furry food for thought

Higgs Raccoon's stories

'Courageous Cat' to get film treatment

Sat 14 Jul 2012 - 16:57

Evergreen Media Group has acquired the rights to Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse, a cartoon series from the 1960s. Courageous Cat, created by comic book artist Bob Kane, was a parody of Kane's better-known creation: Batman.

Courageous Cat and his sidekick were a crime-fighting duo who lived in the Cat Cave, and, when summoned by the Cat Signal, would race to the scene of the crime in their red Cat Mobile. Courageous Cat would then fight the bad guys with his all-purpose Cat Gun.

As with the recently announced Paddington Bear film, Evergreen will be rebooting the Courageous Cat franchise with a blend of live-action and CGI.

1 comment(s) – read more

Jim Henson Co. to produce 'Frog and Toad' movie

Mon 11 Jun 2012 - 21:23

On Friday, the Jim Henson Company announced the development of an animated feature film based on the Frog and Toad children's books.

Published between 1970 and 1979, the four books in the Frog and Toad series are Frog and Toad are Friends, Frog and Toad Together, Frog and Toad All Year, and Days with Frog and Toad. Written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel (1933-1987), they chronicle the exploits of the amiable Frog and his curmudgeonly friend Toad.

The Henson screenplay is being written by Craig Bartlett (Rugrats, Hey Arnold!), and Cory Edwards (Hoodwinked, Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil) will direct.

'Cerebus: High Society' to go digital after Kickstarter success

Tue 5 Jun 2012 - 15:51

Cerebus Cerebus: High Society, part of Canadian comic-book artist Dave Sim's epic comic series Cerebus, is set to be released in an e-book format.

Cerebus ran over December 1977–March 2004. In its 6,000 pages, the series chronicled the adventures of an anthropomorphic aardvark. Initially a parody of sword and sorcery comics, the series explored such topics as politics, high society, and religion.

The High Society subplot is now being released as a "combination e-book, audio book/digital graphic novel/oral history/weekly serialization" after successfully raising over $33,000 in a Kickstarter campaign (with 25 days to go). As the initial $6,000 goal was exceeded in less than nine hours, Dave Sims has promised to release all the Cerebus books as e-books.

10 comment(s) – read more

Alan T. Panda sentenced to '6 to 12 years'

Wed 30 May 2012 - 12:36

Alan Berlin, known in the furry community as Alan T. Panda, has been sentenced to six to twelve years in prison. In May, he had been convicted of trying to arrange a sexual encounter with a 15-year-old boy.

Through online chats, Berlin had attempted to arrange a meeting with the boy, with the aim of having sex in a shed in the boy's back yard. During sentencing on Tuesday, Berlin stood by his claim that he did not know that the boy was a juvenile, and thought that he was chatting with "another adult furry who was pretending to be a juvenile dolphin".

Judge Todd A. Hoover countered that Berlin was lying, and that it was "evident from the sado-masochistic (chats)" that Berlin knew the boy was underage. Hoover ordered Berlin to serve eight years on probation after completing his prison sentence, which begins on June 8. He must also register with police for life as a sex offender.

During his court appearance, Berlin stated that he had "given up his furry role-play". Defense attorney William T. Tully said he would discuss with Berlin the possibility of an appeal.

35 comment(s) – read more

Paddington Bear film announced

Fri 11 May 2012 - 17:49

Paddington Bear, the ursine star of numerous children's books, is set to make the transition to the big screen.

A film of Paddington has been on the drawing board since 2007. Originally, Warner Bros. was to be involved, but, on May 10, it was European production company StudioCanal who announced that they were teaming with Harry Potter producer David Heyman and director Paul King to make the movie. Like The Smurfs, Yogi Bear, and Garfield, the Paddington film will incorporate live-action footage and CGI.

Paddington was created by British author Michael Bond in 1958. The marmalade-eating, dufflecoat-wearing bear was found at Paddington station by the Browns, who took him into their family. Bond's stories chronicled Paddington's subsequent misadventures, and were adapted into a television series by the BBC in 1975.

