Team RWBY's Fox Kids Commentary Special (Part 2 - Final)

After Ruby, Yang, Blake, Weiss, Pyrrha, Nora and Penny finish their rainbow pancakes as their early breakfast treat, the seven of them continue going through the Fox Kids lineup in the history of its programming block.


Batman: The Animated Series

"So even though Fox Kids was growing, it still wasn't the dominant force in Saturday morning or kid shows. But year three is when all that started to change. Fox Kids expanded from Saturday morning to weekday afternoons, which was a risky and expensive move. If they wanted kids to constantly be watching, they needed some kick-ass shows to keep them hooked. Thankfully, they had little gems like X-Men, Animaniacs, and Batman. Now, we'd talked to death about these shows in the past, so we'll do our best to talk about something different about the impact that they had.", Ruby began.

Yang told, "First was Batman: The Animated Series. After two wonderfully dark Batman movies, an animated version of the Dark Knight not only won both kids and adults over, but it served as a game-changer for Batman in general. A lot of writers went on to several other Batman canon projects, several characters and backstories created for the show made their way to the official Batman lore, and even to this day, when most people read Batman comics, the voices that pop in their heads are always Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as the Joker. It's hard to read them without making that connection.", while they watch several excerpts of the animated Batman episodes.

"Unlike other kids shows at the time, Batman took years to develop, resulting in a unique style not often seen in many animated series. The backgrounds always started off on black paper to keep the dark environment of the show consistent. The characters and buildings had an Art Deco style as opposed to pulp comic style like all the other shows. And the atmosphere in general was more adult, allowing for quieter moments, slower pacing, and more realistic acting. There was no other animated action series that looked like this at the time.", Blake explains.

Weiss soon says, "And nowadays, every animated action series is trying to look like the shows Ben 10, G.I. Joe Renegades and the Young Justice series. It walked the perfect tightrope between too playful and funny between too dark and gritty. It seemed like it incorporated everything. It felt true to the comic roots, worked in the adult side of the movies, had a good laugh at the campiness of the situations, and yet somehow also felt like its own unique vision."

"It's just as good today as it was when it first premiered, and no other Batman show has ever topped it. Think about it, after all these years and all the other incarnations that have come out, no other show has done Batman as well. It's just as clear today as it was years ago why this was a huge game-changer.", imagined Ruby.

Yang prepares, "But Warner Bros. was breaking new ground with another game-changer... Animaniacs.", before she saw Blake and Weiss roll their eyes in impression, "You guys think Ruby and I talked about it too much recently in our top 11 lists?"

"We wouldn't say that... ", Nora respected.

Pyrrha said, "It is a great cartoon."

"We're gonna keep it short.", planned Yang.


Animaniacs

Yang starts, "Seen as the follow-up to Tiny Toons, Animaniacs was a variety show that stepped up its game. Every episode had a plethora of great songs, memorable characters, hilarious animation, but most important of all was that they had brilliant writing. It was truly the closest we ever came to experience the fresh comedy of the original Looney Tunes. They have the great comebacks, the violent slapstick, the imaginative take on the world we all wanted to experience."

"This must have been similar to when people saw a Bugs Bunny cartoon for the first time on the big screen.", thought Blake, "There was just an excitement that you were gonna see something clever, funny, and filled with so much energy, they felt alive. Along with Batman and Tiny Toons, it was one of the few shows that had an entire orchestra providing the music."

Weiss harmonously stated, "And speaking of which, the brilliant songs are still being used by kids today to pass countless school exams. In fact, they even keep updating the songs to coincide with the constantly changing world. In fact, these songs even went on a concert tour, with songwriter Randy Rogel and actor Rob Paulsen singing their infectious earworms."

"They're still that popular. It seems the show was so popular, that it was even rebooted. In 2020 a few years back and around the time at the end of our Beacon Academy social event with our friends, these characters coming back to give their take on modern day insanity. Imagine the shots they could take with the Internet, trends, politics. It's crazy exciting to see where this can go. Will it be as good as the original? I guess only time will tell.", retold Ruby.

