I know it's been awhile, but I have a seperate blog for comic strips, and other drawings.

http://invaderpetblog.blogspot.com

It's Tex Avery's 100th birthday! Tex is one of my favorite animation directors. He certainly made many of the funniest cartoons. Let's take a time out from our daily web routines, and watch some Avery masterpieces shall we?

Here's a rarely seen Avery short, due to it's political incorrectness.

And so it begins...

Yesterday I bought a copy of Jerry Beck's coffe table book "Not Just Cartoons- Nicktoons", and when I first heard of this book project, I was AMPED! I heard through the grapevine that this book would feature interviews from the creators of EVERY Nickelodeon show! My friend Kelly informed me that Mitch Schauer had done an interview for this reading. I was thrilled. Mitch created the cartoon series "The Angry Beavers", a show I've been a fan of since it debuted in 1997. A very underappreciated, overlooked, gem. Other Nicktoons that I love are Ren & Stimpy (first season, anyway), Rocko's Modern Life, and the eccentrically dark Invader Zim. It was going to be awesome hearing all the cool stories and interviews from all these fantastic cartoonists about how they got their shows up and running, and things of that nature.

Yesterday I went to Borders to pick it up. I skimmed through it, but today I actually sat down and read most of the interviews, and factoids, and admired the beautiful publicity artwork, model sheets, etc. BUT my overall opinion on the book, honestly? I would say that it is a....

...... one big disappointing letdown.

Now DON'T GET ME WRONG.... Beck did a wonderful job on this book, and it was worth his time and effort to track down these amazing artists and squeeze out their memories.... HOWEVER, I still am overcome with a feeling of biasness on Jerry Beck's part, or at least any Nickelodeon publisher that may have hovered over Jerry's shoulder during production. My main issue is the focus on shows like Rocko, Beavers, and Zim, as well as other cult-favorite Nick shows. On the more popular Nick shows like Rugrats, Spongebob, Thornberries, El Tiger, all have material that cover 7 to 8 pages. While Beavers, Rocko, and Zim are reduced to only 2 pages worth of interviews and concept art. Now, it's no surprise to me that the more popular cartoons would get better treatment (after all, Lincoln never said "cartoons are created equally"), but I got a real sense of biasness in the crew who put this book together. When reading the Rocko and Beaver stuff, it felt like, the overall attitude was, "Let's put a LITTLE bit of stuff here, and then quickly move on to the better show, and save us some time." Hell, I was expecting more on Invader ZIM as Jerry has said in the past that that's his favorite Nicktoon. I guess It's Nickelodeon's doing for making Jerry have the book show more of THEIR favorites, as opposed to the general public. I also feel that the interviews were severely chopped and edited. Hardly any talk of how the crerators got their ideas for their shows is touched upon, or any funny behind-the-scenes stories. Spongebob has a few listed.... oh that's right, Spongebob's more popular therefor readers would be more interested in HIM... GAH!

Okay, the book is fine and all, I'll admit it... but next time, Jerry, when you do a book like this FIGHT HARDER to get ALL cartoons the same amount of spotlight. The book really isn't worth the 40 bucks (luckily I got it for 35 at Borders). What the book IS worth is having me remove the pages focusing on MY favorite shows (what little there is) and dumping the rest of the book in the trash where it belongs.

Or I could send my "reformatted" copy of the book back to Jerry Beck as an early Christmas present with samples of my own feces crammed between the pages (Hey, he made shit for the mass audience, why can't I return the favor?).

Folks, if you're a die-hard Nicktoons fan, and love almost ALL Nicktoons, than yes you will enjoy this book, but if you only like a select offering of Nicktoons, than this book is not worth your time and hard-earned money. Spend your money on the Looney Tunes Golden Collections. At least Jerry Beck knows what he's doing when he produces THOSE.

Enjoy my Scrubs episodes reviews! Here's the pilot episode!

Season One

[b]Episode 1: [/b]"My First Day"

[b]Witer:[/b] Bill Lawrence
[b]Director:[/b] Adam Bernstein

[b]Plot:[/b] It's JD's first day as an intern, and Turk's first day in surgery. They both meet Elliot who is trying to be a doctor like the rest of her family. They meet Dr. Kelso, a two-faced Chief of Medicine, who only acts nice when things are going his way. The R.N., Carla attempts to help JD though procedures. JD meets Dr. Cox, and at first sees him as a rude uncaring guy, but by the end of the episode he learns he's actually nice, and that Kelso is the opposite.
(I know… I suck at writing plot outlines).

