Saturday, March 30, 2013

Fanboy Admission and Genetics


I was a super nerd growing up (still am).
All I wanted to do was watch cartoons and draw 'em.

I loved cartoons that were based on personalities - iconic characters, even if they weren't fully animated.
I was especially obsessed with the Flintstones and not only drew them but acted out stories about them in the back yard  with my neighbors, Jeff and Phil. I actually got in trouble for it once.

I used to draw my own stories about them and even wrote treatises on what made up the different styles of each studio.
I used to explain how the different styles worked to my friends who stared at me like I was nuts. "Who the f' cares, Falusi??"

The Chipmunks for some reason were on Sunday mornings in Ottawa, sandwiched in between in all the boring Jesus shows. It was extremely limited but very creative and whimsical. And of course the music and soundtracks were great. I don't know what the heck happened to them in the 80s. They became preachy and depressing and hideously drawn.

Bobby Bigloaf is a character that is a fanboy but of the kind that wishes he could draw but instead chooses the easier route - to write.

There is a new kind of rare fanboy, encouraged by the internet, somewhat like Bobby, only much angrier, a very strange sort of genetic defect that luckily doesn't have chance of breeding.

I loved Disney animation as a kid but never really got into the characters. It just seemed like beautifully abstract motion and I was mesmerized by it.

I am much more naturally drawn to the kind of full animation that is creative like early Fleischers and Looney Tunes.