We are all waiting with bated-breath for the new DuckTales to land but until then the new intro credits have made their way onto the internet. I like the new animation style just fine but I found that the new vocals left me a bit meh... they lack the power and verve of the original but I'm sure it'll grow on me. Why not check out the credits below!
The Golden Condor's Maiden Voyage... Into My Heart
The Mysterious Cities of Gold was a French- Japanese co-produced animation series by the company with the hilarious name, well at least when you were a kid, DIC Entertainment and Studio Pierrot, a less funny name which is strange considering it is named after a clown! Anyway, the series premiered in Japan on NHK on 29 June 1982 and ran weekly for 39 episodes.
I first caught the series on BBC 1 in the early 80s and was beguiled by the mythical adventure story of a young Spanish boy named Esteban who joins a voyage to the New World in search of the lost Cities of Gold and his father.
The impressive looking background art, sharply drawn characters, and the beautiful soundtrack kept me entranced throughout the whole series, becoming my favourite programme of all time. Against the poorly animated dross on most of 80s children's animation this series really stood out and as a result It informed my formative years and introduced me to the wonders of the ancient world including the Incas, Aztecs, Atlantis and El Dorado. Even at the age of 35 I still regularly revisit the programme every year and I can attest to the fact that it still holds up as an impressive piece of work, even with those rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia taken off.
Whilst browsing through the internet I came across an advertisement promoting the sale of the Golden Condor from the MCOG. Now for those who know the series the Goldon Condor was a magical machine created by the people of Hiva which the children find in episode 18 that uses solar power to fly. It is this magical machine that most people remember the series for mostly, it was features prominently in the opening credits and looked beautiful in the show when animated. The condor flying with the track St. Elmo’s Fire by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy is ingrained in my mind and still gives me goosebumps whenever I watch the series. A chance to own a metal 1:25 scale model of the golden condor was too good an opportunity to pass up as memorabilia to do with the show is extremely rare and expensive. I already own a replica MCOG medallion and an original animation cel and douga but the condor was what I desired so I bought it for just under £100 pound, a high price for someone on a lowly teachers wage but was it worth it? Well, I'll be doing an unboxing soon so watch out.
Little Nightmares Being Turned into a Film
At the moment I am currently playing a wonderful game called Little Nightmares, a dark and whimsical puzzle-platformer in which you play a young girl called Six trying to escape a terror-filed ship called The Maw. Along the way you meet some nightmarish creatures including the Janitor, the Twin Chefs and the Lady.
I am only about 2 hours into the game yet it has stuck its creepy icy claws into my heart. The imagery and soundtrack are haunting and stay in the memory. So when I heard that Joe and Anthony Russo, directors of great films like Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the phenomenal paintball episode of Community, were going to create a TV series I was super excited.
Then it was announced that Henry Selick, director of A Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline, was going to be a producer and my hopes were high that it would be a stop-motion series. Nothing has been confirmed yet as to what format the TV series will be but my hopes are high for a creepy Jan Svankmajer style animation.
Kiki Delivery Service Return for Hungry Noodles Commercial
I love Kiki's Delivery Service, it is one of my favourite Studio Ghibli films that deals with growing up and learning responsibility. Well, as part of the ‘Hungry Days’ campaign, aimed at youth, characters from the classic film are presented in modern day Japan. The advertising campaign gives us a chance to see what they are up to. Check out the short 30 second video as I love it and I'm sure you will too!
SEGA Forever Service Offers Classic Games For FREE!
Nostalgia is a powerful thing and it seems that Sega finally realise that too. With the Sega Forever service people are able to download and play classic Sega games for FREE on their Apple and Android devices. The games are free to play (including offline) but will feature adverts, so to turn off the adverts you have to pay a small fee. However the possibilities of playing these games on the go and with modern features like cloud saves, Bluetooth controller support, and online leaderboards putting up with a few adverts doesn't seem so bad. Currently there are five games including: Sonic the Hedgehog (the original, not the god-awful 360 game, Comix Zone, Altered Beast, Kid Chameleon, and Phantasy Star II.
Sega have promised that this list will grow and that the service will not just feature games from the Genesis or Master System era but also may include Saturn and Dreamcast games. The possibility of playing Panzer Dragoon, Wonderboy IV or Streets of Rage II on the move sounds great.
Wonderful Dizzy Reveal for Spectrum Next
A new Dizzy game by the Oliver Twins for the Spectrum Next has been announced. With the title Wonderful Dizzy the game is to be set in the world of Oz. These are early days but with the Spectrum Next sailing past its Kickstarter goal the wave of nostalgia might be just what the Dizzy franchise needs. I look forward to seeing how the new game works out!
The Beatles/ Star Wars Music Mashup
This year marks two important pop-culture milestones: The 40th anniversary of Star Wars and the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. To celebrate these momentous occasions cool geeks Jude and Dan, aka Palette-Swap Ninja, have created a musical mashup entitled Princess Leia’s Stolen Death Star Plans. Over five years in the making the album is a celebration of both entities that melds them together to create something familiar but wonderfully original. Check it out for free at the Palette-Swap Ninja website
Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy Composer) Concert in London
Fans of composer Nobuo Uematsu will be delighted to hear that there will be a concert of his works at the Barbican. The famed composer, creator of legendary soundtracks for games such as The Last Story, Chrono Trigger and of course, Final Fantasy, will have his works played by Symphonic Odysseys London and the London Symphony Orchestra on Tuesday 20th June. A special highlight is that Uematsu will be giving a talk before the concert for a reasonable price of £10.
Final Fantasy is one of my favourite games of all time and the amazing soundtrack is a huge part of that.
Fans of Uematsu should get the tickets soon as they are selling out very quickly. I'd love to go but unfortunately can't as I have other engagements on the date but thought I'd spread the love!
New Moomins TV Series Animation Funded
The Moomins are back with a brand new TV animation after being successfully funded on Indiegogo. The series, inspired by the original works created by writer-illustrator Tove Jansson, will use a combination of 2D/3D technology to create a stunning artistic style. The new series will premiere in 2019.
Hokusai Exhibition at the British Museum
Katsushika Hokusai, born in 1760 in Edo (Tokyo), is regarded as one of Japan’s most famous and influential artists. He changed his name over 30 during the course of his career and up until his death in 1849 at the grand old age of 90 he produced marvellous works on plants, the waters around Japan and people. His most well-regarded work is the Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji series which includes the iconic Great Wave Off Kanazawa. A new exhibition will be running from 12 May to 13th August 2017 at the British Museum and will showcase the works in the latter third of his life, the last 30 years or so.
We have been studying Hokusai in our class as part of our sequence of work on woodblock printing and so I am interested in seeing this exhibition, however being a huge Japanophile also helps and so this exhibition is a must for me.
Hokusai- Great Wave Off Kanazawa
SNES/ Super Famicom: A Visual Compendium Kickstarter is Live!
Those guys at Bitmap Books are at it again with the fifth book in the series proposed; a visual compendium for arguably the greatest console of all time, the Super Nintendo. I love the Bitmap Book series and wrote a glowing review for the NES/Famicom Visual Compendium and if this is anywhere as good as that then expect it to be stunning.
Check the link for the Kickstarter below and pledge if you can. It's already made 4 times the required amount but the more money pledged the better the quality and quantity of the book.
Anime Architecture Exhibition at the House of Illustration
The House of Illustration is a great gallery that holds some wonderful exhibitions. I've been to a few but when I heard that they were going to be holding the UK’s first ever exhibition of handmade background illustrations for classic sci-fi manga and anime films, including works from Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Patlabor: The Movie and Metropolis I was sold! I was a huge manga nerd in my teens and so the chance to see some of the original artwork is too good to miss out on.
The exhibition will run from 26 May to 10 Sep 2017 and I will definitely be going. The link to purchase tickets are below.
Little Presents to Myself
I order a lot of items online and rather than just using my real name and boring title I like to make things a bit interesting by creating ridiculously grandiose titles for myself. Here are a few of the parcels I've had sent to me.
Sega Soundtracks on Spotify
The world may seem grim and things may get you down sometimes but there are moments of pure joy and pleasure and these are one of those times. Sega have released the soundtracks to many of their classic games including Outrun, Jet Set Radio Future, Virtua Fighter and NiGHTS on Spotify. I am not a subscriber to the service but if you are then this is pretty awesome!
Video Game Socks
It was my birthday a few days ago and I received these rather spiffing video games socks as a pressie. I don't usually shill stuff on here but I do think they are pretty cool. They are made by Sammy Icon and they are nifty and comfortable. So if you have a geek in your life these are a good gift.
How the Inventor of Mario Designs a Game
Vox has created an interesting video interviewing Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Zelda, Mario and Donkey Kong, about his design philosophy. It's a short video at just under 6 minutes and gives you real insight into this video game designing genius.
The Story Behind the Worst Video Game Of All Time - ET, The Extraterrestrial
ET, The Extraterrestrial on the Atari 2600 is widely regarded as the worst game ever and charged incorrectly with being the cause of the great American video game crash of 1983. The game's designer, Howard Scott Warshaw, has a different take on the game and this short video gives his account of its creation. Fascinating stuff!
Is it really the worst game ever?
The Art of the Brick : DC Super Heroes Exhibition Coming to London
Nathan Sawaya, the famous Lego artist who created The Art of the Brick Exhibition in London in 2014, is returning to the UK on 1st March 2017 with his new exhibition The Art of the Brick : DC Super Heroes. The exhibition will include over 120 large scale exhibits of characters such as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman all made from more than 2 million Lego bricks. The exhibition will be held at a purpose built tent behind the National Theatre and the BFI on the Southbank, near Waterloo Station. I look forward to going and you can go too. The link to website is below but for thoise who won't be going I hope to write up an article of my experiences on this very website!
© Nathan Sawaya / DC Comics
All-New DuckTales Cast Announced... Then Sing the Theme Tune!
Duck Tales was an amazing cartoon and one of my favourite of my childhood. I have the entire series, having currently just finished watching the entire Batman: The Animated Series, and am working my way through the 100 Duck Tales episodes. When I heard that it was going to be remade I was a bit concerned but after hearing the stellar voice-cast, which includes David Tennant as Scrooge McDuck,and hearing that the writer of Gravity Falls is involved I am super excited. I can't wait for the new series!
The 80's Moomins Soundtrack is Coming on Vinyl
Ah The Moomins! Characters I grew to love over time but was initially terrified of because of the creepy 80's eastern-European stopmotion animation. Well, if somehow this piece of freaky animation strikes your nostalgia bone then you might be stoked to know that the foreboding homemade electro-acoustic, new age, synth driven, proto-techno, imaginary world music is coming out in February 2017. The soundtrack, created by Graeme Miller and Steve Shill is a rarity and will attract a lot of interest so for those keen to purchase it I'd recommend a pre-order now! The playlist is:
1. The Moomins Theme
2. Travelling Theme
3. Hobgoblin's Hat
4. Leaving Moomin Valley
5. Partytime
6. Hattyfatteners Row
7. Woodland Band
8. Most Unusual
9. Midwinter Rites
10. Piano Waltz
11. Creepers
12. Woodland Band Far Away
13. Comet Shadow
14. Comet Theme
15. The Moomins Theme (End)
In the meantime in anticipation of the soundtrack release check out the first episode of the animation below.