Shown above (click on the image to see at full size) are two pages from the 1988 Sears catalog, which featured quite a bit of Mickey Mouse merchandise. At this point in Disney history Michael Eisner was busy turning the company around, with the Great Mouse Detective (a good but under appreciated film) having come out in 1986 however they were still working on the Little Mermaid which didn’t come out until 1989 and put the studio back on the map. But in the meantime the studio did quite a few merchandising deals — some of the goodies shown above include a Mickey Mouse necktie, 101 Dalmations sweat suit, a tacky 80s black satin jacket, a Mickey phone, matching his and hers nightshirts (tacky!), underwear and yes an ultra light weight Minnie-Vac!
When ever I think of Fritz Lang the film Metropolis comes to mind, but often folks forget that he did a nice body of film noir projects in the 40s and 50s. It seems that RKO hasn’t forgotten this and is now in the process of putting together a remake of the 1956 Lang film Beyond a Reasonable Doubt with Michael Douglas:
“The movie in question is a film noir by Fritz Lang, who made such unquestionable classics as M and Metropolis. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt was a sturdy flick starring the underrated Dana Andrews (Laura, The Best Years of Our Lives) as a writer who pins a murder on himself to prove the folly of circumstantial evidence. Heady stuff.
Variety tells us that this time around, Michael Douglas, Amber Tamblyn and Jesse Metcalfe will star in a contemporary remake of the film to be written and directed by Peter Hyams (who’s a far cry from Timecop here), and production is expected to begin next month. Having adored the noir touches of Hollywoodland a couple years ago, I wish they’d kept it in the period. I guess with the litigous nature of modern America, it makes sense to skewer the judicial system in the here and now, but I can’t help thinking it would be more special as a traditional film noir.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 8, 2008 in Videogames
If you’re an animation fanboy (or fangurl) who owns a Nintendo DS you should check out the the American website for Professor Layton and the Curious Village which just launched (nicely designed by POP Multimedia in Seattle). A friend showed me the Japanese version of the game a few months ago which features Hayao Miyazaki inspired animation set in a charming Victorian world. The gameplay features characters that you would find in a Charles Dickens novel solving a Sherlock Holmes mystery. Here’s the game trailer to give you a taste:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 7, 2008 in Animation
Today marks the start of the Chinese New Year, so we’re exploring fanboy themes relating the Year of the Rat. Shown above is The Rat on Chaos a clever short animated film I found on YouTube from sanewave. Warning: This film contains some profanity and an animated rat going to the bathroom. Although no rats were harmed in the production…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 7, 2008 in Animation
Today marks the start of the Chinese New Year, so we’re exploring fanboy themes relating the Year of the Rat. Shown above is Dougal and the Rat a short animated film directed by Morgan Williams of Club Cocoanut Animation (which also features the work of illustrator/designer Julie Williams).
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 7, 2008 in Animation
Today marks the start of the Chinese New Year, so we’re exploring fanboy themes relating the Year of the Rat. Shown above is Roland Rat Superstar, a British puppet character from the 80s. Roland was first conceived and voiced by David Claridge in 1983. The show would become so popular that it would inspire three UK chart hit singles and a video game. Here are some clips from the show:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 7, 2008 in Comic Books
Today marks the start of the Chinese New Year, so we’re exploring fanboy themes relating the Year of the Rat. Shown above is the cover to the book Rat Fink: The Art of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth. The character of Rat Fink was created back in 1963 by Ed “Big Daddy” Roth (1932 – 2001). Roth popularized the genre of “Monster Hot Rod” drawings inspired from the Kustom Kulture movement in California during the 60s. The popularity of his artwork lead Revell to create a series of plastic model kits based on his work. He was also a cool guy because he would always encourage fans to get in touch with him, even going as far to make sure his phone number was publicly published — which earns him the respect of this fanboy.
Here’s a trailer for the film Tales of the Rat Finkwhich is focused on the life of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 6, 2008 in Television
Tomorrow marks the start of the Chinese New Year, so we’re exploring fanboy themes relating the Year of the Rat. Rat Patrol was a TV series that ran from 1966 until 1968 which featured the exploits of four Allied soldiers (three American and one Brit) during World War II whose mission was “to attack, harass and wreak havoc on Field Marshal Rommel’s vaunted Afrika Korps”.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 6, 2008 in Pulp Fiction
Tomorrow marks the start of the Chinese New Year, so we’re exploring fanboy themes relating the Year of the Rat. Our pulp fiction pick to celebrate the new year is the series of science fiction books on the Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison.
