Tagged: Sesame Street

Monday Mix-Up: The Muppets in ‘Spider-Monster: The Musical’!

Monday Mix-Up: The Muppets in ‘Spider-Monster: The Musical’!

It’s not really Monday anymore, but this is way too good to let wait.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR1DdMeVqTw[/youtube]

Yes, it’s short… it’s still in previews. You’ll see the full thing in the fall, but you won’t see it on Broadway– only on Sesame Street as it starts its 42nd season. I can’t wait!

 

A Clockwork Orange

What Literature Should Become Comics?

A Clockwork OrangeBookExpo America, the largest industry convention for publishers, booksellers, librarians, and other folks in the industry, runs at the Javits Center in New York this week. It’s often used as a stalking ground for movie and TV studios to snap up properties for adaptations, so one wonders– what books should be adapted into comics form, and by who?

There have been a number of interesting translations over the years. The biggest success story of the past few years have included Darwyn Cooke’s adaptations of Richard Stark’s [[[The Hunter]]] and [[[The Outfit]]] and Marvel’s adaptations of Stephen King’s [[[The Dark Tower]]] by Peter David and Jae Lee, but there have been many others, from the recent adaptations of Ayn Rand’s [[[Anthem]]], Marvel’s [[[Wizard of Oz]]] and [[[Ender’s Game]]], Dynamite’s adaptations of Robert Jordan’s [[[The Wheel Of Time]]], BOOM!’s [[[Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep]]], longevity champion [[[Conan The Barbarian]]] which has been adapted and extended for over forty years, and reaching all the way back to [[[Classics Illustrated]]], which was your parents’ version of Cliffs Notes and Sesame Street.

More tantalizing are the versions that haven’t been made yet. Phil Foglio and Matt Howarth did their own version of the introduction to Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s [[[Good Omens]]], and Phil had already adapted the first book of [[[Myth Adventures]]] by Robert Asprin. Now we have Kevin Colden ([[[Fishtown]]]) showing his proof-of-concept for his version of Anthony Burgess’s [[[A Clockwork Orange]]]. Click through to see the first few pages.

What adaptations would you like to see? And by who? [[[American Psycho]]] by Bill Sienkiewicz, or maybe Howard Chaykin? [[[Catcher In The Rye]]] by Dean Haspiel or Evan Dorkin? [[[The Great Gatsby]]] by P. Craig Russell? John Ostrander writing [[[The Thin Man]]], or Mike W. Barr writing [[[Ellery Queen]]]? Personally, I’d love to see Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely take a crack at [[[Brave New World]]]

Muppet Wizard of Id pilot

Monday Mix-Up: ‘The Wizard of Id’ meets The Muppets!

Muppet Wizard of Id pilotIn the late 1960s, Jim Henson and cartoonist Johnny Hart teamed up to produce a pilot for a TV series based on Hart’s and Brant Parker comic strip The Wizard of Id. According to the Henson Company blog, the response was pretty positive, but by the time ABC made the decision to move on it in 1970, Henson had already moved on himself to work on Sesame Street.

Take a look and see what you think. Although it does remind me a bit of King Friday XIII from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, it works suprisingly well, doesn’t it?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDeAuq44XKQ[/youtube]

Hat tip: cartoonbrew.

Review: ‘Henson’s Place’

Review: ‘Henson’s Place’

I miss Jim Henson. I recall sitting in my home office and hearing the stunning news that the puppeteer had unexpectedly passed away. All I could think of were the movies and television shows that we would never see, the voice of Kermit the Frog growing silent. As it is, every time the family watches the [[[Muppet Christmas Special]]], I sigh at the end when he makes a cameo appearance.

Henson was a gentle, creative man, but in the documentary, [[[Henson’s Place]]], he’s also described as a having a “steely will” and he needed that to bring his creations to life and before the public. The 52-minute show was produced for airing in Wales in 1984 and has played on PBS here in the states. Today, Lionsgate releases the documentary on DVD. It’s a frozen moment in time, six years before his untimely passing, but well after he had begun to create new families of Muppets as seen in the feature film [[[The Dark Crystal]]] and on HBO in [[[Fraggle Rock]]]. It was a creatively satisfying and commercially successful period.

Julia McKenzie narrates the show and conducts the interviews, tracing Henson’s life from his early years to the beginning of his puppetry in the 1950s on [[[Sam and Friends]]] and Wilkins commercials. Rare clips of early Muppets and initial incarnations of Kermit, Animal and others are seen and I wish there was more of this fertile period seen. We suddenly jump a decade to the arrival of [[[Sesame Street]]] and Henson’s critical involvement in the show’s creation and success.

