The Simpsons "Grampa vs. S****l Inadequacy" Review

 

Ladies and gentlemen i've reviewed alot of thing when it comes to animation and given that i've had alot of fun this past week i've decided to continue this trend for the foreseeable future. Since doing these reviews of animated episodes has allowed me to take a look at things that I normally such as the case with this review i've never thought of taking a look at a Simpsons until now and so here is my review of season 6 episode 10 of The Simpsons called "Grampa vs. S****l Inadequacy" and yes I will be editing the name of the episode but still enjoy the review anyway guys and girls.

The plot of the episode is Marge and Homer are having marriage problems shall we say and Grampa gives Homer a Tonic which actually helps things and so the duo get the idea to sell the tonic but things aren't that simple. The plot I found to be rather enjoyable and at the same time it was exactly what I expected from an episode of The Simpsons when it was in it's prime but at the same time the subplot with Bart and the kids or Springfield trying to adjust to life without there parents goes nowhere and the overall plot does seem rushed which given the twenty two minuet running time is rather understandable but it's still an issue.

Starring in this episode is Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson , Joe Quimby , Grampa and Barney Gumble. Also starring in the episode is  Julie Kavner as Marge Simpson , Nancy Cartwright as Bart Simpson , Nelson Muntz and Ralph Wiggum , Yeardley Smith as Lisa Simpson , Phil Hartman as Troy McClure , Harry Shearer as Al Gore , Ned Flanders and Dr. Hibbert , Hank Azaria as Raphael and Professor Frink , Maggie Roswell as Maude Flanders and Mrs. Frink and Pamela Hayden as Milhouse Van Houten.

Now I know that chances are I missed of a few actors and characters but the cast list and character list for even one episode is huge and so I had to cut it down. As for what I thought about the acting in this episode considering that all of these actors are legends due to this show it goes without saying that there performances are pretty spot on all of the main actors and even the guest actors in this episode do a really freaking good job.

Doing the episode for this episode and im assuming the entire series is Film Roman Productions who worked on the show between season 4 to season 27. Now im sucker for The Simpsons when it's in it's prime because I honestly feel that everything is better in those seasons and the same is true for the animation in this episode which while it's nowhere close to fantastic is alot better then animation seen when the show was dipping in quality.

Now I do kind of have a history when it comes to watching this episode because I started watching this episode along with a bunch of others when I was very young thanks to The Simpsons Too Hot For TV VHS. Which me and my younger brother watched alot growing up and so I know this episode inside out since for a long time it was the only Simpsons piece of home media that I had it's just a shame that I either lost or gave away that VHS tape because it must be worth a small fortune now.

This to me is a solid example of what the show was like when it was in it's prime because the episode is so well written and so so adult. I would honestly point to episodes like this if people needed proof that The Simpsons is an adult cartoon because the more recent seasons have made the show more kid friendly and that takes away from alot of what they can satire because there not aloud to put that much of there own spin on things now due to the fact that they've gone a more child friendly route which is a shame because when it wants to be The Simpsons can more adult then most adult cartoons out there which is really saying something in my own humble opinion.

This episode does try to introduce a conflict between Abe and Homer and while it is handled slightly well. The issue that I have with it is that not only does it come out nowhere it also gets resolved really quickly which is a shame because there conflict with Abe admitting that Homer was an accident is honestly shocking but it's something that comes out of nowhere with little to no build up and so what could have been a truly interesting as it is it's just there.

One of the biggest issues of this episode is something that i've already touched on earlier in the review and that's the fact that they drop a whole subplot involving Bart and the kids of Springfield trying to work out what's happening to the adults. This is honestly something that should have been wrapped up since alot of time is spent developing the plot line and so to see it get dropped entirely just make the scenes that advance that plot line seem pointless since it goes nowhere and adds up to nothing which is a shame because it could have been a funny subplot or at least I think it could have been a funny subplot anyways.

I like the fact that this episode showed us how good of a father Abe was to Homer since there are a ton of times where Homer says that Abe was bad father. As such it's nice to see  an episode that tells us that that wasn't always the case Abe wasn't a bad father he was a good father who was just trying to do the best that he could which us something that I don't think we had seen up until this point in the shows history.

                                                                                 

Now then since this is a comedy that does mean that we have to talk about the jokes that are in this episode. I honestly think that this episode was really funny there are alot of good jokes in this episode and alot of them work really well with my favourite joke being when there in the library Marge and Homer try and lie to there kids about the kind of books there looking at and they pick out books that you don't want kids to see or even some adults to see you reading which I just thought was really freaking funny.

