TVSquad

Children's television is the ultimate pacifier. Where else in the world can a terrible, horrific monster that destroys both life and property with nary a whiff of sympathy be turned into a soft, cuddly character who has his own line of soft, cuddly dolls being sold at the local Wal-Mart? It's only later in life, after they've adjusted to these de-fanged monsters, do they realize that their beliefs were so wrong. Aaaannnddd, that's where the therapy comes in.

But, we're not here to talk about the emotional problems that are paralyzing you today. We're here to talk about those vampires, ghosts and mummies that were stripped down and made to be funny, clumsy and even musically oriented. After the jump you'll see a few examples of what I mean. Don't worry, they won't scare you...they've been homogenized for your nightmare-free pleasure.

Here's some animation news from the past week or so:

First, don't forget that Frisky Dingo's second season kicks off on August 26 on Adult Swim at midnight. That's next Sunday.

In a younger vein, kids can look forward to brand new episodes of Danny Phantom starting tomorrow, August 20. New episodes will premiere throughout the week at 4:00 p.m. each day, ending with the hour-long TV movie Phantom Planet at 8:00 p.m. on Friday.

My friend Wild Bill sent me news that Jonny Quest, the Hanna-Barbera series about the titular lad who accompanies his scientist father on wild adventures, is being made into a live-action movie. The series, much like The Flintstones, The Jetsons and Top Cat, aired during primetime when it first aired in the '60s. New versions of Jonny Quest also popped up in the '80s and '90s.

Like the upcoming Speed Racer flick from the Wachowski brothers, reports so far say the movie will be "family friendly." The movie will serve as an origin story explaining how Jonny's bodyguard Roger "Race" Bannon and Dr. Benton Quest's adopted son Hadji join the family.

Choke on hot blue nostalgia, Generation X.

The Smurfs, that popular animated program I and many of my friends watched religiously as children of the '80s, is finally coming out on DVD. The Smurfs: Season One, Volume One is a two-disc set including the first nineteen episodes of the first season, along with "The Smurfs Springtime Special" and "Smurfs: The Music Video." The set comes out December 4.

Here's some cool animation stuff I found over the past week or so:

Cartoon Brew has a lot of cool stuff, so I'll start there first. First of all, Jerry Beck has a new book, The Hanna Barbera Treasury. The book will focus mostly on the Hanna Barbera series created in the '50s and '60s. It comes out in October.

Also via the Brew comes this documentary about the life and work of animator Tex Avery, the man who was arguably the one most responsible for putting the "looney" in "Looney Tunes," and later brought that same magic to MGM. The doc is from 1988 and is split into several parts.

Here's a couple bits of animation news:

Early this year I told you 12 Oz Mouse would be returning with new Web-only episodes. Well the first one is online over on Adult Swim, so check it out.

I was indifferent to 12 Oz Mouse at first, but after finally watching the episodes in order and becoming immersed in its odd little world, it quickly became one of my favorite Adult Swim series. It's nice to see it back in any form.

If the surreal post-modern weirdness of 12 Oz Mouse isn't your thing, you can always check out some new Hanna Barbera cartoons that were recently added to iTunes. The new store includes episodes of Scooby-Doo, The Jetsons, Huckleberry Hound, The Flintstones and Yogi Bear.

Despite what Best Week Ever says, Grindhouse co-director Robert Rodriguez is not directing a live-action version of the popular Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Jetsons. He was, however, shown the script and says he might be interested in it. This is just one of many projects being offered to him, so it remains to be seen if we'll be seeing a Rodriguez-directed film with the likes of George, Jane, Judy, Elroy, Astro, Rosie, Mr. Spacely, Mr. Cogswell and Orbity, the Scrappy-Doo of the Jetson's universe (and I liked both characters, I'm just saying they were polarizing).

After losing co-founder Joseph Barbera and animator Ed Benedict, Hanna Barbera is again saying good-bye to yet another legend. Iwao Takamoto, who designed Scooby-Doo, Shaggy and the rest of the Mysteries Inc. gang, passed away yesterday at the age of 81.

While Ed Benedict is credited with designing the original Flintstones characters, Takamoto designed the Great Gazoo. He also created Muttley, the wheezing dog featured on such shows as Laff-A-Lympics, Dastardly & Muttley in Their Flying Machines and Wacky Races; and Astro, the Jetson's dog who, oddly enough, sounded not unlike Scooby-Doo (both were voiced by Don Messick). His other credits at Hanna Barbera include Josie and the Pussycats, Jabberjaw and many, many others.