Essay Draft

I've given my essay another going over to fix the referencing, but now it looks like a complete mess. I could use some help...

Animated Maniacs and Looney Tunes

Why are the Looney Tunes More Popular than the Warners?

The Warners (Yacko, Wakko and their sister Dot) are three rubberhose-style characters designed to look like the cartoons of the 30's (black bodies with white faces was a pretty typical look for the earliest cartoons, the stark contrast making their faces easy to read in black-and-white). This is because they were designed to become the new Looney Tunes of the 90’s, as stated by direct Rich Arons in the Animaniacs Volume 2 DVD extra ‘They Can’t Help It If They’re Cute, They’re Just Drawn That Way’.

The exact species to which the Warners belong is unidentified. They utilise very wacky, off-the-wall while their bodies are rubbery, stretchy and very malleable - much like the cartoons of the Golden Age. They move with a lot of squash, stretch and bounce and have musical talent which fit perfectly with the era they were supposedly created for. Without other characters calling them "children" or "kids", it's clear that the Warners are young children, despite them not looking very human. They have a youthful energy (an excessive amount of it, in fact) and generally behave like human children. They have been known to cry loudly to get adults to do what they want  (“Infants quickly learnt that using tactics such as fake crying (...) could win them attention” Gray. 2007), mock authority figures by pulling silly faces or making childish comments and have frequently displayed a naive attitude to historical or political figures whilst having knowledge of current celebrities, the latter being displayed in ‘Hooked on a Ceiling’ (Rusty Mills. 2007). To me, this suggests that they are tweens or young teenagers. Yacko, being taller than Wakko or Dot, seems to be the oldest and his understanding of innuendo implies that he is a young teenager. Dot can be placed as the youngest sibling as Yakko expressively refers to Wakko as having “middle-child syndrome” (‘Survey Ladies’, Rusty Mills. 1993). Wakko’s behaviour in most cartoons does seem to be attention-seeking, as he is often spotted eating bits of the set during a scene.

Animaniacs was the second most popular show on Fox during its original run in 1993, so why must one describe the Warner Brothers (and the Warner Sister) as the introduction to an essay such as this? Stars like Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse, also highly popular in their time, remain popular to this day while the Warners seem to have become more of a cult following than characters we are all naturally aware of.

During the Second World War, Bugs Bunny’s character became more defined and thus more popular for the Looney Tunes franchise. He was seen as a reflection of America itself and its role in the war, taking a passive approach until he was motivated to take revenge. With his Bronx accent and wise-guy attitude, he brought inspiration and fighting spirit to a nation at war (‘Looney Tunes Go to War!’ New Wave Entertainment. 2005). On top of that, his catchphrase of “what’s up doc?” is so memorable there isn’t a person alive who doesn’t know it. So what does Bugs Bunny have that the Warners didn’t? Wakko has a recognisable accent (albeit, a Liverpudlian one arranged, as confirmed in ‘They Can’t Help it if They’re Cute (...)’, a DVD extra exploring the formation of Animaniacs), Yakko has a catchphrase (“Good night everybody!”) and Dot is cute.

Bibliography

Gray, R (2007). Babies Not as Innocent as they Pretend. Telegraph. [Online]. 1^st July. Available from:  [Accessed: 26/11/2011]

(2005) ‘Looney Tunes Go to War!’ [DVD extra] New Wave Entertainment

‘They Can’t Help it if They’re Cute, They’re Just Drawn That Way’ [DVD Extra]

My Attitude To Animation

I came across this video on YouTube via referal from a friend, and I must say, I feel much the same way about animation.

Flickr

We have to make a Flickr account? Really? Is part of the module "how to forfeit all copyright ownership and invite people to steal your art"? I hate Flickr so much. What's more, we're using a Google-owned blogging site for these research projects so why make us get a Yahoo-owned gallery? Picasa would make so much more sense.

Design Contest

We were asked to design some mascots for this thing called the Betty Smithers Collection.
Yeah, I don't know what that is either. It looks like a collection of random refuse that's been building up since the 60's. Anyway, I had a look at this nifty cigarette holder and an orange juice squeezey thing (the non-electronic kind that does actually exist apparently) and modelled them into... Well, they sort of look like tsukumogami by this point.

