The Cartoon Couch Potato

Two Years Later

2010-01-01T19:03:00.004-05:00

2009 just flew by, didn’t it? Did I accomplish much starting from my first post at the beginning of last year? Nope, not as much as I’d like. 2008 was like 2009, except I was even more preoccupied with other things in 2009 and made hardly any posts. I hate myself that I can’t get to this place more often. As I have stated before, there are always so many things on my mind to write about, but no time to focus. I’m nowhere near where I want to be in this project, and I really thought I’d be farther ahead by now when I started two years ago. Not a blogging superstar mind you, but I’m not getting the traffic I hoped for. I know I have no one else to blame but myself.

I have thought several times just to give up and shut down, but I still think I have a lot of valid points about a lot of things, subjects that other animation related blogs aren’t covering. I wouldn’t want to throw away all that effort, but me being extra slow with my postings doesn’t help any. 2010 already isn’t looking much different with the amount of free time I have to spare.

I’m ticked I haven’t gotten more done, because at this rate I’ll still have material to cover ten years from now, and I’d like to keep up more on current news. I really need to get back to reviewing Disney cartoons as well (on hiatus now for a year). I’m not the same person as when I started this endeavor, so I sincerely hope that part of me that still wanted to write about cartoons is alive because it is going to be harder to write like I wanted to write many years ago, when I had several ideas. I just get so depressed that I can’t get them out, and the traffic isn’t great, so why bother? Is anyone listening? Well if you read this post, I know you are. Hopefully 2010 will be a better year. Third time is the charm, after all.

Damn Format Wars

2009-12-20T17:04:00.005-05:00

Fuck Blu-ray. There, I said it; I said what some people think.

Format wars are nothing new in the world of entertainment and electronics. Beta vs. VHS, VHS vs. DVD, DVD vs. HD DVD, and so forth. So in actuality, I shouldn’t be angry at all about Blu-ray, but I am.

Every format improves on the one before it. The biggest change in this decade was the move from VHS and VCR’s to DVD’s and their players. Not even the best VHS or S-VHS tapes and machines could playback as clear and as vividly as the cheapest DVD and the most economic model of players. The 2000’s can be looked at as the DVD collector’s generation. Before this, yes you could buy VHS box-sets of your favourite shows, but DVD’s were so much better not only in picture and sound, but in storage capabilities as well – more room to fit more media, smaller in size than a VHS tape and easier to store. This decade saw a great deal of people turn the cable television off, and load up on season after season of their favourite shows to watch what they want when they want. During this time, thousands of animated movies and television shows were released. And of course because it’s on DVD, it has great clear picture and sound over your old VHS tapes, plus some may even stack bonus features and such. So like a consumer sucker, I bet you re-bought all of your old Disney and other movies on DVD, right? Thinking it would be the last time you’d have to replace all your favourite titles. And perhaps you bought a lot of television cartoons available for the first time on DVD, never thinking something else would come along and replace the format. Because DVD’s were so good, right?

Wrong. Blu-ray and the entire flat screen TV movement burst down the door, putting your DVD’s to shame and giving you even better picture and stronger more cleaner sound and even more storage capacity. This is where I have a problem. It seems like DVD’s weren’t even out that long before this new disc came to retail. When you go shopping, either for Christmas or on Boxing Day/Black Friday, it’s impossible not to notice the mass amounts of DVD product out there at stores like Best Buy, Future Shop, Wal-Mart, HMV, etc. So many titles…how is every single one going to get re-released on Blu-ray in the coming years? The answer is, some will not. Much like how there are still lone VHS movies and such that never got a DVD treatment, the same will be for DVD’s many years down the road that won’t see a Blu-ray release.

For those titles that do get re-released on Blu-ray, you’re getting boned if you want to re-purchase everything. Remember that the seller of a product, at the end of the day, only wants your money. Your hard earned dollars you slaved away for. As a “re-buyer”, you will pay out of your butt to get all of those old DVD titles on Blu-ray again, because they look 1000 times better on your new big flat screen television that will also be outdated in a couple years. You now look back on how much you paid for your DVD’s brand new, and how you lost money. This format change could be good for people content with their DVD’s. As titles that have been out for several years get older, and warehouses are stacked with crates of unsold and aging product, you can see prices finally drop. I recently discovered the Animaniacs collection of full season DVD’s released from 2006-2007 finally drop in price from an average of $45-55 CDN to $18-28 CDN. Why? It’s an aging title, everyone who wanted it owns it already, and corporations want to sell off their stock to make way for new products.

I guess I shouldn’t be cross at Blu-ray because unlike VHS vs. DVD, we are just dealing with plastic disc vs. plastic disc, not a bulky old cartridge more prone to wear vs. plastic disc. There is hope for backwards compatibility for DVD and Blu-ray. Where I do get ticked, however, is that a lot of animated titles don’t really benefit from the advancements Blu-ray offers. For your big budget 3-D CGI animated features released in the last ten years, yes I’m sure it makes a difference. But for older 2-D movies that were already put through the remastering ringer for a DVD release, how much more can you possibly squeeze out of an older film before you start to make it look like something it was never supposed to look like? Older television cartoons have nothing to gain by getting released on Blu-ray – the DVD medium is good enough for them. DVD provides what VHS lacked, and that should be good enough…we hope.

In the end we all seem to be victims of the fast movement of technology, and companies that want us to buy their products. They could re-package some old television cartoons on Blu-ray to make them look cooler, when in fact they looked fine on the DVD release. If they don’t re-release them, you are left with a DVD copy. And depending on the life span of the DVD market, you could very well find yourself without a DVD player many years down the road. Unlikely, sure, but you have to adapt or die in this environment. You have to keep re-buying what you bought so you can always have a fresh product and player to play it on. One reason why some people, like myself, have started stacking up on VCR’s – they are dead technology but still have a dedicated following. The key to “winning” this fight is to wait many years until a title you want becomes old, and buy it on sale/clearance, but buy before the format is at the end of its life cycle. Sure all your friends bought and enjoyed it years ago, but they paid a lot more money. Being patient will save you precious dollars in the end, moreover if you buy a lot of DVD’s. Heh, and if you’re not happy with that, go online and download a torrent and burn your own format! For only the cost of blank discs!

Blu-ray thinks it is king of the block for now, but you and I know someone else is coming to knock him off the boulevard soon enough. It’s happened before, it will happen again.

Avenue Q

2009-11-24T23:17:00.007-05:00

Grow up on Sesame Street reruns? Ever wonder what it would be like to put puppets from a show like that in adult situations? Then I’ve got a ticket to a Broadway show that you, my friend, should be seeing…spoilers may follow.

I just came back from seeing a local production of Avenue Q that was presented at The Center In The Square. This musical is friggin’ awesome, I loved the numbers. I was completely satisfied with it and the ending was perfect, in my opinion. No happy ending, just a “for now” ending…it’s a grown up Sesame Street, and to be linked to that and make it for older audiences is a great combo. This is my first time seeing a musical live, and I don’t partake in theatre often – I may just watch more stage productions if they were done by puppets/muppets. It would make it much more appealing for me after seeing Avenue Q.

The cast for this version all sang and acted well, and I really have to give them props for their double acting. Not only do they have to “act” themselves, the people hosting puppets with their arms also have to “act” for the puppet. It’s a weird mix because as the viewer you’re sometimes not sure who to watch, however it’s a joy to watch how they move around the stage with their puppet so flawlessly as if they were on set recording an episode of a kids show. The person who played the character of Christmas Eve was over the top in this production, making good on the “rrrrrr”’s, and the person playing Kate Monster (as well as Eve) had excellent singing voices, moreover at high pitches. I have to say what really impressed me though overall about Avenue Q was the production. The set was well built and efficient as all scenes worked perfectly with changes, and the nightmare “propose” scene was nuts! The use of televisions to display other visuals was a creative move. I could not believe at one point the cast ran off the stage to ask for money, some guy in the audience threw in five bucks. And that one scene…well, it put Team America’s version of “puppet love” to shame!

I’d say the only distraction is the whole humans talking to “human puppets” who also talk to “monster puppets”. I tried to focus on the puppets alone but the actors are doing their part as well. I recommend going to see Avenue Q if it’s playing near you, and hopefully your cast does as good as a job as ours did. I think I’ll pick up the cast recording.

Teletoon At Night

2009-10-28T21:20:00.002-04:00

What the hell, Teletoon? I mean no disrespect, but seriously – why change the long standing name of your adult block from The Detour to this horribly lame title? Teletoon…at night? It’s bland, and so are the shows airing in the block. Remember when Teletoon showed satisfying “adult” cartoons several years ago, and not just the same stuff everyone else aired? The set of shows they consider “adult” these days is dismal, they are too tame to really be considered anything more than the average “cartoon for an older audience” stuff you’d see in usual primetime hours on Fox or Global. This line-up runs Monday to Friday:

9pm – Futurama
9:30pm – King Of The Hill
10pm – American Dad
10:30pm – Futurama
11pm – Robot Chicken
11:30pm – King Of The Hill
12am – American Dad
12:30am – Futurama
1am – King Of The Hill
1:30am – American Dad
2am – The Critic
2:30am – Tripping The Rift
3am – Sons Of Butcher

Several things are wrong with this line-up. First off, the shows. Futurama: already aired on YTV (recently no longer does). King Of The Hill: already aired on The Comedy Network (recently no longer does), and still airs on Omni2. American Dad: still gets a fair bit of airplay on Fox. All three of these shows have been seen a million times over by the public, and all have widespread DVD releases by seasons, and lots of downloads floating around the Internet. These shows are popular and will be in rotation in some form or another for years on television and in your DVD player. Why not air something that’s unique alongside Robot Chicken? Something that has a hard to find, or no, DVD release perhaps? Your best offerings here get airplay nowhere else but on your network these days: The Critic, Tripping The Rift, Sons Of Butcher…are in a timeslot where most are sleeping the night away.

Secondly is the repetitiveness. It would be passable if each triple serving of the shows mentioned above were different episodes each time (lord knows each have enough episodes), but they aren’t! Watch the King Of The Hill episode in the 11:30pm timeslot, and it will be the same episode airing at 9pm the next day. I hate it when networks do this, because I have to pick and choose when the best time is to watch the show, so I don’t run into repeats the next day. If you watch a lot of Teletoon and are a teen/adult, chances are you’ll be watching at 9pm till maybe just after midnight – which means you get a double shot of three already overplayed shows. I don’t understand the reasoning behind this – this isn’t an “adult” block by any stretch. It’s a pitiful primetime party, leaving people that want to watch something a little more entertaining to stay up at least to watch The Critic. And that is the third thing I cannot stress enough – an “adult” block on an “all animation” network should offer things I can’t view anywhere else, and the content should be up for people over 18 years of age. Is that really asking too much, Teletoon? Believe or not, Canada is full of teens, 20somethings and 30somethings and beyond that are craving for something more, and are currently starving on the scraps you offer – what you consider to be adult animation.

And after all is said and done…The Detour itself…still exists. On weekends at least. It’s puzzling to have two adult blocks on one network. A topic I’ll cover another time.

He’s Dead…Chowder’s Dead

2009-09-29T22:15:00.012-04:00

And so goes the lifespan of an animated series.

It seems just like yesterday I ranted about Chowder, which was getting glowing reviews from the cartoon viewing populace when it premiered in 2007. A fresh, upbeat show for Cartoon Network. It was a hit among viewers in the US, despite getting a good shaft on Canadian television airwaves. When it did finally land on Teletoon a year later in the fall of 2008, it was only airing Saturday mornings at 11am and Sunday mornings at 5:30 in the morning. It never had a chance to gain a fanbase here at all with a weekly timeslot, and currently only airs here Saturdays at 6:30am. That’s pathetic, to say the least – Teletoon has garbage cartoons scattered in their line-up, and they take a show as creative as this and shove it where no one is looking.

From what I can tell, Chowder is a victim of two things – starting strong and bad timing. When the show premiered, it premiered with a lot of buzz and started off strong, and did very well for Cartoon Network initially. The problem with starting off with such a perfect formula, is where do you go if you start at the top of your game? I haven’t had the chance to watch much Chowder due to when it airs here, and my lack of time to find new episode downloads online, but from what I can gather the show seemed to suffer from repetitiveness and characters personalities straying farther away from their original traits as episodes progressed. If I ever get a chance to sit through the series I could be wrong, but sometimes writers can run dry on good ideas quickly if they use their entire arsenal early on to fire shot after shot of good episodes in a short time.

While this is aging news, and a topic I still plan to cover, Cartoon Network changed their branding to include live-action programming earlier this year, a move that has baffled most viewers and long time fans of the network. Chowder is just coming up on being two years old, however it was already stated on creator C. H. Greenblatt’s blog in May 2009 that they were working on the final Chowder episode. It was stated here that the voice cast recorded their lines for the final episode. While people were hoping the series would get picked up again, things of this nature rarely happen in the animation industry, save for Family Guy. It was pretty much confirmed a month later on Greenblatt’s blog that Chowder had no place in the network’s future. I don’t get Cartoon Network here in Canada, but I hope at least the series is getting promoted well enough there, that the second season gets some positive ratings. I always thought a crossover episode with Chowder and the characters from The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack would have been great, but that will never come to be.

Yes, fans can be angry at Cartoon Network for canning such a good show, only to promote live-action crap no one wants. But in a way, perhaps Chowder ending now is all for the best (?). Most cartoons air for many years to achieve the laughs Chowder got in its short run – isn’t it better for it to end now instead of being dragged out for years and years? Hopefully Cartoon Network doesn’t take forever in airing new episodes. It should also be noted that it’s a rarity when an animated series has a proper ending episode. From what I can tell from Greenblatt’s notes on what the last episode is about, I’m sure the last serving of Chowder will provide you a warming impression that will leave you with a satisfied feeling of a belly that is full.

I Wish I Could Stop Time

2009-08-31T20:15:00.005-04:00

Forgive me, readers of this blog, for I know there are a few out there. I’ve been in a real funk lately about many things, and no surprise, have been kept busy and away from posting here as much as I’d like to. I can barley make a post each month, which is horrible as I just can’t collect my thoughts properly to make a good entry – no time. As I sit back and watch 2009 roll on, all I see is change (online and in real life) and many things never being the same again as they were as we enter a fresh decade.

Firstly, is the progression of Flash in websites and the constant revamping of many websites that didn’t need revamping at all; I wish things could be kept simpler, but some douche always thinks they can make something better even though the original concept is fine. I won’t go into details about each, but I hate how Hotmail changed its interface last year. AutoTrader.ca is worse to navigate and pictures don’t always load now as they use a Flash system to display them. Ebay has updated their viewer for pictures too, along with their layout, and I don’t like it. Flickr had a great browsing layout before, where I would see usernames and dates of pictures posted foremost. Now they have a newer Flash based way of going through search results with tiny thumbnails. The worst of all is the new YouTube channel layout – keep it simple, stupid! The older one was far easier to get through, and the newer one is just unnecessary and in my opinion, a real pain in the ass.

Secondly, is the deterioration of television animation and its networks over the past couple years; 2009 proving to be the worst year yet thus far in North America. This is a subject I’ve been meaning to get to for a long time, but its going to be an extensive rant. Saturday morning cartoons are non-existent now, long standing networks like Cartoon Network recently changed their format to include live-action programming, Flash cartoons domineer the landscape and offer cheap entertainment on a small budget. We have lost the art of character design, proper looking backgrounds, and even good sounding opening themes and scores. I have a strong feeling television animation is headed for the dark and dismal place it once crept from during the 1970s on through till the mid 1980s. Of course, I’m not a kid anymore, and it could just be me on the old “things were better back in my day” kick. But when you really sit back and take a look at the picture as a whole…things were better back in the day. Things, at least in Canada, were better even five years ago. Even animation here has sloped down a slippery path of disappointment, manufacturing shows that are instantly forgettable. The networks that air these cartoons have followed suit – if I had the power to make a new 24-hour channel dedicated to animation here, I would. Because Teletoon sure isn’t what it used to be, and that is a sad fact.

GeoCities Is No More

2009-07-31T23:21:00.005-04:00

Well not quite yet, but almost.

Earlier this year I had talked about the death of the fansite and free web hosting in a world full of up and coming “Web 2.0” technology and applications. While it’s to be expected that another free web hosting service would close due to the popularity of such things like blogs, I was very surprised when I heard Yahoo GeoCities would be shutting down in October 2009.

Yes, it’s a super old service. But it was long standing and popular for many years and triumphed over other free web hosting companies that died out years ago, due to being easy to set up and maintain. I never thought Yahoo would close GeoCities; but it again goes to show that in an ever progressing online environment that things never stay the same forever, and “Web 1.0” as we used to know it years ago is gone forever as this decade comes to a close. Websites are a dying breed, and if you want to express yourself you can use Blogger or one of the many social networking sites out there.

The thing I liked about GeoCities was even after a site died and the webmaster abandoned it, it still remained online many years after or never went offline at all. There are still websites ten years old on GeoCities that will now be gone. Better start saving old URL’s if you ever want to visit sites via The Wayback Machine, or copy and paste important information to your computer. My gripe with Yahoo doing this is because they are wiping out an entire catalogue of older information and media that people will no longer have access to. When you stop and really think about it, there are millions of old GeoCities sites still online. When I Google for certain things a fair bit of the results come from old sites on GeoCities. It was because the service was so popular and that several of their sites stayed online many years after they had died – it was one of the reasons people made them there in the first place.

