Bad Cartoons

[RicoGregg]

I debated whether to count individual cartoons originally intended for movie audiences along with specifically made-for-TV animation, then decided that if it's animated, and we saw it on TV, it counts. So....

Some of my least favorite animation of all time. These always had me headed for the fridge or some other part of the house:

Doug. Brutal animation. Stupidly named characters (Patty Mayonnaise, for example). Dumb storylines. Horrible musical score. Nothing nice for me to say here.

George Pal Puppetoons. This will predate most. Long explanation short, George Pal was a gifted animator/special effects/director/producer who escaped Nazi Germany, and made a name for himself in both film and animation in Hollywood. His best-known film works include The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, The War of the Worlds, & When Worlds Collide. He made a series of animated shorts called "Puppetoons", which today would be little more than claymation. They were shown on local cartoon shows nationwide, and some are considered classics. Not by my reckoning. The atmosphere on Puppetoons was always somber, if not outright depressing, and humor, a critical ingredient of animation, was sadly lacking. My favorite part of Puppetoons was when the TV host would move on to the next cartoon. Not George Pal's proudest achievements.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm5Mdif5Gl0

Buddy. A bad, but instrumental development in the history of Warner Bros. animation. Produced by Leon Schlessinger himself, Buddy featured a regular-guy type title character, his girlfriend Cookie, and often a dog or a baby. In some cartoons, Buddy is a little kid, but in most, he's a young adult. I guess they couldn't make up their minds. The artwork left something to be desired, and the characters' eyes were over-emphasized. This cartoon is important in animated history because the overall failure of this series caused Warner Bros. to create animal characters instead. You know how that worked out.

Paddy Pelican. At last year's Comic Con in San Diego, this was voted overwhelmingly as the Worst Animation of All Time. A semi-regular feature on Captain Kangaroo, the "tunes" themselves are nothing more than the test pencil sketches of virtually any other cartoon. Totally brutal, and virtually unwatchable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfvhnUU5lKA

If you can sit through that, or any of the others, you deserve a medal.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

For a quick reply, IMO, basically everything currently airing on Cartoon Network right now (as opposed to the golden age of this channel when classic cartoons were shown).

Also couple of my all-time least favorite cartoons:

Sponge Bob
Jem (from the late '80s)

 

[KeithE4]

Clutch Cargo. No animation whatsoever. Still pictures with the voice-actors' mouths superimposed on the characters. A true classic. ;D

The early Leon Schessinger-produced Warner Brothers cartoons (1933-35) were bad enough, but the last ones (post-1964 - the company was called Warner Brothers-Seven Arts starting at about that time) were even worse. Most starred Daffy Duck & Speedy Gonzalez or the Coyote & Road Runner, with animation that made Hanna-Barbera's early stuff look good by comparison.

After those died a merciful death in 1967, they came up with the likes of Merlin the Magic Mouse, Bunny & Claude, & Cool Cat. Mel Blanc had left WB by then, and was replaced by Larry Storch (Cpl. Agarn of F. Troop fame) and voiced those cartoons.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

The early Leon Schessinger-produced Warner Brothers cartoons (1933-35) were bad enough, but the last ones (post-1964 - the company was called Warner Brothers-Seven Arts starting at about that time) were even worse. Most starred Daffy Duck & Speedy Gonzalez or the Coyote & Road Runner, with animation that made Hanna-Barbera's early stuff look good by comparison.

After those died a merciful death in 1967, they came up with the likes of Merlin the Magic Mouse, Bunny & Claude, & Cool Cat. Mel Blanc had left WB by then, and was replaced by Larry Storch (Cpl. Agarn of F. Troop fame) and voiced those cartoons.
It did take WB animation a few years to really find a groove. Their early cartoons were plagued by a particularly grating practice of repeating sight gags 2 or even 3 times. The only WB character I really didn't care for in the golden age of late 30's to early 60's was Sniffles The Mouse (Strangely enough, he was tolerable in "Space Jam".) Another factor in the lameness of the mid 60's WB toons was the absence of their genius musical director, Carl Stalling.

Other bad cartoons? Pretty much anything that aired on NBC on Saturday mornings from about 1973 on ("The Barkleys", "The Roman Holidays", "Inch High, Private Eye", etc.)

 

[KML0224]

Anything in the Tom and Jerry or Droopy genre around 1980 or so. God those series were AWFUL!

