This week, we mourn the loss of an institution of animation. Every weekend, we’d race to the TV with a bowl of cereal and remote control at the ready. It was Saturday morning. Six hours of animation across three networks. It was the event you waited for all week.
And then one day, it went away. What happened? Was it the advent of Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network? Was it the glut of crap? Was it the unwarranted invasion of teen comedies? Was it all of the above? Could be!
We talk about all of these things with guest Thomas Revor!
All I can say is…UGH. Ben needed a topic for this week, and we spun our “Wheel O’ Topics” which landed on this turd.
What happens when you let a talentless political idealist direct a cartoon as opposed to an actual cartoonist? You get this. A half-hour of preachy values, strained connections to ancient fables, and bargain basement cartoon characters so forgettable that even Chris-Chan doesn’t know who they are.
I suppose it could have been worse. It could have been Veggie Tales.
Amazingly brought to life by Willis O’Brien, a master of stop-motion animation.
Joining us this week is Melissa Kaercher of Tinlizardproductions.com, and we present a very special episode of Animation Aficionados. We take a special look at the very first movie character who was a special effect.
King Kong is a triumph of stop-motion animation. Though stop-motion had been around for years by this point, this is the first time that a true character was realized using the art. Willis O’Brien brought this amazing character to life using metal armatures, rubber, and imagination.
We also talk about the people who were inspired by O’Brien, including the late Ray Harryhausen. At the time of this recording, Ray had not yet passed away, so we awkwardly talk about him as he was still alive.
Ray and so many others, such as Phil tippet, Stan Winston, and Peter Jackson, have had their lives transformed by the awe and spectacle of King Kong. The movie itself redefined the art of movie magic and set the standard for decades to come.
It was truly my pleasure to cover this movie. It is one of my favorite films of all-time, and in my opinion, it has never been topped.
Discussed:
Dinosaurs!
The Spider Pit Scene
The Log scene
Ray Harryhausen and Mighty Joe Young
Son Of Kong
Creation
The Most Dangerous Game
The Pest
Peter Jackson needs to learn how to use scissors
Red shirts
Dwan
Ann Darrow doesn’t care about King Kong
Nintendo 1; Universal 0
This really did scare the shit out of me when I first saw it.
Perhaps lost forever. A legendary scene that has not been viewed since the earliest test screening of the movie.
Originally, a styracosaurus was to be positioned on the other side of the log following a tremendous chase scene. Sadly, this scene also appears to be lost.
Stuff we forgot to mention:
Fay Wray’s boob slip
The pastel nightmare colorized King Kong
The show this is from is better animated than anything Filmation ever did.
“Inspired” by a recent altercation over something completely irrelevant, Ben and I tread over some familiar ground and stomp all over Filmation a second time. We talk about some shows so unimportant that we don’t even remember their names, and we mock the overuse of stock footage for which Filmation is so remembered.
In a bonus round, we also talk about the next Ninja Turtles crossover. Seriously, one was enough.
Over a month ago, Ben, Kittyhawk and I all made a special appearance on the Webcomic Beacon to talk about Crossoverkill stuff. As timely as ever, Fes sat on the episode for weeks until he finally released it today.
Here’s a special cut I made of the show, which Fes didn’t use for some reason. There’s no significant difference between my cut and his cut, except for an audio tweak here and there where I was inaudible for some reason. Otherwise, this is a rough cut without any ad breaks or show music.
You get to hear me bitch at length about the Zelda timeline.
