#martin mystery

[lesserknownwaifus]

jenni anderson from martin mystery

[dutch2000s]

Jetix: Forgotten animated TV series comp

[haveyouseenthisseries-poll]

[bluebeetle]

Non Canadians are welcome to answer if youve seen any of these! I considered not putting TDI on as it has a high chance of winning but I wanted to put shows I remembered watching a lot of so....

[caw4brandon]

We Like, Are Totally Spies

When we think about shows that will appeal to boys. Action is the easiest to relate. Something like; Ben 10, American Dragon Jake Long, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Justice League will be on the list. It has drama, it has fights and it's cool!

However, there has been a movement in that era where specific cartoon shows aim to get girls into action. Kim Possible, Juniper Lee, My Life as a Teenage Robot, and The Winx Club are perfect examples of such shows.

There is an odd case for more girl-centric shows. Something about the need to balance femininity with action. The show needs to feel like an action that happens to have the main characters be girls. This is where today's topic comes in. We're talking about how;

- How's the Mission, Spies? -

< Totally Spies > by Vincent Chalvon-Demersay and David Michel follows three teens; Sam, Clover and Alex from Beverly Hills living a secret life being Super Spies for WOOHP (World Organization Of Human Protection) under their boss; Jerry Lewis.

Their missions involve travelling the world. Fighting mad scientists and twisted outcasts who seek to dominate the world with style and gadgets that conceal themselves as fashionable equipment.

The trio plays specific archetypes. Sam (green) is the brains, Clover (red) is the fashionista/ boy obsessive and Alex (yellow) is the athlete and occasional nerd. Despite their differences, they share several common interests such as their love for shopping and spy skills of agility, hand-to-hand combat and espionage.

Across six seasons, the girls matured from high school to university students. Confronting the daily struggles of homework, social lives and their petty arch-enemy, Mandy.

As a vibe, < Totally Spies > fully leans into the Beverly Hills lifestyle of fabulous fashion and some familiar pop culture names of that era. The show has a mix of the James Bond type of super spy world filled with dull henchmen, high-tech machines and some tacky villains.

- Time to go to Plan B! -

The episodes are condensed into their own episode. Although there have been some arcs that follow specific villains who have a bit of history with the main characters.

Tim Scam is a former agent who went rogue against WOOHP and Terrence Lewis; twin brother to Jerry and a sore thumb to WOOHP. There also reoccurring allies as well. Brittney (cyan) who joined the team as a trainee, Dean from the three-part series < Evil Promotion Much? > and Blaine a freelance agent who dated Clover.

The conflicts, if we can even call them conflicts at all have aged rather strangely. Some of the villains commit petty crimes like kidnapping celebrities due to jealousy or act extreme. Like being anti-consumerist with the solution of destroying malls.

Yet, some are still relatable to this day such as a kid villain who is mad at his father for being busy as a commentary on how parental neglect can cause warped ideas in a child. Whatever, it's a pre-teen show. Let's not look into it too deeply.

The world of Totally Spies is also interconnected with several other shows; [The Amazing Spiez] and [Martin Mystery].

< Martin Mystery > follows Martin, a paranormal investigator for the Center with Martin's step-sister, Diana Lombard and Java the Caveman. Fighting monsters, urban legends and aliens.

According to a special crossover episode. Martin's boss; M.O.M (Mystery Organization Manager) and Jerry know each other. Likewise, in Amazing Spiez; Jerry is also the boss of the Clark siblings. Lee, Marc, Megan and Tony. Sadly, these shows were short-lived and cancelled.

It does raise an interesting point. Why is Totally Spies more popular? As a guess, I think it's because the chemistry between the characters is a lot more interesting and fun.

The three girls are best of friends and while they sometimes bicker over boys, responsibilities and opinions. They will always put their friendship and mission first above all else. It feels more real, in a superficial way.

That an actual girl would have a girlfriend group this tight-knit and if they ever become a part of something bigger than them. They would do it together.

- Here We Go Again! -

Tacky villains, cute super spy girlfriends and awesome gadgets aside. The show has a few good jokes here and there. Its art style borrows a lot from Anime and its colors are groovy to the eyes.

For a show that was meant to attract girls into action. The show has also garnered a large following from boys as well. I think another secret to the success of < Totally Spies > can also be because of its approach to the subject. Like I said in my introduction.

There is an odd case for more girl-centric shows. Something about the need to balance femininity with action. The show needs to feel like an action that happens to have the main characters be girls.

This show is a girl's show. The girls are unapologetic being girly. Doing girl things like shopping, manicure, dating and going on dream vacations but with their secret life as spies. The show balances it out with good action and is still using that girly theme to add to its gadgets.