Websites almost and above a decade old, dead, but still fun to look at and gain information and media from, will vanish. Once GeoCities goes a huge chunk of Internet will disappear forever. Now what will Google hit if I’m searching for something? A blog post and a Wikipedia entry? That sucks. GeoCities sites always got picked up well on Google search results. They were key to looking up older information Wikipedia articles may or may not have. Too bad Yahoo just can’t keep the service online as a library of sorts to reference things. It’s a shame we have to say goodbye to GeoCities, but it did last the public a great 15 years.

Michael Jackson: 1958-2009

2009-06-30T23:39:00.004-04:00

There I was, ready to work on another blog post for this place, and Michael Jackson suddenly passes away. I’ll never forget where I was when I found out. I could say a lot of things many others have said before, but I’ll try and keep it brief. While the events were unfolding and I kept seeing “Michael Jackson Dead” on various television channels, I just could not wrap my head around it. It was like a bad dream. But it was happening, and there was nothing I or anyone else could do to stop it. It still seems unreal to me now. How we lost this epic performer so suddenly. He was truly gifted. All I can think of now is that brain of his – that one vessel of knowledge, that brain that housed the skills of a superstar and allowed him to sing and dance like no other…is gone, forever. He is no longer a living, breathing, human being. That brain is dead, taking with it his fantastic abilities. We have lost something great.

We live in the age of media frenzy. The word of his death was so incredibly rapid spread online and in the television news, that if you didn’t know by at least noon the next day you were looked at as a fool. It was massive, it already felt like old news by Saturday and the world had almost gone back to normal. Its horrible how he was so close to making a comeback, its criminal he be taken away from us now at such a pivotal moment in his career. I wanted to see if he could still sing and move like he used too. Only a month away, this would have been his first tour in the age of Youtube; surely many fans would have snuck recording devices into his concerts to catch a shot of the pop star doing his thing. It would have been great. Now that he’s gone, you suddenly realize his last album was released eight long years ago. So much has changed in the music world in that time and a new MJ record would have been an interesting thing to listen to, as he always tried to make something new and exciting. Now, all we have is his back catalogue. Who knew when that last record was released, Michael Jackson wouldn’t even make it out of this decade alive.

All of a sudden, his music is everywhere again. His merchandise is selling out. Fans all over the world are celebrating his numerous achievements. Please just don’t focus on Thriller and “Billie Jean” like the news tells you to, he had many other great albums and songs. Admittedly, it’s hard to listen to songs like “Gone Too Soon” and “You Are Not Alone” now without getting an awfully eerie and depressing feeling as if Jackson is singing about his own passing.

It’s hard to think a mere week ago he was still alive. Now he’s gone and more and more things get revealed from his past and present, good and bad, everyday. Now the media is saying he could have been saved. A little late for that now, don’t you think? I don’t think the world will ever fully know what killed Michael Jackson, much like how the world will never fully understand him and his odd, at times child-like, personality. Only Jackson knows Jackson. He will forever be a mystery to his legion of fans and the press that perused him. He was an influential legend in his own time. The king is dead; long live the king…of pop.

A Small Bug

2009-05-31T21:50:00.004-04:00

Fellow readers and Bloggers, I need a question answered.

When I started this blog I used the current layout/template you see know and have used it ever since. Then one day, for no reason mid last year, I noticed the text spacing had changed, as if the entire thing got double spaced. There is too much gap between lines of text, post title and text, date and post title, pictures and text, and layout lines and text. At first I thought I had accidentally clicked something, but I never found the reason why it happened. I hate it as I don’t like the way it looks. I have another blog I use for testing that had the same layout, and it never had the issue. It looked fine – until I started switching templates one day just messing around testing styles. When I went back to this current template on my test blog, it too had the same issue with the spacing.

I’m frustrated because every single other blog I see that uses the same layout does not have this problem. Check out Animation Backgrounds, Nerd Armada, and Brad Goodchild Art to see what I mean. They have their text more closely put together, no big gaps anywhere. If anyone knows how to fix my issue, please let me now. And if it’s a change that has been made by Blogger for recent users of this template, and it cannot be fixed, please let me know that as well. Thanks in advance.

New Hotmail Sucks

2009-04-30T23:23:00.006-04:00

Sorry for the severe lack of any new entries here, I’ve just been crazy busy over the past couple weeks, mostly with stuff not even relating to the computer. Just life in general keeping me busy, many errands, stuff with the car, and long shifts at work. As I’ve stated before, I have lots to write about, lots of notes, but no time to expand on them. I fear by the time I do actually have time to get my thoughts in order on certain subjects, my points will be dated and of no importance. Or I’ll forget what I was going to write about in the first place.

Anyway, I know this isn’t cartoon related, but I just want to let people know that since Hotmail changed over to their new interface late last year (as in forcing their new layout and wiping out the old one people were still using), I have hated every single minute of it. Even now in 2009, it’s a hassle, and I’m hoping someone discovers this post and realizes that there are still people ticked off by this horrid version of Hotmail to this very day. I have used Hotmail since October of 2000 and up till now it’s been a fantastic service. I could rant a detailed complaint about the new interface and list every single thing wrong with it, but every damn aspect of it is completely terrible. From the huge ads in the way, to not being able to see the entire title of my e-mail subject anymore (sucks for large resolution users like myself, we all don’t have wide flat screen monitors), to the way I have to load attachments now in the same window (making the area where you write your text super small), to all the annoying “clicking” it makes from loading pages and ads, how it lists and displays address’ in your address (“To:”) bar and automatically boxes them when you leave spaces, how it shows me a dialogue box warning me when I leave writing a mail that navigating away from this page without sending it will discard it (duh!), how it doesn’t highlight the last mail you viewed anymore when you backspace from reading the last one (it also just refreshes to the top of the page), to how I can’t list the mail in the order I want it to (it resets to newest first when you log in), or how its slower and none of the better things it claimed it would be.

Microsoft took a great design and really screwed it up big time. I used to feel as if my inbox was a safe and secure place. It was tight and efficient. Now its wasting space in a lot of areas and I have ads everywhere. I don’t need this crap, but its all in the name of “progress” for MSN and Microsoft to make all of their services look the exact same interface wise. I’ve even had troubles with Hotmail freezing and crashing my IE browser now! I never had that problem before until now! I had at least two years worth of e-mails I wanted to clean out before Hotmail initially switched over, but I never had time. Now with this new interface it’s impossible! I can’t highlight text anymore in e-mails?! How blatantly stupid is that? Its so handy for me to copy and paste parts or whole e-mails when I need to reference them and use them, and now I can’t even do the smallest task of highlighting an e-mail by dragging my mouse over the text. If anyone out there reads this and knows of a solution, please tell me!

As for cartoons and this blog, I know I should get back on my Disney kick but it’s harder as time passes to get back into doing it. There are so many other issues at hand, like the recent controversy over Cartoon Network airing live-action shows and totally turning its back on their cartoon heritage. It’s not much better in Canada these days either, but that’s another story.

Links! Links! Links!

2009-03-15T18:05:00.017-04:00

To coincide with my previous post about the death of the fansite, I thought I’d post up my collection of old comic/cartoon related Internet bookmarks to share with others who may not find these sites right away via search engines. What I have here is a fairly good list of fantastic fansites (even some official) that even though are old or very old, still provide useful content today.

Disney:
Calisota Online – Various research on old comics and cartoons, including family trees.
The Unofficial Disney Animation Archive – Like the title states, a site full of useful info regarding their animation.
Dizpins – News and info for pin collectors.
Goofy Und Max Fanpage – German fansite about Goof Troop/A Goofy Movie, also available in English.
Russian CDRR Portal – A Russian Chip ‘N Dale Rescue Rangers fansite.
The Acorn Cafe – A long standing forum for fans of Chip ‘N Dale Rescue Rangers.
The Weekenders Shrine – The only fansite I know of for The Weekenders.
UltimateDisney.com – An excellent site to keep up with the latest DVD releases.
Indy’s Ranger Museum – An old Chip ‘N Dale Rescue Rangers fansite.

Nickelodeon:
BadBadRubberPiggy.com – Invader Zim fansite.
Presseservice Nick – I think its official, contains high quality promotional artwork. German.
The Rocko Zone – Super oldschool Rocko’s Modern Life fansite.
Room With A Moose & Gir – Invader Zim fansite.
The Amazing Invader Zim Website – Invader Zim fansite.
The Unofficial Rugrats Online – I cannot express how immensely thankful I am for this site. I learned so much about Nicktoons and Nickelodeon in general, even found out interesting things about Canadian television going back many years. It’s huge, and I highly recommend taking the time to look through it. Its simple and well laid out, and covers everything Nickelodeon you can think of up until September 2003, the last time it was really updated overall (save for some minor things in September 2005). It was handed over to new ownership in May 2007. I find it a real damn shame this site isn’t updated anymore (I still remember visiting it when it was up-to-date), but it proves to be a time capsule source of information to this day.
The Zimdex – Invader Zim fansite specializing in wavsounds from the series (Man, wavs are such a 90’s things to me now. I remember a lot of websites back then showcased huge amounts of wavs from various television shows and movies).
Don’s Hey Arnold! Site – The first Hey Arnold! fansite online since 1997, provides lots of info. Check out his main page for more links.
Sheltered Shrubs – Also from the webmaster above, a well done As Told By Ginger fansite.
The Unofficial Hey Arnold! Site – A well done Hey Arnold! fansite.

Sega/Sonic:
Tails.Kicks-Ass.Net – May look primitive by design, but this is an excellent site specializing in lots of downloads, including all the comics and television shows. Also has loads of fanart too.
BumbleKing Comics – This Side of Mobius – An informative forum about the latest Sonic The Hedgehog comics.
Fans United For SatAM – A long running fansite for the Saturday morning Sonic The Hedgehog series.
Planète-Sonic – A French Sonic The Hedgehog fansite, I wish it was in English because its well done.
Sonic Gear – A site tracking down and showcasing all available Sonic related merchandise all over the world.
Sonic HQ – One of the oldest Sonic The Hedgehog fansites, last updated in March 2008, but hasn’t been up-to-date since March 2007. Still provides relevant info.
Sonic The Hedgehog – Archie Comics’ official blog for the latest Sonic The Hedgehog comics.
Sonic-Gif – The biggest fansite providing Sonic related animated gifs.
The Sonic World – A long running Sonic The Hegdehog fansite.
The Sonic Staduim – Another long running and likely the most popular and up-to-date Sonic The Hedgehog site, features plenty of info and multimedia, well organized.
TeamArtail – Where Sonic fanartists submitted fanart for years before Deviantart was created and grew to take over for a popular place for submitting art. Had a huge gallery online for years featuring almost ten years of fanart that went offline sometime over 2008, along with the newer gallery created in 2006. Hasn’t really been updated in years, but for a while was a main source for Sonic X screengrabs when the series was current. Also has other downloads as well.

Simpsons:
Bart, The One And Only – Decent Bart Simpson fansite.
Just D’oh It – Excellent Simpsons fansite from the UK.
Last Exit To Springfield – A long running Simpsons fansite, featuring over 70,000 screengrabs from every episode.
Springfield Shopper – A great German fansite, nicely laid out and has lots of info.
The Simpsons Folder – Before Wikipedia this is where you could find the latest promotional pictures. Also features screengrabs from The Tracey Ullman Show era.
The Simpsons Archive – An extremely detailed site featuring a lot of info.

Miscellaneous:
Sinconan – Chinese Detective Conan fansite.
All-conan.net – Japanese Detective Conan fansite.
Shogakukan Online – I’m fairly sure this is the official site for the Detective Conan magna.
Animated Lust – A long running site covering various things in animation, hasn’t been updated since March 2008.
Animation Insider – A great site with up-to-date news and info concerning animation all over the world.
Animation Magazine – I’ve never seen a paper issue of this magazine in Canada. Excellent site for news and info.
Animation World Network – Fantastic site with large archives, has been very helpful to me when looking for info about certain shows and movies. A lot of well written articles; if you’re an animation lover I urge you to good through the older articles for some good reads.
Cartoon Resource Website – Still updated as of this post, a long running excellent site for info and airdates.
Chilly Willy’s Sub-Arctic World – Online since 1997, a fansite featuring everything to do with the character Chilly Willy. Lots of content.
Cybersix Data Domain – Old fansite for the little known Cybersix animated series.
Craig’s Cybersix Page – Another old fansite for the series, well written with details about each episode.
The Cyber Space – Another old fansite for the series, sadly was never completed in its entirety.
Cybersix.it – An Italian Cybersix fansite focusing on the comics rather than the animated series.
DConan.de – German Detective Conan fansite.
Edogawaconan.com – Japanese Detective Conan fansite, has tons of desktop wallpapers.
Don Markstein’s Toonopedia – A vastly informative site covering many areas in animation.
Jerry Beck’s Cartoon Research – This man has done his homework, and his Animated Movie Guide is certainly an educational read through.
Lambiek.Net – A great site about European comics and their creators.
Never Forgotten: A Foster’s Home Fansite – Lots of content and neatly organized. Hasn’t been updated in over a year.
Annie Awards – The official site, like the “Oscars” of animation.
Planète Jeunesse – I’ve found this site very helpful when researching European cartoons. I liked their older layout as it was easier to navigate shows, so you may need to dig a bit to find what you need.
Sons Of Butcher – The official site for the adult Flash animated series and mock-rock band. Proudly Canadian.
Sooper Secret KND Production Site – I wish other cartoons had a site like this, as it shone a light on the behind the scenes events when Codename: Kids Next Door was a current show.
The Raccoons – Nostalgia Zone – Still online after many years, small and simple, but informative nonetheless.
The Unofficial Raccoons Home Page – Terrific fansite for the Canadian cult classic series The Raccoons.
The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia – Everything you ever wanted to know about Woody Woodpecker and his creator.
Tiny Toon Image Gallery Plus – Long since abandoned, but a long serving fansite for the series Tiny Toon Adventures.
The Big Cartoon Database – Another old site covering everything in cartoons.
Toon Zone – Another old site with up-to-date news and info, also a good place to find interviews from series creators/producers/directors.
Toonarific Cartoon Archive – Yet again, another long serving site about cartoons, but I’m not sure if it’s up-to-date.
Zeichentrickserien.de – Resourceful German site full of info, airdates and episode lists and guides for a lot of animated shows.

The Times They Are A-Changin’

2009-02-28T10:10:00.018-05:00

As much as I’d really like to continue with my review of Disney shows, I have some other subjects that I’d like to address.

Before opening this blog, I created and ran many websites throughout the 2000’s. They were all fansites for various cartoons – Sonic Underground, Kid Paddle, and Hey Arnold!. They were all created and hosted on MSN Groups (previously named MSN Communities). The online world was much different back then and it’s fascinating to pause for a moment and analyze how rapidly the Internet has grown in a ten or even five year span. What we did online and how we looked for information online in 1999 is largely different now in 2009. With the closing of MSN Groups after 14 years of service, and them being moved to Multiply which is a “social networking” type of place; and me recently going through all my old Internet bookmarks removing old dead or offline sites, I have come to a realization: that the “fansite” as we used to know it, as of 2009, is gone.

Think about it. Think how much has changed over the Internet in a decade. Yes, websites popped up online as early as 1994/95, but now its 2009 and it’s not uncommon to still see a couple of websites from 1998/99/00 still online after all these years. It was around the late 90’s, in my opinion, where personal websites and fansites really took off. And now look at them – these websites are ten years old, and many are dead or very outdated, with very few being translated into the current time. The Internet is literally littered with abandoned webpages from years ago that show their age and how the Internet was “back in that time”. Back “in the day” a fansite is where you could go to get anything and everything you wanted about your favorite animated series. As far as I see it, those days are finished.

Fact one: Many companies that offered free web hosting services for websites have died or no longer offer free hosting. Remember the early 2000’s? Many places offered a certain amount of storage and bandwidth, etc, free of charge. Cityslide, Homestead, AOL Hometown, and now MSN Communities/Groups all closed (Cityslide gave up “free” hosting but still exists). FortuneCity, Tripod, Angelfire and Geocities still offer free web hosting, although I’m sure their popularity is waning these days. There are a great deal of other places that offer far more storage space, bandwidth, and most of all free blog templates. Take Multiply for example – you can currently upload as many pictures as you like without any restrictions and can easily change the layout. Why would you use a service where you can only upload a few megabytes worth of media and only have 2-3 megabytes of traffic per hour? Fact two: So many online services have been created over the past ten years that really, you don’t need your own fansite anymore. All you need is a main webpage that has links to all the other places/accounts your stuff is hosted or where you can find information.

Want older information on a show? – Online encyclopedias (Wikipedia): Their articles are sometimes the first or second hit in what you are looking for, moreover for a show that never gained much of a big online fanbase, therefore no fansites exist. Some shows even have their own fan-created Wikipedia-styled encyclopedia.

Want current news and information or more detailed older information on a show? – A blog (Blogger, Wordpress): They have grown massively over the past couple of years and many (like this one) provide information you couldn’t find anywhere else. More series creators/producers/directors, etc, have blogs these days to keep fans updated on current events, and to educate with their history and knowledge working in the business.

