What A Cartoon!

Our $10 Patreon subscribers got quite a treat in August with the monthly What A Cartoon Movie! We did the brand new, Netflix-hosted reboot of Rocko's Modern Life, Static Cling! If you're not yet a premium subscriber, here's a preview of that special podcast as we explore just how the new Nicktoon came to be! And if you want the full podcast, just pledge $10 at Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons to get Static Cling and all our previous What A Cartoon Movie! podcasts!!!!!!

If you weren't paying attention to TV between 1993 and 1994, you might have missed Mighty Max: one of the best cartoons to be made entirely for the sake of selling toys. Despite its cynical roots, the show's creators were somehow on an extremely long leash, which gave this micro-size action figure adaptation a surprisingly dark and serious tone. On this episode of What A Cartoon!, Kat Bailey joins us to explore a surprisingly great series that's gone completely forgotten, even in the nerdiest corners of the internet. Support this podcast and get dozens of bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! This podcast is brought to you by the streaming network VRV: home to cartoons, anime, and so much more! Visit VRV.co/WAC to sign up for your FREE 30-day trial and kick a little money back to your friends at the Talking Simpsons Network!  

Jeremy Parish of Retronauts returns for the what might be the most '80s anime ever made! We're covering the original Bubblegum Crisis OVA that was one of the first big hits for uncut Japanese cartoons in the United States! We look at the show's influences, BC's complicated legal history, it's many influences from American films, and we chat about the very impactful episode Red Eyes! Watch out for Boomers, strap in for a Hurricane, and listen now to Rock On! Support this podcast and get dozens of bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! This podcast is brought to you by the streaming network VRV: home to cartoons, anime, and so much more! Visit VRV.co/WAC to sign up for your FREE 30-day trial and kick a little money back to your friends at the Talking Simpsons Network!

We welcome back Matthew Jay (The Deep End, Cartoons 101) for a millennial classic that's a tribute to anime, robots, video games, wrestling, comic books, and all the other pop culture we love! Yes, we head to New Jersey in 2004 for the lost Toonami series Megas XLR! We go deep in how the series came to be, its many inspirations, and the complex tax reason it may never get a second chance. Plus we dig into the show's pilot, so rev up your robot and listen now! Support this podcast and get dozens of bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! This podcast is brought to you by the streaming network VRV: home to cartoons, anime, and so much more! Visit VRV.co/WAC to sign up for your FREE 30-day trial and kick a little money back to your friends at the Talking Simpsons Network!

Another month has passed at the Talking Simpsons Network, and that means we've got another awesome podcast about an animated feature film! This month our $10+ Patreon subscribers get to hear us talk about the 1996 classic Beavis and Butt-Head Do America for more than THREE HOURS! Listen now to this free preview, and then subscribe at the $10 level to hear the whole thing and all the previous What A Cartoon Movie! podcasts! Don't but a buttmunch, sign up today!

Third Impact has arrived on our podcast as OK KO: Let's Be Heroes' showrunners/animation experts Ian Jones-Quartey and Toby Jones return for our Evangelion episode! We go deep into the career of Hideaki Anno as he went from an animation prodigy to one of the most daring animation directors to ever live. We talk about the show's enduring popularity, its continuing controversy, the multiple localizations in the United States, and our love for the exuberant episode full of dance and personal interaction! Listen now to fly straight to the moon! Support this podcast and get dozens of bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! This podcast is brought to you by the streaming network VRV: home to cartoons, anime, and so much more! Visit VRV.co/WAC to sign up for your FREE 30-day trial and kick a little money back to your friends at the Talking Simpsons Network!  

At the dawn of the new millennium, no figure stood higher for nerds than Kevin Smith. Fresh off of his last major motion picture and right before his first attempt at closing the book on the View Askew-niverse, Smith fraternized with mass-market television with an animated interpretation of his silver screen debut. Like many of the shows from the early '00s prime-time cartoon boom, Clerks crashed hard, but the few episodes it produced remain dear in the hearts of anyone who grew up cutting their teeth on Kevin Smith's Gen-X surliness. This week, Cartoons 101's Matthew Jay joins us to explore one of the two episodes to air on ABC in the fabled year of 2000. Support this podcast and get dozens of bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! This podcast is brought to you by the streaming network VRV: home to cartoons, anime, and so much more! Visit VRV.co/WAC to sign up for your FREE 30-day trial and kick a little money back to your friends at the Talking Simpsons Network!  

