A Stranger Things Christmas

Have you ever wondered what a Stranger Things / Peanuts crossover would look like? Well here you go!



I kind of love how Snoopy is the demogorgon, and poor Barb still can't get a break...

Voltron Legendary Defender Season 2 Trailer

First off, let me just say I love the original Voltron. It begat my love for robots that combine into bigger robots. So when Voltron Legendary Defender was announced, I was both excited and apprehensive at the thought of a reboot. But when the show was released to Netflix back in June, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. In fact the only qualms I have are that the original theme song isn't used, and that it ends on a cliffhanger. Which makes this teaser trailer for Season 2 all the more important to resolve that cliffhanger!


The trailer ominously teases the possible demise of Black Lion pilot and team leader Shiro, and Keith assuming leadership if that happens. Kind of like how it was in the original series! I see what you did there...

Sadly there's no definitive release date as the trailer just ends with "Coming Soon." Here's hoping that's sooner rather than later.

The Adventures of Indiana Jones

An animated Indiana Jones? Yes please! Over the past 5 years, character designer and animator Patrick Schoenmaker has crafted what would potentially be the opening sequence of The Adventures of Indiana Jones animated series. I'm really digging the art style here and would totally be on board if this were to come to fruition. With a new movie coming out featuring the now 74-year old Harrison Ford, this is probably the only way we'll get to see Indy again in his prime. As it stands, this minute or so of animation is all we're gonna get, but I've watched this about a dozen times already so I clearly haven't had my fill of Indiana Jones yet.



So Disney, get on this! Make it happen!

The Real Ghostbusters 30th Anniversary

My love for Ghostbusters is well documented on this site. Just look at my avatar and the fact that there's a "Ghostbusters" section at the top. But while my interest in this fantastic foursome started with the original 1984 movie, my love for it didn't develop until The Real Ghostbusters premiered thirty years ago today. The Real Ghostbusters debuted September 13th, Saturday morning on ABC with "Ghosts R Us." Let's take a look at the episode that started off the series.

The premise of this episode was simple. A family of annoying ghosts tries to put the Ghostbusters out of business by pretending to be a rival ghost busting business. It was a nice package of a little episode to introduce a whole new group of kiddies to the franchise that may have been too young or too scared to have seen the original movie or to further cement that fandom in those of us who enjoyed it. :)

While the character designs were completely different, the feel was much more kiddie, and Slimer had taken on a mascot role, this was the perfect show for an 11-year-old kid to latch on to.

Throughout its 140+ episodes, its Saturday morning cartoon run, its run in syndication on weekdays after school, and its eventual migration to a more Slimer based show, there were some pretty memorable characters and episodes. The Boogeyman is still kinda terrifying to me:



While the series can still be bought in a DVD set released in 2009 complete with firehouse case, there's another cheaper, more streamlined set, but you don't get all the episodes. :(

But still, today I've been binging a bit on episodes and reminiscing about my childhood, and just wanted to share some of my experience. So happy 30th birthday Real Ghostbusters!

Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders

In a fairly genius move by Warner Bros to appeal to the nostalgia crowd, i.e. my generation, Adam West, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar return to voice their respective characters in the new animated film Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders. My only question is why didn't anybody think of this sooner?!?

The trailer is super, silly fun, and looks to capture the campy feel of the original 60's TV series. The only thing that would have made this better is if the voice talents of Burgess Meredith, Cesar Romero, and Frank Gorshin were included, but unfortunately they have all since passed on. Anyway, here's the official trailer.



Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders will be released digitally on October 11th, and hits Blu-Ray on November 1st.

Voltron: Legendary Defender Trailer

Voltron: Legendary Defender is a month away from debuting on Netflix and it finally has an official trailer!



I'm really digging the look of the characters in the show. It's very reminiscent of their original designs in the 80's cartoon, but updated for modern times. They also managed to keep the uniform color scheme to the right characters, and have now adjusted that to match the color of the lion they are piloting. So Keith, the former leader is now piloting the red lion, Lance the blue, and Shiro (formerly Sven) is the new leader and piloting the black lion. Hunk and Pidge remain the same.

I am also liking the new lion design. Not too far from the original, but definitely updated.

Entertainment Weekly has a great article detailing the new series.

Voltron: Legendary Defender debuts on Netflix June 10th. Can't wait!

Ten Films I'm Anticipating In 2016

We're already a month into 2016 and with a new year comes a new crop of movies to get excited about! So here are the ten movies I'm anticipating most in 2016.

