Homestar Runner Reviews Week 1
Nov 15, 2013 17:00:29 GMT -5
Douay-Rheims-Challoner, 🐍 cahusserole 🐍, and 3 more like this
Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Nov 15, 2013 17:00:29 GMT -5
Cypher Raige: Awwwight, evewybody! Let’s get this Homestar show on the road! First, a little background on my history with the site. I first became aware of HSR sometime in 2002. At the time, I was fresh out of college, unemployed, and drunk most of the time. The site did not immediately draw me in, and I visited it sporadically for the first year or so. Then, maybe in 2004, I doubled down and watched the hell out of it, visiting every nook and cranny of the site and catching up on a long backlog of toons and Strong Bad E-mails. After that, I was officially that annoying guy who would do his best (read: terrible) impersonation of all of the characters at any point, confounding my unfortunate friends who were not awesome enough to have climbed aboard the Homestar train. I bought merchandise from the site. Do you remember that guy that you saw at that indie rock show in the mid-2000s who was wearing that Homestar Runner t-shirt? Yeah, that was me (nice to see you again!). I also had my home page set to the HSR site for several years. Somewhere around 2009 or so, just before the site went on hiatus for good, the pressures of adult life, including homeownership, marriage, pug wrangling, and jobby jobs got in the way of my intarwebbing, and I stopped going to Homestarrunner.com altogether. There are still later episodes that I have not watched, so my reactions to those (if we ever get that far) will be fresh and new. As for now, you get to hear about old shit. Deal with it.
random dude: My own exposure to the site was somewhat different. I was in middle school during Homestar Runner's heyday, but as my family's computer had very slow dial-up Internet at the time, I didn't spend a whole lot of time online until I got a laptop in high school. And thus, it wasn't until sometime during one of The Brothers Chaps' later hiatuses that I started watching, but I quickly became a big fan and visited the site regularly until it became abundantly clear that the current hiatus was going to be much longer than previous ones (the last time The Brothers Chaps uploaded a new toon was December 2010, so it's been a while). So,while I have seen all the later episodes, I certainly can't say that I've had the experience of following the site during anything resembling the height of it's popularity, the way that Cypher Raige can. It'll be interesting to see how the different circumstances under which we first watched Homestar Runner will color our analyses of the show. Anyway, enough with this, let's get to reviewing, shall we?
Intro
Cypher Raige: Not a lot to be said about the ol’ intro, but I’ll give it a shot. The song is a repeating series of Casiotone blips and bloops, followed by a chorus of young (Japanese? More on that in a moment) girls singing, “Everybody! Everybody!” with Lite Brite inspired animations and Homestar Runner himself prancing around like an idiot. Soon, the song begins to fade out, and Homestar picks up the “Everybody!” chant, substituting his adorable “LA DEE DA DEE DAH!” for the second “everybody.” This is one tiny little sample of what makes Homestar himself such an adorable character: his speech impediment-ridden voice, his silly joy, and his utter cluelessness. The reason I mentioned Japanese girls above is because I saw an interview with the Brothers Chaps where Matt Chapman claims that Homestar’s voice originated from him trying to impersonate a little Japanese girl.
random dude: Yeah, besides serving as a charming quasi-theme song to the entire site, there's not a whole lot to the intro. But I do agree, part of what makes Homestar such a great character (and part of why I think it's appropriate that the site is named after him despite the fact that he doesn't even get as much screen time as Strong Bad), is his endearingly enthusiastic idiocy. Also, I've never heard that story about the origins of Homestar's voice, but it's kind of hilarious, in that Homestar's voice would come to sound nothing like a little Japanese girl, and you'd think that a guy with a dynamic vocal range like Matt Chapman's would have been able to do a better little Japanese girl impersonation than that.
homestarrunner.com Welcome Speech
random dude: This might be the best cartoon that we review this week, or at least the one that's most indicative of what's to come. Homestar Runner cheerily fails again and again to get his lines right for a filmed introduction to the site (all he has to say is "Hello. Welcome to homestarrunner.com"), until an angry Strong Bad shoves him out of the way and does Homestar's job for him. The bit where Strong Bad says "...you may not know it yet, but I'm the reason you're here," prompting Homestar to pop in and say "It's true," is a funny moment, and showcases the chemistry between the two, with Homestar's amiable stupidity playing off of Strong Bad's jerky proclamations of greatness and insults. (As an aside, something I noticed from watching this toon a couple of times over the past week or so is the fact that during "Take 25", Homestar isn't always wearing the same outfit; he'll wear a clown suit, a sailor suit, or nothing at all, with his torso will covered in censor pixelation).
