(Re)Animation: Back to the Future



Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads.

A few weeks back, Paxton over at the Cavalcade of Awesome posted a series focused on the 25th Anniversary of Back to the Future and it inspired me to show my own appreciation for the series... by watching cartoons of course!

Little did I know/remember that 'ole Doc Brown and Marty McFly's adventures in time didn't end with the third film after all. In fact, they continued for another year in animated form courtesy of Universal, Amblin TV and CBS. What was really cool about the cartoon is that each show actually began by featuring Christopher Lloyd reprising his role as Doc Brown to introduce his latest experiment or explain the "science" behind his devices. It was a much appreciated touch that helped it better tie-in with the films and exemplified an honest approach to broadening the franchise to a new audience.

The show did manage to capture a generous portion of the chemistry that made the films so great, but doesn't quite hold up as well in my mind. It's still fun to watch, but with an expanded cast and no linear storyline the show just feels a bit too open-ended. It's also cool to see how different, yet similar the animation team's take on Michel J. Fox was compared to the Cartoon Adventures of Teen Wolf series. Apparently the two characters are like long lost twins or something... go figure.









6 comments:

  1. Anonymous said...:

    I was happy to see that SOME of the actors from the films were involved, however Dan Castelleneta (Homer J. Simpson) was brought on as Doc Brown. BUT, (And this is confusing) when "The Simpsons Ride" opened, they had Christopher Lloyd as Doc in the queue video! I'm pretty glad they got the real thing, but didn't they already have the next best thing?

    BTW, that gag is where Frink tries to save Doc's institute by going back in the Delorean, but he ends up running over the loan officer. So Doc sells the place to Krusty.

  1. Strange Kid said...:

    LaDracul, nice to see you back! I'm glad the forms are working again. :)

    That's crazy about how Castelleneta and Christopher Lloyd "switched roles" like that. Hollywood is funny that way. It makes me think of how Bill Murray was the voice of both Garfield and Venkman in real life, while Lorenzo Music was the voice actor for both characters in the cartoons. Weird.

  1. Paxton said...:

    You know me, I love all things Back to the Future, but I HATED this cartoon. The artwork was terrible and the stories were all over the map. However, I was a HUGE fan of the Teen Wolf cartoon series. The art was so much better and the stories were funny. Why isn't it on DVD here in Region 1 (Australia got a complete set)?

    I like the Marty/Scott cartoon comparison. They do, in fact, look alike.

  1. Strange Kid said...:

    I admit that perhaps whatever fond memories I have of the show were soley due to Christopher Lloyd's involvement. You're right to say that Teen Wolf was waaayyy better by comparison.

    Can't believe Australia got a Teen Wolf DVD, but we didn't. So lame. I'm also still waiting on a Count Duckla DVD collection. Weren't they produced by the same studio?

  1. The Man-Cave said...:

    I feel my BTTF fandominum lessening. I don't recall this cartoon at all. I clearly remembered (and enjoyed) the Tenn Wolf cartoon, but don't remember this at all. Thanks to you SK for continuing my education in all things strange!

  1. Strange Kid said...:

    That's what we do, Geof... school you in what's cool (and occasionally not so cool), haha. Actually there's a lot of this stuff that I only vaguely remember, and most of the time with good reason.

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