What other cartoon would inspire this?
Now I’m not a big shoe aficionado , so the design of the show doesn’t vibe with me too much (still pretty cool). BUT that BOX! GENIUS!
Now that’s the true Art of the Cartoon.
Where can I pick these up? DO WANT!
PS: You know what would put these kicks over the top? If they actually transformed!!!
Yesterday was one of those surreal days. I think mostly everyone will remember the day Michael Jackson died. Combine this with the whirlwind of Farrah Fawcett passing away earlier in the day and Ed McMahon passing 2 days before that, it was just madness. I’m not even sure how they went through with an NBA Draft. Anyway, my dude jabok stated it best over twitter:
the worlds coming to an end. =(
A little overblown, but I think that was the general consensus. Now I know everyone is doing their little tributes and look backs to the “King of Pop” at the moment. It’s amazing really, MTV started to play music videos again… really! I’m going to ignore all the craziness and all the controversy surrounding the last few years of Michael Jackson’s life for the moment, and focus on this one touching moment in television animation history.
Hit the Jump to read more about this Set the VCR moment: Continue reading
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen/ dir. Michael Bay/ 2009
As a huge fan of the Transformers franchise, especially of the original Generation 1, all I really expect from the 2nd live-action Transformers movie is some great Autobots vs. Decepticons fighting complete with guns, explosions, battle damage combined with a bunch of transforming action, and give a nod to the fans, especially those of Generation 1. If you do that, I can pretty much forgive the shortcomings of the film. For example:
Weak Story/ Confusing Plot: That’s fine! Let’s be real, Transformers has never been about story, its been about huge robots that transform and fight each other. And as a veteran of countless animes, I can deal with a confusing plot. Continue reading
Who is going to see the new Transformers tonight? Raise your hand…
(Raises hand)
Yeah, you know I was going to go see the newest live-action Transformers tonight. I mean I started this blog with a post about Transformers! And even though we won’t get near the number of homies attending this showing as the last one, the nostalgia factor is just too strong for me to resist. Look for a review of the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen hopefully tomorrow. But in the meantime, I would like to re-visit one of my favorite Transformers Generation 1 episode, and yes… it is a bootleg classic.
Transformers “Heavy Metal War” December 15, 1984
Background:
You already know! But just in case… they are those robots that change (transform) into cars, airplanes, etc. C’mon you know… Optimus Prime and the Autobots (aka the good guys) vs. Megatron and the Decipticons (aka the bad guys). You know what!? If you need a background on Transformers why you reading this blog!
The Episode:
Megatron challenges Optimus Prime to an honorable one-on-one gladiator style duel. The loser of the duel must take his respective team and leave Earth forever, thus ending the long bitter war between the Autobots and the Decipticons. However, unbeknownst to Optimus, Megatron cheats by taking the abilities of the other decipticons, giving Megatron a huge advantage in the duel.
(Hit the Jump to find out what makes this a Bootleg Classic) Continue reading
I have a slew of reviews that should be upcoming (busy with school and work), so to break the monotony, I thought I would quickly post this:
In 1985, this came out…
It is a fully functional, transforming Voltron SLR –wannabe 110 film camera. Let me repeat in ALL CAPS and bold for emphasis. FULLY FUNCTIONAL AND TRANSFORMING VOLTRON SLR!
How come I didn’t know about this? And how do I get one now? I’m willing to switch from digital to 110 film (Do they even make 110 film anymore?)
Anyway. DO WANT!
From Gizmodo
Since I am currently (and will always be) a student of animation, when I heard that the exhibition, Art of Warner Bros. Cartoons, was coming to Seattle’s MOHAI (Museum of History and Industry), I knew I had to make time to go see it.
Art of Warner Bros. Cartoons gives a little insight into the history of Warner Bros. Cartoons. The exhibit does a good job of showing the process in which Warner Bros. Cartoons were made. There are character model sheets of your favorite Looney Tunes personalities. There are also animation cells, animation drawings, background paintings, story concepts, etc…
The exhibit is simple and straightforward, and for me truly inspiring. If you have read some of the other posts on this blog, you know that I hold these Looney Tunes shorts in high regard. Not only do they bring back memories of childhood, they are also classic examples of top-notch animation. I would put these shorts against any of the cartoons that come on TV nowadays.
Suffice to say I spent a good hour/ hour and a half in this exhibit alone. 30 minutes of which was just me watching old Bugs Bunny shorts. After that, I was ready to do what was necessary to keep on following this far-fetched dream of mine. Warner Bros. Cartoons has this great legacy, and I was ready to start making my own legacy. And how would I do that, I headed to the library to study and do my homework…
(hit the jump to see pictures of this exhibition) Continue reading
I remember sitting back and watching the Looney Tunes shorts with Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner and thinking, “What a smarmy road runner! I hope that coyote catches you one day.” Yet that never happened. Until this came along…
The difference in animation is jarring! Really jarring! But a little bit of me smiled when the Road Runner was finally caught…
But now I just feel empty…
Wow, that last bit og animation is really bad…
One final note, the original title to this short was “Fast and Furry-ous,” Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodirguez, and Jordana Brewster are set to star in the sequel “2Fast, 2 Furry-ous,” or was it “THE Fast and THE Furry-ous,” it might’ve been “The Fast and the Furry-ous: Hong Kong Drift.” I forget…
Some of my favorite cartoons while growing up were Transformers, He-Man, ThunderCats, and Ninja Turtles. I even enjoyed watching Jem, Strawberry Shortcake, and Rainbow Brite with my older sister. But between those shows there were always several Looney Tunes shorts to fill out the Saturday Morning Cartoon lineup. Of all the Looney Tunes characters, there was one that resonated with me the most. That would be the one “brown” Looney Tune character out of the whole bunch, Speedy Gonzales. This Bootleg Classic is the best of the Speedy Gonzales shorts, and the Academy Award win proves that.
Speedy Gonzales/ dir. Friz Freleng/ 1955
Background:
From 1930 – 1969, Warner Bros. had a cartoon series called Looney Tunes, that consisted of animated shorts that showed at movie theaters. These animated shorts featured the popular characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Sylvester, Tweety, Marvin the Martian, Taz, Wile E. Coyote, the Road Runner, Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite San, Pepe Le Pew, and many others. The Speedy Gonzales short featured the newly redesigned Speedy Gonzales, and was the first meeting between Speedy and Sylvester the Cat.
The Film:
There are a group of mice who are starving and are trying to get cheese from the AJAX cheese factory. The only problem is that there is a cat, Sylvester, who is gurading the the factory and the cheese. Other mice have attempted to get past Sylvester and get the cheese, but all of them have been eaten and died in the process.
Then one of the mice has a brilliant idea to enlist the services of “the fastest mouse in all Mexico” Speedy Gonzales. After telling their plight to Speedy, Speedy agrees to help.
Then some hilarious confrontations between Speedy and Sylvester occur, with Speedy always ending up the victor. Eventually, Sylvester decides to blow up the whole factory so nobody will get the cheese, but the plan backfires as all the cheese lands near the hungry mice.
Speedy then says “I like this pussycat fellow; he’s silly!” and the short ends.
To watch this Academy Award winning short and find out WHY it is a Bootleg Classic, hit the jump…
Since I’m studying to be a character animator, I have begun to observe people and things in a new light. Take for example one of the greatest professional wrestling matches of all-time, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage at Wrestlemania 3. Even though the big match at Wrestlemania 3 that year was the Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant showdown, Steamboat vs. Savage stole the show. It is amazing to watch both The Dragon and Macho Man tell a compelling story with athletic skill and body language only. Watch the 2nd half of this great match here:
Now hit the jump to see my film study of this match…. Continue reading
Art of the Cartoon 