Evil Mickey

Mickey Mouse is the lovable rodent many have known and loved since his debut in 1928. He appears in many theatrical short films such as Steamboat Willie, The Brave Little Tailor, Symphony Hour and so on.

1995 was the last year that a theatrical short starred Mickey Mouse. This short is the Runaway Brain. Unlike the others, it is much darker.

Runaway Brain is about Mickey "promising" Minnie to take her on an anniversary trip to Hawaii. Unfortunately, Mickey can't afford the vacation until he reads an ad offering $999.99 for one day of doing "mindless work."

The plot goes down a dark path when Mickey encounters his new boss, Dr. Frankenollie who plans on putting Mickey's brain into his monstrosity, Julius. The cartoon gets scary when Dr. Frankenollie dies during the experiment.

Julius becomes part of Mickey's body and turns Mickey into an insane maniac out to hunt down Minnie.

It gets even more tense during the fight between Mickey and Julius when Minnie says, "Go get em, Mickey! Rip his ears off!"

Everything turns out fine in the end, but overall this really isn't something for younger kids to watch. Yet, it is still enjoyable for an older audience.

Here is a link to the short if you want to watch it.

Runaway Brain


All images belong to Jim Hill Media

Runaway Brain belongs to Disney.

The Only One Who Can Outwit Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny is America's number one star in cartoon history. He is well known for being able to outsmart anyone and walking away without a scratch. Bugs has had many enemies and rivals in the past who he has left speechless and stupefied.

• Elmer Fudd
• Yosemite Sam
• Marvin the Martian
• Daffy Duck
• Tasmanian Devil
  
• Rocky and Mugsy
  
• Gossamer
• Witch Hazel

It seems Bugs Bunny is practically invincible. However, there is one character that has duped Bugs before. That character is Cecil Turtle. Although he only appears in three theatrical shorts, he manages to constantly outwit Bugs.

• Cecil first appeared in Tortoise Beats Hare, loosely based of the Aesop's fable, The Tortoise and the Hare.
  
• Bugs gets very envious and competitive after losing to Cecil in Tortoise Wins by a Hare. Bugs puts on some getup to look like the turtle in the hope of winning the race, but he is foiled due to a bunny mob that tries to rig the race.
• In Rabbit Transit, Bugs has one final race with Cecil. This time, Bugs wins the race; however, Cecil manages to trick Bugs into confessing that he broke the speed limit in a 30 mph zone. Thus, Bugs is thrown in jail while Cecil has the last laugh.

Looney Tunes belongs to Warner Bros.

Catch Phrases

Since the 1930's, cartoons have moved us and made us laugh. But what is it that makes them so memorable? Three simple words...a catch phrase.

From Classic Cartoon Phrases:

• Bugs Bunny: "What's up, Doc?"
• Charlie Brown: "Good grief"
• Fred Flintstone: "Yabba Dabba Doo!"
• Donald Duck:"Ah, phooey"
• Selfish Children: "Silly Rabbit, Trix are for kids"
  
• Tweety: "I thought I saw a putty cat"
• Snagglepuss: "Exit, stage left (or right)"
  
• Daffy Duck: "You're despicable"
• Velma: "Jinkies"
• Fat Albert: "Hey, hey, hey"
  
• Sylvester Cat: "Thupher'in Thucatash"

In our new generation, we have been inspired with new phrases heard on TV.

• Homer Simpson: "D'oh!"
• Quagmire: "Giggity giggity giggity"
• Bart Simpson: "Don't have a cow man"
  
• Mr. Burns: "Excellent"
• Jay Sherman: "It stinks"
• Brain: "Try to take over the world"
  
• Bender: "Bite my shiny metal ass"
• Stewie: "What the deuce"
• Stan: "Oh, my God! They killed Kenny!" Kyle: "You bastards!"
• SpongeBob: "I'm ready! I'm ready!"
• Nelson: "Ha, Ha!"
• Pinky: "Narf!"
  

