August 6, 2009
Contributed by Brendan S.
Two of my all-time favorite movies, 1939’s The Wizard of Oz and 1968’s Yellow Submarine, have several things in common besides being musical fantasies- they’re practically parallel in a number of ways:
| The Wizard of Oz |
Yellow Submarine |
Colorful, peace-loving kingdom under siege by evil despots and their minions:
The Wicked Witch of the West
The flying monkeys |
Colorful, peace-loving kingdom under siege by evil despots and their minions:
The Chief Blue Meanie
The Dreadful Flying Glove |
| The Mayor of Munchkin City |
The Lord Mayor of Pepperland |
| A sepia-toned Kansas |
A bleak, grey Liverpool, England |
| Dorothy wanting more than her drab surroundings |
Ringo: “Nothing ever ‘appens to me.” |
| The song “Over the Rainbow” |
The rainbow gate to Pepperland |
| The Kansas farmhands each having counterparts in Oz |
The Beatles meet their Pepperlandian doubles- namely Sgt. Pepper’s band |
| Evil talking trees throw apples at Dorothy and the Scarecrow |
The Apple Bonkers drop large apples on the heads of innocent victims |
| The Yellow Brick Road served as the path to Oz |
The Yellow Submarine brought the Beatles on a perilous journey |
Highly intellectual albeit slightly befuddled individual who befriends the main characters:
The Wizard |
Highly intellectual albeit slightly befuddled individual who befriends the main characters:
Jeremy Hilary Boob, Ph.d. |
| The Emerald City, which led to the Wizard’s palace |
The Sea of Green, which led to Pepperland |
| The Wizard, in his hot-air balloon, accidentally leaves Dorothy stranded in Emerald City |
Old Fred, on board the submarine, Old Fred, on board the submarine, stranded in the Sea of Phrenology at one point |
Brief but effective use of classical music:
“Night On Bald Mountain” by Mussorgsky |
Brief but effective use of classical music:
“Air On a G String” by Bach and “Peer Gynt Morning Suite” by Grieg |
| On her broom, the Wicked Witch skywrites “Surrender Dorothy” over Oz in hideous black smoke |
The Flying Glove left behind a trail of smoke jetting the skies of Pepperland while terrorizing the populace |
| The Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion successfully infiltrate the Witch’s army to rescue Dorothy |
The Beatles crudely disguise themselves as an Apple Bonker to infiltrate the Meanie army and bring Pepperland back to its glory |
Act of kindness used to defeat the bad guys:
a bucket of water thrown at the Wicked Witch |
Act of kindness used to defeat the bad guys:
music was used as a weapon against the Meanies & completely restored Pepperland |
| With the Witch having been killed, the flying monkeys and army are free from her control |
The Blue Meanies decided to give up their evil ways and join in the eternal celebration/happiness |
| In spite of it all being a dream, Dorothy spoke fondly of her adventure in Oz, the good and the bad |
Back in our world, the flesh and blood Beatles speak of the great time they had in Pepperland-even with more Blue Meanies lurking in theaters |
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1 Comment | 
Yellow Submarine, knock-offery, villains | Tagged: Blue Meanies, Liverpudlian, Mussorgsky, Surrender Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz | 
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Posted by The Editor
June 12, 2009
[Editor's Note: I found this Ex Situ via the indispensable The Disney Blog.]
Mr. Michial Farmer at Ladder on Wheels has written an excellent two-parter about themes of darkness and anxiety in Disney and Pixar movies (including Up). It’s practically a survey of disturbing things in Disney and Pixar movies. The first part is all about how dark the early Disney features were, and how they lost some of that darkness after (roughly) World War II:
…All of the early Disney features—for our purposes, let’s define “early” as prewar, which would allow us to work with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi—are shiny and beautifully drawn, but all of their prettiness only serves to hide the deep, existential dread at their cores.
While Mr. Farmer has a good point, I do think he neglects some of the darker imagery of The Rescuers, The Black Cauldron, The Lion King, or even Lilo & Stitch. Though the darkness in these films isn’t quite as fundamental or thematic as most of the pre-WWII examples he gives.
