Friday, March 7, 2008

Grand Finale! TV Cartoon Characters 20-1

Here it is. Nos. 20-1. In my opinion the top 20 tv cartoon characters of all time.
I hope you've enjoyed Nos. 105-21....

20 Miss Piggy While I am not a fan of this character, I have to give respect where it is due. She is the top female cartoon character of all time. She owned the nursery from a female perspective, as she had Gonzo wrapped around her finger and though Kermit didn’t seem to like her, she had his frog balls in a jar. She could also control Animal with maternal instincts and Skeeter was afraid of Piggy. She was a huge diva and the other females were intimidated by her. She was the Beth of the group, and while none of them may have liked her, they couldn’t have overthrown her at all. It would have taken a coup to rival Eric’s Big Brother 8 switch to Evil Dick’s squad from the Late night Crew to take her down. But even Eric admitted he wouldn’t have done it unless America made him take out Dustin. Therefore, Miss Piggy would have ruled that Nursery until the cows came home.

19 Inspector Gadget I really enjoyed the one episode where we met the guy that gave Gadget all of his gadgets, but I never understood why he needed them to begin with. Was it a Darth Vader/Wolverine situation? Did he suffer an accident that required him to need all of that? And how does this guy have a helicopter in his brain? That is the really messed up part. Also, the same fingers do several things. I think he should only have ONE gadget per finger. I was just confused as to how they fit all of that stuff in him. I also wondered if he would set off the metal detector at the airport, but then I remembered he had his own plane, HIS HAT! My final question can down to….does he have a go go gadget-wang? Because I think the LADIES would like that.

18 Elmer Fudd This hunter sort of reminded me of Porky Pig a little bit. And that is not a good thing. I thought Porky was overrated. But back to Fudd. His accent was strange and he ALSO talked with a little bit of a lisp too. But he hunted Bugs. He hunted Daffy. And he hunted Taz. AND he sang Opera. He had range. And he could blow Daffy Duck’s bill around, which I am not sure if that is Elmer’s talent or Daffy’s talent.

17 George Jetson This man of the future was simple but he seemed rich. Maybe that is because his show came on right around the Flintstones and he had all those gadgets that the Flintstones DIDN’T because the Flintstones happened in 500BC and the Jetsons took place in 3500AD, but whatever. I will never forget the movie where the Jetsons went back to the Flintstones times and the Flintstones went in the future…George managed a little better, but he seemed a little perturbed that the Flintstones didn’t have some of his amenities…IT IS BECAUSE THEY HADN’T BEEN INVENTED YET. Although, if I was George at that point, I would have pulled a Biff from Back to the Future and wagered on every sporting event and become rich. OR you could have “invented” everything, been a prehistoric Edison and become REALLY RICH. Rewritten history if you will. But that is ONLY if you know how to invent stuff. I would be screwed in that situation, but that’s just me. George seemed fine as somehow he got back to the future aka his home.

16 Tweety Bird A smug little bird, always tempting that Pussy Tat with his yellow delicious body. He rarely sang, which I thought a bird of his kind would and his lisp always sort of annoyed me. I didn’t like how he always ended up in Sly’s mouth and needed the old woman to save him. And with those little wings, was he really a threat to fly away? He never could seem to escape the grasp of Sly. If anything that cage was a prison, holding Tweety in such a space that he could NEVER get away from the cat. If this bird really could converse with the old lady, maybe he should have asked for a bigger space in which to avoid the cat’s paw.

15 Sylvester Sufferin’ succatache. This cat didn’t just go up against Tweety, but also sometimes found his way down to Mexico to match wits with Speedy…another cat and mouse game. Sylvester though was the classicly pampered house cat whose only job it was to avoid Tweety and to catch Speedy. Poor guy couldn’t do either, always finding trouble. He was hit repeatedly by that old woman, which was wrong. Animal abuse should NOT be seen in cartoons. A little too Michael Vick for me. Also Sly had to watch out going too far outside because a bulldog would sometimes be waiting for him out there. Sly should get more credit than he does because he was a tragic hero, destined to never do right by the bird or the mouse.

14 Garfield The original and no substitutes will be permitted (Heathcliffe and Riff Raff, I am talking to YOU!) This fat cat that hated Mondays and loved Lasagna ALMOST changed by perspective on cats. But he didn’t. I still don’t like cats. They hiss at you, and they lick themselves. Plus they make YOU beg to pet THEM? Nope, I like Dogs, who ask YOU to pet them. But I do think it is funny that this fat cat OWNED the house. Poor Arbuckle and Odie. They never stood a chance. But I think he also served as a role model to all other cats. They need to realize WE run the show. NOT THEM. Even though they sometimes eat their owners when the owner dies, but no one realizes it, and the cat isn’t fed, so it turns. UNCOOL. My dog will never turn on me like that. At least, I’d like to think so.

