An independent publisher is currently shopping around an animated series that stars John Oates' mustache.
The mustache, to be voiced by Dave Attell (oh, it talks, by the way), has the ability to give superpowers to its former owner, the guy from Hall & Oates that isn't Hall. Oates attempts to regain his rock star status and battle villains with their own supernatural mustaches.
John Oates' Moustache Cartoon Sounds Amazing [Rolling Stone]
A new CG film will feature the voice of Christina Ricci. She will play a crayon. Alongside her previous roles, which include a murderous Barbie doll, a pig-nosed heiress, and a Special Olympian's lover, it doesn't really even sound that odd.
The Hero of Color City involves a community of crayons who are menaced by an unspeakable evil. Ricci plays Yellow, and is the first cast member announced for the film, which is currently in preproduction.
Christina Ricci joins 'Hero' voice cast [Hollywood Reporter]
PBS's new animated comedy Click & Clack's As the Wrench Turns is based upon Car Talk, the NPR show hosted by wisecracking car repair specialists Tom and Ray Magliozzi. The brothers will play fictionalized versions of themselves in the series, which will follow them as they run both their radio show and their auto shop in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
A zany cartoon debut for an animated pair [Boston Globe]
Hollywood Newsroom has an interesting article chronicling the troubled history of Disney's upcoming Tinkerbell DVD, which will tell the origin story of the iconic Peter Pan fairy. Disney has ditched Brittany Murphy for the title role in favor of Mae Whitman, better known as the voice of Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
The article also includes a clip from the film, which at first glance might appear to be in the same vein as the plasticly girly Barbie movies. I'm detecting a bit of Pixar-style humor, though, so Tinkerbell may well be worth the wait.
John Lasseter, Disney, Fires Brittany Murphy. Mae Whitman is the new voice of Tinker Bell! [Hollywood Newsroom]
Apologies for bumming you out with this beautiful, heartbreaking, and weirdly, kind of NSFW stop-motion animated retelling of the Puccini opera Madame Butterfly, though the ending strangely seems somehow optimistic to me.
Not many have heard of the short-lived HBO series Spicy City, which sounds more like the name of an Indonesian restaurant than a cyberpunk cartoon for grownups. Directed by animation genius Ralph Bakshi, Spicy City wasn't as bizarre and visceral as its popular predecessor Aeon Flux, but it was similarly molded around the themes of sex and technology.
Like all the best cyberpunk, the 1997 series was an anthological blend of sci-fi and film noir, hosted by femme fatale Raven. Despite dealing with such topics as clones, strippers, and mutant duck-men, the show was anything but derivative. The animation wasn't quite as advanced as Bakshi's rotoscoped film work, but its "cartoony" quality is still quite pretty to look at, and may appeal to fans of "MTV-style" animation such as Daria and Spy Groove.
The show has yet to be released on DVD, but never fear. Youtube to the rescue. Be wary of animated nipples (i.e. mildly NSFW).
Kill Bill does lend itself rather well to anime...and Tarantino is reportedly working on a new anime short to complement his epic kung-fu revenge duology.
According to Uma Thurman, it sounds like an animated short centered on the character of Bill will be incorporated into an upcoming DVD release which will include both volumes of the Kill Bill saga.
Uma Thurman Reveals The Animated Future of 'Kill Bill' [MTV]
Problematic Funk Theory is a strange little discontinued Flash cartoon series from the creator of the probably-discontinued Flash cartoon series Space Tree the Space Tree.
You can find old episodes of PFT lurking around the Internet if you search hard enough. Here's a favorite of mine, wherein the nameless protagonist shows off his swanky new top hat. Strangeness ensues.
a hat [Newgrounds]
In certain communities, there seems to be a common misconception that animated shows and movies are strictly "for kids." And it appears that this stigma isn't exclusive to the U.S.
Despite excellent ratings, a Venzuelan TV station has dropped The Simpsons from a morning timeslot, deeming it "inappropriate for children." So what show is filling the slot? The much more kid-friendly Baywatch Hawaii.
The regulatory agency didn't specify which elements of the program were deemed offensive, but said showing the animated cartoon series at that hour could violate national regulations prohibiting "messages that go against the whole education of boys, girls and adolescents."
Baywatch, on the other hand? Very educational.
Venezuelan TV drops Bart for 'Baywatch' [USA Today]
The first season of the Saturday morning Spielberg classic Freakazoid! will at long last be released on DVD. The cartoon stars the zany superhero alter-ego of a socially inept nerd, and it's chock full of non sequitur humor and pop culture references, plus plenty of pre-scandal Clinton jokes.
The DVD will be released on July 29th, the same date as the first season of Tiny Toon Adventures.
Freakazoid! Season 1 Announced [TVShowsOnDVD.com]
The release of a Björk video is always cause of celebration for those who believe in the music video as an important artistic medium. She's really outdone herself this time, though, with today marking the release of the Encyclopedia Pictura-directed seven-and-a-half minute video for Wanderlust--in 3D!
Unfortunately, the true 3D experience will have to wait until the DVD comes out with the appropriate eyewear--for now you can still see the video's full 2D version, and it's frikkin' gorgeous.