Lord Lew Grade spoke about how he was willing to invest in Henson’s idea for a television series, after all three American networks foolishly passed on the concept. He recalled how everything was done with a handshake including when he asked Henson if the rumors of his wanting to make a movie were true. When the artist confirmed this, Grade extended his hand and told him this was good for a two picture deal.

Henson talked about how different aspects of his shy personality were given the spotlight in his different characters with additional commentary from , Jane Henson, Frank Oz, Michael Frith, Joan Ganz Cooney, Jerry Juhl, and David Lazer. He also spoke frankly about the merchandising blitz of the time, which helped fund the research and development, allowing Henson and company to create new characters and worlds.

The documentary is supplemented by a video version of [[[The Amphibian 1985/86: The Jim Henson Company Yearbook]]], the 30th anniversary edition. Michael Firth provides a lengthy introduction explaining the importance of these yearbooks as a way of honoring everyone who contributed to the Muppets and Henson Associates’ success. The next twenty minutes are a lingering look, page by page, of the yearbook.

All that is missing from this loving tribute disc is anything covering the end of Henson’s career and his lasting legacy. Everything stops in the 1980s while the Muppets have had their ups and downs ever since. Their ongoing story deserves coverage as well.

Found On The Web: People At Parks, Super Hero Edition 2, Electric Boogaloo

Found On The Web: People At Parks, Super Hero Edition 2, Electric Boogaloo

As found over at People @ Parks…


After years of badgering wandering kids on Sesame Street, Big Bird and Snuffy had enough. Thanks to a connection they had through Jim Henson’s workshop (trust us, it’s like six degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon) they got a hold of a phantom zone projector. With the projector in tow, Big Bird and Snuffy confronted Oscar about his general grouchiness around perspective customers kids.

Swipe File: Simone & Ajax and… Sesame Street?

Swipe File: Simone & Ajax and… Sesame Street?

First, we have Simone and Ajax as detectives trying to find… the Maltese Duck:

and then we have Bert and Ernie (or some bizarre clay figures that sorta look and sound like them) as detectives trying to find… the Maltese Duck!

Coincidence, you say? Hah! Then how do you explain that the person hiring Bert and Ernie is a sheep… just like a sheep hired Simone and Ajax in the story the case files call On The Lamb (or the Case of the Felonious Fleece)?!?

But don’t take our word for it (as if you would), find out for yourself! Purchase The Adventures of Simone & Ajax, available for pre-order now at Amazon or available in this month’s Diamond catalog from IDW.

And check out the newest Simone and Ajax adventure, A Christmas Caper, serialized weekly here on ComicMix!

Happy 40th birthday, Sesame Street!

On this day in 1969, the National Educational Television network premiered a show from the Children’s Television Workshop, with songs, animation, Bob McGrath, Loretta Long, Caroll Spinney, Carol Burnett, and Muppets.

Forty years later, Sesame Street has become the longest running American children’s program, having helped educate generations of children worldwide. And Bob McGrath, Loretta Long (Susan) and Caroll Spinney (Big Bird and Oscar) are still there. (Think of it– 40 years as an 8 foot tall bird.)

The effect of the show is so powerful and widespread, this song made it up to #16 on the Billboard charts in 1970:

Make sure you catch the season premiere today, with special guest Michelle Obama. Check your local PBS station for times and listings– or (sign of the times) get the Sesame Street podcast on Sesame Street - Sesame Street Podcast - Sesame Street Podcast.

Webcomics You Should Have Read: ‘The Parking Lot Is Full’

Webcomics You Should Have Read: ‘The Parking Lot Is Full’

I beg of you, gentle ComicMix readers… take a journey with me back in time. Step one? Dust off a pair of “wide leg” jeans. Don your favorite pair of Airwalk low-tops. Grow your hair out a little, and put a Pearl Jam Compact Disk into your brand new Diskman. Step Two? Power up your personal computer. You know the one, with that brand new Intel Pentium chip the kids all talk about. Fire up that 14.4 Baud Modem, and hop on that newfangled ‘Information Super-Highway’. Welcome to 1993 folks! Now that you’re here, you should check out a little known webcomic called “The Parking Lot Is Full”.

The brief history on said comic comes from it’s own tombstone, procured from their site instead of that wiki-pedia thing you “next-gen users” all like so much…

 

“From 1993 – 2002, The Parking Lot is Full was the comic strip love child of artist Jack McLaren and writer Pat Spacek. Starting as crude little strips published in their university newspaper, the comic quickly took on a life of its own, eventually becoming one of the most popular and infamous comic strips on the internet. After nine years of ups and downs, the creators decided that they’d said everything they wanted to say, so the comic was wrapped up and all the toys put away.”