His second part is all about how Pixar’s stories are successful partly because they have embraced those mature themes which have been largely absent from the post-war Disney films. Here’s part of his discussion of Finding Nemo:
Finding Nemo, on the other hand, begins with a reference to and amplification of the central terror in Bambi. Here Marlin’s wife dies a terrible death just as they’re planning their life together, and the Barrucuda who eats her also goes ahead and takes out all but one of her eggs. Marlin—understandably, although the film doesn’t seem to acknowledge that!—becomes a picture of anxiety, protecting his disabled son (a nod to Dumbo, though Nemo doesn’t get the brutal mocking that his elephantine counterpart does) from the world that took his wife with little to no warning.
It’s very true that Pixar does not shy away from including more sophisticated and mature themes. It’s certainly part of the reason why Pixar movies resonate strongly with both kids and adults. Pixar also does not make the mistake (common among the filmgoing public) of mistaking “dark/edgy” for “dark/mature.” A lot of cartoon and comic fans seem to think it validates their love of the artform if disturbing stuff is haphazardly included, whether or not it actually adds anything symbolically or thematically. Pixar probably learned its lesson after that first disastrous “edgy” draft of Toy Story.
Deep in the Big Black Heart of the Sunshine State
Part 1 >Catena Ex Situ
Part 2 >Catena Ex Situ
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Leave a Comment » | 
A Bug's Life, Atlantis, Bambi, Bolt, Brother Bear, Cars, Chicken Little, Cinderella, Dumbo, Fantasia, Finding Nemo, Home on the Range, Lady and the Tramp, Lilo and Stitch, Meet the Robinsons, Monsters Inc., Pinocchio, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Song of the South, The Black Cauldron, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Incredibles, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Frog, The Rescuers, Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3, Up, WALL-E, death, ex situ, morality, philosophy, villains, violence | Tagged: angst, existential dread, ontological, The Island, World War II | 
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Posted by The Editor
April 24, 2009
So what’s the deal with Sugar Bear (you know, that seemingly cute character that always terrorizes his victims by chanting the “you can’t get enough of that Golden Crisp” jingle), is he a good guy or a bad guy? While the traditional response is that he’s a good guy, I propose that he is pure evil. He’s constantly stealing the cereal from Granny Goodwitch, and doesn’t her name suggest that she’s a “good witch?” She goes all the way back to the old wild west in an attempt to escape him, but he’s always there, he’s always one step ahead, waiting to crush the hopes and dreams of an old lady. And if he is a good guy, is this encouraging kids to steal?
- Contributed by Joshua L.
Hmm, actually Sugar Bear has constantly walked the line between good and evil. In all of his early commercials he was that defender and not the aggressor. Alligators and other animals would constantly try to steel his Super Golden Crisp and he would eat it and smack them around (think Popeye with cereal). But in his more recent commercials he does indeed steel cereal from Granny Goodwitch, so the question is, what caused Sugar Bear to fall from grace?
-Contributed by Karmacide
Reading this stuff about Sugar Bear’s transformation from good guy to bad made me think that this change was brought about by society’s view of sugar! Originally, the cereal was known as Post Super Sugar Crisp. Somewhere in the 1980’s, society decided that all things sugar were bad (note that Tony the Tiger once sold “Sugar Frosted Flakes”). Sugar was demonized, and dropped from the names of cereals everywhere – Kellogg’s Corn Pops and Honey Smacks were once Sugar Pops and Sugar Smacks – thus the transformation to Super Golden Crisp. Unable to change the name of an established and possibly possible character, the powers that be probably changed the animated ursine’s personality traits to make them more in line with the view of sugar in American society.
- Contributed by Rich S.
Actually (at the risk of dating myself) Sugar Bear was part of a trilogy of cartoons that used to run on ABC in the late 60s/early 70s (?). He appeared in his own episode along with a postman that represented another Post cereal, Alpha-bits, and a lion that represented yet another cereal I have forgotten. In his cartoon, he was a good character.
- Contributed by Ken G.