Want a place to chat about a show? – A forum/message board/chat room, or social networking websites (MySpace, Facebook, hi5, Windows Live Spaces, Windows Live Groups, Multiply, LiveJournal, Twitter): It’s usually pretty easy to find a forum/message board/chat room dedicated to your favorite show so you can talk to others who share your interests. Many social networking sites have groups dedicated to shows so people can join them and talk amongst other members.

Fanart? – Deviantart, Side7, Fanart Central, VCL, Fur Affinity, Imageboards (4chan, 7chan): Deviantart has been around for years and has gained a reputation for its large amount of fanart and conversation it showcases. Side7 not so much, but its still a decent place to find good artwork. 4chan and 7chan are also great places to find fanart as well, but are NSFW (not safe for work) at times and therefore I won’t link them here. Imageboards can also be a great place to chat with others about favorite shows and gain information as well.

Fanfic? – FanFiction.net: Like Deviantart, this place has been around for years as well and holds a ton of fan generated fiction for various shows.

Videos/Fan Videos? – Video hosting websites (YouTube, Veoh, Blip.tv, Break.com, Dailymotion, Google Video, AOL Video, Imeem, Newgrounds, LiveVideo, Hulu, Guba, Vimeo): Perhaps one of the biggest changes of all in the Internet in recent years, these places offer free video hosting. Users can post episodes, bumpers/commercials and special exclusives of their favorite shows, as well as fan made music videos, dubs, and animations.

Screenshots/Official Art? – Image hosting services (Photobucket, Flickr, ImageShack, Picasa), Imageboards (4chan, 7chan): These places offer free hosting for large amounts of pictures, and are handy for organizing them and being able to hotlink images for use on other websites and forums/message boards. 4chan and 7chan are also great places to find screens and promotional artwork for shows too.

Downloads? – File hosting/downloading services (RapidShare, FileFront, Megaupload, SendSpace, YouSendIt, Fliiby): Are handy for uploading entire episodes of shows and other related videos, mp3’s, fanart/fanfic, screenshots, official artwork, scanned comics – anything you can think of, you can find it at these places.

Other Links? – Google it. Or check the “Links” page of the Wikipedia article you’re reading, the website/blog you’re visiting, or check out links on forums, message boards and chat rooms.

See what I mean? Why have all this stuff on your website and pay for large space and bandwidth when you can put it up for free somewhere else and it gets noticed more? Face it people, the fansite as we knew it, is dead. MSN Groups closing last month is another sad progression to technology geared more towards social networking websites (What is it with all of them these days?! It’s almost impossible not to be tracked down. There is no privacy anymore!). It took MSN shutting this service down for me to realize “Holy fuck, 1999 was ten years ago!”, and I remember being online in high school back then and what it was like, and look at how hugely different the world wide web is now! Its nothing like it was...and I kind of miss the simplicity it had back then.

I guess if I ever continued work on my fansite projects, for the “information” portion, I’d start a blog about it. Really, it seems like the right direction to go. Blogs get noticed a lot in search engines and whatnot. They are a great place to find information and personal opinions. It may not be laid out like a website...but then again a lot of websites these days use a “posting like a blog” layout system which allows visitors to comment on the latest updates. Who needs a guestbook anymore these days, either? Or a fanlisting? Or a webring? One downside to having a different account for everything is remembering passwords and usernames. I have so many now I had to write them down.

A great deal of what I’ve stated here relates to “Web 2.0”, surprise-surprise Wikipedia provides a great article about the second generation of web development and design. What also makes “Web 2.0” interesting is that it takes a lot of work out of creating a website from the webmaster’s hands and places it in the hands of the people who visit the site. You just need to set up a service and people will start filling it with content for you. You don’t necessarily have to offer interesting stuff on your site anymore to get people to visit it, you just need to make a platform that gets people’s attention. Take Facebook or Youtube for example – the people who own those services don’t need to add any content; the users do for them…and in the process make the owners stinking rich!

I'm not sure if I like where the Internet is going these days, but there is nothing we can do to stop it. Its progression is fanatic. Its momentum is increasing. Its space is expanding. And the possibilities of what the Internet can provide are always growing. It will be intriguing to see where world wide web will take us, and the world, in another ten years.

One Year Later

2009-01-01T22:16:00.003-05:00

Thought I’d break free from my current reviewing of Disney television animation for a moment to explain myself and what happened with the blog during 2008.

Fact is, very little happened. See, back when I created The Cartoon Couch Potato at the start of 2008, I was excited taking on a new project. I had so much to write about; opinions to express, cartoons to explore – I had several ideas swirling around in my head for what to post about. When I started in January I had more free time to focus on the blog, and I tried desperately to keep my posting pace up as my free time waned in the coming months. First I committed myself to at least four posts a month…then it became three…then two…then only one. And even then, I could barley commit myself to making even one single post a month, usually rushing it on the last day of each. If I had really slacked I could have gone six months without posting again, but that would have gotten me nowhere with gaining readers. I know my blog won’t get anywhere fast without frequent posting, and I know my 25 posts over 2008 is what most people post in a single month.

After starting to review Disney’s television cartoons, I wanted to stick to that only and not break topic. But at the current speed I’m going I won’t be done for another two to three years, and by then I will have missed a lot else to write about. I’m not even near the half way point with Disney, and I do apologize to readers that dislike my extremely slow pace. You have to understand I have a very busy life, and a seemingly endless list of other online and computer endeavors and tasks to attend to, some of them years old already. When all is said and done with me working on separate projects, I don’t get far per month, and am limited to one post a month here because I’m so insanely busy with 1001 other things. It sucks to see how positive I seemed to be when I started this blog, ready to set off for an adventure which would lead the blog to becoming very well known before the year ended. Due to my lack of activity, this blog is still barley known.

I still have many things to write about – scribbled down on pieces of paper and typed in documents. Sad thing is most of what I wrote doesn’t make sense to me now at all, as I’ve forgotten some of what I was going to write. And even when I do get to writing these ideas, they will already be so dated. I know my posts are slow coming, but you have to admit I deliver pretty long posts if I have enough to write about. That factor itself is a small problem, as it usually takes me so long to research and compile a single post and to proof read it several times before I post it, it usually takes me hours to get the job done. Even though I’m just as busy as ever and more behind than ever before (due to a virus a month ago causing me to reformat and loose two weeks time), I will try and post more here in 2009. Just don’t hold your breath.

Marsupilami (1993)

2008-12-31T23:32:00.007-05:00

I’m going to have to take the Internet’s word on this one.

Seriously, I had no idea the Marsupilami shorts from Raw Toonage got spun off into their own series. Upon researching what Disney cartoon to write about next, I was surprised to find there was. But I have no recollection of it at all, and that’s rare for me because I pretty much remember every cartoon I’ve ever seen on television in my lifetime.

There’s also information lacking out there online about this 1993 series. I have no idea if it was a show full of new ideas and animation, or if they just threw some old Marsupilami shorts together from Raw Toonage to make a half hour series. If it was just a compilation of old stories, I more than likely wouldn’t post about it, but since I can find next to nothing about it, I’m just going wing it and mention it anyway.

It may surprise you to know that the Marsupilami character was not created by Disney, but was created in the 1950’s in Europe – a story I’ll save when I will eventually cover European comics. This spin off series premiered on September 18, 1993 on CBS, and was the third series not to be associated with The Disney Afternoon and never aired in the block (a trend with Disney cartoons that aired solely on CBS). It ran for 13 episodes and like Raw Toonage, it was a very short-lived series airing its last episode on December 11, 1993. As far as I know, no Disney comics based on the series were made, nor was any merchandise produced.

The last time this yellow jungle critter was seen in Canada was the last time it ever aired on CBS, because I can’t recall this show ever airing on Family Channel. Its opening theme song is a feisty little musical number, but pails in comparison to the great themes Disney put out only five years before. I sure don’t remember the opening sequence, and don’t remember the ending theme at all.

Bonkers (1993)

2008-11-30T22:48:00.005-05:00

Swing…and a hit! A series about a popular cartoon movie star bobcat turned crime fighting cop was exactly what Disney needed to recover from their last two flops. Hold on tight – I’m about to hit you with some massively detailed notes about how this show came to be and what it’s all about.

Before even premiering as a half-hour program, the character of Bonkers starred in his own cartoon shorts on Raw Toonage called “He’s Bonkers”. In this first incarnation, he was in love with the Marilyn Monroe-ish Fawn Deer and paired up with his sidekick, Jitters A. Dog, often facing the villainy of Grumbles Grizzly. As stated in my previous post, these shorts represent his life as a toon movie star, before becoming a “has been” in Bonkers. The character’s intent for Disney was to have a fully-owned wacky character of their own, without all the licensing restrictions involved with re-using writer Gary Wolf’s and producer Steven Spielberg’s Roger Rabbit. His personality was obviously modeled after Roger Rabbit, and he even hails from “Toontown” and is partnered with a supposedly real-life detective, Lucky Piquel – whose predecessor having been Eddie Valiant from the 1988 feature film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In this series Bonkers plays an out of work actor, given a second chance and made an official “toon cop”.

Its interesting to note that before Bonkers and Raw Toonage premiered (but were in pre-production and production stages), Bonkers was first seen in an animated short entitled Pedal To The Metal, originally shown in theatres before the film 3 Ninjas in 1992. This short was never included in Raw Toonage. I never saw it, so I have no idea if the animation quality differed from a television to a theatrical production. Bonkers originally premiered on The Disney Channel on February 28, 1993 with a new episode airing every week for several weeks. This was meant as a “preview airing” and showcased the Miranda Wright episodes. Its official debut was on September 4, 1993 with the hour long pilot “Going Bonkers/Gone Bonkers”, which was later spilt into a two-part episode in subsequent airings. Not only was Bonkers syndicated as part of The Disney Afternoon, but it also aired, out of all places, on Fox, and has been the only Disney cartoon to air on that network since. These episodes ushered in the Lucky Piquel era.

As stated, Bonkers originated from an attempt at a television version of the Who Framed Roger Rabbit film, which never reached production due to legal complications. As a result, the series created original characters in a world where “toons” and humans co-exist. Unlike the film that inspired it, however, Bonkers was entirely animated and featured no live action. Bonkers is a toon that fights crime and is paired up with a human partner, just like in the movie. He used to be a cartoon star, appearing in the Raw Toonage shorts which are cannon in the fictional Bonkers universe. The series lasted 65 episodes, airing its last episode on February 23, 1994; however other sources state December 21, 1995.

The chronological order of the series is somewhat complicated to follow. The “Miranda” episodes were produced first (excluding the two-part series premiere which featured Piquel and Bonkers meeting for the first time). This discrepancy becomes evident when observing the look of the main character in early and later stages – it’s easy to see with the clips used in the show’s opening credits. In the Raw Toonage shorts, Bonkers was orange with dark orange spots, golf club-like ears, and an undone tail. The “Miranda” episodes use his original look from that show, and occasionally featured episodes of cartoons from his days as a movie star, plus cameos from the Raw Toonage cast of characters. He was portrayed as a rather clumsy, somewhat foolish character that ended up being the show’s punching bag. When the “Lucky” episodes were made, the character had a major overhaul with skinnier ears, black spots, black Tigger-like stripes on his tail, and a different uniform. The “Lucky” episodes are more closely modeled after a Roger Rabbit style. He’s less of a buffoon and more of an inspector-type in control of himself (though still hyperactive), and carries an extensive knowledge about toons and their behavior (he is a toon himself after all), which is an asset in cases dealing with rogue toons. In these episodes, the Mad Hatter and March Hare from Disney’s 1951 film Alice In Wonderland make occasional appearances.

Are you with me so far? Good. Anyway, the first set of episodes featuring Miranda Wright came back from overseas animation studios looking less than spectacular. This caused the original team to be replaced, and only 19 episodes of this era survived to air. In “official continuity”, these episodes are shown towards the end of the series. When the new crew came in they threw out the premise of the old show and brought in Lucky Piquel – his episodes being revised and established to occur before the original 19 episodes, and 42 episodes of this era were made including “New Partner On The Block” which attempted to bridge the gap between the two somewhat contradictory storylines. That only makes 61 episodes; but other sources say 65 were made. So who is right and who is wrong? “New Partner On The Block” was a transition episode showing how Lucky was given an FBI job in Washington DC, and how Miranda Wright became his newest partner. The episode was much like the pilot episode using CGI rain and bringing back the characters that were associated with Bonkers, those characters being Fawn Deer, Jitters A. Dog, and Grumbles Grizzly and unlike the pilot had more speaking and screen time. Lucky, his wife and daughter and many other characters relocated as well, allowing them to be written out of the show. Remember – even though Wright is supposed to have replaced Piquel, and the episodes featuring her occur after the Piquel ones in the show’s “official chronology”, the Wright episodes were made first. Make sense now? Excellent, you’ve graduated from Bonkers 101.

Bonkers comics appeared in Disney Adventures; it was also one of the last cartoons to be featured in the Marvel-published Disney Afternoon comic book series. There was merchandising in the form of books, coloring books, action figures, pins, and Burger King toys. Three video games were released; Bonkers for Super Nintendo in 1994, and Bonkers for Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and Bonkers Wax Up! for Sega Game Gear/Sega Master System in 1995. While the rise of Bonkers as a Disney star did coincide with the decline of Roger Rabbit, Bonkers made nowhere near the impact Roger Rabbit did, mainly because his show lacked the melding of live action with animation which had audiences glued to their seats when Roger made his debut. Many barred Bonkers as just being a substitute or plain rip-off. While I’m sure this show grew to entertain many, I never saw a huge fandom come out of it, and Bonkers seems to have been forgotten when people think of that “classic” Disney era of television animation.

Bonkers in my eyes is underrated. It’s aged well and is one of my favorites – up there with Darkwing Duck and Goof Troop. One aspect you can’t ignore is the animation – Walt Disney Television Australia, who gained a reputation for bringing quality to their work for the shows they worked on, did a fantastic job with the episodes they animated (the Piquel era), and their style really fit the zany antics of this cartoon and breathed new life into it. Although I really should have known, I was surprised to find that not only did Jim Cummings voice Bonkers, but also voiced Lucky as well. He did a terrific job giving these characters the energy and expression they needed, and you have to give him props for playing two lead roles in one show.

The last time this problem solving duo was seen in Canada was on Family Channel, anywhere between the late 90’s and early 2000’s. I really can’t pinpoint it any closer but it has been many years since it aired here. Youtube doesn’t have much in the way of episodes but there are a few online. Its opening theme song (and ending theme) is a welcome return to form, and while it may not be as memorable as some other titles, it’s sure a catchy tune nonetheless, and was edited well with fast-pasted clips. Maybe it just needs another five years to grow more nostalgic? As the usual case, the singer is again unknown.

Raw Toonage (1992)

2008-10-31T21:55:00.014-04:00

Swing and a miss!

Still falling from their high perch in animation set a few years prior, Disney’s next cartoon to follow the uneventful The Little Mermaid would in fact…well, fair even worse.

However, while Raw Toonage, which premiered on September 19, 1992 on CBS, didn’t last that long, I found it to still be a decent offering from Disney when I saw episodes of the series years later. Before that, I had almost forgotten the show had even existed, but it sat in the back of my mind for years and I knew there was a show called Raw Toonage but couldn’t quite remember it. Then the reruns started and it all came flooding back to me. It was the second series not to be associated with The Disney Afternoon and never aired in the block.

Raw Toonage was an experimental showcase for several animated shorts, kind of like a sketch show, which were hosted every weekend by a different popular Disney character. The four cartoons which regularly appeared in the show were “He’s Bonkers!”, “Marsupilami”, “Sebastian”, and a variety cartoon called “Totally Tasteless Video”. While an interesting format, Raw Toonage failed to achieve its purpose – but out of its ashes, arose the success of those shorts graduating to their own animated programs. “Marsupilami” and “Sebastian” were combined into Marsupilami, and “He’s Bonkers!” became Bonkers.

The idea for the show had an unusual genesis. At the time Disney was developing Bonkers, about a bobcat living in a “real world” that had once been the star of his own cartoon, and when it was canned became a policeman. The series dealt with his adventures post-stardom. At the same time, Michael Eisner had purchased the rights to the popular Belgian comic strip Marsupilami. At some point, someone had the post-modern initiative to actually make the cartoons that Bonkers would have starred in before becoming a policeman, and that’s how Raw Toonage was born. The additional segment “Totally Tasteless Video” was intended as a satire of popular culture, and not a proving ground for new stars. The host was added to give the series the familiar feel of The Wonderful World Of Disney show. Though it looked like the 1993 Bonkers series was spun off from the shorts, the reverse is actually true. Due to the shorter production schedule, Raw Toonage, with its “He’s Bonkers” shorts, was on the air before the 65 half-hour show, thus adding some credibility to the back story.

Contrary to what I originally wrote here about The Wuzzles, Raw Toonage actually stands with the lowest amount of episodes of any animated television program Disney has put out thus far, with only 12 episodes made – a thirteenth was in production but was never completed. It’s also the shortest run series, airing its last episode on December 5, 1992. There is no merchandise for this show that I know of, although I’m fairly sure it had comics published in Disney Adventures. I never saw a huge fandom grow from this show, but it does have its followers for those who remember it well. The series was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Television Production in 1993.