 

What made ‘PLIF’ (get used to this folks, cause “The Parking Lot Is Full” takes a while to type) so enjoyable was it’s fascinating combination of Gary Larsen-esque illustrations combined with sharp writing and a touch of the macabre. Unlike several previous recommendations here on ComicMix, ‘PLIF’ had no continuity really to follow. Yes, there are a few reoccurring sock puppets in the later half of the series, but there’s no backstory to follow (well, anymore…). And to be honest, the really juicy strips are true non-sequiturs.

I’ll be frank, folks, this strip features some of the most laugh-out-loud-but-frankly-I-shouldn’t-be-laughing strips I’ve had the pleasure to read for free on the ‘inter-webs’. There’s no need for lengthy exposition on the progression of the art; It’s crude, in gray tones, and unpolished as my car in February. There’s no need to wax poetic about the subject matter; Generally ‘PLIF’ stuck to a cycle of topics including childhood, sex, religion, and conspiracy theories (sometimes in the same strip!). Simply put, if the ‘Far-Side’ was rolled through a plate of broken glass, you’d have “PLIF”. Suffice to say the content can disturb as much as it can inspire fits of laughter… and that’s what I appreciate about it. Now to the cream of the crop (…ahem. WARNING. These Strips Are Not Suitable For Children, and most adults now that I think of it):

 

Well, this settles an age old debate.
Safe Sex, by PLIF
A Failed Experiment, by Ray Croc.
"I fell out of my chair the first time I saw this"… said my roomate.
You know it’d be true.
A lesson from the Street… Sesame Street.
If this Pre-Dates Animal Man, Grant Morrison should be worried.

So there you have it folks. Kick off the Airwalks, swap that Diskman for an iPod, and plug back into a nice cable modem. This trip back in time is over. Sadly, there is no more strips to be had after you’ve been through their archive. Do yourself a favor though… buy a collection of them in printed form from the ‘PLIF’ store, and show your support for those who dared release this evil into the world.

The Breakdown:

Drama: Well, this is kinda’ dramatic…

Humor: If you don’t find this funny, maybe you’ll find this funny.

Continuity: There’s some Sock Puppets that show up from time to time.

Art: It’s grey, it’s crude, and it’s wonderfully morbid when it needs to be.

Archive: From 1993-2002, you’re looking at quite a few strips. It looks like they didn’t update but several times a month at best… never the less, if you troll through it all, it’s a solid hour or two of fun.

Updates: Unless you suffer from that condition where you still believe it’s 1993-2002… alas, there is no more ‘PLIF’ to be had.

Risk/Reward: As always… it’s free… so there’s little risk involved. Unless you consider reading a strip like this to be dangerous. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Yo Gabba Gabba! Coming to the Big Screen

gabba gabbaIt looks like those, like myself, in love with the children’s show Yo Gabba Gabba! will be enjoying your favorite monsters on the big screen. According to producer Charles Rivkin, there is currently a confirmed plan for a feature film. Seeing as how Pee Wee’s Playhouse can stem three films, there’s no reason why a bunch of monsters and a robot can’t.

For those who have yet to experience then madness which is Yo Gabba Gabba, a children’s show on Nickelodeon airing in the time that people over 20 probably aren’t watching television, let me explain. Imagine Sesame Street meets Electric Company meets Pee Wee’s Playhouse but done by pop culture nerds and filled with bizarre celebrity cameos. The show is about DJ Lance Rock, a man in a bright orange jumpsuit with a boom box full of action figures that come to life. Each of these action figures are colorful monsters (and a robot) with the intellect of toddlers who learn a lesson or two throughout each episode.

If you are thinking to yourself "Why would I care about a kid’s show?" Well, its not just a show for kids, folks. Right off the bat with the name; it’s taken from the Ramone’s chant "Gabba Gabba Hey", which itself pays tribute to the 1932 film Freaks. The show is produced and created by lead singer of The Aquabats Christian Jacobs and his partner Scott Schultz. The show also has some pretty mind-blowing cameos for a children’s show. Hosting the segment "Mark’s Magic Pictures" is Mark Mothersbaugh from Devo, while Biz Markie stops by for the "Beat Box of the Day". Season one had some impressive cameos as well from Tony Hawk, to The Shins, to Elijah Wood and kicking off season two, other names like Jack Black, Amy Sedaris and 30 Rock‘s Jack McBrayer are scheduled to make an appearance. Catch or DVR the show weekdays at 11:30am EST on Nickelodeon.

Random Video: Iron Man Meets Sesame Street

Random Video: Iron Man Meets Sesame Street

I’m not exactly sure what to make of this video mash-up of the pinball "counting song" from the children’s television series Sesame Street and clips from both old and new versions of the Iron Man cartoons — all I know is that it’s catchy.

 

 

I also know that it will now be stuck in your head, too.