Cartoon All-Stars

In 1995, I watched the most unbelievable show which I thought at the time could not be possible, a video starring my favorite Saturday morning cartoons all in one reel. The special was titled Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue. Its focus was to teach kids how bad drugs and smoking were for them. Being five at the time, I loved it mostly because my favorite characters were all together interacting in one show.

Here is a list some cartoon characters that made cameo appearances in the special:

• Papa Smurf, Brainy Smurf and Hefty Smurf from The Smurfs
• Kermit, Piggy and Gonzo from The Muppet Babies
  
• Pooh Bear and Tigger from the Winnie the Pooh series
• Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck from Looney Tunes
• Slimer from The Real Ghostbusters
• Garfield from Garfield and Friends
• ALF from ALF: the Animated Series
• Michelangelo from The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Huey, Dewey and Louie from DuckTales
• Alvin, Simon and Theodore from Alvin and the Chipmunks

The writers wanted Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy to be included; however, since some of their old cartoons involved someone smoking, they were dropped. This is pretty ironic since Bugs and Daffy smoked in some episodes and were still included in the show.

Here is a link to the special from Youtube. Feel free to watch.

When Will It End?

I've grown up watching a lot of cartoons and most of them have been very inspiring and nostalgic. A lot of those shows no longer air on television. However, there are ones that haven't been canceled. Quite frankly, they're getting old.

The Simpsons is a great example. It has run for 21 seasons so far; that's 462 episodes. The first episodes were classic and original, but the other half lack originality and aren't as funny.

The same goes for other adult shows like Family Guy, American Dad and South Park.

Even cartoons aimed for kids like Arthur, SpongeBob SquarePants and Pokemon just keep going.

All of them have stayed on TV for more than ten years. These shows aren't as funny to watch as they were in the beginning. The recent ones seem to only use jokes that reflect and poke fun of current events.

Why can't we have an off switch and just let these shows rest in peace and make way for something fresh and original?

An Endless Legacy

The Land Before Time, a classic animated family film, is one of Don Bluth's most well known films in animation history. The story is basically Bambi set on prehistoric Earth. In the film, five young dinosaurs, Littlefoot, Cera, Petrie, Ducky and Spike, go on a journey to find the Great Valley.

In 1994, Universal Studios started a production line of direct-to-video sequels to this film.

The second Land Before Time movie introduces a baby t-rex named Chomper. The story focuses on bringing Chomper back to his parents while avoiding two egg nappers who are similar to the main characters in the cartoon, Pinky and the Brain.

The third film of the series involves a crisis when there is a water shortage in the Great Valley. Three teenage bullies named Hyp, Nod and Mutt are new characters introduced in this film.

Sequel after sequel, each became duller and less creative than the previous one. Unlike the original, all of the sequels have musical numbers; however, the music is less catchy and is sung like a bad version of High School Musical. Annoying, huh?

Source of image from: ioffer.com

The total number of sequels so far is twelve. There was also a TV spin-off of the movie that aired for just a short while in 2007.

None of these movies were directed by Don Bluth. Unlike the original, the sequels lack excitement and are made to be too kid-friendly.

Don Bluth had a very different way he wanted to end his original movie. The idea was that the Great Valley would actually be heaven for the dinosaurs when they became extinct. This meant that Littlefoot and his friends were supposed to die while searching the wastelands. This idea was dropped because it was too extreme for a G rated movie. The Land Before Time legacy would never have existed had the studio followed Bluth's original ending.

By the time the world comes to an end, there will probably be a Land Before Time 1,158 to hit stores!

All other images belong to Land Before Time Wiki.

The Land Before Time belongs to Don Bluth and Universal Studios.

The Disgrace of Batman

Batman: The Animated Series is known as the best Batman cartoon in history. Having great sequels such as The New Batman Adventures and Batman Beyond, many thought the series could never die; unfortunately, in 2004, it did.

