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    Ze Baddie unmasked    (27.05.03)  

    Imagine if you will, Yours Truly bent over his keyboard over the Bank Holiday
    weekend compiling information for the new site pages. Biggest and brightest will
    be a new Forthcoming Features page detailing all of the British animated feature
    films currently in development and production. And one of the most exciting
    is Dave Borthwick/bolexbrothers' CGI film of The Magic Roundabout - a mouth
    watering prospect, coming from the creators of The Secret Adventures Of 
    Tom Thumb...

     

    Anyway, the thing about this film is that since its official announcement
    back in October 2002 there's been a total silence on the plot. Sure, we've
    been enticed with some fantastic character pics and news of a great voice
    cast, but no plot - zippo - zilch. All we know for sure is that we'll be taken
    outside the realm of the Magic Garden and that there are at least two brand
    new characters in the film. Ray Winstone is voicing a tin-soldier type called
    Soldier Sam, but more importantly, Tom Baker is lending vocal support
    to a chap called ZeeBadee.

    Now everyone I've spoken to have been referring to him phonetically as
    Zeebadee, just like Zebedee. But take a look at that proper spelling again:
    ZeeBadee, pronounced properly is 'Ze Baddie' - that's 'The Baddie' in
    moustache-twirling pidgin English, isn't it? And it's also very much in
    keeping with the Anglo-French nature of the show...

    So does this mean we are going to get a tale concerning Zebedee's evil twin,
    wreaking havoc on The Magic Garden? Will a well-sprung alter ego or
    marauding mimic put Dougal and Florence in peril? More importantly,
    has The Hound unmasked this movie's biggest secret, or has he simply
    spent too long stuck in front of his monitor? The only thing for certain
    here is that no one else seems to have picked up on a spoiler that's been
    right in front of us for the best part of eight months!

    So does anyone out there know better? If you can unmask my own
    shortcomings here do please enlighten me....
    
                                                              More:  MagicRoundabout.com 
    
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    XL-ent comic    (18.05.03)  

    Well gawsh, it seems we are being encouraged to gorge ourselves on a feast
    of Gerry Anderson news right now because if all that talk of the Thunderbirds
    movie, Capt. Scarlet series and Joe 90 dealings wasn't enough yet another
    Supermarionation favourite has now been re-vamped and unleashed upon us.
    This time it's the turn of that outerspace adventure series Fireball XL5...   
 
      

    That's right, Steve Zodiac, Venus, Robbie and Propfessor Matic are back in
    all-new strip adventures, courtesy of the folks at Misc! Mayhem. The Fireball
    comic arrives hot on the heels of Misc! Mayhem's Supercar  revival (see our
    February edition) and to be truthful, this has been in the pipeline for a wee while
    of course, what with all the work involved preparing storylines and artwork.
    But it's certainly fortuitous that it's launching now, with that Anderson star
    well-and-truly in ascendence...

    The preview issue 0 should be at your local comics store as you read this,
    with the 'official' issue 1 arriving very soon. And the Misc! Mayhem/Anderson
    connections are set to continue with an all new UFO comics series too.
    You've got to applaude Kez and the gang at MM. They're trying really hard 
    to add something to the canon of these classic series, rather than simply
    slapping stuff together to make a quick buck. There have been some
    enlightening postings at their Yahoo Group in the run up to the launch of
    these titles...

                                                                         More:  Misc! Mayhem 

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    Cracking advert, Gromit!    (08.05.03)  

     Sacre bleu! - Everyone's favourite claymation pals, Wallace & Gromit
     are currently starring in a new car advert for Renault. In the ad for Renault's
     new Kangoo, Wallace demonstrates his latest invention The Kangoo-matic
     with predictably chaotic results. The spot was put together by Aardman
     Animation, produced by Penny Foster and directed by Dave Alex Riddett
     and you can view it online in Quicktime over at 'boards screening room.
      And it's a grand little piece, with a very lush orchestrated score too, although
     it is just a teensy bit of a shame that such a distinctly British duo are being
     employed to promote a specifically European firm. Tch. But that's just me
     griping, every new Wallace and Gromit appearance is a treat, isn't it,
     regardless of its allegiance...

                                                            More:  'boards screening room

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    And a cracking charity too!    (08.05.03)  

     ...Speaking of allegiances, stop what you're doing and pledge yours
     immediately to a cracking good cause. Wallace & Gromit's Grand Appeal
     has been around a wee while now, helping to raise oodles of money -
     £12million actually - for Bristol's Hospital For Sick Children. Toonhound
     has been linking to the Grand Appeal site for a few years so hopefully
     many of you will be aware of this great cause, and indeed, may have
     bought some of the charitable goodies they used to offer online.