 

[mleach]

Even though I was a big fan of the comic strip those few Family Circus cartoons that aired on TV back in the 70's were a let down. I believe even Bil Keane at one point admitted that doing those cartoons were a mistake.

I have heard from many who aren't exactly fans of those recent Peanuts cartoons. Many feel they should have stopped with the death of Charles Schulz.

 

[RicoGregg]

I have heard from many who aren't exactly fans of those recent Peanuts cartoons. Many feel they should have stopped with the death of Charles Schulz.

IMHO, as far as Peanuts animation goes, Schultz made three big mistakes:

1) Breaking normal procedure, and showing an adult character in "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and don't come back!)".

2) Showing The Little Red Headed Girl in a football-themed Peanuts TV special.

3) An entire special focusing on Snoopy's brother Spike that was mixed with live action, and featured Schultz's no-talent daughter. Unwatchable.

 

[azumanga]

IMHO, as far as Peanuts animation goes, Schultz made three big mistakes:

1) Breaking normal procedure, and showing an adult character in "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and don't come back!)".

2) Showing The Little Red Headed Girl in a football-themed Peanuts TV special.

3) An entire special focusing on Snoopy's brother Spike that was mixed with live action, and featured Schultz's no-talent daughter. Unwatchable.

And #4 -- using scripts that practically sound like reading directly from the comic strips themselves, instead of using the strips as a mere basis of the scripts. Almost all Peanuts specials made after the mid-1980s have a sort of rhythm that make it sound like they're going strip-by-strip. It's hard to describe, but compare a recent Peanuts special to a classic such as "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and you'll understand.

 

[mleach]

IMHO, as far as Peanuts animation goes, Schultz made three big mistakes:

1) Breaking normal procedure, and showing an adult character in "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and don't come back!)".

2) Showing The Little Red Headed Girl in a football-themed Peanuts TV special.

3) An entire special focusing on Snoopy's brother Spike that was mixed with live action, and featured Schultz's no-talent daughter. Unwatchable.

And #4 -- using scripts that practically sound like reading directly from the comic strips themselves, instead of using the strips as a mere basis of the scripts. Almost all Peanuts specials made after the mid-1980s have a sort of rhythm that make it sound like they'rK going strip-by-strip. It's hard to describe, but compare a recent Peanuts special to a classic such as "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and you'll understand.

about number 4...I had noticed that too.

The interesting thing about Charles Schulz, years ago I found a book about the 60's at our local library. The book was published around the same time as when he did Snoopy Come Home ( 1972 ? ). They featured an article with Schulz and in that article he promised NEVER to feature any adults in those Peanuts films and TV ( ..broken in Bon Voyage Charle Brown ), never to feature any cats since he couldn't draw them very well ( I believe that promise was broken too ). And never to show that Little-red headed girl...( promise broken in #2 )

Schulz also claimed that he wasn't a big fan of cartoons being "too commerical" such as the use of cartoon characters on such things as T-shirts, toys and and even furniture even though at that time there were no shortage on Peanuts merchandise. He also didn't like the use of cartoon characters at amusement parks. The article claimed he was upset at Pittsburgh's Kennywood Park at using Snoopy as a "mascot" yet several years later Cedar Fair were using those same characters at their parks and Schulz had no problem with that. In other words he was doing the things he claimed he didn't like.

I guess all that money that the Peanuts gang were making ( and still are ) were just too good for him to pass up.

 

[RicoGregg]

IMHO, as far as Peanuts animation goes, Schultz made three big mistakes:

1) Breaking normal procedure, and showing an adult character in "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and don't come back!)".

2) Showing The Little Red Headed Girl in a football-themed Peanuts TV special.

3) An entire special focusing on Snoopy's brother Spike that was mixed with live action, and featured Schultz's no-talent daughter. Unwatchable.

And #4 -- using scripts that practically sound like reading directly from the comic strips themselves, instead of using the strips as a mere basis of the scripts. Almost all Peanuts specials made after the mid-1980s have a sort of rhythm that make it sound like they'rK going strip-by-strip. It's hard to describe, but compare a recent Peanuts special to a classic such as "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and you'll understand.

about number 4...I had noticed that too.

