My Drawing Thread on Toon Zone

I put drawings there...just so you know. Linkage.

P.S. - Hope to have more stuff up on both my blogs soon...

And the Day is Saved!

Name: The Powerpuff Girls

Creator(s): Craig McCracken

Network(s): Cartoon Network; Reruns currently on Boomerang

Rating: A-

Original Airdates: November 18, 1998 – March 25, 2005

The Powerpuff Girls, believe it or not, was Cartoon Network's most successful original series. Making over a billion dollars worldwide, and also gaining a theatrical film back in 2002, is it any wonder why the channel honored it with a full day marathon ending with a brand new special that was written by creator Craig McCracken? While a few months late (the show's actual 10th anniversary was November 2008), the network gave it an amazing final hurrah. However, the idea had its start before the What a Cartoon! program. McCracken created the characters in college, and the PPGs could have become an animated series as early as 1994. But now let me get to reviewing the series itself.

Now, the series didn't get popular for nothing. The Powerpuff Girls had great humor: from parodying basic superhero and tokusatsu fare (the episode "Uh Oh, Dynamo" is a good example) to referencing pop culture (from Sesame Street to The Legend of Zelda). The series traveled a thin line between serious and hilarious, and did it perfectly at times. The humor wasn't the only good thing about the series: action was also a huge part. The action sequences were fun to watch and could be intense at times. The voice acting is good and believable, it isn't at all forced. You are able to care about the characters. The art style is stylized and simplistic in such a way that the creator has said he feels like he created a Flash show before Flash animation existed.

Sorry for the short review, but there isn't much to say, and I'm in a bit of a hurry. The review of the special will be up tomorrow, and I promise I'll have more to say.

Cartoon Review - Star Wars: The Clone Wars series

Honestly? I never thought I would actually get to doing this review. I've fallen asleep though a few episodes, and never actually completed watching an episode that had Anakin Skywalker front and center. But I was able to catch up (for the most part) and I'm all ready to go.

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Name: Star Wars: The Clone Wars


Creator(s): Do I seriously have to tell you this?


Network: Cartoon Network


Rating: B-


Premiere: October 3rd, 2008

Okay, when you heard that Cartoon Network snagged the newest Clone Wars series (you can't have forgotten Genndy Tartakovsky's superb mini-series), you had to know that the network would hype it up a lot. Here was a series that had "ratings-grabber" all over it. A series that was part of a huge franchise that has legions of fans, with a lot of those fans being tweenage boys in their target demograph. A series that would put Cartoon Network back on the map and make them the second most popular kids network in the United States once again. Stuart Synder truly wanted this series to succeed, so he got promoted it on every single Turner-owned (and non-Turner owned) network. He gave out money to help kids across the country make parties for the premiere. On the network itself, every break had at least one commercial devoted to the show. They spent most of their budget for acquisitions that year on Star Wars, and wanted to get their money's worth...and I'm pretty sure they did.


Now that I'm done talking about Cartoon Network's major promotion of the series premiere, let me talked about the series itself. Now the series takes place between Episodes Two and Three, chronicling the Clone Wars. Now you can see right off the bat that that is a little problem. Due to there being a movie talking what happens after the Clone Wars, its impossible to become attached to the characters. You know Anakin Skywalker is going to become Dark Vader. You know that Ahsoka Tano is going to die before or at series end. So right off the bat, you know the destination and the outcome. We can only hope that the journey is epic and entertaining. Sadly, while some might find the series amazing, I find half the series so far to be surprisingly boring.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is basically a documentary film on a space war. Some parts make you fall asleep, and others are just so amazing that it's just plain awesome. I want to get into the series, but the only characters I find truly interesting are the Clone Troopers, Yoda, and Ahsoka. Mostly the rarely-seen characters or a characters you know every little about. Characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin which I know a great about from the Internet don't really appeal to me, since you know their futures already.

The only real thing the series has got going for it is its great work and well-done CGI-animation. Everything else falls a little flat, despite the attempts of all the cast and crew. This series just isn't for me, but then again, I wasn't always into straight-foreword action series. I like shows that can make me laugh once in a while still being able to keep a serious atmosphere (Avatar: The Last Airbender, W.I.T.C.H., Huntik: Secrets and Seekers, Samurai Jack, etc.). Overall, this series is really trying. It just isn't quite there yet for me, so I sorry to say that I have to give this a B-.

