There are tons of untooned images out there, so I used the following criteria for selection:

1. They must be high quality, high-res images.
2. The depiction must match or come close to the true proportions of the cartoon character.
3. It must be photo-realistic. Nothing too cartoony.
4. With one or two noteworthy exceptions, no video game characters or anime. Cartoons only.

With no further ado…

Agent P (Phineas & Ferb)

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Alfred E. Newman (Mad Magazine)

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Barney Rubble

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Bart Simpson

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Beavis

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Brain (Pinky & the Brain)

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Bugs Bunny

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Butthead

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Charlie Brown

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Fred Flinstone

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Hans Moleman (The Simpsons)

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Homer Simpson

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Jessica Rabbit

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Link

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Mario

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Mr. Burns

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Moe Szyslak (The Simpsons)

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Mr. Natural (by Robert Crumb)

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Naruto

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Patrick Star (Spongebob Squarepants)

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Peter Griffin

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Pikachu

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Popeye (old)

Sideshow Bob (The Simpsons)

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Snoopy & Woodstock

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Spongebob Squarepants

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Squidward Tentacles

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Stan Smith (American Dad)

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Stewie Griffin

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Timmy Turner (Fairly Oddparents)

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Wimpy (Popeye)

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Wolverine

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Zoidbergg & Bender

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To be honest, this is the first time that I have heard of M.A.S.K. but the cartoon seems to be gaining some attention decades later, thanks to LEGO. I stumbled upon a blog featuring LEGO models of M.A.S.K. characters and sets, and even without knowing much about the cartoon, my interest was piqued.

Having read up a little bit more on M.A.S.K., I think it is a pretty safe bet to assume that there are at least a handful of FG readers who were glued to their TV sets back in the 80s, watching the series. If you’re one of them and you’re a LEGO fan as well, here are some images to take you back in time.

Boulder Hill

M.A.S.K. Rhino

Matt Trakker vs. Myles Mayhem

If those names ring a bell, then you ought to head on over to Orion Pax’s Flickr to see more. Then again, you don’t really need to know anything about the cartoon to know that those LEGO models are pretty cool, do you? You can look at it this way – a chance to further your cartoon education. Here’s the intro to the cartoon to give you a better idea of what it is like.

To be honest, I was not that big of a Voltron fan. For one thing, our parents didn’t believe in the crap that was shown on TV. Whatever TV I got was from my cousins, who watched Voltes V instead of Voltron. (Now Voltes V is a whole different story. Does anyone here even know about that cartoon?) Still, Voltron was always the topic in the school playground, and I couldn’t help but absorb some of my classmate’s fascination with the Lions.

If you take a look at these Lions, then I am sure you’ll get an inkling of just how cool the cartoon is – will be, for Voltron Force.

There’s really not much to be said about what they have leaked about the new Voltron, but from what I see, things are looking pretty good. The first Lion is my favorite – maybe also because of its stance, which you can’t deny is majestic. For more Voltron Force updates, visit their Facebook Page.

Voltron fans, what do you think about the redesigned Lions? Do you agree that they kick butt?

I saw the four posters at FilmoFilia, and boy, do they look awesome! The new Cars movie is all about Lightning McQueen and Mater going around the world to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix – perhaps not unlike the F1 today. ;)

The movie will take McQueen and Mater to the streets and tracks of Europe and Japan, hence the retro posters. Without further ado, I give you the posters.

This might very well be my poster of choice, if only because of that green, white, and red bar. ;)

I think McQueen looks a little too metrosexual in this poster, but then again, he always had that tendency, didn’t he?  (If cars can be metrosexual, that is.)

For good measure, here are a few images from the official web site of the movie.



If that doesn’t get you excited, then I don’t know what will. June 24?

How can you make pizza better? How about mashing it up with one of the most loved cartoons? The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles played a huge role in many a person’s childhood, and what can be better than a t-shirt combining the TMNT concept with the world’s best sustenance?

Artist Andy Hunt had this brilliant idea, and I must say that he hit the nail right on the head with his new t-shirt design. Dubbed Pizza or Death, the shirt is a mash up of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and pizza. With rather drab background colors and a splash of bright red, this design will certainly make you want to get your hands on a shirt.

Here’s a closer look at the design.

Oh, and you can get this design for other articles of clothing such as hoodies and onesies.

