My latest YouTube addiction is Machinima’s Real Fake History. Even the opening introductory video is perfect, combining war footage with major scenes from action films/TV shows like Pacific Rim, The Avengers, and Game of Thrones. After introducing their History Channel inspired faux documentary series with Star Wars: The Battle of Endor, they actually upped my geek-fueled fervor by tackling Quentin Tarantino (my all time favorite director), and taking on Kill Bill Vol. 1‘s Battle at the House of Blue Leaves… which you may remember features The Bride (Uma Thurman) taking on the Crazy 88 gang of Oren Ishii (Lucy Liu).
Just when you think you’ve watched all the cool videos possible on YouTube, here comes Real Fake History; short history inspired mockumentaries of fictional events in movies and TV history. As a entertainment geek/history teacher, this is like a wonderful conglomeration of everything I am into! Where else to start but with the series that might have the world’s largest and most vocal fanbase, Star Wars. The first RFH – Return of the Jedi‘s “Battle of Endor.”
The Secret Saturdays Volume 1-2
Created by Jay Stephens
Featuring the voices of Phil Morris, Nicole Sullivan, Diedrich Bader, Sam Lerner, Fred Tatasciore, Will Friedle, Corey Burton
Cartoon Network
The Cartoon Network’s The Secret Saturdays is a throwback cartoon that tips their hats off to various cartoons and genres of yesteryear. The cartoon focuses on the Saturday family, a team of crypto-zoologists (or scientists that search for strange creatures), as they go on adventures of exploration and various forms of daring-do. Along the way, they deal with their own rogue gallery of rival crypto-zoologists and various other supped up big baddies.
While I am definitely not the demographic for this cartoon, I must say that I actually enjoyed the cartoon a lot. I am a fan of mythical beasts like Bigfoot or The Loch Ness and I am glad to see an actual cartoon focused on it. The writing and overall tone of the series reminded me a lot of the old Hanna Barbera cartoons, mostly notably Johnny Quest. The creators also throw in a Fantastic Four vibe into the mix and that gels very nicely with the series as a whole (and with yours truly). There is definitely a lot of humor and action that is not family friendly but, I dare say it, adult friendly too.
Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press