The Pemmy, Krissi & James Kinda-Sorta-Hopefully Funny Cartoon Podcast

GI Joe is the codename for Hasbro's daring toy brand. Its purpose upon revival in the 1980s, to assault the wallets of parents and later adult collectors with plastic bric-a-brac. For a good half a decade, it was a VERY successful mission, aided and abetted by one of the most well-known examples of a cartoon acting as an advertisement for and a mythologizing of it. Robert Moody joins us to revisit one of the (somewhat intentionally?) campiest cartoons of the 1980s!

The podcast returns and, after watching this cartoon, our hosts almost wish it hadn't! Laverne & Shirley was a massive hit sitcom, and very, VERY little of what made it work was translated to this wretched military themed show seemingly inspired both by a two parter of the sitcom and the film Private Benjamin. All this, plus Ron Palillo as a truly annoying pig. Enjoy our hosts' pain.

10 seasons. 9 years. Endless gross pizzas. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were the single most successful toyline-inspired cartoon of the 1980s, taking a somewhat parodical gritty independent comic and turning it into a silly, just self-aware enough action show that resonated in a huge way with kids. This story has been told many times before, but seriously, would our podcast run be complete if we didn't take our own stab at it?

As Hanna Barbera entered the mid 1960s, the company's output was starting to get more than a little worn out, but a rare brighter spot (by comparison at least) was Secret Squirrel. The spy parody actually had a few decent moments, making it enough to be memorable to one Donovan Cook that he revived them to tremendous effect as a supplementary feature on 2 Stupid Dogs. Today, with guest Will Carroll, we examine both halves of this character's history. No secret decoder ring required!

Take two eccentric characters with a fanbase that spans both its original target audience and the adults who watched it, too. Spin them off into their own half hour show on a brand-new network. Then watch as they reach massive creative heights only to be meddled with by executives who think they know better than the writers. This is the cautionary tale of Pinky and the Brain, folks, showcasing the Tom Ruegger animation unit at their best and at their most irritated at their network bosses... at least up to that point. With special guest Slipdance!

A dozen Mr. Meeseeks' held me (James) at gunpoint until I agreed to do this episode. As if breaking out of an asylum with a dozen loaded weapons, Rick and Morty may not have revolutionized adult-aimed animation, but it sure did revitalize it with its freewheeling style and sheer outlandishness. We look at two of the most famous episodes, Total Rickall and Pickle Rick, and hopefully come to the right conclusions about this series. No audio dub required, wubba lubba or otherwise.

With his murderous glare under an unwieldly mop of red hair, Sideshow Bob may never have successfully killed Bart Simpson, but he wound up being the perfect vehicle to illustrate how the series grew within the first five years of its existence on television. After all, the series is now nearly forty years old, and condensing its history into just one podcast episode would drive the guy writing this (James) insane. So enjoy this first episode of what will eventually be a few were the first family of animation get their due... or is it their D'OH!?

Returning from the murky waters of primordial network television, it's Time (again) for Beany! Bob Clampett's puppet characters Beany Boy, Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent and their cast returned to ABC in 1962 with a Mattel sponsorship and one of the most pun laden shows this side of one of Jay Ward's fever dreams. Hop aboard the Leakin' Lena with us as they lampoon everything they can get their hands on!

Humbly beginning as a yukking yokel in an audience, this lanky fellow carved out a tremendous legacy of wild slapstick and expertly timed comedy for a company mostly known for things far more cute and charming. Goofy's short subject cartoons are some of the best work the studio turned out in their heyday, and Pemmy and James take a look at four standouts among the bunch: Mickey's Service Station, The Art of Skiing, Double Dribble and Father's Day Off. It ain't nothing to hyuck with!

Get equipped with Podcast Download! Mega Man ditched the green makeover from Captain N and grew up about half a decade in 1994 when Ruby Spears brought the super fighting robot to syndication. The result was a more faithful take on the Blue Bomber but not without quirks. Many, many, MANY quirks, and not all of them good ones. So dust off those old cartridges and come join us!