[b]Characters:[/b]
J.D.- Obviously he's the central character, and the most fully introduced character here. They firmly establish him as being goofy and nervous, and also somewhat sympathetic. He automatically makes a great lead character.
Elliot- Bill Lawrence has said that Elliot was intended to be snide, cruel, and selfish, but they decided she should be more neurotic, and nervous (similar to JD). Elliot does come off as slightly more snobbish here than in episode 2, or the rest of the series. For instance, the scene where Elliot mouths off to Carla, I can't imagine her doing that now.
Turk- Unfortunately, here we don't really see Turk's character completely fleshed out enough like the others. We know already that he's JD's best friend, and JD wants them to still be roommates, but aside from that, we don't see much of Turk's personality being developed yet. That will soon change.
Dr. Kelso- Pretty well introduced character. You think he's a nice guy at first, but it all changes by the end of the episode. He's nice only when things are going his way, or if he doesn't have to play a lot of money for someone, but if someone goes behind his back: watch out. This will be a common theme throughout the show. And Bob's cheapness will play a part in multiple future episodes, as well as random jokes. Bill Lawrence brings up a good point about Kelso. He may be a mean old man, but fans still like him.
Dr. Cox- Like Turk, Cox is not fully formed at this point. He doesn't appear in as many scenes as the others in the pilot, so you don't really get a good look at his character. I suppose that's deliberate. We're supposed to see things through JD's eyes, and at this early point he sees Cox as aloof and mean, but later realizes, he is a good, supporting guy. On the other hand, you still get a good sense of what kind of good acting John C. McGinley can do. He is actually one of my favorite actors.
Carla- Definitely well introduced, and well written. Right off the bat, we know she's tough, and outspoken, but still likeable. Also, the Turk/Carla relationship is already stabbed at, when it seems like they've made out in the supply closet (they actually don't, but that's not what JD sees). We also automatically see her as sort of an older sister/mother figure for JD, and to some extent Elliot.

Supporting characters: The "second string" are not given as much screen time here as they do later on, but they are all introduced in the way you'd expect. Here, they're just there to give the lead characters someone to bounce jokes off of. But, some relationships are still established. Turk and Todd's friendship. Also, the rivalry between JD and The Janitor is first shown to us. Ted is not quite the whipping boy of Kelso's like in later episodes. At this early point, it's Jeffery that is taking hits from Kelso. Laverne isn't the smart, religious figure that we come to know later. In fact, here, she really doesn't have many lines so to speak.

[b]Comments and Observations:[/b]
·One of the first things we hear J.D. say in his narration is "I guess I get a little goofy when I'm nervous." Considering J.D. is classified as a goofy character on the show, would that imply that he's always nervous?

·First character appearances (in order): J.D., The Janitor, Ted the Lawyer (not yet named), Turk, Dr. Kelso, Elliot, Carla (technically we first see her during JD's fantasy where he's racing Elliot, but Carla actually doesn't physically first appear until a few scenes later), Jeffery, Dr. Cox, The Todd, and Laverne.

·I actually haven't watched the season 1 episodes in awhile, and it is so weird watching the pilot again. First of all, I had completely forgotten about the character Jeffery (played by Matt Winston), who basically got Chuck Cunningham syndrome and was phased out of the show by season 2, and his scenes are often cut in syndication. I can kind off see why Jeffery was dropped. He just isn't as interesting (or likeable) as the other characters.

·I also had completely forgotten that Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) had his curly hair in the pilot. But his hair his cut short by episode 2.

· Elliot wears glasses in this episode!
· A different hospital was used in the pilot. A very dirty, filthy-looking hospital at that.

· The Todd wears a regular green head buff in the pilot. In later episodes he wears more colorful ones.

· In the scene where JD tells Dr. Cox that Turk had sex in the closet, we see Cox/McGinley do something for the first time in the series: touch his nose when agitated. And I have completely forgotten what that's an homage to.

· I don't mean to sound shallow and rude, but I also had forgotten how fat Laverne (Aloma Wright) was in the first episodes. It's very different from the later seasons where she's A LOT thinner. Again, I'm not trying to be rude here; just a trivial observation.

· As pointed out elsewhere, including the DVD commentary, the patient getting a CAT Scan, is played by the same actor who plays Lonnie later in the show. I unfortunately, don't remember the actor's name.

· Oh, snap! In the scene where JD gets some coffee, and Kelso says, "How you holding up?" Look VERY carefully at the couch that Kelso's sitting on. Look at the cushions. Notice anything disgusting? I sure hope that isn't  real.

·Dr. Cox doesn't call JD a girl's name in this episode, but he does refer to him as "Pumpkin" and "Babe" in two different scenes.

