Cartoon Network vs. Nickelodeon Part 3/10

Battle 3: Invader ZIM vs. The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

The following is a request from a friend.

Invader ZIM was a short-lived Nicktoon about an alien who wants to take over the world. It was basically a cross between Pinky and the Brain and Courage the Cowardly Dog. It ran from March 2001 to September 2002, and one of the reasons why it was cancelled so quickly was because of its mature themes and scary images, and I don't blame them. One episode had two of the characters slowly turning into bologna!

The more satirical, but sometimes controversial Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy was about two kids: a huge-nosed egg-headed idiot named Billy and a pessimistic noseless brat named Mandy. When Billy's pet hamster Mr. Snuggles nearly dies on his birthday, the Grim Reaper, who apparently has a Jamaican accent, comes to take the hamster's soul. Billy and Mandy challenge the Grim Reaper to a limbo contest and win, forcing the skeleton to become their best friend. The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, or 'Billy and Mandy' for short, is basically South Park for kids. It's filled with pop-culture references and parodies, surreal and sometimes gritty plots, a character who gets either left behind or killed in each episode, and at least one racial/religious stereotype. At the end of 'Billy and Mandy Save Christmas', Billy says "And Happy Hanukkah, too! That's what we have at our house, so we get more presents!"

Which of these do I think is the better show? I know some people will hate me for this, but I'd rather choose Billy and Mandy, because it's not as inappropriate, but sometimes it can be creepy, disgusting, or disturbing. Also, I remember enjoying it more. See you tomorrow when I compare Jimmy Neutron to Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends!

Cartoon Network vs. Nickelodoen Part 2/10

Battle 2: The Ren and Stimpy Show! vs. Cow & Chicken

Ren and Stimpy, along with Doug and The Rugrats, was one of the first-ever Nicktoons to be broadcast. It ran from 1991 to 1995, and starred a psychotic chihuahua named Ren and a kind dim-witted cat named Stimpy. The show was notorious for explicit potty humor, sexual innuendo, adult jokes, and violence. It was censored for numerous reasons, such as a sequence involving a severed head, a close-up of Ren's face being grated by a man's stubble, and a segment of the United States Constitution burning to a crisp. There was even a banned episode of Ren and Stimpy called "Man's Best Friend", which featured violent imagery.

Like The PowerPuff Girls, Cow & Chicken started life as a pilot on What a Cartoon!, and eventually became its own TV show. It ran from 1997 to 1999. Cow & Chicken was a show about a cow named Cow and a chicken named Chicken, who would do all sorts of things, like going back in time and dropping a quarter in the primordial soup, discovering the fabled Grizzly Beaver, and journeying through Cow's four stomachs. Other characters included Mom and Dad, who were only shown from the waist up, Red Guy, a devious naked devil, and Flem and Earl, Chicken's best friends. It was a weird show, having a similar humor to Ren and Stimpy, though not as explicit. Charlie Adler, the voice of Buster Bunny in Tiny Toon Adventures and Ed and Bev Bighead in Rocko's Modern Life, voiced just about everyone in Cow & Chicken.

Now which one do I think is better? Well, since I've only seen like three or four episodes of Ren and Stimpy, and I heard it was disgusting, I have to go with Cow & Chicken. See you tomorrow when I compare The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy to Invader ZIM!

Movie Review: Valiant

Movie Review: Valiant                                                                                                           7-3-16
 

Valiant was the first animated feature from the short-lived animation studio Vanguard, and was about a pint-sized pigeon named Valiant (Ewan McGregor), who wants to become a homing pigeon during World War 2. With the help of a filthy pigeon named Bugsy (Ricky Gervais), Valiant gets into the Royal Homing Pigeon service, meets a ragtag group of pigeons, and sets off on a quest to deliver a message from France to London, while avoiding the evil German falcon General Von Talon (Tim Curry).

I find Valiant criminally underrated; It has only 31% on Rotten Tomatoes. I think it should be a little higher because I think Valiant has, while definitely not Pixar quality, good animation for its time, memorable music from George Fenton, and a stable story. The only characters I personally found interesting, besides the villain Von Talon, of course, were Lofty Worthington, the nerdy red pigeon, and a French mouse named Rollo, who's obsessed with swinging torches.

 

Anyway, Valiant, in my opinion, is a better diversion to Chicken Little, and I advise you to watch it during Memorial Day, since this film is about WW2 pigeons.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

Cartoon Network vs. Nickelodeon Part 1/10

Battle 1: The Rugrats vs. The PowerPuff Girls (THE ORIGINAL!)

Throughout July, I will determine which channel is better: Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon. I will compare and contrast 10 Nicktoons to 10 shows from Cartoon Network Studios. First, let's go back to the 90s, back when there were only 4 CGI movies (Toy Story, Antz, A Bug's Life, and Toy Story 2), countless Disney clones/knockoffs, and two groundbreaking Broadway musicals based upon animated Disney movies. Our first two combatants are The Rugrats and The PowerPuff Girls.

Muppet Babies, I mean, The Rugrats, was one of the first three Nicktoons ever created, along with Doug and Ren and Stimpy. Rugrats focused on four babies: Tommy Pickles, Chuckie Finster, and the twins Phil and Lil Daville. They would go on misadventures in various locations, from the projection room of a movie theater to a desert-sized playground. There were also older (single-digit) kids Angelica Pickles, Tommy's cousin, who would normally bully the babies, and African-American Susie Carmichael, who acts as the voice of reason. The show initially ran from 1991 to 1994, but in 1997, because of its extreme popularity, Nickelodeon decided to bring it back for seven more years, along with two successful theatrical movies: The Rugrats Movie in 1998, and Rugrats in Paris in 2000. There was also a spinoff series called All Grown Up, which featured the characters as 10-year-olds, but wasn't as popular.

