Favorite Fictional Character --- Huckleberry Hound

I guess it's time to pull the next, and last, name out of the hat.  I do it with just a bit of sadness since it means there will be tons of dogs that will not get their moment in the sun.  I know I could keep those bits of paper until sometime next year, but that's just an awful mess to hold onto for that long.  I'm actually impressed that I managed to do it for a month.  I've had a lot of fun highlighting some of my favorite canine characters over the last month and I think, though it was through chance, that the dogs selected offer a good overview of man's best friend in the fictional world.  With that being said, I would like to introduce Huckleberry Hound.

I think there is strong argument to make over whether Disney or Hanna-Barbera has contributed the most to pop culture.  I'm not even sure I could pick a winner between the two of them, but if my feet were held onto burning coals, I would have to give the edge to Hanna-Barbera.  When you think of iconic cartoon characters, some of which have been featured on the blog in past years, I will guarantee most of them are Hanna-Barbera creations.  One of my favorites, who I don't think gets the love he deserves, is Huckleberry Hound.  The blue dog with a southern drawl who never seems to have a good grasp on any job, has to be one of those classic characters that brings a smile to my face every time I run across one of his cartoons.

Huckleberry, bless his heart, just can't seem to do anything the way he's supposed to.  He's been a police officer, dragon slayer, cowboy, knight, jungle boy, and just about anything else you can think of.  The fact that he survives these "occupations" has to be attributed to a guardian angel hovering around him constantly. As much as he tries, and he does tries, nothing goes the right way.  But like any true hero, he never gives up or becomes discouraged.  He keeps on keeping on, of course it wouldn't be as much fun to watch if he didn't.

I think I'm going to end this now and go watch a few of his cartoons on YouTube.  Nothing moves me quite the way Huckleberry does when he is singing "Oh My Darling, Clementine."

Favorite Fictional Character --- Pluto

I don't think I can really remember a time as a kid when we didn't have some sort of pet living in the house with us.  Every once in a while it would be a cat, but most of the time we had at least one dog as part of our family.  Above all other choices, dogs just seem to make themselves part of the family faster and easier than any other animal.  They don't have the aloofness that cats seem to ooze out of their pours, unlike hedgehogs they are easier to cuddle with, and are better companions than goldfish.  Our featured dog for this week is one of those dogs.  He is his owners family.  I just can't imagine Mickey Mouse without Pluto.

When I was a kid, I wanted a dog just like Pluto.  I thought Mickey Mouse had to be the luckiest guy in the world to have Pluto in his life.  The relationship was fun to watch and I never tired of seeing them together.   Pluto, at times, seemed to be an extension of Mickey.  They were joined at the hip and their adventures were of the kind I wanted to have.

I wanted to go cut a Christmas tree, bring it home, and then have two little chipmunks take up residence in my home.  Now I may have felt bad for Pluto and the abuse he had to take from Chip and Dale, but I couldn't help but laugh every time I watched it.  Now poor Pluto ended up tearing up the Christmas tree and destroying most of the other Christmas decorations in the process, but he was not going to let the two little creatures get away with it.  In true owner behavior, Mickey got angry at first, but quickly found the humor in his pets behavior.

Pluto wasn't the perfect pet by any stretch of the imagination, but what animal could be.  I think it's perfectly natural for him to get jealous every time Mickey wants to bring a new pet into the home.  I believe most of us would do the same thing in his place.  Dogs, including Pluto, tend to let their curiosity get into trouble.  They don't want to mess up, but they can't help but investigate something new.  It's part of the charm that all dogs have surrounding them.

One of these day I'm going to have a dog just like Pluto, that childhood desire has not gone away.  I just have to remember to inspect my Christmas trees before I bring them home.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Scooby-Doo

There is just something about dogs that make me happy.  They are way better than cats (and no I won't apologize for that statement.)  Dogs can be your best friend, counselor, bodyguard, running buddy, wing man, and plate cleaner.  The learn your moods and know exactly what you need, sometimes before you do.  I think that's why I've always been drawn to dogs in fiction, especially when they are almost human in behavior.  They are the dogs that fill your imagination as a kid, and what kid didn't love Scooby-Doo.

