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Hello everyone! SBManiac (AKA izzydapanda) here with a topic that is hopefully more than just jumping on the bandwagon started by Dman and his topic talking about every Cartoon Network show in existence and whatnot. Now, you'd expect I'd be talking about the first episode of every Disney Channel original animated series to complete the trifecta of cable TV networks most of us here grew up with, but for now, you will be sorely disappointed. (I'm not against the idea, actually, but it turns out a lot of the original animated series produced by Disney didn't even originally air on Disney Channel, but on ABC and other forms of syndication on network television, and that includes stuff like Darkwing Duck, Gargoyles, and even the freaking Weekenders, none of which make any sense to exclude in a retrospective like this, but I digress.) Instead, I'm gonna be talking about the filmography of the one Japanese animation studio that even non-weebs can name, which is of course, Studio Ghibli (whose works were, ironically enough, distributed by Disney itself when I was growing up). Unlike the other two "talking about" topics here, though, I am actually unfamiliar with most Ghibli movies and wanted to undertake watching all 24 of their major productions to date (and one production that actually predates the studio itself, but has since been re-released under the Studio Ghibli name) just to see what I've been missing out on. Some of you here may remember that I tried to have some of us SBCers binge watch these movies over Discord as a group, which unfortunately didn't pan out due to our varying personal circumstances. In other words, I'll be going it alone and will be creating this thread instead to gather my feelings on each of their films. Like with Dman's topic, I will be choosing each Ghibli movie at random using a decider wheel. What are we gonna get this time, O Wheel of Chance? Stay tuned for Izzy's first talk-about. LIST OF MOVIES:

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I love They Might Be Giants. They did the Phineas and Ferb theme song too

Last time, I talked about a Nicktoon from the early 10s that didn’t impress me much at first but grew on me a little during my revisit. This time, we’re going to finally leave that decade and tread into familiar territory. And what better way to start it off with its most influential cartoon… #4. “A Sucker for the Suck-O-Matic” – Rocko’s Modern Life [September 18, 1993] Well, it took quite a while (actually four shows in) but at last, we’ve finally reached an excellent cartoon! Rocko’s Modern Life is one of those Nicktoons I’ve been looking forward to covering on here, as its influence left an impact when it comes to animation. Most notably, it features the late Stephen Hillenburg, who would later go on to create the very foundation this site was based on! So basically, you have this show to thank for SpongeBob or Camp Lazlo or Phineas and Ferb or *insert name of cartoon featuring similar writers*. I like SpongeBob and Lazlo already so this was destined to be in my wheelhouse. So let’s take a venture into the modern life of this not-so-modern cartoon! The episode starts off with Rocko the wallaby and Heffer the steer. Rocko is having trouble with cleaning his house since his vacuum cleaner is on the fritz. While Heffer scrolls through channels, he stumbles on a commercial for a product known as the “Suck-O-Matic”. Rocko, Spunky, and Heffer are naturally interested in the product and order it. When it arrives, Rocko notices that the vacuum cleaner looks different than what they saw on TV. They use it to clean off all the filth and even bathe Spunky using it. The Suck-O-Matic is even powerful enough to suck up a jet plane, a bowling ball, and Santa Claus, just to name a few. While the two do various chores, the dilemma finally kicks in and the Suck-O-Matic goes on a rampage, complete with the vacuum going into HAL 9000 mode. Rocko plans to return the vacuum but the Suck-O-Matic eats up the receipt. With absolutely no help from reading the manual, the gang looks like they’re about to be sucked in. Luckily, thanks to their……whatever was in their bodies, the vacuum dies. The vacuum died from sucking up a really old potato chip but Heffer, being the resident idiot he is, picks up the potato chip and the vacuum comes back to life and swallows all of Rocko, Spunky, and Heffer, where they remain trapped until the next episode airs. But hey, they still have the shopping channel! So that was Rocko! If you wanted an idea of what the rest of the show is like, this would most likely be the episode. Filled with so many visual gags and bizarre humor, this one is definitely worth a watch! Some of my biggest laughs came from the “Prepare to Die” warning on the manual as well as that tiny world of filth built into the carpet. Oh right, that’s another thing you notice in this series. Pretty much every character or object is going to be sentient. Rocko takes the concept of typical slice-of-life sitcoms and goes in the opposite direction with it in the best possible way, making it easily the best animated sitcom that’s been on Nick. Hey, you don’t see Nick renewing this cartoon with 20 more seasons and I’m damn grateful they haven’t. VERDICT: 9/10 (What’s the difference between this show and the Suck-O-Matic? Only one of them ends up sucking.) RANKINGS: So that was a blast! One wonders whether or not the next cartoon could possibly top that one. Let's see what the wheel has to say!