This is a PSA from 1974. A brief history lesson: back in the 70’s, the US was in the midst of an energy crisis, and saving gasoline was a priority, thus this spot promoting carpooling. Did you know that this spot was loosely based on Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner’s 2000 Year Old Man comedy routine? Now you do.
“Talk to your parents.”
If PSAs had scents, then this spot would reek of the 1970’s. The crooning skunk at the end is the icing on the cake.
Today we’ll be looking back a short from episode 15 of Cartoon Network’s Dexter’s Laboratory titled “Chubby Cheese”.
The plot has boy genius Dexter (along with his vacuous sister Dee-Dee) being taken by their parents to Chubby Cheese, an obvious parody of the Chuck E. Cheese’s family pizza restaurant chain, complete with games, pizza and cartoon mascots. Of course, the coldly logical Dexter is having none of this frivolity, but his family are all too hopped up on happy to notice this. Dexter soon afterwards sets his sights on winning tickets for a Monkey (from ‘Dial M for Monkey’) doll at a machine, where he uses a sophisticated device of his own design in order to rig the machine to obtain it.
The highlight of this short (for me, anyway) is the restaurant’s intentionally tacky stage show which is performed by a grotesque, bloated animatronic rat mascot (voiced by Rob Paulsen) with mechanical puppets telling bad jokes and singing an inane song to a wildly appreciative audience.
Is it possible to catch fleas from an animatron?
The show also features a veritable galaxy of Hanna-Barbera funny animal characters from the 1950s, 60s and 70s as animatrons. It takes a keen eye to spot them all.
Here are the ones that I noticed:
Fun Fact: Did you know that the “E” in Chuck E. Cheese’s name stands for “Entertainment”? That the mascot’s full name is Charles Entertainment Cheese? Well now you do.
(NOTE: I’m only talking about the Super Hero Squad Show version.)
Bloody Roar, baby!
Contrary to popular opinion, I don’t hate the characters of Spritle and Chim-Chim from Speed Racer. In fact, I find them weirdly fascinating in a odd, stupid way.
BTW, did you know that Spritle’s name is a variation on the word ‘sprite’, referring to how he’s small? Now you do.
I know these 2 have received their fair share of vitriol from cartoon fans and stand-up comedians, but not me. It could be because I’ve always been a fan of silly, zany humor and I’ve always preferred the comedic jokey-joke characters to the straight, sensible, serious stoic hero types, or maybe it’s just ’cause I’m an odd bird, but I personally have never had any serious problem with them.
Yeah, their antics are stupid and annoying, but they’re the annoying little brother and his equally annoying pet chimp, the add-on comic relief characters of the show; they’re supposed to be stupid and annoying.
Spritle and Chim-Chim’s humor is loud, stupid, pointless, juvenile and pretty dumb, but none of these assessments are criticisms as much as they are simple statements of fact. Can any of those epithets really be criticisms when it seems like they’re exactly what the show was aiming for? To point out that Spritle and Chim-Chim were silly, infantile and annoying is like pointing out that cotton candy has sugar in it.
To elaborate on a point made by Jason in his Cartoon Couch on The Funny Company, another reason why I don’t hate these 2 is because they represent a trope which I’ve always enjoyed: when characters on shows are totally accepting of their weirdness surrounding them. My favorite animated shows are the ones which gladly embrace the big, dopey silliness of cartoons and just run with it. The Mifune/Racer family just happens to have a live-in chimpanzee, who regularly dresses exactly like their youngest child, and often seems to be his twin. Sure, why wouldn’t they? And nobody on the show ever questions it. There’s just a surreal nuttiness to their whole existence that I find intriguing. It makes no sense, but for me that’s part of the appeal.
Plus, if the presence of Spritle and Chim-Chim means more scenes at home with Aya/Mom Racer, then I’m definitely down. Pour me a glass of MILF!
So no, I don’t dislike Spritle and Chim-Chim the way so many others do. I concede that they’re dumb and grating, but again, I think that’s what the producers were going for. In the right hands, characters like them could and can be made appealing, though admittedly they’re best taken in small doses. If put in the front, they’d have to stick to shorts, as their shtick doesn’t really lend itself to longer stories.
-Think that’s weird? I’ve talked to people who actually don’t hate Scrappy-Doo.
“Lemme at ’em! Lemme at ’em! Wait, WHAAA?”
Believe it or not!
Today, I’m going to be discussing one of my favorite settings in fiction, the future!
Now, there are typically two types of futuristic settings; a utopian future where everything is good, and the dystopian future where everything sucks. On a side note, I still haven’t seen Mad Max: Fury Road, although people have told me that it’s good. I’ll have to see that movie sometime, but since I don’t like focusing on bleak and dark things, I’m only going to be talking about the former here. That said…
Into the time machine!
“Here we go!”
“Welcome to Cyber City, 3000 AD. We’ve cured all known diseases. There’s no more war, pollution or poverty. All of the world’s nations have merged into one. 75 is middle aged. People stop aging physically after age 25, so everyone is young and hot, and candy is good for you.”
