Category: Me

The celebration is today. That’s why I’m six days early.

It was exactly one decade ago today. Ten years. 120 months. And probably many more months, fortnights, days, etc. A man had an idea. To blog about the wondrous works of animated whimsy from Warner Bros. That man, was my father. He had this son, who had been watching the cartoons for at least ten years, and obsessing over them for at least five. Naturally, when someone is obsessed with something, they never shut up about it.

Either my dad was sick of hearing about things he was too busy to watch, or he wanted his kid to share his knowledge with the rest of the world for a change. Either way, he suggested the kid start a blog. That kid, was me. And how did I respond? A shrug, and a “Sure, why not?” (I don’t get excited over much. One of the “perks” of being autistic.) With his help, I set me up at a little slice of Squaespace.com, named the site after my favorite animated work, and I was ready to inform the masses of what they had been missing.

But you wouldn’t know that from those early posts. As I’ve stated before, I acted like whoever would be reading had just watched the cartoon in question and was now just on the lookout for other opinions. Even then, I managed to spit out maybe an underfed paragraph at most. (Actually, I’m kind of glad I did that. Everyone already knows the plots of those cartoons.) I was enjoying myself fine enough, but I won’t lie: I was originally just doing it to try and get some attention about something I knew. Maybe meet a cute girl, make some fans, get a job in the animation industry? I was fifteen. I could afford such ludicrous dreams.

Luckily, the more I kept at it, the more I not only improved, but started to enjoy blogging for the sake of blogging. It got to the point, where I had actually started to have some pride in what I was writing, and wanted to continue to not only improve my skills as a writer, but make the site look better. I started to add pictures, video clips, and credits. I also decided to do what many would figure obvious, offer a plot synopsis. I learned to trust my own sense of humor, and not worry too much about being like other people online. I even ditched Squarespace to come here, which has given me the opportunity to categorize my posts, and make navigation all the easier.

While nobody has ever called me out on this, I do feel the need to explain the “order” in which I talk about these pictures. Originally, I was quite blatantly just going through my DVD collection. (Though I coyly acted like it was done by my own choice.) I soon grew bored of that though. I should have just gone in chronological order, but it was harder to find everything online back in 2011, so I couldn’t do that, and it would have been odd to do it by this point, so I’ve just started picking shorts at random lately. Gives me the element of surprise, just like you.

And look at that, ten years already. This marking not only that milestone, but my 580th post as well. Not good for ten years work. Since I do other things besides blog, I’m still not all that close to being done to blogging about everything Looney. Still, I enjoy myself more and more with each week. It really has been good for me. Helping me develop my own writing style, and being good practice for working on my own books. I do tend to lean towards entertainment rather than information, but there’s plenty of other places online if you want more serious stuff. (I feel that my wackier side is pretty faithful to the cartoons I adore.)

If I’m allowed to be petty, I’ve still yet to get the attention I feel I deserve. If I’m allowed to show how I really feel: I’m very pleased with the feedback I have received. It’s pretty much been all positive. Sure, I’ve gotten a few comments telling me to correct things, but they weren’t mean about it. They just love the source material like me and want me to honor it justly. I’ve also gotten a bit of attention from the higher-ups. Tony Cervone, animation director of “Space Jam” himself found this humble blog, and he liked it. That was an honor and a half.

Really though, this blog is meant to help people rediscover old favorite cartoons, or maybe come around to being huge fans like me. As long as someone watched a Looney Tune and enjoyed it, then I’ve done what I need to. I can only wonder what the next ten years will contain. I’m nervous, excited, curious and even a little hungry. One thing for sure: It’s going to continue to be…WACKY!

It’s now been seven years since this place has been birthed. Which means another tiny but permanent update: from now on, I’ll be listing the short’s entire released date as opposed to just the year. But for now, I’m going to go over my choices for my best work.

Number 10: Bugs Bunny

My first post! It’s a humble beginning as most are, but I thought I did pretty well for a beginner. I clearly showed some promise, (as I knew my stuff) but there was also plenty of room for improvement. (Hence the low spot on this list.) So happy that I didn’t quit at any point during the past years. I’ve been having too much fun to worry about the lack of visitors.

Number 9:  Hare Remover

Here’s where I really started to get the hang of things. As you might know, (“might” being because I don’t know how many people go back to read older posts besides me) When I started this place, I was doing a pretty crappy job. I just assumed that anyone visiting would have already seen the shorts in question, and was just online looking for some other opinions on them. Later it dawned on me to actually write a summary for those who hadn’t. Even then, I wrote the bare minimum I could. Starting here, (which was also when pictures became a permanent addition. A good idea I should have done since day one) I went into much more detail. You could actually understand the stories now. (But I always try to leave at least one joke untold, so you will have reason to watch them on your own anyway) Will I ever go back and rewrite the older posts in my new style? Probably not. They are there to show not only how much better I’ve gotten, but to remind me to try harder. (Plus, if I started editing one, I’d probably edit them all and never get new ones published.)

