Guilty Pleasures

[Der Captain]

Since many past threads have been about bests, worsts, and favorites, I thought I'd throw out the idea of guilty pleasures - cartoons we feel in our heart of hearts are not very good but for some odd reason we like them.

Leonard Maltin mentions a couple of Columbia cartoons in his book - "Mass Mouse Meeting" and "Giddy Yapping" in a none-too-favorable regard, and yet I get a kick out of these films.

"Mass Mouse Meeting" is far from a masterpiece, the ending is cluttered for one thing, and yet every time I see it that damn cat cracks me up! ("It's just too much! You are a darling, you know!")

How do I defend my enjoyment of "Giddy Yapping"? It's not easy! This one has "What were they thinking - or smoking?" written all over it, but the horse's voice and his bizarre single-minded determination bowl me over. I'd love to know more about who did a lot of the Screen Gems toon voices.

There. I've made my confessions. And I kinda like Lil Eightball too. Anybody else care to chime in on this topic?

 

[Sogturtle]

Since many past threads have been about bests, worsts, and favorites, I thought I'd throw out the idea of guilty pleasures - cartoons we feel in our heart of hearts are not very good but for some odd reason we like them.

Leonard Maltin mentions a couple of Columbia cartoons in his book - "Mass Mouse Meeting" and "Giddy Yapping" in a none-too-favorable regard, and yet I get a kick out of these films.

"Mass Mouse Meeting" is far from a masterpiece, the ending is cluttered for one thing, and yet every time I see it that damn cat cracks me up! ("It's just too much! You are a darling, you know!")

How do I defend my enjoyment of "Giddy Yapping"? It's not easy! This one has "What were they thinking - or smoking?" written all over it, but the horse's voice and his bizarre single-minded determination bowl me over. I'd love to know more about who did a lot of the Screen Gems toon voices.

There. I've made my confessions. And I kinda like Lil Eightball too. Anybody else care to chime in on this topic?

Ifffff you really want to know about "Giddy Yapping", the voices that you hear were by Harry E. Lang and John McLeish. McLeish also wrote it.

 

[Tom Stathes]

Hmmmm....The redrawns. (Please don't hit me! )

 

[Emmanuel Cruz]

Hmmmm....The redrawns. (Please don't hit me! )

Don't worry. You can use me as a human shield for the upcoming onslaught.

I too enjoy watching redrawns. A specific cartoon I like watching in this regard is "Wholly Smoke" (Both redrawn and black and white!)

-Emmanuel

 

[Frizfrelengfan]

My guilty pleasures:

Gene Deitch Tom & Jerrys
Early H-B (Huck, Yogi, Magilla Gorilla)
Some Cartoon Cartoons (Johnny Bravo, Powerpuff Girls)
Many Nicktoons (Rugrats [the babies, not grown up], Rocko, Wild Thornberrys, Fairly Odd Parents, SpongeBob)

 

[Pietro]

I enjoy the highly underrated Columbia shorts, which many have slammed in the past and I also like some of the Terrytoons as well (I think Maltin was a tad bit too hard on them in "Of Mice and Magic").

Other guilty pleasures I have include the Gene Deitch Tom and Jerry shorts, the DePatie-Freleng Warner cartoons (especially "Road to Andalay," which, despite its poor animation, really makes me laugh for some reason), the Rudy Larriva Road Runners, and the non-Daffy and Speedy Hendricks cartoons (Cool Cat, Merlin, etc.)

-Pietro

 

[Daniel P]

I generally enjoy so-called "bad" classic cartoons (bad modern cartoons are another matter). This includes the 1960s Tom and Jerry shorts (including the ones produced by Gene Deitch), all of the post-1964 Warner Brothers cartoons (even the Rudy Larriva-directed Road Runner cartoons), and the Famous Studios Popeye cartoons.


-Dan

 

[Nick]

In terms of mordern animation, I actually like about 40 post season seven episodes of The Simpsons. While not as good as the Tracey Ullman shorts and seasons 1-7, they are quite funny (but season 13 and most of season 14 were not ). I also like some of the segments on the Cartoon Cartoon show. They were poorly animated, but some were memorable and funny. The George And Junior cartoons were decent, but I disliked the two Yukky Duck cartoons (they had absolutely TERRIBLE animation and drawings). There was also a Yacky Doodle cartoon, if I rember correctly, and that (in comparison) had good animation.

