Come and Learn with Pibby, our only hope in the upcoming Cartoon Apocalypse
When I was younger I had a slight obsession with the classic Universal Studios horror movie monsters as well as the Japanese film company Toho and their franchise of Godzilla movies. The intentions of these monsters were to terrify their audiences but to me personally, they were just about the coolest thing ever for a 10-year-old Michael.
Way before digital streaming platforms I would always be full of excitement and would cherish the trip with my mom to the closest Blockbuster store. What that meant for me was another chance to pick out new DVDs, like another Godzilla iteration that I’ve seen countless times or the humorously mesmerizing Abbott and Costello Meets Frankenstein.
Shortly soon after saw the beginning of the end for the Blockbuster store empire, DVDs, and VHS tapes, and would see the shift into premium cable tv channels which was the next era of tv and film entertainment. It was on one of those channels that would air primetime movies where I would get the chance to watch Steven Spielberg’s 2005 movie adaptation of War of the Worlds for the first time.
This was a movie that was right up my alley because I was a fan of Spielberg movies and would ultimately expose me to other science fiction horror, which I only knew very little about through one or two episodes of Rod Sterling’s The Twilight Zone.
So from classic movie monsters like Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wolf Man, to skyscraper-sized kaiju monsters like Godzilla, King Kong, and Gamera, surely when it came to alien invasions this would be my next big interest, right? Well, let’s just say I had this dream, well actually, it was more of a nightmare. This was the type of nightmare that did not wake me up all panicky, hyperventilating, or had my heart beating 100 miles per hour out of my chest like a Looney Tunes character.
Spielberg’s adaptation of H.G. Wells’s sci-fi horror novel would be the number one thing in my childhood that would scare this budding horror and monster movie nerd. I would say that the reason why it freaked me out so much is that it conjured a slight fear of the unknown with a mix of existential doomsday angst.
From what I can remember, just recalling all those years back, was the big bad monster in this dream. It was in the form of this faceless, dark mass of an entity, that had a hivelike mind which invaded and consumed planets. It was an Avenger’s level kind of threat, that even Thanos would be concerned about. When it came to what this world-ending entity looked like, the closest monster I can base its appearance on would be the Mindflayer from the 2nd season of Stranger Things.
So keeping this entity in mind, I was able to further reflect on why this bad monster scared me so much to the point where I’m talking about it right now, here, on The Digital Fireplace for the world to read.
Let’s fast forward as I now bring you to the beginning of this month of April. It’s midnight and I’m in my dorm room endlessly scrolling through my Twitter feed and I see Adult Swim on the Top 30 trending list. To my curiosity, the Cartoon Network program was airing a simultaneous broadcast both on cable tv and their Youtube channel. This “Special Broadcast” would lead me down a rabbit hole into what potentially could be one of the biggest, most interesting, and highly anticipated concepts of a cartoon show to date.
Adult Swim would air “Total Rickall” a rerun episode of Rick and Morty and during one particular scene, I along with thousands of other viewers watched in horror as Morty, the main character of the animated series became consumed and possessed by a dark glitchy entity that distorts his body and face.
Half a blink later the scene cuts away from Morty’s ghastly appearance and then the episode continues as normal. No glitch, no possession, just a normal Morty. All seems to be well…or so you thought.
Riddled throughout this one-and-a-half-hour-long broadcast are anomalies of distorting cryptic glitches and at the end of this episode, viewers would be introduced to two of the newest original characters of Cartoon Network, Pibby and Bun-Bun.
Yes, this was indeed an April Fool’s type of joke by Adult Swim on unknowing viewers like myself however this wouldn’t be the first look of Pibby and Bun-Bun on Cartoon Network.
This past October on the Adult Swim Youtube channel would see the release of a teaser for Pibby and the Cartoon Apocalypse. As I was learning this news, I found it to be a nostalgic coincidence as I connected to what internet users called “the glitch” that possessed Morty to my own nightmarish dark entity.
To give a brief general overview and lore to Pibby and this potential show. “The glitch” has invaded Pibby’s world and misplaced her into what looks to be the cartoon multiverse and within the teaser trailer she will go on this journey to fight for survival and find a way to defeat “the glitch”. Along the way she meets cartoon characters from the past and present and makes new friends along the way.
For those who don’t normally watch Adult Swim content or any cartoon animated shows, in my opinion, this show would be one to watch because it’s Cartoon Network’s approach to their own cartoon multiverse and will feature and have nods to some of our favorite cartoon shows and will have a horror like an approach to it which is something that is very different from what you see on Cartoon Network or Adult Swim.
At the end of the day when it comes to nightmares, that feeling of fear doesn’t always have to scare you or be this thing that you’re running from, the thing that’s under your bed or hides in your closet. These things that scare us in our dreams could be ideas or parts of a formula to an idea that can potentially be something that can turn into gold.
To further elaborate on that, the world of cartoons and animation has seen a dramatic shift away from cable television and onto digital streaming platforms. This is certainly the case, with the concurrent rise of Disney+ and phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Next month in May audiences will fill theaters and form blockbusters around the corner with the highly anticipated Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.
Other studios, film companies, and franchises eventually will have to make the decision and take a jump into this new age of entertainment. Some already have taken the step with A24’s live-action multiverse film “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and hopefully soon we will all get to finally see Pibby and Cartoon Network be on that list to bring the cartoon and animation world into the future.
What do you think of this potential Cartoon Network multiverse show?
What was your nightmare of all nightmares?
Thank you for reading this new edition of The Digital Fireplace!
