Rest In Peace, Stephen Hillenberg

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animation, animator, bikini bottom, cartoon, in memoriam, mr. krabs, nickelodeon, nicktoons, patrick, rest in peace, sandy squirrel, spongebob, spongebob squarepants, stephen hillenberg

2018 has had many ups, but it wasn’t without its downs. We’ve been made to part with brilliant minds, authentic artists, and storytellers who put the “excel” in “excelsior”. Now, we gather to say goodbye to another.

 

Christmas Reviews: “Arnold’s Christmas”

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Arnold, Arnold's Christmas, Bailey, Christmas, Christmas cartoon, christmas shoes, christmas shopping, Craig Bartlett, family reunion, Gerald, Gerald Johanssen, Grandma, Grandpa Phil, Helga, Helga On The Couch, Helga Pataki, Hey Arnold, holiday special, Mr. Hyunh, nickelodeon, Nickelodeon Christmas, Nicktoon, Olga, Oskar Kokoschka, Seattle, The Patakis, tv special, vietnam, winter

In my last episode I talked about Rugrats and how big a part of my childhood it was. While nothing will ever change that, there’s one other Nicktoon that came out a few years later which certainly rose in my estimation as I got older.

Originally a character created by Craig Bartlett as a series of claymation shorts for Sesame Street, Hey Arnold was a show that brought us a colorful cast of characters and taught some surprisingly deep life lessons when not making us crack up. It centers around the titular Arnold, your seemingly average nice guy kid who’s the voice of reason among his group of eclectic friends and the kooky boardinghouse he calls home (and if it were up to me the complete series DVD set would come in a box shaped like that boardinghouse and have the stampede of animals from the into pop out when you open it, but we can still dream). Boasting a jazzy soundtrack, unique character designs, great voicework done by actual kids instead of adults posing as them, and some unforgettable moments of humor and heartbreak, it’s become a cult classic that 90’s kids like myself consider one of the very best of the original Nicktoons. And of course this past November, after fifteen agonizing years of wondering and waiting, we finally got the long-awaited Jungle Movie where the mystery of what the heck happened to Arnold’s parents was solved, so this is my one chance to hit on one of the standout entries to this classic series while the iron’s still hot. Let’s take a look at “Arnold’s Christmas”.

Christmas Reviews: “The Santa Experience”

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1990's, 90's, 90's cartoons, Angelica, Christmas, Christmas cartoon, christmas episode, christmas special, Chuckie Finster, Grandpa Lou, kidnap the sandy claws, Klasky-Csupo, naughty list, naughty or nice, nice list, nickelodeon, Nickelodeon Christmas, Nicktoon, nicktoons, Phil and Lil, Rugrats, santa claus, Spike, The Santa Experience, Tommy Pickles

For a very brief couple of seconds on October 9th of this year some of you may have noticed that this review went up all of a sudden just to disappear as quickly. I’ve said before it was due to some issues trying to reschedule the review for another date in December and had to give away the surprise that I’d be looking at more holiday shorts. Well, here’s the actual review. Let’s hope it doesn’t disappoint as I review at another nostalgic staple from my childhood, Rugrats.

An animated show that takes place from the point of view of a baby doesn’t sound like a particularly risky idea, but back when it was among the first crop of original Nicktoons to be pitched to Nickelodeon, it was. Suffice it to say that the gamble paid off and up until Spongebob dethroned it Rugrats was Nickelodeon’s golden child. I was very young when Rugrats came out and it was the very first show I remember being obsessed with; dolls, toys, books, clothes, you name it and I had it. The movies actually hold up pretty well too (except Rugrats Go Wild, that can burn in the deepest recesses of Hades). I even went to the live show. The freaking cheesy as hell live show. I mean the premise of the entire series was actually relatable though the main characters were about 4-5 years younger than me; they had a great deal to learn about the world around them and often got lost in fantastic adventures using their imaginations while the yuppie parents went about being completely oblivious 80% of the time. That was my bread and butter when I was in my single digits.

The characters were also basic but likable and cute to boot; you got Tommy the intrepid leader always looking to explore everything, his best friend Chuckie the fraidycat who always had some sort of new phobia to conquer (and was my favorite by the way), the gross-loving twins Phil and Lil, and Tommy’s bratty cousin Angelica whom everyone loved to hate, myself included. More characters were added along the way like the badass Susie, Tommy’s infant brother Dil, and Chuckie’s stepsister Kimi, each one bringing something new and diverse to the show.

