Oscarless Cartoons Part 7

Oscarless Cartoons Part 7: Red's Dream (1987)

 

In 1986, Pixar Animation Studios was formed by Steve Jobs, John Lasseter, and Ed Catmull. Their first short film was Luxo Junior, which was about a lamp playing with a ball.

When it was first shown at SIGGRAPH in 1986, people loved it. It even got the Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Film. Luxo Jr was the first computer-animated anything to get an Oscar nomination. The next question for Pixar is 'What are they going to do next?'

Today, we will talk about Pixar's second short film, Red's Dream, which would also be submitted to SIGGRAPH. This underrated short film is about a unicycle named Red. Red lives in the discount section at Eben's Bikes (named after Pixar veteran Eben Ostby), and one night, he had a dream he was in a circus. Riding on top of him is a clown named Lumpy.

In the dream, Red proved to be just as talented as Lumpy. However, Red soon woke up and realized he was still in the store, so he slowly wheeled his way back to the discount section.

Red's Dream is notable for having a sad ending, unusual nowadays for a Pixar project, both short film and feature film. In fact, when it was first shown to a test audience, they pleaded John Lasseter to give it a happy ending. However, Lasseter resented, and Red's Dream was a success, but it didn't get the Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Subject like Luxo Junior. Red's Dream is very popular in Europe, Lasseter once stated.
That's all I have to say about this week's Oscarless Cartoon. Tune in next week when I talk about another Pixar short film, Knick Knack!

Banned Pokemon Part 2

Banned Pokemon Part 2

These are Pokemon I banned that are not Legendaries, but are either still very powerful or just plain weird. Also, who would want to live in a world infested with Dragons and Ghosts?

Grimer and Muk

Classic Poison-Type Pokemon Muk is so toxic that it kills anything it passes by.

Voltorb and Electrode

These Pokemon are basically living bombs: They are capable of exploding at any moment.

Unown

These strange Psychic-Type Pokemon are based on the Latin alphabet. I banned them because they are rather ridiculous-looking. In fact, if I remember correctly, Team Rocket's Meowth in Pokemon 3: Spell of the Unown (in the English dub) describes Unown as "alphabet soup without the soup".

Slugma and Magcargo

Magcargo is capable of burning nearly twice as hot as the sun.

Larvitar, Pupitar, and Tyranitar

Larvitar is capable of eating an entire mountain, while Tyranitar can destroy a mountain with a single punch.

Whismur, Loudred, and Exploud

Exploud is capable of destroying entire structures using just its voice.

Gulpin and Swalot

These Pokemon are capable of eating anything.

Shuppet and Banette

Banette was once a doll that was discarded by its owner, and it seeks revenge on who threw it away.

Duskull, Dusclops, and Dusknoir

Anyone who looks at Dusclops's eye will have their soul taken away.

Absol

It senses coming disasters and appears before people only to warn them of impending danger.

Bagon, Shelgon, and Salamence

Salamence becomes uncontrollable if it's enraged. It destroys everything with shredding claws and fire-breath.

Drifloon and Drifblim

Drifloon carries kids away if they touch it's yellow handles.

Spiritomb

It's a demon ghost. Enough said.

Magmortar

Magmortar is capable of shooting fireballs over half as hot as the sun: 3,600 Degrees Fahrenheit.

Porygon-Z

Porygon-Z is able to create portals to alternate dimensions, and maybe it will let creatures from other dimensions into our dimension! In fact, something tells me that this Pokemon is responsible for the Ultra Beast invasion in Pokemon Sun and Moon!

Elgyem and Beeheeyem

I banned these Pokemon because they are too weird and, no pun intended, alien. In other words, I can't find a proper place for these Psychic-Type Pokemon.
Litwick, Lampent, and Chandelure

Chandelure is capable of burning and destroying spirits. That means it can kill ghosts and prevent them from going to the afterlife.

Deino, Zweilous, and Hydreigon

The heads on Hydreigon's arms do not have brains. It uses all three heads to consume and destroy everything. Just imagine what would happen if someone tried chopping off one of its heads!
Honedge, Doublade, and Aegislash

Anyone who touches Honedge's blue cloth will have their life drained.

Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist

Anyone who listens to Gourgeist's song is cursed.

Minior

Much like the Elgyem and Golett lines, I can't think of a suitable place for Minior. I also don't want to distribute it to outer space because we don't know if there's life on other planets.
Type: Null and Silvally

I banned these Pokemon because it's implied that they were made from DNA of other Pokemon. These canines (?) were also implied to try defeating the Ultra Beasts, which won't exist in this world.

And finally, I banned the Alolan forms of Grimer and Muk because I think that while they're less poisonous, Alolan Grimer and Muk are still quite dangerous.

Well, I got the hard stuff out of the way. Next week, I will post what Pokemon would unfortunately be extinct.
Update! 11-20-17: Moved Drampa to European Pokemon.
Update! 1-7-18: Added the Litwick line here and moved Onix and Steelix to extinct Pokemon. I feel they're closest real-life counterpart is Titanoboa, an extinct species of snake that lived in Colombia during the Paleocene Period.

A Titanoboa statue on display at the Grand Central Station in New York.

Oscarless Cartoons Part 6

Oscarless Cartoons Part 6: Quasi at the Quackadero (1975)

This enjoyable surreal cartoon is about two anthropomorphic ducks in the future named Quasi and Anita, and their pet robot Rollo, who visit an amusement park called the Quackadero.

