The challenge this week at another illustration blog is "saturday morning cartoons"
Saturday morning cartoons currently suck. Childrens programming in general sucks. The hey-day of Saturday morning cartoons was the 1960s through the 1970s. They were the times of cartoon geniuses like Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, Jay Ward, Hal Seeger and W. Watts Biggers. They were the times of voice artists like Paul Frees, George S. Irving, Mel Blanc, Bill Scott, Daws Butler, Hal Smith, John Stephenson, Alan Reed, Paul Winchell, Don Messick, Allan Melvin, Howard Morris and countless others. These were television cartoon pioneers, setting the standard that would last for decades.
Every September, the three major networks would roll out their new prime-time shows. They did the same thing for their new Saturday morning cartoons. They would have sneak preview prime-time specials on the Friday evening before the Saturday premieres. These specials, with hosts ranging from The Brady Bunch kids, Burns and Schreiber and Lee Majors, showed clips of the upcoming cartoons to kids squealing with anticipation. I was one of those anxious kids, waking up at 6:30 am on "Premiere Saturday". I was firmly planted in front of my family's TV until 1:00 in the afternoon, usually with an overflowing bowl of General Mills' "Frosty-Os" (the box featuring Tennessee Tuxedo's pal, Chumley).
I loved these cartoons so much, I had a difficult time deciding which to draw. I chose Milton the Monster, Wally Gator, Bat Fink, The Hooded Claw, The Impossibles' Fluid Man, Atom Ant, Chilly Willy and Hoppity Hooper. They sure don't make cartoons like these anymore. They, most likely, never will.
Every September, the three major networks would roll out their new prime-time shows. They did the same thing for their new Saturday morning cartoons. They would have sneak preview prime-time specials on the Friday evening before the Saturday premieres. These specials, with hosts ranging from The Brady Bunch kids, Burns and Schreiber and Lee Majors, showed clips of the upcoming cartoons to kids squealing with anticipation. I was one of those anxious kids, waking up at 6:30 am on "Premiere Saturday". I was firmly planted in front of my family's TV until 1:00 in the afternoon, usually with an overflowing bowl of General Mills' "Frosty-Os" (the box featuring Tennessee Tuxedo's pal, Chumley).
I loved these cartoons so much, I had a difficult time deciding which to draw. I chose Milton the Monster, Wally Gator, Bat Fink, The Hooded Claw, The Impossibles' Fluid Man, Atom Ant, Chilly Willy and Hoppity Hooper. They sure don't make cartoons like these anymore. They, most likely, never will.
6 comments:
Wow, your illo is excellent! Lots of great characters here. They certainly don't make the Sat. morning cartoons like they used to!
Great illo, Josh! I knew and loved all those characters. And you're right about Saturday mornings. I was up so early I had to watch the educational shows before the cartoons came on. And I was pounding down the Cap'n Crunch or Coco Puffs or Quisp.
That Penelope Pitstop villian, Hooded Claw, was voiced by the great Paul Lynde (Uncle Arthur from Bewitched and the funniest derned center square on Hollywood Squares ever).
While I agree that there's nothing to leap out of bed on Sat. for anymore, I disagree about today's cartoons. Most of it is crap but there's some awesome, art-loving stuff out there.
Thanks for the kind words. The most recent cartoon I liked was "Rocko's Modern Life". I don't care for most of the stuff on Cartoon Network (except "Robot Chicken", but that's not a cartoon.) And, no matter how I try, I just can't seem to like the new crop of anime. Bring me back to the days of Astro Boy and Tobar the 8th Man!
Love your illo as well, I love the reallly old cartoons. I don't know if you remember the little mouse I believed he was called Chatterbox?
Jo, thanks for the kind words. You may be thinking of Hanna-Barbera's Blabbermouse, sidekick of Super Snooper. Read about him HERE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snooper_and_Blabber
Awesome Illo Josh!!
Being a cartoon freak I have to agree the old stuff just seems better. I gotten on a big kick lately just looking at the old background artist work which even holds up better to some the actually animation of todays cartoons.
But I have to agree with Mike too, there are some seriously well done cartoons today. I found some recently I just can't live without. Avatar, Venture Bros, Robot Chicken, Xaolin Showdown, Fosters Home of Imaginary Friends, Ben 10. All of these are really good shows, well written, well drawn. You gotta think even our old cartoons we hold near and dear were drawn on the cheap, sometimes even using same frames from previous cartoons just to save a buck. Nowadays its worse, they save money by farming overseas, which in itself is a travesty. Makes good artist like all of us difficult to ever follow in the footsteps of Hanna Barbara, Disney or Termite Terrace animators.
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