December 6, 2005

Animation on television, child-safe and otherwise.

November saw the debut of two surprisingly strong cartoons, one aimed solidly at the adult audience, and one an all-ages show that deserves to become a hit.

I'm not sure that any late-night cartoon had as much hype and fanfare as The Boondocks, based on Aaron McGruder's newspaper strip of the same name. The latest show on Adult Swim is the first one I've seen hyped with ads on the sides of buses and in national magazines, and it's also the first show on Adult Swim with an overtly political slant. The premise is largely the same as in the comic strip: Huey, a cynical, politically astute kid who is better read than most of the adults around him, and Riley, who tends to be care less about politics and more about black pop culture, move out to the (mostly white) suburbs to live with their crotchety grandfather.

Unlike other comic strip shows that haven't had enough material for a half hour of TV (remember Baby Blues?), The Boondocks manages to flesh out plot gags (the trial of R. Kelly, a fight between Grandpa and a blind man) into impressively layered shows hitting political and pop-cultural references all over the map. Huey compares the blind old man to Zatoichi, The Blind Swordsman of so many Japanese films in one episode, and in another, goes on a rant about how The Passion of the Christ was historically inaccurate, since they didn't have a black man playing Christ (the latter doesn't cause the riot Huey's expecting, largely because no one takes anything a ten-year-old says seriously). Plotlines are most definitely mature (sex and violence abound), and unlike other Adult Swim shows, McGruder's show avoids the surreal, keeping the story embedded in the present day.

It certainly makes the dialogue flow more smoothly, but if you're the type to be offended by the use of the word (regardless of context), you should probably avoid the show.

Folks will either love or hate the fact that the show does not shy away from using what most newspapers are choosing to call "the N word" throughout, with as many as twenty repetitions in some episodes. It certainly makes the dialogue flow more smoothly, but if you're the type to be offended by the use of the word (regardless of context), you should probably avoid the show. Otherwise, the only really notable flaw is the decision to cast Regina King as both Huey and Riley. Although there's certainly a long tradition of casting female actors to voice little boys (Bart Simpson, Tommy Pickles, Jimmy Neutron, etc), the problem here is that Regina King simply doesn't do a good job of sounding like a little boy. As noted in this column previously, choosing to cast minor celebrities instead of the many top-notch voice talents out there is a mistake. If you can get past the voicework (it takes an episode or two) and the language, though, The Boondocks provides a bitingly funny show.

Just like my childhood, except for the telekinesis and SPACE PIRATES!

For those in search of more family-friendly original fare, you can find it, in all places, on Nicktoons. The network, normally known for showing a steady diet of sloppy seconds from Nickelodeon (Spongebob Squarepants and Rugrats still dominate the lineup), has hit it big with Skyland, an original series imported from Canada. Set in a future in which the earth has exploded into thousands of small asteroids floating in orbit around the planet's core (hence the name of the series), the one-hour movie debut for the series (which will start airing regularly in January) introduces us to Mahad and Lena, two children whose mother, Mila, is a powerful telekinetic (or "Seijin," as the series chooses to call those who have the gift) who ran from the oppressive government. The series opens with Mila being captured, but not before sending her children to safety amongst a group of space pirates. Over the course of the episode, we learn that Lena is possibly an even more powerful Seijin than her mother, and that Mahad is an incredibly talented boomerang fighter and pilot.

The show doesn't necessarily win points for originality — aside from the "kid with a boomerang" shtick from Road Warrior, we've got the Seijin powers, which, in other universes, work almost exactly like this thing known as The Force. Add in the usual post-apocalyptic oppressive society, not to mention a prophecy and a greedy villain who resembles Aeon Flux's Trevor Goodchild, and on paper, it doesn't necessarily sound like a show that should work. But the show transcends the cliches, in large part due to the absolutely stunning artwork. This vision of the future is the closest any TV show has come to feeling like a Miyazaki film, with gorgeous floating islands, gritty shipyards, and amazingly rich character design. The Seijin power effects, as well as the various robots, space battles, and other action sequences, are just gorgeous. And, unlike so many kid-oriented cartoons, this one's not afraid to present a dark view of the world, with characters getting captured and imprisoned, and threats never easily resolved. Good science-fiction cartoons are truly rare, and this may well be the first such toon in a while. When the regular series starts in January, Skyland will be well worth Tivoing.

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