Archive for the ‘Mini-Analyzations’ Category
November 18, 2008
- Has anyone else noticed how the main villains in both Aladdin and The Lion King look like Jonathan Harris, the actor who portrayed Doctor Smith on the TV show Lost in Space?
-Contributed by Ora S.
- Popeye seems to be a curious meld of Zen and absurdist philosophies. The Zen nature of Popeye is obvious: “I am what I am and that’s all that I am.” Popeye sees himself as existing neither in contrast nor comparison to any other entity, he simply is. His relationship with Olive Oyl can be read as absurdist. In many episodes, Olive willingly leaves Popeye for Bluto (or Brutus). Popeye goes to great lengths to “rescue” her when the relationship goes bad. The memory of these rescues never impresses Olive because we know she will leave Popeye again and again need to be rescued. (”Who are we waiting for? We are waiting for Godot.” Repeat ad infinitum.)
-Contributed by Chris B.
- In Muppet Babies, I feel there are two main reasons why Nanny was only shown from the knees down. These are:
1. to make a running gag
2. to make the show seem to be even more from a child’s point of view.
-Contributed by The Editor
- Of course this is pointless, but I used to notice frequently on Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids that if they were chasing a member of their group, the ensuing crowd of pursuers would also include the one who was being chased. For instance, if Rudy had committed some offense and Fat Albert and the gang chased him across that junk yard, Rudy would also be in the crowd that was chasing him! C’mon guys, spend a half-hour and ink a new cel.
-Contributed by Ken G.
- What is the concept of Pokemon? People capture these wild animals, and use them to battle other people who engage in this activity with a hope to have the strongest creatures and the title of “Pokemon Master.” Now let’s pretend this is real. You would go out and capture wild creatures and force them to fight each other. Now aren’t cockfights and dogfights illegal? And if animals were smart enough to do what they were told, I think most people wouldn’t want to do such a horrible things to them! When you think about it, the whole concept of Pokemon is wrong and evil. So I think.
-Contributed by Xwonka
Tags:cockfighting, Godot, Jonathan Harris, Lost in Space, Nanny, Zen
Posted in Aladdin, Bluto, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, Mini-Analyzations, Muppet Babies, Olive Oyl, Pokemon, Popeye, The Lion King, all categories that do not contain themselves, mistakes, morality, philosophy, villains | 2 Comments »
September 29, 2008
- I don’t know if others have noticed, but Pepe Le Pew is a glaringly insulting portrayal of the French people and all things Gallic. The cartoon relies on the stereotype that the French don’t bathe, hence Le Pew being a skunk, a rather malodorous animal. (Some people might think that the cartoons portrayal of the French as oversexed is a stereotype but, as anyone who has been to France knows, this is an astonishingly real picture of the French.) He speaks with a funny accent, too! It is completely galling! Could it get any worse? At least there was never an episode of Pepe capitulating to the Nazis. Vive l’amour!
-Contributed by Mark C.
- Brendan S. mentions several characters seen in the feature Who Framed Roger Rabbit? that were created after 1947, the year the film takes place. I read an interview with the filmmakers where they stated their excuse for this was that these characters were hanging around Toon Town in that year until they were “discovered” a few years later by the studios, as if they really existed and shared the same legends as live action movie stars. A bit of dramatic license. I think a bigger problem is the glaring lack of Tom and Jerry in the film. I guess they couldn’t get the rights to these characters.
-Contributed by Mark C.
- Is it just me, or does Panthro of the Thundercats seem like a feline representation of a black man? It’s interesting to me that even when human protagonists are replaced with somewhat more bestial protagonists, that animation directors would feel the need to express racial diversity. If you ask me, Thundercats was already demonstrating diversity by depicting feline humanoids, which have been grossly under-represented on television and elsewhere. (I mean, just because they don’t exist doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be represented, right?)
-Contributed by YHN
Tags:capitulating, Gallic, malodorous, Panthro
Posted in Mini-Analyzations, Pepe Le Pew, Thundercats, Tom and Jerry, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, anthropomorphica, ethnicity, racism, stereotypes | 4 Comments »
July 28, 2008
- I’m surprised no one has mentioned this: the lack of biological parents in cartoon shows. Think of all the characters who live with someone other than their parents: Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby living with Uncle Donald then Uncle Scrooge in DuckTales. Gosalyn and Darkwing Duck in Darkwing Duck, Robin and Nightwing living with Batman. Also, Penny and Uncle Gadget. No explanation is given about their parents’ whereabouts. When I was a kid I wondered where they were. I think if cartoon creators have a handle enough to show orphans, they should go the full monty and explain where mom and dad are.
