Belated Easter Insanity - Let's Watch "Peter and the Magic Egg"!

Right, stuff is happening in real life, so this post almost didn't happen at all and I apologize for its obviously being spur-of-the-moment and damn-my-OCD-for-making-me-feel-weird-not-having-a-post-every-week-ish.  I will hopefully be able to sit down and write some nice long posts soon.

But never mind all that now.  I know Easter has come and gone, but it's never too late to watch an insane holiday special that -remarkably- it does not appear Rankin/Bass was responsible for.  No, "Peter and the Magic Egg" was most likely an attempt to put personalities and voices to the cute little mascot creatures on a particular brand of egg dye and make them into beloved holiday characters (it worked for Rudolph).  And the writers of this special decided to do this in the most absurd story they could possibly have come up with:


So, what did we learn here:

* - Amish people talk like Yoda.

* - A plastic surgeon can turn you into a cyborg.

* - By the way, an Amish cyborg.  Umm...?

* - Put clothing on an animal and they'll suddenly be able to speak.

* - Evidently a self-respecting sheep will voluntarily answer to the name "Lollychop".

And a spoilery one:

* - Man, words cannot express how p*ssed I was as a child when the egg finally hatches and you find out what's inside. I was expecting a phoenix or a magical wish-dragon or something equally awesome to save Peter and I got... that.

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Sketch of the Day!

I wonder what other Eevees we'll see in this new "Pokemon" game?

"See Why We Call Them ANIMALS!" - The 1992 "Trials of Life" TV Ad!

Frequent readers probably wouldn't have to be told about this, but just in case, you all need to be watching the three part "Attenborough's Life Stories" miniseries on "Nature". Your PBS station may vary, but the final episode should be airing tonight, with the previous episodes being rerun through the beginning of this month.

As we all know, anything Sir David Attenborough is involved in will probably be very good, but this series has been particularly fascinating since it focuses on the man himself and his career. Science and technology have changed very dramatically in the past sixty years, and Attenborough has been around to see many of these changes firsthand. The first episode is particularly good, as Attenborough explains how new photography techniques essentially changed his entire career.

Indeed, this is such a lovely, poignant series centered on such a wonderful, sweet person, that this advertisement from the early 1990's comes across as even more batsh*t insane than it did the first time I saw it:





Okay. So the old (and, honestly, tired) joke about the 90's is that they were the X-TREEEEEM Decade. Everything was Darker and Edgier (tm), as well as raunchier, more violent, and too hot for TV. I tend to protest this (the 90's was also the decade of Beanie Babies, Barney and Friends, everyone suddenly being into angels, and "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" for cryin' out loud) but things like this make it hard.

I remember seeing this ad very often during TNT's reruns of "The Muppet Show" and classic cartoons. You can imagine the confused look on my face when I finally got the chance to watch the series years later (the late, lamented chain Buck-A-Book had some of the videos on sale). Really, the only segment in the series that fits the histrionic ad is the footage of chimpanzees hunting -- and evidently that's "safe" enough to show on the PBS series now.  Yeah.

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Art of the Day! Witness the relentless struggle to continue the bloodline!!!



Awww...

Yet Again with the Links of Interest!

Because it's been a wacky Memorial Day Weekend! And that means we're on a two-posts-per-week summer schedule! Here is some news I managed to read in time to regurgitate here:

I should save this one for last, but here is a review, on Comics Alliance, of what just might be the greatest ever work of western literature. That was written by a nine-year-old girl. Circa 1990. It's pretty much exactly what you'd expect.

Maybe this is old news for most of you, but Darren Naish found a thing.

TetZoo also posted an article on one of the strangest animals you'll ever see.

Speaking of animals, turns out reindeer may be able to perceive ultraviolet light. I got a new theory about Rudolph's nose.

There's another new teaser trailer for "Muppets Legacy" (hee hee) and, as Tough Pigs demonstrates, it's basically incomprehensible if you managed to never see the teaser for "Hangover 2". I still don't know if I'm sold on New Guy Walter.

Speaking of teaser trailers. When I reviewed "Happy Feet" back when this blog was young, I said that nothing in the world could be as deeply surreal as the in-film sight of a cute little newly hatched baby Emperor Penguin singing "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash. Suffice it to say that in the new teaser for "Happy Feet Two: Penguin in the City", George Miller has outdone that scene. Twice.

