Animated Favorites (Cartoons & Anime)

Isn't the story taking place in the 90's? All the end themes thus far seem to have been songs from whatever decade the story takes place. That's what I've picked up on at least. Take with a grain of salt since I'm old as dirt though......

 

I don't think they put any real thought into the song choices other than being of the decade & having a catchy beat. Only one that made some sense to use was "Walk Like an Egyptian" for Stardust Crusaders because a good part of the story took place in Egypt.

 

Yeah, it was for me too the first time I heard it. I was like WTF. Ain't nobody trying to seduce a woman as far as I could see.

 

Genndy Tartakovsky's PRIMAL Renewed For 10-Episode Season 2 In 2021



Word has come that Primal would be dropping 5 new episodes on October 4 and that Cartoon Network's Adult Swim has renewed the Emmy-winning adult cartoon for another round of 10 episodes in 2021.

The renewal comes just days after it was revealed that the Television Academy had garnished Genndy Tartakovsky's masterpiece with 3 Emmy awards ahead of the official ceremony for the 72nd annual Emmy Awards. In the Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation category, Tartakovsky (storyboard artist) picked up the honor, along with Scott Wills (art director), and Stephen DeStefano (character designer). The latest win brings Tartakovsky's Emmy award total to 4 following contributions to Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, and the Powerpuff Girls.

The honorees will pick up their awards at the 2020 Creative Arts Awards ceremony on Thursday, September 17, which will be streamed on the official Emmys website.

You can currently view the first 5 episodes of Primal on HBOMax.

Primal features a caveman at the dawn of evolution. A dinosaur on the brink of extinction. Bonded by tragedy, this unlikely friendship becomes the only hope of survival in a violent, primordial world.

With suspense, heartbreak, excitement, love and fear all without a single word of dialogue, the series is a painting come to life, relying solely on music and graphic imagery to tell the story of two unlikely allies as they navigate through a treacherous world.

 

The Venture Bros. Creator Confirms Cancellation of Long-Running Animated Comedy



The creator of the long-running Adult Swim cartoon series, The Venture Bros. confirmed that the series has been canceled and that its Season 7 season finale is now the series finale of the show.

Christopher McCulloch (also known as "Jackson Publick") tweeted out a confirmation of the show's fate on his personal Twitter account on Labor Day evening, noting, "Unfortunately, it’s true: #VentureBros has been canceled. We got the highly disappointing news a few months ago, while we were writing what would have been season 8. We thank you, our amazing fans, for 17 years of your kind (and patient) attention. And, as always, We Love You."

The series, which was written by Publick and Eric Hammer (using the name Doc Hammer), debuted on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim in August of 2004, following a pilot episode that aired in February of 2003. The series was about Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture, a former boy adventurer like Jonny Quest, who now takes his own two teenage sons, Hank and Dean Venture, on adventures along with their bodyguard, Brock Samson. Venture's arch-nemesis is the butterfly-themed supervillain known as The Monarch.

While initially a parody of Jonny Quest (basically, "What if Jonny Quest was a total disappointment as an adult?"), the show grew to become a satire of many different types of action series, including superheroes and G.I. Joe. Most importantly, though, it served as a study in the effect of failure. Nearly all of the major characters on the series are failures of some sort. However, the show is that much more relatable because of it.

The series famously takes a long time between seasons (the first four seasons took place over six years while the next three took place over eight years), so with Season 7 ending in October 2018, most fans weren't expecting the previously announced Season 8 until 2021. Recently, though, in a discussion on Twitter about shows that were canceled too soon, Ken Plume (a friend of the show who did the officially approved art book, Go Team Venture!: The Art and Making of the Venture Bros., back in 2018) tweeted out, "The Venture Bros."

This led to fandom freaking out and sadly, Publick confirmed the sad news on his Twitter on Monday.

While this certainly sounds final, hopefully there is a chance for some sort of resolution for the series to be produced in the future. We have seen a number of other shows get picked up by the various new streaming services after their cancellations recently, including Adventure Time brought back by HBO Max, so hopefully there is still a chance for more stories of Team Venture.

