Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cartoons

Please name this seemingly ungooglable 80s cartoon

Dormant Gorilla — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:00:52 -0800

What is this 80s cartoon about some possibly magical woman who lived under the ocean? Ok, this one's a bit of a longshot. Asking for a friend- google has failed us. There was a cartoon in the 80s- this is my friend's description verbatim: "some magical young woman dressed in white lived under the sea and some guy escorted her around the world under the ocean and mostly they ran away from pirates. She might have been part computer sort of. And there was a song called something like Pirates Under the Sea." And it was on Saturday morning cartoons.

I am going to go right ahead and apologize for the ridiculousness of this question but this is one of those things where if we don't figure it out it might come to blows. If anyone knows this I will buy you a popsicle.

Find this cartoon?

jokeefe — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:52:29 -0800

Where and when was the original cartoon published that is described in the first three sentences of the opening paragraph of this excerpt from a book by Peter Denning? Posting for a prof in the Department-- a free lunch is riding on the answer:

"Everyone of my generation [note: prof is in his sixties] (and many who are younger) can describe the cartoon, but I cannot find a definitive reference to it.

My recollection aligns with Denning's. The cartoon appeared in the New Yorker. But this may be incorrect (everyone thinks all good cartoons appeared in the New Yorker). The New Yorker staff were not able to locate the cartoon given the information above, so it's probably not a good idea to bombard them with more requests.

An good answer to the question should include:

1. Name of publication
2. Date of publication
3. Page on which the cartoon appeared
4. Name of the cartoonist"

Thank you!

Dum dum, dum dum, dum dum, dum dum....

GJSchaller — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:20:58 -0800

Inspired by this question, I am looking for a clean, full copy of the song Powerhouse by Raymond Scott, performed by Carl Stalling, that I can purchase / download. I've known the name and composer of the song for some time, but most of the official Raymond Scott versions are too... light? Jazzy? Not driven enough. I needed the Looney Tunes version, dammit! After reading the linked question, I learned about Carl Stalling, which helped. I hit iTunes, and downloaded the first Carl Stalling project... only to find the song "Powerhouse and other cuts" was a mash-up of songs, and lacked a segment longer than 15 seconds of Powerhouse itself.

I can't seem to find a full-length version of the Carl Stalling version outside of YouTube, and I'd like to legally purchase one if I can (as opposed to ripping it from a YouTube or DVD, which has other issues), or at the very least download a copy.

cartoon hero names A-Z suitable for monkeys

miagaille — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 06:24:25 -0800

I work in a lab with rhesus monkeys. They need names. For reasons of historical precedent and notational convenience, lab animals are usually named alphabetically, from A ("Abe") until you run out of monkeys. For reasons of awesomeness, we're naming our monkeys after spunky cartoon characters. So, please help me come up with the best comic/cartoon/superhero names for each letter of the alphabet. We currently have two monkeys: Zim and Yogi (we started from the end of the alphabet). Eight new monkeys are arriving next week, and probably more in the months and years to come. The names should be short (no more than two syllables) or have shortened forms. Both male and female names would be great. We're especially in need of the rare letters (X?); we could skip them, but that would be less awesome.

Note: no monkeys were harmed in the preparation of this AskMe, and no monkeys are maimed/killed/dissected in our lab, either. They live long, healthy lives, which is why we need good names from the start. Thanks!

What is this cartoon from my childhood?

doublehappy — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 04:48:25 -0800

This has been driving me crazy, and I'm obviously a weaker google user than I thought. I used to watch a cartoon on Saturday mornings and I have no idea what it was, or even if it was real. My recollection is hazy and may incorporate any number of other childhood memories and red herring elements, but I'm hoping someone can help me out! [I'm going italicize any element I'm unsure about - i.e. those elements that my memory may have fabricated.]

Each episode was about a race between groups of 2 animals/people. The races may also have been rescue missions of some sort.

The races were monitored by a boss type character at hq. The boss type character had scouts that would report the progress of each team back to him. The progress was recorded on a map (each team had a statue on the map and would be knocked over if they were out of the race).

