Back to obscure movies played when Cartoon Network tried to show films, this time it's a German animated film released in English by Warner Bros called The Fearless Four.
It starts with a dog named Buster voiced by James Ingram who's been driven out of his home for not being a proper dog and getting placed in the pound.
Then we join Fred the Donkey voiced by B.B.King who's been made redundant by a robot centaur with a sweet singing voice.
Then we join Gwendolyn the Cat voiced by Oleta Adams who's been driven out of her home by her late owners obnoxious relatives.
And finally we join Tortellini the Rooster voiced by Zucchero who's been driven out of his home for too much sex. (Look that's whats been implied by the scene just go with it)
The four animals some how meet up and decide to form a singing quartet as they journey to Paris to find their fortune only to stop in Bremen on the way and get scouted by an evil food company called Mix Max; they are made to perform the Mix Max jingle in order to increase control over Europe, I don't know, it makes no sense, the main villain looks like that guy from "Series of Unfortunate Events".
The group rebel with an awesome song, one of many awesome songs throughout the film, it is a musical after all and win against the villains, the film ends as Gwendolyn finds out that she now has ownership of her owners mansion and turns it into an animal home.
Okay verdict on this film is simple: good music, silly plot, overly dull color scheme, somehow manages to mold computer graphics well despite being a 90s film and decent English dub despite being all voiced by professional singers.
If you've even heard of any of the singers voicing the animal characters then you've won a cookie.
Compared to the Scarecrow I covered last time, The Fearless Four has better production but the plot is a bit silly and can be seen as a vegan's revenge story seeing as the underlying message seems to be that meat producers are evil and everything is better with singing.
The film is fairly obscure so don't expect to find much beyond it's original German release, I had trouble finding any information about this film in English so I'm doing this review on memory.
Overall it's a nice little distraction but nothing memorable about it beyond the songs.
Onto Generation 2 of the mini guide, there will be six this time.
1. Ed, Edd & Eddy - 1999
Adventures from the cul-de-sac featuring a group of kids who share similar names who just want to make some money for sweets.
Verdict: Everyone has known someone who's been a character in Ed, Edd & Eddy and that kind of connection makes it worth the watch. I was always the Double D of the group in school.
Fact: Cartoon Network's longest running show broadcasting more than 10 years before succumbing to the dreaded 2009 cartoon drought.
2. Mike, Lu & Og - 1999
A foreign exchange student ends up in the Pacific Islands as she tries to adjust to the culture shock between herself and the inhabitants. Think western animation version of Haru + Guu.
Verdict: Average, looks too much like a Nickelodeon production.
Fact: Features the voice of Bart Simpson: Nancy Cartwright
3. Courage the Cowardly Dog - 1999
A cowardly dog fights a number of aliens, monsters and other nightmare fuel in order to protect his family, an elderly couple living in the wastelands.
Verdict: Forgettable in places, it's very creative when you look at the amount of Nightmare fuel it shows. I do prefer Courage to not talk.
Fact: The original short was nominated for a short film Oscar on the year of release.
4. Sheep in the Big City - 2000
A sheep ends up in various unusual situations while being chased by an army general who wants him as a laser battery.
Verdict: I never got on with it, the story felt too surreal to be entertaining.
Fact: The show lists Rocky & Bullwinkle as it's biggest influence.
5. Time Squad - 2001
A team travels through various time periods correcting the mistakes that have been made.
Verdict: While interesting in theory it has been done better by better programs with the same plot.
Fact: Another Rocky & Bullwinkle inspired show, this one referencing Mister Peabody.
6. Samurai Jack - 2001
A Samurai from ancient Japan fights an evil shape-shifter named Aku only to be sent to a dystopian future ruled by the demon. The samurai named Jack by the inhabitants must battle to return to the past.
Verdict: Not just a good cartoon but one of the best cartoons ever created, entire episodes can be shown with very little dialogue and still accomplish more than a show of equal status and even the silliest episodes still look awesome.
