Thursday, January 24, 2008

 

WTS #164 and my elaborate take

WTS #164 HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD.

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, I felt, was one of the greatest animated programs of my youth. I was 11 when the first episode premiered in the summer of 1996. I watched it over, and over, and over, and still over again. I recorded it and watched it again. All in all, after 20 viewings of the kick-ass pilot I lost count.

I didn't really care that the 2nd season was animated by a different animation house. Sure, I liked the first season a little more, but to me complaining about the style of either season was just like hating an apple eater if you're an oranges fan. I didn't care--I was just glad that there was going to be more Jonny Quest.

I also liked how the animated series had more violent content per episode (in the first season, Race Bannon kicking a woman across the face--what a SHOCKER) than your average animated program, staying true to the original and not pulling punches. I always felt you could get away with more on Cartoon Network than any other network that aired animated shows.

God, Jeff, you're like some good wine. Your writings just resonate even more with me now than they likely ever have.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

 

WTS #162

It's been 10 damn years since Jeff Harris came to animation and made the airwaves for our generation a bit more sophisticated than it would have been sans his involvement. WTS #162 is enormously affecting to me (enormously) because the article allows me to see not merely the journey that his endeavors have taken him on, but this journey I became a part of, if not vicariously through Jeff's vivid reportage.

By the end of this article, Jeff vows to keep fighting. For some reason (taking into account Mr. Harris's recent experiences as of late), these closing words brought tears to my eyes, and made it several times difficult than it normally would have been for me to finish this post for Blogger. Instantly, I thought these words to myself (having, myself, a mini-epiphany): "This is what the animation industry needs--a few brave souls to endure, to suffer, to fight for the absolutely uncontestable and fundamental right to produce quality animation for fair wages and without interference from the higher powers." Jeff has been fighting for this by elegantly bitching and astutely, literately writing. And then writing some more. He expresses himself tirelessly through elegiac forum posts, each time demonstrating the reason why he has arrested my attention since I was in early grade school, logging on by 56.6kbps modem (telephone line) to see his latest article.

I remember then, as I know now, why people like Jeff Harris are all that stands between today's generation of budding animation cineastes and the greedy studios which are all too happy to pay low cents on the dollar for a cheaply animated, poorly localized Asian acquisition--and slam it on air in the hope that a satisfactory ROI materializes as quickly and as painlessly as possible.

You keep fighting Jeff. And, I shall soon fight as fervently with you.

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