Who is the guy behind the design? Andy Hunt considers himself as an artist/designer, with a day job as web designer. Creating other works of art – such as this uber cool shirt – is merely a hobby (a very productive one, I must say). He is based in North Carolina and loves video games and movies as well. Check out his web site for more of his work.

Most of the converted cars are indeed cooler as a van, but the “DeLorean” and the “Batmobile” are definitely better in their original form. Notoriously missing is Fred Flinstone’s stone age car, that would be something as a van.

You can purchase each individual illustration as prints, iPhone skins(3G, 3Gs), iPad cases, laptop cases, etc. Cases with the more retro cars, like Herbie, combined with the cases blue color gives it a retro feel that goes nice with the hyper modern iPad or iPhone.

My favorite van is Speedracer’s Mach5, I used to watch Speedracer everyday and I like his car more then say Batman’s Batmobile. Which van illustration is your favorite one or which car would you like to see as a van?

Brooklyn based artist Kiersten Essenpreis and journalist/writer David K. Israel decided to select the most fun tweets and create illustrations of them. David is in charge of selecting the tweets while Kiersten illustrates them, together they present the most hilarious illustrations that make the original tweet even more funnier.

At Twaggies you can enjoy an average of 7 illustrations a month like these ones:

This is so true, I do it myself, I will notice it’s raining a bit outside and instead of getting up and taking a good look outside the windows I’ll check the weather website to make sure.

We all do this or when my streamline just won’t deliver something interesting I’ll start looking for other people to follow and see if they come up with something interesting.

The illustrations bring the point more home, the two listed above are really geek tweets and they make me wonder: 14 years ago I did not have internet, no broadband, Twitter, Facebook ,etc. What did I do when I was bored?

Twaggies has been added to my feeds and followed. Keep on tweeting your snarky or funny remarks who knows you might get twaggled.

Today I still check TV scheduling to see if Boomerang is showing cartoons from the 80′s, I love watching them again especially when feeling nostalgic or having nothing to do. I can’t appreciate modern cartoons nor the modernizations of older cartoons with newer technique and drawings so I never watch them.

Here follows an infographic with some facts and Saturday morning schedule of the last two decades of cartoons.

I know all those cartoons with the exception of Crusader Rabbit and Barbie. I used to watch all those over the course of my childhood plus more like Speed Racer, Candy Candy, ThunderCats, Heidi and of course the classics of Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies.

I read some weblogs of geeks who introduce their kids to all Star Wars movies so that they too can enjoy what their parents enjoyed. Most kids do end up liking it very much too. I think if I had kids I would get them DVD’s of really classic cartoons and movies that where done before computer animations like we have today became standard.

Not to say I have yet to watch that DVD of Casablanca I bought ages ago.

When the whole world and there three nephews were still discussing Disney’s acquisition of Marvel, we brought you Marvel Land in Dubai. That’s how we roll. And how we continue to roll.

Another thing to cool not to report is “Epic Misney” by John T. Campbell.

The ultimate Marvel-Disney cross-over.

Picture stolen without authorization, but THIS, this we consider NEWSWORTHY! And you should go ahead and buy your print from T Campbell!

When I think about the cartoons back then these are five cartoons characters I haven’t seen in years on TV. The drawings from before 1990 that is, not the newer ones.

We’ll start the list of with the most famous cartoon of all time.

Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny was created by Tex Avery in 1940 and was first seen in A Wild Hare

Most famous quote: “What’s up Doc?”

Droopy

Another beloved character by Tex Avery created in 1943. Nothing could phase Droopy.

Droopy quote: “Peek-a-boo”

Speedy Gonzales

This version was from a redesign by by Friz Freleng and animator Hawley Pratt for the 1955 Freleng short movie, “Speedy Gonzales”. Sylvester the cat also starred in it.

Speedy quote: “”¡Andale! ¡Andale! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba! ¡Yii-hah!”

Foghorn Leghorn

Created by Robert McKimson in 1946.

Foghorn quote: “Fortunately, I keep my feathers numbered for just such an emergency.”

Roadrunner

Created by Chuck Jones in 1948. Till today Wile E. Coyote hasn’t caught him, ACME did get richer thanks to their faithful client

Roadrunner quote: “Beep Beep!”

Top Cat

Top Cat was produced by Hanna-Barbera and ran from September 27, 1961 till April 18, 1962 on ABC. This cartoon was not as popular as the above ones but it was one I saw regularly when I was a kid. I never saw this cartoon again on TV.

