THURSDAY THEME SONG: THE ADVENTURES OF THE LITTLE PRINCE

The Little Prince

The final installment for "Narrative Theme" month is Japanese show based on a french book.

The Adventures of the Little Prince

In July of 1978, Hoshi no Ojisama Puchi Puransu was released in Japan. The series, which means Prince of the Stars: Petit Prince, contained 39 episodes may of which were directed by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. Yasuhiko not only directed but was also the character designer. He then went on to be the influential character designer for Mobile Suit Gundam.

The series was re-cut and dubbed into English and brought to a North American audience in 1982. Only 26 of the 39 episodes were dubbed.

The story, which is loosely based on the 1943 book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, follows the adventures of a young boy who lives on a tiny planet called B6-12. He lives alone on that planet so every episode he rides a comet to Earth, his favourite planet and meets the local people.

The show was a hit with small children and became quite dear to children of the eighties. Do you remember this theme song?

THURSDAY THEME SONG: FLASH GORDON

Week four of "Narrative Themes" month brings us one of the greatest sci-fi series of the seventies:

Flash Gordon and Dale Arden.

Flash Gordon

What was the ultra-huge sci-fi movie blockbuster that came out in 1977? You got it! Star Wars re-wrote the way space and sci-fi movies were made, so it is no surprise if you watch the old Filmation Flash Gordon series from 1979 and see a lot of Star Wars influence.

Originally as a comic strip from the 30s, the animated adventures of Flash Gordon follow the edge-of-your-seat adventures storylines that leave you on a cliffhanger at the end of every episode.

This serial style of storytelling was not new to the comic strips but it was something that was not usually done in a children's cartoon. Enticing viewers to return everyday to see what happened next worked well for the show as it ran its sixteen episode premiere season but did not bring in the ratings that the network wanted.

Princess Aura

Two years later, NBC ordered a second season but insisted that each episode was to be self-contained. In fact, NBC wanted two eleven-minute stories per episode! They wanted a show that was geared to a younger audience in the hopes to get stronger ratings than in season one.

An addition to the show was a small baby dragon called Gremlin that was added as the pet/sidekick/comic releif that every show in the seventies and eighties seemed the need to have. Gremlin stole the spotlight in many of the episodes only to be hated more and more by the fans.

To fans of the show, this second season was a disgrace. The fun and adventure of the first season had disappeared and what remained was a pile of garbage. The show was cancelled after eight episodes.

THURSDAY THEME SONG: CHALLENGE OF THE SUPER FRIENDS

In 1973, Hanna-Barbera launched the very first animated series based on the superhero team the Justice League of America!

This childrens' show went through many changes before airing, the most significant is
changing the name to Super Friends. In the height of the Vietnam War, HB thought it would be too jingoistic so a new 'friendlier' name was given.

There has never been a more epic battle

Challenge of the Super Friends was the third Super Friends series that ran during the 1978-1979 television series. The hour-long episodes were made up of two half-hour segments. The first segment stories were similar to the previous season, The All-New Super Friends Hour, which featured Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and the Wonder Twins, Zan and Jayna.

The second segment stories were called The Super Friends vs. The Legion of Doom which saw a handful of villains teaming up to take over the world and take down the Super Friends.

l-r Apache Chief, Black Vulcan and Samurai

Twelve villains were hand picked by Lex Luthor to join the Legion of Doom.

The roster included Solomon Grundy, Sinestro, Black Manta, Cheetah, Giganta, the Scarecrow, Toyman, the Riddler, Bizarro, Brainiac, Captain Cold and Gorilla Grodd.

The heroes that battled the Legion of Doom were Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman.

The Wonder Twins were cut from the roster in the half of the show for some reason.

Three new characters were created to join the Super Friends in order to add a
bit of cultural diversity to what would be an entirely white cast of characters. Their names are Black Vulcan, Apache Chief and Samurai and I'll let you guess which ethnic group each of them represent. While Hanna-Barbera's intentions were good at the time, they now seem quite stereotyped.

The theme to the Legion of Doom segment was written by John Beal and narrated by William Woodson.

DVD REVIEW: ANIMANIACS - VOLUME ONE

Volume one box art

Animaniacs
Volume One

No. of Discs: 4
No. of Episodes: 25
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Release Date: July 25, 2006
Run Time: 550 minutes
Full Frame - 1.33:1

Story: Animaniacs is a multi-character skit show in the same style as The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show and Harveytoons. Each five-ten minute short focuses on a different group of characters.