Cypher Raige: This is honestly one of my most-watched cartoons on the website, and one of the things that made me fall in love with Homestar the character. This same format of Homestar trying and failing miserably at starring in a commercial would be repeated in another cartoon, in which Homestar attempts to be a spokesman for Fluffy Puff Marshmallows. My favorite part is where Homestar breaks out in Spanish for no reason (and the text on the screen follows him, a great gag). If you are familiar at all with Spanish language classes, you will note that Homestar is basically repeating a very basic lesson common in beginner Spanish language textbooks: "¡Bienvenidos a Homestarrunner.com! ¿Conoces a Miguel? ¡Sí! ¡Somos buenos amigos!"
Characters
Cypher Raige: Dang, there are a lot of characters. I’m not going to go through and dissect them all, because you can just go watch them for yourself, but this is a good introduction to the crazy cast that makes up the Homestarniverse (a term I just created and will never use again!). Homestar’s is one of my favorites of this batch, as it perfectly encapsulates Homestar Runner’s personality (and dammit is his voice cute as hell!). Same with Strong Bad, with his overinflated ego and his old school hip hop references. Another interesting thing to note: HSR has three characters that do not speak. These are the Cheat, the Poopsmith, and Pom Pom. Of these, only the Cheat gets subtitles, being the little rotten sneak that he is. For the Poopsmith, Homestar gives a Wild Kingdom-style intro as the Poopsmith shovels what he shovels so well. And Pom Pom is too busy mackin’ the ladies on his celly to bother with Homestar’s intrusion. I love these guys. Also, don’t forget to hit the Eject button on the VCR to see everyone’s favorite (read: no one’s favorite) occasional character.
random dude: I take it you don't like the "secret" character, Cypher? Blasphemy! Anyway, although a couple of these character intros feel a little perfunctory tome, I also liked Homestar's and Strong Bad's entries (I'm really tempted to start pronouncing reasonable as "ree-ZON-uh-bull" in everyday conversation, but I'm afraid I might get a few weird looks), and Strong Sad's story about playing "The Game of Life" against "Hi-Ho! Cherry-O" was an appropriate mixture of funny and sad.
Where My Hat Is At?
Cypher Raige: This is a children’s book, and it shows. As the first thing to appear on the HSR site, Where My Hat is At? Is probably only of interest to the obsessive Homestar completist (*waves at everybody reading*). It tells the page by page story of Homestar Runner losing his hat, and because of his dirty, hatless ways, he is not allowed to play in the big game. Another interesting tidbit here is that, while this was the first children’s book to appear on the site, it was not actually the first children’s book written using these characters. That honor belongs to The Homestar Runner Enters the Strongest Man in the World Contest, a book conceived and created by Mike Chapman and his friend Craig Zobel. This book would go up on the site later and would be revisited and revamped for a live action cartoon late in the series’ run. Patience, darlin’. We’ll get there.
random dude: As it happens, both of the early books you mentioned would later be turned into cartoons, but yeah, there's not a whole lot of substance to this book besides providing a cool look at the origins of Homestar Runner and being a kind of amusing satire of the inanity of some children's picture books.
Super NES Cartoon
Cypher Raige: Again for the Homestar completist is the very first animated HSR cartoon, created by the Brothers Chaps using Mario Paint on their SNES. The crude animation features scenes of Homestar running around in various sporting situations, as an early theme of his characters was being the best athlete. It is also accompanied by another Casiotone song, this one almost certainly sung by Japanese girls, or someone’s impersonation of them. Nothing too magical about this one, but the idea of animating HSR would pave the way for the beginning of the real cartoons.
random dude: I think these next couple of cartoons are interesting in seeing just how far the animation on this site has come. But I'll have more on that later.
