Retro Thursdays! - Rock & Rule

Ending this month on a high note here, I've chosen one of my all time favorite animated movies!
Rock & Rule! This 1983 film was a doomed success. Plagued with setbacks and terrible, almost non-existent marketing, it never got released to the mainstream audiences that it intended.
The animation is great, the atmosphere reeks 80's, and it features original music by the likes of Earth, Wind & Fire, Debbie Harry, Iggy Pop, and Lou Reed!!! Seriously this should have been on the top of everybody's list.

Here's the Wikipedia synopsis of the film to give you all the little ins and outs. Just click on the picture below to begin playback of the movie.

This is the American edited version of the film. It's the much more rare Canadian version that contains all the uncut goodness...hard to find but if you do grab it!

Retro Thursdays! - Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

Here's a classic for you all! Anybody remember Rikki-Tikki-Tavi?
This 1975 classic Chuck Jones toon was a  made for T.V. movie that was fairly dark considering the classic Jone's look that it had. Though it did stay much more true to the source material unlike the Disney's Jungle Book from which Rikki-Tikki-Tavi was a short story in..

Here's the Wikipedia article however I couldn't find one focused on the cartoon itself. Oh well!...Click zee picture!

(EDIT: Video source has been updated :D)

And your Amazon.com link!

Retro Thursdays! - Shinbone Alley

This week we have another UPA produced musical, 1971's Shinbone Alley.
This animation was considered a flop along with it's theatrical counterpart, but still is regarded as a cult classic due to its strange story. Basically some guy commits suicide and comes back as a cockroach and falls in love with a cat, but being a cockroach can't get her attention and repeatedly commits suicide again. There's a lot more to it than that but you get the basic gist of it all..

Check out some other random Wikipedia info here and click on the image below to begin the film...Enjoy!

As always if you enjoy this movie check it out on Amazon.com

Retro Thursdays! - When The Wind Blows

Wow so it's been a while since I've last updated hasn't it? Well life has it's funny little way of, well...getting in the way!

However back to business, I have gathered about a months worth of Retro Thursdays movies for all you to watch so get ready for those! The comics however will be another story since I was hoping to have some new ones done by now..oh well :/

This week we have the 1986 film When the Wind Blows. This neat little film is based on the book of the same name (like most good movies I suppose..). It's also another hybrid film in which most of the environments are real and the characters are animated. This is an apocalyptic movie and although the movie starts out lightheartedly enough as it progresses things become more and more dark.

Here is your Wikipedia Synopsis as per usual and as always just click on the image below to begin the playlist of the film :D

And please if you enjoy the film and would like to own it then check it out here on Amazon.com

Retro Thursdays! - Gay Purr-ee

This week we have the 1962 UPA movie Gay Purr-ee. I wanted to feature a Chuck Jones film and it was a toss between this and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. I ultimately went with Gay Purr-ee even though it wasn't officially produced by Chuck Jones merely writter by him, however his influence is more than evident.
Gay Purr-ee is a Parisian story about cats (yes more cats!) and before anybody starts drawing comparisons with Aristocats remember that this movie predates it by almost ten years! Although the character designs are typical Jone's savior-faire, and I say that in a good way, the background designs are very stylistic and almost painterly.

As always and again, here is your Wikipedia Synopsis. Please click on the image below to begin the playlist.
Note that this time the film is hosted on a Romanian site so dont be alarmed!

And you can always find this movie and more on Amazon.com!

Retro Thursdays! - Fantastic Planet

This week's retro movie is from 1973. An international film Fantastic Planet or La Planete Sauvage was a production by both France and Czechoslovakia.

This is a very surreal story that takes place on the planet Ygam in which humans are taken and basically treated as animals. It's a little slow to start but if you can wrap your head around it then it is definitely worth the watch!

Once again here is your Wikipedia Synopsis! Click on the image below to view the movie playlist.

And if you find this movie worthwhile you can always purchase it on Amazon:

Retro Thursdays! - The Plague Dogs

This week we have a good one from 1982! Based off the book of the same name, The Plague Dogs is a very gripping tale of two dogs that have escaped an animal testing lab after being put through brutal tests. You really get a feel for what they are going through and all the trouble they must endure just to be free.

