Thursday 27 February 2014

Tom and Jerry



The basic of comedy is tragedy. It is in suffering and it's aftermath that amuses the observers more than anything else. And when this suffering is never permanent but consistently recurring, the comic factor is multiplied many fold.
To be truly entertained, it is a must for the mind to relax. Take a break from functioning.
Tom And Jerry provide the perfect spectacle for such entertainment. 'Jasper' aka tom, is a house cat. Pampered and cared for. Jerry is a brown mouse. Witty and quick. And thus, the chase ensues. Tom isn't after Jerry due to his cat instinct, but because of Jerry's irritating, usually insulting mischief.
The result is a mayhem in the house!!!  That's it. There is nothing more to it. A fight between a cat and mouse. They fight violently. With knives, hammers, saws, swords, axes, guns, bombs, furniture, and occasionally, fire and wild animals. They get injuries, medical treatment, a few times, death, but neither is ready to give up.
The story line is most often illogical. And the sequences are never deep. The action and circumstance are utterly ridiculous. The viewer Simply does not need to think to understand what is happening. The entire theme of the comedy is improbable tragedy. so that you can safely Turn off your mind. And enjoy!!!
There are rarely any dialogues, and minimal human intervention. The Background music is rich in variety and gives the emotion to the scene. Most sound effects are either tom or Jerry screaming , crying, laughing, gasping, or yelling before an attack! Though the story-line in each of the show is basically the same, the methods of tom to accomplish his goal and the ways of Jerry to foil tom keep on changing. The faces of the human characters are never shown. The cat and mouse are usually in a chase with each trying to inflict the maximum hurt and humiliation on the other. But every once in a while, they come together if the other requires help. Or if a circumstance requires them both.
The show has often been criticized for its extensive violence and racial and gender stereotyping, but though full of violence, the ere is almost no blood or gore in the entire tom and Jerry universe.
Beginning in September of 1940,  Tom And Jerry was created by Hannah and Barbera for Merto Goldwyn-Mayer until it's cartoon studio shut down. But it continue on up to 2005 in various series, movies and short films.
The popularity of this cat and mouse duo exceeds that of most of the cartoons combined! With fans and audiences of all ages. The original 52 episodes continue, and hopefully will continue, to be re run on many different networks.

Monday 24 February 2014

The Flintstones

                                                                   



Get up, go to work, bear the boss, come back home, chill with buddies, and occasionally get a little romance. That is the life of the middle class man. Monotonous? Some would consider it steady and comfortable.
But has it been like that since forever?
Fred Flintstones says, yes.
Fredrick J. Flintstone (Fred) is a citizen of the town of bedrock. He own a modest residence in the suburbs and a car. His live with his wife Wilma and daughter pebbles. And the his best friend Bernard Rubble (Barney) lives next door with his wife Betty Rubble and their super strong adopted son, Baam-Baam.
 His life is simple. He drives a car to work (powered by hi own feet), works at a stone quarry as a crane operator (Which is a dinosaur)  showers in the bathroom (with the trunk of a mammoth) and has 2 pets (a dinosaur and a saber-tooth).
Fred is identifiable to the middle aged middle class working man. Running a nuclear family and striving with the every day occurrences while keeping up his lifestyle. He loves his wife. Hates his boss. loves his pets, hates the paperboy, loves his buddy and absolutely despises his mother in law. He is fascinated with technology and considers himself a great inventor. Loves bowling. And is a member of the 26th lodge of the 'Loyal order of the water buffaloes'.
His leopard skin suit and blue tie is instantly recognizable.
His world is in the ''modern Stone Age", yet he uses most of the technologies in use in the middle of the twentieth century, Like phones, television, camera, and elevators.
The Flintstones was primarily focused on the adult audiences and sometimes portrayed sensitive issues in a subtle manner.
It was produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.
The Flintstones is one of the most successful animated series of all time ranking in second, behind 'The Simpsons'. It first aired from 30 September 1960 to 1 April 1966 running for 6 seasons through 166 episodes. Re-runs of the show are still aired on the Cartoon Network, boomerang and other networks.
It has inspired many spin-offs and full length features including two live action movies.
The opening song "Meet The Flintstones" was found to be one of the most recognizable songs from television as was his catch phrase "yabba daba doo!!"

Dexters laboratory



 We've all imagined about having a secret place in the house when we were young. A small corner where we can create a world of own Full of things that we find interesting. A sanctum....sacred space to pursue our fascinations to our hearts content. Most children build tents from their bed sheets and pillows. Some have the privilege  a closet. Few reach to the point of having the entire garage to themselves, by which point, they are confined to a monotonous life of a responsible adult.

But once in a blue moon, a exceptional genius comes along. A mind so powerfully intelligent that the wait for a lifetime is impossible. And the space of a tent or a closet or a room or a garage even an entire house is too tiny for their exploding brilliance!!
Dexter built his first machine before he learned to talk....or even Walk. A ringer with a light bulb.
He is now seven years old. He has his own laboratory underground beneath his home (May be his entire hometown!). His empire of technological wonders extends so far and so wide that even machines are unable to cope with the maintenance of his facilities. He builds particle accelerators, inter-dimensional portals, Time Machines and robots. He has solved problems in science that scientists have been worried about for decades, and he has saved the world with technology he developed.
But to every crest, there is a trough. To every mountain, there is a valley. And to the genius of dexters level, there is his profoundly ignorant and unconditionally blissful sister. Dee Dee.
Dee Dee is the antithesis of everything dexter is. Se is a girl. Dexter is short, She is tall. Dexter likes electric blue and black, She like pink. Where dexter likes his lab, Dee Dee likes nature. Where dexter shows a lack of social sense, Dee Dee is quick to make friends. Where dexter is constantly pondering some problem or the other, DiDi is entertaining herself with fairytales and unicorns.
They are siblings, but Dee Dee is an year older. They fight like blood thirsty enemies. But love each other to the core. His mother and father are very loving parents. His mother is almost perfect homemaker. Perfect in cooking, perfect in keeping the house in top condition. Perfect in managing the finances and very loving to her husband.
His father is the just like any other working class man. When he is home, he is mostly engrossed in the news paper or the television.
Dexter is always top in his class. Always favorited by teachers. Of course, having a brilliant mind often means having little or no familiarity with the mundane. Dexter also has an archenemy, the child of his new neighbors, Mandark.
Mandark is just as intelligent. Even more. He is socially adept. And physically too, he is better than dexter. But he has a touch of evil to him.
Most often dexter is being troubled by DiDi in his lab, as she makes a mess of his lab with dexter unable to do anything, because his lab is a secret that the parents don't know about.
 The concept, in Essenes, is only the manifestation of the desire of children to have a secret, sacred space.
 Dexter's Laboratory series  was created by Genndy Tartakovsky and aired 78 episodes over 4 seasons during its 7-year run.  Fifty-two episodes were produced over the original run from 1996 to 1998, which was followed by the TV movie Ego Trip in 1999. An additional 26 episodes were produced and broadcast from 2001 to 2003. The short film d"Chicken Scratch" debuted theatrically with The Powerpuff Girls Movie in 2002 and was later broadcast as a segment in the series' fourth and final season. Reruns of the show still continue on Cartoon Network and boomerang.

SWATkats : The Radical Squardon.




         When I was a kid, many uncles and aunties would ask me, "he kiddo, what do you want to be when you grow up?" . And I, would cheerfully exclaim, "I want to be a pilot!!", stretch my arms out and "fly" around......
Flying, especially in an airplane, is always fascinating. And a jet? Totally awesome! This emotion, I'm certain, would have been echoed by almost all kids my age.
Jake and chance were pilot and gunner team in 'The Enforcers' Megakat city's para-military. They were the best at their respective jobs in the entire force. But when they failed to obey illogical orders of their commander, to let an enemy escape, and the mission ended in an accident, they were unfairly demoted and made to work at the military salvage yard, a sort of junk yard for the armed forces.
Dishonored, and desperate to fight the forces of evil and protect their city, they formed the SWATkats. Assembling their own fighter plane, the 'Turbokat', out of usable parts found in the junk. And using the hanger under the yard as their base.!!!!!
The vigilante duo never reveal their true identity to anybody, even their allies And call themselves T-bone and Razor. Razor is the weapons expert, deigning and developing various kinds of missiles and weapons, and using them with near perfect accuracy!!! While T-bone is the daredevil prodigal pilot, maneuvering the turbokat like no other aircraft or pilot can imitate.
The world of the vigilantes never seems to run out of villains. But while 'Dark kat' is intelligent, technologically advanced, and very formidable. There are some like  'Madkat', lunatic, and childishly obliviously to any form of technology.

