Video

NBA on NBC (1990-2002)

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Animation and sports. I don’t think folks realize the importance of one on the other, especially in the television broadcast world. But let’s be real, many times the intro animations set-up the game. And a great set-up can be the difference from a good game and a great game.

In my humble opinion, the hands down greatest animated intro was the NBA on NBC from 1990 – 2002. Check out out their intro to the 1998 NBA Finals:

From the highlighting of the NBC logo, to the sliding NBA logo, all the way to brushed aluminum background, the animation for this sequence was beautifully done (I wish I knew who the designers and animators were). And to this day, no intro from the other networks (NBA on ESPN, NBA on TNT, MLB on FOX, NFL on FOX, NFL on CBS, NFL on NBC, etc…) has given me that WOW factor.

It isn’t all about the animation though (blasphemy, this is an animation blog..), what really makes the NBA on NBC’s intro shine is the sum of all the parts: the Bob Costas voiceover, the montage of previous games’ (heavily filtered) highlight clips, and of course the best network sports theme ever, “Roundball Rock” and it was composed by John Tesh of all people. The best example of the complete intro was game 6 of the 1993 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns. Check it out:

Alright, the real reason I’m reminiscing is because football season is officially over. The Mariners don’t play an actual game until April (Spring Training does not count and by all accounts the Mariners are going to suck this year). And the Seattle Supersonics are no longer here (no comment), so there is no NBA for Seattle…

But we do have this:

Once again, greatest animated sports intro…EVER!

PS: Enough time has passed, we can officially add Delonte West and Danny Fortson to the list of obscure Seattle Sonic players…

EDIT 2/11/09: BOO on youtube user TRJ22487, who has disabled the embed feature on the Bulls vs. Suns, and Bulls vs. Sonics intro videos. It’s all good though, just double click on the videos to get directly to the youtube feed.

EDIT 2/13/09: THANK YOU BILL SIMMONS! Thanks to the sports guy, Bill Simmons, from ESPN.com, for introducing me to this clip of John Tesh performing “Roundball Rock” LIVE! The set-up is classic, John Tesh humming the theme on his answering machine, and it ends with some sick violin vs. guitar action. YOU READ RIGHT!

Set the VCR: Here Comes The Ambulance! (Madden 92)

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This new segment in the blog goes over the moments in cartoon history that have to be recorded and seen over and over. Since I am old school and remember the VCR days (when setting the VCR took a whole day’s work), I am calling this segment “Set the VCR.”

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There is still time in 2009 to talk  football. Now folks now-a-days are spoiled with the  current “Madden NFL” series. The player models are looking more realistic with every passing year. The old school football game to go to will ALWAYS be Tecmo Bowl, but Madden 92 was the first to really bring the realism (and humor) of football to my eyes.

john_madden_football_92_gen_screenshot11

Background

Before Madden, Video Game football was not too realistic. Bo Jackson could potentially zig zag his way to score on every play in Tecmo, and there was always one play where no matter what, you could score (cough..flea flicker). I mean Tecmo only had like 4 plays! You could just mash buttons and play decently.

Playing Madden 92 for the first time was actually like football in that you had to know what the fuck you were doing. When I first played Madden I hated it because everything seemed so complicated (look at Madden now though…you need a degree to play that game). As I kept playing and getting used to the game, I started seeing how realistic this game was compared to Tecmo. 

And then the “Set the VCR” moment came that totally made me fall in love with the game…

Set the VCR

I was playing as the Seahawks (obviously)  against the (then LA) Raiders. My QB, Dan McGwire (aka QB #10) dropped back looking for a deep pass to Brian Blades (aka WR#89). Suddenly Howie Long from the Raiders (aka DE #75) came off the edge and totally blasted my QB. The game told me QB #10 was injured. Then something shocking and at the same time hilarious happened…

An ambulance came from nowhere and ran over 6 more players!!!

Don’t believe me, watch the ambulance montage in this clip:

The Impact

Ok so after that, I wanted to see someone get injured on every play! Not only was it the first time I saw a video game ambulance drive onto the field, the programmers and animators saw it fit that they add a little more realism and run over other players that was in the ambulance’s way (bravo, now that is art!). 

To me, this was a new path for video game sports. Madden 92 obviously started a franchise that is booming today. It even helped start a franchise based on absurd & hilarious Video game  violence (NFL BLitz). I don’t think its a stretch to say that Madden 92 helped pioneer the sports video games of 2009. However, they took out the ambulance around 1994 (bad move), and to this day I wish it would make a return. I know it won’t because the NFL (No Fun League) has Darth Vader Force Choke on violence in any NFL License video game. 

