'Yahzaa!'
   The Amazing Adrenalini
Brothers are here...

     The newly-launched CBBC channel are to broadcast 10 of the brothers
     most heart-stopping, mind-bending performances on TV and on the web
     over the coming weeks. These 2'30" films have been produced using Flash
     software. They're short enough to download swiftly in your web browser, but
     long enough on humour to thrive on TV too...

     In 'High Dive Of Doom!', poor Enk finds himself up, up, and away
     above a spectacularly small pool of water. 'Monster Of Mayhem!' finds
     our trio on the run from a hungry dinosaur. 'Volcano Of Venom!' features
     some lava-ly fun with volcanoes, whilst 'Wings of Destiny!' is the Dick
     Dastardly tribute which sees the trio at the helm of three wild stunt
     planes. And that's just four of 'em...

     The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers films have been produced by David Hodgson
     and Claire Underwood, the partnership of Pesky working in tandem with
     award-winning comedy team The POX. The series marks a turning point in
     Pesky's world. Previously, Pesky produced Flash-based commercials work
     and web-based wonders for OnDigital, the BBC and more. The POX, meanwhile,
     are an award-winning comedy trio who previously brought us the simple,
     but infectious delights of 'The Pygmy Shrew'. More recently, they've been
     writing for Toonhound fave, 'Aaaagh! - It's The Mr Hell Show' and the
     forthcoming 'Bounty Hamster' series, amongst other things. These two
     talented teams met up early in 2001 during development of the animated
     game show 'Stress Maniacs', which aired as part of Channel 4’s Animation
     Zone series. The POX showed Pesky some Adrenalini ideas and an
     infectiously adventurous series of shorts were born.

     Or something like that. Of course, there was a lot of hard work and
     development required bringing the brothers to life. Not least unearthing
     the background history and detail for a little-known European state
     called Rendoosia....
     ___________________________________________________________________

          

     Rendoosia lurks somewhere in the dark heart of Eastern Europe, in an
     indefinable no-mans-land, frequently overlooked by modern cartographers,
     or indeed even discernable by cartographers with over-sized magnifying
     glasses. But it's there, none the less as the Adrenalini credits prove...

     Not much is known about the place, apart from the fact that its flag has
     a flaming hole in the middle. Xan, Adi and Enk aren't the most forthcoming
     of individuals either, nor the most translatable. They gabble to one
     another in the Rendoosian tongue with ne'er a scholar able to actually
     decipher their words. But we can get the gist of things...

     Actually, in spite of all the gobbledygook, we do know that the written form
     of Rendoosian is actually based on a real-life Slavic font. Examples of its
     crazy, squiggled symbols can be found on the cue cards for each film.      
     As Producer David Hodgson reveals in our Poxing Pesky Q&A, there are
     plans to get to grips with the language in a Rendoosian phrasebook - but I'm
     not sure we really want to know what those brothers are actually saying to
     one another!

     Catch up with The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers on the official CBBC site:
     http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/cartoons/adrenalinis/

     And for more on the talent behind the films go here:
     http://www.pesky.com/
     http://www.pox.co.uk

     But wait up! - Hold on! - Check our The Hound's exsclusive Q&A first:
     http://www.toonhound.com/poxpesky.htm

    ____________________________________________________________________

         

      Has it been a year already? - You may recall last July The Hound
      passed on news of Watch With Mother classic Andy Pandy returning
      to the BBC via Cosgrove Hall. Well now it's here and brilliant on new
      kids channel CBBC with a terrestrial screening to follow. Like Bill & Ben
      before it Cosgrove Hall have done a beautiful job rejigging and
      recreating a classic for modern viewers, with all-new stop motion character
      designs, theme tune and the rest. Crikey, do the Cosgrove boys and
      girls ever put a foot wrong?

      For more on the original classic production, try our Andy Pandy page.
      And someone who gets all the Cosgrove news as it breaks is Laura, at
      Cosgrove Hall Ate My Brain - a very fine fansite, is this one:

      http://www.nyanko.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/chamb/

     ___________________________________________________________________
      
        

      There certainly won't be if the latest Modesty Blaise script actually
      gets into production. Ever since Quentin 'Reservoir Dogs' Tarantino
      bought the US rights to this classic strip there's been talk about his
      involvement with a new Modesty Blaise film. Now the word is that the
      writers of Batman Forever, Lee and Janet Scott Batchler will be penning
      the new script for the mighty Miramax, with ne'er a whiff of Mr T in the air.

      'My Name Is Modesty' is set to be the first feature in an ongoing series,
      if it clicks with the public. As yet there's no word on the casting - will our
      Ms Blaise be portrayed by a Brit? And no word either on the sexual content
      of the proposed feature. When Tarantino first bought the rights he was very
      open about his notion of making the film as raunchy and 'R' rated as possible...

      Modesty Blaise has reached our screens before, of course, in Joseph
      Losey's 1966 adaptation starring the delectable Monica Vitti, Terence Stamp
      and other Brit stars. Critics weren't particularly impressed with the production,
      but - hey - the poster art was terrific, at least. So what of this new version?
      Well, I'm not sure of the choice of scriptwriters, and with no word on the
      talent involved behind or in front of the camera the jury can only remain
      out for the time being. Keep your ear to the ground for more. Meanwhile,
      the original Ms Blaise in indexed on her own page here...

     ___________________________________________________________________

        

      Another follow up story for you now: Remember last year all that
      spiel about a brand-spanking new launch for the evergreen Mr Dare?
      Well the fruits of these loins have finally blossomed in the form of
      'Dan Dare - Pilot Of The Future' a red-hot CGI series from the Dan
      Dare Corporation and a host of multitalented animators. Judging by
      the content on the official site, this one is surely a winner. That
      teaser trailer looks pant-wettingly terrific, anyway...

