Televisual ruminations

[threemonkeys]

I was watching some Family Guy episodes on DVD last night. They did a little Peanuts homage. On the commentary, the writers ragged on Snoopy Come Home. They said that it was one of the most depressing pieces of TV animation ever. Well my childhood memories of this show were a bit different. So I watched Snoopy Come Home this morning. It really is pretty depressing and does not have much merit otherwise. Neither does A Charlie Brown Christmas. Childhood memories are not what they used to be.

I have always liked the Peanuts strip. It is still one of my daily reads - the peanuts.com site does a daily "classic" strip. But watching these animations again after so many years emphasised to me why so many cartoons strips and comics don't always animate so well and why they have an even harder time translating to live action. The internal dialogue of the printed comic is missing. On screen it is all about external dialogue - you can't hear what the characters are thinking. In Peanuts, the best bits are Snoopy's thoughts. Without them the animations are lifeless. It is different with Family Guy - it was written for Television and does not have to accommodate a paper based legacy.

This is not a universal rule. You see, I finally was able to see the live action version of The Tick earlier in the week. I love Ben Edlund's comic and thought the animated version was good but not great. However the live action version is superb. It captures the spirit of the comic and yet isn't really the same. It is a show written for television that takes genuine inspiration from the comic rather than paying lip service to a few aspects of it. The Tick live action show was cancelled pretty quickly. I wish I could remember who said "Television is called a medium because it is neither rare nor well done". Well I still have some more Family Guy to watch.

Comments

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

Nice memory.