Animated Goods: Pryde of the X-Men

As a kid I had a VHS of Pryde of the X-Men, a lone episode featuring Marvel's most popular fighting team. It even came with a live-action PSA about voting starring Spider-Man, no wonder I'm such a good person! I didn't know why it was only one episode as it was action packed, featured a litany of familiar heroes and villains, had terrific animation and of course a killer theme song. After the Pure Fandom launch party at Coin-Op in San Diego and playing the similarly styled and themed 1992 arcade game, I watched Pryde in bed the next day before heading to the show. In 22 minutes we're introduced to the X-Men (Cyclops, Dazzler, Colossus, Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Professor X and new recruit Kitty Pryde) as they train in the Danger Room, hang out at the mansion then take on their old foes (Magneto, Pyro, The Blob, Juggernaut, The White Queen, Toad), end up in space on Asteroid M, it's awesomely ridiculous. Toei does an immaculate job with the animation, each character gets their bit and fans forever would wonder why the Canadian Wolverine was suddenly Australian (apparently because it was the fad at the time, Crocodile Dundee, Melly Ass Gibson, you know).

In a bit of full circle, the show was one of Marvel Productions' last projects and much of the team who did G.I. Joe and Transformers for Sunbow worked on Pryde. Which means the likes of voice director Wally Burr, producer/storyboard director Larry Houston, Cyclops voice actor Michael Bell and Nightcrawler Neil Ross, some of my fantastic guests at the Sunbow Celebration, were people I could ask about it! Duke himself and all around funny guy Michael Bell couldn't remember how it came to pass but recalled having a lot of fun recording it. Shipwreck and Rambo Neil Ross elaborated a bit, stating that Wally Burr put out the call, at the audition Burr wanted Nightcrawler to be Bavarian and the recording session was the longest he could remember at 12 hours. The cast was told it was a pilot for a series but everything ground to a halt due to Marvel's financial issues leaving only Muppet Babies in production. Of course a few years later, Fox found success with their fun if not as well done or good looking X-Men cartoon that ran from 1992 - 1997.

Sadly, former World War II tank commander turned veteran voice actor and director Wally Burr suffered a stroke earlier this summer. Burr has worked on the likes of Inspector Gadget, G.I. Joe, Transformers, Jem, My Little Pony, Exosquad, Bucky O'Hare and countless other titles. Outpouring from fans and colleagues has been strong and you can send a note to kdelwallis@gmail.com to wish him a hearty Yo Joe and get well soon!

Animated Goods: King Arthur & the Knights of Justice

For your second heap of 90's awesomeness, let's take it back to 1992 for syndicated animated series King Arthur and the Knights of Justice. I grew up watching this show and really dug it, one year I fashioned a Sir Gallop costume for Halloween out of cardboard, string, sweat pants, PVC pipe and a couple of baseballs. It's been ages since I'd watched the show but a friend had recently rediscovered it and I'm now 6 episodes back in. After a rollicking electric guitar heavy, 90's rock theme song, the series starts with King Arthur and his Knights having been captured by the evil Queen Morgana and imprisoned within some diamonds in a cave. Wizard Merlin is unable to free the ruler and gazes into the future, coming across Arthur King, a likable quarterback from modern times and his football team The New York Knights. On their way home from a victorious game, the 12 football players take a shortcut in the rain and end up transported to Camelot. Merlin enlists them to free the true King Arthur which will require finding the 12 Keys of Truth. Being a bunch of city boys, the football team can't fathom how they'll be able to protect the kingdom while they search for the keys. Luckily the magic round table gives them each armor, weapons, a specialty item that can be summoned and the skills to fight and ride.

The team pledges "fairness to all, to protect the weak and vanquish the evil" in order to receive a He-Man-esque transformation and go out to kick Morgana's forces in the pants. Lord Viper leads the huge and powerful if dumb Warlords who have names like Axe, Bash and Blackwing. Both sides have armored steeds decked out with projectile spears, battering rams, smashing wrecking balls and catapults. Each episode sees the Knights go on a mission to help nearby townsfolk or locate a key of Truth. The characters are pretty broad with the fair and leveled leader of Arthur, big dumb guys Trunk, Brick and Phil then the I-talian builder Tone, geeky Asian Zeke and fast talking Sir Breeze among them. Tone was always my favorite for some reason, it must have been it his overblown accent and ability to build the Brooklyn Bridge in half an hour. The action is entertaining as swords clang, stuff gets launched everywhere, Warlods knocked off horses, etc. No beheading action but you know, this is Saturday morning stuff here. The fantasy aspect is played up with a magical unicorn who talks through mind bullets, dragons in caves and the like. Then you get some basic morals as one knight finds his courage, kids stand up to overwhelming odds, Arthur puts himself into knowing danger for the benefit of others, etc. Sure a lot of it doesn't make sense (why would you take a shortcut during a horrible storm? Why are there only 12 players? Why would one of them be the bus driver? Why are they so cool with being forced into Merlin's plan?) but it's a cartoon, folks, just go with the randomness and enjoy it.

