Treehouse Opening Pt 4 - Dire Consequences of Trick or Treating

Believe it or not I really wanted to do some straight story stuff with the Simpsons. By 'straight' I mean a narrative story (as opposed to a song or strictly abstract visuals). I was dying to do a caricature of the Simpsons characters' personalities as well as their design. - like what I do with the Hanna Barbera characters.

I think Abe is a fun character. Old and cantankerous, I figured I'd make him older and more cantankerous. I thought I'd throw in that he'd also be very religious and superstitious as many old timers are.

*An animation history irony:

People tend to think of cartoons as exaggerations of reality - and that was pretty much taken for granted up until the 1960s. 

 In 1960, Hanna and Barbera created the first prime time animated cartoon - the precursor to the Simpsons and every other cartoon sitcom that followed.

The characters and situations in the Flintstones were inspired by the live action "The Honeymooners". So you would imagine that the animated show would be much more exaggerated than its live-action counterpart.  
 

The Honeymooners

Flintstone

While I love the Flintstones, the irony is that it is really a toned-down version of the Honeymooners. The live characters in the Honeymooners are much more exaggerated than the cartoon. They have more depth to the personalities and a much broader range of expressions and gestures.

I don't know how this came about, but the Flintstones' animation style must have seeped into the consciousness of generations of TV watchers all the way to today. Every animated sitcom that has been ever made is less exaggerated than characters in live action sitcoms - and even less exaggerated than real people in general (and even less exaggerated than Hanna Barbera cartoons).

So I wanted to do an experiment and reverse the trend by animating the Simpsons using their same basic personalities, but adding more range and expression to the acting - by caricaturing what is already there in a milder form.

Alas, Matt, Al and I came up with so many ideas - including a song, that we couldn't fit them all into the minute and a half slot. Maybe they'll let me animate a whole episode one day.

Here's the Rest

The Flintstones have been glued to their outhouse.
This is the stone age punishment for adultery
7 generations of descendants assume the gilt of their progenitors.

Mystery Solved

After you're done shooting extinct animals in the uvula, you can practice smoking to prepare you for growing up.

Mystery Toy

Some Junk To To Tide Things Over

It's HIM

It's the zombie from the primeval algae swamp.
Made of loosely compacted ooze, he emits carbon dioxide from his staring false eyes, hypnotizing his prey into a state of benumbed flaccid torpor.
The Nightmare From Before Time then sheds his waxy membrane and spews out its hellish living contents. The gleaming poisonous mass engulphs his victim, stinging every nerve ending with tiny dancing pseudopods. IT consumes the liquified remains of what once had form, feelings and family.

After absorbing the rich nutrients of the prey's tender pain receptors, it reverse vomits its wretched pulsing mass back into its husk and reorganizes the misshapen membrane into another awful perversion of vaguely humanoid contour.
...and the Hellish masquerade repeats...without mind...without soul...with only a vulgar and voracious hunger for meat that knows pain...

Rubber Buddies

There are some characters that have such an inherent iconic quality that regardless of whether their cartoons are hilarious or not, they just look good in rubber.
Doesn't this Peabody toy make you imagine it must be from a fantastic cartoon?
This Tom looks good too, but is not quite so distinct or iconic as the Jay Ward characters - even though the cartoons he's in are much more animated.
Some fans wonder why I make so many posts about toys and partly it's because I don't always have time to do anything elaborate so I just put up the stuff Mike Fontanelli sends me in his immature glee. But there is kind of a serious point in them: One of the most important qualities in a cartoon character is its inherent iconic appeal. Ionic characters make good toys. It's a quality that is completely non-existent today. Cartoonists used to aim for designs and personalities that had an instant appeal. Rather than this:
Somehow, about 40 years ago cartoon aims turned upside down and now characters seem to be designed to instantly depress you. Big time Hollywood producers think that if they make the audience puke, we will be curious enough to want to watch the cartoon to that makes our stomachs churn so.
Like I said, iconic quality is separate from whether the cartoon is fully animated or even funny. It's just a spark that some cartoon designers and creators had and others strove for but never achieved.
Here's the character who made for some of the best toys ever and the more off model and confused they were, the better.


I bet girls love Fred's iconic veiny club.