Unpopular Opinions: Blue Falcon & Dynomutt 2020

May 23, 2020May 24, 2020silverstar 2 Comments

OK, so Scoob! happened.

Scoob!

As you know by now, we don’t review movies here at Twinsanity, so I won’t go into detail about the movie itself (there are already a ton of reviewers YouTube who have done that already), I’ll just say that my assessment of the film overall was…

Meh

It was OK. Not great, not groundbreaking, just OK. I don’t think it was low-grade dog food like many people on the internet apparently do, but I admit that its’ main draw was either for die hard Scooby-Doo fans or people in my age bracket (40-100 and up) who grew up with 1960’s through 1980’s Hanna-Barbera cartoons and will therefore recognize and appreciate the many references, allusions and callbacks.

No, I didn’t think Scoob! was swill, but believe it or not, that’s not the Unpopular Opinion of this post. Today’s Unpopular Opinion is that, regardless of what I thought about the movie itself…

scoob-blue-falcon-e1583455169550

I liked the movie’s takes on Blue Falcon…

Dynomutt 2020

…and Dynomutt.

To understand why I feel this way (and to get the young’uns in the crowd up to speed), here’s a brief history lesson:

Dynomutt_blue_falcon

Blue Falcon and Dynomutt, Dog Wonder made their debut on ABC’s Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour in 1976. The Blue Falcon (originally voiced by Gary Owens) was a Batman-esque superhero (his alias was that of millionaire playboy Radley Crown) and Dynomutt (originally voiced by Frank Welker) was his eager, brave but comedically inept sidekick, who just happened to be a talking robot dog. Dyno’s bumblings were so frequent that Blue Falcon (or “B.F”, as Dynomutt called him) would often refer to him as ‘Dog Blunder’.

The duo later turn up in–of all places–an episode of Dexter’s Laboratory entitled “Dyno-Might”.

“Guest star powers-ACTIVATE!”

“ZOMG! SHARED UNIVERSE!!!”

Dyno-Might 1

In it, the Falcon’s arch-foe, The Buzzard, ‘kills’ Dynomutt in battle and BF comes to Dexter for assistance. Dex rebuilds Dyno, but feels that the goofy ‘Dog Blunder’ isn’t a worthy sidekick to an awesome superhero like Blue Falcon, so he builds a replacement called Dynomutt X90, a more efficient but far more aggressive robot dog who’s so extreme that he sets a man on fire for littering and nearly laser blasts a little girl for picking a flower before he’s stopped by the re-activated original Dynomutt.

“Jaywalking? Not on my watch, buster! Say your prayers, dirtbag!!”

At the end of the short, Blue Falcon says that he prefers having a comic relief sidekick because it makes him look cooler. Dexter, who’s saddled with Dee-Dee, agrees.

Fast-Forward to Scooby-Doo: Mystery, Inc. BF and Dyno turn up in this series as well (by this time it’s been long established that the crime fighting duo know and are well-acquainted with the Scooby-Doo gang, as they’ve met and crossed over on numerous occasions and even appeared alongside one another on the Scooby Doobies team on ABC’s Laff-A-Lympics), albeit with a slightly revised backstory and some notable changes in characterization.

“I’m a falcon! Grrr!”

Here, rather than being a rich playboy, Radley Crown is a security guard at one of the laboratories of Quest Industries (as in Dr. Benton Quest, father of Jonny Quest–yes, Jonny Quest, Scooby-Doo and Blue Falcon exist in the same universe–it’s canon now) and Dyno is his faithful dog Reggie. One fateful night the two are attacked by a mutated monster created by Mad Science and Reggie is seriously injured in the attack. Desperate to save his friend, Crown enlists the aid of Dr. Benton Quest himself, who utilizes Quest technology to transform Reggie into a super canine cyborg. While Dyno here is his usual goofball self, B.F. is more gritty, angtsy and edgy, basically a spoof of Frank Miller’s Batman from The Dark Knight Returns.

And now we come to today. B.F. and Dyno turn up again in Scoob!. Here, Blue Falcon is a very famous and highly revered superhero, idol to millions and heavily trademarked, BUUUT (*Spoilers for those who haven’t seen the movie, or actually care, which I doubt is many of you) this Blue Falcon is not Radley Crown, rather it’s his adult son Brian Crown, a somewhat goofy and slightly egotistical glory hog who seems more interested in promoting his brand than saving the world.

“Remember, kids: say you prayers, eat your vitamins, drink your milk, and buy my T-shirts!”

Dynomutt 2020

Dynomutt meanwhile has apparently been upgraded to a sleeker, cooler and far more competent version of himself; his tech is 100 times cooler, he’s more sarcastic and quick to chide his new partner and his goofy giggles have been replaced by a more annoyed wiseguy voice, provided by Ken Jeong.

And I enjoyed the heck out of these guys, particularly Dynomutt 2.0. Confession time: I’ve always thought Dynomutt was kind of cool. Despite his usual portrayal as a bumbling dufus who hindered Blue Falcon’s efforts as much as he helped them, I always though his tech was pretty cool. Back in the ’70’s, Dynomutt, along with the Robonic Stooges…

That’s right, THESE guys…

Were what first attracted me to the idea of utilizing high-tech as a super power. These guys were the Robocops and Cyborgs of their day. So I was actually glad to see Dynomutt on screen and not being a joke. You’re free to disagree with me but I thought Blue Falcon and Dynomutt’s banter was funny and I love their new designs. The details on Brian’s costume looked awesome and this new Dynomutt is just cool-looking and badass.

