Fungi Forums
Miscellaneous => General Chat => Topic started by: coolkid on January 08, 2010, 11:35:08 AM
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I think the topic title describes everything, no?
...FINE! Favorite and least favorite cartoons, cartoon characters, and...yeah. Just everything that could be lumped with animation. Anime and stop motion discussion welcome.
First off, I'm sick of everyone pretending to be too highbrow for Family Guy. If you don't like it, fine. Just shut up about how all it is is just random, VERY lowbrow gags. Beavis and Butt-head, from what little I've seen of it, (Did-Not-Do-The-Research claims, ahoy! And they'd be valid, to boot!) is pretty crude, but everyone likes it. As for "wah wah wah snot Family Guy is a rip-off of The Simpsons," then...
Family Guy=Lowbrow, vulgar The Simpsons
The Simpsons=Modern-day Jetsons for adults
The Jetsons=Futuristic version of The Flintstones
If you don't think the jokes are funny/are in good taste, I don't mind that.
Basically, it was only hated because South Park4chan's favorite animated series ever insulted it.
Before then, everyone loved it. Of course, the show's plots are much weaker and the jokes are ruder, but the point is, this show gets too much hate.
Also, I find newer The Simpsons funny. Yes, I have bad taste, blahbbity blah.
I believe that King of the Hill wasn't as good when Bobby broke up with Connie.
So, yeah, this topic is going to be quickly turning into flaming me for liking Family Guy and new Simpsons. Still, talk about whatever non-hentai animated stuff you want to.
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For TV shows:
Earthworm Jim - Funniest random show ever. I can't believe I missed out on this show as a kid. Peter Puppy's quickly become my favorite character on that show. For laughs, my favorite episode was Peanut of the Apes (same episode where Peter transforms into a haggis in the third act). It's also one of those shows with a bunch of famous voice actors (remember, Earthworm Jim was voiced by the same guy who voices Homer Simpson), though what I tend to enjoy is that they don't make much of an effort to disguise their voice. Professor Monkey-For-a-Head sounds exactly like Ed Bighead.
As TV Tropes points out, this show "played with and subverted about five tropes per week".
Family Guy - Usually funny. It's true that it's basically random jokes, but I like it when they catch me off guard. Favorite joke is Peter with the anvil (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlSrUW8MG3M) (it would take longer to describe than to just show it).
Futurama - Pretty good all-around. We turned to it after the Simpsons got too out there and dumb. The only trouble was the botched scheduling of the show during its original run. We watch it on Cartoon Network now, but hate all the weird commercials they show in between.
New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - I usually overlook this because this seems like one of those "for kids only" shows (although some of the Nick Jr. shows would better qualify), but it'd be a shame to forget that I adored Eeyore and Rabbit. What ended up becoming my favorite episode was one I would have hated as a kid for not having enough funny: "Find Her, Keep Her" which is a sentimental episode about Rabbit taking care of a bird named Kessie, then being unable to let go once Kessie grows up and wants to fly off on her own. The ending was so perfect that I didn't want an inevitable sequel because it could never live up to the original. And a sequel came and it couldn't live up. Special mention to Gopher and his involuntary whistling during his speech.
Robot Chicken - Liked it in the first two seasons before it relied too heavily on the low-brow jokes. What I tended to like were the sudden violence parts. A few sketches that were my favorites were Napoleon Bonamite, Numbchucks (kid tumbling down a hill while numbed from novocaine), and Super Mario Bros. meets Grand Theft Auto.
Sonic SatAM - Way WAY better than Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Everything the Nostalgia Critic said about it is true (and he gave it a glowing praise-worthy review too), including the injustice of the show being cancelled after its second-season cliffhanger (though in retrospect, they finished off Robotnik by then, so the only loose end was how they'd continue the story after they pretty much wrapped it up). Drives me nuts that Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers was responsible for kicking it off the air.
South Park - I only watch the stuff from recent series, and even then I usually forget that it's on. But sometimes it's pretty good. I started watching it when Nintendojo said the next episode would feature Cartman waiting for a Wii and having to deal with sea otters in the future. I was more jazzed about seeing the sea otters than the Wii, but it was still an awesome episode. And there was also the excellent "Make Love Not Warcraft" (especially when Cartman flips out in rage after he's killed a second time). But my favorite South Park episode of all time is Season 8's "Woodland Critter Christmas". Not because of the evil animals, but because Stan fights against the narrator the whole time, not wanting to take part in what the episode wants him to do, and yet he's forced to anyway.
Super Mario World - The show kinda sucks in retrospect (I preferred SMB3 mainly for the "Mush-Rumors" episode), but hey, seeing Mario on TV was awesome back then. And I wasn't aware of Sonic SatAM at the time. The reason I remember this show so much is that I wanted to see an animated Yoshi, which was before I heard his voice. But easily the best episode was the last, "Mama Luigi". It's kind of fitting it's since turned into the foundation of YouTube Poop along with the Zelda CD-I cutscenes.
Tiny Toon Adventures - My cartoon of choice as a kid (whenever Looney Tunes or a Mario cartoon wasn't on). Favorite episode is Kon Ducki. I mainly watched the show for Fifi the skunk, one of those cartoon characters I had a crush on.
There used to be a Redwall cartoon where each season covered a different book, the first season being "Redwall", the second being "Mattimeo", and the third being "Martin the Warrior". I was a big fan of the books, and seeing a screenshot of Martin from the third season influenced me to read that book early on, which quickly became one of my favorite books in the series. So naturally I wanted to see the third season. And I did, by buying it on DVD. And it was awesome. Then I was... er... *cough*partially responsible for the whole series getting uploaded on YouTube*cough*. Which gave me the opportunity to see the other two seasons. First one sucked but featured some iconic characters of the series, and has the best-looking design for Cluny the Scourge ever. Second one was, surprisingly, better than the third. I had forgotten, Mattimeo just had a better storyline. Tim Curry as the voice of Slagar really made that fox villain shine.