Pinky and the Brain, two lab mice bend on global domination, Slappy Squirrel, a retired cartoon character who was big in the 30s, Buttons and Mindy, a little girl and her faithful dog who keeps her from getting hurt by sacrificing himself, Chicken Boo, a chicken who wants to be a human, and of course, the three Warner siblings who are just wacky and zany.

History: After working on Tiny Toon Adventures, producer Tom Rugger wanted to create a show with characters based on the old-time cartoon characters of the 30s and 40s. The result was the Warner Brothers and their sister, Dot.

The show was hugely popular not only with children, but also with a college-age crowd because of the many cultural references that children don't understand. Two of the show's characters, Pinky and the Brain, left the show to star in their own spin-off.

Polka Dot?

Favourite Episode: King Yakko This parody of the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup is a joy to watch. Not only is it ripe with slapstick, puns and fun songs, but it also has some of the better
animation in the series. Yakko inherits the kingdom of Anvilania just in time to defend it from a rival kingdom that want to take all of its anvils.

Audio & Soundtrack: Music plays a big role in Animaniacs. Multiple original song were written for each episode often parodying famous classical and folk songs. The most famous song in the show has got to be Yakko's World in which Yakko sings every country (and points to each one - great animation!) to the tune of the Mexican Hat Dance.

The audio on the dvd is Dolby 5.1 (which is stupid because the show was originally broadcast in 2.0) and 2.0 so you get to pick how you want to listen to the Warners.

Video & Animation: The use of rotating, over-seas animation studios causes each episode to vary in quality. This is most notable in the Warners sketches because each team makes the trio look off-model when comparing them to each other. I remember watching the show and thinking how good the animation was. But I was thirteen. Even the timing suffers from the lack of a theatrical budget.

The video on this dvd is good for the show. Everything is clear and clean.

Baloney in their slacks.

Extras: Not much here except for an interview with voice actors Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnel, Tess MacNeille and Sherri Stoner. It is hosted by Maurice LaMarche and the gab for a while about what they liked about the show. It's sort of interesting but only if you are a big fan of the show.

Packaging: Warner Home Video has released this set in a digi-pack that has two discs set one on top of the other, making it impossible for the bottom disc to come out with removing the top disc. I realize it saves space but it is quite annoying. Package art look great and follows a similar look with the Pinky and the Brain releases.

Summary: This show, just like the old Looney Tunes cartoons, suffers from dated jokes but is otherwise a pretty funny show. And while the animation sometimes suffers, you will still get a kick out of watching it. A-

Trivia: Yakko, Wakko and Dot were originally ducks called Yakki, Smakki and Wakki but the idea was scrapped because they thought that Disney has already over-saturated the duck market (DuckTales, Darkwing Duck).

Episode Guide:
Animaniacs.doc 59K

THURSDAY THEME SONG: JOHNNY BRAVO

Week two of "Here's Johnny!" and I've got a good one for you! This will be the last week for Thursday Theme Songs this month because I will be going away for a few weeks (to get married!). I will resume the Thursdays when i return in May!

But now...on with the post:

Who wouldn't want a piece of this?

Johnny Bravo

Johnny Bravo is a show about picking up chicks. Johnny is a totally ripped, Elvis influenced, ego-maniac who will try just about anything to get a girlfriend. Unfortunately, he usually messes up and gets clobbered by whatever girl he's trying to impress.

The Cartoon Network show ran four seasons and 65 episodes between 1997 and 2003. While the absurd and slapstick humour is some of the appeal, the real reason for watching the show is to see which guest star will make a cameo!

Donny Osmond is a regular guest star
on the show.

Everyone from cartoon characters like Scooby-Doo and the Gang, the Flintstones and Huckleberry Hound to real life stars like Mark Hamill, Adam West, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Don Knotts, Dr. Phil, Jessica Biel, Alec Baldwin, Luke Perry, Farrah Fawcett, Dionne Warwick, Mick Jagger, Richard Simmons, Mr. T, Shaquille O'Neal, Seth Green, and Donny Osmond, who was a regular guest star. The guest stars were perfectly charactered with the actors providing the voices to their cartoon counterpart.

The series was created by Van Partible, who did a bulk of the writing and animating. Butch Hartman, creator of Fairly Odd Parents, and Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy, joined Partible to make the show hilarious.

There was supposed to be a live action Johnny Bravo movie starring the Rock but for some reason it was shelved.

THURSDAY THEME SONG: JONNY QUEST

This month will only contain two Thursday Theme Songs because I will be out of town on a vacation/honeymoon for the last two weeks of April. So I have two theme songs for you and if there is ever another month with only two Thursdays I will post another two on this theme: "Here's Johnny!"

Are we there yet?

