Tag cartoons

Nerdvana: My Ever Changing Clothes

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One of the most frequently asked question about Cartoon Country is “Why do cartoon characters always wear the same clothes?”. Basically, the process of animation and character design is complicated and time consuming enough without having to come up with different clothes for the characters to wear in every episode. Also, a character’s daily outfit can become iconic and make the character instantly recognizable. Can you imagine Charlie Brown not wearing his trademark yellow shirt with the jagged stripe?

Charlie_Brown
“Actually, I do have a pimp suit, but I left it at home.”
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However, there will be some cases in which some of the characters actually do change clothes. One of the more noteworthy examples of this would be Kimiko Tomoyo from Xiaolin Showdown, who sported a different hairstyle and outfit in almost every episode. Here are just some of Kimiko’s looks:

 
“What’s up with that last one? That hair looks ridiculous!”
 
Then there’s the curious case of Bart Simpson, who for the Simpsons merchandise is usually depicted wearing a light blue shirt instead of the orange one that he usually wears on the show.
 
Personally, I think that Bart should wear the light blue shirt all of the time. It contrasts better with the yellow skin.
 
“Hey, man, orange, blue, as long as FOX pays me, I’ll wear whatever they want. Well, maybe not plaid.”
 Then there’s one of my current favorite characters, Mabel Pines from Disney’s Gravity Falls, who sports a different decorative sweater in every episode (so far). Here are just some…
 
 
 
 
 
 
How many sweaters does that kid own, anyway?
 
 

“Honestly, I stopped counting after 83. It helps that my walk-in closet is a gateway to Hammerspace. True story.”

Fun Fact: Mabel’s sweaters were inspired by series creator Alex Hirsch’s real life twin sister Ariel, whom Mabel is based on.

Then there’s Barbie’s sisters from Barbie: Life in the Dream House. each of these characters has an outfit that she wears for seasons 1 and 2, and another that she wears for seasons 3 and 4.

Skipper

Stacie

Chelsea
 

Stylin’!

Then there’s Blythe Baxter from Littlest Pet Shop, who has sported several different costume changes throughout the series.

“Well, I am based on a doll line, after all. It kind of comes with the territory.”
 
There are some cases where a character’s outfit change makes a huge impact and other times when it’s not so much.
 
Red Shirt Shaggy
 
 
“Check it out. It’s like my regular shirt, but it’s RED! Like, I’m a fashion forward!”
 
Speaking of Scooby Doo, Freddy Jones’ daily outfit was changed for What’s New, Scooby Doo?…
 
whats_new_scooby-doo.fred_freddy_jones
fred_jones-3
 
…only to switch back to the ascot look in Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated.
 
 
 
“What can I say? You can’t beat the classics. Also, hardcore fans resist change.”
 
Cartoon characters changing outfits doesn’t happen all of the time, and in my opinion, it doesn’t need to, because it makes the times when it does happen just that much more special.
 
 
“Changing clothes? Nah. Don’t see the fascination with it.”

Goldstar’s Top 9 Favorite Characters

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Both Damon and myself have seen Doug Walker’s list of Top 10 Favorite Characters and we were each inspired to come up with our own. These are the characters that you just love. You enjoy every moment that they’re on screen and you look forward to whatever they’re going to say or do next. These are the characters that, when you’re watching them on TV or in a movie or in a book, you see them in action and think, “That is so what I would do/say!”. As it happens, I was only able to come up with 9, but there’s no harm in that. Like Doug’s list, I’m going to include both live action and animated characters on my list, and I’m won’t be judging the shows themselves, only the characters. Also, my list includes both male and female characters because mentally, I relate to both genders. Having said that, without further ado, I present:

Goldstar’s Top 9 Favorite Characters

9. JUDGE HARRY STONE (Night Court)

 