Yang consummated, "But one thing's for sure, we'll always have these timeless, classic, hilarious characters to look back on."

"Now, on to a show we know was awesome as Batman. X-Men!", Blake announced.

Ruby told, "I remember mentioning that show in our top 11 cartoons. It was fun doing those rankings a while back."

"There should be something new to talk about it, like the upcoming MCU X-Men '97 show coming to Disney+ in 2023.", Pyrrha imagined.

Penny smiled, "Now that's awesome. First Animaniacs comes back, now X-Men."

"We're bringing the 90's back, baby!", revitalized Nora.

Blake laughed happily, "Apparently, it was the passion project of the head of Fox Kids."


X-Men

"Margaret Loesch, ironically, used to be the head of Marvel television, producing hit after hit except in one category. Funny enough, the Marvel characters never caught on in TV. Every attempt seemed to bomb, including an early version of X-Men where Wolverine was Australian.", Blake summarized before playing a clip of the early prototype X-Men cartoon with Wolverine speaking with his Australian accent.

Pyrrha noticed, "That's almost too ironic, since Hugh Jackman played as the Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox X-Men films. I loved his performance."

"She went from studio to studio trying to get X-Men made, but they all said the same thing, the reason being that it was too adult and nobody would watch it. Margaret then went on to be the president of Fox Kids and cared so passionately about getting X-Men a TV series, that she put her job on the line.", archived Weiss, "They knew if this was gonna be good, a lot of money had to be thrown at it, so she took the gamble, but picked the right producers, writers and actors to make it work."

Ruby explained, "The only downside is, there was not much time to make it work. In fact, the tone and animation were so campy and off-key in the first season, that they only had two episodes for the big October premiere, that being the two-part pilot. What the hell do you do when you need months and months to rework your show? You present the first two episodes as a preview. Yeah, it pissed off the advertisers and cost a fortune, but Margaret and showrunner, Eric Lewald, knew they had to get this right if they were gonna have a hit. The preview, thankfully, went over incredibly well and left people wanting more. So, after a redo of the show with better animation and more adult atmosphere, it finally premiered with no other new shows being put on."

"That's right, because they waited until spring, it got more attention because everything else was reruns.", clarified Yang, "As you'd imagine, the numbers were through the roof. X-Men was suddenly Fox's biggest hit. It represented more than cool heroes with powers, it grasped the prejudice and torture character arcs, as well as the all-around badass nature people loved from the comics. After being told no over and over from several studios and even ignoring advice from Stan Lee to make it more kid-friendly, the creators stuck to their guns and turned in a huge payday. Much like the X-Men who had to fight for human dignity, so did the creators who wanted to see their timeless characters done right."

Blake finishes, "X-Men would go on for five seasons, one of Marvel's longest running series. It launched them into the mainstream more than before, leading to several reboot series, comic spin-offs, and, of course, a beautifully inconsistent movie franchise. This was a gamble that paid all the way to the X bank."

"So, with those three gigantic hits, Fox Kids was moving on to their next big-", Weiss said.

Pyrrha noticed, "Um...aren't you guys forgetting another hit show?"

"Yeah, one that makes like a butt-ton of money, even today.", Nora tried to remind her friends.

Team RWBY pondered, "Well..."

"Would this ring a bell?", politely asked Penny as she borrowed her friend's Scroll and put a picture of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.

Weiss realized, "There might have been another teeny-insy-winsy hit of a show called... Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers."


Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers

"It's no secret we never got into this show, even as kids. It was just... So dumb!", considered Weiss when seeing a few excerpts of the show with her friends, "But, okay, let's talk about it. Because, on the one hand, it is a brilliant marketing strategy. Five teenagers..."

Pyrrha, Nora and Penny cut in during her friend's sentence, "With attitude!"

"...are summoned by Jabba the fuzzy mouth named Zordon to stop a space witch named Rita for her crimes of bad lip syncing.", said Weiss, finishing her sentence.

