80 Years of a (Supposed) Magical Feature Milestone!

 

I love posters like these that summarize the product with such an eye-catching execution while getting in all the important characters.

Ah yes! Another major animation anniversary that I was waiting all 2017 for (second to Cartoon Network’s very underwhelming 25th birthday)! 80 years ago, 20 years away from an entire CENTURY, Walt Disney unleased his terrific way of saying, “Ha! I told you pretentious naysayers I could make an hour-and-a-half-long cartoon picture! It’s a ‘folly’ no more! I’M KING OF THE CARTOON BIZ!! Well, I technically already was king of animation thanks to the mouse, but NOW I’M SUPER KING!! CHOKE ON THAT, YA JERKS!! Now excuse me as I try to figure out how to make this bratty wooden puppet as likable as that bug who crawls around him.”

That’s right! The one that started it all (for the Disney Animated Canon at least), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs! A perfect way introducing of the stereotypical Disney movie formula. The climax of Walt and his brilliant crew making a name out of themselves in the 1930s animation industry. Whether you find it a purely fun experience (‘specially on an artistic standpoint), or a dull, obnoxious sack of sugar that’s nothing more than an extended Silly Symphony due to its lack of a complex story, this film was nonetheless highly important to keeping the Disney name alive. As someone who considers this my favorite of the “Golden Age” Disney animated movies (consisting of Walt’s first five features), I could see how folks of 1937 and 1938 were left amazed by these 83 minutes of hard work. The titular dwarfs were all adorable, the Queen/Witch was…well…WICKED, the Magic Mirror was quick to pointing out that the Queen was holding a pig’s heart instead of Snow White’s, the Huntsman was a charming sissy, and just all the lively animation, beautiful artwork, and striking emotions it displayed. Overall, you couldn’t ask for a better graduation from the experimental school of Silly Symphonies.

Speaking of graduation, for the rest of this paragraph, I’m going to metaphorically describe how Snow White turned out to be a landmark in Disney’s history, by taking inspiration from the speech Ginger gave at the end of the amazing As Told by Ginger TV movie “Butterflies Are Free”. Laugh-O-Grams and Alice Comedies were the little eggs that Walt laid using his pen. Eventually, these eggs were able to hatch out two caterpillars, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (before he fell under the torturous hands of some jerk named Charles Mintz) and that delightful rodent, Mickey Mouse. Then, Mickey split into a bunch of smaller caterpillars with big plans on their minds, otherwise known as Silly Symphonies. Out of these shorts came the cocoons, a.k.a. key elements such as individual characterization, three-strip Technicolor, and nailing the multiplane camera. Finally, a flock of big, beautiful butterflies burst out of those cocoons bringing smiles to millions of theatre goers with how grand it was! And that flock of butterflies spawned other flocks for the next 80 years!

And that’s what should be respected the most about Snow White. Not the absolutely obnoxious misconception about it being “the first feature-length animated film ever” (more on that later), but how it is a great story in animation history on how Walt’s ambitious goal of creating a moving piece of art that rivals any of Mickey’s best shorts came to fruition despite skeptics in and out of Disney Studios. More than five decades later, this type of story was repeated when John Lasseter, an animator fired from Disney after pitching an all-CGI film, wanted to make an all-CGI film about toys, eventually resulting into a movie that may be even more revolutionary than Snow White, the masterpiece known as Toy Story!

 

Alright, now as much as I enjoy Snow White, both as its own thing and as a cherished piece of film history, I would like to politely get this little problem regarding this film of my way…

 

 

WILL YOU PEOPLE STOP CLAIMING THAT SNOW WHITE IS THE WORLD’S FIRST FEATURE-LENGTH ANIMATED MOVIE EVER MADE?!?

Hon! Est! Ly!

Look, I know that 1917’s Argentine El Apostol has been lost for DECADES (possibly forever, I’m afraid), and that the oldest-surviving animated feature, Germany’s The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) is just plain obscure (even if it apparently made a huge impact on Steven Universe creator Rebecca Sugar), but you shouldn’t have to be a professional animation buff like Jerry Beck in order to believe that there were at least EIGHT animated features from various foreign countries made within TWO DECADES before Snow White. Ah-ah-ah! I see you reaching for the keyboard in order to type, “uh, but is it at least the first animated movie with sound and color?”! Wrong, and double wrong! 1931’s Peludopolis, another Argentine movie, had a synchronized soundtrack provided by Vitaphone, and Prince Achmed had its film soaked in blue dye.

“Okay, well isn’t at the VERY least the first animated feature from Disney specifically?” you might ask. Well, to be honest, that’s where things get tricky. From what I discovered this year (or maybe last year), there was a 41-minute…thing, titled Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons, a compilation of Oscar-winning Silly Symphonies (with no bridging segments as far as I can tell) produced to promote Snow White seven months before its premiere. But considering its short length, it isn’t considered a true feature film by institutes like AFI (yet the one-minute-longer Saludos Amigos is). Heck, not even the official Disney encyclopedia by Dave Smith included it as an entry! So…in other words, if you want to believe Snow White was Disney’s first movie, that’s perfectly fine. I’m certainly with you on that. But still, remember that other thing exists, too? (tilts head like Dr. Hutchinson from Rocko’s Modern Life) ‘Kay?

If you want to visit an article that does a better job at debunking that myth, I highly recommend you visit the Big Cartoon DataBase. Not only did they prove Snow White wasn’t the first animated film, but they also debunked other misconceptions, including Steamboat Willie being the first sound cartoon, Flowers and Trees as the first color cartoon ever, and even Disney being the first to use a multiplane camera. And if you don’t feel like reading (if so, then how the hell did you made it this far into THIS article you’re on right now, genius?), then I highly recommend you watch this video made by a creator named Pop Arena, who is also doing an in-depth, program-by-program history series on Nickelodeon.

So, Disney is a phenomenal provider of animation, there’s no doubt about that. But occasionally, I can’t help but interpret them as the one kid in class who gets all the credit for a big school project that others had worked on, too. Walt himself gets too much credit as well; technically speaking, he wasn’t even that much of a legit animator than he was a film producer. By the time he hired people like Ub Iwerks and Friz Freleng in the mid-20s, Walt gave up on hand-animating his own shorts. Also, he never directed any of his animated features, especially not after he failed to direct one Silly Symphony titled The Golden Touch, which apparently turned out to be a disaster. I’ve seen the short two years ago, but it wasn’t that bad.

In short, when it comes to making the products that he had the most success with during his lifetime, Walt barely did jack crap. Almost all of the credit belong to the many hard-working artists who worked at Disney during the Golden and Silver Ages, including Ub, the Nine Old Men, Joe Grant, Bill Tytla, Grim Gatwick, Art Babbitt, and my man, Floyd Norman.

Misconceptions aside, Snow White, and Disney feature animation in general, turning 80 truly is an important animation milestone to acknowledge this year. And what more can I say about Disney’s significance in keeping animation alive? They may not have always been first, but if there is one thing they DO deserve credit for, it’s perfection! Perfection of the slightly overlooked medium of animation! And that’s why, eight months before this anniversary, I put a lot of heart and soul into this massive beauty of a collage:

 

Can you name all of the characters I included!

 

Originally, I wanted screenshots of each film to make up the collage, before deciding that digitally-painting the characters on FireAlpaca in a style reminiscent of the Disney Golden Books was a much more special execution. Outside of the big #80, we got the birthday girl, Snow White herself, centered in between the ‘8’ and ‘0’. I would bad if Mickey was excluded, so there he is in his famous apprentice outfit on the bottom left corner. Besides, he does appear at the beginning of several VHS tapes of Disney movies, right? Tinker Bell was also a mandatory inclusion to the picture, since she’s the company’s second mascot after Mickey. Finally, I’ll address the inclusions of the Reluctant Dragon, a Mary Poppins penguin, Roger Rabbit, Jack and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas, and the one and only Buzz Lightyear. They’re honorable mentions, essentially. Walt Disney Animation Studios did take part in development and/or production of those films, whether they’d be fully animating the characters of Roger and co., or collaborating a little bit with Pixar in conceiving Toy Story. And like I said earlier, the story of Toy Story is quite reminiscent of that of Snow White.

Oh, and I managed to blend the man himself into the starry sky, and have the iconic 1985-2006 castle on the bottom right! All of this make up a magic tribute!

Well, that does it for 2017, everyone! It’s been a crazy year for me, in terms of my art improving and becoming semi-popular on Twitter. Here’s an artistic lookback on my year:

 

A Toon-rrific Canada Day!

Quick belated post!

I hope you fellow Canadians had a great time wishing our bold, beautiful, unapologetic neighbor of the U.S. a happy 150th birthday! Last year on WordPress, I celebrated Canada Day by honoring the nation’s legendary animation studio, Nelvana, one of the biggest companies behind my childhood (and perhaps yours as well). This year, with one of my longtime favorite TV spots, Teletoon, turning 20 in three months, I made Canada Day an excuse to do a little something for the channel as sort of an early 20th birthday wish.

 

Made in FireAlpaca. Characters from left to right: Pigger (Braceface), Melville (Planet Sketch), Ethel Sprocket (Ricky Sprocket: Showbiz Boy), Newton (Ned’s Newt), and Principal Kidswatter (Wayside).

 

You know, Teletoon has given me so many original series that I have nostalgic memories of that I briefly had difficulty with figuring out how to execute my fan art. Specifically, I kinda had a hard time choosing which shows to include, and which shows to exclude. Eventually, I took the easy route by including a few of the Teletoon cartoons that I still admire to this day, rather than the ones I formerly liked (such as Spliced), ones I’d only be kind towards because of said nostalgia (such as Quads!), or ones that I haven’t seen in years and I’m not too sure if they’re still good (such as Skatoony). However, the next time I do a post on Teletoon for the big day, I’ll probably just come out with a massive collage, similar to the one I did for Nelvana’s 45th anniversary featuring shows from each of those four categories.

Until then, happy 150th birthday to my proud country, and happy early 20th anniversary to one of my childhood-defining places on TV!

It’s the Weekend! Time For a Cartoon Cartoon Celebration!

Easily up there with folks like Nickelodeon, Disney, and Fox, Cartoon Network is one of the best and most innovative sources for quality animated series that America has to offer. Whether it’d be an old favorite like Ed, Edd n Eddy, or a more recent fest of charm like We Bare Bears, Cartoon Network has something for everyone…even if it’s now debatable whether or not it still warrants the title “The Best Place for Cartoons”, given the controversies regarding its lack of variety nowadays.

