Top Hat Sasquatch

The year was 1975 and production was gearing up for a new animated film based upon a line of children’s books and toys that had been a favorite for generations.  The budget for the film was $4 million.  Considering that around the same time Disney only spent $1.2 million to make The Rescuers, $4 million allowed the producers to assemble a virtual all-star team of animators and filmmakers to work on the project.

The director was Abe Levitow, a man who earned his animation stripes while working under Chuck Jones, drawing iconic characters like Pepe Le Pew and Wile E. Coyote for the Looney Tunes series of shorts during their 1950’s heyday.  He also directed animated versions of Dick Tracy, Mr. Magoo, Tom and Jerry, and even worked on an Oscar-winning animated film, 1971’s A Christmas Carol.

The film’s animation was going to be overseen by the director of the same Oscar-winning A Christmas Carol, Richard Williams, who would later win an Emmy for a Ziggy cartoon special in the early 1980’s, as well as a couple more Oscars as the director of animation for Who Framed Roger Rabbit?.  Sadly, Williams had to take over directorial duties after Levitow died during the film’s production, though with his experience, he was perfectly capable of the helm.

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Another day, another cool 80’s franchise is getting a reboot for the anime generation.

This is an official image from Warner Brothers Animation from their upcoming Thundercats animated series. Pictured, starting at the rear, are Tygra (looking pretty bad ass), Panthro (looking very bad ass), Cheetara (looking sleek and sexy), and Lion-O (looking like Sailor Moon after hitting the ShakeWeight).

Seriously, why does everyone else have normal-looking eyes and Lion-O gets stuck with huge, teal, cat eyes? If the eyes are the window to the soul, Lion-O is going to be little more than a big kitty with a shiny sword. Whereas I’d believe that any of the others would totally kick Mumm-Ra’s wrapped up ass. Maybe it will look better in motion, and perhaps make sense with the character, but from a purely visual standpoint, I’m not feeling it.

However, all hope is not lost. The producers of the new show include Sam Register (Teen Titans, Ben 10, Batman: The Brave and the Bold), Michael Jelenic (Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Wonder Woman), and Ethan Spaulding (Avatar: The Last Airbender). With resumes like that, there’s a good chance the show will be great, despite Lion-O’s girly eyes.

What do you think of the new Thundercats designs? Or, better yet, do you think there should even be new Thundercats in the first place?

(via MTV Splashpage)

Star Wars parodies are a dime a dozen. Unless you’re talking about the special Star Wars-themed Robot Chicken shows by Seth Green and Matt Senreich. The Adult Swim series has done three episodes devoted exclusively to George Lucas’ universe. Their stop-motion animated skits are the things of legend — if legends were about crudely manipulated toys doing insanely funny things you’d never expect.

The second special is the origin of this snazzy new shirt from T-Shirt Bordello. For just $14.99 you can own a piece of intergalactic breakfast cereal that should have been. If you’re not familiar with it, you can watch the video on adultswim.com.

I’m not sure this is licensed by either the Star Wars or Robot Chicken camps, but that won’t matter when your friends are laughing and pointing at your torso—something I only get when I’m not wearing a shirt.

Lots of video games have a “God mode” where you have infinite lives and the game is a breeze to complete. What about the opposite? What if all the classic games had an extra, super-hard mode? That’s what this video from animator Volker Thimm asks. The results are pretty hilarious. The new twist on Frogger has to be my favorite.

It’s a trap! Why else would the Empire be hawking dairy treats from a giant AT-AT? Sounds like a great way to catch a Jedi with a sweet tooth.

Actually it’s just an awesome LEGO creation (modification?) that LEGO should actually sell. A line of quirky Star Wars sets would be great.

All Terrain-Ice Cream Transport on Flickr via Laughing Squid