Maggie Simpson - "The Longest Daycare"

As many of you might already be aware of, I take little notice of anything Simpsons-related nowadays - which has tried so hard to better Family Guy at "entertainment" over the years (in spite of the vast amount of celebrities shoe-horned in as well) that many friends I know have long since given up on any hope of its redemption. But out of pure curiosity,  I decided to check out this animated short which - in keeping with animation tradition - was shown in theatres before Ice Age 4: Continental Drift, on July 13th, 2012. As it was also up for an Oscar Nomination, and given the fact it was a theatrical release, I wasn't sure what to expect.

Again I have seen very little of Simpsons beyond Season 11, so forgive me for the following review if I've not up to speed with everything...

Some folks have showered it with as much stupefied praise as they had with seth macfarlane's "performance" at this year's Academy Awards. While others have just claimed; "meh".

For a more in-depth view, I'll say this: it was SO nice to see something Simpsons-related that had nothing to do with the obnoxiousness of Homer or the idiocy of Bart. Maggie, as with Lisa for that instance, have been sorely underrated as decent characters throughout the show's legacy, and to focus on a "silent" episode with only Hans Zimmer's wonderful score to accompany it (next to Maggie's trademark pacifier sound-effect) made for a very good break of the usual.

I'm still in two minds with the visual quality, however. The animation crew appeared to have made a better effort at something along the lines of the Simpsons Movie, but in some places the quality is still mechanical-looking. It's been mentioned long ago how much energy in the series has been toned down, and it's a shame as this was directed by David Silverman, whose previous episodes were much more lively in animation than the current crop today. Homie the Clown being one of his finest moments of the show's history in all.

Then there's the plot - Maggie rescuing a butterfly from Gerald "The Monobrow" Samson.  The storyline was good, but what this also suffered from were the number of jokes tossed in; some that fell flat (fat kid eating paste, close up on the lice) and others that, to me at least, were just sadistic. I mean, if done right, sadistic humour can be funny. But I barely chuckled as they separated the "Specially Gifted" kids from the "Nothing Special" group. A very far cry from Maggie's Great Escape as shown in A Streetcar Named Marge.

However, I'll give them credit. There were scenes that truly did hit the nail for chuckles (the timing of the Drumming Monkey), Silverman did a good job of keeping the energy and pace flowing, and the ending was overall very satisfying. Not the best short I'll admit, but for long-time fans (and those that have stuck by the show after so long right from the very beginning) it's something else to glee over.

I just wished that it had the same amount of energy and sharper humour as, say, Do The Bartman, directed by Brad Bird. I need not indulge in a breakdown of what was good there.
 
In fact, given the quality of the series now - in writing and animation - I think this would make a nice "retirement plan" for the Simpsons: call it quits with the TV Show and stick to theatrical shorts. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say...that and the writers wouldn't worry about churning out more ideas to fill another 25-minute slot. Just sayin'.

If you're still feeling nostalgic, click here to view the original Tracy Ullman shorts from a previous blog post!

Sitting Ducks (2001)

Michael Bedard is considered to be one of the world's most acclaimed artists / writers - and with good reason. An intellectual man, his art and books have received high praise indeed by the quality of his work and how he channels deep, somewhat meaningful messages into each piece - most recognisable of all is one poster known simply as "Sitting Ducks", whose meaning behind the inspiration has made the ducks themselves as popular as Donald or Daffy combined.

In fast, it soon flourished into the best-selling children's book of 1998. Written and illustrated by Bedard, it tells the story about alligators that hatch ducks in a "Duck Factory", which they then send to Ducktown where the ducks live idyllic lives and become too fat to fly - only then do the alligators lure the ducks to the Decoy Cafe to eat them. However, one duck is befriended by an alligator, who helps to encourage the Ducktown residents to lose the fat and fly away to avoid being eaten.

The book became an instant hit, winning three prestigious international awards for children's literature and, evidentially, Michael turned to adapting the book to television.

Launched in 2001, and produced by Creative Capers Entertainment and Kristlin/Elliott Digital, it loosely follows the original premise of the book only now the characters and their settings become more established - the series follows the unlikely friendship of Bill the Duck (Ian James Corlett) and Aldo the Alligator (Dave Ward) as they try to overcome the differences set between Ducktown and the neighbouring Swampwood - which included Aldo's duck cravings.
The series also features Bill's neighbours: three brothers Ed, Oly and Waddle (Louis Chirillo, Phil Hayes and Jay Brazeau), a penguin called Fred (Phil Haye), Decoy Cafe owner Bev (Kathleen Barr), Cecil, Ducktown's only Dentist (Ian James Corlett) and Rawol (Michael Benyaer), a Hispanic crow who heckles the ducks because they can't fly.

Another of the earliest CGI shows for its time, the animation isn't quite Pixar, but it translates Michael's character illustrations very well, and the team at Creative Capers obviously put a good deal of effort in the visuals as they have with the many other clients they've worked for. And of course, it clearly shows that the voice actors and writers have had a lot of fun with working on the show, which ran for two seasons and earned itself a good deal of merchandise: Books, DVDs, PC Games, and even rumours of a supposed feature-length movie around the time...

While the show may not have tapped America's interest a great deal, the rest of Europe adored it as indeed I have. The comedy feels every bit of Michael Bedard in its own quirky way: silly but sophisticated, the type of show that would apply to both children and parents. All in all, it's definitely won a place in my heart and on my DVD shelf - of which only a handful of episodes have been released in the UK as opposed to everywhere else overseas, where the first complete series has been on DVD since 2004 and the rest to view on Hulu. And that's as the Duck flies...matter of speaking!

LINKS OF INTEREST:

Michael Bedrad's Official Website

Creative Capers Entertainment Website

If you're unable to find the original book anywhere, then view it online from this College Assignment video!

Make Waves

Music is one of the most wonderful forms of art ever - songs that were inspired by the original artist can, in itself, inspire many others with a good beat or lyrics with a sound message. And in this way, those who become inspired turn that particular musical piece into another art-form...thus inspiring other artists, and so on, and so on!

I listen to a lot of music whenever I'm drawing, and in this case it was Sesame Street's "Make Waves" that put this funky Alien in my head =)

Read about the performers - "Baby Tooth and the Funky Funk" - from the Muppet Wikia!

Llemu

A llama / emu mismatch. 

When animals moult - feathers or fur - it's rather messy. So a mixture of both must be quite uncomfortable...

The Foxbusters (1999)

The subject for this blog post has a first-and-last theme to it. It was one of the first books written by the famous Dick King-Smith (Babe, the Water Horse) which set the bar for a lifetime career as a children's writer, and one of Cosgrove Hall's last "great" shows before turning their focus to the pre-school market for the remainder of its lifespan.

The original book, first published in 1978, tells the story of the chickens of Foxearth Farm, a special breed by the fact that they could fly - in particular, three of the more gifted hens (Ransom, Sims and Jeffries) help rage war against their age-old enemy the foxes, in what has been described as "Dambusters for kids"!

Many of Dick's stories were based on his years as a farmer himself, which comes as no surprise here. This particular book has a slightly dark but comedic tone, in which blood is spilt, feathers ruffled and containing "fowl language" throughout (all hen-related puns, of course!). And where the balance between predator and prey is thrown off completely with logical, clever storytelling.
 
How this came to animation was an interesting one. Before the turn of the millennium, David Freedman and Alan Gilbey (The Mr Hell Show) developed the book for Cosgrove Hall Films. A "pilot" had been made in 1997 to promote the series, which was intended to be based during WW2 (in fact, some of the original animation from there was reused in the final title sequence). However, such is the way, further changes were made until few elements of the book remained saved for character and location names, although by then only the titular characters themselves could fly.

Still, it seemed to have been worth it. Along with co-writer Joel Jessup, the show ran for two seasons and picked up several BAFTA awards along the way. Thanks to its sparkling comedy, perfectly British through 'n' through, it sits very nicely alongside Danger Mouse, Count Duckula and Victor and Hugo for insane plots and even madder characters.

Credit also due to the voice actors involved, with old favourites Jimmy Hibbert and Rob Rackstraw supporting the leading ladies - Jane Horricks as "Jolly Jeffries", Joanne Lumley as "Serious Sims" but most surprising of all, Whoopi Goldberg as "Ransome the Ringleader". How I'd love to hear the story behind that casting...!!

Sadly, only the first season has been made available to DVD in the UK. And as always it's a shame on account that the episodes become madder and funnier in the season that followed. Still, perhaps there's hope yet if only the rights to the series weren't quite so "scrambled"...!

LINKS OF INTEREST:

Download the Fox Busters audiobook - read by Nigel Planer

More of the Foxbusters Animated Series from Toonhound

Buy the Foxbusters on DVD from Play.com!

Mysterious Tapping Noise

Terribly sorry if you were looking for the "other" Mysterious Tapping Noise. You can view that one here...

