Oh Yeah! Cartoons: #24 :Zoey's Zoo

Nickelodeon 

        Previously, positive dragon interaction is a fun idea [HERE]

 #24 Zoey's Zoo

Season 2, Episode 12b

    Zoey Zoo was created by Amy Ellyn Anderson and David Burd.    I love the theme song it's fun in its own way. Also Zoey reminds me of a mixture of Marcie from Peanuts  and Lisa Loud from The Loud House.  Zoey is a girl who a has lot of animals, and apparently her mother is like Charlotte Pickles for the not paying attention to her daughter awards. Anyway, she wants an ocelot for her "zoo"  and she keeps telling her mother that she wants to get one but the woman again isn't paying attention.

        I wish we lived in  a world where everything had their own store to easily find it.  Zoey calls Ocelot Hut and gets to order one. She wonders if it's going to be a girl one or a boy one so she calls again and doesn't clarify that she already ordered one so  I mean, the full title has the words lots of ocelots guess what happens? 

        She realizes she needs to order ocelot food, so she calls again a few times when she think up something and calls them 62 times. (uhhh) (Don't order an ocelot at home folks)  And they won't stop coming and won't stop coming.  Zoey's reaction really makes this funnier because she's  not worried about them messing up the house and bothering her sleeping father, she casually looking for the ocelot food  and wonder how she's going to feed them all. She also only named 2 of them. 

     Zoey restores order in the calmest way possible and the ocelots end up looking like house decoration and she requests to her mother , if she can have a baby brother.  And more theme song.

   

  It kind of reminds me of Peanuts mixed (mmm Peanuts mixed) with a little pre school shows where the character seems to just talk matter of factly. Zoey is the main character and she essentially has to  hold the whole thing going.  She's a charming character though. I counted , Zoey says Ocelot 29 times, 30 if you her using the genus name, and ocelot is mentioned 38 times or 39 altogether. 

   There's a fun charm to this, I think I would have had fun with it as a series, not sure how far this could  go, but it would be fun to see what animals she collects next.   I do give this a recommendation go watch it and let the theme capture you as well. 

  

That's it for tune in next time when we ocelot ocelot ocelot ocelot ocelot ocelot ocelot ocelot ocelot ocelot ocelot ocelot ocelot ocelot ocelot ocelot ocelot ocelot ocelot ocelot ocelot ocelot. 

   

      

         

          

Oh Yeah! Cartoons #23 Enchanted Adventures

Nickelodeon 

 

 Previously, Be the dog that's inside you [HERE]

       #23 Enchanted Adventures 

Season 1, Episode 7c 

          Back to John Eng & Bill Burnett this time together, the team up you know you wanted.  This one is interesting the biggest thing to notice is the animation, it kind of harkens back to like late 80's early 90's action cartoons with a budget.  This one looks like they spent more money than a few others. 

      This cartoon takes place in a fantasy kingdom that has been infected with a plague (uhhh) a woman  Brangwen  comes in and says her father had found away to cure it, the king has to send his inexperienced teenage son, Galen with her to get the final ingredient from a dragon.  

          He has a magic transforming sword. Here comes a dragon and Galen has a hard time fighting it; the dragon talks to him and apparently speaks like Jeff Goldblum so that's something . (Good work Jess Harnell) the dragon is named Kaltor.  Kaltor asks why does Galen want to kill him and Galen explains the plague and the dragon says there's no plague (pulls collar) and that the people have been poisoned.  Also Brangwen has disappeared. (she must be evil then?) 

    Her father's name is Zim (oh my) and is actually an evil troll. Katlor says it must have been an distraction to steal the Ebro Crystal, which is stolen now.  The evil trolls real name is Brok and yes he has the crystal  to evil things with.   

   When a  Galen vs Bork battle !    He's able to get the crystal back after using the boomerang trick  from before. 

  

   This one feels way different to the other ones that we've looked it. It just kind of stands out in both design and storytelling.  If anything, I can tell that this cartoon probably wasn't picked up, because it doesn't seem to fit what Nickelodeon was airing at the time at all. It seems like it would have been a fun story, it could have worked either as story driven or episodic with character development. Kind of  shame that it didn't.  I like how it also does its own little things like, the dragon isn't evil and can talk , and just little things like that to make it work.  

