Considering that claymation is one of the greatest things in the world, why, pray tell, do claymation series’ never last? Do the animators’ fingers just get tired? Don’t answer that question. Anyway, I’d like to take us back to ‘94, when albums like Illmatic and Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik came out. I, of course, was still in my Ninja Turtles pajamas watching cartoons like Bump in the Night, a series about a closet monster named Mr. Bumpy who played in little boys’ rooms while they were away. Completely inappropriate nowadays, but apparently exactly what CBS wanted in its Saturday morning lineup…for one season, that is. But any cartoon with a full minute-long theme song is okay in my book.
Who would’ve thought that the period when Howie Mandel had a jheri curl would signify the time when he wasn’t a douchebag? Anyway, here’s one of my favorite cartoons, Bobby’s World. In it, a little kid takes real life situations and daydreams them into wild wild adventures that could never happen in real life. Sort of like when I go to the club, and imagine a woman actually talking to me.
The other night I took my roommate’s son M’kai out for his birthday and, despite me reeeeeeeeeaallly wanting to see Fantastic Mr. Fox, he was more partial to The Princess and the Frog. And I could go on and on about Disney being an evil transnational corporation and how problematic a movie with the evil villain being a voodoo magician is, but at the same time I do admit that I was pretty geeked about Disney reviving the musical numbers in its cartoons. And although a story that takes place in New Orleans leaves room for some lightweight racism, it also leaves space for some great jazz numbers…and keep it real, Disney’s musical prowess really can’t be denied. As I mentioned before, many of the adlibs and random sound effects in iB4the1.1 are directly inspired by films like this. Engage!
The night before I left NY i was invited to the abode of the fantastic Lauren of 12ft. Dwende to watch Disney’s holiday special Prep & Landing, and to engage in the consumption of some delicious turkey calzones. I often feel conflicted about Disney, but even though they might be an evil empire hellbent on taking over the world through cartoons with racist undertones, it’s hard to deny that these cartoons with racist undertones are damn good.
And so alas, Prep & Landing was great in the way one would expect any Disney cartoon to be great. Even with their one black elf.
Rebootused to be one of my favorite cartoons because it let me know that there was a critical mass of fellow 10-year-olds who used the internet enough to be entertained by the concept of a defender of the Mainframe that fought viruses. And then the show got canceled and I was sad because I knew that that meant that the internet was a trend that was never going to catch on. Oh well, there’s always the world wide fax.
Last week while in DC I caught an exhibition of short cartoons by Osamu Tezuka, best known for creating the series Astro Boy. I went on a last-minute invite whim, but I’m glad I did…these are some of the most incredible short films I’ve eva eva eva eva eva seen in my entire life! And I say that knowing that I have quite an extensive relationship with cartoons and anime. I used to memorize Dragonball Z episodes, and I don’t even speak Japanese! But before I start sounding like a white East Asian Studies major from UC Davis (lower the fees, you smelly regents!) I’ll let these amazing Tezuka cartoons take it away. WATCH THEM THEY’RE GREEATTTT!!
Apologies, dear internetlings, for neglecting to post a Saturday Morning Cartoon yesterday…I’ve been steady on the grind putting together our new EPK, which I promise will be better than the Hammer Man episodes that I’ve been wanting to post but can’t seem to find on the Youtubes. So this fine Sunday I bring you a weekend combo…the childhood media confection of mine that also happened to very much shape who I am today, through its subliminal hippie politics. It’s true, I do believe that in the 80’s the Fraggle Rock cast and crew was comprised of the Sesame Street employees who couldn’t stop smoking Snuffleupagus and passing out muppet liberation flyers. The result was the show that featured a band of underground musician critters who taught important lessons in:
Many people feel like hip-hop has died since the arrival of such things as Rap Snacks and Jimmie Hatz. However, us 80’s babies know that in the early 90’s, even if hip-hop wasn’t dead, it was at least very sickly. Because even before Illmatic, before Southernplayalistik and Reasonable Doubt, there was Audrey Junior the rapping cartoon venus fly trap. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeah boyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! This animated adaptation of Little Shop of Horrors only lasted for one season, a.k.a. 2 months. Maybe the people just weren’t ready for the realness.
Something that really speaks volumes about my generation is the fact that there could exist a cartoon flagrantly named to market a specific video game, with episode titles that could include the term “Super Kootie” which featured Milli Vanilli, and that I LUHHHHed it. And you LUHHHHH it too. Blogreader, you know it’s true.
However, what baffles me is how the duo of professional lip syncers managed to go to Nintendo studios or wherever the hell they made this cartoon, and record their drops for the show. That’s some lip sync syncing. Or lip lip syncing. Or lip lip lip in yo hip hip hip bobbity bip bip bip whip whip. Okay yeah, I didn’t get home till 6am and only got 4 hours of sleep last night. Blame it on the rain.
Part 2 after the jump (which you only want to miss if you don’t want to see a dragon girl say “I really dig your dreadlocks.”)
There’s something strangely familiar about a series featuring a group of California-rooted, mildly dark-toned individuals trying to make a career out of funk music. I can’t quite put my finger on it. And yes, it might be quite racist that this first episode begins with a bunch of California Raisins singing on a slaveship. And I’m definitely not trying to play oppression olympics, but given that raisins spend their careers being grown in harsh crops, then picked and laid out in the sun to shrivel, then packed together for years in boxes, and then eaten up by people most of which who claim they don’t even like raisins – I gotta admit that they live a hard life.
Even still, raisins on a slaveship is pretty problematic. ENJOY!!!
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