Saturday Morning Watchmen

Saturday Morning Watchmen
Directed byHarry Partridge
Release dates
Running time
1:22

Saturday Morning Watchmen is a Newgrounds and YouTube viral video[1][2] published on March 5, 2009, the day before the release of the live-action Watchmen film.[3][4]

The video parodies the DC Comics limited series Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, portraying the opening sequence of a fictional 1980s Saturday morning cartoon based on the series.[5] The video was animated, written, composed and sung by Harry Partridge[6][7] and voiced by Partridge, Joshua Tomar, and Hans Van Harken. In stark contrast to the comic, it has a cheerful, upbeat tone, poking fun at the tendency of the campy nature of 1980s animation to sanitize superheroes and other violent themes.[6] It features many of the mainstays of 1980s cartoons, like catchy rock themes, and references to the openings of ThunderCats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jem, The Legend of Zelda, and Scooby-Doo.[6][8] On the Newgrounds site, Partridge stated the video "combines two huge passions of mine, one being the comic genius that is Alan Moore and the other being kids' programming from the late '80s, which I would say is my biggest animation inspiration."[7]

Partridge originally wrote the video for Playboy.com, which "wanted a viral hit", but decided it was "too good for their crappy website".[9]

  1. ^ Miller, Liz Shannon (6 March 2009). "Weekend Vid Picks: Watchmen Goes Viral". NewTeeVee. Archived from the original on 11 March 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  2. ^ Pepose, David (5 March 2009). "Can Watchmen possibly top this?". Newsarama. Archived from the original on 10 March 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  3. ^ Kohn, Eric (5 March 2009). "Saturday Morning Watchmen". indieWire. Archived from the original on 24 March 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  4. ^ Partridge, Harry (5 March 2009). "Saturday Morning Watchmen". YouTube.com. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  5. ^ Manco, Emanuele (8 March 2009). "Saturday Morning Watchmen" (in Italian). Fantasy Magazine. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  6. ^ a b c Goellner, Caleb (6 March 2009). "Saturday Morning 'Watchmen' Cartoon — The Stuff Of Alan Moore's Nightmares?". MTV. Archived from the original on March 7, 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  7. ^ a b Bartkewicz, Anthony (9 March 2009). "'Watchmen' Reimagined as Kids' Cartoon". Fox WFXT. Archived from the original on 24 March 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  8. ^ Stewart, Ryan (6 March 2009). "Watchmen: The Saturday Morning Cartoon". The Phoenix. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  9. ^ Saturday Morning Watchmen - An Interview with Harry Partridge, by Helena Nash, in Journey Planet #77; p. 35