Sequelitis

I've already written about the hyperactive and crude youtube personality Egoraptor, but failed to express his passion for video games that fuels his ridiculous parodies.  Years ago, Egoraptor began a short series of videos that broke down games from a game design aspect.  Focusing on the game experience as a whole, 'Sequelitis' takes a game through a point by point analysis and shows exactly how a game fails or succeeds.  Despite the raw and immature humor, the thought that is put into these videos is incredible.  Egoraptor really highlights the subtle and elegant nuances that build a player's experience.

Egoraptor had a fresh perspective and an eye for detail so it is unfortunate that he only made four of these videos.  Still each serves as an example on how thoughtfully and honestly critique a game's basic design.  As mentioned in an earlier post there are other videos that have gone further to discuss game design.

Currently, Egoraptor has taken his love of video game parodies and now performs with Starbomb, a group of parody artists that focus in on video game culture.

Cybersix

When the Canadian network station ‘Teletoon’ started, they branched out to find a wide variety of animation.  MTV shows like ‘Downtown’ and edgy shows like ‘Duckman’ started airing, putting a spotlight on the shows that push the boundaries of what animation could get away with on TV.  Also dipping into the foreign market, Teletoon also aired ‘Cybersix’, an Argentine superhero cartoon.

Released in 1999 and originally based on the popular comic of the same name, the basic concept of the show was great if not a little cliche.  The heroine, Cybersix plays a genetically enhanced super hero going up against the mega-corporation that created her.  Created by Carlos Trillo and Carlos Meglia, the comics themselves held quite a bit of mature content that was watered down in the cartoon. 

The shows are plotted nicely with a fair bit of action, but I feel that something got lost when transferring the world from comics to the television.  Removal of all sexual content and the antagonist’s Nazi background was probably the correct move for a cartoon of the era, but left fans curious what the cartoon could have been.  The characters and dialogue fell flat a lot of the time, hinting at the interesting characters that they could be.  Still, the show was overall plotted well and there are episodes that are quite memorable for their emotional through-line.

The biggest draw of the show, I feel, is the incredible aesthetics of Cybersix.  The art design for the characters and setting give the show a very refreshing and specific flavour.  Animation was done by the Japanese studios Tokyo Movie Shinsha and NOA and was incredible.  Movement animation is top-notch, not shying away from a variety of exciting angles and lighting effects.  Impressive still, Cybersix manages to do this with a level of detail that was near-impossible to find in an animated television show at the time.  If anything, the show is worth watching on these merits alone.

In preparation for this post, I had rewatched the one and only season that was released.  I was pleased to find that the show still holds up.  I have yet to try and find the comics, but have found in the past that translated foreign comics that aren’t from Japan are very hard to come by.

Tiny Toon Adventures

The term 'Saturday Morning Cartoons' is completely dead and gone, replaced by on demand access to any and everything you'd want at any time.  Back in 90s, however, I remember waking up and eating sugar-laced cereal while watching Tiny Toon Adventures.  

Child versions of the classic Looney Toons characters, Tiny Toon Adventures had a markedly different tone.  Instead of dialogue barren slapstick, Tiny Toons showed the school lives of the young characters.  Like the Looney Toons, I enjoyed the slapstick wackiness, but the show was very Hollywood oriented.  This is odd because its target audience (me at the time) would have no way of getting about 80% of the non-stop references that made up the show.  Of course, what else could be expected from a show headlined with 'Steven Spielberg Presents'

Still, it was a cartoon in an era where they were much more elusive, and it did spawn some great nostalgic memories including a music video episode nestled deep into my psyche.  Though the show doesn't hold up as well as I thought it would, it definitely has its moments of genius.  Also to be noted is that much of the cast moved onto the classic Animaniacs, a show that will be blogged about at one point or another..

Home Movies

This show was on for quite a while before I started watching it. Like Dr. Katz, the show used squigglevision (for the first season) and had an odd pacing which made it hard for me to get into.  I was only 15 when the show first aired, and at that age I opted for anime and video games to occupy my time. 

When I got a bit older I grew to love the odd show. Home Movies was different in that it was a show about children, but did not try in any way to make them seem child-like. Because everyone talked like adults, it gave rise to some very subtle humor that I didn't latch onto the first time around.

The creator, Brendon Small, went on to create the show Metalocalypse and does some serious guitar shredding on the show.  Also, if you happen to watch an episode or two, you'll also know that comedian H. Jon Benjamin plays the coach in Home Movies.  His voice is instantly recognizable from cartoons like Archer and (one of my favourites) Bob's Burgers.

Santo Bugito

Back in the 90s when cable was king, I would zone out in front of the television with any cartoon that was airing.  Unlike now, my options for cartoons were limited to two channels, and I would end up watching re-runs simply because there was nothing else on.  It is in this period between junior high and high school that I watched a little known show called Santo Bugito.

I remember this show fondly but I couldn't tell you much  about it other than the basic premise: A small town of insects live in a Mexican bug town. I was never truly a fan of Santo Bugito but it had a mysterious appeal to me that had me watching the same reruns over and over.  This is quite amazing considering how it only lasted one season with 13 episodes.  Even more astounding is the fact that the show isn't all that good.  As much time as I watched this show, I couldn't tell you a single plot line from any of the episodes.  I will still go on the record that I remember the show fondly, but watching an episode for this post really drove home how poorly the old cartoon holds up.