13 Winnie the Pooh The golden bear loved him some honey, didn’t he? He used cloud costumes to try and get honey, even eating so much that he got stuck once. That though I believe is a problem. I don’t think we should encourage kids to eat so much honey they get stuck in a hole. That is NOT a good idea. Childhood obesity is ALREADY a problem. Maybe the show’s creators were making a point, but I doubt it.

12 Popeye OK, I will admit it. Something wasn’t right about the spinach. I think it MAY have had steroids in them. But the guy was a military man and he could take down Bluto, which was pretty cool. Why though did he go after Olive Oil? And why didn’t he ever want to commit to her? Were they “just friends” this whole time? I think she love her some Popeye, which means it was on his end. I know he was a sailor and just wearing that uniform means he could have gotten the ladies, but you never really saw him with them. Was Popeye gay? And where did that baby come from? And where did it go? And why did that guy always walk around wanting hamburgers? And why did he never have any money? Ever hear of a debit card?

11 Papa Smurf The grandfatherly smurf that had a RED hat and such, which was really cool. He had a style all his own. Either that or when you get to be an old smurf, your stuff changes. Maybe that is like a sign of death. Instead of wrinkles, smurfs turn red. But this guy was so wise, kind of like Yoda. He had all of the answers because he HAD LIVED IT. He knew the jig because he wrote the BOOK on being a smurf. He was like Robert Louis Smurfenson. Or Herman Smurfville. Or Chalres Smufkens. Or Edgar Smurfen Poe. Or William Smurfspeare.

10 Scooby Doo-himself Rooby ROOO! This dog could openly communicate with Shaggy, but maybe that was just because Shaggy was stoned and THOUGHT Scooby was talking to him (or because maybe it was a cartoon!) Scooby, intentional or not usually foiled the bad guy’s plot and I think deep down, he HATED Fred and wanted Fred’s plan to screw up so maybe they would listen to Velma more. But give Scooby some food and the guy is happy. PS, he could have TOTALLY kicked that Marmaduke’s butt!

9 Wile E Coyote and the Road Runner-a tragic hero is Wiley Coyote, I remember the two times he ever caught the road runner. The first time he had run through a series of pipes and though the road runner came out at normal size, Wiley came out tiny, and only realized this as he clung to the leg of the suddenly giant bird. The other time, after he caught the bird, he simply let the road runner go, realizing the true fun IS in the chase. He reminds me of a teenage boy pursuing a date to the prom, only to realize that chasing the girl was more fun, especially when she didn’t put out. As for the road runner, the gender of the beast is unknown. In several episodes we see Wiley attempt to lure the target with a girl road runner, but in other episodes we see a longer feather on top, that in other cartoons usually indicates a female. If the coyote was pursuing the road runner as not just food, but also as a sex target, maybe that could explain why the coyote went after him for so long instead of ordering food from Acme, where he orders EVERYTHING else.

8 Tom and Jerry The Bride-to-be’s favorite, this old school Cat and Mouse story was the basis for Sylvester and Tweety as well as Itchy and Scratchy. It showed that cats hate mice, but mice are somehow smarter than cats. NOT TRUE if you consult the dominance scale. Mice are eaten by cats, and even if the mice can run into the mouse holes, the cat will be there waiting. I never bought that Jerry could outsmart Tom all that much. I think the law of averages could favor Tom, especially since he was so much bigger than Jerry.

7 Charlie Brown The lovable loser that couldn’t win a baseball game, couldn’t kick a football, couldn’t fly a kite and couldn’t even go trick-or-treating because he was so loyal to his friend, this character has a special place in everyone’s heart. The true underdog, I think EVERYONE was happy for him when he finally won that baseball game. His shirt was so simple yet so great: the yellow with the black zigzag has been countless Halloween costumes. He also had to deal with Sally, Lucy and the teacher, so the guy was probably a reflection of the creator’s feelings towards women. He always seemed overburdened. But he loved his dog and he loved that little red-headed girl that he could never get the courage up to ask out. What guy hasn’t been there before? Charlie Brown was the guy that we all felt like sometimes and when he DID finally manage to have some success, we felt like it was ours too.

