RE: Comcast - My Idea for a Black-Owned TV Station

Hi Comcast!

My name is Larry West, and I am an illustrator/designer from Philadelphia, PA. While surfing the net, I saw a post saying that you were looking for ideas for one of two stations to be owned by African-Americans. Despite not being born in Africa myself, I have been told I'm somehow of African dissent. As such, I feel I should apply.

That being said, my idea would be perfect: A 24-Hour Cartoon Channel!

OK, OK! I know exactly what you're thinking! "We've already got one!" NO, you don't! What you have is a kids channel that shows a lot of cartoons but also a bunch of live-action shows! The cartoons on the channel SUCK, and some of them look like they were done by people on acid (I'm looking at YOU, Problem-Solverz!).

No, I want a REAL 24-Hour Cartoon Channel! 

My idea is simple: Nothing but cartoons. Period. OK, except for commercials and any movie that features both cartoons with Live-Action! At the same time, I want to start hiring talented cartoonists who either had a break and lost it or people who never got the one they deserve. Think about it: Comcast supports the arts!

Who's on my list?

John K.
Harry Partridge
Peter Chung
Joe Murray
Mike Judge
Joseph Krzemiensk
Swinton Scott III

Some of these names may be familiar. Some are not. Click on their name and you'll learn more about who these awesome people are! John K, for example, created Ren & Stimpy and is a remarkable cartoonist! Harry Partridge is well known for his Watchmen and Akira parodies, while Peter Chung (my HERO!) created Aeon Flux, one of the greatest cartoons to ever make it to mainstream TV! Joe Murray created Rocko's Modern Life as well as Camp Lazlo, while Mike Judge created King of the Hill and Beavis and Butt-Head! Meanwhile, Joseph K is a talented animator I knew in college adn Swinton Scott III has worked on The Simpsons, Futurama, and Static Shock.

Also, I want get the rights to a bunch of old cartoons, like The Critic, Animaniacs, Duckman (ESPECIALLY Duckman!), Dilbert, Pinky & The Brain, Swat Kats, Aeon Flux, Drawn Together, and a bunch more! Not to mention show movies like Akira, Wallace and Grommit, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Cool World.

Yes, "What the HELL You Starin' At? indeed!

In the morning we would show some classic funnies, like Tex Avery cartoons, and then just show some random stuff during the day (some re-runs of cartoons made by our talented staff would be great!), and during the afternoon have a block of cartoons by our in-house staff for 2 hours! Prime time would allow for more new programs, while the hours of 10PM to 5AM would compete against Adult Swim and WIN! Yes, WIN! How? By having the best classic cartoons and adult-themed animation around!

Yes, Reel Toons (TM! TRADEMARKED!!!!!) would be on from 10PM to 5AM showing the more adult of cartoons we have! Aeon Flux and Duckman would be a given, but we could also get whatever we could from Mike Judge's connections! Its perfect! The man helped to host the Animation Show and the Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation!

Yeah.... LOTS of Aeon Flux!

Meanwhile, we would have a bunch of awesome bumps and promos, and attract the key 5 - 35 age demographic! WE WOULD MAKE MILLIONS!!!!


-Wait, really quick... were you expecting this to just be "Hi, I'm black, so lets make it an 'urban' network by showing a bunch of old black sitcoms, toss in a bunch of sexist and homophobic rap videos, never show anything without black people, and treat our audience like uneducated cattle?" Sorry, dude, but I think trash like The Parkers and Soul Plane are nothing more than modern-day minstrel shows while anything by Tyler Perry continues to prove that he hates black people.

X-Men 90's Cartoon... from Japan

Saw this posted on Topless Robot and, hands down, this is one of the COOLEST openings for a cartoon I've ever seen! I'm not kidding, this thing is simply incredible:

LOONEY TUNES ARE BACK!!!!

I'm really am glad to hear this bit of news!

In the world of cartoons, Cartoon Network announced today that, after 5 years away, Looney Tunes will make a return to regular rotation!

Why is this big news?

