DVD EPISODE CHECK LISTS

Gummi Bears main cast

I have something I want to try and I need your comments and feedback.

I'm going to start writing some DVD box set reviews and I'm going to include an episode guide for the dvd set that gives a breakdown of the episodes on each disc.

I'm thinking that people can use it as a checklist so that they can check off the episodes that they have already watched if they don't feel like watching the whole set in one sitting.

What do you think? Is this something that you would use? The link below is a sample of the guide that I would include. Let me know what you think.

gummibears.doc 93K

COMPLETELY CRAZY CARTOON CHARACTER CHALLENGE #13

Here we are again for another great installment of the CCCCC! As always, leave me a comment with your guess and I'll reveal the answer on Monday! Good luck!

UPDATE: This week's winner is coolb who correctly identified this character as Sonia from Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats! Coolb takes the lead! Keep it up! I'll see you next week!

Da Points:

athena: 1
coolb: 4
coolshades: 1
eagle-man: 3
katie: 1
starlac: 3

THURSDAY THEME SONG: SEALAB 2021

This is the last week for our "Underwater Adventures" theme on Thursday Theme Song. Today's show is one of [adult swim]'s finest work:

Standard dress code on Sealab

Sealab 2021

Way back in 1972, Hanna-Barbera produced Sealab 2020, a show that teaches kids about being environmentally friendly, particularly to the sea. The show was dumb and boring and canceled after thirteen episodes.

Fast forward to 1995: Adam Reed and Matt Thompson stumble upon an old episode of Sealab 2020 and decide to add their own dialogue making it funny. Thus, Sealab 2021 was born. The series ran 52 ten to twelve minute episodes on Cartoon Network's [adult swim] from 2000-2005.

Taking place one year after the events of Sealab 2020 the crew has gone a bit crazy living underwater for so long and now they just spend their time goofing off and acting stupid. And boy is it funny.

Sealab group photo

Sealab 2021 uses recycled animation and backgrounds from the original show and adds in new animation when necessary. The animation quality is very limited and quite bad but the writing is funny and makes the animation tolerable.

The show has a huge cult following, many of which say the show 'jumped the shark' when Captain Murphy voice actor Harry Goz died in 2003. Captain Murphy's character was written out of the show saying he went to fight in the Great Spice Wars. The series went on for a while after but it was never the same and was eventually canceled.

The theme song for the show is by a group called Calamine.



If you want to see an episode of the original Sealab 2020 then check out the Sealab 2021 episode called '7211' on the second season DVD set. It is an actual episode of the original show (7211 refers to the production number of the original episode) with the new voice cast dubbing in the dialogue and edited for time constrains. You will see just how boring the original show was.

NEW TRANSFORMERS MOVIE POSTERS

Two new posters for the upcoming Transformers live action movie have been released. They are your typical "here's your good guy" and "here's your bad guy" posters where they are facing each other and looking like they are gonna jump right outta the posters and start punching each other. Take a good look at these guys.


Click image for larger picture

Take a close look at the symbols above Optimus Prime's eye and the one below Megatron's eye. What do they mean? Are they the new Autobots and Decepticons logos? If they are, I don't like them.

TURTLE BOX OFFICE POWER

This past weekend saw the opening of five new movies, including The Hills Have Eyes 2 and Reign Over Me, but it was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that took the box office this weekend beating out two-week champion 300.

I have not seen this movie yet but I'm glad to see that the Turtles have not lost their touch. Eighties children fell in love with the old cartoon and the popularity lasted through the mid-nineties with ten seasons of cartoons and three live action feature films.

The franchise looked like it may be in trouble in in late nineties with a terrible, live-action version of the show that was supposed to be a continuation of the movies but ended up being garbage. But the new Turtles show that came out a few years ago showed that the Turtles could still be popular. Hopefully this movie will solidify the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise for a long time coming.

I plan to see this movie on Easter weekend so I'll try to get a review of it up in the few days following.

COMPLETELY CRAZY CARTOON CHARACTER CHALLENGE #12

Here is this week's challenge. Are you up for it? Do you know this character? Then leave me a comment with your guess and I will reveal the answer on Monday!

UPDATE: This week's winner is starlac who correctly identified this character as Hopopotamus from Disney's The Wuzzles! Starlac is tied for first! Keep it up! I'll see you next week!

Da Points:

athena: 1
coolb: 3
coolshades: 1
eagle-man: 3
katie: 1
starlac: 3

THURSDAY THEME SONG: THE SNORKS

This week's "Underwater Adventure" is classic for all you 80s kids out there:

Image from slocartoon.com

The Snorks

First a Belgian comicbook by Nic Broca in 1982, Snorks became and animated series produced and animated by Hanna-Barbera from 1984-1986. The 65 episode series featured a race of underwater creatures that had snorkle-type growths on their heads that allowed them to propel through the water at fairly high speeds. They have your typical Saturday morning adventures and usually end up learning a leason or two by the end of the episode.

Many people compare the Snorks to the Smurfs, another Hanna-Barbera series that came out a few years earlier. In each show, the race of creatures is small, but that is where the similarities end.

There is not much to say about this show. It came, it was mass-marketed, it was popular, it disappeared. It has not had a DVD release yet, which has saddened many of the show's fans.

POKEMON REVELATION

What? Kids still love us?

I work with children in an after school program in East Vancouver and we have been putting on a special camp for Spring break this week (which is partly why I haven't been posting regularly).

I was quite surprised when I saw a bunch of kids pulling out their Pokemon cards so that they could trade and battle. Is Pokemon still popular? Apparently so. Pokemon first aired in North America in 1998 and took the continent by storm. The series is still being made to this day, now pushing 500 episodes, but it is nowhere near as popular as it was at the end of the previous millennium.

But kids are still playing the game. And the really fascinating thing about it was that out of this group of about five boys from camp is only one of them is Asian. The camp has about forty kids and over half of them are Asian (this is Vancouver after all), so to see a Columbian, an Iranian and two Greeks playing Pokemon and totally into it was quite a surprise. What a multi-cultural world we live in!

NEW "WEIRD AL" VIDEO - TRAPPED IN THE DRIVE-THRU

Straight Outta Lynwood

A new video for "Weird Al" Yankovic's newest album, Straight Outta Lynwood, premiered on myspace today.

Trapped in the Drive-Thru is an 11-minute epic parody of R. Kelly's Trapped in the Closet and this new animated video was produced by Flash animation web-toon favourite Doogtoons.

This is the tenth music video from this album and the eighth to be animated by a popular internet animation company. Other videos have included Don't Download This Song by Bill Plympton, Weasel Stomping Day by the Robot Chicken Animation Team and Do I Creep You Out by jibjab.com.

COMPLETELY CRAZY CARTOON CHARACTER CHALLENGE #11

Welcome once again to the CCCCC! As usual, leave me a comment if you know who the character is in the picture below! I will reveal the answer on Monday!

UPDATE: This week's winner is starlac who correctly identified this character as Pearl Pureheart from Mighty Mouse! Way to go! Keep up the good work and I'll see you next week!

Da Points:

athena: 1
coolb: 3
coolshades: 1
eagle-man: 3
katie: 1
starlac: 2

THURSDAY THEME SONG: SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS

If anyone askes who the most popular cartoon character of the mellenium is, most will say SpongeBob SquarePants. Who is this sponge and why is he so special? Those questions and more will be answered in this week's "Underwater Adventure" Thursday Theme Song!

SpongeBob and the denizes of Bikini Bottom

SpongeBob SquarePants

Ever since SpongeBob Squarepants debuted in 1999, the show has mega-high ratings. In fact, it is the only cartoon to contently be in the Neilson Rating's Top 10. It beat down the Pokemon wave of popularity and his image appears on virtually everything that can be sold.

The premise of the show is simple: It is about the day to day adventures of a sponge living at the bottom of the pacific ocean. SpongeBob lives in a pinapple in Bikini Bottom where he goes to school, works at a fast food restaurant and plays with his neighbours, Patrick the starfish, Squidward the squid, and Sandy the squirrel.

Creator Stephen Hillenburg was a marine biologist until he desided to switch careers and join Nickelodeon in 1993 and worked as a writer and storyboard artist on Rocko's Modern Life. When Rocko was canelled, Hillenburg decided to create his own show based on the sea creatures that he grew to love in marine biology.

SpongeBob's Macy's Day Parade float

The appeal of the show is the absurd humour. The writers have been smart by making a lot of the humour appeal to adults. While the goofy characters are great for the kids and international markets, many of the situations and character traits are those that only adult would understand. This created a large fan base for the show.

