What a glorious piece of work this video is. It follows the journey of a solitary creature as he deals with loneliness and inner turmoil. This independently produced animation is done entirely in Flash CS3 by animation artist, Adam Philips. Digging up info on him I came to discover he left Disney in 2004 to create his own ideas with this Brackenwood series and has become one of the highest ranked artists on Newgrounds. That alone becomes a great inspiration to me.
I particularly enjoyed reading his thoughts on the direction for Bitey and his opinions on “controversial” uses of narration (which I find quite enjoyable):
Sure he’s a spiteful little turd, but he’s not evil to the core. I now want the world to know who he really is and why.. to prove that there’s more to the character and his world than anyone imagined. For that purpose, I believed narration to be a suitable expository technique, despite how unfashionable it may be in the eyes of today’s screenwriters and snobbish film students. I know (just as some others wish) I could have made this movie entirely without narration, but I’ve said a number of times since LotD’s release that I have a soft spot for the spoken storytelling tradition which is something that I grew up with.
This totally needs to be made into a feature film. I love hearing stories like these and am always in support of ideas that go against traditional (and tiresome) commercial executions and delivery of entertainment. Kudos to Philips and much luck!
I just can’t get enough of alternate Batman concepts–probably because I really REALLY dislike underwear-on-top-of-pants superhero designs. I think they are dated and goofy and work against modern day aesthetics. Alas, each has their own thoughts on the matter. But that’s mine. So these crazy concepts are a breathe of fresh air…
Well, not so sure this guy is breathing any fresh air. He kinda looks like he died, went to hell and came back as a Hellspawn. This piece is by artist Halil Ural, his DeviantArt gallery has other great stuff.
What?! Seriously? Akira was one of the first animes I watched in my early teens when we had to rent VHS cassettes. Good times.
Not really actually…
But look what we get out of a big Akira fan’s imagination 2 decades later! DeviantArt user, Ulises Farina gives us Batman done in an Akira style. How cool is this? God it’s so grungy and “street” that it may just make Mark Millar’s Kick-Ass look like it’s owned by Disney (oh, wait… no no it’s not technically…) or Frank Millar’s Dark Knight look like “your father’s Batman” (oh, wait, technically, it is nowadays…)
Update: Wow, I just came across a 2nd piece of Farinas featuring Batman–this time it feels like a Batman Mixes it up with I Am Legend. Instead of making a new post I’m updating this one and keeping it all together! Wicked stuff!
Here’s an animation by Andy Hueng done in 2005. This is interesting, creepy and thought provoking. Here’s the short blurb from YouTube:
A machine with a doll face mimics images on television screen in search of a satisfactory visage. Doll Face presents a visual account of desires misplaced and identities fractured by our technological extension into the future.
What are the odds I’d come across this wonderful animation about “Lil Cthulhu” done by Zachary Murray with the voice of Erika Fontana based on characters from the mythos created by H.P. Lovecraft?
Want a child-friendly way to introduce your little one to the traditions of the Old Cult? Meet little Cthulhu, who lives in the magic city of R’lyeh with all his friends, as you and your child embark on a fun and educational journey through the world of the Great Old Ones, meeting all kinds of new buddies from the Necronomicon along the way, from Azathoth to Yog-Sothoth! This series has won multiple awards and has been enthusiastically approved by the department of child-developmental psychology at Miskatonic University.
AWESOME! Seriously, what a great, awkward and awesome reason to bring young ones into the Cthulhu fold in a non-horror and madness-inducing way! Maybe…
I’m kinda a sucker for Cthulhu-inspired art and stories. It wasn’t always that way, but in the early 90s I started digging into a bunch of horror. I was captivated by the relationship that grew between H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan). The shared alien-god-mythos lore that cropped up in their works just spoke to me (maybe that’s a bad thing, considering–you know–the whole madness thing…).
“Miss Monster“, otherwise known as Melita Curphy created monster-themes art pieces; many of them are out of wood. This Cthulhu head cropped up and allowed me to discover that she’s got tons and tons of tentacle-ly artworks! You can see a bunch more stuff on MissMonster’s DeviantArt Gallery as well!
I came across a piece of art that I thought was ammusing enough to share. I’m not a Doctor Doom fan–but who can hate the Not-So-Good Doctor when he’s playingthe part of an Icecream Man?