Now in the above paragraph I mentioned one of the benefits of having a dog is that you have a built in bodyguard, well if it's Scooby, you can forget that part.  This great dane is not your average dog filled with courage and guts.  If you need him to do more that bark a few times, you better have a box of Scooby-Snacks on hand in order to bribe the help out of him.  Of course the fact that he hangs out with a human, Norville "Shaggy" Rogers, that is about as cowardly as him doesn't help matters.

Come to think of it, I never understood why Fred, Daphne, and Velma ever brought the other two along with them.  I get solving mysteries came be dangerous, and that there is probably safety in numbers, but are two cowards going to make all that much difference.  Of course, it should be pointed out that is was normally Scooby who ended up catching the bad guy, even if it was normally by accident.  I will also have to admit that if were them, I would have felt safer with a dog by my side as well.  Even a dog who hides, eats way too much junk food, and seems to be on mind altering substances more often than not is better than no dog.

Then they had to bring Scrappy into the mix and Scooby was forced to make a few changes.  He had to get a little tougher and braver, how could he be upstaged by the little whippersnapper that was Scrappy.  The toughness of Scrappy forced Scooby to step it up a bit and he did for the most part.  He still had his moments, but he was a braver guy for the most part.  We won't even go into how he changed when Flim Flam and Vincent Van Ghoul took him, Shaggy, and Daphne on a real ghost hunt.  But I will say that despite everything, Scooby remained a dynamic character that never failed to entertain.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Mandrake the Magician

I'm not sure if some of you will think I'm cheating this month or not, but here it goes anyway.  As you all know, when I love a character, I really do love them.  Every single character I've featured over the last few years is someone that I have grown to care about and hold dear for one reason or another.  Some have taught me important lessons, others have simply entertained me.  So this month is dedicated to those characters that I've featured before, but never really got a lot of love from my readers.  It will be my second chance to spread the word about some very special characters, and hopefully it will give those characters one more chance to win over some fans.  

Now I may be shooting myself in the foot with this, but I'm hoping that this time around these very special characters will win some new followers of their own.  If even one more person is exposed to them, I'll consider this month to be a success.  So with no further ado, I would love to reintroduce you to a character that I first feature on June 9th, 2010.  He is one that has been around for decades and deserves all the attention he can get, Mandrake the Magician.

Growing up, I was always fascinated by stage magicians.  There was something so wondrous about a elegantly dressed man wearing a a top hat who can make things disappear or appear at will.  So when I came across a bunch of old comic books, during the 4th grade, that showcased a stage magician who not only performed real magic but fought criminals and saved innocents, I was hooked.

Mandrake the Magician started as a syndicated comic strip appearing in newspapers around the country in the 1930s.  He quickly became so popular that he started to appear in his own comic books, the ones I fell in love with plus a radio series in the 1940s and a movie serial from Columbia pictures, which is now available on DVD (I'm so buying them).

Needless to say with all the moving we did as I kid I eventually lost track of those comic books and Mandrake had slowly started to fade in my memory, so when the animated series, Defenders of the Earth, came out in the late 1980s I was hooked once again.  Defenders paired Mandrake up with his old sidekick Lothar (who was one of the earliest black heroes to appear in comic books), The Phantom, and Flash Gordon, both of which where first created by King Features, the company behind the Mandrake comic strip.  I loved this show, these heroes, along with their younger heirs, fought off Ming the Merciless from conquering our world.  It was only on for about one season, but every once in a while I find episodes of it for sale on DVD.

I have a lot of fond memories of Mandrake as he fought evil villains like The Cobra.  He stuck to his guns and never let the situations he found himself in, get the best of him.  He was strong and kind and I owe a big thank you to whoever put those comics in that box, then forgot about then.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Pepe Le Pew

I'm must admit to feeling a little sad at this point in time.  The month is about over as in my trip down memory lane with some of my favorite Looney Toons characters.  I almost broke down and featured Bugs Bunny this week, but there are so many characters in the pantheon that I stuck to my guns and went with another character that doesn't get as much respect as Bugs, Daffy, and Porky.  I considered Speedy Gonzales, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Marvin the Martian, Sylvester &Tweety, and even The Tasmanian Devil (a character that always seemed to get on my nerves.)  Instead of those deserving characters, some more than others, I decided to go with one of my favorite skunks.  I'm in love with those adorable little faces, and I do have more than one favorite skunk character.  So with no further ado let me present Pepe Le Pew, the skunk with nothing but love on the brain.