In Search of the Yellow Dello
Cypher Raige: This cartoon appears in two versions, as the Brothers Chaps were apparently learning Flash. The first version is admittedly rough in terms of animation, but the second (new) version is much cleaner looking and more enjoyable as a result. Coach Z shows up, and actually dispenses some solid advice to Homestar regarding what Homestar should get Marzipan for her birthday. As we shall see in later episodes, Coach Z would devolve into a much sillier character thrown in for comic relief in later toons, but his trademark super-Chicago-style accent is still there, if slightly less pronounced. Pom Pom can be seen as well, basically being Pom Pom, and Strong Sad appears almost fully developed as his whiny, depressed, elephant-footed little self. This cartoon has a very pronounced arc: characters are given a mission, characters embark on mission, and mission is concluded. Later cartoons would dispense with such a formal story arc, which is probably a good thing, because In Search of the Yello Dello gets a little long. Also of note, the cartoon is presented in a DVD menu-style format that allows the viewer to watch both the old and new versions, as well as a trailer, deleted scenes, and a very funny commentary track featuring Homestar Runner and Strong Bad.
random dude: I do agree that the animation is rough, Cypher, but what I like about even the original version of this cartoon is that The Brothers Chaps seem to have realized their limitations as animators, and have stylized the aesthetic of the short around these limitations, drawing poorly-animated Homestar in different ridiculous poses, and opting for a disconnect from reality at times (like when Homestar is leaving Coach Z's office). And I also loved the commentary, particularly The Brothers Chaps subtle mockery of their own cartoon through some of Strong Bad's lines, and Homestar's nonsensical proclamations of "It's America's pastime!" Also, wow, that's a really hot bird, don't you agree, Cypher?
Cypher Raige: That is one hot bird!
The King of Town
Cypher Raige: The King of Town also appears in a DVD menu-style format, with many of the same bonus features as In Search of the Yello Dello. I can’t say this for sure, but I would venture a guess that The King of Town was written before In Search of the Yello Dello, because it is much shorter, and it also retains the feel of a children’s story. In this short cartoon, Homestar is tasked with finding the KoT’s lost sheep. Homestar reluctantly goes into detective mode, mainly just to get away from the creepy KoT, and hilarity ensues. Not really. This one is pretty mild, but it features fun voice work by Matt Chapman, and it takes us one step further into the Homestarniverse (Holy crap! I used that stupid term again!).
random dude: I don't have a whole lot to say about this one (apart from the fact that I like the way that the herald plays the tune from the Super NES animation on his horn), but I'd like to take the moment to outline a chain of easter eggs: 1. Click on the mustache on the coat of arms in the main menu, and the whole coat of arms over two crossed swords will swing out of the way, revealing a stone beneath 2. Click on said stone, and it will slide into the wall and send you to: 3. A King of Town-themed intro song, which fades into, 4. A King of Town-themed Main Menu, where if you click on "Game", 5. You can play a (kind of crappy) game that I can't seem to beat.
Cypher Raige: Good call on the easter eggs! I'm not sure if I was aware that those existed, as I was more used to the easter eggs showing up in later cartoons.
Well, that's it for this round! Thanks for reading, people! Please feel free to watch the toons and contribute to the discussion.
random dude: Here's links to the cartoons that we'll be reviewing next week:
Strong Bad Sings
Kick The Can
Marzipan's Answering Machine Version 1.0
Homestarloween Party (timely choice to review this in November, amirite guys?)
A Holiday Greeting
random dude: My own exposure to the site was somewhat different. I was in middle school during Homestar Runner's heyday, but as my family's computer had very slow dial-up Internet at the time, I didn't spend a whole lot of time online until I got a laptop in high school. And thus, it wasn't until sometime during one of The Brothers Chaps' later hiatuses that I started watching, but I quickly became a big fan and visited the site regularly until it became abundantly clear that the current hiatus was going to be much longer than previous ones (the last time The Brothers Chaps uploaded a new toon was December 2010, so it's been a while). So,while I have seen all the later episodes, I certainly can't say that I've had the experience of following the site during anything resembling the height of it's popularity, the way that Cypher Raige can. It'll be interesting to see how the different circumstances under which we first watched Homestar Runner will color our analyses of the show. Anyway, enough with this, let's get to reviewing, shall we?