I’m not gonna say that it was the perfect animated show or the standard all kids shows should emulate though; I mean for one thing if this took place in the real world the babies would have been taken away by child services now because it surprises me just how wrapped up in their own problems the adults could be. Most of the time they neglect the kids long enough for them to get out of the playpen or stroller and wander around a strange area and nearly endanger themselves. That and the usual foray into poo-poo humor you’d expect when dealing with characters that are barely 2 years old. Some of the toilet jokes I remember would make Shrek gag in disgust. But hey, sometimes you gotta appeal to the lowest common denominator for kids. It doesn’t completely take away the fact that at its best it was a very cute show that played a major part in building Nickelodeon’s identity.

So how does their take on the most wonderful time of the year hold up? And why is it called The Santa Experience anyway? Let’s take a look.

Christmas Reviews: “The Spongebob Christmas Special (Christmas Who?)”

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bikini bottom, Christmas, Christmas cartoon, christmas episode, Christmas review, christmas special, Christmas Who, cookie dough, holiday special, mr. krabs, nickelodeon, Nickelodeon Christmas, Nicktoon, nicktoons, Patchy the Pirate, patrick, Patrick Star, Plankton, Potty the Parrot, Sandy, Sandy Cheeks, santa claus, spongebob squarepants, Squidward, Squidward Tentacles, Stephen Hillenburg, tv review, tv special, under the sea, very first christmas

All right, I have to start with a bit of a confession:

I freaking love Spongebob Squarepants.

Yes it’s been overplayed and overmarketed to death.

Yes the internet is overly saturated with memes spawned from it.

Yes Nickelodeon has dragged it out far longer than it should have like some other animated shows starring yellow characters I could mention to the point where the characters are zombie versions of their old selves.

None of that can ruin the classic first few years of its existence for me. When it was good, it was really freaking good; like Seasons 2-8 of The Simpsons good – bright, colorful and silly with wry and surreal humor that appeals to both kids and adults without pandering to one or the other. My friends and I still quote it in our conversations and it never fails to crack us up. I still regard it as one of the best cartoons to come out of the past two decades (it’s been on air for almost 20 years now, holy shit I feel old…)

So needless to say getting to finally talk about one of my favorite episodes, the Christmas one, has got me as excited as our titular character doing double overtime at the Krusty Krab. Let’s take a look at The Spongebob Christmas Special, aka “Christmas Who?”

Christmas Review: “Rocko’s Modern Christmas (You Can’t Squeeze Cheer From a Cheese Log!)”

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1990's, 90's, animated, animation, Bev Bighead, Bighead, Carlos Alazraqui, Christmas, Christmas cartoon, christmas elves, christmas party, christmas shopping, christmas special, christmas tree, Ed Bighead, elves, Filbert, fruitcake man, Heffer, holiday episode, holiday special, Joe Murray, mitch the elf, Mr. Bighead, Mr. Lawrence, nickelodeon, Nickelodeon Christmas, Nicktoon, nicktoons, O Town, racism, Rocko, rocko's modern christmas, Rocko's Modern Life, Spunky, Stephen Hillenburg, The Bigheads, Tom Kenny, turtle, wallaby, you can't squeeze cheer from a cheese log

Rocko’s Modern Life was one of my favorite Nicktoons growing up, though I had shockingly little memories of watching the holiday episode. I remembered the first minute, but not what happened afterwards, maybe because I was unable to finish watching it for whatever reason. When I got the complete series a few years back I was thrilled to finally watch it in its entirety and has since become one of my must-see annual Christmas episodes of any tv series. Sometimes I even watch it when it isn’t Christmas because it’s just too fun to have to wait for it.

For anyone who’s not familiar with Rocko’s Modern Life, it’s one of those cartoons that sounds really weird when trying to explain the premise yet works almost flawlessly in practice. Created during the first big wave of Nicktoons in the early 90’s Rocko’s Modern Life is a slice-of-life series about a down-to-earth wallaby, the titular Rocko, who moves from Australia to O-Town, U.S.A. and his miscellaneous adventures with his buddies as he adjusts to life in America. This being an early Nicktoon, it’s got wacky animation and a ton of adult humor that went over my head as a kid but I freaking loved it. It’s certainly not without some heart, either. Joe Murray, the creator, incorporated some of his own life experiences into certain episodes like “I Have No Son” and the famous “Wacky Delli” and you can tell it comes from a genuine emotional place. It’s a show shockingly very relatable now that I’m older. So how does it dish out its own brand of yuletide spirit? Let’s find out.