This tickles my nostalgia bone.
Jul 232010
Oct 092009
It’s Moe’s dream come true: Marge Simpson on the cover of Playboy, with a three-page photo spread inside.
Reuters has the story on the November issue, which will hit stands Oct. 16. But the New York Times’ version adds some details, including the juicy tidbit that the new chief executive of Playboy Enterprises is named Flanders.
Coincidence? I love his quote from the Chicago Sun-Times’ story:
The Marge Simpson centerfold is “obviously somewhat tongue-in-cheek,” Flanders said in an interview Thursday. “It had never been done, and we thought it would be kind of hip, cool and unusual.”
Sure Flanders — I mean, okely dokely do — but I know you must be lonely since Maude’s death, and this is a pretty transparent way to sell more of those adult devices from the back room of The Leftorium.
Jul 102009
It takes a certain type of person to appreciate the Happy Tree Friends. It’s a flash-based cartoon, but you can find plenty of their episodes on YouTube, too.
Beware — they are deceptively cute-looking. THEY ARE NOT CUTE!
Jul 092009
The video above takes the first second of the opening credit sequence from a whole slew of cartoons from the 1990s and hobbles them all together. The creator of this video pulled these clips from a longer video — close to a half-hour long — that had the entire opening credits. This longer video was pulled at some point from YouTube, but I found it HERE.
If you have the time (and inclination), I highly recommend watching it. Not only was I reminded of a few cartoons that I had forgotten about, I was introduced to some of which I had never heard. Some of them I watched a lot (Animaniacs), some of them I didn’t watch enough of (Freakazoid), and some I watched entirely too much (Pokemon).
There is one clip I’m asking for help on. It doesn’t name the cartoon and it comes in at about the 12 minute mark — it involves a buxom blonde social worker, a big creature/guy that lives in a box and travels between worlds and a seemingly psychotic narrator. Can anyone help me on this?
I also found it interesting that so few iconic cartoons came out of the 1990s. The bulk of them seem to be based off other properties or to have disappeared entirely. Hmm. A moment’s reflection and it seems that the same could be said of much of the 90s as a whole.
Jul 052009
I never really thought about it, but Saturday morning cartoons may have gotten a bad rap. They’re often portrayed as brain-rotting, attention-span-diminishing garbage — like sugar cereal for the mind.
But upon reflection, I think that some of the cartoons I grew up on may have been much more than that. Many of the Disney cartoons, whichever characters they may feature, rip off (or riff off) storylines from classic literature. And no, it’s not the same as the original, but it’s at least an introduction to the classical canon.
It goes for the soundtrack, too. Check out this list of classical compositions used in cartoons:
While the vast majority of the cartoons of the 1930s-1950s made excellent use of popular music and original compositions, they also used classical music to great effect, creating some of the finest animated masterpieces of all time.
Rossini’s overtures were popular with cartoonists, as were Liszt’s Hungarian rhapsodies and Brahms’ Hungarian dances. In cartoon-land, Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata became synonymous with quiet, moonlit scenes, while the opening notes to his Fifth Symphony were used to introduce Nazis during World War II. The final movement of Liszt’s Les Preludes frequently introduced some cartoons.
Here’s an example, cited as No. 4 in the list:
Music: Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody #2
The Cat Concerto won the Academy Award for Short Subjects-Cartoons in 1946. Warner Bros. released a nearly identical cartoon the same year, Rhapsody Rabbit, which had many of the same gags. Both MGM and Warner Bros. accused the other of plagiarism, but nothing official came of it. It’s a toss-up as to whether The Cat Concerto or Rhapsody Rabbit is the better cartoon. Also watch Rhapsody in Rivets, an Oscar-nominated Warner Bros. cartoon that features the construction of the “Umpire State Building” while the foreman/conductor leaders the show.
I was stunned to see that much of the cartoon relies on an audience that can understand the spoof of concert pianists. And, even if you’re not a musician, you’ll get a fairly-true-to-life education in the mechanics of a piano here.
Jul 042009
I found this posted on an Internet forum somewhere, I and I liked it immediately, so I was going to post it up here, too, just to share, but when I found it, it had no attribution, and that made me sad. So I thought, “Maybe Google can help me!”
And sure enough, Google did. Now I can post not just Party Cat, but also episodes two, three, four, five and six in the six-part series. I’ve posted links to livejournal, but they’re originally from the nedroid comics blog.
By Party Cat Six, I like it less than I do here, because the tone shifts sort of dramatically. But it’s still worth the read!
I only wish this were real.
Keith started us rolling with the pre-violence Muppets-Reservoir Dogs mashup, but I’m here to take you all the way.
In the ’50s, early versions of Jim Henson’s Muppets characters were used to shill for coffee on a D.C. television station. Each of the spots was just 10 seconds long. Here’s a collection:
More info and some links to even more at the blog SuperPunch.
(via BB)
Yes, I know Easter was weeks ago. But I just saw this now. And there’s no way I’ll remember to post it next year. I’m a space cadet like that. So enjoy it now.
May 242009
Who can argue that the ’80s were a high water mark for cartoons? Sure, the animation quality is sketchy, and we were the first generation subjected to marketing messages disguised as entertainment, but at least I learned my Greek drama!
And man, what a theme song. Trivia time! The guy who sang it (Johnny Nash), you will also know from having sung “I Can See Clearly Now” and “Tears On My Pillow”. Cool, eh?
Thanks, Gorf!
Warren Ellis penned the scripts for the new series “GI Joe: Resolute” which I am so going to get into.
The first 10 or so episodes have been posted to YouTube, but there are high-quality versions at Adult Swim, for ‘Mericans only. In Canada, some information says it’s being broadcast on Teletoon Detour, maybe at 11:15 p.m., Fridays. That’s today! Too bad I don’t have cable. Or can’t verify that information on the Teletoon Detour official schedule. But I do have the Internet!
(Brought to my attention via Boing Boing, but only because I’ve been so bad at checking out warrenellis.com, which is always a great read.)
Jan 212009
If you’ve never been to 4chan, beware. It’s the fount all the inside jokes and Internet memes that have come out in the past few years. You can thank them for Rickrolling, for LOLcats, for Anonymous vs. Scientology.
It’s also exceedingly foul, and pornographic, and deliberately offensive, especially their “random” channel, or /b/ as it’s known.
It takes the format of a bulletin board, adds image posting, and wipes the slate clean if any post doesn’t attract enough attention. It is a distilled juvenile popularity contest.
And it’s also hilarious. The latest:
(found at Boing Boing Gadgets, but credit to Anonymous, obviously)
Jan 132009
Ah, the tragicomedy of life, playing out in the line-art grid of a comic strip.
How cruel the top-hatted blob. How much pathos in the surprised triangular girl.
Why is pain so funny? ‘Tis the human condition. We laugh at that which we do not fully understand.
(Comic by Ben Horne)
Jan 072009
Advertising, specifically good advertising, doesn’t get the respect it deserves from most corners of society. At best it is looked upon as a necessary evil and at worst, a blight upon humanity. This simply isn’t fair. There is great entertainment to be found in advertising.
Whether radio, print or television (and, yes, I know there are vast multitudes of other formats), there is and always has been, amazing advertisements. Some are heart-breaking, some are hilarious, and some are thought-provoking.
Like anything else, advertising has evolved over time. And while I plan to discuss this topic and various facets thereof in the coming weeks and months, I want to leave you with an older ad that illustrates a by-gone day of television advertising that is unlikely to ever return.