Happy Bird Day

....to all you bird lovers out there! :D

Willows...the Tales you have told me...

Out of all the countless and countless of adaptations made in the past, present and future, my all-time favourite version of "The Wind in the Willows" has to be the Cosgrove Hall successor.

Next to the carefully-chosen cast members and the stunning realism of its stop-motion animation, it's the writing that truly won me over. Obviously starting with the film, Rosemary Anne Sission and Brian Trueman kept the writing of the series directly in the faithful roots of Kenneth Graham's own style and characters - long after they had adapted all the original Willows stories (some that became TV Series episodes which weren't included in the first film) and also not afraid to show some "dark" tales, too - long before PC Nonsense reared its ugly head.

And the fact this spanned two feature-length films and five seasons is no surprise in my books. If you haven't bought the complete DVD Collection or have yet to see any of the episodes - DO SO. Then perhaps we can introduce today's hyped-up generation to decent children's television....



And believe it or not, this is my attempt at realistic drawings

Great, Thy Name is Gonzo

Cat Doodles, September 2010

FACT: Basher was one of my Mum's cats in her younger years - call it a tribute of sorts

Quaq Quao

Recently I have just got into another blast from the past - brought to us by Misseri Studios this very charming little series about a playful ducking who encounters different animals and learns new "languages" about each one.
Based solely in Italy, Misseri Studios are one of many European places that still rely on traditional animation methods for quality children's entertainment; proudly demonstrated with claymation (Mio Mao, Red and Blue), sand (A. E. I. O. U), water (Pozzie) and paper origami models (this series). They are even the masters behind the stop-motion series Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures via Sesame Street, so that says a LOT for this studio's efforts when every other studio and series is suddenly turning CGI on us.


So for your enjoyment, here's a QuaqQuao eppie to sample Misseri's amazing quality =)

Vehicle Recalls

Just brushing up on my auto-mobile skills - see if you can guess where I got some of the references from....!

"The Return of El Kabong"

To get rid of the last blog post, here's a more fun comic storyline to enjoy - this, sadly, was a reprint of the comic formally known as "Toonerang" (The home of Boomerang UK, when it used to show regular repeats of Hanna-Barbera, DePatie-Freleng stuff as the US do), so I've no clue when this storyline was first printed in whichever magazine overseas - nor if any original dialogue was altered in this reprint.


Anyhow, it's quite a fun story that keeps the spirit of Mike Maltease's wild style fresh with some peachy-keen artwork. And apparently, Guitar Showmanship (or smashing of the instruments) seemed to have originated as far back as roughly 1964, at least according to this story:

"In 1964, while playing at London's Railway Station nightclub, Pete Townsend was having trouble with his Rickenbacker. The electric guitar was buzzing and humming, so Pete tried shaking it around, but accidentally hit the low ceiling. To his complete amazement, the guitar broke in half. Pete, thinking quickly, acted as though it was part of the act and started stomping on the guitar and completely destroyed it, and so guitar smashing was born."

SOURCE: The History of Guitar Smashing

Seems a little out of the time zone, though, considering that both Quick Draw and El Kabong were "born" sometime before 1959, a few years before Pete's memorable incident. All the same, it still makes for a neat comic to read =)