The last time this variety show was seen in Canada was on Family Channel in late 2001. Youtube is currently limited in what clips of the show it has available, a hinting of how forgotten it really is. Raw Toonage was a “strike two” behind The Little Mermaid in terms of performance – it even followed suit and also had a crappy opening theme song which basically had no lyrics and really wasn’t at all catchy or memorable (and is also very much a knockoff of the song “Oh Yeah” by Yello). It’s interesting to note that Webby from DuckTales makes an appearance in the opening credits, but never actually appeared on the show. Disney needed another homerun hit of a cartoon, and fast – because another strike could have put them out of television animation game for good.

The Little Mermaid (1992)

2008-09-30T23:50:00.007-04:00

And…we’ve come down.

Off an extreme animation high, that is. Prior to this series Disney made hit after hit cartoon, and Goof Troop truly was the last great cartoon they managed to pump out during their prime years in television animation. All good things must come to an end though, and every company hits a snag now and then. Disney’s hot streak came to a halt with the premiere of this series.

That’s not to say The Little Mermaid, which premiered on September 11, 1992 on CBS, is a bad series. I just don’t have too much to say about it, and reminds me of The New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh in the sense that I never really thought much of this program. It doesn’t “fit in” with the rest of the crew – it was the first series not to be associated with The Disney Afternoon and never aired in the block. It was also the first Disney cartoon that was based off a previous successful theatrical film, and acts as a prequel to the movie of the same name which was released in 1989. It follows Ariel’s adventures as a mermaid living under the sea with her father, Sebastian and Flounder. Various episodes highlight her relationships with her friends, father and sisters, and usually involve her foiling the attempts of various enemies that intend to harm her or her kingdom.

The Little Mermaid premiered in prime time with the episode “A Whale Of A Tale” before being moved to Saturday mornings. It ran for a paltry 31 episodes, airing its last episode on November 26, 1994. Whereas many Disney cartoons before had major merchandising and published comics, there was minimal material for this series. I never saw much of a fandom grow from this program, and there’s not too much production information about it anywhere. I’m sure it was enjoyed by some kids back in the day, but personally I can’t recall even watching this series once all the way though.

A notable episode is “Metal Fish”, in which Ariel saves a human character named Hans Christian Andersen who is based on the real life author of the original fairy tale The Little Mermaid. The encounter inspires the character in the episode to “write” the story of The Little Mermaid. A voice-over at the end of the episode talks about the real Hans Christian Andersen, while the image on screen shows Ariel sitting on a rock in the style of the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen harbor. If this is to be chronologically accurate, it places the time frame in which this series takes place around 1836 when the story was first written, or shortly before 1837 when the story was actually published.

The last time this red-haired mermaid and her friends were seen in Canada was on Family Channel – when, I have no clue. It’s been a while though; I don’t think it’s aired since the late 90’s. I couldn’t find any episodes up on Youtube, which is another good indication that it wasn’t a really popular series. The Little Mermaid, I think, broke a long line in tradition – every Disney cartoon before had an upbeat, awesome opening and ending theme song, with lyrics. The opening theme song to this show was a combination of the songs “Part Of Your World”, “Under The Sea” and “Kiss The Girl” from the movie. And to make matters worse, it was the first Disney show to have a theme that was just instrumental. Boooooring.

Goof Troop (1992)

2008-08-31T23:36:00.008-04:00

Premiering on September 7, 1992, Goof Troop was Disney’s eight venture into television animation, and the fourth show to revive old classic Disney characters into a new era, whilst adding new characters into the mix. The show is based on several classic 1950’s Goofy cartoon shorts which depicted him as a father to a mischievous, red-haired son. Additionally, prior to this series Goofy had already enjoyed an illustrious career in cartoons, playing many roles over the years, sometimes eclipsing Mickey Mouse with his outwardly loveable and “goofy” personality. In this series Goofy is still true to his old self, with a tinge of modernization for the current time. Producers picked up on the basic themes of his career and put Goofy as a single father, raising his son Maximilian “Max” Goof, who move back to their hometown of Spoonerville where Goofy becomes neighbours with his longtime friend/foe Pete (a classic Disney villain), who is married to his high school sweetheart Peg and have two children, P.J. (Pete Junior) and Pistol (all original characters).

The show establishes itself well with its portrayals of modern suburbanized life, and was pretty much the first Disney cartoon to do so. While shows like DuckTales, Chip ‘N Dale Rescue Rangers and Darkwing Duck were indeed placed in a contemporary time, Goof Troop reflected its timeframe (the early 1990’s) in a truly genuine fashion, and didn’t mix elements of a classic time period or fighting villains into its setting or stories. It was basically a show about working-class people and families in everyday life. The series had a great mix of stories, meaning each and every character got a lot of screen time as different episodes focused on different things. Max and P.J. become the best of friends and do practically everything together. Max is dealing with the early onslaughts of puberty and growing up in the shadow of his goofy father. All the while Goofy reveals many facets of his personality, blissfully enduring Pete’s personal grudge against him. A large portion of humor from Goof Troop comes from Goofy unintentionally screwing up Pete’s plans (usually something to do with money and getting more of it), as well as Max’s relatively normal personality sharply contrasting with that of his father’s.

Goof Troop was a big hit with audiences, so much so that 78 episodes plus one Christmas special (basically 79 episodes) were produced, placing the series in third place behind Darkwing Duck and DuckTales for the most episodes in a Disney cartoon. I have no confirmed date as to when the last episode aired, because some sources state the series aired its last regular episode on December 5, 1992 (oddly enough the same day Darkwing Duck aired its last episode), others say December 5, 1993. The Christmas special was not aired until 1993. Like many Disney cartoons before it, Goof Troop was previewed with an hour long two-part special (serving as the show’s pilot) before the series itself premiered, with the episodes “Everything’s Coming Up Goofy” (Forever Goof Part 1) and “Good Neighbor Goofy” (Forever Goof Part 2) airing on September 5, 1992. The show’s first season, made up of 65 episodes, aired in syndication as part of The Disney Afternoon block. The second season, made up of 13 additional episodes, aired Saturday mornings on ABC (whether it was the fall of 1992 or 1993 I’m not sure at this time). The series was kind of aired like Darkwing Duck, with the next season aired on another network; although with the case of Goof Troop episode order was never messed around with.

Where many Disney cartoons failed, Goof Troop proved successful enough to warrant a full-length motion picture, produced by DisneyToon Studios who had worked on DuckTales The Movie: Treasure Of The Lost Lamp. Perhaps centered on the fact it was a modernized cartoon that displayed a good working model of a father/son relationship, Disney picked Goof Troop out of many other cartoons to have a theatrical film, as young viewers and their parents could relate to Goofy and Max. While Goof Troop has the honor of being the second Disney cartoon to be blessed with a theatrical movie (from Disney’s prime days of television animation), it really stands out by itself as unlike the DuckTales movie, this movie features characters from the television series Goof Troop but is not canon to the series. Peg, Pistol, the family pets, Goofy’s old house and car are gone, and it’s not known if they are still living in Spoonerville. A Goofy Movie was released in 1995, and overall was a successful film. So much so that in 2000, a direct-to-video sequel to this film titled An Extremely Goofy Movie was released, and faired good in sales. In these aspects, the Goof Troop franchise ended up being more successful than DuckTales, and to date has not been topped by any other Disney cartoon.

Goof Troop got the standard merchandising – Happy Meal toys, plush figures, books, stickers, coloring books, and videogames. Comic stories were featured in the magazine Disney Adventures from 1992-1996 as well as the Disney Afternoon comic book published by Marvel Comics. It’s worthy to note that the town of Spoonerville was named after layout artist J. Michael Spooner, who designed many of the background layouts for the series. Pete’s wife Peg is a play on “Peg Leg Pete”, one of Pete’s characters in the classic Disney shorts. Likewise, his daughter Pistol is a play on another such name, “Pistol Pete”. The most pressing question in the series however, is what happened to Max’s mother/Goofy’s wife? The fan theory is that she had died; this issue was never touched on in the series (but could be related to Goofy and Max moving back to their hometown at the beginning of the series), leaving many fans to draw their own conclusions. Goof Troop was also the first Disney cartoon to have more original animated clips in its opening credits other than just the title card – prior to this other shows just used clips from the episodes matched to music.

The last this goofy pair were seen in Canada was on Family Channel in September 2005; at time of its removal it was the oldest cartoon airing on the network (13 years), and was the constantly longest running premiering in September 1996 (9 years) airing twice a day. For me, Goof Troop is the one – it is my absolute favorite show from Disney’s classic days of television animation. I love this series, and really like the character of Max and how he was able to grow during the run of the franchise. It was my favorite show as a kid, and when I started regularly watching episodes on Family Channel in my late teens, I liked it even more. It aged well, albeit with it being so modern at the time it’s dated in areas (look at Max’s clothes for example, yikes!) but overall is still a strong performer in 2008. It’s hard not to like a program like this. Moreover, I feel Goof Troop was the ending on an era for Disney – it was their last great show from their superior years where they dominated television animation. Some say it was the last best thing to happen to The Disney Afternoon before it started to go downhill. By 1993 other networks were catching up with them in terms of popular shows, and Disney was slowly going in a different direction with their cartoons.

Another trait I feel Goof Troop had was a strong voice cast; it featured the best names in the business. Bill Farmer, who had been voicing Goofy (and still does) since 1986, Jim Cummings as Pete, Rob Paulsen as P.J., April Winchell as Peg, Nancy Cartwright as Pistol, and Dana Hill as Max. These fantastic voice actors gave much life to their respective characters. Sadly, Max’s distinctive voice would be lost forever come July 1996, as actress Dana Hill died from suffering a massive stroke related to her diabetes.

A DVD of the show was released in 2006 with a paltry three episodes and horrible box art – I don’t even acknowledge its existence, it’s that bad. One Youtube user has uploaded most of the series for viewing online. Of course the opening theme song (and ending theme) are awesome and have a great beat. Another merit to Goof Troop being a “hip for the time” series – the theme song has a heavily influenced hip-hop/rap feel, and back in the early 90’s it seems not even cartoons could escape the explosion of hip-hop/rap during this time. The song, its lyrics and clips are well placed; as usual, the singer is unknown.

Darkwing Duck (1991)

2008-07-31T21:08:00.004-04:00

By this point and time, Disney could do no wrong with their cartoons – many of their shows became hits with viewers and fanbases grew rather quickly. They had created a perfect formula for creating great shows. Disney was on a hot streak of finely produced animation – and this success continued with a crime fighting duck who proclaimed himself to be “the terror that flaps in the night”.

Premiering on September 8, 1991, Darkwing Duck was Disney’s seven venture into television animation, and the third show made up of entirely original characters. It was a spin-off from the massively popular DuckTales series, and like the TaleSpin concept originally, Launchpad McQuack was slated to be the star. For whatever reason this was not meant to be, and he was demoted to the role of siderick for this series.

While the show establishes its own originality, it’s largely regarded as an affectionate satire on superhero mythos and lore. Darkwing’s costume, gas gun, and flashy introductions are all direct references to superheroes such as the Crimson Avenger and The Green Hornet. The fictional city of St. Canard, Darkwing’s rouges gallery, and the relative darkness of Darkwing compared to other Disney heroes reflect Batman and Gotham City. A few James Bond parodies exist as well, such as the villain Steelbeak, whose beak makes him similar to the Bond villain Jaws.

Darkwing Duck was another homerun hit for Disney, so much so that 91 episodes were produced, placing the series in second place to DuckTales for the most episodes in a Disney cartoon. The series aired its last episode on December 5, 1992. The two-part episode “Darkly Dawns The Duck” originally aired as an hour-length special on September 7, 1991, serving as the show’s pilot. After its initial airing the film was edited for time for the launching of the series and aired as the show’s first regular episode the following day. It features Tim Curry, who does an excellent job voicing the super-villain Taurus Bulba. Seasons one and two were aired simultaneously on different networks when the show premiered; season one in syndication as part of The Disney Afternoon block, and season two syndication aired Saturday mornings on ABC. This screwed up the chronological order of the episodes, and I wonder why Disney would choose to confuse fans by airing the series this way.

What’s even more puzzling is for the type of show Darkwing Duck was – why was there never an official conclusion to the series? Surely it was planned; Taurus Bulba’s abrupt exit in the episode “Steerminator” was, indeed, meant to ultimately lead into his return (and inevitable defeat) in a series finale that never came to be with the cancellation of the show following the last season, meaning this plot line would never be resolved. Why was there never a fourth season? Why did episode production stop at 91 episodes, an odd number for any series, and not continue to 100 full half-hours perhaps concluding the series within the last nine episodes? Surely Darkwing Duck deserved a full-length motion picture movie; it would have raised the elements of the show to a whole other plateau and given it much more of an edge. If not this, than a television special structured similar to the pilot so the series could end properly, all neat and tidy with all loose ends tied. All of this however never came to be; I’m not sure if fans every discovered why Darkwing Duck was left basically on a cliffhanger.

Darkwing Duck got the standard merchandising – Happy Meal toys, plush figures, books, stickers, coloring books, videogames, plus a special four issue comic book based on the pilot. Subsequent comic stories were featured in the magazine Disney Adventures from 1991-1995 as well as the Disney Afternoon comic book published by Marvel Comics. The series was also Emmy-nominated as well. The character of Darkwing Duck appeared occasionally in the series Bonkers, and Gosalyn appeared in the series Raw Toonage (although I never remember this happening). It should be noted that Darkwing Duck was the first Disney cartoon, that I can recall, broke the fourth wall where the characters of the show portrayed actors of the show they were in – this was showcased in the episode “A Star Is Scorned”.

The last time this masked crime fighting caped crusader and his crash landing sidekick were seen in Canada was on Family Channel around 1999/2000. Darkwing Duck is one of my favorite shows from Disney’s prime days of television animation. While I watched it a lot as a kid, I came to find I liked it even more with age. I ended up watching many episodes of the series online in late 2007 for the first time in years, and can say Darkwing Duck is a show that has aged well as I still found it plenty entertaining. It has many funny moments and has amusing stories. Darkwing Duck/Drake Mallard is an awesome character; you got to love his over-inflated ego coupled with his lack of common sense, all wrapped together by the lively voicing of Jim Cummings. Gosalyn is another favorite character of mine, always full of sprit and wanting to go on adventures. Christine Cavanaugh did an excellent job voicing her in the series and I don’t think she gets enough credit for that. It makes one wonder why she retired from voice acting and all but disappeared from the industry, as she was a talented actress. DVD’s of the show first started coming out in 2006, but one Youtube user has uploaded the entire series for viewing online. Of course the opening theme song (and the ending theme) is etched in the mind of anyone who watched this show; it has a very early 90’s pop sound to it, matched with good lyrics and clips. As usual, I have no idea who the singer is.

TaleSpin (1990)

2008-06-26T20:03:00.005-04:00

Spin it!

Premiering on September 9, 1990, TaleSpin was Disney’s sixth venture into television animation, and the third show to revive old classic Disney characters into a new era (not technically true as the series is set in the mid to late 1930’s), whilst adding new characters into the mix. The name of the show is a play on “tailspin” meaning “the rapid descent of an aircraft in a steep spiral”. The “tale” in the name originally referred to the series DuckTales because one of its characters, Launchpad McQuack, was originally going to be the main character of the show, but was replaced by Baloo from Disney’s 1967 film The Jungle Book. The series show’s its roots from the movie, having the role of Mowgli the wild boy supplanted by the young bearcub Kit, and features King Louie and Shere Kahn in supporting roles.

The original concept of the series was embodied in the introductory television movie (or pilot) “Plunder And Lightning” which was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program in 1991, and later was edited into four half-hour episodes for syndication. Many of the show’s concepts seem to be based on the 1982 ABC series Tales Of The Gold Monkey, including the main concept of a cocky flying boat cargo pilot and his rocky relationship with his girlfriend, his scatterbrained mechanic sidekick, the era and designs of the aircraft and costumes, the Pacific Islands setting, the secondary character relationships, and even the visual appearance of the lagoon. The protagonists of both series fly planes named for waterfowl (Cutter’s Goose and Sea Duck) and are regular denizens of taverns named “Louie’s”. The relationship between Baloo and Rebecca is closely patterned after the television sitcom Cheers – in both shows, a buttoned-down businesswoman named Rebecca takes the reins of a struggling company, then hires its previous owner (a fun-loving but irresponsible slacker) to do most of the work for her.

TaleSpin became another hit show for Disney, running the standard 65 episode amount. Its premiere also marked the launching of Disney’s new block The Disney Afternoon and was the first series to debut in the block (the three prior series had all debuted years before). I can’t give an exact date for an ending episode, as two different sources state two different things. One states the series aired its last episode on August 8, 1994; for whatever reason new episodes stopped airing in 1991 and didn’t resume until the end of 1993, which therefore stretched the actual length of the show despite its standard amount of episodes. Why Disney would have delayed new episodes for almost three years is unknown, but in reality the show would have more than likely ended new episodes in 1991 or 1992 if it had continued normally. The other states this in fact was the case, and the show aired its last episode on August 8, 1991. So who’s right and who’s wrong? The show’s last new episode, “Flying Dupes”, was not intended to be the last episode; a second season was rumored but never happened. Also, that same episode was banned in the US for its terrorist theme and was never re-aired following its original broadcast, although it was always aired in Canada (the show was off the air here before the 9/11 attacks, and if still airing that episode more than likely would have been banned here as well). There were also issues with the episode “Last Horizons” due to its World War II satire.

