I will get back to more of the current Disney cartoons eventually but first I want to talk about the Pink Panther.
The Pink Panther was originally a film series developed by the late Hollywood Director Blake Edwards, known more for Breakfast at Tiffany's. The films were about a jewel heist for the Pink Diamond named the Pink Panther due to it's unusual flaw in the center resembling a leaping panther. They were mostly comedy films and the majority of these films were focused more on the bumbling French Police Officer Inspector Clouseau after Peter Sellars' acting made his character more popular than the actual thief. In the animated opening sequence of the first film the cartoon variant on the literal Pink Panther was born and with the help of the people behind MGM and some directors from the Looney Tunes school of cartoons, turned the Pink Panther into a Bugs Bunny type of karmic trickster but depending on the writer you get hints of misfortune more befitting Daffy Duck. A typical episode would feature the panther being his usual suave self as he unconsciously annoys his regular foil simply referred to as the Little Man or he simply tries something which leads to misfortune, most of these shorts have no dialogue which suits the cartoon better as the only sounds heard are the usual cartoon sound effects and the iconic, jazzy Pink Panther theme played by Henry Mancini, there are some speaking parts from side characters or even a narrator but those are experimental shorts so don't expect much variation among the 124 episodes.
While it doesn't quite get the same laugh out loud moments as Looney Tunes gets and certain episodes are quick to draw guns out every chance possible, it still remains entertaining to fans of the Looney Tunes style.
And finally The Pink Panther is one of only three characters in cartoon history who can pull off the color pink consistently and effectively, the other two being Disney Princess Aurora and My Little Pony's Pinkie Pie. The Pink Panther is also the only regular cartoon character to get away with smoking, which is usually only saved for villains.
Well it's come to this, time to reveal my worst animated shows of all time, looking back on these made it all the more painful. Some choices come directly out of left field while others are more obvious. Let us begin.
Update: Includes new entry extending to a Top 11.
11. Pelswick
I knocked this down lower than planned as upon researching this I found out that the creator has passed away, so I'll be a little less mean to it. Basically Pelswick is about a paraplegic trying to function in normal school life. This series suffers from lack of effort as it looks cheap and with such a sensitive subject matter, didn't really achieve what it was set out to do and having scenes of bullying a paraplegic is just wrong.
10. Fleabag Monkeyface
Two kids create another kid using a toilet as a catalyst and said kid has a Monkeyface and gross out powers which is another way of saying this show is going to be entirely gross out humor which is the lowest form of cartoon comedy. At least Megababies had the art style to emphasize how grotesque it was, this show isn't even subtle, the whole show seems to revolve around the gross out theme. Gross out humor only works if the characters in show are affected by it, it loses itself quickly if everyone accepts it as the norm.
9. Eiken
This is the only anime entry on this list, basically making fanservice as extreme as possible but oh my god, this is shameless, it's just a monstrous train wreck and pretty disgusting as well. Anime fans deserve better than this.
8. Angela Anaconda
I'm not a fan of selfish people and Angela Anaconda the hero were supposed to support doesn't deserve half the victories she gets over her enemies. The art style doesn't really make it any better, it is unique but creepy.
7. Breadwinners
I didn't think Nickelodeon could get any worst until they released this show. It's about two ducks who work as bread delivery men but the show is so poorly drawn and the comedy is just terrible. Also because the leads are basically trying to rip off Regular Show they fail so miserably it's just painful to watch.
6. I Am the Greatest: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali
Many celebrities have released themselves in animated form but Muhammad Ali's cartoon was by far the worst. Other celebrities who have done this tend to remain grounded within their specialist field. Muhammad Ali was basically portrayed as a do it all action hero which smells of self indulgence which is not how I wish to remember one of the greatest boxers in the world.
5. Monster High
I blame the Twilight films for many things, including ruining literature and wrecking a movie series that deserved better (Hunger Games) but it's biggest crime was robbing the dignity of popular monsters and degrading males.
The problem with shows aimed at girls especially the ones marketing fashion dolls is that the males not only take a backseat but are flanderized so badly that it becomes an insult to watch and they only function as an accessory. In the sexism argument, it works both ways, if some shows aimed at males portray women in a negative light then I have the right to complain about shows aimed at women portraying men in a negative light.
4. Pickle and Peanut
Congratulations Disney, you've created something worst than Breadwinners and something is all I'll ever call it as this is the worst comedy, worst animated cartoon and just the most down right annoying cartoon I've ever had the displeasure of watching and yet somehow the 3 shows ahead of this are worst than this.
3. Gormiti Nature Unleashed
I've brought this show up before, the original 2D version of the series was charming and had a lot to offer, this version offered us not one but four obnoxious male characters. It's basically having four Johnny Tests in one show. This is the worst business decision of all time, there's not even a female character or anyone with a brain.
2. The Cramp Twins
Another thing I hate is being dictated to, the Cramp Twins takes some of the worst traits from the Simpsons and makes them even more annoying than they were originally, I suppose a name like Cramp Twins does what it says on the tin, the characters will literally cause cramps, but what really gets me is they made Lucien Cramp to be the worst kind of eco-warrior. As a viewer I don't wish to be dictated to about these kinds of issues but I also don't want the same character sprouting about how horrible it is not to follow the eco path. Cartoons can be political, while I see nothing wrong with that since cartoons were originally created with propaganda in mind, but the difference between this and a proper eco animation like Ferngully is that Ferngully doesn't spend it's time telling me why pollution is bad it just lets the art style show you.
