Category: cartoons
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Graceful
The rail thin beauty was actually the star of E.C. Segar’s comic strip Thimble Theater ten years before Popeye was even a character. When the sailor finally did come along his popularity prompted Segar to rename his comic Popeye.
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Mysterious
I remember watching classic episodes of Hanna-Barbera’s ‘Scooby Doo, Where Are You!’ as a kid and predicting the actions of the main characters, based on their distinct personalities. Once the formula was established, every episode practically wrote itself. — Gang stumbles upon mystery. Shaggy and Scooby get scared. Shaggy and Scooby get hungry. Shaggy and Scooby eat. Shaggy and Scooby get scared, again. Fred leads. Daphne looks beautiful. Velma geeks out. Shaggy and Scooby save the day powered by Scooby Snacks. Gang solves mystery and unmasks suspect. Suspect would have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for these meddling kids. Gang goes out for food. — Seems simple enough, but what if the character roles were mysteriously reversed?
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Fierce
Chuck has fallen on hard times and couldn’t afford to keep ol’ Snoopy current on his shots. Going for walks is more challenging now because he growls and barks at anything that moves.
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Zoinks!
Believe it or not, Hanna-Barbera did an anti-drug PSA in the 1970s. The overall vibe was very groovy and ‘Scooby-Doo-like’ – right down to the trumpeted outro. No trademarked characters were used in the piece, but the intent was to warn their primary audience about the dangers of drug use. Imagine how powerful a Scooby-Doo PSA for childhood obesity would be if it actually featured Shaggy and Scooby.
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Angry Leprechaun
This aggravated little ginger is just a snapshot of a side project I’m doing for a good buddy of mine. I already feel like I’m spoiling a surprise by showing this much, but I wanted to see what color would do to my rough sketch of the concept. Aye, the bloke’s already threatened me with the bizness end of a shillelagh if I keep running me mouth aboot it. -
Horrifying
Halloween is just around the corner. Do you have your costume idea ready? Make sure it isn’t a crappy one. -
Swimming Lessons
I was fortunate that I grew up in a town that made it mandatory for every kid to learn how to swim. Seriously! As eighth graders we were all shipped off to the local indoor pool and evaluated to see where we were on the swimming skills ‘food chain’. I think I landed somewhere between shipwreck and anchor. I wasn’t even an accomplished doggy-paddler based on the fact that I was placed in the beginner’s class. I was a splash above drowning. So, for a whole semester I learned how to swim, dive and even snorkel. By the time I completed my freshmen swim class I was asked to consider the swim team (I had been promoted to driftwood).
Knowing what I had to go through to learn how to swim, it’s easier to encourage my boys to learn this skill when they are young. While our oldest is a level four, I don’t think our youngest has made it past level two. Neither one of them will drown if they are in the water, but there’s a certain comfort level knowing that your kids are accomplished swimmers. We tend to keep a closer eye on them both when they’re in the pool, but I’m proud to say that my youngest is a much better doggy-paddler than I was at his age.
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Migration
The Canadian Goose is one amazing bird. How they can instinctively know when it is time to make the trek back north defies logic sometimes. It’s always a sure sign that we’ve rounded the corner when you see those flocks enduring wind, sleet and snow to make it back home again. Their distant honks seem to announce ‘spring is finally here, whether it looks like it or not!’