Overall I don't think that it needs saying but I really did enjoy this episode nostalgia aside it was a really funny and well written episode. That doesn't make the episode perfect tho since as i've mentioned in this very review I did have some issues with this episode which is a shame because if these issues were fixed I would say that this is a perfect Simpsons episode but as it is this episode gets an 8 out of 10 from me.

All the images I used in this review where gathered from the official fandom wiki page for The Simpsons and nowhere else. I fully admit I wasn't expecting these images to be high definition and so I wasn't that shocked to see that alot of the images weren't high definition but since I only went to the official Simpsons fandom wiki page I have no choice but to recommend that website for images from either this episode , the show or anything to do with The Simpsons.

Batman "Pretty Poison" Review

 

Batman fans it's been nearly two months since I last talked about anything from the classic Batman: The Animated Series. Well I thought that i'd rectify that by taking a look at another episode from the show but choosing just one episode from a see a solid episodes was a hard choice and so I chose an episode that I honestly have not seen and after watching it i'm kicking myself because such a good episode and so here is my review of the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Pretty Poison" enjoy.

The plot of the episode is after Harvey Dent is poisoned while in a date Batman has to find out who the culprit is and why they did it. I will say that even tho I had this originally written this part of the review to not include who the culprit is it quickly came to me that it would to hard to do the review with all the images and the cast list which have the character listed but I will say that the plot of the episode is so freaking good that you should watch it anyways.

Starring in the episode is the great and only voice of Batman in my opinion Kevin Conroy as Batman / Bruce Wayne and Richard Moll as Harvey Dent. Also starring in the episode Richard Moll as Harvey Dent , Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Alfred Pennyworth , Diane Pershing as Poison Ivy / Pamela Lillian Isley , Ingrid Oliu as Officer Renée Montoya , Lloyd Bochner as Mayor Hamilton Hill , Robert Costanzo as Detective Harvey Bullock and Bob Hastings as Commissioner James Gordon.

As to be expected from this show the acting in the episode is top freaking notch which is something that I wouldn't usually say but for this show it really does deserve it. All of the actors in this episode do such a good job and it helps that the script for the episode is so good with all of the characters having alot of personality and so all the actors have to do is just say the lines and they'd have a great performance , I honestly can never praise the acting in this series enough because it really is so freaking good it's in my opinion the best acted as well as best written Batman show animated or not that's out there that's how good it all is.

Now then boys and girls this series had a different animation studio working on each episode as such the animation for this episode was done by Sunrise. I don't think that this needs saying but i'm going to say it anyway the animation in this episode is so freaking good every background and every character movement leaps of the screen it really does go to show that Warner Bros threw alot of money at this show.

Speaking of the backgrounds I freaking love them not only in this episode but in the show as a whole simply because they add to the atmosphere of the show. This show is filled with tension in every scene and the backgrounds help with that because how gothic they look to out it bluntly the backgrounds in this show could almost be seen as works of art they are that good and that stunning to look at and i'm surprised that people haven't talked much about them.

In case you couldn't tell by the episodes name or the fact that I listed the character when listing the actors but the main villain of this episode is one Poison Ivy. Yeah I really liked how they did her in this episode they made her out to be this femme fatale type of character with her using her charms to get exactly what she wants and that to me is perfect for the character of Poison Ivy since she is someone who hates the race f men for what there doing to the earth and so she would have no issue with using her charm to lure her male suitors to there death if need be.

This episode I believe is one of many that let's us get to truly know the character of Harvey Dent as played by Richard Moll. I honestly believe that letting us get to know Harvey before he becomes Two-Face is such a smart move because the origins of Two-Face is a tragic one and you can only really feel that tragedy when you've really gotten to know the man behind the monster as such this honestly works because when doe does eventually become the villain we really do feel it because we've had all of this time to get to know him.

Now sadly this episode isn't perfect because it does fail on a few things the first of which being the most important thing for any batman product and that's the mystery. This isn't really a fault of the episode itself but the name of the episode gives away who did it and so there's no more mystery because we know who did it and so all we have to do is find out the why and it also means that we are ahead of the main character which should never be the case at all in my opinion.

The other thing that I thought the episode did wrong was the fact that this was a single parter to me this episode would have had much more of an impact if it was at least two episodes. This way you could have that cliffhanger of if Harvey is going to make it out alive or not , doing this in one episode means that any suspense that you could build up you now can't because it has to be resolved in twenty two minuets.

