Around the 2000's, Nick Jr. decided to follow the same path of what Nickeloeon was doing a few years previously: movies. Around Christmas 2000, Nick Jr. had their first theatrical movie debut with The Little Bear Movie.
Based on the Nick Jr. TV series and the books written by Else Holmelund Minerak, Little Bear is about the simple stories of a young bear cub named Little Bear and his numerous adventures alongside his parents and best friends. For how I feel about the TV series, I like it okay. It's simple, has nice animation, nice, calm orchestrated music, and sticks very close to the theme of the books. So how does the movie stand out? Let's check it out. Here's The Little Bear Movie. The movie starts off with a bear cub waking up finding himself all alone calling his mom and dad. While looking around the deep woods, he then learns that he's all alone. Meanwhile we see Little Bear getting ready to go on a camping trip with Father Bear. Little Bear is very excited to go out with Father Bear and he quickly finishes his packing.When fishing near a lake, Little Bear sees the bear cub from the beginning of the movie catching fish with his paw. He's having difficulty as he fell down and scared the fishes away. Little Bear finds it funny and joins alongside him not knowing that he was fishing like a bear.
The bear cub doesn't find it funny and walks away. Little Bear wanted to know more about him so he introduces himself. The bear cub simply introduces himself as Cub. He goes off where we also see his friend Little Moose. Little Bear follows them not knowing about the danger that lurked behind him with a mountain lion. Cub saves his life with Little Bear not having a clue to what was going on. Cub then realizes that Little Bear is not from the woods. Little Bear finds himself lost not knowing where Father Bear is. Cub helps Little Bear settle in the woods and make himself feel calm. Little Bear questions him on where his parents were. Cub tells him that he doesn't know where they are. He had been lost for a long time and has looked everywhere for them. Little Bear tells him that he'll take Cub home to his house the following day. When Little Bear and Cub walk over to the house, Father Bear find them heading towards the path and was worried sick about where his son was. Little Bear explained about Cub's problem and Father Bear decides to take Cub home to take care of him until they find his parents.
Cub isn't able to understand the indoor life of Little Bear with them cooking their food and sleeping in beds. Little Bear realizes that Cub doesn't feel at home so he decides to help find his parents. The next day, Little Bear's friends Duck, Cat, Hen, and Owl come over to play with Little Bear and are confused to seeing Cub. Little Bear explains that Cub is lost and needs to find his parents and they offer to help. As they search around the woods, the gang gets separated from one another. Little Bear, Cub, and Duck try to look around the deep woods for both Cub's parents and the separated group consisting of Owl, Hen, and Cat. They come across Little Moose and Cub's other friends Poppy and Pete, two foxes. They had seen where Cub's parents were so they follow them. Meanwhile Trouble, the mountain lion, sneaks in to try to eat Duck, but Little Bear comes and saves her life. Poppy and Pete then lead Cub's parents over to Cub and the movie ends with them reuniting.
Overall, the movie was okay. It was very nice, colorful, and had a calm, relaxing atmosphere. However, I find the pace to be a tad bit slow and the main villain to be underwhelming. But then again, it's a movie based on a pre-school show. It doesn't do anything preachy or awful. Kids nowadays would find it to be very boring and would want to tune into a more faster paced show, but I liked the Little Bear series okay. It's a nice relaxing refresher to stray away from the fast paced shows you would see like Yo Gabba Gabba!
That's all for now. Tune in next time as we have a special interview with one of the voice actors from Little Bear. Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading.
What better way to end our review of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius than to talk to the boy genius himself...or herself. The voice actress behind Jimmy Neutron is Debi Derryberry whom you may also know as Jake from Tazmania, Jackie from Bobby's World, Wednesday Addams from The Addams Family animated series, Nergal Jr. from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, and more. She's also sings children's songs about her own created character named Baby Banana which have reached #1 in many radio stations. Due to her really busy schedule, we were able to ask 5 questions. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy our interview with Debi Derryberry.
