Cartoon Reviews from the Master

[John-Paul]

Rateitall.com's expert reviewer Wiggum reviews some old favorites right here:

For some reason Scooby Doo bugs the crap out of me. It's one of the few classic cartoon shows I've always disliked. I do, however, get a kick out of the drug-culture interpretation of the show's set-up, with a bunch of misfits riding around in a van while Scooby and Shaggy are perpetually high and looking for food. I read somewhere that they're going to do a live-action Scooby-Doo movie with Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne and Freddie Prinze Jr as Fred... Are they really that desperate for movie ideas?

As a kid, Speed Racer was my absolute favorite cartoon. I idolized that guy. Not that I started wearing white pants or anything, but I did want to name our (female) family dog "Speed Racer." It's a shame my parents vetoed that idea.


There are only two classic cartoon characters I can't stand: Woody Woodpecker and Scooby Doo. Woody Woodpecker is kind of a smart-ass, I guess, but not a laid-back sarcastic smart-ass like Bugs Bunny. He's more of a hyper in-your-face smart-ass. The only good thing about Woody Woodpecker is the episode where he visits that alligator in a Florida swamp, and when the alligator tries to bake Woody in a pie, Woody escapes and the pie explodes, causing the gator to wail "My pie! What happened to my pie?" Hmmmm... that episode is much funnier in my head than it is when I type it out...

I put Bugs right up there with Snoopy as one of my favorite cartoon characters of all time. Bugs was always on top of things, always one step ahead of bunglers like Elmer Fudd. Not only would he get the better of you, but he'd make a few choice sarcastic remarks as he was administering the final blow.

I just don't get the appeal of Mickey Mouse. To me he doesn't seem to have much of a personality at all. Does his mood ever change? He's too peppy and happy all the time. The idea of building a club around this mouse makes no sense to me at all. Why not a Bugs Bunny club? At least Bugs has a personality.


Yosemite Sam is kind of a bad-ass. I mean here's a guy fresh from the Western frontier, six-guns at his side. Nobody but Bugs could get by with tormenting a character like that. Mickey Mouse wouldn't last ten minutes. And one shot is all it would take Yosemite Sam to pick Woody Woodpecker right out of the sky.

[John-Paul]

BUMP!

[mbaker]

You bring up an interesting comparisson between Mickey, and Bugs. Although i would like to point out that the only time Mickey ever faced a frontier outlaw was in "Two Gun Mickey" When Mickey faces an apponent, he just works with what he's got and dose the best he could. Bugs on the other hand, is one step ahead of his apponent. He can do just about anything, and in the end he comes out smelling like a rose. I also agree with you about their personalities. Mickey became a shadow of his former self years ago. Comparing Mickey with Bugs is exactly the same as comparing Mario with Sonic. You know Sonic would run rings around that plumber in a heartbeat.

[RockItShipper]

Mickey is only around because Walt had such a soft spot for him and kept him in the public eye. Most studios let early characters become co-stars to newer ones that hit big (Porky, Daffy and Bugs at WB---Koko, Bimbo and Betty Boop at Fleischers)... but ol' Walt shoved Mickey in everyone's face during the early tv era.... So we get a cartoon character that's famous for being famous, and not for a particularly interesting body of work.

[DR. BELCH]

Some have called Mickey little more than a living corporate logo, and I'm inclined to agree...although the current Mickey is a whitebread shadow of the saucy eary Mickey (cf. "Steamboat Willie", or his cameo in Hollywood Party, where he imitates Jimmy Durante to his face!).
For my money I'm a Donald man. Yes, I root for underdogs...er...ducks...well, you know. Also a big fan of Goofy. Useless fact: Pinto Colvig was also the voice of a couple of early minor Warner characters--Chuck Jones' Conrad the Sailor, and I believe the smitten hound in "Ding-Dog Daddy".