I bring this up because on a particular slow day, I happen to catch the short lived Mr. Men Show (2008-2009) revival on Boomerang, which has become a hybrid of classic-classic cartoons and CN’s dumping ground of “shows that never made it”. It’s programming is uncanny, a mix of then-and-now, seemingly stuck in a temporal loop of cels and Flash files of various framerates. I love it. Mr. Man seemed destined for the early prime-time kids market, but like that idea, it fizzled in the water.

This picture alone tells you the potential hilarity we missed. OR Mr. Grumpy will not take your shit.

Mr. Man is a series of books by Roger Hargreaves that involve emotions/states of mind represented as colored-blob characters, forced into situations where their strictly one-dimensional attribute comes at odds with, oh, whatever Hargreaves felt like. These books were along side your Harold and the Purple Crayon and Good Night, Moon, and the bright, insane characters always appealed to me, as well as their blind commitment to their forced nature. They were cute, simple, and straight-forward; depending on the character, they could be a tad scary.

Imagine, then, you’re commissioned with the task of animating this into a long run series for a year. What do you do? Sure, you could go the ‘lesson-learning’ route, a route that Nick Jr. or Noggin certainly would have done. Cartoon Network animators aren’t the young-ish type, and so went with a unique and oft-bizarre story of a whole world of Mr. Man/Little Miss types, creating what -would- have been an almost infinite clash of pure-emotions. It was animated improv: “You play a perpetually angry person; you play a naughty tease; the setting is a nightclub and you both left your wallets at home. Go!”

The result was a goofy, self-aware, eccentric assault of really brief gags, skits, and musical interludes all centered around two themes, lasting for twelve minutes each. The first was yard work; the second, preparing a parade. Unlike the very simplistic, kind, and melodic flow of shows like Oswald and Dora the Explorer, Mr. Man had surprising rich gags (Mr. Quiet’s understated commentary was  a gem and poised to have him the show’s star) and some bizarrely risque material, like Miss Naughty’s light hints at sexual promiscuity – which ended up mostly as practical jokes. But it’s there, and quite hilarious when you pick up on it. The Mr. Men Show was erratic, to be sure, and the seemingly random cuts from skits to musical cues to five-second shorts was rather hard to swallow. But underneath the exterior was a delightful and subtle bunch of jokes.

DID WE MISS OUT? I’d say we did; although parents might “enjoy” it more than their children.

——-

Krypto the Superdog. I doubt this is funny even in context.

I wish I had similar sentiments for Krypto The Superdog (2005-2006), a clear throwback to the era of Saturday Morning Cartoons. We follow the exploits of a canine house pet who rocks Superman powers and fights evil cats and alien animals and teach lessons. The problem is that animated shows today are self-aware, and when a cartoon tries to engage in its campiness and play it straight – instead of exploiting it – its cheesiness becomes grating.

In one episode of Krypto, we’re already forced to endure lessons about judging people (well, animals) and “great power coming with great responsibility,” the latter lesson gained from what I assumed to be Superdog’s future sidekick, a cat named Streaky. (This particular episode was pointedly awkward and borderline disturbing, and the awful line-readings and less-than-stellar animation didn’t help.) It’s not a stretch to assume this show was definitely for children (perhaps the older set), but even they may find it boring, as today’s youth are so adept with Twitter and Youtube and any other animated program that breaks the 90s mold. For something made in the 21st century that had such dated aesthetics and writing, one can’t help but experience the show with this —> :/ expression.

DID WE MISS OUT? Nah. With not one single interesting character on the show, it’s probably better off in the distant backburner.

———

I’ll be doing this feature every so often I catch an episode of something on Boomerang or CN late night or something.

Meet Dylan Montgomery.

Dylan is a tabby cat with a panache for the finer things in life. He’s driven to succeed, meticulous and clean, and fancies himself as an intellectual. He’s approachable, but every so often he does get a bit haughty, being from a wealthy family. He’s aware of this, though, and tries to keep his more pompous mannerisms in check.