I had hopes that animated films would be mentioned, but I guess not. So I'll talk about them:
Balto series - The first film was brilliant (although the real-life story is much more interesting). Lots of memorable characters in here like Balto, Jenna, Steele, and my favorite of the bunch, the overlooked Star. Kevin Bacon does the voice of Balto here, which I'm sure will open up the possibilities for Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon quite a bit more. It's also something of a cult classic film for furries (along with Disney's animal version of Robin Hood). Second film sucked with its weird "get in touch with your spirit, find out who you are" theme, but it had Aleu and some beautiful backgrounds. Third film... some think it was wonderful due to being closer to the first film, but I thought it sucked even harder for playing it safe. Stella being one of the most embarrassing characters in history didn't help. I had more fun watching some YouTuber try and fail to understand the movie in Spanish.
Ice Age series - First film, wonderful. Second film, not quite as much. Third film surprised me, it wasn't bad (although I mainly paid attention to the antics of Scrat and the female squirrel-thing Scratte). But looking back at them all, the main thing I enjoyed was Scrat. So really, give us a Scrat-solo film already!
Lion King series - First film is iconic and is still surprisingly good. I recommend getting the Special Edition DVD (or whatever the latest re-re-release of it is) for extra-sharp details. IMAX version was awesome (particularly the opening shots) and I hope that's the print they used for the Special Edition DVD, because I don't remember it looking that good. Second film... well, I thought it was great, kept getting better each time I watched it (I was suppressing the lame parts apparently). Kovu's my favorite character in the series. But the third film is even more of an accomplishment for giving Timon and Pumbaa serious character development, enough to make me finally respect them as characters rather than sidekicks. The scenes with young Simba are priceless. But what I like most of all is that nearly every Lion King song sounds awesome in any language. Try it, go to YouTube, they have every song in almost 30 different languages. I always thought Scar's German voice was the best for him.
"No King, No King, Lalala" scene in multiple languages. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRDxuWV8Ons) You get to hear the word "Idiot" in almost 30 languages!
Plague Dogs - It's very violent, depressing, and hard to sit through. I wouldn't say it's as hard to get through as the book, since the book insists on going into every gory detail (I only got a third of the way through). So it's even more of a miracle that it exists at all, and it's even more daring than Watership Down was. What I liked most about the film was the Tod and his Geordie accent, just adds a irresistable flavor to everything he says.
Ratatouille - The problem with Pixar films is that they're all so good that they cease to be super (or you're just getting sick of Pixar topping the ratings list every single time), so I can't name a favorite Pixar film (and don't you DARE bring up Finding Nemo. I've already seen that 20 times). This was the exception. Somehow, this film stood out as being my favorite of them all. Was it because it had a talking rat in it? Probably. Or maybe it was the realistic-looking food. Or maybe it's the amazing attention to detail, like when Seymour darts his eyes when reading a letter (which is how reading normally works). I can't describe it except that Ratatouille had some kind of magic the other films didn't have.
Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron - I just watched this for Rain. Most attractive mare ever (screenshot (http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/4500000/rain-spirit-stallion-of-the-cimarron-4568697-736-299.jpg)), used to be #1 on my Favorite Characters list until I found out about the Redwall series. But it turns out the film also has some stunning backgrounds (since backgrounds were one big part of what they focused on, going so far as to make the whole film Cinemascope because of it, it better be stunning). And it was a pretty enjoyable film by itself too.
Watership Down - It may be flawed, but you will never find a more faithful adaptation of the book. I heard that when Americans first saw it, they sure weren't expecting it to be as violent as it was. But I say good, because I don't think you'd ever get away with a film like this nowadays. I loved the book for many things (such as balancing several main characters), but what I liked most in the film was Kehaar.
Special mention to Opus & Bill in "A Wish For Wings That Work". I thought the movie was terrible, but at least now I know what Opus & Bill are like in animated form. Somehow Opus being voiced by the same guy who did Chaz Finster in "Rugrats" totally fits.
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Some of the best original animation I've seen in the past few years is a show called Superjail!. It was on Adult Swim (maybe it still has reruns?) and was very violent and for adults only. I heard it was coming to DVD, so I'm happy about that. I suggest you check it out for its over the top concepts and fluidity of animation.
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I really miss Cartoon Network's golden days. And I'm not referring to Toonami; shows like the Powerpuff Girls and Dexter's Lab were great. They were witty and well-written, with jokes aimed at both the kids and adults (I seem to remember a few college students I knew loving PPG). The best thing to come from Cartoon Network in recent times is Ben 10, and even that was cheapened by a time-skip/sequel that killed a lot of what I liked about its predecessor. Oh, and I suppose Secret Saturdays is decent when it's not trying too hard to be hip or cool. It gives me a modern-day Jonny Quest vibe (we'll get to Jonny Quest later).
As far as Nickelodeon goes: I used to really like Fairly OddParents, but in retrospect, they used the same gags over and over again and really derailed the characters as time went on. Danny Phantom was great, even though I didn't see as much of it as I would have liked (not that it was on a whole lot). SpongeBob SquarePants is another show that used to be better, but if you can get past the mind-numbing stupidity of the cast of characters, it's highly entertaining.
Some old Disney animated series (Aladdin, DuckTales, etc.) were nicely done as well, but you won't see those anymore; they've been done away with in favor of half-baked sitcoms involving and targeting preteen girls. The one exception these days seems to be Phineas and Ferb, which despite coming off as "kiddy" sometimes, has some genuinely funny gags.
Yeah, all the Pixar movies have been at least good, with most of them being exceptional. Toy Story is still my favorite Pixar movie, possibly because I have fond memories of watching it over and over when I was five. Seriously, though, I've never met a Pixar movie I didn't like (although the hype for Finding Nemo and later Cars has rather turned me off to those two in particular); other than Toy Story, my favorite Pixar films include A Bug's Life and Up.
