The two part season finale this morning was an excellent way to end this season though it does have one major problem. These episodes were written by Josh Harbor (who started with the show in season 4) and Nicole Dubuc (who this is her first episode. According to the Friendship is Magic Wiki, the idea to bring back the pony of shadows came from Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco. The first part was storyboarded by Kaylea Chard and Jae Harm, while the second part was boarded by Cory Toomey and Thalia Tomlinson.
This is an excellent episode and easily one of the highlights of this season. Every character is given something to do here and there time to shine, despite this though none of it feels rushed but just flows naturally from the story. The new characters are very well written and I am excited to see what they are going to do with this in the future. The world building (one of the best things about this show) is excellent and makes one excited for what will happen next. The episode does have one big problem though. This is that Twilight simply seems like too smart of a character to not realize what might happen if she preforms her spell. The idea that she is surprised by these consequences doesn't make sense as the seem like something obvious that she usually would take into consideration. Despite this though if you can get past this one big fault, this is an excellent episode.
So with Halloween coming up today we are going to look at some Halloween and Spooky themed cartoons.
Our first cartoon today is a silent film. This short stars Jerry the Troublesome Tyke. Jerry was the first animated character to be created in Wales. He was created by animator Sid Griffiths and stared in at least 41 films from 1925 to 1927. The character never made it into talkies. However this does not effect that his films are still highly enjoyable today. This short is a "spooky" one about Jerry's encounters with spook. So enjoy Spoofing a Spook.
Next up comes a pure Disney classic and one of the most famous spooky cartoons of all time. This is The Skelton Dance. This 1929 short was the first cartoon in a new series. This was the Silly Symphonies. While almost anyone else would be happy to just make Mickey Mouse cartoons, Walt Disney wanted to expand his horizons. The idea itself came from the musical director for Walt at the time, Carl Stalling. Stalling not only had the idea to make a series of cartoons based around music, but also came up with the idea for The Skelton Dance himself. Walt loved the idea and work on the film began soon. Walt's main animator at this time was Ub Iwerks, who handled most of the animation. Also animating on this film was Les Clark and Wilfred Jackson. Les Clark would state that he animated the scene where a skeleton plays another skeleton's ribs, however he is also sometimes credited with animating the opening scene instead. On the other hand it is known that Wilfred Jackson animated the rooster crowing, because it would be reused in the 1931 Silly Symphony The Cat's Nightmare where documents let us know he animated it. After he parted with the Disney studio, Ub Iwerks would direct a remake of this film for Columbia called Skelton Frolics (1937). My fellow silent film enthusiasts may also be interested to know at this movies premiere at the Carhty Circle (June 10, 1929) it played with one of the all time lost gems in Cinema history, F.W. Murnau's 4 Devils. Unlike the Mickey mouse cartoons this film is a mood piece. There is not much in the way of comedy or story here, but there is a lot of atmosphere. This however is done so great that you hardly miss the comedy or story. The film pulls you into its brilliant atmosphere and never let's go.
Last is our only made for TV cartoon on this post, Spook A Nanny. This cartoon first aired in 1964 on The Woody Woodpecker Show. For the most part this show was made up of classic theatrical cartoon shorts with new bridging sequences. Spook A Nanny was the only cartoon made for this show. While it may not be as good as the Woody Woodpecker shorts of the 1940's there is still quite a bit to recommend here. The short is rather entertaining in its own weird way, and the song is really really catchy.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Resources Used Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series by J.B. Kaufman and Russell Merritt
This morning's episode was the third episode written by Josh Hamilton. His previous episodes were Parental Glidance and Triple Threat. It was storyboarded by Jen Davreux (who has been boarding for the show since season 5) and Megan Willis (who has been boarding for the show since season 6).
This is an excellent episode. It recalls such episodes as Party of One and Lesson Zero however it never feels like a copy of those episodes. This is a quite a funny episode and where it really shines is the humor. Nearly every joke hits perfectly here. The bizarrely complicated ways Rainbow gets rid of the pies and the extreme lengths Pinkie goes to give her pies is funny enough but it is built up perfectly. It starts up pretty normal with nothing too over the top. However it gets more and more silly as the episode goes on and therefore becomes funnier and funnier with each joke. Also helping out is some excellent character animation, especially of Rainbow Dash and Applejack lying. The characters are at their most likable here and I always love these type of episodes because they are not afraid to embrace the fact that they are cartoons and can do anything.
