What A Cartoon! - Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins With Matt McMuscles!

I didn't know anything about this cartoon before the podcast and just assumed that it was a promotional video for the upcoming live-action film, so hearing that it came out AFTER was disgraceful, especially considering how TERRIBLE it is. Like I was consistently astounded every 5 minutes just how much reused animation would show-up and how fucking awful their attempts to do... anything, were. This may be a new low for stuff that WAC has covered as far as I'm concerned.

Dylan (batmanboy11) Freitag

I missed hearing Matt on podcasts regularly. Dude is always a fun guest, as have been the other SBFP/CSB guests

Lobster

I have vivid memories of renting this at the time and being astonished by just how cheap and overtly commercial the whole production felt. I can't remember the exact order of events but, around the same time, I was collecting the Mortal Kombat comicbooks ("Blood and Thunder" series) which told the events of the first game much more faithfully. This made the video seem even worse in comparison. Henry mentions the original movie still being one of best videogame/movie adaptations, and I definitely agree with that. The problem nowadays is that games already look and feel so close to actual movies that you lose the thrill of seeing your favourite game characters "brought to life" in the same as you would with older titles. Anyway, loved the episode. Looking forward to Defenders of the Realm someday for more Mortal Myrth and Mayhem. ^_^

To Boldy Joe... Moore

Yeah! I love Matt!

T

Bob constantly describing this as looking like Sealab has in my mind made this literally just Sealab MK, and Harry Goz plays Raiden.

twistedmentat

You guys have covered some bad toons, but I think this one is the only one I'd say is devoid of any value. And the next competitor was probably Street Sharks, which Matt had the "pleasure" of also being a part of. This came out when Mortal Kombat was huge and kids were willing to buy essentially anything with the dragon logo on it. What a piece of shit. I am actively still mad at the folks who greenlit this 40 minute commercial where almost nothing happens. It doesn't even have a resolution! It just ends! You guys certainly covered how terrible the production is, but this thing reminds me of the PSX Dragon Ball Z title Ultimate Battle 22 which had these terrible, minimalist, 3D backgrounds with sprites over them that operate at a terrible framerate. Many of us DBZ fans in the late 90s spent far too much money importing that trash, but I'd much rather play that game than watch this thing again.

Joe Hodgson

What a great episode! Hilarious—I think y'all are really hitting your stride when it comes to suffering through terrible content in a way that's funny and endearing. I love "We Hate Movies" and the like, but you both (and Matt!) have such a specific dynamic with a totally different ear feel that I want to experience more often.

Laughed so hard, listening to this! Great podcast! ^_^

To Boldy Joe... Moore

Mr Wizard and the Popsicles is my new pub quiz team name.

thatcamjones

I was too young to play arcade games in the early 90s, so my first exposure to Mortal Kombat was watching my older brother play the (infamously sanitized) port of the first game on Super Nintendo. I later became obsessed with Mortal Kombat and watched the USA cartoon, had several of the Hasbro action figures, and even dressed up as Raiden and Reptile for Halloween at ages 8 and 9, respectively. Until I was older, I was completely oblivious to the fact that the over-the-top gore was the entire selling point of the franchise. My kid brain just thought the characters were cool, and I happily watched the ‘Journey Begins’ on VHS probably dozens of times. Unfortunately, the video’s intention of advertising ‘Mortal Kombat: The Movie’ to me backfired, as the preview’s inclusion of the shot of Sub-Zero being slowly frozen by his own icicle disturbed me so much that I never saw the movie until I was in my teens, even though I had wanted to see it and already owned the action figure of Christopher Lambert’s Raiden. Also, I’m not sure who they were trying to target by beginning the video with a trailer for ‘National Lampoon’s Senior Trip.’ That was definitely my first exposure to the word “virgin” and I’m pretty sure my parents had to awkwardly hand-wave my questions about what that word meant. Because of that trailer, I will forever associate the song “Boom Shack-a-Lack” by Apache Indian with Mortal Kombat.

Man, as trashy as this movie is, I kinda love the weird, campy nature of it and most early Mortal Kombat material. I think the franchise takes itself a bit too seriously now, and I’d love for a goofier take on this world that embraces how bizarre MK truly is. The recent animated movies are fun with spectacular art direction and animated fight scenes, but they still feel the need to tell “grand stories” in a universe where an ice ninja beats the shit out of cyborg Aussie. Idk, I still like Mortal Kombat, but I miss the goofy stuff too! Also, you guys DEFINITELY have to cover Foodfight at some point! You said it, and now it’s an obligation XD

Tashmon Dimps