The first thing that comes to mind when you think of the French skunk named Pepe Le Pew, is his quest to find love in all the wrong places.  He has fallen in "love" with with a female black cat, a male cat, a female dog, a wild cat, and even Sylvester.  Now in poor Pepe's defense, they all disguised themselves as a skunk in order to trick somebody else.  It should also be pointed out that in most of those cases, once the truth comes out, Pepe doesn't care.  He's still in "love" and isn't going to take no for an answer.  He's an equal opportunity lover, though a bit on the needy side.

Now most of his affections are for Penelope Pussycat, the poor black cat who always manages to have a white stripe painted down her back.  I could never figure out how the poor creature could always find mishaps around white paint.  If I were her, I would have avoided the color white at all costs.  For the most part Penelope wanted nothing to do with Pepe.  She would run and run while he chased after her like a miniature stalker.  It wasn't until later that Penelope and Pepe showed their true colors.

After a bit of time, once Penelope started to return his feelings and became a bit more aggressive, Pepe started to flounder a bit.  He may want love, but he wants to be on the doing the pursuing.  He doesn't like being chased nor does he actually want the love given back.  Once Penelope starts to return the feelings, Pepe wants nothing to do with it.  It's an interesting dynamic to see the roles reversed.

Either way, pursuer or pursued, Pepe is one of those characters that will never go away.  He is a part of pop culture and he deserves to have the spotlight on him no matter what he does.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Witch Hazel

When I drew up plans for themes and what characters I wanted to use for the year, today's character was going to be featured in October as part of the Halloween characters.  The entire month was going to feature nothing but my favorite witches.  Since then though, I've decided to be a little more fluid in October and not pigeonhole the characters I want to use.  Since I'm featuring my favorite Looney Toons characters this month, I'm not sure how I could let Witch Hazel wait another 7 months to have her time in the sun.

Witch Hazel is another one of those characters that never got used as often as she should have been.  She was the antagonist in three different Bugs Bunny cartoons, and then only appeared in a few other cartoons throughout the years.  It's a shame really since Witch Hazel has to be one of the funniest characters in the entire pantheon of Looney Toons characters.

When we first meet her, she is a witch who enjoys eating children.  Not very funny or nice, but the trouble she gets into with Bugs Bunny is both those things.  Bugs rescues the children and once Witch Hazel discovers the hero is in face a rabbit, her taste in food changes.  She does everything she can to get Bugs into her cook pot instead of the youngsters.  What follows is a wonderful romp full of mishaps, broom crashes, and hilarity the likes of which doesn't happen often enough.

In each of her further encounters with Bus, Witch Hazel just can't get the upper hand on the rascally rabbit.  Thankfully she is able to keep a wonderful sense of humor and more often than not, laughs at her own foibles.  She is the classic witch in looks and in behavior but that doesn't stop her from transcending those themes and becoming one of my favorite Looney Toons characters of all time.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Sniffles

This weeks choice was a little harder for me to decide upon.  I wanted to do a mouse this week and the Looney Toons have two of them that I adore with all my heart and soul.  I didn't want to do two of them this month, so I flipped a quarter and the cuter of the two won.  So with no further ado I present you with one of the cutest characters to ever grace my television screen, Sniffles.

Now I know that Sniffles never became a huge star in the Merrie Melodies/Looney Toons pantheon, but he is one of my favorites of all time.  There was just something so refreshingly naive about him that I took to him like a cat with a saucer of milk.  I think if you were to use one word to describe our young hero it would be adorable.  Cute, sweet, precious, precocious, innocent, and huggable would also be appropriate words to use.

I have seen quite a few of his cartoons, though I'm pretty sure not all of them, but I think my favorites would be the ones he hung out with the bookworm.  Their adventures, whether with characters from books or trying to steal an owl egg, were some of my favorites.  They were two friends that I wanted to hang out with myself as a kid.  I wanted to get lost in a world where anything could happen and adventures where just around the corner.  Now I know his naive way of thinking got Sniffles into trouble more often than not, but he always managed to find a way out of his current predicament.