TaleSpin got some merchandising as well, such as Happy Meal toys, a board game, plush figures, books, stickers, coloring books, and videogames. A monthly comic book based on the show was published by Disney Comics in 1991 that ran for seven issues (eleven if you count a four-issue mini-series based on the series premiere). The comic’s early cancellation, which is unknown, terminated several planned stories that would have revealed pieces of background for the main characters. Issue seven even had a preview for the eighth, never printed comic. Subsequent comic stories were featured in the magazine Disney Adventures from 1990-1995 as well as the Disney Afternoon comic book published by Marvel Comics. Like other Disney cartoons at the time, TaleSpin was a deserving candidate for a feature length film, but it was never proposed. It’s worthy to note TaleSpin was the first Disney cartoon to have major use of CGI to create the perspectives of the planes and 3-D backgrounds. Oddly enough I couldn’t find any good production art from the series.

The last time these high flying bears were seen in Canada was on Family Channel around 1999/2000 – that’s a guess mind you, it’s been a very long time since I’ve seen any of the episodes. I don’t remember much of it, but I know I did watch it a lot as a kid, and I wonder if I sat down and watched the series now would I still like it or have grown out of it? It looks more watchable and exciting than Chip ‘N Dale Rescue Rangers, and I like the character of Don Karnage – his voice actor Jim Cummings makes him a joy to watch. DVD’s of the show first started coming out in 2006, but one Youtube user has uploaded the entire series for viewing online. Of course the opening theme song (and the ending theme) is unforgettable, and this mambo/Latin jazz flavored tune makes you want to get up and dance. I found the various action scenes and editing very face paced for this theme and matched up with the music well – it keeps your attention all the way through. Again, I have no idea who the singer is.

Chip ‘N Dale Rescue Rangers (1989)

2008-05-31T23:48:00.005-04:00

Premiering on March 5, 1989, Chip ‘N Dale Rescue Rangers was Disney’s fifth venture into television animation, and the second show to revive old classic Disney characters into a new era, whilst adding new characters into the mix. Its concept was loosely based on the feature films The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under, and featured Chip ‘n Dale who were originally created in the 1940’s as troublemakers for Donald Duck and Pluto in Disney’s classic cartoon shorts.

Initially though, it wasn’t planned like that. When the idea first came up for the Rescue Rangers series, Chip ‘n Dale were not part of the show. The original idea centered around a group of animals as a team, which included a chameleon, an earlier draft of Gadget, and Monterey Jack (with a different name). The main character was an Indiana Jones type mouse named Kit Colby who sported a fedora and a fluffy collared leather jacket. When the show was proposed in a meeting with Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg, the idea was well received except for the character of Kit Colby. At Eisner’s suggestion, he was replaced with the chipmunk duo to give the show some established Disney characters to work with. While Chip ‘n Dale were well-known characters, to bring them into the series only their general appearance and broad personality traits were kept. Unlike their appearances in Disney shorts, in the Rescue Rangers the chipmunk duo are very verbal – audio processing was used to speed up the voice recordings and give the voices a higher pitch, particularly Dale’s. The pair were also given clothes, with Chip given Kit’s original concept clothing, while the goofier Dale was incidentally modeled on Magnum, P.I. with his Hawaiian shirt.

Chip ‘N Dale Rescue Rangers became a huge success for Disney, despite only running 65 episodes. It eventually became syndicated and became part of the Disney Afternoon line-up, and aired its last episode on November 19, 1990. It’s no surprise that when Disney first started to release DVD’s of their old cartoons in 2005 that Chip ‘N Dale Rescue Rangers and DuckTales were the first ones out of the gate. They are arguably their most successful shows with the biggest fandoms. But out of the two, and all the other old classic Disney cartoons, I’ve never quite seen such a long lasting fandom than what I’ve seen from Chip ‘N Dale Rescue Rangers. Numerous websites, fanart, fanfiction, articles, and music videos (thanks to Youtube) have been posted over the years. Nearly twenty years after premiering the show still has an active forum called The Acorn Cafe (which itself is already ten years old) where fans, who like to call themselves “Rangerphiles” can reminisce and discuss this old program. There’s even a RangerWiki for cryin out loud!

And why did the fandom for this show grow to be so huge? I’d say its the show’s characters and group dynamics – Disney gave a great set of characters to work with, but as with usual kids programming they were limited to tell certain, more mature stories. This is where fanfiction comes in, and how many fans built off what they were given from Disney to create more intense and satisfying stories. One character in particular was the main reason to write about, a trait some cartoons have where a single character becomes so fascinating with fans they nearly take over the entire fandom (a topic I’ll cover later on). Gadget Hackwrench – a cute, blond, smart, female mouse. People love to add layers and layers onto her background and make romance stories between her and Chip ‘n Dale. One of the most electrifying fan comics I ever came across was Chris Fischer’s Of Mice And Mayhem. Makes me wish other cartoon fandoms had a dedicated fan like this – because the time spent on the artwork and story are phenomenal.

Chip ‘N Dale Rescue Rangers spawned perhaps the most merchandise for any Disney cartoon I’ve ever seen thus far. Videogames, puzzles, a line of McDonald’s Happy Meal toys, coloring books, a board game, stickers, stamps, posters, plus many other items. A monthly comic based on the show was published by Disney Comics in 1990 that ran for 19 issues, as well as comic stories featured in the magazine Disney Adventures from 1990-1995. In 1990 in was reported that a theatrical feature film based on the series was planned for a 1991 release, however the film never happened possibly due to the lackluster performance of DuckTales The Movie: Treasure Of The Lost Lamp. The show also has the honor of having the most production art I’ve ever come across for a Disney cartoon series. And it’s not cheap looking either – it’s of high quality, something you never see anymore in production artwork.

The last time these problem solving critters were seen in Canada was on Family Channel in the spring of 2004. I watched this show when I was younger, and I remember trying out some episodes when it was last on. I don’t know how well this show has aged, but for me the characters and some storylines came off as boring. Gadget’s consistent use of the word “golly” becomes and annoyance after a while. Various episodes are up on Youtube if you want to watch them. Of course the opening theme song (and the ending theme) is timeless in their glossy 80’s fashion, and in fact two themes exist both for the opening and ending credits, while the opening credits have two difference arrangements of visuals. I’ve linked the one that I remember seeing the most and was the best, sound effects included. Its known that 80’s pop group The Jets sang the opening theme song as you can see in the show’s official promo music video (don’t you wish all your favorite cartoons had these?). But the arrangement of the song and vocals sound different from what is actually played in the program. So it could still be left to wonder who sings on the original one minute version.

The New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh (1988)

2008-04-29T22:36:00.006-04:00

Premiering September 10, 1988 on ABC, The New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh was Disney’s fourth venture into television animation. Inspired by A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh stories, the cartoon is a continuation of the series of “Pooh” short films released from Disney from the 1960’s till the 1980’s.

For whatever reason, I never really thought much of this program. It kind of stands out in what Disney was putting out at the time. While other shows were reviving old characters with a modern twist, this series was more of an extension of the previous “Pooh” films and therefore involved a different type of storyline. I always thought of this show to be more preschool-ish than anything else, and that’s why it stands out in Disney’s list of animated television programs (excluding the list of shows intentionally aimed at preschoolers). While Pooh merchandise has always sold well for Disney, I never saw a big fandom surrounding this show. This is more than likely why I can’t find too much production information about it. Nonetheless, it was enjoyed by many kids for many years. Personally, I never really got into this program and didn’t watch it that often. Perhaps its storylines in the 100 Acre Wood set in a classic time just didn’t interest me. I haven’t watched the show in years and have more than likely grown out of it now. Despite this, the series boasted quality animation with original songs and scores.

The New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh ran for 83 episodes, the last one airing on October 7, 1991. A Christmas special entitled Winnie The Pooh And Christmas Too based on the series aired on December 14, 1991. Oddly enough reruns of the show continued to air on Saturday mornings on ABC until the fall of 2002 – therefore The New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh holds a record for being the longest Disney series to be broadcasted in reruns on the original network it premiered on, and no other Disney cartoon since then has come close to airing that long on its original network of debut. Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger also appeared in the 1990 drug prevention video Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue.

The last time Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends were seen in Canada was on Family Channel in the summer of 2007; at the time of its removal from the network it was the oldest Disney cartoon airing on the channel. No episodes are currently on Youtube and the series has no DVD releases as of yet. It goes without saying – the opening theme song (and the ending theme) from this show is flawlessly crafted to sing along with and will surly evoke childhood memories within seconds of listing to it. The singer kind of sounds the same from the DuckTales theme but I can’t say that for sure. These oldschool Disney themes are a mystery when it comes to who the singers are.

DuckTales (1987)

2008-04-28T22:47:00.008-04:00

If the success of Adventures Of The Gummi Bears was any indication of what Disney could accomplish in an animated television series, than their next series about Scrooge McDuck and his nephews in Duckburg surely wiped away any doubt in what they could achieve.

DuckTales, which premiered on September 18, 1987, was a straight shot out of the park for Disney and much like Adventures Of The Gummi Bears, set the standard for what a cartoon at the time could really accomplish. Entertainingly funny with interesting characters and rich storylines, tied together with good animation – DuckTales was a step up from most other boring cartoons offered at the time. It was also the first show to revive an old, classic Disney character and catapult them into a new era, whilst adding new characters into the mix. This template would be exercised in many more Disney productions to come. The series was loosely based on Carl Barks’ comics, and has been a unique vehicle for bringing many comic-related characters to the small screen such as Gyro, Magica, Gladstone, the Beagle Boys, and the Phantom Blot which successfully translated from comics to the cartoon, albeit with some modifications.

DuckTales is notable for being the first Disney cartoon to be produced in syndication, and paved the way for many future Disney productions. If not for its success it would be hard to question where Disney would have gone with their television animation department. DuckTales was successful in an attempt to create high quality animation for a television series, and Disney invested a far greater amount of money into the series than had previously been spent on animated shows of the time. It was considered a risky move because at the time animated television shows were generally considered low-budget investments. In the end it was a risk that paid off well. Disney gambled on the idea that a larger investment into quality animation could be made back through syndication – a concept that worked well with live-action television reruns, but which had only been used with inexpensive cartoon shows that either recycled theatrical shorts from decades past or only featured limited, low-budget animation.

Disney has yet to top the success of DuckTales after its premiere two decades ago, and it still holds the record for the largest amount of episodes of any Disney cartoon at 100 half-hours. The first season consisted of 65 episodes, the standard length for a Disney television cartoon. The second season included 35 episodes adding new characters such as Bubba Duck and Fenton Crackshell a.k.a. GizmoDuck. Along with them came stories that generally shifted away from the globetrotting plots of the first season, and revolved primarily in the contemporary setting of Duckburg. The final episode of the series is disputed to have aired either on March 11 or May 6, 1990.

The popularity of the show even launched a full-length motion picture in 1990 called DuckTales The Movie: Treasure Of The Lost Lamp – a somewhat rare occurrence back then to have a feature-length theatrical film based on a current cartoon series. This gamble however did not pay off as hoped and the film was not a success finically, which more than likely caused other proposed feature films based on current and future television cartoons to be scrapped. There were plans for there to be several DuckTales movies following this film, but these were all shelved as well. I have a feeling if this franchise had been around in current times, the movie would have been a hit. Several television cartoons now adays have made great transitions over to film. But in 1990 animated movies weren’t the big money makers they are today.

Not only does DuckTales hold the title for most episodes and the only television production to have a feature-length film thus far, it also spun off two other series – Darkwing Duck and Quack Pack. In 1989 Chip ‘N Dale Rescue Rangers was paired with DuckTales in an hour long syndicated block through the 1989-90 television season, and in 1990-91 the block was expanded another hour to create The Disney Afternoon which would see success for many years to come. DuckTales therefore has another merit of being one of the early flagship cartoons in the block. Huey, Dewey, and Louie all appeared in the 1990 drug prevention video Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue, while Scrooge and Launchpad appeared in Disney’s short-lived series Raw Toonage. As for merchandise, there were two series of comic books (one ran 13 issues from 1988-1990, the other 18 issues from 1990-1991), as well as comic stories featured in the magazine Disney Adventures from 1990-1996.

The last time Scrooge McDuck and his nephews were seen in Canada was on Family Channel in the summer of 2003. I watched this show when I was younger, and I remember trying out some episodes when it was last on – at the time I was 18. It didn’t really capture me to stick with watching it, or maybe I just needed to give it a chance. Or maybe I had grown out of its characters and stories? In any case episodes are currently up on Youtube if you want to relive those childhood days without paying for the DVD’s. Of course the opening theme song (and the ending theme) from DuckTales is one of the most remembered cartoon themes not only from the Disney catalogue, but from the 1980’s as well. As stated in my previous post, anyone got any leads on who the singer is?

Adventures Of The Gummi Bears (1985)

2008-03-28T19:11:00.009-04:00

Disney’s second venture into television animation ended up doing much better than their previous offering that only lasted one season. Although by premise the show sounded as weird as The Wuzzles was – a bunch of brightly colored anthropomorphic bears living beneath a pond, guarding a secret recipe for a juice that makes them jump higher. Adding to that, it also took place in medieval times.

Luckily for them, Disney’s Adventures Of The Gummi Bears was just what the newly founded television animation department needed – a hit show. It premiered alongside The Wuzzles on September 14, 1985 on NBC. The idea for the show again came from Michael Eisner, and was based on a popular European candy called, of course, gummi bears. Oddly enough he sourced the idea after his son asked him one day for some gummi bear candies, which I guess was enough to convince him he could make an animated program loosely based on them. With better stories, better characters, and better animation, the show lasted five years and 65 half hour episodes – 30 of which were made up of two smaller cartoons, therefore totaling 95 individual episodes. Why the format was changed I have no idea; it’s an odd trait as most cartoons usually stay with one type of episode format for their entire run. The show was also produced by seasons and not in syndication (meaning all the episodes were made first and then all aired), and ran on NBC from 1985-1989, and for what ever reason moved to ABC in 1990 where it aired its final episode on December 8, 1990. I wasn’t aware of this until researching the show for this post, but the series actually had a proper series finale – the last two episodes marking the only time a single storyline followed throughout. For an animated cartoon, it’s a rare thing to have an ending episode, even today. The fact an 80’s cartoon like this ended properly is an extreme rareness, as a lot of cartoons back then were mass produced for a line of toys, and writers could care less about making an “ending” episode to make viewers happy. While the show was popular it didn’t spawn an overly large amount of merchandise; a few comics and books, buttons, and some figurines were about it.

Adventures Of The Gummi Bears exceeded many animated television shows at the time, and with the passage of time is now looked back upon as a show that jump started the massive boom of television animation in the late 80’s and throughout the 90’s. Disney would not only find the same type of success in their next series, but it would grow to overcome Adventures Of The Gummi Bears to become their biggest series ever. The longevity of the show could be attributed to the extremely rich universe it portrays – one which is clearly anchored in a Medieval Europe similar to Earth history, but whose pre-history is underlined not by men, but by the Ancient Gummis. The series also became the forerunner for Disney’s popular Disney Afternoon block when it premiered in 1990. It holds the record for the most seasons of any Walt Disney Television Animation production at six – seasons did not overlap into the following year, but rather each year had its own season. This can be disputed though with Disney’s release of the first three seasons on DVD and the amount of episodes included – I’ll leave you readers to work out the details.

The last time these bouncing bears were seen in Canada was on Family Channel around 1999/2000 – that’s a guess mind you, it’s been a very long time since I’ve seen any of the episodes. I remember finding out the show was back airing, but only on weekends at like 6:30 in the morning. I wasn’t quite old enough to care to program the VCR and I remember getting up early just to watch this show. Of course that was a long time ago, I wonder if I really sat down and watched the series now – would I still like it, or would I have grown out of it? If only I had the time to prove that theory – one Youtube user has taken the time to upload the entire series (among other great Disney titles) for viewing online. Of course the opening theme song (and the ending theme) for this show was nothing short of awesome and is irresistible to sing along with (I couldn’t find a good quality video of just the opening so I linked a random episode). They sure don’t make them like his anymore. The only thing about this opening theme and the other Disney themes to follow is that the singer is unknown – at least to me. Anyone got any leads?

The Wuzzles (1985)

2008-03-17T23:22:00.035-04:00

“The hell is this?” That was my first reaction when I came to discover this program. For the longest time when I was younger, I always had the notion that Adventures Of The Gummi Bears was Disney’s first animated cartoon. I was pretty surprised to find a show had been produced prior to that one, as I knew a lot of Disney titles but never heard of this show up until that point I found out about it.

It was more than likely because The Wuzzles was a flop. With only 13 episodes made, it still stands with the lowest amount of episodes of any animated television program Disney has put out thus far. That, and with a long passage of time, has made a show like this almost forgettable. I can’t recall this show ever airing in Canada, and this is the only Disney series I have never laid eyes on. Truth be told, I never even saw the opening credits until I searched for the show on Youtube while writing this entry. I can kind of see why it wasn’t a big hit – because it looks weird. Of course readers who actually saw this series could prove me wrong, as I can’t base any real opinion on it since I’ve never seen any of the episodes.

