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Ryan W. Mead

@rwmead.bsky.social

190 followers 19 following 1.9K posts

AKA mobo85 • he/him • Part-time grocery clerk • Full-time pop culture/animation rambling

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Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · Nov 28

Greetings from other websites!

I guess since wandering moots are I might as well introduce myself. My name is Ryan, and my interests - and 85% of my posts - are pop culture news/history in general with a focus on animation, comic strips, and Muppets.

Sometimes I draw. More often I make bad jokes.

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Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 1d

The answer is Tanslin Media, who has for years remarked that due to the costs of music licensing and restoring decaying film it’s highly unlikely an official rerelease will ever be done.

However, they did release an official Gary Gnu action figure last year. plasticmeatball.com/products/gre...

The Great Space Coaster - Gary Gnu Action Figure

In Stock and Ready to Ship! No Gnews may be Good Gnews, but this Gnews is an exception to that rule. Plastic Meatball is proud to release the first ever officially licensed action figure from The Grea...

plasticmeatball.com

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Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 1d

I’ll be honest, “French jewel thieves” was pretty low on my list of out-of-date trends to get an unexpected modern revival

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Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 2d

A mistaken animal identity on the same level as the “Screaming Goat” actually being a sheep: the animal that made the Chicago rat hole has a 98.67% likelihood of actually being a squirrel chicago.suntimes.com/chicago/2025...

'Chicago Rat Hole' was not made by a rat, say rodent researchers

The "Chicago Rat Hole" captured hearts in Chicago and on social media last year. Researchers analyzed the anatomical dimensions of the famous imprint and found the creature responsible was not a rat b...

chicago.suntimes.com

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Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 3d

The Jane Goodall tribute cartoon is rather touching (as far as a Larson cartoon can be defined as “touching”) given their history together.

Kyle Orland @kyleor.land · 4d

"New Far Side comics" was definitely not on my bingo card for this week. They're not bad!

www.thefarside.com/new-stuff/

Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 3d

(In the English translation of the game, this line has been changed to “My Pikachu’s been having tummy troubles recently”.)

Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 3d

Proving gamers in Japan are as easily amused as those in the U.S., the biggest social media trend on Pokémon Legends: Z-A’s first day had nothing to do with game mechanics or character designs but rather an NPC who is concerned their Pikachu is pooping too much: automaton-media.com/en/news/poke...

Pokémon Legends: Z-A dialogue confirms that Pikachu does, in fact, poop - AUTOMATON WEST

Japanese Pokémon Legends: Z-A players were so shocked to learn Pikachu canonically poops it became a trending topic on X.

automaton-media.com

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Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 3d

(Franquin and Schulz are kindred spirits in that their heirs allow adaptations but not continuations; in 2023 Franquin’s daughter sued her publisher to prevent the release of a new Gaston comic, arguing that, like Schulz, her father wanted the strip to die with him.)

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Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 3d

Although this adaptation never aired in the U.S. (although an English dub using the French name Gaston is known to exist), the fidelity to the original comics led Jean Schulz to approve a series of Peanuts shorts at Normaal which aired on Boomerang in the U.S. which are well-done

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Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 3d

These comics have been published in English under the title Gomer Goof - I read one of the collections a few years ago and it’s very well-done slapstick humor. An animated adaptation of the strips was done by the French studio Normaal in 2009.

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Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 3d

Franquin also created another comic called Gaston Lagaffe, about a bumbling office worker who usually is seen asleep at his desk or making outlandish inventions rather than actually working.

Gaston Lagaffe/Gomer Goof at his messy office in a comic panel by Andre Franquin

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Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 3d

which stated, among other things, that Disney was to produce and air a half-hour series devoted solely to Marsupilami by a certain date. Franquin passed away shortly afterwards and his estate would successfully sue Disney for failing to do the maximum to promote Marsu in the U.S

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Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 3d

Both in this series and Disney’s before it “Raw Toonage” Marsupilami shorts only made up one-third of the show (one of the supporting shorts for Marsupilami was Sebastian the crab from The Little Mermaid). This was actually in violation of Disney’s contract with Andre Franquin…

BooRandy! 🎃 @toonrandy.bsky.social · 4d

BTW, Disney made an adaptation of Marsupilami back in the 90s, which I do remember watching it during its first run!