There were malevolent crows that may or may not have been competing as well. They set up traps and sabotaged other teams. There is also a chance that the crows were not malevolent at all, and were in fact the scouts mentioned earlier.

In my memory, the animation is similar to Samurai Pizza Cats

Usually a different team won each episode, as they each had unique strengths and weaknesses.

Please don't suggest Wacky Races/Racers. The animation was less sparse, and the characters very different, and I hesitate to say there were no vehicles, but I don't think there were vehicles.

Please help! I realise that I haven't given much information - but I am almost sure this show existed in real life and someone must have seen it! (I was born in 86, so I imagine I watched it sometime between 91 and 99, but I grew up in New Zealand, where television was aired sometimes years later than in the US for example.

Thanks!

Wherein Whelk Wants Wonderful Words

The Whelk — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:06:07 -0800

Name My Blog! After years of creating things and then casually tossing them aside, I've decided to create a blog to put them all in. Cartoons, short fiction, audio clips, short video, etc. A bit like Lore's Bad Gods. The only problem is, I've got no idea what to call it. I'm torn between something direct like "John Did That" or something that just sounds cool, "Automatic Inspiration" was a leading contender for a while. Want to avoid anything suggesting random, junk, or trash (Even though that's what it is, the whole theme is overused). Shower me with your minds, Mefites!

Lollipop Fields and Robot Makeovers?

thebellafonte — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 01:10:31 -0800

Can anyone identify these cartoons? One about two poor kids who dream of a world made of food, then wake up to a feast in their kitchen. Another about a young couple at a future world/technology expo where they see instant houses, get groomed by robots, and ballroom dance? I had a VHS tape as a kid with a few cartoons on it.
Here's what I remember from the first cartoon:
Brother and sister living in poverty. They stand outside of a baker's (?) window and lick their lips, which the baker sees. Baker goes over and starts whispering to town butcher (?). Mother feeds them cake for dinner, and it's hard so the kids dip it in milk. They ask for more food, but there isn't any. Mom starts crying on table. She tucks them in, their blankets look like swiss cheese. They have this mutual dream in which everything is for eating- lollipop flower fields, possibly some carnival rides made out of cheese wheels and things. They wake up and realize it was only a dream. Then they go to the kitchen and there's a huge table full of delicious things to eat. The baker and the butcher are there. The boy stabs himself with a fork to make sure he isn't still dreaming.
Second cartoon:
Follows a young man and woman as they make their way through some sort of future world expo. There is a bullet train that takes the people to the expo, which is in a tall, rounded skyscraper. Inside, houses are being built very quickly by machines, and a stork flies by and drops a baby in one of the chimneys. The man sits in a robot chair that grooms him- shave, haircut, etc. And the woman steps into some sort of mold that gives her an hourglass shape and a cute dress. I think there's also some robot thing that puts lipstick on her and curls her hair. They go dancing in a ballroom. Oh and I just remembered that they each dance with a robot partner before dancing with eachother. Then they go up to a machine, press a button, and a block falls out. The block unfolds itself and is a totally awesome car. They get in and drive away.

I think about these cartoons more in my adult life than I'm willing to admit.
I'm 23, but I think they're from the 40s. Maybe 50s.

Any help as to identifying them or an idea of where to get a copy would blow me away.

It's Meep Meep, dammit!

yellowbinder — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:12:00 -0800

Does Roadrunner say "Beep Beep" or "Meep Meep?" Help me settle an argument. What's he saying? I say "Meep Meep." What do you think? Is there any official source that answers this age old question?

What were these cartoons called?

flod logic — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:13:48 -0800

What were these traceable cartoon characters with mix-and-match features called that I remember getting handouts of in elementary school? In several grades during elementary school, I remember the class getting handouts copied from some books. They were traceable characters that you'd mix and match the features of. Each sheet would have one kind of body part on it - eyes, outlines of faces, hair, bodies, etc. in a cartoony big-head-smaller-body style. There were no recognizable characters like Mickey Mouse or anything, just cartoon people. I'm thinking this was a series or something and that they had a specific name but I can't remember what it was. Anyone know what this is?