The Wuzzles premiered the same day as Adventures Of The Gummi Bears on September 14, 1985, with one show airing on CBS and the other on NBC. It was Disney’s first venture into animated television for kids. From what I’ve researched the idea of the show came from then CEO of the Walt Disney Company Michael Eisner, in association with toy manufacturer Hasbro, to create a group of animal characters with a roughly even and colorful mix of two different species of animals. Yes, it’s really that weird. And the theme song mentions “livin’ with a split personality” as a reference to this, which sounds even weirder. And they all have wings on their backs…no I’m not making this up. It gets better…all of the Wuzzles live on the Isle of Wuz. Is this meant to mean “Wuztf?”, because that’s basically all I can say about this cracked “what were they smoking?” type of cartoon. Another reason it failed: while Disney later on would become known for making shows about entertaining kids first with good stories and characters, this series was the opposite. It carried with it the standard marketing ploy of the time to get products to sell, and The Wuzzles were marketed extensively with books, plush toys and a board game, among other things. And while not a huge factor as voice actors can be replaced, one of them who voiced one of the main characters died, which only nailed another nail into the coffin for the series.

While The Wuzzles was not successful here, it did fairly better in the UK where its pilot episode aired as a theatrical feature. What the show did have was a catchy opening theme, which would become a trademark of many Disney cartoons to follow. There are some random clips of the show on Youtube. I quickly viewed them, and just shook my head at lameness.

Walt Disney Television Animation

2008-03-10T22:40:00.007-04:00

I’ve decided to kick off my reviewing of cartoons with the long and vast collection of shows Disney has been pumping out for the past 20 years. You should note that for these reviews and future ones for other shows, I’m going to assume you know a little bit about them to begin with. If you want specific information about characters, setting, and plot, you can find most of that stuff on Wikipedia and fansites. I’d like to hope my readers are well prepared and know their stuff before coming here. It would just take a longer time for me to name off all important characters, where the series takes place, and what the stories usually involve. That being said, for more lesser known cartoons and more so ones that are from Canada that don’t get much exposure anyplace else, I’ll shed more light on those. Who knows, I may just go back on all what I’ve said here if there is enough demand from people wanting to know more about characters/setting/plot for the more popular shows.

Television animation was in a dark state in the first half of the 1980’s. It was mostly used for pushing a popular brand of toys. Stories were drab, animation was horrible, and most of these shows haven’t aged well. The tide started to change by the middle of the decade with Disney – a company that brought us shows based on good stories, solid characters, imagination, and better animation. It wasn’t about pushing a product; it was about characters and their adventures, and entertaining kids first. Walt Disney Television Animation was launched in 1984 and a year later would premiere its first venture into television animation with The Wuzzles.

Since then Disney has come to produce and air a wealthy line of cartoons; to which they could and should be separated into categories. There was an explosion of syndicated television animation from 1985-1992 that revived all the old classic Disney characters with a modern twist. Shows like Chip ‘N Dale Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, and DuckTales – these shows brought to life old favorites while ushering new characters into the mix, while other shows from this time like Darkwing Duck and Adventures Of The Gummi Bears were totally original, new ideas. All these shows in this time period followed a strict likeness to each other. Each had a catchy opening sequence that clicked in at a minute long, each used the exact same font in the ending credits text, and the ending credits themselves always had a background picture of scenery to that show’s setting and/or character’s residence. It can be argued, however, that not all of these programs were syndicated and that some were produced by seasons – a trend of back and fourth-ness that has continued to his day with Disney. While I never thought of it to be a separate section, what Disney put out between 1993-1996 differs slightly from what was produced prior, but in some ways you could still consider it a good couple years where they still made decent programs. These years saw more productions based on recent movies like Aladdin and Timon & Pumbaa, while still churning out innovative shows like Gargoyles and The Schnookums & Meat Funny Cartoon Show.

By 1997 Disney had used up all their old characters, and changed direction with making more original, tween-oriented shows no longer featuring anthropomorphic critters but with “real” people – shows like Pepper Ann, Recess, and The Weekenders. I’d incase 1997-2002 as another chapter in Disney’s animated television history, as some of these shows in this timeframe have grown to become modern classics of their own. They were also part of the popular Disney’s One Saturday Morning block as well. The newest chapter of Disney’s television animation stems from 2003 to current time, which features a mix of anthropomorphic animal characters (Brandy & Mr. Whiskers), humans (The Replacements), and series based on recent movies (The Emperor’s New School).

I’d have to put the golden age of Walt Disney Television Animation between 1987 and 1992, as they put out hit after hit of (now classic) cartoons, and it was a very popular time for their animation block known as The Disney Afternoon. Sure they had shows before 1987, but they didn’t hit their stride until DuckTales became a huge success; which still stands as their longest running series with 100 half-hour episodes. Many of the cartoons during this time were heavily merchandised as well. Animation improved slowly, but it faltered here and there with Disney outsourcing their animation to other companies (a topic to cover for a later date). Between 1993 and 2001 while not in their prime, Disney still managed to make some good cartoons, although not heavily merchandised as the previous ones were (or in some cases not at all). It seems after 2001 the quality of many Disney programs fell fast and hard. No merchandise or hardly anything of value to really buy, boring ideas and repetitive scenarios, ugly character design and average animation, and no popular block to air them in anymore (lets face it, the current ABC Kids sucks and is mostly live-action programming now). This all leads to series closing up shop pretty quickly after beginning, and none of their recent efforts have made it past two years of production.

It’s hard to signify exactly where Disney jumped the shark, as even through a sea of tiresome cartoons they can still come out with a good show once in a while. What Disney currently has in production now is utter crap to what they used to put out; even their shows five years ago were of somewhat better quality. The Emperor’s New School, The Replacements, Phineas And Ferb – these shows just don’t compare. From being a cartoon making powerhouse to not knowing what the hell they are doing, Disney sure has fallen from its once high perch as a great network that made enjoyable animated programs.

The Buzz On Chowder

2008-02-29T23:30:00.007-05:00

Hungry for something new and refreshing to satisfy your animation appetite? Look no further – Chowder is here. Originally I was going to wait until I would eventually cover this program when going through a review of Cartoon Network’s programming, but at the current pace this blog is set at that could take me a year or more. And blogs, in one view, are used to keep up with current news and events. I just couldn’t keep quiet about Chowder, so here are my two cents about it thus far.

It’s hard to write a review about this show – because most of what I could say has been said by many fans already. Chowder, which made its premiere on Cartoon Network in November 2007, stands out so far from everything else in animation these days that it’s on another planet. It’s uniquely original in all aspects. It’s set up in a whimsical world of exotic locale, where you never know what will happen next. It’s styled so much more differently and doesn’t feel as it’s ever limited by what it can do. It has a funky soundtrack that keeps characters in tune. It’s creatively written and jumps from being very funny and cute, too being totally gross but not in an excessive way. It’s full of random moments that make it interesting to watch, and is scripted to be unscripted with many funny “in-between” moments. The characters are designed well and have distinctive personalities, and let’s just face it – Chowder is downright adorable to watch as he’s such an innocent and energetic character that feels real. Adding to the winning formula, Chowder has an excellent voice cast and all characters interact well. One of its best traits is its dialogue – it’s written to be amusing for kids, but has such widespread appeal older viewers can enjoy the show as well. At 22 I found the show to come off very entertaining, sometimes thinking to myself, “Is this really just meant for kids ages 9-12?” It’s got hilarious moments that would wholly go over many young viewers’ heads, and yet it still retains a playfulness and charm I can’t recall ever seeing in a cartoon before.

Chowder for me was a series of firsts. It was the first time I ever noticed voice acting before anything else, and that’s rare. I was very surprised to look up Chowder’s voice actor on the net, and to find he has little to no previous acting credits – and he voice acts like a pro! He brings such a youthful exuberance to his character and as a good voice actor should, makes the character come alive. I can’t imagine anyone ever replacing Chowder’s voice, so lets hope his young voice actor Nicky Jones can hold off puberty for as long as possible. Panini’s voice actress Liliana Mumy was an excellent choice, I love the persona she gives her character. Add that she has a long acting resume, minus that I’m sure puberty won’t effect her as much so she can voice Panini for as long as possible.

Chowder was also the first time I realized it’s been far too long since a cartoon was traditionally animated, something I thought I’d never see again. Could it really be the lost art of making cartoons is making a comeback? In a world of flat Flash and cheap 3-D CGI, the show racks up more points with me just for that fact its animated in traditional 2-D, but from what I know it’s in a digital format (Someone want to clear up what the exact difference is? Will cells exist? Or is it all done by computer?). The animation is fantastic. It has a large palette of colors that really gives your eyes a visual treat; its backgrounds are textured and extensively detailed to wrap the show in its own jokingly quirky universe. It also has good flow and motion as well, a trait I often search but fail to find in other shows that offer jerky and stiff character movements. Lips move well to the voices, and facial expressions are nicely exaggerated when need be, all the more adding to a character’s personality.

Chowder was also the very first time I went out of my way to see a new cartoon. And that really says something, moreover the fact because I’m out of the prime age range they are trying to reach. Cartoon Network’s productions eventually make it to air on Teletoon here in Canada, but it takes months for them to finally get here and by then we are so far behind our viewers in the US. But I just couldn’t wait. After seeing short clips of it on Youtube, I actively looked and found a download of the first four episodes. The picture and sound quality weren’t all the great, but the series was as good as I thought it would be, and it made me wonder where a show like this has been hiding for all these years. Comparing a show like this to anything else is almost criminal, but I’d put Chowder between a cross of SpongeBob Squarepants and The Ren & Stimpy Show.

Chowder is one hot dish of a cartoon right now. Since my discovery of it towards the end of 2007, I’ve seen its online fandom rapidly flourish in a short time in forms of fanart, websites, and various fan-made videos on Youtube – some of which have over 100,000 views already. What a handy marketing trick to get the show noticed even more. The show had high expectations when it came to premiere, and has already quickly become one of the network’s headlining series. I can only hope it continues to have the success its having this early on, as sometimes victory too early can result in expectations becoming too high far too soon. I sincerely hope Chowder doesn’t jump the shark that quickly, and that it lives every episode like it was its first. The worst thing that could happen to an original show like this is repetition in stories and character behavior, and I hope “Chowder/Panini” episodes don’t take over the series just to satisfy fans that want to see a couple together.

Chowder leaps out of the creative mind of C.H. Greenblatt, whose blog is linked here. You can find up-to-date information and media on the series there. A good review of the series from Toon Zone can be found here, as well as a cool fan-made flash video here. And please flame this reviewer off the face of the earth for stating the cartoon is a “throw away series”. It’s the exact opposite – Chowder has a winning recipe behind it, and when all mixed together creates a scrumches delicacy that will satisfy the taste buds and cravings for the true animation connoisseur. I hope to get my fill of Chowder when it lands on the menu here in Canada. Let’s hope it’s soon – because I’m starving.

Networks In The United States – Part 5

2008-02-28T23:11:00.015-05:00

To wrap up this segment – I’ll cover the rest of the networks that air, or used to air, cartoons and live action kids shows in the US. Mind you I’m doing this to the best of my knowledge as I don’t live there, so if I have made any errors don’t hesitate to leave a comment.

MTV – Known more for their music videos than cartoons, although these days that wouldn’t even be true in relating to the music videos, the network has produced and aired many popular and cult classic teen/adult oriented shows. This first started in 1991 with the premiere of Liquid Television, an animation showcase of creator-driven short cartoons. The show served as a launching point for several high-profile cartoons like Beavis And Butt-head and Æon Flux. In the years to follow they would produce many more shows, many gaining a cult following long after their cancellation such as Downtown, underGRADS, and Daria. They don’t seem to be doing much these days with animation; as far as I know they haven’t produced anything new for at least five years.

UPN – Don’t know much about this network, only for the fact it had the exact same life span as The WB at 11 years, and would end up shutting down in 2006 and merging with it to form The CW Television Network. When the station launched they aired cartoons on weekends in a lineup known as UPN Kids – some affiliates airing the block on Sundays instead of Saturdays. It mostly aired old anime like Dragon Ball Z and Samurai Pizza Cats. In 1999 the network made a deal with Disney to air select programming from Disney’s One Saturday Morning block; the new lineup would be called Disney’s One Too. Many station affiliates were already airing the syndicated Disney Afternoon block to begin with, and with the new block Disney’s cartoons were no longer syndicated but aired on UPN stations – some markets running it on weekday mornings, others weekday afternoons. After eight years of airing animated shows, the network dropped out in airing children’s programming in September 2003 when their contract with Disney came to an end.

USA Network – Had a popular animation block called USA Cartoon Express which ran from 1982 to 1996. It has the honor of being the first structured animation block on cable television, predating Nickelodeon’s animation blocks by half a decade and Cartoon Network by more than a decade. Its initial setup was comprised mostly of reruns from the Hanna-Barbera library, but by the end of the 80’s a more diverse lineup of cartoons aired in the block including The Real Ghostbusters, G.I. Joe, and Alvin & The Chipmunks. Turner Broadcasting purchased Hanna-Barbera and launched Cartoon Network in 1992, thus taking a chunk of Cartoon Express programming with it. In 1994 the block was moved from weekday afternoons to weekday mornings, in addition to its Sunday morning lineup, and revamped the entire look of the block. The block even launched original shows – the first two Cartoon Express series The Itsy-Bitsy Spider and Problem Child didn’t catch on with viewers. The network briefly acquired the broadcast rights to Terrytoons shorts and DC Comics related cartoons. Eventually the block was revamped into a weekday morning “all-action” block named USA Action Extreme Team with programs like Mighty Max, Sailor Moon, and Gargoyles. By the summer of 1996, USA Network ended all animation blocks on all its outlets after a 14 year run.

ABC Family – This network came to be after Fox Family was sold to ABC in 2001. Even though I never got the channel, I do remember promos for Fox Family Channel, and while I’d like to expand more on the network there isn’t much info about it. All I know is that it premiered sometime in the 90’s and aired much of what Fox Kids was airing at the time in an assigned children’s programming block. The network would also come to air many older shows and Saturday morning “classics” like Bobby’s World, Camp Candy, and Dennis The Menace, meanwhile ushering in various Canadian produced shows like Braceface and Mega Babies. ABC Family’s Jetix block made its debut on the network in 2002 airing anime such as Medabots, Beyblade, and Digimon: Digital Monsters. The block ran until August 2006 when it was switched to air on Toon Disney, leaving the network without an animation block they have yet to replace.

More information about these networks can be found on Wikipedia. If there is one trend that is evident after compiling this post – its that these major networks with small blocks dedicated to children’s programming all eventually fell victim to cable networks that were solely dedicated to children’s programming all the time (with the exception of MTV). Therefore with losing an audience who would rather watch Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network, these networks lose interest in hosting a block with cartoons as they don’t see it profitable, and they eventually fade away – much like the classic Saturday morning blocks of my time. It goes back to what I mentioned at the end of this post, and that only networks that air cartoons 24/7 are the places to really find your animation fix these days – as major networks have abandoned their small blocks of animation because no one is paying attention to them anymore. As with the case of MTV – adult animation has always been a hard market to be really successful in, and I think perhaps they just gave up on making anymore animated shows as most of them only lasted one season.

In pertaining to the three previous children’s networks I covered (Nick, Disney and CN), there is another trend I’ve come to realize – is that they all more or less share the same progression as they age. They have an early stage where the network develops its identity with viewers, and during this time they will import shows from various other networks and countries. They will eventually enter a golden age where the network is very popular with viewers, and during this time original productions commence. Of course you can only appreciate a golden age once many years have been put behind it and you finally realize it was a golden age, but back then it was just the network improving on itself. These networks (moreover the older ones) seem to have a good first ten years, but then they reach a point of jumping the shark. They improved so much, did so many things, released so many great shows – and suddenly the winning formula is lost due to the changes of time and shifts in viewership to a new generation of audience. They begin to falter, over and over again, lose their status as the network they were once known for, and worst of all start to get compared to how they used to be years ago. During this time these networks will make sister/spin-off channels because they have such a large catalogue of programming they can’t fit it all on their current network, therefore many older shows see the light of day again – this being more of a treat to older viewers. It’s not enough though, and the network just isn’t putting out the same greatness it once was. Was it the audience? Or the changes in animation itself that cause some networks to miss the mark with almost every new show they put out? Has every story from every point of view been told? Is nothing truly new anymore? From what I’ve examined in the lifespan of a children’s network, and how most of them aren’t what they used to be, I think it’s time we got a new animation station so the process of a fresh and new network that airs great cartoons can once again be celebrated.

Networks In The United States – Part 4

2008-02-27T21:54:00.005-05:00

The WB Television Network – Launched January 11, 1995 / Dissolved September 17, 2006
Usually referred to as The WB; while it was not a full fledged children’s network, Warner Bros. Animation’s biggest hit shows would eventually find a home there. The WB launched the Kids’ WB programming block in September 1995 which mixed Warners’ biggest hit shows (like Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs that originated on Fox Kids or in syndication) with new productions and original shows.

After the Turner-Time Warner merger in 1996 Kids’ WB formed an alliance with Cartoon Network, and overtime they shared more and more programming. In 1999 they acquired from syndication the American version of the popular anime Pokémon that became a widespread hit with viewers. Eventually the weekday version of the block dissolved by 2006 along with the network, but retained a Saturday morning lineup on the new CW Television Network under the same name. However by late 2007 the network stated the Kids’ WB block will end in September 2008, selling the programming to (I hope you’re sitting down for this, as my jaw hit the floor when I found this out) 4Kids Entertainment – the same crap factory that ruined the old Fox Saturday morning lineup of cartoons.