King Arthur and the Knights of Justice ran for two 13 episode seasons in 1992 and 1993. I can't recall season 2 where they face off with Asian influenced enemies so it will be cool to watch or rewatch with nearly fresh eyes. I remember some really ugly figures from Mattel of Viper, Arthur, Lancelot and Darren which seemed like rejects from Masters of the Universe. Then again the line did reuse the Slime Pit and one of the vehicles so I'm probably not far off. Marvel Comics put out a three part series and a SNES video game hit in 1995. You can pick up the entire series on DVD for a cool $8 from Amazon and relive the glorious 90's with me. "Knights, Knights, Knights! Yeah! Knights, Knights, Knights! Break it down!"

Animated Goods: Samurai Champloo

After attending Anime Expo and not knowing what the heck was going on for most of the time, I started perusing Netflix to see what options I had to catch up.  I hear Hulu has a dynamite selection of anime available but I already have two paid online streaming services and no real desire to add a third.  The Flix came through though as Attack on Titan and Samurai Champloo are both available.  Being a martial arts, medieval knights and feudal Japan nut I opted for the samurai action first.  The story sounded intriguing from the get go: a waitress saves two warriors from execution and demands that they accompany her on a journey to find the samurai who smells of sunflowers.  The opening episode introduces us to Mugen, a wild and crazy swordsman and Jin, a stoic, masterless samurai wandering the villages, starving and hungry yet utterly badass.  Mugen has a temper and gets into trouble in the restaurant waitress Fuu works in while Jin stands up for a put upon local business owner and against the fat ass province ruler by killing his top guards.  The duo then encounter each other and start to talk some shit before throwing down.  Before long, local ruler nabs them both and they're sentenced to die the next day.

Fuu saves the bickering duo with some coconut bombs stashed in her kimono and the trio are off to find the sunflower samurai.  Who that is or what he did, we don't know.  Then it's misadventures galore as they travel the countryside running into gangsters, human trafficking rings and the like.  Most episodes start with them being hungry and poor then getting mixed up with the local seedy element as they try to find work or cash to eat.  A vibrant and well produced show, the opening and closing titles are beautifully rendered pieces of art with splash pages a la a James Bond movie.  The music takes on a hip hop vibe and there's even a Psyche!  thrown into a title card which cracked me up.  Unlike American cartoons where characters fire guns and swing swords at each other with no blood or death, one of the shows signature traits is the quick and intense violent action scenes that showcase fist, feet and katana sword crime.  The odd sense of humor in the pervy yet knowing Japanese style is another memorable trait from Fuu's extremely bouncing bosom that turn out to be bombs tucked into her robe to the local investigator we think is pleasuring himself in the bushes but is actually working out with a Shake Weight style apparatus.  Episode 6 somehow manages to mix in an eating contest, reverse racism and a homosexual giant of a man from Holland who comes to Japan after reading a book on the similarities between the bond of samurai and male love.  Pretty impressive.

Upon further inspection, Samurai Champloo comes from director Shinichiro Watanabe, who brought us the awesome space adventure western/noir/jazz fueled Cowboy Bebop.  So it's no surprise that Samurai seamlessly blends historical events, modern music and attitude with old school samurai, swashbuckling mayhem.  Samurai originally aired in Japan in 2004 and 2005 for 26 episodes before being brought to the states on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. 

Animated Goods: Jem and The Holograms

And now, in typical Dammaged Goods non sequitur fashion, let's talk about 80's cartoon Jem and The Holograms.  Why?  Because I just went to BotCon and saw the voice of Jem herself, Samantha Newark on a panel then all 3 seasons are on Netflix.  You mind?  I was only 3 years old when the show first aired in 1985 so I honestly don't remember much except for pastel hair.  Produced by Sunbow Productions, the same studio that gave us 80's animated classics like G.I. Joe, The Transformers, My Little Pony and Visionaries, Jem was a powerhouse in the syndicated cartoon and toy doll market.

