Category: Culture

This is the theatrical version, which will have to do for a few months until the extended version is out.

Already have mine!

This is the theatrical version, which will have to do for a few months until the extended version is out.

Already have mine!

A real one, two punch on the new Fox fearfest The Day After Tomorrow. First, a Fox News critic takes the film apart from a cinematic angle, then the senior environmental fellow of the Cato Institute (who seems to believe in global warming) takes it apart from a scientific angle.

The latter also confirms something that I’d suspected: The film is based on a book by Art Bell and Whitley Streiber with a similar premise. That gives the movie enough camp factor to tempt me to see it, but not if it’s as bad a cinematic experience as the Fox News critic says.

A real one, two punch on the new Fox fearfest The Day After Tomorrow. First, a Fox News critic takes the film apart from a cinematic angle, then the senior environmental fellow of the Cato Institute (who seems to believe in global warming) takes it apart from a scientific angle.

The latter also confirms something that I’d suspected: The film is based on a book by Art Bell and Whitley Streiber with a similar premise. That gives the movie enough camp factor to tempt me to see it, but not if it’s as bad a cinematic experience as the Fox News critic says.

I recently saw the movie Van Helsing, which is basically a two hour car chase disguised as a monster movie (and which doesn’t have a PG-13 rating for nothing). There are many religious elements of the movie, which might be boiled down to the summary: “Catholics = Good; Monsters = Bad.” Despite the non-stop action and the film’s other flaws (including a cleric who is implied to break his promise of chastity), it was kind of refreshing to see a movie where the heroes unashamedly pray to God for help–and get it.

I won’t do a full review now, but I thought I would point out that some folks in the world still take monsters very seriously, including vampires.

Consider this recent story from Romania about how locals are angry that the police are trying to stop them from slaying vampires.

Or consider this story from last year about enraged villagers in Malawi who staged riots and attacked a government official (as well as three Catholic priests) on the belief that their government was consorting with vampires.

Kind of makes you glad you’re living in America, doesn’t it?

On the other hand, who wouldn’t be upset if they thought their government leaders were consorting with vampires? Sounds like a case for Mulder and Scully to look into.

Finally! Johnny Quest is on DVD!

If you’re of the right age, you know without me even telling you that Johnny Quest used to be the coolest thing going on Saturday morning–by far!

In case you aren’t lucky enough to remember Johnny Quest, the series was a thirty minute action/adventure cartoon that started airing back in 1964. It instantly became a classic, and it has remained famous for the last forty years. The main cast includes:

• Dr. Benton Quest–a SCIENTIST (not specializing in any particular kind of

  science, just whatever the episode was about that week) who globetrots, solving

  mysteries for the U.S. intelligence community.

• Johnny Quest–his intelligent, irrepressible son who is drawn into the

  adventures by his father’s globetrotting.

• Roger "Race" Bannon–a government agent assigned to protect Johnny to keep

  him from being kidnapped and used to blackmail his father.

• Hadji–Johnny’s best friend, an orphaned boy from India, and
• Bandit–Johnny’s irrepressible, comic-relief dog.

Man, Johnny Quest was cool! The series was drawn on a limited, 1964 TV animation budget, so it used limited animation techniques in order to avoid breaking the budget, but it used the animation in creative and striking ways that make it far more interesting to look at than typical TV animation. It features the intriguing, stylistic designs of animator Alex Toth (who also designed Space Ghost and other classic animation series of the period) and detailed backgrounds that are covered with detail. The series’ premise takes the characters to exotic locations around the globe and confronts them with powerful, sometimes supernatural threats–further adding to the visual dynamism of the series.

Also outstanding is the writing. The scripts are intelligent and (despite the fantastic premise of the series) far more realistic than most animated series. Some of the stuff in the scripts would never make it onto Saturday morning TV today. Consider:

In one episode, Johnny, Hadji, and Race are in a South American jungle when they counter a panther who is about to kill a native man. Race has only a second to act, so to save the man he SHOOTS THE PANTHER. Notice that I didn’t say “stuns the panther with a sonic disruptor pistol.” He SHOOTS IT WITH A RIFLE. Then, rather than letting the boys approach the native, who has the panther laying at his feet, Race tells them to stay where they are and then he SHOOTS THE PANTHER AGAIN to make SURE it’s dead. (Remember: There’s nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal.)

Yes! That’s what you’re SUPPOSED to do in that situation! Save human life and keep it safe, even if it means killing an animal–a valuable lesson in life (one that everybody used to learn) that you’d NEVER see on a modern, politically correct, eco-friendly, Captain Planet-y cartoon.