The interesting thing about Charles Schulz, years ago I found a book about the 60's at our local library. The book was published around the same time as when he did Snoopy Come Home ( 1972 ? ). They featured an article with Schulz and in that article he promised NEVER to feature any adults in those Peanuts films and TV ( ..broken in Bon Voyage Charle Brown ), never to feature any cats since he couldn't draw them very well ( I believe that promise was broken too ). And never to show that Little-red headed girl...( promise broken in #2 )

Schulz also claimed that he wasn't a big fan of cartoons being "too commerical" such as the use of cartoon characters on such things as T-shirts, toys and and even furniture even though at that time there were no shortage on Peanuts merchandise. He also didn't like the use of cartoon characters at amusement parks. The article claimed he was upset at Pittsburgh's Kennywood Park at using Snoopy as a "mascot" yet several years later Cedar Fair were using those same characters at their parks and Schulz had no problem with that. In other words he was doing the things he claimed he didn't like.

I guess all that money that the Peanuts gang were making ( and still are ) were just too good for him to pass up.

I think that Mr. Schultz is worthy of being cut some slack. Out our way, we have had Camp Snoopy at Knott's Berry Farm, and it's been a very popular attraction. Who couldn't like Camp Snoopy?

What I'm trying to roundaboutly say is that the big $$$ Schultz must have received for amusement part attractions and merchandise would have been way too tempting for ANYBODY to pass up. You draw a few pictures and get rich beyond your wildest dreams - forgawdsake, why not?

I don't remember a cat in any Peanuts work. Where did it appear? ???

 

[ixnay]

Schulz the cat drawer

I actually saw (in one or two) "Peanuts" collection books from Holt or Fawcett, the cat he drew. His name was Faron and he belonged to Frieda, the girl with the naturally curly hair. Snoopy didn't like Faron too much (didn't chase him, just was timid around him). In an early '70s book called "Charlie Brown and Charlie Schulz"(?), Sparky admitted creating Faron (named after Faron Young, the C&W singer) was a mistake and quickly phased him out, quietly.

I'll have more to say about "Peanuts" (and this interesting thread topic) when I get back from my vacation on Sunday.

ixnay

 

[anotherguyTN]

Anything in the Tom and Jerry or Droopy genre around 1980 or so. God those series were AWFUL!

The early 60's Tom & Jerry cartoons that were directed by Gene Deitch were terrible as well. They're the absolute worst of any T&J cartoons. Those are still shown by Cartoon Network and Boomerang, mixed in with the Hanna/Berbera and Chuck Jones produced ones.

 

[KML0224]

The only ones in the series I enjoyed were the originals from the 1940s and 1950s. Especially the one where Tom was singing to the female cat in a jazzy type way. ("Is you is, or is you ain't my ba-BAAYYYYY?")

 

[bk77]

IMHO, as far as Peanuts animation goes, Schultz made three big mistakes:

1) Breaking normal procedure, and showing an adult character in "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and don't come back!)".

2) Showing The Little Red Headed Girl in a football-themed Peanuts TV special.

3) An entire special focusing on Snoopy's brother Spike that was mixed with live action, and featured Schultz's no-talent daughter. Unwatchable.

And #4 -- using scripts that practically sound like reading directly from the comic strips themselves, instead of using the strips as a mere basis of the scripts. Almost all Peanuts specials made after the mid-1980s have a sort of rhythm that make it sound like they'rK going strip-by-strip. It's hard to describe, but compare a recent Peanuts special to a classic such as "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and you'll understand.

about number 4...I had noticed that too.

The interesting thing about Charles Schulz, years ago I found a book about the 60's at our local library. The book was published around the same time as when he did Snoopy Come Home ( 1972 ? ). They featured an article with Schulz and in that article he promised NEVER to feature any adults in those Peanuts films and TV ( ..broken in Bon Voyage Charle Brown ), never to feature any cats since he couldn't draw them very well ( I believe that promise was broken too ). And never to show that Little-red headed girl...( promise broken in #2 )

Schulz also claimed that he wasn't a big fan of cartoons being "too commerical" such as the use of cartoon characters on such things as T-shirts, toys and and even furniture even though at that time there were no shortage on Peanuts merchandise. He also didn't like the use of cartoon characters at amusement parks. The article claimed he was upset at Pittsburgh's Kennywood Park at using Snoopy as a "mascot" yet several years later Cedar Fair were using those same characters at their parks and Schulz had no problem with that. In other words he was doing the things he claimed he didn't like.