Ruby next told, "They first do a martial arts fight against the monster of the week, and then they grow in size and use giant robots in a fight against Los Angeles Japanese mountains. So, yeah, the setup was pretty obvious: shoot American actors for dirt cheap, and then cut to Japanese stock footage from another hit show in Japan. Power Rangers, of course, turned into a huge hit, which meant as long as they were still making shows in Japan, they could keep making shows here."

"Oh, by the gods, they never stop!", doubted Yang when thinking of the future Power Rangers shows as a franchise before continuing, "Power Rangers was not only the longest-running series on Fox Kids, but it surpassed it. Even after Fox Kids shut down, the show still continues to have an impressively long lasting life. It had many spin-offs, storylines, reunions, callbacks, and tons of B-movie monsters to fight."

"On the one hand, we really wanted to like this show. Because, hey, martial arts, giant robots, killer monsters, that could be some fun shit. But... It was clearly past our time and not for us, but that doesn't mean they didn't tap into something that excited a ton of kids and adults years later.", Blake informed.

Weiss ended, "Power Rangers, whether you liked it or not, was, and still is, an impressive spectacle."

"But it wouldn't be the 90s unless we forcibly had to teach you shit!", prepped Ruby.


Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?

Ruby summarizes, "Thankfully, some shows were better at it than others. Like Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? Well, nope. This was a different kind of Carmen Sandiego, one that was on a kids' computer game that tried to educate you."

"That's exactly what Carmen Sandiego is.", confused Nora.

Ruby replied, "Okay, maybe not that different."

"The onscreen player always had to pick two characters to go after Carmen, and he always picked the sister and brother duo, Ivy and Zack.", Yang synopsized.

Penny curiously wondered, "Oh...? Did he...ship them?"

"The player is a kid who's always at his computer!", Yang told proudly.

Penny guessed, "So, probably?"

"Probably.", presumed Yang before hearing Ivy's voice when she thanked the player for choosing her, "Yeah, that sounds a bit weird."

Blake recapped next, "There's a freaky-ass chief who seemed to be a mix between Max Headroom and the Genie.", before hearing a bit of the Chief's voice acting in the show, "Regrettably so, seeing that the Chief is voiced by none other than Squidward Tentacles himself Rodger Bumpass...", resuming, "And the duo had to chase Carmen around the world to get back the famous monuments that they'll inevitably homeschool us about.", and describing while the Chief describes the worldwide mission, "How come whenever I hear the Chief's voice, why do I think of Squidward Tentacles expecting to show up all of a sudden?", then saying, "On the one hand, it doesn't work as well as the game show, because the investment came from having to know the information to get further."

"Here, the show just kind of comes to a halt to teach you something.", proved Weiss as they watched more excerpts of the show, "On the other hand, though, it did have a story to each one, and Carmen herself was just as stylish and cool a villain as you would want her to be. In fact, a lot of the time, she would leave the clues on purpose, because she loved the thrill of the chase. At first, we thought this was kind of lame, but then the more we thought about it, how clumsy is Carmen in the other versions to always leave something behind? Here, she's at least owning up to her stupidity."

"The show lasted a good while with four seasons, and even though the education stuff did feel a little forced, it was still cool seeing the queen of thieves do what she does and I guess help us get a little smarter watching it too. So good as even in 2019, they made a reboot of the show starring Gina Rodriguez as Carmen and Finn Wolfhard as the Player, which only lasted for three season. Surely, it was decent enough for what it was.", Ruby contemplated.

Yang then queried after this, "Hey, girls! What's awesome other than having all three Spider-Men in the same movie?", referring to No Way Home.

"Spider-Verse Spider-Man?", Pyrrha guessed as she referenced the animated Spider-Verse movies.

Yang excites, "And?"

"1967 cartoon Spider-Man?", Nora asked.

Yang said, "And?"

"1994 cartoon Spider-Man?", again guessed Penny.