If that wasn’t enough to make Warner Brothers jump the shark in relation to animation, its also the fact that they haven’t produced a decent hit show since 1998’s Histeria!, the last good Tom Ruegger produced show for Warner Bros. Animation. So if you are asking has Warner Brothers jumped the shark with its viewing audience and current programming – they have. A show like Animaniacs has aged well and is still as fresh as ever to watch; you sure won’t be able to say that for any of the current (forgettable) cartoons they’ve made recently. The WB network never expanded to Canada – most likely because YTV, Fox, Global, and Teletoon aired most of their programming. Youtube has lots of WB Network related stuff and Kids’ WB related stuff so check that out as well. You can view their network sign off here.

Networks In The United States – Part 3

2008-02-09T10:56:00.000-05:00

Cartoon Network – Launched October 1, 1992
Created by Turner Broadcasting; in 1990 the company purchased animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions and acquired its large library of cartoons. Cartoon Network was created as an outlet for their huge library of animation, and initial programming on the network consisted exclusively of reruns of classic cartoons from Warner Bros., MGM, and Hanna-Barbera.

H-B started production on What-A-Cartoon! Show which was a series of creator-driven short cartoons (much like Nickelodeon’s Oh Yeah! Cartoons series) that premiered in 1995. This show spun-off several successful series and gave birth to CN’s first set of originally produced shows such as Dexter’s Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, and Cow & Chicken. By 1998 the Hanna-Barbera name began to disappear from the newer shows from the studio in favor of the Cartoon Network Studios name – The Powerpuff Girls being the last cartoon to end with H-B’s trademark swirling star logo in the ending credits. In 1996 Time Warner purchased Turner Broadcasting and with it Cartoon Network, who gained access to the complete Warner Bros. cartoon library. Along with this they focused on creating new material for Cartoon Network, which came in perfect timing with the What-A-Cartoon! Show mentioned above that premiered a year earlier.

Eventually the classic cartoons were replaced with current Cartoon Network Studios shows (and other cartoons sourced from other networks and other countries), which therefore led to the spin-off sister channel Boomerang making its debut in April 2000. Starting in 2004, as like The Disney Channel started to do with their own in house shows, CN started to take off the more “recent classics” they produced from the 90’s. The network has had a series of very successful programming blocks as well, such as Cartoon Cartoons (used to be a collective name for Cartoon Network’s original shows). The action-oriented Toonami block has been running since 1997, and is known for showing a large impressive list of Japanese anime and movies. Another claim to fame is its Adult Swim block that ultimately turned into CN’s adult sister network of the same name, which premiered in September 2001. The block plays American animated comedy and animes and OVA’s intended for audiences 18 and older, generally with minimal or no editing for content – and like CN’s normal programming, this block has aired a noteworthy amount of shows. A good portion of the Adult Swim block is made up of original programming produced by Cartoon Network in association with its network division Williams Street, which produces and programs Adult Swim. Cartoon Network has expanded all over the world, but Canada remains one of the few places where it hasn’t – most likely because YTV and Teletoon have aired most of their programming.

Has Cartoon Network jumped the shark with its viewing audience and current programming? As far as I see it, no they haven’t. CN was a latecomer in producing its own shows (compared to Nick and WB), and it wasn’t until the mid 90’s where that ball starting rolling. I think they are still in their prime. Where other networks have continued to falter over the years with failing cartoon shows, CN is the only notable network I see still pumping out good shows. Personally, I saw this proved over and over again first starting in 2004 with Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, and then The Life & Times Of Juniper Lee made its debut in 2005 – both are solid shows. Out of all the new offerings for animated shows from (major) networks in the US in 2006, their series Squirrel Boy was the only one that stood out over a cavalcade of bland offerings. They struck gold again with their new series Chowder which premiered in November 2007 – a show that hasn’t even made it here yet but already looks like a fantastic series. It’s just further proof that this network hasn’t lost their touch. They also have a knack for making animated shows live long lives – Codename: Kids Next Door just recently aired its last episode in January after premiering in December 2002. At the time of its premiere I didn’t think nothing of it, but only now realize as with the shows mentioned above that it proves CN makes good, entertaining animation. It illustrates this in its current fleet of programming, and its back catalogue full of great, long running shows. Never has a network been so deserving and true to its name – Cartoon Network truly is an excellent network for cartoons. Youtube has lots of Cartoon Network related stuff so check that out as well. The network has a parade of original animated bumpers, like this one. Too bad other networks didn’t celebrate their anniversaries with cool ads like this.

Networks In The United States – Part 2

2008-01-30T23:30:00.003-05:00

The Disney Channel – Launched April 18, 1983
Based in Burbank, California; early on they used to air some live action kids programming along with various half hour compilations of old Disney shorts. Again, like most networks from this period do early on – they aired several foreign animated shows and movies including Asterix (this was English dubbed at some point?), the original stop motion Paddington Bear series, and The Raccoons.

By the mid 80’s however, the network started to produce their own brand of television animation starting with the short-lived series The Wuzzles in 1985. Disney became a king of Saturday morning cartoons in its own right, as not only did their productions air on their network, but also aired on major networks like NBC, CBS, ABC, and even Fox. DuckTales, Chip ‘N Dale Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, Darkwing Duck, Goof Troop, etc, are now considered contemporary classics. They had many programming blocks over the years, the most notable being The Disney Afternoon which began in 1990 to house all their television animation. Its name was shortened to TDA in 1994, and by 1997 started getting phased out and replaced by Disney’s One Saturday Morning block solely on the ABC network. This block had a short-lived spin-off starting in 1999 called Disney’s One Too that aired on weekends and weekdays. Both blocks were eventually phased out in the fall of 2002, as Disney’s One Saturday Morning simply became ABC Kids. In April 1998 the network spun-off a sister channel called Toon Disney; meant to air older Disney cartoons and other shows from The Disney Afternoon, which saw many older cartoons jump ship off The Disney Channel and onto this network. However starting in 2004 with the addition of the Jetix block on Toon Disney, most of the older programs vanished (Canadian counterpart Family Channel followed suit as well), although currently some older shows have made their way back on the network.

The Disney Channel/Toon Disney networks have expanded all over the world, but Canada remains one of the few places where it hasn’t – most likely because Family Channel has aired most of their programming. Has Disney Channel jumped the shark with its viewing audience and current programming? Absolutely – their pre-teen lineup of shows has taken over the network, the focus doesn’t even seem to be on animation anymore. They may have ruled Saturday mornings in the 80’s and 90’s, but these days their cartoons are garbage compared to the quality offerings they used to put out. Youtube has lots of Disney related stuff so check that out as well.

Networks In The United States – Part 1

2008-01-25T23:50:00.001-05:00

While living in Canada has many advantages as pertaining to viewing animated shows, it does have its draw backs. There are many networks we never received up here, due to strict restrictions on foreign media ownership and Canadian content. The only way to get these networks would be to have a satellite feed of these channels, which as far I know is illegal. That’s why if you really want to view these networks, you have to be sneaky and get a grey market American satellite dish.

While I have a good knowledge of what children’s networks are available here, I’m not as informed as to what is offered stateside. While I do know the big names, I’m sure there are smaller networks that I’m missing; so I’ll only cover the ones I know of, and try my best doing so.

Nickelodeon – Launched April 1, 1979
Originally established in December 1977 under the name Pinwheel in Columbus, Ohio on the QUBE cable system (now Time Warner Cable) – the channel went national by expanding to another cable system in Buffalo, New York on April 1, 1979 (its official birth date). Pinwheel changed its name to Nickelodeon in 1981 and became available nationwide. It would become known for its iconic green slime, which not many know came from the Canadian show You Can’t Do That On Television, which aired on Nickelodeon from 1981-1993. In 1984 the original silver ball logo was replaced with the current orange “shape-shifting” logo.

Like its Canadian counterpart YTV, Nick has aired a huge assortment of live action kids shows and animation from all parts of the world for (can it really be?) almost 30 years. It’s incorporated many blocks of programming over the years, has spun-off sister channels as well like Nicktoons Network (launched May 1, 2002), since 1993 publishes Nickelodeon Magazine, and has produced many full length motion pictures under the Nickelodeon Movies name (what a powerful company, eh?). The network has expanded all over the world, but Canada remains one of the few places where it hasn’t – most likely because YTV has aired most of Nick’s programming. I saw a small glimpse of the network once at a friend’s house that had a satellite dish in the early 00’s. At the time I really wished I could get the channel, and this was my first and only dose of it I ever received.

Prior to 1991 Nickelodeon aired mostly foreign-based cartoons coming from Canada, UK, France, Eastern Europe (mainly Russia and Poland), Japan, as well as American cartoons that were produced by other networks. That all changed in the early 90’s when the network started to make their own animated cartoons called Nicktoons – the rest they say, is history. Nick produced some of the best and popular animated shows of the 90’s – hitting massive success twice with Rugrats first in 1991, and then with SpongeBob SquarePants in 1999. The network has also featured a vast array of programming blocks and original animated bumpers (featuring various Nicktoon characters), and for a while had a very distinctive look in its animation stemming from the Klasky-Csupo style of producing animated shows.

Has Nickelodeon jumped the shark with its viewing audience and current programming? It’s an overwhelming yes – they may have ruled in the 90’s with their Nicktoons, but these days are just a shadow of their former greatness. Spongebob Squarepants is a good show in its own right – but the network pushes it too far (and has been for years) to the point where Spongebob is basically Nick’s mascot. I would have loved to have gotten the channel back 15 years ago, but these days most of their older programming has vanished and most of their current stuff is trash. Check out more on Nickelodeon’s history here, here and here. Youtube has lots of Nick related stuff so check that out as well.

Where I’m Coming From – Part 4

2008-01-20T23:15:00.001-05:00

To wrap up this segment – I’ll cover the rest of the networks that air, or used to air, cartoons and live action kids shows here in Canada.

TVO – Mostly for preschoolers, although they do air some shows for older kids. Most famous for their long running children’s series Polka Dot Door, and its spin-off Polka Dot Shorts. Other notable kids shows included Téléfrançais, Join In!, Today’s Special, and airing the popular British series Art Attack. Cartoon wise it’s most notable for airing the oldest anime I’ve ever viewed thus far, Fables Of The Green Forest. They still air a lot of animated programs today.

Global – Used to air such great cartoons on weekdays and Saturday mornings, but sadly no longer do. I remember as a kid waiting to go to school, and I’d flip on the television and usually watch something on Global or Fox (mostly Global would copy what Fox aired sometimes). There isn’t much online resource when compiling its history of aired animated shows (as with CTV), but they did air some great ones like Care Bears, Beetlejuice, My Pet Monster, Dennis The Menace, and The Smoggies. They aired Inspector Gadget for years until it was finally taken off their network sometime in 2006 (I believe, it could have been earlier). They also aired Babar, Dog City, Ovide And The Gang, Ewoks, and the classic Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show. Does anyone but me remember the live-action show Kideo (a.k.a. Kids Can Kock And Roll)? These days Global mostly airs news and fishing programs where they used to air their cartoons.

CBC – Most famous for airing the cult 80’s toon The Raccoons, and airing kids favorites such as Under The Umbrella Tree, Fred Penner’s Place, Mr. Dressup, and Sharon, Lois & Bram’s Elephant Show. They still air a lot of animated programs today.

CBC French – I’ve only discovered in recent years what great cartoons they air on Saturday and Sunday mornings. They may be in French (either dubbed or originally produced), but you get a good taste of what shows are popular in Europe, and get to view many programs that have never been dubbed in English, like Titeuf for example. For most cartoons I view on this network, I can still somewhat make out what’s going on in an episode without actually understanding the language.

ABC – Used to air a great set of cartoons on Saturday mornings, like Sonic The Hedgehog, Reboot, Bump In The Night, and was the home of Disney’s One Saturday Morning – something I watched all the time. Its crown jewel of kid’s shows was the long running Schoolhouse Rock series. These days its ABC Kids Saturday morning lineup is mostly comprised of (horribly lame) live-action Disney Channel shows.

CTV (CKCO) – Again, used to air a great lineup of shows, but no longer do (mostly CTV would copy what ABC aired sometimes). It had great kids shows like Camp Cariboo (someone must remember that show), Wonder Why? (I know there was some spin-off from this show, or perhaps this was the spin-off from another show, I can’t remember now), Owl TV (which still airs on the network Saturday mornings at 6am), and also aired the cult classic Canadian series You Can’t Do That On Television. For the longest time it always aired The Flintstones everyday at noon. In recent years, like Global, its Saturday morning lineup is full of boring news programs. There really is no point in getting up early to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings anymore – because there aren’t any left.

CTV (CFTO/BBS) – Reading from Wikipedia I’m even confused of what section of CTV this is and or was, although I’m sure CFTO-TV was Toronto’s first private television station, and eventually became an affiliate with CTV. It used to air the Canadian edition of Romper Room (I was on that show), but I never really paid any attention to it until 1994 when it became part of the Baton Broadcast System, which at the time was a subsystem within the CTV network. Are you still lost? Because I am, moreover the fact I saw a BBS bumper on Youtube and it said CKCO-TV. So whatever, I guess someone else can make sense of this mess of stations and substations (weren’t the 80’s and 90’s a mess like that?). Anyway, the station was called BBS, and on Saturday mornings it aired some shows CKCO did, as well as its own special block of Disney’s newest animated shows at the time called BBS Master Control; something I swear no one remembers but me, and I’d give anything to see clips from this block which was hosted by former YTV PJ, Jenn Beech. The network eventually dissolved into CTV in late 1997, and the block aired until 1999 with new host Melyssa Ade until CTV began airing Disney’s One Saturday Morning as a simulcast (seen at the same time) from ABC.

CBS – Used to air great programs on Saturday mornings like Garfield & Friends, Beakman’s World and CBS Storybreak, along with Muppet Babies, Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, The Weird Al Show, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and The Twisted Tales Of Felix The Cat. From 2002-2004 they aired various Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. programs, and then turned it over to all Nick Jr. from 2004-2006. They still have a Saturday morning block today – but it pails in comparison to what they used to offer.

NBC – Used to air great programs (see a trend here?) on Saturday mornings as well such as The Smurfs, Alvin & The Chipmunks, Super Mario Bros Super Show, and many others. They still have a Saturday morning block today, although the programming is a hit and miss. The hits are both imported from Canada – Jacob Two-Two and Jane And The Dragon.

Fox – Used to air cartoons on weekday mornings (anyone remember U’s Place…was that the name? The host was a guy along with a talking television), as well as a great Saturday morning lineup with Animaniacs, The Tick, Bobby’s World, Eek! The Cat, and the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, along with various other imports like the French series Space Goofs. It was a good outlet for Warner Brothers’ animated properties during the early to mid 90’s. From 1999-2001 Fox incorporated more anime into its Saturday morning lineup, eventually making the whole block nothing but anime by 2002 and airing nothing but terrible English dubbed and heavily edited properties from 4Kids Entertainment. This sadly still continues today.

PBS – Has a wealth of great and long running kid’s shows and cartoons. Who didn’t watch Sesame Street or Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, Shining Time Station or Lamb Chop’s Play-Along? You also watched Barney & Friends too, just shut up and admit it. I also remember watching Ghostwriter and Bill Nye The Science Guy as well. For animation, their claims to fame are the Magic School Bus series and long running series Arthur, which is still in production since its debut in 1996. The network still airs many of its children’s shows today.

TLC – Yes, I’ll even give this network a mention, as they have been running a Saturday morning kids block of programming since the 80’s (but not very well known). Its shows are mostly borrowed from other networks, but it’s the only place where you could see the 80’s stop motion British series Postman Pat. It was only recently I discovered they aired Hey Arnold!, which stands out as one of the few US produced shows that used to air in the block as most of the other shows were Canadian or from other parts of the world. It also aired the Spanish series The World Of David The Gnome, as well as the live-action kids show Pappyland. It appears however, that this network has followed suit as well, and no longer has animation on Saturday mornings.

More information about these networks can be found on Wikipedia. Take a look at some older Saturday morning schedules from networks here and here. I also discovered the same Youtube user I mentioned in the previous post has another account full of old shows and various other content from Canadian television. If there is one trend that is painfully obvious after compiling this post – it’s that major networks these days don’t air cartoons as much as they used too (moreover on Saturday mornings), and only stations that specialize in that field (like Teletoon, YTV, etc) still air animation actively today. Who knew that come the turn of the new millennium, we would lose so many trusted sources for viewing animation in Canada.

Where I’m Coming From – Part 3

2008-01-15T23:50:00.000-05:00

Family Channel – Launched September 1, 1988
Out of the three main channels here that offer child’s programming and animation, the two of which were already covered, the Family Channel was the one that remained the utmost mystery to me and I knew next to nothing about this network compared to the others. It was only until researching the station for this post I found it premiered the same date as YTV did, and that it was the only English language children’s network in Canada to have off-air hours up until July 2007 when they switched over to a 24/7 broadcast schedule. While I said before YTV was the first channel of its kind here in Canada (since Family Channel debuted the same day), it still is because while Family Channel is a children’s network, it was a larger mix of live-action shows and other adult fare rather than animated programming. That, and it was a “pay extra” channel in a premium cable package that way back then we never got. YTV on the other hand you received on basic cable.

