Animation

Anomaly Appraisal: Toy Story 3, The Bittersweet Finale

Animation, Film, Pixar /

 

You know, I’d planned to write an epic, three-part review of the entire trilogy, but the more I reflect on it, it becomes clear that it would not be practical. Comparing a movie made 15 years ago with one from today is kinda cruel in more ways than one, not least on the quality of the animation.

No, this is a straight-up, honest account of how I hated about 95% of Toy Story 3 and how it all worked out in the end, sort of. If you want an animator’s perspective, I highly recommend reading Michael Sporn’s thoughts on the film. I agree with most of his points, which is why I’m linking to it.

Starting with the animation, it is superb. The fact that just the textures on the characters can be seen is proof how far CGI has come in 15 years. The levels of detail that can be created nowadays makes the original film more akin to a student thesis! It is the little things like these details that has set Pixar apart from other studios, they really do take the time to focus on things that affect the movie in ways that may not easily be perceived at first glance.

As for the directing, I would say that Wall-E is easily superior in that it was more in tune with the character. In TS3, the opening sequence is over-dramatic despite its content. Plenty of shots in the films seemed to be set up as if trying to prove something. None detract from the viewing experience, but they are grossly over-wrought in the context of what Toy Story is. That being said, there are no real pointless shots in the film, save for maybe Mrs. Potato Head’s eye.

This films is perhaps one of the most realistic that Pixar has released. Compared even to UP, the level of detail is stunning, from the largest detail (entire rooms) to the smallest (Ken’s wardrobe). One can’t help but feel that the charm of the original and sequel has been lost in the meantime. Compared to The Incredibles, which seemed realistic despite trying not to be, TS3 seems unrealistic because it tries to be too much like the real world and in the process overreaches its goal. Again, it ain’t the end of the world, but it may be connected to my thoughts further down.

The story itself was OK. It was certainly of a much higher standard than what Hollywood is known to put out. It is clearly the completion of the toy’s time with Andy. He’s grown up and heading to college, the toys are neglected in their chest, although they do acknowledge that Andy could have binned them many years ago and did not. The writing as usual was absolutely superb with jokes-a-plenty for adults and kids. The theatrics of Buzz Lightyear manages to steal the show were certainly enjoyed by the audience.

Do I agree with all aspects of the plot? Well, not quite. The villain lacks motivation. Sure he has some, the flashback sequence certainly indicates that but what ran through my mind while watching it was that Jessie went through much worse and was not nearly as resentful. Lots-O-Huggin Bear is also the first villain in the series to get his cumuppance. Why is that? Sure, Al got his in TS2, but he clearly was not a toy, even Stinky Pete got sent off to live with a little girl, not, well, I won’t spoil the surprise.

The characters in the film are the same we know and love. They are all here, but as we’ve seen before, they change subtly between films. In other words, Woody from Toy Story is still the same Woody in Toy Story 3, but he is ever so different. Perhaps in this movie, it is the situations that he is in differentiate him from the first two films. I couldn’t help but feel that the presence of an evil segment of toys soured things for everyone. One could argue that the first two films were too devoid of such characters, but here, I felt they went a wee bit over the top (secret, late-night gambling session anyone?).

Sigh, I guess my issue is that Toy Story is not near as innocent as Toy Story, or even Toy Story 2. Whereas the latter contained only a few grandstanding scenes, this latest film is pretty much one big sign begging for the audiences sympathy. It plays on our fondness for the characters, who don’t feel they need to prove anything any more. There is no soft treading, characters are shown as-is, no justification given. The simplicity of the first two films is also missing. In the first, Woody and Buzz get lost and need to find Andy, in the second, Woody gets stolen and his friends try to get him back. In this film, the whole gang gets tossed about all over the place and we’ve no idea what it supposed to happen to them by the end of the film, their ultimate goal does not become obvious until the very end.

Which leads me to another sticking point. The toys themselves. Did you notice that in the first film, they were extremely careful not to let anything they do make things appear out of place? That meant they tiptoed around and were careful to be just as they were left. In Toy Story 2, the rules were loosened a bit and the toys began to interact with their surroundings, especially Woody, who moved around frequently. This does not include the scene where the toys cross the road, that is simply the what happens when they do move about.

