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Funny Animal

Again, Rabbits Meet Foxes… Over Eggs

Here’s a European animated film from last year that we missed somehow: Rabbit School — Guardians of the Golden Egg. According to an article at Animation magazine’s site from last March, “Following its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, family animated feature Rabbit School – Guardians of the Golden Egg has had a strong debut in cinemas… Directed by Ute von Münchow‐Pohl, Rabbit School centers on a young urban rabbit named Max who gets stuck in an old-fashioned Easter Rabbit school when it is surrounded by a clan of clever foxes who want to take over the holiday. With the help of cute bunny Emmy and the instruction of the mysterious Madame Hermione, Max learns not only the secret magic of Easter bunnies, but also where he truly belongs.” As you can see from the trailer, the film was dubbed with a British cast for distribution in the UK. No word yet if anyone plans to release it on DVD for North America.

image c. 2018 Akkord Film

Bushido With A Bushy Tail

The well-known funny animal cartoonist Scoot McMahon has returned with a new full-color comic book series for kids: Sami the Samurai Squirrel, published by Action Labs through their Aw Yeah Comics imprint. “When the critters of Woodbriar are under attack, Sami the samurai squirrel is there to protect them! Join Sami and friends as they battle Ninjas, Pirates and a Cyber-Yeti (that’s right, CYBER-YETI)!! This action-packed first issue also features artwork and stories from famous cartoonists Art Baltazar, Franco, and many more!” In fact they’re already up to issue #4 by now.

image c. 2018 Action Labs

He’s Red-Light. Pink Even!

And the strange mash-up of DC Comics and Hanna Barbera continues — and even expands. As you may recall, Snagglepuss made an appearance as a back-up story in the infamous Banana-Splitz-meet-the-Suicide-Squad comic. Well now the pink puma has his own new series all to himself, Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles. “It’s 1953. While the United States is locked in a nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union, the gay Southern playwright known as Snagglepuss is the toast of Broadway. But success has made him a target. As he plans for his next hit play, Snagglepuss becomes the focus of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. And when powerful forces align to purge show business of its most subversive voices, no one is safe!” Written by Mark Russell and illustrated by Mike Feehan, the first issue is out now. Den of Geek has a review.

image c. 2018 DC Comics

Crash: The Party

And more from Dark Horse… The Crash Bandicoot Files: How Willy The Wombat Sparked Marsupial Mania. (Woo, long title huh?) From their web site: “Take a rare glimpse into the making of a video game icon, and gain a first-hand taste of the creativity that brought Crash Bandicoot to millions of screens around the world! This deluxe hardcover reproduction of Naughty Dog’s original Crash Bandicoot developer’s bible is sure to please all who possess a curiosity surrounding the creation of games!” It’s available this March in hardcover.

image c. 2018 Dark Horse

Their Names in Lights!

And their likenesses too, actually. KefkaFloyd is the on-line name of Dan Vincent, an artist who creates original laser-etched clear sculptures that glow with neon colors. So far, most of his designs are based on My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. But as you can see on his web site he covers other fannish ventures as well, and he’s always creating new works. So keep checking back!

image c. 2018 by KefkaFloyd

Go Ahead: Call HIM A Raccoon

Jess “Rom” Looney — also known as Looney Raccooney — is a furry artist and a fur-suit maker. His web site is new and just getting built up, but he’s already got a backlog of his creative endeavors to show off. Besides taking commission work, he’s hoping to add his own comic series to the web site soon.

image c. 2018 by Rom Looney

She Makes A Big Splash

Benson Shum is an illustrator and animation artist at Walt Disney Feature Animation. (He worked on Moana, Zootopia, Big Hero 6, and other films.) As part of their Artist Showcase series, Disney-Hyperion published his illustrated children’s book, Holly’s Day at the Pool, which is available on Amazon. “Holly the hippo imagines the worst: Icebergs and icy water, penguins and seals! Her imagination bursts at every turn, making it harder and harder for her to step foot in the pool… Until she get the chance to be a hero. Holly may be scared, but she is a very brave girl.” Now on his web site Mr. Shum announced that he will be illustrating a new book, Go To Sheep, written by Jennifer Sattler. That one’s set to be published by Little Simon later this spring.

image c. 2018 Disney-Hyperion

Funny Animals Around The World — Except Here

And here we go again… Another cool animated funny animal series that has picked distribution around the world but somehow skipped North America… well, at least not the US of A. Here’s what Animation World Network has to say about Animanimals: “Each of the 26 non-dialogue episodes features a different animal facing an absurd adventure with a surprise ending. The series has already won 20 prizes across the world, including the Audience Award at the New York Children’s Film Festival for two consecutive years — for the films Zebra and Octopus — and the award for the Best Film for Young Children at the Chicago Children’s Film Festival for Zebra… The family entertainment series Animanimals is produced by highly experienced and creatively driven Studio Film Bilder in Stuttgart, which also has garnered many awards over its 28-year history… “All stories are driven by director Julia Ocker’s engaging sense of humor,” says Thomas Meyer-Hermann, founder of Studio Film Bilder. “There is laughter and empathy throughout the story, and then excitement at the clever and creative solution.“” Now it’s ready to be shown in much of Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, New Zealand, and Canada. We’ll let you know if it gets closer to us here!

image c. 2018 Studio Film Bilder

3d, Small, and So Cute

Another artist we came across at Further Confusion is Gyl Kille, who uses polymer clays to create miniature sculptures which she molds and paints. As you can see on her web site she not only makes little animal sculptures, but also a line of shot glasses and the ever-popular cake-toppers.

image c. 2018 by Gyl Kille