February 01st, 2008: Dreams

There were a ton of great promos on Toonami; everybody knows this. They had electrifying beats, money shots, frenetic cutting, and a host of taglines and earcatches. They dropped your jaw with their sheer intensity, and - as I talked about in my previous entry - they all but made Toonami what it was. It's ironic, then, that my absolute favorite promo of all time, bar none, is an anamoly. I'm talking about Broken Promise (Dreams). There's no other spot like it. The music is laid back and thoughtful; there's not an explosion to be seen, and instead of tense one-liners we have audio clips of Beau Billingslea talking about...kids? What happened to the defiance, to the madness, to the vibe? That all took a backseat in this one promo, this single moment where Williams Street seems to take a breath. Take a look:

One of the YouTube user comments: "I live my life by this video."

The theme is mildly reminiscent of the older T.O.M. advice segments in that it talks about character qualities (and doesn't actually advertise Toonami or its shows). But Dreams is longer and much more serious; therefore its impact was/is much greater. When I first saw this I was truly moved. Most of the clips are from the narrator lead-ins from Outlaw Star, but for some reason the change of context had given them a gravity that demanded attention. To this day, when I hear this promo I am simultaneously inspired and reminded of better times, when the world was less complicated and I had a better grasp on who I was and who I wanted to be. It's like the way you're reminded of Grandma when you smell roasted turkey - this promo instantly takes me back to brighter days and motivates me to realize my dreams as a kid. That's the sort of power it has.

"A boy has the right to dream. There are endless possibilities stretched out before him."
Isn't this the truth? It doesn't matter what your background is or where you come from, when you start life you can be anything. Yes, this sounds like an empty cliche nowadays since we've heard it so many times before, but that doesn't invalidate the meaning. What you become is completely up to you; no one - not society, not anyone - controls your destiny. So why not dream? Why not set your bar high? With effort and belief, you can attain that goal. I don't know how many times the heat of the moment has made me feel like I've screwed things up beyond repair. But that's the beauty of life - things can never get so bad that they can't get better. There are endless possibilities at your fingertips; you just have to grasp them.

"Whatever happens from now on, you stand firm and face your destiny without fear, but with courage."
Grandpa Masaki gets in on the lesson here. Once you've begun to follow your chosen path, you have to walk it with resolution. You won't reach your goal with a waffling attitude - you have to take what comes with grace and style, all the while keeping focused on what you want most. And when things go sour? You take it in stride, rolling with the punches and keeping your courage.

"No one's going to give you a map; you've got to walk your own path."
I guess this comes with a caveat - that just bashing your way through life without the support of others, and without considering the advice of people who care (and probably know better) is not recommended. What it's saying is that in the end, you are your own responsibility and you have no one other than yourself to blame. Life is a burden at times, but instead of pointing the finger at family, friends, or society itself, we should shoulder the responsibility and work to rectify matters. The world is a tough place, and we have to chart our own course. With that freedom comes the requirement that we own up to things that we may wish was someone else's fault.

"I've lived my life following my dreams, and I don't have any regrets."
Who doesn't want to be able to say this at the end? Who doesn't want to be able to look back at what they've done with their life and be able to say with honesty that they followed their dreams and don't regret that fact? I know that this is something I want for my own life, but it ties into the preceding line - you'll never reach this point if you don't have the guts and determination to see your vision through.

"Are you just going to keep running away?"
Wow, is this one loaded or what? The clip taken in context is talking about Gene's fear of space, stemming from his horrific accident as a child. Taken in the context of the video, however, it's pretty much all-encompassing. Running from the past, running from your duties, running from relationships, running from your own identity, and so on - it's all covered. So ask yourself the question. Go ahead. Are you going to keep running away? Oh yeah, let me guess. 'You're not running.' Sure.

"Don't fear failure."
And here we have it, the last line in the promo and the most important truth of all. The fear of failure is paralyzing. We are so eager to avoid it that we do nothing, trying to skirt the risks and maintain a perfect record. And when we do have brushes with disaster, those embarassments and those shortcomings can haunt us for a long time, destroying our will to take on challenges. No matter what you're talking about - a job interview, a semester project, whatever - if you don't overcome the fear of failure, the fear of humiliation or ridicule, the fear of all the things tied to failure, its not going to happen. This is the key to the whole theme of following your dreams and making your life what you want it to be: you have to be bold.

So as usual, it's easy to dismiss this stuff as 'just a kid's cartoon ad', but (also) as usual, doing so is overly simplifying things. This spot is all about being tough, standing tall, keeping your head up, and assuming your righful responsibilities. It's about kids, yes, but in many ways it's also about the transformation we all make from a child to a independent adult. Personally, Dreams is the most important thing I took from Toonami as a kid. And like the YouTube user I quoted above, I'm still trying to put what I learned into action.

Here's the ripped audio from the promo - it listens well.

 

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