Jonny Quest

Jonny Quest, the story of an eleven-year-old boy who tags along on his scientist father's dangerous explorations, is a fan favourite of kids young and old. The action and stories are exciting, the drawings and animation are fun to watch and the characters are fun to be around.

When Hanna-Barbera first developed the show, they wanted an action-adventure show based on the popular radio program Jack Armstrong. But licensing fell through and the show was reworked into Jonny Quest.

One of the first things you will notice about this show, especially comparing it to other Hanna-Barbera shows like Scooby-Doo, Flintstones or even Super Friends, is that the artists have pulled out all the stops.

How is Dr. Quest gonna get outta this one?

Hanna-Barbera shows had a small budget because they were a small time animation company. They didn't have the revenue that Disney or Warner Bros did so they had to find creative way to make their show good but cheap. A lot of the time the animation suffered because it would be to expensive to make a character get up out of a chair or change direction while running on screen.

But HB knew that Jonny Quest needed to have better quality animation and artwork in order to tell the stories the wanted. The result was bold and dynamic characters and backgrounds and animation that was still limited but way more fun to watch.

The show was cancelled after one season even though ratings were high. The show was just too expensive for Hanna-Barbera to keep in production.

This theme song is by Hoyt Curtin who did most of Hanna-Barbera's music in the sixties and seventies.

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.

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.

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.

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...

THURSDAY THEME SONG: PAC-MAN

This week is the last installment of 'Toons Based on Video Games' Month. This week's theme is arguably the most popular video game of all time.

Pac-Man

Pac-Man followed the adventures of Pac-Man, his wife, Mrs. Pac-Man and their child Pac-Baby. Together they live in Pac-Land and spend their time stopping the evil Mezmeron from getting his hands on the 'power pellets', the source of Pac-Man's power.

Mezmeron's hired help consists of Pac-Man's well known video game adversaries, the Ghost-Monsters: Inky, Blinky, Pinky, Clyde and Sue. They are the typical bumbling villains that always seem to be menacing at the beginning of the episode but goofballs by the end of the episode.

Pac-Man was created by Namco Games in 1978. Its popularity grew to epic proportions over the next decade and Hanna-Barbera decided to created their own show based on the game. This series lasted 43 episodes from 1982-1983. Originally, Pac-Man was part of a 90 minute programming block in 1982 by Hanna-Barbera called The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Ritchie Rich Show but then broke of into its own half hour show in 1983.

The Pac-Man series also had its own video game spin-off, called Pac-Land which was a side-scrolling platform game, like Super Mario Bros.



Here is an interesting fact about the Pac-Man video game that I got from Wikipedia:

A "perfect Pac-Man game" is defined as one where the player completes all 256 levels with a maximum point score and without losing a life. The first such game was verified by the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard on July 3, 1999. Billy Mitchell, of Hollywood, FL, achieved the feat in six hours. To attain the maximum possible score of 3,333,360 points, it was necessary for Mitchell to eat every fruit, every energizer, every blue ghost and every dot for 256 boards.

ANIMATED SHORT NOMINEE: MAESTRO

"Five minutes before the Big Performance. The Maestro is getting ready for the execution behind the curtains. Time is slowly ticking away..."

If you have seen this animated short yet, please take a few minutes to screen it.

Maestro is a five-minute, computer animated short by Hungarian director Geza M. Toth. The filmmaker, who has a very hefty resume, has created about 150 animated commercials and short films but this is the first Oscar nomination that he has received.

If you didn't the first time, pay close attention to the camera and sound design. Upon watching it for the first time, I was wondering why it was nominated. The animation is nothing spectacular and there was no story (until the end). But once you know the premise then everything falls into place.

A great film indeed but I don't think it should win.

THURSDAY THEME SONG: EARTHWORM JIM

It's week three of "Toons Based on Video Games" month here at Animated Toast and this week's entry is a funny one!

Earthworm Jim

Based on the popular video game series, Earthworm Jim ran two seasons, 23 episodes, from 1995-1996. The video game was notable for its completely absurd and surreal humour. The titular character was voiced by Dan Castellaneta (The Simpsons' Homer Simpson) with many other popular voice actors and comedians filling the other roles: Andrea Martin (SCTV), Jim Cummings (Winnie the Pooh), John Kassir (Cryptkeeper), Kath Soucie (Rugrats' Phil and Lil), Jeff Bennet (Johnny Bravo), Charles Adler (Tiny Toons' Buster Bunny) and Edward Hibbert (Frasier's Gil Chesterton).

Jim was just an ordinary earthworm until a robotic suit fell on him and gave him superpowers. From that day on Earthworm Jim saved the world and the galaxy from evil. Each episode ended with a cow falling from the sky, which is the same way each level of the video game ended.

