Chapter 384: Saturday Morning Cartoons
Ah yes... animation.
A sneaky entertainment medium that has been in the dark for too long.
Too long, in fact, that people were starting to doubt whether it was going to happen at all.
There was the Comic-Con 1985 spectacle, music and music video requesting, a bunch of trailing advertisements, and then another Comic-Con cycle with Comic-Con 1986.
Seriously. Isn't all this teasing a bit much?
Even Alexander was somewhat vexed and that may be because the whole process was really, really long-winded.
For most of his other endeavors, the progress is as snappy as a snap...
Yet there was animation... playing hard to get.
Playing hard to get into broadcasting networks to the point that it could only opt for syndications.
To no fault of its own, lobbying was just that difficult.
Pilots of shows get rejected at an alarming rate and when one has got no priors, it's really hard for decision-makers in major networks to have confidence in you.
Especially when said shows are somewhat straight-out derivations of an existing creation and your dumping an entire season of it.
Maybe it's two seasons entirely, considering that it's two animation projects that are being lobbied.
Of course, even though Alexander considers the projects as animation, for all intents and purposes, it just can't escape being lumped with something else.
As a bit of a recall...
It was the 13th of September. For 1986, that's a Saturday.
And still quite early in the morning.
Consequently, Greg was talking about not watching cartoons, was he not?
Putting all those together, something should come up...
Saturday. Morning. Cartoon.
Saturday Morning Cartoon.
A colloquial term for the original animated series programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States, famously by the "Big Three" television networks.
So yeah... shouldn't it also be called Sunday Morning Cartoon?
Either way, it adds up, doesn't it?
Anyhows, what even is this Saturday Morning Cartoon?
Any house for that matter... actually has their own interpretation and tradition on it...
They might have been cheap...
They might have been corny...
And they might have been designed to just sell merchandise...
But that does not take away how much they meant to the people who grew up with them.
For many people across the world, they will never forget the joy that Saturday Morning Cartoons brought to them, and how important it was to their childhood.
A simple time when all you needed was a bowl of cereal and your favorite cartoon.
In a very real sense, Saturday became an unofficial holiday, an event manufactured by advertisers and programmers to take advantage of a captive audience home from school with little to do... except, perhaps, park themselves in front of a television set.
Thanks to the advertising and marketing blitz that accompanies the cartoon takeover of Saturday morning, the characters and memories border on the legendary with those who grew up watching them.
How could Alexander and the whole of Creed Entertainment miss out on that?
As a matter of fact, Alexander's focus was always on that.
Suffice to say, several generations of children have planned their weekends around the ritual of pouring huge bowls of sugar-saturated cereal and gathering about the television for the week's dose of animation.
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On that note, there's still quite some time, and with cereals being a big part of it...
Alexander conscientiously prepared bowls, milk, and the needed mix...
As he himself had Saturday Morning Cartoons in the fray... taking part in nuances like this shouldn't be too bad.
Then again, this was Alexander... even preparing something as mundane as pouring milk into grains kind of turns into something else.
Even at the crux of it... and whilst trying to chow down on some cereal... with two girls by his side...
Alexander's whole focus was on the cereal box as he thought... aren't these boxes technically Saturday morning cartons?
With a whole lot of Saturday mornings to come, which among the long list of cereal-making companies should he choose to partner with?
Kellog's Fruit Loops?
Fiber, non-fiber, hi-fiber?
Or should they just enter the cereal market themselves? Probably not.
Also, was he just addicted to starting companies from nowhere or what?
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Fortunately, before he could start another... an existing one finally showcased itself.
And showcased itself with a...
[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!]
[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!]
[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
[Heroes in a Half-Shell!]
[Turtle Power!]
After that catchy rap-like rhythm and rhyme, the Ninja Turtles showcased what they're about.
After that earworm of a TMNT opening song played...
The whole first episode showed...
Set in New York City... this series will follow the adventures of four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and their allies... as they battle the numerous and stupendous criminals and villains they can't help but come across...
Of course, the whole scenario is essentially just a throwback to "The Turtles' Origin is Untold".
Now the story had flipped out of static pages of a comic book and with motion, rhythm, sound...
With extra pow... extra wow... and a whole lot of effort, time, and money from the fledgling studio that made it...
Granted, there was now a few bits of ad breaks here and there...
Even by the time that the episode ended and the TMNT closing song played...
One can't help but ask want for more.
There is more, is there?
Clearly, it wasn't just the earworming chorus that left a lingering effect... it was actually the whole episode in its entirety!
These Turtles just have that kind of influence.
Oh.. it must be turtle power. Turtle power, indeed.
And with that... Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... the animated show has officially begun!
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Of course, this whole Saturday Morning Cartoon bit was far from over.
After all, after Turtle Power... a mystical adventure was also set to start.
And start it did.
One can't help but ask...
What is this "mystical adventure"?
Of course, it's simply to...
[Find the Dragon Balls!]
[Look out for them all!]
[You can search around the world with me.]
[Gotta heed the call of magic Dragon Balls!]
[What a great adventure this will be.]
Oh, what a great and mystical adventure this truly will be...
If the first comic issue or Dragonball No. 1: Son Goku is any indication... then it truly, truly, will be...
After all, even with the constrictions of being a still-drawn comic, the monkey-tailed boy had already wowed quite a lot...
With his actions, mannerisms, and voice finally coming together in mesmerizing art and animation... this monkey-tailed boy is set to wow the world!
And so... with bits of Goku living his martial artsy life, chopping wood, catching fish, the annoyance of ad breaks, and the sneaky introduction of the cocky Bulma...
Dragonball... the animation show has now truly and officially begun!
And just like how it was with the Turtles... one can't help but want for more!
Even as the closing song sounded and as the little songstress Milla's 'I'll Give You Romance' rounded out...
A lot of people already can't help but be melancholic at what's to come...
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Even Milla herself...
Of course, her melancholy was on other things, as she looked to a certain someone and said. "Alex... I'll give you... romance..."
With her pretty face in a cute pout, she looked really serious with that vow...
Of course, Alexander just sighed and gave the cutely pouting girl a much-needed poke.
A poke to her cereal-munching cheek.
This pout of hers is a product of unfinished cereals in her mouth, after all.
Alexander just sighed again as he said. "You better eat first before thinking about stuff like that."
Drew wanted to mock, but of course, she had the same plight of having a mouthful of cereal.
Even with the ad breaks... these two girls clearly didn't balance the Saturday morning cartoon-and-cereal experience that well.
Or maybe the whole two shows were just that good. Even in-between advertisements were quite engrossing?
At the very least, Alexander could consider that as a job well done.
Even though those were just the first episodes... they sure were quite the debut for such up-and-coming and long-awaited Saturday Morning Cartoons!