Speaking of movies that may scar you for life, Pajiba has a terrific list with clips, and half the films on the list are wonderfully obscure.

And on the same subject, the very funny "How Did This Get Made?" podcast discussed the notorious super-long McDonald's commercial/"E.T." rip-off "Mac and Me", and tried to determine exactly what the message of the movie was supposed to be.

And yet more things that might scar a child for life! While we're stuck with the incredibly stupid "Hey we should sue ourselves for stealing our own taste" campaign, Bogleech showed us that the way they advertise Coke Zero in the UK is... different.

There's a nifty new website called Living Lines Library with a ton of animation production art to sift through.

If you needed proof that the well-loved and familiar American Robin has no {censored}s to give, the Urban Pantheist has found some.

So... this is what goes down during Walt Disney World's Star Wars Weekends. Holy cow the thing that happens at the 1:07 mark.

This is evidently concept art from "Dinosaurs vs. Aliens". It's almost exactly what I expected.

Disney is apparently planning to release "The Lion King" to theaters this autumn in 3D. While I do want to see "TLK" on the big screen again, I have no idea how that's going to look.

i09 shared this whimsical animated short.

I can't express how deeply disappointed I am to learn that we may indeed be getting a "Fantasia"-Style History of the Earth (tm) in "Tree of Life" (first the Earth forms, then suddenly there are dinosaurs, then they conveniently go extinct to make way for YAY HUMANS WOO!!!). However, all is not lost. We've got "The Voyage of Time" to look forward to now.

And there's a new teaser image from "Brave"! Woo-hoo!

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Sketch of the Day! Another thing I need to bring to finish:

You know, I often wonder what the Olympics were like 1,000 years ago in the land of dragons and vikings...

Yeah. So about those "How to Train Your Dragon" commercials that have so far been ubiquitous during the Winter Olympics.
1) I now no longer want to see this movie. Like, ever. Which is too bad, as I was genuinely intrigued when I read that Chris Sanders was involved.
2) I can tell the announcers hate having to segue from the biathalon or whatever to these commercials.
3) Open letter to Dreamworks. If I ever see a poster or watch a trailer where you remind us that you are the studio that made "Shrek" again, I will... do... *something* ludicrous. Point is, we get it. We know who you are; you can stop reminding us.
4) I read the book How to Train Your Dragon a while back. What the hell book did the writers of this movie read?
5) The dragon is cute. :/

Don't get me wrong; I've been more into the Winter Olympics this year than I have since "Skategate" (ask your mom. Or Wikipedia.) Indeed, most of the commercials they've premiered during the Games have been better than the Superbowl commercials. I love the Coke snowball fight ad.
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I seem to recall that Disney ran an ad or something saying that, if you've never seen "Lost" before, you'll still be able to follow the story. This writer has decided to take this statement on. The result is... it is truly a thing of beauty.
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Sketch Of The day! Yet more Great Backyard Bird Count cuteness!

Meet the New Superbowl Ads! Same as the Old Superbowl Ads!

Another batch of opinions, hastily posted by somebody who wasn't all that invested in the game. (Dammit, Bill!) This may not be the most coherent post in the world, since it's almost quarter of two in the morning now, but here goes:

"The Last Airbender" teaser - Uh... eh. I think I've made my opinions on the prospects of a live-action "Avatar: the Last Airbender" movie perfectly clear by now and this teaser didn't really change anything. What strikes me as odd is the fact that, had I tuned in a minute later I would have missed it entirely.

Boostmobile Shuffle - OK, this one got a laugh out of me. For those of you who are to young to get the reference, enjoy the very first time I realized that athletes should never sing. Ever.

Doritoes and Budweiser - Man, their commercials this year were either just plane weird or boring. Doritoes in particular; it looked like they were using the ideas from their contest a while back that came in a distant second.

"Robin Hood: Prince of Some Stuff" - "Gee, Homer, that's a good idea but I think they've already made movies based on A Christmas Carol." "Yeah, well, what about Robin Hood?"
On the other hand, I am hoping they make this movie into another "EXCITING cereal".

"Wolfman" - Team DelToro!!!

