Ghosts and Turtles.
Aug. 14th, 2016 09:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladybug_archiveStill puzzling over The Real Ghostbusters. On the one hand, I'm so sure I didn't watch it, because I tend to remember everything I watched regularly even if I don't remember details about it. (I totally remember Mighty Max, about a human teenager, his anthropomorphic bird mentor, and a big strong guy.) On the other hand, the opening and ending are so dang familiar that I know I must have seen the show coming/going, if nothing else. Yet even though I wasn't the biggest fan of people shows back then, I think that one would have appealed to me because of subject matter. So if I saw it coming and saw what it was called, I'm sure I would have checked it out. I also have crafted the memory that if I saw it, it was during weekday morning reruns rather than on Saturday morning, but that could just be me wanting to think I watched it and making a memory to fit.
... And suddenly I got the giggles remembering probably one of the most bizarrely titled shows ever: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. What? Just what? ROTFLOL. I remember laughing and laughing about the title while Mom was in a general state of befuddlement.
I finally snagged one of The Real Ghostbusters DVDs on Amazon. They released five volumes with 11-12 episodes each, and next month they're going to do it again. I wanted the one with Adventures in Slime and Space on it, where Slimer apparently goes evil and they have to stop him/reverse it. I found a clip on YouTube when he grabs Janine and climbs to the top of the Empire State Building in a King Kong parody. LOL. (Apparently Evil Slimer is really big. And blue.) That only made me want it more. The disc also has A Fright at the Opera, where they discover the Phantom of the Opera summoned valkyries to the opera house. LOLOLOL. It should arrive on Tuesday.
I'm wondering if I'll really like anything beyond seasons 1 and 2, though. I think after that was when they changed some of the voices and Janine's character design, because apparently her glasses shape and her hair and her beautiful Brooklyn accent were thought to scare kids. WTH. I love Janine just the way she is and I abhor the thought of changing her! Although I'll give them points for actually explaining her character changes in-show, although it took them several seasons to do it. I do want to see at least a couple of the post-season 2 episodes, like the one where Egon gets stuck between planes or something and is pretty much a ghost and they have to get him back.
And there's a lot of episodes to enjoy before the changes, at least. Season 1 was only 13 episodes, but season 2 was 65 (I think). So if I don't like the re-tooling, there's a wealth of material to focus on instead.
I also wonder if I'd like the re-tooling of the show to Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters. Slimer is fun and cute and all, and his scenes are among my favorites of the movies, but he was meant to be a supporting character and I'm not sure I'd like him being center stage all the time.
And it occurred to me that if I get the Ghostbusters logo bear plush from Build-a-Bear, I'm going to have trouble naming it. Naming it after any of the darlings would be too sad/morbid, since you know, it's a ghost. So I most likely would either pick a random name or else name it after a ghost character, like Casper or maybe Gus or George, ghosts in cute kids' books of mine. I'd rather not choose George, though, since that would probably make me think of George Savalas more than the ghost character George.... Oh wait, the ghost was Georgie. I think. I'm leaning towards Gus. Maybe.
Then I've been enjoying the 1987 Turtles series more. Raphael really is similar to the other Raphs in many ways. In addition to the already-cited ways, he also seems to be the one to get angry the quickest (even though this Raph isn't angry/sullen most of the time in general). In the fic, I've depicted him as having the hardest time forgiving or trusting Baxter, and as I discovered after writing that, it seems to be canon-accurate. In contrast, Michelangelo seems to be the most forgiving and he and Baxter are having an interesting conversation. Despite what Baxter did to Mikey in one of the fly episodes, somehow I just can't picture Mikey holding a grudge about that. (Now, if it had been one of his brothers instead, hmmm....)
I'm in chapter 7 now. I had tentatively planned 10 chapters, but I don't want to limit myself if it looks like it will go beyond that. The story keeps flowing. Any time I get a little stuck, I soon think of another scene and it starts flowing too. I love when this happens, especially since it doesn't usually.
I also want to tinker with drawing a few fanarts for an imagined "opening" based on my story concepts. One would be a split-screen with Baxter and Barney glaring at each other, similar to the Yami Yugi versus Pegasus split-screen from the YGO opening. Then one of Barney with Shredder-tachi (a term I had to write out just once for the utter crackiness factor, LOL) and one of the Turtles ready to fight them, with Baxter standing somewhat apart from the Turtles yet still closer to their side of the fight. I don't think Baxter will actually join them; he doesn't want to and wants to instead try to get his life back to normal. But his brother being involved with Shredder makes everything complicated.
