Top Hat Sasquatch

If you’ve been wondering why I haven’t posted much since before the holidays here on SMC, here’s your answer. I’ve been trying to get this site launched for months, and I finally made myself finish it. It’s called Animation on Blu-ray, and well, that’s what it’s about.

My goal is to provide news, reviews, and a complete release database (and coming soon calendar) for all animated Blu-ray titles here in the US. I’ll still write about animated Blu-rays here a little bit, but for the most part I’m going to separate that content to the new site.

There are plenty of sites that aim to do the same thing for all Blu-ray releases, but I thought there was room for one that would be more specialized, for my fellow hardcore animation fans.

It’s still a work in progress, and I’m going to be adding more features soon, but I’d appreciate any feedback you might have!

Retro Thing is a great blog about all things retro, with a slant towards gadgetry and gaming. Now they are getting into the hardware business with the Retro Thing USB Controller.

They had this designed and manufactured here in the United States, it lights up blue when plugged in via USB, and they even took some extra steps to make it extra hackable for the DIY crowd. It’ll work on Atari, Amiga, and Commodore emulators, or as a controller for your very own MAME cabinet (which is something I’ve been meaning to do). For $30, it’s a steal.

Check out the full story at Retro Thing or jump straight to the order page and support the geek cause.

Out on DVD today is You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown from Warner Bros. This Peanuts release is a little different from the recent ones from WB in that it is an animated adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name.

You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown is made up of sketches and musical numbers and is quite different than most Peanuts animated fare, but a little variety is nice. I played Charlie Brown in a production of the sequel to this musical once, called Snoopy so I was surprised to see that this even existed.

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I think I’ve confessed my love of Disney’s Chip ‘n Dale shorts around here before, and thanks to DVDs like Classic Cartoon Favorites Vol. 4 – Starring Chip ‘n Dale and a few of the Disney Treasures sets, I’ve been able to collect most of the shorts I grew up watching.

The Lone Chipmunks is one I have not been able to find for a long time, and for some reason only recently thought to look up on YouTube. It was great seeing it again, but now I wish I had it in DVD quality at least. Unfortunately, the only DVD it’s been released on is a random Davy Crockett Two-Movie set. Now the question is whether it’s worth $15 to me to have this short. Hmm.

Further Reading

The Lone Chipmunks on DisneyShorts.org

Remember when I made a list of the Best Beatles Covers from the Muppet Show, and I said I could listen to a whole album of Jerry Nelson singing? Well, that’s exactly what I’m doing right now thanks to his new album, Truro Daydreams.

Jerry Nelson is of course the super talented puppeteer/voice actor/musician that you probably know as the characters Floyd, The Count, Gobo Fraggle, and too many more to mention. I heard about a year ago that he was coming out with an album, and it looks like it was just now released. It’s a very cool blend of a lot of different styles of music, and I highly recommend picking it up.

It’s a $9.99 download from Digstation (requires signing up for an account).

Thanks to ToughPigs for the tip.