Homer Simpson

Homer Simpson

Homer is one of the most influential fictional characters on television, having been described by the British newspaper The Sunday Times as "the greatest comic creation of [modern] time". He was ranked the second greatest cartoon character by TV Guide and was voted the greatest television character of all-time by Channel 4 viewers. Castellaneta has earned three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance and a special achievement Annie Award for voicing Homer. In 2000, Homer, along with the rest of his family, was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Homer Simpson

Homer Simpson

Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse

Mickey was created as a replacement for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, an earlier cartoon character created by the Disney studio for Charles Mintz of Universal Studios.

When Disney asked for a larger budget for his popular Oswald series, Mintz announced he had hired the bulk of Disney's staff, but that Disney could keep doing the Oswald series, as long as he agreed to a budget cut and went on the payroll. Mintz owned Oswald and thought he had Disney over a barrel. Angrily, Disney refused the deal and returned to produce the final Oswald cartoons he contractually owed Mintz. Disney was dismayed at the betrayal by his staff, but determined to restart from scratch. The new Disney Studio initially consisted of animator Ub Iwerks and a loyal apprentice artist, Les Clark. One lesson Disney learned from the experience was to thereafter always make sure that he owned all rights to the characters produced by his company.

Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse

In the spring of 1928, Disney asked Ub Iwerks to start drawing up new character ideas. Iwerks tried sketches of frogs, dogs and cats, but none of these appealed to Disney. A female cow and male horse were also rejected. They would later turn up as Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar. Walt Disney got the inspiration for Mickey Mouse from his old pet mouse he used to have on his farm. In 1925, Hugh Harman drew some sketches of mice around a photograph of Walt Disney. These inspired Ub Iwerks to create a new mouse character for Disney called Mickey Mouse.

"We felt that the public, and especially the children, like animals that are cute and little. I think we are rather indebted to Charlie Chaplin for the idea. We wanted something appealing, and we thought of a tiny bit of a mouse that would have something of the wistfulness of Chaplin — a little fellow trying to do the best he could."

Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse

"When people laugh at Mickey Mouse, it's because he's so human; and that is the secret of his popularity."

"I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing — that it was all started by a mouse." — Walt Disney

Mr. Disney originally named the character Mortimer Mouse, but his wife insisted that this was a poor name choice. Actor Mickey Rooney has claimed that, during his Mickey McGuire days, he met cartoonist Walt Disney at the Warner Brothers studio, and that Disney was inspired to name Mickey Mouse after him

Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse

Spongebob Squarepants Costumes

Spongebob Squarepants Costumes

Spongebob Squarepants Costumes! It is time to prepare for The Spongebob Squarepants Movie to be released on November 19th with Spongebob Squarepants Costumes from Costume Craze. Sponge bob costumes come in both child and adult sizes. You'll be the hit of the party in your Spongebob Squarepants Costume. These Spongebob costumes are definitely not just for Halloween!

Spongebob Squarepants Costumes

Lego SpongeBob Build A Bob

Build A Spongebob do some wild things! Lego.

Lego SpongeBob Build A Bob

Plankton on the brain! Just when you thought things couldn’t get any wackier in Bikini Bottom. Plankton has taken over SpongeBob's brain and is making him do some wild things! Plankton can make SpongeBob SquarePants spin his eyes, shoot jellyfish from his mouth, and change SpongeBob’s expression from a frown to a smile.

Homer Simpson

Homer Simpson

Homer Jay Simpson is a main fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and father of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Homer was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. Groening had been called to pitch a series of shorts based on Life in Hell but instead decided to create a new set of characters. The character received his first name from Groening's father. After appearing on The Tracey Ullman Show for three years, the Simpson family got their own series on Fox, which debuted December 17, 1989.

Homer Simpson

Homer is the boorish father of the Simpson family. With his wife, Marge, he has three children: Bart, Lisa and Maggie. As the family's provider, he works at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. Homer embodies several American working class stereotypes: he is crude, overweight, incompetent, clumsy, and lazy; however, he is also fiercely devoted to his family. Despite the suburban blue-collar routine of his life, he has had a number of remarkable experiences.

In the shorts and earlier episodes, Castellaneta voiced Homer with a loose impression of Walter Matthau however, during the second and third seasons of the half-hour show, Homer's voice evolved to become more robust, to allow the expression of a fuller range of emotions. He has appeared in other media relating to The Simpsons – including video games, The Simpsons Movie, The Simpsons Ride, commercials and comic books – and inspired an entire line of merchandise. His catchphrase, the annoyed grunt "d'oh!", has been included in The New Oxford Dictionary of English since 1998 and the Oxford English Dictionary since 2001.

Homer Simpson

Homer Simpson

The Future of 'Scooby-Doo'

The Future of 'Scooby-Doo'

Given the sheer number of "Scooby-Doo" episodes, films, and videos, it seems there might be nowhere to take the franchise. But don't worry: As the current standout property in the Hanna-Barbera archive, there will always be more Scooby.

Scooby-Doo has additional home video titles in the works, like
"Scooby-Doo Pirates Ahoy" TM &
copyright Hanna-Barbera Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
More "Scooby-Doo" home video
titles -- such as
"Scooby-Doo: Pirates Ahoy" --
are in the works.
The cliffhanger ending to the final episode of season one of "Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get A Clue!" certainly offers evidence that a second season is being planned. "We would love to make more," said Eric Radomski, supervising producer. But those within Warner Bros. indicate that an effort is being made to push Scooby-Doo further into the realm of high tech.

The Future of 'Scooby-Doo'

The Future of 'Scooby-Doo'

Just imagine Scooby-Doo announcing that your cell phone is ringing. Or think about Scooby adventures showing up on your iPod. Scooby-related video games have, of course, been on the market for years, and there is every reason to believe that more are forthcoming.

Why is it that Scooby-Doo was such and instant hit when he debuted in 1969 and has continued to be one of the most endearing characters in the history of animation? A lot of it may have to do with his uniqueness -- there just isn't any other character quite like Scooby-Doo, who has truly human qualities but remains at all times a lovable dog.

Or maybe it is his timelessness. The Scooby of nearly 40 years ago is essentially the same Scooby today. Such is also the case with the members of Mystery, Inc., particularly Shaggy. No matter what our age, we have all, at one time or another, known a Shaggy.

When they created a talking Great Dane named Scooby-Doo all those years ago, they started a franchise -- and broke the mold.

The Future of 'Scooby-Doo'

The Future of 'Scooby-Doo'