Fact: A film version is still attempting production even now with the only issue holding it back is the death of actor Mako.
As a sequel to the Disney version and to remember that this is an Anime site I present to you the top 10 anime that would benefit from Cartoon Network.
Special Mention: Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt who already uses Cartoon Network's Animation style.
10. Medabots
While the concept is very Japanese the appeal is very international and would fill a gap which seems to elude Cartoon Network which is of course the robot cartoon.
9. Martian Successor Nadesico
A ship full of anime fans and various normal people with extraordinary skills, sounds like a good recipe for a cartoon.
8. Lost Universe
Also known as the Sci-Fi Slayers, an adaptable cast and a wide sandbox full of gags makes Lost Universe work.
7. Trigun
Strange choice but justified, thinking about how often a show starts off with hardcore slapstick before switching to a more darker tone, (Looking at you Adventure Time) Trigun suits the mold very well.
6. Ninja Nonsense
Onsokumaru is made for this, he's the type of character who'd work well in any scene seeing as he reminds me of the Red Guy from Cow & Chicken crossed with Jake the Dog from Adventure Time.
5. Black Butler
When this show is funny it's really funny, I mean how could you keep a serious face in a show about a Demon Butler that fights with silverware. Plus a 19th century setting would be a change of pace for Cartoon Network.
4. Outlaw Star
Considering the cast consists of a spaceship pilot scared of space, a pint-sized mechanic, a bad tempered Catgirl, a ship battery in the guise of a human female and a samurai girl, you'd be pushed to think of a better setting. Plus Outlaw Star is a former Toonami show.
3. Black Cat
And yet Black Cat is capable of doing exactly that, the manga more so than the anime. Two broke bounty hunters along with a shape-shifting girl fighting for their next meal is a well used concept but has it's merits if done well and Black Cat can do that.
2. Riding Bean
Considering there wasn't really much to work with it definitely has potential, plus I've been looking for a jack of all trades driver in cartoons, the industry could use with one and would open up hundreds of potential plotlines.
1. Squid Girl
But Cartoon Network's history of failed villains would certainly liven up Squid Girl from it's one joke status to a series of hilarious fails as a cartoon about a worthless villain joining such favorites as Mandark, Mojo Jojo, Red Guy, Evil Con Carne & the Many Many Kids Next Door Villains.
Now were getting into the good stuff, moving on with the mini guide we come to Generation one, there will be five entries in this one.
1. Dexter's Laboratory - 1996
A vertically challenged boy builds a huge laboratory in his bedroom and strives to achieve scientific perfection while his sister ruins everything through her so called playtimes.
Verdict: The first of many series by Cartoon Network and it starts off well, Dexter's Laboratory plays the imagination card well and executes a perfect balance between science lingo and comedy, sadly the post 2000 new episodes aren't as funny as the older episodes.
Fact: As already mentioned previously there is a lost episode from Season one called Rude Removal which had too much colorful language to air.
Bonus. Dial M for Monkey & Justice Friends - 1996
One show deals with the exploits of Dexter's Monkey as a superhero, the other spoofs the Avengers and many sitcom shows.
Verdict: Mixed, it's a nice change of pace during a run of Dexter's Lab but neither are that special.
Fact: The Justice Friends have also appeared in Powerpuff Girls.
2. Johnny Bravo - 1997
A muscle bound blonde man with an Elvis accent goes through day to day life flirting with women and generally showing off.
Verdict: Early episodes were decent but the lead character got stupider during newer episodes and as a blonde male myself I'm actually offended by it.
Fact: One of only a handful of animated shows to have star guests, the Scooby Doo crossover being a personal favorite, along with Donny Osmond & Farrah Fawcett episodes and who could forget the Mr T episode.
3. Cow & Chicken - 1997
It's about a Cow & a Chicken, that's it. Oh and a Pant-less Red Guy appears in a lot of episodes.
Verdict: Watching this now it's pretty terrible, as a child I could see why I enjoyed it but now it's quite bad.