Ok so some of you might have heard about the Teen Titians Go! theatrical released feature film. For those of you not in the know, this will be a movie based off the Cartoon Network animated TV series Teen Titians Go!. This show is a hit show, but has also alienated many fans of the 2003-2007 Teen Titians TV series who hate this show with an undying passion. Naturally because of this show getting a feature film based off it many cartoon fans are extremely upset about this news. I on the other hand am not angry as much as curious. My curiosity isn't all dedicated to this simple film, but rather to what this means for other Cartoon Network shows. Many of you may be aware of a 2002 movie called The Powerpuff Girls Movie and based off the Cartoon Network show, The Powerpuff Girls. Well this movie when released did not do as well as expected either at the box office or with critics. Because of this Cartoon Network decided to stop production on any other theatrical released feature films based off their TV shows. And from that day forward, there has not been another theatrically released movie based off a single Cartoon Network show. This is why the announcement of a Teen Titians Go! movie for theaters got me thinking. This movie will be released July 22, 2018 and I have to wonder if it does well at the box office, will there be more movies based on Cartoon Network TV show based movies made for theaters? I don't have an answer to this but it is an interesting thought. Personally I want a Courage the Cowardly Dog movie, hey I can dream can't I?
Hello again my fellow cartoon lovers. I am sure many of you like me have a special fondness for the theme songs for Hanna-Barbera TV shows. These songs are really catchy and simply set you up to watch a fun cartoon. Often times even if you haven't watched these shows in a while you still know the theme songs off the top of your head. Because of this I will count down my top 10 favorite theme songs to come from this studio. These are just my personal picks and may not be what you would pick. Also this is my ranking of the theme songs and not of the TV shows themselves. So get yourself a bowl of Kellogg's cereal and enjoy.
10. Johnny Bravo This is the only show from after the 1970's on this list. However I can't help but include it. This uses 1950's and 60's style rock music which complements the show perfectly because of Johnny's Elvis Presley like persona. This fun music gets you completely pumped to watch the show and therefore works perfectly as a theme song.
9. Josie and the Pussycats As a show about a rock band it is natural that this should have a great theme song and boy does it. The song (written by the great Hoyt Curtain) is one of the more corny theme songs here, but it is more than fun enough to make up for it.
8. Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles This very underrated show expertly blending the action hero cartoon with the classic comedy cartoon. This creates a pure sense of complete fun. Ok maybe if we were to fully critical analyze this show it would not be one of the best Hanna-Barbera shows, but there is so much fun energy here that it is a must see for all Hanna-Barbera fans. To fit this the show needs a very fun theme song and as always Hoyt Curtain provided perfectly. This song is catchy and will stick in your head.
7. The Jetsons While this show could have so easily been just The Flintstones in space, it made itself a delightful show in its own right. Even if it wouldn't always have the same amount of laughs as the stone age classic, it more than make up for this with great characters and a engaging setting. The theme song is definitely a huge plus for this show. This is one of the few animated TV shows to have a trumpet solo in its theme song (provided by Pete
Condoli).
6. Jonny Quest While Hoyt Curtain is mostly known for theme song that are fun to sing along with he was just as adapt at making a very catchy and fun instrumental theme song. This is an epic sounding theme and is a perfect introduction to Hanna-Barbera's first action adventure show.
5. The Huckleberry Hound Show With the second show out of the studio, one of there best theme songs out of the game. Huckleberry Hound was one of the studio's best and most fun shows introducing Yogi Bear, Pixie, Dixie, Mr. Jinx and of course the Hound himself. The theme song set up this fun perfectly and is extremely entertaining.
4. Top Cat Top Cat is one of my favorite TV shows, Hanna-Barbera or not. It is a very smart cartoon, with very well written characters and a great atmosphere. That atmosphere is very well set up by just the theme song, which is one of the very few Hoyt Curtain theme songs to use strings.
3.The Magilla Gorilla Show If you never got this song stuck in your head you never watched the show. This song is catchy, upbeat and all together fun. Simply Hoyt Curtain's work at his best. By the way the line "He's really ideal" was a reference to the show's sponsor Ideal Toys.
2. The Flintstones One of the studio's best and most groundbreaking shows also had one of its best theme songs. For the first two seasons a little instrumental tune called Rise and Shine was used as the show's theme. In the third season's third episode Barney the Invisible the theme we all know was first used. Written by Hoyt Curtain and preformed by a group known as the Skip Jacks, this is a fantastic song. Joseph Barbera liked to tell the story of how he paid a man to sing all the lyrics of the song in the elevator and the man got every word correct. He would describe this as the best money he ever spent.