(And I wonder if I'll be able to draw the Turtles. I discovered Baxter is easy to draw, but I was never very good at drawing Leonardo as a kid. Of course, maybe it would be easier now.)
Also complicated is how to keep Irma from persisting in trying to snag Baxter, since she wants a man so bad, poor thing. There's someone else who's actually written Baxter/Irma, and while it is cute, I don't really want to write it too. But I can't imagine Irma not pouncing upon learning that Baxter is single. Although maybe knowing that he worked with Shredder for a while would keep her away ... but I can imagine her eventually making excuses or trying to decide that he's changed/could change. And while I don't think Baxter has been that interested in romance, he would probably be thrilled to have someone, anyone, to really care about him. So even though I honestly do not want to put a romance in the story, I'm a little concerned it may just end up happening without my express permission. I guess I'll just have to see what happens when I get that far in the fic.
(Side-note: I adore Irma. She's so cute! And she's played by Jennifer Darling, which is epically awesome. Jennifer played Oscar Goldman's secretary Peggy Callahan. Such a great character. A little person, but so full of spunk and determination and goodness. I read something about Irma's counterpart in the Nick series being a spy of the Kraang enemy aliens, and just ... boo. BOO! One more reason that I'm hesitant to try the Nick series now.
Of course, I could always mellow out in the future. I know I at least want to try the Nick series once. But it took me years to be ready to try the 1987 series. I just wasn't ready for it five years ago when someone was trying to convince me to give it a chance, and when I did try it, Bebop and Rocksteady's idiocy and Shredder's whining kind of made me go "... No." I definitely preferred the 2003 series at that point. Now I'm just having a ball with all of it. It could take another while for me to be ready to try Nick's.)
I wonder how old Baxter and Barney are supposed to be. Shredder makes a bizarre comment in an episode while trying to trick Baxter, that he thinks of Baxter like his own son. WTH. Shredder is fairly young in the 1987 series, 30s or so, and Baxter definitely doesn't seem to be any younger than that. I actually kind of get the impression he's older, maybe in his 40s. A puzzle.
And the hair color issue. In season 1, Baxter is clearly blond. By season 2, it looks more light-brown. I describe it as light-brown in the fic and will probably color it that way, but I've noticed that most people color it blond. And when they draw human Baxter at all, they usually seem to prefer the season 1 look. I kind of like the season 2 look better, because ... fluffy long hair! The season 1 look is more "respectable professor" while season 2 is closer to "cliche mad scientist." Makes sense, since in season 1 he seems to be sane and honest, while season 2 has him tip over the edge. He apparently grew his hair out while in the insane asylum and then left it that way when Shredder busted him out.
It's interesting pondering on the different Baxters. Usually he seems to be a character that crap happens to no matter what verse it is. Oddly, though, it seems like the comic versions escape that fate. Even though the Archie Comics version started as the 1987 version, they stopped adapting TV storylines and he never had the fly accident. (He also vanished from the series in general.) And then maybe the IDW version is okay; I don't know enough about his role in those comics to say. (I have a vague memory that things may have gone wrong for him too, though.) And then in Mirage, it's hard to feel sorry for him there, since he deliberately turns himself into a cyborg when he wouldn't have had to. WTH. Also, the current movies Baxter is fine, but the actor said that if there's a third movie, Baxter will probably get the fly treatment.
The TV show Baxters, though ... oy. 2003 and 2012 are both evil geniuses, I believe, and yet I can't really feel that they fully deserved the many horrible things that happened to them (the 2003 one being dismantled body part by body part, UGGGGGH, and 2012 getting the fly treatment and not being able to reverse it). 2003 actually did get a better ending than the others, though, apparently; at least he gets a humanoid robot body or something by the end (not the one with the creepy holo-projector head, but a better one.) Meanwhile, the 1987 one, the only one that seemed to actually start out wanting to be honest and cracked up, gets a total bum rap that never does get fixed in canon. And his show is supposed to be the funny one. Odd, isn't it?
... And suddenly I got the giggles remembering probably one of the most bizarrely titled shows ever: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. What? Just what? ROTFLOL. I remember laughing and laughing about the title while Mom was in a general state of befuddlement.
