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Animation

A Bird in the Jungle is Worth…

Dec 17th, 2013
by rodney.
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There’s a new trailer making the rounds for Blue Sky’s Rio 2, coming this April to theaters everywhere. This time we get to see a lot more of the plot this time around: Our heroes Blue and Jewel (and their kids) discover that they are not in fact the only blue macaws around — there’s a whole flock of them living in the wilds of the Amazon jungle. Guess where our city-bred bird who just recently learned to fly is headed next? Meanwhile, the villainous cockatoo from the first film returns too, this time with a doting poisonous amphibian at his side. It’ll all make more sense (possibly) if you watch the trailer yourself on YouTube. This new animated sequel is once again directed by Carlos Saldanha.

image c. 2013 Blue Sky Studios

Friendship is in The Cards

Dec 12th, 2013
by rodney.
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The first My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic collectible card game officially sanctioned by Hasbro is being released very soon by Enterplay. The Two-Player Starter Set is available now for ordering, and it’ll be shipping in January. “Build your decks around one of the Mane characters and build a separate problem deck.  Race to solve (yours and your opponent’s) problems to earn points.  First person to 15 points wins.” According to the publicity we’ve read, that makes it sound a lot simpler to master than it actually is!  (Kind of like… friendship.) Check out the Enterplay site for more information.

image c. 2013 Enterplay

A Dandy in Space!

Dec 4th, 2013
by rodney.
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Lots of fandom folks (anime, furry, science fiction and otherwise) got excited this fall with the news that the team behind Cowboy BeBop had created a new, openly-silly science fiction anime called Space Dandy.  The teaser trailer started making the rounds on YouTube. Well now comes even better news: Thanks to the efforts of Funimation, Space Dandy will be the first ever anime to premier in Japan and dubbed on American TV, simultaneously. It’ll be part of Adult Swim’s Toonami collection. Here’s what the producers say: “Space Dandy is a dandy in space! This dreamy adventurer with a to-die-for pompadour travels across the galaxy in search of aliens no one has ever laid eyes on. Each new species he discovers earns him a hefty reward, but this dandy has to be quick on his feet because it’s first come – first served! Accompanied by his sidekicks, a rundown robot named QT and Meow the cat-looking space alien, Dandy bravely explores unknown worlds inhabited by a variety of aliens.” According to the folks at Cartoon Brew, “Anime auteur Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo) heads up the direction of Space Dandy which is produced by Japanese animation studio Bones and written by Keiko Nobumoto (Wolf’s Rain, Cowboy Bebop, Macross Plus), Dai Sato (Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Eureka 7, Ergo Proxy) and Kimiko Ueno (Crayon Shin-chan).” Check out the new trailer on YouTube now!

image c. 2013 Bones

The Bear and Mouse Come To America

Nov 28th, 2013
by rodney.
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Big news from our friends over at Cartoon Brew, especially if you’re a fan of traditional animation: “Indie animated feature distributor GKIDS has announced that the highly anticipated hand-drawn French film Ernest and Celestine will open in New York and Los Angeles on March 14, 2014. That will be followed by national expansion to all major US markets. GKIDS has qualified Ernest and Celestine for the Academy Awards this year in the film’s original French language with subtitles. The American release, however, will be dubbed with a voice cast that includes Forest Whitaker, Lauren Bacall, Paul Giamatti, William H. Macy, Megan Mullally, and Nick Offerman. The small New York-based distributor has experienced fantastic success at the Oscars during the past five years by countering the big studios with quieter, more personal hand-drawn fare. They have earned nominations for three of their features: The Secret of Kells, A Cat in Paris, and Chico & Rita.” Check it out next year.

image c. 2013 GKIDS

 

 

And with that, we wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. Needless to say, you have our THANKS for reading this regularly! We appreciate your company.

Righty-O!