But for know, I’ll Set the VCR one more time…

HERE COMES THE AMBULANCE!!!

PS: Inspired by Chad Cocelmo’s The Memory Card on the Destructoid Blog.

Animated Super Bowl Ads 2009

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That was a surprise…It turned out to be an entertaining game. Too bad I HATE the Steelers. Oh and guess what…I  HATE the Cardinals too.  But congrats to Omar Epps (aka Coach Mike Tomlin) for winning the Super Bowl (at least I like that guy). 

Omar Epps on the left, Mike Tomlin on the right
Omar Epps on the left, Mike Tomlin on the right

 

Anyway, this is a blog on animation and cartoons and the like, so let me go over the animated ads that stood out to me. There was plenty of animation to go around, so  only a few make the cut (and NO, the horrible “3D” Sobe lizards did not make the cut). 

Coke Classic Avatar

Let’s be real, we live in an online world and everyone and their mom has some kind of avatar. When we meet folks, we’re just meeting their avatar. So good job Coke on being literal…

Coke Heist 

WOW, two Coke commercials (plus I enjoyed the Mean Joe Greene spoof). This one was just special. I don’t know what it is…maybe I just like the heist thing, but maybe its because I thought the insects were beautifully animated. But yeah, this one’s pretty good. 

GE Scarecrow

My initial thought…”eh” … but then my guy DJ Daps1 pointed out that the scarecrow in the commercial was some top tier animation. Looking back, that scarecrow is pretty detailed, so I have to concur. This one is for you Daps. 

Alright let’s stop it right there, but if anyone wants to know my favorite commercials were the 1 second ones. The Miller one were the dude Screams “HIGH LIFE!!!” and the Ivar’s one that just said “Ivars.”

Final quote of the night from ?uest Love’s Twitter “Yo, You got the juice now Q” (Ask me if you don’t get the reference…)

American Akira

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Akira, an “anime” movie made back in 1988 and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo. It is heralded as “one of the greatest animated movies of all-time,” and credited for ushering in this current era of “anime.” Without a doubt, the high quality of animation combined with adult themes and a complex (maybe too complex) storyline, has not only set this movie apart from other animated films, but also set a precedence for cartoons being considered “art.”

Akira deserves its own post (which will come in the future), however, this post deals with the  scenario of “what if Akira was made (or remade) in America?” Check the video for the (hilarious) results:

A live-action movie is in the works. Warner Bros. has picked up the license. Leonardo Dicaprio is set to produce (and maybe star), and Joseph Gordon Levitt set to play Tetsuo. Slated to come out in 2011…

My Take: ( *sigh*…shakes head in disappointment)…

Kanye West: Heartless (Music Video)

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It might be just me, but I never see music videos anymore. Ever since MTV took the music out, it seems to me that the art of music videos is on serious life support. I could be wrong though, since I just mentioned that I don’t see them anymore (Let me know if there are some videos I should see). Lucky for me, I stumbled on Kanye’s “Heartless” music video last night. To my surprise and enjoyment, the video was all animation. Check out the music video here:

“Heartless”/ Kanye West/ dir. Hype Williams

Immediately I was impressed by the art style and animation that Hype Williams went for. He used a rotoscope style of animation which is basically filming in live action, then having animators draw over the film after. The best example of rotoscoping is in the Star Wars movies during the lightsaber battles (Darth and Luke actually have fake sabers during the filming, but in post-production animators go back and draw over the fake sabers to create the lightsaber effect). In “Heartless”, they just drew over everything.

I also had a sense that the video was an homage to something I had seen before. And after checking Kanye’s blog, it was true, the video was inspired by Ralph Bakashi’s American Pop, which was an animated movie back in the 80’s (I will rewatch it and give my take later) and some of the scenes and backgrounds in that movie were used as inspiration for this music video. This made me appreciate the music video even more.

And lastly, I did appreciate the Jetsons portraits in the backgrounds near the end.

Now I dig Kanye’s work as a producer, his work as an MC is hit and miss (he can be good in one song, then sound like the worst MC of all time in the next), I could be without the Kanye “celebrity” personality, but in terms of his choices in art direction, they have always been sound choices to me (esp. the Graduation album cover by Takashi Murakami). 

