Last week was skipped because, well, there wasn’t anything to link too! Everyone was apparently on holiday! That’s changed this week with plenty of stories you should read.
The A.V. Club reviews Planes
To be honest, you aren’t so much reading this for the review itself (they gave it a D+) as you do for the sheer number of comments afterwards.
All told, Planes looks set to land in third place for the weekend, but it will be interesting to see how much staying power it has over the weeks to come.
A quote from John Lasseter
I think kids and adults alike are going to fall in love with the film’s gang of talking toys and their spirited, often touching adventures…There will be laughs, there will be thrills, and there will also be a poignant coming-of-age tale at the heart of the film to give it a real emotional core. We dug deep and came up with a great original premise that people will love.
Sounds familiar, right? It could be the next, great Pixar film coming soon to a cinema near you! Unfortunately, it’s from this source.
Wires for Empathy
We’ve discussed the TUBE open movie on the blog here before, but now there’s an official trailer and title: Wires for Empathy.
Teenage Mutant Ninja District
This is actually quite amusing:
Abandoned terrapin turtles purchased 25 years ago at the height of popularity for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been harming wildlife and changing the ecological character of England’s famed Lake District. Once an orbital center for the lives of poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the landscape is now infested with discarded pets purchased for their imaginative resemblance to kids toys and comic book characters.
Via the excellent BLDBLOG is the story of, yes, how consumers bought turtles back when Ninja Turtles were at their first peak of popularity and once they got bored with them, let them roam free in the English countryside.
This is a good example of how animation can have an effect far beyond its intended purpose. There was never any official endorsement of pet turtles by the studio or any network, and yet consumers purchased them anyway.
In an age where merchandise is becoming an ever more important part of the animation puzzle, it seems like occurrences like this are just another thing to take into consideration.
Yahoo! 30 Days of Change
In line with the company’s larger regeneration efforts, Yahoo! is getting a new logo, but they’re presenting 30 possibilities first. Here’s a nicely animated ad to illustrate what we have to look forward to on September 4th.
Disney Princesses as Characters in the World of Avatar
Fans are famous (infamous!?) for creating crossovers of properties and characters that are all too fanciful and wishful to ever become reality. They’re essentially the personal displays of love that embody the best parts of both sets of characters into one, unique and distinct concept.
Disney is an ever-popular repository for crossovers, and today is no exception. Talented artist Robby Cook has (via The Mary Sue) combined the various Disney princesses with the cultures of the Avatar/Korra universe.
As with any crossover, some things don’t entirely equate, but Cook does a decent job of pairing the princesses with the elements. All in all, creations like this just serve to reinforce the place of character traits in the consciousness of fans, but they’re also nice to look at 🙂
Tweets of the [last two] Weeks
There’s nothing more unsettling than the thought of those Charmin animated bears wiping their asses. #Charmin
— Dan Santat (@dsantat) July 31, 2013
Actually I’m surprised nobody’s suggested Shaun the Sheep Bagpipes as a merchandising opportunity.
— Peter Lord (@PeteLordAardman) August 4, 2013
Princess Batman would be a guaranteed new property that would sell many toys and illegal downloads
— Brianne (@potatofarmgirl) August 5, 2013
WILL-E ? #philosopherfilms
— Damien O’Connor (@ratskins) August 6, 2013
It’s a miracle. Billions of years of evolution and I’m lucky enough to live at the same time as The Simpsons.
— Colm Tobin (@colmtobin) August 8, 2013
“something about hard work and imagination” – ©disney/pixar™™™
— Geneva (@cartoonfuntime) August 10, 2013
Every time I see an animated show/game with colour coded characters & the only girl character is pink, I die a little.
— Faith Erin Hicks (@faitherinhicks) August 10, 2013