By and large, Looney Tunes has been on television since 1958. Every week, anyone in America could turn on a TV and catch an episode or one of the countless shorts of the series over the years, including new ones made during the 60's. In 1988, Nickelodeon began showing Looney Tunes and continued to do so until 1999. In 2000, Warner Bros decided to only show the shorts on their networks, and by 2005, they were all but gone.

The return of Looney Tunes is something I've been waiting for for years. I love cartoons, but I also love animation! For years, I've complained that kids today are getting deprived of these shorts. Yes, I won't lie, its boring and tiring at times to watch the same jokes a million times. I got sick of them by the time I was 10. But, well, time heals all wounds, and this is the same case. The classic slapstick and missing, and I would love to see Tex Avery cartoons come back, as well as those of Chuck Jones... but, like I said, I love animation.

Bugs Bunny and Co. will return to Cartoon Network Sunday, November 14th at 1PM. I don't think I'll leave my house.

A Thought About Spongebob Squarepants' "Plankton"

Considering the fact that Plankton's restaurant, The Chum Bucket, has basically gone entire years without customers and is one of the dirtiest places in all of Bikini Bottom... why is his restaurant still around? How the hell is he able to afford all the computers and technology and stuff?

I'm shocked the health inspectors haven't come in and shut him down! Or why hasn't a bank reprocess the place? Does he get loans?! How?! He has no collateral!

These are the thoughts that run through my mind when I drink Red Bull and procrastinate on something I'm trying to get done.

Cartoon Network: How Stuart Snyder Is Killing The Network, and Animation With It

In 1994, I became one of the happiest kids on my block. It wasn't because of my grades, going outside, or my friends. No, all those things (except my grades) were good. No, what made me happy was that was the year we got Cartoon Network.

Cartoon Network. "All Cartoons, All the time! Forever, and ever, and ever! UNTIL THE END OF TIME!"

At only 9, I already got to feel instant-nostaglia as shows that I thought were once-canceled were back, and I had a chance to watch a ton of new cartoons I had never heard or seen before. It was, for a kid, and an animation fan alike, a heaven, a slice of bliss.

But ever since 2003, the station has steadily gotten worse and in 2007, a man became the head of programming for both Cartoon Network and Turner Broadcasting and given a task: How do you make Cartoon Network viable against Nickelodeon and Disney? Both Nick and Disney had, since 2005, steadily cut back on new animated shows, astounding since both studios were powerhouses only 5 years ago. Since they were cutting animation talent and eliminating programs that were doing well... well, what could he do?

Easy: Stop focusing on the CARTOON part of the name and focus on the NETWORK. Or, even better, stop making so many cartoons.

The idea Stuart had was to expand the network away from cartoons and do more things, such as a live action movie (which was terrible, not even campy-bad!) and expand into rip-offs of Sci-Fi and Discover Channel shows that involve real kids in real drama, like hunting ghosts and blowing stuff up. Sounds cool, but... well, they're "reality shows". Cheap, no-writter TV.

Meanwhile, we're seeing animation in this country suffer on a whole.

Ten years ago, an animator had a chance to get out there and possible start a career doing a show that THEY wanted, a show that THEY could do. John K, in 1993, paved the way to allow for the "Director system" to come back, and for the most part, most cartoons were done with the artists and creators in control. It seems that the end of that came with Camp Lazlo, a show that a cousin of my said, and I quote, "was the most fun I had doing a show in my life." He has worked on everything from Muppet Babies to The Simpsons to Futruama. That's one hell of a complelment!

Now, an animator is hard pressed to get an interesting new show out there outside the internet, and most shows created are now incredibly cheap, done in Canada using Adobe Flash. To me, the fact a talented man like Harry Patridge is stuck posting cartoons on the internet with no network willing to give the man a chance to create a cartoon (for kids!) on their network... my god, its amazing!

Cartoon Network and Viacom were in competition in the 90's and it was one hell of a great thing for the craft! Each tried to outdo the other in terms of cutting-edge animationa dn interesting concepts and ideas. We're now on our own. To me, the decline began back in 2003.

Since then, the line-up of Cartoon Network has been more of a focus on not producing cartoons or showing older ones for a new generation, but instead focusing on 6 - 8 shows for the 24/7 network and see what sticks. It is more in line with MTV in the sense that the name is in "spirit" only, and it is irritating as an animation fan and historian to see this happen.