Number 8: Tom Thumb in Trouble

With this post, I had a lot of fun making as many Disney references as I could. Seeing as how the short in question feels much more like something they made up. No disrespect to Mr. Jones, but it’s not his best work. But I still had a good time watching it.

Number 7: I’ve got to Sing a Torch Song

With this post, I tried something different. Instead of just detailing the plot, I acted like I was giving a history lesson on how people used to use the radio as much as they did. It was a fun change of pace, but I don’t think it worked out as well as I wanted it to. But it’s always fun to experiment.

Number 6: A Gander at Mother Goose

Every so often, I write a post in rhyme. Seeing as how this one was using retelling Nursery Rhymes as its premise, I felt it necessary to do so once again. And I think it came out pretty dang well. Making rhymes about other people’s work is harder than just coming up with a rhyme yourself as it is easy to rhyme yourself into a corner, and not be able to get out unless you insert a completely irrelevant line. (I’ve done that before. It ruins the whole pace of your work)

Number 5: Eatin’ on the Cuff or the Moth who came to Dinner

Another rhyme! And I felt I did even better on this one. But since only the animated part was rhyming, I also only did such for my summary. And it turned out rather nice. I even included my own usual quirks, like naming characters and pointing out the few mistakes about animals that the short makes. I just gotta be me.

Number 4: Dough Ray Me-ow

With this short, I felt I had accomplished something I had been trying to do since day one: I was funny. I had cracked a few jokes before, but I felt there was something more here. I had actually found my own sense of humor for this blog, which gives you a reason to actually come visit. I’d say to only read posts older than this one if you’re really into the source material. But any after this one I’d say anyone can read and enjoy. (Not to toot my own horn.)

Number 3: Jumpin’ Jupiter

I haven’t seen too many episodes of “The Twilight Zone” (mostly because I want a friend to watch with) But I know enough about this iconic series to spoof it, and given the short’s content, I though it was a match made in heaven. And despite writing like someone else, I still managed to keep my own style intact. To be a good writer, you can’t just copy other’s styles. You got to be yourself.

Number 2: June Foray

When discussing people on this blog, it wasn’t uncommon for them to have been dead for at least ten years. (And I’m sorry I’m not using nicer alternatives like “passed away.” I don’t sugar coat things) The loss of Ms. Foray was a huge setback for me. I really was hoping I would get to meet her one day before she left us. I didn’t get that chance, but I feel like I at least left a pretty good tribute to her. I doubt she ever found this place, but I was happy to do it regardless to help spread her legacy. I poured my heart into this post, and I think it was made all the stronger for it. So what could top this?

Number 1: Porky’s Preview

My favorite underrated short gets the top spot! Not only because it gave me a chance to give it some more notoriety, but I went all out as well. Describing in great detail why I find it as great as I do, interrupting the post to talk about Porky’s cartoon like it is its own standalone work, and even bothering to make some of my text backwards like his. It was more work than I usually do on these posts, but it was well worth it!

Here’s to seeing if I can top myself in the upcoming years! Hope those of you who come by still enjoy it! I know I do.

Five years ago today, a shy awkward teenager started a blog about Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. He went by the name of Dr. Foolio. A name so generously given to him by a cyber bully. A failed attempt at an insult you can see, for it fit perfectly with the subject matter. It’s now been five years, and that teen is now an adult and still going strong.
 

Wow! Has it really beenyears already? Time flies when you’re enjoying yourself. I can’t believe it! As per tradition, with a new year, comes a new feature to this place. So from now on, I’m listing all the credits I can for each short. (Which does leave me with the question of how I’ll upgrade next year) Before that happens however, let’s take a quick retrospective of what happened here since then.

When I first started out, I clearly didn’t have any idea what I was doing. I acted like everyone who came here had seen the short already, and all I left behind was one or two sentences that did nothing but tell how much I enjoyed the short. No pictures or anything. At least I had the common sense to give history about the characters. I didn’t even have a schedule yet. I just wrote something every time I watched a short. Without taking notes I might add. Later in the year, I started putting up pictures for characters, and videos for the shorts. And I started leaving summaries. (With my own comments thrown in) Eventually, I started to leave an image for the shorts if I could not find a video for it. And soon I started to leave some of the credits to the shorts as well. When I finally did get a schedule, updates came on every Tuesday. Soon, I got a job and I had to move things over to Wednesday’s from now on. (Breaking the rules every so often for certain reasons) Which leads us to today. Sure this place might not be the most popular spot online. (In fact, I average about two visitors a week.) But I have gotten some very nice people who I admired to visit. Big thanks to you if you are still alive. And I’m still enjoying myself regardless if anyone visits or not. And in the end, isn’t that all that matters? There’s still more fun to be had. Hundreds of shorts are left! And with only 52 posts a year, (some not even related to the shorts) this could go on for decades. That’s not all folks! We’re just beginning. Hope you enjoy visiting this place as much as I enjoy updating it.

-Dr. Foolio (Cartoon expert)