I love cartoons. I've always loved cartoons and I was lucky enough to have some really great shows to watch as a kid on Saturday mornings (when that was still a thing) and some that are greater in my memory than they are upon rewatching. Today though I'm not going to talk about The Real Ghostbusters, The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin, or any of the extensive list of cartoons from my youth that I love. No, today I'm going to talk about some shows that sprang up seemingly from nowhere but in reality just at a time when cartoons particularly new cartoons were not on my radar.
To be fair, almost none of these are all that recent but they are new discoveries to me. Without further ado and in no particular order:
The Secret Saturdays (2008-2010)
Title Card
Created by Canadian cartoonist Jay Stephens, The Secret Saturdays follows the adventures of the Saturday family in their pursuit of various cryptids as well as their quest to stop V.V. Argost from dominating the world through the exploitation of the cryptids. The Secret Saturdays pulls inspiration from classic Hanna-Barbera action cartoons like Jonny Quest and Jay Stephens personal interest in cryptozoology to build an exciting world with shades of Speed Racer in Van Rook's apprentice and just a genuinely well plotted continuing arc mixed well with "monster-of-the-week" stories that are more appropriate than with most other cartoon concepts. I stumbled upon Stephens' cartoon work after reading a few of his comics like "Atomic City Tales" and "Welcome to Oddville." But right now let's talk more about the show:
Saturday family ready for action!
Doc Saturday and his wife Drew are members of the "Secret Scientists" and their son Zak has the ability to psychically control cryptids. Together they travel the globe investigating the paranormal, Drew carries the Tibetan Fire Sword, while Zak uses the Claw of Tsul'Kalu to focus his power over cryptids. Doc Saturday prefers to rely on strictly scientific gadgets. The family is accompanied by three cryptid pets: Fiskerton a "gorilla-cat" based on this British urban legend, Komodo a genetically engineered Komodo dragon, and Zon a female pterosaur found in the Amazon jungle during the first episode.
Komodo, Zak, Zon (rear), Fiskerton, Doc, & Drew
The villainous V.V. Argost
Ghoulish host of Zak's favourite TV show "Weird World" V.V. Argost is secretly bent on world domination using an army of captured cryptids. Argost is aided by his manservant Munya, who can transform into a spider-monster, and often hires the mercenary Van Rook who's young assistant turns out to have a connection to our heroes. Many episodes revolve around a race between Argost and the Saturdays to retrieve an ancient artifact or living cryptid.
Racer X? Not quite.
Phil Morris is the voice of Doc and Nicole Sullivan plays Drew. Voice acting staple Will Friedle plays Van Rook's mysterious apprentice who plays a larger role later on. Diedrich Bader is Fiskerton and Fred Tatasciore voices Komodo and Zon. Corey Burton provides V.V. Argost's terrible intonations. The blend classic action cartoon tropes with cryptozoology is a big win in my books. Jay Stephens designs are simple but elegant. The orange and black of the Saturdays' outfits never seems too Hallowe'en-ish and the mission specific variations are well done too. I'm only about halfway through the first season but I've been impressed enough to blog about it. Overall The Secret Saturdays is awesome.
Time Squad (2001-2003)
Inspired by the Mr. Peabody and Sherman segments from Rocky & Bullwinkle Time Squad stars Buck Tuddrussel (Rob Paulsen), Larry 3000 (Mark Hamill), and Otto Osworth (Pamela Aldon) as they strive to preserve the timeline from anomalies such as Edgar Allan Poe being very happy and into rainbows and cuteness or Eli Whitney inventing flesh eating robots instead of the cotton gin. I've not watched every episode yet but I'm quite enjoying the comedy derived from the subversion of our expectations based on "true" history and the silly, at times almost risque, situations our heroes must rectify.
Otto, Tuddrussel, & Larry
...in the time stream
In the first episode Buck and Larry arrive in the early 21st century and end up taking young orphan Otto on their mission to set Eli Whitney on the correct path of invention. Buck is a musclebound he-man who prefers using his fists rather than his brain. Larry 3000 is a sarcastic, intellectual whose interests are effectively the opposite of his partner's which results in constant bickering. Otto is basically a fusion of Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman. Physically he resembles Sherman and retains the boyish immaturity of that character while intellectually he possesses Mr. Peabody's encyclopedic knowledge of history which is usually crucial to the success of the team's mission.