Now I know some of you might be thinking that Sniffles is a bit annoying, and I can understand where you may be coming from with that.  Towards the end of his cartoon run, they turned him into a regular old chatterbox who couldn't shut up to save his life.  He talked at such a rapid rate, for so long that even the most kind hearted fan could have been a little miffed with him.  I, however, do not have a fickle heart when it comes to Sniffles.  I actually found his chattering made him, it at all possible, even more endearing.  Though I know that alien in the Space Jams movie did not think so when he squished the poor little guy.  I would take Sniffles, even with his later motor mouth, over the crass and crude cartoons that grace TV today.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Foghorn Leghorn

I'll admit it right now, I have a weakness for cartoons.  Now I'm talking about the crappy ones that our children are watching nowadays.  I mean  really, have you seen this crap our kids are watching.  The animation is horrible, looks like a 4 year old with a computer did it.  The story lines and characters are mediocre at best and most of them are pointless.  What I love are the cartoons I grew up with, whether they were made in the 80s or before, the older cartoons where done by those who obviously loved what they were doing.  The animation was brilliant and well done, no sloppiness to them, and the characters entranced you.,  This month I'm going to be revisiting some of my favorite cartoon characters, the character that I could never imagine my life without them in it.  Even better I'm going to narrow it down to some of my favorite Looney Tunes gems.  You won't see Bugs, Daffy, or Porky mentioned during the month.  As much as I love those three, I want to focus on some others that don't get all the attention.  Starting us off is my favorite rooster, Foghorn Leghorn.

Now I know what you may be thinking, why would anyone like the obnoxious, loud Foghorn Leghorn.  It's because of that behavior that made him a favorite since the first time I laid eyes on him.  He seems to go through life with one goal in mind, to have fun.  He doesn't really care, at least at first glance, what others may think of him and his behavior.  He just wants to live life and enjoy it.

I guess some of you would even be able to call him a bully, at least as far as The Barnyard Dog is concerned.  I will have to admit that more often than not, Foghorn was the instigator in their little squabbles.  But he wasn't totally to blame, I can remember many times that Barnyard Dog was ready to pick a fight of his own.  Now because Foghorn was the source of their troubles, his tricks normally backfired on him.  More often than not, he was the loser of the two.  I can still see Foghorn losing his feathers, pretty much every time the two mixed things up.

Beyond his dysfunctional relationship with Barnyard Dog, my favorite interaction for Foghorn is with Henery Hawk, the young chicken hawk.  Despite Henery always trying to eat him, Foghorn seems to take a more paternal, if slight amused, interest in the boy.  It's one of the most fascinating relationships in all the Looney Tunes universe to watch, can't get enough of it.

Foghorn never seemed to move beyond the barnyard though.  He is one of those characters that seems to have his own little universe that none of the other major characters seemed to crossover into.  But his barnyard antics are more than enough for my enjoyment.  I love how he tried to woo Miss Prissy, though normally for the wrong reasons.  Because of that he also took a paternal interest in Egghead, Jr., Miss Prissy's young son.  Where his relationship with Henery was born out of amusement, his relationship with Egghead was, at first, born out of self interest.  I do think, and I can be way off base on this, that he ended up caring for the young chicken on his own merits.

Foghorn, Barnyard Dob, Henery Hawk, Miss Prissy, and Egghead, Jr. are the types of characters that I wish were still be creating now.  I have gotten Aidan to watch old episodes of Looney Tunes and he seems to enjoy them.  How much of his enjoyment is real and how much is humoring me, I'm not really sure.  Hopefully I will be able to teach him what true cartoons are, even if it's one character at a time.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Kissyfur

I'm of two minds on this weeks FFC post.  First of all, I've really enjoyed this month's theme and all the bear characters I've been able to highlight.  Characters that I love and am so grateful for the opportunity to revisit them.  I'm also a little sad because will this not only be the last post of the month, it will be the last post I write for the next two months.  During July and August there will be 9 different guest bloggers letting us in on some of their favorite fictional characters.  So with no further ado, I'll present you to Kissyfur, the cutest darn bear cub to ever grace Paddlecab County.

Kissyfur, who's  pictured with Beehonie, was a bear cub who started off life with tragedy.  At a young age, Kissyfur's mother passed away leaving him ans his father, Gus, all alone.  They were a circus family and after her death, neither one of them felt like performing anymore.  When their circus train is derailed into a swamp, they use the opportunity, and escape into Paddlecab County.

Kissyfur and his dad settle down and start a new life.  Kissyfur goes to school with other kids who live in the swamp.  He quickly becomes friends with Beehonie, an adorable little beaver named Toot, a fussy pig named Duane, and Stucky the porcupine.  Unfortunately Kissyfur's life isn't without a bully, a pudgy little warthog named Lennie loves to call him sissy face.  Lennie's dad isn't much better, he tries to make Gus' life harder as well.  Gus has started a paddle boat taxi service for residents of the swamp, and Lennie's dad doesn't want it to succeed.  

The best part of this cartoon, other than Kissyfur himself, were the alligators who were always trying to eat them.  Floyd and Jolene, thankfully aren't the sharpest tools in the shed, and they are always bungling their attempts to get a hold of Kissyfur.  They were hilarious spoilers for the young hero and I never got tired of him and his dad outsmarting them.

What I loved about Kissyfur and this show, and not something I really appreciated until years later, was what it taught me about life.  No matter what tragedies happen in your life, you still have a life to lead.  The pain and loss will always be with you, but you have to move on and start a new life.  It's not always the best life you could have had, but you can still be happy and live a full life.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Yogi Bear

"Look at the bears! Look at the bears! Look at the bears!"  I feel like the annoying kids driving through Jellystone Park right about now.  Until this month I never knew I loved this many bears or how popular bear characters are in our culture.  Well our next guest is none other than the self described "smarter than the average bear," Yogi Bear.

I really can't recall a time in my life when I didn't know who Yogi Bear was.  I'm sure when my only concerns where eating, pooping, sleeping, and burping, I wasn't paying that much attention.  Once I was old enough to watch TV though, I fell in love with the pic-a-nic basket stealing bear.  How can you not love a character who has only two concerns in life?  That was a rhetorical question so don't feel the need to answer it.

When Yogi wasn't trying to discover the goodies humans brought into the park, he was trying to get out of it. I've never seen someone try to do something so hard and fail so many times at it.  Well, maybe Wile E. Coyote, but that was another post entirely.  What is so great about Yogi though is he doesn't get mad or give up.  He is bound and determined to get out of the park and stay out.  You have to admire someone with that much dedication and drive.  Just imagine what he could have accomplished if he would have set that mind to science.  Maybe he could have been the first bear to walk on the moon.  He may even have been able to cure cancer.  Alas, we will never know since the last time I checked, Yogi was still trying to get out of the park.

Yogi has even become a part of our Christmas traditions.  Every year on Christmas Eve, Boomerang airs "Yogi's First Christmas."  We hunker down on the couch with a big bowl of popcorn and watch it.  Poor Yogi is trying to get some rest but he is dragged into Christmas merrymaking and mystery anyway.  One of these days I will find it on DVD so I won't have to rely on Boomerang.  It's really one of the last Christmas specials that I want but don't own.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Paddington Bear

A rather brief conversation on Twitter, which I'm not even able to tell you how it started, gave me the idea for June's Favorite Fictional Characters.  We started talking about fictional bears and which where our favorites, so I figured I would share 5 of mine during this month.

How can you not think of Paddington Bear and smile?  I dare you to try....go ahead think of him and frown....I don't think you can do it.  If you did manage it, you had to have tried really, really hard.  How can you not love a bear who can never gets enough of marmalade.  It makes way more sense than Pooh's obsession with honey, marmalade is just better.  Then there is his adorable wardrobe choice.  No bear looked  more stylish than Paddington in his blue raincoat and red hat.  Such a handsome bear he is.

Paddington, who was born in Peru was sent to London all by himself when he was just a young man, was born Pastuso.  When he was found by the Brown family, sitting on his suitcase in the middle of Paddington station, he told them his name was too hard to say.  They took the young bear in and named him Paddington in honor of where they found him.  Paddington, being the inquisitive bear that he is, quickly found himself getting into situations beyond his control.  Oftentimes he would end up lost, but he sure enjoyed the journey.  

My favorite thing about Paddington though is when he gets annoyed.  Normally he is a very polite young man.  He always uses titles and rarely ever calls anyone by their first name.  When he gets annoyed though he loves to give a nice hard stare, a stare to end all stares.  Paddington has made men fall to their knees and give into whatever it was Paddington wanted to begin with.  I got to love a guy who gets what he wants, and gets it with such attitude.

By the way, Paddington has moved up in the world and has his own facebook page.  So I would beseech everyone who is interested to friend him.  I'm sure he won't mind.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Speed Buggy

I'm going to finish the month off with another one of my favorite cartoons that played on USA's Cartoon Express.  Speed Buggy was the coolest car since Herbie, only with more personality.

