vakkotaur | Entries tagged with cartoons

Even as a kid some things bugged me about some of the Saturday morning cartoons. The big, obvious departures from reality weren't a problem. Hey, these were cartoons and like Bugs Bunny says, "You can get away with nearly anything-- in an animated cartoon." It was the cartoons that tried to emulate reality that ran into trouble. One example was the Flintstones which I mentioned a few years ago. (Short version: Why didn't the rear axle fall out?) But recently I realized that a couple other dumb things I'd seen in some cartoons can now be explained.

One annoyance was that a tiny radio transmitter could be placed on a vehicle and and the vehicle then tracked. Tiny transmitter, sure. Tracking, sure. But at the time it would have required triangulation from at least two receiving sites, if conditions were ideal. But the cartoon (it was probably one of the many incarnation of Scooby Doo but I cannot say for sure) showed a single receiver, with a big display and showing a dot to follow. It might have even showed the local streets - clearly nonsense... at the time. Today it can be and is done. The tiny transmitter has a GPS receiver and the tracking receiver might as well have the data that a GPS navigation has.

Another annoyance was the home computer or terminal that a kid had (this was likely Clue Club or another, similar cartoon) or had ready access to, that could be used to look up nearly anything, and quickly. Sure, like the kid would even have outside access - that would tie up a phone line, if it happened at all, and then it'd just be to a BBS. And maybe 1200 baud. Maybe. This might have been the days of 300 baud (it's faster than 110, yay!) for the typical home/hobbyist modem. Of course we know that that changed. CPU speeds went up. Modem speeds went up, and then came broadband with DSL and cable. And then add real internet access, the web, search engines, and now "Google is your friend." The problem now is not getting access to information, but sorting it down to the useful pieces.

I'm sure there are other examples of modern technology making simplistic nonsense in old cartoons now an explicable or even expected thing. Those are just the two I recall bothering me, that can now be explained away as "being ahead of their time" rather than just being plot devices.

Current Mood: full

ladyniniane will appreciate this:

Once upon a time I worked at a post office, nights. This is when trucks come in, mail gets unloaded, sorted, loaded, and the trucks leave. Naturally there is a lot of activity when the morning is one of a delivery day, Monday through Saturday, as local mail is processed outbound and inbound and then thing are made ready for the local area. But Sunday mornings tend to be slow. Fewer trucks in, fewer going out, no local delivery except for express.

I liked working on the loading dock, despite the lack of air conditioning. It had a few advantages. One was that a supervisor that even USPS wasn't stupid enough to reward with a day shift tended not to go out on the dock very much. Another was that when you unloaded a truck, or loaded a truck, you had an end that could be seen getting closer and there was some feeling of accomplishment when that bit was done. Things changed, even if only a little bit. Working on a sorting belt inside there was no end other than the clock. Things seemed to stay the same.

So Sunday mornings I'd often be on the dock without anyone else around but the (acting) dock supervisor. Sundays had a minimal crew and regular supervisors were normally not around, having the day (or night) off. There was almost always a radio playing, which helped some. Since the thing was also a tape player I asked if I could bring in a tape, since I was about the only one around anyway. This was quickly agreed to and I made up a tape.

I included some Animaniacs tunes, some Big Band Swing, and some Classical. When I brought the tape in, the (acting) dock supervisor asked what was on it and I told him. The Animaniacs and Swing didn't get much reaction but when I said "Classical" I got the reaction, "Awww, not classical!" and I quickly explained I did not mean opera. That helped a bit, but he was still leery.

As the night went on the tape played through. One truck driver commented, when the Big Band stuff was playing, "It's about time you got some good music around here." And later the classical stuff started. And the dock supervisor looked at me, "Hey, that's cartoon music!" It was both. If I recall right, he caught on sometime while Rossini was playing.

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Variety Speak - Animaniacs

Most Sundays jmaynard and I go out for breakfast and one fellow who works at the restaurant takes his family to Disney World every year This morning I just happened to ask him, "What's up, Doc?" and he pointed out that was a Warner Bros. thing and he was more a Disney type. Thinking the incident over a bit, a question came to me: Is there any popular phrase that makes Disney or a Disney character immediately come to mind?

For Warner Brothers there are a few phrases: "What's up, Doc?" "Th-th-that's all, folks!" "Of course you know, this means war." and even "I tawt I taw a puddy-tat. I did. I did taw a puddy-tat!"

But all I can think of for Disney are musical items such as, "When You Wish Upon A Star" or the derogatory usage of Mickey Mouse to describe a (I am trying not to say 'goofy') screwy system.

Am I overlooking something? Is there some character quotation that is fairly common that instantly brings a Disney character to mind?

Current Mood: curious

Packer fans cheesed off.

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Da Packer Backer Anthem - Da Yoopers

One thing going around LJ is to list the various famous people one has met. I read a few of these listings and recognized some folks on them, and completely failed to recognize some others. How is fame defined for this? Someone I might consider notable may be notable not to everyone but only to a certain group. This is plain as many of the listing have an explanation of who each famed person is which indicate that they are not universally known. I mentioned this to a guy at work and replied that his brother-in-law has a 'dead pool' with the requirement that someone in it must have made national headlines at least once. I'm not about to use that definition.