 

[Geezil]

and now for a real hodgepodge:

Pluto (in all the vintage shorts that starred him)

Space Angel (no, not "Casper and the Angels"! [gag!!] but the other Synchro-Vox[TM] TV hero from Cambria Studios that, IIRC, at least had Alex Toth's considerable design skills in his favor)

Honey Halfwitch (very late Paramount)

Swifty and Shorty (also very late Paramount)

Pinky and the Brain ("guilty" only because Mrs. Geezil always lunges for the remote before Brain can finish asking, "Are you pondering what I'm pondering?")

and most of the Gene Deitch Tom & Jerrys!

 

[Cartman]

My list:

A lot of Columbia cartoons
Several Van Buren cartoons
Quite a few Silly Symphonies (even if they're not all that funny, they're very well animated)

 

[frogboxer]

I know this isn't a classic cartoon, but I really enjoy "A Goofy Movie."

 

[FlooterFlatter]

let's see

I haven't seen it for few years now, but I enjoyed some of the "Beary Family" shorts

I liked some of the "Hoot Kloot" cartoons (the ones by Hawley Pratt and Sid Marcus are the best)

I like "Tokio Jokio"

I like Cool Cat and maybe Merlin, though it's been about 3-4 years now since I last saw Merlin cartoons. Best Cool Cat I think everyone will agree is "Injun Trouble", which was also the last Merrie Melodies from the classic era

and this is not an animation, but a comic-strip. I think "Mutts" is enjoyable

 

[ThePeterNetwork]

My sole guilty pleasure would have to be the KFS Popeyes from the early 60's. I grew up with these toons on my local TV, and I still like them.

That, and the Filmation He-Man cartoons.

 

[frogboxer]

That, and the Filmation He-Man cartoons.

Oh yes, that's another one!

 

[Thad Komorowski]

I really can't think of any "guilty favorites" I have, mainly because I'm usually open on if I like a cartoon or not, regardless of what others will think (i.e. "I like Harveytoons, Harveytoons, Harveytoons"; "I like Paul Smith, Paul Smith, Paul Smith").


-Thad

 

[RetroMan]

a few 1970's H-B series. I especially have a soft spot for Hong Kong Phooey, a terrible show, but for some reason I like it. I also like Filmation's Archie cartoons... ah the memories.

 

[Howard]

Lately a "guilty pleasure" of mine has been "What's New, Mister Magoo?" Our cable company plays these in their "on demand" library, and I watch them each time a different episode comes up (I think I've seen all 15 half-hours by now...although I have seen them before when they first ran on tv in 1977...when I was seven). I even have two of the three DVD's..."Mountain Man Magoo" and "Come Back, Little Mc Barker", with "Magoo's Yacht Party" coming soon in the mail... Also "The Jetsons"...I know that to most people, it pales in comparison to The Flintstones, but I have been a big Jetsons fan since they ran in syndication in the 80's. I'd love to see the 1980's episodes make it to DVD as well. (I didn't care for the movie or "The Jetsons Meet The Flintstones, and I never saw "Rockin' with Judy Jetson" although I'll wager I didn't miss much). I think I watched the Jetsons season one DVD set more times than the new Disney Treasures sets. Also Ranma 1/2, (since I have used this avatar over and over, that shouldn't be hard to guess) although I don't feel guilty about that, but I can guess that it wouldn't be popular on a "classic cartoons" board.

 

[angilbas]

I like some of Deitch's Tom and Jerry cartoons, including Dickie Moe, Sorry Safari and Buddies Thicker Than Water. I also enjoy many of the later films by Jones and Levitow. A few Filmation projects are also on my GP list, including Invasion of the Mouse Snatchers and Mouse Over Miami.

 

[Jave]

Classic animation:

- I like many of the Popeye remakes better than the originals.
- I like most of the late Lantz cartoons, including Paul Smith's Woodys and Beray Family.
- I like most of the post-64 WB stuff.

Non-classic:

- Smurfs (I really liked the early seasons of this show, since I found them really funny. However, it's evident that the show was digging its own grave as they kept adding all those new characters)
- Many of the Games episodes of R&S. (Some of them are quite funny.)
- Loopy de Loop (Favorite HB series)
- And lots, lots LOTS of anime.

 

[FlooterFlatter]

Non-classic:
- Loopy de Loop (Favorite HB series)

Actually that's considered a classic (since it was released through theaters) and I didn't hear anyone complaining about Loopy, other than having limited animation