10. Finding Dory

What's it about?: The friendly-but-forgetful blue tang fish reunites with her loved ones, and everyone learns a few things about the true meaning of family along the way. From IMDb

Why I'm excited: Finding Dory is the sequel to possibly my favorite Pixar film, Finding Nemo. Pixar has had a great track record, but I haven't considered its films the past few years to be anything special. Cars 2 was horrible, I didn't even bother seeing Brave, and Monsters University was simply average. But I have renewed faith in the animation studio because Inside Out was absolutely excellent! Plus the original writer & director, Andrew Stanton is returning so this film has win-win all over it.

When it opens: June 17th

30th Anniversary Of Everything Nerdy Part II

2015 is almost over, and lately all the talk has been about the 30th Anniversary of Back to the Future. Well, that's not the only thing that celebrated its 30th birthday this year. Here's a look at some of the nerdy things that I was totally into 30 years ago that maybe didn't get the fanfare that Back to the Future is getting.

Robotech

Premiered Mar 4, 1985

Much like Voltron the previous year, Robotech was pulled from already existing Japanese animation. Except in this case, it was three completely separate series woven into one 85-episode season. Contrasting the kiddie nature of Transformers, Robotech was a sci-fi space opera that dealt with adult issues like love, war, and death. But who are we kidding. Robotech is popular because of the robots, and one in particular, the Veritech fighter, is still ridiculously popular today. Toys at the time, were unfortunately very scarce. The only thing you could even remotely get was a Transformers Jetfire figure and even that was pretty limited. Thankfully, collectibles are readily available now even on Amazon. And right now, there are these 30th Anniversary 1/100 (6 inches) scale transformable figures available.

 

Transformers Devastation Is All About Nostalgia

Transformers: Devastation looks to be the badass offspring of the G1 cartoon series and Devil May Cry. Add to that the original voice actors, and you've got a healthy dose of nostalgia mixed in with a lot of hack and slash combo action. Just check out the latest gameplay trailer and you'll see these Autobots know kung fu!

Harry Shearer is Leaving The Simpsons

UPDATE: As Professor Farnsworth would say, "Good News Everybody!" Looks like Harry Shearer is returning to The Simpsons!

Harry Shearer, the voice of some of the most prolific characters on The Simpsons, is finally leaving the show after 26 seasons. While he doesn't voice any of the actual Simpsons, he does do a lot of major characters.

Among them are:

• Ned Flanders
• Principal Seymour Skinner
• Reverend Lovejoy
• Kent Brockman
• Otto Man
• Dr. Hibbert
• Waylon Smithers
• Kang
• Lenny Leonard
• Rainier Wolfcastle
• C. Montgomery Burns

Admittedly, I could probably count the episodes I've seen the last 10 years on one hand, but the show still garners a sizable audience. The Simpsons has retired characters before when a voice actor has died like Troy McClure voiced by Phil Hartman or Edna Krabappel voiced by the recently deceased Marcia Wallace, but the loss of a couple of characters pales in comparison to the huge chunk that is going away here. For starters, Homer would lose all his neighborly interactions with Ned, and all his work interactions with Mr. Burns, and Bart can no longer go toe to toe with Principal Skinner. Unless they go ahead and recast the voices, The Simpsons won't survive without these supporting characters.

On a side note, here's Harry Shearer and Martin Short in their legendary Saturday Night Live men's synchronized swimming skit!

Game of Thrones Parodies

With Game of Thrones premiering today, let's get into something a little silly. Game of Thrones parodies! Here are a few of my favorites.

From The Warp Zone comes this Game of Thrones medley which is pretty spot on. It starts with Dany Targaryen covering "Titanium" by Sia. C'mon, you can hear her sing "I am Targaryen!" Followed by the Lannisters covering Katy Perry's "Roar" mainly because their motto is "Hear Me Roar." Arya, Jon Snow and Robb Stark cover Eminem's "The Monster" which is probably the weakest entry. And everyone joins in a the end for Imagine Dragon's "Demons."

TIE Fighter

Credit: http://mightyotaking.deviantart.com/art/TIE-Fighter-poster-522202169

If you've ever wanted to see an animated version of Star Wars told from the Empire's perspective and done in Anime style, here's your chance. TIE Fighter, which is drawn and animated by Paul Johnson, captures the feel of Star Wars but with animation that totally reminds me of space battles from Robotech and Gundam. It doesn't have the classic Star Wars music, probably because copyright infringement would take it down immediately, but the guitar riffing soundtrack is a nice throwback to 80's and 90's Anime. Just watch it and enjoy.

I Have Been And Always Shall Be Your Friend

Thirty-plus years later, that quote from the end of Wrath of Khan always gets me. Leonard Nimoy passed away today at the age of 83 from complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It's impossible to sum up his 60+ year career since he'll forever be remembered as Spock from Star Trek, and I'm not even going to try. The only way I know how to honor a man who has influenced me so much growing up is to share some moments that I enjoyed the most.