Speed Buggy, or Speedy to his friends, was a fiberglass dune buggy that loved to win races.  Along with his builder, Tinker, and two other friends, Speedy traveled the world racing against all types of cars.  No race was too big or too small and Speedy normally came out on top.

What made the show so much fun though was all the mysteries and espionage situations they found themselves in.  Like Scooby, Jabber, Josie, or Captain Caveman, Speedy would normally get involved in some nefarious happenings and would always manage to save the day.  He was loyal and lovable, almost like a big dog on wheels.  He had a mind of his own but could be controlled by a remote as well.  Tinker and his friends would rarely ever use it, but sometimes the bad guys got a hold of it and made Speedy do things against his will.

There are few cases where a car could stand on his own as a character.  I don't think it's enough that they talk, I mean KITT would never be considered a great character, there has to be a personality as well.  Speedy not only has the personality to pull it off, he also has the heart to go along with it.  No matter what, whether anyone else agree with me, Speedy will always hold a special place in my memories.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Jabberjaw

This month was going to be about cartoon characters in general, but I think I'm leaning more towards those cartoons that I watched on USA Network's Cartoon Express.  I just have so many great memories of watching this at home and at my grandparents house.  When my grandparents had new carpeting put in, off white in color, I would have to take my shoes off and I would park myself in front of the big console TV and get lost in a world that was nothing like my own.  Another one of those cartoons was "Jabberjaw."

For those of you who may not know that grinning shark pictured above, let me introduce him to you.  If you were to think of crossing Curly from the Three Stooges, Rodney Dangerfield, and Scooby-Doo, you would get Jabberjaw.  Of course that is if you turned him into a great white shark.  Jabberjaw was the drummer for the band, The Neptunes, in the year 2076.  He and his band mates live under the sea in a vast complex of communities that have sprouted up on the ocean floors.  Like many great Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters, Jabberjaw and his friends not only play great music, they solve mysteries and save the world in between gigs.

Jabberjaw is, obviously, the star of the show and his fifteen feet of height won't let you forget it.  He is used to not only being the star, but the butt of the jokes as well.  Because he is a shark, he isn't allowed in all the places his friends are which causes him to feel disrespected and down at times.  But, like Scooby, the bad guys are never caught without him and just for a minute, he gets the respect he deserves.

I always had a great time when I watched him and his friends on his adventures.  In many ways, I think I actually enjoyed this one more than Scooby or Josie and the Pussycats, both of which are similar in tone and style.  I think the novelty of having a great white shark as a good guy was part of my attraction to him.  I can't think of any other shark portrayal where the big toothed creature isn't gobbling humans up.  That and there was just something so infectious about his laugh that oftentimes I would laugh right along with him (and that damn laugh track).

Favorite Fictional Character --- The Herculoids

Time once again for me to talk about some of my favorite cartoon characters, especially as I was growing up.  I remember sitting on my grandmother's living room floor and watching Cartoon Express on USA Network.  The Herculoids were always one of those cartoons that I watched.

The Herculoids were a group of super heroes that lived on the planet of Quasar.  King Zandor of Azmot seemed to be the sole defender of the planet from any threat whether interstellar or from home.  He is assisted by his wife, Tara, and his son, Dorno.  They are all in peak physical condition and are proficient with the energy slingshot.

They are assisted in their defense of the planet by five native, intelligent animals.  Zok, who was my favorite as a kid, was a Space Dragon who was able to leave the planet and fly out into space.  He shoots energy beams out of his eyes and tail.  Those eyes also produced nega beams which disrupted other types of energy sources.  I always wanted to be the one to ride on his back.

Tundro was the ceratopsian dinosaur that shot energy rocks out of his horn.  Out of all the animals he was the coolest, especially when I was going through my dinosaur phase.  He had ten legs which allowed to go faster than most animals his size and reach greater heights.

Igoo, the rock ape, was the strongest of them all.  Whenever a job called for brute force, Igoo was the man, especially since his body was indestructible.

Gloop and Gleep were the two blobs that were able to take any shape and form miniature versions of themselves.  They came in very handy, especially when a trampoline, catapult, or bridge were needed to save the day.