Yang pumped her fist, "YES!"


Spider-Man (1994)

"Riding the tails of X-Men, heck, even doing a crossover with them later, Spider-Man tried capturing the same complex characters and ideas their other hit Marvel show had.", Yang begins.

Nora asks, "Did they?"

"It's complicated.", Blake answered for Yang, "Spider-Man was great if you wanted the experience of the comic, but it didn't segue into an emotional TV series. It might have been surprisingly over-ambitious, as every second, it's either explaining what's going on, explaining the emotions, explaining the inner monologue, it could never take a break."

They exampled this when they showed snippets of the cartoon where there was no beat after moments of dialogue.

Weiss called out, "Oh, my God, breathe! You guys are going faster than the dialogue in The Social Network!", before saying, "The CG city wasn't a bad idea at the time, but now, it just sticks out like a sore thumb. In other instances, the CG background, like in Aladdin for example, matches the look of the painted background. This just looks like he's swinging into a screensaver. But those are just little details. Maybe it could still work if the writing was sharp-", before the seven girls groaned when Spider-Man made a joke that he was mythtaken during his investigation of the Lizard.

"But again, to its credit, it did take a lot from the comics, trying to cram in as much as you can in a kid show. I just think it did it too damn much. It wasn't Power Rangers silly, but it wasn't X-Men serious either, it was something in-between. But it seemed to be enough, as this Marvel show lasted five seasons, so I guess it must have made a big connection with a lot of fans. And granted, there were some really cool things to see, like Tony Jay as the Kingpin, Mark Hamill as the Hobgoblin, Not Topher Grace, Hank Azaria, as Venom...", Ruby noted, "And to think, we thought this would be the greatest Marvel team-up we would ever see on any screen."

Yang reminiscenced, "Looking back, it's not as bad as I remember, but its pacing is still way too fast for us to absorb every adventure. It's got its fans, though, and I can see why. It was a huge hit, and anything that makes Spider-Man 3 a little less awkward must be doing something right like with the recent No Way Home."

"But for my money, the best superheroes always shouted-", Blake inevitably says.

Pyrrha offered, "Oh! Can I say it? I've always wanted to give it a try."

"Go ahead.", shrugged Blake.

Pyrrha took a deep breath, "Okay.", exhaling before saying, "Tick. Tick. Boom!"

"That wasn't even a show title, it's a title for an Andrew Garfield movie, just as if we didn't bring up enough of No Way Home. And it was only one word. That was three goddamn words! With four letters each! YOU COULDN'T EVEN SAY FIVE LETTERS!", Blake scolded as Pyrrha covered her ears while blushing red.

Nora and Penny couldn't help but laugh to this along with Ruby, Yang and Weiss.


The Tick

Blake stated, "While there were comedic takes on superheroes in the past, none were quite as funny or odd as The Tick. Again, leaning its writings towards the adults rather than kids, The Tick told the story of a nigh-invulnerable, absent-minded superhero and his voice of reason sidekick, Arthur."

"While the idea for the cult comic went through several different incarnations in the future, most people agree this is the one that was the most faithful to the source.", Weiss discussed, "They did what many superhero parodies do, like adding a big slice of reality to our comic book fantasy, but the biggest-punching lampoon is just how many damn superheroes there are."

Ruby told, "Particularly now with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Tick addressed what happened if so many of these side characters and spinoffs really did exist in the same universe. Though sometimes, the animation could be a little choppy and the timing a hint off, The Tick still had original writing with very enthusiastic characters."

"Tick himself is infectiously positive; he just loves being the hero, but he never came across as egotistical.", said Yang, "He really believes his corny speeches and one-liners, thinking they inspire people just as much as they inspire him. He never felt cynical or mean-spirited. He doesn't think much about what he's saying, but rather the way he's saying it, to a point where even silverware can serve as a battle cry."

Blake climaxed, "It had a modest run of three seasons and continued to run in syndication, only increasing its cult following. Though there would be many different variations on this crazy idea, by far the one who came the closest in strangeness and comedy was the one on Fox Kids."