Top Cat quote: “Remember, I’ve been using my brain for years. Officer Dibble’s is still practically brand new. ”

There are a lot more cartoons I remember from other franchises like; Heidi, Candy Candy and Speed Racer which where more cartoon series with had a story line to them. No wonder their intro theme are still stuck in my head till today…in Spanish.

You can find more iterations at Too Much Free Time.

The idea of doing fan art parodying some of my favorite characters and stars in such a fun and simple style got me hooked immediately. Some of these guys and gals have appeared on the Simpsons and I could just work from that, but most I had to do from scratch.

The results often are amazing and last week’s Ghostbusters week was very cool.

Image credits: All images © Springfield Punx.

Speaking about Transformers, check these cufflinks out from an Etsy shop: Silver Plated Transformer AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICON Cufflinks with Gift Box.

Whether you have a soft heart and like Optimus Prime and his band of Autobots or you lean towards the darker side and prefer Megatron, this cufflinks set will certainly bring out the movie/cartoon geek in you. One cufflink has the engraved image of the Autobots while the other is of the Decepticons. They are both silver plated and are placed inside a black PVV cufflink box (nothing like PVC to keep the Transformers safe, huh?).

Dimensions are as follows:

Measurements (cufflinks): 0.80 inches (Height) x 0.75 inches (Width), which is equivalent to 2cm x 2cm.

Cufflink box measures: 1.0 inch x 1.60 inches x 3.25 inches (2.5cm x 4cm x 8.1cm)

Finkstudio, the seller of the cufflinks also offers other Transformers cufflinks and features other super heroes as well. For you yuppies who actually use cufflinks and can’t let go of your cartoon fixation, you might want to browse this Etsy store for some great finds. Oh, this particular set of cufflinks go for $20, by the way.

Then there were the rest…some featured celebrities, some were thinly veiled knock offs of other successful shows…others were just plain crap. After careful consideration, and knowing full well that there this list could spark a debate that could burn as eternally as the Springfield tire fire, I present to you…the 10 Worst 80s Action Cartoons.

10. Dinosaucers

Anthropomorphic Dinosaurs that can “Dinovolve” into regular looking Dinosaurs?!? What’s not to love! It’s like Transformers…but 100% Dino-tastic!!! Dinosaucers last only 1 season in the 80s, but those 65 episodes would be broadcast well into the mid-90s on networks desperate for cheap content. The show as so unsuccessful that the toyline based on it was cancelled before it even hit the shelves.

9. Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs

Attempting to capitalize on the success of shows like Galaxy Rangers and Bravestarr, WEP, the company behind Voltron, decided to grab a moderately successful anime series called Star Musketeer Bismarck, and rework it as Saber Rider.

They did manage a catchy theme song that I will occasionally still burst out into song over, and you have to love their giant robot RAMROD, but overall…it was lame as lame can be.

8. Voltron Vehicle Force

Speaking of WEP and their sucktastic line-up, the Vehicle Voltron Force will forever earn a spot on lists like this if for no other reason than because the entire voice cast was the same as the Voltron Lion Force, and no one even bothered to TRY and sound different. Kids would sit down to something that sounded EXACTLY like the Voltron they knew…even the music was the same…but everyone looked different. It was confusing as all hell.

The robot did look pretty bad ass, though…but that alone is not enough to keep it off our list.

7. Dino-Riders

The second, and last, “Dinosaurs meet Technology” cartoon on our list are the Dino-Riders. 14 episodes of this show were produced, solely for the purpose of launching the Tyco toyline of the same name.

While the toy line met with limited success, and high enough praise that the Smithsonian released the Dinosaur figures (minus futuristic weapons) themselves as a toy line, the cartoon show blew.

6. Bionic Six

“They are a family…and they make me wanna puke…” those aren’t EXACTLY the words from the cartoon theme song…but damn they should be. I always liked the toys in this line because of their transparent bionic parts, but this show, which admittedly looks like it had high production values was just god awful…

5. Rambo – The Force of Freedom

Why, dear lord why, would you take an exceptionally violent film series (Rambo III is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most violent film EVER) and turn it into a cartoon where I shirtless man can fly through a glass window without scratch on him? Oh yeah…to sell toys. I forgot.

4. Mr. T and the All American Team

Speaking of things that ought not be turned into television shows…just why the hell is Mr. T traveling around the country with a bunch of gymnastics kids fighting crime? I mean seriously…is the because of all the cocaine in the 80s? Is that where this came from?

