More Disney Treasures This December

Just announced! The 7th wave of Walt Disney Treasures DVD collections!
http://www.animated-news.com/2007/walt-disney-treasures
The conclusion of Donald Duck's adventures!
Can't wait for the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit set! The rabbit character created by Walt himself, pre-dates Mickey Mouse!

LT: Back in Action Images

I snagged a 2004 desktop calendar with a Looney Tunes theme that sported "new" images of the characters.

When I first saw these, I liked the fact that they got away from the generic clip-art they usually used for promotional material.

My personal favorite is the Tweety with an alcohol themed background...

The End of Disney DTV Sequels

According to an article at Animation World Magazine,
http://mag.awn.com/index.php

The Direct-to-Video series started way back in 1994 with The Return of Jafar and continued from there.

We've seen many sequels to Disney animated movies that really didn't have to be made. Some were good, some are not worth mentioning.

There has been a big decline in the DVD market which probably contributes to the fact, but thanks to new management at Disney, hopefully animated features will move forward.

Mario & Sonic: Together @ Last

"Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games".
This game is being developed for the Nintendo Wii and DS systems and is set to premier this holiday season.
It is the first time that these two video game icons meet to compete in various events like that held in venues of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
For more info on this historic event, go here:
http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/13117

Spiderbunny is Here

Exclusively online by Starz Entertainment, Jennifer Shiman's parodies of movies starring bunnies has had Spiderman 1 & 2 added to the lineup!
For a good chuckle, watch it here:
http://www.starz.com/features/bunnyclub/spiderman/index.html

Forgetful Alfred

Currently in animation class, we are learning lip-sync. I found an MP3 file featuring a line from the classic Bugs Bunny cartoon, "Hare-less Wolf".

Forgetful Alfred Final
Uploaded by j-motion

Mark Kausler's "It's The Cat"

The great 2004 homage to classic 1930's animated cartoons is now available on Cartoon Brew Films!
Follow the link to find out more about this great cartoon that was 15 years in the making by animation great, Mark Kausler.
http://www.cartoonbrewfilms.com/itsthecat

Comcast Hosts Spiderman 3

Comcast has released a new online feature devoted to the upcoming Spiderman 3!
On the site, you can watch trailers, behind-the-scenes work and exclusives. "The Saga of the Black Costume" is an interesting feature as it dives into Spidey's comic career and reveals the origin of the black costume and how it affected people in his life.
Another great thing the site has to offer is the final trailer for Spiderman 3!
In the trailer we finally see footage of Venom in action! See it now!
http://www.spiderman3oncomcast.com/

For The Athletic Transformers Fan

I'm not kidding. Transformers Nike Shoes is mechandising I'd never thought I would see. How about these to drain kids of their allowance money?
Apparently there are 2 types, Megatron and Convoy (Optimus Prime). Notice their own little Nikes? And they even come complete in there own shoe boxes! Classy.
Not sure if these are going to hit North America,
For more images, follow the link:
http://seibertron.com/news/view.php?id=9817

Marvel Comics' The Awesome Slapstick!

Way back in 1992, a creation between Len Kaminski & James Fry III resulted in Marvel Comics' new superhero, The Awesome Slapstick!
wikipedia entry about Slapstick

I suppose Marvel was looking for a way to cash in on the current animation boom of the early '90s. A class clown named Steve Harmon was trying to stop Evil Clowns from Dimension X disguised as a clown himself. Trying to follow the clowns through their portal resulted in Steve getting transformed into the living cartoon superhero Slapstick.

The creators have clearly been inspired by the classic Looney Tunes cartoons because of the many recognizable gags used in those cartoons before. Although Slapstick is never called a cartoon character, he is often referred to as a "bizarre-creature". Not too sure if that is because DC Comics is owned by Time Warner who also owns the rights to Looney Tunes?
Slapstick had his own short limited series run for only 4 issues, but the character returned as part of the young superhero team, The New Warriors.
I recently realized that this "cartoony" character pre-dates Jim Carrey's The Mask and Warner Bros Animation's Freakazoid! I assumed that Slapstick was based on either one of these characters, but I guess I was wrong. Perhaps Mike Allred's Madman and/or Disney's Darkwing Duck spawned the idea of the character.