A new Batman spin-off was made, The Batman. Unlike the 90's version, this version stays away from the continuity of the comics, theatrical films or any of the previous Batman cartoons. The art style is done in the same way as Jackie Chan Adventures is drawn.

In this show, Bruce Wayne is a lot younger and less serious compared to the other Batmans. His voice doesn't fit his personality and tone, especially when he puts on his cape and mask. It wasn't until later in the series that the animators decided to fix his chin, changing it from a V-shaped to a square-shaped one.

His sidekicks, Batgirl and Robin, look way too young to be in high school and college.

Out of all of the super villains, the Joker is treated the worse in this series. His eyes are red, his hair is a green mess and his teeth make him look like he is a plagued rat. With no gloves or shoes, Joker is given Kung Fu fighting abilities, making him move like a monkey.

What's really way off is that in the series he is said to have once been a low-level bureaucrat before he became the Joker. Since Joker's story origin has no relation to Batman, gives Joker no real reason to despise Batman the way he does.

The Penguin, on the other hand, is portrayed in a more interesting way. His character is based more off Danny DeVito's performance in Batman Returns. He also has a huge variety of birds trained to steal. However, like the Joker, he also has martial arts skills which makes him look ridiculous, and he has two Kabuki-themed henchwomen by his side.

Since the character, Two-Face was being used in The Dark Knight, Warner Brothers refused to include him in The Batman. As a substitute, the animators replaced his role with a cop named Ethan Bennett who becomes Clayface.

What makes this spin-off dull is the fact that there is no real character development in the series. The episodes don't go in chronological order and instead are done in a completely random way. The Batman just can't hold a candle to Batman: The Animated Series.


All images are from:The World's Finest - The Batman

The Batman belongs to Warner Bros./DC Comics.

Better or Worse?

Beast Wars is probably known for being the most well written Transformers' spin-offs and is the second CGI animated cartoon produced by Mainframe. The series ran for about 52 episodes and became very successful during the 90’s; so successful that Hasbro wanted to continue the idea when the series ended in 1999.

In the fall of 1999, a new team of writers was hired to direct a sequel to Beast Wars called Beast Machines. Unlike Beast Wars, the plot in Beast Machines is much darker and more serious. It only ran for 26 episodes.

The story focuses on the Maximals regaining their freedom from Megatron’s tyranny over Cybertron.

The background music and the design setting are more advanced compared to those in Beast Wars. There are only two small flaws.

A lot of the returning characters were given new designs, giving them a more “technorganic” look. In other words… fruity.

Cheetor's upper body is bigger than his head and his legs are too bug-like, making his walk seem unrealistic.

Silverbolt went from bird-dog to ugly condor. His robot mode makes him look more like an old, emo samurai which doesn’t fit his character; plus, he can't fly in that form.

Rattrap’s robot design has wheels instead of legs and his beast mode looks more opossum-like.

Blackarachnia’s color scheme is too girlish and she looks more like a daddy long leg than a black widow in beast mode.

Not only that, but whenever the Maximals change from beast to robot, they appear as if they are morphing rather than transforming.

The other issue is mainly the portrayal of the characters’ personalities and behavior.

Optimus’ role became more like Yoda. He is way too obsessed with his new philosophy that Cybertron is meant to be in balance, with both machine and organic life. He goes from leader to hippie.

Megatron’s grand scheme doesn't follow his original agenda from Beast Wars. He has the desire to wipe out all organic elements and to make matters worse, his beast mode is eliminated (something he enjoyed during Beast Wars).

The source of these problems could be the new writing staff. Another reason could be Fox Kids, toning down the action and fighting by replacing all weapons with lasers and kung fu.

Because of all of this, Beast Machines lost many of the fans that had followed Beast Wars. However, if you compare the series to the recent Transformers' spin-offs it actually isn't all bad.

Source of all images are from: Transformers Wiki

Beast Wars and Beast Machines both belong to Hasbro and Mainframe Entertainment.