Plus, I can’t be the only one who’d like to see an animated series starring these two. C’mon, a Booster Gold-esque Blue Falcon trying to make a name for himself while struggling to live up to his father’s legacy and his snarky but efficient robot dog companion? I’d watch the heck out of that show!

Even if you don’t agree with me on that, there’s something else I think we can all agree on:

Daphne Blake 2020

Kid Daphne in this movie was cute as a button!

Peeks: First Impressions of ‘Looney Tunes Cartoons’ and ‘Jellystone!’

February 23, 2020June 15, 2020silverstar 89 Comments

Not too long ago HBO/AT&T/Time-Warner announced the impending arrival of the media’s umpeeth streaming service, HBO Max, set to launch in May 2020.

HBO…to the Max!

In a press release, they listed what we can expect to see on the service: some movies, some shows, some classic movies, Friends, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Sesame Street, etc., etc. My reaction:

OK. Cool. Whatever.

…Then they announced that they’d be showing the new Looney Tunes Cartoons shorts and a new animated series built around the Hanna-Barbera library (and not specifically Scooby-Doo or Tom & Jerry) entitled Jellystone!. My reaction:

“OK, NOW you’ve got my attention!”

As you may have surmised by now, on today’s Peeks we’ll be giving you our first impressions of these new shows, what we think of what (admittedly little) we know and have seen so far and what we expect (or hope) to see when these shows eventually make their debut.

LOONEY TUNES CARTOONS

“Ehhh, what’s clickin’, Doc?”

For those who don’t know, Looney Tunes Cartoons is an American animated web television series developed by Peter Browngardt, creator of Cartoon Network’s Secret Mountain Fort Awesome and Uncle Grandpa…

Yeah, that Peter Browngardt.

…and produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on the characters from Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. The project made its worldwide premiere at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on June 10, 2019. This show is the successor to New Looney Tunes, which I actually liked despite some haters nipticking about it.

This project was first announced on June 11, 2018, when Warner Bros. Animation announced that a new series, which would “consist of 1,000 minutes spread across 1–6 minute shorts”…

Looney-Tunes Cartoons 1

…would be released in 2019 and that it would feature “the brand’s marquee characters voiced by their current voice actors in simple gag-driven and visually vibrant stories”.

“Hey, Doc. I’d like to talk to ya about the Looney Tunes Cartoons Initiative.”

The style of the series is to be reminiscent to those of Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Robert McKimson, Bob Clampett and others. President of Warner Bros. Animation, Sam Register (creator of Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi), along with Pete Browngardt serve as executive producers for the series. The shorts will bring all of the Looney Tunes together under one roof, including more obscure members like Pete Puma, Beaky Buzzard, Hubie and Bertie, Petunia Pig and Cicero Pig.

If you’ve ever wondered what characters like the Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Marvin the Martian and Taz would’ve looked like had they been created in the ’40’s, wonder no more.

Cicero Pig? Now, that’s obscure. AFAIK, He’s never appeared outside of the comics. No mention of Lola, but I hope she shows up as well, along with Witch Hazel. A man can dream.

On June 12, 2019, a short titled “Dynamite Dance” served as a trailer for the series starring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. Roll the clip!

Now I’m not normally one to gush, but what I’ve seen of these cartoons so far is simply…

Amazing GIF

LTC - mummydummy

I am in freaking LOVE with the designs and aesthetics of these shorts. Everything just…pops! The colors are bright. The shadows, the light, the buoyancy. The characters are just bursting with life; they look like they could jump off the screen and starting running amok in your living room at any given moment.

Looney-Tunes-Cartoons-Art

Plus the artists captured the 40’s look and feel perfectly. If these cartoons didn’t look so shiny and new, I’d swear that they were actual classic shorts that got lost in the vault somewhere. If Wabbit/New Looney Tunes had looked like these shorts (though I know the amount of money required to produce animation of this quality for a weekly TV series would’ve bankrupted a Saudi Arabian king) the show would’ve had far fewer detractors.

ltct_014_still_01-1

And fans rejoice! The mayhem is back! Bombs! Anvils! Props! Squash-and-stretch physics! Solving problems with dynamite! WB listened to fans complaining about the absence of good old-fashioned cartoon chaos from The Looney Tunes Show and brought it back in spades. We wanted the slapstick back, and now we’ve got it. And the skies are ripe with love.

LooneyTunesCartoonsFeature-min-1

Plus it looks like we’ll be getting some classic WB team-ups, like Bugs and Elmer (a combo that was curiously lacking on The Looney Tunes Show and Wabbit/New Looney Tunes)…

LTC - Curseofthemonkeybirdscreen

…And Porky & Daffy. Cool, I’m definitely on board. But you know what we’re really happy to see? The triumphant return of this guy:

“Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo!”

Remember this toon? The “crazy darn fool duck”? The black-feathered nut case who’s so crazy, he just doesn’t give a darn? Well, he has returned! The re-appearance of manic Daffy Duck on New Looney Tunes was not, repeat, NOT a fluke. This series already sold me the second I saw this:

LTC Daffy

YES!! My guy is back! We’ve elaborated on this here before, so I’ll keep it brief, but I can’t begin to say how happy I am to see that WB isn’t finished with OG insane Daffy Duck. I’ve had to endure the jealous, selfish, greedy jerk version of this character for soooo long that I was beginning to lose hope of ever seeing screwloose Daffy again, but he’s still here, and I hope he stays around for a loooong while, perhaps permanently.

