SNAPSHOTJust goes to show you how much animation can change in 40 years. …I don’t think I would’ve gotten into to researching old animation if it wasn’t for the Looney Tunes shorts. Shows like Toon Heads and the Bob Clampett Show that used to air on Cartoon Network we’re my Continue Reading
Animation
Knock! Knock! Lucas the Spider tries to make a new, rather frantic, friend
How could you not want to be friends with Lucas the Spider? The creation of Josh Slice, and voiced by his nephew, is sublimely, delightfully innocent, a spider who firmly believes friendship comes before everything else. Thing is, no one has the fly he once tried (successfully) to befriend, and Continue Reading
Happy 60th anniversary Asterix! Here’s a celebratory book to mark the occasion
When I first began reading Asterix way back in the ’70s when I was but a young boy, had hair (my six-year-old niece begs to differ) and dinosaurs ruled the Earth (also my niece’s firm belief and she shall be dissuaded), I was blissfully unaware of the fact that it Continue Reading
Retro movie review: UP (10th anniversary)
Human beings love dreams. Not the kind that litter our sleep like so much psychedelic, nonsensical candy (though they do hold a certain attraction) but the ones that hold out hope that beyond the banal humdrum of life, true excitement and adventure awaits if only x, y or z plan Continue Reading
LEGO and dinosaurs together?! My boyhood dreams come true in Lego Jurassic World: Legend of Isla Nublar
SNAPSHOTThe 13-part production is set in 2012, three years before the events of the 2015 blockbuster, and follows animal behaviorist Owen Grady and Assistant Manager of Park Operations Claire Dearing (characters played in the films by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, respectively, though both are voiced by different actors Continue Reading
Simba! The Lion King gets an inspired cartoon recap
Apparently, The Lion King is a big thing. Everyone supposedly LOVES the original 1994 animated version and adores the 2019 completely unnecessary live action remake – they must do; it’s taken in over $1 billion worldwide – and so, The Lion King is close to becoming the biggest animated film Continue Reading
The surreal wonder of Phantasmagorie, the first animated cartoon
SNAPSHOTFantasmagorie is a short silent animated film created in 1908 by French caricaturist Émile Cohl that is considered the world’s first animated cartoon. The film follows the surreal adventures of a stick figure and is just over a minute in length. (synopsis (c) Laughing Squid) Where dd Mickey Mouse, Betty Continue Reading
You’re Not a Monster: Even members of the supernatural need a therapeutic listening ear
SNAPSHOTMax Seward’s patients really are the horrifying monsters they think they are … because they really are horrifying monsters. …features the voices of Kelsey Grammer, Eric Stonestreet, Aparna Nancherla, Ellie Kemper, Patton Oswalt, Adam Pally, Amy Sedaris, and more. (synopsis via Laughing Squid) How does Medusa really feel about all Continue Reading
Taking it up a level: The making of Toy Story 4
SNAPSHOTThe fourth installment in the beloved Toy Story franchise achieves a level of detail and realism unseen in any Disney/Pixar project yet. See how it all came to life at the legendary Pixar studios, step by step: beginning with the story and artwork stage, onto 3D computer modeling, shading and Continue Reading
Are we actually making progress? Rock’s Modern Life: Static Cling asks the bizarrely big questions
SNAPSHOTAfter being in space for 25 years, Rocko and his friends return to a late-2010s era O-Town with modern amenities such as constantly updating touchscreen phones, radioactive energy drinks, food trucks and coffee shops on every corner. Rocko, who does not share Heffer and Filburt’s enthusiasm for the 21st century Continue Reading