Some Awesome Blogs Worth Checking Out!

Well... awesome if you love art and animation. Otherwise, just go away.

JOHN K BLOGs!

John K, in case you didn't know, is the man behind Ren & Stimpy, The Riffic Friends, and a bunch of other weird and insane cartoons. He has a lot of blogs up, and I have to say, they're amazing! His main blog has a bunch of rips on Disney and is a great how-to for young artists and animators!

He has another blog up where he has a few pitches for other TV shows and another one called "Demo Reel" that... well, just look at it. It's basically him posting some awesome vidoes and pictures!

http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/
http://johnkpitch.blogspot.com/
http://www.cartoonthrills.org/demoreel/


Cartoon Brew

I just found this one recently... awesome, awesome blog if your a cartoon junkie! They have articles about a lot of recent stuff, stories of older things, and everything you can imagine! Check it out!

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/


J.R. Spumkin Blogs

J.R. Spumkin is a man who loves his Ren & Stimpy and is awesome! Just AWESOME! He has a blog dedicated to mainly himself, art, and the greatness of Spumco and Animation in general, as well as theories, and another one dedicated to his sketches. He's working on a new show idea right now, too.

http://spum-blog.blogspot.com/
http://spumkinssketchblog.blogspot.com/


El Tigre Blog

OK, I won't lie: I can't get into this show. I've never been a fan and I watched a few episodes of a marathon of the series today... just couldn't get into it. But it is beautiful to watch and this blog is a testament to that!

http://tigreroar.blogspot.com/


BRUTE! a.k.a. Aidan Hughes

In case you didn't know, BRUTE! is the British genuis who has done 99% of all the artwork for KMFDM. I love his work, he's a remarkable artist and designer, and his blog is just wonderful!

http://www.bruteprop.blogspot.com/


Steve Purcell Blog

Steve Purcell brought us Sam & Max, and if you don't know who they are... well, you most likely spent your childhood going out, having fun, and playing with friends unlike me who spent it inside watching cartoons and then running around for hours hopped up on sugar. You missed out on a lot of good times!

http://spudvisionblog.blogspot.com/


More likely than not, I'll have a bunch more lare, but for now... courage.

The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!!!

In case you didn't know, yesterday saw the Series Finale of The Powerpuff Girls, "Powerpuff Girls Rule!!!". It was originally going to be a full-movie but got cut back to one 22-minute episode. I think it benefited the show because it was literally jam-packed with laughs and action and comedy. It was awesome!

So this isn't that. Instead, this is a video someone made of The Powerpuff Girls singing "Beezleboss" by Tenacious D. Awesome? HELL YEAH!

Duckman: One of The Smartest Shows Ever on Television

In 1996, I was 11 years old. I was miserable and bored in school, I was always being made fun off because I was different, and I didn't have a lot of friends. But I loved cartoons, and that's something I've always held onto. We had gotten Cartoon Network not too long ago, and at that time, it's safe to say there were nearly 100 different animated shows to choose from over a week.

But during this impressionable time in a persons life, I stumbled upon USA Network and a show that they had on at the time. The show was Duckman and it may have done more to help me get through life than school could have at the time.

The show is about an anthropomorphic duck detective named Duckman. Duckman is a widower who lost his wife a year earlier from when the first episode starts. He lives an existence where he, like you, constantly questions why he is and having to deal with both the heartache of losing his wife, raising two sons, one who is an idiot and the other a seimies-genius, a sister-in-law who was a twin of his wife, and a job he hates. His only relief in life is a friend and co-worker names Cornfed, a sort of strait-man when put in contrast to Duckman's insane personality.

The episodes of the show are some of the greatest, most involved ideas I've ever seen presented on TV ever, animated or not. In fact, the fact that they used a cartoon to simplify these incredibly complex ideals while NOT dumbing down the entire concept to an infitile level is amazing and showed that there was a sense of self-awareness that could be done without insulting the process, the show, and most importantly, the viewer. This is a concept that seems to be lost today in a world where "irony" is king and we seem to value that over the quality of telling a good and interesting story.

