"How come you can sleep at night?" - Arcade Fire, Modern Man
No deep thoughts this morning. Actually, there are a lot of them, just none that I can share today, so, instead a question: what cartoons are you watching?
Considering where I work, it's probably not surprising that I'm a sucker for animation but I have a special affinity for the television cartoon. As a kid, I planned my life around afternoon cartoon blocks and Saturday mornings and USA's Cartoon Express. As the genre has changed—most cartoons have left broadcast networks for cable; the direct to video market has matured greatly—I still find myself making plans to watch 'toons.
Just this past week, I took in the World Premiere of Batman/Superman:Apocalypse (Supergirl) at the Paley Center For Media. I also might argue that the best of the young new tv season has been animated.
So, since I asked you, here's what's on that I'm loving:
Batman: The Brave and The Bold - Featuring a wide variety of characters from all eras (including one of my very favorite things about DC's animated Universe, the increased prominence of heroes of color) but with all stories told in a decidedly Silver Age style, this version of Batman is super-fun. He's the master detective and escape artist with very little of the brooding and torment that defines the contemporary Dark Knight. This bat has friends and cares about his relationships. Every week, I'm pleasantly surprised.
Kick Buttowski - Not to be a company shill but Kick is awesome. The show is often stolen by his best friend Gunther and is told with impeccable comedic timing and charm. Kick just wants to be great and never let's his many failures get him down. Not surprising, given that he was created by our former Creative Director who has two phrases that I steal and use often, "Take Risks. Don't be afraid to fail." Kick falls down. He gets up again.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - I picked up this series in it's second season and haven't yet gone back to watch season one but I can safely say that there isn't another animated television series out today that consistently wows me with the animation itself. I still remember what this kind of CG animation looked like with series like ReBoot and The Clone Wars is just spectacular to look at. The storytelling is also very strong—much stronger than the second trilogy of Star Wars films that acts as it's source material and inspiration. Anakin and Obi-Wan are deeper characters with well understood motivations here and the expanded world of Star Wars is much more clear. The Jedis, the bounty hunters, and, especially, the clones that will make up the ranks of Storm Troopers in the coming empire are all much more nuanced and relatable in this "kids cartoon" than they ever were in episodes I through III.
The Venture Bros. - The last of the great Adult Swim series. The show returned last week bringing the Phantom Limb back along with them as well as my most favorite thing about the show: the satirical roasting of comic book stories and characters. I'm hoping this season is much stronger than the uneven-ness of the last one and that Dr. Venture and the boys don't suffer the same fate as many of the Adult Swim shows: an uninspired, slow, painful decline in it's final seasons. I'm looking at you, The Boondocks.
Also on the radar is a new series from Disney Channel, Fish Hooks, which looks really promising.