- Contributed by Mark P.
- Yet another common device that cartoon manufacturers use is to add a character to a show that is there solely for the purpose of comic relief (usually, it backfires, though). This character is quite frequently of some other species, &c. than the main character(s). Examples are Slimer in The Real Ghostbusters, Snarf in ThunderCats, Alexander in Josie and The Pussycats, Blip in Space Ghost, Orko in He-Man, Chim-Chim in Speed Racer, Godzuki in Godzilla, and Needler in The Pirates of Dark Water.
- Contributed by The Editor
- What’s the nature of ghosts in The Real Ghostbusters? Are they extra-dimensional critters, traumatic psychic residue, or is the team actually capturing the souls of the deceased with proton lightning and cramming them in a basement nuclear reactor? That seems awfully blasphemous. Perhaps it’s symbolic of people’s willingness to ignore their past, or maybe a commentary on modern urban life being “soulless.”
- Contributed by Blake
Tags:orphan, Chim-chim, Godzuki, blasphemy
Posted in Batman, Darkwing Duck, DuckTales, Godzilla, He-Man, Inspector Gadget, Josie and The Pussycats, Mini-Analyzations, Space Ghost, Speed Racer, The Pirates of Dark Water, The Real Ghostbusters, Thundercats | 3 Comments »
July 8, 2008
- Anyone else read WALL•E as a sort of white flag between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates? How, in the future, all that’s left is a tough, very primitive PC is all that’s left in the vast wasteland of Earth and here comes this sleek and sexy Mac that is better in every way, and yet at the very end, the two have to band together for the future of mankind? The one damning thing is that WALL•E sounds like a Mac when he boots up. Hmm…
-Contributed by Doc Happenin
- After reading the post about WALL•E I just wanted to throw something out there that I’ve been thinking about. I was compelled to contribute to your finely crafted blog when I followed the link and saw him on a pile of trash and in the heap was a discarded doll of Sully. [Ex Situ: Is WALL-E Environmental or Hypocritical?]
Pixar is very pro-environmental and for this to be stated - “I don’t have a political bent, I don’t have an ecological message to push” - is a slap in the face. If we use Monsters, Inc. as a case study we can prove that they do, in fact, have a political and environmental slant.
The main premise of Monsters, Inc. is to uproot the current system of energy consumption and production and to find alternative means for generating energy. Fear wasn’t a viable energy source anymore because it was fading fast while, obviously, by the end of the film they made laughter seem to be endless and more efficient. It reeks (no pun) of the fight between fossil fuels and alternative energy - be it wind, solar or whatever. aside from this, the rest of the movie is wrought with big business maneuvers, corporate scandals and cover-ups and a communist finale - Sully, a worker, takes control of the company.
I think they do push their agendas and do it in a way that most people never fully catch on. It’s propaganda with crayons and celebrity voices and they send it home with your kids happy meals.
-Contributed by Raymond K.
- Seven Samurai → The Magnificent Seven → ¡Three Amigos! → A Bug’s Life
-Contributed by The Editor
Tags:Three Amigos
Posted in A Bug's Life, Mini-Analyzations, Monsters Inc., WALL-E, knock-offery | 1 Comment »
June 8, 2008
- Inspector Gadget is the epitome of the 80’s in one cartoon. You have a police department that isn’t corrupted in the media yet, you have references to old 70’s tv shows (this message will self-destruct), you have the fascination with computers (Penny’s laptop that’s thicker than today’s printers) and robotic stuff (the wonderful Inspector himself), and the fear of a huge, crazy, foreign power (MAD-obviously he’s supposed to represent Russia — look at all of the “agents of MAD” — they’re Russian spies in cartoon format). It’s the 80’s. Not to mention the music.
-Contributed by Bryn D.
- If you will notice in the Disney movie DuckTales: Secret of the Lost Lamp, the animation quality is fantastic at the beginning, but quickly degrades into merely tolerable. Then, at the very end of the movie, the animation quality is quickly back to its original level. Presumably this was an attempt to cut costs and production time while trying to prevent the audience from realizing it.