His moralistic sense tends to be stronger than his will to succeed, disapproving of illegal, unethical, or corrupt methods in order to get ahead, which ends up hurting his chances more than he believes.

Meet David White.

David is boring, because he’s a human. Beyond that, he’s an aspiring artist who’s actually pretty good at his work, but not so much with hobnobbing and networking. Slightly geeky and very skinny, David knows a little about everything, but can never commit because, like so many post-college graduates, he has no idea what he wants to do -exactly-.

He looks like a hipster, and he can talk like one, but he certainly isn’t one. In fact, he hates them, despite knowing deep down his chances with them are better than making it out there in commercial art.

Meet Chase Rabin.

Chase is a beagle, a canine of adventure and fun. Former urbanized street banger and part frat-boy wannabe, Chase has the energy of a thousands suns inside him, waiting to burst out. Somehow he forces himself to control this (sans meds), simply letting out his excitement through crass jokes, minor acts of aggression, and the free use of bodily functions.

His enjoyment of simple pleasures masks lack of ambition masks his underlying intelligence and willful attitude. He -can- be more productive if he wants to be, but… well, he doesn’t want to be.

—————

Things are coming together. I have the voices selected, which will begin recording this month, and I have the script for the short 98% done. Come September, I hope to have the storyboards in the works!

I’m currently living in New Jersey and working for an editorial company in New York. I’m working on a fan fiction comic (which is fairly irrelevant unless you’re into this kind of thing) and producing a cartoon. Of all the things that I’ve done in the past – directing, playwriting, acting… um, HTML coding – working on these projects are the most satisfying things I’ve done in a while. I don’t regret for a moment spending the money I have towards these goals, and despite the fact I’ve been organizing online meetings, discussing script changes and comic layout and model sheets, settling disputes and so on, I have to be honest that I love every single minute of it.

I am a member of the Creative Screenwriting mailing list, which is technically monthly but is more of a “whenever we can” release, and the recent newsletter was pretty much the final revelation that I’m getting (or trying to get) on the right track. With writing trickier and trickier to get read, published, sold, and even a sideway glance, DIY (Do-It-Yourself) methods are pretty much the best way to get noticed nowadays. In effect, people can “see” your writing without having to “read” it. It’s eye-catching, it allows you to generate numbers, it gets you reviews, even amateur ones, allowing you to tweak, or not-tweak, your work, your scripts, and your style.

I don’t want to seem like I’m “that guy,” some ranting fiend totally against the established industry of Hollywood, publishing companies, or agencies. I do think, however, that with so many means and opportunities for aspiring artists to showcase their work outside the typical means that the established means are… well, while I wouldn’t use the word outdated, I would say that the complexities and headaches behind it all seem superfluous nowadays.

Not to say that doing the said work independently is all lilacs and waterlilies. The toughest part is finances. I’m lucky that I’m fairly good with my own, which allows me to finance both projects as well as keep paying the bills. A good chuck of that is timing. The various delays that are going on with the projects are actually helping me instead of hurting me, allowing to plan further and further ahead. Patience is key. If I start rushing things, it’ll all fall apart.

I had advertised a while back about Rocko’s Modern Life creator Joe Murray’s attempt to create a online network for cartoons, and I am happy to say that he succeeded. Success in life is about opportunities, and taking advantage of them when they come, so, yes: I will be pitching the cartoon to said network (dubbed KaboingTV). I want have a ton of pitch materials and animatics ready to go. I want to come in strong, ready, knowledgeable, and confident, with a good sense of what people think of the show, what’s going to happen, and so on.

My next post will be either the Childhood Revisited feature, the “Did We Miss Out?” one, or, even more excitingly, the finished model sheets of the main characters of the webtoon. The in-production name is Internal Instincts, although some of the feedback suggests it may be too negative, so I was thinking of changing it. The logline is too vague, so that needs work. The original pitch was fine, but there’s a better pitch I’ve been developing that probably works better for the show’s vision. The show’s bible needs editing. The full, actual pilot needs a rewrite. So much to do.

But it’s so rewarding. I’m at a good place right now.