1. The Quick Draw McGraw Show For pure laughs this is possible the studio's best show. This was mostly due to clever and laugh out loud funny scripts written by Looney Tunes writer Michael Maltase (who wrote every episode of this great show). As well as this though this show has my favorite Hanna-Barbera theme song. It is extremely catchy, upbeat and tons of fun. It fits the show it precedes perfectly. Just a pure delight.
If there are any you would have included that I left out don't be afraid to leave a comment, or make your own list. Thanks for reading and peace, love and cartoons.
As a huge buff of both animation and Akira Kurosawa movies, it is only natural that animated series inspired by his films would hold an interest to me. That is why we are going to look at these series individually. First up comes a Japanese animated TV series inspired by Kurosawa's 1961 film Yojimbo. This is Kaze no Yojimbo or as it has also been called Bodyguard of the Wind. This series first aired in 2001 and every episode of it was directed by Hayato Date (Naruto, Tokyo Underground, Saiyuki: Requiem). Only 25 episodes of this show were made.
Akira Kurosawa's original film had already inspired a lot before this anime. Kurosawa himself would make a sequel called Sanjuro, Sergio Leone's film A Fistful of Dollars was a remake and its main character even served as an influence for John Belushi's samurai character on Saturday Night Live. So it is not much of surprise that it would inspire an animated TV series.
This anime is far from a straight adaption of Kurosawa's movie. For one thing the series takes place in modern day Japan instead of 1860. Another thing is that the characters are often drastically different. Also the story often heads in directions that differ heavily from that film. What it retains from the original is a skeleton of a basic plot. A lone stranger heads to a small town to discover it is divided by a gang war and ends up becoming involved in this.
The animation itself is very limited, but there is more than enough to make up for that. The story is quite well written, the characters are interesting, and it creates a very believable and acceptable environment. The show also uses a lot of nice filmmaking touches including fast cutting, dissolves, and especially color tinting. The color is tinted so perfectly to set the mood for each of the scenes and it is very effective. This may even remind one of the great color tinting device used in the classic German films of the silent era. I am not saying this is as good as watching a Kurosawa movie but it definitely has quite a bit going for it.
I have a special fondness for The New Three Stooges Saturday morning cartoon series. The low budget for animation may be a bit too obvious at times, and The Stooges were showing their ages in the live action parts, but the series has a very nice and unique charm that I love.
However even though this was The Stooges' first TV series, it was not the first on planed. A lot of you may be aware of a live action TV pilot starring the Stooges that was never picked up called Jerks of all Trades as it has shown up on a lot of public domain DVDs. However the team also had some other animated series planned before this one. One of these was called Stooge Time, and it would have opened up with a 7minute live action sketch featuring the team after this for about 30 seconds the team would have spared each other with seltzer bottles, and that would have magically turned them animated and this would lead into a cartoon. The animation would have been achieved on this show through an invention of Moe's son in law, Norman Maurer, called Artiscope. Artiscope was a system that would film live actors and from there would create animation that would look like it was hand drawn, but really have no animators working on it. This device can be seen briefly in The Three Stooges feature film The Three Stooges in Orbit (Norman Maurer was a writer for the movie). Another animated TV show with the Three Stooges that never became a full series was The Three Stooges Scrapbook.A pilot was made for this series. Because the Stooges were becoming much more popular with children due to TV, parent groups were complaining about the violence of their films however cartoons with equal amounts of violence were also popular with children and there were (at this time at least (by the 1970's this would have changed drastically)) far less complaints about children watching these. So the show would open in live action and then Segway into an animated cartoon. The cartoons would feature more slapstick violence than the live action segment would. Unfortunately the cartoons were of very poor quality and because of this the series would never be released. However some brief clips of the pilot (including animated ones) do appear in The Three Stooges in Orbit.
Luckily in 1965 with The New Three Stooges the team finally had a Saturday Morning TV cartoon. Like The Three Stooges Scrapbook this series featured live action wraparounds with the Stooges introducing cartoons where the Stooges would provide their own voices. The first cartoon was called Little Bomb Maker Me and was done by Jay Ward Productions (famous for Rocky and Bullwinkle) and was done in a different style. However after this Cambria Pictures took over the series and did the rest of the cartoons. The live action segments were often directed by Edward Bernds, who directed many of the Stooges best shorts of the 1940's. Often appearing in these live action segments was Emil Sitka, who already had a long career as a supporting player for The Stooges. The main director and writer for the animated segments was David Detiege, who had previously been a writer for Humphry Bear shorts (for Disney) and Looney Tunes.
