MetaFilter posts tagged with cartoon and television

Flintheart Glomgold!

shakespeherian — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:44:33 -0800

DuckTales invented a new animated wonderland—that quickly disappeared.

My father didn't fight in the Clone Wars. He was a navigator on a spice freighter.

Artw — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 21:35:01 -0800

The Best Of Star Wars: Clone Wars - The CGI Star Wars spin off that made the franchise fun again for young and old reached it's 100th episode today.

From Days of Long Ago...

zarq — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:22:13 -0800

"From days of long ago... from uncharted regions of the universe, comes a legend: the legend of Voltron, Defender of the Universe!" WEP, who originally created the show way back in the early 80’s, has released the full first season of the series (Lion Voltron) to Hulu and on their YouTube channel (official playlist / videos are unrestricted). Only the first two-part episode of Voltron Series Two (Vehicle Force) is currently available to view for free online: 1, 2. However, many of the episodes are available for purchase at Amazon Prime and iTunes. A Voltron: Fleet of Doom movie aired after the first series ran in the US (Parts: 1, 2, 3), to introduce viewers to changes to the show that would take place in series 2. Background i09: Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know About the Big Cat Robot Voltron Includes a link to this fun fan vid on YouTube: Best Voltron Moments In 1983, Ted Koplar and Peter Keefe (RIP - he passed away in 2010,) took footage he had licensed from from two different Japanese cartoons: Beast King GoLion (which can be seen in its entirety at Crunchyroll,) and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV (video clips), to create an entirely new show. The producers couldn’t translate the original Japanese shows into English, so they guessed at the plots, created completely new dialogue and storylines, and bowdlerized the more violent scenes (including all the character deaths) into a show they could release into syndication with minimal controversy. Wikipedia: Changes from the Japanese Version lists the differences in detail. Caution: the GoLion show is not safe for young children. Rebooting Japanese animation into American shows had been done before -- with Gatchaman / Battle of the Planets and others. But by carving an entirely new show from existing footage, Voltron paved the way for shows like Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Per Mr. Keefe's NYTimes obit, the show became one of the top children's programs in syndication in the mid-1980s. Initially, there were supposed to be three "Voltrons": Voltron I of the Near Universe was the "Vehicle Force", which appeared in Series II. Voltron III was the "Lion Force" of the Far Universe. Voltron II, from the Middle Universe, was to be based on a Japanese show, Lightspeed Electroid Albegas (Footage: 1, 2), and would have featured three humanoid robots that combined into one multi-armed fighter; this version was never shown in the US (though toys based on this show were released). Spinoffs In 1998, Voltron, The Third Dimension was released. (Wikipedia) The 3D, all-CGI show lasted only a single season -- 26 episodes, but starred Tim Curry as Lotor. Nearly all of it can be seen for free on YouTube: 1: "Escape from Bastille" 1, 2, 3 2: "Red Lion Breaks Loose" 1, 2, 3 3: "Building the Forces of Doom" 1, 2, 3 4: "Lost Souls" 1, 2, 3 5: "A Rift in the Force" 1, 2, 3 6: “Shades of Gray” 1, 2, 3 7: "Bride of the Monster" 1, 2, 3 8: "Dominus" 1, 2, 3 9: "Voltron versus Dracotron" 1, 2, 3 10: "Descent into Madness" 1, 2, 3 11: "Pidge Gets Iced" 1, 2, 3 12: "Dark Heart" 1, 2, 3 13: "The Big Lie" 1, 2, 3 14: "The Trial of Voltron" 1, 2, 3 15: "The Troika Moons" 1, 2, 3 16: "Biography: The Voltron Force" 1, 2, 3 17: Missing 18: “The Voltron Force Strikes Back” 1, 2, 3 19: "Stealth Voltron" 1, 2, 3 20: "Gladiators" 1, 2, 3 (Not Online) 21: Not Online 22: Not Online 23: "Consider the Alternatives" 1, 2, 3 A live-action feature-length film has been in the planning stages since 2005: Voltron: Defender of the Universe. Concept Art. Recent announcement from Relativity Media In June 2011, for the 25th anniversary of the original series, WEP announced a new show: Voltron Force. Trailer. The last six episodes to air are available at Nicktoons. Video from before the show aired last year. Miscellany * The fan site Voltron Universe has some old Voltron games available to download. (Haven't downloaded any of these, so your risk and mileage may vary.) There is a Voltron: Defender of the Universe game for XBox and PS3. Review. * Earlier this year, MetLife included the big 'bot in a commercial that aired during the SuperBowl. They also released a fun "behind the scenes" video of him doing "the robot." * Fan Film (Live Action): Voltron: The End (Previously on MeFi)

Greetings, True Believers!

zarq — Tue, 17 May 2011 08:56:02 -0800

Marvel.com now has many animated series (all episodes, in their entirety) available to view online at their website including The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Superheroes, X-Men, The Animated Series, X-Men Evolution, Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes, and Spider-Man (1967) (Full list inside)

Full List of Shows

The Avengers: United They Stand
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Superheroes (Also on Marvel's YouTube Channel and on Hulu.)
Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Superheroes (Three episodes are available on Marvel's YouTube Channel
The Incredible Hulk (1996)
Japanese Spiderman
Silver Surfer (1998)
Spider-Man (1967)
Spider-Man: The Animated Series
Spiderman Unlimited
The Superhero Squad Show
X-Men, The Animated Series
X-Men Evolution (Also available on Hulu and Marvel's YouTube Channel)
Wolverine and the X-Men (Season 1)

Also on Hulu: Astonishing X-Men: Motion Comic (Episodes 1-6) / Episode 1 is available on Youtube. Also on YouTube: Episode 1 of the Spider-Woman Motion Comic

Warren Buffett 4 Kidz

mccarty.tim — Mon, 16 May 2011 06:51:57 -0800

It's not uncommon for celebrities to get a cartoon. Billionaire Warren Buffett now joins their ranks with Secret Millionaire's Club, a cartoon about Warren Buffet giving a group of kids advice on investing, business and life. Buffet provides his own voice acting to the show, and does it pro bono. It is going to air on The Hub, a cartoon network owned between Discovery and Hasbro that airs such programming as Transformers Prime and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Former DIC CEO and creator of Inspector Gadget Andy Heyward is producing the series along with a cartoon about crafts featuring a young Martha Stewart as well as an action comic book with Stan Lee.

Meet the Beat-Alls

Rhaomi — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:45:46 -0800

Ten years ago today, Cartoon Network aired a very special episode of The Powerpuff Girls. Though nominally a harmless kids series about three adorable kindergarten superheroes, creator Craig McCracken attracted an unexpectedly diverse audience (50% male, 25% adult) by sneaking in a surprising amount of violence and adult in-jokes -- and on that last point, this particular episode was king. Broadcast on the 37th anniversary of their debut on the Ed Sullivan Show, "Meet the Beat-Alls" was an extended and sophisticated metaphor for the rise and fall of The Beatles, cramming more than forty song references and dozens of visual jokes into only ten minutes of animated allegory. Catch the original episode here or read the transcript, but for the full effect, watch this remarkable YouTube mash-up that splices the referenced song clips directly into the audio track and plasters the screen with helpful annotations. Want more PPG goodness? You can start with the special "Powerpuff Girls Rule!!!" (part 2), a sly, hyperkinetic celebration of the show's tenth anniversary directed by McCracken himself that features every character (and totally subverts an important one). But as far as weirdness goes, it's hard to top Powerpuff Girls Doujinshi, a long-running fan-made webcomic which stars the trio alongside Dexter, Samurai Jack, Invader Zim, and tons of other network icons in an unusually dark manga adventure. Oh, and don't forget your plate of beans.

Gatchaman!

