Quarantine has changed my media consumption patterns pretty significantly. Where I would usually do a month marathon run of something (it was going to be the 2003 Ninja Turtles) I have dived deep into the Youtube hole of Silent Hill Let’s Plays and coaster POVs while playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons. All my favorites have been put on hold pretty much. I haven’t really wanted to seek out a show and it’s weird. I understand that everything is weird and “unprecedented” but I didn’t realize that the cartoons I loved so much would take such a backseat to Youtube.
I tried watching Freakazoid! and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012 but I turned them off after a couple minutes.
The one thing I’ve managed to stomach has been Hey Arnold!
The other night I was in a mood and I couldn’t decide what to watch and while I was flipping through Hulu trying not to rewatch old seasons of Ghost Adventures, Hey Arnold! popped up and I sort of shrugged and put it on. I was so easily absorbed into that show. It’s so effortless at practically everything it does and while I could sit here and rant about how every part of this show is phenomenal, that’s not my point…today.
Hey Arnold! has become my quarantine show that I didn’t know I needed. The show always excelled at telling real stories by diverse and interesting characters while never compromising emotions or character growth. Feelings aren’t downplayed, generalized or sugar coated, they’re genuine. It’s good emotional storytelling and this makes the underlying optimism of the show feel so authentic. The whole show works because the stories, characters, and emotions are believable to the audience.
And that’s why I think the funny Spielberg cartoons and the angsty emotional repression of TMNT2012 haven’t felt as good lately. I don’t want to laugh right now, I’m sad. I don’t want to watch the teenage drama, I’m drained. I don’t want fantasy for my escapism as much as I need it in my “normal” life.
Hey Arnold! makes me happy without it being forced or coming from a joke. It’s unrelenting in its caring nature and that’s what I need right now. I want to care and the show says that’s okay even if you feel bad sometimes (cite any plot with Helga and her family). It’s okay to be scared and fed up and not know what to do, but the show exemplifies confidence and kindness to overcome them. It’s easy to fall into the emotional satisfaction of it and the optimism that comes readily with it.
So:
Always look up, there’s a bright side.
You will have people who will support you.
Despite all our problems, we’ll make it through.
If you need a little pick me up, go watch a show about a football headed kid who will never stop looking for a silver lining.
As I’m sure with many of you COVID-19 has brought our lives to a pretty abrupt and hard stand still. I am pretty fortunate in that I am able to work from home and continue to–at least for now–have a stable income. So while the world seems to continue to burn around us unceremoniously, it seemed like the perfect time to go back to my original form of escapism: cartoons.
I don’t have as strong of an idea now as I did when I started this blog long ago in my college days, but I think I’d like to continue the tradition of “Weekly Watch Lists”. I’ve been consuming a lot of media lately so I’ve been rewatching a lot of my old favorites. Things may evolve from there, but I think that’s a good way to start.
I got a little carried away with the “Weekly Watch” idea. I was hopeful that I could post every week, however, I like writing something about every show I watch which takes some time to compile. Therefore, until further notice, I will be doing “Monthly Watches” to allot more time to quality. (P.S. If there are any wittier and alliterative titles out there, let me know.)
I am writing a paper for my Theory of Fairy Tales class that involves cartoons. I will be posting the progress here. It’ll be nice and academic, targeting cartoons and animated shows within the decade. I think it might be a good boost to put some of my better work out there.
Ten points to whoever can deliver the punchline to this joke.
I’m a little behind, so this is a more general watch list than normal!
Bleach
Season 1, Eps 1-8
Green Lantern the Animated Series
Season 1, Eps 1-10
Gumball Season 2, Season 3, Season 4
Bleach was one of my first animes along the ranks of Naruto and Death Note. (Oh the good old days.) Either way, its still pretty good to rewatch if you’re looking for something easy to get into with fantasy/mystical elements. I’ve been watching the English dub with the Japanese subtitles, which is fun if you’re interested in playing spot the difference. If you’re not interested in subtitles or watching the anime in Japanese, the dub holds up pretty well on it’s own.
Favorite characters: Rukia, Ichigo, and “Mr. Hat-and-clogs”
Pros: aged well, not a bad dub, easy to get into, two ways to watch it (Japanese and English)
Cons: a little confusing as animes can be, two ways to watch it (Japanese and English), addicting and time altering, only 3 seasons on Netflix
Green Lantern the Animated Series is so incredibly underrated for how good the writing is. It aired simultaneously with Young Justice on Cartoon Network and was unfortunately cancelled with it too. In many ways this show got thrown under the bus and cast in the shadow of the popularity of Young Justice. Which I find unfortunate because while I love Young Justice, I think the writing, animation, and overall direction of the Green Lantern show were whole are much stronger, tighter, and better executed. If Hal Jordan and CGI don’t appeal to you, I would advise giving the series an episode before entirely ruling it out. Yes, the CGI feels like a cheap and less detailed Disney Star Wars: Clone Wars or Rebels, I think CGI was the only way to go with this type of space show. Essentially if you’re looking for a super hero show that’s basically Star Trek with power-rings, this is the show for you!