- Contributed by The Editor
- Ever notice that in G.I. Joe, the shots from Cobra’s lasers are always blue, and the Joes’ are always red? Even if one of the Joes picks up a Cobra laser, the color is still red. Could these colors hold some inner meaning?
- Contributed by Paul J.
- The main characters on Ed, Edd n Eddy on Cartoon Network could represent the ID, Ego, and Superego. Ed is a free spirit who always wants to have fun. Edd “Double-D” is more reserved and nervous and makes the perfect Super-ego. Finally, Eddy is the ego, which balances out the other other two.
- Contributed by SDOG1028
Tags:super-ego
Posted in DuckTales, Ed Edd n Eddy, G.I. Joe, Inspector Gadget, Mini-Analyzations | No Comments »
May 24, 2008
- A discovery while viewing Underdog- It’s rather baffling to observe that Underdog, his alter-ego Shoeshine Boy, Sweet Polly Purebred, Riff Raff & Tap Tap the Chisler (an evil Underdog look-alike) are the only anthropomorphic dogs in an otherwise all-human city. And no one bats an eye over this!
-Contributed by Brendan S.
- There was one major exception to the “nobody dies” rule in G.I. Joe. I refer to, of course, the memorably haunting two-part “alternate universe” episode. A group of Joes went through a dimensional portal to a world where Cobra had taken over. This episode contained several shocking scenes (like a Cobra Commander statue replacing the Statue of Liberty), but none more so than scenes of the Joes coming across their own skeletons, or rather those of their counterparts from that dimension. In that universe, the entire Joe team had been killed, and we saw the remains to prove it. One other note: being an 80’s cartoon, that episode’s obvious underlying message was, “this is what will happen if the Commies ever take over the U.S.” A similar theme, with aliens replacing terrorists, was later taken up in Exo-Squad (easily the most disturbing “children’s” cartoon I’ve ever encountered.)
-Contributed by Christopher H.
- One thing that always bothered me was that back when Scooby’s villains were just people in scary costumes: why did they have super strength? I mean, you would see them pick up insanely heavy objects like sofas or filing cabinets and throw them like they were pillows, or they would smash through wood or metal doors, or even walls with their bare hands. They should have been very seriously injured, but they just kept on going like it was nothing.
-Contributed by Tim M.
- The only problem I have here is the origin of Sancho Panda. I understand he’s a parody of Sancho Panza from Don Quixote but Pandas have never been found in Spain where the show takes place. Plus, I’m not too sure of this, but Coyotes aren’t exactly numerous in Spain either.
-Contributed by Dante W.
Tags:alternate universe, Don Quixote, Sancho Panda, skeletons
Posted in Don Coyote, Exosquad, G.I. Joe, Mini-Analyzations, Scooby-Doo, Underdog, anthropomorphica, death | No Comments »
May 13, 2008
- Here’s a theory you might have missed behind “Casper the Friendly Ghost”. It goes that Casper is symbolism of homosexuality and the struggle for gays in society. Casper is a boy ghost or male who constantly seeks the company of other boys or other males. The boys seem to think Casper is a nice fellow and find nothing wrong with his company. After a short while of cute playing, the friendship is ruined when grown ups, who represent the more “traditional” views of society, intervene. More than frowning on such relationships, they fear it terribly and steal the innocent boy and run away from poor Casper, who is left to seek out the next relationship.
-Contributed by Dave R.
- In Tex Avery’s “King Size Canary,” a cat and canary compete by “growing” larger with the use a vitamin serum; the bigger one has the edge on the other. It goes back and forth with no resolution other than running out of serum as they stand on a basketball sized earth. This is all a metaphor for the US vs. USSR nuclear arms race!
-Contributed by Dave R.
- There has been a great deal of speculation regarding the fact that Smurfette is the only female Smurf in the entire village. People automatically assume that Smurfette is responsible for the propagation of the entire Smurf population. This is an erroneous assumption, because this theory postulates that Smurfs reproduce sexually. I offer forth the idea that Smurfs reproduce asexually, much like amoebas. I believe that when a Smurf takes off his little white hat, the hat grows a new Smurf, and the old Smurf grows a new hat. In the case of Smurfette, well, there is at least one obviously homosexual Smurf in the village (that being Vanity), so why not two? I submit the idea that Smurfette is simply a cross-dressing male Smurf, and there are no real females in the village. No real female acts that over-the-top feminine. I have converted many unbelievers to this theory, based on the simple logic that it puts forth.
