Those hand drawn cartoons from the 1940s-1960s had a special something: It's not often you find that level of comedy and dialogue in today's "cookie cutter" cartoons (See Nickelodeon). Should we blame the internet and the proliferation of every joke in existence, mass commercialization, or the failure of this and younger generations to mature past Spongebob.
I liked Spongebob; he was peculiar, perky, imaginative, and colourful. I suppose as the money poured in, there was no need to expand on the Spongebob brand, so his character did not develop, episodes became carbon copies of past ones, and the commercial appeal of Spongebob became more important than the cartoon. Here is a little perspective for you: Spongebob began on May 1st, 1999. I was picking my nose and playing Nintendo 64 as a high schooler in 1999 o_O
Classic Daffy Duck pose
If Daffy Duck emerged in today's cartoon television landscape in the twenty-first century, where would we place him: Saturday morning kids specials, after school theater, or in the mature audiences bracket? As a youngster, I thought Bugs Bunny was my favourite cartoon character, but as I grew up I grew to like Daffy: He was arrogant, jealous, inconsistent, and yet a master of comedic timing, in particular when the artists directed the jokes at the lovable duck. I had the misfortune of watching the cartoon B-movie Space Jam, which starred Michael Jordan, and I felt so bad for Daffy because he received none of the plaudits. He wanted to be a team player on Jordan's team, but the movie geared towards making Daffy Duck the character NO ONE should like from the start, and I think that's unfair.
Bugs usually got his way with everything, and that eventually wore thin with me and many of my friends. I liked knowing characters like Daffy Duck or Wily E. Coyote never won, because in life no one ever "wins": You have a lousy job, your car doesn't start, there is gum on your shoe, the downstairs faucet is leaking, or your hair is a mess. We almost never catch the road runner, or win that "Million Box", yet we press on in pursuit of our satisfaction and ultimate happiness. Sadly, when we don't find it, so become surly, closed-minded, arrogant, and vain creatures. At least, I hope not...
After all, Daffy Duck is just a cartoon character. For us human beings, there is more to life than vain pursuits and fleeting passions. As much as the old Daffy would deny to believe, no one is an island or a vacuum, and life is built on relationships, doing what is right, and asking for help (the last one was for me o_O). As humans, I hope we can move on from talking in high-pitched voices, chasing jellyfish, and watching the same episodes of every other Nick cartoon over and over and over. Anyway, what was your favourite cartoon character growing up, and why? Think about it: It's the same thing, even the artistry is the same!
Oh yeah, all artwork and cartoons are property of Warner Bros. All rights reserved. Legal mumbo jumbo o_O
"If You Reference We The Kings, They Will Come..." o_O Who said that?!
I'm back from my unscheduled break to write again. I was busy with real life, outdoorsy type things: Baseball practice, baseball games, baseball writing, and music practice (threw a curveball there ^_^). While I disappeared from the literary scene, I checked my stats and discovered this blog peaked over TEN THOUSAND VIEWS! I know I say this every round number milestone divisible by ten, but from the bottom of my heart I thank each of you for coming back to the blog time after time, reading my wacky posts, and sometimes commenting ^_^ Thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks.
"Phil Wood is quitting writing?! NOOO!" T_T Oh no, Taylor! Don't cry!
This gives me an awkward opportunity to make an awkward segue to the next topic of my blog: Before and during my break, I took stock of what I wrote thus far, who reads the blog, how often readers follow it, what needs to change, and if I'm doing enough. One post I wrote many moons, if not months ago, was a little factoid about listening to We The Kings music ^_^ To my amazement, most of my views come from that post, and I was not thinking at all when I wrote it. If you take all those views away, however, my blog has only a couple dozen views per post with the occasional Taylor Swift spike. Now, I could write about my undying love for Taylor Swift for the next seventy years, however to stake my claim in the impressionable teen industry is late and fool-hardy at best o_O
I considered stopping writing altogether, and searching for a paying writing job instead. I like doing this, but I'm at the stage where I should be getting on with life, and making a career out of what I love to do instead of doing something because it's my hobby (does that make sense? o_O) Side note: My unique faces provide the occasional comic relief, yet they are a disservice when you mean to be serious and thought-provoking. Do you mind the ^_^ and o_O, or $_$ and >_<? How about *_* and T_T and =_= and @_@?
I drew a lot when I was young. I miss those days.
The future is a scary thing, and not everyone wants to grow up, and became a 9-to-5 dude with a mortgage, dog, and five pairs of shoes (15 pairs of shoes falls out of Phil's closet) What was that sound? Anyway, if you are in a similar boat, then what you want to do is consider all those things you enjoy doing, listen to your family and friends as they serve as good indicators of what you do well, and keep doing those things! For example, in church I would draw while taking notes. Ordinarily, that would get me killed by one or both of my parents, one of the men of the elders boards, the parents of an impressionable youngster sitting two rows over, etc. (Good evening to each of you o_O Awkward...). What I learned, from discussing the matter with them after the service, is my pictures were not doodles but helpful reminders of what the pastor spoke about. Often whole sentences and paragraph could be bundled into one or two pictures. Maybe there is a future for me in cartooning? Unfortunately, that would be outside of what I already do in this blog, so maybe I can do something else with it?
My Notes from Years Ago O_O
I do like writing, and I want to do this for another three years. In the meantime, I will experiment with what worked in the past with my blog. Perhaps it will turn into a sustainable career; you never know if you don't try. I like that saying; I'm going to patent it. Wait, what? Oh...never mind o_O
