Back to Goofy. While he may not have been quotable or even sourceable, he certainly was loveable and that's a good "able" to be. I believe Goofy was my first introduction to real physical humor, but I always worried about the guy, wondered how he could get into so many mishaps yet always remain happy, healthy and, well, goofy.
So it came to be that I would watch Goof Troop with my kids and eventually, every time, I would find myself alone in the living room laughing at the antics and the strained father-son relationship between Goofy and Max as my kids headed for another tv where they could watch Power Rangers or whatever else was on at the time. I think they even preferred Barney to Goofy. There's no accounting for taste.
What are we left with here? Goofy, Darkwing Duck and some memories that are going to cost me a pretty penny at eBay. I suppose if the thought of Lonesome Ghosts could send me running for my wallet, Disney cartoons must have had some impact on me.
End of Part 1. Feel free to use the criteria above to come to your own conclusions.
[ed note, part 2 will be written some time today and will delve into the topic of Nickelodeon cartoons. Reader input always valued and often used]
Article comments
1 - Vern Halen
Other than maybe Rocky & Bullwinkle, it's Warner Brothers all the way!
For instance:
"What a gulli-bull! What a nin-cow-poop!"
"Do you want too shoot him now or shoot him later?" "Waitaminnit - it's not 'shoot HIM now,' it's 'Shoot ME now!' SO SHOOT ME NOW!"
"There, yer nice and clean,
Although yer face
Looks like it might have gone
through a machine............."
"Be vewy quiet - I'm hunting wabbits!"
"Haussenpfeffer?"
"That's the nice big fat opera singer.."
"Ya da da da da, Abraca Ho-cus!"
"No not the wed one! DOn't ever push the wed one!"
"Fifty thousand Kronkites?!?!"
"Of course, you know, this means war..."
Now, Disney:
"Gee Pluto!"
"Gawrsh!"
"!@^#&&#&@#&!!!" (Donald Duck, any series of quotes)
And everyone else:
"Casper, the friendly ghost, the friendliest ghost we know...."
No contest, really.
2 - Shark
THERE IS 'NO CONTEST', NO DEBATE: That is an illusion.
Old Warner Bros. can never be topped. Ever.
*Kill da wabbit, kill da wabbit~
3 - Jim Carruthers
Well, there are the superb Max Fleischer roto-scoped Popeye cartoons and the original Superman cartoons.
Plus, the bargain-basement efforts of "Rocket Robin Hood", "The Mighty Hercules", and the original "Spiderman" (which was responsible for the demise of my brilliant career as a musician.).
4 - Shark
Jim, those Fleischers were technically beautiful, but based on Catalano's kinda arbitrary criteria, they don't even approach getting near being considered for an audition on The List.
They're all just William Hungs.
5 - Shark
BTW
Re. those criteria - MY OPINION
I would throw out the following as sorta ridiculous, and definitely weighted toward Disney and/or any overmarketed, merchandized crap:
Have I ever dressed up as one of the characters for Halloween?
Did I ever have any household accessories (bed sheets, etc.) with their likeness?
If any of the characters break out into song, can I recite those songs from heart?
How many of the theme songs can I sing?
How much of their "stuff" do I own?
MORE IMPORTANT CRITERIA:
How many times have I quoted any of the characters?
How many times in my life have I referenced the cartoons when talking about a completely different subject or used any of the cartoons to make a point in a discussion?
How many childhood-young adulthood memories involve any of the characters?
How many episodes of a show can I recite nearly word for word?
MOST IMPORTANT -
Which cartoons not only best reflected their culture, but were later assimilated into said culture and resurfaced later, created and/or influenced many other self-referential industries, arts, etc?
Once again, using that, WB wins without a doubt.
(Note: One can't even keep count of the writers, actors, film directors, artists, comedians, comic book illustrators, etc. who have Tex Avery, Frank Tashlin, Mel Blanc, Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng, Chuck Jones,
Bob McKimson, and Carl Stalling)
whew.
OH AND BTW: Until the recent demise of old WB on TV, most of the music heard from toddlerhood to teenage years (among boomers, their parents, and their children!) was 'assimilated' from old WB cartoons. Pop songs from the 1930s cartoons ("If I Only Had a Hat" - "I Only Have Eyes for You" etc etc) --- to classical quotes such as 'Fingal's Cave' by Mendelssohn and Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies.
Everything I know, I learned from Termite Terrace.
6 - Shark
SORRY, I get excited talking about cartoons!
That paragraph SHOULD have read:
"...One can't even keep count of the writers, actors, film directors, artists, comedians, comic book illustrators, etc. who have mentioned Tex Avery, Frank Tashlin, Mel Blanc, Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng, Chuck Jones, Bob McKimson, and Carl Stalling... AS INFLUENCES ON THEIR ART..."
doh.