Starting off as a binge-watcher’s paradise with a schedule filled with classic cartoons from Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros. (with a couple of original series sprinkled in, like the ever-so-quirky Space Ghost Coast to Coast and the ever-so-obscure Moxy Show), the cable channel took the risk of conceiving a project, thanks to the help of Fred Seibert, that encouraged viewers to vote for which of 48 shorts should become half-hour series to start up their own lineup of Nicktoons-esque original programming, Cartoon Cartoons. While Yuckie Duck, Larry and Steve (sort of), and Pizza Boy weren’t as lucky, Dexter, Johnny, Cow and Chicken, Courage, and the Powerpuff Girls were, with Dexter getting his show first, 21 years ago. What can I praise about Dexter’s Laboratory that haven’t been praised by other fans already? Genndy Tartakovsky and his team were certainly geniuses themselves when they worked together on this CN classic, with its memorable jokes, stylish animation, lovable characters, and all that. And as I said in my Google+ post for its 20th anniversary last year, I’ll continue to amuse myself by mimicking (albeit poorly) Dexter shouting, “GET OUT OF MY LA-BORE-RA-TOE-RWEE!!”

However, I must mention that I have a bit of a problem regarding the 20th anniversary of the Cartoon Cartoons as a whole. Unlike the Nicktoons, where the first three debuted simultaneously in August 1991, and were known as Nicktoons from the very beginning, it’s more scattered in CN’s case. When exactly did the Cartoon Cartoons officially start? Was it in 1995 (when The What a Cartoon! Show premiered, via as a Space Ghost Coast to Coast President’s Day special), 1996 (when Dexter premiered, even though it was a lone Cartoon Cartoon during that time), or 1997 (when Cartoon Network really started to use the Cartoon Cartoon brand, following the debuts of Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, and I Am Weasel)? I guess I’ll settle with 1996. Well, whenever it was, the network’s upcoming 25th anniversary in October gives me the perfect opportunity to build this special collage honoring the cartoons that put the network on the map as a channel that’s WAY more than reruns of Yogi Bear. Here we go:

The whole Friday night lineup is here, from Dexter to KND!

Now, let me tell you that my plans for celebrating Cartoon Network’s 25th anniversary won’t be as “massive” as what I did with the Nicktoons’ 25th anniversary. Why? Because Nickelodeon is my main primary target, the one major animation studio I’d like to end up at, I guess. No offence to Cartoon Network at all, though. They could be an alternative choice. Now, about this collage, it’s one of five that I plan on creating, representing specific eras of the network. Whereas this one is dedicated to the Cartoon Cartoon era (1997-2003), a future one will be for the early days (1992-1995), and another for the “city” era (2004-2007), and another for the modern era (2010-). Since the Cartoon Cartoon era contains a lot of my absolute favorite Cartoon Network originals, I started with that one.

The technique for this and future “CN 25” collages is simple:

1. Draw each Cartoon Cartoon (and the World Premiere Toons globe as a bonus) on FireAlpaca
2. Import them to Pixlr Editor
3. Use Pixlr to add a background (inspired by the bumpers of the era), layer effects, and any additional features (i.e. a logo)
4. I’m done, and ready to share it!

All in all, it’s another art project I’m proud of.

Well, I guess I could pad out this article by providing my own ranking of each Cartoon Cartoon from least favorite to absolute favorite. BTW, I’m excluding Grim & Evil (2001-2002); since The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Evil Con Carne went their separate ways in 2003, it makes more sense to rank them individually. Also, The What a Cartoon! Show (later called The Cartoon Cartoon Show) is debatably not a Cartoon Cartoon itself, but rather just a showcase of shorts that got greenlit as full-length series and those that didn’t. Now, before my computer malfunctions like that of a certain boy genius, let’s begin!

14: Mike, Lu & Og (1999-2001)

So…this is the last Cartoon Cartoon I found out existed. When I was little, I knew about all of the others (even if I didn’t binge watch all of them), but this one never popped up in front of me until around 2006, when I played an old Shockwave game on Cartoon Network Australia’s website involving Mike at a toy store or something. Now, I haven’t seen a lot of this show online, but from what I saw, it was a bit underwhelming. Apart from the intro, and one bumper which had Lu yelling Lancealot’s name, it’s just plain forgettable. It’s harmless, but I don’t care to check it out again anytime soon. Though, I must comment on how the art style looks so Klasky Csupo-esque (yet it still looks cuter than, say, Ginger). Makes sense, since Chuck Swenson (who worked on Rugrats and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters) was a co-creator, and brought in a lot of Eastern European talent.

13: Whatever Happened to…Robot Jones? (2002-2003)

Seriously? Why are you guys still asking? Isn’t it obviously what happened to him? Greg Miller was so annoyed by the fact that Cartoon Network mistreated his show so much, he was like, “You know what? Frig it! I’m done with that damn robot! Throw him away in the dump for all I care! I hope he meets up with that old wind-up robot of mine that I stupidly threw away when I was little because I thought it broke for good! Yeah, screw Robot Jones! I’m better off at Nickelodeon where my buddy Rob Renzetti has his OWN robot cartoon going on! If anyone were to ask whatever happened to Robot Jones, I’ll say, ‘He threw himself in the dump to rust!'” So, there’s your answer.

Jokes aside, this is another obscure Cartoon Cartoon that I haven’t watched too much of yet. I spent more time playing its exciting online game, Follow That Brain!, than seeing actual episodes of Robot Jones. I do remember seeing some of the show on Teletoon, and being amused by how they used actual “robotic” speech programs from Mac to play Robot Jones and his dad. The old school execution of the animation (a la Schoolhouse Rock) is also interesting, right down to the fact that it was hand-painted on celluloid, despite being made in the early 2000s (although to be fair, so was Ed, Edd n Eddy until 2004). To be honest, because of my minimal amount of exposure to the show, I barely have an elaborate opinion on it. All I can say is…looks better than Mike, Lu & Og.

12: I Am Weasel (1997-2000)

I always vigorously savior the moment when Cow and Chicken appear on my screen, and then melt into an apathetic state when I.M. Weasel and I.R. Baboon show up to outsmart each other. That’s all I can say to summarize my thoughts on David Feiss’ secondary cartoon, which, for some inexplicable reason, was given more episodes than Cow and Chicken in 1999. Perhaps there were more folks (particularly the older crowd) who found I Am Weasel to be more mature, and less reliant on gross-out? Maybe. Well, I personally prefer the over-the-top surrealism of Cow and Chicken. In fact, my favorite episodes of I Am Weasel tend to be the ones featuring Cow and Chicken characters (besides the Red Guy), such as “Who Rubbed Out Cow and Chicken?” and “I.M.N. Love”. So, I Am Weasel is clearly my least favorite part of Cow and Chicken, but like the previous two shows I talked about, it’s decent enough to sit through, and it does act pretty funny at times. I’m better off playing Whack-the-Weasel instead, though.

11:  Evil Con Carne (2003-2007…because apparently, according to Wikipedia, the 2007 episode of Billy & Mandy, “Company Halt”, served as the “official” series finale to this show, despite the show supposedly getting cancelled in 2004. I don’t even know.)

Now we’ve come to the unfavorite of Maxwell Atoms’ animated children, though I can understand why. While definitely not a bad show on its own, Evil Con Carne simply lacks the stupidly hilarious charm and creative darkness that we all love its WAY more popular sibling series, Billy & Mandy, for. In fact, I could compare it to Camp Lazlo, a series that is easily inferior to its predecessor, Rocko’s Modern Life, while not necessarily being a terrible show on its own. Heck, during the end credits of the Billy & Mandy/Kids Next Door crossover, they did a gag where Lazlo, Clam, and Raj were dressed up as Boskov, Major Dr. Ghastly, and General Skarr respectively! Although, I think Lumpus would be a better fit as Skarr. Or better yet, I could say that this show is the equivalent of the U.S. Acres segments from Garfield and Friends, based on how it’s middle-of-the-barrel compared to its more successful companion.

But who knows? Maybe there are some people out there who do appreciate Hector, Boskov, Skarr, and Dr. Ghastly more than Grim, Billy, and Mandy for all those pathetic attempts at taking over the world or whatnot. In fact, here’s one person. Then again, I’ve only seen a little bit of this show so far; maybe it’ll turn out to be better than I thought once I watch more misadventures. The second season in particular was when it supposedly grew the beard, although I’m not digging Boskov’s bulky redesign. But, I must declare right now that my favorite thing about Evil Con Carne (besides that major cutie Dr. Ghastly) is its online game, Battle Forts, which I played a lot as a kid. BTW, you’ll see me bring up Cartoon Network’s website a lot, because much of my childhood exposure to them was through CartoonNetwork.com. Now, let’s move on to the next Cartoon Cartoon before my eyes pop out Tex Avery-style at the sight of Dr. Ghastly, who has some serious competition with Dexter’s Mom in terms of cuteness.

10: Time Squad (2001-2003)

No offence, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, but Otto, Tuddrussel, and Larry do just as great a job at time traveling as you two. They’re just funnier, that’s all. You understand, right? Little did I know when I was watching this show as a kid (I particularly remember the first episode and the Boston Tea Party episode) that its adult humor is just as sneaky as Rocko’s Modern Life. At least, that’s what TV Tropes said. Time Squad is yet ANOTHER Cartoon Cartoon that I’ve never binged on, and only recently I decided to revisit it. Unfortunately, some of the jokes still don’t hit me in the head as fast.  To me, the flamboyant robot Larry 3000 (responsible for most of the subtle gay jokes on the show) is one of Mark Hamil’s most memorable roles, but he obviously doesn’t beat the living awesomeness that is Regular Show‘s Skips.

Time to bring up a web game again! I remember there was a single Time Squad game where Tuddrussel had to run around shooting floating hourglasses until they got tinier, and you must avoid touching them. Now, there was also a Dexter’s Lab game where Dexter had to run around shooting floating red eyeballs until they got tinier, and you must avoid touching them. Sound alike? But which one is the true copycat? If the Dexter game was made first, then maybe the Time Squad trio probably used their time machine thingy to beat Dexter to it. Or, it could be the other way around. Whatever the answer is, there seems to be SOME compromise made between the two shows for Dexter to make a cameo in a later episode of Time Squad.

9: Codename: Kids Next Door (2002-2008)

Codename: Kids Next Door is a show taking place in a universe where kids rule the world (kinda), and adults and teens drool on it (for the most part). Given its rather unique execution of the whole concept, I have no idea why I don’t appreciate this show more than I currently do. It might not be because of the idea of most adults and teens in the KND universe being antagonistic, which may come off as a bit somber. There are plenty of episodes that I found to be some cool stuff (in particular, “Operation: R.E.P.O.R.T.” was an impressive exercise in trying out different animation styles apart from the usual dish), and, once again, the online games were such fun past times (but Operation S.T.A.R.T.U.P. is such a pain that the only level I remembering winning was Numbah 2’s). Plus, animator/children’s author Mo Willems was a writer for most of the episodes from seasons 1-4. Don’t worry; I’ll get to HIS show later.

Who’s my favorite member of KND, you may ask? It’s hard because I like all five of the core ones, but I guess I’ll go with Numbah 5, due to Cree Summer’s always-chill voice performance. As for the villains, I’ve always been fascinated with those five creepy kids known as the Delightful Children from Down the Lane. It could be because of how they’re an inseparable quintet of “siblings” with (relatively) diverse designs for each kid, and how they almost always speak in the most amazing unison imaginable.

