D is for December. D+ is for dollar dollar bills down the drain.
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to meeee a streaming service from Diiiiisney. Plus (get it?): what the voice behind your favorite '90s toons is up to, and more.
Please, Mister Walt Disney, sir! May we have some cheese? Make merry with the latest cartoon updates, some newsletter exclusive Gundam art, some watching recommendations for the holiday season, and a whole lot more where that came from.
What’s news, pussycat?
The latest pieces published on our site.
Rob Paulsen Just Can’t Get Enough
Whether it’s as Yakko from Animaniacs, Pinky from Pinky and the Brain, Carl from Jimmy Neutron, or Donatello in Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle reboot, Rob Paulsen been bringing beloved cartoon characters to life for decades. Writer Marley Crusch spoke with the voice actor for an exclusive conversation about timeless toons.
What’s the Wettest Movie of the Year?
Japanese director Makoto Shinkai’s Weathering With You explores climate change, the supernatural, teenage hormones, and the shifting Tokyo landscape. Read up as editor in chief Eric Vilas-Boas explores what makes the film that’s hitting American theaters in January 2020 so magical.
‘Courage the Cowardly Dog’ is the Only Horror I Can Stomach
Gigantic cockroaches, cursed mummies—oh, the things that plague Nowhere, Kansas. In this piece, lily-livered editor in chief John Maher writes about how children’s horror introduces the genre genre in a way kids could stomach (and learn from) and why he misses Courage the Cowardly Dog so much.
Q&A with Frederik Weidmann, the Composer of ‘Dragon Prince’
The sweeping scores in fantasy play a huge part in making us feel all the feelings, and Netflix’s hit fantasy series The Dragon Prince has an exceptional one. Annie Award-nominated composer Frederik Wiedmann joined The Dot and Line for an exclusive Q&A on what inspires his work, what it’s like scoring for animation, and more.
[Read more of our latest posts here.]
But it ain’t me, babe
Great writing and news on toons from sites that aren’t the Dot and Line!
Women Are Taking Over Fox’s Sunday Night Cartoons. What Took So Long? [Vulture] New shows by women and starring women are providing a sorely needed reset in the male-dominated animation industry. From our own web editor, Sammy Nickalls!
Nickelodeon and Netflix Set Multi-Year Output Deal for Films and TV Series [Deadline] Get ready for ALL the cartoons!
Miya Claus is Coming to Town…Err, Streaming [io9]: Studio Ghibli movies are about to get a whole lot easier to watch, thanks to their U.S. distributor, GKIDS.
Not Streaming: 'Song of the South' and Other Films Stay in the Past [New York Times] On the new streaming service Disney+, there are some problematic Mouse House oldies that won’t be seeing the light of day.
Dragon Prince’s Heroes Are Fighting the Same Battles as the Fans [Polygon] The new season of the fantasy series spotlights a storyline about abuse in the wake of accusations against one of its creators of the same.
Inside the Early Struggles of the Women Who Built Disney [Lithub] What did it take to break into animation in the 1930s as a woman? It was no easy climb.
An American Tail Explores Bleak Immigrant Struggles That Still Resonate in 2019 [Vice] Contributor Rebecca Long spoke with Fievel's creator, Don Bluth, about how An American Tail’s themes still resonate in an America facing rising anti-Semitism and family separation at the border.
Happy birthday to toons
Every day brings another oppor-toon-ity for another classic’s anniversary.
The Enduring Timelessness of the Simpsons
Join contributor David S. Atkinson in celebrating the generation-defining, game-changing show with perennial appeal, which turns 30 this year.
More anniversaries: Fantasia 2000 and Happy Tree Friends are 20 • The Simpsons is 30 • Jack Frost and Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro are 40 • The Year Without a Santa Claus is 45 • A Boy Named Charlie Brown is 50 • Animal Farm is 65 • The Three Caballeros is 75 • Gulliver's Travels is 80.
Throwing it back
Revisit some favorites from our archives.
11 Cartoon Holiday Episodes to Stream for Christmas
Our own Eric Vilas-Boas lays out all the cartoon Christmas specials you need to make merry this season, from the Rugrats Chanukah episode to a very Hey Arnold! Christmas.
Okay, but Why Did the Grinch Steal Christmas?
This season, stroll back along the snow-covered lane of Christmases Past and read a thrilling tale in verse from writer Rob Ryan—err, we mean Max the Dog.
Art for your eyeballs
Here’s a treat. Our pal and occasional D+L contributor Matthew Burbridge (who is “always open to commissions,” according to his infectiously scrollable Instagram) really loves Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans. He loves it so much that he wrote a gentle takedown for us earlier this year entitled “The One Thing Dragging ‘Iron-Blooded Orphans’ Down,” and now he’s returned to our inboxes with the Gundam fanart you see above. Enjoy, readers. (And thank you, Matty!) –Eric Vilas-Boas, editor in chief
What are we watching? What are YOU watching!?
The editors (and readers!) dish on our latest obsessions.
John is watching…I Lost My Body
Look, this film is aggressively French. It is the Frenchest thing I have seen since Pierre, the very French man who put me and my brothers up in a bright blue shotgun house adjoining his own in New Orleans last month. It will make you crave baguettes with brie and butter (excuse me, beurre) and leave you questioning the world you know as you find yourself trapped in the postmodern haze of Baudrillard’s philosophy. Also, its protagonist is a severed hand. That said, it is a truly beautiful film, boasting some of the most staggering animation work I’ve seen all year. And it’s short. Plus, I really couldn’t just say The Year Without a Santa Claus. We all know that’s on the queue.
Eric is watching…The Garden of Words
Most of the world was introduced to Makoto Shinkai thanks to his smash-hit film Your Name., but the director preceded that film with this intimate and glacially paced 45-minute meditation that you can now watch on Netflix. The Garden of Words is a lot like other Shinkai films, including his latest Weathering With You (see my review above!), in that it focuses on two individuals framed in photorealistic scenes flooded with precipitation and foliage and determinedly kept apart from each other by circumstance. Watch it while you wait for Weathering With You to drop in the States.
Sammy is watching…The Amazing World of Gumball
Whenever I need a good cheering up, I put on The Amazing World of Gumball (which I could not stop accidentally calling “The Adventures of Bubblegum,” which I would also 100% watch if it were real). I can’t get over the bonkers mix of animation styles! And the brilliant humor! And how cute Gumball is!!! His little blue face!!!!!!
Elly is watching…Gargoyles
Did you forget that the show Gargoyles exist? Because I definitely did. Now that Disney+ is here, my love for it has only been rekindled, and I’m remembering why I’m now so obsessed with all the gargoyle statues in New York City. What’s better than watching mythical creatures come to life from stone learning to navigate a big modern city with some Shakespearean themes thrown in? Let’s reawaken the cult following, folks.
Marley is watching…She-Ra and The Princesses of Power
WE MUST BE STRONG! I’ve been needing an extra boost lately, and despite this season being the most emotionally intense so far, the message that you can get through anything with the power of friendship (and a magic sword) resonates more than ever before. Also, can we talk about how literally every single character in this series is amazing? Because they are.
Aaaaand…that’s all, folks!
Thanks so much for reading our newsletter, which is produced by Elly Belle! If you have any notes, feedback, or tips on what to watch next, email us at thedotandline@gmail.com. And if you like what we do, forward this to your friends and yell in their faces until they forward it to all of their friends. Until next time!
Love,
The Dot and Line