Orange juicey thingy possibly?

Cigarette holder

Alternate Essay

I miss back when I used to write for fun.

Animated Maniacs and Looney Tunes

The Warners (Yacko, Wakko and their sister Dot) are three rubberhose-style characters designed to look like the cartoons of the 30's (black bodies with white faces was a pretty typical look for the earliest cartoons, the stark contrast making their faces easy to read in black-and-white). This is because they were designed to become the new Looney Tunes of the 90’s, as stated by direct Rich Arons in the Animaniacs Volume 2 DVD extra ‘They Can’t Help It If They’re Cute, They’re Just Drawn That Way’.

The exact species to which the Warners belong is unidentified. They utilise very wacky, off-the-wall while their bodies are rubbery, stretchy and very malleable - much like the cartoons of the Golden Age. They move with a lot of squash, stretch and bounce and have musical talent which fit perfectly with the era they were supposedly created for. Without other characters calling them "children" or "kids", it's clear that the Warners are young children, despite them not looking very human. They have a youthful energy (an excessive amount of it, in fact) and generally behave like human children. They have been known to cry loudly to get adults to do what they want[1], mock authority figures by pulling silly faces or making childish comments and have frequently displayed a naive attitude to historical (‘Hooked on a Ceiling’, 1993) or political figures whilst having knowledge of current celebrities. To me, this suggests that they are tweens or young teenagers. Yacko, being taller than Wakko or Dot, seems to be the oldest and his understanding of innuendo implies that he is a young teenager. Dot can be placed as the youngest sibling as Yakko expressively refers to Wakko as having “middle-child syndrome” (‘Survey Ladies’, 1993). Wakko’s behaviour in most cartoons does seem to be attention-seeking, as he is often spotted eating bits of the set during a scene.

Animaniacs was the second most popular show on Fox during its original run in 1993, so why must one describe the Warner Brothers (and the Warner Sister) as the introduction to an essay such as this? Stars like Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse, also highly popular in their time, remain popular to this day while the Warners seem to have become more of a cult following than characters we are all naturally aware of.

During the Second World War, Bugs Bunny’s character became more defined and thus more popular for the Looney Tunes franchise. He was seen as a reflection of America itself and its role in the war, taking a passive approach until he was motivated to take revenge. With his Bronx accent and wise-guy attitude, he brought inspiration and fighting spirit to a nation at war[2]. On top of that, his catchphrase of “what’s up doc?” is so memorable there isn’t a person alive who doesn’t know it. So what does Bugs Bunny have that the Warners didn’t? Wakko has a recognisable accent (albeit, a Liverpudlian one[3]), Yakko has a catchphrase (“Good night everybody!”) and Dot is cute.

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[1] Gray, R (2007). Babies Not as Innocent as they Pretend. Telegraph. [Online]. 1^st July. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/3298979/Babies-not-as-innocent-as-they-pretend.html [Accessed: 26/11/2011]

[2] (2005) ‘Looney Tunes Go to War!’ [DVD extra] New Wave Entertainment

[3] ‘They Can’t Help it if They’re Cute, They’re Just Drawn That Way’ [DVD Extra]

Failing Imminent

Behold the sorry state of my essay so far!

The Wacky Warner

Wacko Warner and Anthropomorphism Or Something

The Warners (Yacko, Wakko and their sister Dot) are three rubberhose-style characters designed to look like the cartoons of the 30's (black bodies with white faces was a pretty typical look for the earliest cartoons). The exact species to which they belong is unidentified. They utilise very wacky, off-the-wall while their bodies are rubbery, stretchy and very malleable - much like the cartoons of the Golden Age. They move with a lot of squash, stretch and bounce and have musical talent which fit perfectly with the era they were supposedly created for. Without other characters calling them "children" or "kids", it's clear that the Warners are young children, despite them not looking very human. They have a youthful energy (an excessive amount of it, in fact) and generally behave like human children. They have been known to cry loudly to get adults to do what they want[1], mock authority figures by pulling silly faces or making childish comments and have frequently displayed a naive attitude to historical (‘Hooked on a Ceiling’, 1993) or political figures whilst having knowledge of current celebrities. To me, this suggests that they are tweens or young teenagers. Yacko, being taller than Wakko or Dot, seems to be the oldest and his understanding of innuendo implies to me that he is a young teenager. 