No love for the Jew on TV?

SobaFett — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 10:07:35 -0800

Are there NO Jewish cartoon characters? Or have they all just assimilated?

Watching cartoons with my three and a half year old this morning, Franklin's Christmas episode came on, and she turned to me and said "Christmas, AGAIN." It got me to wondering why there's not a single Hanukkah special on TV these days. Of all the cartoon characters I can think of, only Kyle from South Park, and Orange Kitten from Blues Clues are Jewish. Oh, and the Rugrats. There is Eight Crazy Nights of course, which is hands down the best Hanukkah movie out there, but that bar's not too high, and our daughter is several years away from watching that anyways.

Does anyone know of even a halfway decent Hanukkah special for kids? It seems pretty lame that there's not even one. I give Nickelodeon props for making a Dora/Diego Three Kings Day special, even if they are too annoying to watch. You would think if they could do that, they could give a shout out to the Yids too.

Examples of teaching drawing or writing in Second Life?

zainsubani — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 09:46:37 -0800

I will shortly be introducing a friend of mine to Second Life. She's an academic, and will be most interested in locations in SL that are related to the teaching of art (especially drawing and cartooning) and the teaching of writing. I would be most grateful for any suggestions anyone might have of locations we could visit.

The evolution man

procrastinator — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:43:35 -0800

Help me remember the illustrator's name who drew that original cartoon about evolution, which depicted the gradual transformation of a man starting as a monkey. I remember reading somewhere that the (Italian?) illustrator was in fact against the idea of evolution and drew that cartoon to mock the theory (just like how Schrödinger devised his famous thought experiment to mock the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics -- or just like how Fred Hoyle coined the term "big bang" to mock that theory which he didn't believe to be true), but i cannot remember his name or the place i read about it. It's driving me crazy, please help.

Who did this political cartoon?

backtotherain — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:50:34 -0800

Looking for a political cartoon in which a gay Republican is asked about how he arrived at his political identity, and he eventually answers, "I'm in a high tax bracket." I remember it as a Tom Tomorrow or possibly Ted Rall cartoon from the late '90s or early '00s, but so far I've had no luck in Googling for it.

King Midas has the ears of a what!?!?!

MayNicholas — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 18:39:18 -0800

I'm looking for a cartoon about King Midas from the early 80's. The keys about this version are: looks more like a book with moving pictures and a little song about how King Midas has the ears of a donkey/ mule/ goat (that part is fuzzy) and then a little pan flute whistle. Any thoughts?

Those little guys in a cartoon--what are they called?

LarryC — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:18:03 -0800

Is there a generic name for the small figures that political cartoonists used to put in the foreground of their cartoons? Often they were of the artist himself (like Tom Toles at his easel here) , or sometimes a repeated character, and they would offer additional commentary on the subject of the cartoon. Is there a name for those little guys?

Cartoon and comics major programs

zainsubani — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:17:16 -0800

Are there any US colleges or universities that offer majors in comics and cartooning (the traditional 2D variety, not 3D animation)?

Come on. Come on. Come on.

jbickers — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:28:01 -0800

Years ago, I saw a little cartoon short that consisted of a guy waiting for an elevator, constantly pushing the button and saying "come on ... come on ... come on ..." That was basically the whole thing. He did this over and over, so many times that it became laugh-out-loud hilarious. I want to say it was on something like a Spike & Mike compilation, or maybe O Canada, but I'm not having any luck finding it. Can you help?

Who is this flute-playing witch?

everichon — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:23:24 -0800

Is this witch with a flute a character from somewhere? I saw it screen-printed on a tote bag in a photo at Face Hunter, but it rang a very vague memory bell. Any info anybody has would be most welcome.

Help me find this silly Peanuts/Snoopy comic strip!

melorama — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 06:16:13 -0800

I'd like to track down a specific Peanuts strip from my childhood memories, but I have no idea how to search for it. There was once a Peanuts strip where (IIRC) Snoopy came across an unattended box of crayons or something, and proceeded to draw the silliest pictures with them. One of the drawings I distinctly remembered was a picture of a cat sitting down on a fence with his back facing you, and a big goofy tail and whiskers sticking out from behind its face.

