Many people, mainly kids from the 90s, say that modern cartoons suck. i am also one of those people. I feel that a lot of modern cartoons lack the charm and quality of animation of the cartoons of the past. They also lack strong writing and imagination. Most cartoons now a days talk down to the audience or bombard us with cheap poorly written jokes. However, every once in a while a fantastic show comes around and brings back hope for the future. Unfortunately these shows a few in between.
Cartoon Network used to be the best source for cartoons such as Dexter, Powerpuff Girls, Johnny Bravo, and Ed, Edd, n Eddy just to name a few. All very distinct shows with smart humor, likable cast, and a visually pleasing style. However, they were replaced midway through the 00s with shows that couldn't compete. The new shows weren't smart, they relied heavily on gross out humor or they were very kiddish. But luckily for us, the creator of the "Powerpuff Girls," Craig McKracken, was creating a new show for the CN to get more cartoons on the channel. "Cartoonstitute" was a show in the similar vain of "What A Cartoon," where a lot of famous cartoons were conceived. Unfortunately plans were scrapped and only one show came out all of this, "Regular Show."
"Regular Show," created by J.G. Quintel, is about two friends, a blue jay and raccoon, who work at a park. They are very lazy and in efforts to skip out on work they get themselves into some surreal misadventures.
The cast includes: Mordecai: He's a lazy blue jay, but the more mature of the two leads. Him and Rigby have a friendly rivalry going that usually causes him to do some the stupid things he does.
Rigby: He's the lazy childish raccoon. He's really stubborn and always like things going in his way, which 99% of the time don't. So in effort to do so he gets them in trouble.
Benson: Their hot headed boss and manager of the park, who is in the shape of a gum-ball machine with arms. He usually loses his temper when the other two don't listen and get their job done.
Skips: A yeti, who is apparently immortal. He's really wise and usually get the gang out of danger.
Pops: Naive lollipop shaped man. He is an elderly man, but acts very child like. He usually falls for anything.
Muscle Man: Another worker at the park, he's green, dwarfish, and incredibly overweight. He usually bullies Rigby and Mordecai because he thinks he is better than everyone. His catch phrase is "My Mom!" (poor attempts at "Your Mom" jokes) High-Five Ghost: A ghost with a hand extend from his head. He usually follows Muscle Man as his yes man.
The cast is likable and fun. They all have a sarcastic sense of humor except Pops, Muscle Man, and High-Five Ghost. Even though they don't show it, they care for their fellow co-workers. When danger strikes they will go to the extreme to rescue one another. There are other great side characters that are just as great if not sometimes steal the show from the leads.
The animation is fairly simple, but that adds to its charm. The backgrounds are usually very well detailed. The show also pays homage to the 80s through some of its visuals like the video games the characters play or a coffee shop, very reminiscent of the 80s. While the animation is fairly simple, the artists play around with different visual styles, which add to the visual bliss of the show.
So each episode starts of normal enough, but ends in some kind of supernatural confrontation. For instance, one episode stars off with Mordecai and Rigby having to set up some chair. When they go into the storage room to grab the chairs, they come across and old arcade system. While playing the game they release a demon, who is out to destroy the world and the only way to defeat him is to beat the game. Essentially every episode starts of with a mundane task and goes into the supernatural. I really like how they don't spend time asking why. The events happen and they just try to figure it out. We get a lot of extraordinary adventures and the show is very creative. I really like how they pay homage to the 80s whether it be through the outfits characters to the games they play. The world they live in is very modern, but it has a very retro vibe.
To end it I wanna make this bold statement and call "Regular Show" the best animated series on television right now. It's very visually pleasing, the jokes are smart and funny, the characters are great, and the adventures they go on are fantastic. My personal favorite episode right now is "This Is My Jam." The episode is about Rigby getting an annoyingly catchy song stuck in his head. In an effort to remove the song, it manifests into a giant cassette and annoys everyone and the only way to defeat it is to write an even cheesier song. This is one of the more toned down episode in terms of the supernatural, but I love how they made something so simple into a threat. And I bet many of us have this problem as well. Hopefully the show continues on and entertains us with more laughs. If haven't seen the show yet, I highly recommend it.
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