Sheesh, how have I not mentioned Batman: The Animated Series yet? What can I say about the show that hasn't been said a million times by fanboys before me? It nailed the voices perfectly; to this day, I imagine Kevin Conroy's voice for Batman and Mark Hamill's for the Joker on the rare occasion I read a Batman comic. The storylines were excellent, and even influenced the comics that they were based on (the character Harley Quinn had her start in B:TAS, and Mr. Freeze's comic incarnation was later changed to match his animated counterpart). Other DC Animated shows were mediocre, but B:TAS really stands out.
I like Looney Tunes... well, the older ones, anyway. I don't really care for some of the things that have been done with the franchise in the past ten years or so (I hear Tiny Toons was good, but haven't seen enough of it to judge whether that's true).
I believe I mentioned Jonny Quest earlier? That show was gold. It wasn't afraid to give villains (and heroes) real guns instead of hokey lasers, although it certainly didn't shy away from the realm of Science Fiction. It had explosions and mutants out the wazoo (the Invisible Monster episode still kind of creeps me out). Despite "concerned mothers" freaking out about how dark the show got (characters were frequently murdered or met otherwise grim fates; just about everyone on the show handled a gun or knife at one point or another), I think it provided a good example of how to make an awesome action-adventure series. Too bad the original and best incarnation only lasted 26 episodes.
I may think of other animated shows/movies later.
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The Team Fortress 2 Meet the Team shorts are awesome. If you haven't watched them, just, go watch them. I'll wait.
Something that's not too awesome is Flapjack. I don't know, I just always get this weird vibe coming off it that they're trying too hard to make it like Spongebob.
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Flapjack is a hit or miss with me. Chowder is just awful.
The best cartoon of all time is Animaniacs.
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Holy crap, I'd forgotten just how badass this song from Lion King 2 was (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJGqxf86cZs). I really like TLK2. The plot and execution do leave a bit to be desired, but the characters are perfect. It was about as good as could be expected, as the two major changes they would have had to make for it to reach its full potential were to admit that Kovu was Scar's son (it's obvious that's what they originally intended, as well as what fits best with the story, but they threw in some awkward denials when they realized that would make him and Kiara second cousins) and leave in Zira's suicide (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoctlRyGdf8), neither of which were going to happen in a Disney movie. I also really like it because Jason Marsden is in it and because Vitani is awesome. Still want to see a third TLK based on Macbeth.
Pixar is awesome, as is most of the stuff they big Pixar players did outside of Pixar (Brave Little Toaster and Iron Giant, off the top of my head). They're basically the modern replacement for the Disney that pretty much died about ten years ago -- animated movies that don't think they're just kids movies and kids are too stupid to deserve real plots or character development or emotions, nor do they try to go in completely the opposite direction of kiddyness like Family Guy, South Park, etc. Every Pixar movie can be thoroughly and genuinely enjoyed by anyone at any age level -- and not just as a "family movie" or whatever; everyone will actually like it regardless of who's watching it with them. Kids like the talking dog and the funny bird, adults like the philosophical reflections and deep wrenching emotions (And yeah, we like the talking dog too. "A squirrel walks up to a tree and says, "I forgot to store acorns for the winter and now I am dead." Ha! It is funny because the squirrel gets dead."). Also this (http://www.ocregister.com/news/pixar-128978-up-movie.html).
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Some of the best original animation I've seen in the past few years is a show called Superjail!.
This show is the [dukar]. I haven't seen too many episodes, sadly.
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Flapjack is a hit or miss with me. Chowder is just awful.
The best cartoon of all time is Animaniacs. Chowder is just awful.
Chowderawful.
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It's quite honestly the worst show I've ever had the displeasure of viewing. You suck if you think it's funnier than Animaniacs.
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Actually you suck if you think it's funnier than anything that's ever been on television.
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Chowder is probably the single best show on Cartoon Network still receiving new episodes and is definitely not horrible. I can't really bring myself to watch The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack for some reason. PaperLuigi hasn't watched many cartoons if he honestly thinks Animaniacs is the best cartoon of all time.
Since no one else has mentioned them: the recent Duck Dodgers series was excellent, as was Samurai Jack.
Most of what I've been watching and enjoying that hasn't already been mentioned by various people in this thread is anime. A few I've finished are Koharu Biyori (a fanservice anime pretty much the whole way through), Elfen Lied (copious amounts of violence, nudity, and amnesia), Kodomo no Jikan (funny story: Seven Seas, who publishes the loli manga Dance in the Vampire Bund, was originally going to publish the KnJ manga in the US under the title "Nymphet" before being overtaken by a wave of common sense), and Azumanga Daioh. I'm in the process of watching Welcome to the NHK!, Yakitate!! Japan (the unofficial favorite anime of The Mushroom Kingdom), Akagi, Saki, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Princess Tutu, He Is My Master, the Disgaea anime (though I've only watched the first episode so far, since I'd like to finish the game before I watch the anime based on the game), A Certain Scientific Railgun, Spice & Wolf, and Darker than Black.
I wish there was an anime adaptation of Yotsuba&!. Ditto for Asuka Hybrid.
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Please. I've seen many cartoons. Dexter's Lab, Powerpuff Girls, Spongebob, Looney Toons, Family Guy, The Simpsons, to name a few. Animaniacs made me laugh the most, ergo it is the best.
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Since when is the sole purpose of a cartoon making you laugh?
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Music is great, animation is crisp, voice acting is superb, writing is witty, etc.
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Seven Seas, who publishes the loli manga Dance in the Vampire Bund, was originally going to publish the KnJ manga in the US under the title "Nymphet" before being overtaken by a wave of common sense
Cut it out man, I don't need to be reminded every time that show is mentioned ;_;.