The Big Bang Theory

Nimoy retired from acting in 2010, but that didn't preclude him from doing voice-over work. Nimoy is one of Sheldon's idols, and in the episode "The Transporter Malfunction, he dreams about his Spock action figure giving him advice on what to do with his newly acquired Star Trek transporter toy.

My Five Least Anticipated Films of 2015

I don't normally talk about stuff I'm not interested in here on nerdy views, but since I already told you about the films I'm anticipating this year, it seemed only fair to devote some time to the ones I'm not so psyched about. I could have just put together a list of romantic comedies, but these are high profile films I feel like I should be interested in. But for one reason or another, I'm just not. And who knows, maybe you're excited about one of these films, and you can try to convince me otherwise.

5. Inside Out

What's it about?: Inside Out takes place in the mind of a young girl, Riley Anderson, where five emotions try to lead her through life.

Why I should be excited but I'm not: Pixar is generally one of my favorite film studios. They've made some truly awesome movies including the Toy Story trilogy, The Incredibles, WALL-E and Up. But is the bloom finally off the rose? Pixar's last few movies have been some of the least critically receptive and I just haven't been interested in any of them since Toy Story 3. Add to that a plot that doesn't interest me and simply reminds me of a failed Fox sitcom called Herman's Head, and I just feel pretty "eh" about Inside Out.



When it opens: June 19th

TMNT and Real Ghostbusters in CGI

Ready for a blast from the past? YouTube user Zim Animation has updated the opening credits from the 1980's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon using 3D animation. Here's his video along with the original opening credits in an inset for comparison. I think the results are pretty spot on.



It looks like they're gonna give this treatment to a bunch of 80's cartoons because their next update is this snippet from The Real Ghostbusters, and I can't wait for the full video of this one.



Who ya gonna call? Apparently Zim Animation if you want CGI updates of your favorite cartoons!

Peanuts Trailer

People in my age group definitely grew up watching Peanuts specials on TV. A Charlie Brown Christmas and It's the Great Pumpkin are still holiday mainstays today. And the Linus and Lucy Theme is one of the most recognizable Christmas songs out there. So the news of a new 3-D computer animated Peanuts movie coming out next Christmas is interesting to say the least. I have to say the animation does look pretty good. It's not too 3-D, and that's a good thing. Kind of reminds me of when South Park animation changed from paper to CGI. Anyway, here's the trailer!



The Peanuts Movie is scheduled for a November 6th, 2015 release.

Simpsorama Best Moments

Did you miss last night's Simpsons/Futurama crossover? Well, it wasn't exactly epic, but it definitely made me miss Futurama. I'm trying something new so here's what I think were the best moments from "Simpsorama."

Homer's first encounter with Bender

The Simpsons Futurama Couch Gag

This Sunday Nov 9th, Futurama visits The Simpsons, and they're not even shy about being out of ideas on the episode titled "Simpsorama." And FOX has already released the couch gag for the episode featuring Hedonismbot as the Simpson couch. I'm hoping this is just a tease and we get to see the Planet Express Ship fly through Springfield. This is already the second crossover this year for The Simpsons as they visited Quahog and Family Guy earlier this season. It was probably the first Simpsons episode I've seen in years, and I plan to watch this one as well because we could all do with some more Futurama.



And here are a couple of images from the episode courtesy of Entertainment Weekly.

Credit: ew.com

Credit: ew.com

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everybody! And to celebrate, let's flashback to The Real Ghostbusters Halloween themed episode, "When Halloween Was Forever," featuring Samhain, the ghost of Halloween. He's a giant robed ghost with a pumpkin for a head, big gnarly teeth, and a questionable Irish accent. The episode originally aired on Nov 1, 1986, the 8th episode of the first season, and part of ABC's Saturday morning cartoon block.

More Than Meets The Eye Part 1

On September 17, 1984, The Transformers animated series premiered and a fandom was born that is still going strong 30 years later. True, the comic predates this by 4 months, but this cartoon is what hooked me and millions of other little kids. Sure it's crudely animated, and the theme song is overly simplistic, but it's vehicles that transform into robots!!! C'mon! Who couldn't resist that?!? So let's take a look at this seminal first episode and see what the big deal was all about.

Warning: This post is super long...

The narrator literally gives us the history of the Transformers in less than a minute. Coming from Cybertron, the Decepticons were bent on total domination against the peace loving Autobots. There you go, bad guys & good guys set up right from the beginning. And the war had robbed Cybertron of all its resources.