Here’s an interesting holiday recipe – take a popular stoner comedy franchise, toss in some claymation and even a musical number. It’s A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR 3-D CHRISTMAS, destined to burn up DVD shelves after it escapes theaters. We talk to John Cho & Kal Penn about how they’ve changed even if their movie counterparts haven’t. Plus more with Ed GHelms on how THE OFFICE still owes so much to Steve Carrel, and DC breaks even bigger comic sales records in October.
The second age of Disney greatness made raising children in the 1990s a real treat. Taking youngsters to an animated film recreated some of the magic the parents experience when they were first brought to the theater. To its credit, Disney continued to carefully curate its collection of classic films, filling in the gaps left by the far more mediocre fare that marked the 1970s and 1980s. Interestingly, one of those final films was where one of the current age’s greatest was born.
I still remember sitting in the theater with the kids and saw the trailer for The Lion King, which consisted of the opening song, a gutsy move but a brilliant one. Everything you needed to know was present; the sheer majesty of the animal kingdom, the quality of the animation and color palette, and the amazing score.
The fourth film from the Jeffrey Katzenberg/Michael Eisner regime, The Lion King felt special from the outset and has remained that way despite repeated viewings. Now finally out on Blu-ray today, the movie looks and sounds better than ever.
One of the reasons, the movie works is that it deals with universal themes, notably those of coming of age and the relationship between father and son. While the notion of the “Circle of Life” may have been beaten to death since it was reinforced here, respecting the life cycle is a good lesson for audiences young and old alike.
In the best of the Disney tradition, the film also nicely blends action, drama, and humor so it has a rhythm of its own. The littlest viewers can giggle at Timon and Pumba’s antics while others can feel the adrenaline pump during the battles, but there is certainly something for everyone, done with style and panache.
What’s interesting is that once the film’s concept was put into active development, it had to compete for animators with Pocahontas, which most saw as the next slam dunk film. Freed from the same level of scrutiny, the younger animators who signed on rose to the challenge and then some. It was inspired to blend Tim Rice and Elton John for the songs while Hans Zimmer delivered one of his finest scores.
The usual array of extras for a Diamond Edition film are all on display, and actually had me ready for more. The package contains Blu-ray and a standard DVD discs and comes with a fine user interface. New to this collection is a 39 minute “Pride of the Lion King” featurette that reunites former Chairman Katzenberg, Zimmer, producer Don Hahn, and co-directors Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff. This is followed with an additional 21 minutes of memories, “The Lion King: A Memoir”, hosted by Han. The co-directors introduce five previously unseen Deleted Scenes, explaining how these did not make the final cut. Also represented is the missing song, “Morning Report”, which was restored for the Broadway adaptation. The affection for the movie is demonstrated with the freshly animated Gag Reel with outtakes produced specifically for the disc.
The extras from the previously released Platinum edition return here so you get the audio commentary, Art Gallery, and the Sing-Along Mode.
If you have an iPad, the film comes with the new Disney Second Screen app stuffed with production art and interactive games. For those who use the BD-Live function, this one comes with the “Virtual Vault” access which will show you “The Making of ‘The Morning Report'”, three additional Deleted Scenes, “Stage, Film, Story and Musical Journey” featurettes, Elton John’s “Circle of Life” music video, a Film-to-Storyboard Comparison, two short Demo Sequences and an Unfinished Scene.
One thing I wish they addressed head on was an acknowledgement in some way that the film owed a debt to Osama Tezuka’s Kimba the White Lion. The parallels are too striking for it to have been sheer coincidence.
As we enter the holiday season, this goes on your Must Have list.
Capitalizing on the popularity of Paramount Pictures’ third installment in the live action Transformers franchises, Shout! Factory is releasing the long-awaited Japanese animated series which we talked about previously. The DVD set is coming out on Tuesday and to celebrate, we have one copy to give away to a lucky fan.
All you have to do is give us your best educated guess what the total domestic box office revenue of Transformers: Dark of the Moon will be when the theaters close at the end of business on Monday, concluding the holiday weekend. We want your guess by 11:59 Monday evening and the winning tally will be based on the finals as released by our friends at Box Office Mojo on Tuesday.