An Open Letter to CITV

Dear CITV,

We (that is everyone who grew up throughout the 80's and 90's) would like to share our united thanks for your fantastic Old Skool weekend on the 6th and 7th of January. It was without doubt the best way to celebrate your 30th anniversary by broadcasting the best of the best - a perfect blend of animation, comedy, game shows and drama, all of which were lovely to have seen again on the small screen after so long. I can say with complete satisfaction that I enjoyed each and every one to its fullest, all with good reason.

These are the viewing rates for the entire weekend;

(Source: Digital Spy / 'Sooty, Sweep and Soo' Facebook Page)

CITV - SATURDAY

09:25 - Mike and Angelo: 150k (2.3%)

09:50 - Super Gran: 203k (2.9%)

10:15 - Wizadora: 240k (3.1%)

10:30 - T-Bag: 304k (3.8%)

10:50 - Engie Benjy: 234k (3.0%)

11:05 - The Raggy Dolls: 308k (3.9%)

11:15 - Puddle Lane: 297k (3.8%)

11:35 - Count Duckula: 349k (4.4%)

12:00 - The Sooty Show: 396k (4.6%)

12:25 - Art Attack: 377k (4.2%)

12:40 - The Big Bang: 345k (3.5%)

13:00 - Finders Keepers: 411k (4.0%)

13:30 - Fun House: 403k (3.7%)

14:00 - Knightmare: 361k (3.2%)

14:30 - Fraggle Rock: 324k (3.0%)

15:00 - The Worst Witch: 199k (1.7%)

15:30 - Woof!: 247k (2.0%)

16:00 - Dramarama: 145k (1.0%)

16:30 - Press Gang: 163k (1.0%)

17:00 - The Tomorrow People: 134k (0.7%)

17:30 - Children's Ward: 83.5k (0.4%)

CITV - SUNDAY

09:25 - Mike and Angelo - 209k

09:50 - Spatz - 270k

10:15 - Huxley Pig - 297k

10:30 - Rainbow - 369k

10:50 - Button Moon - 448k

11:05 - The Riddlers - 453k

11:15 - Rosie and Jim - 457k

11:35 - Dangermouse - 544k

12:00 - Sooty and Co - 448k

12:25 - How 2 - 439k

12:40 - Finger Tips - 280k

13:00 - Jungle Run - 323k

13:30 - Fun House - 407k

14:00 - Knightmare - 325k

14:30 - Fraggle Rock - 226k

15:00 - My Parents Are Aliens - 154k

15:30 - Woof! - 79k

16:00 - Dramarama - 38k

16:30 - Press Gang - 71k

17:00 - The Tomorrow People - 65k

17:30 - Children's Ward - 28

The Top 10 Highest Ratings Shows (SATURDAY)

01 - Finders Keepers

02 - Fun House

03 - The Sooty Show

04 - Art Attack

05 - Knightmare

06 - Count Duckula

07 - The Big Bang

08 - Fraggle Rock

09 - The Raggy Dolls

10 - T-Bag

The Top 10 Highest Ratings Shows (SUNDAY)

01 - Dangermouse

02 - Rosie and Jim

03 - The Riddlers

04 - Sooty and Co

05 - Button Moon

06 - How 2

07 - Fun House

08 - Rainbow

09 - Jungle Run

10 - Knightmare

Still the Greatest after all this time!

To put this into perspective, the highest-rated programme on your digital channel is "Horrid Henry" with just 269k. In less than two days, Danger Mouse had broken the record for the highest ratings ever with 544k. Not just because of the nostalgic factor, but because this series - as with many of Cosgrove Hall's shows - has upheld against the tests of time, undoubtedly the best of British Animation. With humour that is clever and not vulgar, characters that are solidified but not exaggerated, and acting that is genuine and not forced.

The same also applies for the pre-school shows that were aired. Even aimed at a younger audience, the likes of Button Moon and The Riddlers were smart enough not to talk down to their viewers, whether they were teaching them basic lessons or simply to entertain them for 5 to 10 minutes. The Raggy Dolls' message of being different is still relevant to today's generation (where physical appearance has become more apparent than ever) but cleverly disguised with imaginative storytelling.

Wizadora - you'll adore her...and so would today's kids!

In fact, comparing Wizadora with the odd choice of Engie Benjy, I found the former to be much more interesting than the latter. Wizadora managed to give us a string of witty one-liners as characters interacted with one another, which resulted in a valuable yet subtle moral of friendship. Engie Benjy, on the other hand, downplayed and over-explained everything as if in fear that their audience might not understand the story entirely. And while Wizadora did break the "fourth wall" by interacting with the viewers, it wasn't as constant as Engie Benjy, which in this fashion quickly became tiresome and distracted attention from the episode.

