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:Don Quixote, alternate universe, Sancho Panda, skeletons
Posted in Don Coyote, Exosquad, G.I. Joe, Mini-Analyzations, Scooby-Doo, Underdog, anthropomorphica, death | No Comments »
February 10, 2008
Like most from the archives, this article is at least six years old, so some of the references are rather dated. It’s another reminder that comments and additional examples are always highly encouraged.
Contributed by K.M. L.
There are, I have noticed, 3 distinct target age groups (excluding adult cartoons, which are their own genre) that almost all cartoons fit into. There’s the preschool group (e.g. Caillou, from Cinar); school-age, the definite majority (which is just about everything on Nickelodeon); and teen/ young adult cartoons (Daria and The New Ripley’s Believe It Or Not). The preschool-age cartoons’ animation is colorful, bright, and simple enough for kids to understand. Plots aren’t complex at all; rather, they are entertaining and they are good for holding the short extension span of this age group. Characters are friendly, and rarely do we find a villain. After all, no kid under 4 will watch something that gives them nightmares.
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Posted in Arthur, Caillou, Daria, Dexter's Laboratory, Recess, Scooby-Doo, The New Ripley's Believe It or Not, The Powerpuff Girls, from the archives, villains | No Comments »
January 24, 2008
Contributed by The Editor.
When Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? first came out, it was firmly established in each episode that the ghosts, monsters, etc. were always fake. But, in subsequent incarnations of the show, the preternatural began to become much more commonplace. Compare the rubber ghosts of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? with the “actual” ghosts of The Thirteen Ghosts of Scooby-Doo. It appears that adding the “actual” ghosts was another attempt to add new life to the franchise, following the disasterous addition of Scrappy-Doo to the list of characters. It is also worth noting that in A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, all of the monsters are fake. Even though this series was produced after The Thirteen Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, it takes place before it, when the monsters were still people in costumes.
Posted in Scooby-Doo, from the archives | 1 Comment »