Intro
Cypher Raige: Not a lot to be said about the ol’ intro, but I’ll give it a shot. The song is a repeating series of Casiotone blips and bloops, followed by a chorus of young (Japanese? More on that in a moment) girls singing, “Everybody! Everybody!” with Lite Brite inspired animations and Homestar Runner himself prancing around like an idiot. Soon, the song begins to fade out, and Homestar picks up the “Everybody!” chant, substituting his adorable “LA DEE DA DEE DAH!” for the second “everybody.” This is one tiny little sample of what makes Homestar himself such an adorable character: his speech impediment-ridden voice, his silly joy, and his utter cluelessness. The reason I mentioned Japanese girls above is because I saw an interview with the Brothers Chaps where Matt Chapman claims that Homestar’s voice originated from him trying to impersonate a little Japanese girl.
random dude: Yeah, besides serving as a charming quasi-theme song to the entire site, there's not a whole lot to the intro. But I do agree, part of what makes Homestar such a great character (and part of why I think it's appropriate that the site is named after him despite the fact that he doesn't even get as much screen time as Strong Bad), is his endearingly enthusiastic idiocy. Also, I've never heard that story about the origins of Homestar's voice, but it's kind of hilarious, in that Homestar's voice would come to sound nothing like a little Japanese girl, and you'd think that a guy with a dynamic vocal range like Matt Chapman's would have been able to do a better little Japanese girl impersonation than that.
homestarrunner.com Welcome Speech
random dude: This might be the best cartoon that we review this week, or at least the one that's most indicative of what's to come. Homestar Runner cheerily fails again and again to get his lines right for a filmed introduction to the site (all he has to say is "Hello. Welcome to homestarrunner.com"), until an angry Strong Bad shoves him out of the way and does Homestar's job for him. The bit where Strong Bad says "...you may not know it yet, but I'm the reason you're here," prompting Homestar to pop in and say "It's true," is a funny moment, and showcases the chemistry between the two, with Homestar's amiable stupidity playing off of Strong Bad's jerky proclamations of greatness and insults. (As an aside, something I noticed from watching this toon a couple of times over the past week or so is the fact that during "Take 25", Homestar isn't always wearing the same outfit; he'll wear a clown suit, a sailor suit, or nothing at all, with his torso will covered in censor pixelation).
Cypher Raige: This is honestly one of my most-watched cartoons on the website, and one of the things that made me fall in love with Homestar the character. This same format of Homestar trying and failing miserably at starring in a commercial would be repeated in another cartoon, in which Homestar attempts to be a spokesman for Fluffy Puff Marshmallows. My favorite part is where Homestar breaks out in Spanish for no reason (and the text on the screen follows him, a great gag). If you are familiar at all with Spanish language classes, you will note that Homestar is basically repeating a very basic lesson common in beginner Spanish language textbooks: "¡Bienvenidos a Homestarrunner.com! ¿Conoces a Miguel? ¡Sí! ¡Somos buenos amigos!"
Characters
Cypher Raige: Dang, there are a lot of characters. I’m not going to go through and dissect them all, because you can just go watch them for yourself, but this is a good introduction to the crazy cast that makes up the Homestarniverse (a term I just created and will never use again!). Homestar’s is one of my favorites of this batch, as it perfectly encapsulates Homestar Runner’s personality (and dammit is his voice cute as hell!). Same with Strong Bad, with his overinflated ego and his old school hip hop references. Another interesting thing to note: HSR has three characters that do not speak. These are the Cheat, the Poopsmith, and Pom Pom. Of these, only the Cheat gets subtitles, being the little rotten sneak that he is. For the Poopsmith, Homestar gives a Wild Kingdom-style intro as the Poopsmith shovels what he shovels so well. And Pom Pom is too busy mackin’ the ladies on his celly to bother with Homestar’s intrusion. I love these guys. Also, don’t forget to hit the Eject button on the VCR to see everyone’s favorite (read: no one’s favorite) occasional character.
random dude: I take it you don't like the "secret" character, Cypher? Blasphemy! Anyway, although a couple of these character intros feel a little perfunctory tome, I also liked Homestar's and Strong Bad's entries (I'm really tempted to start pronouncing reasonable as "ree-ZON-uh-bull" in everyday conversation, but I'm afraid I might get a few weird looks), and Strong Sad's story about playing "The Game of Life" against "Hi-Ho! Cherry-O" was an appropriate mixture of funny and sad.
Where My Hat Is At?
Cypher Raige: This is a children’s book, and it shows. As the first thing to appear on the HSR site, Where My Hat is At? Is probably only of interest to the obsessive Homestar completist (*waves at everybody reading*). It tells the page by page story of Homestar Runner losing his hat, and because of his dirty, hatless ways, he is not allowed to play in the big game. Another interesting tidbit here is that, while this was the first children’s book to appear on the site, it was not actually the first children’s book written using these characters. That honor belongs to The Homestar Runner Enters the Strongest Man in the World Contest, a book conceived and created by Mike Chapman and his friend Craig Zobel. This book would go up on the site later and would be revisited and revamped for a live action cartoon late in the series’ run. Patience, darlin’. We’ll get there.
random dude: As it happens, both of the early books you mentioned would later be turned into cartoons, but yeah, there's not a whole lot of substance to this book besides providing a cool look at the origins of Homestar Runner and being a kind of amusing satire of the inanity of some children's picture books.
