profits.

Another thing is that since these Newer Companies will be fighting for the spot(s) left vacant by FOX,competition will still live on. Remember,this is America,where competition is immortal!

So I guess the Disney/FOX merger wasn't as bad as the MSM makes it out to be. Sure there are negatives,such as lay-offs,the fact that some FOX properties may be misused,or the fact that Disney has become even bigger (hopefully FOX will be the final big thing they buy). Hkwever,I think the the positives are greater.

Trust me,things will work out very very great in the end.

'till next time. Stay Gold,Space Cowboy