Favorite Characters: Saintwalker, Kilowog, Aya, and Razer
Pros: Good writing, Giancarlo Volpe, like a new animated Star Trek
Cons: CGI (not one of mine but it turns a lot of people off), Hal Jordan, lack of diverse female representation
Other notes: if you’re interested in comics, there’s a Green Lantern (DC) and Star Trek (IDW) 6 part comic cross over that’s really quite good!
In lieu of sounding like a broken record, I’ll list some of my favorite episodes of The Amazing World of Gumball from this “week”.
This week I logged over 5 hours on Hey Arnold! alone. I loved that show so much as a kid and it has remained practically timeless–except for Big Bob’s Beeper emporium–since it first aired in 1996. The beepers definitely date the show. However, the rest holds up incredibly well. This show is the epitome of classic. I cannot express how much respect I have for this show and it’s diversity of its major and minor characters. The storytelling is also crazy engaging and it’s hard to put the show down. My only real critique of the show comes from watching it 5 hours back-to-back and watching the subtle changes in characterization happen from episode to episode. I think this is a nitpick considering that’s not how the show was originally aired or “meant to be formatted”. Geez, that was a little pretentious.
On my rewatch of Hey Arnold! I’ve found my favorite characters have changed from Arnold and Phoebe (the most relatable to my young self) to Helga G. Pataki. Fiercely independent, headstrong, stubborn, mature, a little crazy, loyal, and “not really that bad because it’s totally a defense mechanism”, Helga is amazing and deserves so much credit. She grows the most as a character throughout the show, where her development happens through different facets like family, friendships, and crushes/love. None of which take precedence over the other in an overarching way.
Quick note: not every episode of Hey Arnold! passes the Bechtel test, but many do. Often episodes with female characters build or reinforce strong friendships among the female half of the cast.
The Amazing World of Gumball is my new Animaniacs. The whole thing is about the humor and the antics, no one learns their lesson, and the main cast isn’t human. Yakko is Gumball, Wakko is Darwin, and Dot is Anais. The parallels continue, but I’d rather not beat a dead horse. Plus, then I can maybe get you to watch it.
My favorite characters are as follows: the Wattersons. Yep. The whole family is so beautifully balanced and the episodes boast all of their qualities so well that it’s impossible to choose. I love this little animated family and I love this show.
It’s time for Animaniacs! This is my 100% all time favorite show ever in the history of the universe. Aside from my love affair with Warner bros., Animaniacs did everything right. It took the Looney Tunes style/aesthetic/mood to a whole new pop-culture-y, world wary, 4th wall breaking entity on crack. Every episode is jam packed and sure to make you laugh. It’s like Whose Line is it Anyway?, Space Jam, the whole of the 90’s, your characters from Looney Tunes, and classical music were placed in a cauldron and left to boil until perfect. For the love of everything good in this universe, go watch Animaniacs.
Who are your favorite characters from these shows? What do/did you like or dislike? Is Animaniacs literally the best show ever? Let me know in the comments!
I was shown this piece of animation a few days ago and it’s been on my mind a lot.
It’s hard to summarize Double King in words which only reinforces and strengthens the video itself. What words I can find are praise. I love the animation style and fluidity. The sheer amount detail in every movement and moment. This looks like a passion project and it’s incredible. I’m still trying to parse out the symbolism and meaning from this, but I think it might be better to just enjoy the Double King in its sheer whimsy, darkness, and omnipotence.
Overall, I recommend watching it a least twice on two different days (or at least a few hours apart) to let it stew in your brain. Maybe watch it more than twice to really get your bearings in it.
The video’s creator Felix Colgrave is an artist and animator who has done a lot projects from music videos to his own projects. Please go look him up, follow him, subscribe to him, and support him. The video has been nominated in the Annecy 2017 (an international animated film festival and competition) and has stirred up a lot of buzz on reddit.
