Spotlight Australia

Australia is Japan's fat cousin. As a lone island, Australia is a nonstop party of insanity, like Britain but more sassy (and hopefully not as welcoming of terrorism), dangerous (you could count on spiders hiding in your crapper and rotten bananas) and hold the shrimp on the barby. Australia is home to some of the more, out-there kinds of people. We have critics who take two formats and make it their own in-name only, they gave us two Canadian actors, one who does stand-up and one who became a politician, Australia has everything in the realm of insanity. Though it contrasts with their television shows.

Every country has their own special flavor, and it's best shown in their programs. We have the politically correct bullshit and wannabe anime here in the US, the cheap but imaginative material in Canada, the smart and coerce material from the United Kingdom, soon to be Syria II: Electric Boogaloo, the copycats over in Germany and Italy, but where does Australia stand?

I'm going to spotlight three Australian shows that stand out to me the most (particularly those I've seen episodes of for a fair judgment).

In general

Australia seems to hold the same standards as Canadian animation. It's entirely back by funding agents (Film Victoria, ScreenWest, FFC Australia, Lotteries Commission of Western Australia, etc.), it also has Canada's looseness (and in a way, a Sweedish game developer mentality) where anyone could create a show for fun and hope it gets big. Additionally, once a Canadian show runs its course, you could post episodes onto YouTube and they won't get flag, which is code for public domain.

Let's begin.

CJ the DJ

Created by Mark Gravas. You might not know him by name, but you might've seen his work at some point. He was behind Yakkity Yak, which had it not been for Canada backing, it would've remained in Australia. He also directed Casper's Scare School, fun factoid. This show is relatively unknown, it never aired outside of Australia (to my knowledge) and few people talk about it. In comparison to all else on Gravas' resume, CJ the DJ is the most grounded.

The series centers on the title (get it) and her adventures in trying to make it big in the techno industry. Obstacles include her line-walking boss and whatever else is the conflict of the day. I would say that this series provides a feminist vibe, given that CJ is almost always in the right, but though the episodes I've seen, a balance is there. There're as many likable female characters as there are likable male characters, and to close off on the characters, while they have their shortcomings, they have the good going for them to allow you to root for them.

The animation is reminiscent of Bardel Entertainment's 2D productions and post-2004 Studio B junctions. Nothing to write home about physics wise, but the color palette is cool and easy on the eyes.

Most episodes are on YouTube, but the full series is on KimCartoon.me

Check out the series for yourself. I'm not here to tell you whether or not you should or shouldn't watch a TV show, I just tell you about the show and let you make your own judgment on it. Unlike most others.


Dogstar

This show aired on the Nine Network, reportedly the king of programs aimed at children (the popular children's group and respective series Hi-5 withstanding), but where do they stand with their toons? Aside from this, they brought us Pixel Pinkie, an obscure punching bag made popular by "Guy who pisses out his mouth"

Onto Dogstar, the core of the show is set in the future, and centers on a group of siblings who set out to find their beloved dog after a carrier containing him gets lost while on the way to a new home planet. It's a bit like Skyland and Avatar: The Last Airbender, only difference is that from the former it lacks those pretty cel-shaded graphics and for the latter it lacks that ugly FLCL template and doesn't take itself more seriously than it should. Definitely a welcome addition to the adventure serial genre.

Make your own judgement. Since the show is rooted in an overarching plot, I'd be here all day discussing all focal points, plus I haven't watched more than two episodes.

I Got a Rocket

Not exactly a full-blown Australian production, but rather an Australian/American/South-Korean/German/Singaporean/New Zealand, just look at the closing logos, it's gotta hold the record for most companies involved in one show.

Why do I bring up the various companies involved with this? Because it's more interesting to talk about than the show itself. It's a story of a boy and his sentient talking rocket sidekick, facing typical drama with a small sci-fi twist. It's not that interesting, and it looks more like a parody of sorts. I've seen a couple episodes, and aside from the first, they mostly play out the same.

Outright mediocre productions is a trend with one of the show's production companies, Mike Young Productions. Funnily enough, most of the companies involved produced more memorable shows. Sunwoo for instance produced Kung-Fu Dino Posse, which contrary to what most of you may believe, provides a hilarious jab at shows that take themselves too seriously. Even they, Mike Young and Peach Blossom were involved in Growing Up Creepie, one of their best works.

But here's I Got a Rocket. See if you hold the same judgment as I do.

And that was a small sampling of Australian cartoons. Not much of my own judgement, but hey, I introduced you to shows you probably never heard of. See if you like them.