     

    The idea is pretty interesting, the story of the short is  epic (the original meaning ) and packs a lot in the 7 minutes, give it a view 

  

  That's it for now, tune in next time when we venture to the parallel world again to see what different Nickelodeons picked from this series. 

      

Oh Yeah! Cartoons : #22 Kameleon Kid

Nickelodeon 

 Previously,  we did Lunch, how about dinner?  [HERE]

      #22 Kameleon Kid

    Season 3, episode 6c 

        Kameleon Kid was created by  Jaime Diaz and Russ Mooney.  Our main character is Cameron  who wakes up one night after hearing noises from a barn that apparently is a laboratory run by his parents. He ends up zapped by a machine and he's turned into a mouse. (squeak) There's a cat and mouse chase, with dogs changing.  Cameron figures out that he can change into different things by wishing for it, so he turns into a dog... a big dog. (Woof) 

         The next day, he decides to mess with his bully, Otto, then goes to see Suzy , whom I think both boys like. Eventually he gets Otto locked up on the roof of an apartment building and laughed at on TV.  His parents did find out he was in the lab, but not the animal part and mentions the title of the short.

       This one goes in the category of the most pilot-ish pilot  of the cartoons featured. They have the hook of a kid turning into different animals for plots of future episodes; the ending line of the short is he'll have to tell his parents some time about the whole thing, but he's currently the Kameleon  Kid. (roll credits)  

    

   The concept is another interesting one, though I can see Nickelodeon not wanting two shows where the main character says "I wish" as a concept, and picked the one with the pink-hatted boy over this one. It is a little too basic, if it was a series, I'd hope there'd be more than just Cameron finding new ways to deter this annoying bully. There are some inconsistencies in the short, but it's a pilot so I give it some benefit of the doubt, but they are noticeable. 

 

        The cartoon is aright, but nothing too much that makes it that fully entertaining on it's own even with its interesting concept. 

     That's it for now, tune in next time when I turn into a goat for some reason. 

         

   

Oh Yeah! Cartoons! #21: Pete Patrick, P.I.: What About Lunch?

Nickelodeon 

Previously, the last cartoon was a bit shocking  [HERE ]

#21 Pete Patrick, P.I.: What About Lunch?

Season 1, Episode 4c (yes we're back to season 1) 

     Pete Patrick, P.I.: What About Lunch?    was created by Vincent Waller ,but unlike the last time we mentioned him, this one was him in a solo creation role not  a co-creator.  The basic idea here a kid private detective,who gets picked up by a cat sidekick, named Persian Puss. They on to  a case about a dog napping.  The voice of Bobby Hill, Pamela Aldon (as Pam Segal) voices Pete , while  Persian is voiced by Billy West.

         A lead takes them to a spooky mansion to investigate. Meanwhile, there's Dr. Don't who is doing some evil things and they apparently know each other.  The henchman has an interesting design, so what's his plan?  He took a dog to lure Pete there for his real plan of switching bodies with Pete so he can get dinner from his mom. Which is a very creative plan. 

     The lunch from earlier was storing his cousin named Lunch who is  a big man who beats up the bad Doctor. (Glad that worked) Also like how they get of the cage that Don't  had them in.  

  This  was pretty fun to watch, a kid detective thing isn't a new concept (even in 1998) but it's fun and does a little harkening to old cartoons. The villain's plan was pretty creative.  

  I think this could have made a fun series, the concept has open possibilities and there's a charm to it. Give this one a watch. 

That's it for now, tune in next time we switch places with some one and make them write the posts 

Oh Yeah! Cartoons :#20: Elise

Nickelodeon 

   Previously,  Making movies is hard to do when the actors are hard to deal with [HERE]

#20 Elise 

Season 3, Episode 4b

    Elise ,or,  Elise: Mere Mortal is another entry from Guy Vasilovich. Our main character is Elise Crump, who's voiced by Cree Summer. This time our MC looks different from his past too, but you can tell Vasilovich was going for  certain vibe for his cartoons.   In this cartoon, Elise has to go the orthodontist, to have her braces tightened. 

    

       The orthodontist is very eccentric,  and really there's an atmosphere to this cartoon that just embraces a whole what am I watching? thing.  There's  a spot where teeth are dancing, for example, Meanwhile in Siberia some scientists shoot a beam that some how make it and zap Elise's braces. (Reminds me of "Braceface") 

      There's a spot where teeth sing a rock song for some reason  and Elise is none the wiser of whatever just happened.(same)  Though she seems to keep zapping  stuff without noticing it, and she's getting radio signals through her braces.  It is kind of weird she doesn't notice the electricity doing stuff. 

