TheWanderingFish's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Forgotten Christmas]

Hey Rob,

Just want you to know I am appreciative of all your work, but these cartoons in particular. First watched them in school while I was supposed to be working. I remember watching them over and over again at home because we had dial-up and it was damn near impossible to load much else.

I often think about this show. It had a measurable impact on my sense of humour going into my teenage years, and was a constant companion. As time marched on I came back less often; the explosive growth of YouTube and the online culture in general meant there was so much vying for your attention you can't possibly have time to watch all the new material let alone spend time rewatching things! I stepped away from it all for a few months and spent time contemplating what it is I actually wanted to spend my time doing. In this state of pompous self reflection I remembered a single line that was like a distance bell through the fog: "I get off the train."

I grinned, logged in here and spent the evening watching the classic series again. It's not the same as it used to be, or more accurately, I'm not the same. But nonetheless it brought with it the feeling of simplicity that comes with being a kid. It let me unwind for an hour or so and just enjoy being. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

I've lurked in your stream on and off since then, dropping in to see how you're getting on, contributing when I can. I know you're retiring this particular project, but I appreciate what you (and Johnny) have done. I wish you the best of luck in whatever you do next. And every once in a while, when I need a little pick me up, I'll come back and watch a few episodes of Unforgotten Realms.

Maybe that's melodramatic, but as I get older I find myself less embarrassed to express to people that I appreciate them. All the best,

- TWF

Sirschmoopy responds:

Early on in my career I came up with a saying


"Nostalgia is the bane of creativity"


Because even back in the day... people would constantly tell me my previous work was better then what I'm currently working on even with the original Unforgotten Realms. When I changed the art in epi4, people complained. You can still see some of those complaints here on Newgrounds, but there were so many people annoyed with me on the forums too.

I struggle to fight for peoples time and attention now more then ever. It's not enough to create just a "weekly" 5 minute cartoon. I gotta be a community manager, stream a few times a week, go to conventions, all the while thinking of the next new project cause the lifespan of things can be as short as a few weeks or months. If I had the power, i'd have hired some a few fans to taken over shows like this and just voice em honestly so people could keep doing nostalgic work on it. I believe this so much that it's why I gave Johnny Voruz exclusive rights to the show. He was a super fan of the show and helped bring it into the future. I wish I had given him the rights years and years ago cause then maybe he would of kept it going.

I wish I could of kept doing this project, heck I wish I could have kept working on almost all my projects, but I have never been in a position to have enough power to focus purely on what I want to make vs what the current internet audience wants. I'm really trying hard to carve out my niche and I thought I was almost there, but with 2020 I feel like I'v fallen down a flight a stairs and am back at the start, only now I'm no longer young enough to work 7 days a week.

Thanks for loving this show my man. I'm glad it's one of those things that you come back too when you need a pick me up. For me it's another "failure" of something I could not finish on my own. I feel defined by projects like this.