If you like anti-heroes you’ll love the Stainless Steel Rat .The series features James Bolivar diGriz a futuristic con man who is an expert in the martial arts and a master of disguise. He many aliases including “Slippery Jim” and “The Stainless Steel Rat” and has an odd code of ethics, for example he’ll be more than glad to steal but will never kill anyone. He justifies his crimes by arguing that he is providing society with entertainment.
The character of the Stainless Steel Rat first got his start in the 1957 issue of the science fiction pulp magazine Astounding. The first novel was then published in 1961 and today there are over ten books in series including spin-offs like choose your own adventure books and a board game. There was talk of a movie but it hasn’t happened yet…
I thought that the Chinese New Year (February 7th) was the start of the year of the rat, but perhaps I’m wrong! According to Hot Toys of Hong Kong it’s the year of the mouse — Mickey Mouse that is! And you can purchase two sets of Disney figures to bring you good fanboy luck in the year to come — the first set are 11″ high Mickey and Mini Mouse figures and the second set are 3″ high Cosbaby Disney figures featuring Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy Dog, Donald Duck, and Daisy Duck (shown above are Mickey and Mini Mouse).
I love industrial design of the above Etch-A-Sketch based on Homer Simpson’s head, it shows some clever thinking on the part of the toy designers. Here’s the product description:
“D’oh! This hilarious Simpson’s Etch-A-Sketch is shaped like the top of Homer’s head. Turn the pupils of his eyes to draw your masterpiece. Homer’s hair forms a handy plastic handle. Shake well and start over with a new, clean screen.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 5, 2008 in Animation
Playing with a flip book gives you that primordial joy that goes to the heart of not just what animation is, but perhaps cinema itself. Shown above are but a few samples (click on the image to see it at full size) from the amazing website flipbook.info:
“Welcome to FLIPBOOK.info, a website entirely devoted to an art form half way between book and movie. We have a collection of 4420 flip books (also called flick books or folioscopes) from 1882 to nowadays with a great diversity of topics.”
For yours truly the best part about the upcoming Speed Racer film will be the toys! Shown above is the Speed Racer Battle Morph Mach 5 Vehicle & Figure from Mattel. As you can see the Mach 5 is packed with all sorts of cool weaponry like saw blades and the well documented “jump-jacks” to bust a move on bad guys.
Posted by Guest Author on Feb 4, 2008 in Comic Books
Our Top Indie Cartoonists to Watch For in 2008: Keeping true to our “Anti-Superheroes in Tights” mood at fanboy, we took a look back at the comic books and graphic novels that caught our eye:
Still rounding up the graphic novels that impressed me in 2007, I bring you a tale set in 2001. Suddenly one September, prolific cartoonist and Portal of Evil founder Thor finds himself getting fired from his job. And then his girlfriend dumps him over the phone. And then he gets evicted. And then his Grandmother dies. And then terrorists in planes attack the city. And this all happens in the first two pages. So by page three, where a lesser man may have crumbled, Thor resolves to buy a 60 day bus pass and see America.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 3, 2008 in Star Wars
It’s the perfect lighting fixture for any Star Wars fanboy! Shown above is a Japanese Star Wars Lightsaber Desk Lamp from ThinkGeek. You can either pick the red Darth Vader lightsaber or the blue Luke Skywalker one…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 3, 2008 in Animation
Ebiten was a Japanese TV show from the early 90s that featured a contest for amateur short movie directors. Shown above is the stop motion film Pulsar (1990) by Katushi Bowda, below is the film Power (1991) by Yoshinao Sato which was created with a copy machine technique.
Shown above is an education film from 1966 which was the high point of the space race between the US and the USSR. My favorite part of the film is the spaceship animation before the title sequence, I’d love to know who did the illustrations. Sadly the only credits on the film are for the production company which is credited as “a Dr Douglass Film” and my Google search produced no results when looking this up…
Currently one of the hottest selling home robots is the WowWee Robotics Roboquad. The design reminds me a bit of a dog, although it’s legs remind me quite a bit of a crab. The unit comes with a remote control device that allows you to set the personality for your mecha pet. Although I think the main selling point right now is that they’re selling for around $80 which makes them a pretty cheap entertainment accessory for any nerd themed party or work place.
What I think is interesting is that while this first generation of robots are very much novelty devices or toys, I could see a day in the not too far future where they turn into every day devices. For now these robots seem to be a solution in search of a problem, but there may come a day where they can take on the role of a seeing eye dog. Here’s an official demo from WowWee to give you a taste:
which is focused on the life of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth:
