The Big Picture: Celebritoons

[Ken_J]

I'm surprised you didn't mention "Jackie Chan Adventures." Which, by the way, was awesome! It had some of the coolest action sequences, it made use of Chinese/ other Eastern mythologies and settings, and it had a kid sidekick character that wasn't completely annoying (or at least I didn't think so). Heck, one could make the argument that Jackie Chan's cartoon helped bring about other, similar cartoons like "Avatar: The Last Airbender." So yeah, Jackie Chan+Cartoon=Awesome.

I don't think that was out of actual malice. The Jackie Chan adventures is probably out of Bob's time period of knowledge, being an early 2000s series and all. And compared to the rest displayed here it was both fun AND interesting rather than bad and interesting.

 

[ShirowShirow]

I liked "Jackie Chan Adventures" (I'm too old to add "When I was a kid" to that) but the first thing that came to mind for me was the Puffy Ami Yumi Show. Apparently Teen Titans was so popular another show got greenlit based on the popularity of its' theme song alone.

 

[Mister K]

Hey, hey, hey! Don't add "Life with Louie" to this list. It was quite entertaining.

 

[WhitbyDragon]

Does remembering all these make me old? 'cos it feels like it should...

Thanks Bob, great trip down memory lane, when I saw the title I instantly thought of Hammerman, and you delivered. Now can you take the images back out of my head again? I'd repressed those damn hard!

 

[templar1138a]

Jackie Chan Adventures was pretty good. It certainly had a much less cheesy premise and DIDN'T have a ridiculous theme song. Plus I'm just a sucker for runic magic in animation.

Hell, I'm thinking of rewatching it at some point. I didn't get to see the rest of the episodes with the various demons.

 

[brazuca]

The problem is that reality TV is not aimed toward kids. I would say most reality Tv shows should not be watched by kids (anyone in fact, by how you choose to spend your time is your problem).
I think gaming killed Tv for kids. You see kids who grew in the 1990's and 2000's were born with gaming and the internet boom. Both forces adopted by younger audience. The internet with more focus on the 2000's demographic. Also this generation is much more cynical than the previous one. Just look at what you listen and idolize. Those shows were about sending a message. Yes they were tawdry, but at least it was something. Now most of big hits in pop culture don't worry to much about upright morals.

 

[Elijah Newton]

Fuck Reality TV, CelebriGAMES are where it's at!
http://www.ferra.ru/images/221/221113.jpg

*chuckle* I'll see your Jack Black-ery and raise you KISS: Psycho Circus: Nightmare Child - a game based on a comic based on a band. Truly, truly, I say to you, this is the turducken of games.

Additional weirdness as the band is made of up comic book exaggerations of its members.

 

[Steve the Pocket]

You can add Class of 3000 to the list of recent ones you left out. It was about rapper Andre 3000 from Outkast as a schoolteacher. I never saw it, but it sounded interesting.

And even more recently, you've got Secret Millionaires Club, which is apparently an educational show that teaches about financial responsibility and stars the only real-life rich person that it's OK to cast as a good guy, Warren Buffett. As far as I know, that one's even still on the air. On the Hub, because who else would be crazy enough to air that.

 

[cricket chirps]

how was the Jackie Chan show left out of this. i mean it was at-least half way decent, and far more recent then anything else on the list.

JACKIE CHAN. Was all I was thinking the whole time. That was easily the one successful celebrity cartoon. It was good! >.< "Ay-yah Jackie!"

 

[Ragsnstitches]

It isn't any better bob... it is definitely far worse.

As much as those shows were corporate cash ins, at least that had SOME semblance of creativity (as soulfully dead as they were). Throwing a bunch of mismatched personalities into some mundane and/or surreal context and then hoping something good will happen (and cheap edits if what happens isn't "entertaining" enough) is perhaps the laziest, most creatively bankrupt avenue for mainstream media to take.

At least it's slowly educating people on how easily subverted context can be with modern editing. Heck, even my sister who is far from savvy when it comes to the inner workings of media, is able to tell where stuff is being deliberately edited for drama.

Or am I trying to squeeze some good out of something that is devoid of any?

 

[Souplex]

I'm noticing that a lot of these were made by DiC.
In the mid-90s to early-00s DiC were the people who made expendable forgettable crap.
Good to know nothing changes.

 

[lazinesslord]

I liked "Jackie Chan Adventures" (I'm too old to add "When I was a kid" to that) but the first thing that came to mind for me was the Puffy Ami Yumi Show. Apparently Teen Titans was so popular another show got greenlit based on the popularity of its' theme song alone.

Oh yeah, I remember "Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi." It was a pretty good show. It was a decently funny show despite the premise of being about a relatively unknown J-pop band (at least in the US). It was a shame that it got cancelled only after its first season.

 

[ConanThe3rd]

Really, the only reason Hammer-Man, ProStars et all even register on my consciousness is the fact that they weren't Sonic The Hedgehog and "the fuck were they doing on Channel 4 at the 7 am time slot devoted to mah sonic stories?"

 

[Zer0Saber]

Well, that was pointless...and I'm OK with that.

 

[castlewise]

Bob left out one of the best parts of pro stars. The "master splinter" character of the show who sent them on missions and gave them their fancy toys was Michael Jordan's grandma.

 

[MCerberus]

Thank god the second golden age came around and made us forget about all these. Although cartoons are still recovering from Pokemon's toxic embrace...

 

[Stryc9]

If you find this week's video interesting you should listen to LaserTime Podcast's [http://www.lasertimepodcast.com/2012/05/28/laser-time-animated-vanity/] show on the same subject. They talk about most of the ones that Bob mentioned in depth with the exception of the Ali one and discuss a few other ones that Bob left out.

I didn't really watch any of these as a kid mostly because I was either watching other cartoons or not watching cartoons at all. That or they weren't broadcast in my area, which I don't think a lot of these were because no one at school was ever talking about them either.

 

[hermes]

Then we have the other side of these: Celebrities appearing as guest stars in animated shows...

Spoiler

 

[Strain42]

Fuck Reality TV, CelebriGAMES are where it's at!
http://www.ferra.ru/images/221/221113.jpg

*chuckle* I'll see your Jack Black-ery and raise you KISS: Psycho Circus: Nightmare Child - a game based on a comic based on a band. Truly, truly, I say to you, this is the turducken of games.

Additional weirdness as the band is made of up comic book exaggerations of its members.

I see your KISS: Psycho Cirus and raise...these episodes of Bleep Bloop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb7xeksqB1o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2hI9acvNqc

I agree with many others here that Jackie Chan Adventures was a really good one. I can't help but wonder what sort of celebrities would get TV shows like this in todays day and age.

Phelpslantis - A series where Michael Phelps plays the prince of Atlantis forced to live on land by his father?

Nathan Fillion as Nathan Fillion in Nathan Fillion is Nathan Fillion - A show where Nathan Fillion sits in a chair and reads the phone books (thanks to the internet this will last for six seasons)

The Imagination of Seth MacFarlane - A somewhat serious story where Seth MacFarlane becomes a detective inside his own brain in a world where gunshots make fart sounds

...I'll stop now.

 

[Mr_Terrific]

Not even gonna lie. I loved Hammerman and Pro Stars...but I'd pretty much watch anything during 1984-1992 when Batman came along and suddenly, I had standards...lol