Captain Star

BitVyper · 12-15-2011, 06:58 AM

So I was bored the other day, and I happened to remember a cartoon I watched back in the 90s but never really got too into because I was clearly one dumb fucking kid. Captain Star is a satirical space opera that deals with themes like ageism, commercialism, hero worship, genetic determinism, colonialism, and just goes after modern society in general. The core premise of the show really gets at the ageism though; we see time and again that Captain Star and his crew (mostly science officer Scarlet), all over a hundred "space years" old, are incredibly experienced and competant, but have been put out to pasture at the literal edge of the universe, as far away from anything important as they could be. If you've ever watched a parent getting close to retireable age slowly have their authority and responsibilities whittled away, being moved further away from where the power is (oftentimes in a literal physical sense), you'll understand. And it's incredibly degrading - we watch Star go a little bit mad holding onto his faith in a faceless organization that would clearly prefer to preserve his image for its own use and forget about the actual man. No matter what a given episode is dealing with, that's always there in the background.

One of the things I really like about this show is that it's written in such a way that the more complex satirical aspects are actually aimed at the younger audience, not just parents who happen to be watching it too. It's not hamfisted like every other children's cartoon, but I distinctly remember getting a lot of this when I was a kid.

I also like how, in spite of the quirky, fantastical nature of its setting, it's pretty consistent and sensible. Captain Star will pull some last minute plan out of his ass in a clear parody of the asspulls of guys like Kirk, and yet I find that whatever he's doing always ends up being more reasonable and less deus ex machina-y than those plans ever were. Even when he's doing something like exploding his ship into a meteor to knock it into a small moon to knock the moon off course. It just works really well. The show has a great sense of humour too; it's pretty funny no matter how old you are.

Animation is goofy and simple, but has a sort of artistic quality to it. It works well for the setting. The music is actually, surprisingly, pretty decent. Not Earth-shatteringly moving or anything, but there's some good tunes.

Anyway, probably most of you have never heard of this show before, so I highly recommend checking it out. The episodes aren't too difficult to find; if you want to see it and have a hard time finding them, shoot me a PM and I'll help. It really deserves more exposure.

12-15-2011, 06:58 AM	#1
BitVyper History's Strongest Dilettante Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Arcadia Posts: 6,662	Captain Star So I was bored the other day, and I happened to remember a cartoon I watched back in the 90s but never really got too into because I was clearly one dumb fucking kid. Captain Star is a satirical space opera that deals with themes like ageism, commercialism, hero worship, genetic determinism, colonialism, and just goes after modern society in general. The core premise of the show really gets at the ageism though; we see time and again that Captain Star and his crew (mostly science officer Scarlet), all over a hundred "space years" old, are incredibly experienced and competant, but have been put out to pasture at the literal edge of the universe, as far away from anything important as they could be. If you've ever watched a parent getting close to retireable age slowly have their authority and responsibilities whittled away, being moved further away from where the power is (oftentimes in a literal physical sense), you'll understand. And it's incredibly degrading - we watch Star go a little bit mad holding onto his faith in a faceless organization that would clearly prefer to preserve his image for its own use and forget about the actual man. No matter what a given episode is dealing with, that's always there in the background. One of the things I really like about this show is that it's written in such a way that the more complex satirical aspects are actually aimed at the younger audience, not just parents who happen to be watching it too. It's not hamfisted like every other children's cartoon, but I distinctly remember getting a lot of this when I was a kid. I also like how, in spite of the quirky, fantastical nature of its setting, it's pretty consistent and sensible. Captain Star will pull some last minute plan out of his ass in a clear parody of the asspulls of guys like Kirk, and yet I find that whatever he's doing always ends up being more reasonable and less deus ex machina-y than those plans ever were. Even when he's doing something like exploding his ship into a meteor to knock it into a small moon to knock the moon off course. It just works really well. The show has a great sense of humour too; it's pretty funny no matter how old you are. Animation is goofy and simple, but has a sort of artistic quality to it. It works well for the setting. The music is actually, surprisingly, pretty decent. Not Earth-shatteringly moving or anything, but there's some good tunes. Anyway, probably most of you have never heard of this show before, so I highly recommend checking it out. The episodes aren't too difficult to find; if you want to see it and have a hard time finding them, shoot me a PM and I'll help. It really deserves more exposure. __________________ "There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea is asleep, and the rivers dream. People made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on, Ace; we've got work to do!" Awesome art be here. Last edited by BitVyper; 12-15-2011 at 07:03 AM.