How deep is this show? One episode called "Psyche" deals with Duckman living with the fact that he can't get laid and why that is. Shallow concept? Not really. In his pursuit for a woman, he literally has two fall into his lap after discussing with Cornfed his problem. The two voluptuous women come in dressed as sexy as possible and ask Duckman to "show us how to get a man without them being so focused on our hot, sexy bodies." Duckman, faced with the fact he has two incredibly hot chicks wanting to have sex with him.... runs away. Yes, you read that right, he runs away. In turn, he watches TV and decides to see a Dominatrix Sex Psychologist (which, in a lot of ways, is basically what a dominatrix is) to help him fix his problems. She hypnotizes him and he goes into his mind where he is forced to deal with the fact that he has a problem getting close to women because of his guilt over not wanting to be unfaithful to his dead wife. He defeats this guilt, gets his confidence back, and returns to work where the women decide they want Duckman even more. When confronted... the guilt begins to awaken again and the episode ends.

All within 25 minutes and presenting it in a great and entertaining way. It's a problem that a lot of men deal with... to a degree. We may not all have dead wives, but we all have, at one point in our lives, the moment similar to Duckman where we ask ourselves, "Why I can't I meet a woman? What's wrong with me?" We all seek answers and the show gave a fairly simple solution that tends to be accurate: To determine what your problem is, you need to realize where this sense of self-guit and lack of confidence comes from. The rest is up to you.

The show also delt with a lot more subjects; the idea of a perfect world ("a truly perfect world is an imperfect one"), trying to find a purpose in life and a reason to be, being a respected parent... this was a cartoon for adults in the truest since of the term. It ran from 1994 to 1997, and the last few season wasn't shown in America. During a time we, as a nation, were mired in a sense of over-consumption and greed turning into a depression and obsessed with discussion about sex, both in our entertainment and our president, we turned away from a show that offered a decent solution and a chance to discuss them. To me, this was a lot like South Park in terms of dealing with topics and had a more timeless nature to it.

It's a great show, and if you can, please check it out. The entire series is being released on DVD and the first two seasons are available in one box set.

Check out this clip: It's basically the best example of the show. George Carlin as a Duck? Yep.

The Death of Saturday Morning Cartoons

4:30 AM.

At 4:30 AM, I would crawl out of bed at the mere age of 11, hop into the dining room where a TV was (there was one in my room and in the basement, but the dining room... well, it was just kinda cool). My grandma and my mom were asleep (sometimes not mom since she had trouble sleeping) and I would turn on NBC 3 (I think it was still 3 back then) and watch.... Dudley Do-Right!

The year is 1996, and I'm watching Saturday Morning cartoons as they start at 5AM. No, you didn't misread that: Five in the morning! It was Dudley Do-Right followed by Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales. So, in essence, the first hour the local affiliate would put on was left-over cartoons from 30 years ago. It didn't matter since they basically revived the entire Rocky & Bullwinkle thing not too earlier.

1996. My god... THAT was the golden year for me and animation!

When I was growing up, Saturday Morning was special, and I'm sure it was like that for millions of kids over a bunch of decades! Waking up, eating cereal, watching hours and hours of TV on end until noon, maybe even until 1PM if you were lucky (ABC would sometimes show an awesome little Saturday Matinee), then run around and have fun for the rest of the day. CBS, ABC, Fox Kids, Kids WB.... the only networks that didn't have stuff for you were NBC and UPN, but UPN came on on Sunday's, so it kinda made up for it.

What was the line-up back then? God, I couldn't tell you the full thing, but I do remember catching "The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat", "Project G.e.e.K.e.R.", and "Garfield" were on CBS. ABC... "The Bugs & Tweety Show", "ABC Weekend Special (Which was awesome because they made books into cartoons!)", and a bunch of shows that only lasted on season. Kids WB? WOW! "Animaniacs", "Pinky & The Brain", "Freakazoid!". And FOX? OH MAN I LOVED FOX KIDS! "Eek! the Cat", "The Tick", "X-Men", "Batman: The Animated Series"....