So let’s roll back the clock here. My earliest memories of the channel are fuzzy – literally. I recall flipping through the channels as a kid, and when I’d reach the ones that were blocked out and found Family Channel I can remember hearing the music to some classic Disney shows, and sometimes you could even make out the picture for about five seconds until it got all distorted and scrambled again. As I said, it was part of an extra channels package, and long before Teletoon was around I whined to my mom to get the extra channels so I could watch Family Channel. She always said no but eventually with the free preview we received we all got hooked like druggies, and after it was taken away from us we all wanted more. I can faintly remember old bumpers when Family Channel had their really old logo running (the painted “F” with the sun in it). Like the two aforementioned channels the network played various cartoons and kids shows, but unlike them the Family Channel did and still does air programming with no commercials. That’s right! You can watch an entire television show or movie in its complete length, and the promos are only their other programs being advertised, airing between shows for a brief period. This is especially handy if anyone out there is into taping and archiving shows, a subject I’ll touch on at a later date.

I can’t really shine a lot of light on the programming offered on the network in its early days, as I stated I never received it. It also biases my opinion of the network because out of the 20 years it’s been on the air, I’ve only been viewing for about ten and remember even less than that. Like most networks of this nature tend to do when they first start out – Family Channel aired imported cartoons from other networks. Back then they really offered a mixed bag of animation, not only airing Disney cartoons but Nicktoons, shows from Hanna-Barbera, and various English dubbed Japanese animes and French productions as well. I have to thank one Youtube user for posting some very old bumpers from the network (here and here) which helped me out with this post – I knew of a 90’s Spirou animated series, but never knew it was dubbed in English let alone aired here over a decade ago. It’s also interesting to note that while YTV and Teletoon are known for many original and co-produced animated shows, Family Channel to my knowledge only has one original cartoon to its credit – the little known show Hoze Houndz which despite never getting that popular still managed to get 78 half hour episodes under its belt. Programming these days is divided into four blocks: Jetix (a block no one is ever awake to see), Playhouse (which airs mid morning for preschoolers), Mad Dash (which airs in the early morning then resumes at noon running till the evening for preteens), and Non Stop (which airs live action sitcoms which on weekends air all day long). I couldn’t tell you what blocks, if any, they had before – the only thing I remember are oldschool bumpers they had before and after they changed their logo and their name to just Family in 1999.

Family (as it’s now called) has aired many cartoons from many difference places for as long as YTV has, all commercial free. This Wikipedia article here has a list of past and present shows that aired on the network, although it’s largely incomplete and doesn’t list any of the older programming they used to offer in the late 80’s to mid 90’s. As I’ve continued to state the animated shows in that list will get covered here in time. Along with airing imported cartoons from around the globe, Family has been Disney’s Canadian outlet for its television cartoons and full length movies since its inception. Almost every one of Disney’s animated productions has aired here at one point, some having a far longer run than others. I have no proof though that The Wuzzles ever aired on the network, nor did Disney’s version of the Doug series or Nightmare Ned. I couldn’t tell you the longest it ever took for a Disney show to reach here because Family picks up new shows quickly after they premiere in the US, so the biggest gaps in time are perhaps six months to a year. I can tell you one of the longest Disney shows to air consecutively was Goof Troop, which ran in various time spots sometimes twice a day for nine years from 1996-2005. A recent runner up to this would be The Weekenders series which began airing in 2001 and has been airing three times a day since April 2006. Check out more on Family from its Wikipedia article here, unfortunately I couldn’t find any webpages out there with Family related banter. Youtube doesn’t really have a lot of Family related stuff so you’ll have to search it out; this user in particular has many promos and old advertisements so give his account a look. I have to give a quick thanks to this user. You know when you’re a kid and you see certain cartoons and live-action shows and years later can never remember what they were called? And once in a while you’ll remember blurry images of it in your head and sometimes wonder if it even truly existed? Well this user brought to memory a show I could never place but did remember – one of the last obscure television memories I had as a kid is finally solved. Do you…remember Kidstreet?

Has Family jumped the shark with its viewing audience and current programming? I’d have to say yes, but it’s not as big as a jump as YTV, and it only happened in recent years. The channel in its earliest days had a better variety of shows (many sitcoms) and showcased classic black and white films. They also had documentaries and music specials and concerts. Strictly animation wise I think its best years were set between the late 90’s to mid 2000’s. The main reason for watching the network, and I’m sure others will agree, was to watch all the popular Disney cartoons from the 80’s and 90’s. Like its US equivalent The Disney Channel, those older shows started to get phased out of the schedule starting in 2004 in favor of newer programming – the beginning of the end was when Goof Troop after nine years of airing was finally taken off the network in September 2005. It was the oldest cartoon airing at the time (13 years old) from Disney’s prime days in television animation, and that for me was the jumping factor because most of what they are airing today just doesn’t make the grade from what quality shows Disney used to put out. The Weekenders is now the oldest (Disney) cartoon airing on the network, dating back to 2000 (man does time fly). What I dislike about the network these days is that it’s become too much like The Disney Channel. This started in early 2007 when they started to show commercial style breaks from The Disney Channel and airing its (horrible teeny pop) music videos. I think once The Weekenders go, which will more than likely signal another change in the tide, I won’t be changing my television to channel 51 all that often anymore.

Where I’m Coming From – Part 2

2008-01-10T20:52:00.000-05:00

Teletoon – Launched October 17, 1997
It’s unreal to think that it’s been just over a decade since Teletoon made its first appearance on Canadian cable airwaves. It makes me wonder how I’d live without it now, as its aired a lot of programming that otherwise may have never been aired here. Like YTV, it was the first channel of its kind – but unlike YTV where in the later hours the animation was switched to more live-action shows for older viewers, Teletoon was 100% about animation 24 hours a day. When it first came on the air it was part of an extra channels package that was given a free preview back in 1997 for a long while. Other areas of Canada got it longer than others and our free preview in Southern Ontario lasted a long while. Eventually I turned the television to channel 50 one day to find it blocked with a fuzzy picture and barley audible sound. I begged and pleaded my mom to get the extra channels, as at the time we only had the standard cable package which only went up to channel 36…or maybe it was 29, it’s been too long to recall exactly how many channels we got. She caved, and I was able to feed my addiction to this new channel and another one I wanted for a long time, The Family Channel (which will be covered later).

Teletoon has been on the air long enough to now reflect and look back on how the station has changed over the years, and I never would have reflected on it five years ago but now enough time has passed to realize the changes. I was at the perfect age when the network premiered and I remember a fair bit of it – I was 12 in 1997. As with YTV in its earliest days, Teletoon aired imported cartoons and co-productions with Canada, but there was much more focus on Canadian animation and a lot of older shows found a brief home here to air and gain a new fanbase. The network aired a lot of Cinar’s old catalogue of cartoons with shows like Albert The 5th Musketeer and The Smoggies, and plenty of shows from Nelvana as well like Ned’s Newt, Blazing Dragons and Donkey Kong Country. Shorts from the National Film Board of Canada were also shown, and other cult classic cartoons like The Raccoons. Eventually the network started to produce original and co-produced productions like 6teen, Atomic Betty, Cybersix, Kid Paddle, What About Mimi?, and many others. Although the network hasn’t been around that long compared to others, I think its best years are starting to reflect the period of the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Originally the programming was divided into four blocks, each with their own set of uber cool bumpers, station ID’s, and “coming up next” ads, all of which were based on a “planet” theme and each had their own. They also made use of some pretty cool animation styles such as Claymation, and compared to what bumpers you see these days, you can see a lot of work was put into the early ones. The four blocks were preschool, kids, family and adult – I wish I had specific times for when they changed over. I remember the adult bumpers were kinda creepy and not as immature as they are today, looking to suit more teenage “college” viewers rather than real “adult” viewers of animation. By 1998 these were all changed along with their little station identification “jingle”, and its been too long to remember what exact design they went to next. By the start of 2007 the network layout was dramatically changed, including the old logo, as was its website to a more reformed look.

Teletoon, also like YTV, has aired a long line of cartoons ranging from sunny preschool outings to the darkest of adult shows. Their original format was great as they moved on to older programming throughout the day, and back then had a strong commitment to air diverse programming and air things uncut. Early on, and I was unaware of this for many years until I decided to research a bit on the network, Teletoon had an incident during their first year where they accidentally broadcasted adult content during a time devoted to preschoolers, and the backlash resulting from this was cutting many programs aimed at adults and teens therefore killing off those viewers from the network. While they have tried to regain that demographic with their Detour block for the past couple years, I don’t think they ever really recovered from that event. The whole block is mostly borrowed from Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block, and while good and funny teen and adult shows are offered, it pails in comparison to some of the really gritty stuff they played like the animated Spawn series and Ralph Bakshi’s Spicy City, two shows for some reason I really remember well but I’m sure more great adult programs were showing back then. This Wikipedia article here has a large list of all the shows that have ever been on it, and in time they will get their own post here. Along with airing imports and a lot of Canadian content, Teletoon has been Cartoon Network’s Canadian outlet for quiet some time. Every one of CN’s productions has aired here at one point, some having a far longer run than others. The longest it ever took for a CN show to reach here was Space Ghost: Coast To Coast which landed in The Detour block in September 2006 – twelve years after it originally premiered in 1994. And since Cartoon Network is associated with Hanna-Barbera, a lot of their older classic shows have aired here as well. Check out more on Teletoon from its Wikipedia article here, and check these pages with Teletoon related banter. Youtube has a whole load of Teletoon related stuff so check that out; this user in particular has some good promo’s including this one, as well as a lot of oldschool YTV promos as well.

Has Teletoon jumped the shark with its viewing audience and current programming? At first I didn’t think so, as I still see it as a good network with plenty of good shows to offer. But I think just enough time has passed for long-term fans to notice how the network has changed, and while it hasn’t been around as long as YTV, it seems it’s just at the tip of the ramp to jump over the shark but its not quite there yet. The more I think about it, I would love to roll back the clock ten years to a time when it was a fresh network airing a lot of assorted programming. A fair bit of older fans say yes, it has jumped, and some even think the network is as bad as YTV is these days. I don’t really support that statement, but we will have to see what Teletoon will bring to its viewing audience in the next ten years to come.

Where I’m Coming From – Part 1

2008-01-03T21:23:00.000-05:00

Before I dive straight into any cartoon related matters, you gotta understand that I’m in Canada. I’m not in the US – therefore I’m unfamiliar with the channels there that offer animated programming. But I have learned some of them and it’s too bad I can’t get them up here in Canada unless you have a satellite dish, and even then I think it’s illegal to import some US channels into Canada. Never mind that though, this post is to share what Canadian channels offer (and used to offer) in animated programming and what aired where. This is to make clear any questions that may arise in the future as to why I’d see a US animated series in Canada, yet the network that made it doesn’t offer a channel here. I also run on basic cable but get all the channels you can get for it. I don’t have digital so I’m missing out on some networks altogether. I’ve always thought living in Canada was getting the best of both worlds – as not only do we get great Canadian and other imported (sometimes Canadian co-produced) shows from the UK and Europe that don’t air in the US, we eventually get the popular cartoons that air in the US. It just takes a while for the show to make it up here and by the time it premieres, it is seasons ahead of us in the US or sometimes has even finished production.

YTV – Launched September 1, 1988
Supposedly standing for Youth Television and/or The Youth Channel, this was the first channel of its kind here. While other major networks only offered cartoons on Saturday mornings, this network was solely dedicated to children’s programming. Now, even I’m too young to remember YTV’s earliest days in the 80’s, but I have fond memories of it from the 90’s. As with Nickelodeon did when they first came on the air before they started to produce original programming, YTV aired a lot of imported cartoons and live action shows from the UK and Japan. The network has never exclusively produced animated shows; rather they co-produce with many other parties. The best years of YTV were the 1990’s, hands down. If you were there you remember the blocks: The Breakfast Zone, The Treehouse, The Alley, and the still running and popular after school block The Zone. You remember your favorite “PJ’s” (program jockeys) – Phil, Jenn, Katie, Paul, Aashna. Plus the Fuzzpaws and the Grogs – a collection of puppet characters that used to accompany the PJ’s as they hosted their blocks between shows. You remember Snit, and I’m sure everyone remembers the various sets The Zone has had over the years. Game shows like Uh-Oh and Video & Arcade Top 10 and variety shows like It’s Alive. You remember Short Circutz, which were those computer animated shorts that sometimes aired between programs. Does anyone even remember the show Squawk Box? I thought I dreamt it at one point. Or when The Hit List was hosted by Tarzan Dan and Weird Al Yankovic used to stop by once in a while? Plus they had their own brand of sitcoms like Student Bodies and System Crash – all full of actors and actresses I’m sure no one remembers now. Sigh, I wish I could take a time trip back right now. Also remember how Pizza Hut always had YTV related promos? I think I got some pogs from there, lol.

YTV has aired a long and healthy line of cartoons and live action kids shows, plus sitcoms and other matter meant for older viewers, for almost 20 years. This Wikipedia article here has a nice fat list of all shows that have ever been on it, and many of these shows will be getting a post of their own here in the years to come. Along with airing imports from Britain, France, and it recent years airing a lot of (perhaps too much) anime from Japan, YTV has been Nickelodeon’s Canadian outlet ever since Nicktoons were around. Each Nicktoon has aired here, albeit some had a far longer run than others. The longest it ever took for a Nicktoon to reach here was Invader Zim which landed in the Bionix block in September 2006 – over four years after it was cancelled by Nickelodeon (didn’t matter anyway as DVD’s were available here years before). Check out more on YTV from its Wikipedia article here and its separate article on The Zone, and check these pages with YTV related banter. Youtube has a whole mess of YTV related stuff so check that out as well. Has YTV jumped the shark with its viewing audience and current programming? It seems to be a BIG yes with older fans, and a lot of people think the network is shit these days. That could be, but there are many factors when it comes to a statement like that, and I’ll focus on that funny little thing called “nostalgia” later on.

Originally this post was going to cover all the subject matter related to it, but it’s gonna be spilt up over several parts. I’d also like to point out that while I do like this new project of mine, its one of MANY online things I do. So new posts here may not be as frequent as one might expect from a normal blog. Just giving you readers a heads up if you ever wonder why weeks pass and nothing new has been posted. And while this blog is all about cartoons, I may just touch on some live action kids shows as well if I ever get around to it, as a great deal of them feature animation in various skits and such.

A Proper Introduction

2008-01-02T00:01:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my new blog! It’s not well known right now but I hope it will gain traffic in the months to come. For those of you who don’t know me, name’s Stephen – currently 22 years old and still watching cartoons. Yep, you heard right. Oh the humanity! But seriously, it’s not a big crime as other people claim it to be. There’s just a part of me that never wants to grow up (and not in that freaky Michael Jackson way), and for one reason or another my interests have never left animation even as I progressed in age. That’s why I made this blog.

The Cartoon Couch Potato is a whole new endeavor for me, this is my first time ever blogging. The idea came for a blog like this mainly after watching a cartoon on YTV called Weird Years. After I discovered this show and how it’s terribly underrated (a full post on this show will follow down the road), I thought I needed a place to spread the word about lesser known cartoons, more so on Canadian ones that never seem to make it to a US market. After looking through some animation related blogs I found a crucial area missing out of the whole deal. There were blogs about animation as a whole (including illustration and comics), from the “golden age” in the 1920’s/60’s, ones covering popular big budget movies, but nothing solely focused on television; let alone anything from the 1980’s till today. There’s a whole generation of exploration no one has seemed to sail as far as I can see, and I’d like to make that first maiden voyage.

I was a couch potato kid, and spent most of my time in front of the tube growing up in the 90’s (and I’m actually skinny as a rail, take that modern stereotypes!). I watched nothing but cartoons from the networks that aired them here (in Canada FYI), and kept a steady mind remembering all of them and who made what. In later years with the help of the Internet and Youtube, I was able to discover a lot of lost gems I couldn’t put a name to as it had been so long since they had first aired. Usually as people grow up, watching animated programs or cartoons as some would call it, is looked down upon. It’s sad to think that a good majority of people out there only see animation as entertainment for kids, and as they grow up they don’t really pay attention to the shows they used to watch or keep track of new ones coming out. You get caught up in life (high school/college, romance, full time job, other coming of age stuff) and watching cartoons just isn’t on the “to do list”. While growing up has sure zapped away my free time from a lot of the things I enjoyed as a kid, I never really stopped watching animated shows. While the standard male in his young 20’s is watching sports and/or an automotive network, or some boring news channel or music video network that doesn’t even play music videos anymore, I’m watching Teletoon or YTV seeing if there is anything good on.

I think for my age, and the fact I have a large memory bank of cartoon titles in my head and know a lot about many shows that aired in the past 25 years, I thought I needed a place to rant about them. I mean surely, I’m not the only one – there must be others out there that enjoy animation on the same plateau as I do. That’s why this blog was made – to dig up, explore, celebrate, and review all those cartoons you remember but thought everyone else forgot about. To show the lost and forgotten work of many brilliant men and women that were lucky enough to turn their ideas into animated properties. And while television animation is the main attraction this blog will also shed light on movies, comics, and other professions in the animation industry.

Are you, were you, a cartoon couch potato? Relive those days here and revive the kid in you.

Happy New Blog!

2008-01-01T00:46:00.000-05:00

Welcome to The Cartoon Couch Potato. A real introductory post will follow soon, I’m just getting this place set up and it’s gonna take me a while.