LTC - Wetcementscreen

No offense to Chuck Jones, but I’ve always preferred nut-job Daffy to his take. Just keeping it 100.

Now I’m OK with the classic pairings, but one thing (among others, I thought) that New Looney Tunes got very right was that they weren’t afraid to mix things up, pair off characters who didn’t usually interact much, if at all, like Foghorn and Taz or Elmer and Porky or Tweety and Sylvester with Speedy Gonzales, Gabby Goat, Pet Puma, Marc Antony and Claude Cat (seriously, somebody at Warner Bros. remembered the character of Claude Cat!). I hope the producers of these shorts don’t shy away from mixing up the character combinations; that keeps things fresh and interesting. Also don’t be afraid to put new spins on established characters like how NLT gave the bland character of Sniffles a shot in the arm by giving him a vigilante alter ego in the form of Dark Bat:

And I may be alone with this, but I also hope we haven’t seen the last of some of the new characters created for Wabbit/NLT, such as Squeaks the Squirrel…

You’re free to disagree, but I thought Squeaks made a decent sidekick for Bugs; aside from team-ups or crossovers, Bugs is usually alone, so a character like Squeaks is good because he gives Bugs someone to bounce lines off of and have his back when he inevitably starts cooking up some deviltry.

I also wouldn’t mind seeing other NLT characters like Leslie P. Lilylegs, King Thes and Rhoda Roundhouse.

Bigfoot_wabbit

Just not Bigfoot. Sorry, but I found him to be irritatingly moronic and annoying. I personally don’t need to see him come back, and I take back the ‘sorry’ part.

-So yeah, I’m definitely digging what I’ve seen of Looney Tunes Cartoons. If they can keep up the quality of what I’ve seen of these cartoons so far as well as implement the stuff I mentioned above…

Happy Camper

…I’m gonna be a happy camper. Now, onto the other HBO Max cartoon that got us curious.

JELLYSTONE!

Jellystone! is an upcoming animated series for streaming service HBO Max, which is set to launch in May 2020. The series is produced by Warner Bros. Animation. C.H. Greenblatt, known for the series Chowder and Harvey Beaks, and Sam Register will both serve as executive producers.

The series will star many Hanna-Barbera characters, similar to shows like Yogi’s Gang and Laff-a-Lympics, living life in the town of Jellystone. While many living in the town work and play and get along together, there is always gonna be trouble happening for one another.

-OK, that could be cool. Sounds like it could be fun. The idea of a plethora of Hanna-Barbera stars taking up residence in a single area reminds me of Marvels’ Super Hero Squad Show, but with H-B characters. I’m down with the concept, and C. H. Greenblatt can be funny when he has a good concept, so sure. Let’s have a look at this cartoon.

jellystone

“Gah? Ahhh! AAAAAHHHHH! It Burns! It burns so badly!!”

I know I give some folks a hard time for pre-judging a show just by a few images, but these initial designs are AWFUL. To their credit, you can still easily tell who the characters are supposed to be, but these designs look hideously amateurish to be used on a show put out by a major studio for a multi-million dollar streaming service. They look like a 6-year-old child drew these characters with their crayons, and I’ve seen more talented 6-year-old children. I really hope that these are just first drafts and the designs get more refined, polished and improved upon by the time the show make its’ debut.

Not only are these designs super-crude looking, but the characters look so…stupid. As in low-IQ individuals. Seriously, why do they look so derpy? Most of them have these dopey expressions plastered on their faces, making them look like they’d have trouble walking around a tree. Top Cat looks freaking stoned, like he got trapped in a warehouse full of marijuana and had to smoke his way to freedom.

Look at this image of Yogi:

Jellystone Yogi

Yogi Bear has never had a Charles Atlas physique, but he’s never been this round and fat. He looks less like a bear and more like an anthropomorphic meatball with a head, arms and legs.

And how about this screen cap of Magilla Gorilla?

Jellystone Magilla

OK, points for including him. ’cause he’s always been kind of an obscure H-B character, but again, that face: derp-derp. Same deal with Mildew Wolf here:

Jellystone Mildew

OK, this one doesn’t look too bad, but then we come to pics like this one:

Jellystone!_poster.PNG

Gah! There it is again! That whole ‘derp-derp’ thing I mentioned earlier. Look, I’m really trying not to pre-judge this show too harshly, since I do like the idea behind it and I haven’t seen the characters put through the processes of animation nor have I seen any backgrounds, but some of these renderings are ugly with a capital UGH. In addition to many of them looking so moronic that they should be wearing T-shirts reading ‘I’D RATHER BE DROOLING’, there’s no heft to these characters; they all look so flat; there’s no feeling of weight to any of them. No shadows or light. Nothing. How could the same studio that produced something so awesome looking as Looney Tunes Cartoons be okay with putting out something like these cheeseball designs? The ‘classic’ H-B designs looked like Matisse paintings compared to these doodles.

And those long eyelashes on Jabberjaw? Why, just why?? Is Jabberjaw a female shark in this or what?

Speaking of females, there’s one thing we really hope gets addressed on Jellystone!: Namely, the glaring lack of female characters. I really hope Cindy Bear isn’t the only female inhabitant of Jellystone. Even if the producers have to make up a bunch of OCs, that’s preferable to Smurfette Syndrome. Jason had an idea: if you want another female character, since Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy are on this show, why not show us Augie’s mom as a character? That’s something they’ve never done before. I say why not? Disney recently did the unthinkable by making Huey, Dewey and Louie’s mom Della Duck into a character…

Della Duck

And the fans ate it up. So why not? Go for it, I say.