"That's cool, but... Is there a show based on a book series where the scariest part was the cover?", Pyrrha asked.

Weiss thought, "Well, I presume there's a show that's less scary than Are You Afraid of the Dark?"


Goosebumps

"Goosebumps was based on the hugely successful book series by R.L. Stine. It was wild, imaginative, and not the least bit scary.", Weiss said.

Ruby related, "When people was younger, they were strangely pissed off that all the scary shows they watched were never scary. Even to us, the shows Goosebumps, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and even Tales from the Crypt I never found frightening. But, as they got older, they realized that's not really what they were about. The intent wasn't to scare you, the intent was to have fun in a classically spooky setup."

"One of these episodes is about a killer sponge, for God's sake! The hokey acting, the over-the-top writing only add to the B-movie quality that, honestly, kinda gets better every time I see it. That doesn't mean they weren't trying, it just means it should be enjoyed on a different level than you might expect. It's like getting angry if a Scooby-Doo episode isn't scary, it's just not what you're supposed to be looking for.", Yang divulged.

Blake informs again, "Every show had a new monster or a new scenario that would tie into the characters' persona or fears, similar to The Twilight Zone. Except, you know, laughably stupid. It took me a while to warm up to this series, but now, watching it with the intent of having a good time, that's exactly what I get out of it. A good time."

"It's one of those creepy and kooky kids shows that many people, weirdly enough, like even more now than before. Just for entirely different reasons.", Weiss concludes.

Ruby soon disclosed, "Sadly, though, this is when Fox Kids began their downward spiral."

"Wait, what? How long did it last for?", Nora wondered worriedly.

Ruby saddened, "Just a mere six years."

"That's...short-lived...", mourned Penny.

Ruby sorrows, "I know, but here's the thing. Warner Bros. was starting their own network with their own kids programming called Kids WB, and when they started up, guess what they took with them? Animaniacs, Looney Tunes, and Batman. They even did spin-off shows like Superman, Pinky and the Brain and the anime that would run for years and years, known as Pokemon."

"In fact, even the first Animaniacs episode on Kids WB was a parody of Fox's biggest show, Power Rangers.", Yang says as they watched a few clips of the Animaniacs Power Rangers parody episode, "Fox would still do well, but this was a big bite for them. And many of their upcoming shows did well like Life with Louie and Casper, but not nearly as well as before."

Blake detailed. "Another Spielberg show called Toonsylvania tried capturing a darker tone on the Animaniacs formula, but sadly, the writing wasn't on point, and it didn't last very long. And let's not forget about the Sam and Max cartoon, based on the games. It was creative, but a little too unfocused, earning only one season. And then, of course, there's this.", before showing a picture of the Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation show on her Scroll.

"That's like summing up the Titanic in one sentence. I need a full episode to go into what's wrong with that.", shuddered Weiss.

Pyrrha nodded, "Yeah."

"Good call.", Nora and Penny agreed.

Weiss also told, "After that, Fox Kids went the same route Kids WB went, which was importing more and more Japanese anime shows like Digimon after seeing not only how easier they are to put out, but also how cheap they are to do."

"And sadly...that's it. If we were gonna go into this in more detail, we would need people that actually grew up watching this.", Ruby decided.

The seven turn to see the dorm room door open, seeing none other than Winter and Cinder, who had woken up earlier.

"What are you girls doing?", Winter questioned.

Ruby and Yang sincerely said, "Winter. Our apologies, we were in the middle of our Fox Kids review session, and originally we were hoping if you'd be alright if you'd join us."

"Well, we've slept early last night, so I guess I have to join in then.", Cinder reluctantly answered.

Winter said, "I had my fair share of Saturday morning cartoons. But watching at this early time in the morning is uncommon and unhealthy."

"Ozpin did treat us with rainbow pancakes, so... Sorry we didn't leave you some.", Weiss and Blake apologizes.

