What A Cartoon! - The November 2019 Schedule

The holiday season is starting to ramp up, and we've got another month of great podcasts to help ease the pain of travel, family, and overeating! We kick off November with a mega-hit cartoon that sold a billion video games and turned a generation on to anime, then follow it up with a slightly more mature (in relative terms) but still very marketable Japanese series from the same era. Then, for the last two weeks of the month, we jump back to 1993 to examine one of Disney's most mediocre TV entries (one that happened to have gorgeous production values), and close out November with a thorough look at the most successful Silver Age Warner Bros. cartoon—and definitely the one with the largest cast.

And if you're not a subscriber, signing up at the $5 level will get you each episode a week ahead of time and ad-free, along with our collection exclusive miniseries (like our currently unraveling Talking Futurama Season 2) and over 100 bonus podcasts on top of that!

Here's what's on the schedule for November:

Pokemon - "Here Comes the Squirtle Squad" [Patreon Date: 11/4/19 - Free Feed Date 11/11/19]

With over 1000 episodes and counting, Pokemon is one of the longest-running anime series out there. And with another game release just around the corner, it's the perfect time to take a look back 20 years to rediscover just why this show hooked millions upon millions of kids. For the first week of November, we look at a light, memorable early Pokemon episode featuring a fearsome gang of troublemaking blue turtles who just might have a heart a gold. And if you were caught in the grip of Pokemania back in 1998, you've definitely already seen it upwards of two dozen times.

Pokemon can currently be streamed on Netflix and for free on the official Pokemon site.

Yu-Gi-Oh - "The Heart of the Cards" [Patreon Date: 11/11/19 - Free Feed Date 11/18/19]

The kids who grew up with the cuddly critters of Pokemon easily grew into the slightly darker (but still intensely merchandisable) world of Yu-Gi-Oh, so it only makes sense that we tackle this series next. Though it had its biggest moments in America in the early aughts, this card-focused franchise hasn't gone anywhere, and continues to thrive since its first anime adaptation back in 1998. For this episode of What A Cartoon!, we'll be looking at the second anime series' debut—which truly put the entire franchise on the map.

Yu-Gi-Oh can currently be streamed (free and legally) on YouTube.

Bonkers - "I Oughta Be in Toons" [Patreon Date: 11/18/19 - Free Feed Date 11/25/19]

Millions of people are signing up for Disney Plus for Bonkers alone, so we'd be foolish not to tackle one of Disney's most-wanted '90s properties! All kidding aside, no one likes Bonkers, no one remembers Bonkers, but it remains a fascinating failure in a decade where Disney saw nothing but success. It's a series so riddled with problems that it experienced a soft reboot before it even aired—giving us a show with two premises, one continuity, and then some unrelated shorts that aren't very good. But someone believed in Bonkers, and now that it's finally available to watch again, we're going to discover why.

Bonkers can currently be streamed on Disney Plus. (Starting November 12.)

Animaniacs - "Yakko's World / Cookies for Einstein / Win Big" (Episode 2) [Patreon Date: 11/25/19 - Free Feed Date 12/2/19]

Ah, the '90s: when budgets were big, Japan animated most things, and having Steven Spielberg attached to your show could let you get away with almost anything. This collection of circumstances brought us Animaniacs, the Warner Bros. follow-up to Tiny Toon Adventures that never should have happened—but we're certainly glad it did. Though it was ostensibly made for the after-school set, Animaniacs skewed much older than Tiny Toons, and included even more sophisticated references, Hollywood insider jokes, and risque material. To close the door on November, we'll be shining the spotlight on one of the series' most iconic, early episodes: one that gave us both Yakko's World, and Pinky and the Brain.

Animaniacs can currently be streamed on Hulu.

We've got quite a lineup of podcasts ahead of us, and that isn't even counting this month's episode of What A Cartoon Movie! for $10+ patrons. Stick with us, because there'll be more fun to come, and even more Talking Futurama as the month rolls along!