Comments for Blog Post # 12

This week I commented on Ryan's blog post # 12 and Sarah's blog post # 12.

Robotech Blog Post # 12

Last Blog I wrote about a great animated series called Voltron. Even though I loved Voltron, it could not compare to the complexities and drama of Robotech. Robotech was the end-all-be-all space opera. For those who don't know, Robotech was an 85-episode science-fiction television series about three successive extraterrestrial invasions of Earth. It was one of the first anime released in the United States to largely preserve the complexity and drama of its original Japanese source material. Robotech was a story adapted with edited content and revised dialogue from the animation of three different mecha anime series in Japan: The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospeada. American writers adapted the scripts of the three Japanese series into one cohesive plot and did a fantastic job doing it. This combination of the three Japanese series resulted in a storyline that spanned three generations. The plot follows the three generations of humans. Robotech starts with an alien starship landing on Earth. Humans rebuild the ship and learn parts of its technology. When a race of giants comes looking for the ship, the humans defeat them by using human emotions and music to off balance them. The 2nd Generation is about their children, while the parents have gone to find the homeworld of the giant soldiers' makers, the Robotech Masters. The Masters have come to Earth, however, and the Southern Cross must fight them off. The 3rd Generation is about the space-going humans coming back home to find out Earth has been taken over by yet another alien species. Throughout the series a mysterious power source, Protoculture, and its technological use, called Robotechnology, is paramount. Robotech deals with the causes and consequences of war on people and was definately a "serious" cartoon and has no equal. It was probably one of the greatest series of my lifetime and I have quite a few favorites.

While anime shows were brought to the US as early as the 1960s such as Astro Boy, Speed Racer, and Kimba the White Lion most were heavily edited for American audiences, with violence, deaths of major characters, sexual references, etc., completely edited out for what was assumed to be an audience of young children. Robotech broke with this tradition by leaving in some of those elements, and is thought by many to be the show that kicked off American interest in Japanese animation. It took bold steps in the somewhat conservative realm of American cartoon timeslots - major characters died, Earth was annihilated, and characters fought the odds and won. The show was extremely mature and the storylines, characters, and themes were complex. The relationships between the main characters and how the situations either brought them closer or apart actually kept my interest just to see what was gonna happen next. The animation was always superd and the show had some of the best voice acting done in any animated series to be brought over to the U.S not to mention the perfect mood-setting songs. What made the show so popular then, and still makes it amazingly popular, is a combination of storyline, mecha, characters, and music that people connected to. This was one anime I do not think I will ever forget and if you only see one series from my numerous blog posts and recommendations, then please please make it this one. You won't be disappointed.

Comments for Blog Post # 11

This week I commented on Travis' blog post # 10 and Sarah's blog post # 10.

Voltron Blog Post # 11

From days of long ago, from uncharted regions of the universe, comes a legend, the legend of Voltron, defender of the universe!. "Voltron -- Defender Of The Universe" was one of my favorite animated series of all time thanks to the excellent storylines, great voices, exciting action scenes and best of all, a highly memorable music theme. It was a series that should never have been cancelled. "Thats the trouble with the whole cartoon business. The people are not dedicated to it anymore....Today nobody cares." (Maltan p.346) Voltron first appeared in the U.S. in the early 1980's but originated from Japan. The majority of the animation was done in Japan, and it's visibly obvious due to the anime style it was drawn in and also the occasional pantie-shots which were totally unheard of in American animation at the time but were frequently in Japanese anime. This was an extremely popular cartoon during the 80's.

The overall storyline was fairly simple although each episode contained some complex issues between the relationships of the characters (of which there were many) and also the underlying meaning of the show. The evil King Zarkon wants to rule over planet Arus, but to do so he must first defeat Voltron the legendary robot, defender of the universe. Zarkon continuously failed to defeat Voltron, and eventually his son Lotar, and his loyal witch servant Hagar took over in the attempts. Voltron was a formula series, meaning that each episode relied on a simple formula. Lotar would try to defeat Voltron using conventional methods, and fail. Then he would send a "robeast" against Voltron, and Hagar would use her magic to make the robeast larger. Voltron would then proceed to obliterate said monster. Simple yet very effective.

Voltron consisted of 5 separate lions, each manually controlled by a single pilot. The lions united to form one giant super robot "Voltron". The Voltron Force would first battle the monster with the five lions. When this did not work, they would merge the five lions into Voltron. They would commence to utterly wipe-out the invader with some very cool moves. The best weapon Voltron had was his energy sword and when he pulled this out you knew the battle was almost over. Voltron is such an impressive looking robot when he is formed, as are the individual robot lions. The transformation into Voltron was one of the coolest parts of the show. Other memorable scenes from this cartoon include the Castle of Lions, Planet doom, and the many evil beasts that the bad-guys released on Voltron. The animation was simply stunning at times.With something like 50 or more episodes made, they really did have some inventive ideas to which they portrayed beautifully. Even though it was recycled footage every time, the electricity, energy and transformation of the robot lions into feet, legs, arms, torso and head always looked and sounded great to me. Yeah, it was predictable, but it was always so friggin' cool! I still enjoy watching an episode or two of Voltron today whenever I can catch it on (which is very rare these days). I think Voltron is one of the most underrated cartoons, and if you like animated sci-fi adventures, I strongly recommend watching Voltron.

(1) Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. PenguinBooks, New York 2005. (Page 346.)

Comments for Blog Post # 10

This week I commented on Nghinh's Post #10 http://nluu.blogspot.com and on Eyma's Post #9 http://erafi.typepad.com.

The Tick Blog Post # 10

A square-jawed, muscular man in a bright blue bodysuit, with antennae sticking up from his head, the Tick is an absurdist parody of superheroes and a comic book satyr. The Tick is high-spirited, frequently obtuse, and is prone to making odd, dim remarks and inspirational speeches filled with confusing, bizarre metaphors. His superpowers are nigh-invulnerability, which allows him to crash and bang about without injury, super strength, and something referred to as "drama power", or basically a tendency for the Tick's powers to increase as the situation becomes more dramatic. Oddly, his battle cry is "Spoooooon!" though I never really figured out why. Like many superheroes, The Tick has a sidekick: an accountant named Arthur, who wears a moth suit that allows him to fly, although he is often mistaken for a rabbit due to the long ears of his costume and the fact that his wings are often folded up inside a backpack. The Tick is impulsive, and Arthur serves as a sort of conscience; the hero often irks his sidekick. Arthur's "battle cry" is "Not in the face! Not in the face!" The Tick and Arthur were made popular by an animated television series (1994–96) which aired on the Fox Network.

In all of his incarnations, The Tick is surrounded by a cast of equally absurd superheroes and villains, many of them parodies of popular comic book characters and character types. The Tick lives in a city called, literally, "The City". In the animated series, this is the place all of the "reject" superheroes (and presumably the supervillains) are sent after their trial (a prospective superhero/villain needs to present themselves to a special council and exhibit their powers and nature. The council then decides whether the inductee is worthy of joining their ranks. Successful inductees are assigned to a specific territory, failures are sent to The City where they can't cause any harm or get in any real hero/villain's way).This parody of comic-books old and new utilizes wonderful references both to specific super-heroes and to the absurd conceptual logic behind the creation of comic-book characters. The voices are perfectly cast and the animation (while repetitive or slow at times) captures the illogical (and often insane) nature of the Tick's world. I would say (after reading the comics and seeing the live action attempts) that the cartoon series stands at the top of the heap, bringing motion of intercharacter relationships to the mix, while still remaining true to the original ideas of the author (without becoming too corny).

The show is not for everyone, mind you. You will either understand the humor and love it, or not get it and quickly turn the channel. I was hooked on it from day one. The show had memorable characters, villains and very witty dialogue. It often left me thinking to myself that many kids were not going to get the humor because the show came off as more of a comic book satire than a kiddie show. The show did offer enough action and colorful characters to appeal to the Saturday morning crowd, though.This show will always be one of my all-time favorites because of its satirical humor and memorable characters. This was a series that was too sophisticated for its environment. It didn't really fit in with the Saturday Morning kiddie fare and should have been shown in prime time. Still, it was worth getting up Saturday Morning to catch it. The show could have lasted if it was in prime time. More adults watched this show then kids did. Fox even had a small commercial showing two adults watching the show after sending their kids off to someone else's home so that they could watch it with out the kids interrupting them. This show could have lasted if only the people knew how to market it right. "Thats the trouble with the whole cartoon business. The people are not dedicated to it anymore....Today nobody cares." (Maltan p.346)

(1) Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. PenguinBooks, New York 2005. (Page 346.)

Comments for Blog Post # 9

This week I commented on Charla's Blog Post # 9 and Ryan's Blog Post # 8.

Jim Henson's Muppet Babies Blog Post # 9

Muppet Babies is, in my opinion, one of the best cartoon shows ever made, and when I was a child, it was definitely my favorite. Every episode was full of humor, imagination, wonderful music, and so much more. The music provided was very pleasing to the ear, very catchy and the show also addressed issues that children need to learn in a very tactful manner. One of the most admirable aspects of the show was the way that the show praised and encouraged the imagination. Every episode included the imagination of at least one of the Muppet babies, and each has their own personalities. That series sparked my imagination and it was so educational how they included culture as part of the episodes and taught simple everyday life lessons. Most importantly, Muppet Babies taught children who watched it important moral and social values. Jim Henson combined the humor of his Muppet characters with the innocence of childhood and succeeded in creating a sensational children's program.