Favorite lines:
Elliot: "I know what your thinking."
J.D. (thinking): "You're butt looks like two Pringles hugging."
J.D. (speaking): "No you don't."

Dr. Cox: "Why does this guy always try to die during my lunch?"
JD: "Isn't that a little insensitive?" (Cox glares at JD)
JD (thinking): "Mistake!"

JD: "I'm waiting for someone."
Janitor: "The door's broken. That's the third time this week."
JD: "Maybe there's a penny stuck in there."
Janitor: "Why a penny?"
JD: "I don't know."
Janitor: "Did you stick a penny in here?"
JD: "Oh, no, I was just making small talk."
Janitor: "If I find a penny… I'm taking you down."

Kelso: "Ahh, first night on call? Boy I'll bet you're excited."
JD (thinking):  "AAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

JD (narration): "I'll never forget that moment. The way he looked exactly the same, but completely different."

Janitor: (while holding a penny) "I'm watching yooou!"

Kelso: "Dr. Dorian, do you not realize that you're nothing but a large pair of scrubs to me? For God's sake, the only reason I carry a chart is so I can pretend to remember your damn names! Now look, if the patient has insurance you treat them! If they don't, you show them the door! And if somebody dies, you get the autopsy. You get it by rounds tomorrow or I'll be scratching you're name off my chart! Are we clear? (demon voice) Answer me!"
JD: "Crystal clear."
 
Overall: I really like this episode. It is certainly one of my favorites. Most shows really don't hit a mark on their pilot episodes. But, Scrubs is one of few shows in my opinion, to be great right from the get go. One of the reasons why I like Scrubs so much. It was pure genius from the start. Kudos to Bill Lawrence for giving us a great show. And congrats to the great actors Zach, Sarah, Donald, Ken, John, Judy, Neil, Matt, Sam, Robert, and Aloma.
I rank the pilot a B+

Guess Who? [insert Woody Woodpecker laugh here]

I seriously don't recall the last time it was that I had seen a Woody Woodpecker cartoon. Hell it may have been well over a decade. I remember as a little kid when USA used to run a syndicated "Woody Woodpecker Show" on Saturday Mornings at 8am. I'd watch it mostly everyday before going to school (back during a time when you didn't need to get up so early for an education. Elementary students have it so easy). Then suddenly, Woody Woodpecker was taken off the air. Never to be seen on television again. Many animation fans doubted that Woody would ever make it back on TV (that crummy FOX revival series doesn't count), let alone be released to DVD. About four years ago, Columbia House released various Woody Woodpecker shorts to DVD. The only catch was, you had to order these suckers, and on top of that, the cartoons were heavily edited! This would not do.

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So last year, our good friend and historian Jerry Beck, convinced Universal to rerelease the Walter Lantz library, this time fully remastered and uncut, and no DVNR (well, we'd end up getting 2 out of those three servings, but more on that later). What a guy, that Jerry Beck. Talking Universal into releasing something to DVD that they've been skeptical about for the longest time. Hey, maybe Jerry can talk Universal into rereleasing MST3K: The Movie. It's been off the shelve for some time now.

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The second it hit stores, I ran to Best Buy and grabbed my copy (okay, it wasn't "the second", more like, "the week". Damn Arby's job getting in the way of my cartoon enjoyment). I brought the Woody DVD home (along with the new Popeye DVD in tow), I put the disc in, and WOW was I bloody amazed! I watched "Knock Knock" the first Woody cartoon and was astounded by the brilliant restoration. The last time I saw this cartoon, the print was so bad, that Woody's blue body looked solid black! In fact quite a number of Woody's shorts (such as "Barber of Seville" or "Woody Dines Out") suffered this way as the prints crumbled over the years.

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One of many amazing things about this disc is the presence of a few "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" shorts. For those who don't know who Oswald is, he was a rabbit cartoon created by Walt Disney back in 1927, after the end of his then-popular Alice cartoons. However, because Walt didn't actually "own" the character, Oswald was transferred over to Universal via hotshot film producer Charles Mintz (who actually did have a hand in creating Oswald. He came up with the name. He picked "Oswald" out of a hat containing various other names. Yeah, nice contribution there).

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Since then, Disney could not release the oswald cartoons he made, because Universal now owned the character. But even so, Universal wouldn't release the oswald shorts since he's a black-and-white character (you know that old rule "people won't watch b&w cartoons"). Things became a little more complicated recently with Disney buying back the rights to the character, so Disney could release their Oswald shorts, and produce new ones. Many fans were a unsure about this, because it may have meant that Universal couldn't put their rabbit cartoons on DVD now. Well, apparently they could. I don't really care what deals were made, I'm just glad they were made.

