Toontastic!

I feel the need to discuss cartoons.
A whole article in What's Up would never fly, and the only person I could have a conversation with on the subject is a few thousand kilometers away. So, a rambling I will go. I've included some Youtube links to cut and paste to your liking.
Animated escapism has always been popular in my life - from the retro '70's Spiderman:




To the ridculousness of learning through Captain Nemo:






The wonderful weirdness of the Wizard of Oz:







And the surrealness of Dr. Snuggles:







Now most of us who grew up through the late seventies/early eighties likely fondly remembers these shows, and countless others of their like - to which most will exclaim "They don't make 'em like they used to."
Now this supposition has a lot of credence due to the cartoon wasteland of the mid-eighties, right through to the beginning of the nineties. There wasn't all that much to look forward to, and then suddenly in September of 1992, the face of cartoons changed dramaticaly:



That opening makes you notice it. It stylization was so unique, and different - and many people noticed. The creators of Batman: The Animated Series took great pains to craft some real stories in these half-hour episodes, so much so, that some animated episodes are considered more "canon" than the comic books. Indeed a few characters from the cartoon - either saw their resurgence or addition into the comic book world.
The popularity of this show led to a Superman Animated series, then the impending cancellation of the B:TAS show led to a unique direction for the studio.



Now that's an opening. Batman Beyond is an unfortunately overlooked show. But the same studio leaped from this to create first, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. Now the creators not only had decades of comics to work from, but they also pulled in plotlines and characters from their animated history. It's really sad that the JLU show was cancelled - it was consistantly better than the actual comics. The creators cared about what they doing - the story, the characters, their history - and it showed.It certainly helped that they casted some really good voice actors. An art I'd never really appreciated till recently. I submit for you some grand geeky goodness from Justice League Unlimited:



and certainly:



I don't care what you say - that's sixteen slices of awesome. "I feel like I live in a world made of cardboard." That's one of the very best things someone has written for Superman ever.
So there you go, a little conversation with myself to explore something I really enjoy. I certainly don't plan to convert anyone, nor do I ever feel guilty about my geeky pleasures. It's just sometimes: I effing love cartoons.