The Cartoncast

It's been a while since Ben and Zane checked in with Buster Bunny. Time had not treated him well. The disillusionment of adolescence left him ripe for distraction and the glory of mob mentality. He fell in with the wrong crowd, started disrespecting his momma, and filled his dissatisfaction of the underclass with lewd distractions and senseless violence. If only he would listen to us say that in a...

Greetings, mystery eggberts! Because Ben shows no signs of watching this great show, Zane is using the nuclear option and just recording an episode without him. Helping him investigate the strangeness of the situation is Ethan, certified twin and conspiracianado. Listen as Ethan and Zane drop hints about the secret history of the U.S. government, dire visions of the future, and the lifelong questi...

While talking about the latest episode of Sick Sad World (are people illegally cutting baseball diamonds in half? Three sides and you're out, next on Sick Sad World!), Ben and Zane saw the new girl in school walk by. But then they got distracted by the weird kid's gambling ring, and the teacher's rampage, and the spat between the Canadian couple, and by the time they got back around to looking at...

Ben and Zane were visiting Eternia - sorry, Third Earth - and found a fascinating war unfolding around them. Apparently, some renegade members of a barbaric race were subjecting the natives to a dogmatic psuedo-mysitcal religious mandate. The leader of this band, He-man - excuse me, Lion-O - called himself 'The Lord of the Thundercats', and ruled by divine right. His mission, he said, was to lead...

In the second part of our in-depth summary of Kid Radd, we follow Radd from his quest to find powerful allies to fight the Moderators up through the dramatic conclusion and epilogue. As the party goes in and out of video game parodies, the author moves between drama and comedy to convey the central themes which are restated, just, so many times. Read Kid Radd here

It's a Scrambl'd, it's a Bootlegg'd, it's a 2-parter! We're breaking the rules with an animated webcomic that does the same. A personal favorite that found inventive solutions to the problems of the medium and still holds up, in format and in story. Join us as we follow Radd, a video game protagonist taken from his game and put into a world where he has to fight corrupt politicians, violent sprite...

Ben and Zane hadn't had a vacation in a while, so when they were invited to spend time relaxing in house in the forests of Japan, they jumped at the chance! It was hard to unwind though, what with various new people coming in at all hours, screaming at eachother, and then polymorphing into animals. Luckily they were able to slip quietly away during one of many introspective monologues.

Ben and Zane ditched the regular gang and grabbed a young con artist named nic on their way to investigate a spooky mansion for some reason. They searched high and low for a food pantry, but all they found was this weird box with a skull on it that radiated evil energy. They didn't open it, because they weren't stupid. Instead, they discovered an insurance fraud scheme perpetuated by old man Price...

The Cartoncast has gone through some weird stuff in the past, but time travel was a first! Ben and Zane were greeted by themselves in the future, whom warned of a terrible fate that would befall one boy genius. They claimed that little Dexter would go from beloved sociopathic engine of science-comedy to uninteresting standard network-filler. Ben and Zane declined, hoping that a well-intentioned mo...

Ben and Zane got together with Dan Caves at the local philosopher's club to discuss the nature of isolation and man's existence as a social animal, his noble goals for truth and excellence conflicting with his need to belong to a group of people whom he must despise to maintain his sense of importance in a hostile world. How can a man, or any creature, gain approval by pushing away those he needs...

It's that time again, my dear Dawson! Time for Ben and Zane to talk about Sherlock Holmes yet again in this Bootlegg'd segment! The Great Mouse Detective is perhaps the most kid-friendly Sherlock that Disney's audience has ever seen, but could the added accessibility to a younger demographic come at too high a price? The game is afoot!

On a recent layover in Atlanta, Ben and Zane and their cultural advisor Charlie left the airport to take in the sights and sounds of the city. There must have been something funny in the air, and the Cartoncasters started to hallucinate. Jazz and rap turned into shapes and colors as they walked downtown. They managed to avoid crashing into a bunch of children playing their instruments, but no one...