The three Warners are all stretchy, insane and hyperactive. However, they each have their specialities. Dot leads in being cute, Yakko has puns and innuendo and Wakko is the king of slapstick and visual humour. They also have their own outfits to set them apart from each other. Without their outfits, however, the three look almost identical. So how can one tell them apart? The most unique of the three siblings seems to be Wakko, perhaps down to “middle-child syndrome” (‘Survey Ladies’, 1993).

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[1] Gray, R (2007). Babies Not as Innocent as they Pretend. Telegraph. [Online]. 1^st July. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/3298979/Babies-not-as-innocent-as-they-pretend.html [Accessed: 26/11/2011]

Mewtwo - The Human Within

I decided to watch an animated movie today.

'Pokémon The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back'

It's the best the Pokémon animated series has ever been. The animation was as limited as you'd expect from an anime of the 90's and the CGI remastering was sloppily inserted over the top of the original in a very obvious way (with pixelisation and missing frames when scenes change) but it's still a very charming movie that holds a lot of nostalgic feelings for myself. About halfway through the film I stopped remembering watching it as a child when it was first released and started really getting into it. See, even fifteen years later 'Mewtwo Strikes Back' has the same impact it had on me when I was in primary school.
Mewtwo is very easy to relate to for someone like me, despite being the villain. This is because he has some, though limited, emotional depth. He was created by cloning a creature called Mew in a laboratory to serve a mob-boss. The first thing he sees when he awakens from being created is a group of scientists congratulating eachother. They outright state that he is the result of an experiment and there are more tests to come. Mewtwo is disgusted with the way humans treat Pokémon (Pokémon are this world's equivalent to animals, and Mewtwo is one of them). With this, he decides to take vengeance and destroys the laboratory. He is shortly found by the mob boss, Giovanni, who talks him into becoming his partner. Throughout this whole scene, it is very easy to see humanity within Mewtwo and to connect with him on an emotional level. His motives are clear in both his words and his expressions. Giovanni later locks Mewtwo in armour that "focuses" his power for training. The armour covers Mewtwo's face and his humanity is lost. The emotional connection is broken as Mewtwo works for Giovanni to poach and steal Pokémon. It soon becomes clear to Mewtwo, however, that Giovanni does not consider him an equal. Mewtwo wonders aloud about his purpose, the destiny he seeks. Giovanni states that "you were created by humans to serve humans, that is your purpose." Mewtwo denies this purpose, he refuses to serve. He destroys Giovanni's headquarters and vows to take revenge on all humans.

Mewtwo builds a cloning facility on an island and uses psychic powers to create a huge storm. He challenges trainers to get to the island through the storm. When three trainers make it, he steals and clones their Pokémon. He intends to wipe out all humans and Pokémon with his storm and rule the world with clones. This will be his revenge and his destiny. Things change when one of the trainers, Ash, steps up and is shortly followed by Mew - the Pokémon from which Mewtwo was cloned. So begins the battle between the clones and the originals! The two sides are willing to fight to the death, almost destroying eachother in the process. Ash stops the battle by obstructing the attacks of Mew and Mewtwo as they converge. He is turned to stone in the process. The two sides, clones and originals, weep for the loss of a life. Mewtwo realises that it is not the circumstances of ones birth that matters, but what they do with their life. The tears of the crying Pokémon revive Ash and end the storm and it's a generally happy ending with a moral about racism or something.

Now, I recently tracked down another version of the film that was quite different. It turns out a lot was cut from the movie when it was dubbed and broadcast for American audiences. In fact, Mewtwo's story was a lot deeper and explored more thoroughly, making him less of a villain and more of a misunderstood individual seeking a place in this world.

When Mewtwo was being "grown", it met a child within its mind. This was a human clone, communicating with him psychically. He also met Charmandertwo, Squirtletwo and Bulbasaurtwo in the same way. However, the four soon died as the cloning process failed. The young Mewtwo, who was growing up alone without a world to live in, finally met someone and saw their world, only to watch them die and have that beautiful world taken away. When he grew up after years of artificially induced sleep, his first sight was that of a cold steel room with scientists talking about their latest experiment.