During the first big anime boom of the early '00s, weebs around the world were infatuated with Excel Saga: a hyper, silly, pervy, and scatalogical show that seemed to stand for everything anime could do that American animation couldn't. And while it's mostly forgotten today, this spiritual predecessor to similarly absurdist series like Pop Team Epic still exists as a wholly unique expression of a very enigmatic director. This week, thanks to the generous patronage of Phil Jacobi, What A Cartoon! checks out one of Excel Saga's most popular episodes, one that lampoons both American and Japanese interpretations of the medium: Animation USA. Support this podcast and get dozens of bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! This podcast is brought to you by the streaming network VRV: home to cartoons, anime, and so much more! Visit VRV.co/WAC to sign up for your FREE 30-day trial and kick a little money back to your friends at the Talking Simpsons Network!

Chosen by premium Patreon subscriber Royce, this week's subject is straight from the new millennium era from Disney's One Saturday Morning. Dubbed a "Pokemon Killer" by ABC, The Weekenders was briefly a big hit and then fell back into obscurity, now it's almost impossible to watch via legal means. But that won't stop us from exploring the history of the show and its creator! Listen now, and later days! Support this podcast and get dozens of bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! This podcast is brought to you by the streaming network VRV: home to cartoons, anime, and so much more! Visit VRV.co/WAC to sign up for your FREE 30-day trial and kick a little money back to your friends at the Talking Simpsons Network!

We're returning to a series we've already done for the very first time on What A Cartoon!, but for a very good reason. Chris Reccardi, one of the most talented and influential forces in modern television animation, passed away in May of 2019. And while he never got a series of his own, we can look at one where he really got to shine: The Ren & Stimpy Show. Its Games Animation era might be maligned—mostly due to the now-thoroughly disgraced creator's own narrative—but thanks to artists like Chris, the heights it hit were always much higher than any other kids' cartoon of the era. This week, Sick Little Monkeys author and cartoon scholar Thad Komorowski joins us to discuss one of the weirdest and wildest Ren & Stimpy episodes that's wholly a product of the late Chris Reccardi: Hermit Ren. Support this podcast and get dozens of bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! This podcast is brought to you by the streaming network VRV: home to cartoons, anime, and so much mor

This week we're deep in the 1990s and syndicated cartoons about monkeys that few remember! Chosen by premium patron Devin, Bob and Henry are entering the sci-fi/comedy world of Captain Simian, a toy-centric action show that's too clever for its own good at sending up Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Stanley Kubrick, and more! We cover the show's murky past and quiet future, Simian's connection to Tiny Toons, and detail just what the Bohbot Kids Network was! Listen now and peel out!  Support this podcast and get dozens of bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! This podcast is brought to you by the streaming network VRV: home to cartoons, anime, and so much more! Visit VRV.co/WAC to sign up for your FREE 30-day trial and kick a little money back to your friends at the Talking Simpsons Network!

Are you still on the fence about joining the Talking Simpsons Network? I'd reconsider if I were you, as you're missing out on our monthly What A Cartoon Movie! podcast that's ONLY available to our $10+ Patreon subscribers! This month we're starting summer 2019 right with a trip back to Tiny Toons Adventures and their direct-to-video film that opened the floodgates for original VHS toons from major franchises! Bob and Henry chat for over 200 minutes about how Acme Acres came to be, the overseas studio that made this look incredible, and so much more! Listen to this handy preview and sign up today at the $10 level to hear the entire thing and all of our previous film podcasts!!  

Winnie the Pooh has been such an overly-merchandised phenomenon for the past 80 years, it's easy to forget the character's Disney roots started with some excellent animated shorts. And, thanks to patron Alex Irish, on this week's What A Cartoon! we'll be taking an in-depth look at Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, Disney's third exploration of the Hundred Acre Wood. There's a lot to dig into with a cast of characters nearing their collective hundredth birthday, so of course we dive deep for a thorough exploration of the written source material, the early Pooh phenomenon that preceded the one we've been living in since the late '60s, and the talented staff and voice actors behind the classic shorts that would eventually make up The Many Adventures of Winnie Pooh. So say TTFN for your troubles and get ready for another great episode! Support this podcast and get dozens of bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! This podcast is brought to you by the streaming network VRV: home

We're joined again by premium Patreon supporter Mick, as he helps us dissect a campy classic of the very early '80s: Ruby-Spears goofy post-apocalyptic action series, Thundarr! We discuss the show's Hanna-Barbera roots, the many films it ripped off, AND Thundarr's connections to comic book legends like Steve Gerber, Alex Toth, and Jack THE KING Kirby! Listen soon before the wizards catch us! Support this podcast and get dozens of bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! This podcast is brought to you by the streaming network VRV: home to cartoons, anime, and so much more! Visit VRV.co/WAC to sign up for your FREE 30-day trial and kick a little money back to your friends at the Talking Simpsons Network!

