Post 9 – Surf’s Up
I heard that Surf’s Up was a mockumentary in the form of an animation, very unusual. A mockumentary is a portmanteau of the word “mock” and “documentary”. The film follows a young penguin who dreams of becoming a successful surfer to be like his idol “Big Z”. He leaves his home of Antarctica to go to a large competition, and the movie is shot like it is a documentary of his trip. Before actually watching the film, I assumed that the mockumentary-style of this film would not work, but after seeing the film, I completely changed my mind.
At first, I assumed that it would be poorly implemented and cumbersome, but very quickly as I started watching, I found myself changing my tune. The documentary aspect of the film is extremely well-suited. It really works well in Surf’s Up. It works so well for an animation, because it helps drive along the story and the jokes in a convenient setting. For example, the camera cuts away to other characters, who speak of something going on in the story or to make a joke, but it is never awkward or unnecessary. The camera also succeeds in nailing down the ‘shaky-camera’ look. Sometimes, the “crew” is actually involved in the jokes, several times in this movie the crew gets injured somehow and the ubiquitous ”camera falling down” effect occurs.
What’s best about this documentary is that it involves many different characters. In a conventional format, it might not be feasible to see what certain characters are saying, but this film allows for all characters to be implemented seamlessly. I first thought that having a animation mockumentary was unnecessary and awkward, but I found myself loving it.
Post #8 – Ren and Stimpy
Ren and Stimpy was a cartoon aired back in the early to mid 90s. This cartoon – marketed to the kids on Nickelodeon, constantly pushed the envelope. Watching these episodes back then, I always knew they were a little grosser than most of the other shows I watched, but with age and maturity I can really appreciate how controversial they were. Much of the humor in Ren and Stimpy revolved around either extremely disgusting visuals or extreme psychotic violence, and sometimes some sexual innuendo. I can’t believe this show didn’t incite some kind of major campaign against it.
For one example, let’s look at this clip from “Stimpy’s Fan Club”. In this clip, Ren is jealous that Stimpy has more fan mail than he, and watches Stimpy in his sleep. Ren goes on a fanatical rant about his jealousy, touching on homicidal themes. The rant is a giant roller-coaster of emotions for Ren, who goes from jealous to philosophical to just downright crazy. He discusses the fact that Stimpy is as mortal as anyone else, and contemplates commiting homicide, to increasingly dramatic orchestral music. At one point, he stares at his hands, and states that his hands have the power to kill Stimpy and “alter the lives of millions”. He considers decapitation. As he is about to carry out the murder, he suddenly experiences some horrible pulsating headache, and collapses while screaming wildly. At this point, the background and music could not be any more intense.
Scenes like these worried some parents. Many of them were troubled by Ren’s rambling, psychotic, homicidal urges towards Stimpy, especially since they were targeted to children. Ren and Stimpy was always infamous for pushing the envelope. However, this show wasn’t just extremely violent; it could also be extremely disgusting, and also slightly sexual.
Let’s analyze one random Ren and Stimpy episode, “Insomniac Ren”, to see what kinds of objectionable things we might find. In this episode, Ren is trying to fall asleep to wake up at the crack of dawn to play golf, but he instead finds himself constantly disturbed by Stimpy. At first, Ren hears water running (after Stimpy uses the restroom), and tells Stimpy that he “forgot to jiggle the handle”, leading us to believe that Stimpy forgot to do something other than disabling the faucet, if you know what I mean. Still unable to sleep, Ren wanders into Stimpy’s dream. Stimpy is being suckled for milk by a bunch of babies that look like him. Generally, males don’t allow children to breastfeed them, so this might seem a little ‘weird’ to some people.
Anyway, a little later Stimpy tries to soothe Ren by feeding him “warm milk”, which we find out is actually camel spit. The camera zooms in for a disgusting close up. The milk appears to have a hallucinogenic effect on Ren, we see Ren acting like he’s on drugs. Stimpy reads Ren some Edgar Allen Poe, and conjurs up all kinds of sinister and disturbing imagery. Finally, in the morning, Ren is so tired he asks to be knocked out by his golf friends, who whack him brutally him with golf clubs. ”Shhh,” Stimpy says, “Ren’s taking a coma.”