Kevin- When you first auditioned for the role of Jimmy Neutron, what was your first impression on the character and the show?
Debi- I
thought it was pretty clever and cute. It wasn't called Jimmy Neutron
though. It was called something like Johnny Quasar. It was being cast
as a very short 7 minute pilot and I had no way of knowing how popular
it would become. I just knew that I had to try to sound different than
Bart Simpson or Bobby from "King of the Hill".
Kevin- If you had a shrink ray, who or what would you shrink and why?
Debi- I would shrink my dog so he would be afraid of the cats instead of trying to attack them.
Patricia- What was it like voicing Wednesday on TheAddams Family and Jackie from Bobby's World?
Debi- Both
shows had phenomenal directors. Gordon Hunt and Ginny McSwain and both
shows had outstanding casts. I had a really fun time in both series
because the whole cast was together for most of the recording sessions.
Kevin- What do you think of the Jimmy Neutron spin-offPlanet Sheen?
Debi- Hmmmm....I think Jimmy should be in the show.
Patricia- What made you decide to sing songs for children?
Debi- One of my
relatives said I should record my kids songs. So I just did! I had no
idea my songs would hit the charts and that I would have a number 1
hit. I love singing for kids! My live performances are always early in
the day so I can go to bed early!
Patricia- Thank you for taking the time to answer the questions. I really appreciate it.
Debi- THANK YOU!
For more information, visit her official website at debiderryberry.com. Also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @debiderryberry. That's all for now. Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading.
Around 2001, there were many changes when it came to the world of animation. People were getting into a brand new style of animation: CGI. There were a few cartoons, video games, and movies getting into this new style. It became increasingly popular when a fairly new company named Pixar were releasing CG animated movie such as Toy Story, A Bug's Life, and Monsters Inc. Another company named Dreamworks were also making CG movies such as Antz and their newest movie Shrek. Nickelodeon knew that they had to keep up with the times. Around the 2000's, one man was working on shorts that would eventually become a huge franchise. His name was John A. Davis.
Around the 80's, Davis was working on a script named Runaway Rocketboy about a boy who had a love for rockets. That script was delayed until the 90's when he decided to rename it to Johnny Quasar. He presented his reworked script to a CG company named SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on GRAPHics) where he would eventually meet his partner Steve Oedekerk. They worked together with coming up with shorts for this new script to air it on Nickelodeon. Eventually, they renamed it to Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
Similar to The Adventures of Pete & Pete and KaBlam!, the shorts became a huge hit. So much so that on December 21, 2001, there was a feature length film simply called Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
So does this movie still hold up after a decade later or has time not being kind for our boy genius? Here is Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
The movie starts in a secret government where an unknown item is entering the atmosphere. They send in their jets to find out what it is. What they find is Jimmy Neutron and Carl Wheezer heading to throw a homemade satellite to look for alien lifeforms. The spaceship isn't capable of going past the atmosphere so it ends up burning and with them falling. Jimmy and Carl activate their parachutes and land safely. They head over to school where show and tell is occurring. Jimmy is showing off his new invention: the shrink ray. It doesn't work and everyone is laughing at him, especially his school rival Cindy Vortex. After school, they hear about the grand opening of the theme park Retroland. They want to go, but can't since it's a school night. The cool kid in the school Nick Dean tells them to sneak out. Jimmy thinks it's a bad idea, but nonetheless convinces Carl and their other best friend Sheen Estevez to try to butter them up to take them out.
Jimmy's persistence doesn't work on his mother. Instead he gets punished and is sent to his room. Wanting to go to Retroland, he decides to sneak out. Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen have the time of their lives. Meanwhile in space, the satellite is picked up by an alien ship led by a kind named King Goobot. His assistant Ooblar activates the satellite and a video of Jimmy activates telling him about his parents. King Goobot finds Jimmy's parents delicious and heads over to Earth. Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen wish that there were no more parents to tell them what to do. The next morning, the kids find themselves alone with no parents and they start to celebrate. They party until the next day where they start missing them. Jimmy eventually finds out that the satellite he sent was picked up by the same aliens who kidnapped their parents.