The show took a hiatus of sorts after the movie was released in 2003. Between 2003 and 2005 only seven new episode were made and the show saw its lowest ratings and was threatened with cancellation. This may have been a really elaborate marketing gimmick because the major comeback and new season of SpongeBob brought in record numbers and many more new fans.

SpongeBob SquarePants will be back for a sixth season and Gene Simmons is going to provide the voice for a sea monster in one of the episodes.

FILMATION SUPERHERO ANIMATION TO DVD!

Batmite, Batman and Robin

Rumour has it that Warner Brothers is finally getting around to releasing the DC Superhero Filmation cartoons from the 60s and 70s.

According to Earl Kress' blog, The New Adventures of Batman and The New Adventures of Superman will be released on June 26.

For many of the DC Superheroes this was the first time they were seen in this medium. Superman and Batman already seen their own series, the Fleisher Superman series from the 40s and the Adam West Batman being the most popular, but heroes like Flash, Green Lantern, Teen Titans and Aquaman made their debuts through Filmation. Check out this previous post on Aquaman for a tast of a Filmation show.

This is an excellent start to the Filmation superhero franchise and I hope to see many more releases from Warner Bros.

While we are on the subject of classic toons to DVD, you may be interested in knowing that Space Ghost and Dino Boy and Birdman and the Galaxy Trio, two shows that Cartoon Network has bastardized into Space Ghost: Coast-to-Coast and Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, are coming to DVD on July 17. This info also comes to us from Earl kress' blog.

FLUTE + BEATBOX + INSPECTOR GADGET = FUN!

Check out this amazing clip of Greg Pattillo playing the flute and laying down some sweet beats at the same time! The tune is the theme song to Inspector Gadget and half way through he switches it with that techno song from Beverly Hills Cop.

ALICIA KEYS TO BE A DISNEY PRINCESS?

Click picture for larger image

Disney's Annual Shareholders' Meeting happened last week and Disney unveiled some new work from their new, upcoming 2D feature The Frog Princess. I have posted two pictures here of some character designs for the lead character of Princess Maddy that were projected on a big screen as Randy Newman played and song on the piano.

As you can see, Maddy will be Disney's first black princess. Mandy is a young southern girl living in New Orleans in the Roarin' 20s. I don't quite know how the whole 'princess' thing will fit in, but I guess time will tell.

Click picture for larger image

Alicia Keys has been auditioned for the role of Maddy and rumour has it she has been called back for a second interview. Keys has never done any voice work before to my knowledge. I hope that she turns out to be a good fit. I like her singing voice and since Frog Princess is a musical set in the 20s so I think Keys is a good fit.

COMPLETELY CRAZY CARTOON CHARACTER CHALLENGE #10

Welcome once again to the CCCCC! As usual, leave me a comment if you know who the character is in the picture below! I will reveal the answer on Monday!

UPDATE: This week's winner is coolb who correctly identified this character as Lord Bloth from The Pirates of Dark Water! coolb is now tied for first place! Way to go!

Satuday, March 10th saw record numbers here at Animated Toast! Thanks to everyone who came to check out this week's Challenge! See you next week!

Da Points:

athena: 1
coolb: 3
coolshades: 1
eagle-man: 3
katie: 1
starlac: 1

THURSDAY THEME SONG: AQUAMAN

This week's Thursday Theme Song, and going along with the Underwater Adventures theme, is the very first aquatic superhero:

Aqualad and Aquaman

Aquaman

Filmation, most know for their 80s nostalgia hit He-Man, got into the animation business quite early. 1963 saw the debut of their first show, Rod Rocket, and 1966 saw the debut of their second show, The New Adventures of Superman.

In 1967, Filmation repackaged Superman into a new hour-long series called The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure which featured reruns of the six-minute Superman episodes and new six-minute Aquaman cartoons.

Also included in the show were rotating 'guest star' episodes feature many DC Comics stars, including the Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, the Atom, Superboy, the Justice League of America and Teen Titans. Most of these heroes were seen for the first time in this series and would go on to their own series in later years.

"Superman! I'm open!"

The animation in this show is very limited as was the practice by Filmation. Budgets were very small so animation was reused as much as possible and characters only moved if they really needed to. This became Filmation's signature in animation and lasted all throughout the studio's life.