“In the year 3000…in the year 3000…”
Planet Earth has since become the great galactic melting pot (save for Mars, which is similar to how Canada used to be). Racial prejudice isn’t really a thing anymore thanks to gene splicing being legalized.
“I’m a wildcat! RAWR!”
The dominant human race on Earth is now Polypolaisan, a new race that’s developed after centuries of interracial mixing and breeding. Not surprisingly, the women of this race are…
“…SMOKIN’!!”
Cyber City is a cosmopolis, taking up an entire 1/6 of the Earth’s surface. Despite it being highly technologically advanced, there are numerous trees, plants, grass and wildlife, all interwoven into the city’s structure and architecture. This is partly because over the millenia, mankind has learned to care for and nurture their Mother Earth, and also because defacing or polluting the ecosystem in any way shape or form, from littering to graffiti, is punishable by death. And yes, this law is strictly enforced.
“PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT, OR I’LL %#$@ING KILL YOU!!
Let’s just take a moment to look at some of the things that Star Trek predicted which the show got right:
flip phones and bluetooth…
…and of course, green women being hot.
World Peace has been achieved a while ago, largely due to the machinations of the planet’s first hyper-intelligent gorilla ambassador.
“You’re welcome!”
Since war has long since been abolished, disputes are now settled via government sanctioned giant robot battles. Not only do these robo-battle competitions spare thousands of innocent lives, but they also score huge TV ratings.
Coke VS Pepsi II: This Time It’s Personal. Only on Pay-Per-View!
In the year 3000, planet Earth has state of the art cutting edge technology…
“How is Windows 3000 like a maximum security prison? It’s always locking up! Waka-waka-waka!”
Quantum computers are as commonplace as refrigerators, and cost nearly the same. (The one in this photo is actually the size of a paperweight.) Not only do they run thrice as fast as 21st century computers, but they’re better suited for surfing the Ultranet.
The Ultranet. The thing that replaced the thing that replaced the internet.
Also, scientists discovered magic to be an actual form of energy in 2103. Once they were able to harness and control it, magic (or mana or Etherium, as it’s now called) was added to the Periodic Table of Elements the following year.
It’s the only element on the Periodic Table whose valence is an imaginary number.
Nowadays, magic is officially a branch of science, and as a result sorcerers and LARPers have since joined the fraternity of technogeeks.
In the 31st century, girls are way into STEAMM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics and Magic. It’s cool to be smart!
Flying cars? Yeah, we’ve got those.
As well as picturesque structures.
Say, have you ever noticed how we never saw the ground on The Jetsons? The buildings and structures were so high up, I’ve always figured that the ground looked something like this:
Maybe that’s just me.
Moving on…
Hoverboards? You bet (the real deal this time, not that phony crap that companies tried to pull back in 2015)! These hoverboards actually hover!
We’ve also got servile domestic robots called “servbots” to cater to your every need.
“Good morning, sir. Your Belgian waffles and Canadian bacon breakfast is on the table. Also, you have 9 new emails. Shall I prepare the virtual sex room for you, sir?”
“Hey! I’ve never helped anybody in my life and you know it!”
We all get our information from the Ultranet, the thing that replaced the thing that replaced the internet.
“And with state of the art inter-dimensional portal technology (which I invented, thank you very much), everybody has plenty of closet space!”
Colonel Sanders has been cloned in order to ensure that chicken remains finger lickin’ good!
“Colonel Sanders the 35th here. 3 chicken tenders/taters ‘n’ gravy/I’ll toss in a biscuit/and a big ol’ cookie!”
Cows, on the other hand, have gone extinct. Victims of their own deliciousness.
I could probably mention Disney’s Phil of the Future here,
…but I’ve seen a few episodes, and the best thing about that show was some of the gadgets. I don’t know how a Dress Me Hoop works, but I want one.
In addition, in the year 3000 Earth has long since made contact with extra terrestrial life, largely due to Earth joining the Democratic Order of Planets (DOOP).
After 2 very polite rejection letters, Earth was finally admitted into DOOP in 2772, not for developing the Faster Than Light Speed (FTL) propulsion drive, the rest of the galaxy already had that, but for finally cracking the formula to make banana flavored soda.
Humans regularly interact with aliens (although the Politically Correct term for them is “Space People”). Some aliens have even set up permanent lodgings on Earth. The only stipulation is that they be registered and make a pledge to never try to conquer the planet or enslave the populace under threat of being deported, or worse, have to fill out dozens of paperwork.
“Dude, the only thing that I’m interested in conquering is Nintendo’s ‘Punch-Out!!’. I’ve been stuck on Bald Bull forever!”
Even though I have yet to write a decent comedy series with the distant future as a setting, I still love it. Futuristic sci-fi tech is just a different take on magic, when you really think about it. Both enable one to do the impossible, you’re just doing it by pushing some buttons instead waving a wand.
On a final note, if you’re going to travel through time, try to avoid running into yourself, because that would be really awkward.
Twin Images 
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