Now then since this is an action show and there is some action in this episode that does mean that we have to talk about the action that's in this episode. I honestly feel that the action this episode while it was indeed pretty good that's all it was which for a series as good as this is not a good thing whatsoever and the fact that there's very little action to me just makes a great episode feel boring because we already know who the culprit is and so there's nothing that interesting to keep us watching the episode in my opinion.

Overall like I said this is a well written episode which shouldn't come as a shock since the writer of this episode Tom Ruegger also created and wrote Animaniacs and Tiny Toon Adventures. That being said the episode does have it's fair share of problems all of which keep the episode from being as good as we know this series can be but with that said this is still an rather enjoyable episode as such it gets a 7.5 out of 10 from me.

All images used in this review were gathered from either the official Batman fandom wiki page or the official Batman: The Animated Series fandom wiki page. I'll admit I wasn't expecting these images to be anywhere close to high definition and apart from the poster which is very HD I got exactly what I expected as such I cannot recommend either website because the quality of the images is the about the same on either one. 

 

  

Ewoks AKA Star Wars: Ewoks "The Cries Of The Trees" Review

 

Star Wars fans I promised you that I would be taking another trip to a galaxy far , far away and well I truly did mean it. For you see both this show and Droids were airing at the same time under the name The Ewoks and Droids Adventure Hour but where as Droids was made for the more adult Star Wars fans the show that i;m reviewing today was made for the younger Star Wars fans and of here is my review of the first episode of Ewoks AKA Star Wars: Ewoks called "The Cries Of The Trees" so then both Star Wars fans and animation fans alike enjoy.

The plot of the episode is an evil witch called Morag captures Queen Izrina (a fairy) and puts a spell on her so is forced to set the forest where Wicket and the other Ewoks live and so it's up and all of the ewoks to put the fire out before the whole forest is burnt down. For a show aimed at little kids the plot was shockingly alot better then what I thought it was going to be I honestly went into this episode expecting it to be pretty light hearted but nope it couldn't be further from that in fact the episode was pretty freaking dark and I loved that as well as the story.

Starring in the show is voice acting legend Cree Summer as Kneesaa , Jim Henshaw as Wicket and Jackie Burroughs as Morag. Also starring in the show is George Buza as Chief Chirpa , Doug Chamberlain as Logray , Paul Chato as Paploo , Alyson Court as Malani , Don Francks as Umwak , Pam Hyatt as Bozzie , Taborah Johnson as Latara , Eric Peterson as Teebo and John Stocker as Widdle Warrick. 

As for the acting in the episode it's alot better then the acting in one of the more recent shows i've watched which is Wuzzles but that's not a nigh bar to reach at all. I honestly feel that out of the two Star Wars cartoons that I watched this one has the better acting and that's because just based of this episode of course but the script is better and when you have a good script the actors are of course going to deliver a great performance.

Just like with Droids the animation for not only this episode but also the series was provided by Nelvana. I admit that I wasn't expecting the animation in this series to be good or even passable for that matter and so you can imagine my surprise when it turned out that the animation was actually really good yes it's not as good as something from say Disney for example but it's alot better then it had any right to be.

Unlike with Droids where they made some slight colour changes to C-3PO here Wicket is not only the same colour wise as he is in Return Of The Jedi but his design is actually pretty freaking close to what he looked in Return Of The Jedi as well. I of course have to single out Wicket because he's the only returning character from the films and they honestly did a good job of making him look like his film counterpart and making him look adorable as hell.

In terms of the timeline of when this show is meant to take place I think it's meant to take place before Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure. Which in turn takes place before Return Of The Jedi so what we have here ladies and gentlemen is a prequel set before another prequel which does mean that this episode and thus this show has the same trappings that all prequels that feature the same characters have in that we already know that there going to make it out alive and so there's no suspense at all.

What kind of is confusing is the fact that in both of the Ewok films and Return Of The Jedi the ewoks cannot speak English hell they barely speak broken English. Yet in this episode and thus this show they speak perfect English and speak in full sentences which really doesn't make any kind of sense whatsoever and this is perhaps the only time where Disney not making stuff canon is a good thing since it now clears up the fact that the Ewoks cannot speaking English that well and so they don't speak English in full sentences.

To me this is better then Droids was and alot of what makes it better comes from the fact that this show in some way expands upon the world of Star Wars. Since before this series aired we had no idea that there were other races living on Endor we just knew that the Ewoks lived there and yet this very episode tells us that there are more races living on the planet and so from that we can gather that some of them would have most likely helped out in Return Of The Jedi.

Now it's not all good i'm afraid since the opening theme song to this show is freaking terrible luckily I cannot find the name of the song. The theme song that they use for this show just doesn't match up with the fun nature of the show at all if anything some thing like Yub Nub would have worked more since it's a song from the movies and it's a fun song the song they have here is very downbeat and just doesn't go well with the show at all.

Now both for it's first season Ewoks aired alongside Droids as part of a programming block called The Ewoks and Droids Adventure Hour. However when Droids didn't return for a second season and Ewoks did the name of the programming block was changed to The All-New Ewoks and infact this show actually lasted longer then Droids did since this show started on ABC on September 7th 1985 and ended on December 13th 1986 so it lasted one season more then Droids did.

Overall I honestly think that this show is alot better then Droids simply because it's not only in a format that better suits these characters in that it's episodic and is made for little kids but it's also expands on the world of Star Wars. Now im not going to say that this episode is perfect because it's honestly not and so to say so would be freaking dumb but out of the two Star Wars cartons that we got in the eighties i'd rather watch this then Droids any day of the week as such this episode gets a 6.5 out of 10 from this Star Wars fans.

All images that I used in this review were gathered from either the official Star Wars fandom wiki page or Google Images. Just like with Droids I wasn't expecting to find any high definition images for this episode and so I wasn't surprised when I couldn't find any at all as such I really can't recommend either website but if I was pushed i'd say use either website since the images your going to find are of the same quality and so it makes no difference whatsoever.

 

Star Wars: Droids AKA Star Wars: Droids: The Adventures Of R2-D2 And C-3PO "The White Witch" Review

 

Now then Star Wars fans it's been at the very least three months since I last talked about anything to do with Star Wars. As such I thought that i'd rectify this by spending the next few days talking about two of the earliest animated adventures to take place in a galaxy , far , far away simply due to the fact that I don't see anyone talking about the two shows that I have in mind as such here is my review of the very first episode of "Star Wars; Droids" aka "Star Wars: Droids: The Adventures Of R2-D2 And C-3PO" called "The White Witch" enjoy.

The plot of the episode is C-3PO and R2-D2 find themselves in the service of two new masters called Jord Dusat and Thall Joben but when Jord is kidnapped by a local crime boss looking to over throw all the over gangs Thall , C-3PO and R2-D2 must team up with rebel spy Kea Moll in order to rescue Jord. In terms of what I thought about the plot it was honestly pretty good the story did a good a job of setting up these new characters while at the same time telling a fresh and new story and it helped that unlike the Disney films this plot was actually good and didn't disrespect the old characters or fans of the franchise.

Reprising his role from the films is the always great Anthony Daniels as C-3PO and joining him for the episode is Rob Cowan as Thall Joben. Also starring in this episode is Peter MacNeill as Jord Dusat , Winston Rekert as Tigg Fromm , John Stocker as Vlix Oncard and Lesleh Donaldson as Kea Moll , now i've not listed anyone as playing R2-D2 because well firstly he's just beeps and whistles and secondly in the opening credits to the show he's listed as playing himself which I just find to be cute and adorable at the same time.

In terms of what I thought about the acting in the episode well Anthony Daniels as to be expected kills it as C-3PO the man can do no wrong as this character in my opinion. Where the quality of the acting dips a little in my opinion is the new cast who simply have no idea if they should take the material that there given seriously or not and so give rather odd performances which in my opinion hurt the episode but R2 is amazing the guy deserves an OSCAR in my opinion.

Now I cannot find out who did the actual animation for the either show or the episode but I know that Nelvana and so i'm going to assume that it was them. The animation in this episode is exactly what you think it would be like for a Star Wars animated show released in the eighties and yeah it's exactly as bad as you think it is don't get me wrong when the episode wants to have good animation it can but for alot of the time the animation just looks off putting and cheap which for something based in the Star Wars universe shouldn't be the case at all.

They did kind of simplify the design of C-3PO which I honestly think works rather well altho why they made the part between his torso and chest blue when in the film's black is beyond me. I do honestly like the designs for both C-3PO and R2-D2 like I said they have more simplified designs here and those designs are things that I can really get behind it helps tho that R2 looks very close to his live action counterpart or as close as you can get in the realm of eighties animation and the fact that they gave C-3PO weird looking eyes is just off putting to me.