I finally snagged one of The Real Ghostbusters DVDs on Amazon. They released five volumes with 11-12 episodes each, and next month they're going to do it again. I wanted the one with Adventures in Slime and Space on it, where Slimer apparently goes evil and they have to stop him/reverse it. I found a clip on YouTube when he grabs Janine and climbs to the top of the Empire State Building in a King Kong parody. LOL. (Apparently Evil Slimer is really big. And blue.) That only made me want it more. The disc also has A Fright at the Opera, where they discover the Phantom of the Opera summoned valkyries to the opera house. LOLOLOL. It should arrive on Tuesday.
I'm wondering if I'll really like anything beyond seasons 1 and 2, though. I think after that was when they changed some of the voices and Janine's character design, because apparently her glasses shape and her hair and her beautiful Brooklyn accent were thought to scare kids. WTH. I love Janine just the way she is and I abhor the thought of changing her! Although I'll give them points for actually explaining her character changes in-show, although it took them several seasons to do it. I do want to see at least a couple of the post-season 2 episodes, like the one where Egon gets stuck between planes or something and is pretty much a ghost and they have to get him back.
And there's a lot of episodes to enjoy before the changes, at least. Season 1 was only 13 episodes, but season 2 was 65 (I think). So if I don't like the re-tooling, there's a wealth of material to focus on instead.
I also wonder if I'd like the re-tooling of the show to Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters. Slimer is fun and cute and all, and his scenes are among my favorites of the movies, but he was meant to be a supporting character and I'm not sure I'd like him being center stage all the time.
And it occurred to me that if I get the Ghostbusters logo bear plush from Build-a-Bear, I'm going to have trouble naming it. Naming it after any of the darlings would be too sad/morbid, since you know, it's a ghost. So I most likely would either pick a random name or else name it after a ghost character, like Casper or maybe Gus or George, ghosts in cute kids' books of mine. I'd rather not choose George, though, since that would probably make me think of George Savalas more than the ghost character George.... Oh wait, the ghost was Georgie. I think. I'm leaning towards Gus. Maybe.
Then I've been enjoying the 1987 Turtles series more. Raphael really is similar to the other Raphs in many ways. In addition to the already-cited ways, he also seems to be the one to get angry the quickest (even though this Raph isn't angry/sullen most of the time in general). In the fic, I've depicted him as having the hardest time forgiving or trusting Baxter, and as I discovered after writing that, it seems to be canon-accurate. In contrast, Michelangelo seems to be the most forgiving and he and Baxter are having an interesting conversation. Despite what Baxter did to Mikey in one of the fly episodes, somehow I just can't picture Mikey holding a grudge about that. (Now, if it had been one of his brothers instead, hmmm....)
I'm in chapter 7 now. I had tentatively planned 10 chapters, but I don't want to limit myself if it looks like it will go beyond that. The story keeps flowing. Any time I get a little stuck, I soon think of another scene and it starts flowing too. I love when this happens, especially since it doesn't usually.
I also want to tinker with drawing a few fanarts for an imagined "opening" based on my story concepts. One would be a split-screen with Baxter and Barney glaring at each other, similar to the Yami Yugi versus Pegasus split-screen from the YGO opening. Then one of Barney with Shredder-tachi (a term I had to write out just once for the utter crackiness factor, LOL) and one of the Turtles ready to fight them, with Baxter standing somewhat apart from the Turtles yet still closer to their side of the fight. I don't think Baxter will actually join them; he doesn't want to and wants to instead try to get his life back to normal. But his brother being involved with Shredder makes everything complicated.
(And I wonder if I'll be able to draw the Turtles. I discovered Baxter is easy to draw, but I was never very good at drawing Leonardo as a kid. Of course, maybe it would be easier now.)
Also complicated is how to keep Irma from persisting in trying to snag Baxter, since she wants a man so bad, poor thing. There's someone else who's actually written Baxter/Irma, and while it is cute, I don't really want to write it too. But I can't imagine Irma not pouncing upon learning that Baxter is single. Although maybe knowing that he worked with Shredder for a while would keep her away ... but I can imagine her eventually making excuses or trying to decide that he's changed/could change. And while I don't think Baxter has been that interested in romance, he would probably be thrilled to have someone, anyone, to really care about him. So even though I honestly do not want to put a romance in the story, I'm a little concerned it may just end up happening without my express permission. I guess I'll just have to see what happens when I get that far in the fic.
(Side-note: I adore Irma. She's so cute! And she's played by Jennifer Darling, which is epically awesome. Jennifer played Oscar Goldman's secretary Peggy Callahan. Such a great character. A little person, but so full of spunk and determination and goodness. I read something about Irma's counterpart in the Nick series being a spy of the Kraang enemy aliens, and just ... boo. BOO! One more reason that I'm hesitant to try the Nick series now.
Of course, I could always mellow out in the future. I know I at least want to try the Nick series once. But it took me years to be ready to try the 1987 series. I just wasn't ready for it five years ago when someone was trying to convince me to give it a chance, and when I did try it, Bebop and Rocksteady's idiocy and Shredder's whining kind of made me go "... No." I definitely preferred the 2003 series at that point. Now I'm just having a ball with all of it. It could take another while for me to be ready to try Nick's.)
I wonder how old Baxter and Barney are supposed to be. Shredder makes a bizarre comment in an episode while trying to trick Baxter, that he thinks of Baxter like his own son. WTH. Shredder is fairly young in the 1987 series, 30s or so, and Baxter definitely doesn't seem to be any younger than that. I actually kind of get the impression he's older, maybe in his 40s. A puzzle.
And the hair color issue. In season 1, Baxter is clearly blond. By season 2, it looks more light-brown. I describe it as light-brown in the fic and will probably color it that way, but I've noticed that most people color it blond. And when they draw human Baxter at all, they usually seem to prefer the season 1 look. I kind of like the season 2 look better, because ... fluffy long hair! The season 1 look is more "respectable professor" while season 2 is closer to "cliche mad scientist." Makes sense, since in season 1 he seems to be sane and honest, while season 2 has him tip over the edge. He apparently grew his hair out while in the insane asylum and then left it that way when Shredder busted him out.
It's interesting pondering on the different Baxters. Usually he seems to be a character that crap happens to no matter what verse it is. Oddly, though, it seems like the comic versions escape that fate. Even though the Archie Comics version started as the 1987 version, they stopped adapting TV storylines and he never had the fly accident. (He also vanished from the series in general.) And then maybe the IDW version is okay; I don't know enough about his role in those comics to say. (I have a vague memory that things may have gone wrong for him too, though.) And then in Mirage, it's hard to feel sorry for him there, since he deliberately turns himself into a cyborg when he wouldn't have had to. WTH. Also, the current movies Baxter is fine, but the actor said that if there's a third movie, Baxter will probably get the fly treatment.
The TV show Baxters, though ... oy. 2003 and 2012 are both evil geniuses, I believe, and yet I can't really feel that they fully deserved the many horrible things that happened to them (the 2003 one being dismantled body part by body part, UGGGGGH, and 2012 getting the fly treatment and not being able to reverse it). 2003 actually did get a better ending than the others, though, apparently; at least he gets a humanoid robot body or something by the end (not the one with the creepy holo-projector head, but a better one.) Meanwhile, the 1987 one, the only one that seemed to actually start out wanting to be honest and cracked up, gets a total bum rap that never does get fixed in canon. And his show is supposed to be the funny one. Odd, isn't it?
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Date: 2016-08-15 10:27 pm (UTC)LOL at the episodes! ...The writers do know that Erik wasn't actually a ghost, right? ...Although if it's modern day/80s, he would've been by then, I suppose. Hmm. Though I'd hate to think that he hadn't crossed over for whatever reason.
her beautiful Brooklyn accent were thought to scare kids
...As odd as that seems, it's also the main reason why Charles Martinet opted not to use a Brooklyn accent for his interpretation of the Mario Bros. Not that I ever found any objections to Lou and Danny, who did use Brooklyn accents. Hmm. (On a side note, I was giggling this morning because I was remembering an amusing thing from one of the live-action sketches--Luigi is complaining that Mario has made a mess of the place, and as the camera pulls back to reveal the stacks of empty pizza boxes... the dungeon music from the castle levels kicks in. LOL)
Ooh, you should name the ghost plushie A. Chanz, like in the Dick van Dyke show! Ghost of A Chanz, LOL!
Interesting thoughts about Mikey not holding a grudge because it was him. Yeah, I can see him probably not being as generous if something had happened to one of his brothers...
I do like the art idea! (And LOL at Shredder-tachi. *snerk*)
And oy vey, the writers certainly like to have Baxter be the chew toy. *headdesk*
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Date: 2016-08-15 10:55 pm (UTC)Since they're probably in New York for that episode, it may not even be the same Phantom as in the actual franchise. LOL. (Although taking that horrid sequel to the stage play into consideration, he would have gone to New York. **headdesk.**) I'll have to see when the disc gets here.
So weird. And LOL, that sketch sounds hilarious!
ROTFLOL. Priceless!
Yep.
I haven't had the chance to try drawing yet, but hopefully I will soon!
Totally. Oy.