1. Felix the Cat
While visiting Rehoboth Beach, DE last year, the wife and I stopped by a local Wal-mart to purchase some jerky and socks (It's sort of like a tradition). I wandered into the Home Entertainment Department, as I am wont to do, and there on a shelf of discount DVDs I found what I considered at the time to be the Holy Grail of sensibly priced DVD box sets of public domain material: Mill Creek Entertainment's Giant 600 Cartoon Collection. The set boldly promised "over 60 hours of entertainment!" and appearances from the most classic of animated characters, including Popeye, Casper the Friendly Ghost, and Betty Boop. Obviously, I had to have it, and, hell, there's no sales tax in DE, so I got it for a song (Not literally, though I did serenade the cashier and he did say he enjoyed my voice.).
Predictably, most of the cartoons included on the 600 Cartoon Collection were duds. Most, but not all. I found myself intrigued by the weirdness and wanton sexuality of Ms. Boop, and I will be forever haunted by the nightmarish, early stop-motion versions of popular fairy tales included in the set. Only the Felix the Cat cartoons peppered throughout the 12 DVDs though made the concept of "repeated viewing" a viable option. I have had my fill of Popeye the Sailor and his ho-hum world of spinach-sucking and fisticuffs. The universe Felix inhabits, however, is a treasure trove of oddball insanity. The earliest Felix cartoons are grimy and weathered, not at all up to the exacting standards of today's sugar-crazed toddlers. Today's kids seemingly want flashing lights and promotional tie-ins. Give me a black and white Felix joint, accompanied by some old time piano, and I'm a happy manchild. I've never dropped acid, but my guess is the experience is not unlike watching Felix cartoons at three in the morning.
Verdict: Weird
2. Happy Tree Friends
Recently I described Happy Tree Friends to my wife as "the real life Itchy and Scratchy," before realizing that I perhaps uttered the dumbest statement ever. Upon reflection, however, the statement doesn't seem so stupid. Yes, Happy Tree Friends does not, in fact, take place on the same plane of existence in which we work, eat, and copulate each day, but it is an animated program that embraces fully the orgy of violence on display in Bart Simpson's favorite cartoon.
I introduced my friend and fellow GEP writer, Jonathan, to Happy Tree Friends a couple of weeks ago, and used my newly honed, less-stupid-sounding description to give him an idea of what was about to be projected into his eyeholes: "It's, like, imagine the moment in every Roadrunner cartoon where Wile E. Coyote runs headlong off of a cliff and smacks the ground in a puff of smoke, only when he lands now, his body bursts open and his bloody entrails go soaring through the air and wrap themselves around the Roadrunner's face, causing the Roadrunner to run directly into a passing truck and splatter into a million fleshing pieces on the truck's windshield."
There's something about cartoon violence taken to an obscene extreme that somehow makes it more palatable. And, heck, isn't it at least a little funny to watch adorable woodland creatures be disemboweled with medical precision? If your answer is no, please, do not watch Happy Tree Friends. And for Pete's sake, don't let your kids watch, unless you're punishing them or trying to traumatize them in some way that I'd rather you keep to yourself.
Verdict: Sick, Twisted, Hilarious
3. The Super Milk Chan Show
I'm a big anime fan, but as a general rule I steer clear of "funny" anime programs. I don't know if the jokes are lost in translation or what, but most "comedic anime" (There's probably some Japanese term for it, but I'm too lazy to look it up. Help me out, nerds!) annoys the shit out of me.
Milk Chan is the exception. On the surface, it looks like a cutesy show about a drooling toddler named Milk who lives in a house shaped like a baby bottle with her closest chums, an outdated robot water cooler and a tennis shoe-sized worm. Then Milk opens her mouth and lets the filth (and aforementioned drool) fly. She repeatedly refers to her motherly robot pal, Tetsuko, as a "dumbass," uses her landlord's closeted homosexuality to get out of paying her rent, and exploits the President of Everything's blatant stupidity whenever he calls her on the hotline with an important mission. And I haven't even mentioned the dysfunctional family of ants living in Milk's front yard or Dr. Eyepatch.
Milk Chan is repetitive for sure--you'll catch on to its formula two episodes in--but it's never dull and, yes, it's actually pretty funny.
Verdict: Hilarious, Weird
4. The Life and Times of Tim
As a younger man, I was big time into Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist. In fact, it was through Dr. Katz, the very first Squigglevision series, if I'm not mistaken, that I was introduced to some of my favorite funny people for the first time--H. Jon Benjamin, Marc Maron, Laura Silverman, Todd Barry, Ray Romano, among others. The animation was not the draw, obviously. I enjoyed the rambling quality of the voice performances. The characters had real conversations. Sure, they were funnier conversations than one would typically have in a day, but they sounded kinda like real life. Characters talked over one another, laughed when someone said something funny. I liked it. I could just imagine Jon Benjamin and Jonathan Katz sitting in a room together just chattin'. I don't know if this is how it was done, but wouldn't it be nice?
HBO's The Life and Times of Tim takes that Dr. Katz magic--limited animation, rambling conversations--and brings it back. I used to describe it to people as "an animated Curb Your Enthusiasm" until I realized one day that Tim is much funnier than Curb has ever been. Tim, like Larry, repeatedly finds himself in uncomfortable situations in which he is usually the object of ridicule and/or scorn. The difference, however, is that Tim is endlessly likable. Sure, his OmniCorp co-workers may be piling on the shit, but Tim never loses his cool, never bites back. He takes it like the easy-going schmuck he is and while some viewers may find his lack of motivation or spine pathetic, I find it charming and hilarious. Plus, the voice cast is full of comic luminaries, including Bob Odenkirk, Andrew Daly, Paul F. Thompkins, and Dr. Katz alum Marc Maron.
Verdict: Hilarious
END OF PART 1. NEXT TIME...the very definition of "limited animation," more anime cuteness, and the rebirth of a hero.