 

Dungeons & Dragons: The Show's Unmade Finale Originally Confirmed a HUGE Fan Theory


Long before fan theories filled the internet, regular viewers of Dungeons and Dragons had suspicions about the true identity of the show's villain.

As Dungeons & Dragons grew in popularity, it also spawned an animated television series of the same name. The show, which aired on CBS from 1983 to 1985, was a bigger success than people might remember, only fading from the zeitgeist because of its abrupt cancellation before its final episode could be produced, in part because of parents' ill-conceived complaints. That the series never received a proper conclusion was, of course, a disappointment to its fans, some of whom theorized (correctly) about a major plot twist.

Thankfully, the script for the unproduced finale, "Requiem," lives on, and it was even recorded radio play-style, with one of the original voice actors returning. "Requiem" not only provides closure to the main plot, but it also confirms a dominant fan theory having to do with the identity of the show's villain, an evil sorcerer named Venger.

In Dungeons & Dragons, six tweens and teenagers on a visit to an amusement park are magically transported to a fantasy realm when they board a D&D ride. They're outfitted with fantasy attire and weapons, and they encounter Dungeon Master, who cryptically helps them navigate their new environment and its many threats. While the six protagonists' main goal is to return home, they spend most of their time trying to out-maneuver Venger, the Force of Evil.

Aesthetically, Venger is one of the best and most intimidating villains in cartoon canon. At more than seven feet tall, he looms over the kids, even his stated rival, group leader and heroic archetype Hank. He sports a single devil-red horn, dragon-like wings, snakelike fangs, ghastly pale skin and he rides atop a flying, fire breathing black hell horse called Nightmare. Throughout the series, fans learn that Venger is at least a thousand years old and that he's killed countless visitors to the realm. In other words, for Hank, Diana and the rest of the group, the stakes are very real.


But there was something noticeably suspicious about the villain's backstory and sinister motivations. In the episode "The Dungeon at the Heart of Dawn," viewers learn that Venger serves a dark, powerful master known as the Nameless One. A few episodes later, in "Citadel of Shadow," it's revealed that Venger also has a sister, Karena, who he saw as a rival and imprisoned. The effects of her blue ring corrupted her, and turned her evil as well, at least until the six kids broke the ring's spell. But the biggest clue of all comes in "The Dragon's Graveyard," when Dungeon Master refers to Venger as "son."

Regular viewers of the series put two and two together, making the savvy educated guess that Venger was indeed Dungeon Master's son. Over the course of 27 episodes, it's established that Venger is humanoid, that he wasn't always evil and that he has family in the realm. The fact that Dungeon Master isn't always straightforwardly helpful also suggests he's keeping the kids in the realm for some unstated purpose. While the bigger question for audiences was whether or not the six would discover a portal home, the series ended without a resolution to the mystery surrounding Dungeon Master and Venger. The final pages of the script for "Requiem" tie up both of the audience's concerns with one neat bow.

Hank explains, "our mission in the realm wasn't to defeat Venger, it was to redeem him." In a reveal that has a great deal in common with Star Wars' Kylo Ren plotline (but preceded it by three decades) it becomes clear that a frustrated, younger Venger sought a more powerful master in the Nameless One, but that once he was under his influence, escape was impossible. The one feat the wise and skilled Dungeon Master was incapable of performing himself was returning his son to his previous form. Father and son are happily reunited and, with their mission complete, the kids (except for Presto, who wants to become a real wizard) are free to go home.

 

Hmm......interesting most "kid" shows at the time didn't bother with in-depth storylines. Not that I would have known too much about this show.

In the early '80s, Dungeons And Dragons were associated with satanic stuff, so there was no-way my religious mother would have let us watch this show.

 

ThunderCats: What Season 2 of the 2011 Reboot Would Have Looked Like




The 2011 reboot of ThunderCats truly left fans wanting more. While fans and critics alike enjoyed the sleeker, edgier and more cinematic look and feel of the show, Cartoon Network cancelled it after one season. Eight years later, fans still desire to see how the character arcs and stories would have been resolved.