For those who don’t know or have been in cave there whole lives, Jim Henson's Muppet Babies is an American animated television program that aired from 1984 to 1991 and portrayed childhood versions of the Muppets living together in a nursery under the watchful eye of “Nanny”. Nanny appeared in every episode yet viewers never saw here face only her striped socks or stockings. I loved Barbara Billingsley as Nanny. I always wished we could see her face, but maybe it was better that we couldn't. I still remember the episode where she explained why there are earthquakes. It was simple and in a way a child could understand. The Babies had active imaginations, and often embarked on adventures into imaginary worlds and perilous situations. They were often saved at the last minute after Nanny would come to see what the noise was which brought them back to reality, revealing that, for instance, the giant squid that had them in its tentacles was really just the tail end of a curtain. As an animated television series, Muppet Babies was unusual in that it frequently incorporated real footage from old films, and occasionally spoofed popular fictional characters and Hollywood films, including Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Batman, and Beetlejuice. A running gag in the show involved one of the Babies, usually Gonzo, opening the closet door in search of something only to meet film footage depicting something scary and unexpected behind the door. Another running gag involves aspiring comedian Fozzie trying to tell jokes to an (imaginary) audience, only for them to boo him and throw rotten tomatoes at him. Another notable feature of this show is that it started a trend for relaunching popular character franchises as younger versions of themselves. This trend can be seen in A Pup Named Scooby Doo, Baby Looney Tunes, Flintstones Kids, and numerous others.

This show really was just incredible because it encouraged children to use their imaginations. Not many kids are into make believe anymore but muppet babies was a great show that promoted creativity. The Muppet Babies inspired many of my childhood adventures and fondest memories and pushed my imagination to the limits. I continued to watch this show well into my teens until they took it off the air. They really need to put this show back on the air and release all the episodes on DVD so that today's generation can experience the magic of it and be encouraged to unlock their imaginations. "Thats the trouble with the whole cartoon business. The people are not dedicated to it anymore....Today nobody cares."

(Maltin p. 346)(1) Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. PenguinBooks, New York 2005. Page 346.)

Comments for Blog Post # 8

This week I commented on Travis' blog post #7 and Charla's blog post # 8.

The Adventures of Jonny Quest Blog Post # 8

Jonny Quest first aired in 1964 and was an almost instant success, both critically and ratings-wise. It was cancelled after only one season, not because of poor ratings, but because of the fact that each episode of the show went over budget with regularity and also because the series attracted the ire of parental watchdog groups for its mature content. Notably more realistic and detailed than previous Hanna-Barbera prime time programs such as The Flintstones and The Jetsons, Jonny Quest required an attention to detail that the networks of the time were unable to afford. Being on Saturday morning, Jonny Quest became one of the main targets of parental watchdog groups. With its multiple on-screen deaths, murder attempts, uses of firearms and deadly weapons, as well tense moments, Jonny Quest was decried as the epitome of what was wrong with Saturday morning cartoons (see my first blog post), regardless of the fact that it indeed was not an original Saturday morning cartoon. The reruns were taken off the air in 1972, but returned to Saturday morning, in edited form, periodically afterwards.

Jonny Quest was a science fiction animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera. JQ was designed to evoke both the feeling of a dramatic adventure radio series and the fantasy of a comic book and succeeded on both fronts. Unlike earlier Hanna-Barbera programs, violence was not shied away from, but was used to add suspense and impact to the show (something I love). Jonny Quest is an eleven-year-old boy, the son of Dr. Benton Quest, one of the top scientists in the world, and something of a Renaissance man; his scientific and technical know-how spans many fields. Mrs. Quest is dead, the apparent victim of one of the many plots against Dr. Quest, and seldom mentioned in the story. These plots on his life made it necessary for Dr. Quest and his son to be assigned a bodyguard. The bodyguard was Race Bannon, a former intelligence agent who guards Dr. Quest, his son Johnny as well as his adopted son, an Indian boy named Hadji Singh, who is seldom seen without his jeweled turban. The character Hadji is noted as being the first major non-white character to be presented as an equal sympathetic participant in stories on American television. Another key character is Jonny’s bulldog puppy named Bandit who always gets into trouble. The Quests have a compound in the Florida Keys but Dr. Quest travels the globe studying scientific mysteries, which get him into scrapes with foes that range from espionage robots and electrical monsters to Egyptian mummies. Although most menaces were unique to the episode, one occasionally recurring foe is known as Dr. Zin, an Oriental mastermind. Several elements of Jonny Quest have become parts of American pop culture. The original 1960s series is notable as being representative of the Cold War, with most of the villains being of Eastern European or Chinese origin. When said villains are defeated, they, more often than not, scream a heavily accented "aiieee!" as they fall to their deaths, a scream that has been heavily parodied since.