My Google-fu isn't really working for this, and I was hoping that some Peanuts aficionado could point me to a specific page number in a Peanuts collection/compilation book where I can find this strip.

Help me find the name of a video I saw on Youtube about an animated pig

comfortinsound — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 16:24:40 -0800

I want to find a video I saw on YouTube about a year ago. It was a short animation about a pig with a song in Spanish. What is it called? I can't believe that I can't remember the name of this video. It was a sad, sad story about a pig being sent off to slaughter, and during the chorus (which I think was describing the pig escaping to safety, although I'm not sure) the pig was running away happily. But it was only a dream.

The video was animated simply, and it was in black and white. The song was (I think) in Spanish.

Image Search

sgobbare — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:40:52 -0800

Does anybody remember the cartoon from Nat'l Lampoon of a giant hot dog standing by a mailbox, holding a letter that said, "You may already be a wiener!"?? I have searched high and low, north and south, over and under, everywhere for an image, but no luck. Can the Hive help? Thanx

Because Donald's the incoherent cartoon duck, not Daffy.

Metroid Baby — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 11:31:31 -0800

What the heck is Daffy saying in the last scene of Duck Amuck? It’s the part at about 6:20 in the linked video, when he’s banging on the anvil. I can’t find a transcript, and IMDB says it’s "babbling incoherently" …but it really sounds like something’s being said. Of course, to my ears it sounds like "as soon as I demand a same astronomer as HAAAANDS." I’ve always thought it might have been some sort of chant/song/poem, due to the rhythmic nature of Daffy’s speech, and I’ve considered that it might be a well-known song I wouldn’t recognize, because there are quite a few allusions from Looney Tunes that have gone over my head in the past.

Normally I wouldn’t be so curious, but I probably watched this cartoon hundreds of times when I was a kid, and I’ve practically memorized everything else in it, down to the sound effects. Someone has to know what he’s saying… right?

What cartoon has haunted me for 15 years?

csimpkins — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 10:50:13 -0800

When I was in sixth grade many years ago, I passed out after gym class one day. When I woke up, I had vivid memories of cartoonish bananas dancing around a red pool of blood, chanting "E equals MC squared" over and over. When I told people about it, they understandably though I was insane, but the scene has stuck with me to this day. I swear it was something I saw in a cartoon prior to that incident.

Can anyone help me find this cartoon?! Here's what little I remember about it:

1. It was likely on TV 13-20 years ago... I don't know if that was the first time it aired.

2. This particular scene had a solid black background.

3. There were many yellow bananas with arms, legs and faces lined up and dancing around, all chanting either various formulas or "E equals MC squared" in unison.

4. It's possible the words they were chanting appeared on the screen in white, scribbled lettering as they said them.

5. There was a puddle or river of red, which the bananas were either dancing along or around

6. The scene was one song long. The rest of the cartoon may have been equally trippy, but I don't remember it.

MetaFilter... please help me exorcise this memory.

Recommend me some cartoons on DVD.

Faint of Butt — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 08:40:38 -0800

I like The Venture Bros., Harvery Birdman, Attorney at Law and Drawn Together. Recommend me some more cartoons on DVD that will appeal to my loves of (A) obscure retro cultural references, (B) surreal and ironic humor and (C) jokes about farts and boobies.

The power of cartoons

Crackerbelly — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 13:37:31 -0800

Communication theory: Why are cartoons used as a method to communicate political themes when the same thing could be said in text? (more inside) This might seem like a question with an obvious answer but is it? Why do newspapers choose to use space for cartoons versus print? I believe that cartoons have a totally different and sometimes much more powerful impact than words do. Take for example the recent rage and reaction over depictions of Muhammed in cartoons. Would their have been a similar reaction in the Arab world if the same issues were communicated through words? I supect not. But why? Can anyone point me to sources that speak to the power of the cartoon as a method of communication in mainstream print media?

Thanks in advance.