When Night Court made it’s debut on NBC in 1984, It’s central character, Judge Harold T. Stone (played by the brilliant Harry Anderson) was playful, friendly, unconventional, but a nice guy. I thought that the character was amusing. After the 1st couple of seasons, Harry went from being friendly and playful to this flaky, wild, crazy practical joking clown, and he immediately rose up to being my favorite character on the show. So while John Larrouquette won a couple of Emmy’s for his role as Assistant D.A. Dan Fielding, I primarily watched Night Court for Harry. Harry was like a live action Looney Tunes character (which was fitting that Night Court was produced by Warner Brothers Television). Harry pulled some wacky stunts, such sending a giant 8-ball careening down the court’s hallway and rigging a rival judge’s robe to inflate into a giant multicolored balloon (and both in the same episode, no less!). Unfortunately, around the shows’ 5th season, the shows’ writers calmed the character down and he a boring nice guy type, but during the time when the character was a nutty maverick jokester, Harry was the man.
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8. BUTTERCUP (The Powerpuff Girls)
While I generally think of the PPGs as a group character, Buttercup was always my favorite among the Powerpuffs. While Blossom is the smart one and Bubbles is largely considered to be the fan favorite, I always preferred the 1 of the group who added a touch of lemon to the sweetness. Buttercup is how I would be if I were a Powerpuff. She’s tough, aggressive, quick with a jab, and has a temper. She has attitude and the super powers to back it up. But despite this, she remains a cute little girl, albeit one who can lift a bus and throw it at you. Buttercup may not hog the limelight like Bubbles, but I think that she usually got the best lines and scenes in the PPG episodes.
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7. SKIPS (Regular Show)
Regular Show Skips
Whenever Mordecai and Rigby get in over their heads (which is invariably), the first person they come to is this guy. Skips is a yeti who seems to have answer or a solution for everything, which is largely because he’s actually hundreds of years old. Skips has the most interesting history of all the RS cast. He’s done battles in space for a group of intergalactic beings who look like giant babies who in return have granted him immortality. Skips is the shows’ resident wise man with a ton of solutions and secrets about his past. I also love how he remains indifferent to almost everything. While Benson, Muscle Man and others are going through their own idosyncrasies, Skips just sits back observing it all, while making the occasional smart alecky remark. I relate to Skips because like him, my family and friends often come to me for help with things, and though I’m rarely sunny and cheerful about it, they know that they can always count on me. Too bad my battle skills aren’t as polished as Skips’ are.
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6. MABEL PINES (Gravity Falls)
 
Initially, I was hesitant to put this character on my list because Gravity Falls is a relatively new show, still only in it’s 1st season, but nonetheless, Mabel is easily my favorite character on GF, with Stan coming in at a close second. Mabel has a twin brother, Dipper, whom I like also but I also feel is too much of a “regular guy” character to be very enjoyable on his own. He reacts to characters that are funnier than he is. Mabel is a much more fascinating and colorful character. Her likable goofiness, her playfulness, her constantly changing colorful sweaters and her unwavering exuberance over whatever she’s obsessing over this week make the character a hoot to watch. There’s no way that I could ever be as bright and bubbly as Mabel is, but I do at least try to look on the bright side of life.
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5. DEXTER (Dexter’s Laboratory)
 
During the course of my life, I’ve discovered that being “cool” is merely an illusion and that being smart is what’s hot. Since that epiphany, I’ve learned to embrace my inner geek, and Dexter personifies the expression “Nerds Rule!” This kid is a child prodigy to the max, is a know-it-all and has an ego that’s 10 times bigger than he is. Not that he doesn’t have reason to be a little full of himself; he has managed to construct an impossibly high-tech and futuristic laboratory just below his parents’ otherwise ordinary suburban home, seemingly from scratch, and without a job, no less! The Blue Falcon came to him first when his sidekick Dynomutt was in need of repair! How’s that for street cred? And even though the show is designed to make him look like a fool half of the time, Dexter remains king of precocious prigs.
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4. SHELDON COOPER (The Big Bang Theory)
 
