Illustration/Illustration Design

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The Good, the Bad and the Funny

June 22, 2011 in Entertainment, Illustration/Illustration Design, Motion media design, Sequential Art | Permalink

by Jeremy Kahn

For those not aware (or maybe you are and are just smart enough to avoid it) WB has recently put on the air waves a new Looney Tunes series (or some animated series that just happens to star the Looney Tunes cast). Now, before this so-called Looney Tunes Show aired, there were three theatrical shorts released in preparations for the series. These three shorts stared Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner and were rendered in 3D animation. These shorts were pretty well received and gave a good throwback to the original shorts of the same name. For those curious, during The Looney Tunes Show, every now and then similar Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner shorts are played.

Now here is where things get interesting. As part of this Looney Tunes revival, WB will be releasing another three shorts to theatres. The first of such has been confirmed to be appearing in front of Happy Feet Two (hey, I can think of way worse things to put it in front of, *cough*Yogi*cough*Bear**cough*). Truth be told, I’ve actually been planning to see this movie anyway, so this is a great added bonus.

Okay, time for the good parts. Two of the three shorts will feature Mel Blanc voicing the lead character roles. You heard right. WB is using some old songs Mel Blanc recorded, and animating them. The two songs that were selected for this special treatment are “Daffy’s Rhapsody” and “I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat“.

I remember first listening to “Daffy’s Rhapsody” on a Dr. Demento record I had, then eventually a set of CDs I got of the same name. Now I actually have both these as well as “I’m Glad I’m Bugs Bunny” on my iPod. I know ever since I first heard these my old Dr. Demento records and cds I always imagined them being animated someday. While I’m glad to see this finally happen, and with Mel Blanc’s voice recordings still in tact, I just wish they would have used traditional animation.

For those interested, you can purchase both songs through Amazon MP3 download.
“I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat“.

“Daffy’s Rhapsody”

Image Source: http://www.cartoonbrew.com/wp-content/uploads/Daffys_Rhapsody.jpg

Blast to the Past Special Edition – Adolf, Volume 1: A Tale of the Twentieth Century

June 22, 2011 in Entertainment, Illustration/Illustration Design, Sequential Art | Permalink

by Jeremy Kahn

Osamu Tezuka’s Adolf, Volume 1: A Tale of the Twentieth Century was first released back in 1995 by Cadence Books (not to be confused with Cadence Designs) tells the fictional story of three people named Adolf who lived during WWII. Just to note, Cadence Books is an imprint of Viz Media. The three characters represented are a Jewish man named Adolf Kamil, a half German and half Japanese man named Adolf Kaufmann, and Adolf Hitler. The story itself is one of mystery and suspense. The first volume, the one I’ll be focusing on here, starts off with a murder case. A reporter finds himself caught up in a conspiracy revolving around a secret note that could bring an end to the war.

The artwork itself breaks away from Tezuka’s innocent character designs that many are familiar with. Instead, he uses a style that reflects the dark times represented in the book. Look no further than his Apollo’s Song for examples of the style being presented. Just because the characters are more realistic and being used in more down-to- earth situations, doesn’t mean there isn’t some comedic effect or a cartoony style. There’s just less than you would see if you were reading say, Astro Boy, or Princess Knight.

Another great tidbit is with every volume there is a forward introducing the manga as well as getting readers familiar with the history of the events presented within. As many fans know, Tezuka was working at a factory not to far from where one of the bombings happened, so he had personal firsthand experience with the effects of war. Tezuka was against violence, and tried to express this through his works. He went on to express this by saying “What I try to say through my works is simple… just a simple message that follows: ‘Love all the creatures! Love everything that has life!’ I have been trying to express this message in every one of my works.”

Works like Adolf are meant to be seen as a lesson. To expose the ugly truth about the horrors and terror of war and violence. Once we learn that, then we can obtain a peaceful life. That is what I believe is meant be Tezuka’s message.

We'll miss you Speed Racer by Jeremy Kahn

July 16, 2010 in Entertainment, Illustration/Illustration Design, Motion media design, Sequential Art | No comments

On July 15 Peter Fernandez passed away at age 83. Well known for opening the flow of anime into western culture, he helped bring over and dub such cult hits as Astroboy, Speed Racer (Mach Go Go Go), Marine Boy, and many others. He is best known as the voice of Speed Racer and Racer X.

When asked to dub Speed Racer he was given a budget for three people of 125 dollars for one day. In other words, he could only hire and pay three people 125 dollars each and must complete one full episode per day. Since each episode had to be dubbed, this meant translating the script into English and recoding all voice production in one day.

Recently, Fernandez performed in a cameo as Spritle in the “Speed Racer” movie and voiced the character again in “Speed Racer: Next Generation.”

Over the years, Fernandez also worked as the voice director for “Courage the Cowardly Dog” and cast Billie Lou Watt as the character Ma Bagge. Watt had done many voice acting jobs for Peter Fernandez before voicing Astro Boy and Jimmy Sparks from Gigantor throughout the 60’s.

The animation community sends the family and friends of Mr. Fernandez their condolences.