I am an avid cartoon watcher. I've decided to chronicle my lifelong love affair with animation on my blog. This could take a while...
My first memory of animation is from Sesame Street, of course. This picture is from a counting animation about an alligator king. Here is the song, brought to you by the number 7.
One two three four five six seven!
Said the Alligator King to his seven sons,
"I'm feelin' mighty down.
Whichever of you can cheer me up
Will get to wear my crown."
His first son brought seven oyster pearls
From the bottom of the China Sea.
The second gave him seven statues of girls
With clocks where their stomachs should be.
The third son gave him seven rubies
From the sheikdom Down There Beneath.
The King thought the rubies were cherries,
And he broke off seven of his teeth.
The fourth son tried to cheer him up
With seven lemon drops.
The King said, "I'm sorry son,
Since that ruby episode, I just haven't got the chops."
The fifth son brought the King perfume
In seven fancy silver jars;
The King took a whiff, and he broke out in spots
'Cause it smelled like cheap cigars.
The sixth son gave him seven diamond rings
To wear upon his toes.
The King snagged his foot on the royal red rug
And crumpled up his nose.
The seventh son of the Alligator King
Was a thoughtful little whelp.
He said, "Daddy, appears to me
That you could use a little help."
Said the Alligator King to his seventh son,
"My son, you win the crown.
You didn't bring me diamonds or rubies, but
You helped me up when I was down.
Take the crown; it's yours, my son.
I hope you don't mind the dents.
I got it on sale at a discount store-
Cost me all of seven cents!"
Seven!
There were all variations of animation shown on Sesame Street- stop motion, clay, and traditional. You cannot forget the muppets. That isn't animation per se, but come on! same idea. Which leads us to:
The Muppet Show
This is a picture of Statler and Waldorf. They heckled the cast of "The Muppet Show" each week, high from the balcony in the muppet theater. They were named for 2 hotels in NYC. I have the both of Season 1 & 2 DVD box sets of the show. I will probably collect them all as they come out. Again, more dorkiness on my part. The Muppet Show wasn't animated but played a huge role in my development. In fact, I just watched "Muppets From Space" this weekend. That's a great movie.
Again I'm veering from animated shows but I have to include this one. Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. I didn't like it but I watched it. So, how did it shape me? Well, being the pessimist and negative nancy I am you have to watch things you HATE - otherwise, how can you feel superior? One particular thing I hated about this show was the cat, Daniel. He was such a whiner! Everything that was in this puppet's dialogue started with the words "Meow, meow" and finished with the same. So annoying!
More PBS shows I remember watching:
Schoool House Rock
It was on when nothing else was. It wasn't particularly entertaining. They started sticking it between Saturday morning cartoons just to fill space. Did anyone really like this cartoon or is it just nostalgia? Who greenlighted it and thought it was good? Just wondering.
Tra-la-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la!The Smurfs
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have always wanted to marry Gargamel. Something about evil villains gets me HOT! The plot was always the same. Gargamel wants to capture the smurfs but always fails. There was only one girl smurf early in the beginning of the show and she was created by Gargamel to lure the smurfs to his castle. The smurfs are famous all over the world and were originally from Belgium. Read the 10 smurfiest facts about the smurfs on Neatorama.
Voltron
Here was my first deluge into Japanese animation. My favorite character was Princess Allura/Princess Fala (ファーラ姫 Fāra-hime): Princess Allura of the planet Arus is the ruler of the Kingdom of Altair (as well as of the entire planet, for the most part) and is also the object of Lotor's affections. She takes over for Sven as the pilot of the Blue Lion that forms Voltron's right leg. Allura wears a pink uniform in the original series, and a metallic blue uniform in Voltron: The Third Dimension. Her age is about 18-20. Though a bit naïve, especially with matters of romance, Allura is a strong-willed person, and is very capable of ruling her planet, though some like Coran and Nanny tend to doubt this ability. She is capable of invoking the dead, particularly her father, the late King Alfor. In The Third Dimension, Allura later learns special mind skills that could allow the Voltron Force to control the Lions without having to be in the cockpits, and also helps the others to learn it as well.
and the
Space Mice: The Space Mice are pastel-colored mice displaying a humanlike level of intelligence, who were Princess Allura's friends as a child. They are often mischievous, but sometimes helpful. There are five Space Mice, though the fifth mouse is rarely seen until later episodes, perhaps because of not being born, or being too young to leave the nest at first. There is a large light blue mouse, a large pink mouse, two medium-sized light blue mice, and a much smaller light blue mouse. The cartoon was very inconsistent with the names of the mice; names used for various mice included Chitter, Cheddar, Cheeser, Cheesy, Pip, Squeek, Mousie, Prince, Toady, Inky, and Suki. Toward the end of the Lion Force Voltron series, the Space Mice wear orange Voltron Force uniforms and pilot a machine called the Mouse Plane, which can transform into a comic-looking Mouse Voltron.
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