However, in this film, all of that is lost as the toys haphazardly move around as they please, moving things about and turning things upside down. can they really be considered toys any more if they are altering their environment in a way that would clearly be noticeable by a human? Methinks not. It is as if the humans in this film are oblivious to what’s going on right under their nose. That seems a bit of a stretch and somewhat spoiled the film for me. The first film made me believe that my toys were doing stuff when my back was turned. Toy Story 3 makes me wonder if they were doing anything at all.

Perhaps I am too harsh on Toy Story 3, it is after all (hopefully) the conclusion to the story that the writers intended. In that respect, it does commendably. How it gets there is a different matter entirely, but that should not putting you off seeing one of the year’s best films thus far.

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Quick Note: The Music in Ren and Stimpy

Animation /

In the case of Futurama, the only thing that differes between the original episodes and the ones after the resurrection is the music. It is widely known that the full orchestra used in the latter has been replaced by synthesized instruments. This is not a serious flaw in any way, it just smacks of a blatantly lower budget for the series.

Anyway, the wee point I would like to make today is that John K. used a fairly large library of old music that he used in Ren & Stimpy. There are two reasons for this, firstly, John’s love of old music/culture (note the stylized designs and fictitious commericals for powdered toast) and secondly it was a huge cost-saver.

The use of such music does not in any way detract from an otherwise superb show, but it is clear that the two go hand in hand. Listening to the music on its own pulls you back in time to an age of big bands, Hollywood in its prime, the wonder that is outer space and of course, the hustle and bustle of city life.

I’m not exactly sure what proportion of a shows budget goes towards music (if anybody knows, please enlighten me in the comments) and I’m pretty sure it varies from show to show and network to network. However, Ren & Stimpy continue to stand alone in their use of old music. I think it any show (or film for that matter) set back in the day should use old music. But perhaps a more elaborate analysis is needed, which will have to be another day.

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The Live-Action Version of the Failry OddParents

Animation, Nickelodeon /

The Fairly OddParents is a show we all know and love. Not only has it lasted a heck of a long time on Nickelodeon, it also proved to be pretty popular with grown-ups to boot. I myself used to try and get home from college a wee bit earlier on Thursday afternoons to catch it on CBBC.

The show has gone through the usual twists and turns that long-running series’ go through, namely TV movies, crossovers and most notably, the addition of a new character. Which leads us to today’s announcement that the show will receive the live-action treatment in the form of a straight-to-TV movie.

Long story short (or for fun, read the full details over on AWN), the film will feature a 23 year-old Timmy Turner rather than the little scamp we have become familiar with. This stands in contrast to that other well known cartoon that was turned into a live-action movie, Ben 10, where the ages were kept pretty much the same.

I won’t spoil the plot (suffice to say it is surprisingly mature for a kids TV station) but I can’t help but feel that the inherent feeling of the cartoon will be lost, not just because of its transition to live-action, but because the characters will be radically different.

Personally, I am not a fan of taking cartoons (or anything in animated form really) and turning it into live-action. The point was made long ago that King of the Hill could so easily have been done in live-action that money was needlessly wasted on animation. However that would be missing the point, which is that that show could not have worked as live-action. The style of humour as well as the pacing would have rendered it far too boring, but in animated form, we tend to tolerate it.

Besides the nature of turning animated characters into actors, the whole basis of the cartoon was that Timmy could do anything he wanted. The very nature of animation facilitated his wishes, with humongous changes made in the blink of an eye. Such antics are again tolerated in animation because the audience accepts that what its seeing is not real. In live-action, everything must look and move as if it were real, otherwise the audience is reminded that it is not, which would defeat the purpose of making it live-action in the first place.

I do not mean to belittle the production seeing as nothing of it exists just yet. It will undoubtedly be of no worse quality than any other TV movie/kidcom. I just wish that producers/executives would look for more creative ways to expand their properties. Turning something into live-action seems bone-achingly lazy in the face of how many creative people there are out there who are just dying to get something on the air.

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The San Diego Comic-Con

Animation, Comics /

Yeah I’m not going this year unfortunately due to school and work commitments. The Con itself is somewhat interesting as it features a pretty substantial animation presence, from individual animators all the way through to the corporate giants.

There is indeed much overlap between comics and animation, and I’m not talking about folks from one side being fans of the work of the folks on the other side. There are of course differences, no-one is suggesting that if you enjoy comics, you will automatically love animation or vice versa. That would be preposterous.

Indeed, it is perhaps the partial overlap that continues to stimulate creativity in both camps. Numerous have commented on the influence of various comics in their work. There is nothing wrong with that, in fact outside form of entertainment can greatly enhance the enjoyment factor of one form of entertainment. For example, imagine Scott Pilgrim without all the video game references? I can’t imagine what that would be like.

Anyway, the schedule is chock full of animation events including one from perennial attendees, Futurama, where the gang are likely to receive a rousing reception following the series triumphant return to TV screens this past month. Other panels of note include various animation-related ones ranging from advice to book signings. Cartoon Brew (as ever) has a complete list of animation-related events with times and locations.

The main reason that I would like to attend is to peruse both the small press section and the artists alley. I find both to contain numerous artists that I myself am a fan of and indeed their work. Of course, what better way to support your favourite artist by buying their stuff and meeting them in person to boot!

Of course, what would a comic-con be without all the folks who dress up as their favourite characters? In fairness, Comic-Con does have plenty of folks who go the whole hog and create some truly fantastic costumes. Personally, I ain’t much into that whole scene, but it is fun to see the pictures nonetheless 🙂

Of course, if you would rather enjoy a more animation-centric scene, you may be wiser to check out one of the many festivals that take place throughout the year, Ottowa is perhaps the best in North America. If a festival really isn’t your thing, you could attend the CTN Expo in Burbank, a convention put on by the Creative Talent Network. The first outing in 2009 received rave reviews so it is sure to become a regular feature on the animation calendar for years to come.

The San Diego Comic-Con runs until Sunday, July 25th. In the meantime, pay close attention to twitter for all the latest stories, gossip and tall tales from attendees and exhibitors alike.

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Cartoon Brew 3.0 is Here!

Animation, Cartoon Brew, Website /

Folks in love with animation have numerous places to congregate on the web. However, none seems to rally the people like Cartoon Brew. It’s hard to believe that it’s been around for over six years now and my how it has changed.

The site started off as mostly a news/opinion blog co-authored by Jerry Beck and Amid Amidi. Why they decided on calling it a "Brew" I do not know, however it is fair to say that both gentlemen bring some really contrasting posts and commentary that is always welcome.

Over the years, the site has undergone periodical redesigns and updates that have helped keep things looking fresh. However, it is with this latest version that the Brewmasters as they are affectionately called, have upped the ante.

Their latest efforts have hit the right spot alright. The site has garnered a community of sorts over the years with a pool of regular commentors (yours truly included) but besides the daily posts and the odd competition, there wasn’t really anything about to serve the sites community bar a serious discussion in the comments.

All that has changed however! With the latest update, the site now boasts many more features designed to pull Cartoon Brew even close to the center of the animation universe on the web. There is now a series of rolling industry headlines, a series of top posts, and of course, the obligatory latest tweets. These are taken from the Brew’s animators directory that encompasses a wide range of folks from the community. We are promised that the list will change as appropriate. Is there a possibilty that I might get on there one day? Perhaps, a man can dream can’t he? Anyway, the list is a fantastic place to see the various happenings and goings on from folks in the industry.

In addition to these changes, the commenting system has been upgraded to allow threaded commenting and ratings too! The threaded commenting adds greatly to the idea of the site as a community. No longer will I seem to be replying blindly to other posts; I can now engage in discussion!

