In the near future, man has begun to address the economic and environmental issues plaguing the early 21st century. Rapid technological advancements have changed life dramatically, especially the creation of advanced humanoid robots who have begun to play an integral part in everyday life. Takumi Kenji, the reclusive CEO of Kenji electronics, and father of all things A.I., has announced the first ever “companion” bots, a model of humanoid whose interactive capabilities are remarkably natural. As robots continue to evolve, their place amongst us must evolve as well, and as it does society carries the responsibility of answering the moral questions that come.
Retro sci-fi and steampunk fans, rejoice! Weta, the company best known for creating the sets, costumes, armour, weapons, creatures, and miniatures in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, presents Dr. Grordbort’s Infallible Aether Oscillators & Other Marvelous Contraptions.
Dr. Grordbort’s Infallible Aether Oscillators is a line of 1:1 scale antique styled, sci-fi hand weapon props, conceived by Weta designer Greg Broadmore and meticulously built by master model maker David Tremont. With charming 1900s contraption styling and finish, the Rayguns evoke the nostalgia of a lost age of exploration and discovery, and possess an intentional sense of humour and fun in their design.
Six years ago, Greg started illustrating classic Rayguns, and after creating a series of nine full-size illustrations on canvas, he showed Weta Workshop’s Richard Taylor, who, in turn, asked for a painting of his own. Greg agreed and tentatively suggested launching a range based on these drawings. And the rest is history.
“Dr. Grordbort’s Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory plays to all that Sci Fi imagery I love”, grins Broadmore. “It’s full of bizarre inventions and man-melting weaponry. The three Rayguns are featured alongside many others including Servile Automatons, War Wagons and even Mass-mo-trons. Almost all of them are capable of accidentally crippling the user or worse. That’s one of the things I loved about the classic Science Fiction machinery. They all looked like death traps. Just as likely to kill you as your enemy.”
The Rayguns have exploded onto the web, featured in collectors’ Christmas and birthday wish lists, and have been featured on International Directory BoingBoing.net and Gizmodo.com, who dubbed the Rayguns “your weapon of choice… a Raygun that’ll blast away giant monkeys… or evil wizard dudes”. WIRED Magazine recently featured a six page spread on the making of these weapons and New Zealand daily newspaper The Dominion Post dubbed the heaviest of the Rayguns, the Goliathon 83, “Weta’s Alien Buster”.
Creator Greg Broadmore, a self-confessed gun nerd, says the contraptions have been a long time coming in his mind. “I clearly and fondly remember watching the old black and white serials on Sunday afternoons as a little kid and the classic Sci Fi imagery has always stuck with me”, says Greg. “The swept shapes, spikes, fins and beautiful forms that are all jammed together with boiler plate and extraneous mechanical detail. That’s how I saw Flash Gordon, Tarzan, King Kong and others. But what I’ve [always been] fascinated by is the macho idiocy of the ‘hero’ in science fiction. The ‘heroic’ attitude of killing anything and everything in sight, especially if it’s jeopardizing the swooning heroine.”
The guns are limited edition pieces. There will be only 500 of each gun made worldwide, except for the Victorious Mongoose, of which there are only 400. All of these are handcrafted and made out of metal with some glass parts. Every Raygun comes with its own Moon-velvet lined pressed tin case, Certificate of Authenticity and an assortment of implements and crafting tools. Not only that, these bad boys will be a decent punch of metal — with each gun weighing in at over 7 pounds, these are no light investment.
“The original three Rayguns were previewed at Comic-Con San Diego 2006, and went on sale the following year at Comic-Con 2007, each limited to an edition size of 500. In under two years, 1000 of those original three high-end collectible Rayguns have sold, and a further three Rayguns have been released,” says Tim Launder, General Manager of Weta Limited. “We sold more than half of the Ray-Blunderbuss guns within the first month of release — including edition Number #1. Since Dr. Grordbort’s launched in 2006, we have had an overwhelming response to Greg Broadmore, the Rayguns, and to the world in general. This includes the Rayguns being voted #1 Best Toy in 2007 by Figures.com; Greg Broadmore being featured as ‘Tomorrow’s People’ on the cover of Idealog [September 2007] and a four-page spread in Wired — all about the Rayguns, Greg and Richard. We’ve even popped up on YouTube in an online ad in Australia.” The online viral campaign for the Rayguns has also been greatly successful, garnering several international awards:
NZ Direct and Interactive Marketing Awards 2008: Winner (Gold)
Caples Awards 2008, in New York: Winner (Gold)
ECHO Award 2008: Winner (arguably the most coveted award in global direct marketing, the presentation takes place in Las Vegas on October 14, hosted by Jay Leno of The Tonight Show)
Cannes Lions Advertising Festival 2008: Product Launches Finalist
Cannes Lions Advertising Festival 2008: Direct Response TV Finalist
Doctor Grordbort's Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory
Doctor Grordbort’s Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory cleverly uses the style of old Victorian advertising leaflets to showcase the Dr. Grordbort’s line, all the while maintaining, with a wink and a nudge, that everything within the faux catalogue’s pages is real. The full-page artwork is printed on heavy cardstock, and each page is laden with information and humorous asides about the many types of rayguns and other improbable inventions attributed to Dr. Grordbort and his cohorts, including the rayguns that Weta has already released as props. The Destroxor Labs Pearce 75 Atom Ray Gun, with its glossy red accents and stabilising fin, is the classic image of a Buck Rogers-era weapon, and will hopefully will be next up on Weta’s production roster. The Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory also contains a page of testimonials from “customers” who have tried the catalogue’s products (and survived to tell the tale); a short comic portraying a typical day in the life of the stereotypicallly English, world famous naturalist, Lord Cockswain; and postcard art. It’s pulp fiction at its sly best.
Dr. Grordbort's Satchel
Once you’ve perused the catalogue, you’ll naturally want to set out and explore. Every adventurer needs a pack while out in the field, though, so Weta has thoughtfully provided Dr. Grordbort’s Satchel. It’s the perfect bag to tote your copy of the Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory around in, and, until February 28, it comes pre-stuffed with a Wave Disruptor Gun keychain, Goliathon 83 Infinity Beam Projector pin, four postcards featuring Dr. Grordbort art, and a Dr. Grordbort’s Laboratories Schemes & Schematics notebook, each lined page stamped with the Dr. Grordbort logo. Even with all these bonuses, the bag is roomy enough to hold the rest of your steampunky supplies. For ladies, the canvas satchel also makes a creative alternative to a handbag. This is an accessory that will get noticed, and coveted, by fellow steampunk geeks.
F.M.O.M. Wave Disrupter Gun, Miniature Version
Now that you’ve got your field guide and a kit, you need to invest in some self-protection. If you don’t have the pocket change to expend on a full-scale raygun, then the F.M.O.M. Industries Wave Disrupter Gun, Miniature Version, is the firearm for you. Released in a Limited Edition of 900, it’s an itty bitty clone of the standard Wave Disrupter Gun. As the package describes it, “You cradle in your limp mitts a marvel of modern miniaturisation; Dr. Grordbort’s F.M.O.M. Wave Disrupter Gun, impoverished in scale by one of his ingenious contraptions. Golly!” It may be small, but this raygun is crafted with every bit of the care put into its bigger sibling, down to the weathered aging. (It’s also more concealable at this size.) In another nice touch, the gun separates from the base it rests on, so you have a choice of displaying the raygun with or without its stand. The attention to details is simply tremendous, an example being the tiny, amusing notice on both the model’s base and box which reads:
Made on Venus*
*not actually
The sturdy cardboard case the mini Wave Disrupter Gun comes in is numbered to match the collector’s model it houses. Shaped like a book, it’s coated entirely with glossy paper and printed with sepia-toned art and photos of the enclosed figurine. The hinged lid fastens shut with a concealed magnet, so once the flocked tray and other padding materials are removed, the box makes an ideal storage place for Dr. Grordbort pins, keychains, and other small treasures.
Fans of Dr. Horrible‘s Evil League of Evil will thrill to the upcoming Goliathon 800 Moon Hater Death Ray, as nothing quite says “mad genius” like a lair equipped with an old-school weapon of mass destruction. Order one, and you’ll be the envy of all the other supervillians.
Once you’ve stocked up from Dr. Grordbort’s catalogue, head on over to the official website to leave a testimonial and assert your bragging rights in the forums. The site carries full descriptions of all the raygun collectibles currently on the market, an image archive, and web comics, as well as a bestiary that describes and illustrates the many alien creatures you’ll be chasing down with your new raygun. According to Weta, there’s much more in the works for Dr. Grordbort fans to look forward to, such as designer t-shirts, pins, key-rings, postcards, limited edition art prints, and, one would assume, brass goggles. New pieces will be launched every few months.
For product details and purchasing, please visit WetaNZ.com and Dr. Grordbort’s. Select items are available through the Dark Horse Comics website (search keyword: “weta”).
Amanda Tapping of Stargate SG-1 and Sanctuary will be raising funds for charity this weekend on eBay
Actor/Executive Producer Amanda Tapping of Sanctuary and Stargate fame is sponsoring a very special online auction to help raise funds for North Star Montessori Elementary School in Vancouver, BC.
Amanda has always been a champion of charitable and good causes. She has a particular interest in lesser known causes which ordinarily have no access to mainstream fundraising. This is a small local school that could really use the support.
This auction will serve as a template for a larger fundraising initiative that Amanda plans to launch later this year, which will support children’s charities and not-for-profit organizations.
Date: Friday, February 6th – Monday, February 16th, 2009
Time: Auction opens at 9pm (PST) and closes at 9pm (PST)
2. Arm sling worn by Samantha Carter, in Stargate SG-1. Amanda wore this for a number of episodes. This piece is signed by Amanda and other cast members.
3. Behind the scenes set visit and lunch with Amanda during the filming of her new series, Sanctuary, in Vancouver, BC
The long overdue and eagerly awaited follow-up to Dead Like Me, "Life After Death" will be available on DVD February 17, 2009
Bryan Fuller is a genius. A self-professed Star Trek geek, he was such a huge Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fan that he set out to write for Star Trek. Because he had the talent and imagination to match the desire, he made his dream come true. When DS9 came to an end, he ended up working on Star Trek: Voyager but he felt restricted in his writing because the syndicated format prevented deep multi-episodic story arcs and he longed to write more emotional depth into his characters. During his tenure with Star Trek, this desire drove him to write Dead Like Me, which he quickly sold as a pilot. Dead Like Me is a deeply emotional and sometimes disturbing fantasy (what could be referred to as Urban Mythology) full of layered, ongoing storylines and flawed people.
I first saw Dead Like Me in reruns on SCI FI channel. I loved the story, the characters and the macabre events and how they entwined and unfolded to tell a very solid and entertaining story. I was disappointed to learn that it wasn’t getting picked up for a third season, another blow to sci-fi and fantasy fans like me who had just dealt with the loss of Stargate SG-1. In hopes of not only supporting the show (and praying maybe SCI FI would pick up a Season 3 if there was enough fan interest), I bought the DVD box sets. I was surprised when I watched them because of the mature content that I was seeing for the first time, some of which seemed to distract from the story for me. (The producing network Show Time is notorious for this though, even forcing Stargate SG-1 to put nudity in its premiere episode, something that has never been done since without harming its success as it went on to show for ten seasons before making its move back to direct to DVD films in 2008.)
While Bryan went on to other projects soon after production on Dead Like Me began, the show went on to gain a cult following that is still begging for more several years later.
Dead Like Me follows the life and after-life of smart mouthed and deeply antagonistic Georgia “George” Lass. Disillusioned with life at a very young age, she has estranged herself from her mother (whom she loves to offend and annoy) and her sister (who worships her but is virtually invisible to George) as her father drifts emotionally further away from the family. At the age of 18, her philosophy is basically that bad things happen to you whether you are a good or bad person, so why bother to be anything special. While drifting listlessly through life, feeling no particular desire or value for it, she suddenly loses it when struck by a toilet seat that fails to burn up during reentry from a de-orbiting Russian space station. Moments after her death, she meets Rube. He’s a Grim Reaper and the team leader of a group of Reapers. He explains to her that taking souls is a public service of the afterlife and, until her time comes to “go into the light”, she, too, will now have to fulfill that public duty. Reluctant and rebellious as always, George struggles with her new reality while trying to come to terms with the life she left behind and the new afterlife she’s facing.
In Life After Death, we catch up with George five years after her death. While she seems to have finally grown up and come to terms with her afterlife, suddenly everything changes again. It’s great to see a return of so many familiar faces. Rube, their no-nonsense team leader who hands out their daily assignments on yellow Post-its each morning at breakfast at Das Waffle Hause has gone missing and is replaced with a new leader who has a completely different approach to running the business of death; Roxi, the tough-as-nails cop and former dancer who was strangled in the 80s by an overly ambitious friend who wanted to steal her invention that would later go on to become an icon of a generation; Mason, a young man whose ambition in life to remain on a constant drug-induced high led him to drill a hole in his own head, seeking euphoria; Daisey, the Hollywood starlet-wanna-be who “died tragically in a fire on the set of Gone with the Wind“. While dealing with this new set of changes, George is suddenly confronted with her old life once again when she unexpectedly crosses paths with her mother, Joy, and sister, Reggie.
Once again, the show is heavily laden with examination of the themes of life, death, love, family, ambition, temptation and a myriad other conditions of being human. For anyone who loved Dead Like Me, Life After Death will not disappoint. It is full of the same dark humor and wit that made the television series hugely entertaining. While Rube’s presence is sadly missed, they handled the absence well and the plot allows for it to stand alone or springboard into a new series or series of movies.
Philip Morris is co-creator and star of the new scifi television series Emissary
All those attending New York Comic Con are invited to a special panel presentation of Emissary the new series starring Philip Morris. The panel takes place Friday, February 6th at 6pm and will include the first look at Emissary’s teaser footage and a Q&A with the stars.
Emissary is the story of anthropologist Campbell Essex discovering his destiny as the latest in a line of “Emissaries” or peak humans. Constantly pursued by ancient enemies who seek his power, Campbell struggles to overcome his own limitations before it’s too late. The series, created by Philip Morris and Dekker Dreyer, spans several hundred years and touches on serious issues of what it means to be human while bringing a new level of brutal realism to the sci-fi/fantasy genre.
“As an actor, I have had wonderful experiences in the sci-fi/action-adventure world. With Emissary, I get a chance to bring my own sense of expression to this vital genre, as an actor, producer, and writer. I also get the chance to use skills that the audience may not know that I truly possess, like the martial arts. In meeting Dekker Dreyer and collaborating with him, it has all come together, and I’m very grateful. I am excited to bring this to the fans, and hope that they appreciate what we’re doing. Being a comic book geek myself, it’s important to me to honor the fans with this material. We’re a picky bunch, and if they like it, I will be happy.”
— Philip Morris, co-creator
With New York City being the primary backdrop for the first leg of the series, the creative team hopes to craft a rich bed to the action.
“I live in NYC and there are plenty of strange things that happen there every day. We wanted danger to be around every corner. Old buildings, old mysteries… strange people, those things excite me. At its core Emissary is a fantastic story and it’s easy for a show to stretch too far from a believable, grounded universe. Phil and I are both big fans of hiding the extraordinary inside the everyday. Here we have elements of a dark real-world story, but ultimately it’s a hopeful fantasy.”
— Dekker Dreyer, co-creator
The Emissary cast includes Philip Morris (Smallville), Aaron Douglas (Battlestar Galactica), Brian Thompson (The X-Files, Star Trek: Enterprise) and Emmy nominee Thaao Penghlis with additional cast members Yuri Lowenthal and J LaRose in attendance at the NYCC panel. The series, produced by Mnemosyne LLC and the Emissary Partners, is scheduled to begin production in late 2009 currently slated for IPTV distribution.
Mnemosyne develops and manages products for fans of genre entertainment. Founded in 2004, Mnemosyne runs the massively-multiplayer game Rubies of Eventide, and builds geek-chic brands and intellectual properties.
Twitter is a social networking site that is becoming all the rage lately with its easy way to keep up to date on people you are interested in. Happily, a lot of Guild crew/cast have Twitter accounts, and if you choose, you can follow them! We thought we’d provide a handy list for easy following. Happy Twittering! 🙂
In the age of YouTube, comedy shorts are popping up in droves. With mostly lowbrow humor in these videos, Dave and Tom (David Beeler and Tom Konkle) stand out from the masses with their wit and writing, and performances that are carried primarily by dialog rather than sight gags. The fact that they’ve had over 12 million views might be because their sketches are filled with clever double entendres in the style of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. One half of the comedy troupe, Tom Konkle, answered a few questions for us about what they’ve accomplished so far and where they hope to take Dave and Tom next.
ÜberSciFiGeek (ÜSFG) I read on your website how the two of you met during a production. If you were both characters in one of the sketches you now write, what would that first meeting have been like?
Tom Konkle (TK) Well, it would have been a fairly looney occurrence I am sure. We’d probably have been like those two silly British old beans in our sketch The Secret to Happiness is a Bad Memory. A sketch where Dave would say “Hello.” And I would reply, matching his jovial quality like this:
Tom: Hello, as well. Funny meeting you like this, isn’t it?
Dave: What, in character?
Tom: Yes, I mean, here I am as Tom 2.0 and there you are as… sorry, I haven’t caught your name.
Dave: Haven’t thrown it actually.
Tom: I’m sorry… I don’t understand.
Dave: It’s a joke.
Tom: Not following you.
Dave: You said didn’t catch my name and I said I haven’t thrown it.
Tom: Ah. No. Nothing. Anyway, strange us meeting during one of our own productions and not even knowing each other yet, isn’t it?
Dave: Yes, that is odd.
Tom: (suddenly laughing deep and disturbingly) Hahahahahaha!
Dave: What?
Tom : Haven’t thrown it. Your name. HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Dave: Yes, I still haven’t.
Tom : I always enjoy a good joke as soon as I am made aware of it. Uh, what’s you name?
Dave: Dave.
Tom: Yes. Of course, what’s your name, Dave?
Anyway, you meeting as characters from a sketch might be a bit like that.
(ÜSFG) You both seem to be fans of British comedy, especially Monty Python. How did that come about and how does it influence your sketches?
(TK) Well, I think its more a matter of finding kindred spirits in British comedy, especially Monty Python. I can remember as a boy seeing the first episodes on TV and thinking, there’s someone who thinks the way I do about the world. The craft of writing and acting your own material interested me as I grew older, working in the profession of acting or writing other people’s things, so again Python was a blueprint for that. Sprinkle in my own flavors and Dave’s and my other influences, and hopefully a unique voice can develop.
(TK) Amazing. Highlight of my acting career. He got me into sketch and, frankly, was my major influence, so going and working with him in a two-man sketch show on TV was a dream. Cleese was a great person, gentleman and mentor who bothered to keep in touch. Wonderful time.
(ÜSFG) Do you work with your network of friends or do you hold auditions?
(TK) Both. Of course you work with friends in the business over and over or people become your friends as a result of working together so you go back to them but also, we are auditioning people now, particularly actresses, to expand our pool of talent we want to work with for the new web series Safety Geeks: SVI.
(ÜSFG) You’ve recently announced that Season 1 of Safety Geeks: SVI is on its way. What’s going on with SVI? When can we expect to see Season 1 rolling out, and what can we do to help?
(TK) We shoot at the end of February and hopefully we will be finished a few months after that and have it out as a complete season.
(ÜSFG) You’ve appeared a few times on Comedy Gumbo for C-Spot. How did you get involved in that group?
(TK) I had met Payman (Benz) and Sean (Becker), the two guys behind Gumbo (Awkward Pictures), a while ago at a film festival. Their film was showing and mine, called Who Makes Movies?, that I did with Chris Luccy was part of the festival and they liked the performance. We stayed in touch and it worked out that we could do a few sketches together in Gumbo. We also did a short, Behind the Cup: Two Girls One Cup, where I play the cup and Dave was the host.
(ÜSFG) You’ve created quite a collection of characters over the years. Where do you find inspiration for characters like Sir Reginald Bo-Hey No and Baxter Smalls?
(TK) I sort of channel them in the writing and rehearsal process. I know them very well and I like to play with these characters. Sir Reginald Bo-Hey No of the Invention with Brian Forbes series is finally taking off, mostly due to Koldcast.TV and their distribution of the show on Tivocast and iTunes, as well as their own website. Baxter was a labor of love with a director named Marcus and DP named Doug who I had shot a commercial with as Brahms, called Raisin Brahms, a very silly PSA for music arts education, and so it was a natural progression.
(ÜSFG) Speaking of Baxter Smalls, you’ve created a wonderful premise for a series with a great pilot episode and website to promote it. Can we look forward to more adventures with our favorite Time Traveling Documentarian?
(TK) Yes. Baxter Smalls continues to be in development. I look forward to playing him in a series again.
(ÜSFG) Are potatoes really evil? Do you eat potatoes in your house? What dark secrets are they the key to?
(TK) Well, potatoes can certainly be used for evil, they can be turned. For all the answers you must look for Beyond the Known online, about the potato conspiracy. It’s a sketch I used to do live and Gino C. Vianelli, who plays Art Gong in it, was always a champion of that sketch even when no one else was, and we finally did it for the cameras which was vindicating and fun. I like that bit.
(ÜSFG) You’ve been in several commercials recently, such as the Epson Artison series (Monkey, Bling and Art Critic). What’s been the most fun for you so far?
(TK) I just did a Coke commercial with my 3-year-old son that was special. It was a hard shoot as it was a night and, being three, he was a tired trooper. The Quiznos spots where I played silly British characters in scenarios was fun. A LOT of the commercials I have done have been strange, silly fun. I rarely do a “straight” product commercial so it’s great. I did a Carrier commercial directed by Christopher Guest that was incredibly rewarding to work on.
(ÜSFG) I thought your Star Wars: The Fate of the Duel parody was hilarious. What made you decide to add sci-fi to your list of comedic genres?
(TK) Love science fiction, HUGE library of books and DVDs. Star Wars got me into filmmaking, really. So it was a natural fit.
(ÜSFG) Who or what, exactly, is McFwap?
(TK) McFwap was my sketch troupe for many years. Very talented, funny people in there, many became lifelong friends and all of them had such funny ideas and performances. I loved it.
(ÜSFG) You have so many brilliant deadpan deliveries and one-liners, but so far I think my favorite is from Breaking the Language Barrier: “While some might drink from the fountain of knowledge, I merely gargled.” What have been some of your favorites?
(TK) That’s like picking a favorite child, really. Each line at the time is a snapshot of where I was comedically and what I was trying to accomplish, I can see when I see it again. I love the “Impossible as the proportional camel toe would be six inches across…” line that I wrote and got to deliver in the Safety Geeks web series promo. Invention has SO many. Lots in the television shows where my one or two lines were a deadpan line stuck in because they were part of helping make a larger project funny.