Continuing with the “Nerds Rule” philosophy, I’d be remiss not to mention one of the biggest nerds of all, Sheldon Lee Cooper. I sometimes feel sorry for actor Johnny Galecki because his character on TBBT Leonard doesn’t get the attention and the accolades that Jim Parsons’ Sheldon does, but I have to say (and I don’t know if this is a good thing or not) that while I like Leonard, I find myself relating much more with Sheldon. Leonard is among the group of oddball misfits, but he longs to be among the “cool” people. Sheldon, on the other hand, knows that he’s different and he doesn’t care because he believes that he is the one that everyone else should aspire to be like. Sheldon has a giant brain and an equally giant ego. He’s obsessive compulsive and is the ultimate comic book super hero and Star Trek fan. Like myself, Sheldon is funny and weird and socially retarded. He’s also like myself, an aromantic asexual, which is a nice change of pace from the usual sex obsessed characters which are usually seen on TV shows.. I’m more like Sheldon than I’d like to admit, but I’m not crazy, my mother had me tested…
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3. YAKKO WARNER/SLAPPY SQUIRREL (Animaniacs) (tie)
I like both of these characters for similar reasons and I couldn’t decide which one to put over the other, so I decided to cheat and put them both together. I like both Yakko and Slappy because they’re both wise guy characters (despite Slappy being a female), their canny and are usually 2 steps of whichever nemesis makes the mistake of imposing their will on them. But while Yakko is a wild, youthful fast-talker, Slappy is bitter, cranky and acerbic (again, these are traits that I’m too familiar with). And Slappy has been around long enough to know every trick in the book. You want to see wise guy toons cut up and do it really well? Look no further.
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2. TONY STARK, aka IRON MAN
Interestingly, Tony is the only comic book super hero to make this list. I’m a huge fan of Superman, but Supes is more of an ideal. Superman is a character whom I aspire to be, while Tony Stark is a character whom I relate to. This guy is everything that I want to be and also everything that I fear I am. He’s super rich. He’s like catnip to the ladies. He’s brilliant. He’s arrogant. He doesn’t work well with others. He has a talent for getting on people’s nerves. You’re either going to immediately love this guy or you’re going to instantly hate him. I choose the former. In the Avengers movie, when Captain America asks Tony ‘Take away your suit, and what are you?” Tony calmly and smugly responds with “Genius playboy billionaire philanthropist.” How can you not love that line? And he has many in that movie alone.
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And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. My number 1 favorite character is……………
1. DAFFY DUCK (Looney Tunes)
Everyone who’s been following me online already knows that I’m a huge Daffy fan. In fact, Daffy is interestingly the only Loony Tunes character to make this list, Don’t get me wrong. I love Bugs Bunny, but Bugs didn’t make my list for the same reason that Superman didn’t make my list; Bugs is great, but he’s more of an ideal. I love Bugs, but I can relate far more to Daffy. Daffy was once described as “An unleashed id”, and that’s basically how I see him. At the start of his film career, Daffy was just insane, and now…well he’s still insane, but he’s been more dimensions thanks to the different attitudes and approaches of the Warner’s directors who worked on the character over the decades. Daffy became greedy, self centered, self promoting, but also self conscious, neurotic and insecure. On many, many occasions, I’ve found myself echoing Daffy’s feelings in a given situation. And I’m too smart to not know that I’m a little “off”. Daffy has a dark side, yes, but he’s hilarious when he fails, falters or just plain goes off the deep end. I’ll always be a Daffy Duck fan.

Silverstar’s Top 9 Favorite Characters

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Inspired by Doug Walker’s Top 10 Favorite Characters, I began thinking about which fictional characters from TV shows and movies particularly resonate with me. Which characters I’ve always admired and enjoyed, and which ones I’ve always related to; the ones where you watch them in action and think, “That’s me”. It took me a bit of time to narrow them down, but I do now have a list. And since we’re presently trying to make this blog more fun, I figure it would be fun for me to share with you my fave characters. Keep in mind that I’m considering both animated as well as live-action characters, and that I’m not counting the shows and/or movies themselves, just the characters in said movies and shows. So without further delay, here are Silverstar’s Top 9 Favorite Fictional Characters of All Time. (I couldn’t think of an even 10.)

