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Raise Your Voice (As Long As It’s Not New)!

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The following is old news, I realize, but do indulge me.

So undoubtedly many of you have heard or read that Cartoon Network is going to produce a reboot of The Powerpuff Girls…without the series’ creator Craig McCracken.

New PPGs

These new character designs are OK. I’m not feeling the cowlick on Buttercup, but whatever.

Last June, it was announced that the new PPG series is going to have new actresses voicing the title characters. See below:

 

 

powerpuff-girls-reboot-voice-cast

Hmm..looks more like a casting call for High School Musical or Glee.

 

Ah, to be young and cute…Oh, I guess I’m supposed to be upset and mad and start ranting and raving up and down about how CN hired new voice actresses as the Powerpuff Girls instead of hiring the original VAs. Let me think about it…

Bored Emoticon

Nope. Still don’t care.

I mean, I don’t really understand why Cartoon Network decided to bring in new voice actresses or why Cathy Cavadini (Blossom), Tara Strong (Bubbles) nor E.G. Daily (Buttercup) weren’t considered or even contacted for the new series, but I’m not mad that they did it. Fans of the original PPG series consider CN’s hiring new and different actresses to voice the Girls for this reboot to be a huge slap in the face to the original VAs, but I just don’t see it that way. I find this action to be curious, sure, but I’m not infuriated by it. I suppose that it’s partially because I don’t much care about the new series being a reboot. I’m admittedly not a nostalgic person and am more interested in seeing new and original shows as opposed to rebooting shows from 20 or 30 years ago. Plus, it’s their show, CN can do whatever they want with it.

What does bother me, however, is how shamefully petty and small the fans of the 90s PPG show reacted to the news that the PPG reboot would have new VAs. Normally one would have to visit a preschool to see such immaturity, selfishness and temper tantrums, but at least preschoolers have an excuse for being immature and believing that the entire world revolves around them.

stewie-griffin

“You! Big person! I’m bored! Do something about it!!”

Seriously, though, I found how the fans of the 90s PPG series reacted to the news of the VAs to be a truly shameful and disgusting display of disrespect, rudeness and ridiculousness. There were insults hurled at the new VAs and threats of boycotts to the reboot.

Fanboy

“We’ll protest! We’ll boycott the new PPG! We’ll start a whiny petition until Cartoon Network decides to give the original voice actresses the job!”

To which, I imagine that Cartoon Network’s reaction was something along these lines:

Seriously, you guys and gals are no longer part of Cartoon Network’s target demographic. You’ve grown up and they’ve moved on. Who cares what you do? What these 90s brats need to understand is that this PPG reboot wasn’t made for them. Actually no reboot is made for them! They’re meant for a new generation of today’s kids. It’s supposed to attract a new generation of fans. That’s the whole point of a reboot. If you don’t like the new VAs, then fine. Don’t watch the reboot, but don’t hate on the new voice actresses just because they auditioned and got the job. Cathy Cavadini, Tara Strong and E.G. Daily are all still very much active in the voice over business. None of them are hurting for work, so it’s not like CN is taking food out of their kids’ mouths.

Having the original voice actors present alone isn’t a guarantee that a new show will be good. Have we forgotten about this already?

Teen_titans_go_team_photo_by_imperial96-d6839mr

Teen Titans GO! has the same voice actors as Teen Titans: The Animated Series, and that show sucks noodles!

Here’s the thing: Amanda Lighton (Blossom), Natalie Palamides (Buttercup) and Kristen Li (Bubbles) are just like Cathy Cavadini, E.G. Daily and Tara Strong were 30 years ago; a bunch of actresses looking for a break. Don’t ruin their chance to shine just because you yourself can’t let go of the past. That’s your issue, not theirs nor the network’s. They have a job to do, so just let them do it. No one’s forcing you to watch this (or any) reboot. If you prefer the old VAs , then just watch the old episodes. it’s not like the original PPG series disappeared and there are no traces of it left anywhere.  The original episodes are still out there for you to enjoy. The entire series is on DVD now. Buy it, binge watch it and shut the frag up! Let their kids have their fun. Instead of protesting and threatening to boycott the PPG reboot, perhaps you should work on moving out of your parents’ basements and getting a life?

Fanboy 2

“Hey, rent’s high, man. Rent’s high.”

 

2 Funny: I Want My MTV (Cereal)!

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Like many in my age bracket, my teenage to young adult years were spent watching MTV, back when the channel used play these things called music videos. (We’re going way back here.) However, while I enjoyed several of MTV’s musical outings, my favorite things to watch on MTV were episodes of BBC’s The Young Ones (we miss you, Rik Mayall!), The State, Liquid Television, Remote Control (the first game show for geeks, even before Comedy Central’s Beat the Geeks) and those weird little animated bumpers they used to show between videos and commercial breaks, several of which were done by some biggies in the industry like Fred Siebert and R. O. Blechman’s The Ink Tank. These would’ve gotten me into animation, if I hadn’t been a cartoon devotee already, that is.

I’ll be showcasing a crop o’ MTV bumpers (as well as Nick at Nite’s early bumpers) later on, but for now I’d like to spotlight one particular set of MTV bumps. Only Music Television would think to produce a series of bumps for a music video channel under the guise of cheesy kid-vid breakfast cereal ads.

