Reflections: What happened to the good cartoons?

Pokemon, Digimon, Yu-Gi-0h. . .Gimme a break! You call those cartoons!? Kids today are seriously deprived when it comes to cartoons. Heckle and Jeckle, Tom and Jerry, Woody Woodpecker, Mighty Mouse, Speed Racer (the original). . .Those were cartoons. The Smurfs, He-man and Alvin & The Chipmunks, were cartoons. I know what you’re thinking. . .Get to the REAL cartoons, right? The cool ones, huh? Okay, what about G-Force, Robotech, The ThunderCats, Transformers, The Legion of Super Friends, yeah, remember them? Remember waking up Saturday morning!? Wow!? I lived for Saturday morning cartoons! There was nothing better. Cartoonists and animators today are lazy, and put little to no effort in their work, perhaps with the exception of the truly talented Manga artists such as those that create Yu-Gi-Oh. Though the concept of the animation creation is completely ridiculous to me, the artistry is well up to par. Pokemon on the other hand, is horrible! It looks like a 5 year old drew the characters, and maybe that was the intent of its creators, who knows, but maybe they should’ve intended on putting forth a better effort. Furthermore, the cartoon doesn’t even make sense! What is it about!? These kids travel all over looking for these weird, supposedly untamed “creatures” to train and compete against each other? For what? Cartoons today lack creativity, originality, and the ability to measure up to the cartoons of yester-year.

Disagree? Name one, just one cartoon today that’s better than Voltron. Which one of us didn’t like the 5 Space Lions, and the underground passageways that lead to each one; The stone passage to Black Lion, the water passage to Blue Lion, the lava passage to Red Lion, the forest passage to Green Lion, and the sand passage to Yellow Lion. What about the size of the Lions and the weaponry they possessed? How many of us couldn’t wait for them to form Voltron after going several rounds with one of Witch Hagar’s new “RoBeasts”? And we all knew it was curtains when we heard what 3 words? “Form, Blazing Sword!” His hands pounded together, and magically created an illuminated sword from nowhere, as they spread apart. Cartoons like that don’t exist anymore. What about Justice League? Seeing all your favorite superheroes under one roof; Batman (and Robin), Superman, Supergirl, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and more! Who couldn’t wait to hear these words. . .”Go, Speed Racer, Go Speed Racer, Go Speed Racer Gooo!”? Everyone loved that song, and waited anxiously to see what kind of trouble Sprittle and Chim-Chim would get into after hiding in the trunk of the Mach 5 for the un-teenth time! Do I even have to mention G.I. Joe? Remember the safety tips at the end of each episode. . .”And knowing is half the battle”.

Cartoons today and their creators have some big shoes to fill, if they intend to follow in the footprints of their predecessors. Over the years, and more recently, there’s been various attempts to re-create animated greats and classics like; G.I. Joe, Speed Racer, Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Justice League; but none of them has the same feeling of authenticity as the originals, and they fail to pay proper homage to the originals as well. My suggestion is that cartoon creators and animators today review yesterday’s cartoons and use them as blueprints to introduce fun and quality animated creations for today’s youth, because all they’ve done so far is simply televise garbage.

Movie reviews: The Transformers (2007) – Part 3

The Transformers was, far and away, the best movie of 2007. In fact, The Transformers may very well be the best science fiction movie in the last decade. What is it that made Transformers so great? Simply put, it had the three elements that a science fiction movie needs to have in order to be great: high-quality special effects, a great script and amazing acting. Add to all of this the nostalgia factor, and you will wind up with a runaway blockbuster that is guaranteed to entertain for years to come.

Let’s take a look, first and foremost, at the special effects in The Transformers. The CGI in The Transformers is entirely believable. When you watch this movie, you don’t think you’re looking at an animated picture of a car that changes into a robot; you think you’re looking at the real thing. Take, for example, the scene where the Autobots are sneaking around out in the yard. You really believe that there is a three-story tall robot peeking into a window, and you really believe that the people inside aren’t going to notice him because he is being so stealthy. THAT is quality CGI at its best.

In terms of the script, The Transformers couldn’t have been any better. From the beginning, you actually care about the characters. You sympathize with them, and you want them to succeed. The plot holes in The Transformers are so small as to be insignificant. The action steadily builds until the end, when you’ve got a full-on, nonstop, in-your-face Autobot vs. Decepticon donnybrook.

Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox shine as protagonists. Fox manages to be sexy yet tasteful, and keeps the guys’ interest piqued through the film. The presence of veteran actors Jon Voight as Defense Secretary John Keller and John Turturro as Agent Simmons is a bonus to The Transformers, albeit an unnecessary one; LaBeouf and Fox (along with the voices of Peter Cullen and Hugo Weaving as Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively) carry this film along.

Topping things off are all of the references to the old Transformers cartoons. When LaBeouf says, “more than meets the eye,” the theater burst into cheers.

The Transformers earns 11 1/2 stars out of 10.

The 5 Best Fictional Lorries

The world of haulage and lorry driving has never been seen as the most glamorous, despite there being some truly memorable lorries in the world of film and television. Here are 5 of my favourites…

5. Mack (Cars)

No doubt “Cars” was one of Disney-Pixar’s more forgettable animated films, but Mack – a 1980s Superliner who transports Lighting McQueen in the film – just about sneaks into the list for being voiced by the legendary John Ratzenberger.

Ratzenberger, who played the longwinded mailman Cliff Clavin on Cheers, has appeared in all the Pixar animated films and is considered something of a good luck charm for the studio. They mocked this in the closing credits for Cars, when Mack the lorry watches car-themed versions of Pixar Movies praising Ratzenberger’s characters in ever one – until he realises they’re all played by the same actor: “What kind of a cut rate production is this? They’re just using the same actor over and over again!”

4. Creeper’s Truck (Jeepers Creepers

Jeepers Creepers, the 2001 horror film, had a truly memorable truck in it, though more memorable for the lorry driver: the Creeper himself. Driving an armoured lorry, the creeper turns out to be an ancient demon that rises every 23rd spring for 23 days to feast on humans to form part of its own body. Despite being made up of bits of dead bodies, our villain is rather handy with his 1941 Chevy COE which he uses to transport the bodies of his victims. Nice!

3. Rhino (MASK)

M.A.S.K, for the uninitiated, was a 1980s kids’ cartoon series and best described as a hybrid of Transformers and G.I. Joe. In total 75 episodes were created between 1985 and 1986. The relevance to this list? Rhino – surely one of the finest lorries ever to grace our television sets. This lorry was piloted by Bruce Sato, Alex Sector and Matt Tracker at various points in the show and was armed with anti-gravity cannons, a battering ram, a missile launcher and a separate little car that could slip out of the back.

Aside from its awesome vehicles and 80s vibe, MASK is most memorable now for its contrived use of acronyms. The good guys were M.A.S.K – which stood for Mobile Armored Strike Kommand, while the baddies organisation (such as it was!) was known as V.E.N.O.M – Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem.

2. Snowman’s Truck (Smokey and the Bandit)

You can’t have a list of excellent lorry drivers without referring to 1977’s Smokey and the Bandit. The classic tale tells of rich Texans offering Bo “Bandit” Darville (Burt Reynolds) $80,000 to haul 400 cases of Coors beer from Texarkana, Texas to the Southern Classic stock car race in Georgia in 28 hours. A contrived plot sees plenty of action looking to sabotage the plans but despite this, Bandit and his accomplice Cledus “Snowman” Snow (Jerry Reed) manage to get the cargo safely to its destination in Snowman’s Kenworth W900.

Nowadays with the improved road network, managing the journey in 28 hours would be a cinch. In those days however, it would have been very impressive for a lorry driver and well worthy of the $80,000 bounty (which would translate to roughly $270,000 in today’s money – and would neatly negate the need for a money-spinning backload!)

1. Optimus Prime (Transformers)

As if there was any doubt, Optimus Prime is of course THE most memorable lorry. Because he’s not just any old lorry – he’s a robot in disguise! Leader of the Autobots, and without a doubt the best known character from Transformers, he was equipped with everything a robot in disguise would need, including a lazer rifle, various additional weapons in the trailer, a radio antenna for battlefield communication and a mobile scout buggy for reconnaissance – perfect for delivering backloads, should he have time in his busy schedule. Many people who remember Optimus Prime for his deep booming voice should look away now when I reveal that Peter Cullen, the man who voiced him, was also responsible for the voice of Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh!

Movie reviews: The Transformers (2007) – Part 41

I would say that the Transformers movie is a great leap in demonstrating how the movie-makers “wow” its audiences by bringing life into robots and reality, rather than relying on animations. This also proves with the recent advancement in technologies nowadays, any scientific / fiction can be filmed in reality scenarios, rather than just plain drawings on papers that has been animated.