9. SHELDON COOPER (The Big Bang Theory)
sheldon-cooper,-bazinga,-the-big-bang-theory-162790
I don’t know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, but this uber-geek is easily my favorite character on The Big Bang Theory, and the one I identify with the most. Like Sheldon, I’m the geek among geeks in my social group, I’m super-smart and rarely pass up an opportunity to drop my vast knowledge and useless trivia upon the world, I have something of an ego (“No, not you!”), I have a decidedly bent sense of humor, I’d rather geek out on my favorite activities than hang out with the gang, I tend to obsess over what others consider to be minor details and like Shelly, I’m asexual and am cool with that. Sheldon has even inspired my latest hobby: collecting superhero, science fiction, video game and general geek-themed novelty T-shirts. Though I want to stress that I’m not crazy like Sheldon, I’m just a little…off.
8) SKIPPER (Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse)
For a while I wasn’t sure whether I should put this character on the list at all, since Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse is a web based series, not a TV show or a movie, but for many people the internet has replaced TV as their primary means of entertainment, and I do enjoy this series (yeah, I enjoy a Barbie show–don’t judge me!) and I really like this show’s take on Skipper. Skipper is easily my favorite Barbie sister and favorite Dreamhouse character. I love the other characters’ antics as well, but Skipper’s fondness for the latest high-tech toys, laid-back laziness, semi-tomboyish demeanor (“Does everything have to be so pink??”) and general “Yeah, whatever” flippancy instantly struck a chord with me. Plus, I really like Skipper’s appearance and fashion style: the brunette hair with that flashy hipster lavender streak and the star-studded outfits (I really like stars, as is evident by my online handle).
7) SAM AND MAX
I’m going to cheat a little and list these 2 together, since it was impossible for me to think of them in isolation from one another and because I like and can identify with both of them equally. Sam and Max are my favorite anarchic, devil-may-care adventure-seeking nutjobs. Nothing seems to rattle these guys, they seem incapable of taking anything (including themselves) seriously, beneath their simple goofball appearances lie big, big, BIG guns capable of a ton of damage (just don’t ask where Max keeps his) their jokes and wordplay are as layered as a haiku and are twice as funny and they always come on top despite overwhelming odds and their own utter insanity. My behavior and demeanor is reminiscent of both Sam and Max, depending on the situation. Generally I possess Sam’s sense of general morality (and habit of spinning bizarre homilies), but get a little booze in my system and my inner Max comes forward.
6) TOPH BEI FONG (Avatar, The Last Airbender)
Toph_Beifong
I thought Avatar, The Last Airbender was an OK show, though not an all-time favorite of mine, as I’m generally indifferent to action cartoons, particularly saga-heavy action cartoons, since my attention span is only about 20 minutes max; if a story can’t be resolved in 2 or 3 episodes, I usually lose interest, but what kept me glued to this show was Toph, the blind Eartbender, who is without question my favorite character in the franchise. I relate to Toph more than any other Avatar character, and am the most fond of her for various reasons: she’s short (I’m only about 5’6”) but scrappy, she’s filthy rich and ridiculously sheltered but still capable of kicking butt, she’s funny and not all virtue, nobility, sweetness and light as the other members of the party tended to be, she’s brutally honest and frank (it’s a blessing and a curse for me), she has a handicap (hers is blindness, mine is allergies to dust and pollen and basically being a chick in a dude’s body) which she deals with but isn’t self-loathing, mopey, whiny or emo about it. Another reason I like Toph is because she’s as cute as a button, from her squat body down to her bare feet (I admit to having kind of a fondness for girls who don’t wear shoes. Hey, it’s my list, my qualifications!).
5) TONY STARK/IRON MAN
