I’m a sucker for a Christmas movie. I can usually find a redeeming feature no matter how bad it is. So when I received a copy of my childhood favorite Babar and Father Christmas to review, I was both hopeful and hesitant. This movie lives in my mind as a snapshot of Christmas. A grainy VHS […]
Continue ReadingI’ve probably mentioned this before, but I adore those lists they hand out to college professors telling them things they should know about the matriculating freshman class. You know, the ones with bullet points like: They have never lived in a world where Madonna is not famous. When I think about The Cartoon Network, it […]
Continue ReadingWhy didn’t anyone think of this before? Kids love comics: for many, it’s a way to learn to read, with visuals and words tied together closely. Some picture books are almost like comics themselves, with the action taking place in …
Continue ReadingThe rebooted animated series’ inaugural season resumes Friday night with “Berbils,” in which the band of refugees encounter a village of robot bears in need of assistance. Watch an exclusive clip from this week’s episode and get producer Michael Jelenic’s …
Continue ReadingHave you seen this strange cartoon that appears Monday nights, on Cartoon Network? It’s called Adventure Time, and I have to admit, my whole family is in love with it. When I say that it is strange, I mean that it is like no other cartoon you have ever watched before. When I say that […]
Continue ReadingUnlike a lot of other parents and friends I’ve talked to, I am not enraged by the very existence of new Warner Bros. Animation property The Looney Tunes Show. I get it; it’s an animated sitcom. It’s The Odd Couple, …
Continue ReadingShannon Wheeler is an incredibly prolific cartoonist. He’s probably best known for his underground comic Too Much Coffee Man, but he has also drawn comics for the New Yorker and has several other books that have come out recently. He …
Continue ReadingFor those of us who grew up in the pre-cable era, cartoons were a rare treat. At best you could expect a couple of solid hours of toy tie-in animation after school on weekdays and a glowing Saturday lineup that …
Continue ReadingIt’s the 25th anniversary of Pixar Animation Studios, the obscenely-successful cartoon company that has pretty much revolutionized the animation business. The company began in 1979 as the humble Graphics Group, once part of Lucasfilm; then it was snagged by Steve Jobs over …
Continue ReadingSummer + Roadtrips + Cartoons = Awesomosity. At GeekDad we love things that allow us to make things. Whether than is soldering arduinos or creating complete worlds for roleplaying. And, we love making cartoons! So, today we at GeekDad are …
Continue ReadingRemember M.A.S.K.? It was a cartoon from the ’80s that sort of crossed G.I. Joe with Transformers: heroes wearing masks with special powers fought criminals while driving transforming vehicles with hidden weapons. I remember watching it with my brother, and …
Continue ReadingRemember M.A.S.K.? It was a cartoon from the ’80s that sort of crossed G.I. Joe with Transformers: heroes wearing masks with special powers fought criminals while driving transforming vehicles with hidden weapons. I remember watching it with my brother, and …
Continue ReadingCongratulations to our Rocko’s Modern Life: Season One winners! Frank T. – McKeesport, PA. Kate M. -Chatsworth, GA John ?. – Facebook, MIA. Your Rocko 2-disc sets are on their way via a wallaby’s pouch! Click here for the original post. …
Continue ReadingThis summer, movie goers have a number of blockbusters to choose from, including the second and final installment of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” While the Potter hype grows everyday, there’s another movie heading to theaters this summer that …
Continue ReadingIn an age where tech gadgets seem to be part of every aspect of our lives, how great would it be to have a channel-surfing robotic dog? Well move over Snoopy, there’s a new top dog taking over the funny …
Continue ReadingFor my money, the freshest and funniest take on the high school experience to be found on TV right now has main characters with fins and scales. Disney Channel’s Fish Hooks may not be the first cartoon to take the …
Continue ReadingFlash back to one of the most beloved animated Nickelodeon series from the 1990s when Rocko’s Modern Life: Season One 2-DVD set arrives in stores nationwide on June 21, 2011, from Shout! Factory. This DVD set features 26 wacky adventures …
Continue ReadingGene Luen Yang and Thien Pham, author and illustrator of the recent Level Up graphic novel, have been having fun with classic video game characters over at Tor.com. Each four-panel comic is a sort of “where are they now?” with …
Continue ReadingYou can find geeky references in just about anything. And that includes children’s programming! My daughter adores Dora the Explorer so we watch a lot of it from DVD’s to straight from TV. Now Dora’s Backpack always struck me as odd. It seems to eat everything that is put into it, therefore it seems like […]
Continue ReadingGrowing up in my generation (1980s) and prior, going back to the advent of the television, it was inevitable that our young minds would be shaped by the world around us, including the technicolor world of television. While what we …
Continue ReadingRobb Pratt is a talented animator who works for Disney. Despite The Mouse’s purchase of Marvel in 2009, though, Pratt’s preference is for DC — or at least for DC’s most iconic character. In this brilliant (though far too short) …
Continue ReadingCongratulations to James Kochalka, who has just been picked as Vermont’s first Cartoonist Laureate! (Alaska is the only other State to have picked a Cartoonist Laureate before: Chad Carpenter was recognized in 2008.) The position officially starts March 10, but …
Continue ReadingI was never a ‘Disney Princess’ kind of girl. I had less than zero interest in gowns, fairy godmothers, or charming princes. Glass slippers were a liability where I grew up, in the vast, super-heated wilderness of the American Southwest. No, while other girls twirled and sang like Belle and Ariel, I was off gallivanting […]
Continue ReadingMy daughter usually buys lunch at the cafeteria, so I don’t pack her a lunch every day. And on the occasions when she asks to take her own lunch, I have to admit that I don’t spend a whole lot …
Continue ReadingHistory and the formation of a man’s conscience are a compelling read in Devil Dog: The Amazing True Story of the Man Who Saved America.
Continue ReadingFor those of us who grew up in the pre-cable era, cartoons were a rare treat. At best you could expect a couple of solid hours of toy tie-in animation after school on weekdays and a glowing Saturday lineup that …
Continue ReadingEvil, resource-rich overlord? Check. Scrappy rebels? Check. Battleground? Detroit. Disney’s XD network sounds like it’s gunning for a familiar-but-fun feel with next fall’s Motorcity cartoon series, which has just started production. Motorcity will be “set in a futuristic Detroit after …
Continue ReadingLuke Skywalker: “You fought in the Clone Wars?” Ben Kenobi: “Yes. I was once a Jedi Knight, the same as your father.” Back in 1977 — and over the quarter century or so which followed — that’s pretty much all …
Continue ReadingOn August 14, 1950, one of the most brilliantly weird cartoonists ever to live was born. Yes, Gary Larson — creator of The Far Side and natural heir to the genius that was Charles Addams — turns 60 years old today, …
Continue ReadingThe Avengers are coming this Fall! But it’s not the Joss Whedon live-action movie. This time we have the new animated Avengers series geared a little more for the kids.
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