Now after doing some research I found out that this series is meant to bet set inbetween Revenge Of The Sith and A New Hope. However as far as I can tell after just watching this one episode this series isn't essential viewing which I guess makes sense since the prequels were most likely not even planned out that much when this series was being made but at the same time it's still something that I feel alot of Star Wars fans should know about.

Now in terms of if this show is canon I honestly cannot give an answer because I can't find anything that either says it is canon or says that it isn't canon. Which honestly i'd be fine if it wasn't canon just because like I said before this series isn't essential viewing and so nothing of importance would be lost but at the same time I do feel that it would be fun if this show was considered  canon just due to seeing people trying to work out where certain things fit in terms of the franchises canon.

Now even tho she didn't get alot to do in this episode I liked the character of Kea Moll who as I mentioned is played by Lesleh Donaldson. If i'm right at this time we hadn't seen a female rebel spy and so to see one appear in the first episode was honestly rather interesting and it helped that the character had alot of potential it's just that they didn't give her alot to do in terms of the story as such she's just kind of there but I believe we get to find out more about her in either episode two or three so yeah there's that at least.

The episode aired on ABC on September 7th 1985 and forms part of the first arc which lasted until episode four which aired on September 28th 1985.For some reason the makers of the show chose to split it up into arc each arc lasting four episodes with C-3PO and R2-D2 meeting there new master or masters at the start of the arc and then being forced to leave them at the end of it , to me this kind of storytelling doesn't work with these characters simply because C-3PO and R2-D2 are two characters that don't really demand arcs if anything this series should have been episodic and been more of a comedy which since this is a kids show would have made alot of sense.

As mentioned before this started on September 7th 1985 and aired on ABC for thirteen episodes ending on November 30th 1985. However there was an hour long special that aired on ABC on June 7th 1986 which serves as a prequel to episode ten , I do believe that out of al the animated Star Wars shows ever made so far this one is the shortest since it technically lasted less then a few months where as others last a few years.

This is an action cartoon and so that means that I have to talk about the action that's in the episode itself. Which is honestly pretty decent at least for the time that it was released and the fact that it has a twenty three minuet running time but with that being said this is Star Wars and with that I do expect the action scenes to be freaking amazing and so so to see something with the Star Wars name have action that's just OK to me is a huge let down.

Overall this honestly wasn't that bad of an episode it did a good job of telling it's story as well as giving us some pretty decent action. That being said tho I can't say that this is that good of an episode since it has alot of things that are wrong all of which i've mentioned in this review but for what was the very first Star Wars animated series it honestly wasn't that bad and this episode at least does show some promise as such this episode gets a 6.5 out of 10 from me.

All the images that I used in this review were gathered from with the official Star Wars fandom wiki page or Google Images. I honestly wasn't expecting to find any high definition images for either this episode or the show as a whole as such I shocked to see that while there aren't that many there are some high definition images to be found on both websites as such I have to say use either website if you want any high definition images from either the show , this episode or of course the movies live action or animated.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures Animated Series "One Sweet & Sour Chinese Adventure To Go" Review

 

Well it seems we have a little bit of a streak going here were I pick obscure as hell or little known cartoons and well I hate to break a good thing when it's going. As luck would have it the franchise this show belongs to is actually on verge of coming back to back to life with a new movie due out in a couple and so I thought I thought i'd talk about an episode of the Bill & Ted animated show as such here is my review of the very first episode of "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures" called "One Sweet & Sour Chinese Adventure To Go" enjoy.

The plot of the episode is that Bill and Ted break a vass belonging to Bill's stepmom Missy and so the duo must travel back in time to ancient China to get a new one before she finds out. I will admit that the plot is just as wonderfully silly and over the top as you'd expect from a Bill & Ted story but at the same time the story is also pretty thin with it only really coming into play whenever the scene demands it and so I wouldn't blame anyone if they didn't like the plot to this episode but like I said it is still a fun story to see play out.

Reprising their roles from the films are Keanu Reeves as Ted "Theodore" Logan , Alex Winter as Bill S. Preston, Esq. and the late George Carlin as Rufus. For once i'm forced to end the cast list there because I can't tell you who else does any voices in this episode yes there are actors listed but it doesn't tell you who there playing and so it would be pointless for me to credit them since I can't tell which character they played.