It’s not very surprising to see that this material might be considered inappropriate to some parents. I think it’s amazing that I used to watch this when I was a kid all the time, and it didn’t spark more controversy than it did. Ren and Stimpy is a fascinating example of a show marketed to kids that clearly pushed the envelope much more than you’d expect a kids cartoon to go.
Midterm Blog Specimens
I have decided to use Post #2: Schoolhouse Rock! and Post #4: Captain Planet and Adolf Hitler for my midterm blog specimens. I clarified some of the language and corrected grammar mistakes on both of the posts, but most significantly I changed the video on my Schoolhouse Rock! post, and added a brief analysis of it. Also, I had previously omitted the links to my comments on other blogs, but they are now all up.
Post #7 – The Itchy and Scratchy Show
I’ve always wanted to write about The Simpsons in an academic setting, and fortunately for me our History of Animation class is a perfect outlet to satisfy my desire. While watching the show one day, I noticed that The Itchy and Scratchy Show within The Simpsons is directly relevant to our class. Itchy and Scratchy are a super-violent parody of Tom and Jerry, and a commentary on cartoon violence and censorship.
Itchy and Scratchy are a cat and mouse pair within The Simpsons that have a animation spot on The Krusty the Klown Show. Itchy and Scratchy is a Simpsonian parody of Tom and Jerry, except their mischief has actual consequences. When Tom and Jerry beat each other over the heads with mallets, blew each other up, or injured each other in a different way, they always escaped unfazed and unharmed. Itchy and Scratchy, on the other hand, suffer lifelike consequences to the dangers they face. Usually, the show airs as part of a cutaway gag, but it is has also been the subject of entire Simpsons episodes.
It’s hard to choose one particular episode to demonstrate, but I decided to choose the most legal example I could find from hulu. In this lovely and tasteful Itchy and Scratchy clip (titled Scar Trek: the Last Laceration), Scratchy is flying a rocket ship. Suddenly, Itchy bursts out of his stomach Alien style, and forces Scratchy out of the ship through the airlock chamber. Itchy operates a robot that picks up Scratchy’s body as it drifts through space, and slices him in half using the ring of Saturn. Scratchy attempts to grab his severed legs, but they fall into Saturn’s airspace and disintegrate. Finally, Itchy squeezes Scratchy’s upper body until his helmet pops off and his face expands due to depressurization, and then pops his head with a pin, resulting in a massive explosion of blood. The blood settles on the screen and reads “THE END”. A message appears that warns that “The following program contained scenes of extreme violence and should not have been viewed by young children.”
Itchy and Scratchy is an obvious commentary on cartoon violence. A recurring theme is to see the Simpson children laughing at the violent episodes while the adults appear to be shell-shocked. Most prominently, in “Itchy & Scratchy & Marge”, Itchy and Scratchy leave an impression on baby Maggie, who injures Homer, just like she saw in the episode. Marge is shocked that a violent show like Itchy and Scratchy is marketed to children, and leads a successful campaign against the animators. Itchy and Scratchy satirize the violence in many cartoons that may influence or desensitize impressionable children.
On the flip side of this point is the commentary in “Itchy & Scratchy & Marge” is the virtue of censorship. Michelangelo’s David is brought to Springfield, outraging many of the townspeople, who find its nudity offensive. A mob of townspeople knock on Marge’s door to get her support to help petition the statue out of Springfield, but Marge doesn’t find anything wrong with it, and actually recommends that everyone see the statue. This experience leads her to question how she could be against one form of censorship, but be for another one.
Itchy and Scratchy episodes are one of the most entertaining parts of The Simpsons. At the cheapest level, they are outrageous cartoons that lampoon the old-style cartoon violence of Tom and Jerry to excess. It’s always a laugh to see how far the show will take it. Beyond this cheap laugh, however, it’s an interesting commentary on American censorship and on the influence cartoons have on children.
