2cross2affliction's stories

Sun 28 Feb 2021 - 16:42

Fairly early on while watching this movie, I came to an epiphany: I really don't like Jerry.

Seriously, he's a jerk. I mean, it'd be one thing if he violently thrashed his onscreen partner, Tom, because, after all, Tom is a cat, and cats eat mice. It'd be self-defense. I don't hate the Road Runner when Wile E. Coyote gets squished yet again, even if do feel sorry for Wile. But Tom rarely seems to have any interest in eating Jerry. Neither is Jerry like Bugs Bunny, who doesn't go looking for trouble. In the old shorts, Jerry frequently attacks Tom first, without provocation.

Take, as an example, how Tom and Jerry meet in their latest movie, released this weekend. Tom is busking in New York City's Central Park, when Jerry rudely interrupts him. Now, Tom is not without his own flaws; he's pretending to be blind to attract more customers, which is not cool. But Jerry doesn't seem to be bothered by this; his beef with Tom is clearly that Tom is making money, and he's not. So, he tries to steal his crowd, and then, in a bout of inevitable slapstick violence, breaks Tom's keyboard, which is clearly important to Tom beyond just a means of money. I'm on Tom's side, here.

Well, anyway, Tom & Jerry is a movie about Tom and Jerry. Tom is a cat. Jerry is a mouse. They starred in a bunch of cartoon shorts together starting in 1940, meaning that 2020 was their 80th anniversary. This movie was supposed to commemorate that milestone, but, well, COVID-19. It's mostly a live-action film; only the animals are animated (it wasn't submitted for consideration in the Academy Awards' 2020 Best Animated Feature category, which it would've qualified for under the extended "awards year", which implies the filmmakers consider it live-action). Besides Tom and Jerry (who are basically mute, and charmingly credited as "Themselves"), the movie stars Chloë Grace Moretz and Michael Peña.

Thu 11 Feb 2021 - 22:17

Rights to Brian Jacques' Redwall series of novels have been purchased for adaptation by Netflix; there are plans to create a feature movie from the first, Redwall, as well as an "event series" based on the character of Martin the Warrior. The movie is being written by Patrick McHale.

Redwall Size Chart 2018, by mongoosefangs

The series spans 22 books (with a few picture books thrown in for the Dibbuns); if the first movie and/or series works out, Netflix has plenty of material to use. Redwall is popular among furry fans, as its entire world is filled with dressed, talking animals. The stories usually center around the titular Redwall Abbey and the adventures of its (mostly) rodent inhabitants, though the world is not limited to this one setting.

Thu 28 Jan 2021 - 20:13

Disney has posted a trailer (now two) for its next animated movie, Raya and the Last Dragon, which will have a release date of March 5, making it officially Walt Disney Animation Studio's first movie of this exciting new decade. It has a talking Eastern-style dragon in it, so that's furry.

Raya and the Last Dragon will release theatrically, but as actually going to movie theaters is still not really recommended at this point, it'll also be released on the Disney+ streaming service the same day, though with an additional "Premier Access" charge of $29.99 in the US.

The movie features Kelly Marie Tran as the titular Raya, with Awkwafina as the titular last dragon (meanwhile, Disney animation regular voice actor Alan Tudyk will once again be "voicing" a non-anthropomorphic animal; this time, the giant pillbug / armadillo creature Tuk Tuk). The movie is set in the fictional fantasy world of Kumandra.

Fri 22 Jan 2021 - 18:12

tunesquad.jpg

The 1996 movie Space Jam is about Michael Jordan playing basketball with a bunch of Looney Tunes. It's possibly both one of the most beloved and most hated movies of the entire 90s.

It was notably hated by Chuck Jones, an animator famous for his work on the original Looney Tunes shorts, though, to be fair, Chuck Jones pretty much hated anything Looney Tunes that he didn't do himself, and also about half of his own stuff. Joe Dante directed the next live action/animation hybrid Looney Tunes movie, Back in Action, and his stated goal was basically to direct the anti-Space Jam. Flayrah's own coverage of Back in Action was not pro-Space Jam, calling it a "disaster". On the beloved side of the equation, however, Warner Bros. will be releasing a very belated sequel to the movie on July 16 of this year (both theatrically and on the HBO Max streaming service), and they usually don't do that if no one liked it (and, seriously, you can probably find someone who actually does like Space Jam very easily).

But despite the fact that the original 1996 website is still up (with the following link, this article is now in compliance with ancient Internet law stating that all articles about Space Jam must mention the original website), there isn't really a good list anywhere on the Internet that provides the complete line-up of the members of the Tune Squad, the Looney Tunes basketball team in the film. Seriously, the Space Jam Wiki does not have a team roster. The IMDB trivia page for Space Jam has a bare bones roster buried half way down the page (and it's very incomplete). Well, that won't stand. Here's the full roster of every character (animated or otherwise), who played against the Monstars in the movie's big game.

Sat 12 Dec 2020 - 11:38

Wolfwalkers poster Cartoon Saloon is an Irish animation studio, and they're absolutely world class. They first gained world attention right out of the gate, when The Secret of Kells became a nominee for Best Animated Feature in the 2009 Academy Awards. It wasn't the first time a foreign movie made it on the list, but it was a surprise for many casual Oscar watchers.

