Steampunkiness

In honor of Steampink Week at vvb32 Reads, I want to examine the steampunkiness in pop culture, namely in a TV show, a video game, and a film.

1) The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack

I love this quirky, weird cartoon. On the surface, it really doesn't seem steampunk at all. There's a good hearted, cheerful boy who was raised by a talking whale named Bubbie and idolizes a washed up "adventurer" named K'nuckles. It just seems like a typical cartoon with weird characters. Upon further examination, the show takes place in the nineteenth century, shown by the episode with the first moving film. The most steampunk aspects are in the Inventor and the Professor, who are brothers. The Inventor is an evil scientist that only creates things that are powered by enslaved children. He usually makes underwater contraptions, while his brother makes dirigibles. The most notable of these was the Grand Flying Contraption, created so that Bubbie would be able to fly. It's pretty much a hot air balloon attached to a ship, but still shows the signs of steampunk. This is an incredibly funny and cute show that I highly recommend. Here's the theme song of the show.

2) American McGee's Alice

I did a post about this awesome game a little while ago. I want to highlight the steampunkiness of the game. The main source of this is the Mad Hatter who in this game is a crazed villain who fancies himself a genius. He has become obsessed with time and clockwork objects. He tortures some inhabitants of Wonderland by using them as experiments or to create inventions. He has even altered himself into being part clockwork. His domain is full of gears, clocks, and brass. It's steampunk gone mad. Here's a clip from the cut scenes of the game.

3) Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

I don't believe that the first Hellboy movie was particularly steampunk, but the second movie is practically dripping with it. The Golden Army is a very large army of badass, regenerating, giant clockwork soldiers. There is steampunk imagery throughout the film, from the door to the Troll Market to the large gears that Prince Nuada and Hellboy fight on to Johann Krauss's body. To go through every steampunky detail would take way too long. This film is a visual masterpiece as well as just an enjoyable movie. Here's the trailer from the film since I couldn't find one scene that encompassed what I wanted to say. (Plus the trailer features an awesome Rammstein song in it!)