But, yeah, I seriously need to revisit this show. Sorry I don’t have anymore to say. Go, KND and whatever!

8: Johnny Bravo (1997-2004)

WHY? DON’T? I? WATCH? THIS? SHOW? MORE? THAN? I? ALREADY? HAVE?!?!?!?

To this day, I am ashamed of myself for not spending time with this funny tale of an Elvis impersonator who could be considered a kid-friendly precursor to Glenn Quagmire! Speaking of which, out of all the Hanna-Barbera stuff that Seth MacFarlane worked on, Johnny Bravo seems to be the most notable cartoon he wrote for (besides his proto-Family Guy short, Larry & Steve). This can explain why this show got away with some risqué humor, especially in the first season. Also, another animation idol of mine, Butch Hartman, happened to be one of Seth’s teammates at the studio. Heck, they even co-wrote an episode featuring Adam West, who’d go on to play a recurring role in each of their long-running shows, Family Guy as Mayor West, and Fairly OddParents as Catman. I must see that, man! So, in a nutshell, Johnny Bravo is one of those shows that has really good reasons for me to admire it, yet I often overlook the easy opportunity of marathoning some episodes. Well, it’s pretty high on my cartoon watchlist, some maybe there’ll be hope for that blonde, peanut-butter-and-banana-sandwich-eating Casanova wannabe.

7: Ed, Edd n Eddy (1999-2009)You know what disappoints me about Ed, Edd n Eddy? It doesn’t have to do with the show itself, but rather how it was treated in its native home of Canada. Despite this Cartoon Cartoon having all of its episodes be produced in Vancouver, Teletoon stopped airing the show after its third or fourth season. Neither the episodes where the cul-de-sac kids are going to school (given the consistently low amount of people ever shown, 12 to be exact, I can’t see how they could pull that off) nor the big finale movie were ever aired in Canada yet, not even when the show began rerunning on Cartoon Network Canada in 2012. Thus, Ed, Edd n Eddy didn’t play that big a part in my childhood apart from, once again, playing games on CN’s website (with one of my favorites being Infect-Ed). The good news is I was able to sit through a boatload of episodes from the first few seasons when I had the Canadian CN in 2012. The bad news is I feel guilty for not enjoying them enough when I had that chance. But trust me. Overall, my fondness for the Eds, their odd color palettes, squiggly art style, and nutty scams is nowhere near being a scam itself.

And to think that Danny Antonucci, an animator whose earlier work looked like a mix between Tex Avery, John Kricfalusi, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and a barf bag, created this show on a dare to make something actually family-friendly…to an extent.

6: Sheep in the Big City (2000-2002)

If the most underrated Nicktoon in my eyes is easily As Told by Ginger, and if the most underrated Disney show in my eyes is Lloyd in Space, then hands down the most underrated Cartoon Network show in my eyes (of any kind) is this punny serial of a little sheep who flees to the big city, but doesn’t want to come home wagging his tail behind him. Created by one of my favorite animators for Sesame Street, Mo Willems (I still have a soft spot for Suzie Kabloozie), Sheep in the Big City is a series that I admire for its clever variety in humor. Influenced by Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends, Sheep is loaded with self-referential jokes, parodic bumpers, tendencies to take certain clichés like “wild goose chase” to literal extremes, and laughably baa-d puns, all mixed in with Mo’s adorably simplistic, abstract cartooning style (which I feel fits the show’s New York-like setting). My favorite character has to be the easily-annoyed narrator, Ben Plotz; I like this guy so much that I based the narrator from The Magic Muffin on him. Speaking of Sesame, I love how Mo managed to bring in some cast members from that show onto Sheep, such as Stephanie D’Abruzzo, Joey Mazzarino, Fran Brill, the late Jerry Nelson, and Ruth Buzzi (the voice of Mo’s Sesame cartoon character, Suzie).

Baa-ck onto the show itself, it was apparently cancelled for similar reasons as Invader Zim; due to how supposedly complex its style of humor was, it looked more attractive to adults than the target 6-11 age group. Personally, I find that allegation to be a load of grade A, Oxymoron-approved crap. Animaniacs gained lots of popularity amongst adults for its “grown-up” comedy reminiscent of the Golden Age Looney Tunes, and it managed to last five years. So, why must the sheep get slaughtered so quickly? Well, I know another reason why it was canned: Mo, as he stated in his blog post on what could have been Sheep‘s big finale, was too busy on that OTHER Cartoon Cartoon from Curious Pictures, Codename: Kids Next Door.

Fortunately, around the same time Nick Animation proved that they still cared about another underrated show that Mo worked on, KaBlam!, Cartoon Network recently shown that they haven’t sheared Sheep in the Big City from its memory on its official YouTube channel, which pleased the living fleece out of me! Bless you, Cartoon Network! Now do yourself a favor and release the whole show somewhere (DVD, digital, no matter), before I throw a hissy fit a la the Ranting Swede (who is basically a kid-friendly GradeAUnderA). And bless you for creating this brilliant series, Mr. Willems!

5: The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2003-2008)

You know what’s just as funny as Teletoon neglecting to air Ed, Edd n Eddy up until its 2009 cancellation? Teletoon airing Billy & Mandy at night alongside legitimate adult cartoons like Family Guy, Futurama, and Undergrads! At least, that’s what they did back when Billy & Mandy and its obscure little sibling were fused together as Grim & Evil. It’s the same thing they did with The Ren & Stimpy Show, John K.’s other show The Ripping Friends, and Time Squad. Considering how some of Teletoon’s own original series that air during the day get away with some risqué content (*cough*6teen*cough*), I find that to be just as hypocritical as it is odd.

Of course, I can’t deny at all that The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy is one of the darkest comedies in Western animation, up there with Invader Zim, which also stars Richard Steven Horvitz. I mean, how many other networks could have the talking guts to greenlight a children’s show where its premise literally involves two kids (an idiot and a sociopath) befriend Death himself? Not even Nickelodeon had those guts, yet they approved of Jhonen Vasquez’s little Magnum Opus! Also, when I was watching Channel Frederator’s “107 Facts” on the show, I learned how Maxwell Atoms doesn’t see his black style of humor to be that dark, but merely his way of naturally expressing himself. Hmm…probably have to watch the video again to verify. Well, regardless of whether or not Maxwell is truly as creepy as Mandy, I still give him credit for successfully managing to get this fairly unique concept across at all.

Billy, who’s my second favorite role by Richard Horvitz after Daggett from Angry Beavers, is one of the most hilarious cartoon dumbbells I’ve ever come across! Just thinking about him and his hammy ways (particularly his little “DESTORY US ALL!!!” tirade) makes me crack up a little! In contrast, his “best friend” Mandy is one of the most unfriendly cartoon kids I’ve ever come across. While not as evil as some other mean girls played by Grey Griffin (Vicky and Azula come to mind), you’d still want to try your best not to push the daisy on her dress, or else she’ll make YOU end up pushing daisies. As for Grim, he is hands-down the most amusing portrayal of the Grim Reaper ever done in a cartoon, and I think Greg Eagles’ Jamaican accent helps a lot. No offence, Adam Carolla.

Oh, and did I mentioned that this show has the best intro in the entire network’s  history?

TV Tropes said that Billy & Mandy was an “expy” of Ren & Stimpy; however, apart from the titular duo consisting of a big-nosed idiot and an impatient sociopath, as well as some gross-out jokes, I barely think of it as a Ren & Stimpy wannabe. The show does all it can to be its own entity, and it nailed doing just that. As for the next Cartoon Cartoon…

4: Cow and Chicken (1997-1999)

Honestly, people constantly accusing Cow and Chicken of being a Ren & Stimpy copycat doesn’t annoy me as much as people ignoring these key facts:

1. David Feiss happened to be an animator on the original R&S series, notably for the pilot episode, so that explains where the blatant influence came from. Check out John K.’s blog post on the scene from “Big House Blues” that David worked on.
2. In the aforementioned post, John K. himself admitted that Cow and Chicken (of all shows) is “best drawn and animated cartoon of the 90s,” in his characteristically biased opinion. In case you’re wondering why he didn’t say something like Animaniacs, well…I’ll let Cartoons 101 explain.

Anyhow, whether the show intended on directly ripping off the only great thing John K. ever made or not, you can’t deny that it’s easily one of the weirdest Cartoon Network series. Actually, “weird” is a critical understatement. A cartoon about a pair of (biological?) siblings from different species living with human parents that are literally nothing more than a pair of legs, who eat a hearty meal of pig butts and taters on a regular basis, AND who are consistently harassed by an exhibitionistic red guy who’s CLEARLY Satan himself, does NOT deserve to be called weird! IT! IS! MENTALLY UNSTABLE!

AND I LOVE IT!!!

Yes, alongside the next couple of Cartoon Cartoons, Cow and Chicken has been a longtime favorite of mine for all those risks that it took. And you know, perhaps the reason why its stylistic similarities to Ren & Stimpy didn’t appear as blatant to me as with Disney’s Shnookums & Meat Funny Cartoon Show is because it does try to do so much to be its own thing while also mixing in the formulaic elements that made R&S stood out back in 1991. It’s like how so many people call Family Guy a Simpsons clone, while also appreciating it for its own quirks. Before Regular Show came along, Cow and Chicken was the biggest truck with crap that passed by CN’s censors…ignoring the few times where it WAS caught red-handed (“Buffalo Gals”, anyone?).

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Charlie Adler, the voice of Cow, Chicken, Red Guy, I.R. Baboon, and Cousin Boneless Chicken, is one of my favorite voice actors because of his prominence and passionate acting on this show. Heck, Wikipedia even went as far as to compare him to Mel Freakin’ Blanc! Nah. Nobody could top him.

3: The Powerpuff Girls (1998-2005)

Right now, I wish that my brain was as big as Mojo Jojo’s in order to come up with a unique way of praising a show that EVERYONE has already praised. Damn writer’s block! Well, I guess I can talk about how I, unlike some other fans, essentially feel that the last two seasons aren’t bad at all, similar to how I’m so kind towards seasons 5-7 of SpongeBob. Although, whereas the earlier seasons of THAT show top the later ones easier than pouring a bowl of Froot Loops into a bowl, I love Powerpuff Girls episodes like “See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey”, “Pee Pee G’s”, and “Substitute Creature” near the same amount as episodes like “Jewel of the Aisle”, “Candy is Dandy”, and “Child Fearing”. Oh, speaking of the last one I mentioned, the scene with the Barney knockoff was priceless. “If I were a bunny I’d HOP HOP HOP!!! HOP HOP HOP!!! HOP HOP HOP!!!” Yes, thanks for that, Mr. McCracken! If I were a nerdy animation blogger I would TYPE TYPE TYPE!!!!

Back onto making my point, I honestly don’t feel like there has been a really bad season of The Powerpuff Girls; all five of them have awesome, memorable episodes to spend time on…and…aw screw it. I’ll just talk about how kickass the girls are! Sorry, excuse my language. I meant to say “whoopass“!

