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Princess and The Frog Teaser Trailer

Walt Disney Pictures has posted the teaser trailer for 2009's "The Princess and The Frog" on the official website here:
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/princessandthefrog/
This is Disney's official return to traditionally animated feature films with Ron Clements and John Musker at the helm as directors. The duo have directed previous Disney features such as "Aladdin", "The Little Mermaid" and "Hercules".
So far, I'm not dazzled by much. Randy Newman's musical score seems rather slow here...

Lightning Rodriguez's Only Appearance?

I read this article about early '90s Warner Bros Television Animation series and was surprised that the conceptual Tiny Toons version of Speedy Gonzales was turned down because the series already had a speedy character in Little Beeper.
http://www.retrojunk.com/details_articles/1120/
Lightning Rodriguez was going to be the fast mouse's name and I think I may have spotted his only appearance in an early episode of Tiny Toons.
Thanks to the awesome, brand new DVD set "Tiny Toon Adventures: Season 1 Volume 1" I was able to watch a quick scene frame-by-frame. In the scene, a bunch of Tiny Toon models fly by the screen and I noticed a little mouse character who wasn't Lil' Sneezer.Note the Chuck Jones-esque sneakers this mouse is wearing, Calamity Coyote & Little Beeper wear a pair just like them. I wish we would've seen an actually cartoon starring Lightning. Maybe an animatic will pop up on future DVD sets? Who knows?

Book Look

Here's an interesting find I came across at the comic shop yesterday,
"Scrambled Ink" is a collection of stories created by Dreamworks animators published by Dark Horse Books.
http://www.darkhorse.com/Books/14-894/Scrambled-Ink
After Dark Horse Comics' President & Publisher Mike Richardson gave a talk at the Dreamworks Animation Studio, he was approached by a group of animators who pitched an idea they had for a comics project. This cartoon book is the result.
There are 6 stories in all with their own style and design.
"Kadogo: The Next BIG Thing" by David G. Derrick, Jr."Burger Run" by David Pimentel"The Guy from Ipanema" by Ennio Torresan"Greedy Grizzly" by Keith Baxter & Ken Morrissey"Point and Shoot" by Jenny Lerew"Dig Dig Die Die" by JJ VillardIt's a great collection of animation art and illustration and I recommend it to any fan of either!

Brave and the Bold First Look

The new Batman animated series from Warner Bros Animation has a preview trailer up at Toon Zone!
http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=25151
"Batman: The Brave and The Bold" seems to boast a unique look with character/background designs that resemble classic comic book art in the vein of Dick Sprang, Alex Toth and Jack Kirby.It is a show that is going to be aimed towards 6 - 11 year olds, but I may check it out for the quality of animation and design, it looks like a lot of fun.
Plus it features an animated Plastic-Man not seen since the 80s!

More R&S Production Music

The Secret Fun Blog has posted yet another collection of Ren & Stimpy Production Music used in the classic show.
http://secretfunspot.blogspot.com/2008/06/ren-stimpy-production-musicpart-two.html
Another 194 tracks of classic tunes that can be downloaded in one handy file.

Simpsons Season 11 DVD Announced

The Simpsons: The Complete 11th Season has finally been announced to be hitting shelves as a 4 disc set on October 7th!
http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Simpsons-Season-11-Box-Art/10122
Guess which non-Simpsons family member gets their own box design this time around!

The Dark Knight

Well, the brand new Batman film opens across the country today!
Will it be the best film version of the Caped Crusader yet? I suppose only time will tell...

Pixar's Presto for Sale

The brand new Pixar short "Presto" directed by Doug Sweetland is available for purchase in both the Canadian and American iTunes stores.
http://www.2719hyperion.com/2008/07/presto.html
Presto is one of Pixar's best "cartoony" shorts with the right amount of humor and animation style paying tribute to various Golden Age Cartoon studios.

Rabbit Feud

Here is a Bugs Bunny story from a 1959 Gold Key Comic, "The Best of Bugs Bunny #2".
Elmer Fudd & Yosemite Sam feud over which hunter gets the rabbit. I'm not sure who illustrated the story but the designs really look like something from the McKimson unit at Termite Terrace.