Mewtwo's role as someone without a place in this world is the running theme of the original cut of the movie. Even in the final battle, Mew (who is shown as the side of justice) states that Mewtwo and his clones do not have a place in this world, are inferior and should forfeit their lives. This makes Mewtwo the most misunderstood villain I've encountered, and I love him for it. All he seeks is acceptance and to find his place in the world and a place for his clones. When Ash ends the battle by intervening, Mew and Mewtwo realise that all life is precious, no matter what, and that everyone chooses their own destiny.

So now, after fifteen years of feeling like I don't belong in this world, I have fallen in love with Mewtwo. He may have been portrayed as a villain, but the true depth of his character means he can never be assigned to such a black-and-white classification. He is a very "real" character, with his own problems to overcome... And he isn't even human.

Ugh - In Case of Group Activities

When does a cold stop being a cold? Before or after you throw up?
Sick as a pig at a techno gig, here. Fever, nasal drippings, eye-ache, joint pain, occasional acidic discharge from my vomit-pits... Lovely. Why am I posting this in my blog? Well, in case we have any group projects and I'm too dead to be alive near my group. I think that's likely to happen, too, since I was hallucinating that the washing machine was talking to me. That's going into my anthropomorphism portfolio later.
It's really hard to concentrate on anything. I was hoping to post up some long ropes of researchey dough and sprinkle it with some animation frames before baking it into a wonderful cake of sweet, sweet coursework. Instead, I'm sitting here in a puddle of mucus with my retinas burning from the mere presence of my laptop, a constant tiredness and a chainsaw wedged in my throat.
Ugh, at least when it was car trouble I could work on my projects and stuff. Right now I can't even stand writing this, the laptop backlight is searing my eyes.

... See you all tomorrow! You'll be joining the plague victims soon enough. I'm gonna cough on all of you just for the hell of it.

Image copyright: Richard Litherland

(Don't worry Alke, I'll still be dragging my carcass in to university. Even if that means digging myself out of a shallow grave, dusting off the maggots and lurching semi-rigormortis down the street while hungry seagulls peck at my eyeballs.)

What I Learned on Wednesday

I learned that when someone says that your car will be fixed in time to get to university, what they actually mean is "your car wont be fixed until mid-day on Thursday and you'll have a powercut around about midnight that will mess all your clocks up so you fail to wake up on time oh and also a bunch of people you live near will die and there will be a car accident on a major road to slow you down even more and when you get to university on the following Thursday all your group members will hate you and mistakenly believe you can't hear them mentioning how horrible you are to work with."

I was informed by magical pixies, however, that you should not hide your face and mumble a lot when giving a presentation. Something you should do is address your audience and engage them, making sweeping eye contact and speaking clearly. I found it interesting how anime seems more open about anthropomorphism while western cartoons seem to use it mainly for children and young teenagers, though, something pointed out to me by Matt, Ash and Jordan. Hurrah.

Oh, oh, oh! I've been watching Soul Eater recently. It's an awesome anime about these kids training under Death. Some of them are 'meisters' and some are 'weapons.' Those who are weapons transform into actual weaponry (the titular character turns into a scythe) and those who are meisters use the power of their souls to match "wavelengths" with the weapons to use them in combat. It's not just meaningless fighting either, its their duty to collect souls that have become so corrupt they're ready to become "kishin eggs" which will give rise to some badass evilry right there. It's also a meister's duty to feed their weapon 99 kishin souls and 1 witches soul so they they can become a death-scythe, for use by Lord Death himself. Pretty gripping stuff. It's also really funny, which is generally the way to hold my attention for more than thirty seconds.

Bit of jokey fanart there for ya

Also, if anyone knows what the hell is going on with classes starting tomorrow, please tell me soon, because I have no idea.

Wacky Wakko

Poor Wakko, such a misfit...
Anyway! I've been thinking over some questions to address relating to this character.

• What IS Wakko?
• What sets Wakko apart from his siblings, who all look very similar?
• If Wakko is so unusual, then why can we relate to him on a human level?

Life-Drawing Images in Reverse Order

From Life-Drawing

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From Life-Drawing

From Life-Drawing

From Life-Drawing

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From Life-Drawing