December Days 14 - Early Morning Animation

[silveradept]

[It's December Days time! There's no overarching theme this year, so if you have ideas of things to write about, I'm more than happy to hear them.]

Gee, Silver, what are we going to write about tonight?

The same thing we do every night, Pinky - trying to influence the world!

I am probably a bit blessed in the realms of animation, as my childhood is sufficiently situated that I get to experience classic Merrie Melodies, the revival of the animated show (sort of - they never really went away, I'm sure), and the mass popularity of anime. So a lot of everything came through at the impressionable age.

Which means when bethany_lauren asks me what my favorite Saturday morning cartoon is, I'm half tempted to say Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, just to make everyone go "huh?" (And so I can express my annoyance at how my father pointedly pointed out the truth of the PSAs at the end of episodes about the difference between fantasy violence and real violence, as if he were concerned that I might mistake the two, being a child who liked fantastic stories on television and in books.)

Because I cycled through Saturday morning lineups with time and age. X-Men, Carmen Sandiego, getting up earlier to watch Armor Legend Samurai Troopers, or rather, Ronin Warriors, Sonic the Hedgehog (with Urkel as the voice of Sonic, before the expansion of the character rosters), Animaniacs, Batman: The Animated Series, Tiny Toon Adventures, Dexter's Lab, the Powerpuff Girls, and so on. Much of the time spent on the television was in watching what are now clearly the heralds of the return of animation to a spot at the table of being smart ways to do things for adults, with entities like My Little Pony and Steven Universe now at the forefront of the early afternoon and Saturday morning animation blocks. With the boom (and then bust) of anime imported, that meant getting to see Trigun, Evangelion, Escaflowne, R.O.D., a Gundam or two, and so forth, as well as the very lush .hack series and the equally well-animated Last Exile. And to laugh my butt off hysterically at Excel Saga.

So asking what my favorite is is among me to choose one of an entire two decades worth of quality (and eccentric) material that I experienced and absorbed. I don't really have a favorite in that sense, I've that I would return to over and over again.

What one I would recommended to someone new to the animation world and looking for something good to start with? Probably Pinky and the Brain, if for no other reason than Maurice Lamarche doing Orson Welles.

Comments

[azurelunatic]

Purple and I take turns with which mouse we are. Though I think I may be Pinky a little more often.

[silveradept]

Zort!

[sithjawa]

My mom was very disappointed when I didn't grow out of enjoying fantasy novels. Apparently that sort of thing can be fun when you're a kid, but adults do not indulge in such frivolities.

[silveradept]

More the pity, then, because not only did I keep fantasy and science fiction, I picked up comic books and graphic novels, and that's why I work as a kids librarian, or some other clearly soplistic conclusion.

[sithjawa]

You clearly have failed to grow up, or something.

We can all proudly fail as grown-ups together.

[silveradept]

Perennial childhood for all of us, for all that want it.

[wohali]

Goodness, I didn't realize you are about a generation younger than me, but this brings that home in clarity. I grew up with The Smurfs, The Snorks, Shirt Tales, Disney's The Gummi Bears, Fat Albert and of course the Bugs Bunny show, which probably had the most lasting impression on me. Animaniacs, Pinky and The Brain, Pinky and The Brain and Elmyra, Tiny Toons, Freakazoid! and Histeria! came much later for me.

If you've not seen it, the very recent The Looney Tunes Show was a really nice take on the old characters, though the format was very different -- more of a sitcom with Bugs and Daffy living together. I remember intensely disliking the setup for the first episode or two, and then I got into it. Really got into it. Fascinatingly, both Bugs and Daffy are voiced by the same voice actor (Jeff Bergman)! That's gotta be challenging. Maurice LaMarche does an excellent Yosemite Sam, and Fred Armisen is a great Speedy Gonzales. They even get June Foray back to do Granny, with Sylvester and Tweety *also* being voiced by Jeff Bergman.

[silveradept]

Smurfs and Snorks I know, and the Bugs Bunny show I know had a Tweety added to the title by the time I got to it.

I'll keep an eye out for that show - must be inexpensive to produce if you have one person doing most of the voices.