PS: I love his new album 808s & Heartbreak, but please Kanye, you have to realize you can’t do any of those songs live. Your performance on SNL proves it.

Bootleg Classics: The Boondocks “Return of the King”

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Bootleg Classics is a new feature I’m trying to start. It feature cartoons that are so great, so fantastic, so creative, and/or so inspirational, that they can’t help but be bootlegged.

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I decided to start with this Bootleg Classic.

The Boondocks (animated series) “Return of the King” 

boondocks_s1e9

Background:

The Boondocks is an animated series based upon Aaron McGruder’s comic strip of the same name. The Boondocks is a social satire of American culture and race relations, revolving around the lives of the Freeman family,ten-year-old Huey his younger brother, eight-year-old Riley, and their grandfather, Robert.

The Episode:

This particular episode of the Boondocks explores the scenario  “What if Martin Luther King Jr. survived his assassination in 1968? Was in a coma for 32 years, and woke up and lived in our society today?”

What makes it a Bootleg Classic?

“Return of the King” begins with two quotes:

The 1st  “I want young men and young women who are not alive today to know and see that these new privileges and opportunities did not come without somebody suffering and sacrificing for them.”  -Martin Luther King Jr.

The 2nd  “Whatever, nigga.” – anonymous

These two quotes lay an analogous foundation for this episode. It begins the approximately 20 minutes of what I believe to be the best representation and portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideas and messages on civil and human rights…EVER. Not only that, but the episode is able to be a social commentary on how Dr. King’s message is lost in today’s world.

From the initial celebration of Dr. King’s revival, to his downfall in the American public due to his commentary on the Afghanistan War, to the conclusion when Dr. King steps up and delivers one final controversial speech, this episode was able to show that the same sentiments and feelings that Martin Luther King went through in the 1960’s were still around today. At same time it was also able to mirror Dr. King’s life as a civil rights leader from the 1960’s, from celebrated to denounced in the American public (Dr. King was very vocal against the Vietnam War), to his final days as a more “radical” civil rights leader (many people forget this). The clear message, “there is still work to be done.” The amazing thing, all this was done in 20 minutes.

I have read other reviews that have lambasted this episode as being too preachy. Or that it just wasn’t that funny or entertaining. It was also highly controversial since Dr. King’s speech at the very end is leeched with the dreaded “n-word.” So much so that even the reverend Al Sharpton got worked up about it and tried to get the episode pulled forever (I don’t think Al even watched the show, he heard the n-word and that’s it). My response: You just don’t get it.

Now, I hate saying the phrase “people just don’t get it,” because we are all grounded in different circumstances and have differing point of views. But I believe this episode was important in starting a dialogue that we, as a society, have a lot to do before we even start scratching the surface of Dr. King’s dream. Like it or not, this episode needs to be watched.

Watch a condensed version of this episode, with the 2 quotes,Dr. King’s speech at the end, and the ending:

To end (this has gone on way too long), there is much hope with Barack Obama being the first African American president. But we need to realize that we have not come full circle and that much work needs to be done. President Obama realizes this and iterates it constantly, and so does this Bootleg Classic.

<hit me up, if you want to watch the whole episode>

 

MadWorld

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Hey Wii owners, check this out:

I like the fact that MadWorld is based upon the art style of Frank Miller’s Sin City. It has that visual flare and style that I dig. You know the high contrast black and white, with the only highlight being a gory, bloody red, that’s the stuff. That’s my kind of art. 

So when can I buy this game?

DO WANT!!!

The Dark Knight NES (8-bit) video game

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Today’s video games have beautiful graphics. The PS3 and xbox 360 are ridiculous. And the Wii, even though discredited and disowned by many “hardcore” gamers, still has stunning graphics and animations in my opinion. 

But honestly, a lot is lost when games start relying too much on graphics alone. Case and point, the above video is a fan-made trailer of The Dark Knight video game if made in the style of 8-bit Nintendo. Yes, full CG graphics would have looked waaay better, or they could have just used clips from the acutal Dark Knight movie. But you know what, I wouldn’t want to play that game, I want to play the 8-bit game. In the video above, I find myself trying to press the start button that is not there. 

The point is, you had to use your imagination more when 8-bit was the thing. It was more abstract, and as a gamer I appreciated that about NES games. Sometimes flashy graphics just get in the way of video games. 

To conclude, SOMEBODY PLEASE MAKE THIS GAME!!! Bring back the NES, I mean it worked for Mega Man…