Year In, Year Out

Year In, Year Out
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Don't worry Pikachu, good reviews aren't everything. © Warner Bros. No other uses are permitted without the prior written consent of owner. Use of the material in violation of the foregoing may result in civil and/or criminal penalties.

Speaking of films, Pokemon: The First Movie (why do I have a bad feeling about this title?) managed to capture enough young viewers to make over $50 million dollars...in one week! This does not mean that Pikachu and company are Oscar material; Warners was simply fast enough to do something that few other major studios are able to do: get a property on the theater screen while it's still hot. Warners, of course, was in perfect position since the film already existed in Japan, but if Genndy Tartakovsky and Craig McCracken are astute, they'll start storyboarding Powerpuff: The Movie right now! Come to think of it, in that Stan Lee-Jack Kirby tradition they both seem to admire, why not make it a Marvel-ous team up with Dexter? Speaking of cashing in on a hot trend, the next one will be the feature-length Celebrity Death Match. If the WWF can line up squads of hypertrophied, painted goons for hours of pay-per-view mayhem, surely Eric Fogel will do the same with his plasticine icons. The big question is not "Will it sell?" but "Who will be in the title bout?"

The Powerpuff Girls are on the rise. © Cartoon Network, Inc.

The Little Glowing Box...
Oh yes, the year in TV. The best of 1998 -- The Simpsons and King of the Hill -- remained the best of 1999. When this formidable pair was joined by Matt Groening's Futurama, Fox owned the strongest animated lineup in prime time history. Due to its pedigree Futurama was virtually a presold success, but after the first three episodes it was plain to see that this loopy romp through a slightly jaundiced future stood out like a curvaceous cyclops. MTV's Daria remains a solid show and might be the best-written of the bunch. Craig McCracken can take a well-deserved bow for The Powerpuff Girls, and Paul Dini, Bruce Timm and Alan Burnett did the WB proud with the stylish Batman Beyond. UPN gave Dilbert a home and reaped the rewards; Scott Adams couldn't be happier, and neither could we. OK, a sentient sponge, pet snail in tow, who lives in an underwater pineapple and is desperately in love with a squirrel? SpongeBobSquarePants adopted the goofy, slightly grotesque animation style of early Fleischer cartoons and wedded it successfully to these bizarre concepts; kudos to Steve Hillenburg.

On the bubble: The PJs. This series tended to vacillate between savage street smarts and soppy sentimentality; if anything, it highlighted the debt owed by Eddie Murphy to Richard Pryor. Spawn managed another dreary season occasionally brightened by mature scripts, but now that HBO is thinking about dumping adult animation altogether the point may be moot. The Wild Thornberrys had some decent scripts too, but the character designs are some of the most unappealing in animation and the loud color keys only call attention to them. Redesigning the look of this show from top to bottom may help. Hey, they did that all the time back in the `30s and `40s. Slipping: Rugrats. Not the same since the movie, ice show, merchandising, etc. A comfortable rut is still a rut. On the rise: CatDog. More than just a funny concept, there are some good chuckles in this one.