Revamp

I've been somewhat 'meh' towards "Trickster's Tales" for awhile now. Doesn't *really* describe me since I'm more of the straight man than the comic, and considering the atmosphere from which Paleface Coyote sprung, just a bit of an uncomfortable reminder now and again. So now Vox ex Turbatio (look it up :-P). Considered Vox ex Vacuus but didn't think I really wanted to be saying that about myself. Changed the address too which might be slightly annoying but hopefully not much.

Reminiscing Part 2 (of many)

So, I've come to the conclusion that four cartoon intros/reminisces are too many to fit in one blog post. It's too unwieldy, and there's more to say than what I did say. So I'm gonna try doing one at a time, see how that works. 'Course, that might take me awhile, but oh well. Gives me something to strive for, and (relatively) new content every now and then.

Captain Planet: Originally broadcast September 1990 to May 1996

Oh yes, I went there. The ultimate in enviro-hippie cartoons, Captain Planet was about five kids with magic rings who, when needed, could summon "Earth's greatest hero." No, not Superman, but Captain Planet. Each of the kids came from a different part of the globe (Africa, North America, USSR, Asia, South America), giving the show a pretty balanced cast for an early-90s cartoon - the American, of course, was from New York City. The Soviet girl, later had her origin changed to "Eastern Europe" after the USSR collapsed - something of which I had only the very vaguest of notions. More interestingly, each ring gave command/power over one of the classical elements (Earth, Fire, Wind, Water) - with the fifth being labeled "Heart" - which always seemed to me kinda vagueish and undefined, wishy-washy, but also potentially the most powerful. Sure, the Earth guy can shape the very ground you stand on, the Fire guy can blast you with flaming destruction, the Wind girl can create a tornado, and the Water girl can potentially do all sorts of nasty things. But "Heart," from what I can recall, was some sort of empathic/mental connection type thing... usually used to make villains feel bad, or get some local critters to help, or be a general moral conscious type thing. On the other hand... it could also be used to, oh, inflame mobs, influence public opinion, even if only subtly... maybe even mind control. How fortunate that the kid with the "Heart" ring was also the most innocent/pure, morally upright... etc., etc. And of course the different elements fit with each kid's personality... steady and reliable African dude, hotheaded American, piercing/logical Russian, flexible/adaptable Asian-of-unspecified-origin (though likely Chinese I'd guess).

Other good things... oh yeah, I really wanted their solar-powered plane. And I never could figure out which ring I'd have wanted. There was a particular episode I vaguely remember that dealt with drug addiction which I found a little bit frightening.... granted, I was a little kid, but I seem to remember one of the Planeteers actually becoming an addict. After all, one of the show's messages was keeping yourself pollution-free as well. Also, I was annoyed by the PSA's at the end of each show... I'd've preferred more time for actual show and plot, and they were boringly repetitive.

Anyway though... can you imagine what people would be saying if this show debuted today? "Bleeding-heart liberals and their godless heathen tv shows..." Seriously... kids recruited by "the Spirit of the Earth" and fighting to save the planet from caricatures of all the classic environmentalist bugaboos? But you know what? I watched it, and if I'd had kids then, I'd want them to be watching something like this too. Great escapist stuff and with an important core message that Smokey the Bear would be proud of.

Oh... and Linka (the Russian girl) was probably one of my earlier TV crushes as a little eight year old. Yeah, she was a cartoon... and?

Bonus material: The end credits, and the theme song that probably is Cap's most lasting contribution to pop culture.

Reminiscing... ahh, childhood

Ever get nostalgic about your childhood? I do, especially recently about the TV shows I watched when I was a kid. This is helped in large part of course by the magical creations of Youtube and Wikipedia, which have allowed me to relive, in some small measure, a bit of those good old shows. I've been able to find the old show intros... and in more than one case, entire episodes! And now I feel like sharing. Of course, there's a lot of shows out there, and I don't feel like inundating... so I'm gonna do a few at a time. These are in no particular order, nor with any particular theme. Now, let's see if I can figure out this whole "embedding" thing...

1. Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers - First Run March 1989 to November 1990

This old Disney cartoon is one of my earliest and fondest memories of TV cartoons. I would have been four and five when the show first aired, and probably remember it more from reruns on the Disney Afternoon after-school block. This 'toon featured a detective/rescue agency headed up by the two chipmunk title characters who went around doing good deeds for other animals and solving cases that "go slipping through the cracks." The show also starred Gadget, a brilliant girl mouse inventor, a strong-arming Australian mouse named Monterey Jack (as in the cheese, natch), and Zipper the fly - who didn't speak intelligibly but tended to be the funniest (to me, as a four, five, six, seven year old). As with most Disney cartoons, lots of humor and slapstick, but I also remember a lot of teamwork and friendship messages, especially about being gentle with one another's foibles and perseverance.

2. Batman: The Animated Series - First Run September '92 to September '95

This cartoon redefined, to a large extent, what American cartoons could be and introduced an entire generation of young people to the Batman character. Dark and moody with a penchant for serious drama and little slapstick, I could probably rewatch this cartoon as a 20-something and still really like it. I would've been 7, almost 8, when Batman came on the air, and 10 when it ended, and that sounds about right, though I no doubt caught it in re-runs as well. The art deco and rather timeless look to Gotham (relatively high tech, but police in zeppelins for example) really appealed to me, since Batman was very clearly in the "real world" but still separate and comic-booky enough. Aside from Batman (and Robin, Batgirl, Alfred) however, the villains of Batman were particularly well-done, especially the Joker and Mr. Freeze. This particular cartoon spawned a series of 'toons roughly linked, with the last show not ending until 2006.

3/4. Where in the World/Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego - September '91 to October '96 and February '94 to January '99, respectively

If the Oregon Trail was the definitive early computer game(s) for kids my age, Carmen Sandiego comes in a very close second, if not surpassing it. The games basically were educational, originally about Geography (Where in the World...), in which the player would try and catch the greatest thief in the world, Carmen Sandiego. There was an early '90s gameshow which I followed faithfully, and one of the highlights was Rockapella's song that played at the end of the show (apologies for the video, which is just clips strung together to the song). A few years later, there was a Saturday morning dramatic cartoon with the same basic premise and starring sibling detectives trying to catch Carmen. To this day, I think of Carmen Sandiego as the greatest fictional thief ever and basically uncatchable. And my love of history and geography was at least partly stoked by these shows (and games).

4. Gargoyles - First run October '94 to February '97

(apologies for the annoying ad)

The success of the Batman cartoon led to Disney considering making their own cartoon with a more mature bent to take advantage of the pre-teen/teen demographic, and this show worked perfectly for me. I liked it for many of the reasons I liked Batman - excellent writing, complex plots, darker themes (all keeping in mind I watched this show first-run and in re-runs until I was maybe 16), and I loved the voice cast. Where Batman was comic-books and detective stuff, Gargoyles was medieval history and mythology, and this is another series I could probably watch again and really like.


So that's round 1. Long post, but maybe this rekindled some memories, or interested in some new ones.