Before I show my number one let me give you a quick heads up over one cartoon I couldn't put on this list due to my reviewing rules.
Disqualified. Peppa Pig
The pre-school show Peppa Pig is the most annoying cartoon on TV, it showcases what amounts to a spoiled brat always getting her way. WHY IS THIS SO POPULAR!? *rages* *Calms down* Again because it's a preschool show and the audience can't defend it, I just can't put it on this list but it doesn't stop me hating it.
1. Three Friends and Jerry
This is the ugliest cartoon I've ever seen, it's about a kid that tries to fit in a group of other kids by getting dragged into their problems, the characters are unlikeable, hideous, I can't even talk about it anymore, it makes me vomit.
I'm glad it's over, I challenge the viewers to come up with anything worst than what I've listed.
Tomorrow will be "Back to the Future" day, the exact day Marty McFly went to the future. Sadly real life doesn't reflect what the film predicted, some of them kind of do but not in the way the movie shows, but there is a cartoon that got the internet right, way back in 1995 we had Freakazoid, a cartoon from the talented people who worked on Animaniacs.
Freakazoid is about Dexter Douglas, a computer nerd who inadvertently gets sucked into his computer following a series of events including a computer bug and a cat walking over a keyboard. These series of events turn Dexter into Freakazoid a super hero with all the usual super powers but with added insanity, think PG-13 Deadpool.
Freakazoid must stop an array of evil and often quirky villains including The Lobe and Candlejack to name a couple, using insanity, fourth wall breaking and slapstick humor to defeat them rather than his other powers common in regular superheroes.
Now Freakazoid is said to be made from downloading the internet into Dexter's brain, but rather than giving him infinite knowledge of the universe has instead made him unstable, insane and packed to the brim with a mixture of pop culture references, slapstick and visual gags which is basically what the internet is now where everyone is obsessed with Pop Culture, practical jokes, crazy stunts make up the brunt of the video sites, and millions of people view pictures of cats with funny subtitles under them.
In short Freakazoid prophesied the internet, well before it reached the level that it is now, that's how you predict something "Back to the Future" take something that's new at the time and predict how it will actually pan out.
Freakazoid's humor is among the funniest there is and along with Spielberg's other creations Tiny Toons and Animaniacs set the ground work for my generation to make the internet like it is today, whether that's a good thing or not is up to the history books.
This week will feature some shows from the current Disney cartoon range, this isn't an official week of reviews per say rather the next three or four reviews will consist of Disney made cartoons, starting with Wander Over Yonder.
Wander is a nomadic and overly-optimistic intergalactic traveler along with his Zbornak best friend and steed Sylvia, travel the galaxy spreading his philosophy of fun and freedom all the while avoiding the evil Lord Hater and his Watchdog army. A typical episode would feature Wander being his usual optimistic self while Sylvia tries to talk him out of the dangers he seemingly drags them into or moments when Wander is oblivious to the dangers around him and Sylvia while Lord Hater is seemingly defeated countless times by the duo usually by dumb luck on Wander's part.
This show was made by Craig McCracken of Powerpuff Girls fame and it shows in the humor which is pretty good for a relatively average show with a very basic story. While some people may not like the antics of Wander or the fact that he's too close in design to Spongebob, but Wander is easy on the ears, and while he may be annoying in some episodes, I would consider him quite low on the spectrum next to Spongebob and the rest of the current Nickelodeon for that matter.
In an age where copying each other seems to be the way cartoon channels work these days it's hard to find something good and Wander Over Yonder while certainly not the best cartoon from Disney it's no where near the worst either.
Now onto the next review, a major one as well, time to digest Attack on Titan.
100 years ago, humanity was brought to the brink of extinction by the sudden appearance of the Titans, giant humanoid monsters who eat humans for no reason. The remains of humanity are stuck within the walls of the remaining cities until a huge Titan breaches one of the walls, bringing the Survey Corps into action, a team which focuses on the exploits of Eren Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert as them and their comrades fight the Titans flying around like Steampunk Spiderman. However this proves to be a one sided battle as Eren gets eaten, however the Soldier returns as a Titan, with more questions than answers.
Attack on Titan does a fantastic job of drawing you in instantly with it's awesome theme song, shocking scenes of death from those getting eaten, along with the dramas of watching humanity fight for it's survival but the longer you go through Attack on Titan the less effective that becomes.
If you watch a horror movie enough times it loses it's ability to scare you and eventually becomes laughable, the same can be said of Attack on TItan as the Titans themselves cease being scary and become an absolute joke, in fact they look like giant naked stoner zombies to me. This goes the same for the humans as well as it becomes a tired melodrama by the time you finish the series.
The problem with anime these days is that they are very well made but have a tendency to miss the point by the time they finish. Attack on Titan is the same breed as Sword Art Online, they are really well made but they just couldn't keep it that way, they had to go off track and because of that it's pretty much ruined, but at the very least Attack on Titan does last a lot longer than Sword Art Online before it gets to that stage.
Not seen the dub but have been told it's good.
Final Verdict: The show is really effective at attracting it's audience but depending on how invested you are in the story will decide whether you like this or not, I don't like it, but there are plenty who do.
