The Gang's All Here!
Look how tiny Spongebob and Patrick are! And Arnold looks old? And who is that huge guy in the middle? Why it’s Powdered Toast Man from Ren & Stimpy of course!
Mike Koivuneimi, a pro bowler recently missed a perfect game, leaving one last pin standing on his final set. You can see the video here.
Not that I care much about professional bowling (insert the “is bowling a sport?” argument here), but after seeing it, I couldn’t help but think of this gem:
A Cartoon Standard
Few shows have captured the pop culture zeitgeist and contextualized so many references like The Simpsons have. Accordingly, the characters of the show have been modified and made hyperrealistic.
Spongebob Squarepants is seemingly everyone’s guilty pleasure cartoon. Perhaps a user on Reddit.com summed it up best:
Guys, I’m fucking sick of this. I’m almost 20 and haven’t been able to score a better job than a fucking cook at a local fast food joint. What makes it worse is that I live in a small town so business is pretty limited, and where I work is the only place that’ll hire high school graduates. I’d get the hell out of this town if I could actually drive too, but I’ve failed every damn test I’ve ever taken. I’m socially awkward, even my only other co-worker fucking hates my guts. I have repressed lust for one of my best friends too; she’s athletic, smart and a gorgeous southern bell. I love her. You know what it’s like; I’ve been friend zoned real hard. She’s my only real friend, besides this one kid, who I’m pretty sure is only hanging around me because he is mentally challenged. I guess he’s the only one that can tolerate me. And what makes this all fucking worse is that I live in a fucking pineapple under the sea.
The realism may make you question their relationship
It’s hard to imagine that the boys from South Park could actually be real children bundled up in a small Colorado town. But this might make you think again.
Not Until Just Now
A final cartoon whose characters have been hyper-modified, is one I grew up with (I’ll admit it!), Rugrats. Here are Tommy, Chucky, Phil and Lil. And check out Angelica- she looks like even more of a bitch in “real” life.
Klasky-Csupo.....squirt~
Don’t you just love the evolution and malleability of a good ol’ cartoon?
From a Great Website: http://stuffnoonetoldme.blogspot.com/
so stfu
From a Spaniard whose illustrations bring life to his maxims.
My childhood can be summarized like this: driveway basketball, neon windbreakers and Nickelodeon. Cartoons were (and still are) a cornerstone of my television consumption. When I saw the Klasky Csupo mural on Highland Ave. last spring I was brought back to my childhood. Night after night I’d be on the couch, with a bowl of melted ice cream soup watching these cartoons. At the time, I had no clue what the hell Klasky Csupo was or what it did, but, driving past I thought, “I might know someone who interns there.”
I don’t know what it was or how it hit me, but these characters that complemented my childhood crept into my head and I had to put their images on paper. From memory, here’s what I came up with…
AHH! Real Monsters
Perhaps one of the most underrated shows on Nick – AHH Real Monsters had a the protagonist, Ickis, with his sidekicks, the sweet Oblina, and tough Krumm, as well as Gromble, the Headmaster of the underground academy (not pictured).
DOUG
Having the main character keep a journal is one of the greatest aspects of Doug – it allows the audience to really know what he’s thinking. A missing entry, though, is the one where Doug admits that Mosquito (Skeeter) Valentine is black.
Spongebob Squarepants
Spongebob is eleven years old. This fact alone frightens me even more than his creepy buck-toothed laugh.
Rugrats
Rugrats was my “guilty pleasure” cartoon. There became a point that I knew I was too old to be watching these five kids plotting in their playpen, but, hell, I grew up with them so-to-speak. I couldn’t just stop watching. The show mirrors where it was made – from the liberal parents, to the Jewish grandparents (borscht anyone?), to the architecture (nearly identical stucco homes with red Spanish roofs line Highland Ave. near the Klasky-Csupo studios).
Rocko's Modern Life
There is an art to writing children’s programming, making it bearable – if not enjoyable – for parents to sit through the show or movie with their kids. Rocko is one of those shows that parents might like even more than their kids. The humor in this show was ahead of it’s time. Is there a doctor in the house? A cow raised by wolves, fifteen minutes of a jar of mayonnaise, the Bigheads! Hilarious.
And there are so many in addition to this. CatDog, Angry Beavers, Ren & Stimpy, Hey! Arnold, Rocket Power. The Wild Thornberrys were a bit after my time, but I’ll include them for the sake of it
It’s only a matter of time – in my opinion – until an analytical report on how Nick shows provide the perfect models for showrunning. The commonalities spanning each show from character to character are remarkable, and they all provide different worlds, premises and hooks that set each apart from the next. Someone from our generation, I’m sure will compile the annotated guide to how cartoons explain the meaning of life.
maybe it hasn’t existed until now.
just came across this wonderful gem of a blog/cartooning adventure/storyteller/doodler. and i think i just fell in love with the nytimes a little bit more. hilarity always ensues when someone knows what they’re talking about.
so please check this lady out! here.
he's so right! where DOES that arm go?!