1996 Flintstones Style Guide

Around this time Hanna Barbera was celebrating The Flintstones 35th Anniversary and a slew of Flintstones merchandise was made available.
H-B decided to update The Flintstones' designs by harking back to Ed Benedict's original drawings. They found a great artist who could capture that original spirit by the name of Craig Kellman.A portion of the style guide is available on Flikr, the online photography community, here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/84568447@N00/sets/72157603540763133/
I was wondering if this book was released to the public?
I've really only seen Kellman's style used on one other Flinstones piece of merchandise. The Golden Books Sound Story Book, "The Great Gazoo Snafu". I really wish I nabbed this up when I saw it in Wal-Mart so many years ago.

LT Golden Collection Vol 6 Announced

Warner Bros Home Video has announced Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Vol 6 to be released a bit earlier this year on October 21st.
http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Bugs-Bunny-Looney-Tunes-Comedy-Hour-Volume-6/10016
You can check out the link for the list of 60 cartoons on 4 discs as well as the cover art.
There are also 15 bonus shorts that are not yet listed. Could some of the Censored 11 be included as well?
What's unfortunate is the fact this will be the last Golden Collection released. There is talk of releasing more Looney Tunes onto DVD but in what form is a mystery. Perhaps single character releases?
UPDATE: from Jerry Beck cartoon historian : "Calm down everyone! It is NOT the last Looney Tunes DVD release from Warner Home Video. In fact, we have huge plans for 2009 (and beyond) Looney Tunes DVD releases. I'm not allowed to say any more at this time. I wish I could. Rest assured, a lot of good stuff is planned beyond this."

A Judge Owl Fable

In September 2007, Archie Comics released a 65th Anniversary issue of Archie Digest that reprinted Archie #1 from 1942.
Included with the Archie Andrew stories were a few funny-animal tales and one that sticks out is Judge Owl Fables retelling the classic Tortoise & the Hare.
Joe Edwards seems to have borrowed a few key poses from an early Bugs Bunny cartoon. Edwards must have seen it in theaters before he drew it. Can you name the cartoon?

Classic R&S Production Music

If you feel like hearing something a little nostalgic, look no further than the Secret Fun Blog!
http://secretfunspot.blogspot.com/2006/11/ren-stimpy-production-music.html
The incidental music cues and riffs that make up the classic Ren & Stimpy cartoon shorts have been gathered up in 1 handy zip file (or 3 individual files) for your listening pleasure!
Enjoy all the quirky melodies that range from 1950's "production music" to classic masterpieces.

The Magic of Shazam!

Cartoonist Mike Kunkel's latest project has been released by DC Comics!
"Billy Batson and The Magic of Shazam!" features new adventures of Captain Marvel and his arch-nemesis Black Adam along with their alter egos, Billy Batson and Theo Adam.
http://dccomics.com/comics/?cm=9762
You may recognize Mike Kunkel's work from his own creation "Hero Bear & The Kid".
http://theastonishfactory.blogspot.com/Follow the behind-the-scenes creation of the new book with Kunkel's Shazam blog here:
http://www.kunkelshazam.blogspot.com/

The Beast With a Billion Backs

The second Futurama DVD film was released last week and it's a fun story. However the story lacks something that Bender's Big Score had, unstoppable laughs.
I think it's due to the fact that the first movie involved a lot of back story and took care of a lot of loose ends the original series left behind. Beast With a Billion Backs just seems like an extra long episode, not that there's anything wrong with that.The film opens up where the first one left off, a space tear that was caused by Bender although it is never addressed to be his fault. Fry meets a new love named Colleen and moves in with her, and her other boyfriends.Bender feels neglected and discovers a secret society called The League of Robots which helps him find purpose. Kif and Amy finally tie the knot while an unfortunate accident may get in the way of their happiness.A planet-sized creature eventually makes it way through the space rip which is actually a gateway to another universe and it reaches it's tentacles throughout the galaxy spreading it's gospel of horror and love?I really liked the packaging the DVD came in which is highly inspired by the horror movie posters of the 50's and 60's.The movie itself is great for a chuckle as we see the Planet Express Crew back in action trying to defend the planet from this alien menace. There is also a sneek peek of the next Futurama epic entitled "Bender's Game" which seems to be a story inspired by many other famous fantasy stories such as Dungeons & Dragons and Lord of The Rings. Expect to see the next film out in time for the holidays.