JQ had everything. There was action, adventure, spies, bad guys, monsters (both giant and smaller), mad scientists, rockets, planes, boats, tanks, army guys, submarines, espionage, intrigue and everything else a little boy could dream of. Hard to believe but all of this was packed into only a half an hour. This was the coolest cartoon on in its day. And was there ever a better opening to a show? The instrumental opening was great and it let you know how much action was about to come your way. For that time and even today, this cartoon was of a higher caliber than the norm of "let's just entertain the kiddies with colorful images." I recommend this 60's series highly to those who want to see early Hanna-Barbera animation of action-adventure which was done with pretty decent scripts and never talked down to its audience. See all of the installments if you can but don't go to the 80's/90's versions as they pale in comparison. It is amazing that the JQ series during the 1960's was Hanna-Barbera's first foray into an adventure format and somehow it worked. Too bad the reruns aren't shown on Cartoon Network anymore. "Thats the trouble with the whole cartoon business. The people are not dedicated to it anymore....Today nobody cares." (Maltin p. 346) This show is truly a classic that I will remember for the rest of my life.

(1) Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. PenguinBooks, New York 2005. Page 346.)

Comments for Blog Post # 7

This week I commented on Travis' blog post # 6 and Noah's blog post # 7.

The Mysterious Cities Of Gold Blog Post # 7

This week I may have went too far back into my childhood (is that possible) as this may be my most obscure childhood cartoon yet but I still think I can top it. Anyway, the story of the The Mysterious Cities of Gold is very loosely based on the children's novel, The King's Fifth, by Scott O'Dell. I read the book when I was younger but I’m probably the only one. Anyways, there were 39 half-hour episodes produced in the early 1980’s and the show was dubbed/subtitled in French, English, Swedish, German, and Japanese. Thus the show had and maintains a strong and loyal cult following (including me). The episodes were done in the typical anime serial style of one continuous story and the drawing style evolved from the traditional "manga" style to a more rounded and less exaggerated style over the course of the show. The story is set in the year 1532 and follows a Spanish orphan’s search for one of The Seven Cities of Gold in the New World.

The series was a mix of South American history, archaeology, and science fiction. All of which I find extremely interesting. Most of the backdrops in the series are based on real archaeological sites and artifacts, reproduced with near-photographic accuracy. They are, however, often combined and moved to suit the plot. Famous cities and their fictional counterparts include Machu Picchu in Peru, Tikal in Guatemala, as well as Chichen Itza in Mexico. The characters discover many lost technological wonders of the Aztecs, Inca, and Mayans, which included a solar powered boat called the Solaris as well as The Great Condor, a huge solar-powered airship. Both were capable of traveling considerable distances under the sun's power alone. To keep the action moving from episode to episode the protagonists are constantly pursued by the antagonists Gomez and Gaspar (who were Spaniards). They were also on an obsessive search for the Cities of Gold but for much more sinister purposes. My favorite part of the show was how they ended each episode. Every episode ended with a cliffhanger. You never knew what was gonna happen next. It might seem commonplace today to end with a cliffhanger but at the time it was very novel and definitely kept you wanting more. In fact the ending was one huge climactic cliffhanger which was never finished.

The show was extremely deep and the characters in the series are actually quite complicated and subtle. Several of the main characters switch sides several times in the story or keep ambiguous stances. This was a very new idea at the time. Also the storyline is very involved and is based upon the old Inca, Aztec, and Mayan legends about the legendary Cities of Gold. The storyline involved the lost city of Atlantis, hidden ancient artifacts more powerful then you can imagine, as well as an ancient global war which wiped out much of the known world just to name a few. There is some very intriguing ideas, theories, and storylines going on here. It has been far too long since I have seen an episode of this show on TV. There are rumors of a sequel series but I wouldn’t hold my breath. The ending of the last episode is so good that it begs to be continued. Thinking back though the show was probably too much for the younger viewers (over their heads). Guess I’ll never know what happens and I’ll never see the rest of the 7 Cities of Gold but at least I can scour EBAY to collect old videotapes of the show. Just another forgotten show of my youth. "Thats the trouble with the whole cartoon business. The people are not dedicated to it anymore. . .Today nobody cares." (Maltin p. 346) Until next my loyal viewers (all two of you).

(1) Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. PenguinBooks, New York 2005. Page 346.)

Comments for Blog Post # 6

This week I commented on Charla's blog post #6 and Travis' blog post #5.