Saturday Morning Watchmen

Last updated
Saturday Morning Watchmen
Saturday Morning Watchmen (title screen).jpg
Directed byHarry Partridge
Release dates
Running time
1:22

Saturday Morning Watchmen is a Newgrounds and YouTube viral video [1] [2] published on March 5, 2009, the day before the release of the live-action Watchmen film. [3] [4]

Contents

The video parodies the DC Comics limited series Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, portraying the opening sequence of a fictional 1980s Saturday morning cartoon based on the series. [5] The video was animated, written, composed and sung by Harry Partridge [6] [7] and voiced by Partridge, Joshua Tomar, and Hans Van Harken. In stark contrast to the comic, it has a cheerful, upbeat tone, poking fun at the tendency of the campy nature of 1980s animation to sanitize superheroes and other violent themes. [6] It features many of the mainstays of 1980s cartoons, like catchy rock themes, and references to the openings of ThunderCats , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , Jem , The Legend of Zelda , and Scooby-Doo . [6] [8] On the Newgrounds site, Partridge stated the video "combines two huge passions of mine, one being the comic genius that is Alan Moore and the other being kids' programming from the late '80s, which I would say is my biggest animation inspiration." [7]

Partridge originally wrote the video for Playboy.com, which "wanted a viral hit", but decided it was "too good for their crappy website". [9]

Contents

Saturday Morning Watchmen is styled after the opening sequences of 1980s Saturday morning cartoons. The video begins with Ozymandias calling the Watchmen to stop the "Reds" from polluting a lake. The video then introduces the various Watchmen as comrades and lovable crime fighters. The characters dance, eat pizza, and teach lessons like saying no to drugs and getting to bed on time. A rock theme song plays, and the team unites in front of a logo at the clip's end. [4]

Watchmen elements

Screenshot of the Watchmen gathered together Saturday Morning Watchmen.jpg
Screenshot of the Watchmen gathered together

The short film claims to be a 1980s animated television version of Watchmen, and features Rorschach, Ozymandias, Silk Spectre II, The Comedian, Doctor Manhattan, Nite Owl II, Bubastis the genetically engineered red and black-striped lynx, and the giant space-squid from the comics. [6] Concepts like Ozymandias' television room and Nite Owl's hovercraft also appear in the video. [4] However, many of the comic's concepts appear reversed, a slight at the sanitation of 1980s programming.

Nite Owl, a troubled and timid man in the comics, is portrayed as a carefree leader who "loves to party down".

Rorschach, a mentally disturbed character in the comics, appears as a "nutty" figure who is a "friend to the animals", petting a pair of German Shepherds, in contrast to the graphic novel, where he kills them with a meat cleaver after finding that a kidnapped girl by the name of Blaire Roche was fed to them. [4] [10]

The Comedian is depicted as hopelessly infatuated with Silk Spectre II, when in the graphic novel he was her father and attempted to rape her mother. [4]

Doctor Manhattan, who in the comic exiles himself from Earth having been convinced his presence has given those closest to him cancer, is parodied in the video, being cheerily credited with this as a superpower: "Jon can give you cancer and can turn into a car." The sequence features several copies of Dr. Manhattan in bed, being read a story by Silk Spectre; in the comic, Dr. Manhattan multiplies while having sex with Laurie in a misguided attempt to satisfy her sexually.

The video also changes the comic's opening scene, having Ozymandias save The Comedian from falling out of a window rather than throwing him to his death. [4]

1980s cartoon elements

The video features numerous elements of 1980s Saturday morning cartoons, including an opening rock theme song and a sanitization of dark themes and characters. [6] It also mocks the commercial nature that led cartoons to contain cheap animation and play off the popularity of established work. [11]

Reception

Dave Gibbons, artist for the Watchmen series, commented that he had seen the video and "loved it", remarking "The thing is, obviously they're having fun with it but the way it was done, you know that the person really cared about what they were doing…really knew Watchmen in detail." [12] The A.V. Club rated the video highly, writing that "for fans of the graphic novel who grew up on Saturday-morning TV in the '80s, this is a) pretty damn funny, and b) a reminder of just how crappy all those shows we profess to love so dearly really were." [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Watchmen</i> Comics by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Watchmen is a comic book limited series by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987 before being collected in a single-volume edition in 1987. Watchmen originated from a story proposal Moore submitted to DC featuring superhero characters that the company had acquired from Charlton Comics. As Moore's proposed story would have left many of the characters unusable for future stories, managing editor Dick Giordano convinced Moore to create original characters instead.

