parks@noao.UUCP (Jay Parks) (10/30/85)
(She was arrested for selling pornographic connect the dots.)
Back, because a few people mentioned it... Flanamation in FLANAMATION 3D
The Flanamation Scale
6 See it, record it, watch it several times a day. (Macross)
5 Record it, watch it while some dreck is playing on T.V. (Mighty Orbots)
4 Watch it if you happen to be in the room at the time. (Transformers)
3 Not offensive, not impressive. (Wheeled Warriors)
2 Dreck, but with some redeeming factors. (Thunder Cats)
1 Dreck. (He-Man)
Note the whatever-- So I spent a couple weeks being lazy, so sue me!
Meanwhile-- If any of you have seen episodes Captain Harlock and Queen
of a Thousand Years, Tell me how it is! I've heard it's playing on a
San Francisco station. If it's playing any where else I'd like to
know that too.
We return you to our program already in progress.
GI Joe-- If you've seen transformers, you've probably seen the best
of GI Joe. The setting takes place "Somewhere in America". There is
a group of solders, everyone is a specialist in something, Usually
they specialize in something destructive. Nobody dies. I've
complained about this before, but this takes the problem to extremes.
More about that later. The group of solders make up an anti terrorist
military force called GI Joe. Their opponents are a group of
terrorists (what else?) that are trying to take over the world. They
are called Cobra. Both the good guys and the bad guys don't seem to
have names. They have snappy little code names that are supposed to
describe their specialty. Of course the good guys always defeat the
bad guys, but the people in charge always seem to get away.
I'm not pleased with GI Joe. If you've been giving the news half
a glance you'd know what a timely subject Anti Terrorist activities
could be. The room is there to make a few relatively good statements
about such subject as international trade, world peace, terror as a
political weapon, the costs of keeping a military unit running
successfully, and a million others. Their messages always seem
concerned with swimming without a partner, and running after a ball
across the street. It also might have occurred to the producers that
terrorism is always a tool for obtaining small political goals. A
terrorist group, no matter how well financed, could not even hope to
take over the world.
Fighting terrorists is a dangerous business. People can get hurt
or even killed. It's ridiculous to believe that every time a plane is
shot down, a parachute will pop out like a magicians flowers. That's
the way they avoid the censors. It really degrades the whole project.
The good parts-- For all its failings GI Joe does hold it's own
in the animation department against any other American produced
syndicated show. The animators did as good a job with this as with
Transformers, or Mask. They use shadow colors, and have very good
mechanical animation. They also extend some of their plots over the
course of two or three days to make them interesting, and sometimes
enjoyable.
GI Joe rates a three on the Flanamation Scale and is produced by
Marvel Productions.
You're Thor! I'm so Thor I can't even pith Dept.
Marvel Super Heroes-- I've found the bottom of the scale folks. I
thought Saturday morning animation was bad! This is the worst stuff
I've ever seen called animation. Marvel Super Heroes takes stories
from their comic books and turns them into animated stories. Doesn't
sound bad does it? It wouldn't be if they had bothered to use the
comic books only for inspiration and then drawn new pictures. But
Noooo. They took the pictures from the comic books themselves, draw
in new mouths to make them move, then photograph the result. It is
the least work I've ever seen to make a moving picture. In one
episode the villain brings his hand down to a table in one great
karate chop splits the table in two. As it built up to the scene I
was filled with suspense. "Would they actually show the arm move?"
And the answer is...NO! They switched scenes to show the follow
through as in any regular comic. Don't let me fool you! They do show
hands moving! Once I saw a hand move in a Pythonesk fashion across
the screen. Another time I saw one clench! This is major animation
problems for someone folks. Usually you see mouths moving while the
main characters are standing in unnatural positions.
He Man is art compared to this. Fat Albert is an animation
revolution. Tranzor Z hits the heights of animated suspense and
action! Saturday morning is a feast of imagination in the presence of
Marvel Super Heroes.
The good parts-- It was about well conceived characters and not some
sickening furry toy like Care Bears.
If it is on television in your area avoid it like the plague,
unless you are interested in seeing something laughable.
A frightening note-- It's being sold on video cassette for about
fifteen dollars a shot. At my local shop there was a huge cardboard
display inviting your children to the action filled world of Marvel
Super Heroes.
Marvel Super Heroes rates a negative five on the Flanamation
Scale (may god help us if there is anything lower), and is produced by
Marvel Productions.
That's all for this week
Bill Flanagan
"Coffee?" "Yes I know."sas@leadsv.UUCP (Scott Stewart) (10/31/85)
In article <447@carina.noao.UUCP>, parks@noao.UUCP (Jay Parks) writes: > > Marvel Super Heroes-- I've found the bottom of the scale folks. I > thought Saturday morning animation was bad! This is the worst stuff > I've ever seen called animation. Marvel Super Heroes takes stories > from their comic books and turns them into animated stories. Doesn't > sound bad does it? It wouldn't be if they had bothered to use the > comic books only for inspiration and then drawn new pictures. But > Noooo. They took the pictures from the comic books themselves, draw > in new mouths to make them move, then photograph the result. It is > the least work I've ever seen to make a moving picture. In one > episode the villain brings his hand down to a table in one great > karate chop splits the table in two. As it built up to the scene I > was filled with suspense. "Would they actually show the arm move?" > And the answer is...NO! They switched scenes to show the follow > through as in any regular comic. Don't let me fool you! They do show > hands moving! Once I saw a hand move in a Pythonesk fashion across > the screen. Another time I saw one clench! This is major animation > problems for someone folks. Usually you see mouths moving while the > main characters are standing in unnatural positions. Is Marvel Super Heros a new animated feature? I seem to remember seeing this type of animation with stories featuring the Hulk and Captain America. It was being shown on an independant station about 8 years ago. I also seem to remember it from the 60's. I find it hard to believe that Marvel would putting out this drival when they also have _Spiderman and His Amazing Friends_ (Mainly Iceman and Firestar) showing on Saturdays, too. Scott A. Stewart LMSC - Sunnyvale
jrb@wdl1.UUCP (11/01/85)
Unless I'm much mistaken, I believe you'll find that GI Joe is actually animated in Japan. (Actually, I suspect that the Japanese in turn farmed it out to Korea). Of the Saturday morning fare that I've seen recently, the following was actually Japanese (judging from quality and the stylized drawing): Inspector Gadget Dungeons and Dragons The Littles GI Joe Transformers. Many, if not all, of these are 'produced' in the US as opposed to things like Robotech and Star Blazers which are re-cut (to remove violence) and dubbed into English. John R Blaker UUCP: ...!fortune!wdl1!jrb ARPA: jrb@FORD-WDL1 and blaker@FORD-WDL2
allen@bunker.UUCP (C. Allen Grabert) (11/04/85)
> Is Marvel Super Heros a new animated feature? I seem to remember seeing > this type of animation with stories featuring the Hulk and Captain America. > It was being shown on an independant station about 8 years ago. I also seem > to remember it from the 60's... > > Scott A. Stewart > LMSC - Sunnyvale Yes, there was such a series shown in New York City prior to 1969, I believe. There was Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man, Sub-Mariner, and one other, each shown on a different night of the week around 7 or 7:30. I didn't think much about the technique until I saw one of the stories later in a comic book. -- "My heart is black and my lips are cold..." Allen Grabert (...ittatc!bunker!allen)