What Are You Watching?

[gunswordfist]

I need to rewatch that. I loved it back in the day.

[Avaitor]

From the Warner Archives, we're going to get the following in the next couple of months-

-The complete series of Atom Ant, with all of the original Secret Squirrel coming a month later
-The third season of The Brave & the Bold on Blu-Ray
-The complete series of JLU on Blu-Ray. The first 2 seasons of Justice League were released on Blu separately
-Twice Upon a Time on DVD

And on top of its theatrical rerelease, The Iron Giant is getting a spanking new Blu release as well, in retail I believe!

[Avaitor]

I found the first 3 seasons of Rocky & Bullwinkle for a pretty good price. I can't wait to dig into them! It's been too long.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Now that's a great pick up.

[Avaitor]

Huh, we don't have a Rocky & Bullwinkle thread here? I might have to fix that later.

But I watched the first few episodes before I headed back to my apartment. I'm leaving the sets at home, since it's more of a at home kind of show to watch. But I recently read Jay Ward's biography, and it's mentioned that he was very disappointed in how the animation from the Gamma studio came out for the first handful of episodes. And he's not really wrong to be disappointed, since it's pretty rough and full of errors. No one ever really watched the series for its cutting-edge animation, but yikes, sometimes it's literally dead in the water.

The writing itself is pretty fantastic, though. Already, they have the characters and plot down, and it's still fresh and smart to watch even today. I can't wait to hit the Bullwinkle puppet bits, since I've heard that these are pretty crazy.

[Avaitor]

Do you guys remember veemonjosh? He's been writing a series of articles about the history of television animation. It's pretty nice stuff to read, and easy to learn a thing or two from it.

I'd recommend checking these out if you're interested.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Sounds cool. I'll check it out.

[Avaitor]

While I was at home over the past few days, I got to finish season 1 of Rocky & Bullwinkle. It really is stunning that the series already got the characters down so well as to how they're remembered today. Rocky's the great straight man, smart enough to hold the field but is able to be perfectly silly to get laughs out of. And Bullwinkle is, well, Bullwinkle. There's nothing else like him. Together, they fit perfectly.

Jet Fuel Formula is pretty insane, a 40-part trip (that equates to 20 half-hour episodes, or 10 half-hour worths of content) that throws everything but the kitchen sink, but it all somehow fits well. It's a good introduction for the characters, and the aliens are among the more memorable side characters. Box Top Robbery is a much brisker affair, but contains enough clever twists and sharp writing to help end the season on a high note. It also helps that Boris and Natasha were being given better material, as well, even though they were hardly slouching in the previous arc.

The side shorts are always pretty fun, as well. The Mr. Know-It-All segments usually rank among my favorites, but really, I just love the core R&B gang enough to want to squeeze out every moment that I can with them. But catching a Peabody & Sherman or Fractured Fairy Tales at their sharpest always feels like a treat, too.

In other classic animation-related news, this Gumby set sounds amazing. It'll probably be one of those things that I say that I waned to own, but never end up getting. But it's been way too long since I've seen any of these gems.

[Spark Of Spirit]

R&B was one of my favorite shows when I was kid. Finding out it was so old and yet I couldn't tell at the time was mindblowing. That's one of the reasons I never bought the "kids only watch NEW shows" argument, because no one I knew ever skipped out on watching it. It was just great television. Still is, in my opinion.

[Avaitor]

While I'm at it, here are my top 10 animated series from 2015.

10. Regular Show
9. Star vs. the Forces of Evil
8. Adventure Time
7. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
6. BoJack Horseman
5. One Punch Man
4. Archer
3. Clarence
2. Steven Universe
1. Rick and Morty

This is one of Archer's best seasons in years, but truthfully, while it still ranks higher on my all-time list, the top 3 were more exciting this year. I can't wait to see what they, and every other show from this list, has to offer in 2016!

[Avaitor]

As I've mentioned before, I've been trying to get back into cartoons recently. Here's a tab of some of what I've been watching. I won't bring up the shows currently airing that I'm keeping up with, since I can write about them as they air.