      The new series had a rough ride through production with effects
      house Netter Digital of Babylon 5 fame going bust before work was
      shifted to Foundation Imaging. The $20 million adaptation incorporates
      some modernising and revision - like giving Digby a 'cock-a-ney' accent
      instead of his familiar northern brogue - but gives the original premise
      a barrel of respect. Dare is still well and truly British, there's much
      squadron 'banter' and colours and designs still look and feel like
      the Hampson original...

      The only question now is, when does Dan launch? - Sky apparently
      have the UK broadcast rights, but there's no word yet on a slot. Or at
      least one that's been fanfared in the press. Indeed, the all-round lack
      of fanfare of any kind has been quite a surprise. I mean, the official site
      is there, and the show's already being broadcast in Latin America, but
      there's no word even about its American run, or of any licensing. Nothing
      was mentioned back in February's ToyFair, either. Very odd, that.
      Heck, even if a series stinks - which certainly doesn't look the case here-
      there should be something out there for collectors to snap up. But no,
      not a whiff, not a sniff...

      The Hound will have to do some further 'sniffing' for himself. In the
      mean time, for all things Eagle-related check out the revised links
      on our Dan Dare index page. And stay tooned for more info soon.

      Here's that official site again:  http://www.dandare.com
      
     ___________________________________________________________________

        

       Now I feel old. It's Judge Dredd's birthday this month. And it's not
       just any old birthday but his 25th. That's a quarter of a century that
       our favourite lawman has been blasting bad guys and dishing out
       justice to the good folk of Mega-City One - Yoiks! - I was nine when
       the big-booted one first stepped into comics...

       Mr Dredd was created by John Wagner, Pat Mills and Carlos Ezquerra
       for the pages of 2000ad in 1977, but his popularity has mushroomed out of the
       comic's pages into a mis-guided Hollywood feature, crossovers with Batman
       and beyond. Now in the very capable hands of Rebellion, Judge Dredd
       and indeed, 2000ad has been revitalized and is seemingly going from
       strength-to-strength. They've been shouting for some time about a big bad
       Dredd computer game and a new series of CGI films coming our way
       and both seem to be progressing well. Certainly, the idea of the Judge
       in animated form is an obvious, perfect decision to have made and
       should go a long way - if not all the way - to wiping that Dredd-ful
       feature out of the public mind...

       Join in the bloody celebrations at Rebellion's official site:
       http://www.2000adonline.com/

       Oh, and a shameless plug now for our sister site ToonsToGo. We've a
       smart set of 2000ad action figures at a most affordable price:

       http://www.toonstogo.com/2000ad.htm

     ____________________________________________________________________

           

       Bring what back? - Why, Mr Hell of course!

       'Aaagh! - It's The Mr Hell Show' was a topflight animated series part-funded
       by the BBC but cruelly cast into that aimless netherworld of basement
       broadcasting known as 'Cult TV'. That meant the series was given scant
       respect by the schedulers, with episodes dropped, time-slots altered and
       absolutely bog-all publicity because - hey - people like us will find a 'cult'
       show on TV no matter where or when it gets broadcast.

       Well, now the few fortunate individuals who found the series and enjoyed
       it have started an online petition to fold into a very pointy paper plane and
       launch into the big bloodshot eye of The Beeb. They want the show
       resurrected for a second series - nay, even a fully-fledged, full-bodied rerun
       of the first series in order, intact, in succession at least. The Hound here
       has of course put his name to it. And anyone who wants to see freethinking,
       unique, anarchic independent animation for adults given a fair crack of the
       whip should do the same. Sign this petition - NOW - or we'll set Serge The
       Seal Of Death upon you:

       http://www.petitiononline.com/minions

       Afterwards, come back here and visit The Hound's exclusive interview
       with Mr Hell-raiser Alan Gilbey. We got the scoop on this first, folks:

       DevilTalk - A Q&A with Peafur's Alan Gilbey
       The Hound - Mr Hell Show Special

     ____________________________________________________________________

   

     There's another busy month lined up here at Toonhound. As promised
     last time, a Q&A with cartoonist Colin 'Lazy Bones' Whittock is almost
     ready, and that Peter Maddocks interview should also be with us soon..
     The updates will continue in the main Toonhound indexes too, plus I'm
     finally pulling my finger out and tidying up age-old anomalies like that
     link to TVC's 'Wind In The Willows' in the TvToons section - now
     relocated to its proper spot in The Movie Toon Guide. And quite
     why Wallace & Gromit aren't in the Mini Movie Guide is beyond me...

     But, hey, those errors were a legacy from the first days of this site,
     back in January 2000. How the hell was I to know this would turn into
     a 450 page behemoth?

     For that reason you must forgive us if some of the promised updates
     and additions don't appear quite when they're supposed to. Take that
     teaser I posted in December, announcing a new author section to match
     the ever-popular Gentleman Briggs site. Well it's still very much on the
     cards. It just keeps on getting pushed back in the schedule, with all
     these other bits and bobs leaping to the fore. So whom does it focus on?
     - I'm still not telling! - I can be a cruel creature when the mood takes me...

     Of course, another thing that sidetracks me from this site is our flourishing
     collectibles store ToonsToGo. Surprisingly, it's doing rather well. Our delivery
     of talking DangerMouse toys have almost sold out already, encouraging us
     to seek out new toon collectibles to tempt you with. We're now in talks to
     acquire some unique, original British toon material that will really get a
     few 'cult' fans in a fizz of anticipation. But, once again, I'm not telling you
     whom or what it is yet - nasty guy that I am...

    - Till next time!
     
          thehound@toonhound.com