Cartoon Central

Hi gang, it’s Wednesday already and time for an update. I’ve added another daily from DJ Coffman’s insane webcomic “Yirmumah!“. It’s from March 7, 2006, and features the introduction of the Gorton’s Fisherman to the comic (there’s a couple of nice shots of Calypso too); go and check it out! (Be warned, there’s a ton of art already on that page; the new one is the last daily shown.)

Home Movies was, perhaps, my favorite animated show of all time. It used to air as part of the Adult Swim block on Cartoon Network, but after four classic seasons, it got cancelled in early 2004. Why crap like Aqua Teen Hunger Force captured the imagination of stoners from coast to coast while the smart, witty Home Movies never really broke out is beyond me, but what do I know? I’m just smarter than you.

Actually, you ought to plan to see a movie starring Larry the Cable Guy as an animated tow truck named Mater, because Cars is solid family entertainment from the people who brought you Toy Story and The Incredibles. No, geeks and people looking for subtle political messages about socialism aren't going to love it as much as they loved The Incredibles, but your kids will, and you won't be bored for two hours.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I attended the world premiere of the Disney and Pixar movie, Cars. This was held at the Lowes Motor Speedway. First off, I had never been to a NASCAR track, so that was pretty cool.

After a lot of reviews and recommendations I had to watch Madagascar. Now there are very few animated movies, which I have enjoyed - Shrek being one of them.

By the summer of 2002 I was feeling way better. I had started to sleep better and was not anywhere near as moody and volatile. Thank god for that. I didn’t want my children to remember their mother as a wicked witch. To say nothing of my husband. I have no idea how he managed to keep loving me. I’m sure it was akin to having a Tasmanian Devil in the house. They are cute in the Bugs Bunny shows but hell to live with.

Well, I’ve been looking for TV jobs at various stations and I’ve sent in some applications here and there, sent my resume hither and thither, and I’m definitely feeling frustrated with it. It’s one thing to not hear back from Cartoon Network (one of the places I applied to), but it’s another to actually have a contact giving you the inside scoop and still not seeming to get anywhere with it (which is also the case with another job prospect). I haven’t given up, I’m still looking into those avenues, I’m just not feeling particularly great about them now. It doesn’t help that I’ve been trying to piece together a demo reel from some saved school projects and so far I feel like a lot of the things I’ve done were fun while they were in school, but for the real world don’t look professional at all. Blah. I’m also having fun with the whole “experience catch-22″ situation wherein a lot of the jobs I’m interested in require experience, yet my lack of experience makes it harder for me to get jobs in the first place.

Anyways, if you managed to get past my 52 “review”, you’ll kinda get a vibe as to what’s wrong here with this issue. So, after IC, for some reason, Superman lost his powers. No real explanation I guess was needed, other than it made for some dramatic moment to have DC’s supposed 3 stand-out characters take some time off from their crime-fighterings, and let the spotlight shine on some of the other heroes or something. So de-powered Superman did who knows what for a year, I guess we’ll find out in 52, but now he is getting his powers back. How, you may ask? Did S.T.A.R. Labs work some magic science goodness on him? Nope. Did he get exposed to some awesome new re-powering Kryptonite, like on Smallville? Nope. Did Mr. Mxyzptlk show up and give Supes his powers back? Nada. Wanna know how he got em back?

Lately, though, there have been a few questions regarding my kids cartoons that have been bothering me.

Example 1: My mother once told me that she woke up to the sound of me laughing when I was about six years old. She looked in my room and I wasn’t in my bed. She followed the sound of my laughter, and found me in the living room, sitting somewhat close to the T.V. laughing at a blank screen. She told me that when she said my name, I immediately stopped laughing, slowly turned my head toward her and just sat there with my eyes closed like I was sleeping, but just sitting up. She again said my name and asked what I was doing. I responded with “I was just watching cartoons.” She said that I continued to sit there looking in her direction with my eyes closed. She then had to come over to me, pick me up and carry me to bed.

8. Adult Swim…Specifically Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Tom Goes to The Mayor, Family Guy, and Robot Chicken. I feel the animation on Adult Swim is pushing humor to dark, wondrous places much the same way Monty Python, The State or Mr. Show did in their respective hey days. It’s good stuff, and if you don’t get it then it’s probably making me laugh even harder. Now one might argue Family Guy is really on Fox. But when I watch it on Adult Swim, I’m not obligated to sit through The War At Home or American Dad. Sundays @ 10 pm on Cartoon Network.

As it stands my second year of University has just about finished. I have a 2500 drama report due on June 1st, the same day I have an exam on Maya which is the software Toy Story was made on. However, instead of making a 90min movie, I must create a 30s animation (decided on the day) in three hours - this sounds easy as I type it but it isn’t, it really isn’t.

Adding Brandon Davis to our category list under the heading “celebrity” physically hurt us, it really did, but we make sacrifices for you, dear readers. Anyway, the night before last, Brandon Davis and a giggling Paris Hilton were filmed exiting a club, obviously well into their cups. Davis, who inexplicably always looks so clammy that his fleshy neck chills us to our very core, went off on a four minute and thirty second Lindsay Lohan diatrabe. Watch the video here and listen in wonder as Brandon, in a phlegmy voice eerily reminiscent of officer Barbrady from South Park, waxes poetic on such topics as whether or not Wilmer Valderrama is “in a mariachi band”, the exact color, shape, and odor of Lohan’s genitalia, and the sad fact that Lindsay is “only” worth a “disgusting” and “poor” seven million dollars.

10. Finding Nemo would have been vastly more exciting had Jack Bauer been looking for him.

Gabe comes over and he’s sorta tired, so he plops down on the couch, and I make Drew get a blanket for him to stay warm and comfortable. We end up all watching (well, not Drew) Finding Nemo together. It’s a great movie.

The good news is that I don’t dream of making out with cartoon characters anymore. Probably because the quality of modern day cartoons favors style over character and story. Just watch some old Nickelodeon in comparison to new Nickelodeon.

I’m really loving Paul Pope’s Batman Year 100. It’s the best 2 dimensional riff on the dark knight for a good long while and brings a little French Comix sensibility to the character. Plus, Batman’s crazy, fake vampire teeth in issue #3 are funny as hell. Now if I can just get my hands on Pope’s Heavy Liquid and 100% comics, I’ll be a happy man.

Which actually brings me to another point. Anyone that knows me knows that I love South Park. I have around 500 episodes on my hard drive at the current time. Well, 1 of the 2 main black charactors, Chef, left the show after an episode featuring Tom Cruise and a closet. Apparently Chef left because of the jokes about Scientology. Which makes absolutly no sense. Its okay to make fun of Catholics (the episode with the preists having sex with children), jews (almost every episode), islam (episode w/ Family Guy), and almost every other religion out there but as soon as they say something about your religion, you can leave. That makes absolutly no sense.

Man, these are funny commercials. I think iLife is my favorite. Maybe i’ll get the Mac soon, dunno. I’m actually going to have to get a new comp and monitor soon. Check it out, though.

New costume or old, I don’t plan on reading any more issues of The Amazing Spider-Man any time soon, and as long as Joe Quesada (Editor in Chief of Marvel Comics and apparently the brains behind the new costume) doesn’t mess with Ultimate Spider-Man or (even worse) the Spider-Man movies, I’m okay.