Awhile ago a close friend and I complied the most subjective list as we possibly could about over 60 different cartoons that we’ve watched and enjoyed. The criteria for a cartoon to be included and rated on this list was that we had to have seen at least one season, it had to have aired on television, and it had to be made for younger audiences. While this may seem cruel to rate these shows, we feel that just because something is made “for kids” doesn’t mean it can’t be quality. We based our decisions on creativity, writing, plot, completeness, and “rewatchability” among other less definable traits like animation and style. Using Avatar the Last Air Bender and Over the Garden Wall as prime examples of good cartoons and He-man Masters of the Universe and Thundercats as “scraping the bottom of the barrel” of standards and quality our list follows as such:
Avatar the Last Airbender
Over the Garden Wall
DCAU – Any show in the DC animated universe found here
Gravity Falls
Spielberg cartoons – Animaniacs, Tiny Toons, Freakazoid!, Pinky and the Brain
Adventure Time
Darkwing Duck
Gargoyles
Samurai Jack (old and reboot)
The Amazing World of Gumball
Courage the Cowardly Dog
Reboot
The Wild Thornberrys
Chowder
Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers
Tale Spin
DuckTales
Star Wars: Rebels (Disney XD)
Star Wars: Clone Wars (Disney XD)
Hey Arnold!
Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated
Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball Z
Sailor Moon
Ultimate Spiderman
The Batman
Teen Titans
Jackie Chan Adventures
Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends
Powerpuff Girls (pre-reboot)
Legend of Korra
Dexter’s Laboratory
Rugrats
Recess
The Adventures of Tarzan
Aladdin
Hamtaro
Star Wars: the Clone Wars (Cartoon Network)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003
Steven Universe
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012
Danny Phantom
My Life as a Teenage Robot
Miraculous: The Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir
Green Lantern: the Animated Series
Young Justice
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
Voltron Legendary Defender (Netflix)
The Weekenders
Pokemon
Kim Possible
Lilo and Stitch
The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
Dave the Barbarian
Powerpuff Girls (reboot)
Teen Titans Go!
Codename Kids Next Door
Johnny Bravo
Mighty Ducks
X-Men: Evolution
Yu-Gi-Oh!
The Little Mermaid
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987
Fairly Odd Parents
Rocket Power
Teen Titans Go!
Spongebob Squarepants
He-man and the Masters of the Universe (1983-85)
Thundercats (1985-89)
I hope to only expand and diversify this list as time goes on. So keep checking back for updates!
What is Welcome to My Life and what makes it so special?
Welcome to My Life, or WTML as I’ll refer to it, is the kind of thing I’ve been dreaming about having as a cartoon. It falls into the realm of Hey Arnold! in that it’s this sort of “slice of life” genre that outlines a diverse story and perspective. It’s real and represents reality in and through another medium. Essentially, WTML is special because it’s about us.
WTML, like Hey Arnold!, does a fantastic job of offering different solutions to a problem. Let’s talk about the main conflict in this short. This is going to take a lot of breaking down, short is so riddled with small details that I feel I should go over them. T-Kesh is challenged by another student (we later find out his name is Ian) to fight after school because T-Kesh pointed out that Ian looked like him but not in human form. It is important to note that T-Kesh means nothing negative by this. T-Kesh doesn’t want to fight him and worries about it until the end of the school day. At the end of the day, T-Kesh puts on his football helmet and goes to the front of the school to face this kid. His friend, Lucas, asks what’s going on, presumably because of the helmet, and T-Kesh tells him. They both go to the front of the school and find Ian hiding behind a tree. Lucas recognizes Ian, knowing him from church, and talks to him. He asks what’s wrong with T-Kesh and asks why he got upset. Ian sort of stutters for a reason, but comes to his own conclusions and with Lucas, apologizes to T-Kesh.
Okay, so now we know the details, let’s dig in.
I love how this situation was handled and resolved. There are two things that I really cling onto from this scene:
T-Kesh doesn’t want to fight and doesn’t consider it an option.
Ian comes to his own conclusions and apologizes.
T-Kesh never wanted to fight. He never had any malintent by his comment. When prompted by the journalist, he responds with a shrug “learn how to fight?” This is not only an indication that he doesn’t want to fight, but that he can’t. Later, he puts on his football helmet, not to look scary, but because he’s probably worried about being hurt as he can’t fight. His other interactions with Lucas indicate this too. The subtle details to come to this conclusion are kind of amazing.
Now onto Ian and how he’s handled. No one ever flames Ian for his misconceptions or beliefs about monsters and T-Kesh. He tries to justify his thoughts to Lucas and Lucas only has to ask “What’s wrong with being like him?” It’s not an attack and it’s never intended that way, it’s just an honest question. The message of tolerance and respect goes both ways here. There’s the more obvious “What’s wrong with being like him?” addressing Ian on the topic of T-Kesh’s difference and how Lucas addresses Ian followed by how Ian and T-Kesh’s interaction.
Last thing, I love how WTML subverted the “I have to fight the bully” trope and the cheesy after-school special feel about how “fighting is wrong, but getting beat up makes you the bigger man”. Ian is never portrayed as bully, ever. Just a kid who had prejudices and didn’t understand the intent of T-Kesh’s statement. No one tells T-Kesh he has to fight Ian and, further, Lucas probably tagged along to stop the fight. That’s AWESOME and the complexity of how the situation is set up, makes it real. Nothing is as simple and black-and-white as tropes like to make us believe. WTML also avoids the after-school special feel by indulging heavily in these complexities, mimicking real life multidimensional situations. Though it ends with T-Kesh and Ian ‘shaking hands’ the short doesn’t end, it’s not cheesy. There’s no “you were the bigger person for not fighting” etc. all the kids say on the same level. The short continues, it doesn’t end there. The whole short wasn’t about this incident, this incident was just a device to convey the overall message.
NEXT.
The animation style in WTML is reminiscent if not the same as The Amazing World of Gumball where animation is drawn, layered, and mapped onto real backgrounds. Now, for a show like Gumball the style may have been an animation choice, where as for WTML I believe it’s a bit more symbolic and much more intentional. I think this style was used to ground us in the familiar. Even though we’ve never seen the backgrounds before, the backdrop are like something that could be seen in your own community whether you community despite town/city size. Interesting point to, that even though it’s familiar it’s not and it never can be. We can’t live among these animated characters but they can live among us.
NEXT.
The narrative style of the documentary serves a similar purpose as the animation style, it’s supposed to ground the audience. Although, it’s not in reality persay, but in the familiar. The Documentary is a genre that most have engaged with and they are everywhere now. We’re exposed through streaming sites Youtube, Netflix, Hulu on our own and at school (K-12 to College). So most people know about it.
This might be a little out there for what this is (um this whole blog post is but still), but I think this might also be making fun of the documentary genre in a content manner and in discourse. This isn’t a “mockumentary” where it satirizes the subject (the person) or the content/theme. But I do think WTML is making fun of the “let’s follow a minority to show people their lives aren’t really truly that different from us”. The separation of us and them, the subject (T-Kesh) and the camera crew/interviewer. The name even sort of jabs at it, “Welcome to My Life”, where “my” cannot be “yours”. To be fair this is also used to distinguish that we all individuals, but that’s funny thing about words is they can have lots of interpretations.
Part two (coming soon!) will be on what I see from this as a linguist and why that’s equally important.
Funny enough and completely coincidental, the first post on Animation Station is about Trains!
Infinity Train is an original short released by Cartoon Network (according to their youtube channel) in November of 2016. It has the potentially to fill the hole the mystery hole Gravity Falls has left in my heart and soul. I cannot say enough good stuff about this short and I’m hoping that Cartoon Network picks it up as a show to air in the future. This is the kind of original and creative content I think many of us have been craving among the reboots and “reimaginings” that are so popular.
I was incorrect in previous statements about Over the Garden Wall crew working on Infinity Train. I regret my spread of misinformation. However, Infinity Train might serve Cartoon Network with what Over the Garden Wall had in terms of a beautifully coherent storytelling show. As I mentioned, the short feels like it has a Gravity Falls level mystery attached with an Adventure Time random/weird complexity aesthetic. The possibility for the world and its workings are huge and I love the protagonist (who reminds me a lot of Wendy from Gravity Falls).
The short is currently a hot topic, I cite the many YouTube videos popping up in my recommeneded feed, from fans as to whether Cartoon Network is responsible and mature enough to handle this show properly with the respect it deserves. Many believe the network will mishandle this show, granted it gets produced, as the CN is has had quite the track record of ditching some of their better quality shows. Though this typically/usually/mostly/often happens with their DC/WB lineup (Young Justice, Teen Titans, The Batman, Green Lantern the Animated Series, Beware the Batman), I fully understand the skepticism from CN fans. However, many good things have come from the network recently that are noteworthy. Adventure Time, Regular Show, The Amazing World of Gumball, Steven Universe, Over the Garden Wall, and The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack are examples of the great stuff Cartoon Network has produced and aired over the the last 10 years. I think it would be fair to give them a chance to produce Infinity Train as they have proven their excellence in the past. Personally, it would also be so very nice to have the 10 hour (a gross over-exaggeration that doesn’t feel that way) blocks of Teen Titans Go! broken up by something truly more worth the attention.
Furthermore, I cannot imagine Infinity Train airing on anything other than Cartoon Network without the risk of losing some of itself. It doesn’t have a Nick vibe and while Disney XD wouldn’t be the worst choice, Disnification is real. If produced by Disney, Infinity Train would probably lose some fundamental component of its uniqueness to make it more marketable and digestable with their lineup of Star vs. The Forces of Evil or Gravity Falls. Back to my rehashing point earlier, we don’t need more shows like that, there are already shows like that. There’s been something so amazing about Cartoon Network throughout its life as a network that has allowed itself the pretense of having light hearted children’s programming next to dark, creepy, gross, humorous works. That type of range supports originality and honesty and is why I believe Infinity Train belongs on Cartoon Network.
I do remain skeptical of them, ever so skeptical. Anyway, enjoy Infinity Train!!
Animation Station 