Comick's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Ducky and Plunger]

Good job!

Okay, I admit that sometimes a flash comes along that does things I don't like and yet I can't help but find some humble approval of it in the end. This has to be one of those cartoons. On one hand, I have a high standard on how good the quality of the drawings and animation are in a piece, and I don't like when things are overused like matrix music for action scenes and text words instead of voices. And this is normally reflected in the score. But on the other hand this cartoon was so non-sequitur it wouldn't have mattered much if the drawings had been better. I found something completely innocent in your story that doesn't seem to want to please anyone, just make something funny that you wanted to tell and it doesn't matter if it makes no sense. The whole concept of a plunger as a character is one example. Haha, he eats popcorn and sandwiches, he sits on the toilet (even though he's a tool that would normally be in the toilet) and he rides a wagon that propels on some invisible force. The duck has no feet and slides around, and has an obsession with toasters, and lives with a plunger in a house. It's true, some people will come in watching this and say "hey that can't happen!" or "wtf, this has no real plot" but to me, you set the standard of what I'm supposed to expect in the beginning with that bizarre TV show that starts it all. At that point I said, "I need to disband my logic and watch this cartoon open-minded". And I honestly liked this cartoon and laughed at the things they did and said. There were some lazy parts in the drawings and too much tweens, but there was also some real effort put into your cartoon's construction. You used close-up shots, and pan arounds, we get an x-ray view in the toaster, the shopping scene used good light effects and fade aways to show a passage of time in the toaster store. You made some okay backgrounds and even got a little creative by making a "Y-box" and putting little details like the personalized license plates haha those were great. I think you made a cartoon that only looks bad on the surface but actually is very good overall on the inside. Keep animating! You have the potential to get much better. Dedicate a little more effort to the art and the movement, but keep going. I would normally vote this as a 5, but I'll give you a 7 to be nice ;)

duckson responds:

Thanks! I can see you really took the effort to write a full review and I really appreciate it. I know the animation needs to be improved, im trying to figure out better ways to do things but I guess Im still learning. One of the major problems is that this cartoon was built from 2 different cartoons and made over the span of a year and a half, so many things were lost and forgotten along the way. One half of the cartoon I didnt even have the original FLA file for any more and I had to decompile the swf form of it and smooth out the bugs. All in all though Im glad I took the time to finally finish this and its reviews like yours that really stick in my mind and keep me going. Thanks :)

[Big NG Package]

Love it!

Who says this is not animated?! lol You're just as animated as a cartoon character if not more. Its better then what some people can even produce in flash. Hahaha, although the whole concept of the clip was nice (getting a surprise in the mail), I think what sold this was your gestures, the passion, and (most of all to me) the improv. It's the same crazy-ness that made me love your animation invasion short. You really know personality and caricature...and honestly it's something that some of the greatest animators had. The best acted cartoon characters have the most eccentric animators, because they trans-scribe their own movements into the drawings. This video was an excellent example of that. Great job! You've only made me love your work even more.

[Alfred's Playhouse Pt. 3]

So, you finally show a method to your madness!

Playhouse Part 3. This was, by far the best Alfred cartoon you've done. Parts 1 and 2 in my opinion where too messed up for their own good...but anyway, I loved this one for the following reasons:

1. You finally get to see more of the two self's understanding their places in this mind. And see a sort of master and slave theory arise. The master needs the slave because it assures he has power, while the slave needs the master because he feels sheltered/protected in some way from the dangers of the outside. At least that's what I read from their (eating the treat) actions.

2. For once, all the crazy stuff is not just for shock and spectacle; they have a lot more symbolic connotations. And I'm sorry if the parts 1+2 had those too, but they were far too cryptic (i.e. fornicating Littles?)...while this one was more focused, and thus more enjoyable for the audience to watch and study. Also, (thank god) it didn't have as many "so loud it broke my speakers" moments as the past cartoons did. So thanks, my ears are grateful.

3. The music was spot on to the scenes! My favorite being the music that plays as Dictator Alfred took control and raised his arms and the real Alfred ,(like a puppet being controlled), mimicked his movements to grab that blade. The cuts/transitions there where so smooth it made me grin, because it leaves us knowing "oh, yeah. That guy is dead!"

4. The conclusion was left open and we don't know what will become of Alfred now in the real world. I like that, because it leaves the audience believing what they want to believe happened, but to me it seems the Dictator has control now. Which only goes to show a moral for the happy Alfred (as he flies among the false rainbows), "It's hard to free a slave from his chains, if he reveres them".

