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Page 8 DTH Omnibus Thursday November 15, 1990 GOOD Wild Side says By RANDY BASINGER Staff Writer I he Omni folks told me jll they wanted something I on cartoons. ..animation ! ... drawings. I said to my t self self, this is where you belong. A world of imagination where a coyote can have an anvil dropped on his head from a cliff-edge, be splatted pancake flat and crawl off, only to reappear in the next scene in tip-top shape with anewsetof ACME gadgets. These were the sculptors of my childhood mind. Bugs Bunny, Daffy, Goofy, Micky, Donald they are all my mentors. They made it possible for me to crush people like watermel ons without really hurting them, be cause violence doesn't hurt in car ttxjns or in columns. GET THE PIC TURE? If you aren't younger than six, at least inside your mind, please don't read any further. This stuff will warp your brain into moldy jello. Here goes Let's return to those wonderful days of yesteryear the '70s. We're all tiny tots, and it's Saturday morn ing, the only day you want to get out of bed at 6:30 a.m. and watch TV. (Let's face it, as kids we were pretty stupid. I would kill to get back the sleep I gave up. Nahh, then my brain wouldn't be as enlightened as it is.) Motorcycle punks meet By CHIP SUDDERTH Staff Writer ou won't find any charm ing, wide-eyed, lovable fuzzy animals in the latest animated film to hit the Triangle area. The apoca lyptic science-fiction tale Akira, the first Japanese animated feature to re ceive any substantial exposure on American silver screens, arrives at the Rialto next week. Akira offers a rare opportunity for film and anima tion lovers to see another culture's approach to the medium. "It's the most expensive animated film Japan ever made," said Rick McGce, manager of the Foundation's Edge bookstore in Raleigh. "It's won several awards around the world." McGce said that of all the people he'd talked to who had already seen Akira, he hadn't heard a single nega tive evaluation. "I've heard ranging from 'pretty good' to the best animated film they'd ever seen," he said. McGee, who saw the film in Washington, D.C. earlier this year, called it "certainly one of the best translated to English." If you've ever seen Star Blazers, Battle of the Planets, or Robotech, then you've seen Japanese television ani mation. Like those weekday-afternoon fantasies, Akira has a futuristic design and pays meticulous attention Let's look at the T.V. schedule (if we could read): 7 a.m. Those Seals and Kroft goofballs gave us cartoons with people. Yeah, these are the guys who created, the subl ime idea of putt ing Ruth Buzzy and Jim Nabors on a spaceship to gether to wreak havoc on the uni- , verse. Made me laugh as a kid and I'm not ashamed to say it I LIKED IT. In addition, there was Dr. Shrinker, Shazam, Wonder Bug and The Space Nuts (the show that put Gilligan in space because he pushed launch when his "Skipper" said lunch). 8 a.m. It's t ime for Mighty Mouse (not the new beefed-up one) or Un derdog, depending on whether or not you have cable. Mighty Mouse won out at my house since we didn't. This mild-mannered supermouse could pick up an elephant with his pinky finger. But Underdog was my favorite, when we could get the show, because I could relate to him. Here you have an underdog super-hero with a great logo: "Have no fear; Underdog is here." As kids we changed it to "Have no fear, Underwear is here." Snicker, snicker. 9 a.m. The Hanna-Barbera hour. Hong Kong Phooey and his cheshire-cat smile, Snagglepuss, Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear and Boo Boo. These are the only guys in the cartoon business who haven't sold out to 'toon babies. Phooey made me to detail. Of course, he feature, film Akira had a larger budget and could there fore add greater emphasis to the smoothness and color range of the animation. More than 300 different colors were used in the animation eels, con tributing to the rich shading and greater depth of the primary charac ters. Vehicle headlights leave an af terglow as they rush past, and mo torcycles lean into turns as though gravity really is dragging them down. While the film is slightly Western ized, the Japanese style is evident in the exaggerated facial expressions, and slightly oversized eyes further display the characters' emotions. "It's gorgeous," said Kevin Maroney, assistant manager of Chapel Hill's Second Foundation Bookstore, another person who saw Akira in Washington. "The only thing that compares to it is Fantasia. There are scenes ... that are incredibly