Tropic Thunder

There were 3 of these in all. First up, “Calamari Cereal”.

 

Next up, “Military Cereal”.

Finally, yes, they went here, “Death Cereal”. Even Susie was a bit taken back by this one.

 

Say, you noticed how the characters never actually said anything about MTV in these spots? You just noticed the channel’s logo printed in the cereal boxes. It was this sort of artistic weirdness that made spots like these fun and strangely intriguing. We’ll be taking a deeper look at spots like these later this month.

Grim-Reaper-iron-on-transfers-1

“Ha-haah! GOOD!”

Nerdvana: Reach Out of the Darkness by Friend and Lover

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Today’s Nerdvana is a blast from the past, the 1960s to be exact (there I go showing my age again!). This is one of my favorite songs, performed by Friend and Lover. This song predates the days of MTV, so there’s no official video for it, but I can imagine the band performing on stage with the Go-Go dancers performing on pillars with the psychadelic lights swirling in the background. It’s all about the “Flower Power”movement of the time. I was rocking out to this track well before I was old enough to know what “rocking out” even meant. Enjoy “Reach Out of the Darkness”.

29063

Like, zonky! Goovatacious!

2 Funny: Everybody’s Talking ‘Bout Sully

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New year. New month. New stuff.

The first 2 Funny of 2016 is a number performed by Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central’s Night of Too Many Stars concert to give support for autism, hosted by Jon Stewart. Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert decide to perform an impromtu musical number in praise of retired airline captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger.

For those who don’t know, Chesley Sullenberger is a retired airline captain and aviation safety consultant. He was hailed as a national hero in the United States when he successfully executed an emergency water landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River off Manhattan, New York City, after the aircraft was disabled by striking a flock of Canada geese during its initial climb out of LaGuardia Airport on January 15, 2009. All of the 155 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft survived.

The More You Know

This is another one of the bits that I’ll be forever envious of the 2 Steves for coming up with. Here’s the live on-stage performance:

 

….And here’s the recorded in studio version.

I couldn’t decide which version of these to showcase, so I did them both.

P.S.: Just a quick reminder that our previous address “thetwinfactor.com” is going to expire in 13 days. After January 14th, that address won’t direct you to the site anymore, so go ahead and bookmark this site with the current address (twinsanity.co), if you haven’t done it already.

Nerdvana: Pat-A-Pan

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Everyone has a favorite Christmas song. For some it’s “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, for some it’s “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town”, for some it’s “White Christmas”, for some it’s “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”, for some it’s “Jingle Bells”…

Douchey McNitpick

“That is NOT a Christmas song! It’s a WINTER song! They don’t mention Christmas anywhere in the lyrics! Just like “Winter Wonderland” and “Baby, it’s Cold Outside”!

Yeah, we’ve covered that. Anyway, typical of my Aquarian nature, my favorite Christmas song is one that rarely gets played on Top 40 radio stations and has yet to be featured in a Rankin-Bass special: a little ditty called Pat-A-Pan.

Tinkerbell

“I’D like to pat a Pan, if ya know what I mean!”

monty-python-nudge-nudge-wink-wink-television-poster

zorak2

“Whoa, TMI, man!”

MEANWHILE, BACK TO THE POINT…..

For those who don’t know, “Pat-A-Pan” is a French Christmas carol in Burgundian dialect, later adapted into English. It was written by Bernard de La Monnoye (1641–1728) and first published in Noël bourguignons in 1720. Its’ original title is “Guillô, Pran Ton Tamborin” (“Willie, Bring Your Little Drum” or “Willie, Take Your Little Drum”).

The carol revolves around the birth of Jesus Christ, and is told from the perspective of shepherds playing simple instruments—flutes and drums—the onomatopoetic sound of which gives the song its name; “patapan” is meant to mimic the sound of the drum, and an accompanying lyric, “tu-re-lu-re-lu,” the flute. This is similar conceptually to the carol “The Little Drummer Boy”, with its chorus of “pa-rum-pa-pum-pum.”

Itchy_brother

“Uh, Gee Big, I don’t dig!”

Try to keep up. Anyway, here’s a traditional rendition of the song:

 

And now, a slightly more contemporary version courtesy of vocalist David Archuleta:

And finally, my personal favorite version of “Pat-A-Pan”, as well as the one that introduced me to the song, the version from Mannheim Steamroller. This version, originally recorded on their 1995 album Christmas in the Aire, is instrumental, so I wouldn’t hear the lyrics until later; as a result, I didn’t initially realize that this was a Christmas song, so my mental imagery for “Pat-A-Pan” has nothing to do with Christmas, Jesus or shepherds. I always envision an elf lady playing a pan-flute throughout a forest and getting the forest animals to dance to it. I honestly had no idea that this was holiday song until I later heard the lyrics.

Now that we’ve cleared that up, here’s my all-time favorite version of “Pat-A-Pan”.

 

So there you have it. My little tribute to a lesser known holiday song. Incidentally, I realize that Christmas was yesterday; think of it as an After Christmas sale.

after_christmas_sale

We pass the redundancy on to YOU!