When you need to rant...

[galagr]

Y'know, I've mentioned in many a thread that I don't like Animal. I think it's about time I say what irks me about him so much.

I'll start off simply. Every Muppet has a knack, right? Fozzie tells jokes, Gonzo does stunts, Bunsen and Beaker do science experiments (that's the best way I can describe what they do). And Animal.....plays drums. Yeah. TONS of potential there. Drums. Frank Oz himself said that Miss Piggy is a character with three dimensions, Fozzie has two, and Animal comes in with a whooping zero dimensions. So how does a flat character get so much screen-time and attention? Well, (And, Drtooth, you're gonna hate me for saying this.) I believe Animal serves the same function as the Minions from Despicable Me. They are there to keep the kids happy, except there is a difference between them. The Minions actually make me laugh once in a while.

Now, don't get me wrong, I actually liked Animal in The Muppet Show. He was a good addition to the band, and had some pretty good moments. But that's my point. He's part of a GROUP, and usually characters are in a group because they can't work by themselves. I LOVE the Electric Mayhem, and it made me a bit flustered in "The Muppets" to see that Animal had a whole story-line dedicated to himself, whereas the EM had about a five second cameo in which they were performing in a subway. It's almost as if Disney considers Animal too good for the Electric Mayhem (and, yes, I know Animal was shown performing with the band later in the movie, so why didn't he just stay with them in the first place?).

And, guess what? Everyone loves him! He gets the most merchandise, and the most fan recognition (dood! dood! Mi favroite characteer is animal! Lawl im such a nerd!!!111!!!11!!!11!.)

I mean, take a look at the My Muppets Show app. Character that represents the app in the app store? Animal? Character you see on the loading screen before you even press play? Animal. Character you receive first? Animal. Character you they want you to feed first? Animal. Character you buy the first item for? Hint: Animal.

Animal can work, just in small doses. PLEASE stop shoving him in our face. Actually, my entire arguement can be summed up in this picture:

An Electric Mayhem shirt?! Oh, sweet! Oh, you only put Animal in color? Oh, I'm sure no one will mind.


Sorry for the extra long post, just trying to get a point across. I pray to god that someone working on Muppet projects sees this.

 

[Drtooth]

First of all, Animal has been the break out character since the 80's, but it really got bad in the 90's. It's not a Disney thing, it's a Disney following the footsteps of Henson thing.

Secondly, overfocus of a character is not the character's fault. I agree there's too much Animal merchandise, and there's too many times when he overshadows the rest of the band. And then there's MFS, where he's basically just there and doesn't offer anything besides some "Noodle incident" romance with Kathy Griffin. Then again, looking back to the films before it, he was one of the only 3 members of the band that could actually talk.

Animal is overused, suffice to say, because he's a popular character. They're going with what's popular because popular sells more than unpopular. And frankly, I find putting the Electric Mayhem on a shirt period is a step in the right direction. I've noticed the band is getting more and more respect on the whole. Dr. Teeth really seems to be in focus now. After all, the bobblehead line up favors him over Beaker. That's saying something.

 

[galagr]

Yes, he's an OBSCENELY popular character. But the real question is, why? What makes him so special to the point where he has more fans than Fozzie?

That's like Toad having a starring role in a Mario game.

That's like having Irving from "Phineas and Ferb" getting his own spin-off series.

Eh, you get my point.

 

[AquaGGR]

I don't like those '90s kids who believe that their era of animation was the best, and complain about shows like Amazing World of Gumball and Regular Show just because it's not from the '90s. They have their nostalgia goggles on a little too tight. I bet if Dexter's Laboratory was released in 2013, nobody would like it because it's not from their childhood. You see this a lot in YouTube comments.

Technically speaking, SpongeBob is a '90s cartoon. It debuted in 1999. Though the show has suffered through lots of Seasonal Rot that nobody really pays attention to it.

 

[D'Snowth]

Really 'cause it seems like the whole world is still obsessed with SpongeBob, it's like we can't ever get away from SpongeBob, it's like SpongeBob has taken over the world, it's SpongeBob is never going away.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

I think it has less to do with people liking it and more that its just thrown at everyone's faces. Sure it has a following, but the people who grew up with it probably don't care about it anymore.

 

[AquaGGR]

Even though I loved the first three seasons of SpongeBob, I hope the show ends. Preferably with a huge series finale. The show has over eight seasons and it seems to be getting worse and worse. All the characters are Flanderized, the plots are poorly written, and the show is constantly contradicting things said in past episodes.

The first few seasons (especially Season 3) were extremely funny, but the show got bad when it got super-popular and got different writers. The attempts at super special episodes (Truth Or Square, Whatever Happened to SpongeBob, etc.) were very underwhelming. The show is so Adored By The Network that I don't think it'll be ending anytime soon, though.

 

[D'Snowth]

ARTHUR is suffering from the same problem.

 

[AquaGGR]

I also have a problem with SpongeBob's animation. The animation in recent episodes is too straight and lifeless. The older episodes (and the film) weren't really trying to keep SpongeBob on model as much as they were trying to put his personality into the animation. One of SpongeBob's eyes would be bigger than the other, or his body would be a little bit stretched out, or his mouth would be huge, but he expressed emotion. The only expressions he has now is a blank smile, or crying up a storm

 

[Sgt Floyd]

I've noticed that with a lot of shows that were hand drawn then switched over to digital. The powerpuff girls and the simpsons seem like that. They just seem...strangely lifeless.

I will say that despite the animation on Dan Vs being really stiff and clunky looking at times, at least they have ways of making some great facial expressions

oops I plugged dan vs again