The only comic book superhero to make my list. There are superheroes whom I admire like Wonder Woman or Superman, but Tony is the kind of superhero I imagine I’d actually be like if I were in that profession. He’s a wise-cracker, he doesn’t like having to call people “Boss”, he questions authority, he doesn’t give 2 squats about a secret identity, he loves the ladies, he toots his own horn, but he’s got the smarts and the awesome gear to back up his braggadocio. Plus, again, he’s got more money than the mint–my kind of superhero. Tony Stark is Bruce Wayne minus the angst and thirst for vengeance. He’s a super-geek, a hero that computer nerds and technofiles can look up to.
4) SLAPPY SQUIRREL (Animaniacs)
Easily my second favorite character from Animaniacs. (Who’s my first? Wait and see.) Slappy is one of those fictional characters whom I swear is my alter ego: funny, a little slower in her advanced years but still sharp as a tack, a tad cynical, jaded, never at a loss for a joke or a wisecrack, has seen it all and done it all, knows every trick in the book and has a fondness for good old fashioned pitiful puns and cartoon chaos. Even now, 20 years later I find myself channeling Slappy by droning things like “This…is sad” in my daily life. Missed opportunity, Warner Brothers: Pinky and the Brain were good and all, but why didn’t you give Slappy her own spinoff? I’d have watched the heck out of that.
3) KIMIKO TOHOMIKO (Xiaolin Showdown)
As with #6, we have a character that I really like who’s from an action show that I could take or leave. I was never really crazy about Xiaolin Showdown, but I loved Kimiko. She’s pretty, smart, kind of snotty, rich and tech-savvy. (Kimi’s almost a J-Pop Tony Stark.) Plus, I love her multiple hairstyles and outfits. (I thought about uploading a few of my favorite Kimiko looks, but we’d be here a while.) If it weren’t for this darn Y chromosone, I’d probably dress like her. the girl has style.
2) DOT WARNER (Animaniacs)
My other favorite character from Animanaics, The Warner Sister has always struck a chord with me, though she may not have to big-time breakout personalities of a Yakko or a Wakko. The reason I think it was easier for the writers to pin down Yakko and Wakko’s characters is because they each had a clear model: Yakko was basically Groucho Marx and Wakko was more or less Harpo Marx (albeit a verbal Harpo). Since there was no Marx Sister in the act, Dot didn’t have a Marx equivalent to be based on like her bros (and just giving her a fake Italian accent like Chico Marx would’ve just been odd); the writers more or less had to build Dot from scratch. And they did a pretty good job, all things considered.
One reason Dot has always been my favorite of the three is because she’s not as powerfully over-the-top as Yakko and Wakko; Dot can be wacky and nutty too, but her near-normality provides a nice oasis of calm between her brothers’ anarchic insanity (which I can sort of relate to). But despite that, she’s not bland or boringly sensible; she has this attitude and a bit of an ego. (I can definitely relate to this.) That’s not an easy combination to pull off, but the A! writers did a great job bringing all that together and making it work.
The ‘cute’ shtick I see as sort of a way of poking fun at the Smurfette Syndrome: often the token girl in the group has to by default be the embodiment of beauty and grace within said group. Dot was both an embracing and a parody of this trope. One episode likens Dot to Fanny Brice, and I can definitely see the correlation. Anyone old enough to know of Fanny Brice can definitely see traces of Brice in Dot. I like to imagine that if there had been a Marx Sister, she would’ve been a Fanny Brice/Dot archetype.
And now we come to…(Drum roll, please)………………..
1) DAFFY DUCK (Looney Tunes)
Anybody who knows me intimately already knew who was going to make #1. My favorite Looney Tune is now, has always been and always will be the little black duck. I’ve always felt I’m half-human, half-cartoon, and my cartoon half definitely channels Daffy. The fast-talking, the energy, the ego, the raw determination, the inability to just sit still and shut up, the cleverness, the desire to be a star, no wait, a super, duper nova-star; if it’s true that everybody has a doppelganger, I have a strong feeling that mine is Daffy Duck.

