An Examination of Retro-Cartoon Characters and the Far Reaching Effects of "The Golden Age of Saturday Morning Cartoons" ca. 1966-1990
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Will It Be "Fan-Riffic"? (Cue Gong)
Alcon Entertainment, the company behind the 2006 Wicker Man remake and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants franchise, announced yesterday that they would be bringing a live-action/c-g hybrid of Hanna-Barbera's Hong Kong Phooey to the silver screen.
Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) will produce with partner Jay Stern, along with Alcon founders Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove. Alex Zamm, who made Carrot Top's Chairman of the Board, has been chosen to direct, presumably based on his experience working in the c-g hybrid medium on such projects such as Inspector Gadget 2, Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2, and Doctor Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts (aka, Number 5.)
The film is being designed as a starring vehicle for Eddie Murphy, who has been chosen to try to fill the Scatman Crothers sized void behind the voice-over microphone as Penry/Hong Kong Phooey.
Whether or not he'll do that in the exact same voice he used as Mushu in Mulan (1998) and through countless Shrek-a-paloozas (2001-2010) has yet to be heard.
(Source: The Hollywood Reporter)
Monday, July 4, 2011
America Rocks!
Happy 4th of July!
Have your own retro sing-a-long to the Schoolhouse Rock classic "Fireworks" after the jump!!!
Have your own retro sing-a-long to the Schoolhouse Rock classic "Fireworks" after the jump!!!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Happy 100th Birthday, Vincent Price!
I'll throw some tips on how to celebrate the day right over at It's Time for Some Action, but for now, ogle this awesome Vincent Van Ghoul (from 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo) piece from Chinese Deviant Art-ist SharksDen. There's a few other primo Price pieces up at his gallery so hop on over there to check them out.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
What's Black and Grey and Rolls Around The Parking Lot of McDonalds?
Mr. T. and a pigeon fighting over an old french fry.
That's not me talkin'... That's someday Saturday morning stuntman "Super Dave" Osborne (comedian Bob Einstein) provoking fellow future cartoon caricature Mr. T. during a bit from Showtime's sketch comedy show Bizarre (1980-85).
Although the minimum amount of research hasn't placed an exact date on the video, it can be deduced that it was shot between the release of Rocky III (5/28/82) and the debut of the A-Team (1/23/83), meaning that it's roughly a year before Mister T. started solving crimes with his team of gymnasts and a full decade before Fox aired Super Dave: Daredevil for Hire.
Check-out the clip after the jump. Be advised that some of the language is offensive - but, as you'll see, that's the whole point.
That's not me talkin'... That's someday Saturday morning stuntman "Super Dave" Osborne (comedian Bob Einstein) provoking fellow future cartoon caricature Mr. T. during a bit from Showtime's sketch comedy show Bizarre (1980-85).
Although the minimum amount of research hasn't placed an exact date on the video, it can be deduced that it was shot between the release of Rocky III (5/28/82) and the debut of the A-Team (1/23/83), meaning that it's roughly a year before Mister T. started solving crimes with his team of gymnasts and a full decade before Fox aired Super Dave: Daredevil for Hire.
Check-out the clip after the jump. Be advised that some of the language is offensive - but, as you'll see, that's the whole point.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
NYC Hook and Ladder No. 8 to Potentially Close Its Doors
Yup, the actual firehouse used in the Ghostbusters movie and then as the model of the headquarters seen in the Real Ghostbusters cartoon, comics, and video game franchises is on the list of firehouses in jeopardy thanks to proposed New York City budget cuts.
I guess the biggest irony in this potentially tragic tale - for pop culture fans and at risk NYC inhabitants, alike - is that a building made famous in the 1980s for being an "abandoned" firehouse has been fully functional the whole time (the company was amongst the first to respond on 9/11) and it is now back in the public eye because it may become an abandoned firehouse.
To read all about it click on over to the New York Post.
In other cartoon building news: Castle Grayskull has been scheduled for demolition to make way for a new upscale boutique specializing in fur bikinis, ornamental laser pistols, and other He-Man memorabilia. The Sorceress, who was evicted after the rent became too high for her to afford, could not be reached for a comment, though there was a giant orange pigeon found choking on a Starbucks biscotti in an alley adjacent to the soon-to-be demolition site.
Monday, May 16, 2011
That's Crazier Than the Time Seth MacFarlane Rebooted The Flintstones!
Have your own zany Family Guy style cut-away by hopping over to Deadline who broke this story a couple of hours ago:
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Happy 100th Birthday, Phil Silvers!
Comedic actor Phil Silvers would have celebrated his centenary today.