In 1968, Aquaman got his own series which was a 30-minute version of the Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure, only without Superman.

Aquaman's voice was provided by Marvin Miller, who is best know for his work as Robby the Robot in Forbidden Planet. Aqualad was voiced by Hanna-Barbera regular Jerry Dexter.

The voice you will hear in this theme song is none other than Ted Knight who was the narrator in many cartoons of this era including Super Friends. His most well know work is Ted Baxter from the Mary Tyler Moore Show.

ON THIS DAY IN 1986: CARE BEARS MOVIE II

Theatrical poster for

On March 7, 1986, The Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation hit the theaters and brought a whole new wave of merchandise to a whole new generation of children.

The original Care Bears television series was produced by DiC Entertainment who produced 21 episodes before handing it over to Canadian animation company Nelvana who's first task was to bring the Care Bears to the big screen in The Care Bears Movie in 1985.

The Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation was not actually a sequel but a prequel and an origin story of the Care Bear's first Care Mission. It paved the way for the new television series that Nelvana was launching after the movie. The new series would introduce a bunch of new characters including, Hugs and Tugs, Grams and the ever-popular Care Bear Cousins.

Grumpy Bear

The Care Bears franchise has been a massive force that has struck young children of every generation since 1981 and is still going strong to this day. Care Bears can be found on everything imaginable, they have their own stage show and new computer-generated direct-to-dvd movies are currently being made.

How many of you loved the Care Bears? I know I did. I had a few of the stuffed bears and some of the videos and some of the comicbooks. I think my favourite character was Grumpy Bear.

CAN THE LITTLE MERMAID DANCE?

How do mermaids dance?

Walt Disney Theatrical Productions is putting together a Broadway musical version of The Little Mermaid. WDTP, which also produced the Lion King and Beauty and the Beast Broadway versions, will colaborate with Alan Menken, composer of all the original Little Mermaid tunes, who will write a bunch of new tunes for the production.

There are two confirmed cast for the production: Sierra Boggess as Ariel and Norm Lewis as King Triton. The musical will have its world premiere at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House on July 26, 2007 in Denver, Colorado. The musical will officially open on Broadway on December 6, 2007.

I must ask this question: Can Ariel dance when she is a mermaid? The glitz of Broadway productions is the choreographed dancers. Will Ariel be sitting on a rock being pushed around while all the fish are dancing? Now that I mention it, fish don't have legs and everyone else will be mermaids! How the heck are they gonna pull this off?!

I may have to shell out the money to go see this when it comes to Vancouver.

Check out the official website and blog.

COMPLETELY CRAZY CARTOON CHARACTER CHALLENGE #9

Welcome to another installment of the CCCCC! This week we cater to the sci-fi fans out there with this cartoon character! Do you know who it is? Then leave a comment and check back on Monday for the answer!

UPDATE: This week's winner is katie who correctly identified this cartoon character as Prince Barin from Filmation's New Adventures of Flash Gordon.

Da Points:

athena: 1
coolb: 2
coolshades: 1
eagle-man: 3
katie: 1
starlac: 1

THURSDAY THEME SONG: THE LITTLE MERMAID

Welcome to a new month and a new theme! The month of March brings us "Underwater Adventures!" Every show this month will feature the residents of the fathoms below! First up:

C'Mon Urchin! Everyone's doing it!

The Little Mermaid

With the huge success of Disney's 1989 blockbuster hit The Little Mermaid, the Mouse House sat around thinking of a way to keep the popularity going. The result was a tv series based on the ever popular characters from the film and placing them in events that happened before the movie.

The Little Mermaid television series aired in the fall or 1992 with a tv special called A Whale of a Tale and them went on to become a Saturday morning hit.

Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel from the film, reprised her role of the mermaid for the series which featured new songs, some that are arguably better than the film's tunes! The most popular being In Harmony. New characters, like the merboy Urchin, were also introduced to support regular cast members Ariel, Sebastien and Flounder.

The actual English title card

The animation was not any where near the level of the movie but Disney's Television Animation Department did quite well compared to some of their other work. The Little Mermaid was the first show to spin out of a Disney movie, which has now become the norm.

The theme song is a medley of Part of Your World and Under the Sea, the two most popular songs from the movie. You will note that the end of this clip is in Spanish. This is because I couldn't find an English version! Sorry...