Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 26, 2009 in Animation
It’s amazing to me that Hollywood can do such a good job adapting American comic books to live action films, but when it comes to manga or anime they don’t always seem to know what they’re doing. A good case in point is this latest trailer for Dragonball Evolution which falls flat — and if the trailer doesn’t get you excited you know you’re in trouble! Fox is convinced that this film will indoctrinate a new generation of Dragonball fans, but it may have the opposite effect…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 25, 2009 in Animation
This is a trailer for an potential upcoming anime series called Cat Shit One by studio anima. First off what makes this look so different is that it’s interesting to see a Japanese studio do their take on what CGI should look like — we’ve seen Pixar set the pace for years, but this series clearly has its own sensibilities. Which brings me to the next point: The subject matter of this show is war with the twist of featuring cute woodland creatures. The last time anyone has tried anything like this was the animated film Watership Down which while being an amazing film was never a huge commercial success. Read more…
Here’s the latest trailer for Suzumiya Haruhi no Chokuretsu (also known as The Series of Haruhi Suzumiya) which is being produced by Sega for the Nintendo DS and due for release on March 26, 2009. Here are some screenshots from the game: Read more…
Posted by Guest Author on Mar 16, 2009 in Animation
Editor’s Note: In this column animation critic Joe Strike gives us his take on the upcoming Pixar film ‘Up’ vs. Dreamworks’ ‘Monsters vs. Aliens’.
And this one goes easily to our Pixar Pals of Emeryville CA, as their upcoming Up easily clobbers Katzenberg and Ko.’s Monsters vs. Aliens – and that’s just based on seeing the first half of Up vs. all of MvA. Read more…
Posted by Guest Author on Mar 15, 2009 in Animation
Editor’s Note: In this column animation critic Joe Strike gives us our first review of Monsters vs. Aliens.
A few weeks back Jeffrey K came to town to hype his latest, first-in-3D animated feature Monsters vs. Aliens. Did you know (Jeffrey does) 3D is the third revolution in motion pictures, right after the introduction of sound, then color? Neither did I; in fact the film seemed more like the old paddleball in your face routine – which is literally how it begins. OK, I enjoy a meta-gag as much as the next guy, but after JK talked up what they were gonna do with the technology, I expected more than visual quotes. (And yes, the 3D was very cool-looking all the way through.) Read more…
It’s funny the one thing that always hit me about the character designs in Full Metal Alchemist is just how cute they seem to be, but this set of Full Metal Alchemist Choco Minto pushes it to the next level. These figurines are part of a merchandising push that ties in with the debut of the latest series which stays true to the storylines established in the original manga. Here’s a trailer for the upcoming series: Read more…
The above advert is for the upcoming April issue of Comptiq magazine. The magazine got started in the 80s as a computer magazine, but over time shifted to computers and in 2003 became mixed media. Over the years Comptiq has featured a quite a few serialized manga from Gunbuster to my favorite Lucky Star. Of course what caught my eye in this ad is the very prominently statuette of Konata which looks very cool.
From a quick glance I wasn’t too impressed with the mecha design of this Transformers Disney Label Mickey Mouse — the problem was that it just wasn’t cute enough! But of course the devil is in the details: If you look closely at the top you’ll see the classic Mickey Mouse enjoying being at the controls of his very own giant robot.
When I first came across this commercial my first thoughts were “this has got to be an upcoming CGI Star Blazers movie that I’ve been waiting for my entire life!” But then I noticed at the end of the advert that there seemed to be some sort of box — I figured then that it had to be some sort of amazing videogame:
Well after a minuter or two of googling the subject it turns out that this amazing animation is for a new Space Battleship Yamato Pachinko machine! By you’ve got to check out the website — it’s all in Japanese but the interface with make any old school Star Blazers fan weep with joy: Read more…
For us old time anime fanboys PBM Express USA had a great collection of retro goodies at the Toy Fair! Shown above are action figures for Mazinger Z and Grendizer, and below is a highly detailed Captain Harlock Statue:
Wandering about the plushies section at the Toy Fair you wouldn’t expect anime, but much to my pleasant surprise Toy Network LLC has done a deal to bring out a full line adorable Shin-chan characters! And the whole crew is here: Boo, Georgie, Penny, Hima, Shin Chan, Maso, Whitey, Principal Ench, Action Bastard and of course Happiness Bunny. By the way you can buy them in bulk for your local anime convention!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 14, 2009 in Animation
The Galaxy Railways is a 2003 anime series produced by Leiji Matsumoto which reminds me a great deal of Galaxy Express 999. What’s neat is that Funimation is starting to put full episodes of this series up on YouTube. What makes Matsumoto interesting to me is that he was the king of steampunk long before the term was invented — his work in the 70s was filled with space pirates and Victorian trains in a Star Wars universe. This latest series feels slightly xeroxed from his older work, but just the same it is neat that Funimation is putting it out there. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 13, 2009 in Animation, Fandom
If you’re an otaku near New York City you’ll want to reserve Sunday March 1st on your calendars: Japanese cosplay singer Reni will be performing her “Japanese Maid Show” which features anime and J-Pop songs done in an authentic Akihabara style of singing and dancing:
Top Tunes, 303-305 East 53rd Street at 2nd Avenue
March 1st, Sunday 5-6pm (Doors open at 4:30pm)
No cover charge/one drink minimumRead more…
Slowly I’m starting to see the first signs of Coraline merchandise appear here and there — although what little I’ve seen so far hasn’t impressed me at all. For a film that looks so rich and has so much promise, most of the toys seem pretty unimaginative. Although perhaps the toy vendors are waiting to see if the film will be a hit. Two of the cooler things that I’ve spotted is the Coraline Lunchbox shown above and the Coraline PVC Set A shown below:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 4, 2009 in Animation
Somehow over the last month I missed this trailer for the Imagi release of Iron Man 28 (Tetsujin 28): While I love the mecha in this trailer I hate just about everything else! By making the human characters look realistic they’ve lost the charm of the original character designs. Not only that but they’re not quite realistic enough so they look like a bad video game, except for the fact that they’re very stiff looking. Making matters worse the voice overs talent has no character to it and the sense of timing in the trailer seems off. A few days ago it came out that Imagi was having financial troubles and my first reaction was that it may prevent some bad films from being made – and sadly after this trailer I’m still of that opinion.