Ah, man! I still got nothing! Is Him putting me under a spell where I’m suffering some severe writer’s block that prevents me from jotting down some bold criteria? I could have some nifty things to say about the show’s snappy animation style, the charming rogue of villains, its humor, the titular heroic trio themselves, Tom Kenny as the narrator and all that, but…I’M STUCK! Somebody help me! Craig! Genndy! Chris! No, not you, Reccardi! I meant Chris Savino! SOMEBODY! I need some insightful motivation to say what I feel like saying about one of Cartoon Network’s biggest series of its history, or else this blog will collapse into a stew of pure, uninspired mediocrity! AAAAAAAHHH!!!

Well, that was a fun bit of melodrama. I guess that was good enough to save my blog. Sure, my humor doesn’t compare to that of The Powerpuffs, but still. And you know, maybe if the girls didn’t become so hooked on shaking their tiny, artificial butts with a big panda, they probably would have saved me themselves. BTW, I haven’t really seen the 2016 reboot yet, but I already know it can’t come close to being as enjoyable as the classic series. So anyway, I give lots of points to The Powerpuff Girls for being one of the best “don’t judge a cartoon by its screenshot” animated series of all time.  Once again, thanks, Craig McCracken, for making a “girl’s cartoon” that doubles as a “boy’s cartoon”!

BTW, loved the movie as well! I just rewatched it recently on DVD.

2: Courage the Cowardly Dog (1999-2002)

Ah yes! We’ve come to a Cartoon Cartoon that is even more perfect than the last one! Where to start? Well, I’ll start off by saying that, as a little boy, Courage the Cowardly Dog was a show that I obsessed over more than any other from Cartoon Network. I could compare my old obsession with it to my old obsession with CatDog, a Nicktoon that I used to find way more interesting than SpongeBob. With Courage, it’s because the titular little dog of an indeterminate breed is just so adorable! I love everything about him, from all those demented screaming takes he’d make, to the fact that his name doesn’t consistently stay ironic. Courage may act like a scaredy pussycat at first, but he always manage to let out his inner Underdog and save the day. I’ve joked to myself that Courage has even more of a spine than Ginger Foutley. But you know what? I don’t think a lot of people would disagree with me on that. As for Courage’s owners, I question why are they even together in the first place. One of the few other characters in the show who actually has a good heart, Muriel deserves to be FAR away from Eustace, who is so miserable that he makes Timmy Turner look like the happiest boy on Earth! Seriously, I can summarize Eustace’s role in each episode like this:

• “Stupid dog!”
• “OOGA BOOGA BOOGA!”
• “Ow! What did I do?”
• “MURIEL! WHERE’S MY DINNER?”
• “Blah blah blah!”
• “We don’t want any!”
• (gets destroyed or eaten by the monster of the episode)

The way Eustace is almost always in a pit of negativity just makes me chuckle.

Speaking of monsters, I should confess that I’m part of a minority of people who never felt traumatized by all the disturbing imagery and foes this show had to offer throughout its four seasons. Are they weird, or even insane? Definitely! But enough to keep my eyes open while in bed? I don’t think so. Okay, on second thought, the one thing about Courage that made me feel that way was the Stretch Films logo, with its crude design, dark background, absence of sound apart from that creepy laugh (possibly from John R. Dilworth himself), and cutting abruptly to the loud Cartoon Network logo after a moment of silence. Yeah, somehow, I find that creepier than Katz or that CGI blue thing from the series finale. But don’t get me started on the variant with John wearing a banana in between his ears as if he just got done performing an edgy rendition of that famous Ernie and Bert sketch!

Ah, but in all seriousness, I really admire John and his off-the-wall work. From his Dirdy Birdy short for MTV, to his Noodles and Nedd shorts for Sesame Street, his portfolio says that he may as sane as your co-worker in real life, but once he hits either the drawing board or computer, he just lets out all the eccentric, creative juices out of his brain! And of course, Courage the Cowardly Dog is the epitome of this, and I’m more than glad to make this intriguing Cartoon Cartoon among my top 20 favorite animated series of all time!

Oh, and I must make a shout out to my favorite minor Courage character, Di Lung; “Watch where ya going, ya fool!”

1: Dexter’s Laboratory (1996-2003)

Yeah, you knew it was coming. Well, since I already said what I generally appreciate about Genndy Tartakovsky’s piece of ingeniousness (sorry, Samurai Jack) on Google+, I’ll just share a few of my favorite episodes (no particular order):

1. “The Muffin King” (season 2) for how funny Dad’s craving for Mom’s muffins is.
2. “Figure Not Included” (season 2) for the humor behind Dexter illegally reproducing the action figure he longed for.
3. “Chicken Scratch” (season 4, and The Powerpuff Girls Movie) for how Genndy suddenly took a John K.-esque direction with the art.
4. “Changes” (pilot) for the frenetic species changing between Dexter and Dee Dee, kinda reminiscent of the magic duel scene from The Sword in the Stone.
5. “The Big Cheese” (season 1) for how stupid Dexter was in teaching himself French (only one word got sucked into his vocabulary, and it became literally the ONLY word in his vocabulary).
6. “A Mandark Cartoon” (season 3)  for the hilarity behind the fact that every single thing Mandark does in his daily routine is done to the rhythm of his evil laugh.

Oh my gosh! There are so many episodes I enjoy, that it’s hard for me to pick just a few! Another thing: like with The Powerpuff Girls, I’m part of the minority who think that the last two seasons, run by Chris Savino, are not totally bad. Although, unlike with PPG, it is MUCH easier to say that Dexter’s “seasonal rot” era is inferior to the Hanna-Barbera episodes, due to the differences between the two eras being more drastic. As kind as I am towards the Chris Savino episodes, I feel no shame in slamming one particular episode: “Comedy of Feathers”, which is surprisingly the only episode of this period that Genndy worked on, since he was so busy with his so-called Magnum Opus, Samurai Jack (despite the two shows being made on the same floor at Cartoon Network Studios…I went to CartoonNetwork.com via the Wayback Machine to verify this). Seriously, that episode felt like a bottle episode (one made with a lower budget than usual, thus prompting severe limitations). Why, for the first half, don’t we see Dexter’s face? And why do we only see the exterior of Dexter’s house, when he and Dee Dee were talking to their parents? I’m not sure.

Oh wait! I just remembered about an episode just as tedious: “A Third Dad Cartoon”! A single camera angle showing Dad spending the entire duration “warming up” to hit the golf ball, while Dexter and Dee Dee just stand there, until it starts to rain. No real jokes were made from what I can remember. Now THAT’S what I call a bottle episode! It really puts that “Brian and Stewie” episode to shame.

Well, I gotta wrap up this article, which turned out longer than what I expected. So, yes, as much as I have respect for Fred Flintstone, Yogi Bear, and Scooby-Doo, the Cartoon Cartoons are hand-down the best things Hanna-Barbera were ever involved with, and I’m blessed that the studio’s physical existence ended with such a bang in quality. Thanks, Hanna-Barbera, for taking that risk of making CN more awesome than it was in 1992! And thanks to all the creators of these amazing cartoons, from Genndy, to Craig, to John, to David, to Maxwell, to Danny, etc.

Happy Cartoon Cartoon Weekend, everyone!

80 Years of Being Daffy!

Happy Easter! I hope you cartoon fans are planning on watching Daffy Duck’s Easter Egg-citement today (unless you have an immense hatred for it), because its leading toon has turned 80 years old today!

While not all that hilarious, “Porky’s Duck Hunt” does do good in establishing Daffy’s character.

Before this complex water fowl came around in 1937, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies could have been described best as “Slightly Sillier Symphonies”. In other words, the early shorts weren’t so focused on being, well, looney, than they are on trying to knock over Disney with such lovely characters as Bosko, Piggy, Foxy, and the always adorable Buddy! No wait, those guys were actually as average as your unenthusiastic co-worker! Then in 1935, things got much better when the adorkable Porky Pig debuted in I Haven’t Got a Hat. Oh, by the way, Porky, I’m sorry for not celebrating YOUR 80th anniversary back in 2015. I was just so hypnotized by a certain redheaded girl whose name shall not be mentioned! Anyboohoo, Tex Avery came aboard the Termite Terrace team around the same time, and he and Bob Clampett helped refine Porky’s personality and design (though Bob would soon make Porky look much cuter than he did in 1937).

Then, on April 17, 1937, Porky appeared on screen with a brand-new co-star given to him: a batcrap insane little duck who bounced up and down as if he was doing some hardcore caffeine, going “WOO HOO WOO HOO HOO HOO WOO HOO!!” So, the point I’m making here is that Daffy was the first major Looney Tunes character to actually be faithful to the lone adjective of the series’ title. Audiences reacted in positive amazement to Daffy’s zaniness, so that obviously meant that the duck was there to stay at the Warner studio lot.

Fun Fact: Apparently, Mel Blanc was originally only cast as Daffy, because during the conception of Porky’s Duck Hunt, Joe Dougherty was still under contract as Porky. However, Joe was eventually fired because, due to his real stuttering habit, his recording sessions were too time-consuming. So, Porky’s Duck Hunt became Mel’s debut as Porky.

And on the topic of voice actors, do you know who eerily shares the same birthday as Daffy? The late Joe Alaskey. who played him in Duck Dodgers, Tiny Toons, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, and Bah, Humduck!, among others! He would have been 65 today.

Earlier in the article, I called Daffy “complex”. That’s because he has gone through some drastic characterization changes as the years went by. He starts off as a scrawny, extreme screwball, before mellowing down into basically an eccentric Bugs Bunny-type of trickster, and finally (thanks to Chuck Jones) as an envious egotist determined to outshine his rivals (most notably Bugs). Sometimes, he’d switch back and forth to each of these interpretations, depending on either the director or whatever situation the short called for. Now, which Daffy do I prefer? Zany Daffy? Or jealous Daffy? Well, as long as the cartoon is written well, any type of Daffy would do. Those, I can easily tell you when Daffy’s at his worse: being paired up with Speedy Gonzales! Less said about those, the better.

Oh, and speaking of ducks who’ve turned 80, I forgot about Donald’s 80th birthday back in 2015 as well. Yeah, I’m sure he threw a massive, incomprehensible tantrum over all the neglected birthday wishes, too.

And not to mention, Daffy was the star of the first cartoon to ever play on the 25-year-old Cartoon Network, 1946’s “The Great Piggy Bank Robbery” directed by Bob Clampett. Although, some other sources say “Rhapsody Rabbit” was first, because…poor memory? Well, our trusty info companion Wikipedia currently cites four sources claiming that “Great Piggy Bank Robbery” was indeed first. Either way, they selected a great choice for a cartoon to kick-start the supposed “best place for cartoons”. Such broad energy and glorious eccentricity were displayed into that story of Duck Twacy, and it’s also no wonder why it’s a personal favorite of our man John Kricfalusi. So grateful they didn’t play a Buddy cartoon on that launch instead, amirite?

Now, for what I often do for the anniversaries of things I love: fan art!