Meantime, here’s a look back at The Transformers: The Japanese Collection — Headmasters. The four disc set will come complete with Original Japnese Audio, English Subtitles, and an Art Gallery.
Los Angeles, CA February 1, 2011 – Today, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (TCFHE) kicked off a 12-month marketing, promotions, publicity and media campaign, “A Year Of A Million Moments,” to celebrate its robust catalog of movies made memorable, quotable, and unforgettable by the people who watch and embrace them.
A YEAR OF A MILLION MOMENTS CAMPAIGN AND PRODUCT Fox’s yearlong celebration will include the release of seasonally timed Blu-ray Disc and DVD singles grouped thematically by month and distinguished by the “GREAT MOVIES. GREAT MOMENTS.” moniker. Each month Fox will spotlight films that reflect a specific theme with moments… to shine (January), you love (February), to laugh about (March), kids love (April), for mom (May), for heroes (June), to sing about (July), to remember (August), that are unforgettable (September), that terrify (October), that are classic (November) and holiday moments (December).
Product releases will be supported by publicity events, national advertising and retail specific promotions. Exact title configurations, packaging and release dates for “A Year Of A Million Moments” Blu-ray and DVD releases will be confirmed separately.
TCFHE has launched a dedicated Web site that will feature information about upcoming Blu-ray and DVD products and promotions tied to the million moments campaign.
Each month 16 films will face off for the title of “Best Movie Moment.” Consumers can vote each month for their favorite moment and enter for a chance to win a package of some of the most iconic and memorable movies from Fox.
What’s Your Movie Moment? Find out which movie moment you’re most like and become a part of it. Upload your photo and share with others in the gallery of movie moments.
Win $1 Million Fox is giving away $1 million in celebration of “A Year Of A Million Moments.” Codes found on specially marked Blu-ray and DVD product can be entered for a chance for one lucky consumer to become an instant millionaire.
It’s the Day Before Christmas and all through the family room the TV is showing holiday fare. So what is your favorite Christmas movie? Alonso Durlade’s new book, HAVE YOURSELF A MOVIE CHRISTMAS, has a great list of things to watch that fit in the tradition of the season – but we’re guerssing you might not think of them as “Christmas Movies”! And he has great trivia about some of your favortite films, too – sharing it right here with us! Plus it’s our ANNIVERSARY!
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Founded by Cap’n Slappy and Ol’ Chumbucket in 1996, International Talk Like A Pirate Day is celebrated today, the 19th of September here and abroad. The two mates began talking like buccaneers one day, and thanks to some promotion from Dave Barry, we can now all share in this truly amazing holiday.
So, today, unlike any other day in the year, you’re allowed to yell “Avast, ye matey!” when you see your friend at Buffalo Wild Wings. You may refer to the waitress as “a soddy lass” or “a buxom wench”. When you order your wings, you can dust off some phrases like “Ahoy! I’ll ‘ave the cap’n’s order of yer finest wings, and a enough grog to make me loaded to the Gunwales!” And when the waitress gives you the stank eye for speaking pirate, bang your fist on the table and say “By the powers! You land-lubber lass…I said get me a plunder of wings and ale, lest I and me mates turn this table over and make you walk the plank!”
If you still need a little hint or two on how to talk like a pirate, you should double up on your adjectives. Instead of calling your last issue of Brightest Day a “waste of my time”, you can say its “a stinking, rotten waste of me time, arrrrgh!”. Another hint would be to use ‘I be’ instead ‘I am’, and drop your G’s and V’s. That way when you declare “I be throwin’ you this issue of X-Men, and I be wantin’ a refund!” the store clerk will give you a knowing glance.
Tip of our pirate hat to the the fine folks at yarr.org, for gettin’ us up to speed on this momentous day. Now if you’ll excuse us, we need to go put on our peg legs, and hoist our sails on for Ford Explorarrrrrgh!
By Tony Isabella
Krause Publications, 272 pages. $29.99 retail.