Oh, Mickey, Where Art Thou?

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Recently, I read a post on the Toon Zone forums about members requesting what shows they would like to see airing on Hasbro’s fledgling cable/satellite channel The Hub (which debuted on 10-10-10 and as of this writing is 1 year and 4 months old). In this aforementioned thread, one member, a self-described “Classic television fan” requested that The Hub should air old-school Disney cartoons such Ducktales, Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin and even the classic Disney shorts starring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto and company with the reasoning that “Disney Channel isn’t airing them anymore, so why not bring them to The Hub?”.

I’ve read similar posts like this before with fans wanting Disney cartoons and Nicktoons to air on Boomerang and similar requests. Now, I think at this point that it’s obvious that you’re never, never, NEVER (and did I mention never?) going to see Disney cartoons on The Hub, and it should be equally obvious why this will never happen. Disney and Viacom are notoriously stingy when it comes to loaning out their properties; they don’t play ‘sharsies’. Exactly how would Disney benefit from loaning out shows featuring it’s trademark characters to a competing network so the competitor can make money off of them? And how would Hasbro benefit from their channel becoming a vessel for the competition? A “Disney Too” channel, if you will? Answer: They wouldn’t. Not in the least. Yeah, I know that The Hub has aired Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, which is a  Disney movie, and  I know that The Hub has aired Muppet movies, and the Muppets are also currently owned by Disney, but here’s the thing: Cartoon Network has also aired less celebrated Disney movies such as Operation Dumbo Drop and Angels in the Outfield. Movies and TV shows that aren’t directly associated with the Mouse House are OK, but anything with Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, Donald, Buzz, Woody, Belle, Ariel or any other characters that are synonymous with Disney, forget about it! That would be like promoting the competition. Disney would sooner sit on those cartoons than let one of it’s rivals get rich off of them. Sure, from a fan’s perspective, that would be great, but from a business perspective, that wouldn’t be a smart move. At all. Mickey’s head doubles as the studio’s trademark. Disney loaning out it’s trademark characters to The Hub would make as much sense as KFC letting Popeye’s have it’s secret recipe.

In response to others’ statements regarding this, the Fan goes on to type:

I think Disney should let them go and air elsewhere as opposed to them just sitting around collecting dust and not getting any air exposure. From a viewer standpiont, I could care less where they air as long as they air SOMEWHERE. I want to see them.

Ignoring the fact that saying “I could care less” is incorrect. The expression is “I couldn’t care less”, as in “I couldn’t possibly care any less than I do now”. Saying “I could care less” implies that you could care more, It’s the general attitude conveyed in the above statement that annoys me. First, this goes back to what I covered earlier; Disney wouldn’t benefit financially in the slightest by “letting their cartoons go and air elsewhere” as in on a channel that’s owned by one of their competitors, so doing so would be just plain stupid. Second, In my time on message boards, I’ve read this rhetoric several times. This attitude from so-called “fans” that they’re dissatisfied that their favorite shows aren’t airing on their favorite channels anymore, but they’re not so dissatisfied that they’d be willing to get up off of their duffs and actually do something about it. Yes, it is too bad that we can’t see Disney theatrical shorts on the Disney Channel anymore. I agree with that, but it’s not like Disney has completely washed it’s collective hands of the “classics”. There are DVDs currently available of the classic Disney shorts, as well as some of the Disney Afternoon shows. If you really want to see them again, buy the DVDs. Look for them on legal streaming sites such as iTunes or Amazon.com. Look for them on YouTube. That’s a much more reasonable course of action than just sitting on the couch waiting for the networks to come around to your way of thinking.

I understand fans wanting to complain about their favorite shows not airing on “their” channels anymore, but what I don’t understand are these “TV or nothing” fans or this bizarre sense of entitlement that many (not all of them, mind you, but some) seem to carry around with them like spoiled children, as if the networks owe them something. The networks don’t owe you these shows any more than they owe you an explanation as to why they’re not airing them anymore. Entertainment is a business, just like any other, and in order for a network to stay in business, it must keep moving forward. Networks don’t program for individuals, and they can’t endlessly loop their shows from 1 era for all eternity just because a small group of fans refuse to let go of the past. Your wanting to see the Disney shows isn’t Hasbro’s concern, and The Hub is no more obligated to provide you with old Disney cartoons than The Disney Channel is.