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3 Comments | 
Sugar Bear, Tony the Tiger, from the archives, morality, villains | Tagged: Frosted Flakes, Golden Crisp, Granny Goodwitch, Sugar Crisp | 
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Posted by The Editor
April 20, 2009
- In Little Bear, the Bear family celebrates not Christmas or Hanukkah or even Kwanzaa, but “Winter Solstice.” This implies that the Bears are, in fact, pagans. It is also curious that the adult bears wear clothes while Little Bear is free to roam naked. Perhaps there is a coming of age ritual (a breeching?) in which younger bears are finally allowed to wear clothes as part of their symbolic transition into adulthood.
-Contributed by The Editor
- Several of The Backyardigans can be associated with a different continent:
- Pablo the penguin (family Spheniscidae)→ Antarctica
- Tasha the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) → Africa
- Austin the kangaroo (genus Macropus)→ Australia
Tyrone is either a North American moose or a European elk (Alces alces). Uniqua is most likely either a mud salamander (Pseudotriton montanus) or an axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), both found in North America. Thus, Tyrone must be associated with Europe.
-Contributed by The Editor
- Handy Manny can be viewed as one man’s quixotic battle against the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
-Contributed by The Editor
- I’ve finally figured out a common trait in lovable cartoon dogs: a relatively large nose.
- debonair dog Brian Griffin has a massive fan base (which I am part of)
- Scooby Doo has enormous fame, not to mention his face on lots of merchandise
- Muttley (popular in Britain at least) has a capability to do anything without getting in trouble. i.e. people will feel sorry for him more often than not.
- Augie Doggy and Doggie Daddy (of Quick Draw McGraw) have a pleasant un-harmful air to their appearances.
-Contributed by UCH
- This is more of a question than an observation. Exactly what time period does Batman: The Animated Series take place? Look at the cars (Batmobile excluded) all of them are from roughly the mid 40’s and all the gangsters wear pinstripe suits and use tommy guns. (Including some of the villains look at Scarface and Two-face) But for all these antiquated references the people of Gotham city still use cellular phones, satellite communication, the latest in biological engineering and lasers, not to mention the multitude of nifty gadgets the super villains use.
-Contributed by Dante Wyrmfoe
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5 Comments | Batman, Family Guy, Handy Manny, Mini-Analyzations, Scooby-Doo, villains | Tagged: Augie Doggie, axolotl, breeching, Doggie Daddy, Muttley, Pseudotriton montanus, Uniqua | Permalink
Posted by The Editor
April 9, 2009
[Editor's note: This incredible, epic article has been floating around the web for about a year; it's originally from one of the memers at 4chan (though it is suspected to have actually been written by either Francis Bacon, Mary Anne Evans, or George Eliot). Recently over at deviantART, an individual known only as BellicoseBreakfast took it upon itself to edit and proof the article for improved readability and coherence, and post it on the deviantART forum. For this, we are most grateful. Rather than merely link to a forum, diaphanous and mercurial as feline affection, we have taken the liberty of reposting it below in its lengthy entirety, with a merciful page break.]
Have you ever noticed that the pacing, tone and story development of Pokemon changes after Ash is hit by lightning in the early episodes, how Ash and his world were relatively normal until after the incident?
I have a theory.
The accident with the bike put Ash into a coma. Days later he was found and was hurried to the hospital and treated with heavy medications, which is why Team Rocket became less menacing. The medication took effect and stabilized his coma dreams so that instead of being terrifying, they became idyllic, allowing him to live out his Pokemon master fantasies.
After the beginning episodes, the series is the result of Ash’s subconscious mind fulfilling his desires, as well as attempting to escape reality. Should Ash realize he’s in a coma, he would wake up, but suffer brain damage, so he must take down all of his mental barriers one by one until he can come to grips with who he is and escape his coma (since his mind will not allow him to escape until he’s come to terms with himself).
Further evidence comes from the realization that even though his journeys take him vast distances, he never travels on a bike due to having developed a phobia.
The coma and fantasy explains why he doesn’t change much physically. It also explains the worldwide socialism, as he thought up a safe system of government that would run smoothly and keep the world going, allowing his adventures to work like they do. It also explains how a child can go off on his own into a world full of dangerous and untamed animals, and why town has the same police officer and every Pokemon centre has the exact same nurse. Joy and Jenny he knew from his hometown, and they act as a safety net or anchor, allowing him to feel safe no matter where he goes. Joy and Jenny represent stability. The professors represent Ash’s ideals, which is why Gary became a professor. The fantasy also explains why every time he enters a new region, virtually no one has heard of him, despite his conquests. How could Paul, the rival of the Sinnoh area, not know of someone who has placed in at least the top 16 of all three leagues and has destroyed the Orange League and Battle Frontier?
