SpongeBob and the 7 Deadly Sins

July 28, 2010

[EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was originally written by "SpongeTronXYZ" in the ToonZone forums. The original link is here. I don't really like to reproduce entire articles found on other sites, but I also don't like to link to forums since they often disappear.]

I have been a fan of SpongeBob Squarepants for years and think that the depth of the characters is one of the things that really makes this show work. Ever since I heard Mr. Lawrence say (in an audio commentary on the Season 1 DVD’s) that Stephen Hillenburg based the 7 main characters on the 7 Deadly Sins, I couldn’t help but be very fascinated. I think I’ve figured out which character is each one.

1. Sloth-Patrick
Sloth is the sin of laziness, or unwillingness to act. Obviously this is Patrick. He lays under a rock all the time and doesn’t really do anything. In fact in the episode “Big Pink Loser” he got an award for doing nothing the longest.

2. Wrath-Squidward
Wrath involves feelings of hatred and anger. Squidward hates his life, usually hates SpongeBob, and is pretty much angry most of the time.

3. Greed-Mr. Krabs
Obviously Mr. Krabs is greedy and desires money. How could Greed not be Krabs? He actually sang about the power of greed in “Selling Out”.

4. Envy-Plankton
Plankton is envious of Mr. Krabs because The Krusty Krab is a success while The Chum Bucket is a failure. His envy drives him to try to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula.

5. Gluttony-Gary
I actually think this one is pretty funny. Did you ever notice the running gag in Spongebob where they say “don’t forget to feed Gary” or Sponge says “I gotta go feed Gary”. Gary even ran away that time when SpongeBob forgot to feed him. Glutony usually refers to the overindulgence of food so I’m guessing this one fits him pretty well.

6. Pride-Sandy
Sandy takes a lot of pride in who she is and where she comes from. She takes pride in the fact that she is from Texas and likes to let everyone know it. She also takes pride in the fact that she is a mammal and a land creature, like in the episode “Pressure” where she tried to prove land critters were better than sea critters.

7. Lust-SpongeBob
OK, I know what your thinking. It does seem a little weird and curious at first but I have given it a lot of thought. Lust in one definition is “excessive love of others”. I think this one works best for Spongebob. He shows his love of others with his over eagerness to do good and help people. If anything is true about SpongeBob its that he loves everyone around him, even if they don’t exactly love him back.

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Pooh and Friends

July 24, 2010

Found on reddit.

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Mini-Analyzations

July 21, 2010

  • I noticed an interesting, if pointless, link between the cartoon show The Boondocks and Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax. In both of these cartoons (or comics, books, whatever) there is a character representing big business, corporate greed, what have you. In The Lorax this character is the Once-ler, and in The Boondocks, well, it’s Mr. Wuncler. Both Once-ler and Wuncler represent the way big business uses the lower class for their own goals and rapes the land of it’s resources at the expense of all those on it. It’s just a nice little parallel, a nod of the head on the part of Aaron McGruder, as both characters’ names are pronounced the same.
    -Contributed by SamRay
  • We’ve all had our suspicions about Spongebob’s sexual orientation. Oddly, being close with a friend of the same gender points to homosexuality but, this isn’t about a relationship with Patrick. This is about the episode of Spongebob Squarepants in which his B.O. fends off residents of Bikini Bottom.
    In the episode, Spongebob confuses his B.O. for “ugly”. Spongebob’s “ugly” is homosexuality. This is backed up by a few events in the episode. Mainly, the scene where he stands on the roof of his pineapple and proclaims his ugly pride. Right after he exclaims his pride, we switch to Squidward alone remarking “Is that what he calls it?” It was right there and then that I knew that this episode was, very subtly, taking on the issue of homosexuality.
    -Contributed by Matthew S.
  • The toy characters in the Toy Story series are shown to internalize what they are made to represent: Buzz Lightyear initially believes himself to be a space explorer, the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots are extremely combative, and the like. However, they are not always equipped to actually carry out their assumed functions: Buzz’s laser doesn’t work, Rex cannot actually eat smaller animals, etc. One key inability shared by all of the toys is the inability to reproduce. Strangely, though, Woody and Bo Peep carry on a low key relationship. What makes this even stranger is that in Toy Story 2, Woody is prepared to leave for Japan and never come back, but does not even mention his relationship with Bo Peep, even though this would jump immediately into the mind of any normal person. This would suggest, then that their relationship is essentially “going through the motions”: they do it because they are “imprinted” to do so, rather than for any biological reason.
    -Contributed by H. Rex

1 Comment | Mini-Analyzations, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Boondocks, The Lorax, Toy Story, Toy Story 2, homosexuality, knock-offery, villains | Tagged: , , | Permalink
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Requiem for a Dexter

March 23, 2010

Been busy. O! So very busy.