Spring Break Post – A Goofy Movie
A Goofy Movie is a feauture length animated-film released by Disney in 1995. It follows the titular character, Goofy, and his son Max as they experience difficulties connecting when Max enters his teenage years. The film is an adaptation of Disney’s tevelsion series Goof Troop, but the characters are now slightly older.
A Goofy Movie follows Goofy’s son, Max, a teenager in his rebellious stage. Max gets in trouble at school for impersonating “Powerline”, a rockstar, to impress a girl named Roxanne. The principal calls home to report Max’s behavior, and Goofy decides to take Max on a father-son fishing trip to repair their relationship and keep Max from going down the wrong path. But the trip only makes things worse, they constantly fight and bicker, sometimes to the point where they aren’t even on speaking terms. After a difficult couple days, the two manage to find common ground and rekindle their relationship. They manage to meet Powerline on-stage at a concert, and Max proudly introduces his father to Roxanne.
The movie is about the differences that many parents and children face as they grow up. Max is constantly embarrassed and angered by Goofy, who usually has good intentions, but nevertheless the two usually find nothing but disagreement with one another. The movie is an interesting look into Goofy’s personality, who we usually seen as a sort of one dimensional character. In this movie, Goofy experiences very human-like and understandable emotions – he isn’t just a silly-voiced klutz who gets into outrageous situations, but he’s also a genuine character we can relate to. Many viewers may find themselves surprisingly attached to Goofy, and may feel very sympathetic to him when him and Max fight, because Goofy always has good intentions, but still finds his relationship with his son deteriorating unintentionally.
This film has one of Disney’s trademark messages – that despite the fact that parents and children may fight as they get older, they still have a fundamental bond that cannot be broken, no matter how different they become. The ending is definetly a pure, clean, happy Disney ending. Everything in the plot is completely resolved: Goofy and Max are close again, Max gets the girl, and Max gets to meet Powerline onstage. I thought this was an excellent examples of a good family-friendly Disney movie, and it remains funny despite the occasional heavy moments that we find surprisingly effective and appropriate.
Post #6 – Calvin and Hobbes
I know we aren’t supposed to do blogs where we just blindly appreciate cartoons without any commentary, but I’m going to have to let my emotions take the best of me just this once. Calvin and Hobbes is my favorite comic strip of all time. I forced my parents to buy me all the books when I was a kid, and I read them religiously. I usually didn’t even understand what I was reading, and I certainly missed the meaning and symbolic message, but I read it with enthusiasm anyway. As I got older, I began to realize how great of a strip it really is, when I understood the witty commentaries and subtle jokes that cartoonist Bill Watterson makes.
Calvin, a six year-old troublemaker and his stuffed tiger Hobbes are the main characters of the strip. Usually, the pair find themselves getting into all kinds of strange and interesting shenanigans, but the strip serves a greater function than just displaying his childish antics. Watterson finds the opportunity to make witty observations with the oddities of modern life in the minutia of Calvin’s. He has a lot of different opinions about many different things, but some common themes include commercialization, sensational journalism, public opinion polls, the enivornnment, and the effect of watching too much television. My personal favorite, however, is Watterson’s critique of the art world.
Calvin frequently builds snowmen in his yard during the wintertime – not to create a figure for fun or out of boredom, like most kids, but to express himself artistically. Calvin creates increasingly ridiculous displays of ‘snow art’, ranging from extremely violent displays, to normal snowmen, all with pretentious grandiose meanings. Watterson is poking fun at what he considers to be the extremely subjective and sometimes loopy values of ‘avante-garde’ art – that good art is something that isn’t something meant to be appreciated by the masses, and that the message means everything. All of these really tickle my funnybone.
Calvin and Hobbes was a very successful and funny strip. I used to just laugh at the silly pictures when I was a kid, but I actually enjoy it more now that I’m an adult. Watterson did a excellant job in intertwining silly humor with interesting intellectual commentaries, and more than ever, I consider this to be my favorite comic strip of all time. It’s too bad Bill Watterson retired.
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