In the first episodes we meet Jerrica Benton, a young singer whose father dies and leaves half of his record company empire, Starlight Music, to her.  But an evil corporate guy in a leisure suit is determined to have the company to himself and plots to push Jerrica out.  I don't recall what kind of music Starlight is known for but Evil Leisure Suit Guy introduces us to The Misfits, "tough" chicks who ride motorcycles and sneer at everything led by Pizzazz.  Fighting a losing battle, Jerrica is visited by a hologram, Synergy, who was designed by her father to be the ultimate audio visual synthesizer and can project realistic holograms that change the appearance of her target.  Jerrica learns more about her father's private life as Synergy is based out of a secret lair where elaborate costumes and music equipment await Jem and her band mates, The Holograms.

Evil Leisure Suit Guy organizes a Battle of the Bands but only invites horrible acts so The Misfits will win and ride the hype to become the next big thing.  But Jem and her Holograms set up their own stage and rock out, wowing the crowd and winning the rigged competition.  This leads to some weird ass shit and musical cues as each episode contains at least 2 songs/music videos that play out like nightmares with the bands riding around on musical bars, playing on a star in outer space, being chased by sledge hammers, flying into a castle in the clouds and navigating booby traps.  You heard me.  Anyways, Evil Leisure Suit Guy bets Jem that The Misfits will be a bigger deal in 6 months and whoever wins will get the record company.  Then, movie producer Howard Sands happens to be there and offers a movie deal and mansion(?!) to the winner to up the stakes.  Oh yeah, forgot to mention that Jem's boyfriend Rio is always around to help out.  He seems cool and has beautifully styled long purple hair.  Wish I had purple hair.  Or a long green ponytail a la Doc Samson...

I don't know what today's cartoons entail but Jem is surprisingly open about death as her father's passing sets up the whole series.  We also used to eat dirt and didn't die so grow up, America.  Jem was a hit with 2.5 million viewers a week after school and selling 3 million dolls that came with cassettes which is the equivalent of being a Triple Platinum selling artist.  The show was canceled after Mattel used the show's advertising time to sell Barbie to viewers but has lived on like her Transformer, G.I. Joe and My Little Pony siblings.  A new low-budget movie is in the works from G.I. Joe: Retaliation director Jon M. Chu and if it's anything like Josie and The Pussycats, should be a good time.  Voice of Jem Samantha Newark was only 15 when she landed the part and has enjoyed a successful voiceover and recording artist career that started when she signed her first record deal at 7 years old.  Newark has contributed to multiple video game and television show soundtracks and has released 2 albums of original tunes.

Street Fighter Saturday: Animated Goods

After whetting my Street Fighter appetite with comics, it was time to revisit some of the animated efforts.  Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie is one of the only Anime's I ever got into because it's just so fucking badass.  From the opening credits that take place during a dark and stormy night where Ryu and Sagat face off in a fantastic and fierce battle in the middle of a field, you know you're in for a treat.  Riding high on the success of the billion dollar video game franchise, Street Fighter was ready to take on all aspects of the pre-transmedia world.  The Jean-Claude Van Damme starring movie adaptation was expected to be his latest break through role (it wasn't) and all things Street Fighter were hitting the market.  I distinctly recall going to my local pharmacy/video store, Phar-Mor (Where you got Phar more but paid Phar less, get it?!) to pick up a copy of SF on VHS.  I have no idea how I would know it's release date back then as the internet was barely in it's infancy and not quite into it's heyday of AOL CD's in the mail and Instant Messenger.