The entire group of kids gathered together to built spaceships to head to the planet to get their parents back. While landing on the planet, they find out that their parents are being used to be fed by the aliens' god named Poltra. Thanks to the satellite that Jimmy sent, they were able to find the coordinates to find Earth and kidnap the humans. They're sent to prison feeling furious that Jimmy was the cause of this. Cindy cheers Jimmy and gets the confidence to rescue their parents before it's too late. Jimmy and the gang fight off the aliens and grab the controls to send their parents to safety. The aliens chase after them and Jimmy uses his shrink ray to make himself gigantic. He blows the alien ship away and they reign victorious. Jimmy apologizes with his parents and the movie ends in a happy note with everyone being safe.
When the movie first aired, it was a gigantic hit! The movie made over $100 million dollars, the second Nickelodeon movie to do so since The Rugrats Movie. It was even nominated for Best Animated Film in the Oscars that year, but it lost to Shrek. As much as I liked Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Shrek did deserve to win. As for how it holds up for today's modern audience, it's still really good. While the animation is a bit bulky, it's still colorful and bright. It's really funny, the characters are memorable, and the story was really original. While most people compare Jimmy to Dexter from Dexter's Laboratory, Jimmy acts more like a kid than a genius. That's actually really relatable and likable. That is until we hit the TV series. We'll talk about it another time. I highly recommend checking it out!
That's all for now. Tune in next time as we have a short, but special interview from one of the voice actors behind Jimmy Neutron. Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Take care.
The last Nicktoon to air in 2001 was a cartoon series that is still on the air to this day. That show is none other than The Fairly Oddparents.
The show is about a 10-year-old boy named Timmy Turner who has a crummy life surrounded by his dimwitted parents, his cruel babysitter, a mean bully, and a crazy fairy-obsessed teacher. When he wishes on an 8 ball, two fairies named Cosmo and Wanda come along and grant Timmy's wishes. Most of the wishes that Timmy wishes cause huge problems around his home, his friends, family, or himself. He has crazy, zany adventures with Cosmo and Wanda while they take on enemies or villains.
The show was created by Butch Hartman, a young unknown animator who worked as an in-between artist for movies such as An American Tail and Pocahontas before working on a few cartoon shorts in Cartoon Network's What A Cartoon created by Fred Seibert. When Seibert created Oh Yeah! Cartoons for Nickelodeon, Hartman had collaborated with a few animators creating cartoon shorts before he would create a small cartoon short called The Fairly Oddparents. "I wanted to be able to take a main character and easily move him from place to place so I thought magic would be a good way to do that. And it was funnier if the character didn’t have control of the magic but had to depend on someone else for it so that’s where the fairies came from", said Hartman in a 2011 interview with examiner.com.
The short became a huge success and Hartman created 9 more shorts throughout Oh Yeah! Cartoons' 3 year run. Eventually, a new independent animation company created by Fred Seibert named Frederator Studios produced The Fairly Oddparents as their first produced cartoon. It was the first cartoon short of 3 cartoon shorts from Oh Yeah! Cartoons to be made as a TV series for Nickelodeon. There were a few changes from the cartoon shorts compared to the TV series. First were some of the voice actors. Timmy Turner was originally voiced by Mary Kay Bergman, who voiced all the female characters from South Park. However, she committed suicide in 1999. The voice actor was replaced by Tara Charendoff, now Tara Strong, known for voicing other characters like Bubbles from The Powerpuff Girls, Dil Pickles from Rugrats, and Barbara Gordon/Batgirl from Batman: The Animated Series.
Cosmo was originally voiced by Phil Hartman, who appeared in The Pee-wee Herman Show and Pee-wee's Playhouse as Captain Carl, a member on Saturday Night Live, NewsRadio, and Third Rock From the Sun. However, he was tragically murdered by his wife in 1999. He was replaced by Daran Norris, who also voices as Mr. Turner and Jorgen Von Strangle.