I gave my favorite cartoon bird this colorfully-edited collage on Pixlr Editor, highlighting some of his most memorable shorts. These are (in chronological order):

• Porky’s Duck Hunt (1937)
• Daffy Duck in Hollywood (1938)
• Porky Pig’s Feat (1943)
• Draftee Daffy (1945)
• Baby Bottleneck (1946)
• The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (1946)
• A Pest in the House (1947)
• Boobs in the Woods (1950)
• The Scarlet Pumpernickel (1950)
• Rabbit Fire (1951)
• Drip-Along Daffy (1951)
• Duck Amuck (1953)
• Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (1953)
• Robin Hood Daffy (1958)

Wish I included more, like Book Revue, Ali Baba Bunny, Daffy Duck Hunt, Fool Coverage, and Cracked Quack. But, at least a good number of my absolute favorite Daffy shorts made it in the collage, most notably the still-hilarious Duck Amuck.

The drawing of Daffy with a top hat and suit (from his appearance on Show Biz Bugs) was done FireAlpaca, and is actually an animation cel for a special video I’ve made, which will be uploaded on YouTube in May.

Speaking of Daffy Duck in Hollywood, the inclusion of the Warner Bros. shield makes a reference to the part where Daffy writes “Warner Bros.” in smoke, “giving the bosses a plug.” It’s also an allusion to the little gag in Space Jam where Daffy, self-described “proud property” of WB, has the logo branded on his butt and kisses it. Now, that’s what I call a kiss-up.

In the end, whether he’d be trying to screw up Porky’s day, attempting to take down enemies more powerful than he is, or failing to become the top dog over that wascally wabbit, Daffy will forever have his number of folks who do find him an amazing comedy star…but Bugs is still better. Sorry, Daff.

P.S.: One thing I did as an unintentional way of celebrating Daffy’s 80th birthday was picking up a rare Big Little Book from 1980 called Daffy Duck in “Twice in Trouble”. It’s a fine story, and I might review it in the future.

 

 

So…Nickelodeon Still Cares About “Pelswick”, I See

If there is one Nicktoon that I would label the biggest Butt Monkey of them all, it would undeniably be Pelswick, which celebrates the 16th anniversary of its CBC premiere this week (yeah, the show actually premiered in America on October 24, not the 5th). For those who aren’t familiar with this show (and I wouldn’t blame you if you aren’t), Pelswick was a Nicktoon produced by our good friends in Canada, Nelvana Studios. Based on the comics by the late paraplegic cartoonist John Callahan, it basically followed the anti-climatic life of a pubescent boy named Pelswick Eggert, who sits on a wheelchair for reasons that were never explained based on my research. The “hook” to the show’s premise that tries to make it less mundane is Pelswick having a goofy guardian angel voiced by Courteney Cox’s ex-husband, David Arquette. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to save the show from being a mediocre cartoon that is essentially Doug on a wheelchair. I know Doug itself was never among the most intriguing of the Nicktoons, but at least without it, we might not have greater slice-of-life shows such as Hey Arnold! or Arthur,. With Pelswick on the other hand, it was blatantly trying and failing to imitate the granddaddy of all Nicktoons. I swear, the bully in Pelswick, Boyd, is a poor man’s copy of Roger Klotz. Regardless of how bland the show is, I kinda feel sorry for it. Like As Told by Ginger, another neglected Nicktoon which debuted around the same time, one would argue that this show was ahead of its time. First off, how many other cartoons could you think of that has a disabled protagonist? I understand what John Callahan and the other people behind the show were getting across, but they just didn’t execute it in a very appealing way. Let TV Tropes explain:

Pelswick was unable to gain much of an audience due to taking too many risks at once. It had a paraplegic protagonist, which is a pretty big risk by itself, unfortunately, especially since it made the bold choice to have it not define his entire character. Then it was set in a Fantastic Comedy (the protagonist receives advice from a guardian angel only he can see), and some of the people who liked the reality aspect found the fantasy aspect confusing to the point they couldn’t enjoy it, as well as having an unconventional art style which some people find off-putting in and of itself. For good measure, the show employed mature humor about political correctness and then aimed the series at kids, complete with a far-from-subtle Aesop structure that older people were turned off by. All of this resulted in being cancelled after 26 episodes and not released on DVD with a handful of fans (Funimation wanting to focus more on My Dad the Rock Star certainly didn’t help matters).

–  Audience-Alienating Premise page

Yeah, about the art style, it’s…so-so to say the least. Granted, Mr. Callahan had no choice but to draw while holding the pencil with both hands. Then again, it shouldn’t excuse him completely. He could have told the Nelvana artists to refine his sketches to make them cuter. Well, maybe his crude art style was left intact as part of executing his message about disability.

Bottom-line, Pelswick might not be very exciting, based on the few episodes I’ve seen, but I have enough respect for its attempt to be revolutionary to give it a spot on my top 25 favorite Nicktoons list. Also, I currently prefer Pelswick over John’s other show, Quads, which is edgier, nastier, more faithful to his own dysfunctional life, and served as my introduction to his style when I was younger. But remember: opinions are likely to change.

Now for the main meat of this article regarding this show. Pelswick, of all early 2000s Nicktoons, has been announced to air on TeenNick’s late-night nostalgia block, The Splat, this month. This blew me away when I found out this is true. I thought it was impossible to happen anytime soon, because, even though Nickelodeon treated the show as an official Nicktoon during its run, they seemed to drop its existence down the trash can like a dirty diaper after 2005. They even neglected to include it in the heavy 2007 book, Not Just Cartoons: Nicktoons!, despite including another Nelvana series, Wayside, which was brand-new at the time (so Nick had the rights to it at that point). Then again, the reasons as to why Nick seems to hate Pelswick are understandable, as mentioned above. Also, unlike most of the other Nicktoons ever deemed as “official”, this show has its rights reserved to Nelvana Limited. In general, this whole Pelswick thing is bloody divisive. Regardless, though, this is more proof of how awesome The Splat is compared to its predecessor, The ’90s Are All That. Not only did they please me for giving As Told by Ginger some well-deserved love, but they’re even! Going! To! Air! KABLAM!!!! Proof:

In general, 2016 really is a redeemable year for Nickelodeon, isn’t it? Not only did we get The Loud House, a show that managed to become even more popular than SpongeBob (at least in ratings), but we were also treated to countless amazing occurrences done to celebrate the Nicktoons’ 25th anniversary. This includes giving acknowledgement to such obscure Nicktoons as Catscratch, Tak and the Power of Juju, and of course, KaBlam!.

Back onto Doug–I mean Pelswick, how does this decision to air it on The Splat make Nickelodeon a bunch of hypocrites? Back in June, when Nick Animation uploaded the As Told by Ginger intro on YouTube (which, of course, I was ecstatic about), a user named [thomasandmario7] asked in the comments section if they could upload Pelswick‘s intro. Nick answered:

No, it’s not a Nickelodeon Animation Studio production, so we don’t own the rights to it and it’s not part of our 25 Years celebration.

Really, Nick? Well, can you explain why you suddenly decided to broadcast the show through The Splat, even though you clearly stated that you wouldn’t do anything about the show during your 25th anniversary celebration because it’s not an actual Nick production? Look, it’s nice that you’re pleasing fans of the show for acknowledging it for the first time in over 10 years. And like I said, I was amazed myself that you guys actually have a soft spot left for Pelswick. However, I dislike how you betrayed your own statement for no public reason. What’s been going between you and Corus Entertainment, Nick? How and why were you able to get permission from Nelvana to let the show air again on one of your networks? Well, whatever the case may be…you sure gave us a damn good surprise!

Also, when I mentioned how Pelswick used to be an official Nicktoon, Nick answered back:

Nicktoons is used more for branding and promotion than to indicate which shows are by Nick Animation. So anything we’ve aired could be considered “an official Nicktoon” even though many of them are not created or produced at Nick Animation. Notice there’s no difference in the way The Loud House and Alvin and the Chipmunks are branded on air right now, even though we make The Loud House and Alvin is an acquisition.

Well, at least with this comment, Nick is giving us their definition on the term “Nicktoon”. Just like art as a whole, it’s something that’s both objective and subjective. It’s a fact that Ren & Stimpy is a Nicktoon, but it’s subjective to consider The Brothers Flub one. I don’t see it as a Nicktoon, not because it wasn’t produced by Nick’s in-house studio (instead, it was made by Sunbow Entertainment and Sony Wonder), but there doesn’t seem to be any promos calling it a Nicktoon. If there were, please share them with me, readers. Yeah, with me, I determine if a cartoon airing on the channel should be considered a Nicktoon in my opinion based on how its promoted, regardless of Nick still owning the rights or not. For example, I previously didn’t see Kappa Mikey or Random! Cartoons as official Nicktoons, because they were produced for Nicktoons Network, not the main Nickelodeon channel. Then, I got Not Just Cartoons: Nicktoons!, and my opinion changed from there. So, this official comment should gratify us all. If you want to call the French show Corneil and Bernie a Nicktoon, despite not airing on the main Nick channel, it all depends on your point of view. Just keep in mind that Nick was only involved distribution-wise, not production-wise.

Overall, even though they contradicted one of their YouTube comments, it really is awesome how Nick has proven that they do remember this oddity of Nicktoons history, and that they actually don’t hate it enough to completely obliterate it from its library. Let’s hope that other early 2000s Nicktoons, such as Jimmy Neutron, Invader Zim, ChalkZone, and My Life as a Teenage Robot, make it onto the Splat line-up as well. And let’s hope Nick still remembers Wayside, too.

Now, if you excuse me, I’ve got three better Nicktoons to wish a happy birthday to this month, Hey Arnold!, KaBlam!, and that one with the redhead (yeah, at this point, I feel so much embarrassment over my Ginger obsession last year that I sometimes hesitate to refer to the show by name)…

UPDATE (Dec. 4, 2016): Nickelodeon has realized that they said they weren’t going to do anything Pelswick-related for the #NickAnimation25 celebration, so they decided at the last minute NOT to have it air on The Splat this fall. Thus, Pelswick still remains the biggest Butt Monkey of all the Nicktoons. In happier news, The Splat has been showing ChalkZone, its birthplace Oh Yeah! Cartoons, and even Action League Now! (in standalone form)/ Once again, 2016 has proven to be such a redeemable year for Nick Animation.

BTW, I’m sorry for calling you hypocrites, Nick.

They’re Not Just Cartoons – They’re Revolutionary…and Nicktoons! #NickAnimation25

It’s not even what Nick needed. I felt like it’s what kids needed.

