huckleberrypie Wrote:Sigh... Seems like things are getting overly stale here. 
I think things will stay this way since David will likely never return here, and it also seems Angel and Prue are busy with other things as well. In any case, may as well do some catching up here starting with my first item.
Kissyfur. My latest retro cartoon find. Over the summer, I found an old VHS tape at a yard sale during vacation. There was some old NBC Saturday Morning cartoons on it complete with commercials, recorded in 1989. First show on the tape was Kissyfur, a cartoon about a young bear cub and his loving father who flee the circus and settle down in a remote swampland with other kinds of Funny Animals. Despite it's sappy sounding name, it's one of the best cartoons I have seen, IMO. The animation varies from decent to crude, but the stories and humor are rather well written. Lots of cartoony action as well. The show ran from 1985 to 1986, was cancelled, and then uncancelled in 1988, apparently following outcry from the shows' fans. It was cancelled for good the very next year. :/
The main companies behind the show were NBC and DiC, and the original 1985 - 1986 season clearly shows that. The animation was done in Japan, as usual with mid-80s DiC shows. This can sometimes lead to some characters taking on AnimeEsque designs or other off-model moments. The 1988 season, of which I have just one episode, was animated in Taiwan and is a bit more crude. The writing is more or less the same.
Too bad Kissyfur has been largely forgotten. It hasn't been released on DVD and you can only find it through old out-of-print VHS tapes or the even more rare home VHS recording. There was a decent amount of merchandise that is far easier to find, ranging from McDonald's toys to storybooks, plushies, and a single issue DC comic book.
In relation to video game related news, I tried my hand at Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle. It could have been a good platformer, but Sega had to overdo it with the "Janken" (rock paper scissors) matches. You go through these to buy items and to beat the bosses. It boils down to luck really, and drags the game down a bit for me. As of now, I'm trying Contra Hard Corps. It lives up to the name, but I am getting further into the game and learning how the bosses work.
I love foxes, especially the one in my avatar.