The second difference between the shorts and the TV series was its animation. It wasn't as bright, colorful, and smooth as the TV series due to its short budget. The third difference was the personalities and appearances of some of the characters. In the cartoon shorts, we never saw Timmy's parents faces similar to the parents from Cow and Chicken. Also they were a lot more smarter and intelligent, while being a tad bit clueless. In the TV series, we see what they look like and they are portrayed a lot more clueless and dimwitted. Cosmo's personality was portrayed clueless and dimwitted as well in which he was more intelligent and smooth talking in the cartoon shorts. Nonetheless, the show kept in tact what the shorts introduced: a young 10-year-old boy with fairy godparents. Along the way, he had to deal with villains such as his crazy fairy obsessed teacher Mr. Crocker (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui), the anti-Fairies, his imaginary friend Gary, the bully Francis, and his babysitter Vicki. With the help of Cosmo and Wanda, Timmy stops at nothing to make sure that things are back to normal and his secret of his fairies are kept within himself.
When the show first came out, it was an instant hit! It was the second most popular Nicktoon next to SpongeBob SquarePants. It was funny, fastly paced, and witty. As the seasons progressed, the show had gotten more and more popular within its fans. However, in my opinion, the more recent seasons of The Fairly OddParents has gotten to be less funny and more mean spirited. Almost every character in the show has gotten to be really mean and unlikable and some of the wishes that Timmy has made has gotten to be dumber and dumber. While a lot of people said that the introduction of Cosmo's and Wanda's son Poof ruined the series similar to when Rugrats introduced Dil, I felt that the change of writers of the show and the high constant pressure of keeping the show fresh a decade later was its downfall. Today The Fairly Oddparents is the second longest Nicktoon on the air and I highly recommend checking out earlier seasons and some of its TV movies. As for the newer seasons, they deserve a pass.
That's all for now. Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading.
Happy New Year, everyone! Time to start the new year off with a countdown. I know I promised to do a review of Christmas in Tattertown by Ralph Bakshi, but I've been so busy throughout the holidays and all the other projects I have to do that it slipped my mind. Sorry guys, maybe next Christmas. Anywho, as Kevin and I have been going through all these shows from Nickelodeon, there have been many we remember fondly and many that we hate with a passion. But then there are the shows that not a lot of people recall upon on that should be brought out more often. They were just as solid as the classics, but they have either came out in which they were overshadowed by other shows or they were cancelled as quickly as they came and we don't know about them until years later. This list is to flesh out the Nickelodeon shows that Kevin and I have been seeing throughout the tribute that we feel is underrated. I'll start first. Here we go!
10. Brainsurge
Released in Nickelodeon on September 28, 2009, the first Nickelodeon game show in 6 years debuted with a fun host, crazy games, and tons of slime. However, it doesn't get the praise compared to other classic Nickelodeon game shows such as Double Dare, GUTS,or Legends of the Hidden Temple. This show is without a doubt the best Nickelodeon show that came out in the last decade in a time when they were doing reboots of Double Dare, Wild & Crazy Kids, and GUTS. Jeff Sutphen does an amazing job hosting it, the questions and games are original, and one of the executive producers is Scott A. Stone, one of the co-creators of Legends of the Hidden Temple. It's low on the list becauseBrainsurge is still on, but as of now it's completely overshadowed by Splatalot and the reboot of Figure it Out. More people should watch this game show.
9. The Angry Beavers
Before there were those pesky pig killing birds, these were the original angry duo. It was about the mayhems of two beaver brothers named Norbert and Daggett. While not fully forgotten, it seems to not get as much praise with their adult humor compared to The Ren & Stimpy Show, Rocko's Modern Life, or Invader Zim. While it is true that The Angry Beavers have a few flaws, the things they get right are really right. It's still funny and witty after over a decade later. Plus, it's available on DVD and Netflix. You should have no excuse to check it out.