Two other items of note include the repositioned CBTV (currently in the midst of a so-far fascinating student film festival) and the surprise addition of CB Live! Of course, the Brewmasters have always been forthcoming in publicising events that they either organize or are attending, but this section is specifically for events organized and branded as Cartoon Brew-related. This is perhaps the biggest indication so far that the site does indeed have a real, living community of fans outside the web. I am very much looking forward to seeing what kind of events are in the pipeline, especially any on the East Coast.

Much lauded, Cartoon Brew continues to garner the type of following that only such hard work and dedication from its Brewmasters can bring. Version 3.0 will certainly continue the site’s growth as a center for news, commentary and informed discussion on all things animation that remains unparalleled on the net.

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Roger Ebert’s Comments on The Last Airbender and Animation

Animation, Film /

It’s been established that I don’t really like film critics. It’s not a personal thing, for the most part, I tend to disagree with the way they review things. Having said that, I do hold certain ones in high regard, Roger Ebert being one of them. He’s pretty much seen everything at this point so he knows what he’s talking about when he says a film is pants. That’s not to say that you too will find it horrible, heck, he only gave one thumb up to How to Train Your Dragon and I absolutely loved it!

I am not certain whether or not Ebert is partial to animation or not, suffice to say that he does review almost all animated films being widely released. However, he is spot on with his review of The Last Airbender. He nails the movie itself, but his commentary on why it shouldn’t have been live-action hits the bullseye.

Leaving aside his thoughts on 3-D, the actors and the script, Ebert dives straight to what he sees a a fatal decision on behalf of the producers:

The first fatal decision was to make a live-action film out of material that was born to be anime. The animation of the Nickelodeon TV series drew on the bright colors and “clear line” style of such masters as Miyazaki, and was a pleasure to observe.

I tend to agree. Animated TV shows normally have a tough enough time succeeding on the big screen in animated form. To ask them to simultaneously make the jump to live-action is beyond even the best cartoons and Avatar is no exception.

Ebert declares his admiration for the clean, anime-influenced style of the cartoon. While it didn’t exactly set the animated world on fire, the show did draw deserved praise for its clever mixture of western animation skills and eastern looks. To the best of my knowledge, you can’t do something similar with live-action, unless of course your name is Quentin Tarantino.

Ebert also notes:

“It’s in the very nature of animation to make absurd visual sights more plausible. “

Which is why we can relate to a family with yellow skin and a talking sponge among other things. However, when taken to live-action, it is a tall task to ask audiences to accept circumstances and settings as being real. Sure we know they aren’t, but at least in animation we don’t expect them to be, in live-action we do. And no matter how technically perfect they appear, they still don’t seem real.

Would an animated version of The Last Airbender have been a better idea? Perhaps. It would certainly appeal to more fans of the original show and I am certain that it would not age as much as this new film surely will (think how old Lord of the Rings is starting to look, despite the bleeding edge technology that it used during production). As Ebert notes at the end of his review:

This material should have become an A-list animated film.

Except it isn’t. Let’s remember that animated films of animated TV shows make much more sense than live-action drivel.

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Anomaly Appraisal: Neighbors From Hell

Animation, TV /

Yes, this is a tad late but I would rather have to wait and watch it online than cough up for cable every month. There were a few somewhat scathing reviews put out in advance of the show’s premiere a few weeks ago, namely in Variety, where the reviewer pretty much shot it down before it even left the gate. Not here though, oh no. On this blog we believe in positive criticism and looking on the bright side of life and all that.

FIrst of all, the setting: a family of demons get sent to Texas to stop a giant drill from getting all the way to hell. So far so ordinary. The twist is that what the Hellmans see on the surface simply does not compare to what they do underneath. It’s far worse!

The first episode is so clearly a pilot episode. There is the standard introduction of characters, the monologue about why they are where they are and of course, a convenient plot that introduces the audience to the setting and ancillary characters. It’s a pilot, so there’s not point getting too worked up over the plot. Every show must have an introductory episode of some sort and the producers here clearly decided to do that straight out of the gate. Nothing wrong with that, but it does not provide the best platform on which to measure a series.