– Vanessa Coffey

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Out of all the animation anniversaries I’ve been anticipated to celebrate in 2016, the 25th anniversary of Nickelodeon starting their brand of groundbreaking, one-of-a-kind animated originals (specifically with the charmingly bland Doug, the surprisingly adorable Rugrats, and the hilariously messed-up Ren & Stimpy Show) is the biggest one, aside from the 15th anniversary of The Fairly OddParents, on my agenda. And of course, Nick themselves have been hyping up this milestone of renaissance animation history all year long, spreading the #NickAnimation25 like wildfire on all their social media accounts. Also, they’ve done at least two major conventions: “Happy Happy Joy Joy: 25 Years of Creator-Driven Animation” at the Begovich Gallery in Fullerton, and the similarly-titled “Happy Happy! Joy Joy!: 25 Years of Nickelodeon Original Animation” at San Diego Comic Con. They both presented artwork from past, present, and upcoming productions (particularly Butch Hartman’s Bunsen is a Beast!, and the most anticipated thing in Nickelodeon Animation history, Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie), and had special guest appearances from creators such as Butch, Stephen Hillenburg, Craig Bartlett, Arlene Klasky, Jim Jinkins, and Jhonen Vasquez, as well as Nickelodeon Animation Studio founding mother, Vanessa Coffey. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go to neither of the events, but at least I’m able to view a hefty amount of photos and videos for my enjoyment (although I’m still not too sure if there’s art from underrated gems As Told by Ginger and T.U.F.F. Puppy, especially the former, of course)

And coming soon, a sequel (sort of) to Jerry Beck’s addictive 2007 book Not Just Cartoons: Nicktoons! (which I’m going to review soon), titled You Can’t Do That on Television: The Rebellious History of Nickelodeon. I’m still waiting for the pre-order page, Amazon!

Now enough about what Nick has been doing to celebrate. This special article is focusing on briefly telling the long journey of creator-driven animation making its comeback, a speech about why Nicktoons are so meaningful to me, my list of my 25 favorite Nicktoons, and finally, my tiny celebratory video. Let’s get slimed! On second thought, just looking at how people get slimed on the Kids’ Choice Awards, it would be a real pain to clean it all up.

The History of Nick Animation Finding its Voice

I’m gonna borrow Mr. Peabody’s time machine so we can go as far back as 1988, when America met with an animation renaissance, which meant interest in the masterful, innovative animation of the Golden Age (from the ’30s to the ’60s) was brought back in a huge way, mainly thanks to  big-screen hits Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Little Mermaid. Also, on the small screen, that wacky, radioactively-colored family, The Simpsons, gave prime-time animation for adults a spot not seen since Wait Till Your Father Gets Home (yeah, I’m sure you didn’t remember Hanna-Barbera producing another sitcom after The Flintstones, didn’t you?). As for the kids’ stuff, there were still mostly shows adapted from toys, books, comics, celebrities, live-action productions, video games, long-existing characters, and even food (at least in the case of Disney’s Gummi Bears). However, America’s #1 channel for kids, Nickelodeon, would start an intense mission to end the mundanity of American TV cartoons, and restart the delightful trend of creating cartoons how the creators want, not the bigwigs in their spinning desk chairs.

Vanessa Coffey, a producer and vice president of Nickelodeon at the time (she also worked on future Nick franchise Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), thought the state of television animation for kids was garbage…or at least, it lacked the spark present in animation of earlier decades, especially during the prime of Warner Bros. Cartoons’ brilliant comedies of the 1940s and 1950s. As her quote at the top of this article implies, she knew that those type of cartoons derived from the animators’ artistic freedom permitted by their respective studios were the ones that kids deserved to be exposed to, not necessarily what Nick themselves need for self-gratification. It may be expensive, but it would turn out worth it in the end. Before Doug, Tommy, and Ren and Stimpy, Nickelodeon’s animation lineup was mainly acquired from foreign countries, whether it be from Britain (most notably Danger Mouse and Count Duckula, both produced by Cosgrove Hall Films) , or Canada (like Inspector Gadget). Any American cartoons they had were just reruns of stuff like classic Looney Tunes shorts (which are, as mentioned already, the inspiration for the Nicktoons to begin with).

Before the original three Nicktoons were pitched to the network, Vanessa commissioned a couple of holiday specials to test out her goal of reviving creator-driven animation. Christmas in Tattertown (1988) was done by…get ready for this…RALPH BAKSHI! Yes, the man who made X-rated classics like Fritz the Cat made an edgy, yet still family-friendly X-mas special. Then again, even though his adaptation of Mighty Mouse from 1987 was short-lived (thanks to the “sniffing” controversy), Bakshi already made a huge contribution to the animation renaissance. Not to mention, Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures helped boost the career of a certain persnickety Nickelodeon animator from Canada.

The other holiday special was called Nick’s Thanksgiving Fest (1989), which was more directly produced in-house by Nickelodeon themselves. It was an anthology with two creatively-titled segments: “Thanksgiving Nightmare” by Kevin Altieri, and “Thanksgiving Dreams” by Joe Pearson. In between, Joey Ahlbum (a guy remembered for his Sesame Street cartoons, and his dinosaur and fruit bumpers for Nickelodeon) gave us some simple skits that involved turkeys, rabbits, vegetarian hunters, astronauts,  and elephants working for peanuts by cramming cranberries into tin cans. Even though the special wasn’t seen as a huge game-changer by audiences when it aired, it obviously didn’t cancel the mission.

Around 1989-1990, Vanessa ordered at least eight pilots/contestants to compete for the title of Nickelodeon’s first original Nicktoons:

• Thunder Lizards (Joey Ahlbum again)
• Channel Zero (George Evelyn; I’d also like to note that even though the pilot is currently unavailable, we can still see the characters here)
• Weasel Patrol (based on a comic by Ken Macklin and Lela Dowling)
• Doug Can’t Dance (Jim Jinkins)
• The Crowville Chronicles (by Cosgrove Hall Films)
• Tommy Pickles and the Great White Thing (Klasky Csupo)
• Trash (also by Cosgrove Hall Films, though it’s stop-motion instead of 2D)
• Blg House Blues (John Kricfalusi)

If you have any knowledge of Nicktoons, you should have been able to guess which three charming pilots were the winners, and which five were the losers who bored the test audiences so much that they’d rather stare at a wall! I’m not kidding around!

I would like to thank Patricia Miranda from Old School Lane for providing me this little-known information about the early stages of developing Nick’s original animation, with her video “Why Nickelodeon’s Thanksgiving Fest was Historically Significant for the Channel?”.

The executives at Nickelodeon knew that Jim Jinkins, Arlene Klasky, Gabor Csupo, Paul Germain, and John Kricfalusi all had potential when it came to unleashing creativity to help building their creator-driven animation empire. Each of the original three had their own unique backstory. Jim (who actually worked with Nick when the network was known as Pinwheel in the late ’70s) based Doug Funnie on his own awkward pre-adolescence in Virginia, and he wanted to publish a book with the character called Doug Got a New Pair of Shoes, but every single publisher in New York rejected! Jeez, it’s as if Oscar the Grouch hypnotized everyone in the Big Apple to be as grouchy as he is! Eventually, after Jim animated Doug and Porkchop prototypes in grapefruit juice ads and a bumper for USA Network, Vanessa Coffey excitedly caught interest in Jim’s idea, and gave him the opportunity to start up his own studio in New York, Jumbo Pictures (you know, the one with the giant egg logo), to make the pilot.

Based in Hollywood, Klasky Csupo was already a very successful studio, given that they had The Simpsons under their wonky, Eastern European-influenced belt for three years. One day, when Arlene and Gabor were coming up with cartoon ideas for Sesame Street, they randomly wondered, if babies could talk, what would they say? Combine the characteristics of Arlene and Gabor’s own infant son, and the name of Paul Germain’s baby, and you got yourself Tommy Pickles! Peter Chung was hired to direct the HIDEOUS pilot, and Mark Mothersbaugh from Devo (and Pee-wee’s Playhouse, which launched the career of the creator of a certain football head) was brought over to composed the recognizable synthesized music. Then-Nick president Gerry Laybourne loved the pilot, so Rugrats was all set…except they realized the show would be much better if they gave Tommy and the twins some foils. Therefore, worrywart Chuckie and spoiled “princess” Angelica (based on a girl who bullied Paul) were born.

Moving on to my favorite of the three, The Ren & Stimpy Show, I’m gonna leave it to John K. himself to explain his creation’s origin:

I used to draw this retarded cat. He was somewhat influenced by the Bob Clampett cartoon called “A Gruesome Twosome”, which was a Tweety Bird cartoon. And it had these really cool-looking cats with big, bulbous noses, and it was a cartoon done in the mid-40s, but it was a throwback to ’30s cartoons when everybody had big, bulbous noses with a shine on them. I thought that was a really cool style. Around that same time, I found this postcard of a Chihuahua in a sweater. It’s a very funny picture, because there’s this psychotic-looking monster…in a cute sweater. And that, just right away, was a concept in my head that I thought was hilarious. I thought, what a great character that would make. So, I used to draw caricatures of this insane Chihuahua, and then I would do this Peter Lorre voice, and I’d act him out. “I’m here to murder your baby!” Joel Fanner [I think I spelled it right], who I worked with, he suggested one day, “Why don’t you put that Chihuahua character with your cat?” And I thought, “Okay! That’s a good idea.”

And “a good idea” it certainly was. I mean, what could poor John K. do, after he left Ralph Bakshi, and suffered the consequences of trying to reboot Bob Clampett’s Beany and Cecil? He’s been trying to sell Ren & Stimpy for nine years; thus, as he said himself, he and the entire animation industry was lucky when Nickelodeon announced their search for fresh artistry. Originally, Ren and Stimpy would have been sidekicks in a series called Your Gang, because Vanessa initially didn’t like the idea of a dog slapping a cat around as the main feature of an independent series. Thank God she soon changed her mind.

Okay, enough with the backstories. Time to sorta recreate the historic day in animation renaissance history. Nostalgia glasses required.

This cool, green painter was created by Doug Compton.

And as a bonus: 

You done reliving your childhood yet? If not, please finish, so that I can continue talking about Nicktoons. Thank you.

Back when they were fresh, the Nicktoons got their own set of collectible pins. Too bad none of them are in the Nick Box.

We can already figure out how Doug, Rugrats, and Ren & Stimpy, all successfully proved Nickelodeon’s worries concerning the expenses of producing original cartoons to be wrong. All three of them were very different from each other, and other cartoons produced at the time, and this is a case where it was a great thing. I can even go as far as to compare how these shows predicted a bright future for creator-driven animation to how Pixar’s shorts Luxo Jr. and Tin Toy opened the door to big possibilities for CGI. If John Lasseter could successfully ignore the naysayers, so could the people at Nick. And they did. Obviously.

Now I’ll just briefly go into how each of the original three were individually important to animation. Before Doug, the closest thing to a slice-of-life cartoon that kids (and older people) could easily relate to was the Peanuts specials (remember the one about the girl with cancer). Funny enough, Jim Jinkins was influenced by Peanuts. Despite the characters (except for Doug Funnie himself) having unusual colors that wouldn’t be out of place on a Muppet production, not to mention the silly soundtrack provided by Fred Newman (who also voiced Doug’s “black” friend Skeeter), Doug was beloved for being so grounded in reality for a cartoon (at that time). It dealt with such relatable topics as bullying, infatuation, weight gain, self-esteem, creating a cartoon that unexpectedly causes controversy, and, most importantly according to Jim, honesty. In short, if it weren’t for Doug, we wouldn’t have such just-as-amazing slice-of-life cartoons as Nick’s own Hey Arnold!, and best of all, PBS’s Arthur! Both are gonna be 20 this fall!