8. Chalkzone
For some reason or another, I have read a lot of reviews online that they hated this show. I must ask: why? Some people said that it's boring and uncreative. I'm not going to judge your opinion if you think of certain programs to be "boring". After all, one person's Doctor Who is another person's Downton Abbey/ But uncreative? Really? Chalkzone is filled to the brim with creativity and originality. It's about a young boy named Rudy Tabootie who finds a magic chalk and uses it to go into a world made out of chalk called Chalkzone. Everything that kids ever drew and erased ends up in Chalkzone. That's really creative. While it's not up there with all the other Nickelodeon programs in the 2000's, it doesn't deserve to be hated or forgotten. Sure it's very basic, but it's still solid. Not to mention all the songs that would appear in every episode. Most of them are very catchy and memorable. They were all written by Bill Burnett, the co-creator of Chalkzone. If someone can be able to write songs from all types of genres and sound completely different from one another, then that person deserves a gold medal.
7. Catscratch
Here we have another Nicktoon that has a lot of hateful reviews. I can understand why, but I'll explain later. Nonetheless, it has been forgotten by a lot of people and it shouldn't. It's about three cats named Gordon, Waffle, and Mr. Blik who inherited a mansion, her fortune, and their butler from their deceased owner. What do they do with the money? They go through crazy, paranormal adventures or they just laze around, drink root beer all day, and drive their butler insane. It was very funny and extremely random. You never knew how each episode was going to progress. This show was created by Doug TenNapel, a graphic novel writer, artist, and the creator of the Earthworm Jim series. Most people thought that Catscratch was bad because it didn't have the same charm as the Earthworm Jim series. But then again, most people didn't know that Catscratch is based on one of his graphic novels named Gear.
For the few people who read Gear were hugely disappointed because they felt thatCatscratch was an watered down version of it. It was, but still that shouldn't excuse the hate of this show. It's still funny and random in its own right. It has TenNapel's style all over it and I think that people should give it a second chance.
6. The Mysterious Cities of Gold
Around the 80's, all the animated shows that Nickelodeon aired were acquired from other countries or networks. When it comes to those shows, Danger Mouse, The World of David the Gnome, Maya the Bee, and Count Duckula were the most revered. The Mysterious Cities of Gold has been one of the forgotten shows and I don't know why. It was about a young orphan boy named Estaban living in Spain in 1532 who wants to travel into the New World to find his long lost father. Along the way, he meets with a navigator named Mendoza who needs Estaban to help him find El Dorado, the lost city made of gold, because his necklace holds the key to the city. They come across some other characters such as Zia, an Incan princess who also has the same necklace as Estaban, Tao, a young boy who is the last of the Hiva Clan, and two greedy, bumbling morons named Sancho and Pedro. They come across ancient civilations, sinister villains, and clues to finding El Dorado.
This show is great if you love adventure, history, and even a little science fiction. It has a great soundtrack done by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, who did the soundtrack toInspector Gadget, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra and the Princess of Power, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. But now more people are discovering it, so it's not as underrated as it once was. Plus there's going to be a new sequel of the show coming in a few months. I can't wait until it comes out!
5. Weinerville
I know. Weinerville is not everyone's cup of tea. But still, I love this show and it's a real shame that almost no one remembers this show as one of the highlights of 90's Nickelodeon programs. It's a variety show about a man named Marc Weiner who performs his half-human half-puppets in a fictional world named Weinerville. It's original, funny, and quirky. There were no other shows like it and there hasn't been one like it since, which makes it an underrated gem. It was featured on my list of the top 10 Nickelodeon shows that I want to see being remade, Kevin and I interviewed Marc Weiner himself, and we're working on an episode of Casual Chats about Weinerville. It holds a special place in my heart as well as a few others. More people should really check it out, but only if you know what you're expecting.
4. Taina
I've talked about the unfortunate reason for its cancellation and I still stand that it was one of the best Nickelodeon shows that aired during the 2000's. This show was about a young teenage girl named Taina going to a theater school to learn how to be an actress and singer. She and her friends go through many crazy situations in order for them to accomplish their goals. It was ahead of its time by breaking the barriers of Hispanics that were portrayed on television from goofy minor characters to down-to-earth main characters. While The Brothers Garcia did it first, Taina was a lot more memorable and it still holds up to this day. Nowadays it has become one of the many forgotten programs on Nickelodeon. Now that Victorious has been cancelled, people can be able to rediscoverTaina.
3. As Told by Ginger
I've talked time and time again how much I love this show. It was really ahead of its time with its character development, serious topics, and different outfits. Not to mention it's held up unbelievably well and it's still relatable compared to most of the teen sitcoms that airing on Nickelodeon nowadays. Yes I understand that not a lot of people didn't like this show, but still this show took a lot of risk. How many animated shows do you know that talks about growing up, death, suicidal, addiction, puberty, and relationships? Not a lot.
2. Caitlin's Way
This is, in my opinion, the most underrated teen series that Nickelodeon has ever aired. It just astonishes me that not many people watched it when it aired and that most people have never seen or heard of it. It's about a teenage girl named Caitlin who moves with her mother's cousin and her family after she causes trouble in school. She's struggling with her new environment and her new family. It was a very serious teen program in a time in which they were slowly stepping away from the cheesy high school programs from the 90's. The show had realistic themes, memorable characters, and great character development.
When it comes to underrated Nickelodeon teen series, most people bring up The Adventures of Pete & Pete. While it is true that the show had a very low rating of viewers and was eventually cancelled, I feel that The Adventures of Pete & Pete is not as underrated as it used to be. More and more people are discovering it and it has garnered even more fans with its strange, surreal perspectives of growing up. There have been 3 cast reunions and they sold their tickets really fast. One of them had their tickets sold out in less than 5 minutes. This month there's going to be a Pete & Pete tribute panel in honor of the show's 20th anniversary. If you're in the San Francisco area and you want to check it out, click here!
Which is why Caitlin's Way is on the list!
1. Nick News with Linda Ellerbee
Even before Kevin and I started this tribute, we've never heard of anyone saying that Nick News was anyone's favorite show. In fact, out of all the shows we've covered, Nick Newshas had a ton of hateful comments and reviews. Pretty much everyone hates Nick Newsand would tune in to watch other programs as oppose to watching it. Be honest, you either knew someone who did this or you did it yourself. It's okay, I'm guilty of that as well. But there has been no other show that Nickelodeon has ever aired that talked to kids as adults and treated them with respect than Nick News. Every topic they discussed, it was relatable to kids and helped them during rough times. There were episodes about autism, the presidental elections, the AIDS discussions, 9/11 discussions, Iraq/Afghanistan War discussions, child slavery, and more. What did you expect to see when you see a news program for kids? For them to talk about the latest movies or celebrities with kid hosts? Last time I checked, the Disney Channel did that already at one point. Be honest, does anyone remember it? Did anyone treat it seriously? No.
Nick News is still on TV after being on the air for 20 years and treated kids with respect and doesn't sugarcoat it. It is what it is and it does its best to tell kids the news in a way that they can understand. Please people, Nick News with Linda Ellerbee doesn't deserve to be forgotten or hated. I would love to see James do a STOP THE HATE on Nick News with Linda Ellerbee. Especially when you have a hilarious hateful review of Nick News like this.
Sure it'll probably not make a lot of top 10 favorite Nickelodeon shows, but it doesn't deserve to be forgotten.
Those are my top 10 underrated Nickelodeon shows. What shows from Nickelodeon do you feel is underrated? Post it in the comments below.
That's all for now. I hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Take care.
Happy New Year! Let's start off 2013 talking about one of the most popular extreme sports ever: skateboarding...in video game form. Patricia and David a.k.a. Brekclub85 from Manic Expression talk about The Tony Hawk series from Pro Skater 1 to Pro Skater HD.
