This is adorable:
It comes from artist Stephen Byrne, who created this as the intro for a hypothetical animated Doctor Who series featuring the current Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and companion (Jenna Coleman). Look, he even threw in a cute cartoon versions of a Dalek, a Weeping Angel, and Handles the Cyberman head from the most recent Christmas special. Additionally, he threw in K-9 and a little adipose monster, the latter of which calls to mind the way Slimer is actually a villain in the Ghostbusters films but became the lovable hero of the animated series.
I would watch this fake Doctor Who series in a Gallifreyan minute, and it didn’t seem possible for Jenna Coleman to get any cuter but Byrne pulled it off by adapting her into a Satruday morning cartoon character.
But, wait, what’s that you ask? Has there ever been an actual official animated Doctor Who before?
Well, there’s never been an official animated series before (that I know of), but there have been a couple of animated special episodes. There was one way, way back, but in the modern era they’ve made two such episodes, both featuring the David Tennant Doctor and Freema Ageyman’s Martha Jones. Entitled “The Infinite Quest” and “Dreamland,” each special was rolled out in 3-12 minute chunks over time but ultimately added up to a full 45 minute running length. The animation is a bit on the dodgy side, like a less accomplished version of Adam Reed’s distinctive visual style displayed in Frisky Dingo and Archer. However, if you’ve somehow never seen these things it kind of means there are 2 David Tennant episodes you’ve yet to experience, and it turns out he has quite the knack for cartoon voice acting. Here’s the opening of “The Infinite Quest”:
Clearly, though, Stephen Byrne‘s proposed The Animated Adventures of Doctor Who is taking its visual cues from somewhere totally different. In fact, when you add in the theme song he threw over his credits it becomes apparent that what he really did was mash up the current live-action Doctor Who with DisneyXD’s ultra-brilliant animated series Gravity Falls, which recently kicked off its second season after a year-long hiatus. That show centers around the adventures of Dipper Pines (Jason Ritter) and his twin sister Mabel (Kristen Schall) as they are stuck spending their summer living with their Great Uncle Stan (they just call him Grunkel Stan), a lovable schyster who runs a tourist attraction called the Mystery Spot in the small town of Gravity Falls. Crazy crap happens on a regular basis, such as yard gnomes coming to life and claiming Mabel as their bride or a Street Fighter 2-esque arcade game character springing to life to assist Dipper in his fight for the heart of the girl he adores.
It’s an amazing show, enjoyable for little kids but probably even more enjoyable for adults due to its witty dialogue, clever plots, and ever-unfolding serialized mystery. So, Byrne just made Jenna Mabel, and Capaldi Grunkel Stan, dropping Dipper because, well, Doctor Who only has 2 regular characters right now.
The Animated Adventures of Doctor Who is never going to happen, and based upon how Peter Capaldi is approaching the lead role he’ll likely be the least cartoonish Doctor since Christopher Eccleston’s. However, I wouldn’t be opposed to Byrne turning some of his designs into a cool bootleg T-shirt even in the internet is kind of overrun with awesome fan-made Doctor Who shirts.
Here’s what the real season 8 of Doctor Who is going to look like:
Source: io9.com
