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'Rayman: Raving Rabbits' just looks like fun, you can see why the Wii is doing so well — they get that it's about the game and not fancy 3D graphics:

Forget those overpriced auctions! For just $125 you can have a pre-painted Captain Kirk ready for display:

Star Trek: The Original Series -
40th Anniversary "Landing Party" Kirk Statue

"A Diamond Select Release! An Art Asylum Design and Sculpt! When beaming down to strange alien planets, rest assured that James T. Kirk can be on your side with this Star Trek Landing Party Kirk Statue! Each piece of this series can be displayed individually or combined with the upcoming Spock and McCoy statues for the ultimate Away Team!"

Here's a great photo essay on the Rose Bowl Parade this year which featured George Lucas as Grand Martial:

Rose Bowl Parade 2007 Photos

80s anime classic Robotech is back! For those who are too young to recall, Robotech came out before Tranformers and featured sophisticated spaceship-shifting techniques. Robotech was created from three anime series from Japan: Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospeada.

The new Robotech movie will have a limited run in theaters across the country:

- ImaginAsian Theater in New York, NY from January 8th - 14th
- Studio Movie Grill in Dallas (Arlington), TX from January 15th - 17th
- Key Cinemas (Beech Grove) in Indianapolis, IN from January 5th - 10th
- The Hollywood Theater in Portland, OR from January 5th - 7th
- Alamo Drafthouse in San Antonio, TX from January 15th - 17th
- The Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, MA on January 19th and 20th at midnight
- Studio Movie Grill - Copperfield in Houston, TX on January 18th and 19th at 9pm
- The Crest Theatre in Los Angeles (Westwood), CA on Feb. 3rd from 12:00 Noon

If you can't catch he movie in theaters don't panic, the DVD is coming out February 6th. The official websites are here:

Funimationfilms.com and theshadowchronicles.com

Well one things is for sure, with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Transformers film coming out t's loking like 2007 is going to feel very much like the 80s! By the way for more Ninja snaps IESB.net has a gallery of over 150 images...

This trailer contains additional shots not seen in the American trailer (and it also has Steven Spielberg speaking in Japanese at the start):

"We hope you'll want to dance with us!" If you want to dance like Sailor Moon here's an instructional video:

The funny thing is that I don't recall them dancing much in the animated television series...

Comic Art Community is a website that features an open gallery that allows users to upload artwork (and the selection is quite amazing) and also has a comic arts auction section as well. Shown above are images from Emily the Strange, Scarlet Traces, and Blood of Saints.

It's looks like the Aqua Teen Hunger Force is heading to theaters in March:

'Aqua Teen' to bigscreen

"Adult Swim's feature version of surreal animated series "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" has been set for a March release by First Look Pictures with an opening of more than 800 playdates. The 86-minute pic, written, produced and directed by co-creators Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis, marks First Look's initial theatrical foray into animation as well as Adult Swim's first feature under the Williams Street banner."

Afro Samurai is on tonight at 11pm on Spike TV. So I dropped by ther website to look at the first few minutes of the show, and I have to say that the quality of the animation is A+for a television series. However I wasn't that impressed with the writing or the editing of the story. I think my problem is that I tend to associate Samuel L. Jackson with a 'Pulp Fiction sense of humor' so I tend to be let down if the plot takes itself a bit too seriously. But of course being the fanboy that I am I'll be DVRing the first show tonight, and then watching at least two out of the five episodes before I give up...

In the real world having an obsessive compulsive disorder is a bad thing, but if you run a blog, it's a great thing! And Bat-blog is a great example of this, it's a daily dose of everything Batman. The site does a great job of showing off a wide variety of toys, videos and anything else related to Batman:

tomztoyz.blogspot.com

There's a great interview with Ben Roman over at Comiccon.com on his new comic book series the Cryptics, published by Image Comics. The interview is a great read, but what stands out is the fresh look of the comic itself.

This is a very clever stop motion commercial for thefirstpost.co.uk, an English online daily magazine:

It's a sad for fanboys the world over, Momofuku Ando the inventor of instant noodles has died in Japan. But on the positive side he often ate his noodles and lived to the age of 96, although I don't think that still qualifies ramen as "health food":

Inventor of instant noodles dies

"Mr Ando was born in Taiwan in 1910 and moved to Japan in 1933, founding Nissin Food Products Co after World War II to provide cheap food for the masses. His most famous product, Cup Noodle, was released in 1971.

Mr Ando said the inspiration for his product came when he saw people lining up to buy bowls of hot ramen noodle soup at a black market stall during the food shortages after World War II. He developed his first instant noodles, Chicken Ramen, in 1958."

In honor of Momofuku Ando here's a fun blog on instant noodles to check out...

Banga is an orange flavored fruit beverage from France. This vintage commercial from 1980 features six island girls and their pet monkey singing the praises of their favorite drink:

"Space Coyote" has come up with a great illustration of all of the Simpsons characters drawn in anime style.

Below is a new video from the Ghost Rider blog for the upcoming film:

The new film will be out February 16th this year!

Here are two cute new animated commercials from Europe designed by BUG Studio in Norway:

Also don't forget to check out the Flickr group!

Found via smidigt.se.

According to a geology professor the Viking space probes that visited Mars 30 years ago may have found alien microbes and inadvertently killed them:

Scientist: NASA found life on Mars - and killed it

"Given the cold dry conditions of Mars, life could have evolved on Mars with the key internal fluid consisting of a mix of water and hydrogen peroxide, said Schulze-Makuch. That's because a water-hydrogen peroxide mix stays liquid at very low temperatures, or -68 degrees Fahrenheit, and doesn't destroy cells when it freezes. It can suck water vapor out of the air.

The Viking experiments of the 1970s wouldn't have noticed hydrogen peroxide-based life and, in fact, would have killed it by drowning and overheating the microbes, said Schulze-Makuch. One Viking experiment seeking life on Mars poured water on soil. That would have essentially drowned hydrogen peroxide-based life, he said. And different experiment heated the soil to see if something would happen which would have baked Martian microbes."

Last fall Rob Zombie (House of 1,000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects) was given the green light to write and direct the next installment of the horror franchise Halloween. Rob wasn't intrested in doing a sequel to what has become a dead horse. Instead he is going back and retelling how Michael Meyers came to be. Over on the 'offical Halloween movie blog' on Myspace Rob has been slowly releasing the cast list for the new movie this is what he has so far.

Dr. Loomis - Malcolm McDowell-This suprised the hell out of me but I think it will end up being a good choice.
Young Michael Myers - Daeg Faerch
Adult Michael Myers - Tyler Mane-Best known as Sabretooth in X-Men he's a large presence and should fit the role well
Deborah Myers - Sheri Moon Zombie-Well yeah, Sheri is in everything Rob does.
Mason Strode - Pat Skipper
Cynthia Strode - Dee Wallace Stone
Ronnie White - William Forsythe-Another Devil's Reject he's going to play the abusive boyfriend to Sheri Moon Zombie's Mama Myers.
Big Joe - Ken Foree-Yet another Devil's Reject Cast member a veteran actor who will allways be linked to the original Dawn of the Dead in my mind.
Nole Kluggs - Lew Temple
Ismael Cruz - Danny Trejo

Many of the main characters have yet to be announced including: Laurie, Annie, Lynda, Judith, Sheriff Brackett, Kendall Jacks, Grant Clark, Principle Erics, Councilman Edwards, Lindsey Wallace, Tommy Doyle, Deputy Charles, Dr. Koplenson, Barbara Florentine and Morgan Walker

As a fanboy of the horror genre and a huge Rob Zombie mark I can not wait for this movie.

Richard Carroll is an avid movie viewer and all around fanboy. You can probably find him at his computer playing Guild Wars when not watching,writing, reading or roleplaying something (Oh and then there's the real world and work). Check out some of his written works at www.ficofthedead.com. A website in need of a webmaster to ensure it gets updated. (Any takers? Anyone? *grins*)

This classic 1954 "dental cream" commercial features none other than Mighty Mouse:

Iwao Takamoto had an amazing life, he was born in 1925 in Los Angeles and his family was from Japan. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor his family like many Japanese-Americans, was sent to an internment camp. It was there that Takamoto received basic illustration training from a couple of friendly co-internees. Takamoto got his big break after the end of the war when he was hired as an assistant animator by Walt Disney Studios in 1947:

Scooby-Doo creator dies at 81

"Iwao Takamoto, the animator who created the cartoon canine Scooby-Doo as well as characters on such shows as "The Flintstones" and "The Jetsons," died Monday after suffering a massive coronary, a spokesman said. He was 81. Takamoto died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he was being treated for respiratory problems, said Gary Miereanu, a spokesman for Warner Bros. Animation.

Takamoto designed Scooby-Doo, his equally famished and cowardly master Shaggy, and their pals Velma, Daphne and Fred in the late 1960s while working at the Hanna-Barbera animation studio. The Great Dane's name was inspired by an improvised line at the end of Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night"."

In a recent entry we enjoyed clips from "Tensai! Shimura Dobutsu-en" (aka Genius! Shimura Zoo) a Japanese kids show which features a new animal each episode.

One of my favorite hosts on the show is Becky also known as Bikiki (Rebecca Eri Ray Vaughan) who in previous episodes got to hang out with Giant Panda cubs and then moved onto having dinner with Red Pandas (which look like, but shouldn't be mistaken for raccoons).

In this latest episode our host Becky travels to Australia to play with cute Koalas:

It's just what every Hello Kitty fan wants, the KT4560 Hello Kitty Stereo Clock Radio (seen above) also allows kitty fans to dock their pink iPods! It also easy to take that additional cat nap with that ultra big snooze button that's easy to press with the most sleepy of paws.

Kitty device located via Engadget.

"Samurai" is a gentle spirited colorfil mini-film created as part of an advertising campiagn for General Electric. The plot of the short "tells a tale of a pint-sized samurai faced with a seemingly impossible challenge as proposed by a behemoth Emperor and his wicked minions." The short was produced by Three Legged Legs, the LA-based animation collective comprised of Greg Gunn, Casey Hunt and Reza Rasoli.

You can watch the entire short film here.

Found via Cartoon Brew.

Here are some very surreal computer animated commercials for breath mints from Europe:

Fans of the sci-fi and horror genres know who Joss Whedon is. The creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it's popular spinoff Angel for the WB and UPN had a loyal following built on Joss and his team's ability to tell stories. When Fox came knocking asking Joss to create a TV show for their network what he presented them with was a hybrid sci fi/western combination called Firefly. From there Fox did everything they could to make the show's failure a guarantee. From refusing to air the two hour pilot to moving the show around different nights and different times Firefly was doomed to failure without ever being given a chance. After a handful of episodes the series was canceled.

Fans of the show were up in arms. How could Fox do this? How could they not even give Joss and company a chance to show what they could do? A few months later Fox released Firefly as a boxed set and had to be amazed at the way the set sold. It sat at the top of the charts for months, people were giving them as gifts and the word began to spread. This was a damn good show and well worth watching! The storyline was amazing, the characters complex and loveable the villains reminiscent of the Empire from the original Star Wars Trilogy. The cry was loud and it did not go unnoticed.

The History Channel will air a documentary narrated by Leonard Nimoy (Spock) next month about the Star Trek phenomenon. Produced to celebrate the franchise's 40th anniversary, "Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier" features interviews with many of the stars and crew from the four spinoff series, at look at the fandom, and its cultural impact.

The Toto Washlet Apricot is the latest in high tech toilet fixtures from Japan, but for some odd reason they're using a giant chicken and frog mascot in their commercials (but the jingle they use is quite catchy):

Emelia is a beautifully made computer animated short by Derek Flood, who has been working as an animation director and lead animator for both high end commercials as well as for feature films. "Emelia" tells the story of a five-year-old goth girl and the world as seen through her eyes. This dark and quirky story of redemption takes us into Emelia’s head, letting us see in wild and fantastic images what she feels and thinks internally as she deals with parents, playgrounds, and all the angst and despair that every little goth girl has to deal with.

Check out the trailer here.

Found via CGIndia.

Yo Gabba Gabba! is an amazing kids show that I found on the net a few months ago, well now it looks like it's set to premiere on Nick Jr. in Fall 2007:

Yo Gabba Gabba to Air on Nick Jr.

"Super secret sources indicate that Yo Gabba Gabba!, a zany kids’ show produced by Christian Jacobs (The MCBC, duh) and Scott Shultz, has been picked up and will begin airing on Nick Jr. in Fall 2007. The first 20 episodes have been in production for a couple months now and from what I’ve seen so far all is going well in Gabbaland (don’t know what it is called, your guess is as good as mine).

Yo Gabba Gabba! is a revolutionary approach to children’s programming; it combines a HIGHLY imaginative cast of characters and beautiful set design and imagery that stimulates visually with an upbeat focus on learning and creativity. Guest stars will include Biz Markie and Aquabats band members The MC Bat Commander and Ricky Fitness."

Here's a taste of the show:

This might be fun if they can line up some good programming:

NBCU Launches Horror Channel

"At a time when it's near-impossible to launch a new linear cable network, NBC Universal thinks it has a plan: repurposing old content and programming it across digital platforms. The company is planning Chiller, a horror-themed network that will exist as a standard and HD cable channel, a VOD package and a broadband Website.

Chiller, which is slated to launch March 1 and already has carriage on DirecTV, will use for its programming old horror TV shows and movies from the Universal library and others. Titles include the TV shows Twin
Peaks and Tales From the Crypt and movies The Shining, Psycho and The Birds."

Of course everything old is new again, here are the opening titles from "Chiller Theater" which use to run in NYC during the 60s:

...of course the title designs I remember for the show which were done using claymation animation in the 70s can be found it at the bottom of this webpage:

dvddrive-in.com/Chiller/chiller.htm

Lunchbox is a new webcomic by Ovi Nedelcu, an illustrator based out of Portland, Oregon. He's best known right now the Pigtail comic published by Image. Ovi's new webcomic features a sister/baby brother team, and has a sort of nice Sendak "Where the Wild Things Are" quality to it (minus the monster suits of course). There's also a hint of the playfulness that you see in Calvin & Hobbes as well. Ovi 's draftmanship is A+, and there are already six strips in the series. I can't wait to see more...

Long ago the Star Wars saga began, and now (in 1983) Kenner continues the excitement:

Each action figure sold separately!

This first one is a very cute Italian science fiction themed stop motion animation commercial from 1970 for Philco dish washers:

I love the character design style on this commercial for Pirelli from 1962 (the music also adds a nice touch too):

This 1967 commercial combines both cel animation and live action:

I like this game quite a bit, it's very silly:

Well ok 'suggests' is a bit strong. Primeval is not a masterpiece by any stretch but it had it's own appeal as well. Based 'loosely' on real events and betrayed totally wrong on TV spots and theatrical Trailers Primeval isn't the story of a serial killer in the most honest sense. It's actually a film about a man eating crocodile who has killed over 300 people in the swamplands of Africa.

The story is set to the backdrop of civil war torn Burundi where a killer crocodile is devouring people on a regular basis. A news director at a fictitious television studio decides to send in a team to film and capture the crocodile in time for sweeps.

This is a silly cow themed animated commercial from Japan for Kabaya cookies:

DrawerGeeks is a website where professional artists (mostly from the comic book, animation and illustration world) draw their own version of a famous fictional character. Since 2004 the site has been a showcase for quite a few little gems representing every character from Catwoman (shown above) to King Kong.

A very silly Nintendo commercial from Japan for the Game Boy which stars a pig on a bicycle:

The first rule they tech you in film school about directing a horror film is 'never show the monster on screen, it's more scary that way'. Well here's a sneak preview image from the upcoming 'Alien vs. Predator 2' flick, and yes it looks like the director skipped class:

Here's a preview of the Delta Vega station from the remastered Star Trek episode ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’ which airs this weekend (click on the image to see full size):

It look's like Disney might produce a series of films based on John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs:

Disney options 'Mars' series

"Disney is optioning rights to the Edgar Rice Burroughs sci-fi series "John Carter of Mars" as a potential franchise for the studio. The pic begins with a Civil War veteran whose retreat into a cave to avoid capture by Apache Indians takes an otherworldly turn as he's transported via time portal to the planet of Barsoom and taken prisoner by 12-foot-tall green men. Burroughs wrote eleven volumes of Carter's adventures and Disney is hoping the film will launch a franchise."

Here's a news report from Ja