It has also become evident that, as with CBBC and Disney Channel, you have taken a similar interested focus on live-action comedy. And while the American Imports may save costs on creating home-made programmes, they still lack the perfect comedy timing that Mike and Angelo, Woof! and Super Gran contained that made them oh-so popular in their own times. And not all of them required a laugh-track to prompt viewers to 'join in', which was where the quality of "My Parents Are Aliens" had started to slip later in its run...

Far and away, though, the one element missing from your digital channel nowadays is a way of engaging the viewers within the action. That was what made Saturday Mornings much more interesting, where children were allowed to be part of the programme, whether in-studio or as a phone-in contestant, a time when it was great fun to get messy while earning prizes, and a time when a child used their brains and their muscles within each mad challenge ahead. Even the presenters for the Monday - Friday schedule made CITV worth watching because they had more than a disembodied voice to talk to and be greeted by every afternoon.

Back when "Saturday was Tiswas Day!"

Without these Saturday Mornings for kids, there would have been no other way technology or certain famous faces would have gotten to where they are today. Aside from being one of the first to experiment with live phone-ins, Tiswas introduced us to that common game-show ingredient known as “gunge”, Knightmare was revolutionary for introducing such technology like the blue screen chroma - and of course, a huge amount of folks in prime-time media owe their gratitude to their current careers - Ant and Dec, Matthew Kelly, Fearne Cotton, Holly Willoughby, Chris Tarrant - all of which first started out getting their hair washed with gunge and having a high old time with the kids!

And not just game shows, but "funducational" programmes made children want to learn the world and create amazing arts and crafts by hand - before we had Wikipedia or Photoshop, before the internet had exploded, we learnt hundreds of worldly facts from How 2, we learnt from Finger Tips what to make out of cardboard and sticky tape, and we saw how Neil Buchanan of Art Attack created a Surfboarding Santa in Barbados! If most schools had these programmes on-hand, perhaps Science and History lessons wouldn't appear so boring to many 12 - 14 year-olds.

To round off, we must make mention of the drama shows. What made CITV amazing was that, at the time, you weren't afraid to push the envelope now and again. You proved that you weren't afraid of showing a dark side as well as a light. Whether it was frightening the life out of kids with the supernatural tales of Dramarama or showing the harsh reality of Children's Ward that today's children ought to and should know about, covering difficult issues in a sensitive manner.

While it's now possible to revive several shows with today's technology, there are still many that are best left well alone to simple repeated airings (for fear that the same mistakes would be made as reviving Bernard's Watch had proved). However, in case of Sooty - who is still going on stronger than ever - a blend of the old and the new in future schedules would be lovely: showcasing Richard's latest seasons while introducing newer fans to Matthew Corbett (and, one day, a little of Harry Corbett!) in a way that everyone, old and new, is left satisfied.

The mention of that 65 year old yellow bear brings up a key point - longevity. So many of the shows highlighted in this retro feast boasted very long runs in their day, and were surely discovered and enjoyed by several different generations throughout the 80's, 90's and early 00's. Art Attack very nearly managed twenty years on the air, while Fun House and Children's Ward notched up a very respectable decade each. Aside from this obviously meaning plenty in the archive for you to repeat, can you honestly say any of your currently imported shows will still be running or even remembered in ten years?

Now is the perfect time to encourage the current generation to embrace the past alongside the present. Nostalgia is, after all, becoming ever more apparent and celebrated. These vintage programmes, however dated they may appear now, can still offer great entertainment and educational value for your newer, younger audience.

The weekend of the Old Skool has, in my opinion, been a rousing success. Though it may have been intended as a one-off event I really think you should consider another some time soon, or possibly an Old Skool slot in the schedule. If many of these shows aren't graced with DVD releases - be it due to copyright issues or lack of interest - further repeats in future would be most welcome.

When that day comes, I'm sure many others would be more than happy to suggest a great many other programmes of the 80's and 90's that ought to be given a second broadcast - in fact, I have quite a list prepared already...!

Thanks for letting us "rerun the fun".

Your fellow nostalgic viewer,

Christopher Signore

WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO THE SOOTY, SWEEP AND SOO FACEBOOK PAGE FOR VIEWING RATES AND THEKIPPERRUNSAGAIN AS CO-WRITER.

Don't forget to visit Toonhound for more Old Skool British Animation! 

And keep the Nostalgia alive by nabbing a few retro t-shirts from TruffleShuffle!