Last time, I drew an ACO subject who didn't need to be introduced. This time, I feature a pencil that needs no introduction ...but we'll cover the pencil later. ^^ First, let's take a look at our subject: Bela the Lioness from 'The Oz Kids' (TOK).
TOK is based loosely on 'The Wizard of Oz' literary series. In TOK, the main cast is the kids of the protagonists from the literary series ...and, no, Dorothy is (thankfully) NOT the mother of all of them (that would raise FAR too many questions). ^^
Dorothy is the mother of two of the kids: Dot and Neddie (two, unless Toto counts as a child, of course). The others are obvious: Scarecrow Jr. is the son of 'Scarecrow', Bela and Boris (the lion twins) are the cubs of The Cowardly Lion, and so forth. I dunno who the other moms are, and neither does the Wikipedia article (as it appeared 07/15/2021). ^^
Without giving away any important spoilers, my main gripes are the voice acting and eye-rolling plot conveniences.
The former is easy to understand: most of the voice cast seems to be child actors ...albeit that'd be a misnomer as these kids can't act! D: The cast seems to be reading its lines very carefully, so as not to stutter or say the wrong words. Consequently, the actors forget to emote, delivering a very monotone performance overall. What's worse is the lively animation doesn't reflect the dry voice-acting, which makes the latter all the more noticeable and irritating.
As for the plot conveniences ...well, let's just say the heroes are in possession of magic that they COULD use to get themselves out of trouble ...and they know it ...but running around and doing things the hard way seems to be their preferred method (because we wouldn't have a story otherwise). :p
But TOK is cute ...and that's what matters. :3
One other thing worth mentioning. It took me a little off-guard, but a character actually swears in this ...at least I think they do. The word 'peon' is uttered by Otto: this episode's villain (seems about right). Now, I dunno if 'peon' is a swear, but it is a term of disparagement, and I've never before heard it used in a children's cartoon . I may be overreacting to it (I dunno).
Anyway... pencil. :3
This is a Dixon 'Ticonderoga', which is perhaps the most popular line of pencils in America (pencil nerds refer to Ticonderogas as 'tics'). The Ticonderoga line has been around over a hundred years and is still available (for cheap!) in most places. :3
This particular one is VERY old, albeit I'm unsure of its vintage (possibly pre-WWII). Those familiar with the Ticonderoga may note three things different with this one:
1. this one lacks the iconic green ferrule with the yellow bands 2. this one is numbered 1386 instead of 1388 3. this one has a curiously plain font
As for the number, the original number system for this line went as follows,
"No.1=1385, No.2=1386, No.2 5/10=1387, No.3=1388 & No.4=1389. Date to be determined. Later all were changed to 1386 and then even later they were all changed to 1388" -Bob Trudy
The featured Ticonderoga is a nice variant---not particularly rare, but a good find nevertheless. I have several Ticonderogas, including a WWII-era. I may feature these at some point, but there are many, many other pencils in need of featuring.
In the books a cursed axe nipped bits off a guy until he was compeltely replaced by tin. The bits, plus some more, were stiched together into a new guy.
Dorothy being the all-mother raises no more questions than a single page of the source material.
In the books a cursed axe nipped bits off a guy until he was compeltely replaced by tin. The bits, p
To be honest, never really heard of the show. Now you have intrigued me to look it up and watch it... damn my curiosity lol. The animation looks okay and based on what you have said about it, it basically sums up most of the movie-to-show adaptations of the '90s.
Will have to see. Thanks for the pic and something to do when I'm bored lol. :3
To be honest, never really heard of the show. Now you have intrigued me to look it up and watch it..
