Cartoon Wars Part I

Last night I came across a best scenes video on youtube of one of my favorite cartoons of all time: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The video was backed up by commentary provided by a few reviewers, most of them praising how good the cartoon was.

So it got me thinking: which are the best cartoons of all time?

Well, I've decided that I'll be writing a few entries over the next few days, to share what I believe are the ones that belong in this category. I won't be doing a top 10, top 20 or any top x10 list for that matter. I'll just post the ones I consider that simply belong, whether if it's 12, 21 or 47. I will post three cartoons per blog entry, and see how it goes, starting with....

Animaniacs (and all its characters and spin-offs)

There's a Southpark episode in which one of the side characters tells Cartman that "there are two types of people in the world: 1. Those who like Animaniacs, and 2. Those who don't like Animaniacs. Either you are with us or without us." In this case, Animaniacs belongs on my list.

Yakko, Wakko and the beautiful Dot

First of all, Animaniacs is a genius cartoon. It's not on the same level of genius as The Simpsons or Southpark, but it's quite close to it (maybe just one level below). It's about three Warner Bros characters from the 1930s, that were locked in a water tank for more than 60 years until they were able to escape and eventually interact with modern society. This interaction is what drives the main plot of all episodes, where most of the comedy is driven by wit, and hundreds of jokes fall under the "blink-and-miss" format. The show also featured a number of secondary characters, who had their own side plot, or even their own episodes.

The main characters Yakko, Wakko and Dot have unique well defined personalities and they never get boring. I also like how most of the wit of the cartoon comes from comedy of the 1920s and 1930s, that has been molded to fit into the 1990s. That is not an easy thing to accomplish. Yakko has a lot of Groucho Markx in him, just as Wakko has a lot of Buster Keaton. Dot combines innocence, tenderness, naiveness with quirkyness, madness and cuteness. How she does that is beyond me.

Hello Nurse, was along with Minerva Mink, two
female adult themed characters

The secondary characters have nothing to envy of the main characters, as they are memorable in their own right as well. I'll name three of the most highlighted pairings: You have a psychiatrist and a really hot nurse, whose name is "Hello Nurse". Then you have Pinky and the Brain, two genetically altered lab mice who plot to take over the world. Then you have Slappy Squirrel and her nephew Skyppe Squirrel. Each pair tries to out-wit society in general, using their very own and unique style. Sometimes they succeed, and sometimes they fail. Then you have a character like Minerva Mink, a sexy anthropomorphic mink whose humour was more intended to adults than to kids. Most Animaniacs characters had their fair share of adult humour, but Minerva was the one who really crossed the line. Which brings me to the reason why Animaniacs belongs on the list.

Pinky and The Brain: Two of the greatest supporting
characters of all time.

When Animaniacs was released in 1993, a more kid/adult-themed cartoon had already been on the air for a couple of years, which was Ren and Stimpy. However, unlike Animaniacs, Ren and Stimpy held nothing back or left very few loose ends to the viewer's imagination, when it came to adult jokes or sexual innuendo. It was really gross and somewhat daring. Animaniacs on the other hand, still had that innocent Warner Bros / Looney Toons feel, that kids and teens would feel comfortable with. You could have Yakko and Wakko go nuts over Hello Nurse, but there was still some respect towards what could and couldn't be done, and how close to the line you could get. Animaniacs in my opinion is the last kid's cartoon with adult content that could get away with it, because overall it was still being perceived as a kids cartoon. You could say that Animaniacs was the first kids cartoons, where adults could laugh watching it too.

The drawings were fantastic and the music was catchy and contagious. All in all, it lasted five seasons, and I would say the standard was pretty much very high in each one of them. Pinky and The Brain eventually got their own spin-off, which lasted four seasons.

Both cartoons were cancelled in 1998.



Batman The Animated Series

Although I will be posting blogs and mentioning cartoons without a specific order, I might as well get this one out of the way.

The INTJ Stare

BTAS has been praised over the years as one of the best cartoons of all time, with several sources listing it as high as #2, only behind The Simpsons. It has also been named "Best Comic Book Cartoon of All Time" and it won four Emmy Awards. Personally, I fully agree with all the acclaim it gets.

Let me put you into context:

It's 1992 and Tim Burton had already released two successful Bat-Man films and both of them set a new tone for the image viewers had of Bat-Man. Before Burton's films, most audiences where either used to the 1960s Bat-Man series... you know, the "WHAM!", "POW!", "OUCH!" one, or used to the Bat-Man (and Robin) character from the "Superfriends" cartoons. The former image was sort of a comedic/absurd role, while the latter was more of a "moral compass" kind of role more focused on teaching moral lessons than doing any superhero stuff. Both Bat-Man characters were really really far from the true dark nature of the comic books. Burton's Bat-Man played almost to perfection by Michael Keaton, was adult themed and more true to the comics, but still wasn't close enough; he was very good though, receiving critical acclaim from almost every single critic, but it wasn't close enough. That's where BTAS comes in.

Batman on the job

Most Batman discussions today spin around two topics: #1. Who is the best Batman: Keaton or Bale? and #2. Who is the best Joker: Nicholson, Ledger or Leto? Some people say Bale/Ledger, others say Keaton/Leto... no matter the combination, it always makes up for a good beer chat. I've never seen anyone fully agree on one combination or another. However, when someone mentions BTAS, the case is closed.

Batman from BTAS is the quintessential Batman: he's dark, he's brilliant, he's cold, and so many other qualities that reflect the true essence of the character. The one I like most: he's menacing. That INTJ stare is perfect.