      

     Well now the charity is expanding on a successful idea and taking an
     officially recognised Wrong Trousers Day to the entire UK. Every year, on
     the first Friday in July, folks can make a £1 donation to charity and put on
     a pair of wrong trousers for the day. The money raised will go towards
     children's hospitals and hospices all around the British Isles and a host
     of celebrities, from Badiel and Skinner to West Life have already pledged
     their support for the notion, with the first official Wrong Trousers Day due
     on Friday July 4th. A cracking idea, eh? - Go on, get those trousers off!

                                                                             More:  Grand Appeal

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    Coming to play    (09.05.03)  

    Feeling playful? - Andy Pandy is. And Looby Loo. And Teddy too. And so are we
    because we've just taken delivery of some exquisite new Andy Pandy beanies
    and plush toys at our online store ToonsToGo. Mr Pandy and friends have of
    course been recently revisited and revised by Cosgrove Hall and The BBC and
    the new series is jolly sweet, in a candy-striped-kiddified kind of way...

      

    These new collectibles have been produced by Martin Yaffe Intl and
    they're beautifully constructed, which brings us to the other reason behind
    this otherwise blatant commercial plug. How come so many licensees
    produce such god-awful merchandise? You know the type, where the toys
    don't even remotely resemble the original, or the 'talking toy' features
    a ludicrously false copy of the original voice. There are far too many shoddy
    products out there at the moment, which makes choosing stock for our
    little store incredibly difficult. That's why we're right behind Andy and friends,
    and you should be too...

    Um. And here endeth the plug...

                                                                           More:  ToonsToGo

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    Joe W.I.N.s feature deal    (05.05.03)  

    Phew-ee! - Supermarionation really is 'go' at the moment...

    First there was the Thunderbirds feature finally getting lift-off. Then there was
    the Captain Scarlet series getting to second-stage funding, and talk of a feature.
    And now? - Well how about news that mini-Michael Caine, World Intelligence
    Network agent Joe90 is about to become a live-action star for Disney!...

     
    
    According to Variety, Carlton TV have sold the Joe90 film rights to The Mouse
    House and the picture is now in the hands of UK producer Susan Montford
    and Don Murphy of Angryfilms, whose outfit is bringing us the big screen version
    of The League Of Extraordinary Gentleman this Summer. Presumably, that
    means we'll see tabloid-loads of news stories regarding 'The Search For Joe',
    a la Harry Potter, etc. Will the feature be suitably 'retro' in look and feel? -
    We've not been told yet...

    You know, Joe90 is a fairly safe bet for Disney. Firstly, Joe is the
    original Spy Kid and - hey - those Spy Kids have worked box-office wonders
    for Miramax. And then, well, there's that spinning ball and those gizmo glasses
    but not a lot else 'cos the concept's not quite as design-lead as those other
    Anderson-produced series. From a Suit's point of view that means there's lots
    of room to tweak and manipulate the concept as they want, isn't there? - Much
    more than, say, Thunderbirds were everyone knows the ships, FAB-1, the
    uniforms etc. Oh yes, far less controversy to be found here...
     
    Well, we'll see eh? - Stay tooned for more as the film develops...

                                                              More:  Carlton video    Big Rat

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    Movie-ing right along...     (18.05.03)

    Well, judging by the feedback and the way the hit counters are racing it
    seems the new-look site pages are a hit with you, which means The Hound
    can allow himself a slim smile of satisfaction. All that effort is paying off ;-)

    But let's not get carried away here. There's still an awful lot of work to do
    before I can rest on my laurels. The TvToons section is still waiting for the
    last dozen pages to be upgraded and then, why then attention turns to
    the Movie Toons pages. Included in the new look movie guides will be info
    on forthcoming animated features with a UK bent, plus that oft-promised
    Toon Movie Guide looking at toons which have made the transition into
    live-action features - and a frightening bunch they make too!

    Sadly, there's a pay-off to be made here. The Current Site Guide may be
    consigned to that great web-page resting place in the sky. It's not be updated
    in eons, but principally, it's never really felt right here anyway as it kind
    of pulls away from the uniquely British tone of the rest of the site.
    Likewise, for practical reasons, the Movie Toon Archive is going. It's a
    nightmare to keep up to speed, anyway, and again isn't entirely pertinent
    to the ideals of the site...

    And speaking of 'ideal'. What would really be ideal right now would be if
    that Great Web Fairy Of The West could wave her magic wand and complete
    the rest of the site upgrade for me. But alas, it ain't gonna happen. So
    before I bury my head back in to those videos, comics and reference material
    once more may I just say to one-and-all that your patience has been a
    real virtue of late. It can't be much fun spinning around a site with page
    formats all over the place, and numerous external links falling apart.
    Thanks for sticking with me. Believe me, I'm working just as fast as I
    can here. And fingers-crossed, it will all be worth it in the end...

    Stay tooned!

             thehound@toonhound.com