Super NES Cartoon
Cypher Raige: Again for the Homestar completist is the very first animated HSR cartoon, created by the Brothers Chaps using Mario Paint on their SNES. The crude animation features scenes of Homestar running around in various sporting situations, as an early theme of his characters was being the best athlete. It is also accompanied by another Casiotone song, this one almost certainly sung by Japanese girls, or someone’s impersonation of them. Nothing too magical about this one, but the idea of animating HSR would pave the way for the beginning of the real cartoons.
random dude: I think these next couple of cartoons are interesting in seeing just how far the animation on this site has come. But I'll have more on that later.
In Search of the Yellow Dello
Cypher Raige: This cartoon appears in two versions, as the Brothers Chaps were apparently learning Flash. The first version is admittedly rough in terms of animation, but the second (new) version is much cleaner looking and more enjoyable as a result. Coach Z shows up, and actually dispenses some solid advice to Homestar regarding what Homestar should get Marzipan for her birthday. As we shall see in later episodes, Coach Z would devolve into a much sillier character thrown in for comic relief in later toons, but his trademark super-Chicago-style accent is still there, if slightly less pronounced. Pom Pom can be seen as well, basically being Pom Pom, and Strong Sad appears almost fully developed as his whiny, depressed, elephant-footed little self. This cartoon has a very pronounced arc: characters are given a mission, characters embark on mission, and mission is concluded. Later cartoons would dispense with such a formal story arc, which is probably a good thing, because In Search of the Yello Dello gets a little long. Also of note, the cartoon is presented in a DVD menu-style format that allows the viewer to watch both the old and new versions, as well as a trailer, deleted scenes, and a very funny commentary track featuring Homestar Runner and Strong Bad.
random dude: I do agree that the animation is rough, Cypher, but what I like about even the original version of this cartoon is that The Brothers Chaps seem to have realized their limitations as animators, and have stylized the aesthetic of the short around these limitations, drawing poorly-animated Homestar in different ridiculous poses, and opting for a disconnect from reality at times (like when Homestar is leaving Coach Z's office). And I also loved the commentary, particularly The Brothers Chaps subtle mockery of their own cartoon through some of Strong Bad's lines, and Homestar's nonsensical proclamations of "It's America's pastime!" Also, wow, that's a really hot bird, don't you agree, Cypher?
Cypher Raige: That is one hot bird!
The King of Town
Cypher Raige: The King of Town also appears in a DVD menu-style format, with many of the same bonus features as In Search of the Yello Dello. I can’t say this for sure, but I would venture a guess that The King of Town was written before In Search of the Yello Dello, because it is much shorter, and it also retains the feel of a children’s story. In this short cartoon, Homestar is tasked with finding the KoT’s lost sheep. Homestar reluctantly goes into detective mode, mainly just to get away from the creepy KoT, and hilarity ensues. Not really. This one is pretty mild, but it features fun voice work by Matt Chapman, and it takes us one step further into the Homestarniverse (Holy crap! I used that stupid term again!).
random dude: I don't have a whole lot to say about this one (apart from the fact that I like the way that the herald plays the tune from the Super NES animation on his horn), but I'd like to take the moment to outline a chain of easter eggs: 1. Click on the mustache on the coat of arms in the main menu, and the whole coat of arms over two crossed swords will swing out of the way, revealing a stone beneath 2. Click on said stone, and it will slide into the wall and send you to: 3. A King of Town-themed intro song, which fades into, 4. A King of Town-themed Main Menu, where if you click on "Game", 5. You can play a (kind of crappy) game that I can't seem to beat.
Cypher Raige: Good call on the easter eggs! I'm not sure if I was aware that those existed, as I was more used to the easter eggs showing up in later cartoons.
Well, that's it for this round! Thanks for reading, people! Please feel free to watch the toons and contribute to the discussion.
random dude: Here's links to the cartoons that we'll be reviewing next week:
Strong Bad Sings
Kick The Can
Marzipan's Answering Machine Version 1.0
Homestarloween Party (timely choice to review this in November, amirite guys?)
A Holiday Greeting