Cinder sighed, "It's alright... I'm not a big fan of rainbow pancakes."

"Not hungry.", excused Winter, "We'll join you."

Ruby snapped her fingers, "Then it's settled!", just before Cinder and Winter joined her and the other six for the remainder of their review, allowing both Cinder and Winter to take care of the rest.

"You guys remembered that underwhelming Roland Emmerich theatrical 1998 take of the Japanese kaiju legend?", queried Cinder.

Winter reveals, "They made a show out of it."


Godzilla: The Series

"Godzilla: The Series was a direct continuation of the 1998 Godzilla movie. It featured some actors from the film lending their voices to reprise their roles.", remembered Cinder.

Winter spoke, "Thankfully, Matthew Broderick wasn't one of them, but his character did return... What was his name again? Nick..."

"Nick Tatopoulos.", corrected Cinder lovingly, "Sounds greek."

Winter smugly answered, "Lovely.", before sharing a kiss with Cinder romantically much to team RWBY, Pyrrha, Nora and Penny's surprise; she continues, "The only surviving offspring of the Godzilla that attacked New York in the movie imprinted onto Nick as its parent, and thus, they used him as a government sponsored Pokémon to fight other giant monsters."

"That's so stupid, I'm surprised it wasn't in the 1998 film.", Ruby fortunately said.

Winter nods, "So am I."

"The series was received pretty well by fans of Godzilla, but honestly, following the 1998 film, there was nowhere to go but up.", assumes Cinder, "We did get some great kaiju fights in the show, though. So I guess I can look past Godzilla's Dick Tracy chin."

Yang shrugs off, "I guess it's better than any of the Power Rangers shows-"

"And then there's Power Rangers in Space and Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy!", Cinder reveals, much to Team RWBY's shock.


Power Rangers in Space (with Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy)

Cinder stated, "Power Rangers in Space wrapped up the series' initial run and was supposed to be the series finale. As we know, that didn't happen."

"Much to our regret.", said Blake.

Cinder told, "What on the surface seemed like Star Trek Lite actually became one of the most popular and well-received seasons in the show's history. They went much further with character development than they did in most of the previous seasons. There were decently deep arcs for a kids show that featured the Red Ranger's long lost sister being brainwashed as the Power Rangers' main enemy, and even more multidimensional villains. There's plenty more to talk about with this season, which finished the Zordon era and ended up saving the franchise. But some of you may just know it for their crossover with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Cowabunga... We guess."

"No Next Mutation, please.", denied Pyrrha, shaking her head.

Weiss facepalmed, "Just the thought of it hurts, guys."

"The next season, Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy, kept the outer space theme, but began a new phase in the PR legacy. Starting here, every season introduced a new cast with new powers, Zords, etcetera, and that became the status quo for the series moving forward. Saban's big plan to get this phase going? Sword in the Stone in space!", hesitating, "Whoo? Actually, this season's pretty good, many people enjoyed it quite a bit.", synopsized Cinder.

Winter advanced, "But I know what you're thinking, 'Those shows needed a lot more Ryan Gosling as young Hercules.'"

"It's actually amazing how much we weren't thinking that.", Nora wonders.

Winter wisely responds, "Well, Fox Kids was."

"I was thinking that.", Pyrrha admits.


Young Hercules

Winter summarized, "Yup. There was a spin-off of the Kevin Sorbo show starring a young Ryan Gosling. I always speculated this was just another Goosebumps episode he was in after the episode My Hairiest Adventure."

"It is scary enough.", nods Cinder.

Winter said as she activated her Scroll and put a video of Ryan Gosling's interview on Gangster Squad on, "What else do you need to know about this show? Well, I think this clip says it all.", as the nine of them watched the clip of Ryan telling the interviewer of his greatest work being Young Hercules.

"My goodness! I think we're all in a Goosebumps episode!", overreacted Nora.