Fact: An episode got banned for stereotyping Lesbians, even the pilot episode was refused airtime later on for it's excessive use of smoking scenes.
4. I Am Weasel - 1997
Originally a side cartoon for Cow & Chicken became a full fledged series about a perfect at everything Weasel and a hopeless at everything Baboon.
Verdict: I think I missed the joke of this show, because I find the cartoon a good example of social status bullying by having a poor baboon be the butt of the gags created by a rich weasel.
Fact: Cow & Chicken frequently appear in the episodes as plot points along with the Red Guy.
Bonus: I do a mean impression of Weasel.
5. Powerpuff Girls - 1998
Scientist creates three super-powered kindergarten girls while trying to create a perfect little girl. Said super powered girls are now the crime fighters of the city.
Verdict: This show is fantastic, and surprisingly deep and sometimes dark, I don't even care if it's girly, pink and cute, what I see is pure genius.
Fact: Creator Craig McCracken's talent for making girly shows watchable seems to spread to his spouse as he's married to Lauren Faust of My Little Pony fame, another show that is girly and watchable.
Bonus: The Powerpuff Girls are being rebooted, look forward to it.
I waited a bit to release this list but here it is, the Top 10 best Cartoon Network Characters.
10. Johnny Bravo from Johnny Bravo
Although I hated how they treated him in the show, I liked his work as Cartoon Network presenter, especially during the height of Toonami popularity.
9. Kevin Levin from Ben 10
Unlike the main character Ben 10, Kevin actually goes through a number of deep and meaningful character changes in order to achieve his hero status, not to mention he has an awesome power and is the best character to use in the Cartoon Network fighting game.
8. Gumball Watterson from Amazing World of Gumball
This entry is purely down to the performance of child actor Logan Grove, probably one of the best child voice actors I've heard in a long time. Every scene Gumball has is pure gold and you truly believe that Gumball is a child and not an adult playing one.
7. Dexter from Dexter's Laboratory
While slightly full of himself, Dexter always makes things as interesting as possible with his inventions. It's the creative mind of a genius and his ability to adapt within a normal family is what makes Dexter a good character.
6. Mordecai from Regular Show
Mordecai is JG Quintel, lets get that out of the way now. What's interesting about Mordecai is that despite being a slacker, he's actually really smart, it would be far too easy to make two idiots, so having one of the duo of Mordecai & Rigby be smart is a good move and serves the series better for it. Plus I like his character origin as an Acid Trip.
5. Ed from Ed, Edd & Eddy
All the Eds deserve to be on this list but in keeping to one character I chose Ed especially, mainly because his knowledge of movies matches some of my main interests and secondly he's voiced by the same man who did Kira Yamato in Gundam Seed.
4. Lin Chung from Hero 108
Lin Chung looks like the typical invincible hero type but is subverted by his flaws as being easily distracted by his own artistic vision which doesn't instantly turn the show into a one hero only show. (Yes I realize I just made a pun and not a good one either)
3. Nigel Uno (Numbuh 1) from Codename: Kids Next Door
No he's not on here because he's British, actually yes that is one reason but the other is that he is grade A awesome. The perfect mold for a typical leader character, reckless, committed to the team, insanely loyal, commands up most respect and looks awesome doing it.
2. Bubbles from Powerpuff Girls
Another character from a trio that should all be on this list but Bubbles stands out as the only character who acts her age. Blossom behaves if she's an adult, Buttercup behaves if she's in high school, Bubbles actually acts like a kindergartner which makes it all the more awesome when she beats up monsters and villains.
1. Jack from Samurai Jack
It's not even his real name yet he accepts that as the name given to him by the Aku Future World inhabitants. Samurai Jack only talks when he has to, otherwise they can shoot pretty much the entire episode with no dialogue and he'd still accomplish more than an equal character with dialogue. It's the show's biggest strength and you truly believe Jack is a real warrior because of it.
