...watching a friend's copy of the Dungeons & Dragons animated series on DVD reminded me of just how annoying Uni was.
Yet, Uni was created to appeal to younger viewers. Even as a kid, I loathed the bleating thing.
There are tons of characters like this...the cute comedy relief intended to broaden the show's appeal to younger kids...yet all it did was cause annoyance.
The iconic example is Scrappy Doo. Loud, unfunny, ugly, and managed to bog every scene down.
Or Webby, from DuckTales. She and Mrs. Beakly were created to add a female presence to a very male-heavy show.
In Webby's case, she seemed to be created with all the negative stereotypes about little girls, crammed into one little whiny duck.
It's hard to believe she and Gosalyn of Darkwing Duck fame came from the same studio.
Yet, all these vile, insipid characters were created to be the beloved ones. The sweet, friendly, pre-K merchandisable ones.
Why was this formula used so often, when it only rarely worked?
Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :
Because as bad as they were, they rarely stopped anyone from watching the show.
--j_k
Posted by Paul Goldner (Member # 1910) on :
Worst one ever?
Jar Jar binks. Not really animated. But close.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
The blue monkey from the old Super Friends, and even a step further, the WonderTwins themselves were rather pointless.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
Spike/Bumblebee, hands down.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
7-Zark-7 from Battle of the Planets, not least because he was added to the original Japanese series when it was released in America.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Snarf from ThunderCats.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
quote:Originally posted by James Tiberius Kirk: Because as bad as they were, they rarely stopped anyone from watching the show.
--j_k
I couldn't watch ANY Scooby Doo shows that had Scrappy Doo in them. And I remember a Plastic Man show that had his son or nephew on it... ugh. I wanted to watch it, but couldn't stand the kid.
I never liked or identified with any of the sidekicks on cartoon shows or in superhero comics. The adults were ALWAYS cooler... and anyway, usually the way they were written they had the emotional maturity and intellectual complexity of kids, so you could still identify with them.
Posted by cmc (Member # 9549) on :
Wait - what? Snarf was bad? He was hysterical with all of his worried, totally (what's the word when you're given a task and can't complete it and end up making things worse)-ness. : ) Plus the 'meow' he'd give was totally annoying but I can still hear it now... AND he was there so often for the lessons at the end of the episodes... Man, I love that show.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
The weird thing is, I've never met anyone who ever identified with these characters as kids, but the whole idea behind the character is that kids identify with them. I mean, consider another iconic example, Wesley Crusher; did anyone of the appropriate age think, "Hey, this kid's like me, only he gets to fly the ship!"
Posted by cmc (Member # 9549) on :
Nope. I thought, 'Wow - he's cute'. Wait - did I just type that?
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
I was of the appropriate age, and I identified strongly with Wesley Crusher.
At the age of 13-14, he was possibly the favorite part of the show for me.
Posted by B34N (Member # 9597) on :
i think both m_p_h and cmc need serious psych evals. Now Deanna Troy that was the ticket right there!
But back to topic - Craig Ferguson says it's Scrappy Doo, don't agree and think the pipsqueak from Beautiful Joe is the worst side kid ever, I think the little dude/t's name is junior???
[ October 22, 2006, 11:57 PM: Message edited by: B34N ]
Posted by cmc (Member # 9549) on :
Psych eval nothing, B34N!! : )
He was cute and he defintely got to do a lot of things that some kids would like to be doing. Probably seems a little cooler to be helping out with the operation of a spacecraft than to be suffering through a Language Arts class at any given point in the day...
edit: to put the 'i'm not really yelling as my punctuation may suggest, i'm just jokin' ' indicator in.
[ October 21, 2006, 06:07 PM: Message edited by: cmc ]
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
quote:Originally posted by B34N: i think both m_p_h and cmc need serious psych evals. Now Deanna Troy that was the ticket right there!
But back to topic - Craig Ferguson says it's Scrappy Doo, don't agree and think the pipsqueak from Beautiful Joe is the worst side kid ever, I think the little dude/t's name is junior???
I like that kid. He's more serious than Joe is who keeps harping on hamburgers. But I can't think of other cute annoying sidekicks right now that annoy me. Perhaps a bit later....
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
Godzuke. Hands down.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
Ugh. A friend just reminded me of something even worse...when the sidekick takes over the show.
Best example: The Real Ghostbusters. For the first few seasons, Slimer was a secondary background character. He was used mainly for the occasional gross-out gag. If he ever -did- get a story spotlight, it was mainly to bring out a character trait of one of the Ghostbusters, or the Ghost-of-the-episode.
He actually -worked-, treated this way.
Then...came the Slimer season. Suddenly -every- episode was about Slimer.
Suddenly most of every show was spent in crudely drawn, unfunny "cute" Slimer cartoons. The "Ghostbusters" portion of the show began to put Slimer in the pivotal heroic role of every episode, and the formerly quirky, funny secretary character was turned into a bland, pretty straight-woman in order to make Slimer seem "funnier".
My gosh, the entire show was ruined.
Posted by Zan (Member # 4888) on :
quote: the WonderTwins themselves were rather pointless.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:i think both m_p_h and cmc need serious psych evals.
I'm sure you had impeccable taste at the age of fourteen.
What was your favorite song and music group back then?
Posted by pfresh85 (Member # 8085) on :
quote:Originally posted by Zan:
quote: the WonderTwins themselves were rather pointless.
Every time I hear something about the Wonder Twins, I think of this Penny Arcade strip. Be forewarned: it's a Penny Arcade strip so there's a chance it may offend you.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
quote:Originally posted by Zan:
quote: the WonderTwins themselves were rather pointless.
Wondertwin powers activate!
Form of... yellowfaced smiley!
Form of.... TEARS!
Posted by B34N (Member # 9597) on :
quote:Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head:
quote:i think both m_p_h and cmc need serious psych evals.
I'm sure you had impeccable taste at the age of fourteen.
What was your favorite song and music group back then?
I had the best taste in the world my favorite bands were the incredible group known as New Kids on the Block and Menudo coming a close second!
Wesley Crusher was and still is a TOOL!
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
quote:Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head:
quote:i think both m_p_h and cmc need serious psych evals.
I'm sure you had impeccable taste at the age of fourteen.
What was your favorite song and music group back then?
I had great taste when I was fourteen! I was into Acoustic Alchemy and Mozart's Great Mass in C Minor. And Irish music. I was so cool.
Also I liked Riker a lot. He was workin' that beard, even though I normally don't like beardy men.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
The orginal, worst one was Jim-Jim and the pudgy younger brotehr of Speed Racer. No wonder they kept them in the trunk most of the time.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
I could have sworn his name was "Spridle", not "Jim-Jim".
But yeah, Speed's little brother finally learned his lesson in the Wildstorm prequel Speed Racer mini-series years ago/
![[Cry]](graemlins/cry.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Now Deanna Troy that was the ticket right there!