One of the most notorious villain is 'The Pastmaster'. A time manipulating undead wizard. He and the SWATkats clash on several occasions. But he never tires of being defeated by them.
The SWATkats, when not saving the day, operate a garage in the salvage yard, where they befriend the deputy mayor, Callie Briggs. Although she is an ally to the SWATkats, she is oblivious to their true identities.
Callie Briggs does most of the work in the mayor's office, and Mayor Manx is almost always hiding or playing golf, depending on the severity of the situation.
Like all vigilantes, the SWATkats are hated by the city's security forces for undermining them and often proving them incompetent at their job. The principal hater being the commander Ulysses Feral.
The SWATkats have many enemies, but most appear only once.
Apart from the TurboKat, they also have a range of vehicles and weaponry to be used on or below water and land.
The series was created by Christian and Yvon Tremblay, with every episode directed by Robert Alvarez (with the exception of 'Special Report'). Major writers  were Glenn Leopold and Lance Falk.
The SWATkats aired from 1993 to 1994 lasting 2 seasons for a total of 23 episodes With re re-runs on boomerang and various other networks. Dutch

Wednesday 12 February 2014

Popeye- The Sailor man

                                                   

I never ate spinach. Not of money. Not for candy. Not for a trip to the park. And not for the fear of getting my butt whooped. It was pure hatred. Spinach hated me. And I hated spinach. I didn't need to know  the reason. I just knew, this is how it is supposed to be. But then, there's always change with age....

I turned 9. I was practically a man now ;) . And then, I saw him....the sailor.
He was strong. He was free. He was funny. His wide fore arms with an anchor tattoo and thin biceps somehow made perfect sense. The one eye always in a wink, pipe in mouth. I practically wanted to be a sailor, just like him.

But all things came to a halt when he ran into trouble. He always pulled out his secret weapon, the can of spinach. It was a mess! My favorite sailor collaborating with my worst enemy!

He made me think, it can't be that bad... After all, Popeye eats it RAW..... And he kicks Bluto straight into the horizon....
So I tried it.
Once. Twice. Thrice...and it was fine. It was good even. ...

Popeye was a teacher. He taught children not to wander off on their own. He taught kids what to do when they face difficulties. And he taught the green is the key to strength.

Most of the time, Bluto or some other villain, would hatch wicked schemes to separate Popeye and Olive Oyl. Or dominate the world. Or steal a kids ice cream. But Popeye ( after some beating) would always save olive, the the ice cream, the day, the whole world! With the power of his spinach. Spinach made him strong. It made him a genius. It gave him skill and I gave his pipe the power of rocket or a turbine.......whatsoever was needed.

Popeye started his journey as character on a comic strip in the very early 19th century. But moving to theater and television took a long time.
The Most memorable Popeye  cartoons were the 125 shorts produced by paramount pictures from 1941 onwards. They were technicolor animated And theatrical quality.
It ended a long time ago. But continues to be broadcast on various media, and also inspire many cameos in many many features and cartoons. 

The Adventures of TinTin

                                                           

To be a good reporter, there are three essential qualities needed in a person. The first is curiosity, the second is wit. And the third is vision.
But in an extremely rare case, a fourth, very potent quality exists in a man.
The thirst for adventure.
This concoction is know to the world as TinTin.

A petite, lanky fellow, seemingly not even out of his teens yet. Moony face with wide round eyes. And the quiff hairstyle.
 He doesn't have a family. Doesn't have a last ( or is it first) name, no past. And above all, he doesn't have an age. There is only a middle class Belgian known simply as Tintin, And a white fox-terrier known as snowy.
     