What I loved about this show, what I think most boys loved about this show, was the action and adventure.  The Herculoids defended their home from tyrants, monsters, and alien lifeforms bent on domination.  They used a combination of intelligence and brawn that appealed to me and for just a few minutes I was able to picture myself fighting along side.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Ren

Another month and another monthly "theme" for the FFC posts.  This month is going to be about cartoon characters.  There will be no time period restrictions on it, but I think I will be featuring some rather more obscure characters than the more popular ones.  Today's will be one of the sexiest male cartoons characters ever drawn, Ren from "The Pirates of Darkwater".

"The Pirates of Dark Water" took place on the world of Mer.  Mer is a land of 20 seas with most land broken up into islands.  Unfortunately those seas have been slowly being corrupted by Dark Water.  The Dark Water is slowly killing of the land and is becoming more and more hostile to ships sailing the seas.

Octopon was the brightest and most advanced kingdom of the land and Ren's father was the king that ruled it.  The Dark Dweller created Dark Water to destroy the land and Octopon was one of it's first casualties.  Ren was sent into exile at a young age and was raised, unaware of who he truly was, by a lighthouse keeper.  Once Ren reached adult hood, he discovered the truth and set out on a quest to discover the lost treasure of Mer.  By retrieving those treasure, Ren will be able to defeat the Dark Dweller and save his world from the decay that is slowly killing it.

Ren is a brilliant example of a young man reluctantly embracing his destiny and trying to do the right thing for those he doesn't know.  He is joined on his adventure by various friends and foes alike but they all serve to highlight Ren's strengths and weaknesses.  Between the writing, the drawing, and the lush environment that Ren got to play in, he was one of the most dashing and fun cartoon characters created in the 1990s.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Linus Van Pelt

One of my favorite Halloween movies to watch, the one I can't miss no matter what, is It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.  I've loved the movie (TV special) since I was a kid and Halloween never feels the same without it.  My only beef with the movie is that instead of Charlie's name in the title, it should have been Linus' name.  Linus Van Pelt is the real hero of the movie.

I think of all the characters in the Peanuts universe, Linus Van Pelt was the one I always seemed to gravitate towards.  Charlie, as adorable as he is, always seemed a little too whiny for my taste and I never got the Snoopy/Woodstock fascination my mother had.  Now Pig Pen would come in a close second but that's only because I liked all the dirt floating around him.

What I like most about Linus is his intellect.  He is by far the smartest of the group and isn't afraid to show that side of him to the others.  He never rubs it in their face but Linus seems to have a mind capable of exploring deeper subjects, including philosophy, history, and religion.  For some reason I thought all kids should be like him and I never failed to live up to his example.  Which by the way, totally annoyed my mom when I would open up my mouth and put my two cents into what ever was being discussed.  I got so bad I would ask my mom a question I knew the answer to because I wanted to let everyone know I was smarter than them.  Thankfully I grew out of that phase pretty quickly, but the blanket thing took a little longer.

Now my blanket wasn't blue like Linus' was.  Instead it was a white blanket with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, and Pluto at a county fair.  They were eating ice cream cones and there was even a Ferris Wheel on there.  I loved that blanket and for a while, like Linus, never felt secure without it.  It took on properties of it's own and I was heartbroken when my mom finally threw it away (that trauma can wait for another post though), I'm not sure I have ever forgiven her for that.

Everything I love about Linus can be summed up in his relationship with The Great Pumpkin.  Linus never losses faith in his beliefs, even when he is being ridiculed by others.  He truly believes that The Great Pumpkin will reward him if he has the most sincere pumpkin patch and yet when things don't turn out his way, he never totally loses that faith.  Linus shows courage and a strong sense of self throughout the ordeal and I've always admired that about it.  He knows who he is at such a young age and he doesn't let doubt or ridicule change that.

So far all of those who have never seen the movie or haven't watched it in a long time, please take the time this year and treat yourself to a wonderful story and an even better hero.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Thundarr the Barbarian

The year: 1994. From out of space comes a runaway planet, hurtling between the Earth and the Moon, unleashing cosmic destruction! Man's civilization is cast in ruin!

Two thousand years later, Earth is reborn...

A strange new world rises from the old: a world of savagery, super science, and sorcery. But one man bursts his bonds to fight for justice! With his companions Ookla the Mok and Princess Ariel, he pits his strength, his courage, and his fabulous Sunsword against the forces of evil.

He is Thundarr, the Barbarian!
 