The best joker

The same logic applies for the Joker, and I'm not saying Ledger, Leto or Nicholson weren't good. Simply puy, Mark Hamill is the quintessential Joker. Personally, I think Nicholson was a bit too comical, Ledger was a bit too strategic, and Leto was a bit too extreme. Hamill on the other hand, is perfect.

Apart from those two key elements, the episodes were sharp, well drawn, incredibly animated, the tone was perfect, the music was awesome. In a nutshell, the series had zero flaws.

And if that's not enough, think about this: BTAS gave birth to Harley Quinn.



Rocky and Bullwinkle and His Friends (aka The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show)

Some millenials and perhaps even some Gen Xers probably weren't expecting this one, and maybe they never even heard of Rocky and Bullwinkle until today. Well, hopefully I'll change their lives.

The year is 1959 and all of a sudden ABC releases this cartoon that quickly grabbed the attention of millions of viewers, rising to become the higest rated TV show on daytime.

Bullwinkle and Rocky going at it

Rocky & Bullwinkle followed the adventures of Rocky (Rocket J. Squirrel) -a brilliant flying squirrel- and his beat friend Moose (Bullwinke Moose) -a dumb moose-. Plots ranged from a variety of themes, involving the US government, women, society, politics, war, economy, academics, and pretty much anything you could put your finger on. I would say it was one of the first, if not the first animated series to feature a "duo-adventures" format, with no apparent major theme, instead jumping from one topic to another in each episode. To put it in perspective, it was the Ren and Stimpy of the 1960s. It was entirely different from the rest of the animated toons, because it rely on pure satire, wit, deadpan delivery and black humour.

Keep in mind back then, it was competing against the likes of cartoons made by Disney, Warner's Looney Tunes, and even family series such as Zorro and Lassie... and it was able to beat all of them in their own game. How could this be?

My answer is simple: Rocky & Bullwinkle was way, way ahead of its time.

Bullwinkle and Rocky, with their two nemesis
Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale

#1. Breaking the fourth-wall: Rocky & Bullwinkle was one of the first (if not the first) animated series to break and make great use of breaking the fourth wall. Check this brief exchange that comes from one of the episodes where a bomb is headed right towards Rocky and Bullwinkle, just seconds away from hitting them:

-Rocky: oh no! this is the third attempt on your life! This is the end!
-Bullwinkle: well, I don't think so. According to my watch, we still have one minute and forty seconds left on this episode!

#2. Making the narrator a useful character: unlike other previous animated series and movies, where the narrator is dull and brings nothing to the plate, in Rocky & Bullwinkle, the narrator is one more character that goes along with the story. I can only compare Rocky & Bullwinkle's narrator to Arrested Development's narrator. That's how good he is. As each episode was about to end, the narrator would often announce two humorous titles for the next episode, with both titles being puns of each other. Moreover, the titles would have more relation with the current episode than to the plot of the next episode. For instance: on one episode where a plane is about to crash on top of Rocky, Bullwinkle and a third character, the narrator says:

One of the villains' plot to "take Washington" goes
right into the trash, after he sees this newspaper headline.
He immediately says:
"well, I guess anyone can take Washington these days"

"Yes sir, there it comes now (the plane), oh heavens. To find out what will happen to our heroes, tune in for our next episode. The title is either 'Three to go!' or 'Crash on delivery!'"

#3. Genius level absurd plots: each episode features a completely absurd plot only comparable to cartoons from the 90s and 00s. One episode featured villains using a secret weapon to turn brilliant people into idiots. When wondering which country should the main villain attack first, he replied: "Let's pick an easy one: the US of A"

#4. Hillarious supporting characters with even more absurdity: before Animaniacs had Pinky and The Brain as supporting characters for the show, Rocky & Bullwinkle had Mr. Peabody and Sherman. I'm talking about 35 years before Animaniacs. Mr Peabody is a cartoon dog, who is the smartest being alive on the planet, as well as a business magnate, inventor, scientist, Nobel laureate and Olympic Champion, oh... and he also has a mascot: a pet boy called Sherman (yes, a pet boy). Despite being a huge geek/nerd, Peabody is a comical and cool as you can imagine; maybe even way cooler. He has a time-travelling machine, which he uses to his pleasure to find all kinds of adventures. And he also uses the same Rocky & Bullwinkle satirical humour.

Mr Peabody saving the day once again,
while his pet boy Sherman watches

In one episode they travel back in time to the 1860s, finding himself in the middle of a battle between union soldiers and native americans. Peabody claims he can resolve the conflict without any single loss of life of both indians and union soldiers.

The union general asks: -"But do you know anything about indians, son?"
Sherman replies: -"Only that they play on the American League!"

#5. It was the first cartoon that showed animated shows not only could be entertaining, they could also be used for satire and black humour.

And again... this all of this happened in 1959!

In my opinion, a list of cartoons heavily influenced by, or with strong references and connections to Rocky & Bullwinkle includes:

• Ren and Stimpy
• Southpark
• Beavis and Butthead
• Animaniacs
• Rugrats
• Johnny Bravo
• Family Guy
• Monty Python's Flying Circus (not a cartoon, but still)
• Arrested Development (also not a cartoon, but still)

Oh and by the way, Mr Peabody's time machine's name, is "WAY-BACK MACHINE."

I could go on about Rocky & Bullwinkle, but I'll leave it up to you to google their episodes. You won't regret it.