conceived and impeccably executed." Violence is also more graphic than in American animation. "The Japa nese don't shy away from it," said McGee. "It's a matter of cultural per spective. There's no way I'd want a kid to see it." Based on the manga, or graphic novels, of Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira is set in the middle of the 2 1st century. cartoons aren't laugh the hardest, and I begged my mom for days to let me take karate lessons. Hi-yah! 10 a.m. Now the strangeness hour begins. For a while this time-slot had Loony Toons, but someone thought this was sophisticated humor and moved it to 1 1 a.m. I still don't see anything sophisticated in Daffy getting his bill blown backwards, but I'm not a Hollywood exec. So Bugs and Tweety moved, and in came the replacements: the Shmoo, or Plastic Man and his bouncing baby boy. What about Godzilla and Godzuki? These were short-lived, but exciting and fun filled cartoons. I spent many a morning munching Captain Crunch while Godzilla fried bad guys. 1 1 a.m. Loony Tunes currently holds this spot, but another Hanna Barbera bigwig held it when I was a tyke Scooby Doo. Who could ever forget Shaggy, the scared hippy, who had to have done whole boxes of psychedelic Scooby Snacks before filming these little gems? "Hey Scoob, pass the snacks, man. It's that Abominable radioactive ghost of the logger's mill come to eat us and kill us and maim us." "Rail right, Raggy. Rears ra rox." They were perpetually stoned on Scooby Snacks, and that was the reason they lasted so long. They even did a smash-up job when they moved to celebrity-filled shows with the likes after World War III. The city of Neo Tokyo has been built around Tokyo's remains. When a gang of juvenile delinquents takes a joy-ride into the old city, they encounter a strange child with psychic powers who gravely injures one of their number, named Tetsuo. The gang leader, Kaneda, finds himself caught between the mysterious Colonel who controls several of these psychic children and the anti-government rebels who want to liberate them. Tetsuo, meanwhile, begins to de velop destructive powers that dwarf those of the children. He challenges the Colonel and the rebels, but learns that someone or something threatens his designs for control of Neo-Tokyo: Akira. According to McGee, the redubbing of dialogue over the origi nal Japanese went smoothly. But the casting of the Colonel's voice an noyed him a bit. "It's the same guy who does the 'McGruff the Crime Dog' commercials. I kept expecting the Colonel to say, 'Tetsuo 's gonna take a bite outta' Neo-Tokyo.'" Maroney said: "The movie isn't ' perfect. It doesn't develop any of its themes as well as it wants to." He added that memorable characters and "a good, solid story" more than made up for it, however. John Munson, co-owner and man- of the Harlem Globetrotters and the Addams Family. Spooky. All this, together with nerd Thelma, sorority babe Daphne and jockhunk Freddy. Let's not forget this was the first show to do the baby 'toon thing Scrappy Doo. And there was Scooby Dumb. And the list goes on and on. Noon. This is when Dad comes in to make me go outside so he could watch Cowboy Theater. On rainy days I would watch too, but these guys fought about as well as professional rasslers and didn't talk junk about each other or pick up cha irs and smash them over people's heads. Kinda boring. I miss those days, but they went quickly once the Smurfs came on the scene. Let's face it folks, the Smurfs stunk even when they did teach us some valuable lessons (none as valu able as those taught by Schoolhouse Rock). Personally, I would've liked to have seen Gargamel chomp some Smurf head after the first season. Now (returning to the present) everyone tells me that cartoons are on the comeback trail. Afternoons have heated up with Tailspins, Duck Tales and Chip'n'Dale's Rescue Rang ers. Disney is rolling over in money in his grave. They even have Nintendo games for Duck Tales and Chip 'n Dale. Commercial sellout or not you make the call. psychic children r 'V 9 "...v.:; -?ooc- Japanese comic book anti-hero, ager of the Rialto, said that a lot of animation and comic-book aficiona dos had requested Akira. "The phone's been really ringing," Munson said. "It's been out for a while now. In the cities where.it has played it has done very well "We've got something a lot of people want to see." just for The kids are happy after school, but they don't know what they're missing. Back in my pre-pubescent years, we had great shows on afterschoolTV (when they didn't put on one of those stupid