Born on May 11th, 1911 in Brooklyn, NY, Silvers found notoriety as a vaudeville performer before moving on to a career in film and television. His most famous work was his eponymous sitcom, which featured the actor in the role of Sgt. Ernest G. Bilko, a scheming confidence man who often avenged the wrongs done to the mentally inferior cohorts he surrounded himself with.
Silvers' audacious comedic persona (indeed he was colloquially known as "The King of Chutzpah"), served as fodder for and the basis of a number of Hanna-Barbera's early funny animal characters such as Hokey Wolf and Top Cat, which is why Supercade has chosen to give an extra special shout-out to the man some 26 years after his death.
Voted one of the Top 50 Cartoon Characters of All Time, Top Cat still enjoys some popularity thanks to re-runs on Boomerang, and he remains hugely popular in Latin America (especially Mexico, where he's known as Don Gato) where he and his gang of alley cat ne'er do-wells will be the subject of their own 3-D animated feature from Anima and Illusion Studios.
Happy 100, Phil Silvers! Despite all the credit you're actually due, we're sure you're still schilling for more in true Bilko/Top Cat style where ever you may be suitably slacking in peace!
Born on May 11th, 1911 in Brooklyn, NY, Silvers found notoriety as a vaudeville performer before moving on to a career in film and television. His most famous work was his eponymous sitcom, which featured the actor in the role of Sgt. Ernest G. Bilko, a scheming confidence man who often avenged the wrongs done to the mentally inferior cohorts he surrounded himself with.
Silvers' audacious comedic persona (indeed he was colloquially known as "The King of Chutzpah"), served as fodder for and the basis of a number of Hanna-Barbera's early funny animal characters such as Hokey Wolf and Top Cat, which is why Supercade has chosen to give an extra special shout-out to the man some 26 years after his death.
Voted one of the Top 50 Cartoon Characters of All Time, Top Cat still enjoys some popularity thanks to re-runs on Boomerang, and he remains hugely popular in Latin America (especially Mexico, where he's known as Don Gato) where he and his gang of alley cat ne'er do-wells will be the subject of their own 3-D animated feature from Anima and Illusion Studios.
Happy 100, Phil Silvers! Despite all the credit you're actually due, we're sure you're still schilling for more in true Bilko/Top Cat style where ever you may be suitably slacking in peace!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
A Diamond Jubilee "From Beautiful Downtown Burbank"
If God (whichever one you may choose to believe in) were to have an announcer or narrator, odds are the creator’s go-to guy would be Gary Owens, who celebrates his 75th birthday today.
A fixture on local California radio since the 1950s, Owens branched out into television announcing and his baritone has been the lead-in to everything from the seminal sketch comedy show Laugh-In (the source of this post's title) to America’s Funniest Home Videos. He was the original host of The Gong Show in 1976, and has also lent his voice to over 30,000 commercials.
In the field of animation, Owens' voice provided the narrative thread through such programs as Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Garfield and Friends, and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. He also did a substantial amount of character work on Saturday morning cartoon shows, and when his flexible voice wasn’t relegated to the background as any number of cameo parts, his gallant intonations allowed him to take the lead as a quite a few memorable heroes including:
A fixture on local California radio since the 1950s, Owens branched out into television announcing and his baritone has been the lead-in to everything from the seminal sketch comedy show Laugh-In (the source of this post's title) to America’s Funniest Home Videos. He was the original host of The Gong Show in 1976, and has also lent his voice to over 30,000 commercials.
In the field of animation, Owens' voice provided the narrative thread through such programs as Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Garfield and Friends, and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. He also did a substantial amount of character work on Saturday morning cartoon shows, and when his flexible voice wasn’t relegated to the background as any number of cameo parts, his gallant intonations allowed him to take the lead as a quite a few memorable heroes including:
Monday, May 9, 2011
IN July... The Saturday Morning Legacy of Orson Welles
Born on May 6th, 1915 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, George Orson Welles - "L'enfant terrible" of classic cinema - would have celebrated his 96th birthday last Friday had he not shuffled off his (gigantic) mortal coil in 1985. His legacy lives on not only through his history making body of work in theatre (a groundbreaking production of Julius Caesar and the all black Macbeth), radio (Mercury Theater on the Air, The Shadow), and film (Citizen Kane, Lady from Shanghai, and Touch of Evil being undisputed classics), but through the countless homages made to him in the medium of television animation.
An abbreviated list of cartoons that have referenced Welles and his oeuvre includes: The Care Bears, Casper, Earthworm Jim, Family Guy, Futurama, Garfield, The Simpsons (countless times), and Tiny Toons; most of which have given a nod to his defining works - the riot inducing War of the Worlds broadcast and Citizen Kane ("Rosebud" probably being the most quoted line in the history of cinema), or have made light of his later years as a corpulent, cantankerous, celebrity pitchman.