Good work on this one! And I was happy to see more frame by frame, and less tweens...even if some parts where sloppy and missing some in-between frames from one pose to another.
Just on a little side note: Do you trace any of Alfred's animation movements from CatDog? It seems similar....

[Rocket Crotch]

Very Nice!

Original and funny to the core! I really liked this! And it's going in my favs, but what's a critique without some real critique, huh? So here I go......

The animation is very stiff and over-tweened. It's most obvious when you imported a lot of drawings and then pan them around too much. But then you even make a note of that flaw in the robot scene, so I'm curious if you are making fun of the way your cartoon was handled or merely using that observation as an excuse to get away with the bad animation. It's strange because the drawings are so sloppy and loose it's like you drew everything only once and didn't bother to fix or re-draw it, but on the other hand, the whole cartoon looks that way...so it does seem consistent as a whole. I want to say it's like a cartoon come to life from a sketch book. And that's NOT a bad thing. It was a nice quality in some cartoons, like "What Ever Happened to Robot Jones?", so this cartoon may be read the same way.
Seeing as how the main focus was humor, I think it's a successful cartoon in that aspect. I admit I laughed really hard on some scenes because it was so "serious" in its silliness. For example, Dr. Mocha getting so insulted over his piercings or when Jezza seems to be experiencing a real state of inner mediation only to find its occupied by a gay record singer (whose face I might add was hilarious). If I could recommend some improvements, it would be these things:

1. Audio: The voices are great, but the quality sucked. One minute they are so low on the speakers they sound like whispers, and then the next scene they are blaring out their lines. It was such an obstacle, that it made watching your cartoon a hassle, as I needed to keep my hand on my volume knob as I watched it. If it hadn't been for the originality and story in the cartoon, I probably would have given up on watching the whole thing.

2. Animation: Just a little extra effort in this, can make all the difference. For example, when the shark went to eat the bait. You could have at least animated him biting the hook instead of sliding him behind it and moving his mouth to chews that don't affect the line at all. That just looks lazy. And more angles would have been nice. You throw a few in there, like the pan between villains and hero, but then when the fights really happen they are flat and one-dimensional. Think like how in a comic book we get a whole lot of angles of something coming at us or around the character. We see them from the back, top and sides.

3. Character: (not sure if this one can be changed much, since you probably already have their designs the way you like them but)....Jezza and Dr. Mocha and Kaz all look too similar in face. They dress differently enough to distinguish them, but they all have the same head and face. If you could draw them a little more different I think it would help keep them apart. Scrumptious Jack was perfect though! Hahaha!

Okay, so I think I've talked too much now, and I apologize for the long review, but I liked this cartoon a lot and where it could go in the future, so I hope this review is seen as being a little helpful and not bashing. Honestly, I can't wait for the next one! So I hope my critique is taken with a few grains of salt.

lenkalamari responds:

Thanks alot man, constructive criticism is always welcome.

I went for the 'sketchy' style because I was sick seeing all these pristine, clean looking flashes with these really false-looking characters. I would have put more frame by frame in if I had the time ;)

As for sound, it was beyond my control for the most part, as my laptop speakers are really tinny, and my speakers back home (I'm at college you see) are very heavy on the bass. That, and the lines were recorded in different locations spread over 3 months, so that's DEFINITELY going to be gotten rid of for the sequel.

As for everything else - I've been drawing these characters for a good few months now. The symbols for Jez, Mocha and Kaz were all drawn back in the summer, and now they have much more unique designs.

And I'm SO glad you picked upon the angles - that was my main gripe with this movie. The newest ep is all storyboarded and will contain practically no recycled material save an establishing shot here and there.

So yeah, as a beginner I guess the only way is up. You can expect good things I hope ;-)

[Assortment of Magic]

Lovely!

To see such a marvelous piece of work with such a low score disgusts me. If there was ever a time I felt Newground's viewers can be so unfair, it would be now, because your cartoon doesn't play on their level of "entertain me". No, this cartoon transcends that. It is one where the viewer is not given all the info on a silver platter. This cartoon was a work of art. And although you say it's only an experiment, I read it as a message of the self and society. We are the birds, locked in our cages, fed on images of paradise, (but in no way able to reach it) and daily we perform our tasks, (our tricks), are false selves to masses, only to die in the end. We as people see the act of creation as something we can put on a plaque and harness...Is it art? Is it "magic"? No, it's a shell of what it once was... like a lively monkey reduced to an ornament. The "boring" magic is the falseness we live by. Slyly smiling, society hands us flowers and balloon animals...symbols of joy. But really they are just false sterile items set in a monochromatic (unfeeling) world, meant to try and cover the fact that it's not sincerely "magic".
But in the end, the "artist" can either be a slave to these notions or rise above it. The bird looking in on the hat and pecking at what he was a part of. Attacking the falseness by knowing there is more...there is a "real" magic where all the creatures of the mind escape the hat and truly become something else. Something really "magic". Well, this is all my interpretation of your toon. ^_^ Perhaps I thought too far into this? But maybe not. If your cartoon could even get me to these ideas, then I think there is something here worth watching. 10/10. 5/5. and faved as an Artist (because that's what you really are).