Heck, some of the gadgets are stuff that I would personally want to have. The Jet Pack backpack, The Wind Tunnel 3000 Tornado Blast Hair Dryer, Lazer lipstick and the Compowder are on my list. Especially with its costume change function.

It's a show that embraces both ends of the spectrum and allows it to show its respective strengths rather than shy away from the themes. With the announcement that this show is going to have a season 7/ soft reboot. It does look promising with several concerns.

But I am hopeful that for a beloved show such as this. The girls will have a proper return and inspire a new generation of girls (and boys) to be < Totally Spies >

[phayz]

WHAT IF I KILLED MYSELF ON YOUR DOORSTEP AAAUUIIUUUGRHHH

[crossyyt]

Gonna be honest, since Totally Spies s7 gave us easter eggs of Martin Mystery. It would be wise for us as a fandom to at least wait and see what happens next

Granted, yes their easter eggs and shouldnt be taken seriously but it doesn't hurt to at least speculate that "Hey what if we get a crossover episode again" or "are they gonna do a resurgance by bringing back their anime influenced artstyle shows if Totally Spies s7 does well (like Martin Mystery and many others)

Just wanted to at least say it since no one around here hasn't said anything about the easter eggs.

[kekibon]

This is such a pain in the ass to tag ijbol

[burningexeter]

[WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN]

Before its cancellation, plans for a fourth and potentially final season of Martin Mystery was in the works from Marathon Media and years later, they were eventually leaked out and later confirmed to be true from the creators:

• Season 4 in a change of pace, would've been serialized by having stories that would span multiple episodes and make mini-arcs with them comparing it to the fifth and final season of Totally Spies!, another show of theirs.

• In one of the mini-arcs, we would have saw the return of the Gatekeeper who was last seen in the Season 2 finale which ended on a cliffhanger with him infiltrating the Center with the storyline picking that up with Martin and Billy uncovering it in a conspiracy within the Center itself.

• Others that would've happened were Jenni and returning characters Michelle Dubois, Darla and Kaitlin becoming new agents for the Center, an episode set in Chinatown that would've been an homage to John Carpenter's Big Trouble In Little China, creatures such as the Jersey Devil, mermaids that steal souls and the Ninki Nanka were to be included but in their own different ways, it was going to be revealed that the Center was founded by the first President Of The United States themselves, George Washington himself.

• A new character that would've been introduced and be added to the main cast is Troy — a british gymnast who died of a broken neck back in the 80s but is accidentally brought back to life by Diana and is now a corpse without half of his body and a snapped neck that is has to use duc tape to keep said head up. No, seriously.

• Now one major storyline that would've changed the show and recontextualize it is that while Martin figures it all out by himself, Diana discovers that M.O.M. is in fact her mother and his step-mother. The latter is already on thin ice and working her way to the top with the help of Martin after the Octavia Paine incident but at the end of one of the mini-arcs, Diana discovers this to her shock, disbelief and horror, only be immediately "caught" and kidnapped by M.O.M. who appears right behind her out of the shadows in her room. M.O.M. reveals that she wiped her family's memories of her and has kept them in stasis in order to keep their relationship from interfering with her role as head of the Center, leading to more of M.O.M.'s character being fleshed out which shows her as a strict and morally grey but loving and caring woman who will equally do anything to keep the Center afloat and anything to keep her family safe to which she's called out on by Diana for all of the things that she's been through and all of the things that's happened to her, leading M.O.M. to question herself. To show what kind of drama we're dealing with and were to be dealing with, an episode would've ended with just M.O.M. and Diana driving in a car with the former driving and the latter sitting next to her, Diana apologizes for everything that has just happened and M.O.M. says she know she is and that she's her daughter and nothing will ever change that, she'll always love and care for her no matter what and nothing will ever change that as well but from this point forward to she don't know when, her trust is something Diana is going to have to earn back. Diana hangs her head down in shame as M.O.M. drives off emotionless.

Oh, and M.O.M.'s real name is revealed to be Olivia Lombard.

[mask131]

Creepy and spooky cartoons of my youth (2)

Now we get into the real thing! The actual "creepy cartoons" that shaped who I am today! (As I said before by "creepy cartoons" I range both cartoons intending to be creepy for kids, or kid media that just happens to have a "creepy" motif to it)

Starting with Extreme Ghostbusters. I never watched the original Ghostbusters cartoons, just the movies and this epic series. After seeing it a few times as a kid but then losing all traces of it and wondering if it was not all just a fever dream, I found it back in its entire glory on the Internet (I even got to check into the Patreon of the guy who designed the monsters of the show!). This show introduced me to a... LOT of things let's say

You might recognize the artstyle/animation style as being somewhat similar in terms of creature designs to the one used in the cartoon series based on "Jumanji", which itself was quite a piece of creepy children media:

Much more European this time: "My Grandmother is a Witch"! I had this cartoon on VHS and it was one of my early faves. You probably never heard of it, because it is a French cartoon (Ma grand-mère est une sorcière), so a brief recap for you: a teenage witch lives with her granny witch in a cursed and haunted forest right next to a modern-day town. She has a best friend who is a geek tech-gadget-genius, bizarre goblinoid Gremlins-like pets, an "uncle" who is a vampire living in another dimension populated by monsters... And the cartoon is about her various adventures or misadventures being a witch trying to live next to regular humans in a modern world (with the twist being that the humans are often freakier or more insane than the witches themselves - though the witches do regularly indulge in monster-creations and spell-fights in the city causing regional panick and disasters)

More famous for an English-speaking audience, and even dearer to my heart: Martin Mystery. Does it need any presentation? Designed to be a "horror show for kids" inspired by the X-Files, monster hunters fiction and many horror pieces of all sorts. Part of an unofficial trilogy with "Totally Spies" and "Team Galaxy". One of the manifestations of Europe's 2000s obsession with making anime-styled cartoons. Contains some of the coolest monster designs ever.

Another European reference - I had a certain soft spot for the "Jibber Jabber" cartoon which despite the uncanny of the "early age" 3D animation, still had a premise I quite loved (and similar to Mona the Vampire) of children living their actual games like entire fictional worlds... Except "Jibber and Jabber" lacks the the weird insanity angle of Mona the Vampire. I mean unlike Mona who can be read as a psychotic kid harassing poor strangers for no reason, Jibber and Jabber are just two kids playing within the confines of their own house and solely bothering their sister and their dog. It is a bit more wholesome X)

Due to the narrative, the show explored various fictional worlds, but I include it here due to the two "horror" recurring universes - the one where the kids play a mad doctor and his "Igor", and the one where they are vaguely-Victorian monster hunters.

I can't go on without dropping Tutenstein. For a kid into mummies and Egyptian mythology, this was a welcome cartoon (I think it aired somewhere in the morning when I first caught its existence, summer mornings). I was quite shocked when I learned the same man designed the monsters for both this show and "Extreme Ghostbusters". But in retrospective I probably shouldn't be that surprised...

I am pretty certain I forgot one cartoon I really wanted to talk about... I could speak about some of the creepy Looney Tunes or Disney shorts, but I feel that would be an easy way out... And I could speak of some favorite French shows of mine whose insane, weird and psychedelic style led to some nightmare fuel for kids (like Ratz, or Space Goofs) but I already pulled a cheat card like this one in my previous post...

Oh well if I ever recall, I'll share it in a reblog. Already that's quite a selection for you to appreciate, if you ever want to search for kid-friendly, animated Halloween treets.

And you, what were some of your creepy cartoons as children? Either cartoons that spooked you out a lot, or that were just "macabre fun" a la Addams Family?

[lir-the-witches-art-cottage]

I was working on doodles live and came up with this widdle guy Martin

I kept loosing my shit looking at him so I MUST share now

[annaarenas890]

Happy anniversary to the best program and the best introduction.

[llhg]

Hi hello I bring you Fanart of a dead fandom that deserves more love.

Martin mystery is the main reason why I’m so invested into monsters and the paranormal.

[martin-mystery-headcanons]

I'm curious to know what do you think of the cancelled Season 4 info especially the planned twist that M.O.M. was in fact Diana's mother and Martin's stepmother.

Personally? I don't care for the idea. I think I posted something about it before but I see M.O.M. and the team as being more of a found family than anything.

But after reading what you posted about it, I would have loved to see how it played out!

[casasupernovas]

what if doctor who actually did something with that blank period between 'the runaway bride' and 'smith and jones.' it always bothered me that there was no real solution to the whole 'the doctor isn't always here' thing. unit is too militaristic. torchwood is torchwood.

so what if during that blank period, the doctor created his own organisation, one he could trust. like woohp from totally spies with a holding facility or the the centre from martin mystery with the alien stuff. that would have been so cool.

[caw4brandon]

What about Team Galaxy being interconnected to Martin Mystery??

I must admit, I've never heard of < Team Galaxy > until researching for the Totally Spies post. From the community posts, I can definitely see how it also connects with the Marathon (the studio) Universe.

Apparently, there is [a M.O.M-look alike], shown to be married in a flashback picture. Which yes, is a good idea but it could be a studio inside joke. Where the creators want to put in Eastereggs for fun.

Like how in Totally Spies, there have been Martin, Marvin, Diana and Jenni look-alikes. I like to think, it went from a fun cameo to a proper episode like in < Totally Mystery Much? >