Of course, if you actually watched the movie, it was a no-brainer; it not only deserved to be nominated, it's part of the reason 2009's list of Best Animated Feature nominees is still one of the all time best for the category. Since then, every feature by Cartoon Saloon has been nominated in the category; Tomm Moore, director of The Secret of Kells and now Wolfwalkers, was further personally nominated for Song of the Sea.

Both earlier films feature furry elements, especially Song, which deals with selkies (Cartoon Saloon is also responsible for the very furry, very good Skunk Fu! series). However, with Wolfwalkers, Moore and co-director Ross Stewart have created the studio's most furry-friendly film yet. The titular Wolfwalkers could be considered a variety of werewolf; but this time, they're the good guys.

Sat 17 Oct 2020 - 12:28

politicalfursonas.jpg

Early next month, Americans will vote for various political offices, including President of the United States, the U.S.'s head of state. This is usually considered a pretty big deal in America, and even the world in general, as America still manages to wield a lot of political, economic and even cultural power on the world stage, despite itself. Some of the idiosyncrasies of the American political system may be a bit opaque to non-Americans (no, we don't really understand what the Electoral College is supposed to accomplish anymore, either). One aspect that seems to be uniquely American is the strong identification of American political parties with certain animals.

Tue 29 Sep 2020 - 15:56

lionkingwinsbestpicture.jpg

It has been announced that that there will be a follow-up to last year's "live action" remake of The Lion King. No, it will not be a remake of the straight-to-video The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride. The vague hints at a synopsis suggest it will be a prequel telling the backstory of the character who famously dies during the first act of both versions of the Lion King movies. Surprisingly, the movie is being directed by Barry Jenkins, best known for directing Moonlight, the movie that won Best Picture for 2016 in a surprise upset so unexpected, it took the Academy two tries to even announce it had won.

Mon 31 Aug 2020 - 21:44

felinofortnite.jpgOne of the regrets I had on submitting this ranked list of every furry cosmetic "outfit" available in the popular video game Fortnite Battle Royale is that it didn't list any furry Creator Codes, mostly because I was unaware of any at the time. Also I regret that the list left out King Flamingo, but that's not important.

A Creator Code allows for players purchasing skins and various other cosmetic accouterments to have a portion of their purchase go to a "content creator", usually streamers or YouTube video makers, on the basic idea that whatever content is being created is free advertising for the game. Surely there was a furry streamer of Fortnite out there, somewhere, with a Creator Code?

Nearly five months later, I have stumbled upon a furry with a Creator Code while on e621, of all places. Felino (~Feline-gamer on FurAffinity), a Brazilian furry, has a Creator Code, FelinoJ. Surprisingly, the recognition seems to be for his furry fan-art of various characters from the game, of which is oftentimes very furry.

So, furry Fortnite players, next time you see an item you deem worthy of purchase, consider putting FelinoJ in the Creator Code box. If you're not into Fortnite, but do have an Epic Games Store account, Creator Codes work there, too. Alternatively, if you're not into supporting mega-corporations while supporting furries, Felino also has a Patreon and a Ko-fi.

Mon 27 Jul 2020 - 21:31

bugs.jpgMonday, July 27 marks the 80th anniversary of the theatrical release of the animated short film "A Wild Hare", part of the Merry Melodies series of shorts produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions for the Warner Bros. film studio, which featured the debut of an at the time unnamed lapine (called a "wabbit" by his rhotacism afflicted co-star) who would soon be known as Bugs Bunny. This character would become somewhat popular over the last eight decades.

To celebrate the world's most famous bunny's birthday, the United States Postal Service has released a set of ten stamps featuring Bugs Bunny in multiple outfits he's worn in his over 168 starring roles in the original Looney Tunes/Merry Melodies 1930-1969 run; and that's not counting cameos there and starring roles in cartoons outside that run. Featured outfits include his barber's outfit from "Rabbit of Seville", his Tea-Totaller team uniform from "Baseball Bugs", his basketball team jersey for the Tune Squad from the movie Space Jam, and, in one of two featured drag get-ups, his disguise from often-cited-as-best-cartoon-EVER "What's Opera, Doc?". Ironically not featured is his standard outfit of au naturel except a pair of white gloves; disappointingly, neither is his fox fursuit from "Foxy by Proxy" .

Tue 2 Jun 2020 - 17:55

To help distract quarantined Doctor Who fans, there are Doctor Who: Lockdown! simulcast watch-alongs of popular episodes of the "New" series of the show, featuring creatives behind the scenes Tweeting along, as well as short videos to go along with the watch-along.

With the May 30 watch-a-long of the loose "trilogy" of episodes "The End of the World", "New Earth" and "Gridlock" a sort of illustrated audio ""The Secret of Novice Hame", written by Russell T. Davies, was attached. The titular character and narrator of the story is Novice Hame (played by Anna Hope), who appeared in the "New Earth" and "Gridlock" episodes and is an anthropomorphic cat. She tells the story of her life among the various anthropomorphic animals of the far future planet of New Earth, and is visited by David Tennant's "Tenth" incarnation of the Doctor.

An interesting implication of the short piece is that it opens up the possibility that the Doctor themself might someday become an anthropomorphic animal; Novice Hame notes that there are stories of the Doctor in various forms, including animals.

See Also: Flayrah's 2006 coverage of the the episode "New Earth"