The Nostalgia Thread (aka...I remember that!)

[miketheratguy]

D'oh! That's right... thanks for catching my error on that one. For whatever reason, I loved the Hobbit as a kid. Something tells me that I don't want to revisit it as an adult, however.

See I actually think that it holds up, but then I watched it many, many, many times as a kid. When I saw it for the first time since childhood - in like 1997 or so - I was surprised that I still remembered the images, the songs, and even the inflection in characters' voices. It's entirely possible that someone who hasn't seen the cartoon on like twenty years would think that it was better left in childhood, especially after seeing the Jackson movies, but Idunno. I think that it's still a charming and tidy little rendition of the famous story (with a final scene that's equal parts happy and ominous, however that's possible).

The Ralph Bakshi Lord of the Rings cartoon, on the other hand? That one's a different story. What a bizarre, awkward, wildly uneven (if incredibly ambitious) film that is.

[kitsunebi]

See I actually think that it holds up, but then I watched it many, many, many times as a kid. When I saw it for the first time since childhood - in like 1997 or so - I was surprised that I still remembered the images, the songs, and even the inflection in characters' voices. It's entirely possible that someone who hasn't seen the cartoon on like twenty years would think that it was better left in childhood, especially after seeing the Jackson movies, but Idunno.

I agree that it holds up, but I'm not sure if having nostalgic fondness is a prerequisite for enjoying it or not, since I also watched it many times as a child.

I WILL say that I'd MUCH rather watch the animated Hobbit than sit through An Unexpected Journey again. (The later 2 films redeem the series, but good lord do I hate the first one...)

[miketheratguy]

I agree that it holds up, but I'm not sure if having nostalgic fondness is a prerequisite for enjoying it or not, since I also watched it many times as a child.

I WILL say that I'd MUCH rather watch the animated Hobbit than sit through An Unexpected Journey again. (The later 2 films redeem the series, but good lord do I hate the first one...)

I can't say because I simply can't disconnect myself from the film enough to give an unbiased opinion. The Hobbit and The Goonies were in perpetual rotation in my VCR for the majority of my childhood, so I don't think I have the ability to step outside my own memories and accurately reflect on whether they hold up on their own. I want to say that they do (and their ever-growing fanbase would seem to confirm this) but I wouldn't feel confident being any kind of objective authority.

I was overwhelmed with satisfaction when I watched Jackson's LOTR trilogy (well, with the first and third films, anyway. Second one was kind of boring until the third act) so I was one of the many people who was at least somewhat disappointed with the Hobbit films. I've actually gone back and forth a lot regarding which of the three I like best (or, contrarily, least). Strangely I think that The Desolation of Smaug might hold up for me the least.

Man, looking back it really is kind of incredible to think that each book in the dense and complex Lord of the Rings trilogy got a single film whereas the short children's book The Hobbit got three.

[te72]

The Ralph Bakshi Lord of the Rings cartoon, on the other hand? That one's a different story. What a bizarre, awkward, wildly uneven (if incredibly ambitious) film that is.

This one was put out on DVD sometime around the early 2000's, after the Jackson series reignited interest in the stories. I went into it expecting something different, based on the artwork on the case alone, but man alive was I put off.

That movie was either made by folks on drugs, or as the viewer you were expected to be.

I WILL say that I'd MUCH rather watch the animated Hobbit than sit through An Unexpected Journey again. (The later 2 films redeem the series, but good lord do I hate the first one...)

Radagast makes the first movie. Well him and Gandalf. Quite slow paced though, I will give you that.

I was overwhelmed with satisfaction when I watched Jackson's LOTR trilogy (well, with the first and third films, anyway. Second one was kind of boring until the third act) so I was one of the many people who was at least somewhat disappointed with the Hobbit films. I've actually gone back and forth a lot regarding which of the three I like best (or, contrarily, least). Strangely I think that The Desolation of Smaug might hold up for me the least.

Man, looking back it really is kind of incredible to think that each book in the dense and complex Lord of the Rings trilogy got a single film whereas the short children's book The Hobbit got three.

The introduction of Smaug gave me every bit the willies that the T-rex scene in Jurassic Park does. Granted, I finally bought a "grown up" home theater system, on the urging of a friend who is really good with theater setups. Klipsch made me a movie fan again.

As for the density of the world, they could make, if they so chose, a LOTR movie every year and I don't think they would really run out of good stories to tell for a looooooong time. For example, how much of the Second Age have the Jackson movies covered? We got to see all of a bit of the Battle of Mordor at the beginning of Fellowship. That Balrog that Gandalf fights? Lot more to that story too. The Skeleton Army? Same deal there too. As well as they're made, as long as they keep to that standard of quality, I would be happy to put my money into it if they were to make more.

[miketheratguy]

Radagast makes the first movie. Well him and Gandalf. Quite slow paced though, I will give you that.

The introduction of Smaug gave me every bit the willies that the T-rex scene in Jurassic Park does. Granted, I finally bought a "grown up" home theater system, on the urging of a friend who is really good with theater setups. Klipsch made me a movie fan again.

As for the density of the world, they could make, if they so chose, a LOTR movie every year and I don't think they would really run out of good stories to tell for a looooooong time. For example, how much of the Second Age have the Jackson movies covered? We got to see all of a bit of the Battle of Mordor at the beginning of Fellowship. That Balrog that Gandalf fights? Lot more to that story too. The Skeleton Army? Same deal there too. As well as they're made, as long as they keep to that standard of quality, I would be happy to put my money into it if they were to make more.

My only problem with that is that the Hobbit films, while definitely well made, show what I consider to be a dramatic backslide in terms of directorial quality. The pacing and tone was all over the place, the editing needed a lot of work (the movies might as well have been called "THE DWARF....Plus That Hobbit Guy, I guess", and worst of all - as Viggo Mortensen himself said, regarding the extensive overuse of CGI - "the genie is out of the bottle, and it has him. And he’s happy, I think".

Everyone in the world seemed to HAAAAAAAAATE Radagast but whatever, I was okay with him. Didn't have any overwhelming love for the guy but he certainly didn't bother me. Same with Jackson's treatment of the Smaug scene: Well framed, well acted, well put together - but I wasn't especially impressed with it. The best part of the movie, no doubt (MUCH greater than the Cirque Du Soleil cartoon that was the barrel riding sequence), but I simply didn't care for many of the stylistic decisions of the scene: having Bilbo visible through basically the whole thing, Bilbo's flattery coming across more as the desperate acts of a frightened man than the crafty manipulation of an increasingly brave hobbit, Smaug's movement and timbre coming across as snake-like, etc. Just personal preference but I found the scene to be good, if not as good as it should have been.

This one was put out on DVD sometime around the early 2000's, after the Jackson series reignited interest in the stories. I went into it expecting something different, based on the artwork on the case alone, but man alive was I put off.

That movie was either made by folks on drugs, or as the viewer you were expected to be.

LOL very well said.

I actually saw Bakshi's Lord of the Rings film when I was a little kid, just like the Hobbit cartoon. In fact, the one time I ever saw it growing up was when I was at a family get-together and someone put it in the VCR after the Hobbit cartoon ended. Being that I was like six years old, and that the Bakshi cartoon is nigh-incomprehensible even to adults, and considering that I was only familiar with The Hobbit and had no knowledge of the books, I was utterly baffled by what I was witnessing. I couldn't reconcile the fact that the second cartoon seemed to somehow have to do with The Hobbit - there was a ring, and a different character named Frodo. That SOUNDS kind of like Bilbo. But who are all these other people? What's making the movie look all weird and surrealistic? Why is there a viking?

By the time they threw in the third film for us kids - the 1980 Return of the King cartoon which seemed to feature the characters from the second film but then went BACK to the style of The Hobbit - I was so confused that I ran into traffic and killed myself.

[te72]

Mike, I can understand your criticisms of the Hobbit series, they're entirely valid. I'm more a fan of practical effects myself, for the simple reason being that CGI seems to have led to the "cut every three seconds to something else, lest we lose the interest of the ADD-addled viewers of modern film!" Personally, I like to be able to take in a scene, appreciate the details put into it. I don't need Tarantino length scenes in all my movies, but if you don't give me a chance to soak in what I'm looking at... I'm likely to forget your movie.

However, I can't imagine how they would have pulled off the Smaug scene without CGI. I haven't dove into the bonus features and making of parts on that series yet, but I can' imagine that they COULD have done everything else (save for perhaps the wargs) with practical effects.

As for Radagast, he reminded me of Piglet, from Winnie the Pooh, if Piglet were a badass wizard.

[E-Day]

Let's add some more Canadian content. Such as the 80's sitcom Check It Out! starring Don Adams.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1emCz9tYK4

Snow Job (yes, that was the name of a show here):

Or the classic Bizarre. Yes, it was shown on Showtime in the US and was a joint production between Showtime and CTV, but it was filmed in Canada.

And The Super Dave Osborne Show after that.

[E-Day]

Four on the Floor

Smith and Smith Comedy Mill

Which gave birth to The Red Green Show (if you've seen this show, you will recognize a couple of guys in the Four on the Floor clip)

The Edison Twins

The Littlest Hobo

[E-Day]

The Beachcombers

A terrible show called Danger Bay

The Raccoons

And it's kickass ending theme:

The Kids in the Hall

And the national anthem sign off when TV stations would actually stop broadcasting at night. The end always used to bring a tear to my eye.

Is that enough Canadian content for everyone?

[jay]

Oh my, The Raccoons! That was my show when I was a wee little boy.

[vice350z]

That first show, is it Out of This World, where the girl could freeze time by touching the ends of her two fingers together?