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I give props to penguinwizard for mentioning Earthworm Jim, and in the very first reply to boot. I haven't seen it since it was originally airing, but I will still confidently say that it was one of the best shows I've ever watched. Earthworm Jim and the Madballs: Gross Jokes probably shaped my sense of humor as a kid more than anything else.
Warner Bros. had an extremely strong period with Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and Freakazoid. And Tiny Toons, which now that I think about it probably spawned the streak of awesome.
Samurai Jack is extremely impressive, especially how it's not afraid of silence. Cartoons that don't need to rely on nonstop dialogue are precious things. And extremely lengthy, good fight scenes.
My favorite anime are The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Yakitate!! Japan, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Kogepan, Excel Saga, Midori no Hibi, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Sex Demon Queen, Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, G-On Riders, maybe. Welcome to the NHK is pretty good.
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It's quite honestly the worst show I've ever had the displeasure of viewing. You suck if you think it's funnier than Animaniacs.
Coconut Fred, Mega Babies, Super Duper Sumos, Apocalypse Zero, Da Boom Crew, 12 oz Mouse, Butt Ugly Martians, Rocket Power...
I can go on and on about awful shows, if you honestly think Chowder is the worst.
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I figured The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was pretty obvious, which is why I didn't mention it.
I checked Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu out from the library once and was enjoying it, but I went to watch the third episode, and the disc kept skipping. I've never gotten around to downloading it to watch the rest.
Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo has a great opening theme. I ended up reading more of the manga than I watched of the anime, though. (Same with Yakitate!! Japan and Elfen Lied, as both anime ended before their respective manga.)
Rocket Power wasn't horrible either, Mr. Wiggles.
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Coconut Fred, Mega Babies, Super Duper Sumos, Apocalypse Zero, Da Boom Crew, 12 oz Mouse, Butt Ugly Martians, Rocket Power...
Rocket Power was fun and I sort of enjoyed Butt-Ugly Martians and Super Duper Sumos.
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Also, Earthworm Jim kicks ass. Professor Monkey-For-A-Head is my favorite character:
(https://themushroomkingdom.net/board/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.citizenlunchbox.com%2Fmonkey%2Ffamous%2Fpix%2Fprofessor-m-f-a-h.gif&hash=76941e84b26cdfac2136bef5a6831057)
His voice actor Charlie Adler, one of my favorite cartoon voice actors, also voiced the hilarious Red Guy from Cow and Chicken.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that he voices Cow and Chicken themselves.
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The Earthworm Jim games were the first place I heard several very famous pieces of music, which warped my brain quite a bit. When I heard Beethoven's Quasi una fantasia in Bayonetta, my mind instantly flashed to swimming through giant intestines with motile cilia just everywhere. Whenever I hear Funiculì, Funiculà, I'm right back there watching helpless puppies splat on the ground.
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Sex Demon Queen
Mentioning (or at least it SOUNDS a lot like it) a hentai series by name on The Mushroom Kingdom forums is probably not the best idea.
Just sayin'.
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No one gives a [dukar].
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Anyone who knows what it is probably won't care.
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I'm glad to see some mention of Earthworm Jim, Freakazoid, Animaniacs and the like. I am especially surprised to see Earthworm Jim.
But I am disappointed to see no mention of Darkwing Duck and Thundercats. Not even from the resident furry!
And then there's the obligatory Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, X-Men: The Animated Series, Spider-Man, Doug and Reboot.
For those of you who may have been of the age to actually catch the Mario/Zelda/Captain N cartoons when they originally aired, you may remember this diamond in the rough titled Hammerman.
These are some of the "animated" shows I can remember enjoying as a youngin'.
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X-Men (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxOQTaLTFrU) and the ReBoot monologue (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3r0QpGnxdE) are definitely two of the most memorable openings to me.
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I am deeply saddened that there has been no mention of Invader Zim.
*sniffle* Why?
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I have no interest in that show because of the Hot Topic culture following it seems to have.
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^ A perfect example of The Wrong Way To Think Of Things, ladies and gentlemen.
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I can't stand Rocket Power.
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Well, it's ugly, but I can't fault it for much more than that.
Come to think of it, is it even accurate to talk about that show in the present tense?
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Does anyone have a animated thing they liked because of the animation?
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I can think of some shows I don't like because of animation; Ed, Edd, and Eddy, Chowder, and Back at the Barnyard come readily to mind.
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Ed, Edd, and Eddy was crudely drawn but some of the early episodes are fairly hilarious.
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I can't think of anything I like specifically because of its animation, but the odd art style is a huge part of Akagi's charm.
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Does anyone have a animated thing they liked because of the animation?
So much animated stuff made in the past 20 years was so darn ugly I'm not really sure.
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Here's a list of shows I recommend to ShadowBrain:
Queen's Blade
Martial Hearts
Seikon no Qwaser
Ikki Tousen
Green Green
Tenchi series
Strike Witches
If you want to know, Ikki Tousen's my favorite out of all those.
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...oh, and Pinky and the Brain. I never got into the habit of watching it regularly, but Pinky's pretty much what keeps me watching. I didn't think he'd have so much influence as to create an internet-wide love for the word "narf", but then I guess anything that is or derived from Animaniacs would have that sort of power.
Did I mention Taz-Mania? ...Nope. Shame, I watched that show a lot, partly for Didgeri Dingo, and partly in hope that Mr. Thickley the kangaroo would show up. He's one of those rarely-seen characters (like Fifi from Tiny Toons), and even points it out in one episode. But if you watch Taz-Mania episodes on YouTube, he pops up every other episode you see, so who knows.