Futurama opted to mash up the old school War of the Worlds Welles with the old-aged bearded chubbo. |
To celebrate the occasion I've compiled a list of my five favorite characters based on Orson Welles that have popped up on Saturday mornings (and in one case, the cinemas) throughout the years:
Saturday, April 30, 2011
The Saturday Morning Closet
Recently, J. Crew came under media fire for an ad in which their president and creative director, Jenna Lyons, is depicted affectionately gazing at her son - who has just had his toenails painted pink. Beneath the photo a caption reads: “Lucky for me I ended up with a boy whose favorite color is pink. Toenail painting is way more fun in neon.”
While J. Crew treated the ad as a non-issue, almost all of the major news outlets not only helped to create but stir the argument that the advertisement was "blatant propaganda celebrating transgendered children."
Whether or not one personally believes that the ad purposefully blurred the “gender lines,” or looked to condone and promote a “homosexual life style” amongst children, gender and sexuality is a topic that is often called into question in media that is aimed at or involves children, whether the intent to create a sense of overt sexuality is there or not.
While the subject definitely pre-dates it, perhaps the most famous case of a character from “children's entertainment” being “exposed” as homosexual propaganda was in 1954 when Dr. Frederic Wertham proclaimed that Batman’s relationship with Robin was “like a wish dream of two homosexuals living together.” Furthermore, Wertham claimed that “the Batman type of story may stimulate children to fantasies.”
While both Batman’s sexuality and the effect of depicting it in the comics have been the subject of debate ever since, other characters, especially in the medium of television animation, have been dragged onto the battlefield of the (Trans)Gender War, that adults have been fighting in the name of children that they may or may not even have; and where a topic like this could be (and most likely is) the subject countless doctoral dissertations and media studies articles, often facts are left out of the discussion when examining the subjective nature of “behavioral studies,” or the need for a persecuted minority to identify with and idolize a media personality… even an animated one.
Here are three cases of retro-cartoon characters that have found lives as gay icons (in either a positive or negative sense), and a look at whether or not the truth was dragged out of the closet with them:
While J. Crew treated the ad as a non-issue, almost all of the major news outlets not only helped to create but stir the argument that the advertisement was "blatant propaganda celebrating transgendered children."
Whether or not one personally believes that the ad purposefully blurred the “gender lines,” or looked to condone and promote a “homosexual life style” amongst children, gender and sexuality is a topic that is often called into question in media that is aimed at or involves children, whether the intent to create a sense of overt sexuality is there or not.
While the subject definitely pre-dates it, perhaps the most famous case of a character from “children's entertainment” being “exposed” as homosexual propaganda was in 1954 when Dr. Frederic Wertham proclaimed that Batman’s relationship with Robin was “like a wish dream of two homosexuals living together.” Furthermore, Wertham claimed that “the Batman type of story may stimulate children to fantasies.”
While both Batman’s sexuality and the effect of depicting it in the comics have been the subject of debate ever since, other characters, especially in the medium of television animation, have been dragged onto the battlefield of the (Trans)Gender War, that adults have been fighting in the name of children that they may or may not even have; and where a topic like this could be (and most likely is) the subject countless doctoral dissertations and media studies articles, often facts are left out of the discussion when examining the subjective nature of “behavioral studies,” or the need for a persecuted minority to identify with and idolize a media personality… even an animated one.
Here are three cases of retro-cartoon characters that have found lives as gay icons (in either a positive or negative sense), and a look at whether or not the truth was dragged out of the closet with them:
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
The Feast of San Giuseppe
Can't give the Irish any love without mentioning the Italians. The Feast of San Giuseppe just passed on the 19th, so see what characters I would have shared some zeppoles with over here.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
I spent some time talking about what retro-cartoon characters I'd want to throw down with this St. Paddy's Day over at MTV GEEK!
Check it out over here.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Happy Birthday, Frank Welker!
MTV GEEK! allowed me to pay tribute to one of the best voice-artists of all time, Frank Welker, in honor of his 65th birthday.
Hop on over here to check it out.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Breaking the Saturday Morning Color Barrier
Recently, I wrote a post for MTV News about the pioneering characters of color on Saturday Mornings. I covered the Pre-Golden Age character Mammy Two Shoes, as well as the "firsts" Pete Jones (The Hardy Boys, 1969-71), Valerie Brown (Josie and the Pussycats, 1970-72), and The Harlem Globetrotters (1970-71).
Check it out here.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
The Smurfs
I already have (what one hopes to be) a fairly in-depth and somewhat comprehensive look at The Smurfs at one of my other blogs that I affectionately call Smurfology.
Check it out here.
Check it out here.
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