Friday, June 30, 2006

A failure to revisit the past

If you haven't seen the original Gerald McBoing Boing check it on youtube. Here is a link to some clips from the " new and improved " show. Not to poo poo on the new series, there is some really good animation there, but I can't help feeling that this was a case of just not getting it. Some of the things I love about the original is the absolute minimalist of the backgrounds. We don't need to see a wall. There is a door so we can accept that a wall should be there. Objects like tables become almost Picasso like. Not to mention that it was very poetic. As usual, in modern television animation, not enough time is spent in thinking through story and I feel that some in the industry can get too caught up in visual continuity to accept the true style of old UPA shows. We love it yet have a hard time repeating it. Oh well.


UPDATE: When you click on the teletoon link ( new and improved ) it takes you to a main page. Click on TV in the top right. You will get a list of shows.

3 comments:

Keith Savage said...

Serves you right! A grown man watching children's cartoons! It isn't right. A man should watch manly things like action movies, or something with explosions and tits.

David Germain said...

Well, the original Gerald is a divine work of art that won an Oscar while the new TV show is aimed specifically at toddlers hoping to get the same revenue that Teletubbies and Boobah gets. Yes, Ifeel it is as bad as that Baby Looney Tunes bullshit as well. Unfortunately, it will take more than a mere blogpost to topple big business.

Rob A. said...

That I know saddly. Not that I want to topple big business. that's how I make a living! Working on cartoons like that. I just like to complain about them. Don't get me wrong though, there is a lot of good animation in it.
Doc, I like children's cartoons! Well some of them any way