  
SFII is the story of Ryu, a vagabond martial artist searching for his next great fight.  As a teen he trained and became friends with the blonde haired American Ken who would go on to become a world champion.  Meanwhile, M. Bison and his Shadowlaw organization are traversing the world, searching for the world's best fighters in order to turn them into terrorists.  For example, New Challenger Cammy is brainwashed and sent to kill a prominent government official.  Bison employs monitor cyborgs (!) to study fighters and send their stats back to home base.  Hot on Bison's trail is Captain Guile from the Air Force, a super buff and gruff tough guy who sports a giant, gravity defying blonde brush cut and no eyebrows.  Interpol's sexy Chun-Li is sent to team up with the American to find Bison but has her own agenda as she's on the hunt for revenge as Bison threw her dad down an elevator shaft.  In this iteration we get to see a little more of Ken and Ryu's past through quick flashbacks of their training as youths in Japan.  Years later, Ryu is still the only person to be able to defeat Ken in a fight.  Ryu walks the Earth and encounters familiar faces like movie star Fei Long, E. Honda and Dhalsim in street bouts while Ken runs into T. Hawk randomly one night and has to put the big guy down.  Bison's bosses Sagat and Vega are nearby to handle the dirty work while Balrog is used as an enforcer in Vegas where a freak, underground match pits Russian wrestler Zangief versus the mysterious man-beast from Brazil, Blanka.

All paths intersect in a violent showdown as Bison has brainwashed Ken and sics him against his former best friend.  It's fights galore as Ryu mixes it up with Fei-Long, random jerks, an unforgiving striking post and finally his confused friend Ken and then M. Bison.  Chun-Li gets a nice fight post animated shower scene (complete with nudity in some countries) with assassin Vega where she kicks him through a wall and he plunges to his death.  The fights in Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie are some of the greatest I've ever seen, animated or not.  They're fast, brutal and fucking magnificent with back and forth hand to hand combat animated so fluidly that real life almost can't compare to the impact felt here.  The dubbed English version has some hilarious line readings while like the comics, E. Honda provides some yuks as just being a big, loud, happy guy.  Directed by Gisaburo Sugii, the pace is brisk and we get a sense of each of the main characters. Recognizable faces pop up for scenes but are sent on their way to avoid overcrowding and serve some story purpose versus a simple cameo to remind you you're watching Street Fighter.  For the American version, a great, hard rock score is employed to give the fights and scenes punch.  Silverchair, Alice In Chains, KMFDM and Korn are all used to spectacular effect and get you amped.

Sugii would soon return to the Street Fighter franchise with an animated series, Victory, which ran in Japan in 1995 before being brought to America during the Manga/Anime boom of the late 90's and early 2000's.  Serving as a sort of prequel to the Animated Movie, Victory catches Ken and Ryu at 17, 2 years since they finished their training together.  Ryu is working as a lumberjack while Ken is a playboy in America thanks to his dad's riches.  Ken invites Ryu to America so he leaves his job and the bosses daughter who is lusting after him.  Upon arrival, the duo get into trouble as they wade into an Air Force bar and beat up some locals.  Guile arrives and puts the hurting on Ryu.  Ken steps up to avenge his friend but just earns some lumps.  This inspires the two to hit the road, finding more fighters to challenge their skill set so they can become the greatest in the world.  It's a fun show with great macho and homoerotic goings on.  Ken's always macking on chicks but the first thing he and Ryu do upon checking into a $20,000.00 a night hotel in Hong Kong is strip naked and go swimming together.  Stuff like that.  Again, the action here is fast, fluid and furiously violent.  Being a cartoon, every man is jacked to the max while the females are bombshells.

With Ken and Ryu being younger, other characters are altered to match.  Chun-Li is 15 and a tour guide while Fei-Long is a young Hong Kong movie star in the making.  The duo run into other characters from the video game mythology as friends, foes and mentors.  While we get random Akuma cameos in the background, the makers of Victory don't force EVERY Street Fighter character down our throats which is a surprise considering it ran for 26 episodes.  But mainstays like E. Honda, Blanka and Dee Jay are nowhere to be found.  The show employs a great theme song but with credits, recap and end credits, each episode only contains about 18 minutes of content.  Being translated from Japanese gives the show a funny bent as you get show titles like "Trap Prison and the Scream of Truth" and the awesome tagline, "Gonna burn some muscle!".

Following the release of the live action film, a Street Fighter Animated Series debuted on USA in 1995.  Like the movie, Guile is the lead character with Blanka and Chun-Li at his side while video game stars Ken and Ryu play supporting characters.  Playing like a bad version of G.I. Joe, SFAS follows Guile and his team of street fighters as they fight M. Bison around the world and basically suck ass.  Seriously, I tried watching a couple episodes of this and had no clue what was going on.  It was just cheesy which means a lot coming from me because I'm into some cheesy shit... and who the crap thought Blanka was a good choice for a sidekick?