BubsCartoons: What The Hell Is Wrong With The Pancakes Cartoon: The Story and Characters

The Pancakes Cartoon was actually a remake of the very first animated cartoon I ever made all the way back in 2009. The background behind the story was a joke that I made up with some of my friends back in eighth grade. I think we were in some drama class or something, and somebody kept talking about poking people in the ribs, and I guess I was thinking of pancakes and that's where the joke started. In the right hands, that could have been a great concept, but I didn't take enough advantage of it.
The reason I chose to remake the cartoon was because I thought it was simple enough so that I could learn the ropes of making longer cartoons. And like I said in the last post, the story was also meant to introduce my characters to a broader audience. That's why I limited the cast to the few characters that I felt were used the most and were based off myself. Lucy is supposed to be based off my sister, although I didn't have her speak. Which is odd, since when I made either of these cartoons, I probably could have gotten her to do the voice.

The Story

   The only problem with the story was that it was too damn boring. Now before the cartoon was done, Justin and I were telling everyone we knew about this big project we were working on. So there were probably around two dozen people who were really interested, maybe more, maybe less, who knows. When the cartoon came out, everybody I showed it too seemed to enjoy it, or at least they were impressed with all the hard work we out into it. But it didn't really seem to leave an impact on anyone and it was mostly forgotten in the next week or two.
   And in that regard, I can't blame anyone else but myself. The story was just too bland and generic, which shouldn't be an excuse even if it is introductory. A lot of people kept asking me why this kid kept wanting to get poked in the ribs and I didn't have an answer for it, and you certainly wouldn't get it from the story.
The worst part of the story had to be the third scene where Bim and Harold and talking to each other. The whole conversation brings the plot to a standstill and this is where the introductory bull crap really gets out of hand. The point of the scene was to make sure that the audience knew that one kid's name was Bim and that the other kid was wearing a paper bag on his head... and when you say it like that, you can see all the problems with it. IT WAS NOTHING BUT EXPOSITION. It wasn't funny, it wasn't entertaining, and it sure as hell wasn't interesting. This scene more than any other is a perfect example of how NOT to tell a story.
     The other scenes fared marginally better, if only because there was a little more emphasis on the visuals. Even with that, the first scene is the only scene where the visuals tell the story, even though it's just poorly executed Tex Avery jokes. Really, all the jokes in the cartoon were cliched and uninspired. I almost wish we stopped at the first scene, since there wasn't really a reason for the story to go on.

The Characters

      Just like the story, the characters were uninteresting overall. Tommy never had much personality to begin with and neither did Lucy. Bim and Harold are based on different aspects of myself. Bim is supposed to be the me that everyone sees, but he just comes off as a blank slate. And with a name like Bim, I swear I'll never use him again; it's just too confusing. And while I've grown tired of the bag, Harold did have the most developed personality in the cartoon, which isn't saying too much. Basically, he's my id, the jackass thoughts I have when things don't go my way. I've put a lot of thought into his character, but there isn't enough of it in the story.
     Harold was the most fun to voice since, he was more specific. He was kinda based off Orson Wells (more specifically the character Charles Foster Kain), but people tell me he sounds more like Jim Carry. Whatever, it's better than the other voices. Bim's voice is just my regular voice, while Tommy's voice is a higher pitched version of it. I couldn't do Tommy's voice for too long, so I just reused the line where he says "Pancakes!" The cop was just a stereotypical Irish cop, but Justin did a funny voice for him so there's that.

     It's really a shame how dull the story and characters were considering the time put into it. Even cartoons with mediocre animation but good stories are still entertaining. Just look at Charlie Brown or the Simpsons. Also, here's the original story outline which is just about as entertaining as the cartoon itself (more on that in one of the next posts).