But, I happened across this YouTube video showing similarities in the editing style between Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream (2000) and Genndy Tartakovsky’s Dexter’s Laboratory. Specifically: the 1998 episode “Topped Off” (one of my personal favorites).

And I had to share.

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Ex Situ: The Return of Hobbes

January 5, 2010

I can’t really say much more about this Metaphilm article than is already expressed in the following excerpt:

In the film Fight Club, the real name of the protagonist (Ed Norton’s character) is never revealed. Many believe the reason behind this anonymity is to give “Jack” more of an everyman quality. Do not be deceived. “Jack” is really Calvin from the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. It’s true. Norton portrays the grown-up version of Calvin, while Brad Pitt plays his imaginary pal, Hobbes, reincarnated as Tyler Durden.

Click below to read about the other eerie parallels between Calvin & Hobbes and Fight Club, including Susie Derkins, Moe, and G.R.O.S.S.

The Return of Hobbes
> Catena Ex Situ

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Ex Situ Redux: Study Shows The Princess is in Another Castle 7/8ths of the Time

December 2, 2009

[Editor's Note: This is a republish of an old Ex Situ which was part of a set, but I thought with my addendum that it deserved its own article.]

Yonder at The Minus World, there was a cleverly-conceived, confusingly both underwritten and overwritten, and woefully trying-too-hard-to-be-funny report about the frequency of Princess actualization. The original link seems to be dead, but here is a reprint:

New Haven, Connecticut – Profoundly sidetracked Yale scholars have been working feverishly to determe the statistical accuracy of finding the hypothetically kidnapped Mushroom Kingdom Princess in a castle. It has been agreed that 87.5% of the time, prospective rescuers will not happen upon the Princess and will instead hold a brief conversation with a fungus man who will inform them vaguely that her whereabouts are elsewhere. While probability and numerical accuracy have been officially cemented, researchers remain consistently baffled as to why she keeps getting yanked to begin with, or if the bitch is even worth it at this point.

Addendum: The calculation to find the Princess Probability isn’t even accurate. Taking into account the Warp Zones, there are  many different paths Mario might take during the course of the game, each with a different total probability of the Princess being in a castle, hereafter referred to as P(Princess).

In World 1-2, there is a Warp Zone to Worlds 2-1, 3-1, and 4-1. In World 4-2, there are two Warp Zones, to 5-1, 6-1, 7-1, and 8-1 in toto. So let’s break the Mushroom Kingdom into two sets: A and B, where each possible path to get to World 4-2 is in A and each possible path to get from World 4-2 to the end of the game is in B.

Here is a chart enumerating each path in A, where an “X” indicates a completed castle, NC is the total number of completed castles for that path, and NP is the total number of Princesses being in a castle for that path:

Path World 1 World 2 World 3 NC NP Notes
A_1 X X X 3 0
A_2 X X 2 0 Warp from 1-2 to 2-1
A_3 X 1 0 Warp from 1-2 to 3-1
A_4 0 0 Warp from 1-2 to 4-1

And a similar chart for set B:

Path World 4 World 5 World 6 World 7 World 8 NC NP Notes
B_1 X X X X X 5 1
B_2 X X X X 4 1 Warp from 4-2 to 5-1
B_3 X X X 3 1 Warp from 4-2 to 6-1
B_4 X X 2 1 Warp from 4-2 to 7-1
B_5 X 1 1 Warp from 4-2 to 8-1

So the total number of paths possible is:

\displaystyle \sum_{i, j} A_i+B_j=20

(which really is just A\times B=20)

To calculate the probability of The Princess being in another castle, P(AnotherCastle), we can calculate P(Princess) and subtract it from 1 to give us:

P(AnotherCastle) = P(\overline{Princess}) = 1-P(Princess)

P(Princess) is equal to the number of Princesses being in a castle in all possible paths, divided by the number of castles in all possible paths:

\displaystyle P(Princess)=\frac{\sum_{i, j} NP(A_i+B_j)}{\sum_{i, j} NC(A_i+B_j)}=\dfrac{20}{90}=\dfrac{2}{9}

(Note that \sum_{i, j} NP(A_i+B_j)=20, since each possible total path A+B results in 1 Princess being in a castle.)

So instead of  P(AnotherCastle)=\frac{7}{8}, the correct calculation is:

P(AnotherCastle)=1-\dfrac{2}{9}=\dfrac{7}{9}

Furthermore, since each path has a \frac{1}{20} probability of being taken and the total number of instances of a Princess being in another castle summed over all paths is 90-20=70, we can calculate the expected values for the number of times the Princess is in another castle and the number of Princesses being in a castle:

E(AnotherCastle)=\dfrac{70}{20}=3.5

E(Princess)=\dfrac{20}{20}=1

To summarize: on an average full game of Super Mario Bros., one should expect:

  • The Princess to be in another castle about 78% of the time
  • The Princess to be in another castle 3.5 times
  • The Princess to be in a castle 1 time

We here at J. Cart. Overanal. feel this probabilistic description is far superior, assuming we didn’t screw up the math. Comments or complaints about wonky symbol useage are welcome below.

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Darkwing Duck: Champion of the Free Market?

December 1, 2009

Contributed by J. W.

In Darkwing Duck Season 1, Episode 7 (“Dirty Money”) Darkwing is hired by a banker named J. Gander Hooter to find out who’s been removing the ink from the nation’s printed money. Showing Darkwing a stack of unprinted bills, Hooter presents an observation that subtly explains the core philosophy and flaw of the central banking system (i.e. the Federal Reserve): “This paper was once worth $10,000,” he says. “Now, without the ink, it’s worthless. Without printed money, the economy will self-destruct.” The episode never really returns to this point – in fact, the entire question of the missing ink goes largely ignored – but the fact that a children’s cartoon would even mention the economy’s self-destruction and the fact that printed money is essentially worthless paper makes it hard to believe that there’s not a greater metaphor at work in this episode.

Prior to hiring Darkwing Duck, J. Gander Hooter had hired an investigative firm called SHUSH, which is represented by a character named Agent Grizzlikof. Appropriately, Agent Grizzlikof is a bear with a Russian accent (a double layer of meaning, given that the Bear is the symbol of Russia). Throughout the episode, Grizzlikof demonstrates a Soviet’s penchant for excessive bureaucracy and an insistence that everything be done “by the book.” Before allowing Darkwing to take part in the investigation, for example, he demands that Darkwing become a member of SHUSH. This involves a lengthy application process that includes a physical obstacle course (Darkwing is literally made to jump through hoops) and a mountain of paperwork. Seeing the huge stack of papers before him (the D-11 Stroke 6 Destination Disclosure Form), Darkwing remarks that “This is worse than the obstacle course.” On cue, he is informed that “Those are just the forms for permission to fill out these forms,” at which point 7 or 8 new, even taller stacks of papers are brought to him on a forklift.

According to J. Gander Hooter, however, Grizzlikof’s methods of over-regulation have failed (a jab at the failure of Communism, perhaps?), which is why he’s hired Darkwing Duck to take over. In contrast to Grizzlikof (whom Darkwing describes as a “predictable paper-pusher”), Darkwing is praised for his “unpredictable methods,” as well as his “unique brand of logic and deduction.” It is perhaps no coincidence that “unpredictable” and “logic” are both buzzwords frequently used to describe the unregulated capitalist system idealized in libertarian/free market circles. As Dr. Robert Murphy writes in his Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism, “Aside from the ‘fact’ that it hurts the poor, the other major objection to capitalism is that it is allegedly chaotic [unpredictable]. After all, in a market economy no one is ‘in charge’ of car production, and it’s nobody’s job to make sure that enough newborn-sized diapers get made.”