The music in the show is rather standard fare really. There is nothing remarkable about it except to say that yes, it does contain some heavy metal. If it didn’t, I would have a lot of questions about a show supposedly centred on a bunch of folks from hell.

The animation was done using Toon Boom software, which I posted about waaay back when. It certainly provides for a much higher standard of animation than flash although it stil falls short of true hand-drawn animation. That’s not a problem though. The animation is remarkably smooth and certainly does not suffer from the jerk, puppet-like movements that flash is so susceptible to.

The character design is pretty darn good actually. There are plenty of cable shows where nickel and diming has resulted in character designs that look like they only got one pass through the saw and skipped the finishing table altogether. The designs are split into two groups: The Hellmans and everyone else. The family seems to fit in despite the fact that they are green.

Each character is only a small bit stylized and whose design most certainly matches their character. Therefore we have the father with his jacket, the mother with a somewhat attractive red dress, the daughter in dressed prim and proper (although this belies her demeanour) and the son in a T-shirt.

Pazuzu is perhaps the most interesting, mainly because he doesn’t really look like a goblin, more of a wild-eyed boisterous dog. His wide eyes and huge grin suggest a character that really is Balthazar’s best friend.

The characters are your usual nuclear family. The oafish father Balthazar tries his best his best to do right for his family as well as his wife. He gets in trouble with the boss, he betrays his best friend (a goblin named Pazuzu) and has plenty of pop-culture references in his catapult. He’s a likeable fellow overall.

His wife, Tina, is a somewhat more interesting character. Despite being a housewife, she is easily superior to her husband. She is driven and more than capable of fulfilling her own ambitions.

The daughter, Mandy, has the coolest head in the family. She is not above using violence against her brother though and is especially skilled at getting people to do her bidding. The son, Josh is your standard teenage boy. He’s always up to mischief and getting himself into awkward situations. It is hinted that he has a temper a well.

Much remains to be seen as to whether the characters become as richly developed as their backgrounds suggest. A common problem I find with the likes of Family Guy and more recently The Simpsons, is that hardly any episodes are devoted to the kids and their development. For the most part, they are fill in characters that come and go as needed but are rarely seen to have their own lives with their own problems. Hopefully later in the season, we will see a few episodes where the kids get a chance to mature as characters.

A character of note is Satan, if only for his voice-actor, the very funny Steve Coogan. It’s fantastic to hear him again, especially as he is hardly ever seen outside the UK. For those that don’t know, Steve is one of the funniest comedians of the last 20 years and created one of the most memorable characters to grace TV screens in Alan Partridge. He adds an awful lot to the character of Satan which in turn made the show much more enjoyable (at least for me).

Overall, I liked the show. It’s not the most fantasic animated TV show ever made (because that is currently airing over on Comedy Central and is back to what it does best) although it deserves to succeed on tbs. Could the jokes be improved a wee bit? Sure. They stray dangerously close to the gratuitous at time, I mean c’mon, do we really need to see horses going at it? The allusion should be more that enough for the viewer to get the message. Humour like that suggests a lack of finesse and the easy way out. It may be good for a cheap laugh onec, but it does not stand up during repeated viewing (for the most part).

Neighbors From Hell is a show thatis trying to prove that animation can indeed be marketed to adults. It deserves to succeed in that regard. I recommend you watch it at least once.

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Animation and Civil Engineering: The Similarities and the Differences

2 Comments / Animation /

As you may (or may not have noticed), I am not an animator. Never have and have never really had any desire to be one either. Why I have such a deep passion for animation is still beyond me. I suppose my response to the question why cartoons has always been the same as Frederator’s: "Because we like cartoons. They’re fun." They are fun and I like fun things, so that makes perfect sense.

Not being an animator means I must be something else. Which is true. I am in fact, a civil engineer by trade. Do you know a civil engineer? I doubt it. We can be a very boring bunch at times, in fact civil engineering has been considered the most boring of the engineering professions. So I guess that’s the first difference between animation and civil engineering: only one is exciting!