Some of the places they visit include a game show called 'Your Shining Moment, hosted by a robot, in which 'we probe your past and relive your shining moment in your life'...

A mysterious Hall of Mirrors...

A pair of binoculars that let you 'roll back time' (think of something you'd see at Boston's Museum of Science)...

And the Think-O-Blink, in which artists read your mind and interpret it as a painting. This is apparently what Quasi thinks.

This shows that Quasi and Anita don't have the best chemistry together.

After a hearty lunch, Quasi, Anita, and Rollo head to the Time Holes exhibit, which feature up-close portals through time.

Anita tells Quasi that if he falls into a Time Hole, he'll never get out. While Quasi was looking at dinosaurs from the Mesozoic Time Hole, Anita throws a cake into the Time Hole. Quasi falls into the portal and gets stuck in the Mesozoic era.

Like 'Duck Amuck' and 'What's Opera, Doc?' before it, Quasi at the Quackadero didn't get the Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Subject, but did get inducted into the National Film Registry in 2009.
That's all I have to say about this week's Oscarless Cartoon. Tune in next week when we jump into the world of computer graphics with Pixar's 1987 short film Red's Dream!

Banned Pokemon Part 1

Banned Pokemon Part 1

These are Pokemon that WILL NOT appear in this world. I banned many Legendary Pokemon because I'm afraid that catastrophic events would happen if certain Legendaries were killed. Killing Dialga or Palkia would create a ripple in the Space/Time Continuum...

Killing Yveltal would cause a mass extinction...

And killing Kyurem might create a second Ice Age.

Also, many Legendaries are extremely powerful, and would result in the end of the world. Mewtwo would question its own existence and cause a revolution/war between man and Pokemon...

Reshiram/Zekrom can scorch the world with fire/lightning...

Giratina is the Pokemon equivalent of Satin...

And Regigigas can bring inanimate objects to life.

I also fear that someone would want to capture and kill Xerneas to hoard its eternal youth for himself/herself. It would be like Mother Gothel and the Magic Golden Flower from Disney's Tangled.

In case you don't  know your Legendaries, here's some helpful pictures below.

Another reason I banned many Legendaries is because I feel they would feel miserable if kept in captivity. However, I will keep Mew, Suicune, Manaphy, Heatran, Shaymin, Tornadus, Thundorus, Landorus, Terrakion, and Magearna. As the weeks go by, I will decide where they will live.

Mega Evolutions made their debut in Pokemon X and Y. They're somewhat similar to Super Saiyan forms in Dragon Ball Z, if you know what I mean. However, only 46 Pokemon could Mega Evolve, and they all require special stones called Mega Stones. When a Pokemon Mega Evolves, its Types may change and it may gain a new Ability. However, Mega Evolutions are only temporary, and are only used in battle. Below is a list of every single Pokemon that can Mega Evolve.

Venusaur

Charizard (two Mega forms)

Blastoise

Beedrill

Pidgeot

Alakazam

Slowbro

Gengar
Kangaskhan

Pinsir

Gyarados

Aerodactyl

Mewtwo (two Mega forms)

Ampharos

Steelix

Scizor

Heracross

Houndoom

Tyranitar

Sceptile

Blaziken

Swampert

Gardevoir

Sableye

Mawile

Aagron

Medicham

Manectric

Sharpedo

Camerupt

Altaria

Banette

Absol
Glalie

Salamence

Metagross

Latias

Latios

Rayquaza (does not require a specific stone)

Lopunny

Garchomp

Lucario

Abomasnow

Gallade

Audino

Diancie

There are actually more Mega Evolutions than just these, but the rest that I mentioned are exclusive to Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.

The Ultra Beasts (UBs for short) are powerful extra-terrestrial beings that players have to face in Pokemon Sun and Moon. They're actually Pokemon from another dimension capable of doing insanely powerful things. There's Buzzwole, a muscle-bound Bug/Fighting-Type mosquito that can pulverize a dump truck, Guzzlord, a Dark/Dragon-Type Pokemon that can gobble down whole environments without leaving droppings, and Kartana, a Grass/Steel-Type samurai soldier that can cut down metal buildings. I don't think any of the Ultra Beasts should exist in this world. They're too weird-looking, even by Pokemon standards!

I also banned the Tapu Quartet (from Pokemon Sun and Moon) because I couldn't think of proper places for them.

In Part 2, while I will post next week, I will list non-Legendary Pokemon that will be banned.
Update! 9-30-17: Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, which will premiere November 17th, will feature two new Ultra Beasts. Unfortunately, very little information is available about them. Only their UB names, Burst and Assembly, are revealed. Hopefully, by the time I finish Pokemon Around the World, their Types and official names, along with additional info, will be revealed. They look something like this.

Update! 10-16-17: UB Assembly will be Rock/Steel, while UB Burst will be Fire/Ghost. There is also a third announced Ultra Beast, Adhesive, and it will be pure Poison. There might be more new Pokemon than these three, but that's all that's announced, right now.
Update! 12-7-17: I decided that Cresselia should be included in this world. It will travel all over the United States, whenever the moon is shaped like a crescent.
UB Assembly is called Stakataka, while UB Burst is called Blacephalon. UB Adhesive is called Poipole, and is currently the only known Ultra Beast that can evolve. It evolves into the Poison/Dragon-Type Naganadel when leveled up while it knows the move Dragon Pulse.