  

           The funny thing watching this, is it felt short, like shorter than the 7 minutes, not much happens, it's a strange girl going to the orthodontist then gets zapped , then goes home. She doesn't seem to notice it and nothing goes from that plot. Just weird doctor and stuff just happens and gives up.  If I was comparing it to Vasilovich's other two I've covered  I would say this is the weakest one.  

     If this was like a start of a new series and setting up the idea of everywhere Elise goes something strange happens like she gets zapped, or  the eye doctor thing they mention at the end, she goes there and ends being able to see people naked or something, or have strange stuff happen and she never notices it, that could work. But as is, it wasn't that much to write about, kind of a shame but it happens. 

   That's it for now , tune in next time, when we talk abut the idea of implanting radios into your head so you don't need head phones anymore. (what?) 

 

        

Oh Yeah! Cartoons: #19: Skippy Spankerton

Nickelodeon 

Previously,  it's my world, I'll save it if I want too! [HERE ]

  #19 Skippy Spankerton

Season 3, Episode 3b 

    Skippy Spankerton Presents: Hot Tamale Monster Movie Madness!  was created by Eric Bryan and Michelle Bryan. So this is a cartoon about a movie being made by a kid, a 9-year-old girl named Skippy.  Who sounds like Carl Foutley beause well it is Jeannie Elias , who would voice that character.  Kevin Michael Richardson is back too voicing trademark safe not Godzilla, Zolla.  

      Skippy is trying to make a film for the film festival with two monsters  and trying to make a movie before bedtime.  Also the monsters aren't real it was Skippy working with toys, I kind of think that's creative but also kind of sad they revealed it too early, would have been a nice way to end it. 

    Skippy's mom makes her eat dinner, cutting into her time. It's tamale night too (cool).  The parents are kind of  weird, but not bland so that's kind of fun. The super hot tamales gives her an idea to use  for fire breathing monster action. And just to make things mean for Skippy, the father remembers Daylight Saving Time and moves the clock up an hour ,meaning she lost an hour. (Daylight Saving Time is evil  so I give it points for showing that)   

      The wagon is a "Citizen Cane" reference action.  The monsters don't want to eat the tamales because of reasons.  Skippy has to contend with this while trying to get things done.  I can feel the urgency.  Finally she gets her fire breathing and the movie done before the parents check on her and mission accomplished.  We get to see her movie too , which again is just her doing normal things with her toys. 

         I love the concept of this one, even though the idea of making a movie as an idea for a story is kind of basic, the idea of it being Skippy's imagination that the toys are really moving gives it a charm of child imagination. The parents are weird and I feel embarrassed, but pretty funny. The cartoon really is charming and a joy to watch.  Again, I kind of wish they held off the reveal until the end , but the early reveal doesn't hurt it and kind of makes it funnier that she's imagination having difficult actors and we already know they're toys. 

     It works as a one and done story, but if  it was a show I could see Skippy having more adventures with imagination.  

   

  Give this one a watch! 

   That's it for now, tune in next time, when we make our movie about someone making a movie about making a movie. 

   

      

Oh Yeah! Cartoons: #18: The Tantrum

Nickelodeon 

 Previously, the bird had a better agent, so top billing for it. [HERE]

#18 The Tantrum 

Season 3, episode 1b

  We head into the final season of the series, that's season 3.   Also runs from 1999-2002, meaning the channel had probably held some stuff over through the time.  "Fairly Odd Parents" became a series in 2001,  and "Chalk Zone" in 2002.  Season 3 is the shortest, and many of the shorts featured were new episodes of the I guess "mini series" they were doing.  Interestingly enough, there was no Chalk Zone shorts.  

        The Tantrum was created by John Fountain,  who also wrote, directed, character designed, and did the voice for the main character.  (source )

  

      The idea is that it's a comedic superhero cartoon with a hero that is triggered by frustrations like "The Hulk"   our main  character is  boy named Travis who sees a toy on TV through an ad and asks his parents for the toy, and the parents say he has enough and being patient is good. 

    Travis  tries to not get angry but he does end up turning into his superhero powers, as the Tantrum to get his frustrations out.  I like that creative idea, that's kind of cool to see a kid hero who does kid stuff like  being frustrated and channels into constructive rage. 

