Even though I visit this site everyday, I somehow never actually DO anything with this account. (Except for view mature content.) So, I figured that I should start talking with it, beginning with compliments on the very good fanart by :Jose-Ramiro: and now this journal entry.

Well, I don't actually draw, and even if I did I do not own a scanner so I wouldn't really be able post anything here. (That was also the mindset before I started college. The campus computer lab has a scanner, but still I never got the urge to actually start drawing.)

What do I do here? Well, I admire the work of other artists. That's it. And there are a LOT of them, so deviantART holds the distinction of being the premiere art hosting website. Not surprisingly, some of these artists are also professionals. (Like Kyle Carrozza, who did a short for Fred Seibert's "Random Cartoons", "MooBeard the Pirate".) But I'll be honest and say that most of the stuff I look at is cartoon fanart. In particular for one show.

Butch Hartman's Nickelodeon cartoon "The Fairly OddParents" has a particular hold on me. Which is strange considering that I was thirteen when it started as a series, so it's not really "nostalgic".

It just has a way with viewers who aren't kids. (Remember: Nickelodeon.)

I guess it's just an aggressively cute and charming show with a cast of likable characters. Also, I'm just a sucker for the simple, bright and colorful style of the animation. (I will also admit that in my opinion, it deserves a feature film adaptation that upgrades the animation.)

And that all comes together for a quality cartoon.

Is it popular enough? Well, I think that if the writing were a little better it could actually be an icon of animation. I will admit that I am speaking a tad bit excessively about a kids' cartoon, but consider this. They made mostly bad episodes late in the show's original series run, and then went out of production, resumed a year later (that's a pretty long time in the kids' TV market), did not air a new episode for about as long with the exception of one special doc of sorts listing facts, and relied on reruns including the bad episodes. And then, in February 2008 a new, hour-long episode comes on setting up a whole new run. More than EIGHT MILLION PEOPLE watched, a huge number for a cable show and staggering considering that it's for kids. Say what you will about the numbers that followed, but even special episodes of the other strongly established Nickelodeon shows, like Spongebob didn't get such high numbers that year. (I could be wrong, though.)

What do you think that says about the show's ability to hold up? Even if most of those viewers returned with the hope that Butch's renewed involvement would bring back quality, that still signifies that something about this show is leaving the audience coming back for more.

Like I said, I think the show could hold up better if the writing improved enough. Not that media bosses would notice and this revival seemed lucky for this show (they're unfortunately, just businessmen and do not concern themselves enough with creative sense to really satisfy audiences in a decent manner).