I liked the way that this movie brings out the characteristics of each autobots in a clear and distinctively manner, and with certain charisma and charm that captivate my attention as well as many audiences in the movie theater. Bumblebee is definitely the star to gain empathy and liking from the audiences.

However, the movie seemed out of balance as the emphasis is just on the heroes (autobots) of the movies. The movie lacks in portraying and showing really how despicable, down and dirty the Evil decepticons can be like in the comics or in the cartoons.

The main reason for me to favor the Autobots for many years over the Decepticons seemed to be missing. After the movie and upon self-reflection, I just cannot related myself to or to support the idea to really hate and believe that the Decepticons need to be destroyed. The story plot seemed like any old and stale story plot whereby the “bad guys” just co-exists with the “good guys” so that they destroyed by the end of the movie.

On the whole, I will still recommend this movie to all my friends for the special effects, the props, and “bumblebee” in Transformer.

Remembering the 80s cartoons – Part 4

I couldn’t sleep the other night and was flipping through the television channels. When I came across Boomerang, Thundarr the Barbarian was showing. I could not believe how excited I was to see it on television, I stayed up to watch it. Cartoons in the ’80s were great, before Sailor Moon there was Jem and the Holograms. We had Transformers and GoBots, the same cartoon really, but you loved one and hated the other. Smurfs and Snorks, Gummi Bears and Dungeons & Dragons filled our Saturday mornings. He-Man had the power of Grayskull and a really cool cousin named She-Ra. The Superfriends kept the universe safe from the Hall of Justice. Is there anyone out there over thirty and under forty who doesn’t know the statement, “Wonder Twins, Activate”?, and who hasn’t wondered all these years why Zan always had to take on forms of water? Did we ever really care why, in all the battle-centric cartoons, there was usually only one girl, like in Voltron and Thundercats? Cartoons were just fun to watch, they still are.

Saturday morning cartoons, on the major networks, are part of the Gen X past, but DVD releases are bringing the fun back. I have been able to share that part of my childhood with my niece, much to her dismay. Cartoons all had their tie-ins, that started with Star Wars, but how many kids did you know who didn’t have at least ten Smurfs, five Star Wars figures, and a Transformer or two? We played outside in groups of two or more, GI Joe versus Cobra, and sometimes Cobra won. Cartoons were just great silly diversions, we didn’t worry about political correctness or which social group might be offended. Where else, but the ’80s, could you have a skit on the Muppet Show about “Lydia, the Tattooed Lady”?

Cartoons from the ’80s are alive and well. With the release of DVD box sets and in modern cartoons like Family Guy, where you have to have knowledge of the ’80s toons to get some of the jokes, we can continue to enjoy them for years to come and share them with the next generation of cartoon watchers.

Action Figures Bridge the Gap between the Present and the Past

As a child I spent countless hours collecting and playing with action figures of all shapes, sizes, and characters. My favorite by far were my Star Wars action figures but I spent many hours playing with G. I. Joe, Transformers, Masters of the Universe. There are so many of them, and they were such a vital part of my childhood experience that I couldn’t really begrudge my sons love of those very same things.

His current collection is of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtleâ„¢ action figures. He is also starting a nice collection of matchbox cars, but he really loves his Ninja Turtles. For a while he was seriously interested in light sabers from Star Wars. I was so excited hoping I could share my old love for my Star Wars action figures with him, but his interest stopped at the light sabers and he never really got into those action figures that were once so special to me.

Ah well, I still have two daughters; perhaps one of them will love those as much as I once did. The real beauty of action figures is that you can keep them and share them with your children, you can sell them, or you can consider them as an investment. However you look at your action figure collection, don’t underestimate the many hours of fun they can provide your children. The right set of action figures can ignite their imaginations and keep them occupied for endless hours on those rainy summer days.

If you wonder about whether or not action figures are good toys for children to have, think back to your childhood and how these action figures enabled you to use your imagination and creativity. Think of the endless hours of fun you had with these awesome toys and how you could share these toys with your friends and double the fun. I know that I feel any toy that helps children use their imaginations is a good toy for them to have.

Before PlayStation: The toys I grew up with – Part 4

Insert imagination here

Children today sometimes forget there is a world apart from their PlayStation. It’s a world that has been around for many years, and is filled with toys that are fun to play with for hours on end. Many don’t even take batteries!