Read the rest of this entry »
268 Comments | Pokemon, cross-dressing, death, homosexuality, villains | Tagged: 4chan, coma, Meowth, Pikachu, raging inferno of disobedience, Squirtle, Team Rocket | Permalink
Posted by The Editor
April 3, 2009
Contributed by Sterling F.
Of all the shows mentioned on this web site, no one has mentioned Biker Mice from Mars. This truly underrated show had some surprising adult characters and situations.
First let’s look at the main characters. Throttle is the quintessential leader who is smart and your average guy. He is the only one with a girlfriend who is tough and very loyal. Vinnie is the classic young, hyper, oversexed man. He boasts and brags consistently and of course tries to get women (I’ll explain that more later). Modo is the lovable big guy who is committed to family (he is pretty much a mama’s boy). Charley is a woman who lives alone and is a mechanic (she is also the most realistic looking woman as she rarely wears sexy clothing). She obviously enjoys the company the Biker Mice bring her. The villain Limburger is very similar to the British villains seen in James Bond films. His assistant Carbunkle is androgynous in both look and voice. Greasepit, a henchman, is an idiot.
Now, there are tons of sexual overtones and innuendos between Charley and Vinnie. It is evident in the first episodes (in the second episode when Charley is dressed in a short skirt and falls over in front of them, Vinnie asks her to “turn around again”). Other incidents include: his reactions to when Charley is in danger (male protectiveness of his woman), flexing in front of her, jealousy (evident when Charley’s old boyfriend showed up), and many incidences in which he wants her to check him out. Charley flat out refuses all his advances (after all, that is bestiality) but even including that kind of relationship which is more obvious than Elisa and Goliath in Gargoyles is bold.
Also, the Biker Mice are borderline chauvinistic in most of the episodes. They fight while Charley sits in the garage only because they make her. She often has to fight to get equal treatment from them which mirrors the women’s rights movement and the glass ceiling issue.
The villain Limburger could be considered gay. He never does anything himself against the Biker Mice, he hires someone else to do it. Limburger has no family to speak of (except for a nephew…think of Scar from The Lion King) and is often running, yelling, and screaming (with Carbunkle in tow) from the Biker Mice. Also, Limburger has an inferiority complex. He loathes anything dealing with being Plutarkian (he is an alien). He despises doing the Plutarkian greeting and always has on his human mask even when he does not need to (in fact an episode showed a flashback where he was infatuated with Earth movies).
One thing about the show that seemed negative was the portrayal of rats. All the rats on the show are evil or do evil things. Modo, in particular, gets angry when anyone compares him to a rat. The person(?) that brings down the Martian forces is a rat disguised as a mouse who infiltrates the group. He also kidnaps the girlfriend of Vinnie (note that this takes place before they get to Earth). This smells of racism (the rats being African-Americans) and the rat kidnapping one of the mice’s girlfriend goes right into the stereotype of African-American men craving white women.
There are also lots of in-jokes. The voice of Vinnie is Ian Ziering of 90210. Thus, the show had guest appearances by people from 90210 including Luke Perry, Jason Priestly, and Jennie Garth (in fact, Luke Perry’s character looked like a twisted version of him). Also, an episode of the show dealt with Shakespeare. The voice of Limburger is a Shakespearean actor.
I hope this gives you an idea of the show, which was on the air for three seasons. Even though the animation was not nearly as good as Disney or Warner Bros., the writing combined sexual tension, humor, action, and adult in-jokes in virtually every episode while staying within the realm of children’s television. Also, what show geared toward kids would stretch out a storyline through 3 weekly episodes (as it did in its final season, before shows like ReBoot or Beast Wars did it)? Anyone who is a fan of this show or vaguely remembers it should comment and tell me what you think.