-Character designs aside, I am remaining cautiously optimistic for Jellystone!. If the show’s funny then that’ll make up for the less-than-stellar artwork and designs. On a final note: I noticed that one of the characters in the title card was Captain Caveman; does this mean that we could be seeing other H-B characters besides the 60’s ‘funny animal’ characters, like the Impossibles, the Chan Clan, Hong Kong Phooey, Space Ghost, the Galaxy Trio, the Teen Angels et al? That could be a hoot to see. Apart from this and the upcoming feature Scoob!…

…Whose art, designs and animations actually look GOOD, just pointing that out…

…It seems that Warner Brothers Animation is really trying to create a Hanna Barbera Shared Universe. (And as a point of interest, Captain Caveman is supposed to appear in Scoob! as well, voiced by Tracy Morgan, of all people. OK, I want to go see this movie for that alone.) C.H. Greenblatt claims he’ll be “digging deep” for obscure characters for Jellystone!; he also says that he’ll be canonizing Yo, Yogi! in some form for this show. I’m fine with that…

Yo Yogi

Just make it absolutely nothing like its’ predecessor, and we’re good!

Nerdvana: Magical Island Groove

January 19, 2020February 27, 2022silverstar Leave a comment

cute-cartoon-eyes-illustration-isolated-on-white

Long time, no see!

Hey there. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

-Before we begin, I just to keep you guys abreast of what’s been going on with us. As those who’ve been following us know, last year we planned to stop blogging and switch this site over to visual media (videos, online comics, etc.); those plans have not been abandoned (we’re writing up scripts, taking notes and saving up for the necessary equipment and tutorials even as I type this), but at the same time, we’re not content to just sit on our hands and do nothing while we prepare to make that jump. We’ve been fairly active on Tumblr (that’s twin-images.tumblr.com for those who are interested), but we’ve been compiling ideas since then and we still have a creative itch that needs scratching. So, while we in the process of transitioning, Jason and I will continue to make the occasional blog post here until then. It’s not going to be at the pace it has been years ago; our current schedule and priorities won’t accommodate that, but ideally we’d like to put up at least 1 or 2 blog posts per month until we’re ready to start making videos full time. Now, on with the silliness.

Donkey Kong Islands

One setting/oeuvre that I’ve been digging these past several months is the tropical island setting, in particular Magical Islands. Those tropical paradises where it’s always sunny and funny and exotic creatures and magical phenomena abound. Today’s Nerdvana will be spotlighting some of my favorite magical island settings/shows/stuff.

First, I’ll be giving an honorable mention to Jaama, the setting of Animal Jam.

Jamaa 2

While I’m indeed enthralled by Jaama, I won’t be covering it at great length here since I’m currently doing a Pop Dream on Animal Jam (which I do plan to continue this year, I promise!), so anything I’d say about Jaama here would be redundant. I’ll save my thoughts and feelings on Jaama for the upcoming Pop Dream installments. Also, like many of these Nerdvanas, these won’t be in any particular order, so I won’t be numbering them.

Let’s do this, people! Smiles, smiles!

FANTASY ISLAND, Ricardo Montalban, Herve Villechaize, 1978-1984

“Welcome to Silverstar’s Rambling, Pointless Fantasy Island!”

Kick it, gang!

I love that song. Now, on to the meat: some of my favorite enchanted island settings.

DONKEY KONG COUNTRY

DonkeyKongCountryReturns

Like many folks who played games in the late 90’s through early ’00’s, I loved the Donkey Kong Country series. Putting DK in a sprawling jungle island setting and giving him a ton of new friends, enemies and areas to explore was a stroke of genius.

Plus it’s shaped like DK’s head. Now that’s branding.

Donkey Kong Island 2

One thing I love about Donkey Kong Island (NOT Congo Bongo, BTW!) is how it houses several different and radically diverse areas and climates within it: forest, dessert, grassland, brambles, ocean, beach, frozen wasteland, bayou and of course rain forest.

Plus, the DKC games gave us the Brothers Bear. I love the idea of multiple siblings with names that begin with the same latter and each of them has their own personal quirks and shticks.

Hmm, I wonder if Banjo is related to these guys. Distant cousin, perhaps?

-You know, that could be a separate Nerdvana unto itself. Hmmm…..

YABBA DABBA DINOSAURS

Dino-Mite!

Jason already covered this show on Brain Candy, so I’ll keep it brief; I’ll just say that Warner Bros. Studios are fools for giving up on this idea so quickly.

YDD! 2

Yeah, the art style takes some getting used to (Mark Marek wouldn’t have been my first choice for the designs, and I’m definitely not feeling the long pants on Bamm-Bamm) but how could anyone not love the idea of a savage land filled with wild, dangerous dinosaurs existing just adjacent to Bedrock? If you ask me, YDD! was just the shot in the arm the franchise needed.

YDD! 3

People are free to disagree with me, but I thought the running gags involving Dino running for the hills at any given opportunity and the Wikipedia spoofs with Pebbles were funny.