Many of the secondary characters and villains from the games made it to the series, including Jim's sidekick, Peter Puppy and love interest, Princess What's-Her-Name. The regular cast of villains included Professor Monkey-For-A-Head, Psy-Crow, Evil the Cat, Queen Slug-For-A-Butt and Bob the Killer Goldfish. The series also created a bunch of new characters, including Evil Jim who made it into one of the later video games.

Earthworm Jim was a laugh out loud cartoon. Its completely absurd humour made it a joy to watch and the animation was great. The only problem was that its humour was also its crutch. Many people, younger kids especially, didn't get that particular brand of humour and thus the rating dropped and the show was ultimately canceled.

A few episode have been released but no DVD is in the works for the near future. But you can guarantee that once the DVD set is announced the cult following will ensure good sales.

Master television and film composer William Kevin Anderson wrote the music, lyrics, orchestration and even sang it the theme for Earthworm Jim! Anderson also did themes for X-Men: Evolution, Biker Mice From Mars, Astroboy and Fantastic Four.

CUPID GETS HIS MAN

Here is a special Valentine's Day cartoon for you all. It is a Van Beuren Studios' Rainbow Parade cartoon from 1936. It is a behind the scenes look at Cupids and how they prepare for their biggest day of the year.

The film was bought by Commonwealth Pictures in 1941 who replaced the Rainbow Parade title card with their own bland title card. This youtube video has that bland title card.

Enjoy and Happy Valentine's Day!

THURSDAY THEME SONG: MEGA MAN

This week's theme song stars one of the most popular video game characters of all time:

Mega Man

In 1993, a three episode Mega Man series was made. It featured a young boy who accidentally releases Dr. Wiley from a Mega Man 5 video game into the real world. The boy releases Mega Man in order to stop Dr. Wiley and send him back into the game.

This short series was produced by Ruby-Spears Productions and ended up being a 'pilot' for the Mega Man animated series that aired a year later. It was released on DVD for the first time in 2003.

The american-made Mega Man animated series, produced by Ruby-Spears Entertainment, ran for two seasons from 1994-1995 and a one-episode third season. The animation above par with a lot of the tv animation of its day and featured a cast of great voice actors such as Ian James Corlett and Scott McNeil.

The series was quite different from the '93 pilot as well as the video game series. It takes place in the future where robots are reality. Dr. Light has created his ultimate boy robot whom he calls Rock, also known as Mega Man. Mega has two sidekicks: His sister, Roll, and his dog, Rush. Together, they must stop the evil Dr. Wiley who has stolen Mega Man's blueprints, created his own evil robot army and has a new plan to take over the world in every episode.

When this series was out, the most current Mega Man game was Mega Man 5 so the villains that you will see are largely from that series with appearances from some of the more popular villains from previous games. Dr. Wiley's main robot henchmen are Gutsman, Cut Man and Protoman, with common appearances from Cold Man, Snake Man and Bomb Man. The villains that show up usually correspond with Dr. Wiley's plan (ie. Dr. Wiley uses Cold Man to freeze everything).

The series boasted decent animation, terribly laughable jokes and pure Saturday morning fun. It was canecelled after two seasons dispite high ratings, but one episode was produced to tie up contractual obligations. This episode features some of the best animation in the series.

This theme song has the best animation in the whole series. It's too bad they put all the work into the theme song because you are expecting so much from the show upon seeing this theme but then you get a much lower quality when the actual episode comes on. The theme also has a pretty annoying song:

Super fighting robot!
Mega Man!

MOUSE HOUSE GOES MO-CAP

Back in August, Robert Zemeckis was reported to be seriously considering moving his ImageMovers production company to The Walt Disney Co., in a multi-year deal. Now it seems that this romour has become reality. Yesterday, Zemeckis announced that he will be setting up his motion-capture shop in the Mouse House and will direct a number of productions that will be distributed by Disney.

ImageMovers, the company behind such motion-capture blockbusters as Polar Express and MonsterHouse, is considering their frist picture to be John Carter of Mars, the popular sci-fi novel series by Tarzan author Edgar Rice Burroughs, that Disney just recently aquired the rights to.

"The creation of this new company is yet another step in our leadership role in cutting edge technology as it relates to the movie industry"

-Walt Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook

It seems to me that Disney isn't really concered about inventing and creating new forms of animation any more. It used to be that in the day, if Walt wanted to do something new and unique, they would create what they needed to in order to get it done. But the purchace of Pixar Animation Studios and now the motion-capture studio, ImageMovers, makes it seem that if they can't have the new technology first then they will buy it out and make it their own.