Rorschach is a fictional antihero and one of the protagonists in the graphic novel limited series Watchmen, published by DC Comics in 1986. Rorschach was created by writer Alan Moore with artist Dave Gibbons; as with most of the main characters in the series, he was an analogue for a Charlton Comics character; in this case, Steve Ditko's the Question. Moore also modeled Rorschach on Mr. A, another Steve Ditko creation on whom the Question was originally based.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Len Wein</span> American comic book writer and editor

Leonard Norman Wein was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men. Additionally, he was the editor for writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons' influential DC miniseries Watchmen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doctor Manhattan</span> Watchmen character

Doctor Manhattan is a fictional DC Comics character created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons. He debuted in the limited series graphic novel, Watchmen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comedian (character)</span> Comics character

The Comedian is a fictional character who debuted in the graphic novel limited series Watchmen, published by DC Comics. The Comedian was created by writer Alan Moore with artist Dave Gibbons. As with most of the main characters in the series, he was an analogue for a Charlton Comics character; in this case, the Peacemaker. Moore imagined the Comedian as a mix between the Peacemaker with "a little bit of Nick Fury" and "probably a bit of the standard Captain America patriotic hero-type".

Nite Owl is the name of two superheroes in the graphic novel limited series Watchmen, published by DC Comics. Created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, the original Nite Owl, Hollis T. Mason, was a member of the crimefighting team the Minutemen, while the second, Daniel "Dan" Dreiberg, became a member of the vigilante team Crimebusters, also known as the titular Watchmen.

Silk Spectre is the name of two fictional superheroines in the graphic novel limited series Watchmen, published by DC Comics. Created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, the original Silk Spectre, Sally "Jupiter" Juspeczyk, was a member of the crimefighting team the Minutemen, while the second, Sally's daughter Laurel "Laurie" Jane Juspeczyk, became a member of the vigilante team Crimebusters, also known as the titular Watchmen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian Veidt</span> Comic book character

Adrian Alexander Veidt, also known as Ozymandias, is a fictional anti-villain in the graphic novel limited series Watchmen, published by DC Comics. Created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, named "Ozymandias" in the manner of Ramesses II, his name recalls the famous poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, which takes as its theme the fleeting nature of empire and is excerpted as the epigraph of one of the chapters of Watchmen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DC Direct</span> American Toy Company

DC Direct is a division of WarnerMedia that sells collectibles based on DC Comics characters.

<i>Watchmen</i> (film) 2009 film by Zack Snyder

Watchmen is a 2009 American superhero film based on the 1986–1987 DC Comics limited series of the same name co-created and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. Directed by Zack Snyder from a screenplay by David Hayter and Alex Tse, the film features Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. A dark and dystopian deconstruction of the superhero genre, the film is set in an alternate history in the year 1985 at the height of the Cold War, as a group of mostly retired American superheroes investigate the murder of one of their own before uncovering an elaborate and deadly conspiracy with which they are all connected.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Higgins (comics)</span> English comic book artist and writer

John Higgins is an English comic book artist and writer. He did significant work for 2000 AD, and he has frequently worked with writer Alan Moore, most notably as colourist for Watchmen.

<i>Watchmen: The End Is Nigh</i> 2009 video game

Watchmen: The End Is Nigh is an episodic video game that serves as a prequel to the film adaptation of the DC Comics limited series Watchmen. The game was originally announced for release in downloadable installments on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live Arcade, with the first one released in March 2009 to coincide with the film's theatrical release. The second episode was released in July and August 2009.

<i>Watchmensch</i>

Watchmensch is a one-shot comic book by writer Rich Johnston and artist Simon Rohrmüller released by Brain Scan Studios. It parodies the Watchmen limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins, along with the comics industry, the movies they spawn and the creators that get trampled on.