The PowerPuff Girls started life as a pilot in February of 1995, part of the Cartoon Network anthology series What a Cartoon! Along with other What a Cartoon pilots, The PowerPuff Girls got made into a very popular TV series, which ran from November 1998 to March 2005. The show tells the story of three genetically modified super-powered girls: Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, who must save the City of Townsville from villains like the diabolical chimp Mojo Jojo, the pink bug-like Fuzzy Lumpkins, the terrifying crab-like Him, and PowerPuff rejectee Princess Morbucks, who's actually a bit similar to Syndrome from The Incredibles. The Powerpuff Girls was popular enough to spawn a feature film, The Powerpuff Girls Movie, released in theaters in 2002. However, it bombed at the box office, maybe because it had to compete against Lilo & Stitch at the time. In April 2016, Cartoon Network rebooted The PowerPuff Girls with new voice actors and no involvement of original series creator Craig McCracken. This show got relatively weaker reviews, and Tara Strong, who voiced Bubbles in the original series, was disappointed that she didn't get recast as Bubbles.

Now what show do I think is better? Well, in this case, you get to decide! In the comments section below, write out your opinion on which show you think is better, and I'll see you next time on July 9th when I compare Cow & Chicken to Ren & Stimpy!

Movie Review: My Girl

Movie Review: My Girl                                                                                                         7-2-16

My Girl is about a young girl named Vada (Anna Chlumsky), who is daughter of Dr. Harry Sultenfuss (Dan Aykroyd). Vada is a tomboy who has a passion for becoming an author and believes she has cancer, but everyone thinks she's fine. The only friend she really has is a ridiculed boy named Thomas J (Macaulay Culkin). Their summer adventures, from first kiss to last farewell, introduces Vada to the world of adolescence. The film is set in the early 1970s, and popular songs from that era can be heard in certain scenes, and it sets the setting and tone of the film quite well. My Girl is an enjoyable and emotional family film that is perfect for the summer.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

Movie Review: Brave

Movie Review: Brave                                                                                                              7-1-16
 

Disney•Pixar's Brave is about a Scottish princess named Merida (Kelly Macdonald), who prefers bows over boys. When she has to choose a proper groom to betroth, Merida suggests that they should do archery. During mid-game, Merida interrupts and shoots her own bow. Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson), Merida's mother, gets enraged by this, and Merida runs away into the forest crying. She meets a witch and asks her to change her fate, but instead, turns Elinor into a bear. Now she and Merida have to find a way to return Elinor back to normal before Elinor remains a bear permanently.

I am aware that this is considered Pixar's black sheep, but I have respect for Brave for three reasons.

1. The film was co-directed by Brenda Chapman. This is the lady who co-directed The Prince of Egypt, one of my favorite animated movies of all time. She was also an excellent storyboard artist for Disney movies like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, just to name a few. This explains why Brave has so many similarities to animated Disney movies like Aladdin, Mulan, and Brother Bear.

2. Merida is a character many teenagers can relate to. There have been plenty of times when a teenager had problems with their parents, and Merida's is no exception.

3. This movie was dedicated to Steve Jobs. Along with John Lasseter and Ed Catmull, he is one of the co-founders of Pixar, arguably one of the best animation studios in the world. Jobs also founded the multibillion-dollar company Apple, which many people around the world use. In fact, I type almost all my reviews and stories on my iPod Touch, including this review.

I am aware that Brave doesn't feel like a Pixar film, being sometimes predictable with more potty humor that usual, but maybe some fans were getting tired of 'the Pixar formula'. You don't have to like this movie, but just tell me with a straight face: Of the following four animated features released in 2012, would you rather watch Brave, The Lorax, Ice Age 4, or Foodfight?

Rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5.

Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda 2

Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda 2                                                                                              6-30-16
Warning! This review contains spoilers for Kung Fu Panda 2!
I know what you're thinking: 'Why aren't you reviewing Kung Fu Panda 3?' Well, I missed out on it in theaters, so I'm going to watch and review it in August. But first, since I already talked about Kung Fu Panda 1 in Part 2 out of 3 of my Top 30 Best CGI Movies countdown, which I posted back in January. Today, I'm going to talk about Kung Fu Panda 2.

In the sequel to the 2008 hit animated film Kung Fu Panda, Po is now officially the Dragon Warrior and even has a few fans. However, an evil peacock named Lord Shen plans on destroying kung fu by replacing it with fireworks. Now it's up to Po and the Furious Five to save China from certain destruction.
Now what do I think of the film? Once again, I enjoyed it! The animation is lovely, the fight sequences are awesome, and Lord Shen is a threatening villain. Call me crazy, but I think the Kung Fu Panda films are slightly better than the (first two, at least) Shrek films. I say that because the KFP (Kung Fu Panda) films focus more on story than comedy, and Kung Fu Panda 2 does a great job at that. In this film, we learn why Po has a goose for a father: His real panda parents were 'killed' during an invasion from Shen when he was only a baby. However, at the end of the movie, it is revealed that Po's real parents are still alive in a far away valley, inhabited by pandas.

We will see the pandas again in Kung Fu Panda 3, which I will review in August.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.