I suppose another difference is that animation allows folks to work on personal projects in their spare time. Sure a couple of my lecturer’s in college did some moonlighting on the side, but for the most part civil engineers don’t do much civil engineering outside of work. Animators on the other hand are more than able to indulge in personal projects after hours. As I’ve mentioned before, animators can do much more than just animation and I certainly admire them for that. I on the other hand can’t exactly go out and design my own road or bridge or whatever late at night and show off to the public upon completion!

The other difference is that civil engineers generally become professional. In other words, they’re skills are recognized by a professional organization. Besides, it’s required in just about every country around the world that as an engineer, you must pass a proficiency test to ensure that you know what you are doing. We’ve had enough examples of engineering oopsies with the likes of Tacoma Narrows. Of course, those were signed off on by a registered engineer, not a guy barely three years out of school! Animation on the other hand, has no such professional recognitions. Sure the union may recognize experience in their pay scale, and promotion to a more senior position is surely a sign of your talents. But there is no yardstick by which these skills are measured. This is surely because as an artform, animation skills vary greatly between individuals. Some may get it right straight out of school, such as Pendleton Ward with Adventure Time. Others can take a couple of years to get there such as Larry Huber with ChalkZone. Yeah I know, he isn’t an animator, but the same logic applies.

There is not much point in focusing too much on the differences. Both professions after all allow folks to earn a living and pursue a rewarding career. So what are the similarities? Well, I’m going out on a limb here, so if you see any mistakes, please feel free to comment.

The first is school. Many students study animation not so much to learn the necessary skills, but to learn how to use them effectively. School plays a very important role, in fact a necessary one for civil engineers. The days of getting hired and working your way up are practically over. Today, a Bachelors degree is a key requirement to getting hired. Animation is similar for the most part. A degree in animation can certainly help you land a job and schools more often than not give students the resources to create their own projects in addition to their schoolwork. I have seen a good few examples of student’s schoolwork helping them launch a career for themselves afterward. In fact, Cartoon Brew is currently holding their first ever student film festival and so far, the results have been fantastic.

Another similarity, is that both professions undertake paid work that is for other parties. In my case it is often for the state of federal government. I do the work, I get paid for it and they take the finished product and do what they need to do with it. Animation is very similar, especially if one works in a studio on a production either for the studio itself or its client. At the end of the day though, it is exciting for both to see the finished product, be it a TV show, feature film or the W-beam crash barrier you put in front of the light pole.

The most important similarity is networking. I can’t emphasize it enough. I know in civil engineering oyu can land a job based on your merits, but you stand a much, much better chance if you know somebody. Why this is, I cannot say. I kinda wish more was placed on what skills you have, but we are humans after all and as such we’re a very social, personal bunch. That’s not to say that you have to be part of an old boys club, oh no. As with animation, networking can open many opportunities that you otherwise would not have known about. Perhaps someone you know casually mentions that a position has opened up at their firm and they think you would be a good fit for the job. Or someone you know needs you to give them a reference or vice versa. In both civil engineering and animation, there are many events that you can meet new people. Professional organizations in both areas are a great starting point and also help you connect with people who have similar interests to yourself.

So there you have it. Civil engineering and animation. Two professions that may appear far apart at first, but actually have plenty in common.

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The Economist on Pixar's Long Term Plans

Animation, Pixar /

I subscribe to The Economist, yes that one, the same "adult magazine" that Homer Simpson subscribes to. In last week’s issue, the regular column Schumpter discussed Pixar and the different way that Ed Catmull and John Lasseter had set the company up so as to ensure it would live on after they had left. I highly encourage you to read the article first, I’ll wait :).

Back? Great. The article is pretty straightforward in its analysis and the point it makes is an important one. Both Catmull and Lasseter have been the guiding force behind the studio for a long time and to an extent so has Steve Jobs, although that is not surprising seeing as he owned it for a long time.

There are many similarities between Apple and Pixar beside Mr. Jobs. Both companies are extremely product focused. Both believe that if they put enough effort in the will be rewarded with consumer acceptance. This is true to some extent but I can’t help but feel that right now, both companies are running on flywheel inertia: Pixar with its slate of upcoming sequels and Apple with the slight upgrade to the IPhone software. Dreamworks has proven that they too can make solid, entertaining films and other mobile phone companies have upped the ante recently with the latest group of Android powered phones.

