Cartoonish Viewer

Animatoween #3: "UNDERFIST: Halloween Bash"

Ok so... this is an interesting one. This is a movie that comes from "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy" which focuses on a lot of the side characters instead of Grim, Billy, or Mandy. So now we focus on this team called "Underfist" to destroy evil Halloween candy from taking over the world... Yea this is so much friggin fun. Also, this was supposed to result in a spinoff cartoon about this team. Never happened. Shame, cause it leads to a lot of really fun possibilities.

So I'm gonna start with what I don't like as theres a lot to love about it. First off, the animation is pretty different from the original Grim Adventures show. The designs are still the same (for the most part) but the team behind the animation is clearly not done by the same team. It's not the biggest deal but it just bothers me for some reason. The only real other thing I don't like is the villain. It's a chocolate bunny who wants to take over the world... uhh... deep? It's odd because the original show is well known for having very memorable villains. So to see this thing come around, you just wish he was funnier and more memorable. There's a funny joke with him in which explains why he's one of the main causes for a bunch of peoples misery (which is all hilariously ironic) but other than that he seems more like a villainous sidekick rather than a true main villain.

Aside from that, everything else is great. The new main characters are fun and all have their own story arc that's pretty well thought out. From Irwin (who is part mummy and part vampire, which is just rad), to Hoss Delgado (a monster hunter who isn't the brightest person, but absolutely awesome), and other fun characters such as Jeff the Spider, Fred Fredburger, and General Scar, all of which have great interactions with each other and have funny exchanges here and there. It's a weird combination of characters, but it all strangely works. The other thing that's great is... oddly... the action is pretty fun and even pokes fun at some action cliches, such as Hoss having a chainsaw for a leg (sort of poking fun at Ash from The Evil Dead)... like come on, that is stupid and AWESOME. And much like the other Halloween special, the designs for Halloween and the monsters are just awesome. It's not as intimidating as Jack's monsters, but it's still great to look at.

Animatoween #2: "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy - Jacked Up Halloween"

Now THIS is a fun take on a Halloween special! This is one I usually love to watch around this time of year as it's one of the funniest things to come out of the Billy and Mandy show. It's funny and it just oozes the trickster part of Halloween. I also love how the show creates its own mythos on how Halloween came about to give us a great villain: Jack O' Lantern, voiced by Wayne Knight of "Seinfeld" and "Third Rock From The Sun" fame. And he NAILS this role and his voice fits the character perfectly, giving us a character who's funny and obsessed with vengeance.

Animatoween #1: "Halloween is Grinch Night"

Ummm... so... this is a follow up to Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and... yea I can see why no one really remembers this one... but also kind of a shame as I think they SHOULD remember it.

So to start off, the story for this special makes NO sense whatsoever, and given the fact that this is a Dr. Seuss story, that's saying a LOT. So... the wind changes and it causes the animals to act strangely so... the Grinch grabs his spooky wagon and decides to take it out on and scare the Whos down in Whoville because of it... wha? The continuity of it doesn't make sense either in accordance to the previous Grinch story. Like this was made nearly 10 years after the first one... so it's a sequel? Well the Grinch is a jerk again... so wouldn't that mean it's a prequel? Well no because at the end of this he loses Max... so it's a sequel and the Grinch just regressed as a character? Oh who knows the story is clearly rushed. In fact, the whole thing feels rushed, with songs that are pretty forgettable, as well as a pretty boring cast of characters... even the Grinch... HOW DO YOU MAKE THE GRINCH BORING?! All on top of animation that feels pretty rushed as well...

So yea it's pretty obvious that there are parts of this I'm not a fan of, but I said it should be remembered, but why? Well... even though the animation is a little sloppy it still has some of the best art direction that Dr. Seuss has given us. Ranging from creepy designs to dark environments. It's sloppy, but it's still a good looking special.

And... oh yea, how about the Grinches friggin Paraphernalia Wagon?! This is a REALLY slow special that takes its time to build up to the Grinches creepy wagon, but once it gets there, it leads up to the best part of the whole special. The imagery is so bizarre and fun to look at and how everything looks, you wish the whole special was looking at these beautiful designs. Even the creepy song playing alongside it is better than any of the other songs in the special.

So for my first posts on this blog about cartoons and everything cartoons, I’m going to be looking at some Halloween animated specials. Whether they are animated movies or cartoon shows, popular or forgotten, loved or hated, I will be covering as much as I can on here and just give my two cents about it. Why? Cause I like to think some of these specials matter as much as other holiday specials and should be looked at in the same kind of light.