Oceania Chuck Jones, RIP.

This might be old news to some, but I only just heard this now - Chuck Jones, creator of Roadrunner + Wile E Coyote, director of Bugs Bunny cartoons, and basically a cartoon legend, died on February 22.

I for one cannot imagine a world without Wile E Coyote and Roadrunner.


So, in memory I shall say a quick meep meep, followed by a minute of silence ...

 

Indeed, what sort of world would this be without such animal hijinks?

Chuck Jones, Spike Milligan...

let's not loose anymore greats too soon.

 

not to mention Douglas Adams, oh what a world we live in, where such legends of the screen, the wireless, and printed media can just die

 

It's sad, isn't it? Chuck Jones was a great.

Losing Spike Milligan came as such a shock to me. I'd locked myself in my room and cried for hours when Douglas Adams passed away, but hearing of Milligan's demise left me rendered speechless. Two British comedic greats lost to the world within such a short space of time.

 

A more cynical person might say it just reflects the death of humour in our world...


After all, who is left to take their place?


I can't think of many...

 

John Cleese?
Michael Palin?
Terry Pratchett?

You're right ... it seems many of the good ones have left ...

 

Yes, Geck, but they are all peers of Milligan and Jones and Addams...


Where are the young ones that will one day take their place?


Is Jim Carrey the best we can look forward to?

 

looney tunes are some of the best cartoons out there

 

Oz, if what you say is true, I worry for the future.

does comedy really need a future generation of Adam Sandler clones? I think not.

All of the better comedians are aging fast. We need younger comedians to step in and follow in the footsteps of those greats before them.

 

Adam Sandler isn't fit to hold cue cards for those greats mentioned before,
And he's simply one in a long line of un-funny younger "comedians".

I love old comedy, before political correctness trashed it...

 

Exactly. The standup routines of the likes of Steve Martin and Robin Williams ... seems those two have all but disappeared in recent times.

 

Tom Green is the only thing worse than Adam Sandler.

 

Tom Green's trying to be funny?

 

And we already lost Chris Farley, it seems that anyone who had a chance is going away

Is Celebrity Jeopardy on SNL the best we can expect?

 

We still have re-runs on Monty Pyhton's Flying circus, Tek. And Red Dwarf, which is also going downhill ...

 

I wasn't actually endorsing Carrey - I was saying, "Is that as good as it will get? Jim Carrey?!?!"


Same thing with actors. Where are the Jimmy Stewarts and Walter Matthau's of this generation?


It just seems like people aren't really trying anymore...


Or they don't care

 

The only answer is to bring the younger set up on a strict diet of the classics: Spike Milligan, Douglas Adams, Abbot&Costello, Monty Python, and many more. These pioneers of comedy should be featured prominantly in Drama and English classes to give younger people an alternative to the juvinile humor of Sandler and Co.

 

Every comedian of the new genre tries to carbon copy Seinfeld, without an ounce of original material.

A sad moment.

 

Did anyone see that Simpsons spot on ACA last night?

Turns out DC was brought up on the classics. Homer Simpson's voice is based on Walter Matthau (wouldn't have picked it before, but I can see it now..) and "D'oh" is based on a character from Abbot and Costello movies ...



Shows what a good diet of classics can do.

 

All is not lost then, and how could we forget the humor of John clark and Brian, or Roy Slaven and H.G. Nelson? Australia has a wealth of young comedians, just look at the Melbourne comedy festival and youll see. Sure none of it stands out as much as the humor of Milligan, Adams and co, but its a start nonetheless. And of corse how could we forget Rod Quantoc in amongst all this?

 

But Australian comedians are weak compared with their British predecessors.
Australians are only good at two types of comedy: parody and exaggeration. Where the real masters work their magic is with the art of satire and under-statement; brilliant comedies such as Faulty Towers are prime examples of this. That's the sort of stuff we haven't seen in years, and it frighens me to think we may lose such a wonderful art.

 

Fawlty Towers is subtle?


"MANUEL!!!" *SLAP*

 

Subtlety as in small events leading to larger things, and you have o think about the thing very carefully and keep track of what happens to realise the cause-and-effect that takes place. Faulty towers, though, is a prime example of humour using understatement.

 

How dare you accuse Rod Quantoc of being limited to parody and exaggeration?

 

Who?