I guess all that money that the Peanuts gang were making ( and still are ) were just too good for him to pass up.

I think that Mr. Schultz is worthy of being cut some slack. Out our way, we have had Camp Snoopy at Knott's Berry Farm, and it's been a very popular attraction. Who couldn't like Camp Snoopy?

What I'm trying to roundaboutly say is that the big $$$ Schultz must have received for amusement part attractions and merchandise would have been way too tempting for ANYBODY to pass up. You draw a few pictures and get rich beyond your wildest dreams - forgawdsake, why not?

I don't remember a cat in any Peanuts work. Where did it appear? ???

The creator of Garfield the cat, Jim Davis was somewhat like Schultz early in his career. When he first started Garfield in the 70's, the role of Jon in the strip was actually Jim Davis. Jon drew cartoons, hey just like Davis.

Shortly after Garfield's first strip, I remember seeing Davis on TV ( I think it was PM Magazine ) where he said he wanted to keep to the strip and avoid making Garfield "too big" such as the same level Peanuts, Disney and even Blondie & Dagwood had become over the years. When asked about a cartoon TV show for Garfield, Davis I can recal said "NO".

However when Garfield's first book came out ( I think it was called either "Garfield at Large" or "Here Comes Garfield" ) it was a total smash !! At that point Davis quickly found out he could be a very rich guy thanks to his Garfield. And like Peanuts, Garfield is featured in a number of theme parks from Pennsylvania to Idaho. Plus TV shows, commericals and even a few movies.

If you can make money, why not? I would have done the same thing.

 

[dxnemo78]

The early Leon Schessinger-produced Warner Brothers cartoons (1933-35) were bad enough, but the last ones (post-1964 - the company was called Warner Brothers-Seven Arts starting at about that time) were even worse. Most starred Daffy Duck & Speedy Gonzalez or the Coyote & Road Runner, with animation that made Hanna-Barbera's early stuff look good by comparison.

After those died a merciful death in 1967, they came up with the likes of Merlin the Magic Mouse, Bunny & Claude, & Cool Cat. Mel Blanc had left WB by then, and was replaced by Larry Storch (Cpl. Agarn of F. Troop fame) and voiced those cartoons.
It did take WB animation a few years to really find a groove. Their early cartoons were plagued by a particularly grating practice of repeating sight gags 2 or even 3 times. The only WB character I really didn't care for in the golden age of late 30's to early 60's was Sniffles The Mouse (Strangely enough, he was tolerable in "Space Jam".) Another factor in the lameness of the mid 60's WB toons was the absence of their genius musical director, Carl Stalling.

Other bad cartoons? Pretty much anything that aired on NBC on Saturday mornings from about 1973 on ("The Barkleys", "The Roman Holidays", "Inch High, Private Eye", etc.)

Must agree that Merlin, Bunny & Claude, Cool Cat, and the antique WB cartoons from the early '30's were all pretty much unwatchable for me. About the only time I ever saw any of them was when Nick at Nite aired them in the late 80's-early 90's, mixed together with the true classic Looney's. How those others ended up in the mix I'll never know, but it's easy to see why they're probably at this moment rotting away in a dark and musty vault somewhere, never again to see the light of day...

The latter-day Daffy & Speedy and Coyote & Road Runner flicks were OK with me, but then I never met a Wile E. cartoon I didn't like...

As for "The Barkleys", "The Roman Holidays", and "Inch High, Private Eye", I haven't seen any of them since their original airings, but I recall all three keeping me entertained at age 7 or 8...

Disqualifying anything produced since I've been an adult (mid-80's on), I'd have to say about the lamest cartoons I remember at all were the Snuffy Smith and Beetle Bailey yukfests they aired on the WGN Bozo show in the early 80's. The theme songs were kinda catchy, though...

"AH AH AH Great Balls of Fire, I'm Bodacious"............

As for Peanuts, all I remember is that the sketches on the Saturady morning show in the '80s were pretty much taken verbatum from the comic strip. I haven't seen any of them in years, but Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas will forever be classics, and "Snoopy Come Home" might still bring me to tears :-[. Schulz was a child of the Depression, and as such probably liked to make money and hold onto it....

 

[kirkiefan]

My choices for the worst toons.

