The Festival of Lights is upon us, and we're celebrating it with, Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, and the rest. This week we're joined by Matthew Jay of Cartoons 101 to talk about Rugrats and what it did for Nickelodeon, as well as it being a trailblazer for Jewish representation in American animation! So your hosts this week learn all about how the series came together...
2018-12-03 06:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostIt's a new month, and that means it's time again to help us choose the subject of the next monthly premium movie podcast. Last month $10+ patrons got to hear Bob and Henry talk all about the classic Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, and now it's time for another week-long poll. Of course, the voting was so close last month that we're actually going to repeat three of the choices from November, and include an additional option of a seasonal stop-motion classic.
So, the choices are:
Di...
2018-12-02 18:54:18 +0000 UTC View Post
The year is coming to a close, which means it's the first holiday season for What A Cartoon! And we've done our best to cover different kinds of celebrations, while including some non-themed selections for those of you who'd rather forget about everything December entails. If you're not subscribed to the Talking Simpsons Network, signing up for just $5 a month will get you every episode of What A Cartoon! a...
2018-11-30 19:20:18 +0000 UTC View Post
Whew, what a month on the Talking Simpsons Network! Lots of ups, and a few downs, but tons of fun with some of our best episodes going live and some big announcements like our next SF Sketchfest appearance and our new premium monthly podcast! Learn what's been going on this month as well as our reactions to the best comments we got on our podcasts in November in our newest community podcast!
2018-11-29 20:18:20 +0000 UTC View Post
The perfect dog has arrived for this week's podcast, and our special guest Imran Khan from Game Informer talks all about the crossover between dog ownership and medicinal marijuana. Not to mention we cover the shaky production of this episode, what got cut, and how there are still some great jokes alongside the weaker plotting. We hope you like jammin' too, as this...
2018-11-28 06:38:41 +0000 UTC View Post
Make the homies say ho, it's time for another podcast about an Adult Swim classic. And we're joined by Matthew Jay of Cartoons 101! Yes, it's Aqua Teen Hunger Force and the very first episode featuring the series' best villains, The Mooninites! We go into the show's Space Ghost roots as well as the ATHF's long history which includes a movie and fake bomb reports! ...
2018-11-26 06:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey there, it's Bob. In case you missed it, I got mugged on Black Friday while on the way back from an international trip and lost a ton of important stuff. But this story has a happy ending, since the GoFundMe I launched to buy back my missing things made its goal in an hour! Because I have way too many people to thank personally, I sat down with Henry to record a mini-podcast so I could express my gratitude to all of the great fans and friends who came out to show their support. Thanks aga...
2018-11-26 02:07:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey folks, it's Bob. To make a long story short, I got mugged on Black Friday on the way back from an international trip and lost EVERYTHING--including a bookbag and a suitcase full of stuff. Thankfully, I was not harmed in any way. Since so much of this loss (like having my laptop stolen) is affecting my podcasting at the moment, I launched a GoFundMe so I can replace everything I need to get back to work ASAP. You c...
2018-11-25 01:47:38 +0000 UTC View Post
In case you missed the news, there's a new perk for $10+ patrons of What A Cartoon and Talking Simpsons! We're doing a monthly What A Cartoon Movie! podcast where Henry and Bob cover a different animated film classic in the same style as the animated series we cover! The premiere episode is about Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, and we have a little teaser of it here, where we debate if this is the best Batman movie ever...
2018-11-22 09:58:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Thanks for your support of the Talking Simpsons Network, Bob and Henry have a brand new monthly podcast about a different animated movie! And based on your votes we went with arguably the greatest Batman film of all time, Mask Of The Phantasm! It turns 25 this year, so we dig into how it was made, the mature themes they got into this "kids" film, and how Kevin Conroy, Dana Delaney, and Mark Hamill do some of the best performances of their lives. Listen along and enjoy!
