Cartoon Review - Codename: I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S.

This is the third edition of Cartoon Reviews. I finally got around to doing this stuff again! With these reviews, I look over what I liked about a cartoon (or cartoon related) thing I watched recently. And this weeks is the one hour finale of Codename: Kids Next Door, Codename: I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S.
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Name: Codename: I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S. (It's Now The Extra Really Very Interesting End Wrap-up Story)

Creator: Tom "Mistuh" Warburton

Writer(s): Andy Rheingold, Mr. Warburton

Running Time: 44 minutes

Network: Cartoon Network

Rating: B+

Premiere Date: January 21st, 2008


This episode was actually pretty good. From what I know, not many cartoons actually get a true ending. A finale that ties up the show's plot and answers many of the viewer's questions. However, you do have to pay attention to learn the answers to some of the questions this finale episode brings up. For example, if you payed attention, you would have learned that:

• Numbah Two and Five are now married


• Numbah Three and Four are also married


• Numbah One returned from space, and didn't stay up there forever
  
• Sector V was never really decommissioned


• Father is now going on an interstellar goose chase.


• Numbah Five becomes Supreme Commander of the KND

There are many more, but I don't fell like listing them. Well, the plot of the episode was pretty good. A C.A.K.E.D. mission turned out to be a very good note to end the show on. The writing was very superb and there were some surprising moments. One such was with the B.E.A.R.H.U.G.G.A.H., a weapon that turned out to give huge bear hugs. You wouldn't know that from the commericals! So, the guys from the Philippines got to see it before us North Americans did, and left a bunch of huge spoilers on the Internet. So what? It didn't stop me from completely enjoying the the episode.

The live-action moments may have hampered my enjoyment of the episode a little, but those parts were still awesome. The mixing of the live-action and animated scenes were just amazing. The showing of almost every single character that appeared in Codename: Kids Next Door was just astounding. But note I said, since The Tommy, Cree, and a few others were missing. The final animated scene was just heart-warming, and I won't be surprised if some of you guys watered up a bit at it. The final live-action scene was just so full of mystery. The revealing of the interviewer (Father) was surprising. Especially with him being in Computer-generated imagery (CGI). The finally was just plain great, and nothing more. I think fans got all they wanted from the series, and that's good for me. I rated this finale a B+. But one last note. It was better an end for the characters than it was for the actual series.

1000 Views!!!!

Yes, that's right! Over 1000 people have viewed this blog since November (about four months since I started it), and helped it become the website it is today. Well, not a website, I'm too stingy to get one of those. But I will celebrate this by actually including a picture I drew myself (by hand) on this blog! Happy day, happy day. I hope you guys will continue to come to this blog, cause in the future, I shall review the history of animation and cartoons, review animated series and movies, and continued update on my animation projects. So stayed tuned!

Also, anyone who wants to show their animation genius to the web, you should get a blog here: http://www.animationblogspot.com/

Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show

I just realized I had to put it up for you EEnE fans out there. Production on the movie has been delayed. The chances of a movie airing this year is unlikely. Yes, the movie is going to air next year most likely. Good news though! There are two new episodes on the way in case you didn't know! And the sound designer for the show who joined a fansite I'm a member of revealed a sound clip for a very important episode of the show! "May I Have This Ed?", an episode that will give us clues on who Nazz has a crush on! And here they are. It is the same scene, but which one of the five is one that will be used? I bet on either 3 and 5. But I really dig number 4 and 5 the the most of all. You'll be happy to know that Sheldon is back...well, not really. But you get to meet Sheldon Jr.

http://www.technomorph.com/technomorph/Screeners.html

Tednut Production Status

I have decided to set you guys straight on the whole production of Tednut, if you haven't gone to the website yet. Here's the link if you guys want to see, cause I have noticed there are some new people showing up to this blog: HERE.

Anyway, first things first. They will only be 7 episodes for the first season ("The Fall Season" as I call it) of Tednut. Not counting the Halloween special. I am currently finishing up writing up that script I never wrote for "The Day", the first episode of Tednut. And studying up on how I want the characters mouths to move (known as "mouth direction"). In other words? I'm starting over with this series. Since I never even finished the first 20 seconds, you guys shouldn't be disappointed. I probably won't get around to doing and actual episode until February, so sorry guys. In the mean time it is trying to keep that unfullied promised of adding more downloads and adding to the character list to the main site. Hope you aren't mad at me. So basically, here are the plans for Tednut:

*Pre-Production (Jan 13, 2008-Feb 2008): Writing and Storyboarding, Mouth Direction, Animation Practice

*Production (Feb 2008-Oct 2008): Animating Tednut episodes

*Post-Production (Oct 2008-April 2008): Animation practice, Writing and Storyboarding, Co-Animating and Writing for Fiznut

Also, here are the episodes that are going to be in the "Fall Season":

1) The Day
2)Mourning Recess
3)Survival Test
4)Bullies
Halloween Special (Mountain of the Vamps)
5)Backyard Jungle
6)Book of Weirdos
7)Treasuring Hunt

Cartoon Review!- Interview with Mr. Warburton

Hello! It's me again with another interview with an animator. This week's animator is Mr. Warburton, the creator of the cartoon Codename: Kids Next Door. We are now heading into the wacky mind of this pretty cool guy. So here's the interview!
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Me: How are you doing?

Warburton: Rockin'. And you?

Me: Was you day okay?

Warburton: So far so good!

Me: Anyway, I want to ask you something.

Warburton: No, you can't borrow a dollar.

Me: Could I please interview you for my blog?

Warburton: Um... you sure you don't want a dollar instead?

Me: It would mean a lot to me?

Warburton: Well... okay. But I'm keeping the dollar then.