The other one is Small Wonder. And that was a terrible show

lol..those are it! thanks.

Small Wonder was terrible but as a kid working cleaning villas, it was on TV while working on the weekends...just reminds me of the 90's

[vice350z]

just another random memory....I remember stoppping at KayBee Toys when i was in the area just so i could play Super OffRoad on the SNES display unit they had. I was hardcore Team Sega back then but I was impressed with the SNES..colors, sound, music were all better than Genesis. But there was no way I could tell my Nintendo friend that I liked SNES lol

[miketheratguy]

However, I can't imagine how they would have pulled off the Smaug scene without CGI. I haven't dove into the bonus features and making of parts on that series yet, but I can' imagine that they COULD have done everything else (save for perhaps the wargs) with practical effects.

Oh no, I thought that the Smaug scene was rather well done. I mean I didn't like the choices that were made regarding the performances (and the fact that Bilbo is just standing there visible the whole time, which unless my childhood memories of the book are really off I don't think was how it went down) but visually it was an extremely good scene.

When I think of how much I dislike the overuse of CGI I'm thinking of characters like Azog and scenes where it really wasn't necessary such as the barrel riding sequence. Compare that whole scene with the climactic battle of Amon Hen at the end of Fellowship of the Ring. That scene was entirely practical and it shows: There's a presence, a dramatic grit and sense of peril that (in my opinion) is completely absent from the majority of the Hobbit trilogy. As a whole I still enjoyed the films, but I think that such heavy reliance on CGI is the biggest factor in why they don't hold a candle to the Rings trilogy.

Which is a shame, because Gollum is a landmark example of CG done right. How they managed to nail him yet again in An Unexpected Journey yet drop the ball on almost every other computer-rendered element, I don't know.

The Raccoons

Holy shit, The Raccoons! Had I not rediscovered them in 2005 or so after a twenty year search I would have gone absolutely nuts seeing that post. "The Christmas Raccoons" was one of the first Christmas specials that I remember watching as a wee lad and it made an impression on me because poof, after that first time seeing it I never saw nor heard anything about it again. It took some extensive digging to find something to back up my vague memories of heroic raccoons and evil anteaters but sure enough, I discovered that they were a real thing.

Bonus points for Kids in the Hall. Judging from SCTV I didn't count myself a fan of Canadian humor but KITH was probably the most consistently entertaining sketch comedy show I'd ever seen.

If you people out there watch this and don't chuckle at least once, you probably don't have a soul.

[jay]

I would not consider myself a fan of Canadian humor either, I typically don't enjoy the comedy shows we have here on television. However, Kids in the Hall is the exception. It tops all the other sketch comedy shows I have seen.

[kitsunebi]

I'm not Canadian, and as far as I know, these were never shown on TV where I lived, but thanks to the internet, I have now seen EVERY SINGLE EPISODE of this franchise (well, all except for some of the newest ones...but certainly all of the ones that qualify as retro.) Not really proud of it. Maybe if I'd been able to binge-watch while stuffing myself full of Tim Hortons and poutine I could have at least gained honorary citizenship?

[miketheratguy]

We were shown Degrassi in junior high school back in like 91 or so. I don't remember it very well but I thought that it was supposed to be sort of like an after-school drama, and then Kevin Smith came along and got involved by making it all self-aware and silly. Maybe I'm wrong. Canadian things often frighten and confuse me.

[E-Day]

I would not consider myself a fan of Canadian humor either, I typically don't enjoy the comedy shows we have here on television. However, Kids in the Hall is the exception. It tops all the other sketch comedy shows I have seen.

You better have an exception for Corner Gas, which is probably the best Canadian comedy show ever. But it's not retro, so I will let this slide

[te72]

Not a Canadian show, but did anyone else watch Fawlty Towers? I took a resort / hotel management class in high school, and it was an excuse for the teacher to show us that one. We watched the whole series, and it was great.

[miketheratguy]

Not a Canadian show, but did anyone else watch Fawlty Towers? I took a resort / hotel management class in high school, and it was an excuse for the teacher to show us that one. We watched the whole series, and it was great.

I saw it. It was decidedly British and starred John Cleese. Since I was a major fan of Monty Python and the Holy Grail I thought that I would love the show. I was sorely mistaken.

[PhoenixVanguard]

Probably my first consoles.

[PhoenixVanguard]

[kitsunebi]

My first computer/game system was pimped by Shatner.

[te72]

My folks skipped over the PC until probably 91, 92 or so. I think Windows 3.1 was my first exposure to home computing, other than a friend who had an Apple of the period.

So that raises the question, anyone miss DOS? I kinda do sometimes...

[CastleVanity]

Yeah i'm gonna leave this here.This is my Jam!

[wtc1973]

I'm a '80s kid and very nostalgic for those times now. Heres a few that really bring back good memories: