Random 90's Animation: "Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland" (1989...ish)

I have had an inordinate fondness for "Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland" ever since I found it by chance back in college.  Granted, the story is kind of dumb and predictable, the songs aren't that great, and while none of the characters are particularly interesting, Nemo himself is essentially a non-entity.  But the visuals kept me coming back.  Seriously, look at this:



I was a little familiar with the works of Windsor McCay since obviously he gets a mention in every history of animation book (his "Little Nemo" was essentially a lavishly illustrated story released chapter-by-chapter as a feature in the Sunday newspaper comics and in his spare time he recruited the characters from the strip so he could invent the animated film as we know it) and my school's library had a decent book collection of the strips.  Scenes like the above blew me away with how vividly they recreated McCay's insanely detailed style and "whatever, this is a kid's dream" attitude. And so, for years, I assumed that this was a tribute to McCay made by a random animation studio that was quietly released in the early 90's to stunning indifference, and that I had the good luck to discover like a lost treasure hiding in the Children and Family aisle of the local Blockbuster.

Boy, did I ever not know the half of it.

The unassuming "Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland" has one of the most truly astonishing histories of any feature film, animated or otherwise.  Here's a brief list of people who were involved at one time or other during the at least ten years this film was in production: Ray Bradbury, John Canemaker, the Sherman brothers, Ken Anderson, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, Jean Giraud - better known as Moebius, and Brian Froud.  The contributions of the latter two are most obvious (although I couldn't help but notice this time out that King Morpheus shares Ollie Johnston's great affection for trains).  The overall look of Slumberland as we fly over it is very reminiscent of Moebius' art, and at one point our main characters are joined by a crowd of extremely Froud-ian amorphous goblins who appear to have walked right off the set of "Labyrinth", and who contribute very little to the story - but I don't care because whoever animated their various transformations was going for broke.  (Meanwhile, note how Nemo is Bland Anime Boy Protagonist Model 3.)


Oh, and Hiyao Miyazaki and fellow Ghiblian Isao Takahata were involved very early on.  Aside from an overall Ghibli-pretty look to the final film, their influence isn't really felt and allegedly they hated every minute of the production they were there for.  It turns out that part of the reason "Nemo" was in production for ten years is because there were two production companies working on this film, one in Japan and one in America.  The animation was primarily done by TMS in Japan, and the end result is therefore essentially an Anime that is occasionally -and very conspicuously- interrupted by things that studios think people want out of a western animated feature (loads of songs, written by the Shermans on one of their off days so they're still hideous earworms, and note Nemo's highly marketable pet squirrel in the above screenshot.)  The production was so troubled that the film was finished in the late 80's (the closest thing I could find to an official release date was, in fact, 1989...ish), but wasn't released in America until well after it's own video game adaptation.  This has had the odd effect of many fans of "Little Nemo: Dream Master" (known as "Doki Doki Panic" in Japan*) having no idea that the game is more directly based on a movie than the Windsor McCay comic. 

With all this in mind, I am sad to report that the DVD version of "Nemo" has, like, nothing for special features (reportedly the BluRay fixes this a little).  However, the film itself is very different from the version I watched years and years ago.  It turns out that the original American distribution company cut many scenes out of their release of the film, reportedly to secure a G-rating.  These are all reinstated in the DVD version.  In hindsight the only edit from the American theatrical/VHS version that even kind of makes sense is the shuffling of the opening credits to the back-end of the movie.  None of the reinstated scenes are scary (if they do frighten your child, then depending on how old they are, you may have to let your child get out more) or offensive (the film does a very good job of avoiding the... "it was a different time"-y elements of the comic that you may have noticed/winced at in the original McCay animated short).  I'd suppose that they were cut for time, but most of the cuts are only seconds long, and some of the longer scenes (and by "longer", I mean they average a minute or so) actually help certain parts of the movie make a little more sense.  One of the very weirdest cuts is a seconds-long scene where Nemo rides an elevator that is controlled by a "Spirited Away"-looking caterpillar thing, which finally explains Tress MacNeille's mysterious "Elevator Creature" credit in the edited version's cast list.

All in all, "Nemo" is a strange being indeed, but I highly recommend it and not just for Ghibli completists.  For more in this series, click this link or the "Random 90's Animation Month" tag below.

* - I'm joking!  The real original title is the even sillier "Pajama Hero Nemo".

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Sketch of the Day! I'd like to wish everyone a very happy holiday season free from creepy surveillance elves.

Sad News: RIP Satoshi Kon

I didn't want to say anything about this until it was confirmed, but the animation world has just suffered a tragic loss. Satoshi Kon passed away yesterday after suffering a long battle with cancer. There is an excellent tribute here and a fine review of "Millennium Actress" (which has shot to the top of my Netflix queue without hesitation as I haven't seen it yet) at the Onion AV Club, part of it's way-too-brief New Cult Canon animation month.

It's very sad when you are just starting to appreciate an artist, whether they be a director, a musician, or what have you, only to realize that there's going to be nothing more to come from them. "Tokyo Godfathers" was great fun and "Paprika" reminded me why I fell in love with animation in the first place. So raise a pint to Kon and rent "Godfathers" on my recommendation. Honestly, if you don't enjoy even one minute of that film, I owe you a beer.

Ways "Lost" Could End, as Predicted by Anime!

Well, three Anime series and a movie based on one of said series. Here be SPOILERS GALORE! (But no fanart. None. I am not going to draw Jack as a wolf or Locke with an automail arm. No. Just, no.)
We all know this is a series that's not going to end with the old "main character looks into an empty room with a sad smile and closes the door" option. I will make two real predictions here:
1) A lot of fans are going to be really, really upset. May want to give them a break that Monday morning.
2) This series finale will inspire essays. Long, long essays.
Now, the three best complete Anime series I've seen (thank you, Netflix) had exactly those kinds of endings, so let's try to use them to predict how "Lost" will end.
Important terminology note before we begin: Borrowing from "Futurama", the "still stuck on Craphole Island" continuity will be known as Universe A, while the "815 landed safely" continuity will be Universe 1.
"Wolf's Rain": Similar in (very) broad strokes to Watership Down, this series ended it's televised run by wrapping up a major conflict, but it didn't conclude the story. This was "fixed" with four episodes that went straight to video, essentially a four-part series finale. The "W.R."-ish Last Episode of "Lost": Every conflict in Universe A is resolved -- but not before everybody dies violently. Jack is the only character left alive, and even then he lies bleeding to death in the bamboo grove. As he slowly passes on (and a ridiculously sad song gradually builds), he gets to watch Craphole Island return to it's pre-crash, pre-Dharma, pre-Jacob and Not-Locke state.
But before the credits role, we get a brief look at Universe 1. All the Universe 1 versions of the Candidates, no matter where they are, suddenly sense something. And then Jack starts running...
Notes: Change a few of the details and I think this is the most likely ending of all. We are in for a bittersweet as hell ending.
"Fullmetal Alchemist": Great series. Probably my overall favorite out of this bunch. Note that we're going with the series ending, and will be ignoring the "Conqueror of Shamballa" movie. Most people do anyway. (Seriously, Fritz Lang is somehow involved. WTF?). The "F.M.A"-ish Last Episode of "Lost": Sawyer is able to destroy NotLocke after that creepy kid (the one who looks like a possibly older Aaron) shows him NotLocke's weakness. Meanwhile, Jack is killed and somehow "wakes up" as Universe 1 Jack. Desmond is conveniently there to explain what's up. In the end, all the Losties in Universe A mentally merge with their Universe 1 counterparts -- and, as Desmond comments, none of them remember a thing about their Craphole Island experiences. And Jack? He's stuck in Universe A, and starts on the search for a way to cross over... Notes: This may be the best integration of the two Universes. And I'd be surprised if Jack gets off the Island.
"Neon Genesis Evangelion": For the two or three of you who have never heard of this series, it is essentially to the original English-language dub of "Power Rangers" what "Lost" is to "Gilligan's Island".The "N.G.E."-ish Last Episode of "Lost": Forget the various mysteries of the Island, anything about Universe 1, who or what Jacob and NotLocke are, which characters end up on what side, or anything like that. None of that gets resolved. Instead, Jack gets to talk through his daddy issues with some other people. The end.
Notes: You KNOW we're going to hear something about Jack's father one more time for the road. Why not base the whole finale on that and really get it overwith?
The main case against this ending: Carlton and Damon probably enjoy breathing.
"End of Evangelion": After the uproar over "N.G.E."'s... underwhelming series finale, the producers got together again and made this movie. (It was originally how they had intended to end the series, but time and money were uncooperative.) This new ending was.... ye gods, it was somethin'...The "E.o.E."-ish Last Episode of "Lost": The main conflicts of the show are, thankfully, resolved... and then some angelic beings in the form of Sayid come and hug everyone in both Universes, causing them all to dissolve into Slusho. In the end, Universe A Jack finds himself on a desolate shoreline somewhere doing... something inappropriate... to Universe 1 Locke. Locke compares this situation to getting his period.
Notes: Yeah...

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Sketch of the day!
Arrrrrrgh. I was just curious. :(
This will be a Blogger exclusive, as I don't want to stain either online portfolio with this. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Sadbeard McJackwolf:


And since I am the kind of person who thinks that any horrible art thing worth doing is worth doing all the way (and Jackwolf needed some friends), here is The Worst Thing Ever:



This is essentially an amalgamation of all the worst kinds of fanart I've ever seen.
Disclaimer: No, I do not for a second regret joining Deviant Art; I've met lots of cool people there and made some great new contacts. But every so often you run into something like this and...
The thing about DA is this: Think about all the art you did in junior high that you loved at the time, then went back to look at it and said, quote, 😭 . OK? Now consider: back when you and I (presuming we're around the same age, dear reader) were just starting out as artists, our embarrassing-in-hindsight artwork was safely hidden in our Sketchbooks, journals, math notebooks, and so on, where nobody else could see them. These kids have their old shames on display for the whole wide web to see. Dang.
So, anyway, "Lost"!

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I am afraid my brain has turned into mush lately. Therefore, I completely forgot to post this lovely Mother's Day song:

The Making of the April Fools _IF-X_ Cover Art!

Please excuse me, I have to do sort of a Small Name Big Ego thing for the next two posts. Hey, it's not every day I get published now is it? As usual, click the pictures to see them big.
In a great stroke of luck, I happened to be in a Comic Artists Guild chat when Michael Marcus of the Hamtramck Idea Men asked me if I wanted to do the cover illustration for the upcoming April issue of IF-X.

My response was, essentially, "Sure, I'd love to!" So later that night, I emailed these doodles. Marcus liked the "Easter Bunny who wandered into an Alien nest" concept the best. By a happy coincidence, so did I.

I quickly drew this little thumbnail (the original really is tiny) just to get the layout figured out. I emailed this to Marcus too, and he approved it, just requesting a few small changes.

Here is the pencil line art on what would soon be the final version. I like to scan or photograph the various stages of an art project *just in case*. It is nice to have a record, but it's also nice to have a backup just in case things go wrong.

And here is the *almost* almost final version. I knew I wanted to have some of the eggs already painted, but I didn't want to risk losing those neat sponge-painted textures. Photoshop layers seemed the best way to go...

Finally, here's the version I sent to Michael Marcus. I used a series of transparent layers to "paint" the Alien eggs. I also took the opportunity to enlarge the facehugger in the foreground, just to make it more prominent and to emphasize just how screwed our poor Dumbest Bunny is.
The final version can be seen here.
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In lieu of a Sketch of the Day, here is a brief Movie/DVD Review. I saw "Ponyo" the other night and... and...

Welp, this is the weirdest Anime I've seen in a while. And it is certainly the strangest thing I've ever seen coming out of the mind of Hiyao Miyazaki. You see, his films usually start out in a place that's fairly normal and mundane (but beautifully realized; my favorite Miyazaki moment of all is that little scene in "My Neighbor Totoro" where the little sister collects rocks and seeds and things and piles them on the desk to show her daddy, who is hard at work on something and is basically like, "oh, that's nice"), but then some fantastic element or other enters into this normal world. "Ponyo" starts weird and ends in an even weirder place, so by the time you get to the more typically Miyazakian scene where they're eating Ramen, it gets... odd. While I did find plenty to like in it, it is definitely for kids. Gotta give their little brains something strange once in a while, but "Totoro" is much better in this regard.
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I've got some art cards up for sale on ebay. Give them a good home, won't you?

Random thoughts on recently seen fantastic (or not) movies

Just starting with a handy reminder that it's Pumpkinhead and Cocoa Cats season. If you are a Beer Snob and you also enjoy Peeps, good luck finding these.

Coraline - Funny story. Right before I was about to settle down and watch "Coraline", some friends called and asked if I wanted to go see "The Orphan" with them. I declined. I dislike horror movies. They returned and we shared opinions of the films we'd seen.
Turns out that "The Orphan" did not contain anything half as creepy as "Coraline".
"Coraline" is an amazing film, especially from a technical standpoint. (Stay tuned after the credits to see a behind-the-scenes look at one of the cleverest effects.) It is definitely worth watching. During the day. With all the lights on.
Because, you see, Neil Gaiman wrote this story after he discovered a direct mainline to every child's (hell, every person's) creepiest and most Freudian anxieties. (And by "Freudian anxieties", I don't mean "the whole thing is about sex" [which isn't even really what Freud was all about anyway], I mean "I had to read Bruno Bettelhelm's The Uses Of Enchantment in Psych 101 and I can't UN-read it".) In a decade or so, expect to hear the kids whose unsuspecting parents rented this for them saying to each other, "Remember 'Coraline'? Holy s**t, that movie messed with my head as a kid!" (See also my generation's "Return to OZ", "The Mouse and his Child", "Watership Down", and so on and so forth. Mind you, I'm not saying it's a bad thing for a kid to get freaked out by a movie...)

Night Watch / Day Watch - A pleasantly confusing dark fantasy film in two parts. It goes in some refreshingly strange directions. The second film is actually better than the first and is that rare sequel that actually rewards you for paying close attention to the first film. I highly recommend it...
But ye gods, that ending. :(
SPOILER TIME I'm not really cool with long movies that end with the hero going "I wish none of this had ever happened." And then they cut back in time to the beginning where the events of the story were set in motion, only this time they don't and the characters just go home or something instead of on the adventure. So, in short, the entire movie didn't happen.
That's an acceptable ending to, say, a twenty minute episode of a Disney Afternoon series. It's a giant middle finger in my face when it's used to conclude a four-hour-long fantasy saga that I might have been little more emotionally invested in.

Blade Runner: the Final Cut - Every few years or so, you need to watch an older movie to remind yourself how awesome it is, and this new director's cut of "Blade Runner" is the perfect excuse. This is a gorgeous film and if you have somehow never seen it, you've got to go add it to your queue immediately. It's astonishing how well this movie has aged; it's twenty-seven years old and it looks better than some movies made last year. The city in which "Blade Runner" is set is still one of the best fictional cities ever created and I'm fairly certain it was all created with practical effects. It make a huge difference when things that cannot exist in reality occupy physical space. (Yes, I know how weird this sounds coming out of an animator. Once again, I do not dislike CGI. When it's used intelligently and not with and attitude of "ooh shiny, we're using CGI!")
The script is fabulous as well, but this was the first time it struck me how deeply depressing the theme of this movie is. (Sometimes third time's a charm when it comes to finding a work of fiction's Big Theme.) More observant viewers have probably noticed this before, but this was the first time I realized that "Blade Runner" is all about death. More specifically it's about how utterly horrifying it is to be a human, because it means that you're terribly aware of your ultimate demise. Heavy stuff to have in my head right before bedtime after two glasses of White Zinfandel. Anyway, "Blade Runner". Still one of the best fantastic fiction films ever made.

Dark City - It doesn't look like it from here, but I actually gave this and "Blade Runner" a lot more "room". Once again, great fantastic fiction film, great-looking fantasy city for a setting, smart, imaginative story - and another depressing theme.
This time, it's another reason why it's utterly horrifying to be a human: the unreliability of memory. You may remember that awesome place you spent your early childhood with crystal clarity, but what if you go back there and it's not there anymore? How can you ever convince people it was ever there in the first place? And as you get older, how can you form any meaningful new memories at all if everything and everyone seems to change so fast? And if you can't trust your memory, can you ever really trust yourself?
Now, "Blade Runner" dealt with this idea a little as well - in one particularly sad scene and not much else after this. "Memento", another film I adore, dealt with this very extensively. But "Dark City" takes this in a very unusual direction, and if you haven't seen this film yet, go for the director's cut. It lets the story unfold on it's own. The theatrical version (stop me if you think that you've heard this one before) had an opening narration that just explained the whole mystery right up front so the audience wouldn't be scared or confused. 

The Fall - I had no idea what this was about and was pleasantly surprised. The fantasy sequences are very well done and, refreshingly, consist almost entirely of practical effects. The framing story is actually done very well. (Personally, I think the "amazing fantasy adventure is actually just a story being told to/read by some kid" is one of the laziest storytelling tropes of all. If your movie isn't "The Princess Bride" [which basically parodies the concept] or "The Neverending Story" [which gets downright meta with it], don't bother.) It helps that the little girl character is a genuine honest-to-goodness little girl. Everything's new to her; she asks questions about things that adults wouldn't even worry about and the concept of personal space is as alien to her as the concept of personal property. It's incredible how much of a difference this makes.
Incidentally, while this film is by no means okay for young children, it is rated R in America for reasons I can't fathom.

The Bear - I was vaguely reminded of this film by "The Fall"; both films contain nightmares that remind us that stop-motion animation can be the creepiest film technique and both films just step back and let their characters act natural. In "The Fall", we finally get a little kid who acts like an actual little kid. In "The Bear", we have animal characters who act like genuine animals.
I hadn't seen this movie since I was very young and I only remembered being vaguely creeped out by it. The dream sequences notwithstanding, I think I understand why: the bears don't talk. There isn't even a narrator. There's no reassuring human voice calmly putting the animals' behavior in terms we can understand. There's hardly even any music. The film feels practically like a documentary rather than the fictional drama it is and the effect is amazing. It's a stunningly beautiful film and really demands a cleaned-up DVD release.
Incidentally, this film is rated G for reasons I can't fathom. Weird.

Now, of all the rescued LaGremlinLand articles, the following has been postponed and rescheduled the most. It's probably the one I feel the most "meh" about:
Never Mind "Another Brick in the Wall-E", Here's "Little Davey in Slumberland"
(Modified from a feature originally posted at LaGremlin Land on 6/4/02.)

This is pretty awesome for something I stumbled upon by accident in college. (As with all former LaGremlin writings, no drugs were involved. Except coffee. Lots of it.) While this isn't going to be the next "Dark Side of OZ", it might at least be the next "Siamese Fantasia". That is to say, we're gonna talk movie/CD syncs.
What You Need: The CD "Before These Crowded Streets"; the movie "Little Nemo in Slumberland" (sadly, it is very hard to find a good copy these days, but every video store used to have one); a CD player that lets you repeat a CD without screwing up. (I'm a traditionalist here. I'm sure a Magical Tiny Machine That Holds Music would work too.)

Plot Summary: (well, you aren't going to be able to hear the dialogue) For whatever reason, this movie is fairly obscure unless you are a Miyazaki completest. I'm a "Nemo" cheerleader. There really are some fantastic visuals in this movie. The animators managed to get the look of McCay's illustrations spot on. This Total Media Bridge review sells the film very well; I'd thought I was the only one who liked it.
Nemo is a perfectly normal kid by day, but every night he has very strange dreams. After the circus arrives in his hometown, his dreams become more intense until finally the people in his dreams invite him to visit their world, Slumberland. There, Nemo must aid King Morpheus in protecting Slumberland from the Nightmare Demons.
Goaded by a nasty little green gnome/clown/thing named Flip, Nemo learns that Morpheus has a demon imprisoned beneath Slumberland. They accidentally allow it to get loose and kidnap the King. Now Nemo and his friends must journey to Nightmare and save him.

How to Do the Sync: Set the CD to repeat and pause it. Start the video. The Tokyo Movie Shin... Shaw... Somethingorother title card will appear. Un-pause the CD when the red "V" part of the "M" in the studio logo starts to fly offscreen. If you're doing it right, Nemo's room fades into focus when Dave begins to sing in "Pantala Naga Pampa". Enjoy.

_The Time-Traveler's Wife_ , "Howl's Moving Castle", and other old reviews rescued from MySpace

(Originally posted on 3/22/06.)
When I started my old MySpace blog, I was on the hunt for a decent book. I had quite a few disappointments, even giving up on books that had been highly recommended to me. So I halfheartedly pick out a book I'd seen at the Library for some time now that looked kind of interesting, Audrey Niffenegger's The Time-Traveler's Wife. Go figure, it ended up being the first book in a long time that, about three chapters in, I had to do the Neverending Story thing with. (Neverending Story thing = Locking oneself in an attic and finishing a thoroughly amazing and engrossing book in one go. You know what that's like don't you?
Don't you?
I am a nerd.)
This is a book that made me laugh, it made me sob, it made me blush, and it made me shudder and - this is the kicker right here - the f___er made me think. And best of all, it made me think in the same way that my favorite truly thought-provoking fantastic fiction made me think. It takes a worn out fantasy concept and treats it with all-out seriousness, daring to ask what living with this fantastic element would really be like. (What I mean by this is, for example, that we learn the sometimes kinky, more often heartbreaking, and darn near always hellishly confusing and upsetting ramifications of quantum sex.) Imagine a good mash-up of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", "The Sixth Sense", and "Memento". It's an emotional and mental workout, but it is well worth it.
And if I haven't sold you yet, there is the fact that your secret loathing of Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock-n-Roll" is finally vindicated in this book. Yes.

I must now heap praise upon Hayao Miyazaki's "Howl's Moving Castle", which is on DVD this week. Now, If you're ever going to trust me on any movie recommendations, trust me on this. The Studio Ghibli films are Anime for people who don't think they like Anime. Everything Disney nailed in their heyday can be found here. I highly recommend you check them out.
"Howl" is Miyazaki's latest triumph. Dude must be sick of hearing that. Doesn't he get bored of making superior movies? The characters are absolutely delightful and I love how there are more interesting things going on in any given background painting than some animators put into an entire feature. (It's almost poignant seeing the "Chicken Little" teaser trailer on this DVD.) That said, it might not be the best place to start for newbies; I say start with "Kiki's Delivery Service". It's my favorite (if I have to pick) and the most easily accessible of his films. From there, watch "My Neighbor Totoro" (one of the best children's films ever and just released on DVD), then try "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" and "Princess Mononoke" (two of the great action-fantasy Animes of all time), and then "Laputa: The Castle in the Sky", "Howl's Moving Castle", and "Spirited Away" (surreal fairy-tale fantasies). And keep an eye out for "Little Nemo" - an underrated Studio Ghibli production but one of my favs.
Incidentally, I have to mention something about "Howl" that I find very, very strange: some critics have said that the plot is too convoluted. Honestly, I didn't find it any more hard to follow than other Anime. Whatever, dudes. Next you'll be complaining that chocolate tastes too good or something.

I got two strange animated films from the fifties at an evil supermarket for a dollar. They were "Panda and the Magic Serpent" and "Adventures of Mr. WonderBird". And they were actually pretty good.

And finally, I watched "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" on DVD. Dad and I both agreed that it was pretty good. We also both agreed that, although we know the work that the person in charge of condensing the "Brick" Harry Potters into films has cut out for him, it was very strange some of the things left out. The SPEW subplot is an obvious example. But where was the payoff to the Rita Skeeter subplot? And for cryin' out loud, how come we didn't get to watch the Quidditch World Cup or how the other Triwizard Champions battled their dragons? Honestly, as I was reading the book all those years ago, I was secretly thinking to myself, "You just know J.K. put this in because it'll look kickass in the movie." The more I think of it, the more disappointed I am...
I might have fully transformed into a Harry Potter nerd right there. Hang on...
Iorek Lives!!!
That's better.
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I've rescued a few old posts from MySpace and they'll be popping up over the next month.
And, there's a new review at The New Realm. Starting next month, there will be new reviews (or shamelessly recycled features with some new material) every week!
AND, I've uploaded a bunch of new art (and older art that I'd unintentionally hidden from myself earlier this crazy summer) at Flickr. Here is a sample, and you may consider it blatant foreshadowing of a future article:



In sillier news, did you get Oak's Letter yet?

AnimeBoston is this weekend!

More information at their website.

Alternatively, if you're the kind of reader who misses the Feederwatch Friday posts, and you can get WAAAAAAY up to Lubec, Maine, you may enjoy the big Downeast Birding Festival. It also runs throughout Memorial Day weekend.

Of course, if you enjoy birds and animation (if you're me, in other words), you'll want to try and attend both events. Unfortunately, I will not be able to go, but there is an excellent reason for this...

Some thoughts on "3-effin'-D!!!"

3.28.09 - 3-effin'-D!!!
Originally uploaded by Babbletrish
Click for big (and legible).

Now, I lurk in a lot of discussion boards (and post in... two or three of them). Every so often, you catch a moment of sheer brilliance. I was inspired to draw this parody of the "Monsters v. Aliens" poster after reading this exchange at FARK.com. Full comments and the related article can be read here:

Cold1s: "I love puppetry... Gesture and posture are the game here. Big Bird's bowed head after (his memorial performance of 'It's Not Easy Bein') Green' spoke volumes.
In an age of digital whatever-you-want-to-see-you-see, I hope true stage performances like puppets and Muppets come back."

Dokool: "I had similar thoughts when I saw the Wallace & Gromit link two rows below this one.
In an age where we're bored of CGI-based films because there's so many of them (imagine anyone taking you seriously if you were to predict that around when 'Toy Story' came out!), nobody even considers returning to the older methods. If you watch an average episode of the 'Muppet Show', or 'Fraggle Rock', or even 'Sesame Street', the level of the craft is astounding.
The fact that articles (and threads) like this even exist is testament to the fact that they connected with us in such a meaningful way that even 20 years later people remember it. I was only born in '85 but I remember all of my 'Sesame Street' and Muppet-related VHS tapes like I'd just watched them. Will they say the same about any of the stuff kids watch these days?"

Note that, although I think the "CGI vs. Hand-Drawn" debate is stupid as hell (so where do stop-motion, cut-paper, pixilation, and so on fit into the debate?), I have no problem with CGI films.

When their scripts don't suck. When I actually end up caring about their characters. When the people making the films do so with intelligence and heart and creativity, rather than an overall attitude of "Ooh CGI, shiny!!!".

Actually, why don't I just direct you to this, by way of Cartoon Brew (of course. And, yikes, they really all do that one eyebrow thing.)

As far as animation that does not suck goes, the Onion AV Club has posted a lovely review of "Spirited Away" (which you are not allowed to read another word of this blog unless you promise me you will add it to your Queue immediately). It's sparked a lively discussion as well.

Am I hearing Orioles already? Seems a little early given that the trees haven't leafed out yet.

Drawing must also be Serious Business -and- Jumping on the "Worst Cartoons Ever" bandwagon

Drawing must also be Serious Business!

Therefore, I have invested some Christmas money in the two anatomy books at right and borrowed the third from the library. Reviews will be forthcoming (though I can tell you already just by thumbing through the three that the Goldfinger is a bit of a disappointment given the $30-$50.00 [!!!] asking price.)

Inspired by Worst Cartoons Ever (natch) and Topless Robot, I've decided to bring up the following Great Moments in Animated Adaptations. I have a bit more to say about the results of their "Worst Cartoon / Cartoon Episode Ever" surveys but it can wait. For now, we have Serious Business to attend to.

It is time. Dear reader, you must decide which of the following two series (which, thankfully, never got off the ground) is the more boneheaded adaptation of a popular Anime for the American market.

You probably have already heard of the Saban (but not really Saban's fault apparently) Nightmare, a proposed adaptation of "Sailor Moon". If you haven't, it would have looked like this:

At least now we know what "Blossom" would have been like if it had been about a superhero. And you have to appreciate how they take the show's title very literally.

This is "Doozy Bots", a proposed adaptation of "Gundam SD". It is not as well-known, but is, in my humble opinion, worse:


Feederwatch Friday!!! It snowed! That was kind of interesting, but other than that, nothing much happened. The male and female Cardinals visited together for the first time this year. Awwww... Though mention of Cardinals (still talking about the birds here) puts me in mind of this Onion AV Club interview. There is a line in it that brings up another subject I'd like to cover next post.