What worries me though is how well the setup at Pixar will last. The article mentions the collaborative environment in Emeryville and how a lot of effort is put into fostering projects from the ground up rather than the top down. I’m sure Pixar is in Emeryville for a reason, being a tad less than arms reach from Burbank. However, physical separation does not mean a lot if the people calling the shots are not from there. Sure right now Lasseter is, but once he retires, where will his replacement come from? I doubt it is from Pixar.

All this effort to set up a different system may be for nought if Pixar continues with sequels. I am not sure whether the plan is to increase the size of the studio or keep it as it is, putting out one film a year or so. Dreamworks have upped their rate to three films a year, which may be more sustainable for what Jeffrey Katzenburg wants.

I have similar worries about Google. Sure right now, Larry Page and Sergey Brin are keeping an eye on the privacy aspects of the business (albeit somewhat unevenly) but once they are gone, what will happen then once the people running the show no longer have a personal interest in the company or its users?

We’ll see how things play out. I don’t want to do too much crystal ball gazing. Both John Lasseter and Ed Catmull deserve a lot of credit for building Pixar into a strong studio with a solid brand of work ethic that has ensured that every single film they have put out has been a success, not just in box office numbers, but on the story and visual side of things too.

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The Return of Futurama…Again

Animation, Futurama, TV /

What do I need to say that hasn’t already been said. Futurama is a show with more lives than a cat. Not only that, it is also, by far, my favourite animated TV show of all time. OK, I admit it, I tend to lean towards the geeky side of life, and I do tend to get some of the more intelligent jokes that the writers ever so craftily put into the show.

Tomorrow night (Friday) sees the third dawn for a TV show that under any normal circumstances would have been mothballed aeons ago and left at that. However, as we’re all well familiar with, just because a TV show has been cancelled does not mean it is as dead as you might think. Family Guy set the gold standard simply because fans went out and spent their hard earned money on the DVDs. Why did they do that? The show was damned funny, that’s why!

Futurama would follow a similar pattern, although as you may not be aware of, due to the arcane release “windows” that many (if not all) of the TV networks instigate, Futurama DVD boxsets were on sale in Europe months (if not years) before the US, where the show was still in the syndication “window” of its release.

Having said that, it was this system of syndication that may have helped save the show (and Family Guy too). Cartoon Network stepped up and began broadcasting episodes every night at 10 o’clock. It was strong ratings for these broadcasts that eventually resulted in a full-scale bidding war for the rights after [adult swim]’s deal expired.

Comedy Central was a winner and they immediately commissioned new episodes that were subsequently rounded up into 4 DVD movies before being broadcast. Strong sales of these movies (I do own all four) convinced the good people at Comedy Central that a proper series was needed.

Thus we come to today (or rather tomorrow) when the first of these new episodes will be broadcast. The show has come a long way since 1998 when it blasted onto the FOX network. Always the sister to The Simpsons, it was constantly pushed around the schedule, which in my opinion significantly contributed to the (supposedly) low ratings. A similar fate befell Family Guy until it’s return when it set up shop at a dedicated time. It has enjoyed good ratings ever since.

After the original cancellation (actually, the commentaries on the DVDs mention that the show was never actually “cancelled” in the traditional sense, it’s contract was simply never renewed), there was much talk about how it was a result of being a sci-fi show and how it didn’t match up to The Simpsons in terms of humour and so forth. Nothing could be further from the truth! In reality, Futurama has been able to maintain it’s high standard of quality jokes and storylines in stark contrast to the sharp fall the Simpsons has experiences of late.

With an order of 22 episodes, there will be plenty of new Futurama to come for quite a while. It’s fate after that is still uncertain, but I hope that this, the third attempt, will see Futurama be successful enough for a proper conclusion to the series. That’s all I have to say on the matter for now. I’ll post a review of the season thus far in a couple of weeks.

The Return of Futurama…Again Read More »