2012 is almost done and a brand new year approaches us! It’s
been a very rough year for a lot of people whether it involves with politics,
unemployment, natural disasters, or tragic events. So to make you crack a
little smile on your face, it’s time to discuss about everyone’s favorite
man-child Pee-wee Herman. Well, as of now the only man-child in our current
status of pop culture since Rowan Atkinson retired Mr. Bean this year. Well, at
least he did a funny performance at the Summer Olympics in London. Anyway, so
just like last year, I’m going to give you my 10 favorite moments. Here we go!
1.
His appearance in Top Chef: Texas
I’ve never seen Top
Chef before this one, which is interesting because I see a whole bunch of
other cooking competitions such as Iron
Chef and Chopped. But my first
impression with this new season was that it was very boring. The contestants,
challenges, and guest judges were beyond forgettable. According to many Top Chef fans, they agree with that.
There were only two episodes that were memorable: the episode that had Charlize
Theron on it to coincide with the movie Snow
White and the Huntsman and the episode that had Pee-wee Herman on it.
The latter takes place in San Antonio, which if you’re
familiar with Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, it
makes total sense that he would make an appearance there. He was very
interactive with the contestants and the challenge had the contestants gather
up groceries and cook in another restaurant’s kitchen. In the end, they ate
their dinner at the Alamo. According to
an online review of Top Chef: Texas, a
large group of fans waited outside to meet up with Pee-wee at the Alamo after
the filming of the episode was over. He actually took the time to sign
autographs, shake people’s hands, take pictures, and talk to them for a moment.
That right there is a true celebrity who really cares for his fans. Also,
according to online ratings, Pee-wee’s appearance in Top Chef: Texas was the highest viewed in any episode of the Top Chef: Texas season counting at over
3 million viewers. Afterwards, the viewers declined lower and lower until the
season finale when it had over 1 million viewers. If you want to see my recap of this episode, click right over here.
2.
The 10th Annual TV Land Awards
The TV Land Awards is
an award ceremony dedicating itself to honoring classic shows from the past.
This year it was hosted by Kelly Ripa and had a group of great celebrities such
as the cast from In Living Color, Murphy
Brown, Aretha Franklin, Mike Meyers, and many more. Pee-wee won the Pop
Culture Award in honor of Pee-wee’s
Playhouse. Pee-wee’s speech was short and simple, but absolutely heartfelt and
filled with gratitude. In fact, the secret word was indeed “gratitude”. It was
nice for people to still give the honor and respect that Paul Reubens deserve
and this will be one of many.
Unfortunately, this was his last appearance as Pee-wee on TV
this year. But don’t worry. We still got a whole list to cover.
3.
His appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live
Paul Reubens’ only late night talk show appearance this year
was certainly a funny one. He was there to promote the newest Disney XD
animated show Tron: Uprising. He
started off with a story that involved with him spreading a little white lie
about him actually having a light cycle. Even though he actually had a toy
light cycle from the original Tron, most
of the people who interviewed thought he had a real light cycle. He decided to
go even further saying that the Disney team was going to give them all light
cycles. It spread throughout the entire building. Even Lance Hendrikson, who
voices General Tessler on the show, thought they were getting light cycles.
That is hilarious!
Speaking of Tron:
Uprising… 4.
Tron:
Uprising
After the huge disappointment that was Tron: Legacy, Disney XD debuted Tron:
Uprising on June 7, 2012. The show takes place between Tron and Tron: Legacy in
which in involves with a young teen named Beck (voiced by Elijah Wood) being
trained up by Tron (voiced by Bruce Boxleitner) to be the new hero in Argon
City after it was conquered by Clu’s general named Tessler (voiced by Lance
Hendrikson). Paul Reubens plays Tessler’s second-in-command named Pavel. This is
fantastic because not only is Paul portraying himself as a villain, but Pavel
is a recurring character in the show. The majority of Paul’s voice acting
characters are minor side characters that only appear once or twice. Not in the
case of Tron: Uprising. He’s in
almost every episode. As for the show itself, it’s really good. If you haven’t
seen it yet, check it out sometime.
5.