-Contributed by Natalie.
- For me, the show that brought the whole anthropomorphic vs. realistic animals debate home for me was none other than The Get Along Gang. It struck me as weird to begin with; you stick a moose on his hind legs and he looses something fundamental about being a moose. And Montgomery has antlers, which brings up the issue of whether they could be considered a weapon in his society. But the episode that sealed it was the one in which the Gang ends up in a snowy town where they must search for an escaped elephant. A non-anthropomorphic elephant. From the zoo! I always thought that if you’re going to create a world of humanoid animals, you might as well go all out and populate your zoo with humans.
-Contributed by Farnie6.
Tags:cold war, asexual reproduction
Posted in Casper, Mini-Analyzations, Smurfs, Tex Avery, The Get Along Gang, anthropomorphica, cross-dressing, gender, homosexuality, politics, stereotypes, the female gender, the male gender | 5 Comments »
May 2, 2008
- “I don’t know if Disney has a house rule about which animals can speak and which cannot, but guidelines seem to be emerging. The rule is, if you are a predatory carnivore, you don’t talk, but if you are a pacifist, a vegetarian or cute, you do. In Tarzan, the apes spoke, but the leopards didn’t. In Dinosaur, all of the creatures speak, except for the vicious carnotaurs. A Faustian bargain seems to be at work: If you are an animal in a Disney picture, you can speak, but only if you are willing to sacrifice your essential nature.”
-Quoted from Roger Ebert’s review of Dinosaur >Catena Ex Situ
- A black & white Betty Boop in Who Framed Roger Rabbit was employed a cigarette girl at the Ink & Paint Club circa 1947. She bemoaned how “work’s been kind of slow since cartoons went to color”. Perhaps Miss Boop forgot about her starring role in the 1934 Fleischer Color Classic “Poor Cinderella.”
-Contributed by Brendan S.
- In Ratatouille, whether Remy walks on all-fours or on two feet depends on his mood:
“If he feels exuberant, he tends to be more upright, and his hands pulled back. Later on, when he feels shame in front of his father, and [his dreams] have all turned into disaster, he folds back in again. It’s not just a mannerism. It’s a thing that helps tell the story.”
-Quoted from an L.A. Times interview with Brad Bird >Catena Ex Situ
Tags:Roger Ebert, Brad Bird, Disney, Faust, mannerism
Posted in Betty Boop, Dinosaur, Mini-Analyzations, Ratatouille, Tarzan, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, ex situ, mistakes | 4 Comments »
January 27, 2008
There’s a new feature here at J. Cart. Overanal., and it’s called Mini-Analyzations! We’ll throw these up a few at a time. These are all from the old archives.
Again, don’t hesitate to send in your own.
- I guess it’s worth mentioning that of the 101 dalmatians, the minority of them had blue collars. This has implications ranging from gender discrimination (the color of the collar is associated to the character’s gender) to socio-economic generalizations toward blue collar workers.
- Contributed by Fawzi
- In Robotech, haven’t you noticed that the RDF is considered a defense force? Only Japan has a national defense force, and since the show was animated in Japan, it would be obvious that they would be a defense force. If the show was animated in the United States, they would be the Robotech Army.
- Contributed by Seprihoth5
- If you will note at the beginning of The Simpsons, the “Simps” part is visible before the “ons” part. This is undoubtedly a reference to the word(s) “simpleton” or “simple-minded,” etc.
- Contributed by Peter I.
- In Transformers, all the bad guys were some kind of flying object and the good guys were some type of vehicle.
- Contributed by LUVMYHALEYBUG
- The native country of Boris Badunov and Natasha Fatale, Pottsylvania, is basically a combination of the extreme American stereotypes of World War II Germany and Cold War Russia.
- Contributed by The Editor
Posted in 101 Dalmatians, Mini-Analyzations, Robotech, Rocky & Bullwinkle, The Simpsons, Transformers, from the archives | 3 Comments »