Rocket Power wasn't terrible (the characters weren't pretty to look at though. Too... Ahh Real Monsters-ish, you know), but it wasn't special either. Heh, I remember one episode where Sam marveled at a kid who had the fastest computer in the world, which had a 700 Mhz processor. Wow, the future, man. And the kid was only using that power for creating a catalog of the animal kingdom. The Wild Thornberries was slightly better, but I quickly got tired of it and I can't look Nigel directly in the eye anymore thanks to a certain Fungi Forums member.
Does anyone have a animated thing they liked because of the animation?
I guess "Sniz and Fondue" from Kablam. Thought the actual skits were lame, but at least the characters were halfway decent to look at. Considering all the other shows in Kablam, it was easily the best-looking of the bunch. Maybe I have a fondness for Sniz and Fondue because it was visually the most vibrant, and it had a neat theme song.
Well, there have certainly been animated shows that looked good, but none come to mind where I preferred looking at it as opposed to caring about the characters. The characters always come first. Why do I think I watched Tiny Toons so much? To catch a glimpse at Fifi. I can't think of too many shows that look "bad", as a lot of it is just what kind of style it's going for. Rocko's Modern Life was particularly good about showing off well-drawn ugly characters, but Ren & Stimpy was the master at it. Maybe Doug qualifies as a badly-drawn show.
But as of recently I've found that Looney Tunes blows away cookie-cutter shows. If you ever pay close attention to some of them, they accounted for just about every little detail, like how Sylvester visibly breathes in (chest sucks in) before blowing into a harmonica. And the animation's so smooth. It's to be expected, these were originally theatrical shorts and done at, what, 22 or 24 frames per second? And they were able to make classical music cool. That's one heck of an accomplishment. Some of Disney's traditional-animated movies fall into the same camp of being immaculate in visuals and detail (Lion King springs to mind), since they probably had bazillions of dollars to get it right. Bambi in particular, for having a movie that looks that good way back in 1942.
...kill me for not having mentioned Angry Beavers before now. I love Norbert and Daggett. While there's sadly only a few episodes of the show I actually liked (or remembered), the duo were always fun to watch when they were bickering or trying to one-up each other. Someone's uploading the episodes to YouTube now. A couple minor characters on that show I liked were Treeflower (before she had the multiple career changes) and the Bunnyguard (repeatedly kept yelling "GET DOWN!!!" and slamming the beavers into the floorboards). It's one of those shows I regret not having watched more of, because before I knew it it was cancelled and off the air.
It's too bad Weinerville doesn't count as animation. There's one show that keeps getting lost in memory, but standing out as one of those great-yet-risky shows back in Nickelodeon's heyday. Pretty much all I remember from it is Boney ("I'm Boney, I'm Boney, leave me alone-y!").
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Queen's Blade
I have the now-defunct Slobs of Gaming to thank for introducing me to that a couple months back. From the sound of it, you could save a lot of money on ED meds by just watching a few episodes.
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I liked Sheep in the Big City.
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Billy and Mandy is hilarious also.
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Butt Ugly Martians
Oh no you didn't, *****. B.U.M. was the greatest show EVER.
Also,
and I can't look Nigel directly in the eye anymore thanks to a certain Fungi Forums member.
:)
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I liked Sheep in the Big City.
Ah, yeah, forgot about that one. It was too good to last. Cut from the same cloth is Rocky and Bullwinkle, which is also hilarious.
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Rocky & Bullwinkle is way older and arguably funnier, but I've only seen one episode of Sheep in the Big City and it was pretty funny too. Thanks for reminding me what the title of that show was.
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In regards to animation, and strictly speaking of animated shows I enjoyed as a child, aside from the X-Men theme that has already been posted I always enjoyed the animation of the Mega Man (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckwlLQQeREU) theme song.
Though that's not really indicative of animation of the of the rest of the show.
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Anybody ever watch Talespin or Gargoyles?
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Yeah, I didn't see much of Talespin, but it seemed at least okay.
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Very, very weird concept. It was the animals from The Jungle Book, but they were all, like, seaside pilots, or something.
Hey, how about The Mighty Ducks?
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TaleSpin was awesome, guys. Baloo as a pilot for hire and Shere Khan as an evil scheming business tycoon? That show was awesome.
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Gummi Bears was pretty cool too.
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TaleSpin and Gargoyles come from a time when Disney cartoons were, like, the coolest thing ever.
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Heck, they come from a time when Disney made actual cartoons.
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yeah now its Hannah Montana and all that crap!
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(https://themushroomkingdom.net/board/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jaunted.com%2Ffiles%2F5957%2Fmileyguitar.JPG&hash=e2c4271c16e8f4cd8bf64006627c8184)
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If that guitar represents everything I hold dear, and Hannah Montana collectively represents manufactured teen pop stars, then what an accurate picture that is.
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shes really satan in disguise, it even says so on her fan site:
http://www.hannahmontanazone.com/ (http://www.hannahmontanazone.com/)
(wont happen again, moderators!)
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This TMNT cartoon intro (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=4495386) is both cool animation and it may also satisfy others' desires of cartoons they watched as children. If someone can find a higher quality than that it would be fantastic.
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From kindergarten to first grade, my weekday mornings would begin by watching the first twenty minutes of Scooby-Doo. It was pretty tight, although never getting to see the culprit unmasked was a drawback.
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Shows I like:
-Rocko's Modern Life - My favorite of all time. Show was aimed at teens, memorable and believable characters, the plots were hilarious, and the sound effects were absolutely genius.
-Beavis and Butthead - Needs no explanation. Mike Judge is the best.
-King of the Hill - My other all-time favorite. It's based in central Texas where I live, of course. There's too much to explain about this gem. Too bad it got replaced by yet another Family Guy spin-off. We'll probably see The Quagmire Show, or more realistically, The Stewie & Brian show, since they get paired together on adventures quite often and have some off-beat chemistry. Family Guy (and American Dad, pretty much) is a funny show, but come the hell on. Three of them? Seriously? Is Fox gonna eat up everything Macfarlane [dukar]s out? Don't let a spin-off knock the second-longest running animated series ever out of its time slot and be demoted to occasional re-runs. NO, screw that!
-Dexter's Lab - Another great Cartoon Network show
-(Old) Spongebob - Still fresh off Rocko (voice actors and Hillenburg [creator] play large parts in Rocko) the show had tons of wit and a hilarious crapload of original ideas. Around the 4th season (and definitely by the 5th season), Spongebob as a whole fell victim to Flanderization. Spongebob was made into a high-pitched sounding little girl, Patrick's witty stupidity turned into to just being 100% pure stupidity and behaving like a little kid, and Sandy, the most egregious example that strikes home the most... because they turned her into a flaming redneck who constantly speaks long-winded similes that a Texan would never say. She used to have a light Southern accent and was just a sweet character. Now, she says crap like, "That's crazier than a hogtied snake in a barrel eatin' flapjacks in Texas while havin' a BBQ while there's a snake in my boots and someone's poisoning the waterhole" (if you catch my referential drift there). Poor Spongebob... you had a good run; now you appeal to 8 year olds and 8 year olds only.
-Hey Arnold - This was a great, great show. Extremely down-to-Earth characters, the time setting and way the backgrounds were colored in the city was very unique. I wish they could've made the second Hey Arnold! movie that had Arnold find his parents, Helga and him fall in love, and have his last name revealed (although I already know his last name. I'm serious!)
Too much explanation. Generic list starts now:
-Ed, Edd, & Eddy - Sound effects were genius there, as well.
-Catdog
-Angry beavers
-Doug
-Ren and Stimpy
-Original Scooby-Doo
-KaBlam! featuring June & Henry, Sniz & Fondue, Action League NOW!, The Off-Beats, Life with Loopy, and Prometheus & Bob.
-Kenan & Kel
-All That
-Double Dare (and DD2000)
-Figure it Out
-Are you Afraid of the Dark?
-Pete & Pete - Did you know that
-Legends of the Hidden Temple
-The Secret World of Alex Mach
-Rugrats
-And many more...
Also, you can't forget the old Adult Swim bumpers (from 2001), the old Nickelodeon Magazine commercial, and Stick Stickly!
EDIT: I forgot to mention that he voices Cow and Chicken themselves.
Don't forget that Charles Adler voiced Boneless Chicken/I. R. Baboon, the parrot from Donkey Kong Country, Mr. Bighead/Mrs. Bighead/Mr. Dupette/Mr. Wolfe/Grandpa (Hiram William) Wolfe/the Hippo Lady/the Fatheads, I think some characters in MadWorld, some in TaleSpin, and countless others.
I can think of some shows I don't like because of animation; Ed, Edd, and Eddy, Chowder, and Back at the Barnyard come readily to mind.
Ed, Edd, & Eddy's animation is quite hilarious. I like the 3 frame wiggle when it suits the show at hand. Ed, Edd, & Eddy is an example of Doing It Right; Home Movies (while I like it) is an example of Doing It Wrong.
Lastly, it seems that cartoons these days have no "middle ground," so to speak. They're either 100% crude slapstick aimed at adults (Family Guy), or 100% made for kids (all these [darn] 3D cartoons on Nick now).
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This TMNT cartoon intro (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=4495386) is both cool animation and it may also satisfy others' desires of cartoons they watched as children. If someone can find a higher quality than that it would be fantastic.
The coolest part of the TMNT theme is the very instant it starts, that giant KKKKKKEEEW sound. All songs should start like that.
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Why in the heck did I forget about Rocko? Probably because I didn't watch it as much as Cartoon Network cartoons when it was airing.
That reminds me, whatever happened to that lovely programming block on CN known as Cartoon Cartoon Fridays?
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That reminds me, whatever happened to that lovely programming block on CN known as Cartoon Cartoon Fridays?
Same place as the old Saturday Morning bumpers and Nickelodeon bumpers: either lost to the sands of time, or up on YouTube.
I watched Cartoon Cartoon a few times. I mainly watched it for Courage the Dog, because I saw Courage's debut in "Chicken From Outer Space" which was on an episode of... it was probably the "What a Cartoon" show on CN since they were the ones to put Courage on their network, not Nickelodeon (who had the similar "Oh Yeah! Cartoons" show, which led to the creation of the Fairly Oddparents and Chalkzone). I thought it was so cool that I was able to see the pilot for a show and then later see it become its own series. Looks like "What a Cartoon" was also the birth of Dexter's Laboratory, Cow and Chicken, Johnny Bravo, and Powerpuff Girls. Shows that we take for granted on CN now. Wow... imagine a world without Dexter..
Apparently Frederator Studios came up with Oh Yeah! Cartoons, What a Cartoon, and Random! Cartoons.
*checks up on "Adventure Time"* March 10, it's gonna be its own series. Keep an eye out.
When I was a kid there was some Saturday Morning block on some network that would show Super Mario World (or some other Super Mario cartoon), Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, and other stuff like maybe the Mega Man cartoon. All I remember is that it opened with various kids stopping whatever they were doing (one was taking a bath, another was maybe reading a book), then scrambling over to the couch. Wish I knew what that thing was called so I could look it up.
I also wish the Nickelodeon website kept its old design where the whole front page was like a cartoon. I think everything made a sound, and clicking the Nick logo would make it change into different shapes. But I guess along with the Nickelodeon fun-house building, those days are over.
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Spongebob converted all of the nickelodeon staff to satanism, then he turned it into his own dictatorship... I mean, metaphorically speaking, al least...
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Better to reign in Bikini Bottom than serve in Snick
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I can't wait to see Archer this thursday. Something tells me its gonna be way better than Frisky Dingo.
I was at Best Buy and I almost bought the Adult Swim In A Box set, but was like 5 bucks short. Seems like a great investment though, I'll have to pick it up some other time.