3. Tigersharks

What would happen if the guys behind Thundercats decided to do a show JUST LIKE Thundercats…but with sea life? THIS!

2. Gobots

These little bastards wanted to be Transformers so bad it hurts. Just look at them…they’re just waiting for the day when Hasbro buys them up so they can join the “real” transforming robots on a successful show.

1. Turbo Teen

Turbo Teen wanted to be Knight Rider so bad it could almost taste it. The horrible, horrible excuse for a cartoon aired duing the height of Knight Rider’s popularity, and mimicked the show in every way legally possible.

This terrible excuse for an animated series only last one terrible, terrible season.

***

So there you have it. I’m sure you can think of shows that you think would be better suited for this list, so feel free to mention them in the comments below…

The first episode of Damashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z (“Take off! Powerpuff Girls Z”) premiered in Japan a few weeks ago and it didn’t take long for the thing to hit the internet for the whole world to see. So far, the only version available is the Raw Japanese version (no fansubs, yet), but luckily, I’m rather good with the Japanese language, so I had no trouble understanding it. Additionally, the plots and dialogue aren’t particularly complicated, so in all honesty, it’s not hard to follow even if you can’t speak Japanese.

Opening Sequence

Episode #1

Ending Sequence

The episodes follow the same format as the American cartoon series; they’re about 8 minutes in length. Several gags from the American series make the transition; the Mayor being an incompetant boob, Ms. Bellum’s face never being seen, the overall lack of seriousness, etc. Some changes have been made on a more than visual level. Professor Utonium now has a son who helps him around the lab, the hotline (that clown-faced telephone) has been replaced by a robot dog named “Peach” who alerts the Powerpuff Girls of danger by activating their belt-buckles with a sonic howl. The episodes still end with the heart-motiff, though the Powerpuff Girls give us a good bye message instead of a narrator.

And here’s a look at the character-redesigns for the Rogues Gallery.

Front Row: Big Billy, Grubber, Mojo Jojo, Princess, Li’l Arturo, Ace and Him

Back Row: Sedusa, the Rowdy Ruff Boys, Fuzzy Lumpkins, Snake, Abra Cadavar.

I only take issue with a few of the redesigns. Abra Cadavar isn’t much of a zombie anymore and just what the Hell is Snake wearing!? Fuzzy Lumpkins has undergone practically no change what-so-ever, which is cool. The Rowdy Ruff Boys look great, and check out Sedusa’s rack. Princess’ afro is startling, while Him has a marrionette/puppet-thing going, which may or may not work. Mojo Jojo just looks hardcore (though he’s still just as goofy as ever in the actual show). The Gangreen Gang, for the most part, look just fine. Overall, I like most of their redesigns.

As far as the plot of episode 1 is concerned, it was really just a “Hey, meet the Powerpuff Girls…again!” sorta introduction. Mojo Jojo kidnaps a bunch of kindergartners and steals their candy. Peach alerts the Powerpuff Girls (high school students, now) and they head off to stop him. But, of course, nothing’s ever that cut and dry when the Powerpuff Girls are concerned. They arrive and sign autographs for the captured children. Mojo tries to give them his autograph but the kids just cry. Mojo and the PPG fight it out, but run low on energy. So everybody in the show has an ice cream break with their favorite flavor listed in katakana at the bottom of the screen. Refreshed, they kick Mojo’s butt and send him packing.

Like I said, not very complicated or clever in the plot-department, but again, this episode really just serves as an introduction piece. I’m sure it’ll pick up once we see some more villains. The jokes are quirky but in a very Japanese fashion. Japanese quirkiness and American quirkiness are two very different things. But hey, we had a talking dog in our version, they have a talking fish. Go figure.

Anyway, the show is kinda “eh” right now. I think I’ll like it a lot more when/if it hits American TV, providing they dub it with the voice actors from the American series.

The new Family Guy episode to air on May 1st has been leaked a little early and is available for download on several of the typical places on the internets. The link below is to a 32mb Real Video file of the show. And wow, it is great to have the show back. Funnier than ever, with plenty of digs at Fox for canceling the show the first time.

ForeverGeek isn’t responsible if you get busted for downloading it. We aren’t hosting it, and I don’t even think it’s illegal, but you know…

Update: here is a Torrent file for a 270mb version of the show.

Via

I really want to say that this is cool, but the more I look at it, the more my spine tingles. This is just a too eerie for me.

First pic is an oekaki from here and the second is a classic one, I remember seeing these years ago, but it’s still good.