Call her, beep her, or if you're Disney rely on her to help get over the slump their animation division were in during the early 2000s! Kim Possible made massive waves for the company and helped establish the Disney Channel as a third viable source for first run animation opposite Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. This globetrotting cheerleader garnered four seasons and two made for TV movies, all without ever getting her learners permit! Linwood Knight returns to help us with the sitch on Team Possible in this episode.

It's the classic boy meets girl story, except complicated by arranged engagements, martial arts mayhem, and a gender bending curse that makes the boy get into romantic trouble from every possible angle. Ranma 1/2 is Rumiko Takahashi's smash hit manga, adapted into anime in 1989 and after a false start in a crummy timeslot it became a massive hit at home in Japan and would help herald bigger things to come for Japanese animation here in the US. Come and listen, we owe Nabiki money if we don't get a certain number of downloads!

Like a bolt from the blue after years of oh so serious Batmen, the Brave and the Bold revived the wilder, sillier elements of the caped crusader and the surrounding DC Comics history. Drawing from material ranging from the golden age up to the most recent iterations of characters like Blue Beetle and the Atom, this is what your hosts would consider "Exhibit A" when making the case that campy does not equal bad. So come join us as we revisit the hammers of justice!

With the next Mario movie a little under a week from release, our hosts return to DiC's divisive take on the franchise with the first of two Saturday morning installments they made. The Adventures of Super Mario Bros 3 took the brothers to a more accurate to the games Mushroom Kingdom, but did it without half the cast of the Super Show and with a massive time crunch for production. It's a wild ride, and we hope you all enjoy our look back at it!

Sorry, Mario, but your podcast is in another castle. Or, rather, will have to come out next week due to life interfering with all three hosts at once last week! But we were prepared for just such an emergency by having recorded in advance a sure-fire hit replacement, featuring one of the most durable and enduring comedic duos in animation history, Tweety & Sylvester. Join us as we enjoy all the putty tat twoubles we can stand, including two Academy Award winning shorts in Tweety Pie and Birds Anonymous.

After the vintage feel of What's New and the downright wild Get A Clue, the Scooby Gang dive into arguably the darkest material they've tackled to date. Mystery Incorporated is the high watermark for the franchise in terms of serialized storytelling and genuine stakes, all with a loving eye to what made the whole thing click in the first place and for Hanna-Barbera in general. Fan artist Office Anomaly hops into the Mystery Machine with us for a dive into a pair of episodes and a discussion of the show's legacy.

Deep within the halls of power of Little Tokyo, a malicious fox- wait, rat, he's a rat in the English version. That's the biggest liberty taken with the original Kyattō Ninden Teyandē when Saban got the rights from Tatsunoko to localize it and wound up without much in the way of scripts, translated or otherwise. The end result is the gag dub to end all gag dubs, somehow even wackier than the already very silly original show. So pack a heck of a lunch to enjoy this episode with!

Alongside flying, what kid doesn't dream of being able to talk to their pets and other animals and they'd talk back? The wish fulfilment premise of The Wild Thornberrys became a launching point for a fun adventure/comedy series and a better than average educational vehicle, too. Having Tim Curry ham it up as an eccentric nature show host certainly helps, too! We finally return to the world of Nicktoons with this episode, and pay a small tribute to a much-loved YouTube personality in the process.

What started as an attempt to do a Peppa Pig style show for Australia turned into a global sensation that attracted audiences far beyond the preschool age group it was intended for. Bluey and her family and friends learn as they go and grow, with warm humor and storytelling based on real experiences. Cary Woodham returns to the podcast to take us on a trip to get to know the Healers if not for real life then for some approximation of it.

Hey folks, here's the story 'bout Betty the Booper, she was a real sweet boop-a-doop-a-dooper. From being an unnamed poodle singer in a supper club to starring in the Fleischer's first color cartoon, animation's fabulous flapper dazzled audiences with her charm and the adorable voices of Mae Questel, Margie Hines and others. As her earliest version entered the public domain a short while ago, we take a look at a quartet of her short subjects.