 Although lacking much flair, Tintin is a hero. He can drive and maneuver practically any vehicle. Including all types of water and air crafts. With his passionate and caring nature, combined with a commonplace being, he becomes instantly familiar to the commoner. A figure one can aspire to be. He speaks English, with a Canadian accent, but his surroundings are all in French and sometimes German.
 'The adventures of Tintin' stays true to its sources, the comic books, in terms of the art and behavioral detail of the characters.
 Captain Archibald haddock is a retired mariner, capable of sailing to any point on the globe while being stone drunk on fire-whiskey (he usually is) And blistering barnacles......   I mean.......hollering unique exclamations. He is tintin's permanent host and friend at marlinspike hall, along with the scientific genius  ans somewhat absent minded professor Calculus. Then, there are also the twin Scotland Yard detectives, Thomson and Thompson who are forever in need of his help on mystery after intriguing mystery.
Throughout the nine and thirty parts of he tri-season series, the creators explore through most of the plots in the books, often merging one into another, for affect. And sometimes, using original art work directly on screen as suitable.
Running from 1991 to 1992, the series did not need much publicity to gain an audience, as a few attempts had been made prior to this one to bring the iconic plus fours wearing sleuth to the screen. This time being far more successfully that any of the earlier.
The entire charm of Tintin lies in its uncomplicated and undefined style. The storytelling is straight, and the art work is sketchy, leaving a lot of space to fill with imagination.
Directed by Stephen Bernasconi and Peter Hudecki, the project was commissioned for production by the HergĂ© Foundation. 

Wednesday 5 February 2014

Batman Beyond




The world of the superhuman beings can only be observed from the outside and only to the extent of them intervening to save the world form whatever evil needs its butt kicked! But sometimes, with the right circumstance, a mortal can enter their world and not only be one of them, but be better among them.
 When his parents were killed by a thief, Bruce was left with a deep emotional scar at a very young age. And when the culprit was killed by another criminal, he decided to get to the root of this evil. He lived among them, trying to know the reason for their way of life and realized, not all criminals are evil. some are only victims of circumstance. He was trained in combat by a clan of anarchists. But used his acquired skill against evil. He used all his resources and technology to become a Symbol. A Symbol that must be feared by the wrongdoers.
He became BATMAN.
He began his work to eradicate crime and steadily but surely made Gotham a safe city again. He inspired people. And never used a firearm, for he believed that every one deserves a chance, and everyone can be changed. Petty crime was almost wiped from the city.
The year is 2019. He still fights Crime, but with the help of a specially constructed suit and he has ended all contact with is earlier friends in the
But during a mission, his body cannot handle the pressure and, Bruce suffers a heart attack. Escaping death only by breaking his own principle and using a gun to threaten his attacker. He realizes that he is not fit to be batman anymore, and shuts down the Batcave with a vow to never again be batman.He lives a lonely life in his manor for almost 20 years. Until 2039.
Terry McGinnis is 17. He is athletic, rebellious and off terms with his father.
He is spirited, and energetic. Yet he has a deep sense of justice. Being chased by a gang of hooligans, he is led to Wayne manor, where Bruce helps terry to fend off the gang, but Bruce's heart condition gets worse, and terry has to help Bruce and While Bruce unconscious, terry discovers the Batcave. When Bruce recovers, he chase terry off, who reaches home to find his father murdered.
He reaches out to Bruce for help, but Bruce refuses. Determined, terry steals the bats suit and goes on to his mission. Bruce tries to hinder terry in many ways, but after a lot of persuasion let's terry step into his shoes. Terry finds the his father was whistleblower on Wayne-Powers, Bruce's company which was not taken over by Derek powers. And was killed by his bodyguard, Mr. Fixx.
During battle, Mr. Fixx dies, but Derek powers is exposed to radiation, which leads him to eventually become 'BLIGHT', a radiation emitting supervillian.
Bruce's realizes that terry is very much fit to become the symbol he once was And trains him. Terry also make his own allies and enemies in the new world along with those still living, from Bruce's past.
Eventually, terry discovers that he was a result of a project by Amanda Waller to create a new batman after Bruce, and Bruce is his biological father through a complex genetic processing of his father, warren McGinnis.
The entire concept of the venture is the age factor of Bruce. The younger batman is more relatable to the teenager audience, with his casual style, leaner toned physique, high tech equipment and slight sense of aggression.
Of course, it is extremely rare for a mortal to step into the realm of the supers, but when it does happen, even they must acknowledge, the superiority of batman.
Why? you ask....?
Because he's BATMAN. 

