New Cartoon Network pilots

Back to backspace

I like it.Animation is awesome but the show itself leaves me confused,but interested.Patty's real cute.

Pillywags Mansion Pretty funny.Animation of Al and Ian was real fluid.Love the puppetry.

Overall,I feel both are good,but also really,really weird.

Saw both pilots just now. Here are my thoughts:

• Back from Backspace: The idea of rejected ideas having their own world is eyebrow-raisingly interesting on its own. And Patti seems intriguing herself. So she can go to and from the real world and Backspace? How does that work? Is she among a select few who make sure Backspace doesn't go up in flames or perhaps she's the only one? Why is she even in Backspace in the first place? Is she secretly a Sad Clown with a Dark and Troubled Past? So many questions! (Also, I saw what you did there with your icon switching from some weeping manga character to Patti. I commend how your interest in this particular pilot is genuine! )

• Pillywags Mansion: I kinda thought live-action shows were a no-no for CN, but perhaps puppet shows with little cartoons are the exception? Regardless, it was a fun if odd watch. Also, when I heard Pillywags speak, the first thing that popped in my head was "Hey, is that Benson?"

Bottom line, consider me interested in both pilots (while leaning slightly more towards Back to Backspace)!

edited 13th Nov '14 8:06:48 PM by TargetmasterJoe

The first one is weird. I know the character is suppose to be female, but she honestly looks like a male 0.0

Nonetheless, it looks interesting.

edited 13th Nov '14 10:09:11 PM by teddy

Don't call Patti a dude just because she wears a tie.

Back to Backspace - I could see this working, with a better villain than the letter 'F'. That, and our main protagonist's friends could stand to be less annoying / stupid... Otherwise, the one thing that stands out for me is the female protagonist, which CN needs more of, NOW. Too bad that won't be enough if any of these other problems hold this back.

Pillywag's Mansion - I could see this working if this we're Ka Blam! aimed at a new generation; the puppetry, while good, should only really serve as a wrap - around point for such a setup. Otherwise, this can only go so far, IMHO. Real shame too; puppetry truly is a dead art in need of more love.

The annoying orange was quasi-live-action too and they didn't seem to take issue.

So how does a studio determine if which pilot's worth converting into a series?

Do they see which one has the more views or "Likes" or what?

edited 15th Nov '14 8:06:41 AM by TargetmasterJoe

Backspace looks promising, if a bit more along with CN's usual cartoon fare nowadays (the animation style, weird humor, and awkward singing are all identical to Steven Universe and Adventuretime). I can't really warm up to Pillywags.

... how come every protagonist in CN's cartoons these days need to be able to write and sing??

BTW, you hear Benson there because Pillywags is created by the voice of Benson.

edited 15th Nov '14 9:57:55 AM by kyun

don't forget them being awkward and quirky!

Are they trying to be relatable to teens or something? Eh. Like I said, it looks interesting.

edited 15th Nov '14 9:19:31 AM by teddy

Oh no why do they have to have people who can sing, now we'll have to get music and it'll be good. whatever shall we do?

in any case, I think both pilots are interesting, but need a LOT of polish. There's just something....off about both of them i cant quite put my finger on.

Definitely.If either/both get picked,they need to be improved.With Backspace,I feel the problem it mainly suffers from is it's humor.Outside of Patti,the rest of the characters(especially the 2 brothers) aren't all that funny.The humor feels like they really want to have the same kind of random humor shows like Adventure time have.I also feel that the show needs to slow down a little since the pacing feels a little to fast.Maybe if they started off at the board room and then introduced the Backspace and the characters it'd be better since it feels like at the beginning its in media res.

Pillywags has the opposite problem as it seems a little too slow.While I felt it got some more chuckles from me than Backspace I also felt like it has points where it's really slow and not much is happening.It makes it come off as awkward and boring at times.Also maybe they could've told us a bit more about Pillywags and his crew since the pilot comes off as it being any other episode.Maybe if the pilot was about Pillywags starting his show for the first time it might work better.

I was questioning a trend I noticed. You don't need to be snippy.

Back to Backspace looks really, really, really, really good.

It feels like a whole show to the Adventuretime episode where they get sucked into a video game. Using computer themes in a show like this can be a huge hit in this day and age where the back space, delete button, trash can, and other ideas are commonplace.

Posting the pilots here for the sake of convenience:

Back to Backspace:

Pillywags Mansion:

They need to revive the Cartoonstitute concept.

Or What a Cartoon!

Have them all judged by Space Ghost again! (Don't forfeit the swimsuit competition!)

in that respect, Backspace actually sounds like a more modernized take on Chalk Zone. in that show, anything that got erased from a chalkboard was sent to the titular location.

Which one do you hate more? I guarantee that'll be the one made into a cartoon on Comedy Network. Seems this administration has taken the problems of the previous one and magnified them. Action cartoons used to get cancelled, now they're destroyed forever. And this time, not even comedy is safe from the great destroyer; just ask Sonic Boom. At this point, it's only a matter of time when CN will be destroyed. And then, animation will be dead except the cheap, easy to produce, identical assembly line productions from all major studios.

Oh, come off it.

Action cartoons will be back soon. These things go in vogues. Their time will come.

At least the Moral Guardians aren't protesting them out of existence like they did the first wave of action toons.

...... what the HELL are you talking about?? What's the news with Sonic Boom now??

At least the Moral Guardians aren't protesting them out of existence like they did the first wave of action toons.

Coughcough Aurora's shootings role in the whole Beware The Batman debacle cough cough cough.

Basically, as long as Action Cartoons are being pulled out of existence it matters little if the cause is Moral Guardians or network marketing policies anyway; the result is the same regardless.

edited 28th Jan '15 5:53:11 PM by NapoleonDeCheese

That's only one example vis-a-vis the Moral Guardians of the late 60s attacking the "weirdo superhero" cartoons of the era (Space Ghost, Birdman, the Herculoids, etc.) and getting them all wiped out after a season.

edited 28th Jan '15 6:02:03 PM by Aldo930

What? How? It's not like there's any particular way "males" and "females" should or have to look but she's not even "tomboyish," she's completely girl. You need a pink dress and giant eyelashes to tell or something?

Cartoon Network's action cartoons were always boring and Cartoon Network's current lineup of comedy cartoons is better than all the previous Cartoon Cartoons except possibly Courage.

Pitch the nostalgia goggles right in the trash where they belong already. Cartoons right now, as we speak, are better in writing quality and imagination than any point I've ever been alive for, and that goes back to the 80's.

And Sonic Boom is UNBEARABLY WEAK. I never cared about Sonic before, but when I watch this show, it pains me how it has all the elements of something good but feels devoid of energy. The animation, the writing, and acting, it all feels half-asleep. They don't even animate Sonic to actually look like he moves fast. They just give him normal looking running speed with fancy blur effects. Long periods are awkwardly devoid of sound effects or music. Facial expressions are stiff and lifeless. Just 20% more passion and they'd have a good show.

edited 29th Jan '15 12:15:55 PM by scythemantis