2018-11-22 09:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Good gravy! This week we're joined by The Comedy Button's own Max Scoville, and he helps us talk about love and birthday parties in this week's podcast. This is one of the sweetest episodes of The Simpsons ever, and we chat all about oysters, wearing Armour Hot Dogs, and Henry & Bob get into a heated discussion of whether Skinner really is a virgin ...
2018-11-21 05:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
SpongeBob SquarePants is one of the biggest cartoons EVER, so it's about time we cover it on What A Cartoon! And, thanks to patron Phillip Jacobi, we're looking at one of the very early episodes that helped build towards the eventual period of SpongeBob Mania. Listen in as Matthew Jay of Cartoons 101 joins us to discuss the history...
2018-11-19 08:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
You have a very special podcast right here, as this is What A Cartoon's first ever lost interview! Back in March of this year we chatted with Robert Woodhead, co-creator of the classic game Wizardry and co-founder of US anime distributor Animeigo. We chatted with Robert about the early years of distributing anime in America, as well as how much things have changed AND Animeigo's newest plans! Now we've finally found the lost file for it and can share it with the world, so listen and enjoy!
2018-11-17 00:13:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Henry is here with fellow Marvel Zombie Chris Baker for a special podcast to celebrate the life of Stan Lee, one of the most important creators in comics (and really the history of fiction). We reflect on how we grew up with Stan as our ambassador to comics, we talk about the impact he had on pop culture, and we even discuss our personal interactions with Stan "The Man" Lee over the years. If you're missing Stan this week, listen along as we share our own reflections on the irreplaceable icon. '...
2018-11-16 21:34:46 +0000 UTC View Post
St. Patrick's Day is here a little early on the podcast, and we're joined by Ireland's own Jay Hunter and Stephen "V1" Roe of OSW Review, the old school wrestling video podcast. They share with us their love of The Simpsons, as well as their thoughts on the shows tributes(?) to the Irish in this four-...
2018-11-14 04:57:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Alright! This week Matt Jay of Cartoons 101 joins us to discuss not only Thanksgiving but also one of Fox's most recent animated successes, Bob's Burgers! The show follows the small town adventures of a family of weirdos who love cooking up creative burgers (as well as a father obsessed with Thanksgiving), and we discuss what makes it so special. See h...
2018-11-12 06:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Our good buddy (and Editor-in-Chief of USGamer) Kat Bailey returns for another Lisa-centric episode, where we all diagnose her with bad babysitting! While Homer and Marge make their yuppie dreams come true on the waterfront, Lisa babysits Bart and Maggie with disastrous results. Can Lisa find a quiet way to fix this problem? Will we be able to contain our revulsi...
2018-11-07 06:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Bob and Henry are indulging in some protoculture this week as we dive into one of the more dramatic episodes of Robotech (and Macross) ever! After digging into the history of Robotech and its effect on the western anime fandom, we then explore the amazing mecha action and engaging human drama of this groundbreaking animated series! Do you remember love--er, I mean, Robotech? Then listen along and enjoy!
2018-11-05 06:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
In November, we're very thankful for all of your support on the Talking Simpsons Network, as every subscriber on Patreon allows us to do this full-time, creating the best podcasts about the world of animation! On top of Talking Simpsons, all November we'll be doing our usual What A Cartoon! podcasts, and you can listen to every episode a week ahead of time and ad-free by becoming a $5 patron! Even cooler is that this month for $10+ supporters, we're offering a brand new monthly movie podcast, an...
2018-10-31 20:13:11 +0000 UTC View PostDid you hear the big news?!?! Starting in November $10+ supporters get a monthly, exclusive What A Cartoon! Movie Podcast! Each month Bob and Henry will record a new, full podcast discussing a different animated feature film in the What A Cartoon! style, and we want Talking Simpsons Network patrons to help us choose which one!
Though the podcast will only be available to $10+ Patrons, we wanted to po...
2018-10-31 19:13:24 +0000 UTC View Post
This week, we're interrupting our regularly scheduled programming to bring you our live Halloween show, recorded on October 20th at Kelly's Olympian in Portland. And, during this performance, we were joined by none other than former Simpsons writer and showrunner Bill Oakley! Listen in as Bill sits down with us in front of a packed house to share b...