In terms of what I thought about the acting tho the returning cast do a pretty good job voicing there characters but it's clear that there not voice actors and so they really can't deliver as good a performance as they could do in the live action films. As for the new cast the actress they got to play Missy was pretty good as was the actor who played Marco Polo who honestly did get a few laughs out of me but honestly that's really it since the new cast where just there apart from the two characters that I mentioned none of them really stood out for me.

Now even tho Hanna-Barbera Productions did produce the show's first season the actual animation for the first season and i'm guessing this episode was done by Fil-Cartoons. Honestly the animation wasn't as bad as it really could have been considering that this is a cartoon based of a movie and those typically don't have that good animation , here tho I felt that the animation was ta best passable which trust me for this type of show is really good thing.

Now I mentioned that Hanna-Barbera Productions produced the first season of the show and that's because for some odd reason for season two they switched production company with DIC Entertainment taking over production. Not only did DIC switch out animation studios with them going with both Big Star Enterprise and Spectrum Animation Studio respectively they also swapped out the entire main cast of the show Keanu Reeves , Alex Winter and George Carlin with there counterparts from the live action show of the same name.

Just to clear up any confusion about the title of this review there also a live action series based on Bill & Ted with the same name airing around the exact same time as the animated show was airing. Whoever freaking thought of having two shows based on the same brand and giving the same name needs to freaking fired because talk about confusing your audience they really should have given one of these shows a different name even if they just called the animated show Bill & Ted it would have worked since people wouldn't get confused about what show they want to watch or are talking about with there friends or family.

This show does have some very early CGI and luckily it only appears at least once in this episode that's if your not counting the intro to the show that is. The CGI was I assume provided by San Francisco Production Group altho there really is nothing to either back that up or shoot it down so take it with a huge mega grain of salt , I will say that the CGI even tho it's very early CGI is honestly pretty decent espically for the time in which this show was made and so I can't really say that the CGI in the episode is bad because honestly given the time that this episode and show was released it's as good as we could have ever hoped for.

Now I can't fond who wrote the theme song for this first season of the show but I have to say after seeing the intro to both this first season and the second season. I honestly prefer the first season song and intro just because it perfectly capture that rock and roll lifestyle that the two characters try and fail to create for themselves and it helps that the first season theme song is honestly really freaking catchy which is always a good thing if you ask me.

This episode aired on CBS on September 15th 1990 with it's first season lasting until December 22nd 1990. The show would see a second season except now as mentioned it would be produced by DIC Entertainment and would air on Fox Kids since Fox was airing the live action show as well with the second season running from September 14th 1991 until November 16th 1991 and as you can no doubt work by when the seasons ended the first season had alot more episodes then the second with season one having thirteen episodes and season two only having eight but still two seasons for a cartoon based of a live action movie isn't a bad run if you ask me anyways.

Now then since this is a comedy that does mean that we have to talk about the jokes that are in the episode. I honestly thought that the jokes were just OK at best which is honestly me being very freaking kind just because i've always been more of a Wayne's World fan then a Bill & Ted fan as such I feel loyal to Wayne and Garth but with that being said when there is a good joke in this episode it can be really funny.

Overall in all honesty this episode isn't that bad but that's also the issue since it's not really that good either. This episode falls into a weird middle ground since for every good thing I found about the episode I found two or three more bad things about it but I will give the series this it did help keep the Bill & Ted brand name going and yes the new movie Bill & Ted Face The Music will be out both on demand and in theaters on August 28th of this year and this episode gets a 5 out of 10 from this animation fan.

All images used in this review were gathered from either the official Bill & Ted fandom wiki page or Google Images. For once I can't really recommend either website since both had images that are high quality and low quality and so it's hard for me to say which one you should use for images from this franchise as such i'll just say if you want any Bill & Ted images be it from this show or the live action show or the movies use whatever website you want.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! "What A Night For A Knight" Review

 

Scooby-Doo fans the last time you saw me talking about the anything from the franchise was about three or four months ago when Scoob was released. Well i'm here now with another review from this franchise and while it's not anything recent it is something that honestly I don't see people doing and that's taking a look back and reviewing one of the classic episodes and so here is my review of the very first episode of "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" called "What A Night For A Knight" so enjoy everyone.

The plot of this episode is a professor who is delivering a suit of armour to the local museum disappears and it's up to Scooby and the gang to work out where he is , who took him if anyone did and why. The stories in Scooby-Doo are always super easy to follow and yeah the same is true here it's story that works because of how simple it is as such I can't see a plot like this working if it was super dark and complicated but with that said I would have liked a few twists and turns thrown just because I did predict who the culprit was.