Anyway, you’re not at the mercy of TV. There are other resources out there. You just have to look for them. And to the people who reply with “Not everybody has a job and can buy DVDs”, My response to this is: Irrelevant. Alcoholics will do whatever they have to do in order to get a drink. Junkies will do whatever they have to do in order to get their fix. You just need to think of your favorite shows as your personal drink or drug. If you want them bad enough, you’ll do whatever you need to do in order to enjoy them, and if you’re not willing to do that, then it obviously doesn’t mean that much to you, so there’s no point in complaining about it. These people always seem to be the ones making the most noise about how dissatisfied they are, but at the same time, they don’t want to do anything that requires any sort of effort on their part. If you’re not willing to leave your “comfort zone” or compromise even a little to get what you want, then don’t go around calling yourselves “fans”, because a true fan would do whatever he or she needed to do in order to get their TV goodness, and if you’re not willing to muster any of your cash to buy DVDs or get up out of your chair to search the internet, then you obviously don’t want it bad enough, which makes you only a fair-weather fan, and as we know, close only counts in horseshoes.


The Disney Toons Show (an idea)

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This morning, I was lurking on the Toon Zone forums. Someone at the Disney Animation forum suggested that Disney studios produce an animated series which would be the Mouse House’s equivalent to Warner Brothers’ The Looney Tunes Show on Cartoon Network centering on Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. After thinking about this suggestion this afternoon, I think that such an idea could work for Disney, if it were handled properly. This would help the Mouse House because a) The Disney Channel would have another successful animated series besides Phineas & Ferb, and b) this series could be aimed at a more general audience (kids, teens and adults alike) could prove that the Disney shorts characters (aka Mickey and the gang) have broader appeal and are capable of doing more than just entertaining preschoolers. Also, I like the idea of there being a single city/town/area in which nearly every Disney franchise would reside (with the obvious exception of the Pixar movies, of course). Not unlike Marvel’s The Super Hero Squad Show. Basically, this series would take the Disney’s House of Mouse concept a step further by showing what the Disney gang does when they’re not performing at the club. I know that I’m in the minority here, but I actually like the idea of all the Looney Tunes characters residing in a single neighborhood. I’m calling this series idea Disney’s Toontown. This is more of a broad outline than an actual idea, but nonetheless, here the skinny:

The series’ main setting would be the Cartoon Suburbs, a suburban cul-de-sac in which the shows’ principal characters, Mickey & Minnie would share a residence (as newlyweds, perhaps-Originally, I was going to have Mickey, Donald and Goofy as roommates, but I figured that fans would want to see Huey, Dewey & Louie and Max Goof on the show and I didn’t want all of those characters living together under 1 roof, as that would make for 1 overpopulated house, so I instead went with this idea. Plus, having Minnie as a main character might attract more female viewers). Pluto would be the Mickster’s loyal pet, no mystery there. M&M’s neighbors would be other characters from the Disney barnyard shorts; Donald Duck and his 3 nephews would have a house. Goofy and his son Max would have a house. Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow and even Pete would be their neighbors.

Right beyond the Cartoon Suburbs would be the main metropolis. Let’s call it Big City. Big City would be a cross between Duckburg (the setting of Ducktales) and St. Canard (Darkwing Duck). Characters such as Scrooge McDuck, Launchpad McQuack, Drake Mallard/Darkwing Duck and Bonkers D. Bobcat would reside here.

Beyond Big City would be several specialized lands for the other Disney characters: a Fairy Tale Land where the characters from the Disney fairy tales (such as the Disney Princesses) would reside. An undersea kingdom where the characters from Disney’s The Little Mermaid would reside. A Jungle Land where characters from Disney’s The Jungle Book and The Lion King would reside, etc. there would also be an area called the Toon Underground, a seedy underbelly located within the bowels of Big City where the Disney villains would hang out.

Now, I’m not saying that this is the best way to introduce the Disney characters to a new more modern audience, nor is this the only way to do so, but it is a way. All things considered, I’d say that this is pretty good for something that I just pulled out of my pants this afternoon. If Disney made a show like this, I’d watch it.