Production of <i>Watchmen</i> (film)

Watchmen is a 2009 film based on the twelve-issue graphic novel series of the same name created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins, published by DC Comics between 1986 and 1987. The graphic novel's film rights were acquired by producer Lawrence Gordon in 1986. Many problems halted the adaptation's development, with four different studios and various directors and screenwriters being attached to the project through twenty years. In 2006, Zack Snyder, who at the time was filming another comic book adaptation, was hired by Warner Bros. to helm Watchmen. Filming started in 2007, and following deals with two of the previous companies involved in the development—Paramount Pictures was responsible for international distribution rights after budgetary issues in 2004, resulting in a lawsuit by 20th Century Fox. Fox, which was already contacted by Gordon in 1987, received $1 million of the gross—the Watchmen adaptation was finally released in March 2009.

<i>Before Watchmen</i> 2012 comic book series published by DC Comics

Before Watchmen is a series of comic books published by DC Comics in 2012. Acting as a prequel to the 1986 12-issue Watchmen limited series by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, the project consists of eight limited series and one one-shot for a total of 37 issues.

<i>Doomsday Clock</i> (comics) Superhero comic book published by DC Comics

Doomsday Clock is a 2017–2019 superhero comic book limited series published by DC Comics, written by Geoff Johns with art by penciller Gary Frank and colorist Brad Anderson. The series concludes a tangential story established in the New 52 and DC Rebirth, and it is a sequel to the 1986–1987 graphic novel Watchmen by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and John Higgins, making it the first official crossover between Watchmen and the mainstream DC Universe.

"She Was Killed by Space Junk" is the third episode of the HBO superhero drama miniseries Watchmen, based on the 1986 DC Comics series of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. The episode was written by Damon Lindelof and Lila Byock and directed by Stephen Williams, and aired on November 3, 2019. It introduces the character of Laurie Blake, formerly the vigilante Silk Spectre but now a member of the FBI's Anti-Vigilante's Task Force.

<i>Rorschach</i> (comic book) American comic book limited series (2020–2021)

Rorschach is an American comic book limited series written by Tom King and drawn by Jorge Fornés, based on the character of the same name. The series is published by DC Comics under their DC Black Label imprint. Rorschach is one of two sequels to the comic book maxiseries Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, the other being Doomsday Clock. Ignoring the events of Doomsday Clock, the comic is also tangentially and loosely linked to the 2019 television limited series by Damon Lindelof, set after its events. The standalone story analyses the divisive cultural presence of Rorschach, a deranged superhero who died during the events of Watchmen, while a detective investigates a prolific assassination attempt.

References

  1. Miller, Liz Shannon (6 March 2009). "Weekend Vid Picks: Watchmen Goes Viral". NewTeeVee. Archived from the original on 11 March 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  2. Pepose, David (5 March 2009). "Can Watchmen possibly top this?". Newsarama. Archived from the original on 10 March 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  3. Kohn, Eric (5 March 2009). "Saturday Morning Watchmen". indieWire. Archived from the original on 24 March 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Partridge, Harry (5 March 2009). "Saturday Morning Watchmen". YouTube.com . Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  5. Manco, Emanuele (8 March 2009). "Saturday Morning Watchmen" (in Italian). Fantasy Magazine. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Goellner, Caleb (6 March 2009). "Saturday Morning 'Watchmen' Cartoon — The Stuff Of Alan Moore's Nightmares?". MTV. Archived from the original on March 7, 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  7. 1 2 Bartkewicz, Anthony (9 March 2009). "'Watchmen' Reimagined as Kids' Cartoon". Fox WFXT. Archived from the original on 24 March 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  8. Stewart, Ryan (6 March 2009). "Watchmen: The Saturday Morning Cartoon". The Phoenix . Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  9. Saturday Morning Watchmen - An Interview with Harry Partridge, by Helena Nash, in Journey Planet #77; p. 35
  10. Howells, Sacha (12 March 2009). "The Verdict: Megan Fox Goes Underwater and Tron 2 Spoilers. Plus another lame '80s toy heads to the screen, and Watchmen ... for the kids!". film.com. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  11. Dempsey, David (3 March 2009). "Today's webtip: Watch This". FM4 . Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  12. Moran, Michael (21 July 2009). "Dave Gibbons talks about the Watchmen DVD, and staying out of the water". The Times (via archive.org). Archived from the original on August 30, 2009. Retrieved 10 August 2009.
  13. Robinson, Tasha (5 March 2009). "Who watches the '80s Watchmen children's cartoon?". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 20 October 2014.