1 comment(s) – read more

Video: Orangina asks "Who's Boss?" in new furry ads

Wed 11 Apr 2012 - 21:04

Orangina, the carbonated citrus drink whose advertisements have featured anthropomorphic animals since 2007, has released two new commercials.

Created by the Fred & Farid agency, the commercials are for "Miss O", the sugar-free version of Orangina. With the tagline "Who’s Boss?", the advertisements take stereotypical gender roles in relationships, and reverse them.

In one promo, a hyena businesswoman phones home to her human boyfriend or husband, and proceeds to lie about working late so she can have a night out with her friends. In the other, a black wolf in a cafe gives a "It’s not you - it’s me" speech to her human boyfriend, who doesn't take the breakup very well.

9 comment(s) – read more

Alan T. Panda convicted of trying to arrange sexual encounter with 15-year-old boy

Thu 8 Mar 2012 - 10:38

Alan Berlin, known in the furry fandom as Alan T. Panda, has been convicted of trying to arrange a sexual encounter with a 15-year-old boy. [Skirtandzy/WikiFur]

Berlin, a fursuiter, babyfur, and "daddyfur/caretaker with a cub side", first made the news in 2009, when, on May 28, he was arrested on charges of propositioning an underage boy over the Internet. After the boy's parents found sexually explicit messages on his computer, they contacted the Attorney General's Child Predator Unit; two days later, Berlin was arrested.

65 comment(s) – read more

PayPal cracks down on publishers of erotic literature, including furotica

Wed 29 Feb 2012 - 00:32

E-commerce service PayPal has started a campaign to stop independent e-book publishers from including certain kinds of erotic content in their catalogs, should they be using PayPal to conduct business.

On Saturday February 18, PayPal began threatening to deactivate the accounts of indie book publishers and distributors, if they did not remove books containing certain sexual material – including themes and implied scenarios of: incest, pseudo-incest (including "daddy" fantasies, step-family), fantasies about non-consensual sex or rape, bestiality (widened to include non-human fantasy creatures), and BDSM.

The ban on "non-human fantasy creatures" has prompted some internet commentators to wonder where this leaves publishers of furry erotica, with Bernard Doove's chakats given as an example of what is banned under the new rules.

80 comment(s) – read more

York Revolution baseball team holds auditions for mascot

Tue 7 Feb 2012 - 01:43

York Revolutions' DownTown The York Revolution, a professional baseball team based in York, Pennsylvania, is holding auditions to find a performer for DownTown, the team's blue, vaguely avian mascot.

Auditions will be held 2–4 PM on Saturday, February 18 at Sovereign Bank Stadium, 5 Brooks Robinson Way, in York City. Applicants must be friendly, energetic, dependable, outgoing, in good physical shape, work well with children, have reliable transportation to and from the stadium, and be at least 16 years old. In order to fit into the mascot costume, applicants must also be between 5'6" and 6'2".

Candidates will have to perform a two-minute skit during the audition. Those chosen to join York Revolution's promotional squad (the Shipley Green Team) will be paid $7.25 an hour, and the person selected to play DownTown will be paid $60 per game.

2 comment(s) – read more

Josh Agle art exhibition inspired by furries

Tue 7 Feb 2012 - 00:43

Josh Agle's Animal Kingdom The Corey Helford Gallery, in Culver City, California, is to play host to an exhibition by painter Josh Agle, also known as "Shag".

Entitled Animal Kingdom, the exhibition will display a number of Agle's paintings, created in his distinctive retro style. Each features one or more characters dressed as animals, including feline women, equine men, a boy dressed as a lamb, and men sporting antlers.

Agle found inspiration in the furry subculture and anime fandom:

I love looking into subcultures. [...] I love that people throw themselves into it wholeheartedly

Agle was particularly inspired by fursuiters, the subset of the furry fandom which dresses up in costumes, and intrigued by the notion that "people are 'hooking up' in costume at furry conventions":

In my paintings, I always try to reference our connection to our prehistoric selves as human beings. Since we're descended from earlier mammals, maybe these people are more in touch with their primal being.

Animal Kingdom's initial reception is scheduled for February 11; the show ends on the 29^th.

35 comment(s) – read more