I want to publicly thank Tony Isabella for taking on a task that is as courageous as it is, well, thankless. It’s hard to imagine a more difficult and a more controversial chore than recommending only 1000 comic
books you must read.
This shows you how clever Tony is. First of all, he recruited over 130 people to make suggestions, including me as well as a good chunk of the state of Ohio – past and present (Harlan Ellison and Maggie Thompson are and will always be honorary Ohioans). Second, instead of arranging them numerically, an act that would guarantee his assassination at the 2010 Mid-Ohio Con (although this would make for a good panel), he arranged everything by decade. Brilliant.
This book is, above and beyond everything else, great fun.
There are hundreds of books you’d expect, and even more that you might not. Of those, the ones you’ve read will make you go “oh, sure, of course.” Those you haven’t read – probably the awesome Jingle Jangle Comics, or Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein – you should. Don’t worry: the way stuff’s being reprinted, it’s just a matter of time.
Each choice is covered by the appropriate publishing and talent credits as well as a nice clean reproduction of the cover, along with Tony’s accompanying paragraph explaining what and why. To his overwhelming credit, Tony does not emphasize superheroes and heroic fantasy – Archie, Harvey, and Charlton get their due, and the various genres such as humor, children’s, and romance are well-covered.
The tome is well-designed and not the least bit pompous.
When Tony told me he had taking on this project, he headed me off by saying he was, obviously, crazy. Well, having poured over 1,000 Comic Books You Must Read, I’ve got to say “not so much, Tony. Maybe just a little bit.”
You’ll love it. It’ll make an excellent holiday present.
For any holiday. Go buy it.
The Devil Ate My Blintzes, an illustrated poem,
tells the story of Goldie and Gus, who live in Dogpatch-like bliss and
sell “blintzes and wheel alignment” as well as “chicken soup and
transmission fluid.” The trouble (and fun) starts when the Devil finds
out about Goldie’s delicious blintzes and all hell breaks loose.
Do the forces of Evil and Destruction triumph over the forces of Goodness and Pot Cheese Filling?
Yep, it’s that time of year again, it’s International Talk Like A Pirate Day, an important holiday in the Church Of The Flying Spaghetti Monster. Extra points if you conduct your Rosh Hashanah services while talking like a pirate.
If you need pointers, watch this:
In honor of this sacred day, I’m curling up with a bottle of rum.
While we’re inundated with good, classic and fairly crappy Christmas specials, we here at ComicMix take note of what we think may be the first holiday special surrounding Three Kings Day, a.k.a Little Christmas, of the day when the three kings arrive to see the newborn baby.
Nickelodeon will air its Dora Saves Three Kings Day, on Tuesday, January 6, at 8 p.m. We’re not sure how Dora the Explorer will accomplish this miracle but Nick wants to make sure we’re all aware of the impending event with the following planned:
• A two-minute sneak peek at the episode and clips from a song from the show, along with additional episodes, will stream on Nick Jr. Video from Monday, December 29. The entire episode will be available on Nickjr.com from January 7.
• The two-minute sneak peek, song and episode clips from the episode will be available on various wireless carriers also from December 29.
• Nickelodeon on Demand will offer a sneak peek, shorts and song clips from the episode, as well as additional Dora episodes Throughout January.
Los Angeles, CA February 1, 2011 – Today, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (TCFHE) kicked off a 12-month marketing, promotions, publicity and media campaign, “A Year Of A Million Moments,” to celebrate its robust catalog of movies made memorable, quotable, and unforgettable by the people who watch and embrace them. 
, 
Founded by Cap’n Slappy and Ol’ Chumbucket in 1996, International Talk Like A Pirate Day is celebrated today, the 19th of September here and abroad. The two mates began talking like buccaneers one day, and thanks to some promotion from Dave Barry, we can now all share in this truly amazing holiday. 
While we’re inundated with good, classic and fairly crappy Christmas specials, we here at ComicMix take note of what we think may be the first holiday special surrounding Three Kings Day, a.k.a Little Christmas, of the day when the three kings arrive to see the newborn baby.
