Cartoon Shorts: The Year in Review

By: Steve Fritz
Date: Monday, December 18, 2000

To say this has been an interesting year in animation is putting it mildly. It would be better said that it was a rollercoaster ride, with incredible peaks and valleys, oft times coming within weeks of each other. For the uninitiated, this is the fourth time I'm doing my 'best of' column. I've broken this column down into two parts: Saturday Morning Animation (kids programming) and Prime Time Animation.

As always, I've tended to avoid Japanese anime, particularly the video market. My qualifying rule for Japanese animation is I must have seen it on a TV network (broadcast, cable or otherwise), otherwise it doesn't count. Also, I feel there's more than enough otakus out there who will put out lists of their own. Let them enjoy their moments in the sun. I'm more interested in what's happening on these shores anyway. That said, here we go...

SATURDAY MORNING ANIMATION

Saturday Morning Animation
1.	Beast Machines/Battle for the Sparks	Mainframe/Hasbro - Fox Kids
2.	Power Puff Girls	Hanna-Barbera - Cartoon Network
3.	Jackie Chan Adventures	Sony Family - Kids WB!
4.	Escaflowne	Toei - Fox Kids
5.	Johnny Bravo	Hanna-Barbera - Cartoon Network
6.	Buzz Lightyear of Star Command	Buena Vista - ABC
7.	Angela Anaconda	Saban - Fox Family
8.	X-Men: Evolution	Film Roman - Kids WB!
9.	Batman Beyond	Warner - Kids WB!
10.	Men in Black	Sony Family - Kids WB!

As far as I'm concerned, two other shows, Klasky-Csupo's Rugrats and Cymar/TMS's Cyber 6, deserved to be on this list as well. But then it wouldn't be a Top Ten, eh? I also probably could have added another dozen shows to this list, among them Digimon, Static Shock, Card Captors, Action Man, Family Pet and Wild Thornberrys, among others. In general, I've come to the opinion that we Americans just don't appreciate how good our child- and family-oriented television truly is.

Still, when push comes to shove, the show I made it a habit of always seeing and taping was Beast Machines. To me, it's proof positive you can combine intelligent scriptwriting, state-of-the art animation and even sell a toy line in a totally entertaining, dramatic fashion. Unlike other toy-oriented programming, Beast Machines didn't push it's latest creation into your face. Instead, it made sure the new characters were integral elements of the plot first, then sold as toys.

This probably goes a long way towards explaining why the Transformers franchise is well on its way towards its 20th anniversary. Informed sources at Fox Kids tell me they hope to continue doing new Transformers shows for the foreseeable future. The people at Mainframe say it's only a matter of Hasbro giving them the green light. That leaves Hasbro, who says they will have some kind of announcement at this 2001's International Toy Fair, but we should be ready for more Transformers for the foreseeable future in an all-new series. Don't be surprised if this isn't the last you've heard of the Maximals.

I should add that there's even more incredible animation in the works. I know Fox and the Cartoon Network are hard at work trying to up-end current kingpins Kids WB! and Nickelodeon, and they do have the ammoand those two aren't sitting on their laurels either. Finally, never keep Disney/ABC or the new team up of Paramount/CBS too far out of the picture. Sit back and enjoy. There's a ton more interesting kids-oriented animated programming in the works.

Before we go, there's still room for me to pick one last show, and that's my annual 'Dog of the Year.' That dubious honor has to go to Monster Rancher. It wasn't enough that it probably had the most irritating hero of the year, but it also carried the most infantile plot line, had horrible animation and generally showed no concern for quality. This is toy-oriented toons at its lowest since He-Man. Let's hope it's much longer before another such show hits the airwaves.

PRIME TIME ANIMATION

If ever there was an area for disappointment, this was it. Let's review:

Prime Time Animation
1.	The PJ's	Eddie Murphy/Bill Vinton - WB
2.	Futurama	Curiousity Shoppe - Fox
3.	The Simpsons	Gracie - Fox
4.	King of the Hill	Judge-Mental - Fox
5.	South Park	Parker & Stone - Comedy Channel
6.	Dilbert	Sony Family - UPN
7.	Daria	MTV - MTV
8.	God, The Devil & Bob	Sony Family - NBC
9.	Family Guy	Fox- Fox
10.	Baby Blues	Hearst Entertainment - WB

If you notice, the only new shows on this list were not only on the bottom of this top ten, but were quickly cancelled. To be honest, the remaining new shows introduced were mediocre at best, if not deserving of a quick and painless death.

On the other hand, the shows that continued from previous seasons continued to get better. My only gripe is since taking over The PJ's, the powers-that-be put it directly against Fox's Sunday evening animation block. This superlatively biting bit of urban satire deserves much better than what it's currently getting. It was bad enough when Fox used to air itirregularlyon Tuesdays. This is asking for ratings death.

On the other hand, all the top five shows have managed to come up with at least one superlative episode, sometimes many more. Daria also had its moments, including it's first made-for-TV movie, How I Spent My Summer Vacation. It's a crying shame about what happened to Dilbert. I don't think a more savage and deserving view of corporate culture has ever been aired. It's a pity the general public never caught on to it.

As for the 'Dog of the Year,' it's an easy pick. I don't know what in the world Kevin Smith and company were thinking of when they unleashed the animated version of Clerks, but it was pretty obvious from the seven episodes I viewed that they hadn't thought a single thing through. You can do comics and movies that I'll go to see Mr. Smith, but it's going to be a long time before I want to look at another animated show from you.

THE FUTURE

It's good to note that adults will be getting a lot more animation in the very near future. As it stands, UPN will be striking again with Gary & Mike, which starts on Jan. 12. Film Roman is hard at work on Howard Stern's Doomsday, with no less than Eric Radomsky (Batman: The Animated Series and Spawn) at the helm. And keep an eye out for Disney. I understand from informed sources they are hard at work pinning down the final terms of a deal with John Goodman that would include him taking over the voice of Balloo, that ever-lovin' bear of The Jungle Book, but there might be a lot more in the works.

Also, Mainframe is going to be nova hot next year. Don't be surprised if we see projects such as Jill Thompson's much-anticipated Scary Godmother , Steve Seagal's Dot's Bots and much, much more coming to the small screen in the very near future.

Sounds like 2001 is going to be another wild year for animation. Better grab hold of that safety bar, we're in for one hell of a ride.