News - 11/28/08...

Cartoons Hate Families







Did you know that CARTOONS HATE FAMILIES? It’s true, I guess. Otherwise they wouldn’t say in in all caps at christiansagainstcartoons.com. At first I thought it was a crazy over-the-top parody, but it seems to be the real thing. I, for one, would never have guessed that Monsters Inc. is an attempt by the Godless Disney organization to introduce Satanism to innocent children. But sure enough, it is!

This site apparently has not been updated in a year, so I’d hate to push up their numbers and encourage them to post more. Still, it’s an interesting find — in the same way that the life forms one discovers hiding under a rock make for “an interesting find”. It’s too late for me, but you may still be able to save yourself from these filthy, vile cartoons!

(Thanks Joe Dante and special thanks to Dewey McGuire)

(Thanks cartoonbrew)





Henry Selick talks Coraline

In an exclusive video interview with Collider, Henry Selick, the director of upcoming stop-motion feature Coraline, talks about the story behind the film, use of 3-D, and more. Selick also explains what fans can expect from the movie and why everyone should stay through the end credits of Coraline. The film, which tells the tale of a young girl named Coraline and her descent into a fantastical alternate reality will be out in theatres on February 6, 2009.





Peg Bar Helps Irish Animators Network

Sensing a need for networking opportunities for the animation industry in Ireland, the collective behind Peg Bar organized “It's a Peg Bar Affair,” an event that brought together animation artists, illustrators and vfx artists. The first edition, held in August, was such a success that a second is scheduled for January of 2009. The group is currently seeking artist’s show reels for the event.

“It's a Peg Bar Affair Vol.2" will take place on Friday, Jan. 23 at Murrays Bar on O'Connell St. in Dublin. The show will be opened by Eamonn Butler of Double Negative (HellBoy II: The Golden Army, 10,000 BC, Harry Potter and the Order of Pheonix). Those who would like their work showcased can submit a disc containing two movie files (one uncompressed show reel and one compressed avi or .mov under 50 MB) and a word document or pdf with a short artist bio and photo. All entries must be received by Monday, Dec. 22. For more details, email pegbaraffair@gmail.com.

The Peg Bar collective is made up of Daniel Spencer, Anna O'Sullivan, Ben Hennessy, Lisa Scannell and Ben Harper. Since the first networking event, the group has started a blog with interviews, podcasts and Irish animation news at www.pegbaraffair.blogspot.com.





Pinky Dinky Doo Site Launched

Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind the hit animated preschool series Pinky Dinky Doo, has launched an innovative and interactive website at www.pinkydinkydoo.com. The show recently kicked off its second season and remains one of the top ten daytime programs on Noggin in the U.S.

The new site gives Pinky the opportunity to present her latest stories and “great big fancy words” on a medium beyond television, and allows children to present theirs as well. Fans of the pink haired 7-year-old can access interactive games, videos, podcasts and printable activities featuring storylines from the series’ second season. Kids and their caregivers can also create their own Pinky stories that may be featured as user-generated podcasts on the site.

Viewers now have the opportunity to take a hands-on approach to the program’s lessons. Highlights include printable activities including coloring pages, stationery, story book templates and newspapers; The Great Big Fancy Word Game; and 12 new video clips from this season’s episodes. In addition, a special section for grownups includes meet-the-characters videos, story synopses, and suggestions of offline activities.

Pinky Dinky Doo blossomed from a collection of bedtime stories made up by Cartoon Pizza principals Jim Jinkins (president and co-founder) and David Campbell (CEO). The show was previously produced with Flash animation over photo collage backgrounds, but a 3D element has been added for the second season. Sesame Workshop and Cartoon Pizza have partnered with Abrams/Gentile Ent. and Canadian animation company Keyframe to facilitate the shift to three-dimensional sets and props. The series currently boasts more than 35 broadcast partners worldwide, including CBeebies in the U.K. and Discovery Kids Latin America.





Susie Essman on Voicing Mittens in "Bolt"

Actor Susie Essman has spoken to the Fresno Bee about her role as the voice of the cynical cat Mittens in Disney's new movie Bolt. Essman discusses the leeway she was given to improvise line readings during the recording sessions and the reasons why she loves her character.





"Arkham Asylum" Teaser, Site Launched

Superhero Hype reports the teaser trailer for the new video game, Batman: Arkham Asylum is already out. You can watch the trailer here.

The new video game will be out early next year for the Playstation 3, XBox 360 & PC, and features the voices of Mark Hamill as The Joker and Kevin Conroy as Batman. The game is written by Batman: The Animated Series writer Paul Dini.

You can see the website here.





Size matters: NZ art gallery refuses nude dwarfs

New Zealand sculptor Michele Beevors is more grumpy than happy these days, thanks to her nude version of Disney's Seven Dwarfs being banned by the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.

Actually, Beevors, of Dunedin, fashioned only six dwarfs. But the creatures -- bearing a remarkable resemblance to the diminutive miners of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs -- were banished from her "Debbie Does Disney" exhibition, which opened Saturday.

"I've never been censored before in my life. It's just bizarre," Beevors, head of sculpture at Otago Polytechnic School of Art, told the Otago Daily Times on Friday.

"Debbie Does Disney" includes over a dozen fibreglass figures. Beevors acknowledged that her Disney-derived dwarfs were engaged in some un-Disneylike behavior.

"They're doing some rude things. There's some masturbation going on and there's sodomy. But you can't tell," she said.

"They're not supposed to be realistic. They're cartoon characters with appendages."

Meanwhile, the museum is also showing a "Life and Vision" exhibition by Rita Angus which includes several nude self-portraits of the artist.

"I've stood up at art school in the past against censorship of students' works," Beevors said.

"They told me that the Rita Angus curator didn't like the dwarfs. He objected to the graphic content. He thought too many little old ladies going to the Rita Angus exhibition would be offended."

Aaron Kreisler, the gallery's curator of contemporary art, belittled Beevors' claims of anti-dwarf discrimination.

"It was always a curated show, and when we're asked to curate things we've got to make a judgement call on what we consider are the strongest works," he said.

Kreisler said that there just wasn't room for all of Beevors' work, so her best work was chosen. "It's simply we wanted to produce a show which we thought celebrated the strong aspects of Michele's work," he said.

"I don't think the ruder works have been excluded. There are a lot of works that I think people will be challenged by," he added.

"The dwarfs are funny. They're not supposed to be a serious take on male sexuality or anything like that," Beevors declared.

Beevors said that she planned to protest the ban outside the gallery with what the Otago Daily Times described as "a group of seven dwarf supporters."


















Dwarf sculptor Michele Beevors can't wait to turn over a new leaf.





Trek Trailer With Surprise End

The new Internet Star Trek trailer--with a surprise appearance by a veteran Trek actor at the end--is now available on CraveOnline.com and viewable here. The trailer is otherwise the same as the one that debuted widely last week.

J.J. Abrams' Star Trek opens May 8, 2009.







New Buffy Movie On The Way?

On page 51 of today’s Herald-Sun Newspaper – in the “ExtraHit” Entertainment lift-out - is a news item suggesting a script for a new “Buffy” movie is doing the rounds.

This is what it says :

The monster success of girly vampire pic Twilight at the US Box office last weekend could kick open the door for a big-screen return of Joss Whedon’s much-loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Rumours are circulating in Hollywood that Whedon has a feature-film script based on his hit TV series ready to roll as soon as a studio is prepared to commit. The Buffy concept was first unveiled as a movie in 1992 with long-forgotten Kristy Swanson in the title role.

Hmmm, as much as I want to believe it, I just don’t. Joss had a hard enough time convincing all the applicable parties that some spin-off ‘telemovies’ were worth doing – and even then, nobody seemed to be on the same page. One minute they were on, the next minute they were off – and that’s how the proposed small-screen telefilms (one was rumoured to fix on Spike, from memory) have stayed. They’ll never happen – even Joss will tell you that. That doesn’t mean I don’t think a 'film' a great idea, in fact, I think it’s a terrific idea, and it could make money – especially, as the article states, if they strike now whilst the “Twilight” iron is hot. Whedon probably wouldn’t have any trouble convincing stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz – it wouldn’t be a “Buffy” movie without an Angel appearance after all! – back to fold, considering they’ve always said they wouldn’t care so much to do any more small-screen Buffy/Angel but would jump at the chance to bring the characters to theaters. Fingers crossed, but not too tight – you’ll probably be closing off the circulation for nothing. Lets wait for a response from Joss – keep your eyes peeled for one at Whedonesque.com, the best dang Whedon-verse site out there.





Jackman May Walk From Wolverine

Hugh Jackman will leave the "Wolverine" franchise alone - if you guys hate it.

That's what he told Moviehole today - that if audiences don't go for next year's "X-Men" prequel he'll gladly walk away from the series and forget all about the sequel he's already developing in his noggin.

''If it’s clear to us on May second or third that that’s gone, then I’ll walk away happily", Jackman says of the audience appeal in the character. ''I’m not going to flog something – or flog a dead horse, or try and make movies that people don’t really want to go and see. I have no interest in that. Even no matter how much I love the character. So there are many prerequisites".

And although he'd personally like to do a sequel, he's not going to do it just for the hell of it.

"There’s a few story lines that are running my head which I think would be really cool, but unless the script is right, then I just don’t see the point in doing it. I’m probably at the point in my career where I don’t need it. And the last thing I want to do is just to push it on people, if it doesn’t warrant a full feature movie.''

And why did Jackman decide to tell Wolverine's story?

''Well, after X-Men, there was not, like, a fete accompli that I would do it. We basically got a great script. And I had the script and director. David Benioff, one of the great writers in Hollywood, came knocking at our door. And I went and had a meeting with him, and he told me his idea. And I just went, “That is so brilliant.” Now, I know this character by now, and he is a mad, mad fan of the comic books. He’s not cheap. But he came to us with this idea, which was smart and interesting. And it was also steeped in a deep love of the character, and the comic book history. So I just went, “Okay. There’s a reason to make this film.” I mean, I’d always felt there was a reason, storytelling-wise. Because as good a go as I’d had in X-Men I, II, and III, there was a lot of mystery left. I don’t think – we touched on it in X-Men II. But there were certainly a lot of mystery still left about his origins. I was always a mad fan, in reading the comics, of the Wolverine in Japan saga, which is one of the most famous. But ultimately, we all decided – I think rightly, after seeing the film – that you need to understand the character’s origins, to understand who he is. And to really get it. So that’s what the movie does. It goes right back to him as a kid, basically.''





Trailers For Upcoming "Hulk Versus" Direct-To-Video Animated Feature

Lionsgate Home Entertainment has provided Marvel Animation Age with trailers for the upcoming Hulk Versus direct-to-video animated feature.

Click here for separate trailers for both the Hulk Versus Wolverine and Hulk Versus Thor segments of the upcoming animated feature.






















The direct-to-video Hulk Versus animated feature, which comprises of the two short films Hulk Versus Thor and Hulk Versus Wolverine, will hit DVD and Blu-ray on January 27th, 2009. Click here to check out the press release for the upcoming title.