For a moment I figured I hadn't met anyone famous and then re-thought it. I may not have met universally known celebrities, but that doesn't bother me. In no particular order:

I've met, ever so briefly, science fiction author David Gerrold. But chances are unless you read a fair of science fiction I needed to say who he was or you'd be thinking, "Who?" right now. Maybe you are anyway.

I've met open-source advocate Eric S. Raymond.

I live with jmaynard, someone who has been on national TV several times now and is well-known as "Tron guy" across the web. But I've met people who are often on-line who hadn't heard of any of the goings on. It took months before anyone locally knew - unless I told them myself.

I've dined and been to faire with irpooh who was in a Clint Eastwood movie - but isn't a nationally known movie actress.

I've never met animator Tom Minton, but I've had a few IM conversations with him.

I've exchanged e-mails with a few folks involved in comic book production (writers, pencillers, inkers, letterers, and an editor, I don't recall any exchange with a colorist).

I've met kinkyturtle who is rather well known for his cartoon diaries in some circles. I've had brunch with (that is, sitting right next to at the same table) unclekage, Dr. Samuel Conway. At that same table was Buckles creator David Gilbert. Also, I've talked with Bill Holbrook who creates Kevin and Kell as well as a couple newspaper comic strips. Not at that table, but at the same event was the_gneech who is the person behind The Suburban Jungle.

I know several folks involved with Renaissance Faires, some are performers, others are faire organizers. Some of these folks are: aedifica, foolscap001, ginafae, irpooh, jmthane, malterre though we've never actually met, melissasutton, mnfiddledragon, rillaspins, and wendyzski.

And I've probably forgotten a few people.

ADDENDUM: Yes, I did miss someone. I met animator Jon McClenahan. Heck, I hosted the small gathering at which he appeared for a handful of Animaniacs fans. How'd I forget that?!

Current Mood: calm

CGI animation is [...] the animation of a marionette. Traditional hand-drawn animation isn't; you can't do a Betty Boop puppet that moves in any way correctly.

This is why computer generated image animation looks wrong to me. It's puppets without strings, rather than a proper cartoon. CGI has a place, but it does not belong in every place.

I recall watching the Flintstones on weekday afternoons when I was a kid. I can't stand the show now, it seems far too annoying. But something did bug me then. I could deal with the time and setting. I could deal with the silly names that added 'rock' or 'stone' into well known names. I could deal with the animals as appliances, like the bird phonograph. What bugged me was the car. It wasn't that it shouldn't have been there, as there was much else that also shouldn't have been there. It was the rear axle. That bugged me. There was nothing to keep it from falling out. It's curious how I could put up with all the other assumptions, but that little bit bugged me. Everything else followed premise, but that just looked like cheating.

pharwarner's bomb scare entry brought up memories of the Pink Panther. Not just the movies, but the animated cartoon as well. I don't recall the network I saw it on or who the sponsors were or much else not directly related to the cartoon. I saw these cartoons on TV before there was an... unspokespanther(?) for fiberglass insulation.

I do remember that the Pink Panther never, ever, spoke. A later version of the cartoon had him speak. I didn't bother trying to watch such a wrong thing as that. Other characters might have spoken, but I think mostly it was animation and the Henry Mancini theme. The only character I can recall recurring with the Panther was the poor guy who'd always be trying to paint a room or some other job... and always losing.

The other characters that I remember did not appear with the Panther, but in their own shorts on the show. The Ant and the Aardvark I liked. I liked the Ant, of course, since he was the little guy who was put upon and dealt with the problem successfully. I liked the Aardvark's voice. I did not realize until years later that that voice was meant of (stereotypically Jewish) comedian Jackie Mason. Religion, stereotypes, and real life people had nothing to do with the appeal for me. It was a neat voice and that was that.

I haven't seen any Pink Panther cartoons for some years now. Partly it's that I don't watch much TV anymore. Partly it's that Saturday morning cartoons seem to be fading into history. And I expect partly that since it's what I consider a classic, it's not "hip and cutting edge" enough to warrant air time. I suppose it might be on someplace, probably on of those new cable channels nobody gets and everyone is supposed to pester their cable company to carry it.

* Vakkotaur does a quick check.

Hrm, there is a Pink Panther DVD. Several, in fact, but only one that isn't live action, it seems. I wonder if it's the original, properly non-speaking Pink Panther? After a further check, yes, it is. And there appears to be a video of the Ant and the Aardvark. Alas, that seems to be only VHS. (Pet peeve: the use of the term "video" to mean a VHS tape. 'DVD or video' is silly. Both tape and disk can hold video.)

[ADDENDUM: 19 Jan 2010. In going through a DVD set of Pink Panther cartoons it turns out that the fellow did speak, but only very, very rarely.]