Nickelodeon Animator Invokes 1980s for Tetris: The Animated Series

Tom Goldman

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Aug 17, 2009
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Nickelodeon Animator Invokes 1980s for Tetris: The Animated Series


The cartoon style of the 1980s can make anything exciting, even a bunch of blocks falling downward.

Many videogames made their way into cartoons of the 1980s and 1990s through shows like Super Mario Bros. Super Show [http://www.amazon.com/Captain-N-Game-Master-Complete/dp/B000JBXHVY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294162578&sr=8-1], but Tetris was consistently shunned by cartoon executives. Nickelodeon animator Kenneth Janeski recently righted this wrong by creating a teaser for Tetris: The Animated Series.

The premise of Tetris: The Animated Series would have fit with the Berlin Wall politics of the 1980s, and in fact seems inspired by them. The show's primary foe is an evil czar named Time Limit that built a magical wall which was torn down, releasing sentient Tetris blocks in the process. Time Limit is pretty upset by the loss of these bricks, and wants them back. With an ordinary neighborhood kid named Zack guarding them, does the czar even have a chance?

The Tetris blocks each have their own names and personalities, like smug T-block Tom, mentally unstable square-block Sam, clever L-block Lex, and never around when you need him line-block Lance. Now that they've left Time Limit's prison, the blocks hang out with Zack and BBQ.

The real excitement in the show comes from the regular stacking drama, with Zack and the blocks constantly having to create even rows of objects like pancakes, VHS tapes, and magazines. It sounds about as thrilling as detective ducks [http://www.amazon.com/Teenage-Mutant-Ninja-Turtles-Original/dp/B0001FVDG4/ref=sr_1_4?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1294163532&sr=1-4], no? If Tetris: The Animated Series were real, I would have watched it every week.

Source: Siliconera [http://www.devastatorquarterly.com/2010/12/tetris-the-animated-series/]

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Evilsanta

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Apr 12, 2010
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...No way. And i am quite sure that it would have flopped.

An animated serie for Tetris!? Come on! That's like making one of Pong.
 

Invariel

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Apr 10, 2009
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There was at least one episode of Captain N which took place on Tetris.
 

JWRosser

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Sorry, what?

Also, what was that lyric?
"Something, something America 'cus we are the best"?
Oh dear.
 

jack583

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Evilsanta said:
...No way. And i am quite sure that it would have flopped.

An animated serie for Tetris!? Come on! That's like making one of Pong.

actually it would be made into a cartoon about tenis.
and i think there is already an anime about that.
no i'm watching that so i aggree with you.
 

Scarim Coral

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Oct 29, 2010
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Oh God no! No just no. Normally I can accept parody of Tetris but this I cannot accept! unless the first episode of it will change my mind.
 

Asuka Soryu

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Jun 11, 2010
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Ugh, the opening rap nearly killed me. I mean, say what you will about 4Kids rap for One Piece, atleast that had a good beat. The only saving grace of this opening was the Tetris music near the end when the white guy stopped raping.

This seems like something parent's would get uppity about, not to mention the art isn't all that good.

I just can't see this as being good. Maybe if lucky, so bad it's 'good'.

Anyways, that's just my opinion.
 

thecoreyhlltt

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Jul 12, 2010
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um wow, they came to america cause we're the best??? i feel embarassed now for having watched this, lol.

so was this made in the 80's/ 90's, or is this a video someone through together as like a shout out to Kenneth?
 

Outlaw Torn

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Dec 24, 2008
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Just from the crappy rap song I would have converted to vegetarianism and shunned America. And where is the token black tetris block? It wouldn't be an 80s-90s show without one.
 

Heart of Darkness

The final days of His Trolliness
Jul 1, 2009
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Why does it bother me that there's no J-block and that the S, Z, and O blocks are all clearly made using more than four bricks? You can hardly call them tetronimoes if there's more than four bricks!!
 

Harlemura

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May 1, 2009
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Oh, come on, a show about Tetris? The block's having faces and attitud- Just, just no. It's the stupidest...
Tom Goldman said:
It sounds about as thrilling as detective ducks [http://www.amazon.com/Darkwing-Duck-1-Jim-Cummings/dp/B000FS9MUQ/ref=pd_cp_d_3], no?
*looks at avatar*
Well, I guess a Tetris show wouldn't be all bad...
 

Trogdor1138

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May 28, 2010
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Invariel said:
There was at least one episode of Captain N which took place on Tetris.
Ninja'd

I even caught that same episode on TV the other day and watched it since my girlfriend hadn't seen it before. The funniest thing was Simon Belmont being so absolutely afraid of the Tetris blocks to the point where I yelled "Dude, you killed Dracula, what the fuck is wrong with you?".

Ah, the 80's... I miss them.
 

standokan

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May 28, 2009
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That was just plain lame, it was destined to fail, like making a sitcom about checkers, it just doesn't work.
 

Not G. Ivingname

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Nov 18, 2009
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Ok, why are they making this cartoon NOW?

Back in the 80's when Tetris stole every nano second of free time of the Western world and communism was a real threat, yeah, but now?

Will any child that watches this have any idea what Tetris, the Soviet Union, or the Berlin Wall is? All today children were born long after that!
 

silversnake4133

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Mar 14, 2010
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If Nickelodeon wants to bring their viewing audience back then they need to bring the cartoons from the 90s back.

Because those cartoons were actually good. This bull crap is, oh god, it's horrible. And the line about America being the best? Wow, ego much?
 

Ryuu Akamatsu

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Feb 26, 2009
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Ok. Obviously alot of people here don't get that it's a joke....

Unless I'm just too confident in the intelligence of other humans and they really are making this ungodly show.....

Oh god please let me be right. D: