Radio Shack Flip Book Spot

When we saw this new Radio Shack commercial, wife said she thought they got the idea from my Dragonfly Flipz movies. I, of course had nothing to do with the spot. I think it's possible. I've been posting flip book movies for the past year on several sites, so, some agency director may have come across them. But, really I'll never know and that's fine. I like the spot. It's sort of fun that with the camera in phone he didn't just point it at his own face and record the thanks. But, hey, the old school flip book animation made for a better commercial.



What do you think, did I inspire them?

New Yorker Cartoon - RingTales -Dragonfly Web Flipz Book

Here's Dragonfly Web Flipz book inspired by the very funny RingTakes animated versiosn of New Yorker Cartoons I post on youtube. I came across the animated shorts last year and immediately thought they would be great as flip books. It would be like taking the original spot cartoons back to their roots, the printed page, but with a twist. Some of the New Yorker cartoons are very funny in a classic sick, twisted sense of humor.

The youtube movie hasn't gotten many views but, as luck would have, one of the CEOs of RingTales emailed that he like it, so I sent him a copy. I'll keep everyone post on any further developments.

Superman Toon Flipz Book Preview Movie

Back in July, I did a Superman Toon Flipz Limited Edition Book. (You can read the old post for details) I donated a copy for auction at the San Diego Comic Con for the Comic Book Legal Defense group, and a copy was auctioned on Ebay. Well, I decide to expand the book and publish it for sell. I'm planning for a spring release date or maybe for the San Diego Comic Con, at the most. I'll be sure to post more info soon.

This planned revised version will get a new cover (better title type), the group pages in the beginning of the book, four pages on a page, will be enlarged and places on
their own page.





Here's a movie of the Limited Edition version. Please forgive the total butchering of the great sound track and the bad flipping.



I think this has got be the ultimate Superman flip book you'll find anywhere.
Enjoy.

Dragonlance Animated Movie DVD coming Jan.'08

I just came across the listing on Amazon.com for the direct to DVD project I work on last year, Dragonlance: Dragons Of The Autumn Twilight. It's based on the extremely popular Dragonlance series of books and role-playing games by produced by Wizards of the Coast. I was starting to wonder when this was coming out. I storyboarded several sections for director Will Meugniot (his last name is pronounced "Mineo", but you wouldn't know it by the spelling). Will is a great guy and a well rounded, talented, artist/producer/director and a friend. He never stops drawing,..really!! He must thousands of charcter sketches floating around. (He really puts yours truly to shame in that regard) You can check out his ton of credits at his web site storyboardpro.com.

I own a lot to Will, he offered me my first LA animation job on the animated series ExoSquad (come on Universal, release a DVD set of this series, already!), while I was still living in New York City. My first position was as the show's oversea animation supervisor in Seoul, South Korea, than I was tapped to be co-producer for the second season. That position allowed me to move from New York City and the rest,as they say, is history, well...maybe boring personal history.

In any case, look for the DVD and check out Will's site when you get a chance.

Metropolis Cinema Flipz Book

Here's a Dragonfly Cinema Flipz book of Fritz Lang's Metropolis, the classic 1927 silent movie. It one of my favorite movies, for the great iconic images in it. You can definitely see the inspiration for Star War's C3PO in the "Maria" Robot.


I did this a several years back using images from a funky, low quality, budget VHS tape. Since then, a really great digital re-mastered, restored authorized edition was released by Kino Video on DVD in 2002. I did a second mini-book Cinema Flipz of scenes from the DVD. (See the book below) I'll have to make a movie of it soon and share it with everyone.


I hope to interest Kino Video in letting me do Dragonfly Cinema Flipz book of their great video releases, especially their silent movie catalog. I think it would be a nice way to introduce these films to a new young movie lovers. I'll keep you posted.

Enjoy.

New Nerf Blaster from Hasbro

The good guys at Nerf Haven have unveiled a new Nerf Blaster from Harbro. Here's a peek. It seems it will be released next spring.

There's some debate about the size, below is my estimate in comparison to the LongShot.




Just for fun, I'll be presenting my own thoughts on the future of "Nerf War", soon. Here's the cover (not final) preview image:

I'm still editing the text. I hope to have it done soon. It should make for some lively "nerd" debate on NerfHaven. Be sure to join in.

Ruby, Ruby, Rubi

This past week I ordered, and recieved, the latest installment of one of my favorite Sci-Fi characters, Ruby, the Galactic Gumshoe. You may not have heard of Ruby, she's the main character in a series of audio adventures, basically "radio plays" produced by ZBS Foundation since the early 80's. Here's how I described her in a pitch outline I prepared awhile ago (more on that later):

Ruby, Galactic Gumshoe, follows the adventures of a “smart, saucy, and sassy” futuristic detective on the planet Summa Null in the 25th century. In this ultra modern setting of media overkill and out of control commercialization, Ruby, Galactic Gumshoe, accompanied by the eccentric archaeologist, T.J. Teru, and the lovable thief Rodant Kapoor (pronounced Roe-dent), weaves her way through a bizarre mix of hi-tech, mystical and humorous adventures.

Ruby’s world is laced with fantastic locations such as Magnifico, the City of Malls, Kismet, the inflatable nomadic city, and populated with a kaleidoscope of offbeat characters. These include Angel Lips, a sexy android. Moliere, chief of the “pun” loving Mole People, who love to dance the tango. Monet, an Aurorean, a race that “lives for aesthetics”. And/Or, the “techie” from the Digital Circus, an renegade underground performance group. And many, many, more.

In her trusty “talking” air car, Mustapha, Ruby navigates across a vibrant world of Scuzzies (cyber-punks), Slimeys (genetically engineered assassins) and a host of other alien oddball characters. Case after case finds Ruby matching wits with Techo Witches, Zoot Mutants and “dark forces” from this and “other” dimensions fighting for the hearts, minds, souls, and pocket books of the masses.


Ruby is “one tough cookie”. Self-confident and independent, she’s a neo-classic gum shoe, like a Sam Spade meets Han Solo in a female form. Highly intelligent and resourceful, Ruby is still basically a woman of action. Armed with her sharp mind and rapier wit, Ruby is more than a match for any human or alien foe who crosses her path. But Ruby also possesses a special gift; she can slow down time. This comes in handy when you need to dodge a laser blast or the swing of a bad guy’s energy-blade, allowing her to sidestep danger and returns the favor with a blast from her “Smith-Asahi Godzilla Blaster” with a signature response, “here’s a kiss for ya”.

All this is great stuff! ZBS Foundation has produce tons of Ruby stories, the last being Ruby 7, and other original productions. I started buying Ruby adventure on audio cassettes and immediately fell in love with them. So much so, that I tried to get the rights to produce an animated series, and I actually did secure the animation rights for about two years. But, as luck would have it I couldn't get the project sold. The first Ruby audio series was done as two minute episodes which actually aired on public radio, during rush hour drive time. I thought they were perfect for webisodes. I pitched them as such, at the height of the Web 1.0 crash. Bad timing on my part. I remember my last pitch meeting was the day after "9/11". Needless to say a lot of projects faded away at that time. My Ruby was one of them. So, the animation rights are now in the hand of other producer. But I still hold out that I'll get another chance. (Just for record, I haven't seen one bit of info from the other guy in the two years he's had the rights. I'm hoping no news is good news, because I think ZBS's Ruby deserves to be out there, even if I'm not the one doing it.) ZBS is one of my inspiring, creative heroes, so, please visit ZBS Foundation website for more info, and support them by buying their stuff.
Here's the animatic I did for my Ruby animated series pitch. It's an adaptation of the first audio episode. This is the first time it is being shown online, although the storyboard has been on my website for several years. I just never got around to posting the animatic. With picking up the latest adventure, I decided, why not! By the way, I also did a series of Dragonfly Flipz books of this short. If, I ever get the chance, I'll print that up someday. (By the way, ZBS and the media right owner has a copy of this animatic and flip books, just for the record)

Ruby, the Assassin

Some time after finishing on the Ruby pitch I came across this other Ruby, " Ruby, the Assassin" featured in demos for ATI graphic card. I be curious to know if these guys knew of the ZBS "Ruby". The episodes are very well and worth checking out.

I thought of approaching ATI and seeing if they'd be interested in having Dragonfly Flipz book adaptations done of the episodes. I still might do that.


Rubi - Wet

Just to add to the mix, here's a third "Ruby" or Rubi. This Rubi is the lead character in a new video game coming out next year called "Wet". It looks interesting in "Kill Bill, kind of way. I don't know much about it, but the trailer looked cool. (Warning: Mature content)

Three Rubys for the price of one.

Enjoy.