August 29, 2026

Saturday Night Showcase> Peter Cullen & Tim Curry voice fest

This is a week of bad timing, for cartoon fans and me personally.

I’m going to spare you the major details, but a declutter project that I could have worked around was joined with a bunch of surprise distractions that ate up most of my week. I’ll save it for the update, but I don’t know if I’m going to have a comic review this week as I write this, and I can’t even go over the project until next week because I’m too mad. Sort version: I hate this week.

The fact that it took three big celebrities one day after another didn’t help, either. Dolly Parton, then Tim Curry, and then Peter Cullen. Parton and Curry were known to be dealing with different medical issues, while if anything was announced for Cullen’s cause of death I’ve been too buried in home videos to find out. I want to do a good tribute to some of my favorite Tim Curry and Peter Cullen roles, since Dolly Parton wasn’t known for voice acting, but I’m swamped. I seriously hate this week!

Fortunately, Orbital Bacon can least give me something to post, though I wouldn’t have made all the same choices. No Saturday Supercade and no Vitor: Starfire Champion, but this is the best I can do. Did I mention I hate this week? In addition to Saturday morning podcasts, he does a weekly livestream on Saturday mornings, recapturing the Saturday morning experience…even though many of his choices come from syndication. This week he did his own tribute to Cullen and Curry, including some of the obvious choices. I’ll put a list of timestamps to all the shows he covered so you can pick and choose, or sit back and watch all the old shows and commercials from a programming schedule long past. Enjoy…before some copywrite bot forces it down.

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Posted by on August 29, 2026 in Animation Spotlight, Saturday Night Showcase, Television Spotlight and tagged , , , , , , , , , .

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August 29, 2026

BW’s Saturday Article Link> Spencer Pratt Vs Hollywood “Villains”

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20 ESV)

Hollywood, and those who share the mindset in other storytelling forms, seems to have done exactly that, and former actor and failed LA mayor candidate Spencer Pratt would know. He was the villain once, but in the era of deconstructing heroes and making villains “well rounded” and sympathetic while hurting and killing the masses may be working their way into the real world. Or so he claims, as reported by That Park Place. Seeing as even definitive kids show evil like Megatron and Skeletor have joined the Wicked Witch Of The West, Maleficent, and Cruella DeVille (her name is almost LITERALLY “cruel and evil”!!!!) in being shown to be the good guy the whole time, it’s hard to disagree with him even before he calls out real world murderers being given the same treatment by the general public.

The goal of the villain is to show the path you shouldn’t take, to be catharsis against the evils of the world, and represent the obstacles we face in life either metaphorically, spiritually, or in actuality. (Though I doubt many of us are going to face an evil magic user or space robot. A woman who wants to kill puppies, we shouldn’t rule out.) That’s hard to find now in the name of being more “mature” and the negative effects are hard to ignore in world both fictional and real.

Posted by on August 29, 2026 in Uncategorized and tagged , , , .

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August 28, 2026

Why DuckTales Has A Great Reboot

How can two shows with the same name and cast be so different, yet so very alike?

In a time where reboots are more like reimaginings as new creators slap old names on their new ideas and tell the ignorant studios  execs it’s totally the same thing and fans will love it, DuckTales is one of those examples of how you do a reboot right? Is it the same as the original? Not really, but it is where it counts and fans of the original can see not only respect for the show but what it created. Let’s pop back in time a moment.

The original DuckTales was a syndicated cartoon series, inspired by the comic stories of Carl Barks, it reframed them in the more wholesome Disney style, since 1987 still believed in traditional Disney. The show did so well that it inspired more cartoons, forming the programming block known as The Disney Afternoon. I was in high school and you didn’t have to be a cartoon fan like me to enjoy the show. That was the power of Disney in those days, something Walt would be proud to have his name on.

In 2017 a new version of the show would premiere on Disney’s television channels. The Disney Channel existed in 1987, but they opted for first-run syndication, all but dead generally and very dead when it comes to kids television specifically. That is unless you count a few educational shows that only cater to a small group. No wonder kids moved to streaming for their entertainment. It’s the only place they can find it now. Disney XD, at that point the home of Disney produced and licensed action shows, would introduce a new version of DuckTales, leaning closer to Barks’ style and with a bit more of a edge to it. Even fans of the old show love the new show. I’m one of them.

So how did New DuckTales manage to form it’s own destiny without going full Battlestar Galactica and change everything? It’s a little thing called respect for the inspirations. Plural. It’s not the original, but it doesn’t hate the original, either.

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Posted by on August 28, 2026 in Animation Spotlight, Television Spotlight and tagged , , , , .

