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Mighty Max Cartoon, dare I say a secret gem based off the Toyline?

10/14/201701/26/2021 Luigi Kawasaki

Polly Pocket playsets had become a hit so it was decided to make a boys version that instead of houses and whatnot would feature things “boys” would like such as monsters, aliens and dinosaurs; and so Mighty Max was born. It was a successful toyline in the UK so it eventually got a cartoon. The original character was changed as well as his backstory to better fit what a cartoon was supposed to be, while the huge sales of the toyline didn’t exactly translate into huge ratings it did well enough to get a two season 40 episode run so let’s take a look back at it..

The story from the playsets was changed as mentioned and while I was not a big fan of the change I could live with it. The re-design of Max with the baggy shirt totally fit the 90s and made him look cooler. I wasn’t a big fan of making him the chosen one since the original idea of him just stumbling into worlds for no reason and having to escape was more appealing but oh well, we still got some of that anyway. We also got two companions with VirgiL and Norman who give him someone to interact with and were fun, they weren’t in all episodes as Max’s Mother and his friends Bea and Felix also guest in a few episodes.

The 90s Addams Family live action movie Values can’t be topped

10/13/201701/26/2021 Luigi Kawasaki

Looking back on..

It’s October Friday the 13th so it’s too good of a day to not talk about something spooky and what better way than to talk about the Addams Family which have mostly become forgotten since their last big boom when their two films had in the 90s. The family seems to have been forgotten by pop culture for the most part when in the 90s it seemed like they were here to stay and successfully made the jump from old tv show to a movie franchise.

Both films actually do an excellent job portraying the quirky family on the big screen in a way that you don’t normally see, not only does it pay respect to the source material but it actually enhances it and makes it its own thing. All the characters seem to have been born to play those roles and are the definitive versions of those characters. The humor is very well balanced and strangely dark for such a mainstream movie

Big Bad Beetleborgs Metallix: Ameritoku Metal Heroes

10/12/201701/25/2021 Luigi Kawasaki

Miscellaneous

After Power Rangers became a huge hit Saban thought that if anyone was going to be making rip-off shows it might as well be him, and that’s how Ameritoku shows like VR Troopers, Masked Rider and Big Bad Beetleborgs came to be. Based on the Tokusatsu Metal Heroes shows Juukou B-Fighter and B-Fighter Kabuto we got what might’ve been the most creative of the Saban shows in that era.

As a kid the Beetleborgs seemed like an awful show, I detested the idea of kids becoming heroes and saw it as a cheap Power Rangers rip off. It wasn’t until many years later when I became a fan of tokusatsu that I decided to check it out since it seemed to be generally well liked. It took me a bit to get into it but I was totally able to digg it. It’s a cheesier take when compared to Saban’s other shows but it knows this and plays with its silliness and camp.

Friday the 13th & A Nightmare on Elm Street Remakes should’ve had sequels

10/08/201701/26/2021 Luigi Kawasaki

Looking back on..

The Friday the 13th and NIghtmare on Elm Street franchises are so intertwined by fans even if joined mostly because of the Easter eggs done only for fan service that you can’t have one without the other similar to Aliens vS Predator franchise. Both franchises died in the 90s only to come back int he 00’s for one final hoorah with Friday VS Jason which actually got a pretty banging soundtrack that could’ve fared much worse.

The Magic School Bus Rides Again Netflix revival wasn’t that great Season 1 & 2

10/02/201701/25/2021 Luigi Kawasaki

Looking back on..

Well I’ve been following this show closely for a year before it came out since the show seemed to have fallen off the radar without any news but finally we have a new Magic School Bus cartoon with Rides Again and it’s actually very different from the originally announced Magic School Bus 360 that was supposed to be in CG featuring new kids. I was extremely disappointed when I saw the trailer, but after watching all of the episodes that encompass the first and second seasons, how is it really?

The art-style is awful, makes me feel like I’m watching an expensive flash cartoon or a Dora show, in fact it feels like a those cheap revivals shows had in the 90s from older properties. I really wish they had gone with CG since the King Kong CG Netflix show they had while a bit boring had awesome CG. The show does look nice and clean at least but the character designs are so uninspiring and generic, I literally can’t tell any of the kids apart besides Arnold, and not because he is the exception but it’s easy to tell him apart because of his glasses, he also gets the most focus in the entire show.

Skeleton Warriors cartoon was bad to the bone

10/01/201701/25/2021 Luigi Kawasaki

Looking back on..

They tried to bring He-Man into more modern times when they made the show Skeleton Warriors, which mixed magic alongside technology in a neo-mythological world. Created mostly to sell toys the idea was pretty damn cool but sadly it was never able to take off. Whether you enjoyed the cartoon or the toys let’s look back on the animated series.

Narrated by an awesome for the time CG Skull that gave us a brief rundown before and after in a rather creepy yet wise voice totally set the mood for each episode before it even began. The show has a bit of a dark premise where the bad guys take over and in this case because of the Lightstar crystal they become skeletons that can regenerate and it’s up to the ex-Royal family to make things right.

Bucky O’Hare cartoon is like Star Fox Animated

09/30/201701/25/2021 Luigi Kawasaki

Looking back on..

Bucky O’Hare and the Toad Wars also called the Toad Menace in other regions was a cartoon that was supposed to ride the success of TMNT but was never able to caught on for n reasons. But whether it was because of the NES video game or the discounted toys I’m sure many of us have memories of Bucky O’Hare so how was the short lived animated show that we got from the cult comic?

After watching it I was surprised by how fun it was and different from anything like most Ninja Turtle clone shows we used to get at that time. It’s definitely inspired by sci-fi shows and movies like Star Wars instead of really being just another anthropomorphic animal show. IF I had to call it anything I’d say it’s as close to a Star Fox animated show as we’ll ever get as they both share a similar universe and the main characters closely resemble the Star Fox cast.