C'mon Disney, don't just jump on the bandwagon! Build the bandwagon!

DARK KNIGHT RETURNS AGAIN!

This Saturday's episode of The Batman is supposed to be a future story of Batman's later years. Rumour has it that it will be based on Frank Millar's classic work, The Dark Knight Returns. The episode will be set in 2027 and will guest star Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) as Oracle and Dick Grayson (Robin) as Nightwing. Here is a still for you to see:

Some of you may remember an episode of The New Batman Adventures that focused on three kids telling each other their own unique interpretations of the Dark Knight. One of those interpretations was a Dark Knight Returns story (pictured to the right). While the style of the show lent itself well to Frank Millar's designs, I believe that the style of The Batman will bring some really cool visuals to the story. I can't wait to see it.

THURSDAY THEME SONG: LEGEND OF ZELDA

February's theme for THURSDAY THEME SONG is "Toons Based on Video Games" with the first installment being one of the most popular video games of all time:

The Legend of Zelda

The Super Mario Bros Super Show ran Monday to Friday from 1989 to 1990. The highlight of every boy's and girl's week was Friday when the normal Mario Bros episode was replaced with an episode of Legend of Zelda.

The premise was loosely based on the video games. Link and Princess Zelda are guardians of the Tri-Force of Wisdom. Every episode had the evil Ganon attacking the castle Hyrule in order to gain the Tri-Force's power. His plans were always thwarted by the heroic Link.

While the games played up a super heroic Link, the TV show played him more as a comedian. He would always be trying to get a kiss from the princess (which he would never succeed at) and many of the plot points would come from Link being a total klutz. He also had an extremely annoying catchphrase that you would be sure to hear a few times in each episode! Here's a taste:

The character designs were based on the video game with drastic changes made to the designs of the Princess Zelda. Her dress was replaced by a more practical outfit to fit her new, headstrong personality. Link's hair was also changed from blonde to brown.



The theme song, as well as the show's score, was all based on the video game themes by Koji Kondo.

CHIPMUNKS TO THE BIG SCREEN?

Director Tim Hill, best known for Garfield 2 and Muppets From Space, has signed on to direct an Alvin and the Chipmunks feature film! Now you may think this is good news, but it's not.

Word is Fox wants to do a live action film and use computer graphics to bring the Chipmunks to life. Why can't cartoon characters stay as cartoon characters?! This recent trend of making live action movies based on cartoons is becoming really discouraging. Scooby-Doo, Garfield, Underdog, Fat Albert and now this one. I really, really hope this movie doesn't get made but I'm not holding my breath.

One redeeming quality is that the script is written by Jon Vitti, a veteran writer for The Simpsons, King of the Hill and The Critic so I expect funny stuff!

Also, Ross Bagdasarian Jr., son of Chimpunks creator Ross Bagdasarian, and Janice Karman are producing the movie through Bagdasarian Productions who have handled the Chipmunks property since the death of Bagdasarian Sr. This means that the creators have an interest in this movie and maybe they will help it to not suck. We shall see.

Just for fun, here is a classic scene from the original Chipmunks movie, The Chipmunk Adventure:

THURSDAY THEME SONG: SPACE GHOST AND DINO-BOY

This is week three of our tribute to the legacy of Hanna-Barbera. This week we focus on the greatest Superhero ever created by Hanna-Barbera.

Space Ghost and Dino-Boy

Space Ghost was the first half of the half-hour series that ran from 1966-1968 on CBS. It followed the adventures of Space Ghost, voiced by Gary Owens (Roger Ramjet, Powered Toast-Man), as he battles villains, monsters and other abominations. Joining him on his adventures are his teenage sidekicks, Jace and Jan, and their space monkey, Blip.

The design for Space Ghost was by legendary comic-book artist, Alex Toth. Space Ghost has found its way into comicbooks many times, most recently by DC in 2004 that featured covers by Alex Ross.

Space Ghost made another appearance in the show Space Stars in 1981 but it wasn't until 1994 when Space Ghost would find success again. Cartoon Network's [adult swim] created a new series about a retired Space Ghost who has become a talk show host. Space Ghost: Coast-To-Coast reused animation from the original show and featured characters from the show such as Zorak, Moltar and Brak the Pirate. Each episode would feature a special celebrity guest. SGC2C lasted for seven seasons.

The second half of the Space Ghost and Dino-Boy was about a young boy who got trapped in prehistoric times and lived amongst the dinosaurs with his new friend Ugh the Caveman. The show was alright but paled in comparison the Space Ghost segments.