Top Hat Sasquatch

One of the great things about animation is its ability show us people, places, and things we’ve never dreamed possible.  Distant planets, mythical lands, or even more grounded subjects, like ancient history, can come alive thanks to the work of a team of dedicated artists and animators.  And when the canvas is so limitless, it’s great to see when creative minds really go for it and bring us something unique.

When the artists sat down to start visualizing the prehistoric world of the new Dreamworks Animation film The Croods, it would have been very easy for them to fall back on conventional caveman tropes.  Naturally, the characters could look like they were pulled straight from The Flintstones, who would anachronistically interact with run-of-the-mill dinosaurs like Triceratops and T. Rex, and they’d live in a world filled with big rocks, rumbling volcanoes, and bubbling tar pits. While there are still echoes of these old standbys, for the most part, The Croods is a feast for the eyes.  Thankfully Titan Books has released The Art of the Croods, so you can visit the best part of the movie – the art design – anytime.

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The Top Hat Sasquatch team reads a lot of blog posts every day, and some slip through the crack or just don’t warrant their own post. That’s where Missing Links comes in. Every few days we collect the best links we’ve come across and pass them on to you.

The Strange Case of the Super Mario Bros. Movie – Grantland
Read this, it's probably the best piece ever written about the Super Mario Bros. movie.

BREAKING: Disney Shuts Down LucasArts; 150 Staffers Laid Off | Cartoon Brew
Well, that escalated quickly. Kind of sad to see this historic game company bite the dust, but then again, when's the last time they made a good game?

Will Arnett Joins ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ in Unknown Role | /Film
Damn it, it's going to be way harder for me to ignore this movie if Will Arnett is involved.

Original George Lucas Script ‘The Star Wars’ Gets Comic Adaptation | /Film
This sounds cool, but it would be cooler as an animated project.

It’s the spring of 1954, and comic books are king.  Four-colored panels tell tales of masked crusaders, gun-blazing mobsters, hatchet-swinging madmen, and barely dressed damsels in distress, sold for a dime at the corner drugstore to kids of all ages.  One of the leading publishers of these not-so-funny funnybooks is Starr Syndication, run by Maggie and Jack Starr a step-mother and son duo with street smarts and style to spare.
But their cartoon empire is threatened when Dr. Werner Frederick, a noted psychologist, releases his controversial new book, Ravage the Lambs.  Lambs accuses comics of being the instigator of youth crimes, that those spandex-clad heroes are homosexual influences, and that they might be making our kids dumber to boot.  His words stir up the pot, and Congress calls for public hearings, threatening to do something about this “ten-cent plague” in our midst.

When Dr. Frederick winds up dead thanks to a scheme ripped directly from the pages of a best-selling comic book, there are too many suspects to count.  Hoping to protect his industry and his cronies, Jack Starr takes on the investigation and follows a path that leads him to the seediest parts of the four-color publishing racket.
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If you follow @TopHatSasquatch on Instagram, you’ve probably seen a lot of photos of vintage trading card wax packs and stickers lately. Other than me being a big geek, the reason for those is because I’ve been planning a new business, and I just launched the site yesterday.

It’s called Boxsome, and it’s all about geeky boxes and bundles of stuff, with no subscription required. The ultimate goal is to offer these big boxes of geeky products that are customizable by you but still have some random goodies. I’ve sourced a lot of really cool products, but until I build up to opening up wholesale accounts with them, I’m selling something smaller but equally awesome.

Nostalgia Packs contain two unopened wax packs of your choice, plus a ton of bonus stuff. A typical pack contains the two wax packs, a handful of random loose trading cards, a few POGs, random stickers, and exclusive stuff like these amazing Pizza Point stickers designed by Cody of Crooked Ninja.

I’ve got a ton of ideas and plans for the site but I’m starting small. I want it to be fun, and I encourage any feedback!

The site is still in beta form and there are a lot of new wax pack options coming soon, but feel free to browse around and let me know if you find any bugs! Also, use the coupon code BXSM20 at checkout to get 20% off!

I’m a little behind on this news, but it’s still awesome so who cares. Out of nowhere, game maker Capcom announced that they’re remastering the classic NES game Ducktales and that it will be released on PSN, XBLA, and Wii U this summer. Awesome. I love this trend of redoing the graphics of old games, and I’ll take anything new with the Ducktales name on it. I hope this means Disney is secretly planning on revisiting some of its Disney Afternoon cartoons and going something new with them, because that would be awesome.

I was so pumped about this that as soon as I heard the news, I grabbed my guitar and belted out the Ducktales theme song as loudly as I could. Then again, it doesn’t take much to get me to do that. It’s always the song I play when I’m bored, need to be pumped up, or just want to waste time.

Hey look, a trailer!
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