I just discovered that in Japan that you can get an illustration made out of the froth that they put into your cafe — shown above is an example from the Ghibli museum cafe which is based on Kiki’s Delivery Service (photographed by Misugi Yasunami). Below is a bunny cup of brew photographed by my Flickr friend Yasuko.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 3, 2009 in Animation
There’s something very haunting about some of the Russian animation that I’ve seen over the years, there’s a sense of surrealism but there’s something very unnerving underneath the surface. This animated film is from 1991 and is titled Frother (Потец) — it’s based upon a poem Alexander Vvedensky from 1937. The film’s director was Alexander Fedulov (1947 – 1996) and the other worldly art direction is by Vladimir Burkin. Here’s the second part of the film: Read more…
Posted by Guest Author on Feb 1, 2009 in Animation
Editor’s Note: In this review film critic Joe Strike gives us a sneak preview into the upcoming film Coraline which comes out on February 6th.
The moment we left Disneyland in 2003 my son regretted not buying the hoodie that was on sale in the Nightmare Before Christmas gift shop in the park – so much so that once we were back home I phoned the park and mail-ordered it for him. He wore the damn thing to death, then cut Jack Skellington out and sewed him onto a new hoodie, which he also proceeded to wear to death.
I’ve just seen Coraline – and I want the hoodie. The movie’s the third feature from stop-motion director Henry Selick, who first blew peoples’ minds with his early short Slow Bob in the Lower Dimensions: Read more…
One of the fun things about urban toys is when they give you a fresh take on a familiar character, and that’s the case with these Modern Pets Friend: Mickey and Minnie figurines. In fact looking at these toys I almost wish that Disney would think of doing some feature length animation with a set of reinvented characters done right (of course while trying to avoid over doing it ala Muppet Babies).
Posted by Guest Author on Jan 27, 2009 in Animation
Editor’s Note: In this essay film critic Joe Strike offers us his insights into the Oscars nominees for best animated feature.
For me, the Oscar I most look forward to during that endless TV show isn’t Best Picture or Best Director, but Best (or Outstanding Achievement In, I guess) Animated Feature (from hereon referred to as BAF). The first straw in the wind was Wall-E‘s Golden Globes BAF win. At that point I was sure the Oscar nominees would be Wall-E, Kung-Fu Panda and (the token intellectual nominee) Waltz with Bashir. Turns out Bashir got a Best Foreign Film nomination (way to go, Avi – nice Jewish boy makes good!) and Disney’s superdog Bolt filled out the third spot. (A fun movie, but not a flick for the ages.) Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 25, 2009 in Animation
As with most things in TV land our story begins in another medium — film! Back in the 50s THE designer who revolutionized opening credits was Saul Bass who favored a very graphic and illustrational approach to making opening titles an art form onto themselves. To me his masterpiece was Anatomy of a Murder in 1958 which matched a striking musical score by Duke Ellington to a simple yet powerful animation: Read more…
I’ve been following the work of Chicago based indie comic artist Chris “Elio” Eliopoulos for some time now, so I got a real kick out of seeing his whimsical style brought to life in an animated short. In many ways his illustration work reminds a great deal of Jay Ward cartoons like Bullwinkle, but looking at this short I see a dollop of George Herriman’s Krazy Kat mixed in with just a dash of Godzilla for good measure. Here are two examples of his illustrations that show of his humorous but harmonious sense of chaos: Read more…
I love the clever industrial design of this Mickey Mouse Desk Light which is from Japan. The top light enclosure with the ears is a bit of an obvious concept although what I think makes the design so great is the added touch of making the base of the lamp have the buttons from Mickey’s pants. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 11, 2009 in Animation
I had always falsely assumed that the animated Sugar Bear character was created just for commercials, but this isn’t the case as it turns out that he got his start on Saturday morning TV in 1963. He was featured in the cartoon Linus the Lionhearted which crossed the now unimaginable line of having advertising characters (pushing junk food no less) appear on regular cartoons aimed at kids. Also it turns out that Sugar Bear was based on Dean Martin which explains his demeanor — I guess I could see Sugar Bear drinking a martini and starring in a Matt Helm movie. Read more…
The above advert is for the upcoming April issue of 
shown below:
