Monthly Archives: December 2013

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1st Look: Jack & the Cuckoo-Clock Heart

  By Ju-osh M. • December 31, 2013 ,

Jack & the Cuckoo-Clock Heart is Stéphane Berla and Mathias Malzieu’s stop-motion adaptation of Malzieu’s fantasy/romance novel, La Mécanique du Cœur. The story revolves around Jack, a young man born in 1870s Scotland on ‘the coldest day ever.’ Because of the extreme cold, Jack’s heart stops beating. An attending midwife saves him by replacing his heart with a cuckoo-clock, only this has an unintended side effect: Jack must never get angry or excited, or the clock will stop working. As he grows up, Jack realizes that he also cannot risk falling in love, because that too could stop his fragile, clockwork heart. Très tragique! Très Enchanté!

For posters, pics and production info, click through.

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Tumblr’s Top Comics Talk

  By Ju-osh M. • December 30, 2013

21Tumblr is a lot like a comic book shop — dark, dingy and full of deviants and detritus.

KIDDING.

No, Tumblr is a lot like a comic book shop because if you browse around long enough, you’re bound to come across something that you would have NEVER seen anywhere else.

From a Bronson-esque Batman to Beyoncé in a Beto dress, here are a few of the better bits I happened upon this week.

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Bill Plympton Spills His Guts

  By Ju-osh M. • December 27, 2013

98“My mom used to bring home meat from the butcher store when I was a kid and when she unwrapped the butcher paper, she gave it to me to draw on. Sometimes the paper had blood on it so I just incorporated it into my drawing. Maybe that’s one of the reasons some of my cartoons today feature so much violence.”

- Via: Jim Korkis’ interview with Bill Plympton

To read the rest of this interview (and to find out which character Disney once tried to hire Plympton to animate), CLICK HERE!

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Finding Frozen’s Easter Eggs

  By Ju-osh M. • December 26, 2013

1Disney animators have been slipping in visual references to their previous films since as far back as 101 Dalmatians. For cartoon nerds, spotting these in-jokes has become a rite of passage, a fun, little parlor game, and an on-the-spectrum way of showing our vast breadth of needless knowledge and the full scope of our attention to superfluous detail.

With Frozen, the current crop of Mouse House animators continued this time honored tradition, dropping in ‘Easter eggs’ referencing a couple of recent Disney flicks, as well as two nods to one of TV’s quirkiest comedies. Click through to check ‘em out!

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‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ Tree

  By Ju-osh M. • December 20, 2013

1“What’s this? What’s this? I can’t believe my eyes!”

Comic book artist Greg Horn created this delightful Nightmare Before Christmas Tree for his family. Not only does it look wonderful during the daylight hours, it gets a wholly different vibe when the lights go out. Who would’ve guessed that the ornaments’ silhouettes would be as lovely as the ornaments themselves? What a clever idea!

For more pics, click here.

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A Printable Present For Comic Book Fans:
Official Marvel Comics Office Stationary

  By Ju-osh M. • December 19, 2013 ,

2This FREE, downloadable Marvel Comics office stationary (circa 1967) not only makes the PERFECT PRESENT for that luddite comic book fan on your shopping list, it’s also a great way to role-play your favorite old-school comics creators!

Write a love letter from Stan Lee to Stan Lee!

(For bonus believability, always alliterate.)

Pen a paranoid letter of resignation from Steve Ditko!

(Don’t forget to quote Ayn Rand.)

Call Stan Lee a pest, a punk and a plantation owner, care of Jack Kirby!

(Tip: Crackling energy dots were Kirby’s version of emoticons.)

Why, the possibilities are only limited by your imagination and mental storehouse of useless comics gossip. In other words — LIMITLESS!

Click through for the full size stationary.

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A Few Words About (And A Handful Of Pics From) Bryan Lee O’Malley’s ‘Seconds’

  By Ju-osh M. • December 19, 2013 ,

1IO9 just posted a nice interview with Scott Pilgrim creator, Bryan Lee O’Malley. The subject? O’Malley’s upcoming graphic novel, Seconds. Along with some hints as to the comic’s plot and inspirations, O’Malley also shared some images from the book.

Reprinted below are a few excerpts from the interview and some very cool pics.

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Tumblr’s Grimmest Disney GIFs pt. 5: 2009 – 2013

  By Ju-osh M. • December 19, 2013 ,

tumblr_mu9f6xAXeh1rtm9jlo1_500This one is a short one, but a beautiful one.

The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph and Frozen — talk about a return to form! At just four films, it may be a little early to call it, but could we be witnessing the start of the SECOND Disney renaissance? Oh, how I hope so. I mean, look at these gems!

Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph are modern day CLASSICS. Easy As, am I right? Even if The Princess and the Frog and Frozen are merely B/B+ films, that’s still a whole helluva lot better than 9/10 of Disney’s last ten ‘toons!

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Tumblr’s Grimmest Disney GIFs pt. 4: 1999 - 2008

  By Ju-osh M. • December 18, 2013 ,

tumblr_inline_mss6e97Aak1qz4rgp(Or: One great movie in ten years? Shame on you, Disney!)

Okay, so this is it. The GRIMMEST assemblage of grim GIFs yet. Why is it so grim? Not because of the GIFs’ dark, disturbing or heart-breaking content. Hell, some of ‘em are barely even bummers at all. No, these GIFs are all-caps GRIM because of the films they were culled from: Seven straight-up duds, two so-so affairs and one capital-C Classic. That’s a pretty sh*tty streak there, Mouse House.

On the plus side, the worse the GIFs, the shorter the intro. Not only that, but as I pretty much loathe 7/10 of what you are about to see, I’m also gonna keep the between GIF banter to a minimum.

Tomorrow’s GIFs close out this series. And just between me and you, they are STUNNERS. Oh, and the day after that? I’m baaack!!!
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Tumblr’s Grimmest Disney GIFs pt. 3: 1989 - 1999

  By Ju-osh M. • December 16, 2013 ,

tumblr_mr06zvTdtK1r1mr1po1_500You’ve already bawled your way through parts 1 and 2, so you know the deal, right? Grim GIFs from Disney pics, all of ‘em culled from Tumblr. As I blathered on a bit too long in Friday’s intro, I’ll keep it quick this time around.

One quick thought, though:

This is it. The fabled yet factual ‘Disney renaissance.’ Ten amazing movies in eleven short years. That’s a feat Walt Disney himself wasn’t even able to accomplish. Kudos to the cartoon crews working during the this prolific period. You’ve touched millions of lives with your work. It will continue to touch millions more.

Now let’s get GRIM!

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Tumblr’s Grimmest Disney GIFs pt. 2: 1961-1988

  By Ju-osh M. • December 13, 2013 ,

Not to sound conceited, but part 1 of this series was awesome. That’s not because of me, mind you. It’s because the films being gif-ed were all A+ productions. With Walt Disney and his hand-picked crew creating the cartoons, there was an extremely high level of craftsmanship, storytelling and imagination being infused into each and every production. Hell, even in abbreviated gif form the magic shines through!

After Disney’s death, though, things at the studio kinda floundered.

The Jungle Book was the last film to have Walt’s fingerprints on it. If you ever decide to watch the films in consecutive order, you can literally feel the magic disappearing little by little in the cartoons that came after. While The Aristocats and The Rescuers certainly have their charms, by the time you get to The Black Cauldron and Oliver and Company, the once reliable Walt Disney title card feels a little like false advertising. Gone are the unforgettable creative flourishes and moments of unmatched beauty and genius. In their place are disjointed plotting, one-dimensional characters and ear-gouging songs.

It is with this downer of an intro that I introduce part 2 to this collection of grim Disney gifs. While the pickings are slim this time around, I ask you to stick with me. Part 3 documents Disney’s remarkable renaissance, and trust me — you WON’T want to miss that! Continue reading

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Tumblr’s Grimmest Disney GIFs pt. 1: 1937-1959

  By Ju-osh M. • December 12, 2013 ,

(Or: These gifs put the curly-bottomed D in ‘Depressing.’)

tumblr_m4rocyT1XD1rn95k2o1_500I won’t be around for the next week. Don’t worry, though — I’ve prepared a whole bunch of posts to tide you over.

With this first post, I wanted to start things off with some serious sadness. After all, what better way to mourn my absence than by giving into your grief and going all maudlin? That said, you won’t want to kill yourself just yet! This is only the FIRST in a series of somber gif sets that I plan on laying at your feet. So go on — grab some tissues and enjoy!

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Top 5: Most Disturbing Disney Toys

  By Ju-osh M. • December 11, 2013 ,

1Christmas is just around the corner. You’re struggling to find the perfect presents for the folks on your list. Loved ones are easy. You could probably pick a hundred ‘perfect presents’ for them. But what about the folks whose names are way, way down at the bottom of your list? The co-workers you can’t stand? The family members you’ve been damned to interacting with for the rest of your life? The filthy next-door neighbor you know is going to give you a zip-lock bag full of homemade cookies that you wouldn’t even eat as part of a suicide pact? Buying for them is HARD.

No longer!

Skunk & Burning Tires has put together a list of the Top 5 Most Disturbing Disney Toys. These totems to tastelessness are not only good for a cheap laugh, they make the perfect passive-aggressive present for those folks you’re only gifting out of guilt.

 

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Go, Read: My Barry Blumberg Interview At Animation Scoop

  By Ju-osh M. • December 9, 2013 ,

58px05m8Barry Blumberg is the President of the #4 ranked YouTube channel, Smosh, and its animation arm, Shut Up! Cartoons. Since its launch in April of 2012, Shut Up! Cartoons has produced almost two dozen original animated series, garnering over a million devoted YouTube subscribers.

With Shut Up! Cartoons’ wildly popular Oishi High School Battle just starting its second season, I thought it would be the perfect time to bother this inordinately busy man with my inane questions. After all, I was just sitting around watching YouTube. He was overseeing an online animated empire. What WOULDN’T we have to talk about?

Click here to read the interview.

Oh, and if you’re feeling generous, please say something kind in the comments. This is my first interview for Animation Scoop, and I really want to make Jerry Beck think I’m worth all the trouble I’ve caused him thus far.

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‘Princess Kaguya’ GIF Haiku

  By Ju-osh M. • December 6, 2013

26Too much caffeine this morning? I’ve got the perfect way to settle your nerves. Using the Japanese template for haiku, I’ve compiled 17 GIFs from Iso Takahata’s The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, arranging them in sets of 5, 7, 5.

Watching these GIFs is the cartoon equivalent of raking your rock garden, meditating on the mountaintop and sitting eyes closed in a private bath house. You are GUARANTEED to exit this post in a state of blissful contentment.

(Warning: Do not operate heavy machinery, motor vehicles or complicated strings of Christmas lights while watching these GIFs.)

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Is This Really All That’s Left of ‘American Dog’?

  By Ju-osh M. • December 5, 2013

1001From Disney’s original American Dog press release:

“Henry, a famous TV dog, finds himself stranded in the Nevada desert. Out in the world for the first time, Henry’s tidy life of scripted triumphs has come to an end, and his 2,000 mile trek through the real world is just the beginning.”

Sounds familiar, eh? Well, there’s a reason for that. American Dog was supposed to be director Chris Sanders’ follow-up to Lilo & Stitch. Like Lilo & Stitch, American Dog was a story that originated with Sanders, starring characters created by Sanders, and featuring Sanders’ unique blend of quirky comedy and heartfelt emotion. Then John Lasseter took over Disney Animation, deemed the work in progress “too quirky for its own good,” and fired Sanders from the film.

And what did Lasseter give us instead?

American Dog: Neutered (a.k.a. Bolt).

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Can’t Exploit The Comic? Exploit The Creator!

  By Ju-osh M. • December 4, 2013 ,

1Warner Bros. and Leonardo DiCaprio have purchased the rights to Dan Dollar’s screenplay, A Boy And His Tiger. The script is about Calvin And Hobbes creator Bill Watterson’s early career and “his struggle with sudden popularity, coverage, and licensing battles.”

For over twenty years, the “notoriously reclusive” Watterson has been turning down Hollywood’s offers for a big screen adaptation of Calvin and Hobbes. It’s not hard to imagine how he feels about this.

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Miyazaki’s Concept Art for ‘Pippi Longstocking’ Surfaces!

  By Ju-osh M. • December 4, 2013

15miyazaki-ru.livejournal has unearthed some Hayao Miyazaki concept art for an unmade adaptation of Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking.

According the internet, back in 1971, Miyazaki and Isao Takahata began production on an adaptation of Lindgren’s iconic Pippi Longstocking books. Miyazaki created a series of watercolor concept sketches (shown below), presenting them to Lindgren during a pirtch meeting. In the end, Lindgren decided not to give Miyazaki and co. permission to produce the film. While this was certainly a sad turn of events, at least we have these wonderful watercolors to pore over.

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Fan Restores Henson & Oz’s Original, Darker Version Of ‘The Dark Crystal’

  By Ju-osh M. • December 4, 2013

(It’s even weirder than before!)

Wow. Some industrious young Muppets fan took it upon themselves to restore Jim Henson and Frank Oz’ original, much darker version of The Dark Crystal using blu-ray extras, VHS work-prints and random, DVD, making-of clips.

Is your boss or teacher out sick today? Well, at least now you know how you’re gonna spend your day slacking.

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