Starring in the episode is the late and great Don Messick as Scooby-Doo , Professor Hyde White and The Sheriff. Also in the episode is the great and only actor still involved with the franchise and still playing the same character Frank Welker as Fred Jones , the late Casey Kasem as Shaggy Rogers , Stefanianna Christopherson as Daphne Blake , Nicole Jaffe as Velma Dinkley and John Stephenson as Black Knight and Museum Worker 1.

In terms of what I thought about the acting in the episode I honestly didn't mind it that much yes a few of the performances could have been better but given that this was the very first episode and no one could have predicted that the franchise would still be going I have to give them a little slack. What was odd tho was hearing Stefanianna Christopherson as Daphne just because i;m so used to hearing either Heather North or Grey Griffin so it was hard for me to hear what she originally sounded like but it was something that I quickly overcame.

I don't think that this needs saying since it's really freaking well known but doing the animation for not only this episode but this whole version f Scooby-Doo is Hanna-Barbera Productions. Now in terms of the quality of the animation I thought it was honestly pretty decent and is easily alot better then alot of other animated shows that were coming out around the same time period and is most probably the best animated TV that Hanna-Barbera Productions have worked on at least in terms of there classic shows anyways.

That being said however while I personally only spotted at least one animation error the official Scooby-Doo fandom wiki page found alot more. The only one that I found is where Velma looses her glasses for the first time and mistakes the Black Knight for Shaggy and when Shaggy comes running in Velma for some reason has her glasses back on despite not having picked them up it's nothing that's important to the plot of the episode but at the same time it's still an error that could have been fixed assuming that the team had the time to fix it that is.

Sticking with odd little things that I noticed not long after the gang split up Velma and Scooby stick there head around a door but just a few seconds before that Shaggy walks right past them and so Velma shouldn't have said that they lost Shaggy because she would have saw him walking. I personally don't count that as an animation error but I wouldn't blame anyone if they did since it's so freaking strange it honestly makes Velma look a little bit dumb if i;m being honest.

Now that i've spent a little while talking about the negatives of the episode it's about time that I got back to talking about some of the episodes positive points. That being I like the Black Knight in this episode he / it is a really creepy looking villain and it's a villain that honestly I could see them making a straight up horror slasher film with him / it as the villain since it already looks so freaking creepy and those eyes just put it over the top in terms of creep factor.

This episode was first broadcast on September 13th 1969 on CBS and for once I actually cannot say when it's ended because it's technically still going on since the show has been rebooted and retooled so many times to keep the franchise fresh and new. I can say that this version even tho it lasted three seasons ended on December 23rd 1978 after ABC revived this version of the show for a new third season.

Now then since this is comedy that does mean that we have to talk about the jokes that are in the episode itself. Of course we get some of the usual gags that the show would become well known for like Velma loosing her glasses in some way and in this case Scooby disguising himself to fool the ghost now while someone loosing there glasses isn't funny it is one of the thing s that the show has become will known for and the jokes themselves are fairly decent.

Now then since Scooby-Doo is built on being a mystery franchise that means I have to talk about the actual mystery of the episode. Which I honestly thought was pretty decent yes it is kind of predictable who the villain of the episode is but for me the fun is trying to work who it is and how the show goes about giving you it's clues which this episode does really well in my opinion it gives you just enough clues so that you can work it out for yourself which is what alot of good mystery shows or movies should do however like I said a few times already I already worked out who did and so I felt like the characters were playing catch up to me which should never be the case both you and the characters should e on a level playing field you should know what they know about the case that there trying to solve , it should them playing catch up with you or you having to play catch up with the characters at least in my opinion anyways.

Overall this was honestly a rather fun episode to watch and it's not hard to see how the show became the hit that it did. That being said I did have alot of issues with the episode all of which i've covered in hopefully great detail in this review but those issues weren't really enough to stop me from enjoying the episode in fact they oddly made it more enjoyable to me well at least animation error did as such this episode gets an 8 out of 10 from me.

All the images that I used in this review were gathered from either the official Scooby-Doo fandom wiki page or Google Images. I have to say that I wasn't expecting any of the images to be HD at all and so the fact that all but one of them was high definition is to me a huge freaking plus as such I highly , highly , highly recommend that you get you r Scooby-Doo images from the official Scooby-Doo fandom wiki page just because there are really freaking HD.