Cartoon Review - Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Name: Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Executive Producer(s): James Tucker

Network: Cartoon Network

Rating: B+

Premiere: November 14, 2008

Okay, imagine that you are someone that just saw The Dark Knight this summer, and you loved it. Then you hear about a new Batman cartoon coming in a few months. You would think it would be a lot like the movie, wouldn't you? Featuring a dark and serious Batman, facing off against a bunch of Gotham villains. By himself with no Robin or Batgirl. Turn the TV on the day of the premiere, and you find out that you were dead wrong.

Congratulations, for you have come across something that hasn't been seen for YEARS...a light-hearted Batman cartoon! For you see, Batman: The Brave and the Bold isn't your average Batman cartoon. Based on the 50s comic series, Brave and the Bold, this series involves Batman leaving Gotham City and teaming up with heroes such as Blue Beetle and Wildcat, and facing off against villains like Gentleman Ghost and Black Manta. Actually, Batman is just here to draw you into the series, with the main attraction being the "hero of the week" he happens to be with. The real fun in the series is how Batman gets along with his partner, and how the overall problem ends up being solved. The series is simply a well-thought out excuse to showcase the various heroes and villains the DC Comics Universe, something that I truly enjoy. After all, without Batman being the header, characters like B'wana Beast would never make it to animation.

The artwork in this series is quite retro and harkens back to the Silver Age era of comics. The characters are often well-designed and the animation is well-done. Dialogue can be cheesy at times, but that just adds to the fun of this series. The series has no real storyline, unlike many of the other action series on Cartoon Network. If you only like a dark Batman, then its extremely likely that you will hate this series. Either way, this show gets a B+ from me.

Future "Racattack Junction!" Posts

January

• Cartoon Review - Batman: The Brave and the Bold (January 11th)
• Cartoon Review - Star Wars: The Clone Wars review (January 20) I'll be reviewing the series
• Cartoon Review - Total Drama Island revised (January 21th)
• And the Day is Saved! (January 22th) Powerpuff Girls Tribute
• Cartoon Review - The Powerpuff Girls Rule! (January 23th)
  
• Animation News #5 (January 25th)

February

Be on the lookout for interviews with a few series creators like Joe Murray...hopefully.

The Return of Looney Tunes

That's right folks! After four long years, the beloved Looney Tunes shorts are returning to television. Due to disputes between Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network involving the 2003 film (Looney Tunes: Back in Action), Cartoon Network was left unable to air post-1948 shorts. Turner Broadcasting owned the pre-1948 shorts, but the network has since refused to air the program until Warner Bros. gave them the post-1948 under certain conditions. It was thought impossible by all animation enthusiasts for the Looney Tunes shorts to ever air again.

But on January 1st, 2009, to ring in the new year, Cartoon Network is airing a 14-hour long Looney Tunes marathon! But, does this mean the permanent return of this classic shorts to the network? Only time will tell...and by that I mean when Zap2it gets up to the first full week of 2009.

EDIT: It's just a test-run to see if it would be profitable for the network to air.

Random! Cartoons - Episode One Review

Well, I saw the first episode, and I can safely say that it was pretty good. And I also hope that I wasn't the only person that saw this episode, cause that would suck for both me and the person who missed out on these animated beauties.

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Solomon Fix isn't the worst short ever, but it was barely decent. The jokes were basically kiddy fare, some making no sense what so ever. The theme song came out and said that "the short was for kids". Well, I should have expected that. But I've seen preschool shows that are actually better than this. It was a waste of 7 minutes. I honestly expected better.

Rating: 5/10  

Moobeard: The Cow Pirate was everything I expected. Easily the best short out of all of these aired today, it was pretty funny. The cow/pig jokes were a pretty entertaining running gag, and so was Moobeard's crying. There's a lot of room for this to become an animated series on either Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network. It takes a lot to make me laugh, and I'm proud to say that the short actually made me chuckle at times. 

Rating: 9/10  

Two Witch Sisters was...weird, to say the least. It was eccentric, crazy, and colorful. It had a random-type of humor, and the designs were pretty cool to look at. The entire short was insane, and it kinda hard to find a plot in all of this. There was a handful of "WTH!?" moments that makes you wonder who was more insane/creative: Fred Siebert who accepted the short into R!C, or the creator herself. Either way, it was a very weird and crazy short. 

Rating: 8/10

"Random! Cartoons" airs every Saturday at 1:30pm on Nicktoons Network.

P.S. - Don't cha hate it when your images get cut off? Click on them to see the full thing, okay? You do want to see the names of the people who created the shorts right? Riiiiiiight?