I recently heard that the Toy Museum inducted the lowly wooden stick as this year’s toy, and in the recent past it inducted the cardboard box as well. I’m not going to write any more about these two toys, but if you’re in a pinch give them a try even if you’re only young at heart. If you use your imagination, they can be anything!

When I was growing up I had a few hand-me-down toys like Lincoln Logs, or Tinker Toys that I loved to play with. Every child I know has a few toys like this. These were great toys to me because not only could I make things with them, but afterwards I could pretend with my creations and have even more fun.I didn’t care if they were brand new or not.

But as always the best toys were the ones that I asked for and usually got from my grandparents. My parents were more focused on socks and educational toys, but my grandparents would buy me things like the super big set of Lego! I used to have a huge Lego collection from the original space set with its grey and blue pieces, to the different emergency vehicle sets like police and firemen, and even lots of general Lego pieces. When I was making something, I didn’t care what blocks I used as long as they helped me put my creation together.

When someone mentions dolls, boys look the other way or make fun of Barbies. But action figures like Transformers or G.I.Joe are dolls too. Dolls are great because you can use them to act out anything you want. It doesn’t matter what the doll is it could be a teddy bear and still be crawling along a trench in a war, or swinging down a zip-line to save a damsel in distress.

I’m not sure if you consider bicycles toys, but in my book they are. How many times have you seen children on bicycles that were pretending to be something else? To them the bicycle is a rocket ship, or a police car, or a cowboy’s horse.

The common thread in all these toys, from the cardboard box to Lego blocks to G.I.Joe to a bicycle, is that they all encourage children to use their imagination. If you have a good imagination, anything can be a toy, and it will entertain you for hours on end. So if you hear children say they are bored, help them find the magic of a cardboard box. Chances are you will find some of your old magic too!

Movie reviews: The Transformers (2007) – Part 40

TRANSFORM YOUR IMAGINATION.

I walked into the movie theater with my two step-nephews (8 & 9) with the presumption that this movie might have a lot of extreme carnage in it like Spielberg’s last movie that I saw, The War of the Worlds. However, these toys of my youth had transformed themselves into movie stars of my nephew’s youth and I couldn’t resist delving myself into a night of fun with my two hang arounds.

This movie’s content was very smartly crafted by way of remembering who the general audience’s were going to be. It has childish humor, Bumblebee (the Camero) ‘draining’ his fluids on a S7 G-guy. There is enough teenage humor in it, performed by Shia Labeouf, that it reminded me of my younger dating days – if only I had Bumblebee back in those days! And, since it can be classified as a war movie in a variety of ways, it has it’s adult, story behind the story theme.

For instance, “Their War, Our World”, can easily be translated into our, the U.S.’s, war on terror in Iraq. The Autobots are the coalition forces, the Deceptocons are al Quaida, and the USAF soldiers are the Iraqis who are fighting in concert with the coalition forces. There is more to this story than meets the eye, but I’m going to refrain from making this into a political bruhaha.

And that was one of the things that I liked about this movie. It was packed with action, special effects, storyline, acting – and it rolled it all into a way that each age group would be able to enjoy it at their own level.

Now, there is truly no critic like a child critic. I took both of these guys to see Spiderman 3 and not much was said after the movie. However, before we could even walk out of that movie theater it was a complete night and day because every single thing they saw they imagined it would transform into some kind of robot. The soda fountain machine, cars in the parking lot, the stop sign, the stop light, motorcycles, and on and on. The younger of the two asked me what would happen if a house transformed to which I replied that we already have those – they’re called mobile homes. But, by far my personal favorite was also the younger’s imagination at work while at Taco Bell, “What if the cash machine transformed and gave us all money!” If you can capture a child’s imagination like that, then you know this will be a mainstay form of entertainment for years to come.

Transformers Extends Beyond Big Screen

General Motors Corp. is setting free four of its powerful cars to invade Paramount Picture’s upcoming summer action flick “Transformers.” The opportunity will be used by the automaker to promote its excellence in manufacturing notable product lines.

“We are the stars of this movie,” said Dino Bernacchi, the manager of branding and entertainment for GM in North America. “This put us right at the forefront and lets us showcase the leading designs we have out there now.” The largest American automaker partnered with Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures, the producers of the film of the popular Hasbro toy franchise, to have four of its cars as the film’s lead characters.