Things have gone awry
Time Squad is a worthy successor to Mr. Peabody and Sherman and an extremely entertaining look at how history could've gone so very, very wrong.
Thumb's up Napoleon! Go for it!
Dave Wasson's twisted vision of history is very funny and I will be sad when I come to the end of the zany adventures of the Time Squad.
Disney's Fillmore! (2002-2004)
The greatest homage to hi-octane police dramas from the 1970's, Fillmore! is the one show on this list that I have watched in its entirety. At least twice. It's also the only show here that I did discover around the time it was airing. This show is so great that a screenshot is insufficient, here's the full opening credits:
I love mystery shows as I've blogged about here and here and Fillmore! takes all those tropes and crank them up to 11. The sheer absurdity of a cop show set in a middle school delights me to no end.
The show is centred on reformed juvenile delinquent Cornelius Fillmore and his partner in the Safety Patrol Ingrid Third, a transfer student with a photographic memory. Every episode has our intrepid heroes on the trail of a kid-friendly criminal enterprise the likes of serial graffiti vandals, standardized test thieves, Mafioso-like girl scouts, and a virtual pet kidnapper.
There is also at least one ridiculous chase scene per show which inevitably results in a large amount of collateral damage for which Fillmore is harangued by Jr. Commissioner Vallejo, perpetually stressed and constantly reminding our dynamic duo to play by the rules and not to stir the pot. When Vallejo discovers the latest carnage he inevitably shouts "FILLMORE!"
Don't mess with the Jr. Commish
Principal Folsom the uptight authority figure who has no patience for our heroes' antics and is constantly putting pressure on the Safety Patrol to close and case or face the consequences.
Rounding out the cast is the rest of the Safety Patrol, forensics expert Karen Tehama, her partner Joseph Anza, and perpetual comic relief Danny O'Farrell.
Anza and Tehama, with O'Farrell tumbling in
O'Farrell bustin' a move before a bewildered audience
The setting of this show is also a stroke of brilliance. The fictional "X Middle School" apparently located in the suburbs of Minneapolis/Saint Paul Minnesota, has facilities beyond any school one could ever find in reality. There are jai alai courts, paddleboat ponds and giant hamster balls all to make the chases more interesting.
Doesn't your school have one of these?
There also exists at X every club imaginable often used to introduce a set of suspects or to fit the theme of that episode's crime. The population, dimensions, and exact layout of the school is never established as the writers wanted to have to freedom to add whatever the plot required.
With Fillmore! Scott M. Gimple created a surprisingly well fleshed out world with classic characters and a ton of zaniness. I don't think I can articulate just how great this show is. I've seen every single episode at least two or three times which I can't say about many other shows. Fillmore!is an age-appropriate wild ride that I think has something for everyone.
These are the top three on my list, but stay TOONed for more!
At last, cartoon descriptions from you that sound tempting. Like totes, Secret Saturdays sounds intriguing (I do love adopting characters from the first espied - Johnny Quest, and pterosaurs, also Johnny Quest), though I am not sure if my previous love of Hanna-Barbara style will transfer over; the screen shots do not impress.
Time Squad seems stupid as fuck, but perhaps in a fashion that may be akin to the sublime portrayal of reality as found in The Tick. Coupled with Time Tunnel meets the time aspects of Rocky & Bullwinkle, surely my childhood prolonged dinners (cold vegetables or whatever, total ick-balls!) can be relived again, complete with newness.
Plus, were I a tween I would totes hit anybody from Fillmore! As me now, I would totes hit Principal Folsom, but I fear she might just be too much woman for me.
At last, cartoon descriptions from you that sound tempting. Like totes, Secret Saturdays sounds intriguing (I do love adopting characters from the first espied - Johnny Quest, and pterosaurs, also Johnny Quest), though I am not sure if my previous love of Hanna-Barbara style will transfer over; the screen shots do not impress.
ReplyDeleteTime Squad seems stupid as fuck, but perhaps in a fashion that may be akin to the sublime portrayal of reality as found in The Tick. Coupled with Time Tunnel meets the time aspects of Rocky & Bullwinkle, surely my childhood prolonged dinners (cold vegetables or whatever, total ick-balls!) can be relived again, complete with newness.
Plus, were I a tween I would totes hit anybody from Fillmore! As me now, I would totes hit Principal Folsom, but I fear she might just be too much woman for me.