Ben and Zane - and stay with me here guys - were doing a Jesus. I mean, sure, they weren’t coming back to life or healing the sick, but they did carry around that cross for that nice priest and his weird, hungry friend. They also got into some trouble with the law and were repenting for some sinning they did in the last town over. The Cartoncasters weren’t really focused on the big-picture stuff, though, or even on the shootouts that kept happening every other day. They were too busy submitting the proper forms and playing some slick air guitars for that.
Most of the titles that cross Ben and Zane’s desk never make it to review, but they felt bad about rejecting cartoons out of line. As luck would have it, the Critique himself, our friendly neighborhood Dane Caverns came by to take the worst stuff off their hands. Within an hour, the Critique had given the most scathing criticism he could muster to the worst offenders, saving Ben and Zane from doing it themselves. With his help, the Cartoncasters will never have to review a show and proclaim… It stinks! * Professional hot scientist, NDT * Oh shit, Key was in The Pentaverate! * Matt Groening is weirdly defensive about The Critic * Rat Race happened, and we’re all upset about it * David S. Pumpkins happened and we’re still confused why * Irresistible * “Peas in July” in the Critic * … And in Animaniacs * …And Maurice Lamarche doing it in a panel * Simpsons short stories episode… The origin of Steamed Hams * Mission Hill
Egads! A gigantic monster is destroying the city! Thankfully, Ben and Zane have a direct line to the Powerpuff Girls, after an unrelated adventure where they both became the mayor. A quick call was all it would take. However, first they had to wait and listen about Bubbles’ new self-esteem issue, and the Professor’s new gadget, and a talking dog they found that’s probably evil, and on and on and on. They didn’t mind, it was all very entertaining and snappy, but, you know… the town was destroyed.
The Prince of Egypt has been lauded as one of the best told animated biblical stories - and rightly so. Heavy subject matter has to be sensitively portrayed, which can be a big ask in a medium primarily geared toward children. It takes a rare movie to balance biblical accuracy with enough gentleness not to stress younger viewers, all while still managing to be entertaining. With all that and a surprise appearance of Jeff Goldblum, this film delivered us to the promised land of holiday-related animation. * Love Letter * Khopesh * ’There goes the neighborhood’ * Homer Simpson goes through DABDA at breakneck speed * The Dawn of Everything * Why did God blow into Adam’s nostrils? * Could the Ten Plagues have happened? * The Megafrog interpretation of passover * ‘Allo ‘Allo!
Happy… Easter? Yeah, this is another ostensibly Holiday movie, but really it’s an Avengers-style story of a team of superpowered mythological beings that unfortunately had to compete with the actual Avengers. These Guardians guard children’s dreams, hopes, and teeth against the literal Bogeyman with some impressive flair. Unfortunately this rabbit laid a big goose egg, but inside that egg was a fine movie.
When the boss calls in an action hero for one last mission, there’s no way he can turn them down. But what if that hero has no idea that the mission exists, and falls into a few other missions along the way? Dirkman Pitstain doesn’t know, and he sure isn’t going to find out. Unlike avocados (sp?), there’s no bad time to enjoy his festivities.
Cartoons have an interesting relationship with holiday specials. They tend to coincide with an animation and writing bump, but also have to navigate passing on those good feels without compromising their identity. Though it’s a mixed bag, today we look at three properties - Charlie Brown, Futurama, and Rugrats - to see how they handle the beast that is the Holiday Special.
For a guy who can travel the world in one night, Santa sure doesn’t know how to pace a movie. But like all of his traits, it’s endearingly innocent in a world that is working overtime to make sure that he’s protected from it. Check out this good boy and his annoying friends develop the Santa Mythos. Also a 90-second war.
The era of Adam Sandler is firmly in the past, and looking back on his popularity is a dizzying experience. He used his notoriety as “The Hannukah guy” to create an animated movie about the meaning of Hannukah. At least, that’s the concept. In execution, it’s just a whole lot of Adam Sandler without any physics or logical consistency slowing him down. If you actually enjoyed this movie, that’s a technical foul. The Hannukah Song Adam Sandler’s “Cock and Balls” skit Hannukah is unimportant, trust me on this Rat in a Hot Tin Can ”I wanna Kiss you all ovah” - last Adam Sandler reference I swear Tim Heideker’s Rogan imitation is spot on Big Brother is more than a 1984 dystopia Klaus graphic novel Jon Lovitz in the Simpsons Pooping deer in Castle Crashers Patton Oswalt’s immortal heckler takedown
Ben and Zane felt like something was off. They had a weird sense of Deja Vu, and their hands were real sweaty every time they picked up mice. Brie, the Cartoncast’s Fairy Godmother, revealed to them that time had been turned back, and they would have to re-watch Cinderella if they wanted to get out of it alive. It was good. Not great, but fun. And now they could get back to what’s really important: catching mice and training them to dress up and sing.