In addition to what the creative team has revealed at conventions, art director Dan Norton recorded a podcast interview elaborating on how the story would have developed. Here are some of the developments to Lion-O and Tygra’s story and how that affected the other characters around them.


ThunderCats Season 2 would have skipped ahead a few years, to when the balance of power on Third Earth is leaning in Mumm-Ra’s favor, as he threatens to kill those who do not join him. The building of a New Thundera has begun. It's inclusive of all who oppose Mumm-Ra and upholds the Code of Thundera as Lion-O would have established.






There would still be similar social and financial inequality among the Cats and those affected may feel overlooked by the new Lord. The other species would also have to choose between knowingly being enslaved by Mumm-Ra, or joining with the Cats, who they resented for generations.

Pumyra’s rage and resentment toward the royals for letting her die and leaving the Cats to suffer after the Fall of Thundera is what led Mumm-Ra to resurrect her and use her to spy on and betray the ThunderCats. In Season 2, the writers would have explored the possibility of saving Pumyra from Mumm-Ra’s control, since both she and Lion-0 would admit they saw greatness in each other. Lion-O already was attracted to her and there were hints the feelings may have been mutual, even though she was used as a faux-romantic interest.



Pumyra's resurrection, thirst for revenge and hunger for power only Mumm-Ra could give her superseded the kindness and love shown her by Lion-O and the Thundercats. Thanks to the power stones and technology in Mumm-Ra’s pyramid, a black mist was synthesized from sand, turning pumyra into a mutant-insect monster. In her final battle with Lion-O, Tygra would have no choice but to kill her in order to save his brother, who was willing to die by her hand rather than harm her. This would ultimately lead into more strained relations between the sons of Claudis, as their ideologies would clash again.


Though he loved them equally, Claudis shared more similar values and interests with his adopted son, Tygra, than with his biological son, Lion-O, causing tension and creating distance in their relationships. Though the brothers deeply care for each other, the clash of their ideologies would come to a head when Tygra kills Pumyra to save his brother.




Lion-O may have believed in Pumyra’s redemption to the bitter end, but Tygra did not want his to brother to die to prove a point to someone whom he considered a lost soul. Lion-O could have seen this as Tygra taking away another romantic interest, as Lion-O was also attracted to Cheetara.

To end the first half of ThunderCats Season 2, Lion-O decides he needs to go back into the Book of Omens for more training and stays gone for 10 years. Meanwhile, Tygra and Cheetara take over as the de facto leaders of the rebellion, continue to build New Thundera and welcome a son, Bengali.



When Lion-O emerges from the book, the events leading up to the final battle begin. They would defeat Grune in the astral plane to acquire the spirit stone and in turn, Panthro would also be able to get his arms back, which he sacrificed in a previous battle with Grune. The Thunderkittens would reunite after 10 years apart; Wilykat is now a king of thieves and Wilykit becomes queen of the elephants.


The reunited ThunderCats and the united Third Earth rebellion would engage in the final battle with Mumm-Ra, but Tygra dies saving his brother from being felled by Mumm-Ra with the sword of Plun-darr. After the defeat of Mumm-Ra and the restoration of peace on Third Earth, Lion-O assumes the throne of Thundera with a grown-up WilyKit as his queen. Norton also explains that they were unsure if the complete set of Power Stones would be able to resurrect Tygra. If they kept Tygra dead, Lion-O would have brought Bengali to a statue of his father, alongside the statue of the previous kings of Thundera.

The podcast may have brought some closure to the fans of the show, but also may have sparked more interest into seeing it being completed.

 

Meant to put both of these up awhile ago when they happened this year....

Scooby-Doo Co-Creator Joe Ruby Dies at 87

https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/joe-ruby-dies-dead-scooby-doo-1234750948/

Ken Spears Dies: ‘Scooby-Doo’ Co-Creator Was 82

https://deadline.com/2020/11/ken-spears-dead-scooby-doo-co-creator-obituary-ruby-spears-productions-1234611634/