I really enjoy the animation in this movie. It's far from the typical Disney-esque animals in which they seem more human than otherwise. The animals in this film actually have all the little quirks and tendencies of the real thing and the only humanity you experience is when they speak. Definitely a must see!
Here is your usual Wikipedia synopsis. And as always you may click on the picture below to view the movie:

Once again you may find this movie on Amazon.com:

Retro Thursday! - Felidae

This week we have have the 1994 film Felidae (yes the latin term for felines). This is a German animated film about...you guessed it, cats!
Directed by Michael Schaak and animated by the Trickompany animation studio, this movie is great in that it's basically a noir murder mystery involving a cat named Francis and the new neighborhood he's just moved into. So it has cats, mystery, murder, and an awesome 90's theme song to boot! Something for everybody!
Check out the full synopsis here on Wikipedia. Click on the image below to watch the movie:

Once again if you like what you see and want to purchase the film you can get it here below. It helps the creators and myself! . . . More or less haha.

Retro Thursdays Begin! - Hey Good Lookin'

Hmm... So let's see how long I can keep this up!

Every Thursday I'll be posting a recommended "retro" animated movie or show along with a link to the video so that you can view it! And yes, this will be called "Retro Thursdays."

Enough talk! Since my last post was about the 1982 Ralph Bakshi movie Hey Good Lookin' I thought I'd start of easy with that! Here's the Wikipedia Synopsis of the film since I'm way too lazy at the moment to write my own... 

Click on the image below to start the movie playlist:

I will try to fix broken links if and when they happen and only if the post is still relevent. Hope you all enjoy!

Also I know we live in a day and age where we can watch all this stuff for free, but if you really do enjoy these videos please support the creators by buying the film. I'll even link you to them!

Neat Article on Bakshi's Hey Good Lookin'

LINK: Inner City Hues - The saga of Hey Good Lookin’, Ralph Bakshi’s fractured masterpiece..

Bakshi is definitely one of the more interesting animators of his time. Determined to stretch animation to it's limits he always tried to incorporate real life into his works, whether it be rotoscoping, recorded audio of actual street life, or...whatever! 

This is an interesting article about "Hey Good Lookin'" a film in which Bakshi tries to blur the line between animation and real life. Click the link above and give it a read!

Original article written by Tony Best, hosted on Waxpoetics.com

Do A Chicken Walk!

Believe it or not I've actually been working on these cartoons. Albeit slowly...
I'll post a quick clip of the Says-A-Me short later on this week to prove it!
In the mean time there have been a few posts of other animations that I see all across the webs, I really do enjoy these and love to see small studios do well.
I have another one from the great Augenblick Studios. You may know there work on Adult Swim's "Super Jail" and there current series "Ugly Americans" which I haven't had the pleasure of watching yet, but I do hope it's good...Here's a demo reel!!!

Freaknik..

I'm not exactly into modern day commercial "hip-hop" but this cartoon is definitely worth a look. The whole animation style is quirky and amateurish so it's very fun to watch.
The topic of discussion however doesn't have much to go on but Freaknik really isn't about the deep storyline or complicated characters and it does seem to drag on for a while during the middle. If you're a big fan of T-Pain and his cohorts then this should be a no brainer i suppose. If your like me then just tune out the voice modulation and try to enjoy the ride. Your either gonna hate it or say, "wow..Bootsy Collins is an alien on a dog spaceship and hey, so is George Clinton! Why not?"
Brought to you by the wonderous people at Titmouse Inc.

Great Stop Motion Animation - The Machine

Nice stop motion animation by Rob Shaw of bentimagelab.com check it out!

Online Stuff...

Some fun animations from MoreFrames.com

MoreFrames: Built by Chickens from MoreFrames on Vimeo.

MoreFrames: Powered by Rodents from MoreFrames on Vimeo.

Those two are just bumpers but check out their video section for a lot of other crazy cool clips.

Chegg...Commercials!

Okay so i don't exactly have cable t.v. In fact i don't have it all. I rock the good 'ol bunny ears!

Anyhow I was basking in the glory of cable television at a friend's place when I saw a Chegg.com commercial... It was completely great! I loved the animation in it.

So I did what was natural and youtubed it and low and behold I fond more! Check them out here if you haven't seen them already. Short and sweet..