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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF RANGER SMITH/BOO BOO RUNS WILD
What I've got it on: taped off Cartoon Network
Original air-date: sometime in 1999
(I don't feel like adding the credits now. Maybe later.)
Cartoon rating: 9/10 Overall rating: 14/15 (fantastic)
The first made-for-TV cartoon by Spumco since R&S, unless I missed something. This came about when John K. was on an advisory board for Cartoon Network and impressed a Hanna-Barberra exec with his caricatures of old HB characters. Eventually three shorts featuring Yogi Bear, Boo Boo, and Ranger Smith were green-lighted, but only two were done. I don’t normally do this, but I’m gonna review both at once. They’re really both a whole entity meant to be seen back-to-back, and there’s not that much difference between their execution.
If what I’ve seen of HB’s pre-Flinstones limited animation is any indication, these might have outdone the originals. Those old HB cartoons, even if they’re more watchable than the Doo, don’t have much more than the backgrounds to keep me interested. I waited two years to see the Spumco updates since first learning about them, and after the mild disappointment of Ripping Friends, these shorts were a breath of fresh air. In fact, they hold up to vintage Ren and Stimpy. These are not cartoons you will absorb completely the first time you see them. They didn’t seem like much to me the first time, but vintage John K. has a way of crawling under the skin with each viewing.
Visual treats abound. They resurrected my personal favorite, two characters’ body movements contrasting each other and vying for your attention. Boo Boo going on his tirade while Yogi looks around and into the camera, the Ranger talking to the squirrel, and Boo Boo and Yogi walking out of the cave are all scenes full of spitfire animation you gotta watch over and over to appreciate. Too many motions to list, and the biggest one of all, Boo Boo making out with Cindy Bear, just left me dumbstruck. At least I could describe those other scenes if I tried, this one I couldn’t do in a million years. I’ll tell you what though, it’s led in by a tastefully gruesome painted close-up of the two bears.
Day in the life/Runs wild has even more to offer than those contrasting motions between two characters standing on a 2D background. Since they’re primarily a tribute to the classic limited-animation HB cartoons fused with John K.’s style (like how Man’s Best Friend fused his style with a 50’s cartoon aesthetic), there’re tons of little animation tricks mixing full animation with the cheaper method. Leave it to the greatest modern cartoon whiz to show us the true possibilities of limited animation. As Smith moves through the scenery, bits of bouncy animation on several parts of his model are contrasted by the rest of his person floating stiffly on the screen. This is especially evident as he walks behind the trees in the first cartoon. A new part is in motion every time he comes out from behind.
And a new face is on him as well. Inspired by the notion that he looked different in every cartoon back in the 1960’s, John K. made him look different in every scene, and he really flaunts it while the Ranger is walking through the trees. At first I thought the second cartoon didn’t adhere to his philosophy behind the Ranger, but it does – it’s just barely noticeable. There’re so many distractions in that cartoon you won’t be paying attention to how Smith looks unless you’re conscious about it.
There aren’t any freeze-frame moments in these cartoons like there used to be in Ren and Stimpy. Good as the posing is, it’s more due to so many different poses layering the effect than any one stand-out grabbing you. Since John K. wanted to recreate the look of old-school Hanna-Barberra to a fault, I guess there was no room for the self-expression the likes of Bob Camp had. This isn’t a complaint, just a description. That’s how it is.
The designs are something to die for, however. The models are generally flat and pastel like they should be, but they leave plenty of room for the animation tricks. Every Ranger Smith model captures the feel of old-skool HB and John K.’s aesthetics. Boo Boo looks the most radically different, but his transformation was probably meant as a signal that this isn’t your father’s Yogi Bear (Oh man! I love clichés!). The wild Boo Boo is really scary, and the transition between calm and wild for Boo Boo is so seamless, you’ll miss everything if you blink. Remember that full animation I promised? No HB cartoon would ever have something like wild Boo Boo’s quivering lip.
Another great design is the squirrel Ranger Smith harasses. His mouth would look more appropriate below the pointy nose, but it’s actually on the side of his head ala Cerebus the Aardvark. But John K. goes Dave Sim one better by sticking two front teeth below the nose. Annnnnd that’s it for the designs.
Now for backgrounds. Ed Benedict’s layouts are clean and well-staged, same as what he’s renowned for in the classic HB cartoons. The fact that one of the original guys who did those cartoons did this one gives it an air of authenticity (even if it’s rumored that Joe Barberra doesn’t like John K.’s interpretation of his bear – but whatever. As John K. pointed out himself in “Animation Blast”, I’d rather see this than that Yo Yogi! fodder).
Take away the colors, though, and the forest would be very sparse looking (guess that’s what is meant by “clean staging”). The yellows and oranges used for the forest mix perfectly with the transparent bushes whose only color is an ink outline. Some of the backgrounds look like crayon instead of paint. Either way, each background is perfectly suited to whatever is moving on it. Did I even have to tell you that?
The story progression for Boo Boo Runs Wild reminds me of Stimpy’s Invention: Boo Boo’s actions while wild are really gag scenes mainly to show you he’s wild, same as how the scenes of Ren being slap-happy are mainly to show you he’s slap-happy. The plot-twist of Yogi freaking out and going to Ranger Smith also reminds me of the roundabout twist in SI where Stimpy comes home after the cartoon is finished showing us how insane Ren is.
All of the gags mainly work because of the animation practices described above, but some of the actions like tearing bark off tree remind me of how John K. in the late 90’s would base his gags on old stereotypes and other stuff that made no sense. Ren and Stimpy gags were all based on acting meshed with the animation and drawings, and the acting was based on the central point of the cartoon, which did make sense. At first the bark tearing gag seemed unfunny, but by the fourth time I watched Runs Wild I could see it being funny on the fifth time. Thanks to all the animation ideas, what I thought were weak gags are actually growing on me. It helps that the cutting while Boo Boo rips bark off the trees is totally weird-ass, throwing your view point from the ground to the top of the screaming tree like that.
I was going to give these a 13 collectively, but the more I think about it, the more they really grew on me. They elicit the same feelings I got while watching Big House Blues, so this 14 should be just fine (although I’d probably give Day in the life a 13 on its own). It’s a bit irritating how some scenes are very slow (like the shots of Yogi stalking through the grass), but this is John K. as I know and love him: Elaborately developed individual parts that can attract the viewer’s focus while complementing each other and an atmosphere that’ll make you laugh on later viewings just thinking about what’s going to happen next. If John K. handles the new Ren and Stimpy episodes like he handled this, and not the Ripping Friends, we just might be in for something great. The overall package won’t fill you with as much ecstasy as classic Ren and Stimpy, but it sure won’t let you down. Just keep watching. There’s so much to see, that even when I don’t laugh I’m never bored.