What A Cartoon!

Our $10 Patreon subscribers got quite a treat in August with the monthly What A Cartoon Movie! We did the brand new, Netflix-hosted reboot of Rocko's Modern Life, Static Cling! If you're not yet a premium subscriber, here's a preview of that special podcast as we explore just how the new Nicktoon came to be! And if you want the full podcast, just pledge $10 at Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons to get St...

If you weren't paying attention to TV between 1993 and 1994, you might have missed Mighty Max: one of the best cartoons to be made entirely for the sake of selling toys. Despite its cynical roots, the show's creators were somehow on an extremely long leash, which gave this micro-size action figure adaptation a surprisingly dark and serious tone. On this episode of What A Cartoon!, Kat Bailey joins...

Jeremy Parish of Retronauts returns for the what might be the most '80s anime ever made! We're covering the original Bubblegum Crisis OVA that was one of the first big hits for uncut Japanese cartoons in the United States! We look at the show's influences, BC's complicated legal history, it's many influences from American films, and we chat about the very impactful episode Red Eyes! Watch out for...

We welcome back Matthew Jay ( The Deep End , Cartoons 101 ) for a millennial classic that's a tribute to anime, robots, video games, wrestling, comic books, and all the other pop culture we love! Yes, we head to New Jersey in 2004 for the lost Toonami series Megas XLR! We go deep in how the series came to be, its many inspirations, and the complex tax reason it may never get a second chance. Plus...

Another month has passed at the Talking Simpsons Network , and that means we've got another awesome podcast about an animated feature film! This month our $10+ Patreon subscribers get to hear us talk about the 1996 classic Beavis and Butt-Head Do America for more than THREE HOURS! Listen now to this free preview, and then subscribe at the $10 level to hear the whole thing and all the previous What...

Third Impact has arrived on our podcast as OK KO: Let's Be Heroes ' showrunners/animation experts Ian Jones-Quartey and Toby Jones return for our Evangelion episode! We go deep into the career of Hideaki Anno as he went from an animation prodigy to one of the most daring animation directors to ever live. We talk about the show's enduring popularity, its continuing controversy, the multiple localiz...

At the dawn of the new millennium, no figure stood higher for nerds than Kevin Smith. Fresh off of his last major motion picture and right before his first attempt at closing the book on the View Askew-niverse, Smith fraternized with mass-market television with an animated interpretation of his silver screen debut. Like many of the shows from the early '00s prime-time cartoon boom, Clerks crashed...

During the first big anime boom of the early '00s, weebs around the world were infatuated with Excel Saga: a hyper, silly, pervy, and scatalogical show that seemed to stand for everything anime could do that American animation couldn't. And while it's mostly forgotten today, this spiritual predecessor to similarly absurdist series like Pop Team Epic still exists as a wholly unique expression of a...

Chosen by premium Patreon subscriber Royce, this week's subject is straight from the new millennium era from Disney's One Saturday Morning. Dubbed a "Pokemon Killer" by ABC, The Weekenders was briefly a big hit and then fell back into obscurity, now it's almost impossible to watch via legal means. But that won't stop us from exploring the history of the show and its creator! Listen now, and later...

We're returning to a series we've already done for the very first time on What A Cartoon!, but for a very good reason. Chris Reccardi, one of the most talented and influential forces in modern television animation, passed away in May of 2019. And while he never got a series of his own, we can look at one where he really got to shine: The Ren & Stimpy Show. Its Games Animation era might be maligned...

This week we're deep in the 1990s and syndicated cartoons about monkeys that few remember! Chosen by premium patron Devin, Bob and Henry are entering the sci-fi/comedy world of Captain Simian, a toy-centric action show that's too clever for its own good at sending up Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Stanley Kubrick, and more! We cover the show's murky past and quiet future, Simian's connection to Ti...

Are you still on the fence about joining the Talking Simpsons Network ? I'd reconsider if I were you, as you're missing out on our monthly What A Cartoon Movie! podcast that's ONLY available to our $10+ Patreon subscribers! This month we're starting summer 2019 right with a trip back to Tiny Toons Adventures and their direct-to-video film that opened the floodgates for original VHS toons from majo...

Winnie the Pooh has been such an overly-merchandised phenomenon for the past 80 years, it's easy to forget the character's Disney roots started with some excellent animated shorts. And, thanks to patron Alex Irish, on this week's What A Cartoon! we'll be taking an in-depth look at Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, Disney's third exploration of the Hundred Acre Wood. There's a lot to dig into with a...

We're joined again by premium Patreon supporter Mick, as he helps us dissect a campy classic of the very early '80s: Ruby-Spears goofy post-apocalyptic action series, Thundarr! We discuss the show's Hanna-Barbera roots, the many films it ripped off, AND Thundarr's connections to comic book legends like Steve Gerber, Alex Toth, and Jack THE KING Kirby! Listen soon before the wizards catch us! Suppo...

We tackle our oldest subject matter yet as we jump back to 1946 and 1953 to take an in-depth look at some legendary Warner Bros. shorts! And thanks to a request from our generous patron Nick, we're shining a spotlight on Daffy Duck just a few months after the character's 82nd birthday. On this week's episode, Sick Little Monkeys author and classic cartoon expert Thad Komorowski joins us to discuss...

Another month has passed at the Talking Simpsons Network , and that means we've got another awesome podcast about an animated feature film! This month our $10+ Patreon subscribers get to hear us talk about the 1992 Disney classic Aladdin for FOUR HOURS! Listen now to this free preview of our Aladdin podcast, and then subscribe at the $10 level to hear the whole thing and all the previous What A Ca...

This week's podcast has a taste of modern Middle Eastern animation, as chosen by our premium Patron Aziz ! (And just in time for the month of Ramadan too!) We watch online original Emara , the first superhero from Dubai! Learn how the culture shaped it, its anime roots, and how it came to be with a special guest appearance from Emara's creator, Fatma Almheiri ! Listen now! Support this podcast and...

Chosen by our premium subscriber ShyRanger, Bob and Henry head back to the '00s for Nickelodeon's own attempt at a Cartoon Network-style action-comedy! Created by Dexter/Powerpuff veteran Rob Renzetti, My Life As A Teenage Robot is a cult hit with a very intriguing art style and sense of humor. Listen along to learn about its history and the pair of season one shorts, Sibling Tsunami and Tradeshow...

We're the Planeteers, and you can be one too on this week's eco-friendly podcast! Henry and Bob go back to 1991 when global warning was a less imminent threat, and we deconstruct the super heroics of Captain Planet. We talk about how Ted Turner's pet project grew into a movement of more environmentally conscious kids, as well as how the show was both incredibly corny and correct about so many thin...

Thanks to the generous contributions of patron David Whittington, we're heading back to anime country with the newest series we've ever featured on What A Cartoon! Back when it initially started running in the weekly Japanese comic anthology Shonen Jump in 2016, The Promised Neverland quickly became one of the publication's most popular series, so it was only time until it received an anime adapta...

DuckTales has come up SO often during our discussion of animation history, it's about time we podcasted about it! Disney's televised treatment of one of their B-list characters ended up being an A-list series, and one that forever raised the bar for children's entertainment. On this installment, we (alongside duck expert Matthew Jay from [the deep end] podcast ) dig into the history of Uncle Scroo...

Every month at Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons , we release a new, premium podcast for our $10+ subscribers! If you still haven't heard, Bob and Henry do a different podcast each month for a different animated feature film, and April's has radioactive blood! Yes, we swing from a thread for over THREE HOURS to chat about the recent Oscar Winner, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. Check out this preview...

The wall-crawler makes his return to our podcast, as does Matt McMuscles (check out his YouTube channel and his new Patreon !), this time for an early '80s installment!! Yes, we check out Spider-Man's campiest Saturday morning series, we discuss the interesting corporate culture that birthed it, explore how the series gave birth to Firestar, and how Spidey even got a pet named Ms. Lion! All that,...

Narf! Out of all the characters spawned by 1993's Animaniacs, one rodent duo rose far above the rest—even higher in stature than the Warner brothers and their sister, Dot. That would be Pinky and the Brain, a pair of diminutive lab mice with spliced genes and big ambitions. So only makes sense that the two would eventually get their own series for 66 glorious episodes on The WB, another misguided...

April Fools! We interrupt this week's regularly scheduled animation for a special podcast that breaks the format with some live action!! To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Strangers With Candy, Bob and Henry gab about one of their all-time favorite satires! Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, and Paul Dinello created one hilarious masterpiece parodying the after-school specials of the 1970s, and we di...