We tackle our oldest subject matter yet as we jump back to 1946 and 1953 to take an in-depth look at some legendary Warner Bros. shorts! And thanks to a request from our generous patron Nick, we're shining a spotlight on Daffy Duck just a few months after the character's 82nd birthday. On this week's episode, Sick Little Monkeys author and classic cartoon expert Thad Komorowski joins us to discuss two very different interpretations of Daffy Duck from two very different Warner Bros. directors. Listen in and prepare to be amazed at how deep this duck can be! Support this podcast and get dozens of bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! This podcast is brought to you by the streaming network VRV: home to cartoons, anime, and so much more! Visit VRV.co/WAC to sign up for your FREE 30-day trial and kick a little money back to your friends at the Talking Simpsons Network!

Another month has passed at the Talking Simpsons Network, and that means we've got another awesome podcast about an animated feature film! This month our $10+ Patreon subscribers get to hear us talk about the 1992 Disney classic Aladdin for FOUR HOURS! Listen now to this free preview of our Aladdin podcast, and then subscribe at the $10 level to hear the whole thing and all the previous What A Cartoon Movie! podcasts! Make all your audio-based wishes come true and sign up today!

This week's podcast has a taste of modern Middle Eastern animation, as chosen by our premium Patron Aziz! (And just in time for the month of Ramadan too!) We watch online original Emara, the first superhero from Dubai! Learn how the culture shaped it, its anime roots, and how it came to be with a special guest appearance from Emara's creator, Fatma Almheiri! Listen now! Support this podcast and get dozens of bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! This podcast is brought to you by the streaming network VRV: home to cartoons, anime, and so much more! Visit VRV.co/WAC to sign up for your FREE 30-day trial and kick a little money back to your friends at the Talking Simpsons Network!

Chosen by our premium subscriber ShyRanger, Bob and Henry head back to the '00s for Nickelodeon's own attempt at a Cartoon Network-style action-comedy! Created by Dexter/Powerpuff veteran Rob Renzetti, My Life As A Teenage Robot is a cult hit with a very intriguing art style and sense of humor. Listen along to learn about its history and the pair of season one shorts, Sibling Tsunami and Tradeshow Showdown! Support this podcast and get dozens of bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! This podcast is brought to you by the streaming network VRV: home to cartoons, anime, and so much more! Visit VRV.co/WAC to sign up for your FREE 30-day trial and kick a little money back to your friends at the Talking Simpsons Network!

We're the Planeteers, and you can be one too on this week's eco-friendly podcast! Henry and Bob go back to 1991 when global warning was a less imminent threat, and we deconstruct the super heroics of Captain Planet. We talk about how Ted Turner's pet project grew into a movement of more environmentally conscious kids, as well as how the show was both incredibly corny and correct about so many things that still threaten our future! So let your powers combine and listen now!  Support this podcast and get dozens of bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! This podcast is brought to you by the streaming network VRV: home to cartoons, anime, and so much more! Visit VRV.co/WAC to sign up for your FREE 30-day trial and kick a little money back to your friends at the Talking Simpsons Network!

Thanks to the generous contributions of patron David Whittington, we're heading back to anime country with the newest series we've ever featured on What A Cartoon! Back when it initially started running in the weekly Japanese comic anthology Shonen Jump in 2016, The Promised Neverland quickly became one of the publication's most popular series, so it was only time until it received an anime adaptation. And, lucky for us, this well-animated interpretation of the source material adapts the manga very faithfully, while amping up certain elements that play better off the page. If you've never heard of The Promised Neverland, you're sure to love its compelling premise and plot full of surprising twists and satisfying payoffs, and we can't wait to walk you through its debut episode! Support this podcast and get dozens of bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! This podcast is brought to you by the streaming network VRV: home to cartoons, anime, and so much more! Visit VRV.co/WA