Episode 15: High Noon Bout
Animation
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Looking Back: Kidd Video
Ah, yes. The music of the 1980s. Cool stuff, that. It's really quite amazing how popular it was then. Even stranger still is how popular it seems to be now. It makes sense for me to have the radio in my car set to my local 80s station, though. I grew up on the stuff, after all.
Another thing from the 80s I grew up with was the cartoons. I've already done a few articles about those, and I gotta say, I still love most of them to this day. That's why I've taken the time to write about them.
But have you ever wondered what might happen if somebody tried to combine the music and the cartoons of the 80s? You wouldn't be the only one. It actually happened in 1984, when a show called Kidd Video debuted. It combined the craziness of the Saturday Morning genre of the era with the oftentimes memorable sound of the music at the time and the recently-formed television music video to create something that lasted only a couple seasons. While that was about as long as it could have lasted, it wasn't nearly long enough, far as I'm concerned. But hey, no matter what, it was good while it lasted.
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Tags: 1980's, adventure, cartoons, comedy, Kidd Video, Music, music videos, Videos
Voice Acting Did You Know 81
Posted by drgoodyear
on Thursday, 10 May 2012
in Animation
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Some dude who does stuff
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Faries Reviews: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Ep 25)
Posted by paradiseandfaries
on Sunday, 06 May 2012
in Animation
paradiseandfaries
new here...hope to make some waves
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Tags: brony, cartoon, my little pony, review
The Pitch - Mulan Review
Posted by FranBMan23
on Sunday, 06 May 2012
in Animation
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MULAN
The pitch – boy-meets-girl, boy-gives-girl-black-eye, is vintage Disney-fare, as we all know. Okay, maybe more like vintage Nicholas Cage-fare, but I digress. The point is, despite, or perhaps because it strays somewhat from the norm, I really, really like it. Alot of people don’t really “get” Mulan – popular opinion being, that in terms of the Disney-Renaissance, it’s somewhere between that jewel in Disney’s crown, Beauty and the Beast and that shit in a bag on Disney’s doorstep, Home on the Range. I would say this is wholly inaccurate – because whilst Mulan shares too many fairy-tale trappings to not be considered classic Disney, the result is something entirely different and - particularly for young women, quite exciting.
Mulan’s MO, is not to find a man. Neither was Belle’s, to be fair, but she still sings about a Prince Charming that exists between the pages of a novel, with an undisguised thrill of hope. Mulan, during her opening sequence, fumbles her way through preparing for and meeting with the Match-Maker, in a wholly unromantic scene, designed to test her little-wife skills to a finite degree. Which brings me to my next point; When I say Mulan fumbles her way through this, I’m not kidding. She turns up late, with straw in her hair and ala Arnold Rimmer, her arms daubed in her own revision. Mulan is socially awkward and clumsy – Belle may have been lauded for being a free spirit, but her moral compass, poise and intelligence, were of an impossible standard. In Mulan, we finally have a Disney heroine just like us.
When Mulan, in a stunning, calmly defiant sequence, chops off her hair, dons her elderly father’s armour and goes to war in his place, it is to save his life. It is her choice and an entirely selfless act that has nothing to do with any desire for a romantic life. And when she arrives, we have scenes of elation and triumph, such as the final frames of “Be a Man” and refreshingly, scenes were the female ingénue is the centre of the comedy. Okay, she’s surrounded with funny characters, namely her three boorish, but good-hearted best friends, but her desperate and misjudged attempts to hide her femininity are extremely funny and once again, wonderfully, mercifully human.
Given the film’s running time, it’s admirable that Mulan is not a success at the training camp right away, as though in life, having the opportunity to prove yourself you’ve always longed for, always goes the way you expect. And Mulan earns her stripes, and our respect, by trying again and again, despite a number of mishaps, due to her own gaucheness and lack of physical prowess. When she does eventually triumph, first by winning the respect of her fellow soldiers and later the war itself, it feels legit and ultimately, more joyous.
First Impressions: Wreck-It-Ralph
Hey everyone, welcome to another installment of First Impressions. Not long ago, Kevin called me and told me of an animated Disney movie about an evil video game character trying to be good. He also told me that there will be numerous amounts of other characters based on popular video game series making cameos similar to Who Framed Roger Rabbit when there were cameos of a bunch of cartoon characters from different companies coming together. At first, I thought he was joking. But then, I looked it up online and he was telling the truth. Sorry I didn't believe you, Kevin. Coming around November is a new animated Disney movie called Wreck-It-Ralph.
The movie is about an evil video game character named Wreck-It-Ralph, who is the main villain in an arcade video game called Fix-It Felix Jr. The concept of the game is that the hero, Fix-It-Felix, is fixing the buildings that Wreck-It-Ralph destroys. It's sort of like a mixture between Donkey Kong and Wrecking Crew for the NES.
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I Have No Opinion on That - Madagascar Review
Posted by FranBMan23
on Saturday, 05 May 2012
in Animation
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I have no opinion on Madagascar. But if I did, it might go like this;
A group of neurotic New-Yorkers being dumped into the jungle and left to, rather pathetically, fend for themselves, has undeniable potential on the gag/pathos scale. As does the ironic twist that these city slickers are a gang of pampered zoo animals. So, with genuinely innovative animation, and some impressive acting talent, Madagascar should be, at least, diverting escapism. So why isn’t it? Simple. Madagascar isn’t funny. Which begs the question, why would one review this as a comedy, as opposed to “just” a children’s film? There are a few answers, the first being that it is a comedy. It is quite clearly pitched as a comedy and it’s certainly fair to expect a family movie to chuck in some laughs. But lazily referencing a talent pool of superior film is not comedy. Neither is, much as it pains me to admit it, being really, really in-your-face. Madagascar sadly falls prey to the notion that these things add up to a coherent script, plot and character be damned! Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio, the writing team behind both Pirates of the Caribbean and Shrek, understand that this isn’t the case. The first Shrek had moments of genuine poignancy and was consistently funny when I watched it again as a real person (read; grownup). Pirates 1 may not exactly be Woody Allen, but Captain Jack is – in that movie, anyway – a laugh.
A group of neurotic New-Yorkers being dumped into the jungle and left to, rather pathetically, fend for themselves, has undeniable potential on the gag/pathos scale. As does the ironic twist that these city slickers are a gang of pampered zoo animals. So, with genuinely innovative animation, and some impressive acting talent, Madagascar should be, at least, diverting escapism. So why isn’t it? Simple. Madagascar isn’t funny. Which begs the question, why would one review this as a comedy, as opposed to “just” a children’s film? There are a few answers, the first being that it is a comedy. It is quite clearly pitched as a comedy and it’s certainly fair to expect a family movie to chuck in some laughs. But lazily referencing a talent pool of superior film is not comedy. Neither is, much as it pains me to admit it, being really, really in-your-face. Madagascar sadly falls prey to the notion that these things add up to a coherent script, plot and character be damned! Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio, the writing team behind both Pirates of the Caribbean and Shrek, understand that this isn’t the case. The first Shrek had moments of genuine poignancy and was consistently funny when I watched it again as a real person (read; grownup). Pirates 1 may not exactly be Woody Allen, but Captain Jack is – in that movie, anyway – a laugh.I would be remiss if I didn’t comment on the undeniably genius animation – and the concept behind it, as a kind of love-letter to the Looney Toons. Chuck Jones’s comic timing is honoured extremely well - particularly under the constraints of the weak script, his influence stamped onto every visual gag. You can also expect to be entertained by Sacha Baron Coen and David Schwimmer (channelling Ross), who are both blatantly having a ball. Whilst I would always rather hear the polish that you only get with an experienced vocal artist, the two are perfectly cast and know it. It is difficult for me to comment on the characters themselves because whilst Coen, Schwimmer and co are entertaining, they are also one-dimensional caricatures. You have the Blandly Dissatisfied Hero One… The Sissy One, the Sassy One, the Fat One, the Fat AND Sassy One, the Quirky One and so on and kill me. These stereotypes are too often excused in animation, the argument being that animated characters are inherently one-dimensional. They are also too often allowed to pass for legitimate children’s entertainment. That in particular, has to stop.
Tags: animation, madagascar, review
Spoiler Alter! - Young Justice Five Year Jump - May 04, 2012
Posted by Cool Fire Bird
on Saturday, 05 May 2012
in Animation
Cool Fire Bird
7/25/11: HIYA! Been a while. Working on some Let's Plays, but I will get back to
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Voice Acting Did You Know: Spider-Man
Posted by drgoodyear
on Monday, 30 April 2012
in Animation
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Some dude who does stuff
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