Chevrolet, Hummer, Pontiac, and GMC brands are prominently featured as ordinary vehicles that transform into gigantic two-legged, talking robots. They will be playing as heroes of the action flick. The Chevrolet Camaro plays Bumblebee, a main character in “Transformers,” which is set to arrive in theaters July 3.

The Camaro starts as a retro ’70s muscle car but transforms into the new model. The Camaro returns to Chevrolet’s lineup in 2008. The Camaro may not be having a Chevrolet Tahoe ignition coil, but it features lots of equipment to make it more than just desirable. Other GM lines with starring roles are the Pontiac Solstice, starring as the “autobot” Jazz; the Hummer H2 as Ratchet; and the GMC Topkick pickup as Ironhide.

The Detroit automaker has also offered a sale, through July 9, of select 2007 and 2006 models to the movie. The promotion, dubbed as “Transform Your Ride Sale,” is loaded with visuals from the action flick. The sale is supported by 30- and 60-second versions of an umbrella spot from Interpublic Group of Cos.’ McCann Erickson, Birmingham, Mich. The “Transformers” Director Michael Bay helmed the television promotion for the automaker. The promotion includes radio, print, gaming and online ads.

GM goes beyond the big screen to promote its product lines. With such a big role in the movie, Chevrolet, GM’s biggest vehicle division by unit sales, is taking the lead on co-promotions. The division is offering an online video game on Chevrolet.com that lets visitors create an autobot from several of its other models and then wage war against visitors.

Additionally, Chevrolet is heavily touting the effort with “transforming” banner ads on science-fiction and gaming sites, where the GM division does not traditionally advertise, said Phil Caruso, Chevrolet’s promotions manager. “This gets us engaged with an audience who normally wouldn’t engage with us.” Chevy is also backing the online game in 40 markets with an in-theater spot. The game will continue “through and beyond the movie,” said Bernacchi.

Pontiac based much of its “Transformers” link with Maxim magazine. Maxim.com is now showing toymaker Hasbro’s first generation and current Transformers from the movie. Hasbro toy designer Aaron Archer explained on the web site why the first-generation Jazz character got changed. “The G1 version of Jazz transformed into a Porsche race car, complete with number and sponsor decals. For the flick, we kept him sporty, but went with a Pontiac Solstice,” said Arches.

Also, Pontiac and the menn’s magazine have also teamed for an online promotion at Pontiac.com, offering entrants the chance to go to the movie premier in Los Angeles and meet cast member Megan Fox.

Neither Bernacchi nor Caruso would disclose how much GM is spending for the promotion venture. But Bernacchi said that GM did not pay for the product integration, but the automaker did provide Bay with a pair of exceptional Camaros for the movie, as the new production Camaro will not be produced for about a year.

Memorable TV cartoon characters of the past and present – Part 2

Of course, there are a number of memorable TV cartoon characters, both of the past and the present. There are the obvious character choices, such as Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Fred Flintstone, Woody Woodpecker, and Winnie the Pooh, just to name a few. I would also include Snoopy from the Peanuts specials in this list. But who else is there?

Going back to the 1960’s and 1970’s, I would have to say that one of the most memorable cartoon characters from that era would have to be Scooby-Doo. In fact, he’s so memorable, that he has continued to appear in various television shows including one that aired on Kids! WB earlier this decade!

If you go back to the 1980’s, I would have to say one of the most memorable cartoon characters of the era would have to be Optimus Prime from The Transformers. So many people of my generation remember Optimus Prime, especially since his death in The Transformers: The Movie caused such a controversy. I would also consider the Smurfs to be memorable 1980’s cartoon characters. And if you go back to the 1990s, I would have to say that several of the Rugrats characters (specifically Tommy, Chuckie, and Angelica) would also be in the memorable category.

From more recent cartoons, I would have to say that SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star also fit into this category. I’m around kids who really like SpongeBob, and a couple of them can even quote lines from episodes. For current preschoolers, one of the most memorable cartoon characters would probably have to be Dora the Explorer.

I would also have to include Bart Simpson and Homer Simpson in a list of memorable TV cartoon characters; with such catchphrases as “Eat my shorts” and “D’oh!,” who could forget these two?

From the anime field, I would definitely have to include Pikachu as a memorable TV cartoon character. There’s just something about Pikachu that captures children’s interest.

Next Page »