A fact about Doug I find interesting is that, during its 65-episode run on Nickelodeon (before Disney took over Jumbo), it won the Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite Cartoon, four years in a row! Now, I know Nick tends to let their own cartoons win every year (the last time a non-Nicktoon won was The Simpsons back in 2002, and that show isn’t even for kids at all!), but out of all the original three Nicktoons, why Doug? No offence to it, but kids are more likely to find the other two WAY more enjoyable than a rather mundane show about an average boy. Just a random thought.

Moving on to Rugrats, while it has always been pretty popular, it wasn’t until the time during production hiatus in 1994 (caused by Arlene Klasky was acting like a whiny grouch, and Paul Germain leaving over creative differences) when those “dumb babies” became one of the biggest phenomenons in the ’90s. And nobody would have thought such a simple, yet rather clever little show about babies would be possible to win the admiration of rival animation producer Steven Spielberg of all people! And speaking of Hollywood royalty, Tommy and the gang are currently the only Nicktoons to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, an achievement that not even SpongeBob has gotten yet! Not only that, but its movie in 1998 made over $100 million domestically, which is a first for an animated film not produced or distributed by Disney. However, critically-speaking, Rugrats in Paris did the best, while financially-speaking, Rugrats Go Wild did the worst. Either way, those babies have been Nick’s gold-laying geese throughout the mid-90s and the early 2000s. After having to let go of The Simpsons in 1992, the success of Rugrats made their parents (Klasky Csupo) more than happy. If it wasn’t for that show, Nick might not have given them more opportunities to make other great Nicktoons, such as Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, The Wild Thornberrys, and of course, As Told by Redhead! I mean Ginger. And don’t get me started on the spin-offs: All Grown Up! (based on a hugely successful 10th anniversary special from 2001), the four-episode miniseries Angelica and Susie’s Pre-School Daze (which nobody seems to remember/care about), and the direct-to-video Tales from the Crib (just fairy tales with Rugrats in ’em). In short, they’re all inferior to the classic. Rugrats lived a good life with 172 episodes, so there should be no need for a reboot.

I’d also like to note that Rugrats was the first animated series to have not one, but two holiday specials focusing on Judaism, “Passover” and “Chanukah”. Everybody loved them… except for Jewish groups who complained about Grandpa Boris’ design looking like an offensive, Jewish stereotype or something.

However, out of the three Nicktoons at the time, before Rugrats gained more popularity in the mid-90s, it was the outrageous Ren & Stimpy Show that sparked the most attention, and made just as big an impact on animation as any other Nicktoon…or any other ’90s cartoon, period. For this article, let’s not bother go into the drama between John K. and Nickelodeon, because this is already getting too damn long. With its gross-out gags, brutal slapstick, disturbing imagery, witty wordplay, questionable visual gags, adult references, and animation so deranged that it makes Tex Avery look sane, Ren and Stimpy were up there with Bart Simpson as one of the biggest delinquents in animation. They may not be considered good role models for kids, but they certainly are to a slew of other studios in the industry, such as Hanna-Barbera (2 Stupid Dogs and Cow and Chicken), Savage Studios (Eek! The Cat), hell even Disney (Shnookums & Meat)! Also, let’s not forget about Nickelodeon themselves! If it weren’t for that crazy Chihuahua and dumb cat, we might not have other outrageous shows like Rocko’s Modern Life, The Angry Beavers, CatDog, and of course, SpongeBob SquarePants! But you know what? Ren & Stimpy itself was influenced by the Warner Bros. cartoons of the 1940s, so really, if it weren’t for Porky, Daffy, Tweety, Sylvester, and Bugs, Ren & Stimpy might not exist. And Nicktoons in general wouldn’t exist either.

Well, that’s enough history. My God, it seems that I can’t keep it brief when it coming to talking about this type of stuff. Anyway…

What Do Nicktoons Means to Me?

You see this massive collage, which took me around four months to finish? The key ingredient to it is love 😍. Click for more info.

While they might not have been as big a part of my childhood as Big Bird and the gang, Bugs and the gang, or Arthur and the gang, Nickelodeon’s groundbreaking lineup of amazing animated series has always been there to make me feel good. Although, since I’m a Canadian, I can only experience the Nickelodeon magic through channels like YTV, Treehouse TV, and later on, Nick Canada. Plus, Nick’s website used to be available to me…before it started to redirect me to YTV’s website. Man, I miss playing all those CatDog games.

Now, I have to admit that, when I was very young, my experience with Nickelodeon Animation was mostly limited to the Nick Jr. shows. I loved me some Blue’s Clues, Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go!, and The Backyardigans! There’s also Little Bear, but that was mainly a Nelvana production. As for the actual Nicktoons, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Fairly OddParents, Rugrats (even though I watched the movies just as much as the show), and CatDog have always been the most interesting to me, but SpongeBob and FOP, the two most popular of the 2000s, have always been the ones I watched the most. They were just so funny, exciting, and creative that it’s delightfully reasonable to see them as “top 10 great” when it comes to cartoons. It’s that simple.

Later, I started to developed interest in other great Nicktoons, even if I didn’t watched them as often as my top two. After watching the otherwise panned movie on VHS in 2007, I was craving Hey Arnold!. Then, in 2009, by the time Nickelodeon Canada launched in November, I got an opportunity to experience the hilarious ingeniousness of Rocko’s Modern Life and The Angry Beavers. Since KaBlam! is extinct from airing on TV, I had to go on RetroJunk and YouTube to get into it. As for Ren & Stimpy, I had vague memories of watching it on Teletoon, and I used to think Ren was a rabbit. It wasn’t until I started binge-watching it on Netflix in 2011 when I’ve since became absolutely obsessed with this laugh-out-loud-hilarious show. Also in 2011, I gave the Canadian Nicktoon Wayside a chance, and instantly became obsessed with that offbeat show as well. Then, a few months later, I started getting attached to Butch Hartman’s third Nicktoon, T.U.F.F. Puppy, which I still find to be better than the overrated Danny Phantom. Also, there are a few cases, such as Sanjay and Craig and The Loud House, where I felt anticipated for the show before it officially comes out.

Then came the years 2014 and 2015, when my love for Nickelodeon Animation suddenly escalated to very obsessive levels, to the point where I had an epiphany that said, “These guys are the studio I must work for in Hollywood!”. October 2014 was when I made one of the best decisions of my life as a cartoon lover: become a fan of the underappreciated Klasky Csupo gem, As Told by Ginger! More on that on my Ginger blog. Soon after, I pursued my goal of giving chances to Avatar: The Last Airbender, Invader Zim, Doug, Pelswick, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, My Life as a Teenage Robot, The Wild Thornberrys, Oh Yeah! Cartoons (besides the FOP shorts), Danny Phantom,  Jimmy Neutron (other than the movie), Catscratch, and surprisingly enough, All Grown Up!. The first two mentioned are the ones I had the most luck with. Wow! That’s a total 12 Nicktoons I started to like in one year. And I still got a couple more to go, like El Tigre.

Oh, and on a sudden note, even though I don’t normally label it a Nicktoon, I loved to watch the puppet show Mr. Meaty on Saturday mornings on CBC. Now? I’m more indifferent towards that creepy thing than that other CBC/Nickelodeon co-production, Pelswick.

Between late 2014 and early 2015, I’ve became obsessed with Nicktoons more than ever before. My appreciation for the things that makes each of them good started taking over a hefty amount of space in my heart. I shared my first real list of favorite Nicktoons, a cheaply-animated short of my favorite characters dancing to an outdated song, a long PDF article saluting my favorite Nicktoons (which is now outdated as well), an article talking about why I want to work for Nickelodeon, and best of all, the most epic slideshow I’ve ever done at the time! All of these things and more are done with honest passion.

So you see, the Nicktoons mean a lot to me, on the same levels as Looney Tunes. Like every other cartoon I love, SpongeBob and the others make me feel like I’m wisely spending my time with these adorable examples of escapism. Whether I’m grinning at SpongeBob, Patrick, and Stimpy being idiots, feeling sincere sympathy for Ginger, getting playfully annoyed by the Rugrats’ naivety, getting angry at Timmy’s parents being neglectful nitwits, left stunned by Aang’s action scenes, or confused about CatDog’s anatomy, Nick always know how to get a reaction from me. Now, in case you don’t know, the biggest reason why I respect Nickelodeon Animation on the same veins as Disney and Warner Bros., and why I would love to work for them, is because their motto is “Kid-inspired, creator-driven.” The epiphany I mentioned earlier told me that Nick is always hungry for fresh talent, stuff they’ve never seen before. While it’s kinda mandatory for the network to request some little alterations to your concept, they still encourage you to do the show your way. Essentially speaking. That’s what I like, man! I already have a collection of original cartoon characters that I label “BerryToons”. Nickelodeon Animation would be a perfect environment for them. If I can’t make a show for all of my ideas, then I’ll just produce an anthology, a la Oh Yeah! Cartoons or KaBlam!. Oh my God! So much possibilities boiling in my head!

In conclusion, I am more than blessed about the existence of Nickelodeon and their Nicktoons. Thank you to all the talented creators, producers, writers, artists, executives, voice actors, and security guards for all the hard work they’ve done to successfully make the Nickelodeon network a bigger household name than ever before. And it all started with an insecure 11-year-old, a group of curious babies, and a pair of insane, polar opposites.

A sketch I’ve made of some of my favorite Nicktoon creators.

My Top 25 Favorite Nicktoons

Now for the 25 Nickelodeon cartoons that I enjoy and take influence from the most, represented by custom fan art done by yours truly. Please note that this list might be updated someday. Hopefully not too soon. Since my fingers and brain are getting tired, I’ll wait ’til another day to write out my brief opinion on all of them. Here they are anyway:

#25: Harvey Beaks (2015-)

#24: The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius (2002-2006)

#23: Pelswick (2000-2002)

#22: Doug (1991-1994)

#21: My Life as a Teenage Robot (2003-2005)

#20: Danny Phantom (2004-2007)

#19: Aaahh!!! Real Monsters (1994-1997)

#18: Oh Yeah! Cartoons (1998-2001)

#17: The Wild Thornberrys (1998-2004)

#16: Invader Zim (2001-2006)

#15: Sanjay and Craig (2013-)

#14: KaBlam!/Action League Now! (1996-2000)

Don’t worry, folks. The Flesh is only an anatomically-inaccurate doll. And he likes to be naked all the time.