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1 Comment | Beast Wars, Biker Mice from Mars, Gargoyles, ReBoot, The Lion King, ethnicity, from the archives, gender, homosexuality, racism, stereotypes, the female gender, the male gender, villains | Tagged: 90210, bestial, Limburger, Throttle | Permalink
Posted by The Editor
February 27, 2009
- A long-running – seemingly endlessly iterated, in fact – conflict between enemies known as Tom and Jerry. Where else have we seen this? That’s right, the First World War, in which the Brits were known collectively as “Tommy Atkins” and they called the Germans “Jerries” (well, when they weren’t calling them “Huns”). Interesting, then, that it’s with Jerry – the historical loser – that our sympathies lie. Revisionist propaganda? Perhaps. Perhaps.
Come to think of it, weren’t the majority of these cartoons produced during and shortly after the second World War, in which Jerry (if you will) was once again the enemy? Posited: a subversive attempt to counteract the “all Germans are Nazis are Evil” propaganda then current – a sort of Don’t Let’s be Beastly to the Germans, without Noel Coward’s sarcasm.
-Contributed by Jeffie
- You know, if you think about it, The Muppets were quite a sublime commentary on the human condition. None of the Muppets were good at what they wanted to be. Piggy wasn’t beautiful. Fozzie wasn’t funny. Kermit couldn’t make his show a success. The Swedish Chef could not cook, etc. They all constantly failed, yet kept trying.
-From Scott Kurtz’s PvP, 12/10/2008
- There’s one reservation I have about [The Rescuers Down Under]. Why does the villain have to be so noticeably dark-complexioned compared to all of the other characters? Is Disney aware of the racially coded message it is sending? When I made that point to another critic, he argued that McLeach wasn’t dark-skinned – he was simply always seen in shadow. Those are shadows are cast by insensitivity to negative racial stereotyping.
-From Roger Ebert’s Review of The Rescuers Down Under
- The Count from Sesame Street shows classic symptoms of OCD.
-Contributed by Jim W.
- In WALL•E, the span of years listed for each of the Axiom’s previous captains is ambiguous about whether it denotes each captain’s lifespan or the number of years in which he or she was captain of the ship. It should be noted that there is no overlap in the years for each captain. This leans towards the possibility that each person’s time as captain lasted an average of 133.2 years. Regardless, whatever each captain’s span of years denotes, they just happen to total out to 666.
From the first captain to the last one before Jeff Garlin’s character:
143+131+140+124+128 = 666
-Contributed by Joon K.
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2 Comments | Mini-Analyzations, Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, The Rescuers Down Under, Tom and Jerry, WALL-E, diagnosis, ex situ, philosophy, racism, stereotypes, villains | Tagged: 666, Axiom, Don't Let's be Beastly to the Germans, Fozzie, Kermit, Miss Piggy, The Count, The Swedish Chef | Permalink
Posted by The Editor
January 13, 2009
If you’ve played The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, you know that the only weakness on Ganon’s body once Ganondorf has transformed is the tail. This might seem strange, but it is very coincidental when you look at Dragon Ball Z. In DBZ, there is a race called Sayians (one of many spellings). The Sayians look human enough but they have the special ability to transform into large beasts that often run amuck. I noticed that in one of the battles, the character of Vegeta is fighting Earth’s protector, Goku, and Vegeta decides to use his special ability. When he does, the only thing that stops him in his large, beastly form is when someone cuts his tail off. The correlation is apparent but whether or not the creators of Zelda were influenced by the legendary Dragon Ball Z cartoons is up for speculation.
- Contributed by Andy W.
There are a few “tail” incidents in Dragon Ball Z – someone’s always getting his tail cut off. However, unlike Zelda, the monsters’ tails in DBZ are their strength – they use their tails to fight (like Frieza). When the tail is cut off (a much more difficult feat than slicing Ganon’s appendage), so is their strength. In Zelda, Ganon’s tail is his weak point – he does not use his tail to fight, but is continually turning away from Link so he can’t hit at his tail. Herein lies the microscopic error in the correlation.
- Contributed by Jess
In reading the link one person found between the weakness of the tails for both Ganon (Zelda: Ocarina of Time) and the Sayans (Dragon Ball), I have noted a few things. First, I believe that these were sexual references, because of how tails were used early on during the Japanese version of Dragon Ball. In earlier episodes withheld from the American market, one would see Goku (just a boy at the time) using his tail to fiddle around with Bulma.
Sure, he used his tail for more practical purposes for hanging and such but the sexual reference became distinct when he used his tail with Bulma. (This was due to the original intentions for Dragon Ball to be a semi-hentai series, more for comic relief than overpowered fighting monsters.) Now what does this have to do with the tails being the weakpoints for the Sayans? This is simple. What is the single most extreme pain that a guy can feel? That’s right, a kick to the ahem. If indeed the tails represented the male sexual organ, but put in a way to be able to show children, then my theory would be all too true.
As for Zelda’s Ganon, it may be based more on fact than just coincidence with Dragon Ball. One may not have noticed this, but tails are weak. When a pig has his tail grabbed, it squeals and does not like it. Dogs who wag their tails too much often have it snap off (yes it is indeed a disgusting picture) and therefore some people have their tails snipped before something like this happens. By this simple rule, the creator Shigero Miyamoto may have seen this, and decided, “Well if the bad guy is an animal with a tail, perhaps its best to put the weakness there since it would make sense.” On the other hand, it simply may have been that Ganon’s tail is the only accessible part of his body that would make sense to attack during the fight. After all, Ganon represents the ultimate evil, with incredible power. In most stories (Norse mythology for example) the extremely powerful people have a single weak spot. Baldir had the mistle toe, as did Achilles with his ankle. With all these ideas combined, it made a lot of sense to go with the tail as a weakpoint in the game.
- Contributed by PodularKix
One reader wrote in with these lines:
“In earlier episodes witheld from the American market, one would see Goku (just a boy at the time) using his tail to fiddle around with Bulma. Sure he used his tail for more practical purposes for hanging and such but the sexual reference became distinct when he used his tail with Bulma. (This was due to the original intentions for Dragon Ball to be a semi-hentai series, more for comic relief than overpowered fighting monsters.)”
This is completely untrue. I have read the first twenty odd issues of Dragon Ball (unedited) and I have not once seen anything to back that statement up. Nor have I ever heard such a thing regarding the anime in any of the various magazine articles or books I have read that addressed the series. Dragon Ball started out as a comedic version of the Chinese legend of the Monkey King with martial arts overtones, then it reversed the formula, more martial arts with comic moments. There is only sparse nudity in the comics, and nine times of out of ten this is Goku himself. There were hentai references, mostly because of Muten Roshi who is a perverted old man, however this is a common rendition of martial arts masters. Happosai, Roshi, and the Playstation game Thousand Arms were built around this concept.
Many anime and manga reviewers have pointed out that one of the most appealing points of the series is that, no matter how powerful he became or how many battles he went through, Goku retains his wide-eyed innocence throughout the entire series. This hardly seems like a character that would “use his tail to fiddle around with Bulma”.
- Contributed by Michael S.
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1 Comment | Dragon Ball, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Thousand Arms, anime, from the archives, villains | Tagged: Frieza, Ganon, Goku, semi-hentai, Vegeta | Permalink
Posted by The Editor
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
2 Comments | 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 | Tagged: cockfighting, Godot, Jonathan Harris, Lost in Space, Nanny, Zen | Permalink
Posted by The Editor
October 13, 2008
Lucas E. sent in this Ex Situ for us to share to the world. I couldn’t significantly improve on his missive, so I’ve just reproduced it below:
I’m surprised that no one has mentioned this on your site yet. But, it seems quite obvious to me. Chicken Run is basically Communist propaganda.
A decent analysis of it is contained here: [>Catena Ex Situ]
The problem isn’t that Mrs. Tweedy is looking to kill the chickens. The problem is she’s trying to increase profits.
The hope of the chickens is not to bargain for better wages, better working conditions, and more time off. Rather, the hope is a worker’s paradise on the hills outside the chicken farm, where chickens can roam free in a world of abundance.
Interesting, no?
Leave a Comment » | Chicken Run, politics, villains | Tagged: Aardman, Communism, Communist propaganda, worker's paradise | Permalink
Posted by The Editor