-I wanted to check out Class of 3000 again to see if it was legitimately better than the other CN originals from its time, or if I was just crazy. It turns out that even though it's far from the network's finest original, there is plenty to offer here. The animation is solid all around the board, and not just in its various musical sequences, which are full of clever experimentation. The show has a nice, watercolor-like vibe to it that makes it fun to look at, even at its dumber moments. But the show has a lot of good in its humor, with an almost anarchistic sense of comedic timing, and a willingness to let its characters expand upon the general tropes they started off to embellish early on. It also helps that each of their instruments helps to give the characters some ground to their personalities, like how Lil D playing drums is relevant to how reckless he can be, but that he's also able to be a well-meaning ringleader when needed. Or that Tamara's harp symbolizes that despite her rough exterior, she has a sweet, sharp edge to her. I give the show a thumbs up, and I'd consider buying a DVD release if it happened, although there are a good many series I'd like to collect or finish first.
-I miss when Home Movies would air on [as] on a regular basis, even though I did burn myself out on it at one point. Watching it again reminds me of why Metalocalypse and Bob's Burgers just don't much for me- Brenden Small and Loren Bouchard just couldn't possibly top this. Brenden, Jason, and Melissa are such enjoyable characters that are full of life, and they're wonderfully complimented by great adult characters (Coach McGuirk is easily H. Jon Benjamin's second best role. Jason might be his third), and equally well-written children. I think we all knew someone as annoying and spoiled as Fenton, or a duo as creepily close to each other as Walter and Perry at some point. The first season is a little slower and harder to watch due to its use of Squigglevision, but it's still a very promising start. I do think that it gets better as it goes along, though, with the last season pulling off some of the finest material. I do think that it ended at the right time, though, even if there was enough fuel in its tank for another year or two. The show was at its prime, and it would have been too much of a risk or shame to see it decline if they couldn't keep it going. And what a hell of a finale that the show ended with.
-I've had some interest in Initial D for a little while, since it's a popular entry in an anime genre that I'm not very familiar with. The first series shows its age a bit, with some tired tropes very much present, and an awkward hand-drawn/CG hybrid method, but it's a pleasant watch regardless, and gets pretty exciting with its racing, the latter half especially. I could take or leave his friends, but Takumi is a pretty good character, slightly stoic but with a good heart and enough passion to justify his increasing excellence at racing. I'm not sure if I feel an especially strong desire to watch the later series, though. I'm going to take a quick break from animation to watch either Fargo or You're the Worst, if not both, and afterwords, I'll try to decide if I keep up with Initial D, or go to an Outlaw Star rewatch next.
-And I've been rewatching Justice League here or there via my DVDs, and just finished the first season. I might make a post about this in its own thread, though.

[gunswordfist]

While I'm at it, here are my top 10 animated series from 2015.

10. Regular Show
9. Star vs. the Forces of Evil
8. Adventure Time
7. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
6. BoJack Horseman
5. One Punch Man
4. Archer
3. Clarence
2. Steven Universe
1. Rick and Morty

This is one of Archer's best seasons in years, but truthfully, while it still ranks higher on my all-time list, the top 3 were more exciting this year. I can't wait to see what they, and every other show from this list, has to offer in 2016!

The OVAs or is a new season actually going to be made?

[Avaitor]

While I'm at it, here are my top 10 animated series from 2015.

10. Regular Show
9. Star vs. the Forces of Evil
8. Adventure Time
7. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
6. BoJack Horseman
5. One Punch Man
4. Archer
3. Clarence
2. Steven Universe
1. Rick and Morty

This is one of Archer's best seasons in years, but truthfully, while it still ranks higher on my all-time list, the top 3 were more exciting this year. I can't wait to see what they, and every other show from this list, has to offer in 2016!

The OVAs or is a new season actually going to be made?

OVAs.

I actually kind of forgot that OPM wasn't getting another season yet when I posted that, lol

[gunswordfist]

lol It happens. I still hope they can somehow pull off bringing season 2 out for this year.

[Avaitor]

Oh, and I've also been watching The Flintstones on and off. I'm about halfway through the first season now, and while the series does show its age in various ways, some even uncomfortable (like a gross Chinese caricature, itself similar to one from previous Pixie and Dixie and Yogi Bear cartoons), there's still a good amount of the subversive wit and charm that made the series a hit in every demographic back in the day. It's pretty fun to sit back and watch an episode or two on a quiet, relaxing night.