New Cartoon

I'm a small child at heart. I love animated films, picture books, comics, and cartoons. Anything childlike or whimsical catches my attention. In my free time I read about children's book authors and gifted animators. So it would seem likely that I'd enjoy the Disney Channel. But up until recently I haven't. Too many live action dramas and musical series. Too many people, too adult. Not enough children's stuff. So when I happened to flip by a couple weeks ago, I was shocked to find a cartoon. I was even more shocked to find out that it is a Disney Original and that it happens to be great.

I'll admit it, I'm suddenly addicted to Disney's Phineas and Ferb. The story follows two half-brothers who fill each day of summer vacation with marvelous inventions and exciting adventures. They can build pretty much anything . They are dogged by their older sister who is constantly trying to get them in trouble. But somehow the evidence always manages to disappear (normally without the boys' help) before she can show their mother. In fact the boys want their parents to see what they are up to. Along with the boys' adventures there is the story of Perry, the family's pet platypus. Perry may seem like just an odd pet but he's actually a crime fighting platypus who's mission is to thwart the bumbling, mostly evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz.

Each 30 minute episode has two cartoons. And each cartoon has both the Phineas and Ferb storyline and the Perry the Platypus storyline. These typically intersect at the end of the cartoon in hilarious ways. I'll admit that while I enjoy the Phineas and Ferb segments, I adore the Perry the Platypus one. His interactions with Dr. Doofenshmirtz are witty and clever. I enjoyed one recently where Perry arrives at the Dr.'s office to be told that Doofenshmirtz was still in the planning phase. He can't thwart his evil plan yet because he hasn't even been able to write his evil monologue. So Doofenshmirtz offers Perry the chance to help him so that he can then be thwarted faster. We see them grocery shopping together to pick up all the necessary ingredients for the evil scheme. When they run into Perry's boss, there is a brief silence and then Doofenshmirtz simply says, "well that was awkward." Witty, hilarious, and a little offbeat.

The Phineas and Ferb sections have just as much wit and can be just as funny. The difference is that the storyline there takes itself more seriously. The actions aren't quite so tongue in cheek and there is a sweetness to many of the resolutions that doesn't occur on the Perry side. But it is always a wonder to see the fantastical inventions and where they take the boys. Each cartoon also has a musical bit. And the songs might have to be the best part of the shows. One of my favorites has to be a song (played in hip-hop style) about Candace (the boys' sister) getting squirrels in her pants (it's much more chaste than it sounds). Or the song that Dr. Doofenshmirtz sings about covering his perfect brother in pigeon poo. Hilarious and surprisingly catchy. If you get a moment check out Phineas and Ferb either at IMDB or at the Disney Channel site. Well worth some time. I don't remember the last time I enjoyed a new cartoon this much.

Who Needs Sleep?

I find it funny that I just bought that song from BareNaked Ladies. And it feels so appropos today. I'm living on about 3 hours of sleep so I won't be posting anything huge. I'm not sure I'd be coherent enough for anything more than a couple sentences. So instead, I found this. And considering the amount of snow and cold we are expecting in the next three days (12 inches!!!!) I figure there is no time like the present to post it.

Stuart Carlson

Milwaukee Journal Sentinal

Devilishly Gorey

I haven't posted in a couple days which feels really weird. Work has been crazy these last two days and I haven't been feeling great. Yeah I know, want a little cheese to go with that whine? Needless to say I'm feeling better and thing should be a little more back to normal tomorrow. My job tends to be feast or famine and this week is beyond feast. Which wipes my brain and doesn't allow for thoughts beyond just home, food, sleep. Even this won't be my best post, but hey, at least it's something.

I could say that my mood has been a bit dark. But that could just be the the Gorey stuff I've been reading. Not horror novels, although they can be fun. Instead I've been reading a lot of Edward Gorey. Even if you don't know the name you know his style. Gorey is known for cross-hatched artwork that combines old fashioned images with a wonderfully morbid sense of humor. Gorey's characters often die in unusual ways. His stories are like little comic strips that only run a couple of pages. His most famous book, The Gashlycrumb Tinies, is an alphabet book where each child dies in a strange or unusual way. (A is for Agnes Who Fell Down the Stairs). His cartoons are not for everyone but there is definitely a sense of humor about them. I was shocked to learn that Gorey died just nine years ago. Looking at his illustration work I would have assumed that he had written at the turn of the century.


I've been picking up his books from the library and have been enjoying the brief stories and dark images. Over the weekend I read Gashlycrumb Tinies, Amphigorey Too, and Amphigorey Also. Not sure why this is appealing to me suddenly although Cabinet of Wonders did mention him recently. But I was raised on Gorey along with Chas Addams (creator of the Addams Family), Gahan Wilson, and Gary Larson. We had all kinds of reading material but I tended to gravitate towards some of the more unusual ones. There is a darkness to these cartoonists and a humor that make them perfect for me. I tend to have a bit of a morbid sense of humor. Comes from having a doctor for a father. And Gorey is just too devilishly fun to pass up.

Movie Review: Transformers

Okay so I grew up with Transformers. I watched the cartoon religiously every day. I had most of the cars, although my preference was always for autobots. Strange since I seem to love the villains in almost everything else. My favorite was the bright yellow VW bug called Bumblebee. These were real metal models that transformed into robots. The new toys are just plastic and somehow lose some of their appeal for me. 

So I was a bit hesitant sitting down to watch this movie. My older brother absolutely loved it which should be a sign that I'll hate it. He and I don't always agree on films. But I didn't hate it. The movie was campy and silly in places (imagine autobots tiptoeing over a lawn to keep from crushing the grass) but it also had tongue firmly planted in cheek. There were some great scenes where the movie made fun of the series. The early scene with Bumblebee and the VW bug, the tag line repeated throughout the movie. It had a couple lines that made me laugh out loud. I was surprised. 

The action was well done although a little dizzying. The acting was fun, nobody tried to hard to be serious. Even Optimus Prime's over the top sentiment was possible to overlook. Some of his dialogue was terrible though. 

My only real issue with the movie was the glaring plot hole I found in the end of the movie. First why would the military attempt to take this hunted object to a crowded city. If I were them I would want to be as far away as possible from innocent civilians. And these were some seriously naive civilians. You would think that when the entire worlds communication system shuts down the people wouldn't treat it as a normal day. When they reach the city there are still people driving around like it is a typical day. If all of the world lost cell phone use, that city would have known about it in seconds. Trust me I've seen how many people are on their cell phones at the same time. They would know. 

All and all fun. Good popcorn movie as long as you don't think too much about it. I would still claim that Iron Man was a ton better and I'm excited to see Hellboy 2 which I have high expectations for. But I could easily watch Transformers again. After all Shia LaBeouf is amazingly cute. And yes I feel dirty saying that.