Ruby figured, "You know something? I remember the four of us found the TV season DVD boxset of Young Hercules over at Baiken's palace in her possession when we had our social event over a year ago. I'm very surprised we still remember this show."


Beast Wars: Transformers (with Beast Machines: Transformers)

"We also can't forget about Beast Wars. This was one of my favorite childhood shows. It traded in cool cars, trucks and jets for animals, like rats and ants!", Cinder recapped, "And you better believe it, it's way cooler than it sounds. This was many of their generation's Transformers show, and they absolutely loved it. Beast Wars, along with ReBoot, was among the first all-CGI animated series. The early computerized look doesn't hold up all that well, but for the time, it was revolutionary and set the show apart from most other things on TV. The stories were great, the characters were great, it was just a really solid animated series."

Ruby preferred, "It sounds cool, but our interest is plausible."

"Anywho," dismissed Cinder, "Beast Machines: Transformers was the less popular sequel series to Beast Wars. It took place almost immediately after and was dark, sobering and kind of depressing at times. You know, for the kids. The change in tone and design wasn't something anyone was asking for, but it did end all the stories that started in Beast Wars and has gained a small, dedicated following over the years."

Yang puzzled, "So is there any more hardcore shows?"

"Oh, you mean like...Frank Miller?", Winter suggests.

Team RWBY, Pyrrha, Nora and Penny baffled, "Wait, what?"

"Yeah, there was a show based on a Frank Miller comic.", revealed Winter as her girlfriend Cinder nods.


Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot

Winter unfolded, "Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot was a show based on a short comic written by Frank Miller. There really isn't too much crossover between the show and the comic, with the show actually being more fleshed out than the comic."

"Is Samuel L. Jackson in a Nazi uniform?", referenced Penny of The Spirit movie by Frank Miller.

"No."

"It's a good start."

Winter stated, "Rusty is the most advanced robot ever made, with a complicated A.I. and the ability to feel emotions. He was meant to be the successor to Big Guy, an advanced robot that protects Earth. However, Rusty's emotional circuits and A.I. are young, and he, therefore, acts like a child. Rusty needs to learn how to be the protector of Earth. Big Guy is recommissioned so he can teach Rusty. Big Guy and Rusty was one of the more complex and mature shows in the year 10 lineup. It was pretty interesting and unique. Although it was never my favorite show, I do remember being engaged by it and wanting to see what happened next."

"Well, it's good to know that there were Japanese anime shows down the line-", Blake and Weiss try to make their say.

Winter interrupted, "And then there was Digimon.", as Ruby, Yang, Blake and Weiss were speechless by this.


Digimon (with Monster Rancher)

"When Pokémon became a smash hit, Fox Kids tried to capitalize on that market and trend by introducing the world of Digimon. Seven kids at a summer camp are transported to a digital world, creatively called the DigiWorld. There, they discover they are the DigiDestined, who must save the digital and real world with the help of their partner digital monsters or Digimon. They are also given DigiDevices, which transport them between the real and digital worlds and can help their Digimon digivolve into other forms. The show was actually a lot of fun. Although it never really reached the fever pitch of Pokémon, it was received well by audiences. Although there was fan demand that the anime be shown in its entirety as the Fox Kids version was edited and changed to fit a more humorous tone than the original Japanese show. And who could ever forget that theme song?", Winter explains.

When the nine heard the Digi Rap theme song, everyone but Cinder couldn't help but jive to the beat, with Winter's harmonous dance enchanting Cinder despite this.

Ruby enjoyed, "You know, we just got that damn song out of our heads and now we're enjoying it again!", mimicking DJ scratching disk sounds to the song.

"I bet our friend Fuu would love this song.", imagined Yang.

Pyrrha praised, "But not as legendary as the Ducktales theme song."