6 Fred Flintstone Let’s just forget the fact that the show ripped off The Honeymooners, for just a second. This cartoon, no doubt inspired the Jetsons, the Laff-a-lympics, Yogi. We also got two cereals from this show….AND THE FLINTSTONES VITAMINS! What kid didn’t like those vitamins? I know I loved them! But back to Fred. He wore a tiger/leopard loincloth on a daily basis. I wonder if he wore any sort of underwear with them? He was an everyman, 9-5 working class. A blue collar guy if loincloths had those. I think he transcended kids and parents didn’t mind watching it because they felt a connection to him because HE worked just like they did. He wasn’t just some Mouse hopping around. He went out, made a living, bowled, had a dinosaur for a pet, and did you see his car? He had to push it himself with his feet. Yep, I have respect for that.

5 Kermit The leader of the Muppet Nursery but I never liked his little sailor suit. Usually sailors stay out of the water and on their boats. Was this frog afraid of the water? But moving on…He was able to keep everybody at bay in the nursery, even keeping Gonzo happy enough not to try and revolt against him. And what an imagination for this guy, huh? The writers obviously made him the star and that is why he is so high on this list. When they would make-believe Star Wars, he was Luke Skyhopper. Basketball, he was the point guard. He was always leading the missions. The lead singer in bands. The captain on “moon missions.” President Kermiton He was the man-rather the FROG! You just can’t argue with numbers. You just can’t. Like trying to argue with crazy people. It doesn’t work.

4 Daffy Duck The most impressive thing about Daffy was his ability to take a bullet to the beak, have it go 360 and then he could MOVE IT BACK. Yep. What a guy. He was usually the antagonist to Bugs, and for that you got the feeling he was Lou Gehrig to Bugs’ Babe Ruth. I am not certain he liked Bugs, actually he DIDN’T, but you got the feeling after it was all, maybe they were friends. Daffy could have been the star if not for Bugs, and like the Iron Horse, Daffy showed up to work everyday, knowing he would be No. 2. A tough gig, but he went up against witches, old ladies, Taz, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, and all the others. Why? Because he knew it was right.

3 Bullwinkle I never understood why it was the Rocky and Bullwinkle show. Rocky was alright, but I don’t think the Moose needed that stupid flying squirrel. Bullwinkle got a college education at Wasamatta U. He lived on his own in Frostbite Falls. And the aliens made robot Moose, not robot squirrels. Clearly they thought the Moose was the more impressive species. In fact, if we look at the animal dominance scale, Moose ranks higher than squirrel. Apparently the producers didn’t look at the dominance scale before filling out the show’s billing. I mean they gave the cooler character the better animal, but not the top billing. (Maybe it was because the cartoon came out 45 years before the dominance scale did, but whatever!)

2 Snoopy The budding writer and World War I fighter pilot was just plain a cool dude. In fact one of his alter egos WAS Joe Cool. That is pretty sweet. He could dance like a champion and Beagles are VERY hot right now, thanks to Uno. (I even had a dog growing up named Snoopy) Even today, the dog remains probably THE most popular dog in American history. His ability to lay on top of that pointed dog house was incredible, but I have to ask, WHY was this dog being forced to sleep outside? He should have been inside sleeping beside Charlie Brown. But that’s just me. I like dogs. Snoopy was friends with Woodstock the bird, which was pretty cool and he was always stealing kisses from the ladies. He was loyal in waiting for Charlie at the bus stop and he could even be scary sometimes, when the occasion called for it. But, like most dogs, he was a softie at heart and he WAS Man’s Best Friend. That’s why he is No. 2

1 Bugs Bunny Without a doubt, the franchise. This guy WAS Looney Tunes. Munching on a carrot and dropping the trademark “What’s up, Doc?” He could tunnel across the country, even through the Pacific Ocean to reach Australia. THAT’S impressive. He could crossdress, which I am not quite sure a positive, but he could do it. He could sing opera, which again, not sure the level of coolness, but he had it on the resume. But this guy was the WWF Hulk Hogan of cartoons. ALWAYS the goodguy! (Hulk only became Hollywood Hogan aka a bad guy when he went to WCW.) He was the hero. He was Babe Ruth to Daffy’s Gehrig. And maybe THAT was the most impressive aspect of Bugs. He ALWAYS outsmarted Elmer Fudd. ALWAYS outsmarted Daffy. Taz, Yosemite Sam. None of those guys stood a chance. You knew Bugs would always win. Did that make it boring? Not really. Bugs had a wit about him that he was able to NOT only always win, but look cool doing it. And once again, Bugs wins. He is No. 1 on this list.

There you go. Let the ripping of the list begin….NOW!

No comments: