Author silverstar

Retroville: Chexmates

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Howdy, y’all.

Before we start with the usual merriment, a little house cleaning: I know we haven’t posted anything new in the past 13 days, but there’s no cause for alarm; we haven’t quit or gotten sick or joined a biker gang without telling you, and we certainly haven’t been smuggling unicorn manes across the Canadian border. No, we just haven’t been inspired to do anything new lately, plus things have kind of busy in real life lately, so we’ve just been taking a little break until the next big ideas come along. We’ve got new entries coming down the pike, we promise. Now, onto the article.

Today’s Retroville scans the cereal aisle once more, this time uncovering a forgotten set of breakfast mascot heroes. Before there was Alfie the Alpha-Bits Cereal Wonder Dog, before there was Officer Crumb the Cookie Cop, before there was Apple and Cinna-Man, there were The Chexmates.

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Saving the day…one bowl at a time.

For the uninformed, the Chexmates were the ID characters for Ralston-Purina’s Chex family of cereals circa 1968. They were a trio of high-spirited kids who would avert disasters and perform heroic feats after fueling up on their namesake product. Think a late 60’s Teamo Supremo that shilled cereal.

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The Chexmates’ roster consisted of:

Chexter, a tall, barrel-chested bohunk with large shoulders possessing colossal strength…

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Mayhaps Chexter was the unmentioned son of Strong Man from the Mighty Heroes.

…Jessie Jane, the only girl in the gang, who wore rodeo gear and did amazing things with her lasso (more Teamo Supremo similarities, with the team’s only female member being a cowgirl who does rope tricks)…

…And finally, a little Asian boy in a white karate gi and bare feet (must be a fan of Ryu from Street Fighter) who talked in Charlie Chan-speak and was a karate master named Chop Luey.

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Yes, the name is groan-inducing, and Luey’s fortune cookie mode of speech was more than a tad stereotypical (contrary to what you might think I’d say, a character like Chop Luey could easily fly in today’s media; he’d just have be rendered more fluent in English and drop the “Ah so”‘s and “Honorable”s from his dialogue), but the kid did have chops, not to mention serious Kung-Fu Grip, so that’s saying something. Here are the Chexmates in action.

By the way, if the animation and character designs resemble those of early Hanna-Barbera, that’s no accident: apparently, HB did the animation for the Chexmates’ spots.

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“I should probably mention that gorillas belong to the ape family and aren’t monkeys at all, but that’s a common mistake you so-called higher primates often make!”

Some more ads:

It’s probably best to stop here, since if we went any further you’d begin to wonder how 3 kids with no government ties, apparent technological or engineering skills or visible income managed to build a sophisticated working space rocket.

Nowadays, most of Ralston’s cereal properties are owned by General Mills, and cereal mascots aren’t quite the staples of kid-vid that they once were, but maybe one day someone will try to revive the Chexmates, as a heroic team united by breakfast.

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“Perhaps protecting the environment, or whatever.”

Peeks: Early Thoughts on Big Hero 6 Animated Series and DuckTales Reboot

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Recently, it’s been announced that Disney will be launching 2 new animated shows: a reboot of DuckTales (which was announced previously) and a series adaptation of Big Hero 6, both due out in 2017. I decided to give Twinsanity’s early thoughts, impressions and ramblings on each series in the same article, since both shows are coming to us from the same studio and in the case of each we only have a single image to go on. We are lazy, keep in mind. I’ll address them in alphabetical order.

BIG HERO 6: THE SERIES

BIG HERO 6

BIG HERO 6 – “Big Hero 6,” an animated television series for kids, tweens and families based on Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Academy Award-winning feature film inspired by the Marvel comics of the same name, has begun production for a 2017 premiere on Disney X-D platforms around the world. (Disney X-D)

Disney has announced a new series based on the Academy Award-winning film set to premiere in 2017 on Disney X-D platforms.

The show picks up where the movie left off, focusing on 14-year-old genius Hiro, his personal healthcare companion Baymax, and the rest of the team, including Wasabi, Go Go, Honey Lemon, and Fred.

According to Disney, Hiro will face “daunting academic challenges” and “social trials” on campus at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. The team will also protect San Fransokyo from “an array of scientifically enhanced villains.”

“Our colleagues at Walt Disney Animation Studios have created a brilliant new world, inspired by Marvel, with vivid, unique characters. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to further develop these characters into a world class animated series…” Disney Channels Worldwide President Gary Marsh said in a statement.

Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley, who collaborated on Kim Possible, will executive produce the Big Hero 6 Animated Series.

Last year, Stan Lee dropped hinted at the possibility of a Big Hero 6 sequel in an interview. It remains to be seen if a sequel film happens now that an animated series is coming.

OUR THOUGHTS:

  • Judging by the above image (which again I’d like to emphasize is all we have to go on thus far, so if I’m wrong about any of this, don’t rake me over hot coals), it would appear that this series will be hand-drawn rather than CGI. Now unlike most people I don’t hate CGI; it would be nice if every animated movie weren’t rendered in CGI by default, but I’m OK with CG if it’s good and professionally done, however this would seem to be another case like the Buzz Lightyear of Star Command animated series (anyone remember that?): the Mouse House probably figured that producing a TV series with the film’s level of animation would be expensive and time consuming. If the animation is decent, then that’s fine; I hope it’ll be a step up from the Marvel Universe shows.
  • Speaking of, I wonder if this series will be part of the Marvel Universe block, or will it air separately? And if it’s the former, will BH6: The Series be part of the Marvel Animated Universe? I personally kind of hope not; I wouldn’t want every other episode to be some crossover with a Marvel superhero and for whenever anything out-of-the-ordinary happens in San Fransokyo, the Avengers and Spider-Man fly in to see what’s going on. That might help the show sell better, but IMO it would be more constrictive on the stories. I’d rather BH6 take place in its’ own separate universe and continuity.
  • The article I read states that the show will be divided along the lines of Hiro and company’s adventures at the Institute mixed with superhero capers. I hope this means that the gang won’t be saving the world in every episode, just some of the time. I see this series as sort of a Dexter’s Laboratory meets Ultraman. The part about “social trials” kind of troubles me, though; I hope this doesn’t mean the show will degenerate into Saved by the Bell territory.
  • To make me a happy fan, the shows needs to do 2 things: One, don’t give Hiro a FRI (Forced Romantic Interest). The last thing the character needs is some unnecessary girlfriend/love interest character hanging around. Hiro isn’t Ben 10, and he doesn’t need a Julie. Two, producers, I beg you: KEEP TADASHI DEAD. I can’t tell you how many cheesy fanfics I’ve read in which Tadashi miraculously comes back to life or it’s revealed that he wasn’t actually dead. Bringing Tadashi back would not only be pointless and unnecessary, but it would negate the events and tribulations of the movie. I can’t believe the number of people who became emotionally attached to that character; these people have obviously never read a comic in their lives; you guys realize that Tadashi is nothing, right? He was created by Disney for the sole purpose of becoming a martyr for the sake of getting the plot going because that’s what Disney does. So the Powers That Be bring Tadashi back, and then what? He joins the team and it becomes Big Hero 7? Lame. He starts dating one of the female team members? Doubly lame. I can’t over-emphasize this: keep the realtionships between the individual team members strictly platonic. DO NOT under any circumstances, turn this show into The O.C. If that happens, I’m out.
  • OK, there’s actually a 3rd thing I’d like to see happen on this show: I’d like for Go-Go, Honey Lemon, Fred, Wasabi and Aunt Cass to get more screen time and maybe an episode or 2 devoted to them once in a while, since the movie largely focused on Hiro and Baymax.

DUCKTALES REBOOT

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It’s a Duck-Blur!

OUR THOUGHTS:

  • Again, going by the above image, it would appear that the new DuckTales series will likewise be hand–drawn rather than CG. No doubt that decision was fueled at least partially by the success of the new Mickey Mouse shorts, which have been doing quite well with audiences and are actually quite good, if you haven’t seen them, I’d suggest you rectify that problem. This also puts the series closer to the legendary Carl Barks Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck comics, which inspired DuckTales in the first place.
  • You’ll notice that Huey, Dewey and Louie are sporting more disparate and distinctive looks and outfits here; note that Huey’s the only one wearing a cap, Dewey’s wearing a 2-colored T-shirt and Louie’s wearing what appears to be a hoodie. Fans may recall that Disney attempted to give each nephew their own look once before in Quack Pack; a lot of fans objected to that, but honestly that was the least of that show’s problems. The Mouse House has already designated that each brother will wear a distinctive color (here’s how to remember: the brightest hue of the 3 is red, the color of dew is blue and that leaves Louie, and leaves are green), so giving each one their own outfit only seems like the next logical step. I wonder if the characters will each have different personalities like they did in Quack Pack (those who remember that series will recall that there Huey was a like a teenage Johnny Bravo who tried to put the moves on anything with long eyelashes, Dewey was the smart one who was into tech and believed in aliens and the like, and Louie was the most playful and outgoing but a little slow on the uptake) and whether they’ll each have different voices this time around.
  • Webby’s clearly a little older this time around; again I have no problem with the character and hope she can carve a niche for herself as an active character and not just be an annoyingly cutesy tag-along.
  • Perhaps THE most notable change this time around is that it appears that Donald Duck himself may be joining the adventures full-time (otherwise, why bother putting him in the publicity picture?); in the 1987 series, Don appeared in the pilot and only made occasionally appearances from then on, the producers had him join the Navy for some reason, perhaps they felt at the time that the classic shorts characters such as Mickey, Donald and Goofy were considered too iconic to be used for a ‘lowly’ syndicated TV series, though Disney later reneged on that decision with Goof Troop and Quack Pack. I’m a fan of Donald Duck and so I’m totally fine with him being around full-time if that’s the case.
  • Speaking of, some fans have stated that they want to see the characters of Launchpad McQuack and Fenton Crackshell/Gizmoduck make their returns; while I wouldn’t be against them coming back and would be fine with them being there, idly I have to wonder how necessary they’d be now that Donald’s apparently going to be a regular. Keep in mind that many of the DuckTales episodes were just TV adaptations of the Carl Barks comics’ stories, and in several of them Donald’s part would have to be given to somebody else due to his not being a full-time regular. For example, in “The Land of Tra-La-La”, the character who gives one of the citizens of Tra-La-La a bottle cap, thus introducing them to the concept of money, was Donald in the original comics story, on TV that role was given to Fenton. Also, in “The Golden Fleecing”, the character who first encounters the Harpies in the comics version of the story was Donald, but in the TV episode it was Launchpad. So given how in many cases Launchpad and Fenton were more-or-less stand-ins for Donald, I’m not sure how much this new series will require them, however, I’d still be OK with them showing up.

-Honestly, I’m OK with any character coming back, as long as Bubba Duck stays buried.

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Bubba was basically Waluigi, only without the fan base.

 

 

Nerdvana: Two Voyages

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Today Nerdvana gets all international up in here.

One song I’ve been grooving to lately is the Europop standby “Voyage, Voyage”. Here’s the more popular 80’s version of the song performed by androgynous pop star Desireless, from the album Francois.

 

-Next, a cover of the song, performed by Maison du Malheur (sp?). In my typical Wrong-Way Norris fashion, I first heard the cover of the song before the original. I first heard this version of “Voyage, Voyage” in a 2013 Heineken beer commercial; there doesn’t seem to be an actual video version of this rendition (more’s the pity), but the visuals in the ad fit the looser, wackier style of MdM’s version perfectly.

 

Maison du Malheur, if you’re reading this, please release a studio version of your version of this song. I’ll pay for an mp3 of this.

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The Couch: Sparkles & Gloom

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Today the Couch looks at a forgotten cartoon which never actually became a show.

Let’s go back to 2006. During this time, Nickelodeon/Nicktoons Network was airing an anthology series entitled Random! Cartoons. Much like the earlier Oh, Yeah! Cartoons,  R!C showcased pilots for potential new Nickelodeon animated series in the form of one-shot shorts. While OY!C launched no less than 3 ongoing series for Nick (The Fairly OddParents, ChalkZone and My Life as a Teenage Robot), only 2 shorts from Random! Cartoons went on to become shows: Fanboy & Chum-Chum and Adventure Time (yes, that Adventure Time), the latter of which switched networks before getting greenlit (evidently Nick wanted to change too much of Pendleton Ward’s original vision, so he ended up taking his act to Cartoon Network instead. That’s right, Adventure Time was almost a Nickelodeon show). One of the many R!C shorts which didn’t receive the call was an overlooked (in my opinion) little gem which is the focus of today’s Cartoon Couch: Melissa Wolfe and Anne Walker Farrell’s Sparkles & Gloom.

Sparkles & Gloom

For the uninformed, here’s the skinny: Sparkles and Gloom are the twin daughters of a wicked witch and Prince Charming; the former is a perky, bubbly, relentlessly cheery Strawberry Shortcake/Rainbow Brite type, the latter is a pragmatic, Goth-dressing sourpuss. Each girl posesses magical powers, while Sparkles’ abilities involve conjuring things like “happy rainbows”, Gloom deals mainly in curses, black smoke, skulls and poison mushrooms. Their opposing ideologies cause them to elevate sibling rivalry to a whole new level.

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Some character design sketches from co-creator Anne Walker. I have no idea who the princess character on the far left is, she doesn’t appear in the final short.

It’s a bizarre world that our titular duo inhabits, one where shiny, happy, toyetic goodniks and creeps and monsters cohabitate in PC togetherness. This movement is culminated in the academy the girls attend, the Geevil School, “Where Good and Evil are Best Friends”, in which fairies, Royals and cute little teddy bears, bunnies and unicorns rub elbows with green skinned witches and big purple monsters. The rest of this world is OK with this co-existence, however, our title pair just can’t seem to get on the same page.

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Here now is the 1st (and only) episode of Sparkles & Gloom. (NOTE: since this is only a one-shot short and not an ongoing series, I won’t be giving it the full series assessment treatment. I’ll instead just list what I both liked about the short and didn’t like quite so much, or at least felt could have been improved.)

THE GOOD:

  • The premise was definitely unique. There certainly wasn’t anything else like this on TV at the time, nor is there now. the only show which comes close IMO is Disney’s The 7D.
  • I liked how the 2 main characters were girls, yet the producers and writers didn’t try to water down the zany factor. The whole “girls can’t be funny” idiom is one which I’ve been on a mission to bury for years now. Apart from this and The Mighty B!, for a while there was a serious movement to make a girl-centric comedy cartoon at Nick.
  • In a word, Sparkles. She was hands-down my favorite character in this, she was freaking adorable. Upon revisiting this cartoon, Sparkles kind of physically resembles a mutant version of Shrinkin’ Violette from The Funny Company. Not that Gloom was bad or anything, just that as the more level-headed sister she at times came off like the straight kid, sort of Leonard to Sparkles’ Sheldon. (Incidentally, Gloom was voiced Jessica DiCiccio, who also voiced Erin in Cartoon Network’s Miguzi wraparounds and Lexi Bunny on Kids’ WB!’s Loonatics Unleashed.)
  • Speaking of voices, this short employed the talents of Kevin Michael Richardson, who voiced Prince Charming and the judge fish. Any cartoon which employs KVM is OK in my book.
  • I loved the idea of a world inhabited by fairies and cutesy mascots. Some of the background character designs (such as Sunny Honey Bear, the blue-winged fairy girl and the lavender unicorn girl) looked like they came straight out of a greeting card line. Honestly, I could’ve watched a cartoon about just Sparkles and the other Fairies.

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THE NOT-SO-GOOD:

  • It might not have been the best idea to have the characters switch powers and have to deal with that in the pilot short. After all, you first have to establish a status quo before you can shake it up.
  • The artists and writers weren’t nearly as creative with the ‘evil’ characters as they were with the ‘good’ ones, as a result I didn’t find them quite as interesting. Aside from Gloom, a green-skinned witch and the big purple monster, the badniks consisted mainly of generic looking guys with pointy ears.
  • While I liked both the leads, I kind of grew tired of them constantly butting heads. I’d have rather seen them partnering up a little more often. These days I prefer fictional siblings who aren’t always fighting like cats and dogs.
  • Hopefully if this had become a series, they wouldn’t have focused all of the stories on the school. I’d like to see more of this world and the characters doing other stuff, hopefully together as a team.

-My overall rating for this short:

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On a scale of 1 to 5, I’d give Sparkles & Gloom a solid 3. Not perfect, but still pretty good. Maybe these creators could pitch this series somewhere else, or give us something similar. It was definitely more deserving of a series than Fanboy & Chum-Chum. If you can find it floating around on the internet, get your magic on and give it a watch.

Toons & Tunes: Night of the Living Duck

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Why do so many of the best and most original Looney Tunes shorts seem to feature Daffy Duck?

In today’s Toons & Tunes, the little black duck dons the voice of the Velvet Fog, Mel Torme, and croons lounge singer style to a club full of monsters, informing us that “Monsters Lead Such Interesting Lives”, a phrase originally coined by Bugs Bunny in “Hair-Raising Hare”. Enjoy “Night of the Living Duck”.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1yu9uq_daffy-duck-ep-135-the-night-of-the-living-duck_fun