just drawn that way
Jun. 24th, 2010 03:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xparrotI love kids' cartoons. I love kids' anime, too, but I also just enjoy the heck out of a good American kids' cartoon. Some of this is nostalgic holdover from my younger years - I didn't watch much live-action TV as a kid, and DuckTales was probably the first TV show I really fanned on (I remember coming up with elaborate plotlines in my head for most of the Disney Afternoon - h/c-focused, natch.) But there's things about kids' cartoons that I love even now, especially action/adventure/superhero shows. Maybe it's the no-holds-barred crack that comes from trying to cram a movie-length plot into 22 minutes of animation, or maybe it's how you can be sure the good guys aren't going to be killed off. And it doesn't hurt that romance pretty much always takes a backseat to friendship in kids' stories.
My favorite cartoon is a tie between Gargoyles (I was a loyal viewer from the first airing of the pilot, back when I was in high school; it's the show which got me into tracking voice actors, years before I started fanning on anime seiyuu. Jonathan Frakes! Marina Sirtis! And Keith David still has one of the sexist voices in the business. Mmmm. I fondly remember freaking out over the 24-hour wait between parts 1 & 2 of "The Gathering") and Avatar: The Last Airbender (after Babylon 5, Avatar has the most satisfying and thought-out story arc of any American TV show I've seen.) with ReBoot and the whole JLU/DCU Animated 'Verse coming in as close seconds.
Which brings me to my point: is anybody watching Ben 10? Because my brother and I have been blasting through it, and having nearly caught up with the third series now, I'm really quite taken. It's no Avatar, but then, it's not trying to be. Technically I believe what it's supposed to be is a vehicle to sell toys, but what it really feels like is a bunch of comic book geeks getting together and coming up with their own original superhero universe. While the first series might be a bit too silly/childish for some, the second and the ongoing third series are helmed by Dwayne McDuffie, one of the main writers of JLU as well as the creator of my beloved Static Shock, and the later Ben 10's got most of my favorite elements from both of those - superheroes who have their flaws but are ultimately true-blue save-the-universe heroes, and adorable friendship/team stuff. Not to mention crazy space opera dramatics, intergalactic civilizations and supervillains from beyond the stars. Add in a central sibling dynamic (technically cousins but they act more like brother & sister) and former arch-nemesis turned best friend, and I'm sold. (Especially because as far as I can tell, the latter was added to the cast because they needed a sidekick/damsel-in-distress, and the main girl char would not oblige as either; she's way too kick-ass for that!)
I really quite enjoyed the original Ben 10 - especially the last couple seasons, when it went from being standard little-kid-superhero-show to standard little-kid-superhero-show with MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF CRACK - the wedding episode, zomgwtflol. Really the whole show was always one step off normal; the aliens were just a little too weird, Grandpa Max was just a little too awesome (okay, a lot too awesome. So much love for Max. I'm still not convinced he could take Uncle Iroh, even if he had time to prepare his arsenal, but the fact that the bro and I can debate the battle says something for him right there.)
Then, Ben 10: Alien Force, I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first - in the beginning it seemed to be trying too hard to be cooler or more mature or whatever; and Max was gone and Gwen seemed toned down. But it quickly found its footing and got its sense of humor back. And really Gwen's development, and Ben's too, feels true to the chars; it's easy to see how their 10-year-old selves became the teenagers they are. Plus, them being closer and more supportive is just awww. And then, Kevin, well, it'd be hard for me not to like Kevin; he's too much my type of char to resist. If the Gwen/Kevin stuff had been any more played up it might have annoyed me, but keeping the relationship low-key ended up selling me on it and now I kind of love them, even if they're one of those couples that really shouldn't work, what with her being a bright and motivated superhero and Kevin being a not-very-reformed juvenile delinquent. But then, you can kind of see why it works, too, beyond the obvious hormonal attraction, because Gwen probably intimidates most boys, and Kevin's not one to be intimidated, and that he's not really the chivalrous type helps, too, because Gwen would not put up with a guy who tried to protect her whenever they charged into battle together. Kevin's cool with Gwen being the one protecting him, and only jumps to her defense when she actually needs it...(which isn't that often, and I love that most of the time when Gwen is seriously imperiled she gets herself out of it. Sometimes with a glowing purple vengeance.)
(also they're hilarious. "Look, Gwen, you have to treat a car like you treat a woman." "...Go on." "...No. I sense I've made a mistake of some kind.")
