Breaking Boundaries

Animation takes the form of over millions of different things. There can be CGI, 2d cartoons, and other things like that. One form that has been used a few times is combining 2d characters with real life. Out of all movies that have done this, Who Framed Roger Rabbit is probably the most popular one. It's largely recognized as the first media to use this type of animation, but that is very false. There were actually a few Looney Tunes cartoons in the 30s that combined the cartoons with real people. The results were entertaining cartoons that broke the boundaries of real life and computer. It was never before seen, and was stunning to the eye. The short was titled You Ought To Be In The Pictures, and mainly featured Porky Pig and Daffy Duck. Was happened is that Daffy persuaded Porky to quite cartoons and work in the films. So Porky goes to his boss (Leon Schlesinger) and leaves cartoons forever. Well, he goes to the film studio, and after being chased by the guard, he realizes there's no job opening. Meanwhile, at Warner Brothers, Daffy is about to become the new star, but Porky beats him to it. So there's a happy ending and Porky comes back to work in cartoons. To be precise, this short is incredible. The animation is good, and it still holds up 70 years later. The human acting is realistic and is better than Space Jam could ever be. This cartoon deserves a full 5 out of 5, because it's truly a classic cartoon. Due to technical difficulties, I am unable to show this cartoon on the site. You will have to take my word for this short.

The 2nd Annual Controversial Cartoon Day!

Yes, it's that time again. It's the time to review some of the most daring and outright evil cartoons of all times. And so, what mighty beast will I review this time? I'll review not only one episode, but an entire show that dared to be great. That show is one of my favorite animated masterpieces of all time, Animaniacs. As I've already stated, Animaniacs is a brilliant brainchild of very creative writers. The show was made in the 1990s and had a lot of censorship freedom. They could do some adult things and still be on the air. What the show did was called subliminal messaging. Other shows would be upfront with adult humor to get an immediate reaction, but others were more sneaky about it. They hid adult themes deep under a coat of kid friendliness and it would get past the censors. They had enough of these moments to fill up more than 10 minutes of screen time. Often times the message wouldn't be to bad and other times they would be incredibly bad. Yet, the show continued for a while and never was hated for what they hid. Looking back on the show, I'm able to sometimes spot things relatively easy. Other messages, though, evade my understanding. Watch the video at your own risks. So to get down to reviewing, I must say I like the themes. Some amaze me how sneaky they are, and some amaze me how much they could get away with. If you put these on the air now, it would be crawling with censors. But it proves that the show was meant to be for adults and for kids. If you let a five year old see this, he wouldn't understand, so the show's creator did good in hiding the messages. It's sometimes bad and controversial, but other than that it's okay. I have to give it 2 out of 5, because somethings were borderline edgy. So with that, Happy Controversial Cartoon Day everybody, don't drink and drive!

The God Of Looney Tunes

Without saying much, to have a great cartoon, you must have believable characters. To make them believable, a person must have good voice actors. Nowadays there can be over 20 voice actors on a television show, each with their own character. But back in the old days when cartoons were expensive to make, you needed less actors to have more money. There could even be, but rarely be, one man who plays all characters. One man that did this was Mel Blanc, a person who I consider God of Looney Tunes. Born in May 30 of 1908, Mel is considered the greatest actor of the Cartoon Golden Age. He voiced Barny Rubble, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, Speedy Gonzales, and Pepe Le Pew. Those weren't his only voices, for he did nearly every Looney Tunes character made. At the time of his death in 1989, people figured over 20 million people heard his voice every day. He died of heart disease, which is considered a huge lost for the cartoon industry. Mel is recognized as a highly influential man for the world of today. The movie critic, Leonard Maltin once noted, "It's hard to imagine Tweety Bird and Yosemite Sam being done by the same person." Mel Blanc has been called the Man With A Thousand Voices, because he has nearly done that many. He gave realistic accents to the Mexican Speedy Gonzales and the French Skunk Pepe Le pew, my favorite character just for his voice. Only a few characters has he had to do impressions for, because he mostly did do original characters. Mel was a great man, he inspired many other actors and influenced the world greatly. It's impossible to rank this man, for he would surpass any score. Mel Blanc, I wish you the best.      In Honor Of Mel Blanc Born May 30, 1908 Died July 10, 1989.

His Royal Airness, and Bugs Bunny?

A large part of my childhood was the Looney Tunes. I grew up upon Bugs, Daffy, and especially the Tasmanian Devil. I would watch anything that even mentioned my favorite characters. So, when Warner Brothers released a theatrical Looney Tunes movie, I was overjoyed. What got me even more hyped, was when I found out Michael Jordan was in it. This movie was released and it rocked my childhood. It was called Space Jam, a back story to Jordan's return to basketball. It was great when I was young, but somethings don't hold up as much today. The first is the odd plot. It has aliens from a theme park try to capture the Lonney Tunes to make them attractions for customers. However, the Tunes challenge them to a basketball game to see if they'll go or not. Knowing they'll be beat, the aliens steal the talent from NBA players to get the upper hand, becoming the Monstars. Meanwhile, Michael Jordan has retired from basketball to play baseball, which really happened. One day he's playing golf with his talent agent, and Bugs Bunny brings him to the Looney Tune's home. He decides to help them out, along with a new character, Lola Bunny. The talent agent chases after Jordan and decides to be a reserve player. When the game finally gets played, Michael raises the stakes to where if they loose, he'll be an attraction too. We'll once Air Jordan discovers anything can happen in this world, he unleashes his inner Toon and wins the game(with a little help from Bill Murray). The aliens are defeated and he returns home to play basketball again. So, the plot is weird, but there are some weirder things, like the voices. The Looney Tunes sound nothing like Mel Blanc's voice. Bugs is a little good, Daffy is awful, and Pepe sounds like the candle from Beauty and the Beast. Next, the animation is spotty. The cartoons are sometimes realistic, sometimes cardboard. Plus, the human acting is stale. Well, I have to give it credit. The movie's hilarious, and mildly entertaining. So to be fair, I'll give it 3 and a half out of 5, since it's a huge part of my childhood.

