How to Animate Film Cartoons signed by Preston Blair

As an illustrator and animator, I have always had a copy of the Walter Foster publication How to Animate Film Cartoons by Preston Blair on hand. I've used the illustrations and exercises within countless times for myself and my students when I teach animation to kids.

So imagine my surprise when a recent trip to the local Goodwill 'Bargain Barn' yielded this: Not only did I find an older printing than my 17 year old copy, but this one was signed by Preston Blair himself!

How to Animate Film Cartoons signed on the cover (and inside the book too) by Preston Blair!

Now I know most people could care less about this as most people wouldn't recognize the name. But chances are you've seen Mr. Blair's animation work: Fantasia, Bambi, The Flintstones, the list goes on and on. Oh yeah, then there's this sequence too:

Yup, Mr. Blair is the animator responsible for 'Red Hot Riding Hood' etc. - the gals that made the Wolf go ga-ga and made a hero out of Droopy, and pretty much inspired every cheesecake drawing I've ever done myself. Which is a few.

So finding this book, signed, at the Bargain Barn - a place where the stuff that doesn't sell in the Goodwill stores gets piled in massive bins and sells by the pound  before being incinerated (I hope, man there is some JUNK there!) - was a real lucky score indeed, and I can't help but find it more than amazing that a guy like myself, who would actually appreciate this thing, found it and was able to rescue it one small step before the landfill.

Domo Arigato Mr. Cyborg-o

I found this larger-than-standard Cyborg action figure at a school flea market this past weekend. For fifty cents I couldn't pass him up!

Amazingly he's in near perfect condition with only a couple small scratches. He was a little dirty when I found him but cleaned up nice and easily.

Teen Titans action figures are relatively hard to come by and I am always surprised when I find them, and I try to snag them when I see one in good condition (and selling for cheap!)

I have amassed a modest amount of standard sized figures (mostly for my daughter) but this is my first over-sized figure. Cyborg here is about 5" tall. Released as 'Action Sound Cyborg,' this guy has a button on his chest and makes sounds of some sort (apparently he says 'Booyah!,) but the batteries are long dead and slightly corroded and needed to be thrown out asap. I don't know if the sound feature still works, but at least the 'button' is part of the character's design, so it isn't an obnoxious and useless when batteries are dead add-on.

Cyborg here is a solid figure with great articulation; he reminds me a lot of the current Ninja Turtles offerings. Well built, solid, durable, a great cartoon accurate design, and ready for play!

Did I say 'durable'?

"Medic! Mechanic! BOTH!"

Oh wait - he's supposed to do that!

I found Cyborg in a box of random toys with nothing else worth grabbing. I almost passed up looking in a second box because another guy was digging enthusiastically into it and seemed like he'd be there a while (the box didn't appear to contain anything I cared for anyways.) But when he suddenly stepped away, and since the Mrs. was still perusing clothes or some other nonsense, I decided to give the second box a quick dig-through.

I'm glad I did, because buried deep inside I found this:

Cyborg's gun arm!

Not being terribly familiar with these figures, I didn't even realize this was something I should have been looking for! Luckily I stumbled onto it.

"I know what you're thinking...did he fire five fingers or only four...?"

Action Sound Cyborg also originally came with a small Titans communicator, but I didn't see it in the box and am sure it is long lost (also...who cares. I have his gun-arm!) And who needs to call the Teen Titans anyways when they're now a member of the Justice League!

Be sure to click over and check out my smaller scale Teen Titans Cyborg I reviewed years ago, who also would have had an alternate arm but unfortunately I didn't find it at the time. Fortunately, he happened to already be wearing his gun-arm!

Also check out more pics of Action Sounds Cyborg when reviewed brand new over at RTM.

Finally, check out this fun little Teen Titans Go! short from DC nation:

Harley Qwednesday :: Harley Quinn and Harlequin!

Last year I asked Jeff of 'Inside Jeff Overturf's Head' to draw me a Harley Quinn cartoon. He obliged, but it took him a while to get around to it (which is totally fine, as an artist myself I probably owe lots of people promised drawings from years past too!)

The delay was perhaps Kismet. For given recent reveals over at DC Comics, Jeff was able to come up with the perfect punchline to his comic which combined Harley Quinn, Harlequin, and of course old Jeffy himself!

Thanks Jeff, now it's my turn to draw your request. I'll try to have it done before 2013! ;)

Catwoman Purrrsday :: Robin cops a feel!

At least it appears so in this screen grab from 'The Nine Lives of Batman' as spotted over at Superhero Shows.

Poisunday Ivy :: Super Best Friends Forever

Now THIS is a Poison Ivy design I can dig. (I was going to say 'get behind' but I don't need your filthy filthy minds sullying the comments section!)