zarq — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 10:26:48 -0800

"Five orphans with a spacecraft battle a lipsticked maniac from the Crab Nebula and his unlikely big flying robots. No one gets hurt."
In 1972, the anime action-adventure show Kagaku ninja tai Gatchaman (Science Ninja Team Gatchaman,) premiered on Japanese television. Featuring graphic violence, extensive profanity and a transgendered villain, it was one of the most popular animated series of its time. Envisioning similar success in the US, Sandy Frank Entertainment acquired the series in 1978 but deemed it too graphic and shocking for domestic audiences. So they hired two Hanna-Barbera vets to "~~re-version~~" totally bowdlerize the episodes with new scripts, voiceovers music and effects, animation, etc., at a cost of $5 million and turn it into a brand new show: Battle of the Planets. Here are the original 1978 Battle of the Planets feature film (in 7 parts,) and the first 19 episodes of the show, all available on Youtube. CBR: GATCHAMAN! The story of Tatsuo Yoshida and his greatest creation Gatchaman Opening in Japanese with theme song by Masato Shimon, who is also known for his unique rendition of the theme to Star Wars. Partial translation of the lyrics. Per IMDB, the show was originally marketed to capitalize on the first Star Wars movie. Voice artists on Battle of the Planets included Alan Young and Kasey Casem. Japanese Episodes of Gatchaman I and two series sequels: Gatchaman II and Gatchaman Fighter have been uploaded by user 0yulka0 (no playlist). These are in Japanese. Many have English or Korean subtitles. The differences between the two shows should be immediately obvious. A number of episodes of Toonami’s 1986 “G-Force Guardians of Space” can also be seen on Youtube. BBC Cult: Background * Introduction * Trivia * Reviews * Picture Gallery / Desktop Wallpaper: Wikipedia: Background * Gatchaman * Gatchaman OVA * Battle of the Planets * Sandy Frank Entertainment TVTropes * Battle of the Planets * Science Ninja Team Gatchaman * Gatchaman Character Sheet Fan Sites (and other sources) * GatchOnline * Anime News Network * IGN lists the show as #44 on their Top 100 Animated Series list. * Home of the White Shadow is devoted to all-things Gatchaman and Battle of the Planets. The owner also runs Gatchablog, which says that GatchaCon has been held at ComiCon annually for the last 13 years. * Additional links and info * Background on the Dutch translation of Battle of the Planets: Strijd der Planeten * Russian LJ Fan Community * From 2004, a review of the 25th Anniversary DVD collection. Intros * American (English) Original / Another version * Spanish Dub: Fuerza G * Gatchaman DVD from ADV Films trailer * Russian Dub * American (English) Intro (1986) * Saban’s Eagle Riders (1996) * Lyrics to the theme song Movie In 2009, Hong Kong studio Imagi released a pre-production trailer for a feature-length Science Ninja Team Gatchaman movie. More info and further details Another trailer, showing a different entirely CG style, was released in 2007. The studio folded / restructured last year and the movie’s fate is unknown. Oy Vey One of the changes to the show (in an effort to fill airtime after the original cartoons had been gutted by SFE,) was the addition of cheesy clips starring a robot “narrator” for the team, (whose primary purpose seemed to be explaining to the viewing audience that "no one got hurt" or died,) named 7-Zark-7 who doesn’t get much love from some fans. Last But Not Least The site for Taiyo’s Gatchaman-themed slot machine is entirely in Japanese, but rather well done.

Paging The Crime Doctor

Artw — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 14:44:09 -0800

The 14 Best Title Cards From 'Batman: The Animated Series' (previously)

NO STORIES ABOUT BATMANS ORIGIN

Artw — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:08:58 -0800

The adventures of Batman will incorporate many different elements of the Batman mythology. Our half-hour series will have a darker look and tone to it, keeping in line with the movie version and recent comic book interptretations. With a nod to the crime films and novels of the 1940s, we will combine both old and new in this "Dark Deco" visual design and create a fresh take on The Batman. - Batman: The Animated Series, the writers guidelines (pdf)

Get your Saturday morning on

Rhaomi — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:27:21 -0800

Saturday morning cartoons were once a staple of American television, but by the year 2000 they had all but disappeared. Of course, the Internet never forgets. Case in point: Cartoon Network Video -- a free, searchable, ad-supported service that provides hundreds of full-length episodes of classic shows like Dexter's Laboratory, Cow and Chicken, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Johnny Bravo, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, and The Powerpuff Girls, as well as current offerings and scads of shorter material. Too recent for you? Then give Kids WB Video a whirl -- it does the same thing with the same interface, but for older programs like Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, The Smurfs, Scooby-Doo, Thundercats, and the original Space Ghost. If you're in the mood to learn (and don't mind some live-action), PBS Kids Video has educational fare such as Arthur, Wishbone, and Zoom. And don't forget about Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, The Magic Schoolbus and Schoolhouse Rock! Now if only we had some Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs...

SpongeBob SquarePants at 10

ColdChef — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:58:37 -0800

“He’s courageous, he’s optimistic, he’s representing everything that Mickey Mouse should have represented but never did. There’s even something Jesus-like about him—a 9-year-old Jesus after 15 packets of Junior Mints.” SpongeBob SquarePants at ten years old.

Ruh-roh

Mur — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 07:04:47 -0800

He would have made it to 82, if not for those meddling kids.

jpoulos — Sun, 02 Sep 2001 10:27:20 -0800

Cartoon Network begins its "Adult Swim" programming tonight: Toons aimed at the 18-35 audience. I'm most excited about Cowboy Bebop (Japanese site; English is under construction). (more inside)

Sal Amander — Thu, 26 Jul 2001 20:31:14 -0800

"Evil is afoot, and hoofing it with dark gusto!" Finally, the Fox show The Tick is slated to run in November and the official site is now open with clips, pics, and screensavers.

Demented baby bent on world domination

benjh — Sat, 07 Jul 2001 15:07:08 -0800

Demented baby bent on world domination returns to television this week (wednesday at 9:30). I know i am happy about this.