Category Archives: Cartoons
Mario is a terrible older brother
Hotdiggedydemon, a group of animators who brought you numerous My Little Pony and other cartoon parodies, presents this masterpiece. I like to think of it as a tribute to “Player 2s” everywhere.
Take Some Time Out of Your Busy Day to Enjoy the Bounty of What the Internet Has Wrought
The fine people at Alfred Image Works have given us this 5 minute video short about Johnny Express, the best delivery service in the galaxy! And it’s just delightful. And more than a little dark.
I have long been a champion of the Internet and all it can provide. This is the kind of short you might see in front of the new Pixar movie. And that regular people, not Hollywood types, are cranking this stuff out and sharing it online is just the greatest feeling in the world. This video short is well worth your time.
Why Don’t They Just Use Darth Vader?
With yesterday being the Fourth of May, the fine folks at Star Wars released the first trailer for the upcoming Star Wars: Rebels cartoon. I was probably unnecessarily mean towards Rebels in a recent article, so why don’t we check out the trailer and decide for ourselves?
Eh, I’m not convinced. I’ve been catching up on Star Wars: Clone Wars recently, the show that was cancelled to make way for this one. Clone Wars is good, and stars popular characters. Whereas I keep feeling like Rebels is a made-by-committee Star Wars show. All of the characters are carefully crafted into perfect cliches. And they don’t even use Darth Vader as the villain! The show takes place in the time period where Darth Vader is active, arguably the greatest super-villain in the history of fiction, but they don’t want to use him? What sort of sense does that make?!
My 6 Favorite Episodes of The Simpsons
I can still remember watching the first episode of The Simpsons in 1989, the Mills family huddled around our living room for another night of quality prime time television. I don’t remember what I thought about the episode or the show. I don’t remember what prompted us to even watch it. But we were hooked from that very first episode, and I have been a lifelong fan of The Simpsons ever since.
Even if I haven’t seen a new episode in years…
Have you seen what they did with Lenny?
I will let historians and poets write a bigger, better recap of The Simpsons‘ cultural impact. I’m just a guy who loved a cartoon, alongside the rest of the entire world. What I can do – aside from playing Simpsons Tapped Out on my phone – is buy the DVDs and watch oodles upon oodles of old episodes. And one thing I’ve learned is that all of the episodes I devoured in syndication had amazing extra scenes and jokes cut out of them that are fully restored on the DVDs! It’s like finding new gems in the old classic episodes!
I hope The Simpsons never goes away. And in celebration, let us reminisce on our favorite episodes! Please share your own in the comments!
6 Gritty Reboots I Want to See
I’m a big fan of gritty reboots, and apparently so is Hollywood. They’re all the rage these days. And they’re the best way to keep a big time franchise alive. Want to find a way to make a whole new Spider-Man trilogy only a few years after the first one? Gritty reboot! Want to make Daniel Craig’s James Bond more appealing to modern movie audiences? Gritty reboot! Want to turn the silly, cartoony, 1980s Transformers into a modern, billion-dollar blockbuster franchise? Gritty reboot!
Gritty reboots are a Hollywood cure-all, and I think they can make for some really good stories.
Old Man Flanagan bought a lot of rubber zombie masks
The key to making a gritty reboot is to add realism to an otherwise preposterous story. Often these movies are more grim than their previous counterparts, but I don’t think ‘grim’ is a necessity. It’s all about realism. It’s the difference between the Avengers and the Ultimates. Between the campy, colorful madness of Batman and Robin and the dark, urban realism of Batman Begins.
This year, gritty reboots of Godzilla and the Ninja Turtles will be hitting the big screen. But there are still some properties out there that I think are ripe for a big, gritty, realistic return!
Join me after the jump for six franchises that could use a little more grit!
Henchman-4-Hire 