What a breath of fresh air a show like Johnny Quest is after years of agenda-driven pablum in animated form. It’s striking, intelligent, focused–and even delightfully scary at times for a boy of a certain age. It stresses virtues like loyalty, determination, inventiveness, and facing one’s fears–and it does so without preaching at the audience. The heroes display these virtues naturally while the series stays focused on the STORY instead of wallowing in introspection and self-doubt before finally summoning up the courage to do the right thing.

The current DVD set includes ALL the original Johnny Quest episodes (despite the misleading “Complete First Season” label; the manufacturer apparently is treating a 1986 sequel series as the “second season”), so when you buy this you’ll be getting all the favorite episodes you remember from childhood.

Whether you want to revive memories of Johnny Quest from your own childhood, want to share it with your own, appropriately-aged children, or appreciate it for the first time, hop on board the hovercraft and watch Johnny and the gang face a truckload of evil scientists, enemy agents, and wicked cool monsters.

BUY IT!

Finally! Johnny Quest is on DVD!

If you’re of the right age, you know without me even telling you that Johnny Quest used to be the coolest thing going on Saturday morning–by far!

In case you aren’t lucky enough to remember Johnny Quest, the series was a thirty minute action/adventure cartoon that started airing back in 1964. It instantly became a classic, and it has remained famous for the last forty years. The main cast includes:

• Dr. Benton Quest–a SCIENTIST (not specializing in any particular kind of
  science, just whatever the episode was about that week) who globetrots, solving
  mysteries for the U.S. intelligence community.
• Johnny Quest–his intelligent, irrepressible son who is drawn into the
  adventures by his father’s globetrotting.
• Roger "Race" Bannon–a government agent assigned to protect Johnny to keep
  him from being kidnapped and used to blackmail his father.
• Hadji–Johnny’s best friend, an orphaned boy from India, and
• Bandit–Johnny’s irrepressible, comic-relief dog.

Man, Johnny Quest was cool! The series was drawn on a limited, 1964 TV animation budget, so it used limited animation techniques in order to avoid breaking the budget, but it used the animation in creative and striking ways that make it far more interesting to look at than typical TV animation. It features the intriguing, stylistic designs of animator Alex Toth (who also designed Space Ghost and other classic animation series of the period) and detailed backgrounds that are covered with detail. The series’ premise takes the characters to exotic locations around the globe and confronts them with powerful, sometimes supernatural threats–further adding to the visual dynamism of the series.

Also outstanding is the writing. The scripts are intelligent and (despite the fantastic premise of the series) far more realistic than most animated series. Some of the stuff in the scripts would never make it onto Saturday morning TV today. Consider:

In one episode, Johnny, Hadji, and Race are in a South American jungle when they counter a panther who is about to kill a native man. Race has only a second to act, so to save the man he SHOOTS THE PANTHER. Notice that I didn’t say “stuns the panther with a sonic disruptor pistol.” He SHOOTS IT WITH A RIFLE. Then, rather than letting the boys approach the native, who has the panther laying at his feet, Race tells them to stay where they are and then he SHOOTS THE PANTHER AGAIN to make SURE it’s dead. (Remember: There’s nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal.)

Yes! That’s what you’re SUPPOSED to do in that situation! Save human life and keep it safe, even if it means killing an animal–a valuable lesson in life (one that everybody used to learn) that you’d NEVER see on a modern, politically correct, eco-friendly, Captain Planet-y cartoon.

What a breath of fresh air a show like Johnny Quest is after years of agenda-driven pablum in animated form. It’s striking, intelligent, focused–and even delightfully scary at times for a boy of a certain age. It stresses virtues like loyalty, determination, inventiveness, and facing one’s fears–and it does so without preaching at the audience. The heroes display these virtues naturally while the series stays focused on the STORY instead of wallowing in introspection and self-doubt before finally summoning up the courage to do the right thing.

The current DVD set includes ALL the original Johnny Quest episodes (despite the misleading “Complete First Season” label; the manufacturer apparently is treating a 1986 sequel series as the “second season”), so when you buy this you’ll be getting all the favorite episodes you remember from childhood.

Whether you want to revive memories of Johnny Quest from your own childhood, want to share it with your own, appropriately-aged children, or appreciate it for the first time, hop on board the hovercraft and watch Johnny and the gang face a truckload of evil scientists, enemy agents, and wicked cool monsters.

BUY IT!