Samurai Jack.


The premise of an idealistic heroic oriental man wandering through strange worlds has been used and reused since the beginning of oriental storytelling. 'Samurai jack' - although not his real name - takes this to a whole different plane of exploration with the brilliant combination of many different sources. Our hero is A master-less samurai warrior, who has wandered the the earth to learn and master as many ways of combat as possible. From Vikings to Zulus and from shaolin monks to Robbin hood (literally). He is learned in philosophy from Egyptian and Greek scholars, adding to his own ingrained way of Japanese tradition. He is humble, naive, helpful, sacrificing, and deeply spiritual. He prefers his 'GETA' over other footwear. He rarely wears anything else but his 'KIMONO'. A simple minded but highly skilled hero, he wields a magical sword forged by three gods, whose primary goal is to return back to his own home, in his own time.
Aku. The dark Demonic immortal wizard -(the Japanese absolutely hate wizards!!)- is the the spawn of a tiny fragment of a long past evil destroyed almost completely, but for this fragment, by three gods. Odin, king of Asgard (thor's dad). Ra, the nameless Egyptian king of gods (who used to be the sun in his spare time). And the Hindu deity RAM, the seventh reincarnation of Vishnu (who is literally the boss of everything in Hindu mythology).
That little fragment fell on earth and destroyed a lot of things, including the dinosaurs, and over time grew into forest on the area that became japan.
Aku was born as a reaction to an arrow of fire burning with magic oils. Before that he was just an evil forest infected by the tiny fragment of forgotten dark evil slowly making life miserable for the wilderness (yeah, Japanese hate dark forests too). The arrow was fired by the hero's father, who was king of the land at the time.
         
Seeing the turn of events, the godly trio who first destroyed evil forge a magical sword from the 'WILL' of the Japanese king to help hip destroy Aku. It works. And Aku is sent back and trapped in a dark thorny tree.
After a while, an eclipse gives him some power and he is released again. This time he abducts himself and the sword falls in to the hands of his son, the prince, who is very young at the time, but manages to escape destruction. The prince travels far and wide to train himself in combat, To avenge his father and kill Aku. When he returns, Aku has seized most of japan and aspires to rule the entire world with his evil plans. He finds and challenges Aku to a duel. The fight is epic and largely in his favor, but just before the final swing of the sword, Aku uses magic to open a time portal and sends him in to a distant future. Having no one to stop Aku, the dark kingdom grows, till all of the world is under his rule. And so is the future, to which he sends the prince. A quantum paradox in forward time travel.
The prince finds the future to be highly advanced in technology and full of alien life forms that immigrated to earth and are now intrinsic. He also finds many mythological beings and objects in his regular quest to find a way back to his won time.
Aku rules the world with minions, robots and fighting machines. And only when the prince is weak, he attacks. But most often has to run away to save himself.
The entire series is also unique in that the dialogues are kept to a minimum, with some episodes entirely void of any spoken words.
  The music and background is provided by George Pajone Jr. And Will.i.am, in compositions by James L. Venable, we'll known for their work in the music industry.
The quest of the prince is never concluded through all 52 episodes, although he come very close to succeeding many a times. The last broadcasted episode concludes with the prince, being taken away after a fierce battle with the guardian of a steady time portal who would not let him pass, leaving the audience with a cliffhanger.
The series was first aired from August 10th 2001 to September 25th 2004 on Cartoon Network as Four seasons. With frequent reruns on Boomerang of all four.
With the produces announcement that a full length 2D animated feature is in pre-production, the fans hope to hear again soon "they call me jack....."