Monster.com Beaver - I like the puppetry, but this is a good example of an ad that is really elaborate but doesn't make any damn sense. The Budweiser Bridge ad was like this too. The ur-example of this kind of Superbowl ad comes from 1997. (Bonus: Two or three instantly-dated references for the price of one!)

GoDaddy.com - This may be the greatest and best web-hosting service in the entire Internet, and all most people associate them with are these "to hot for TV" ads. Good jarb ad execs.

Coke Simpsons - Yaaaay!!! I feel like I ought to comment more on this ad as it's the only memorable animated ad. It's wikkid late. I don't want to.

Career Builder and Dockers - To ads in a row with guys in their underwear. Good luck telling them apart.

Teleflora - Hey, I remember this from last year!

"Alice in Wonderland" and "Tru TV Groundhog Day" - I must have mentioned somewhere on this blog that the deepest depth of the Uncanny Valley is inhabited by those staples of Superbowl ads, CGI Babies Who Do Things Normal Babies Don't Do. Well, I was wrong. The real inhabitants are People With Giant CGI Heads (or Normal-Sized Heads On Little CGI Bodies, it's hard to tell).

Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter - And I've given so much attention to the history of the Disney/MGM or Hollywood or whatever they're calling it now Studios in Walt Disney World that I feel like I must have discussed the equally strange history of Universal Studios Florida as well. This ad reminds me of the seriously trippy ads used to introduce the park in the first place. I don't think Wizarding World will be open by the time I get to Florida next month (more on that later), but having visited the spot where I think it's going, it's a little hard to believe that this is going to be more elaborate than a retheming of the Lost Continent part of Islands of Adventure.

Dr. Pepper Little Kiss - Ugh. Just... ugh.

"Prince of Persia: the Color Orange!" - With the memory of what happened after "Pirates of the Caribbean" fresh in my head, let me say this: I don't want little girls and their moms suddenly saying they've "Always been a Jake Gyllenhaal fan!" You sit through "The Good Girl" and "The Day After Tomorrow" just for him and then maybe we'll let you in the fan club. Maybe.

HomeAway.com - Here's a depressing trend for you. Commercials for commercials. As in, you had to go online to watch the full version of this. Bah.

Dennys screaming chickens - And here's the most irritating and most impossible to like commercial this year.

"The Crazies" - Interesting and creepy ad for what appears to be an entirely unremarkable thriller. Funny thing is, I would have expected to see an "Iron Man 2" teaser instead.

Google Paris Romance - Awwwwww... See now, this is how you do it.

EDIT: Reviews of ads I have not mentioned can be found at the Onion AV Club. It's funny how the blatant misogyny and anti-intellectualism, especially of the Bud ads, didn't immediately register with me. Then again, I remember when every single beer ad felt like that Duff beer "down with sexism" ad from an early episode of "The Simpsons" (still brilliant but YouTube has sadly failed me).

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Sketch of the day!

I'm also selling a set of ACEOs on Ebay this week, just to see how they do.

Christmas Commercials that Ate Our Brains.

Mmmm... brains.

Hershey's Kisses "Bells"

Simple and sweet. I know it's Christmastime when I hear this song.





Fruity Pebbles "Seasons Greetings"

Anyone who watched Saturday morning commercials in the 1980s still has this song in their head. Still to be answered: why are the Flintstones celebrating Christmas?





Coca-Cola "Northern Lights"

I'd be remiss if I forgot this one (this being an arts/animation blog and all). This was one of the first really awesome pieces of CGI. Some of the later Coke Bears commercials are prettier, but the simplicity of the very first one still holds up.





McDonalds "Star Wish"

Now, there's obviously going to be another McD's commercial in this entry, but this is the one I remember more vividly. I like the animation on the star. Not shown: Grimace and Birdie suffering severe radiation burns after handling an extraterrestrial object.





McDonalds "Skating"

Is there some way we could digitally replace Ronald McDonald with Morgan Spurlock so I don't feel so torn on enjoying this?




Bonus: Waiterbot's over-analysis of "Skating":



And the Onion AV Club's fabulous essay on "A Christmas Story".

It's 4/20! Let's talk about that animated Tiger Woods Commercial!

Obligatory, "LOL it's 4/20" nonsense:

For those who have not seen the very awesome commercial alluded to in the title yet:



You know, even as I little kid I noticed that there was more gorgeous animation in commercials than in some of the cartoon series they'd interrupt. This commercial reminds me of those days. Anyone know what studio did this? Look for the scene about 47 minutes in, where there are dozens and dozens of Disney-style animated characters onscreen at once. That would have taken ages and ages to do back in the day.

And as a funny aside, as memorable and wonderful as this commercial is, it isn't doing it's job. I spent fifteen minutes searching in vain for "Tiger Woods Vitamin Water Ad"...

Superbowl Commercials = Serious Business

Therefore, I shall now give my opinions of the various ads that entertained me (or not) during the game (which, being a chick, I wasn't all that emotionally invested in):

"G.I. Joe" trailer - Eh. Actually, I think I'll see if I can rent the "G.I. Joe" animated movie. I have a feeling it'll be better than this big live-action Hollywood version. Now, why would I think that?

"Transformers: Revenge of the Sith Fallen" trailer - Oh yeah.

Pepsi - You are not Bob Dylan, Will I. Am! Shrek is not Gumby! There is nothing about this ad that does not make me angry!

Budweiser - The horses in love one was very nice. The "fetch" game, not so much.

"Land of the Lost" trailer - It doesn't look that funny, but it's bound to be better than the 1991 revival. (I can't be the only one who remembers if. Observe.)

"Star Trek" trailer - It's enough to say that I'm getting excited about an odd-numbered "Star Trek" movie. And did Kirk just run into a smaller Clover?

"Up" trailer - It's Pixar and it involves a cranky old guy and the plateaus of South America. I am sold. But by the way, not one single Annie Award for "Wall-E"? Seriously?
Teleflora - Um... This flower delivery company knows that flowers are the reproductive parts of a plant, right? Because I do, and with that in mind, this commercial just looks wrong.

Cheetos - When did Chester Cheetah turn into a jerk-ass?

ZOMG 3-D COMMERCIALS WTF LOLERCOPTER!!!
OK, I was lacking in the 3-D glasses department so I have no idea if they were better with them, but the "Monsters V. Aliens" trailer didn't look terrible without them. The movie itself just doesn't look all that interesting to me though. And the So-Be ad after it started out cute, got confusing in the middle, and ended with some premium nightmare fuel.

"Heroes" - It's always fun to be reminded that the stars of "Heroes" are fans themselves, so I liked the playful football ad.

Nerf Swords - Every year, there is one commercial that stands out because it looks so out of place. I'm sure all the LARPers out there are excited about this. I do not doubt that there are LARPers who watch the Superbowl (most LARPers are male) it still seems odd.

"Some-Other-Verb-Besides-Escape To Witch Mountain" trailer - Yes, Disney is revisiting the Witch Mountain series for no good gorram reason. With the Rock. Yeah. (Writes a note to add the original "G.I. Joe" and "Escape to Witch Mountain" movies to her Netflix queue...) Oh, hey, remember how in the original, we didn't learn that the two kids were aliens until the very end? Yeah.

Coke - I loved the Coke bugs! Obviously, somebody liked their "Minuscule", but it was still so cute. Best of all, the insects were allowed to be cute on their own terms; they weren't humanized too much. (See the aforementioned SoBe commercial to see how even slight anthropomorphism of otherwise realistic CGI animals can go horribly, horribly wrong.)

Coke Zero - On the other hand, this "LOL, we'll pretend we're angry at ourselves for stealing our own recipe" ad campaign was not, is not, and never will be funny.

Hulu - It's nice that they're hosting all these ads but... WTF Alec Baldwin? Also, the mammalian brain is already of a fairly squishy consistency. I will invite the reader to accept, without questioning, why I know this.
(OK, think high school, anatomy class, and a dozen female students in their early teens being traumatized when the trailer for "Babe" began running the same week we started...)

Legal Seafood - At this point, we're getting into the local ads at the end of the game. Anyway, this ad features the sounds of Presidents slurping clam chowder. This is what the word "squick" means.

Stop N Shop - Nothing much to say here but, "Yay! They are using animated ads again!" (They had a cute and memorable one around 1989-ish. Sadly, YouTube has failed me.)

And those are about the only ads that made an impression on me. How about some cel-shading (click for big as usual):