So goes the opening narration of one of my favorite cartoons growing up.  I can still remember laying on the floor of my grandparent's living room (which they had just had recarpeted) and watching this show as many times as I could get away with.  This was a vision of a post apocalyptic world, of course I didn't know that word back then, gone mad and I couldn't get enough of it.

Thundarr was a captive slave of a evil sorcerer king who was bent on domination of all those weaker than him.  With the aid of Ookla the Mok, who was a fellow captive he managed to escape the chains of bondage.  They were joined by the king's stepdaughter, Princess Ariel who was a sorceress in her own right and they traveled the ravaged world, helping the weak and destroying those who wished to dominate their wills on the general populace.  

Theirs was a hybrid world of science and magic.  Most of the evil tyrants they fought were sorceress who used science to amplify their powers.  Our heroes were committed to defeating these same tyrants and did so with a style all their own.  In a landscape that was totally alien but hauntingly familiar to our own, they battled evil and corruption everywhere they went.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Mandrake the Magician

Growing up, I was always fascinated by stage magicians.  There was something so wondrous about a elegantly dressed man wearing a a top hat who can make things disappear or appear at will.  So when I came across a bunch of old comic books, during the 4th grade, that showcased a stage magician who not only performed real magic but fought criminals and saved innocents, I was hooked.

Mandrake the Magician started as a syndicated comic strip appearing in newspapers are the country in the 1930s.  He quickly became so popular that he started to appear in his own comic books, the ones I fell in love with plus a radio series in the 1940s and a movie serial from Columbia pictures, which is now available on DVD (I'm so buying them).

Needless to say with all the moving we did as I kid I eventually lost track of those comic books and Mandrake had slowly started to fade in my memory, so when the animated series, Defenders of the Earth, came out in the late 1980s I was hooked once again.  Defenders paired Mandrake up with his old sidekick Lothar (who was one of the earliest black heroes to appear in comic books), The Phantom, and Flash Gordon, both of which where first created by King Features, the company behind the Mandrake comic strip.  I loved this show, these heroes, along with their younger heirs, fought off Ming the Merciless from conquering our world.  It was only on for about one season, but every once in a while I find episodes of it for sale on DVD.

I have a lot of fond memories of Mandrake as he fought evil villians like The Cobra.  He stuck to his guns and never let the situations he found himself in, get the best of him.  He was strong and kind and I owe a big thank you to whoever put those comics in that box, then forgot about then.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Simon Sivelle

When I was thinking of my FFC today I was trying to figure out who to do until I poured some lemonade into my Simon glass from Hardees and I awas like "Eureka," I've done Brainy Smurf already, why not do my other "nerdy" hero.

Simon was always my favorite of the three Chipmunk boys.  Now I'm not that familiar with the earlier version of him or with the movies that came out a few years ago, but I'm in love with the character that appeared in the animated series that ran from 1983-1990.  Not only was he smarter than Einstein but he was way cool because he played in a band.  When I started having to wear glasses at a young age, Simon (and this is going to sound silly) was one of the things that made me feel better about having to wear them.  Wear glasses for the first time was ackward for me and since we were pretty poor my mom couldn't really afford what passed for stylish glasses in the early 80s.  Needless to say I ended up having to wear some pretty ugly ones, but seeing this really smart and cool character on TV, made me feel better about it.

While I liked all 3 of the boys, Simon just seemed to be the glue that held them together.  Without Simon, Alvin never would have been able to pull most of the schemes that he attempted.  Simon was the one who was smart enough to put Alvin's plans into action.  Theodore needs Simon's strength to keep him from always being pulled into mischief by Alvin.  Without Simon the other two would be lost.

Simon will always hold a special place in my heart, especially everytime I drink out of that glass.

Favorite Fictional Charcter --- Brainy Smurf

Growing up a know-it-all kid who argued with the adults about stuff I thought I knew more about than I did, made me empathize with Brainy Smurf more than I would ever care to admit.

Brainy is that guy who can never be wrong and would never dream of giving someone else credit for being smarter than him.  He thinks he knows everything and has written many books on just about every subject you can imagine, including how to give birth (it's in the youtube video at the end of this post).  The funny thing is he actually ends up being right sometimes but is so obnoxious in the way he presents himself, nobody is willing to listen.

Brainy for me was that inner nerd that always felt wronged by those who were more popular.  He was that part of me who hid behind my "brains" because I didn't know how else to deal with people at first.  He was that part of me, that as I aged, I slowly grew out of but never totally let go of.