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Love and Tolerate the Snot Out of Each Other

Once upon a time there was an on-line game in development called Fighting is Magic, attempting to create a “Ready! FIGHT!” style inter-player game based on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Unfortunately, the Powers That Be at Hasbro decided that the game was a little bit too close to the TV show for comfort, and the project was shut down. Fast forward a couple of years: Now none other than Lauren Faust, the original show runner for Friendship is Magic, is on board to help with the development of a whole new game — in a whole new world. This is from the Indiegogo campaign: “Help a cast of cute animals beat each other up by making Them’s Fightin’ Herds become a reality! Them’s Fightin’ Herds is a 2D PC (Windows, with Linux/Mac as stretch goals) fighting game with adorable animals in an original universe designed by Lauren Faust (producer and developer for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic; creator, director and developer for Super Best Friends Forever). It is the spiritual successor to Fighting is Magic, with improved gameplay mechanics and graphics, an entirely new (and awesome!) dynamic music system, a graphic lobby, and a whole bunch of new features.” The Indiegogo page features several preview videos as well as numerous preliminary sketches by Ms. Faust herself.

image c. 2015 by Lauren Faust

image c. 2015 by Lauren Faust

Under the Sea… Under the Sea…

Sherman’s Lagoon is an imaginary lagoon somewhere in the tropics, inhabited by a cast of sea creatures whose lives are curiously similar to our own. Through his comic strip, cartoonist Jim Toomey explores many of the issues that we face daily in our world on dry land. By putting them in a different context, he helps us laugh at ourselves. His characters attempt new business ventures, go on disastrous dates, try fad diets and read the latest best-selling books. But, they also have problems that are unique to fish. Should you bring shrimp to the holiday party? Will shrimp be there?” That’s the introduction to this long-running on-line comic strip. Now Andrews McMeel Publishing present Sherman’s Lagoon: Tales from the Deep That Are Completely Fabricated, the 20th trade paperback collection in full color. It’s also available as a PDF download.

image c. 2015 Andrews McMeel Publishing

image c. 2015 Andrews McMeel Publishing

Imagination Becomes Reality… Maybe

One of the mostly instantly-viral furry phenomena this summer has been the “opening credits” for an anthropomorphic “80’s cartoon TV series” called Super Turbo Atomic Mega Rabbit. The “leaked video footage” certainly looked the part of an 80’s cartoon show, and speculation ran wild — especially with posts popping up all over the Internet on various forums, asking pointedly “Does anyone remember this series?” Well, more recently, the truth has come out: STAMR is the creation of a UK team of animators and animation fans. The “opening credits” were directed by Wesley Louis and his team. Now, having come out of hiding on the Internet, the STAMR crew are actually trying to create a real episode of the imaginary show they’ve made so popular. To that end they are selling copies of a book called Groundworks, featuring production art and character designs from the creation of the STAMR short. Furry.Today has a link to the site, as well as the short (which now features proper credits!).

image c. 2015 WTL Productions

image c. 2015 WTL Productions

One More Girl, One More Bear

Now it seems that Amazon has gotten on the bandwagon of downloadable original programming for kids. Premiering earlier this month was their latest series called Wishenpoof, about a little girl with the power to make her wishes come true. From Marketwatch.com: “Created by Angela C. Santomero (Blue’s Clues, Creative GalaxyDaniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Super Why!), and produced by Out of the Blue Enterprises, Wishenpoof is an animated preschool series that revolves around Bianca (Addison Holley, Annedroids, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood) as she solves life’s problems in her own creative ways because with magic, or without, we all have the power to make good choices.” Bianca’s constant companion throughout her adventures is a plushie known as Bob the Bear. Wishenpoof is available as a free download to subscribers of Amazon Prime.

image c. 2015 Amazon.com

image c. 2015 Amazon.com

It Always Comes Back to the Cat…

Rachel Dukes is a busy comic book illustrator who works for Boom! Studios on titles like Garfield. But in her “free time” she’s also busy being the best human friend of her own cat named Frankie. She’s spun off Frankie’s adventures around the house into her award-winning on-line comic strip, Frankie Comics. You can see the latest at her web site.  There you’ll also find a link to her publishing company, MixTape Comics, where she sells not only paper collections of Frankie Comics but also posters, buttons, stickers, and other Frankie goodies.

image c. 2015 by Rachel Duke

image c. 2015 by Rachel Dukes

Step Into The Cartoon

The world of Virtual Reality entertainment keeps moving ahead. (By leaps and bounds, or by steps and stumbles? Depends on who you talk to.) Recently Cartoon Brew put up an article about Henry, “an Immersive Virtual Reality short”. “On the surface, Oculus Story Studio’s new 12-minute short film Henry is a sweet story about a lovable hedgehog who just want to make friends, but can’t stop spiking whatever he hugs. ” But actually, it’s one of the first animated films ever created for the environment of the Oculus Rift head-set. Once “inside”, viewers can either watch Henry’s story — as he attempts to hug flying balloon-puppies with disastrous results — or explore the levels and rooms of Henry’s tiny home. Or both. There’s a non-Oculus “making-of” video that explains it more.

image c. 2015 Oculus Story Studio

image c. 2015 Oculus Story Studio

Furry Power In Your Pocket

Designer USB sticks have been a thing for a while now.  So why bring up “Mimobots” here, now?  Well maybe because their designs happen to include My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Ugly Doll, Hello Kitty, Adventure Time, and more! Mimoco also has a line of designer “Mimo Power Tubes”: Single-cell rechargeable back-up batteries for cell-phones, hand-held games, and so forth. New designs are coming out all the time, so keep your eyes on the Mimoco web site.

image c. 2015 Mimoco.com

image c. 2015 Mimoco.com

So Kyoot It Hurts

How could you not notice a web site with a name like bekyoot.com? And it’s newly redesigned to boot. “BeKyoot is inspired by life, laughter, and the pursuit of cuteness. There is a story behind every character – a life of whimsy and simplicity sure to set a smile on your face. Many of the characters are based off of real life animals and experiences. The first BeKyoot artbook and webcomic compilation are currently in production along with the first of many children’s books.” Right now though there’s a collection of t-shirts and other clothes, plushy critters, art prints, and other products available.

image c. 2015 bekyoot.com

image c. 2015 bekyoot.com

These Animals Rock!

Remember The Punky Pets? Here’s a refresher: “Who are the Punky Pets? These eight vastly different musicians meet up for the first time while auditioning for the hit TV show International Icon, in New York City. Their dreams of stardom are crushed when each performer gets booed off the stage, laughed at, ignored and criticized for their lack of talent. At least now they all have something in common. They talk about giving up, they express self-doubt, and they call each other rejects. In their darkest hour they see the light. With the help of a talent scout, they decide to turn their tragedy into triumph and form their own punk rock band.” Got it?  Well now in addition to the music videos and various tie-in products on the Punky Pets web site, there’s a new Punky Pets app game for the i-Phone and Android formats. Join DJ Freak, lead singer monkey, as he races around New York trying to collect instruments in time for the band’s next gig!

image c. 2015 thepunkypets.com

image c. 2015 thepunkypets.com