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Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 4d

“Okay, in between cartoons we show two kids running around with sponges strapped to their butts who have to stick them in a tub of water and transfer it to a tub. All while this deep voice keeps going SPONGEBUTT. SPONGEBUTT.”

“And what purpose does this serve?”

Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 4d

I’m not a fan of modern online SpongeBob discourse devolving into nothing but “would Steve have approved of this?” but thinking about it brought the question “did he personally have to approve ‘Spongebutt Wetpants’ when he was alive?”, which is a far more interesting question

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Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 4d

And the self-satirical ones:
-Beware of a duck in a red plaid jacket.
-You will never turn into a giant shoelace.
-You will grow up to write fortunes for bubble gum.

Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 4d

Some of the punnier ones:
-Put your best foot forward - but don’t trip!
-Never weigh friends’ faults with your finger on the scales.
-Start a bakery if you can raise the dough.
-Big shots are often of low caliber.

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Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 4d

The rest range the gamut from punny to self-referential. I’m particular fond of this set of similarly-written vague ones:
-What you think will happen will.
-What you think won’t happen won’t.
-What you think could happen wouldn’t.
-What you think might happen mightn’t.

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Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 4d

fortune that had already become the subject of mockery. The most famous of his was “Help - I’m being held prisoner in a bubble gum factory!”, a play on an old fortune cookie joke which elicited at least one concerned call by a youth to Topps headquarters.

Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 4d

In 1972 writer Bhob Stewart was tapped to write a new set of fortunes for Bazooka Joe comics that came with Topps gum. Continuing the Brooklyn factory’s debt owed to Manhattan institution MAD Magazine which started with Wacky Packages, Stewart decided to satirize the straightforward Bazooka…

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Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 4d

(While looking up to make sure I had the right guy, I found out that Phil Tippett actually hates the “Dinosaur Supervisor/you had one job, Phil” meme, stating in a 2022 Reddit AMA “I never got the joke. It’s stupid.”

Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 4d

You had one job, Phil.

Cartoon Brew @cartoonbrew.bsky.social · 5d

Oscar-winning VFX legend Phil Tippett ('Star Wars,' 'Jurassic Park') mastered the blending of practical and digital effects when the latter technology was still new. At View Conference this week, he shared how his studio is now bringing AI into the mix.
www.cartoonbrew.com/vfx/phil-tip...

VFX Icon Phil Tippett On His Studio's Generative AI Use

At Italy’s VIEW Conference, Tippett Studio veterans explore how artificial intelligence could accelerate stop motion and VFX without losing the human touch.

www.cartoonbrew.com

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Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 4d

It only makes sense that Paramount’s other heroes would join the TMNT on MeTV Toons. A Sunday Terrytoons block will debut on November 2 mixing original theatrical shorts with episodes of The Mighty Heroes and Ralph Bakshi’s Mighty Mouse. animationscoop.com/terrytoons-m...

MeTV Toons Brings Back the Paul Terry and Ralph Bakshi "Mighty Mouse" Cartoons Starting Nov. 2nd - Animation Scoop

Mighty Mouse is coming this November, joining the Sunday afternoon lineup for MeTV Toons, the only TV network dedicated exclusively to classic animation. Mighty Mouse and Friends will air every Sunday...

animationscoop.com

Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 4d

Which is another reason why this announcement sounds like it’s 30 years too late…

David Brunt @davidbrunt.bsky.social · 4d

Carrey is at least 20 years too old for the role.

At 63 he'd be a far better fit for Cosmo Spacely these days.

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Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 5d

No, this is not a headline from 1995 about a follow-up to the John Goodman Flintstones movie: Jim Carrey is in early talks to play George Jetson in yet another attempt to bring the space-age family to the big screen in live action: variety.com/2025/film/ne...

Jim Carrey in Talks to Star in ‘The Jetsons’ Live-Action Movie

Jim Carrey is in talks to lead a "Jetsons" movie at Warner Bros. Pictures with Colin Trevorrow in talks to direct, Variety has confirmed.

variety.com

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Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 5d

And yes, there was a Woody Woodpecker game for the Sega Master System released in Brazil

The title is a play on the Brazilian title “National Lampoon’s Vacation” was released under, which has become a pop culture shorthand there for a vacation gone wrong

Cover art for Férias Frustradas do Pica-Pau (Woody Woodpecker’s Frustrating Vacation) for the Sega Master System

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