Captain-Caveman-Hanna-Barbera

Plus after 2 failed attempts, the studio finally found a way to work Captain Caveman into the Flintstones mythos that actually made sense. Make Cavey the Tarzan of The Crags. Making him a jungle wild man would finally explain why he looks and acts so differently from the civilized citizens of Bedrock; obviously if he spent his entire life in The Crags he wouldn’t be straight-laced and civilized. Come on, guys, it’s right there!

CRAIG OF THE CREEK

Craig of the Creek

Yeah, I know I’m late to the party with this one; I’ve only recently discovered this show, but it’s good, despite not getting the press or attention of CN’s other current shows. No, it’s not a multi-layered, hyper-emotional, grand sprawling epic like Infinity Train or Steven Universe, but every show doesn’t have to be that. You don’t always need a 5-course turkey dinner, sometimes just a nice burger and fries will suffice.

Like Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs, one thing I like about Craig of the Creek is how there’s this crazy wilderness area just beyond the safe, peaceful, quiet suburbs that the kids all live in, and no matter how wild and crazy things get at the Creek, they can always just go home at any time. I like how the Creek boasts several different tribes and factions of kids of all types and colors, co-existing more or less harmoniously, such as:

Horse Girls

…The Horse Girls, a tribe of girls obsessed with horses (a tad sterotypical, but stereotypes have to come from somewhere…)

Tabitha & Courtney

The Creek Witches, Tabitha and Courtney (in actuality a same-sex couple of Goth teenagers, and no, that’s not a joke; they really are a couple.)

Sparkle Cadet 2

A black Magical Girl from’outer space’ named Sparkle Cadet (where’s it carved in stone that all magical girls have to be white or Asian?)

You know, Craig, as the Creek’s resident map-maker, has already compiled a detailed list of these Creek Kids, so I won’t have to:

I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout-out to Craig’s best buds: Kelsey,

I admit she’s already a favorite character of mine; she’s basically what I’d be like if I were a short, white, Jewish girl.

And JP:

He’s hilarious. That’s all I need to say!

I only have one real nitpick about this show: I think, despite the premise, the show’s a tad too grounded in reality. If it were my show, I’d spice things up a little:

Why not toss in some actual monsters?

“Say, um, are you white meat or dark meat??”

And while we’re at it, why not toss in some talking animal mascots a la Terry Dactyl from The Funny Company?

I guess you can tell I really like this idea. Was my nonstop yakking about the animal people from Dragon Ball and Animal Jam a giveaway?

Craig-of-the-creek-family

-Side bar: another element of this show that needs to mentioned is how the titular character and his family are African-American without them being ethnic stereotypes. Yes, Craig’s family is black, but the producers didn’t set the show in the ‘hood, the family isn’t broke, mean or cheap, the slang and music on the show aren’t super-funkay, and the neighborhood the family lives in is ethnically diverse without race ever being an issue or the topic of conversation.

Craig’s older brother Bernard has a white girlfriend (Alexis), and everybody’s cool with that! Nice legs, BTW.

I applaud this. Truly good mixed casting is something we could stand to see more of on kids’ shows (shows in general, actually). It’s more honest, more interesting and a positive example for the kiddos. It’s one thing to get up on a soapbox and preach about folks getting along and respecting people different from you and not treating them differently because of their skin color or ancestry, but it’s another to show your lead characters simply living this way as if it were the most normal and natural thing in the world. Example can teach just as well as any platitude, perhaps even better.

This is the kind of cartoon I’d like to make myself one day: the ‘ultimate kid-centered domestic comedy’ starring a family consisting of 2 parents, some kids and some pets, featuring people of color and a range of ethnicities without race ever being a big deal. There’d be a gimmick of course, but the characters’ skin color wouldn’t be it.

SUMMER CAMP ISLAND

Summer Camp Island

Another CN show that doesn’t get talked about very much, this one is a cute but odd little show about 2 best friends, an anthropomorphic elephant-y thing named Oscar and a hedgehog-y thing named Hedgehog…

Wow. Must’ve been up all night dreaming up that name.

…Who are sent to stay at, you guessed it, a summer camp on a magical island.

Say, did you know that in-universe this island became a haven/sanctuary for monsters and magical creatures in 1972, after they became distrusting of ‘normals’? Well, now you do.

Said island boasts such unique things as giant monsters, a moon and clouds with faces…

summer_camp_island witches 2

…3 counselors who look like cutie-pie “popular girls” but are actually witches, magic powers, pointy hats, flying broomsticks and all.

Generation Hex

Alice

My personal favorite of the 3 is Alice, she’s the cute one who likes to make everything around her cute….

Betsy

Second favorite is Betsy, the nice one who sleeps with a sentient tree…

Werewolf_Betsy

…And she’s also a werewolf. ‘Kay…

Also on the island are ice cream mountains, confetti mines…

Mine your own business

…Monsters…

Rumor has it that they came to do the Monster Mash.

…an alien kid something-or-other named Puddle, who flies around in a tiny UFO and hails from unnamed alien planet that resembles a Lisa Frank illustration and is love with his alien king (no, that wasn’t a typo)…

Puddle

…And a living, talking set of Pajamas, aptly named Pajamas.

Pajamas

Cocaines a Hell of a Drug

Summer Camp Island 2

The show’s cute, and I like the concept of a magical island with a summer camp on it (otherwise I wouldn’t have listed it here), but I think it might be a little TOO ‘out there’. I don’t dig that all the characters are animals; heck, they don’t even look like animals; they look like lolicons with animal noses. Did the cast need to be anthros on a show with monsters, witches, aliens and assorted stuff? Given that, do we even need a distinction between the ‘normal’ world and the ‘strange’ island? The entire show is strange; it’s full of animal things with human anatomies! Plus, I can’t over-emphasize this, one of the characters is a sentient pair of pajamas!

