Old Intro
This one's pretty simple. It starts with an image of Homestar, the first two sentences from the original book, ("Everyone loves the Homestar Runner. He is a terrific athlete.") appear on either side of him. There are fireworks, arrow, a zoom in on Homestar's eye and then an image of him looking out from a star with the H*R logo and Enter written underneath. You can click on the Logo and Homestar will say "Hello!"
Pretty bland stuff on this one. Not particularly funny, except for the page title (That's Mike going 'Beeoo!') and maybe the way Homestar says "Hello." However, we're early on and this is the very first intro page to the website. And good job to Mike for the Firework sounds. I give this a D+.
If I Ran the Camera
This one's . . . different. It doesn't actually have any Homestar Runner characters but it was a secret page on the site until 2003 when the Brothers Chaps removed it. Anyway, the toon is a flash slide show that tells the story of Astrid Renee, who is the niece of the Brothers Chaps, of what it would be like if she made movies. It's told in the style of Dr. Seuss books, mimicking his signature rhyming style, a few pieces of art, and made up place names. In the poem, Astrid hires her Grandpa Chapman to do basically everything in making the movie and remembers to thank him when she thanks the academy.
It definitely loses points for having no connection to Homestar, but it shows that the Brothers Chaps really started doing this kind of thing for fun. In a recent interview, Matt Chapman said that they just started using Flash to make stupid animations and they put them on the Internet for their friends and family to see. This is evidently one of those early pieces that they used to show their family. In any case, on pretty much the adorableness of it alone, I give it a B-.
The King of Town (Old Version)
This will be the last one tonight. I promise. Anyway, this one introduces us at first to, of all people, The King of Town!
The King of Town is apparently a good ruler who rules over Town very nicely. But alas! His sheep are missing and he fears a dragon has eaten them. He calls Homestar Runner and Pom Pom to help him find out where his sheep have gone. Homestar and Pom Pom question the King's servants: The Blacksmith, the Poopsmith, and the Chef. The Chef knows exactly what happened to the sheep!
Homestar and Pom Pom, using a magical chalkboard explain to the King that the sheep were not eaten by a dragon. This relieves the King, until he is told that the sheep were, in fact, eaten. The King is wondering who could have done such a thing and Homestar essentially tells the King that the sheep were inside him the whole time. . . literally. We all have a laugh!
This toon gives voice to The King of Town and establishes him as a glutton with a terrible memory of what exactly he's eaten. It also, oddly, makes Homestar quite intelligent, in terms of current Homestar. The joke is a little obvious but there are a few little funny moments, like the introduction and naming of the Poopsmith, and the magical chalkboard. All in all, a decent cartoon, but not the best. C.
Well, everyone, that's it for tonight, see you tomorrow!
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