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August 28, 2026

BW’s Daily Video> Why G1 Optimus Prime Has Never Been Surpassed

The sad thing is this came out three days before Peter Cullen passed away. The host had just done a memorial to Tim Curry the day before having to do a later memorial to Cullen. That’s not what this is, but I was planning to use it as a Daily Video at some point. This feels the most appropriate time for it. If you missed it, I did my own tribute yesterday.

Catch more from TJ Omega on YouTube

Cullen basing his performance on his brother may have played into that. Also, G1 toon Optimus was a former cargo worker driven by circumstances to become the first Autobot warrior robot. Unlike the later data clerks or “police” officers, Orion Pax was used to being part of the crew and having that comradery with his team (especially his girlfriend). So he’s more personable, but the war and the Matrix Of Leadership combined to give him wisdom and sense of purpose.

Because I’m me: Centurions wasn’t a toy commercial necessarily. It was a show idea first (unless somebody knows something I don’t, but it’s up on Tubi and coming to MeTV Toons if your curious) that used the toys to fund the show, like ThunderCats or Bravestarr rather than Transformers or He-Man & The Masters Of The Universe. They were veteran fighters in their various fields. The Centurions toys actually weren’t as cool as they were on the show and I never owned one.

Posted by on August 28, 2026 in Animation Spotlight, Television Spotlight and tagged , , , , , , .

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August 27, 2026

Peter Cullen And The Legacy Beyond Optimus Prime

July 28, 1941 – August 26-2026

I stopped doing celebrity deaths a long time ago. When the updates with Jake & Leon were article links I would acknowledge celebrity passings there. I did in short article posts as well. At some point there were too many passings of those who brought cultural icons to life that I just stopped doing it except for special occasions. This month alone the Grim Reaper came for Hayden Panettiere and Daveigh Chase (the voice actress for Lilo in the Lilo & Stitch franchise) died way too young. This week has been one hit after another. Dolly Parton one day and Tim Curry the next. I was familiar with Parton’s music but I wasn’t a huge Parton fan. I did like to see her perform and that was it. Tim Curry wasn’t really part of my childhood because I didn’t really start seeing him until the 1990s, as his big breakout movie still isn’t to my tastes and his VO work didn’t kick off until I was out of school.

Then today, the Reaper found a target that hits close to home: Optimus Prime.

Yeah, we’re all going to remember that role the most, but Peter Cullen, who voiced a lot more than the Autobot leader even in the 1980s, will always be known for Optimus Prime, a connection to the character that matches Kevin Conroy’s Batman. The voice came from his brother Larry, but we always tied it to John Wayne. That was how Neil Kaplan was instructed to voice his Optimus Prime. Just recently there was a discussion about letting Cullen move on from the role despite his many returns in other continuities. As a Transformer fan from childhood this hits hard, but I prefer to celebrate a legacy than mourn a loss.

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Posted by on August 27, 2026 in Animation Spotlight, Movie Spotlight, Television Spotlight and tagged , , , , , .

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August 27, 2026

BW’s Daily Video> Why Tremors Is Writing Perfection

Catch more from The Critical Drinker on YouTube

 

Posted by on August 27, 2026 in Movie Spotlight and tagged , , , , .

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August 26, 2026

The First 10 Minutes Of Batman: Knightfall (Part 1)

Batman and Superman are discussing events when they're approached by Metron in his flying chair.

“Knightfall” and the follow-up “Knightquest” is still one of the most popular stories in Batman’s history, despite not being canon in the comics anymore due to DC’s reboot obsession. Or maybe it is, because they try to keep things, not really doing a full reboot. It’s kind of a mess really and you never know what’s still canon from one creator to the next. Odds that this more recent encyclopedia is half retconned away in five years? Pretty high.

While DC Studios is still playing games with what Batman movie is coming out when, a new trilogy has been created based on the Knightfall event. Thankfully not all of the animated productions are canon to the Gunnverse like Creature Commandos, and this isn’t set in the Amazon Caped Crusader continuity, either. It’s going back and adapting the comics like how anime will adapt manga. Is it any good?

Well, to promote the currently available digitally, with a home video release coming soon and presumably will be on HBO Max eventually, Warner Brothers Animation dropped the first 10 minutes of Batman: Knightfall Part 1, the first in a trilogy to properly cover the event and do it as much justice as possible. Or at least it’s up for now, so watch it while it’s still available to promote the movie. I made the mistake of putting this one on when I had supper the other night, so I wouldn’t do that or let the kids watch this one. With that warning in mind, does the preview make it look any good?

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Posted by on August 26, 2026 in Animation Spotlight, Comic Spotlight, DC Spotlight, Movie Spotlight, Streaming Spotlight and tagged , , , , , , , .

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