The actual villain of the episode is a cleaning lady named Ammonia Pine (interesting that the villain is a worker, the central mythical figure of Marxist philosophy), who secretly works for the shadowy syndicate known as F.O.W.L. Her goal, unlike most cartoon villains, is not to steal a large sum of money, but to wage economic warfare. “With SHUSH off my tail and all the money scrubbed,” she cackles, “the banks will go down the drain like scum in a bathtub.” This dastardly scheme is championed by the High Command at F.O.W.L., with whom Ammonia Pine communicates via a small telecommunication device. Once the banks fail, they say, “Our economic experts will move in to mop up.” Towards the end of the episode, High Command reiterates this point, describing the manner in which they can “begin taking control of the banks and financial institutions.”

Thus, in a single cartoon we have a Russian bear whose mountains of regulation prove ineffective (Darkwing is only saved from Ammonia Pine’s giant vacuum cleaner when he tears Grizzlikof’s SHUSH manual into pieces and uses its pages to block the vacuum’s vent system); a villain who realizes that power comes from destroying (and then controlling) banks and financial institutions with the help of “economic experts”; and a hero whose greatest virtues are his lack of rules (i.e. he is unregulated) and his unpredictability. Sounds to me like two critiques of Communism (its bureaucracies and its thirst for economic control and power) and a wink at free-market capitalism. This is perhaps no surprise, given that Darkwing Duck first aired in 1991 when the Soviet Union was well on its way to collapse.

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Ex Situ: Color Design in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

October 29, 2009

greatpumpkin_bar

Found this one through the reliably bookmarkable Cartoon Brew. It’s a fascinating and insightful study of the color choices used in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown by Justin Hilden.

Bill Melendez’s 1966 television animated special It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown may not seem the obvious choice for a study in color theory. The Peanuts shorts from that era are usually considered beloved yet simple children’s fare. In animation circles these specials are often footnoted as being produced quickly and on the cheap. While it is certainly true that The Great Pumpkin is not high art, it has endeared itself into the collective holiday psyche of Americans since the late 1960s. Such an emotional attachment stems from the familiarity of the characters, the breezy quality of the music, the innocence of the voice acting, and also – I believe – the use and direction of color.

Mr. Hilden has graciously accompanied his article with illustrative screen captures and comments, e.g.:

The kids are surrounded and buried in these deep, dark tones with two exceptions. The kids who go trick-or-treating are anchored onto a baby blue sidewalk in the same value as the boring house interiors, in contrast to Linus and Sally who remain half covered by the Halloween intensity. This makes trick-or-treating feel less exciting than waiting in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin.

I love this stuff. The early Peanuts specials are more sophisticated and crafted than they may first appear. No wonder these things are classics. For another fascinating over-analyzation in the same vein, see “The Art of Bill Melendez.”

Color Design in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
> Catena Ex Situ

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Ex Situ: Ice Age 3: Can a Queer Utopia Be Built on Prehistoric Gender Roles?

October 28, 2009

iceage3_bar

Never saw Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, but since it’s coming to home video soon (I wish I got paid for that plug), it’s time for an apropos update.

Page Schilt has mixed feelings about Ice Age 3. On one hand, it shows animals of heterogeneous gender permuting peacefully. On the other hand, it does its best to reinforce stale stereotypes, particularly masculine tropes. Here’s a bit:

In an attempt to create a compensatory family of his own, Sid appropriates a trio of dinosaur eggs. Now in nurturing mode, he begins referring to himself as “Mommy” and even–unless I’m much mistaken–using feminine pronouns.

All of this, I know, sounds really queer.

But, like so much pop culture, Ice Age 3 simultaneously subverts and reinforces sex and gender norms. All the stuff it’s dredging up from our collective cultural anxiety closet–changing gender roles, the anti-sociality of the nuclear family, alternative communities, homoeroticism–is, I would argue, kept in check by the film’s policing of traditional gender roles.

and

The utopian nature of the collective is emphasized by the subplot about heterosexual romance between two squirrels. The female squirrel, a hot femme fatale, repeatedly uses her sexual wiles to part the male squirrel from his nut (pun intended, I’m sure). After battling it out in SM foreplay for most of the movie, the squirrels briefly succumb to sexual bliss before descending into domestic hell.