2018-10-31 03:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey folks, Henry and Bob here for a quick update on the Patreon rewards! This is a helpful explainer on some improvements to our $10 and up Patreon tier. The quick version is:
- Starting in November we'll be doing a monthly What A Cartoon! bonus podcast that will be exclusively available to $10+ patrons! In this podcast, we'll explore a classic animated film in our inimitable style!
- The What A Cartoon! Movie Podcast will be replacing our monthly video that we offer to $10+ patrons. Al...
2018-10-30 19:59:48 +0000 UTC View Post
Another awesome month for the Talking Simpsons Network, and we're celebrating it with our awesome community in our monthly community podcast! For October we cover the recent events in Simpsons news, give an update on the Patreon, explain some of our favorite podcasting moments this month (as well as gab about meeting Bill Oakley in Portland), and then go over some of our favorite comments from the last month of podcasts! Get proactive with us and listen now!
2018-10-30 19:41:28 +0000 UTC View PostPassword: mutantmenace
Bob and Henry are here for one more premium video for $10 supporters on the Talking Simpsons Network! After covering the 1992 series, Henry takes Bob (and the listeners) through the history of the first animated X-Men pilot. Made in 1989 with very above average animation from one of the top anime studios of the 1980s. Learn what changed and how it influenced X-Men games too! Thanks again!
2018-10-30 17:55:31 +0000 UTC View Post
A comic book that never should have been a comic book becomes a TV show that never should have been a TV show? That's the story of The Maxx, a slavish 13-episode animated adaptation of Sam Kieth's work by the very same name. Though the storytelling can be uneven, and many questions go unanswered, The Maxx remains an unflinching examination of some very sensitive subject matter carried by ahead-of-its time digital animation. On this episode, 2018-10-29 07:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Simpsons artist extraordinaire and our good friend Nina Matsumoto is back, and she's bringing her deep love of Frasier with her for this Sideshow Bob classic. We meet Cecil (who sounds a lot like Niles Crane) as he takes in the seemingly reformed Sideshow Bob in this anti-mystery story. All that plus smell hounds, Maris, and the surprising Japanese title of this episode. We're super excited for this one, especially Bob, but ...
2018-10-24 04:13:37 +0000 UTC View Post
Grab your lasagna for the best Halloween cartoon of 1985 as we do our scariest What A Cartoon! podcast yet! We're joined by Matthew Jay of Cartoons 101 once more to discuss the history of Jim Davis' Garfield and how he was a rising star of animation in the 1980s. Learn how Phil Roman worked with Davis to legit scare '80s kids with ghost pirates, and li...
2018-10-22 05:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey folks, we're happy to report that our live show with Bill Oakley in Portland last night went GREAT, and you should be hearing it at some point in the not-too-distant future. Bill was a fantastic guest, and gave us TONS of behind-the-scenes details that even Henry and I didn't know!
Again, thanks so much for your support on Patreon! Without you, we couldn't do cool things like this. And if yo...
2018-10-21 17:13:17 +0000 UTC View Post
It's time to get tragically ludicrous AND ludicrously tragic this week with our special guest, Drew Mackie from the Gayest Episode Ever Podcast! We explore Simpsons' most queer episode ever, we chat about how it influenced us both in our sexuality and tolerance, as well as how much we became obsessed with pop culture camp. Learn all about that and more...
2018-10-17 03:28:18 +0000 UTC View Post
Thanks to patron Alex Irish, What A Cartoon! is exploring new territory: A Disney television show from the 21st century! In case you didn't know, House of Mouse exists as the first real revival of classic Disney shorts, created more than a decade before the one that actually took. This 2001-2003 series takes a new framing device and wraps it around cartoons both new and old for a Disney love-in that's the perfect chaser for their reign over the go-go '90s. On this episode, 2018-10-15 07:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post