“Gah! Head rush! I’m comin’ down too fast! I need some relaxing smooth jazz music and some orange slices, stat!”

TESCO BREKKIE SQUAD

Brekkie Squad 2

If you live in the UK, you’ve likely seen these. Originally created for the Summer Olympics (hence the sports motif), these characters are cute jungle animals who live on a jungle island and adorn the cereal boxes at Tesco. They don’t always have to be complicated.

TEM TEM

tamtam-samuraishodown4-remake-artwork2018

“My blood, er, um…my SWEAT bubbles for battle! Yeah, that’s the ticket!”

Ah, no. Not Tam Tam, but TEMTEM. The new steam game that mimics Pokemon, but in a good way.

Temtem 1

Temtem 3

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“Gotta catch ’em all…no, wait…”

TemTem is set on a set of floating tropical islands (which is why it’s on this list) called the Aiborne Archipelago.

Airborne_Archipelago

Consisting of Deniz, the Floating Sea, Omninesea, Myrisles, Tucma, the End of All Things, Kisiwa, the desert jewels, Cipanku, misty hills and hypertech metropolis and Arbury, land of rain and book, in case anyone was wondering.

Temtem 5

The TemTem themselves, in addition to being super-cute…

Temtem 10

TemTem

…Come in a variety of types: Fire, Nature, Water, Electric, Mental, Earth, Wind, Crystal, Digital, Melee, Toxic and Neutral.

TemTem Type_wheel

So it’s a Pokemon clone…with a tropical island motif. I dig it.

Temtem 9

Plus, I just plain like the name: TemTem. It’s got that cool, native-sounding jungle island ring to it. Not unlike Jaama.

And there you have it. Some of my favorite magical tropical island imagery.

“Nah, hard pass. I’ve had my fill of island life. I spent years stuck on a deserted island, and when we finally managed to get off of it, we ended up stranded on a deserted planet! yeah, life’s fair!”

Nerdvana: The Tech Factor

November 29, 2017November 29, 2017silverstar Leave a comment

Back in August 2016, Nerdvana looked at Marvel’s Super Hero Squad Show.

superherosquad_heros_1280X960

Specifically, we celebrated the Animal Factor, one of the specific factors that each SHS member (aka the “Squaddies”) employed to make an ideal team. Today’s Nerdvana looks at another one of said factors, The Technology Factor, aka The Tech Factor.

For the uninformed, Tech Factor characters are in possession of amazing, futuristic high-tech, able to create everything from the latest advanced weaponry to the Egg Scrambler of Tomorrow and employing the most far-out gear, gadgets, gizmos and gigabytes into their daily lives.

Hmm, four Gs. That sounds familiar somehow.

Where does he get those wonderful toys??

“One thing’s for sure: the package didn’t include a brain!”

So without further ado, here are some of my favorite Tech Factor characters.

CYBORG

Cyborg_Joker's_Playhouse_001

Everybody’s favorite half-organic, half-cybernetic Teen Titan turned founding Justice League member. Though he actually made his TV debut on ABC’s Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians, his most famous incarnation was in Glen Murakami’s Teen Titans: The Animated Series.

He was cool there, but he was basically just the strong man on that show, with some tech-savvy on the side. Later on, he was retconned to his current version, where he is capable of flight and the ability to literally plug into electronic devices and interface with machines and computers. Cyborg’s adaptability enables him a vast array of robo-powers.

AIR FORCE ONE ACCESS GRANTED. GREETINGS, MR. PRESIDENT. -“Hmmm, this should be fun.”

MR. TERRIFIC

“Everybody loves Big T!”

Yes, I know that there were actually 2 Mr. Terrifics in the DC Universe, but I’ll only be covering the 2nd Mr. Terrific, Michael Holt, as he’s the Mr. Terrific of “my” generation and the only one I really know about besides the name. Mr. Terrific’s super power by his own admission is learning. He’s one of THE smartest people in the DCU, as a kid he was mastering quantum physics while the other kids were struggling with Sesame Street. He’s also the inventor of the T-Spheres…

“We pity da fool!”

…Which can do a plethora of things:

-self-propelled flight
-form a laser grid between the spheres
-create holograms
-record
-sensors
-link to computers/data
-be used as a weapon by flying into things
-bombs

Forget Siri, I gotta get me some of these!

TONY STARK/IRON MAN

“Yeah, I’m Awesome Sauce. That’s pretty much me.”

Perhaps the most famous Tech Factor hero of all, Mr. Stark has a suit or armor and a high-tech device for seemingly any occasion. Uni-Beam, Repulsor Blasts, Smart Bombs, Rocket Boots, a computerized A.I., you name it.

Having more money than the Mint doesn’t hurt, either.

GEAR

“My hoverboard actually hovers! Suck it, toy companies!”

Static Shock’s sidekick, er, um, partner, received latent exposure to the Big Bang gas, accelerating his intellect tenfold. At least he didn’t just get a rash or something.

Gear with Backpack

In addition to possessing rocket shoes and the ability to project holograms, Gear is the inventor of Backpack, a high-tech assistant that Richie wears on his back (duh!) which constantly feeds him data that only a super-genius brain can keep up with. It also makes Julian Fries.