 

 

 

The Real Ghostbusters "Ghosts R Us" Review

 

Animation i'm just going to let you all know now that over the next few days to a week chances are your going to see a lot more posts from me just because I have a ton of animated episode reviews that I want to do and I have the episodes already on my laptop. So yeah you better get ready to see alot of reviews of older shows because trust me I have alot of them and as you can tell for this review i'm taking a look at the very first episode of The Real Ghostbusters called "Ghosts R Us" so enjoy guys and girls and everything inbetween.

The plot of the episode is the Ghostbusters find themselves being run out of business called Ghosts R Us but the Ghostbusters suspect that nothing quite what it seems with the new ghost hunting business. I found the plot to be honestly rather enjoyable and while the plot isn't as good the plot of the first movie for a Saturday morning cartoon the plot was honestly rather enjoyable and it was fun to see this storyline play out.

Starring in the episode is Maurice LaMarche as Egon Spengler and Mr. Conrad , Frank Welker as Ray Stantz , Zonk and Slimer , Garfield voice actor Lorenzo Music as Peter Venkman and Arsenio Hall as Winston Zeddemore. Also starring in the episode is Laura Summer as Janine Melnitz and Snarg and  Ron Masak as Slug and Toy Ghost. I'm honestly shocked that alot of the cast voice multiple characters in this episode just because you really cannot tell at all that it's them doing the voices for alot of the episodes cast of character.

In terms of what I thought about the acting in the episode it was honestly not that bad and was alot better then what I thought it was going to be. Which given the cast is kind of to be expected and I felt that all of the characters were perfectly cast but I will say that it was easy to spot Frank Welker since he's using the voice he does for Fred in Scooby-Doo but performance wise every actor brought it in my opinion.

For once I actually have no idea who for sure did the animation for this episode since several companies are listed as doing the animation for the show but none are listed as doing the animation for the actual episode.Which is a shame because the animation in this episode is honestly pretty freaking good i;m not going to lie and say that it's amazing because it's honestly not but for a Saturday morning TV show the animation was really freaking decent which in my opinion is a good thing.

Now while doing some research for the show I found out that only one actor from the show was interested in reprising his role from the film and that was the great Ernie Hudson. However instead of doing the respectful thing and offering him the role of Winston Zeddemore he was force to audition which makes no sense since he already played the character in the first film so why not just offer him the role.

One of the things that I think this show is well known for is it's creature / monster design and yeah the monsters / creatures in this episode look really creepy. I never thought that i'd say this about a kids show but they actually made the monsters in this episode quite scary which I honestly loved since the Ghostbusters movie had some scary scenes and so it makes sense that the cartoon version should have some creepy looking monsters in it as well.

Even tho this does get explained in a later episode I still find it jarring that they have Slimer a character who was somewhat of a villain in the movie act as an alley to the Ghostbusters not only in this episode but in this whole series. I'm not against the character becoming alley's with the Ghostbusters but when you explain it in a later episode and not in the first one it can come across as jarring especially for those of us who have seen the first film and know the character to be a kind of villain.

This show started airing on September 13th 1986 and run for seven seasons lasting until October 5th 1991 with the show airing on ABC for it's entire run. When this show and oddly enough the character of Slimer was at his most popular the show would be retooled into Slimer And The Real Ghostbusters with the show adding in a new Slimer cartoon which I guess makes sense since the character was popular with kids but why not just give him his own show there;s no need to retool a show that was already a hit.

This episode saw the introduction of the Ecto-2 which is as far as I can gather a mini helicopter type vehicle that the Ghostbusters store in the back of Ecto-1. Which to me is just weird since it's such an obvious  ploy to sell a toy version of the vehicle plus it honestly makes you question firstly how in the hell these four guys who know nothing about flying managed to build a fully functioning mini helicopter and they somehow managed to fit it in to the back of Ecto-1.

Overall this was a pretty decent debut episode and if i'm right for many this was there introduction to the world of Ghostbusters. That being said even tho this episode is pretty fun to watch the episode does get a few things wrong all of which i've covered in this review of the episode but at the same time I have to give this show credit since it did keep the Ghostbusters brand name alive and in the minds of the public as such this episode gets a 6.5 out of 10 from me.

All the images that I used in this review were gathered from the official Ghostbusters fandom wiki page. I fully admit I wasn't expecting to find any high definition images not only for this show but this episode and so to find quite alot of HD images for the episode is to me quite surprising as such I have no choice but to recommend the official Ghostbusters fandom wiki page to those of you who want to use high definition images of from anything to do with the Ghostbusters brand be it animated shows , live action films , the comics or the games.