The theme was super-heroes caught doing things that were not so super. I flipped the concept and decided to do a villain doing something not so villainous. Dr. Doom’s gentle side.
I saw these TMNT pieces of art on DeviantArt by Michael Watson, I figured it was time to launch a new series of blog posts, “Toon Idols”, dedicated to spotlighting and highlighting some of my favorite childhood characters. Toons that got me into comics, or never seemed to leave my mind well into my 20s, and are still there in my early 30s. Some of which would be re-introduced to TV, movies or comics but never in the way I perceived to be the best direction for them (most likely for selfish reasons described below). Of course, that was due to my aging and different entertainment aesthetic preferences, and also because they all influenced the way I thought on a creative level, and therefore, they all evolved even after my childhood memories got left behind.
This first set features the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or TMNT for short. Along with the Thundercats, these guys provoked my imagination like nothing else. I even drew them in math class instead of paying attention (even designed a bow and arrow turtle with a white bandanna called Apollo or something). I played all the video games over and over again. But what really stayed with me wasn’t the generation 1 cartoon with Shredder, Kang and the robot foot soldiers… it was the Marvel Archie Comics TMNT with Cowlick, Ace Duck, black ninja suit Raphael, Manray and Wingnut!
In a way this TMNT design harkons my imagination back to what those Archie Comic characters would have been like if they were evolved into a more current modern design. Something more grounded and realistic, with edge and dynamic lines. I want to see THAT kinda comic come back to the news stands (or comic book shops if I can get my language out of the 50s). I can rant on and on about how, to a certain degree, these properties haven’t been used to their full potential. I mean, sure, TMNT still has a huge following, they keep targeting the young generation with the aesthetics that the youth seem to connect with in the media.
My feeling though, is that there’s a whole generation of fans out there in their 30s now who remember the TMNT being a huge contributor to their childhood imaginations. This target audience has money to spend at theaters, and DVDs, hell even well done figures and statues. My question is why NOT target them now and then with a more “adult” flavored TMNT? Comic companies like IDW and Devil’s Due have taken on G.I. Joe again–some of these storylines ARE directed at a more mature audience and more successful because of that liberty (at least from a critical review standpoint… not sure actual numbers).
At the very least, if we look hard enough, we can always find artists who allow our dreams to flicker alive once again.
When I saw this oil painting time-laps of Battle Cat by Robert Burden last week, I finally unpacked a couple more boxes, left until the very end since I moved to this new home less than a month ago. What was in them? My 80s toys! I desperately wanted to get my hands back on Battle Cat after seeing it here in epic scale. Unfortunately mine has lost its head armor over the last 2 decades. But at least it’s free again–to adorn one of my library shelves. Yes sir!
He’s done a Voltron time-lapse as well. Ah Voltron… I threw out the Voltron base toy two months ago during the move. Cobwebs and age had finally forced me to just let go of that part of my past. Knowing people like Burden still exist to allow me to re-visit those memories will suffice–as should the movie if it ever actually gets made.
Artist Robert Burden goes well beyond the average person’s perception of how much dedication, time and reverence should go into a series of painting based on 80s toys. In truth though, at least across the internet, there are a group of us that DO understand WHY this theme deserves such respect and legendary proportions! These are toys that took over the market when we grew up. Toys that front-lined armies and armies of other attempts to carve a market niche for competitors… before a time when cartoons entered a loud, fast-paced, jarring, manic stage of Japanese-influenced entertainment.
When we return to some of our memorable 80s cartoons, they don’t ring true to our MEMORYof them–but they left a much much longer impression that carries into the generation of children that come from us. A generation of children that can grow up in an age when all OUR childhood dreams are being realized as summer blockbuster films.
I wish much good fortunes on Robert Burden and may he continue to preserve more 80s awesomeness for the future generations to come! Go follow him on YouTube!
Artist Jeffery Thomas on DeviantArt has done a series of female characters presented in a new light… er… or darkness, in a series he titles “Twisted Princesses”. This one in particular seemed appropriate to feature on the LOAH blog!
Come on… a FORK for a hand! Awesome! Flounder as a piranha?! Man, it’s unlikely Disney would make this The Zombie Little Mermaid in any form of media. Seeing that the actual character–like many of their animated film characters–is public domain, maybe it can still one day happen!
Not likely. Weep. Still, “A man can dream. A man–can dream.”
The Last of the Dashkin Short Animation, by Adam Philips