The Century of the Child Exhibit from The Museum
of Modern Art
Over the years, Paul Reubens had talked about having items
from Pee-wee’s Playhouse displayed at
a museum. Only as of this year, it happened. Around July 2012, The Century of
the Child exhibits 100 years filled with art, animation, dolls, video games,
books, blocks, and so much more that inspired artists to bring out their inner
child. Also, Paul Reubens donated Conky, Clockey, Globey, and the red door from
Pee-wee’s Playhouse. Kevin and I went
into MoMa around August and viewed it for ourselves. It was so amazing to see
these characters from our childhoods up close. It was also the first time that
I saw Kevin speechless. You guys know how talkative he is on our podcast, so to
see him speechless was astonishing. I can’t wait to see them again on the
Smithsonian in 2014 as well as Chairry, the suit, and the bike.
6.
Beauty is
Embarrasing
While it is true that Paul Reubens was the mind, body, and
soul of Pee-wee’s Playhouse, he
couldn’t have done it without many of the cast and crew behind it. In this
case, it’s the artist known as Wayne White who also did the voices of Dirty
Dog, Mr. Kite, Randy, and Lance the Pig from Big Top Pee-wee. This documentary tells the story of his simple
roots in Chattanooga, Tennessee and then shows behind the scenes footage of Pee-wee’s Playhouse. Paul Reuben appears
in this documentary as well as Mark Mothersbaugh and Matt Groening. Afterwards,
he’s a very expressing artist who has a lot of heart. It had won various
awards, had a successful Kickstarter campaign to release it in theaters, and
will be appearing on PBS in January 2013. I’ll definitely be seeing it and
giving my review on it.
7.
Paul’s Milestone Birthday
On August 27, 2012, Paul celebrated his 60th
birthday. There were many websites who gave him great birthday wishes as well
as celebrities and millions of fans. I wrote him a birthday message that you
can check out right over here. May he have many more!
8. The 45 movie screenings of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure
It's astonishing that as of this year, there were this many movie screenings of Pee-wee's Big Adventure this year. From New York, Austin, and even the U.K., this 1985 comedy classic has had over hundreds of people gathering around to watch it. It just goes to show you that this movie still works so well to this day. May there be many more screenings next year. 9.
Old School Lane’s Interview with Caseen Gaines
Back in Feburary 14, 2012, Kevin and I had the chance to
interview Caseen Gaines, the author of Inside
Pee-wee’s Playhouse. It was our first interview that we ever had for our
blog and it’s currently our only interview from someone who’s not from
Nickelodeon. You can check it out right here. 10.
The fans
It’s because of you, the fans, that make Pee-wee still
strong and relevant 35 years later. Some of my favorites include:
OverAnalyzers: Episode 13
The Pee-wee Herman Blog from Glove and Boots
Jimmy Fallon’s Voiceover Trailers as Pee-wee Herman
This original song written and sung by two fans. It's about Pee-wee's Playhouse
This article about the man who introduced his 5-year-old son
to Pee-wee.
This article about the top 5 lessons this woman learned from Pee-wee.
Ben Zuraski’s painting of the Nativity Scene
Michael Hearst and the Kronos Quartet who performed an orchestrated piece in Carnegie Hall called "Secret Word" in honor of Pee-wee's Playhouse. Allison Hoffman whose amazing dolls were shown at the Bear & Bow Boutique in South Florida. I went there and it was amazing!
Pee-wee's Playhouse being one of the top 100 TV shows you must see before you die according to TV Guide.
Pee-wee's Big Adventure ranked one of the top 100 greatest comedies of all time according to Yahoo. All of you who keeps the phenomenon strong by introducing him and the media to your kids, like my buddy Les from Manic Expression who introduced Pee-wee's Big Adventure to his 3 daughters.
All of you who grew up with Pee-wee and continue to give him your love and support!
That’s my moments from this year. Hopefully we’ll have many
more. Maybe a certain movie produced by Judd Apatow. I’m hoping! Hope to see you
around Old School Lane soon. Happy new year!