1.)Dick Whittington's Cat-animated by Ub Iwerks for Celebrity Productions' "Comi-Color" cartoons (after he broke off from the Disney studio with Flip The Frog for MGM. ) The action was violent and made my oldest son (then about five years old at the time) scream when a band of mice attempted to chop off the cat's head as if it were al roll of salami. Fortunately Iwerks went back to work for Walt being put in charge of special processes...particularly the studio's multi-plane animation camera.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKh9xuAlYhw


2.)"Struggle at the South Pole" an episde from Gigantor..an early Japanese animated series from the early 1960s...but love the scene where Gigantor's youthful mentor...a young boy walking away with the up and down "shaky-head" effect when he walks away after he says "Right!" Hysterically funny scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc8ObvMTUOM

3) "Quack a Doodle Doo" and other Baby Huey cartoons produced by Paramount's Famous Studios animation unit (after Max and Dave Fleisher got the ax years earlier.) The story line is lame and the Huey character is looked upon as a social outcast for obvous reasons. Yep..this one is also politically incorrect as it treats academically and socially challenged youth as the stereotypical "retards." Paramount's worst mistake was in letting go the Fleischers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZlQ2BYUThU

 

[Markxxx]

I think the cartoons by Filmation like the "Brady Kids" and "The Archies" were by far the worst. Those were just churned out and Greg Brady was interchaneable with Archie and so forth.

The Popeye Cartoons by King Features (with Brutus instead of Bluto) are a close second.

Sometimes less than great animation works. Such as in "A Charlie Brown Christmas."

The single best cartoon in the world is an Andy Panda Cartoon called "The Wacky Weed.' Oh that was so funny. I loved it when the Weed was chocking that flower. I mean the flower was such a sissy, it didn't even TRY to fight back..

Now Andy Panda itself wasn't much of a cartoon series but that particular cartoon was excellent.

A close second was the cartoon about a Martian that comes to Earth to get a bride and meets a matchmaker. I think it's called Galaxia or something like that. First the matchmaker hooks him up with a gumball machine, to wit the Martian complains "Every time I hold her hand (the lever) she loses on of her eyeballs (a gumball). Then the matchmaker hooks the Martian up with a jukebox singing "I Love You." It was so cute the way the Martian says "She loves me." (Trust me if you heard how the Martian said this you'd be laughing." Then the Martian brings back the jukebox which is still singing "I Love You," to wit the Martian says "Yakita, Yakita, Yakita, she never shuts her big mouth."

 

[Tim L]

Two cartoon series not generally thought of as real good..Though I loved them both as a kid:

King Features Popeye made for TV Cartoons-1960-62. I never saw the Fleischer/Famous Studios Popeyes till the 1970's on WKYC-TV 3..Which, as KYW-TV had run these same Popeyes from 1957-60 before the King Features Popeyes came out.

Felix The Cat/Joe Oriolo Productions 1958-60..I recently saw this on Voom Animania when I had Satellite..It was nice to see them again (and for me, the first time in color). But Its hard to watch 5 or 6 episodes back to back..These were made for a hosted program to break up the monotony..I still say they were great characters..Felix, The Professor, Poindexter, Rock Bottom, etc..

 

[RicoGregg]

King Features Popeye made for TV Cartoons-1960-62. I never saw the Fleischer/Famous Studios Popeyes till the 1970's on WKYC-TV 3..Which, as KYW-TV had run these same Popeyes from 1957-60 before the King Features Popeyes came out.

There is a big quality difference between the original Popeye toons made in the 30s, and the color batch made in the 50s.

One of the color Popeye episodes has the outcome of a presidential contest between Popeye & Bluto (Brutus?) hinging on one vote - Olive Oyl's. A movie with the same plot line is about to be released, only the one deciding vote is Kevin Costner's.

If you've ever wondered why Bluto is sometimes Brutus, long story short, Walt Disney sued. He contended that 1) the name Bluto was too close to Pluto and 2) the character too closely resembled his Pegleg Pete, aka Black Pete character.

 

[RicoGregg]

Felix The Cat/Joe Oriolo Productions 1958-60..I recently saw this on Voom Animania when I had Satellite..It was nice to see them again (and for me, the first time in color). But Its hard to watch 5 or 6 episodes back to back..These were made for a hosted program to break up the monotony..I still say they were great characters..Felix, The Professor, Poindexter, Rock Bottom, etc..

...and you're forgetting one of the greatest-named characters of all time - The Master Cylinder! The name always made me laugh. I love it!

Righteeo! 8)