Too cute!

Poison Ivy makes an all too brief appearance on last week's Super Best Friends Forever animated short.



via Superhero Shows

Thunder Thunder Thundercats Hooooo-hum.

Well here it is kids, your first look at the all new Thundercats from the upcoming new cartoon, slated to air some time this year (2011) on Cartoon network.

Not perfect, but not too bad I guess. We'll just have to see how it plays out on screen.

I loved the original Thundercats cartoon back in the day, and I'll give this one a shot. Although the original Cheetarah was way sexier. Hopefully some cool toys are released too.

via MTV Geek.

Avengers vs. GI Joe

I am loving the new cartoon series Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. After decades of being in the shadow of DC, finally Marvel does an animated series right. Avengers takes all that was great about Justice League Unlimited in terms of scope and story, but of course is rocking the Marvel Universe. And like JLU, Avengers packs tons and tons of superheroes and villains into almost every episode. The comic book eye candy alone is worth the price of admission.

I am more of a DC guy than a Marvel guy, so a lot of the subordinate characters are either new to me or I'm only barely aware of, which is a fun change of pace since my DC knowledge is pretty encyclopedic.

But beyond the Marvel Universe, the recent episode 'Gammaworld Part 2' featured a cameo I did recognize and was surprised as hell to see:

Piloting a helicopter and attempting to subdue the Hulk is none other than Wild Bill of GI Joe fame!

Okay so he never says 'Hi, I'm Wild Bill of GI Joe fame. Now you know...and knowing is half the battle!' but if that ain't Wild Bill I'll eat his hat!

Stuff like this makes me all giddy inside. Thank you to whomever was involved in bringing this little Easter Egg to the Avengers cartoon.

And if you haven't already seen them or need to watch again to catch Wild Bill's cameo, you can watch parts one and two of Gammaworld at Marvel.com

A Funeral "Durge" for Eyes Gone Blind...

In 2003, Cartoon Network released a "micro-series" of cartoon shorts about the Star Wars Clone Wars. Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky (most notably responsible for the unbelievably awesome Samurai Jack,) these mini cartoons were sweet little action-packed space-balls of fun.

An action figure line was also released in conjunction with the series. I believe it was a Target exclusive series, and was limited to only four or five figures. It was really more of a "staction-figure" line, as the figures tended to be elaborately posed and very limited in articulation. They were designed in the highly stylized look of the Clone Wars cartoons, and were essentially mini-maquettes.

Of the few characters released, the hands-down best figure from the line is Durge:


Another Star Wars Universe type armored (and armed) space villain, Durge looks like an old Knight of the Round Table, complete with removable jousting lance.


His proportions are very similar to Bruce Timm's designs for the Batman, Superman and Justice League cartoons. His figure is about the same size as those toys too, and posed in the same basic stance, so he displays well with them.


Durge has articulation at the base of his helmet, at mid-torso, at the shoulders, and at the wrists. No leg articulation makes him difficult to stand, but he did come with a base so I guess that makes up for it.


He also has a little jet pack for high flyin' fun!


Made of a harder plastic than most action figures, and painted in a matte finish, Durge looks as though he stepped straight off the screen!


I know nothing more about this character other than what was shown in the cartoon shorts, which is very little. And you know what? I've realized, That's what's missing from most of today's "Star Wars."

Part of the magic of the Star Wars universe was always the mystery. Sadly, there's no mystery anymore. Everything has been explained to death. Lucas and his ilk have concentrated so hard on backtracking in order to give reason to every little detail, they have forgotten how much fun it is to NOT know. I wish I never found out who Boba Fett really was, or who built C3PO, or how Luke and Leia were separated. Or at least, in the "answering," I wish some new mysteries could have been created. Midichlorians? Bah Humbug!

And with that I leave you with a little bit of Durge from The Clone Wars Chapter 8, because everything about these cartoons is awesome:

Toot Toot!

Here's something you don't see every day - a Corgi model that actually looks like it's cartoon inspiration!

This Popeye boat is beautiful, and Popeye actually looks like Popeye! Bonus!

The boat doesn't quite look like any boat I ever saw Popeye in though, but I'll forgive Corgi for that one.

Apple-core batteries to power - Trash bins to speed!

This Corgi casting is from 1980. It's amazing how off-model these Corgi character cars were - Tom (of Tom and Jerry fame) looks more like a skinny guy in tights with a cat head than the beloved housecat he is supposed to represent.

The car design is actually quite clever - as if Tom made a car out of old junk (like crutches and a trash can.) Although such a concept is more apropos of Fat Albert than Tom and Jerry, it's still a very cool little toy.