GIZMODUCK

Say, did you know that Gizmoduck was originally going to be called Roboduck, hence why his original monogram resembles an ‘R’? Well, now you do.

A numerical savant accountant inside a suit of robo-armor invented by nutty chicken inventor Gyro Gearloose. In addition to possessing cool techno-powers and getting to zoom around on a single radial tire, I like how in the Disney Duck-Verse Gizmoduck has Superman status, being one of Duckburg and St. Canard’s most beloved heroes.

Gizmoduck 2017

Also, in the new DuckTales series, the duck inside the armor will be voiced by Lin Manuel Miranda, and at the actor’s request, will also be Latino.

“Diversity? I dig it!”

TECNA

Digital Power! Yes, Word!

I gushed over Tecna before, and I’m doing it again here. She’s a fairy whose magical powers is technology, my kind of fairy. She’s a genius (obviously), she’s decked out in purple, one of my favorite colors…

Zenith

…And she hails from a technologically advanced planet called Zenith. (It was called Techno Fairyland in the 4Kids dub, ’cause they didn’t want to get sued. Too late!)

Digital_Triangle

Plus, one of her signature moves is the Digital Traingle. What’s so great about triangles? Just ask Pythagoras.

DEXTER

“I’m blinding you…with SCIENCE!

Is Dexter a superhero? No, but he is a Boy Genius, having registered the term.

I wasn’t kidding.

Dexter at Work

This kid has his own insanely vast science laboratory hidden within the bowels of his ordinary suburban home, where he’s constantly tinkering away, creating all manner of Mad Science.

He also possesses his own super robo-suit. ‘Nuff said.

Finally, we’ll wrap this up by providing something for the benefit of those who may opt to create their own robots: A brief run-through of Asimov’s 3 Laws of Robotics.

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
A robot must protect its’ own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

“There’s a Fourth Law: A robot must kick ass and take names daily!”

Retroville: The Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera

October 3, 2017May 1, 2022silverstar 7 Comments

Today Retroville visits a theme park attraction filled with rides and shows, populated by famous cartoon mascots.

DisneyWorld_MickeyGang_Castle-567e85275f9b586a9eb6b098

“When you wish upon a star/Makes no difference who you are…as long as you fly our airlines, save up for Disney Fun Bucks, stay at the Grand Floridian, visit all of our attractions and buy all of our stuff!”

No, not that one.

THIS one.

Today’s Retroville is all about the now defunct Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera, which was located in Kings Island amusement park, formerly Kings Dominion, in Virginia.

-Did you know that the Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera was originally going to be called the Happy Kingdom of Hanna-Barbera? Well, now you do.

“There’s only room for one kingdom on this planet, folks. Trust me, our lawyers aren’t so enchanted!”

First, a little history: In 1966, Taft Broadcasting acquired Hanna-Barbera Productions for $12 million and they were looking for ways to capitalize. So when Gary Wachs (VP Cincinnati’s Coney Island) approached them, it became apparent to Taft Executives that this would be a highly successful way to cross-promote the licensing. Taft agreed to partner and build Kings Island with the intent of using HB theming throughout the park. Once the purchase of Coney Island was secured in 1969, Taft immediately added costumed HB characters to the Coney Island midway (the “Banana Splits” even filmed their second season montage at Coney Island) and enlisted their team of designers (many of which had come from Disney’s Animation Studios) to help design a themed kids area for the new park.

The entrance to it is arced by a rainbow, and I like rainbows, so that’s kind of cool. Plus, dig that hippy-dippy font.

When “The Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera” (the final name selected) opened with Kings Island in 1972, it featured several rides transferred from Coney Island, plus new rides themed to HB. The original rides included “Gulliver’s Rub-a-Dub” (a slow scenic boat ride), “Motormouse” (a revolving car ride), “Autocat” (a revolving motorcycle and car ride), “Kikky Kangaroo” (a revolving helicopter ride), “Funky Phantom” (a child-sized whip ride), “Winsome Witch’s Cauldrons” (a spinning teacup ride), “Marathon Turnpike” (a dual-track self-propelled car ride), “Squiddly Diddly” (a children’s sized turtle ride), a loading station for the Von Roll Swiss Skyride, the “Scooby Doo” (a family sized wooden coaster) and “The Enchanted Voyage” (a dark ride journey through the world of HB cartoons). In addition, the park featured HB characters in advertising, literature and most memorably as the icons for the park’s parking lot signs.

The mascots are coming, hooray-hooray, the mascots are coming, hooray-hooray…

They’re hot, they’re moist and they’re spoiling for a hug. Have fun.

For the park’s second season, more theming elements and re-paints to rides help spiff up the area a bit. Props designed and created by HB studios – such as fiberglass characters and an animated snail in front of the “Enchanted Voyage” – helped improve upon the theming from the opening season. Following 1973, “The Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera” actually remained relatively untouched for a decade with the exceptions being cosmetic changes to the façade of the “Enchanted Voyage”, the addition of “Boulder Bumpers” (a Flintstones-themed bumper car attraction added in 1978) and the re-theming of the “Scooby Doo” coaster to “The Beastie.”

Come to Gulliver’s Galley and play the wondrous game, Stomp-A-Lilliputian.

