We really can’t top this description (from Amazon) for The Trouble with Chickens: A J.J. Tully Mystery, so we’ll not try. “J.J. Tully is a former search-and rescue dog who is trying to enjoy his retirement after years of performing daring missions saving lives. So he’s not terribly impressed when two chicks named Dirt and Sugar (who look like popcorn on legs) and their chicken mom show up demanding his help to track down their missing siblings. Driven by the promise of a cheeseburger, J.J. begins to track down clues. Is Vince the Funnel hiding something? Are there dark forces at work—or is J.J. not smelling the evidence that’s right in front of him? Bestselling author Doreen Cronin uses her deadpan humor to pitch-perfect effect in her first novel for young readers. Heavily illustrated with black-and-white artwork from Kevin Cornell, this new series is destined to become a classic.” It’s in hardcover from Balzer & Bray. The Amazon entry also features a video ad that Doreen Cronin put together for the book.
How to Train Your Live Dragon
Word has come out that a new stage show based on Dreamworks Animation’s award-winning How to Train Your Dragon film will be coming to Melbourne, Australia next March. The show features brand new characters, a brand new plot, and most interesting of all, full-sized free-walking audio-animatronic dragons. Here’s a quote from The Brisbane Times: “(There will be) at least 24 dragons for a show that will include acrobats and aerial artists, projections and flying creatures. The five-tier set will be backed by a 60-metre screen and the action will unfold on 1000 square metres of stage studded with projectors to provide an immersive experience”. There’s already a YouTube video of a press presentation that was recently held to advertise the show. It shows one of the dragons (a Deadly Nadder, in this case) interacting with a human.
Cartoon Chickens from Korea
Leafie, A Hen into the Wild is a new 2D animated film from Korea. It’s based on a very popular series of illustrated children’s books by Hwang Sun-mi. It was directed by Oh Seong-yoon, and co-produced by Myung Film and Odoltogi Studio. Released in Korea last month, the story of a young hen who leaves her chicken farm with a dream of raising her own egg has made more at the Korean box office than any home-grown animated film has in decades. Now there’s plans to release the film widely in mainland China. Unfortunately, no one (that we know of) is talking about distributing the film to North America. Looks like our loss. You can see a trailer for the film on YouTube though.
Snuggling Like Cats and Dogs
You’ve seen Feed the Kitty, right? The well-known Warner Brothers cartoon short (directed by Chuck Jones) starring Marc Antony (the big, burly, barking dog) and Pussyfoot (the ridiculously adorable kitten)? Well if somehow you haven’t, get your paws on any number of Warner Brothers cartoon collection, because this cartoon is a must for any and all furry fans! Marc Antony starts off trying to frighten the tiny kitten, but overcome by a wave of cuteness, the dog ends up falling in love with… him. Yes, him. Though the Wikipedia entry refers to Pussyfoot as a female, in the cartoon Marc Antony’s human owner distinctly refers to Pussyfoot as “he” and “him”. So, why bring all this up now? Because the Looney Tunes comic book (published by DC Comics) is featuring our smitten canine and feline pair in issue #202, on the shelves right now. It’s written by Bill Matheny, with cover art by Dave Santana.
Bunnies and Bats Out West
Sixes Wild is a new anthropomorphic adventure series written by Tempe O’Kun. Sofawolf Press describes it as “a straight western cross-dressing romance”. Probably because the lead characters in this wild west adventure include a male fruit bat (who’s the sheriff of the town of White Rock, Arizona) and a rabbit — who besides being a lady who dresses the part of a male gunslinger, also happens to be the sheriff’s love interest. Yes, things do get complicated. The first novel of the series, Sixes Wild: Manifest Destiny, was published by Sofawolf Press with illustrations by the artist ShinigamiGirl. Now the second story arc in the series — Sixes Wild: The Bluff — is being serialized on the SoFurry site in comic book format. It’s illustrated by the artist known as Sidian. [Note: The comic does contain adult-oriented material, so some folks might find their access restricted.]
Furry Androids
Rick Griffin is, of course, the author and artist of Housepets!, winner of the Ursa Major Award for Best Anthropomorphic Comic Strip in 2009 and 2010. Now he’s recently published a new science fiction novella called Argo in e-book form on Smashwords. The story is sort of sneaky-furry: Many of the main characters are from a group of furry robots called “ani-droids”. Here’s the description: “In the distant future, the easy paths to artificial intelligence have been outlawed. Mira McAllister, dismayed at the lack of progress the engineering community has made in recent years, determines to find the answers for herself when she comes across a strange, discarded android. Repairing her to full function, she discovers the android is unlike any she’s ever dealt with before–and the answers she was searching for only lead to more questions, and more secrets.” Argo is available for download from Smashwords and Amazon.
Wool Buddies
Recently discovered at Comic Con: Jackie Huang is a 3D story artist and art teacher. In 2009, he took up the art of needle felting and created Wool Buddies, a collection of fuzzy animal dolls, sea creatures, and various friendly monsters. You can check out his various designs at the Wool Buddy web site, or else his work is available at several stores and art galleries in California. His work is also available in several “do it yourself” kits that teach you the art of needle felting.
Battle Bears!
It’s a game series, a comic book, a collection of plushies, an animation project in the works… It’s Battle Bears! It tells the story of a well-armed little bear named Oliver — and his well-armed companions — who crash-land on an alien world populated by cute pink teddy-bears called Huggies… who, if they get your mitts on you, will promptly hug you to death! Fortunately Oliver has guns to spare — he’s well-prepared to blow off the huggies’ heads, at which point rainbows shoot out of their necks. Yes. It’s all the creation of one Benjamin Vu (a graduate of the animation program at Cal Arts) and his company, SkyVu Pictures. Seriously, this just scratches the fuzzy surface of what SkyVu is up to. Visit their Battle Bears web site to find out more about new games and other projects they’re still busily developing.