Nov 22nd, 2013
by rodney.
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Felix the Cat, the creation of Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer, is perhaps one of the most famous and long-lived cartoon animals ever — pre-dating even Mickey Mouse. In the 1950’s, Joe Oriolo created a well-known series of cartoon shorts for Trans Lux Productions, which helped to bring Felix and his friends (and enemies!) to a new generation. Since the 1980’s, control of the “Felix Empire” has belonged to Joe’s son, Don Oriolo. Don has overseen the creation and distribution of Felix’s image on numerous products and in numerous media. Many of the images of Felix used for these were drawn and painted by Don himself.  Now, IDW Publishing have collected Don Oriolo’s works together in a new full-color hardcover book, Felix the Cat Paintings. Check it out at Amazon, before it hits the shelves early next year. The book features a forward by comic book historian Craig Yoe, as well as essays from cartoon aficionados like Jerry Beck, Mark Evanier, David Gerstein, and Paul Castiglia.

image c. 2013 Don Oriolo

Watch Cute Little Animals Die!

Nov 20th, 2013
by rodney.
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One of the most talked-about furry phenomena from a decade ago was a silly little series of animated shorts called Happy Tree Friends. Here’s how the distributors describe it: “Happy Tree Friends is the cult cartoon sensation  with over 1 billion views. The cartoon is drawn in simple appearance and combines cute forest animals with extreme graphic violence. Each episode revolves around the characters enduring accidental events of bloodshed, pain, dismemberment and/or death.” Got that? Well now Flatiron Entertainment have released Happy Tree Friends: Complete Disaster, a 4-DVD box set which includes 13 half-hour TV episodes and 75 short cartoons. Amazon has it for sale, of course. Ouch!

Image c. 2013 Flatiron Entertainment

More Furry Cartoons Coming From South Africa

Nov 16th, 2013
by rodney.
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The Hollywood Reporter recently ran an article about Triggerfish — the animation studio which some refer to as the Pixar of South Africa. Following the international success of Zambezia (about a city of birds) and Khumba (about a young zebra missing half of his stripes), Triggerfish have secured funding which will allow them to begin work on two new films out of a planned slate of five. The company’s stated goal is to release one film a year starting in 2016. First out of the gate is Here Be Monsters, about a young human boy who interacts with a scary sea monster. It’s written by Raffaella Delle Donne, who worked on both the studio’s previous films. Soon after that comes Seal Team, described as “an action-comedy that pits a group of seals against the great white sharks of South Africa.” Khumba is currently screening in Africa, with plans to roll it out to the rest of the world going into 2014.

image c. 2013 Triggerfish

You Could Be Donald Duck!

Nov 12th, 2013
by rodney.
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For those looking for more of an intellectual take on some of these anthropomorphic concepts, check out this new book: Carl Barks’ Donald Duck: Your Average American, by Peter Schilling, Jr.  From Amazon: “From 1942 to his retirement in 1966, Carl Barks drew Donald Duck comic books (the seventh greatest comic of the twentieth century according to The Comics Journal) for Walt Disney. He took what should have been a bland franchise and turned it into a classic of comics. Drawing on his own experiences (most notably a brief stint as a chicken farmer), Barks went to create a character who was remarkable . . . for not being remarkable. In his pursuit of a good job, his boredom with suburban life, his temper, his squabbles with neighbors, and his resolve in the face of his many failures, Barks’s Donald Duck was truly your average American.”

image c. 2013 The Walt Disney Company

But First, Sherman…

Nov 8th, 2013
by rodney.
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Before the release of Dreamworks Animation’s Mr. Peabody & Sherman movie (which we’ve mentioned recently), IDW is getting in the act by giving us the tie-in Mr. Peabody & Sherman full-color comic book mini-series. The first issue of four with hit comic book stores and the ‘net later this month. The series follows the adventures of the world’s smartest dog and his adopted human son, exploring history on the maiden voyage of Peabody’s marvelous WABAC machine. The comic series is written by Sholly Fisch (who seems to be getting around!) and illustrated by Jorge Monlongo. Previews has an interview with Sholly as well.

image c. 2013 IDW Publishing

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