[Jinas 1: A New Friend]

Wonderful!

This looks like a real labor of love! The innocence and pace of this cartoon was a breath of fresh air for me. And I admit I really liked this, even though they hardly started the journey. The only bits I wish you had elaborated more were the eel scene (the sense of danger was short lived) and the farmer scene (no reaction to such a strange sight?). And we are shown no reason why they would really leave such a peaceful (almost paradise) place, except for the word of one cocky crow and they said: "they have nothing better to do"? But in the end, I let these bothers slide, because I sense maybe this is all a set-up for tragedy later. It all seemed too good to be true. ^_^ Great work!

AloneInTheDark responds:

Thank you. Actually, one of the points you mentioned was really intended by myself. The place Jack lived is peaceful and quiet, it's pretty ok to live there. That is also why the entire decision to leave is very hard for Jack. Will it be worth it and how much is he prepared to give up for it? That will be the main question of this series. There is no real good and bad in this series, i try to avoid that

[The Master Games Ep 1]

Good action, but lacking plot...so far...

I can't help but think that "Brother" is like Neo from the Matrix. All powerful and just as emotionless as Keanu Reeve's acting skills. He even did the same hand blocks in his fighting.(ha!) And Mario and Sonic seemed like puppets...they just meet this random guy who says "you two fight" and they go "duh, okay!" No thinking! No doubts! Let's just obey this guy and fight each other with no reason to back it. I love a good random sprite fight, and the effects were top-notch. Really, it's some of the best! However, I get the sense this wasn't meant to be a pointless bash-em-up, but a cartoon with plot. And it was very weak. But that's not to say this is a total loss, you have the skills to entertain in the "action" and the music and camera angles were great! You just need to show some life to the characters. Mario has no brain and was all fists. Sonic DID ask if this was a game, but was given a response of "yeah whatever, just fight already" and he does. Again, a sign of no brain...
Things to improve:
1. Brother (needs more detail and get rid of that white border around him, he looks like he was cut out of a jpeg)

2. The constant clicking of that little triangle. A space bar control would be nice, or maybe we could click the screen to advance the text?

3. More plot and less cryptic dialogue...i.e. "Matrix Reloaded?"

But overall, I encourage you to keep working on it, you have talent ^^

[French Zombie]

Wonderful! I laughed so much!

I think the really strong part to this cartoon was its slap-stick humor. I almost laughed at everything, from the minor notes on the box, to the moon's expression and exit. And despite what others have said about the art quality, I went ahead and looked at your previous work and can see that you have become better over time. Just keep it up! You have the skills, now just commit a little more dedication to the quality.

[Rise of Alfred]

Wow.....

It was amazing to see what the use of pure silence and hacked sounds can do to evoke the madness one feels in this cartoon. I personally think the audio was the only real factor in creating this illusion. Without the sound, this cartoon is a very cute and hardly scary weenie dog. Even when he killed things it looked cute, (like he was a puppy with a sock). It’s still not as scary as the new Ren and Stimpy- Watch the episode "Ren Seeks Help" and be prepared to see what is REALLY scary O_O . As for your cartoon, it was good, but if you were to put more details in his expressions, I think it would have been better. Most of the time his eyes and mouth were just stretched out with simple tweens. If you actually drew his lids sagging and his mouth with folds of skin, he would've had more impact visually. Maybe next time add some drool and foam to his mouth too XD

[TftTC#4- Heroes]

Very Funny!! :D

I think my favorite was the batman scene and his walkcycle. And technically I like the focus and blur effects the most. There was a little shot with your hand in it...opps. But thats just nit-picking the details. The shots had a nice crisp resolution and the audio was perfect, I could hear everything clearly. Great job! I loved it :)

DrMackFoxx responds:

Glad you loved the movie! Yeah, we did the best we could to ensure the shots came out crisp and clear. The blurr and focusing were all done one shot at a time. Not to mention using decent bitrates to preserve the video and audio quality. Thank you very much for the review!