Me: It you do, please answer these questions?

Warburton: Right...let's rock.

Me: How did you get into the animation biz?

Warburton: It's what I always wanted to do. Initially I didn't think I was good enough, but tried anyway. To be honest, I still don't think I'm good enough. I keep expecting someone to suddenly yell, "HEY! HOW'D HE GET IN HERE! SECURITY!"

Me: How hard is it working on a cartoon?

Warburton: Imagine carrying a grand piano filled with lead bricks up Mount Everest while wearing roller skates as rabid ice weasels give you noogies, pink bellies, and arm burns the whole way. And that's just what your MORNING is like. But I happen to like grand pianos filled with lead bricks, mountain climbing, roller skating, and weasels. I don't like the other stuff but you can't have everything in life, right?

Me: How is it like working at one of the few animation studios in New York?

Warburton: Well, I've worked at a lot of great studios in NYC in the past but Curious Pictures is really the last big studio left- which allows me to have a sooper, triple, giant office with 5 floors, an indoor pool, game room, and 14 car garage (Totally Best Office Ever award, Workplace Quarterly Magazine, June 2007). Regardless, I love being in a studio with lots of different projects going on... it's inspiring to hang out with so many talented people.

Me: How was life growing up?

Warburton: Who says I ever grew up?

Me: What are you going to do now that Codename:KND is over?

Warburton: Watch TV. Not worry about what next week's gihoogic KND story is gonna be. Read Carl Greenblatt's blog and laugh at how much work he has to do (Chowder RULES, btw). But aside from those things, I've doing a children's book for HarperCollins called 'A 1000 Times No'. I'm helping out Cartoon Network with developing some shows with other people aaaaaaaaand I've got a sooper fun new show that's starting to make the rounds.

Me: How do you come up with episode name? Those acronyms must be hard to make.

Warburton: Hint- Stay away from the letter X. But believe it or not... it gets easier after you've done 10,465.2 acronyms. But sometimes you're paging through the dictionary, desperate for a word that starts with R. Sometimes I'd even change the title of the show if the acronym wasn't working out. One of my favorites was R.A.I.N.B.O.W.S. (Running Amok In Nature's Bounty Observing Wild Simians). Sheer poetry, right?

Me: Any final words?

Warburton: Final words? Why would I have any final-- HEY! Is that a kitchen knife? What are you-- NO NO! AAAAAAAAAH!

Future Interviews

Okay, I had to do something here at school. Yes, I am posting this one from school. Anyway, I have decided to test my luck if I could snag an interview with a few more animators. I have selected only the greatest ones...okay, these were only only guys I had the attention span to try and find today. But these guys are great, and it's a bonus that I could find their email addresses!I hope they don't refuse my plead for an interview. These are the amazing people I was able to seek out:

*Joe Murray - Creator of "Rocko's Modern Life" and "Camp Lazlo"
*Butch Hartman - Creator of "The Fairly OddParents!" and "Danny Phantom"
*Mr. "Tom" Warburton - Creator of "Codename: Kids Next Door"

Cartoon Review! - Interview with C.H. Greenblatt

Hello, and welcome to the first Cartoon Review! Interview since November! And have I got a nice treat for you...and awesome interview with veteran storyboarder for Spongebob Squarepants and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. Oh, and the creator of the popular, Annie-nominated cartoon Chowder! Yes, I am talking about none other than C.H. Greenblatt! So without further adu, here the interview!
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Me: So what does the H in your name stand for?

Greenblatt: The "H" is a closely guarded secret.

Me: What made you want to go into the animation biz?

Greenblatt: Growing up, I always loved animation. I'd watch every cartoon on TV. I read a ton of comic books as well. For the longest time, I thought I wanted to be a newspaper cartoonist and do a daily comic strip. Or make comic books. But what I like about animation versus those other mediums is the addition of sound and movement. Drawing my own comics is fun because it's a very one-on-one way of communicating, whereas animation (TV and movies) has to be filtered through dozens of hands before it's complete. But I can do a lot more with animation than I can with a comic strip. It's more like making a little film.

Me: Where did you get the idea of Chowder?

Greenblatt: The idea for Chowder slowly came together and evolved while I was working on other shows. I thought about what I liked and what I'd want to see in a cartoon show. I really liked The Sorcerer's Apprentice and the relationship in that. So I knew I wanted it to be about a young kid and an old master he learned from. The rest just slowly built over time.

Me: What's it like making a cartoon?

Greenblatt: Making a cartoon is really fun. Every day I come in to work and try to think up whatever silliness I can. It's also the hardest job I've ever done (not physically, but mentally). The schedule of making a TV show is very demanding and there's no time to stop. If you're not feeling funny, you still have to write. You can't really wait for inspiration. And some days it's really hard to get what you want expressed through your drawings. And then it's even more stressful when you're running a show. There's always a million things that have to get done and you have to communicate to everyone what you want done and make sure all the pieces are working together correctly. But I still love it.

Me: What's it like living in Burbank?

Greenblatt: Burbank is kind of dull. It's like any other city. Living out in the San Fernando Valley reminds me a lot of living in Texas, but with more mountains.

Me: What was life like growing up?

Greenblatt: I grew up in a very suburban area of North Dallas, Texas. I spent a lot of time drawing cartoons and watching TV. I worked hard at school and did really well. Basically I was a total nerd. But I think I was lucky to have a really nice, happy childhood. I wish I had a more exciting tale to tell.

Me: Any final words to the people on the net that are hoping to become true animators?

Greenblatt: The best advice I can give is to draw every day. Draw all sorts of things. Not just people, but cars, buildings, whatever. If you can draw well and understand the fundamentals of composition and design, you should be able to find work doing what you love. Never stop drawing.