Afterschool specials that my mother always made me watch so I wouldn't turn into a drug fiend). We had Star Blazers and Battle of the Planets, two of my favorite shows. S tar Blazers was a series of shows about a space battlesh ip trying to save earth in only 365 days. It went down to the wire, but in the end the battleship's Wave Motion gun kicked hiney. And who could ever forget G Force of Planets fame? I will have to admit that kids of the late '80s had a good afternoon lineup. G.J. Joe and The Transformers were nothing short of excellent in their prime, but then they went into new generations and fell into the abyss. There is no justice. Animation on the big-screen is still alive and Disney is still in sole possession of the top. Three reasons: Fantasia , Snow White and Bambi. More recently The Little Mermaid. 'Nuff said. However, Spielberg has been jumping into the scene with An American Tail and The Land Before Time. Look out Disney, the E.T. man wants a shot at the little kids' hearts through animation, too. I mean, he is the one who got this Tiny Toons thing off the ground. Kaneda, with a really big gun Akira will open at the Rialto The atre, 1620 Glenwood Avenue, in Ra leigh on Nov. 19. Show times are at 9 p.m. from Monday, Nov. 19 to Thursday, Nov. 22, and at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. from Friday, Nov. 23 to Thursday, Nov. 29. Weekendmatinees are at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. For more information call (919) ojbbo65 . ml I - kids anymore : K- v.. MC- A , ,0 v- .- f' ' rnf '- " ' i fi 4 ( ' '" ,MaiA ; A prancing pachyderm and a graceful 'gator strut their stuff in 'Fantasia' Cartoons are our life, our soul, our ping on coyotes, you'll find me glued spirit as kids. May they never die. to the TV in the prime of my youth. So, until they run out of ink in Twenty-one and a cartoon fan for their pens and the boulders stop drop- life. Director Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist by Chuck Jones pubished by AvonBooks $12.95 ooooo r I rom 1933 to 1963, Chuck I ffc Jones either created or had I 3 a hand in creating some of J f the best-loved characters t in America: the Warner Brothers stable of animated actors. Actors indeed. As Jones admits in his vivid autobiography, Chuck Amuck, Bugs Bunny and friends had lives of their own. In his own words: We (Bugs and I) fiaa a happy life together, but, as the six-year-old boy protested when I was introduced to him as the man who draws Bugs Bunny, "He does not! He draws pictures of Bugs Bunny." He was absolutely right, and 1 can think of no happier career than as a man who drew pictures of such a fabulous character. G lor iously, Chuck Amuck i s j ust as lively as the Road RunnerCoyote shorts Jones began directing in 1949. j He writes candidly and amusingly ) iabout their creation, as well as the i .early days of the Warner Bros, studios "and his colleagues within them. Dry "I was born in ... M facts are left to the fathers coi appendix; Jones just wants to tell some very funny stories. Such as the origin of Daffy Duck's voice. Jones, veteran director Tex Avery and legendary voice art ist Mel Blanc modeled Daffy after their simi larly avaricious producer Leon Schlesinger. Then they realized Schlesinger would, of course, have to see and hear the short. 7n order to save ourselves the embar rassment of being fired, all of us were careful to write out our resignations be fore that fateful day .... Then the lights went on and Leon leaped to his feet, glared around: "JeethusChristh, that's a funny voithe! Where'd you get that voithe?" Jones spends a fair portion of the book eloquently slamming his old animation pnxluccrs.rcservingspecial attention for Schlesinger and his re placement, Eddie Selzer who, "like the people in charge of network television today, hated and feared anything he had never seen before." According to Jones, their short sightedness provided excellent cre ative motivation. Jones reserves spe cial commentary for Selzer, who al legedly told Jones there was nothing amusing about a French-speaking skunk (Tcpe Le Tew) in the Oscar winning "For Sccnt-imental Rea sons," 1949) or bullfighting gags ("Bully for Bugs," 1953). Thankfully, there's more toCnudc Amuck than boss-bashing. Jones spends a lot more time emphasizing how critical his colleagues' work was to the success of the Warner shorts. Most people have never heard of Mike Maltese or Maurice Noble before, but
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Nov. 15, 1990, edition 1
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