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-Pete & Pete - Did you know that
I seem to have forgotten to add the little fun fact there. I dunno how I skipped over that (tired, I guess).
Anyway, what that was supposed to ask was, "Did you know that the guy who played Artie in The Adventures of Pete & Pete provided the voice for Cotton Hill in King of the Hill?"
(https://themushroomkingdom.net/board/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi969.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fae174%2FPorsche993TT%2FArtieIsCotton.jpg&hash=cbf878fc328f88910fde1a45ecf50d26)
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I didn't know there were Klingons in King of the Hill.
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(https://themushroomkingdom.net/board/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fthefurtiveglance.com%2Fwordpress%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2008%2F12%2Frim-shot-johnny-utah.jpg&hash=ed56fca01873ef7d3b13a78ae2454a28)
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I didn't know there were Klingons in King of the Hill.
(https://themushroomkingdom.net/board/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi86.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fk110%2FPrincessladybug74%2Fcartoons%2Ffunny-1-1.gif&hash=d733e16739c42712d6dc0498f8821d5f)
I liked the old Nick Jr. show "Rupert" too. The episode I remember the most, and probably the one that Rupert fans remember the most since most of the intro is scenes from that one episode, is the one where Rupert and Bill put growth potion on a topiary hedgehog and it comes to life, causing havoc in the neighborhood.
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Rupert, that's what it was called! Yes, cool show--a fantasy version of Arthur, if I recall.
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Ah yes, I remember rupert.
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I remember Rupert... remember it creeping me out, that is. I'm not certain why.
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Agreed, TK. Something about the show's production made its innocent themes intolerably eerie.
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What got me in the hedgehog topiary episode was how tame their outbursts of shock were. The hedgehog's causing destruction and barreling towards them, and the only thing the professor can muster is increasingly louder versions of "My word!" I know it's a kids show, but it didn't seem like he was fully expressing how screwed up the situation was, I'd at least expect a greater variety of sayings. Come on, they're like British or Canadian or whatever, they've got to have a lot of cute phrases to choose from. And I don't think Rupert's shock went far enough when Bill was butchering the father's topiary (I think he just thought it was a lost cause after the camel hump was ruined. But really he must have been thinking of a curse word once Bill went so far as to lop off the camel's head ("If it's a horse we're after, we won't be needing THIS!")).
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The cartoons Rupert, Arthur, Baby Muppets, and Little Bear were ultra boring eye-gougingly awful cartoons with no redeemable features. If you liked these shows as a child you must be the most boring, easily engaged type of person on the planet.
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How does one dislike Muppet Babies?
Also Arthur had shining moments of golden comedy.
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ehhh, the only one I liked was Muppet Babies man, and honestly it wasn't boring at all. I wouldn't be surprised if it led to the development of some poor childs ADHD.
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Also Arthur had shining moments of golden comedy.
Yes, they're called YouTube Poops.
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No, the actual cartoon was miles better.
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Well, I was fairly Arthur-esque as a child, so that contributed to my enjoyment of the books/series.
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..Baby Muppets.. ultra boring eye-gougingly awful cartoons with no redeemable features. If you liked these shows as a child you must be the most boring, easily engaged type of person on the planet.
Baby Muppets. Lol.
Anyway, I disagree with that. Muppet Babies was great! It possibly taught bunches of kids how to use thier imaginations, and it was a fun show to do so with. A lot better than some of the shows today that try to teach kids that..
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I agree totally. If you remember correctly everything that took place on the show, really happened just in that one room the nursery. Not to mention their integration of actual film into the story.
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I resent the idea that I would have needed to be taught how to use my imagination. Sheesh.
I still enjoyed Muppet Babies.
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I used to watch Muppet Babies a lot as a kid, probably for lack of anything else on. Of course, the episode I remember most was the one with the spoof of Nintendo games. Miss Piggy ninja-flipping her way through the Donkey Kong stage, Gonzo saying "It not how you play the game, it's whether I win and you lose that matters", and so on. I heard somewhere that the chance of Muppet Babies being released on DVD is zero because they'd have to get licenses for all the video clips they used. But I wonder: if it's fair use to use a few seconds of something, then I thought Muppet Babies always used short clips of everything, so maybe a lot of it would fall under fair use. I don't know, wishful thinking. If nothing else, the show seemed to make good use out of the clips they used.
And I saw Muppet Babies before I was even aware of the Muppets, so in a way I was able to see them grow up. Gonzo was always my favorite character.
They have the whole episode up on YouTube if you're feeling nostalgic, it's called "It's Only Pretendo". I like it more than when Doug did its Nintendo spoof called "Doug's Lost Weekend" where Doug was playing Space Munks for hours on a Super Pretendo. But then, that more accurately reflected my weekends.
...hmm, maybe that's why I liked Donkey Kong '94 so much, I could ninja-flip through the levels just like Piggy.
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My favorite cartoon would have to be the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was like the perfect blend of action, comedy, and cheese.
Also, the recent '87 series / '03 series crossover was hilarious, even though I don't like the new series.
Probably my second favorite would be Kim Possible. It also is a good combination of comedy and action.
I watched Nickelodeon all the time as a kid. Ren & Stimpy, and Rocko's Modern Life are my favorite nicktoons.
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog is pure awesomeness.
I really liked the 90s Spider-man series. I also really like The Spectacular Spider-man.
I'm enjoying the 90s X-men series now, but for some reason I thought it was boring as a kid.
Phineas and Ferb is very funny. It's amazing how they can basically reuse the same formula over and over, but still keep it feeling fresh and hilarious.
And of course, I like Looney Tunes. Who doesn't?
Let's see...what else...Pinky and the Brain, the Mario cartoons... that's all I can recall at the moment.
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Oh yeah, the Adventures of Tin-Tin. That is, whenever I wasn't bored to death with the seriousness of whatever mission they were on. I just watched it for Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus.
And I remember seeing "Pingu" on some animation-collection show called Small World or something like that.
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I LOVED PINGU
I can honestly recall watching Pingu from about age three or four... Its stop-motion animation was delightful.
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Does anyone have a animated thing they liked because of the animation?
Ren & Stimpy. They really got the hang of it (animation-wise) during it's second season. The lip-sync was amazing at times. Pretty much the best animated show made for television in my opinion. What I find interesting about most TV cartoons is that you can see which episodes were produced earliest in the production schedule (and which episodes that had the biggest budgets) while on Ren & Stimpy episodes just got better and better as the show went on (until it's dreaded 3rd season when the creator was given the boot). It saddens me a bit that Ren & Stimpy has only gotten passing mentions in this thread.
I also love theatrical cartoons, like the ones from Disney and WarnerBros. Some Anime too. I think Excel Saga was mentioned. Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi is also pretty good with some fantastic animation in certain episodes.
As a tyke I also grew up on the "toy-commercial" cartoons like TMNT and Transformers, but none of those holds up very well today.
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I love that post. I was thinking of mentioning Ren & Stimpy, but no one seemed to be interested in talking about good animation.
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Almost forgot to talk about GEOWeasel and Homestar Runner, which can be found at http://www.geoweasel.net
and http://www.homestarrunner.com, respectively. The extensions of the websites reflect changes.
Homestar Runner: Excellent, yet not very smooth OR jerky animation, mostly clean except for the crapton of crap, friggin', freakin', suck, and VERY rare hells, very weird yet pretty funny, a thin, cracked fourth wall
GEOWeasel: Sloppy-yet-smooth animation, Usually a bit more vulgar or usually on par with The Simpsons in SFW-ness, Somewhat odd yet very funny, no fourth wall
...so, yeah. Both are good.
Also, check out Super Mario Bros. Z. Fantastic battle sequences, good slapstick, and lots of suspense.
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As long as we're talking Flash animations, Mario Brothers (http://www.alxlen.com/mariobrothers.html).
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Too tragic for me.
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/274069 It's Freakin' Mario, and don't forget...
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/381713 It's Freakin' Luigi!
Also, the Dilbert cartoon. The one on TV with full episodes.
So funny and intelligent~
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Baman Piderman (http://www.youtube.com/user/MondoMedia#grid/user/D0750A49525188E9) is very funny.
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Yes, they're called YouTube Poops.
You make it easier to dislike you every time you post you know that?
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Relevant to thread:
Pugyuru's animation style is weird. It's smooth, sort of like Flash, but I don't think it actually is Flash. The show itself isn't as insane as the manga, which is unfortunate.
Hetalia is funny. And incredibly gay.
I watched the first episode of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei! the other day after repeatedly hearing the name and then seeing a glowing review of the first volume of the manga on the blog portion of Unshelved. Great stuff.
I recently saw some screencaps from the Dance in the Vampire Bund anime. Apparently the manga is even more explicit, which makes me wonder how exactly said manga is being published in the US and Kodomo no Jikan isn't.
Also, so that I'm not just posting about Japanese stuff in this post: mo-cap and cel-shaded CG should not be used for animated entertainment outside of video games.
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Hetalia is funny. And incredibly gay.
gay moe [dukar] is more like it.
I watched the first episode of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei! the other day after repeatedly hearing the name and then seeing a glowing review of the first volume of the manga on the blog portion of Unshelved. Great stuff.
Why did you not watch it sooner? My online bud introduced me to this show and it made me lol hard.
I recently saw some screencaps from the Dance in the Vampire Bund anime. Apparently the manga is even more explicit, which makes me wonder how exactly said manga is being published in the US and Kodomo no Jikan isn't.
Because Karl Olsen that's why.
Also, so that I'm not just posting about Japanese stuff in this post: mo-cap and cel-shaded CG should not be used for animated entertainment outside of video games.
I was gonna say Jimmy Neutron kicks ass but then realized its not Cel-shaded so your opinion still stands. However, that's not stopping people from going to see Avatar just to fap to James Cameron's praise. However, as long as these people go see his imaginary adaptation of Battle Angel Alita I will forgive them.
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I'm pretty sure the term is still "bishonen." As far as I know, "moe" still only applies to female characters.
Let's hope that never changes.
I didn't watch Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei! sooner for the same reason that I haven't finished Welcome to the NHK!. Or Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Or Spice & Wolf. Or Akagi. Or Princess Tutu. Or the other things I previously said I was in the process of watching.
Dang it, I'm watching too many shows. Too bad they can't all be short like Pugyuru (which is about 45 or 50 minutes altogether).
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From this documentary I watched a few months ago, "moe" is not strictly a term to describe overly cutesy female characters. "Moe" is exagerating features or deliberately adding human features to non-human subjects as well. The documentary even interviewed this group of Manga-ka that was publishing a manga about a group of pretty boys that were meant to be caricatures of the various different trains and train routes in japan. They even had an OVA to go along with it.
Which, if we follow that definition, Axis Powers Hetalia definitely qualifies since it turned the various countries and nations involved in World War II into a group of nancy boys with a bunch of humorous quirks.
...why did I just talk in-depth about moe?
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I'm reminded of Le roman de Renart (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p3TUKTOVlk) (or Renart the Fox). The first time I saw a clip from it, I thought it was a videogame. I still do. I just can't get over how strange the art style is, it almost always looks like a videogame no matter what.
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J.J. Abrams Producing Samurai Jack Movie (http://screenrant.com/jj-abrams-producing-samurai-jack-movie-robf-35322/)
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South Park's 200th episode a rehash of Seinfeld's awesome finale (http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/south-park-at-200-trey-parker-and-matt-stone-apologize-to-no-one/)