I actually am very fond of Ben himself, but then, I usually do like the straightforward hero-types, especially those who enjoy their way-cool powers rather than angst about them all the time. Plus you gotta love how much Ben wants to make friends with his enemies, more than beating them down, however much he enjoys a good battle. And he and Gwen are adorable practically-siblings, and he and Kevin have a great guy-best-friends thing going on, that they never call each other such but they hang out all the time and always have each other's backs. Their hero dynamic is interesting, too, what with Ben having the classic superhero mentality of not letting any foe perish and Kevin not sharing that impulse so much.
So, yeah, I like the show. Even if it simultaneously frustrates and amuses me how much plot they try to cram into tiny short episodes - everything happens so dang fast! I would that the eps were at least five minutes longer, to allow for the plot resolution and character development that the writers pretty obviously want to do, but end up having only brief moments for. 10 seconds of h/c or presumed-dead is just not enough! Sigh. Then, too, there's all the unanswered questions, especially in the transition from the first series - how and why did Ben take the Omnitrix off? How long was Kevin in the Null-Void and how did he get out of it? Are Plumbers specifically encouraged to have hybrid kids or is it just that once you've met aliens, ordinary intra-species tail doesn't cut it anymore?
We're now onto Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and so far it's been at least as awesome as its predecessors, if not more so - oh man, the ep with the multiple Echo-Bens, LOLOLOL ("If I wasn't running for my life I'd totally demand an explanation!") Gonna be disappointed when we run out of eps now, but at least there's plenty more to come!
Also, for those David McCallum fans among us, he's got a recurring role on the show as a mad scientist - not a bad guy, in fact Paradox is one of the heroes' most powerful if less than reliable allies. Pretty sure DmC was cast because the char is more than a little Doctor Who-inspired, and he sounds the part perfectly. Also he's got great lines. ("Yes. Dead. You! ...Why are we talking this way?")
In related news - new Futurama tonight! The bro is beyond ecstatic (it's his favorite TV show of all time) but I must admit I'm way looking forward to it myself...
My favorite cartoon is a tie between Gargoyles (I was a loyal viewer from the first airing of the pilot, back when I was in high school; it's the show which got me into tracking voice actors, years before I started fanning on anime seiyuu. Jonathan Frakes! Marina Sirtis! And Keith David still has one of the sexist voices in the business. Mmmm. I fondly remember freaking out over the 24-hour wait between parts 1 & 2 of "The Gathering") and Avatar: The Last Airbender (after Babylon 5, Avatar has the most satisfying and thought-out story arc of any American TV show I've seen.) with ReBoot and the whole JLU/DCU Animated 'Verse coming in as close seconds.
Which brings me to my point: is anybody watching Ben 10? Because my brother and I have been blasting through it, and having nearly caught up with the third series now, I'm really quite taken. It's no Avatar, but then, it's not trying to be. Technically I believe what it's supposed to be is a vehicle to sell toys, but what it really feels like is a bunch of comic book geeks getting together and coming up with their own original superhero universe. While the first series might be a bit too silly/childish for some, the second and the ongoing third series are helmed by Dwayne McDuffie, one of the main writers of JLU as well as the creator of my beloved Static Shock, and the later Ben 10's got most of my favorite elements from both of those - superheroes who have their flaws but are ultimately true-blue save-the-universe heroes, and adorable friendship/team stuff. Not to mention crazy space opera dramatics, intergalactic civilizations and supervillains from beyond the stars. Add in a central sibling dynamic (technically cousins but they act more like brother & sister) and former arch-nemesis turned best friend, and I'm sold. (Especially because as far as I can tell, the latter was added to the cast because they needed a sidekick/damsel-in-distress, and the main girl char would not oblige as either; she's way too kick-ass for that!)
I really quite enjoyed the original Ben 10 - especially the last couple seasons, when it went from being standard little-kid-superhero-show to standard little-kid-superhero-show with MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF CRACK - the wedding episode, zomgwtflol. Really the whole show was always one step off normal; the aliens were just a little too weird, Grandpa Max was just a little too awesome (okay, a lot too awesome. So much love for Max. I'm still not convinced he could take Uncle Iroh, even if he had time to prepare his arsenal, but the fact that the bro and I can debate the battle says something for him right there.)