      

  In this case he fights a fire and saves a toy store, which most of the toys are alright, but the one he wanted, because that's a law of cartoons.  He goes to see the president who nervous about aliens coming and I see someone liked "Independence Day"   An alien named commander Twang condemns the president because of space junk and wants it cleaned up. (Which I kind of like the idea of aliens being mad that there's space junk and not just wanting to invade the Earth) 

      

     Tantrum uses his tantrum powers, and the alien has a sleep ray (I wish that was real, that could help alot of people)  and puts the boy to sleep. Then tantrum wakes up, and he thinks everything was a dream and realizes no, this was the dream.  Then he really wakes up. 

    He uses his scream powers and makes the aliens give him anything he wants and then they leave, I guess he asked for the toy, it cuts to his house, his parents decide to surprise him with the toy for being good. The twist is the alien gave him a real robot so alright then.

       This one is creative, but there are some weaknesses. I do wonder if the executives would have been against the idea of a series based on a superhero based on tantrums just because tantrums. Even if the boy only does it as super powers versus the other way. The story is alright,  could have been fine tuned and it's hard to be too mean to it, since it seems it was very one guy working on it focused. 

     

     I do think a comedic kid saves the world series would work, there is some creativity, some things would have to be changed. Again, it was short/pilot so there could have been some fine tuning, but anyway.  

  

      That's it for now, tune in next time, when we scream for 50 minutes until we pass out! 

Oh Yeah! Cartoons: #17: Terry and Chris

Nickelodeon 

Previously,   Lying monsters ate our post  [HERE]

#17 Terry and Chris 

Season 2, Episode 13b

 

    We are in the season finale of season 2, looking at the second  segment of the episode, Terry and Chris. There's an interesting backstory to this one's creator.  John Reynolds  created this one at the age of 11.  Reynolds had not just worked on his own cartoons, but had a complete storyboard,  and character designs.  Butch Hartman supervised, which also explains the why it looks the way it does and he directed it too.  Pretty cool.  (source)   

     If it's not good, we can't be mean to an 11-year-old even if he's not eleven anymore... hmmm. 

   

       It takes place in a fictional town called Valley View, USA (in America),  our main character is a boy named Chris, talking about how normal things are and he is until THEY AREN'T.  Chris goes to a pet store to spend his birthday money for  pet, there's a cockatiel that has the ability to talk. Either the bird changes heads when it speaks in someone else's voice or that's a visual effect so hmm alright then.  

    

     He brings the bird to school for share day, (not to be confused with Cher day, where everyone dresses like Cher). There are two friends he has they all seem to be doing this "cool" act by wearing little glasses or something. (Little glasses are cool)  Oh he named the bird the Terry.  Since Chris does something stupid like telling the bird what they call the teacher behind her back, the law says the bird will repeat it and cause trouble. (Thy rule of writing cartoons be done) 

        Chris doesn't get that much trouble the principal seems to be very understanding and just tells Chris to leave his pets at home next time. (I thought it was Sting day) Chris sees  a girl with an Australian accent (voiced by Kath Soucie) and Chris likes her, you can tell by the music and hearts.  Angela is a new student and he gets to escort her to class.  Angela meets  the two friends  and kisses Chris on the cheek in front of them. 

        Then it gets awkward when Chris says something mean to impress his friends. Then a bully shows up, (I'd mean to people too if I was 4 times their size , otherwise they'd be mean to me)  Angela decides to go with him because Chris hurt her feelings.  Later, Chris gets mad that he didn't do the right then and Terry flies away to help. Jerry talks like Angela and makes Max , the bully, go away.  Chris meets with Angela and apologizes  and things are fine. 

        Simple story, but I liked it, there's a charm to it. (Yeah this is not my don't be mean to the post thing kicking in, it genuine)  The characters are kind static, but again it's a short or maybe a pilot ,so I understand that would be something, that and being written by an 11-year-old. 

     That does bring up the question of the series thing since, I think it would be hard for 11-year-old to run a series and do normal eleven-year-old things, this was done during some school off time. Though it could have maybe been done in the future , if he was still interested. Taking away logic for a moment,  it would be have been the most authentic to the kids series if it was written by a kid.  I could see Terry being used for different plots where things go silly or something.   

        There's some fun to be had here, to watch, it's not A+ , but it's charming in it's own way.

 That's it for now, tune in next time when we (Joke removed it was too stupid)