I tell ya, podcasting can really give you such a crick in the neck! But as Ben and Zane learned at the nearby massage school, there's more than one way to skin a cat, or pop a joint back into place. This kid Ken gave them a good look at the academy, full of what appeared to be former members of Knights In Satan's Service. They were even offered free high-velocity acupressure, as a free parting gif...

Ben and Zane were enjoying a fine sarsaparilla in a town that was certainly big enough for the two of them, when a huge man burst through the saloon doors. Seven feet tall, about 85% lean meat, a belt buckle that said "Angus" and two mean-looking horns, he looked ready to rough up the place. He ordered his whiskey and sat down next to the Cartoncasters. "You boys watch out now," he said, "it's har...

Ben and Zane have been on their fair share of deserted islands, but this one takes the carton-cake! After tapping their way past strange and gross oddities they found an amusement park filled with security cameras but no bathrooms. Their detective skills were working overtime trying to unravel the mysteries, but the harder they worked, the more unreal the world seemed to be, and the louder that sa...

Operation: CODENAME: KIDS NEXT DOOR: Cartoon Of Deliberately Engineering Nonsense And Made-up Enterprises: Kind Interlopers Develop Systems Neutralizing Every Xenophobic Teenager and Delightful Organization Ordering Regimentation.

The Cartoncasters do not condone bullying the differently-abled, except for one specific person, John Callahan, who wished they would. Suck it, Callahan!

Welcome to the Second Annual Cartony Awards! We might not have shown up to the right place for the second year in a row, but no one's pulling our strings when we talk about our favorite cartoons of the past year! We might not have as robust a roster as last year, but the contestants this time around are some serious contenders. And just so no-one confuses us with a puppetry-themed show, we have a...

Ben and Zane were loving their vacation in Cappy Town. The music was lively, the sky a clear pastel blue, and the townsfolk easily identifiable by their clothing. It was a real dreamland. As they relaxed, they overheard the townsfolk speak in whispers of conspiracy, a plot to overthrow their tyrannical king by means of their brainwashed warrior, a child soldier from the stars. This Kirby was bruta...

On their quest for forgotten cartoons, Ben and Zane happened upon a pleasant glen, full of adorable ramshackle mushroom houses. Thankfully, local wizard and Jewish stereotype Gargamel warned the Cartoncasters of the pests which lived there - an abominable blue plague whose intense focus was only rivaled by their religious fervor for the self-instated leader they referred to as their "father". He a...

New York City: a sprawling metropolis filled with people from every walk of life. Ben and Zane strolled along its avenues and alleyways, trying to take in everything it had to offer. From the tentacled fish vendors to the firefighters made out of literal fire, the city was full of interesting characters. Of course, nothing compared to the singular oddity of a man with no physical abnormalities, no...

Ben and Zane heard a hot tip about a cartoon prison yard that was cleverly disguised as an elementary school. Warden Prickly waved away accusations that he was sympathizing with the inmates of third street elementary, but records showed that he himself was once a prisoner there as well. He broke down and told us the whole story; that this prison used to be most tender, but these days it really who...

Join the Cartoncast as we watch a fast-paced post-apocalyptic 80's time-travel movie about industrial espionage and urban decay: The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones. Watch what is basically a couple of episodes of the show based off the Honeymooners and the show based off the show based off the Honeymooners. Wacky misunderstandings, suicidal robots, and disproportionate revenge, this movie has it all...

When Henry agreed to be a co-host of KaBlam, he thought it was just three hots and a cot. Never expected he'd be taking the heat for the corrupt execs representing all the b-list cartoons. Henry was caught in a place where cartoons and comics collided, with him as the collateral damage. He could take it, for a while, but when the Cartoncast came by to grill him on the health and well-being of KaBl...

Ben and Zane were rooting through the local landfill (like ya do) when they came across a giant robot that nobody had ever noticed before, somehow. They poked and prodded and fiddled with the knobs so much that when a woman from the future came to reclaim it, she couldn't pilot it any more. Now it's up to the Cartoncasters to control it by reviewing old cartoons. But that sounds like work, so mayb...