#13: The Angry Beavers (1997-2001)

#12: The Loud House (2016-)

#11: Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-2008)

#10: Rocko’s Modern Life (1993-1996)

#9: Hey Arnold! (1996-2004)

#8: Rugrats (1991-2004)

#7: Wayside (2007-2008)

#6: T.U.F.F. Puppy (2010-2015)

And now for my absolute favorites…

#5: CatDog (1998-2005)

#4: As Told by Ginger (2000-2004)

#3: The Ren & Stimpy Show (1991-1995)

#2: The Fairly OddParents (2001-)

#1: SpongeBob SquarePants (1999-)

Now, to end this long article off, here’s my short and sweet video tribute: 

That’s all folks! And if any of you reading this article watched the first three Nicktoons when they debuted on that historic Sunday morning, may God bless you!

For More Gooey Nick Animation Fun

• Nickelodeon Animation Studio’s website.
• The Splat.
• Listen to the Nick Animation Podcast.
• Read the five-part “Oral History of Nicktoons” on Entertainment Weekly.
• A YouTube playlist I made.
• Their Twitter.
• Their Tumblr.
• The Nick Box

 

 

Tod and Cooper’s Friendship Turns 35!

 

They used to be friends…

…now they’re at war!

Another underrated Disney movie is celebrating its anniversary this month. Today, it’s the 35th anniversary of one of my long-time favorites from my childhood (for 10 years to be exact), The Fox and the Hound. Tod and Copper went from being the best of friends, to the worst of enemies in a several-year-span. On one hand, it’s sad; but on the other hand, it’s just the animals’ instincts naturally growing along with them. Overall, The Fox and the Hound is a cute but rather depressing movie with the only amount of light being provided by those two birds, Dinky and Boomer, trying to catch that caterpillar. Plus, there’s an awesome black bear fight, courtesy of Glen Keane! A scene that was undeniably ripped off by Balto, 14 years later.

Well, I’m sure it would all look like My Little Pony compared to The Plague Dogs. I haven’t seen it yet, but I read about how it is one of the most depressing things in the history of Western animation.

Of course, since Disney doesn’t want their audience to be totally upset, they didn’t let Chief get killed off, like in the original novel by Daniel P. Mannix. So, this adaptation garnered mixed reactions from people who read and love the novel.

Now for some behind-the-scenes facts! This is the last Disney production Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, John Pomeroy (who eventually returned to work on Pocahontas), and nine other animators worked on, before leaving to start up Don Bluth’s studio to beat Disney to a pulp! Traitors! Fortunately, after three years of losing to Bluth at the box office, Disney gave him a taste of his own medicine in 1989, when a certain undersea film came out, and knocked out Charlie the dog!

Back to The Fox and the Hound, not only it was a moderate success with critics and the box office (during the dark age of Disney, which began after Walt’s death), but it’s also notable for boosting the careers of a whole lot of people who became major contributors to the Renaissance era and beyond. These include:

• John Lasseter (one of Pixar’s founding fathers, and creator of Toy Story)
• John Musker and Ron Clements (directors of The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and The Great Mouse Detective)
• Andreas Deja (supervising animator of Jafar, Scar, Gaston, and Hercules)
• Tim Burton (some guy into horror, surrealism, and Danny Elfman’s music)
• Glen Keane (supervising animator of Ariel, Aladdin, the Beast, Pocahontas, Tarzan, and Rapunzel)
• Brad Bird (creator of Family Dog, director of Warner Bros.’ Iron Giant, and Pixar’s The Incredibles and Ratatouille, and a fan of the code A113)
• Randy Cartwright (animator of Aladdin’s Carpet)
• Chris Buck (co-director of Frozen and Tarzan)
• Henry Selick (director of The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, and Coraline)
• Mark Dindal (director of The Emperor’s New Groove, Cats Don’t Dance, and the god-awful Chicken Little)
• Mark Henn (supervising animator for Belle, Jasmine, Mulan, Tiana, and Basil of Baker Street)

And, to me, the strangest one of them all is Guy Vasilovich, creator of Moville Mysteries, a Nelvana show so hideous that it makes Duckman look like Sleeping Beauty (and you know how Duckman loves to sleep with beauties 😉)!
If you’re a huge animation buff like myself, that list should be like an A-list to you! Not to mention, The Fox and the Hound is the last production where Disney’s Nine Old Men, such as Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, had major involvement in.
So in the end, The Fox and the Hound may be more popular than Basil of Baker Street, but people still overlook it. I understand, since, like I said, it’s not a very cheery film compared to, say, The Jungle Book. Well, here’s some oddball advice for you: if you see a DVD of The Fox and the Hound 2, SMASH IT WITH A RAW WHOLE CHICKEN!!! And wash your hands afterwards.

Best of friends or not, Tod and Copper are still MUCH better than a certain pair of ugly girls on Nickelodeon. And no, I’m not talking about Sam and Cat.

Oh, I almost forgot. The co-director of this movie, Richard Rich, went on to make garbage, a.k.a. The Swan Princess and Alpha and Omega.

 

Nelvana: Animating Canadian Childhoods for 45 Years!

Say, that’s a pretty neat title I just came up with. It should be used for a coffee-table book or something.

Happy Canada Day, everyone! This is a time for animation fans to praise the likes of Norman McLaren, Richard Condle, Cordell Barker, Danny Antonucci, Richard Williams, and the insanely persnickety John Kricfalusi for being born in the Great White North to shake up the animation industry with their edginess, imagination, and creative talent! But today, I’m briefly praising an entire animation studio! One that has played as big of a part of my childhood as Nickelodeon Animation Studio! I would like to call this studio the Disney of Canada, not only because it’s the biggest animation studio of its own home country, but also because a majority of their famous productions tend to be adaptations of existing properties, whether it be children’s books, toys, video games, or an Oscar-winning short.

IT’S NELVANA! Down below is a mini logo history.

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Born in Toronto, Nelvana Limited all started back in 1971, June 23rd. Michael Hirsh and Patrick Loubert had just graduated from York University, so they decided that establishing an animation studio would a fun way to spend the rest of their lives. When they teamed up with British animator Clive A. Smith, the three of them started to work on a series of animated/live-action shorts called Small Star Cinema for CBC.

Fun fact: the studio was named after a Canadian comic book heroine named Nelvana of the Northern Lights, because Michael, Patrick, and Clive had a fascination with Canadian comics that are now obscure as hell. But it wasn’t until 1978 when the polar bear was first adopted to be their mascot, instead of Nelvana of the Northern Lights. Well, considering how obscure that heroine is, I doubt that a lot of people would mistake the studio for her. It’s probably be the other way around.

In 1977, they began their string of animated specials, including A Cosmic Christmas, The Devil and Daniel Mouse, Easter Fever, Romie-0 and Julie-8, and Take Me Up to the Ball Game. So far, I’ve only seen the second one. Eventually, Nelvana caught the attention of a certain director of a certain movie about a certain galaxy far, far away. Yes, George Lucas loved Nelvana! If you were strong enough to actually remember the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special, you might remember those weird animated segments in the middle. That was Nelvana’s doing. They also made the animated series Droids and Ewoks based on Star Wars, from 1985 to 1986.

However, Nelvana’s rise to fame came when they made a deal with American Greetings to produce a feature length film based on the diabetically adorable Care Bear plushies, as well as a few specials based on Strawberry Shortcake. In 1985, The Care Bears Movie proved to be so successful that it infamously beat Disney’s attempt at finding their darker side with The Black Cauldron. On one hand, it’s hilarious; on the other hand, it’s sad and embarrassing. Either way, it’s thanks to the Care Bears why Nelvana is even still alive to this day. After suffering the failure of their first movie, Rock & Rule, the people at Nelvana must have been grateful.

And the rest is history for you to find out on your own time, either through Wikipedia, or the 2001 book The Nelvana Story: Thirty Animated Years, which was coincidentally released on the same day as Braceface.

And now, time for the highlight of this post!

Made with Pixlr Editor on June 23, 2016, Nelvana’s 45th birthday.

This massive, colorful collage, containing exactly 69 Nelvana productions, should be enough to illustrate my strong admiration for them, and how much they mean to me as a Canadian animation aficionado. Recognize any of your favorites? I apologize if they are any I missed. I didn’t want to be biased by only including shows that I either admire or formerly admire. The collage went far enough to include stuff that I either show indifference towards (such as Cyberchase and Pelswick), or haven’t seen at all yet (like A Cosmic Christmas and Fievel’s American Tails).

Whenever I can, I’ll update this post with a list of the cartoons included in the collage in chronological order, as well as my short opinions on the ones I’ve actually seen.

Thanks very much to Michael, Patrick, and Clive, for all the work they’ve done to keep the animation industry in Canada alive for all these decades. However, let’s not forget that Nelvana not only covers for Canada, but for the whole globe as well.

Sharon Spitz’ Sweet 15!

This blog is still alive! Joy!

Another anniversary of a favorite cartoon falls on Throwback Thursday today! This time, it’s 15-year-old Braceface, my biggest Nelvana obsession since Wayside! Although I caught some interest in this show back in summer 2013, it wasn’t until February 2014 when I became a true fan, obsessively watching every episode on demand.

For those who forgot what Braceface was, it was a show set in Canada about a 13-14-year-old girl named Sharon Spitz who gets a pair of braces that make her budding adolescence even more frustrating than it already was. However, I must admit that, by the time the gang went up to high school, Sharon’s braces became less of a focal point in the stories.

Call this show a mediocre waste of paper if you want, but I honestly find it to be one of the greatest and most underrated Canadian cartoons of all time. Alongside another Teletoon classic, What About Mimi?, it’s essentially the As Told by Ginger of Canada (albeit less ugly). In fact, I revealed on my “Ginger Snaps” blog a year ago that Braceface was the show that inspired me to give Ginger a try. And I ended up loving that show even more! At one point, I was so obsessed with Ginger that it felt like committing adultery if I looked at Braceface again. Silly me!

However, I am jealous of Braceface retaining its spot on Amazon, while the ugly one got the boot.

But let me tell what Braceface did that not even As Told by Ginger dared to look into: one episode talked about the dangers of adult sites!  Holy frig! Canada sure has some loose censorship, doesn’t it? Also, I was amazed that this kids’ cartoon was able to portray confirmed homosexuality in a respectable manner. I’m referring to the season three episode where Sharon tries to play matchmaker for her gay fashion designer friend Dion. I’m not kidding! That is awesome! And we’ve yet to see the day where Courtney Gripling comes out of the closet!

Oh, and another episode had Sharon become a victim of underaged intoxication! Holy crap!

Then, there is an episode where Sharon’s grandfather comes over, and acts like a G-rated version of Hank’s dad from King of the Hill. In other words, he was acting like a racist! Don’t you just love when cartoons aimed at kids and young teens have more maturity when it comes to dealing with controversial topics than certain adult cartoons out there?!

So in conclusion, Braceface is a well-done slice-of-life cartoon for teenagers that rivals As Told by Ginger with its balls to push the boundaries of presenting relatable storylines in such a down-to-earth way. I’ve yet to write a full post on “Ginger Snaps” comparing these two great shows.

I don’t care if she has braces on; Sharon is so beautiful… even if she can be an annoying, egotistical, rebellious, stubborn, mouthy, whiny brat a lot of times.

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