The First Annual Controversial Cartoon Day

To be perfectly honest, many cartoons are very controversial. They may sometimes have drugs, cigars, or other themes in them. So to honor these daring animation masterpieces, I am proud to host the first Controversial Cartoon Day. It will be on Monday, but usually not every week. Now, what cartoon will I review today for this great holiday? Well, I'm going to review an episode of Tiny Toons called, "Elephant Issues." In this episode, the Toons discussed some of the worst problems that plague our society. The three shorts talk about the illiteracy in America, discrimination of certain people, and getting drunk. The only thing that caused this episode to be controversial was the drinking episode, entitled, "One Beer." In it they have Hampton Pig, Plucky Duck, and Buster purposely drink beer to prove they're cool. It causes them to go brain dead, which leads them to stealing a cop car. The trio drive to a high mountain where they spot a broken bridge. Still under the influence, they fall of the cliff and become angels. This segment was so controversial, the episode was banned after one showing. It's odd how a Public Service Announcement episode was banned because of the stuff it was warning people about. Even though it's supposedly controversial, Elephant Issues is actually a good PSA episode. It shows why thing our bad to do, and says that we should avoid them. So, to review it, I'll give it 3 out of 5. The episode is good for warning about drugs, but seems a little to harsh. And to be honest, it is not actually too bad.

Character Corner = Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot

It's time for a brand new segment on this blog. I call it Character Corner, where I gives the history of classic cartoon stars. I'll take requests, but usually do one I want to do. So for my first Character Corner, I'm taking a look at one of the sweetest couple I've ever seen. The name of the characters are Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot. Marc is a large bulldog, and Pussyfoot is a sweet female kitten. They first appeared in the cartoon, Feed the Kitty, where Marc tried to hide her from his master. The two animals, while different species, are the sweetest thing since cinnamon rolls. It's nice to see Marc protect a kitten from danger, and if you don't smile at it, you are very sick. The duo starred in five of their own shorts, but make cameos in five others. Marc and Pussyfoot inspired two Animaniacs character, Button and Mindy, a dog protecting his young master. They even inspired a certain scene in Disney's Monster Inc. film. Most cartoon watchers have forgotten these two comedy goldmines due to other Looney Tune characters who were made in the 50's. Even so, Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot are a great pair that made my heart melt with laughter and adorableness. It's a shame these two weren't used more often, for they could have had a huge fanbase around. If they did, I would be in it.

The Forgotten Son

Mickey Mouse. He's one of the greatest cartoon characters of all times. Barely anybody has never heard of his name. Mickey has been seen in games, magazines, comics, television shows, and amusement parks. This rodent made Walt Disney a household name, launching his career as a major filmmaker. The beloved mouse is one of America's greatest icons. While everyone has heard of Mickey, very few have heard of his older brother, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. In 1927, Walt Disney signed a contract with Universal Studios to make a series of silent cartoons. What was born then, was to be a great and lasting success. Oswald the Rabbit's first cartoon was Poor Papa, and it was not well received. Walt pressed on, making another cartoon, Trolley Troubles. This short was a hit, getting Oswald some good attention. During spring of 1928, Disney asked his boss for more money to produce better cartoons. Instead the studio cut his funds and caused him to quit. After that, mickey began his ride to the top, and Oswald began his spiral down. Today, no one has ever heard of Oswald, the long lost son of Disney. He briefly appeared again in the 2010 video game, Epic Mickey, where he encounters his replacement. Anyway, everyone probably wants to know what I think of Oswald. Well to be honest, it's pretty funny. Everything seems to be alive, which gives me a lot to laugh at. The rabbit deserves 4 out of 5 stars, for charming humor, and outstanding potential.

My First Entry

This is my first entry to this blog, so don't laugh. It defiantly harder than it seems. For my first blog, I've decided to take a look at a classic cartoon close to my heart. It's a Looney Tunes cartoon known as, "Carrotblanca." Developed in around 1995, this short was a parody of the famous Casablanca movie. The characters were played by the Toons, and the jokes were just hilarious! The plot revolved around Tweety Bird stealing a document from evil German scientists, played by Yosemite Sam. He gives it to Bugs Bunny, who owns a club with Daffy Duck. Bugs is reluctant to take it, but hearing how he could meet a dame, he hides the document for an American man. That man is revealed to be Sylvester Cat with the dame being Penelope Pussycat( the cat from Pepe Le Pew cartoons). It turns out that Penelope and Bugs had a relationship before they sadly broke up. Bugs gets dragged into a plot to outwit the Germans, win over Penelope, and get the document to Sylvester. Though this was made long after the original actors died, along with the good directors, Carrotblanca captures the soul of the original shorts. It's worth a watch, and will captivate your mind and humor. So, for brilliant writing and acting, I give Carrotblanca 5 out of 5 stars.