A lot of the shows back then didn't last. Project G.e.e.K.e.R. only made it for a season, which sucked because I loved how insane it was. A lot ohave been forgotten thanks to time and all that sugar rotting my brains, but it was a hell of a time to be an animated fan!

1996! My god, it's like the golden age of animation! Saturday Morning was packed with cartoons, and weekdays were just as great! Disney bought time on one of the UHF Stations and would show cartoons for 2 hours after school (Good Troop, Tale Spin, Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers), FOX Kids had a 2 hour block as well (Pretty much anything they could cram on there!). The Simpsons was still going strong, the world was introduced to King of the Hill, "Beavis & Butt-Head" were still going strong and the movie was being released at the end of the year... It was great! Toy Story had come out the previous year and was already effecting the way people did cartoons.

Meanwhile, MTV was giving a voice to animatiors the world over with shows like The Maxx, Liquid Television, Aeon Flux, and countless others. Duckman was born on USA, Cartoon Network was premering tons of cartoons! Oh, and Cool World was on HBO nearly once a day. That was awesome.

I think I watched more TV than anyone should, and I also read a lot. But you know what, I'm going away from the point of all of this.

Fox Kids has killed Saturday Morning Cartoons. Or, more acurately, Fox Killed Saturday Morning Cartoons. But I'll explain that in a munute.

From 1998 - 2001, animation peaked. There were dozens of new cartoons every month it seemed! There was a demand from networks like NBC to compete with The Simpsons. In return, David Spade got his own cartoon on NBC, another show called God, the Devil, and Bob premeried and proved to be a very adult cartoon that delt with amture themes, Clerks got an animated cartoon on ABC, and the Big 4 I mentioned earlier were still pumping out a ton of stuff. Unfortuantly, Clerks, God, the Devil, and Bob, and the David Spade cartoon I mentioned all had one thing in common: 2 weeks. As in, they aired for 2 weeks before getting cancelled.

The 1990's had seen something happen to animation that hadn't for years: Creators were in control. Thanks to the success of Disney, Nickeldeon Studios as well as Cartoon Network were able to roll the dice and create more and more original content. A market had been tapped that had existed, but due to the overt comemrcalism of 1980's cartoons, was restrained. John Kricfalusi, the man behind Ren & Stimpy , said it best; "The 80's was a dark time for cartoons because it was all about marketing. After I and a bunch of other guys left, we decided to make the cartoons WE loved. Nickelodeon was OK with it... eh, to a degree."

Animators were experimenting and growing during the 1990's! There was little, if any, restraint on what even the normally conservative studios would allow. Even Beavis & Butt-Head was rarely held back. Animators saw this as a chance to expand beyond what they thought was a "kids medium" and created things such as "Ren & Stimpy", "The Oblongs", "Aeon Flux", Batman: The Animated Series", among countless others. Animation variety shows popped up on MTV with Liquid Television and Cartoon Sushi, giving countless animators an outlet to express themselves.

Sadly, all things must end.

With 2001, a few things happened: We got a new president, we saw the birth and rise of the Internet, we faced 9/11, we saw the beginnings of an economic problem, and we saw the same thing that hampered development in the first place: Corporate control.

By the year 2000, a deal that gave exculsive broadcasting rights to Time/Warner media to broadcast Looney Toons was finally realized and Looney Toons went off the air on ABC, Nickelodeon, and soon even the WB. CBS began cutting back it's once legendary cartoon line-up, instead relying on Nickeldeon cartoons, and later Nick Jr. and other Viacom properties. In 2002, NBC also began showing cartoons on a block called "Discovery Kids". The block was basically them fufilling a federal requirement to have 2 hours of educational children broadcasting a week.

Countless others would follow suit.

ABC had been stripped of any and all original programming, replaced with simply replaying cartoons from The Disney Channel, which had begun cutting back on it's cartoons. Cartoon Network would soon begin breaking a promise of "All Cartoons, All the Time, Forever and ever, until the End of Time!" by airing live-action movies and producing live-action segments. Nickeldeon also began cutting back on it's animated programing, with Nicktoons being cut back and, by 2006, closing all operations in Orlando, FL, and leaving it entirely in California.