In 1982, (the 25th anniversary of Hanna-Barbera Studios and the 10th anniversary of Kings Island) the park spent $2.1 million to remodel and update. Re-branded “Hanna-Barbera Land”, the themed section increased its land space by 50 percent adding 20 new rides and participatory attractions. Among the new features were: “Shaggy’s Silly Sticks (an elaborate climbing structure), “Fools House” (a walk-through fun house), “The Hanna Barbera Carousel (a merry-go-round featuring HB icons) and “Scooby Choo” (a miniature railroad).

“Yay, puns!”

In addition, a brand-new interactive blue elephant fountain and “The Puppet Tree” (a marionette/puppet theater) were added. Finally, the station for the Von Roll Swiss Skyride (which had been removed two years prior) was converted to the “Hanna-Barbera Shop.” Both William Hanna and Joseph Barbera attended the opening festivities of the “new” land on April 19, 1982 along with over 100 elementary-aged kids.

“Grade-schoolers. Now that’s good eatin’! Just kidding, we don’t eat ’em, we just put ’em to work in our Happiness Mines.”

Just two years later, in 1984, the park entered into a $1 million licensing deal to bring the immensely popular “Smurfs” to the park. (The Smurfs aren’t original creations of Hanna-Barbera, but H-B produced the Smurfs Saturday morning TV series, so there ya go.) Papa Smurf, Brainy Smurf and Smurfette began roaming the midway and the “Enchanted Voyage” was re-themed to “Smurf’s Enchanted Voyage.”

When the Smurfs performed their own rendition of “I’m Blue” by Eiffel 65, I cried…mainly because they locked the door to the exit.

However, the most significant Smurf-themed addition to Kings Island was not a ride at all. It was actually the renowned “Smurf” blue ice cream – a tasty blueberry flavored sweet that has become a staple of the park. It was a runaway hit and remains, to this very day, Kings Island’s most popular treat (although now simply called Blue Ice Cream).

“Don’t get too excited, it’s not made with ground-up Smurf guts. What a letdown!”

The Smurfs called Kings Island home through the 1991 season, but when their popularity dipped they were phased out. It was also at this time that the ever-popular “Enchanted Voyage” (still themed to Smurfs) bid farewell to Kings Island. A beloved original staple of the park, the ride was in desperate need of updating. Upon its closure, the attraction was modernized and converted to “Phantom Theater.” The park utilized part of the original “Voyage” show building and land to create the “Hanna-Barbera Theater” and install the “Scooby Zoom” coaster (currently named “Great Pumpkin Coaster”). “Dick Dastardly’s BiPlanes were also added and, after 20 years of service, Winnie Witch’s Cauldrons were retired and replaced with “Pixie and Dixie’s Swingset”.

In 1998, Hanna-Barbera Land received its final facelift. The park bid farewell to the familiar rainbow entrance arch which had existed in various forms since the opening season…

“NOT THE RAINBOW!!!!!!!!”

…And they repainted, relocated or re-named virtually every existing HB ride. Three new rides were added including “Yogi’s Sky Tours”, “Atom Ant Skyway” and “Scooby’s Ghoster Coaster.” A first of its kind, “Scooby’s Ghoster Coaster” was a suspended single-rail coaster which featured an elevator lift that took bat-shaped cars (holding one adult and one child) on a flight over the area!

“Zoomy-zoomy-zoom!”

In 1995 a “Nickelodeon Splat City” themed area had been introduced at the park and took the location of the former HB Marathon (Sunshine) Turnpike ride. This infiltration of immensely popular, and current television cartoon characters would eventually outshine the dated HB theme. Yogi, Fred Flintstone and Huckleberry Hound, still ingrained into adults who had grown up with them, were now seen as outdated and unpopular with new generations. In 2001, a Nickelodeon expansion would prompt more loss to the HB theming, and by 2006 the Hanna-Barbera theming would be discontinued and removed from the park altogether. Even the “Beastie” coaster would receive Nickelodeon branding.

Spongebob Meh

This signified a definitive end of an era for the park, Hanna-Barbera, and the guests that had enjoyed the kids’ area for 32 years.

The Nickelodeon theming would only last for another four years. In 2010, the entire kids’ area was re-imagined with the wholesome, and long popular Peanuts characters. All kid’s area rides and attractions would receive new themes with names based on Charles Schulz’s characters Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy and more.

Planet Snoopy

Peanuts? Really? I get that those characters are popular, but Charlie Brown and company are such a weird choice to build a theme park around. Have you ever read Peanuts? It’s one of the talkiest, moodiest and most borderline depressing comics strips ever written. Those kids are never happy; they spend most of their time parading their neuroses around…constant failure, battling one’s inner demons and unrequited love don’t exactly scream ‘fun times at the park’.

Don’t let this ‘Happy Dance’ pic fool you…that’s just a PR thing.

The Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera lasted from 1972 to 2005. Hanna-Barbera isn’t everybody’s cup of tea: they tended to recycle a lot of their concepts, premises and characters, also they pioneered the art of ‘limited animation’, but who says that only Disney can have their own designated amusement nation?

“Hail to the King, baby!”

My family and I actually visited the Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera back in the ancient 1970’s, back when Kings Island was still called Kings Dominion, and we got our picture taken with Drooper of the Banana Splits. (He’s no Bingo, but he’s still a Banana Split, dangit!) after Huckleberry Hound ran away from us. Some mascots are just touchy about blowtorches, I guess. I’ve always been more of a Looney Tunes fan, but I’ve enjoyed some of H-B’s output, and I’m OK with lands full of colorful characters which manufacture happiness, so hats off to the Happy Land!

Mmm, now that’s good rainbow!

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