The Oswald cartoons are fun to watch. I actually love watching old b&w cartoons (but then again, I'm a freak). Yes, they are like the Mickey Mouse cartoons (albeit slightly darker), but they are entertaining, and have wonderful animation. Some of which prove how needless CGI animation is.

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Another plus is the inclusion of Tex Avery's work at the Lantz studio. "The Legend of Rock-a-Bye Point", "Crazy Mixed-Up Pup", and "SHHHH!". All three are flat-out hilarious (what do you expect? It's Tex Avery). I saw these cartoons many years ago. Loved them then, love them now. "SHHHHH!" is my favorite one out of these three. According to the DVD package, this was Avery's final theatrical short. If that's true, then it's nice that Avery ended his theatrical cartoon career with a bang (literally).

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But, Woody is the true main focus here, and we have the first 45 Woody cartoons in chronological order. It fun seeing Woody evolve gradually from a gruesome, disorderly, nutcase, to a more streamlined, almost-self-contained character. I have to say, my favorite Woody design is the one made from the mid 40s to 1949. The special features on this disc are really cool too. We get the host segments from an episode of the ORIGINAL "Woody Woodpecker Show" from back in the 70s. There's also a half-hour show called "Walter, Woody, and the World of Animation" which was made in 1982, and also featured Walter's wife Gracie who provided Wody voice throughout the 1950s and onward (Woody: "You mean to tell me my voice is done by a girl? How embarrassing.") I remember seeing this program many years ago on a compilation tape. I thought it was fun to watch. I also love Woody's sarcastic/indifferent attitude towards Lantz' early b&w work, especially the early Oswald cartoons. You get a feeling this was an in-joke by Lantz himself as satire on what cartoon industries by that time felt of early b&w cartoons. Very funny.

Now, the only bad thing about this DVD set (like quite a few others) is the pressence of DVNR. For those who don't know what that is, it is Digital Video Noise Reduction. Basically it's a procedure that eliminates dust and dirt scratch marks by "blurring" or "mixing" the colors on the screen together. But, the problem with this is, sometimes the program mistakes actual lines in a cartoon for dirt, or scratch marks, and will actually "erase" those lines (for example, something so simple like the pupil in a character's eye can be mistaken for a dirt spec, and the DVNR will "erase" the pupil in the character's eye for several frames. Now the DVNR on this DVD isn't so bad, but it is very noticeable on cartoons like "The Reckless Driver", or "Ski For Two". Other times, it really isn't prominant unless you free-frame on a specific spot. But, that aside, I think they did a great job remastering these films. And it's nice to finally see them again after being away from television so many years. I look forward to volume 2. Cheers to Jerry Beck and Universal! Thank you all!

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And thanks to Thad K., the owner of the Animation I.D. blog (http://classicanimation.blogspot.com/) for uploading these pics of the cartoons for me to use. I know I didn't use all of them, I apologize for that, maybe I'll insert them on a future entry.

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-Brandon

I am voicing a popular opinion amongst animation enthusiasts. Hollywood needs to STOP MAKING LIVE-ACTION MOVIES BASED ON CLASSIC CARTOONS!!!! And if they're going to do it, DO IT RIGHT!!! At least follow the original cartoon in some way! Don't just throw every canon rule out the window and make your own reality.

The only movie-based-on-a-cartoon that I actually liked was The Flintstones, starring John Goodman. The movie was directed by an actual Flintstones fan, and he made sure the movie followed exactly (although their were a few misteps like having skinny Betty be played by non-skinny Rosie O'Donnell, and have Fred's mother-in-law be skinny, when in the cartoon she was fat). The movie was fun and entertaining. Great plot and bad guys. Good humor and drama. This film I highly recommend.

Recent films based on cartoons like Scooby Doo, Dudley Do Right, Garfield, Over the Hedge, and recently Underdog, and the upcoming Alvin and the Chipmunks have all been true abominations. They don't follow the continuity of the original shows at all. They make up their own rules, and make the characters totally diferent than they originally were. The movies are also filled with uncalled toilet humor, which, hey was fun back in the early 90s, but it has surely seen it's day now. In the Alvin trailer, Alvin friggin eats his own brother's poop! What's that about?

I hate hollywood. I hate a lot of the new movies overall. I wish movie executives would get it through their thick skulls. As a member of Toon Zone Forums once said, "HOLLYWOOD, STOP RAPING MY CHILDHOOD!!!!"

-Brandon