It’s a good read, with some links that I’ll probably highlight individually in the future.

Ice Age 3: Can a Queer Utopia be Built on Prehistoric Gender Roles?
> Catena Ex Situ

3 Comments | Ice Age 3, anthropomorphica, cross-dressing, ex situ, gender, homosexuality, stereotypes, the female gender, the male gender | Tagged: , , | Permalink
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From the archives: Thoughts on Peppermint Patty and Marcie

September 3, 2009

peanuts_bar

Contributed by Krissy N.

Many people like to hypothesize that perhaps Peppermint Patty and Marcy are lesbians, despite a blatant lack of evidence. Peppermint Patty is not gay. This much is obvious from her treatment of Charlie Brown. She likes him. She expresses her crush through her aggressiveness, by being overly chummy and encouraging him to do things he would normally avoid. She is forcing a relationship between them. Notice that Charlie Brown never contacts her intentionally; they run into each other at school or afterward, on the baseball team, or while shopping. Their relationship is based on knowing the same people and attending the same school.

Why Patty chooses to be aggressive toward Charlie is a matter of observation. Aside from Patty, the other girls include Sally and Lucy. Sally is Charlie’s sister, he has no choice about his relationship with her, they live in the same house. Lucy is the only girl Charlie approaches willingly, seeking her “advice” often. In these sessions she abuses and ridicules him. From observing this type of behavior, one may conclude that Charlie Brown is a masochist. Patty figures that the only way to have any sort of relationship is to abuse the poor boy. But she can’t be like Lucy because of her love for Charlie; she wouldn’t intentionally hurt him.

Marcy has no strong evidence to prove that she is not gay, but there are some interesting things I can say in support. Marcy is very passive. We have never seen her take great action, or even say much beyond offering a few helpful points to Patty or covering for her in class. Marcy reminds me a bit of Charlie Brown in her passiveness. She never places herself into any given situation, more that she is flung into it. Her actions are often dictated by others. She doesn’t have any strong ambitions or goals, neither does Charlie outside of his desire to succeed at least once. Both of them are very polite, honest, and nice to other people (especially adults). The two don’t force their opinions onto anyone, neither of them have an outgoing or aggressive “will” to speak of (Even Linus has a strong will, though no actual personality flaws. Instead, he is a dynamic personality, with an old and knowledgeable soul). Because of these similar traits I always wished to see the pair together.

Their similarities make one think about their relationship to Patty. Charlie Brown is the object of Patty’s affections, so what does that make Marcy? The Peanuts gang is partly defined by its relationships: Patty likes Charlie, Lucy likes Schroeder, Sally likes Linus, Charlie Brown likes the cute little redhead girl. Marcy is an anomaly in this social circle as a figure not involved in any type of crush as the other characters are. So it is not entirely unlikely that Marcy likes Patty. Having some of the same personality traits as Charlie Brown makes her a likely candidate as a significant other for Patty. In contrast to Charlie, Marcy chooses to be near Patty, showing more control over her circumstances than he ever could. Seeing what kind of person Patty chooses to adore, Marcy emulates that behavior, trying to draw the attention toward herself. Of course that is merely not enough. Marcy makes herself helpful so that Patty acknowledges her existence, depending on Marcy to help her out of tough situations. She wedges herself into Patty’s life the way Patty attempts to place herself into Charlie Brown’s day. Marcy uses Patty’s actions as the basis for her own.

Though Marcy might act passive to gain Patty’s favor, I do not believe that it is merely a facade. Part of the behavior is native to her personality. She spends a lot of time with Patty, it is nearly impossible for any person to maintain a passive facade that long. Patty is very overbearing and egotistical, if there existed anything with Marcy’s personality to disagree, the two egos would have clashed and the pair of girls would always be fighting. Marcy’s lack of a personality saves her persona from being crushed by the monster that is Peppermint Patty. Marcy’s innate passiveness ultimately prevents her from revealing her true feelings. Admitting now one feels about someone else takes courage, especially for introverts such a Marcy, who must live in the perfect and most likely repressed society that is the world of Peanuts.

7 Comments | Charlie Brown, Peanuts, from the archives, homosexuality, psych, stereotypes | Tagged: , , | Permalink
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