"Because of Digimon's success, we also got Monster Rancher. Another monster show that was meant to compete with the success of Pokémon. Monster Rancher was first a video game before being made into an anime that Fox Kids picked up. In the game, you used discs to unlock monsters that the player trains to compete in tournaments. In the show, a boy named Genki receives a disc to use while playing. The disc ends up transporting him to a different world where monsters are real and created by scanning stone discs in temples. Like Digimon, Monster Rancher was edited to make it more suitable for audiences, removing more dramatic elements from the series. I remember loving this show as a kid, but honestly, it was a bit bland and basically an overglorified commercial.", examples Winter.


Spider-Man Unlimited

Cinder says, "Fox did give Spider-Man another go with Spider-Man Unlimited, a loose sequel to the 1994 series, while having a strange and somewhat confusing plot that sends Spider-Man to a duplicate world on the far side of the sun called Counter-Earth. Normally, this would be like a parallel dimension or something, but apparently, that's not exactly what Unlimited was going for. Instead, we got a really weird futuristic planet for Spider-Man to fight Venom and Carnage on, while freeing humans from oppression."

"Wow, this is making his deal with the devil almost sound credible.", Pyrrha thought.

Cinder resumes, "Due to legal issues, this series couldn't draw from any of the decades of source material that came before it or even use the standard Spider-Man suit for most of its run. There have been some awesome designs for alternate spider suits made over the years, but a web cape? Unique, to say the least. The opening theme sounds like it's trying to be Batman Beyond, but comes off like its goofy, clubbing cousin."

"Like clubbing a seal, I think you mean.", confuses Nora.

Cinder reasoned, "I get that Spider-Man: The Animated Series is an insanely tough act to follow, but Spider-Man Unlimited was a mess from the beginning, both behind and on the screen, that is best skipped over by fans of the web head."


Angela Anaconda
(Final Show of the Review)

"And then there's Angela Anaconda.", Winter climaxed.

But upon showing excerpts of the show, the nine were soon disturbed by the show's strange animation style.

Winter uneased with a shocked expression, "Did any of us actually watch this show?"

"No!", Ruby, Yang, Blake, Weiss, Pyrrha, Nora, Penny and Cinder all reply.

Winter feared, "I can see why!", just before they turn off the TV.

By then, team RWBY start giving their closing thoughts.

"By year twelve, Fox Kids was losing momentum, and pulled back weekday scheduling to only Saturday mornings.", ultimately retold Ruby, "By then, the writing must have been on the wall, because the following year, Fox Kids stopped airing programs and never returned."

Yang said, "Though many of these shows would exist in reruns and there's more than enough kid shows everywhere now, that magic collection of the right talent for the right age group at the right time never seemed as prominent. Every Saturday morning built an anticipation like no other."

"Every visit home from school revved up excitement every kid could feel. For a pretty awesome time in our childhoods, we had a cool clubhouse that lived in our TV. And they told us great jokes, classic stories, the latest comics, and even taught us a thing or two. It was everything you thought of when you heard the word 'Saturday morning'.", consummated Blake.

Weiss concludes at last, "It was a perfect experience so much of us were so happy to have. And we couldn't be more thankful to the awesome people who gave us some absolutely wonderful Saturday mornings on Fox Kids."

"Speaking of which, the sun's already up.", Pyrrha noticed before looking out the window to see a sunny morning sky.

Nora asked, "How long have we been watching these shows for?"

"Earlier, it was 5:00. Now, it's 8:30 in the morning.", Penny confirmed.

Ruby looked unsurprised by this, "Huh. Well, that was long. Just so glad that the nine of us reviewed the Fox Kids programming block on this wonderful Saturday morning.", before asking after a moment of silence, "So, what do you guys want to do today for the rest of this morning?"

"Maybe gaming on the Nintendo Switch or something? Maybe go out on a stroll together?", Yang wondered.

Cinder and Winter look at each other and said, "The latter we shall do."

"Same with us.", Blake and Weiss told.

Ruby delighted, "Ozpin must be proud of us by now for this great morning.", before settling, "Let's go!", before the nine went off for the morning...

End of Team RWBY's Fox Kids Commentary Special

Up Next: Team RWBY's Game Review Special of Dragon's Lair