Saturday Morning Animation Explosion XXIV
Posted by John Brownlee
Freakazoid in “Candle Jack”: Broadcast in patented Scream-O-Vision for the first time in network history, I just want to point out that the first kid’s idea of the scariest thing in the world is pretty terrifying. All the air in the world, turning to wood simultaneously? One day, you’re just respirating with all the swagger of a carbon-based-lifeform, just showing off your lungs, not a care in the world. The next thing you know? You are encased in a wooden sarcophagus on all sides, enormous logs crammed down your throat and up your bowels, your lungs tearing themselves apart as they try to breathe splinters. Terrifying indeed. Thanks, Professor Robot!
The Wonder Twins in “Drag Race”: Despite their godlike transformation powers, the Justice League’s most useless members are incapable of stopping a typical teenage drag race. “An eagle? Carrying a monkey? *Crash*”
A Random Car Chase Scene from Mind Game: Though both physics and plausibility defying, perhaps the best animated car chase in cartoon history. Thanks, clevetheripper!
“A Detective Story” from The Animatrix: Hard-boiled neo-noir cyberpunk gorgeously animated in chiaroscuro by Shinichiro Watanabe. Why couldn;’t anything in the other three Matrix films be as good as the best chapters of the Animatrix?
Salvador Sanz’s Gorgonas: “…a bizarre and incredibly unsettling 15-minute piece of horror film making that takes a concept as weird as a trio of international pop sensations who destroy the world after developing the characteristics of the mythical Gorgons and manages to make it more disturbing in a quarter of an hour than nearly any feature film I’ve ever seen can in six times that length.” This is, without a doubt, the star cartoon of this Saturday. Thanks, Eli Green!
Ruairi Robinson’s Fifty Percent Grey Existential CGI from my old upstairs neighbor, who is going on to helm Warner Bros’ two picture live-action Akira remake. And speaking of which, what the hell…
Akira: Just as utterly nonsensical and hypnotic as the day my father took me to see it when I was nine for an early matinee at Brookline’s Coolidge Corner Theater. I still have no clue what this movie’s about.
Thanks to everyone for their suggestions this week! If you’re up for more cartoons, check out yesterday’s suggestion thread.
Saturday Morning Animation Explosion XXIV [YouTube]
Akira [Google Video]
Categories: Cartoons, Rail, Saturday Morning Cartoons, Horror, Animation, Japan, Clips
Posted at 2:22 pm on March 15, 2008
16 Comments -
[…] Ectoplasmosis Saturday Morning Animation Explosion This entry was posted on March 15th, 2008 at 1:06 pm and is filed under Culture, Silliness. […]
Pingback by trust rachel » Blog Archive » Freakazoid! — March 15, 2008 @ 4:14 pm
whenever im at work on saturday morning i always ask my customers if they got their cartoons watched this morning, whats funny is most are profoundly offended which i find hilarious
Comment by Lieutenant of Barad-dûr — March 15, 2008 @ 6:35 pm
these were great guys, i love animatrix as always, mind game looks freaking awesome im going to go try and get it… fifty percent grey left me wanting moooore … bah! they were all good. thanks for bringin these up here
Comment by Tim — March 15, 2008 @ 11:22 pm
Gorgonas was my favorite of this week by far.
I was wondering, why no Animaniacs? I mean I understand Freakazoid being popular with the Ectomo crowd, but c’mon, how about some love for Warner Bros. (and Sister) who gave us Baloney and Kids?
Comment by racerabbit — March 15, 2008 @ 11:39 pm
This was a triumph.
Comment by Eliza Gauger — March 15, 2008 @ 11:54 pm
Things not to do late at night: Watch these cartoons.
I mean, Jesus. Starts out innocently enough, with some Freakazoid and some Superfriends and some wacky Japanese thing. But once the descent into creepiness starts, it does not stop.
I hope to sleep again sometime next week.
Comment by Bobby LaRice — March 16, 2008 @ 1:03 am
Bobby, when I do my SMCs, I usually try to group by themes and segue between them as gracefully as I can. So this one sort of went Humor/Horror > Humor/Horror/Car-Chases > Anime - Car-Chases > Anime > Anime Horror > CGI Horror > Akira!
Comment by John Brownlee — March 16, 2008 @ 6:19 am
Quite perfect. That’s my favorite Freakazoid short, favorite Animatrix short, and Gorgonas was simply amazing.
Comment by Brett — March 16, 2008 @ 2:14 pm
Brownlee, you of course mean AAAAAKIIIIRAAAAAA!!!!
If’n y’all like Animatrix, this summer’s Batman: Gotham Nights DVD looks to be more of the same to bridge Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
Comment by License Farm — March 16, 2008 @ 2:16 pm
@ Brownlee:
I’ve been trying to get the word about Salvador Sanz and Gorgonas to you guys ever since I started coming to Ectomo regularly. If your interested in more of his stuff, check out El Invisor, another of Sanz’s short films. It’s unfortunately untranslated, though it probably doesn’t make much sense even if you’re fluent in Espanol.
Then again, neither does Aeon Flux and we all love that, right?
Comment by Eli Green — March 16, 2008 @ 4:44 pm
Man, the only episode of Freakazoid I remember was one where he refused to go into a sewer because of “Poo gas”. Take that as you will.
As for Akira, it is a prime example of why you shouldn’t make a movie based on a comic book that you haven’t finished. However, with all due respect to Katsuhiro Otomo, one wonders if he could have done it regardless. He is not known for being concise and Akira was epic even for him. If you’ve read the comic then you know how strikingly different it is from the film. That said it is still one of the finest hand drawn animated features ever produced just in terms of the animation.
Lastly, the studio that was partly responsible for The Animatrix released another film entitled Tekkonkinkreet which was excellent. A trailer for it is here.
Comment by Ross Rosenberg — March 16, 2008 @ 7:10 pm
“Why couldn’t anything in the other three Matrix films be as good as the best chapters of the Animatrix?”
You’re kinda comparing apples to oranges there. Live action and animation are so different in what you can achieve and what you can make the viewer believe, that comparing them doesn’t seem fair to me.
I should mention, I’m one of those people who thought the two Matrix sequels were better than the original, primarily for their philosophical aspects. The Animatrix was cool and all, but didn’t do a whole lot for me.
Comment by John — March 17, 2008 @ 2:09 am
It’s not really apples and oranges. It’s more like shitty, rotten crab apples squirming with virulent xenomorph embryos versus awesome oranges, fortified with Vitamin C and rich in Potasium that give you superpowers and an extensive knowledge of Brazillian Jiu Jitsu
Seriously though, that scene at the end of the second movie where Neo Talks to the Colonel from KFC was one of worst abuses of a Thesaurus I’ve ever seen. Peter Roget is crying in purgatory somewhere.
Ross is Right, Tekkonkinkreet is awesome and Studio 4°C is one of the coolest companies working out there. It’s also on Blu-ray, so PS3 owners go out and buy that shit.
And hey, I’m also glad someone brought up candlejack . It’s such an awesome episode of Freakaz-
Comment by — March 17, 2008 @ 2:57 am
Wow, I haven’t seen any Freekazoid in a long time.
I had forgotten how awesome it was/is.
Comment by Upgrayedd — March 17, 2008 @ 3:54 am
Man, this was the first time I ever heard of Freakazoid! Did youse guys notice the balloons at the Honey Festival? They were ECTOBEES!!
Comment by Mogo the Mugger — March 19, 2008 @ 8:46 pm
I’m going back to look at the librarian some more.
Comment by Mogo the Mugger — March 19, 2008 @ 8:47 pm