Fox Kids, lated The Fox Box and finally 4Kids TV, was almost the last man standing. By 2005, Kids WB! was still showing cartoons and introducing new shows that pushed kids imaginations while 4Kids TV did just the same. In 2006, the CW was born and in 2007 swallowed Kids WB. In 2008, 4Kids TV bought airtime on the CW, merging it's shows and productions with that of the former Kids WB.

In 2008, we are now left with, on network TV, the following:
CBS: KEWlopolis - A 3-Hour block of E/I-Friendly TV
ABC: ABC Kids - A 4-Hour block with 3 hours of E/I-Friendly TV and an hour of Power Rangers
NBC : Qubo - 3-Hour block of, you guessed it, E/I-Friendly TV
My Networks: Nothing, up to local affiliates to meet 3-hour E/I requirement
Fox: 4Kids TV - 4-5 Hours of cartoons
CW: 4Kids TV - 4-5 Hours of cartoons


Well, today, Fox did the unthinkable: THEY ARE ELIMINATING SATURDAY MORNING CARTOONS FOR INFOMERCIALS!

God, that took forever for me to get to, didn't it? Well, I had to make sure you understood the history, how we got here, and.... well, what this means.

It mean's only the CW will show cartoons. REAL cartoons. Not this education crap! Not this, "Let's have a moderate amount of fun while learning how to be freinds!" CRAP! None of this weak cartoons in order to preach to our kids because we're too fucking lazy as parents to! NO! IT MEANS THERE'S ONLY ONE NETWORK WITH BALLS TO ACTUALLY FUCKING ENTERTAIN YOU! TO MAKE YOU LAUGH! TO MAKE YOU HAPPY!

Fox Kids meant something to me! It wasn't just cartoons, they actually had awesome contests, prizes, and got you involved! They had polls, fun things to do, and a lot more. It... it was just plain awesome! Even today I kinda envied kids because 4Kids TV actually did a lot to keep promoting this stuff and getting kids entertained and happy.

Cable television saved animation... until it destroyed it over the last 5-7 years.

Cartoon Network has only about 8-10 animated shows they air, Toon Disney and Nicktoons TV have both cut back on airing reruns of older and classic shows, and now we're down to, in essence, only one network showing original content. Boomerang even stopped showing Looney Toons last year and the greatness of such animators as Tex Avery are being lost.

We have a generation that is being deprived stuff like Daria and Futurama. We're taking away their chance to know how much fun there is in animation and that world of fantasy. We're taking away that joy of waking up on Saturday morning, eating cereal, and having fun. Some people have said cartoons today are too violent. So far, I'm not seeing it. The roughest shows I can think of are Ben 10: Alien Force, Clone Wars, and Total Drama Island, all of which are Y7 and are fairly tame (save Total Drama Islan, which carries a TV-PG ratining and... yeah, don't let your kids watch this).

It could be argued that kids today have the internet and and creating their own new traditions. We can also say that there are more options now, such as video games, DVD's, the internet, and countless other distractions. Kids are pressured to do a lot more now and participate in more events and activites.



As far as I'm concerned, the current economic crisis, along with the one in 2002-03, and the rise of Flash animation, killed the cartoon as we know it. In 2003 - 2006, it could be argued, successfuly, that Flash ccould actually save Animation, giving more and more artists a chance to do something interesting and neat. And, in fact, that has happened more times than I can count. But it has, thus far, been used to create very cheap and poor-looking animation for Boardcast networks and rarely get's to the same levels traditional hand-drawn animation ever had.


So, what can save Animation? What can save Saturday Morning Cartoons for a new generation? Anyone who goes out there and demands to create a great cartoon. Show you have a market, show you have drive, and show that you KNOW you can create something incredible! Disney, Viacom, Time/Warner... they may all be afraid right now of going back into the land of television and putting on shows, but you have to try.

To the animators of tomorrow, I urge you all to do one thing: Read Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. He will show the way.


If you would like to learn more about Saturday Morning Cartoons and the E/I standard, please check out these links:
Saturday Morning Cartoons: A Short History
The E/I FCC Requirement
Weekday Morning Cartoons