Then, Ben 10: Alien Force, I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first - in the beginning it seemed to be trying too hard to be cooler or more mature or whatever; and Max was gone and Gwen seemed toned down. But it quickly found its footing and got its sense of humor back. And really Gwen's development, and Ben's too, feels true to the chars; it's easy to see how their 10-year-old selves became the teenagers they are. Plus, them being closer and more supportive is just awww. And then, Kevin, well, it'd be hard for me not to like Kevin; he's too much my type of char to resist. If the Gwen/Kevin stuff had been any more played up it might have annoyed me, but keeping the relationship low-key ended up selling me on it and now I kind of love them, even if they're one of those couples that really shouldn't work, what with her being a bright and motivated superhero and Kevin being a not-very-reformed juvenile delinquent. But then, you can kind of see why it works, too, beyond the obvious hormonal attraction, because Gwen probably intimidates most boys, and Kevin's not one to be intimidated, and that he's not really the chivalrous type helps, too, because Gwen would not put up with a guy who tried to protect her whenever they charged into battle together. Kevin's cool with Gwen being the one protecting him, and only jumps to her defense when she actually needs it...(which isn't that often, and I love that most of the time when Gwen is seriously imperiled she gets herself out of it. Sometimes with a glowing purple vengeance.)
(also they're hilarious. "Look, Gwen, you have to treat a car like you treat a woman." "...Go on." "...No. I sense I've made a mistake of some kind.")
I actually am very fond of Ben himself, but then, I usually do like the straightforward hero-types, especially those who enjoy their way-cool powers rather than angst about them all the time. Plus you gotta love how much Ben wants to make friends with his enemies, more than beating them down, however much he enjoys a good battle. And he and Gwen are adorable practically-siblings, and he and Kevin have a great guy-best-friends thing going on, that they never call each other such but they hang out all the time and always have each other's backs. Their hero dynamic is interesting, too, what with Ben having the classic superhero mentality of not letting any foe perish and Kevin not sharing that impulse so much.
So, yeah, I like the show. Even if it simultaneously frustrates and amuses me how much plot they try to cram into tiny short episodes - everything happens so dang fast! I would that the eps were at least five minutes longer, to allow for the plot resolution and character development that the writers pretty obviously want to do, but end up having only brief moments for. 10 seconds of h/c or presumed-dead is just not enough! Sigh. Then, too, there's all the unanswered questions, especially in the transition from the first series - how and why did Ben take the Omnitrix off? How long was Kevin in the Null-Void and how did he get out of it? Are Plumbers specifically encouraged to have hybrid kids or is it just that once you've met aliens, ordinary intra-species tail doesn't cut it anymore?
We're now onto Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and so far it's been at least as awesome as its predecessors, if not more so - oh man, the ep with the multiple Echo-Bens, LOLOLOL ("If I wasn't running for my life I'd totally demand an explanation!") Gonna be disappointed when we run out of eps now, but at least there's plenty more to come!
Also, for those David McCallum fans among us, he's got a recurring role on the show as a mad scientist - not a bad guy, in fact Paradox is one of the heroes' most powerful if less than reliable allies. Pretty sure DmC was cast because the char is more than a little Doctor Who-inspired, and he sounds the part perfectly. Also he's got great lines. ("Yes. Dead. You! ...Why are we talking this way?")
In related news - new Futurama tonight! The bro is beyond ecstatic (it's his favorite TV show of all time) but I must admit I'm way looking forward to it myself...
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no subject
Date: 2010-06-24 11:16 pm (UTC)And Gargoyles, pre Golith Chronicles (and large sections of the Avalon sea cruise), for the total win. It was one of the first cartoons that I remember that built on itself and followed things through. The first season's The Mirror and the Puck/Owen reveal still rank as some of my favorite half an hours of television. I totally had a super crush on Xanatos - he was just awesome.
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Date: 2010-06-24 11:54 pm (UTC)Gargoyles (Goiath Chronicles totally did not count) was beyond awesome. The Puck reveal is still one of the best twists on American TV (I love how much it was foreshadowed without tipping their hand). And seriously, who didn't have a crush on Xanatos? To this day my bro will admit he has a beard and ponytail at least in part because Xanatos did XD
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Date: 2010-06-24 11:26 pm (UTC)Ben 10 gets higher ratings than Stargate Universe. I know that only because their ratings reports came out in the same post each week. I found that rather amazing.
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Date: 2010-06-24 11:59 pm (UTC)And frankly, while I can't speak to SGU, I think Ben 10's a better show than SGA, for what it is - obviously they speak to different audiences, but heck, Ben 10's universe-building is at least as complex, and I like its romance better! ^^;
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Date: 2010-06-25 12:28 am (UTC)I definitely have to remember to tivo Futurama. I’m not as in love with it as my son, but it’s pretty damn funny!
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Date: 2010-06-25 12:35 am (UTC)The new Futurama has a lot to live up to, but I've got hopes!
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Date: 2010-06-26 02:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-25 01:25 am (UTC)Static Shock also remains one of my all-time favorites (Richie! Virgil! D'awww!). Have you ever watched Megas XLR? It's hard as hell to find, but oh, the hilarity if you do! It's pretty shameless about parodying various animes and cartoons from our era.
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Date: 2010-06-25 02:12 am (UTC)If you liked Static Shock I totally rec Ben 10 Alien Force/Ultimate Alien - it's not quite the same (it's not nearly as slashy, for one... ^^;) but it's got a similar feel; and while the chars are different, I think if you like Virgil & Richie you'll like Ben & Gwen & Kevin as well.
Never heard of Megas XLR but now I'm curious, gotta look for that! Off to watch Futurama now, though ^_^
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Date: 2010-06-25 01:43 am (UTC)I loved Gargoyles - that was one of the first shows that really worked with a continuity, which is a huge, huge appeal for me. I geek out over reveals like the Puck thing, and realizing that the random guy from episode 2 who keeps turning up at odd moments is actually the evil villain who shows up to kill you in episode 90.
I still watch DuckTales because Scrooge and the nephews are adorable!no subject
Date: 2010-06-25 02:18 am (UTC)And yes, I think Gargoyles was the first true arc show I watched - and some of their foreshadowing stuff is awesome, better than most live action shows I've seen. (Oh man, the guy with the pie, haaaw XDDD)
And DuckTales is insane cute! The ep with the raincloud that makes everyone's nightmares come true, that was my favorite bit of TV ever when I was 11 or so. (I dl'ed the whole show a few years back, and rewatching eps I realized that it was probably one of the reasons why most other shows feel hug-deficient to me - Scrooge & his nephews hug all the time! It spoiled me. ^^)
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Date: 2010-06-25 02:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-25 02:27 am (UTC)And then there was the one with the goddess of love (Aphroducky?? XDD) spell which could only be broken by real love, and Scrooge's love for money didn't break it but loving his nephews did. AWWWWW! Seriously, too cute, that show ^^
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Date: 2010-06-25 02:52 am (UTC)...excuse me. I must be off to Youtube.
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Date: 2010-06-25 04:29 am (UTC)(I do remember that Aphroducky's husband Vulcan turns up at the end, everyone is yelling, "ZOMG Vulcan!" and Launchpad goes, "Uh, live long and prosper?" XDDD)
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Date: 2010-06-25 03:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-25 04:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-25 02:14 pm (UTC)I mean, I adored Avatar, and Static Shock, so if Ben 10 is even remotely like them...I'm sure to love it!
Also, yay David McCallum! *hugs*
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Date: 2010-06-25 07:41 pm (UTC)(One thing about Ben 10, it's two different series, and the original is geared at a somewhat younger audience - the chars are younger, the stories are sillier and simpler, and while I thought it great fun, if you're bored by it still be sure to give Ben 10: Alien Force a try!)
And David McCallum's char is one of my favorites on the show - he would be even if he weren't played by DmC, but that doesn't hurt ^_^
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Date: 2010-06-25 03:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-25 07:42 pm (UTC)Hmm, I've never seen Kim Possible, though I've heard good things about it...
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Date: 2010-06-25 11:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-13 01:20 am (UTC)I feel like giving Ben 10 another shot now, I couldn't really get into it, it's close to something I'd love but still just a tad immature.
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Date: 2010-07-13 02:21 am (UTC)Ben 10 is fun, but yeah, it is definitely a kid's show. Have you seen Ben 10: Alien Force/Ultimate Alien (when they're teens), or just the original series, or both? AF/UA is more mature - though still, I think, enough of a kid's show that it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea.
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Date: 2010-07-13 03:22 am (UTC)I watched enough of Ben 10 to understand the second one, I agree it's a little better, but I can see all the little spots that would make it better...little things here and there. I guess Avatar spoiled me for american cartoons hah.