(ÜSFG) I’ve noticed a certain Biblical theme in some of your work. Is there some inspiration behind those? Do you have any fear of “divine retribution”? Are they mostly ad-lib or scripted?
(TK) The Biblical theme is there sometimes because it remains a sacred cow, which is intrinsic to comedy. Everything I do is very tightly scripted. I rehearse my improvs (no joke!)
(ÜSFG) What else are you working on right now, and what would you like to do in the future?
(TK) A feature called EMTs. I have several web series I would like to do, a few television scripts and work on some projects with others. Hopefully the auditions keep rolling in, as well, while I do my own thing.
We are pleased and privileged to announce that The Guild has an Official Fan Podcast! The “Knights of the Guild” will be a monthly look at the show, and any news surrounding its cast and crew! Kenny and Jenni (our behind the scenes master and key PA and production right-hand-lady) are the hosts and have just posted a preview, so check it out!
To top it off, Matthew Brackney, who redid our credits for season 2, designed them a kick butt logo! Very cool! We look forward to their first podcast launching February 15th on their website. Thanks Kenny and Jenni!
Fans of web series The Guild will be familiar with J!NX by way of the official Guild Jinx Store. Series creator Felicia Day (pictured above) set up shop at J!NX in November, posting on the show’s blog that “the quality of the shirt will be much better than the print-on-demand we’ve been providing before.” J!NX fulfilled Day’s promise by delivering a higher-quality version of the classic Cast Logo t-shirt initially offered through CafePress, followed by a Knights of Good design that coincided with the second season premiere of The Guild.
Knights of Good
“Become a member of the guild inside The Guild with this shirt,” Day enthuses, winkingly adding that “Vork would approve”. What better recommendation is there than one from The Guild‘s all-business guildmaster? The colourful crest, a humorous, medieval stained glass image illustrated by Guild fan Jeff Carlisle, is beautifully reproduced on Light Steel (grey) for men and Asphalt (darker grey) for women.
J!NX also has an extensive line of clothing and accessories — hats, keychains, patches, buttons, pins, stickers, wrapping paper… even a Talking Murloc plush — based on World of Warcraft, the game that inspired The Guild.
World of Warcraft /Dance
A stand-out in the WoW collection is the sexy World of Warcraft /Dance tee, essential garb for ladies playing a Night Elf character, but J!NX makes sure that the entire family can show its gamer pride with an epic selection of Blizzard-themed items for adults, youth, and babies. For non-WoWers, there are many other licensed properties to choose from at J!NX, including StarCraft, Dungeons & Dragons, AdventureQuest, Apache, Collusion, commandN, CrankyGeeks, DEF CON, DL.TV, Dr. Horrible, Duels, GameBanshee, GameSpot.com, Hak5, isoHunt, MajorGeeks, MiniNova, MMORPG.com, MusicScene Network, Packet Storm, Phrack, Project Lore, Safer Networking, The Totally Rad Show, and TorrentFreak.
Maze
Be sure to check out J!NX’s original creations, like the Pac-Man inspired Maze, as well. The current “Design of the Week”, a timely Buffy Staked Edward t-shirt that will appeal to Whedonites exasperated by all the Twilight hype, perfectly demonstrates why J!NX has such a dedicated community. This is a company that knows pop culture and how to cater to its fanatics. w00t!
Order directly through the J!NX website. Bonus: each package comes with a sticker sheet plus any available catalogues or other promotional materials.
A never-before-seen ice planet is the setting for “Trespass,” an all-new episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars premiering at 9 p.m. ET/PT Friday, Jan. 30, on Cartoon Network
Anthony Daniels and his alter ego C-3PO play a pivotal role in “Trespass,” an all-new episode of the hit animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, premiering at 9 p.m. ET/PT Friday, Jan. 30, on Cartoon Network.
While investigating the disappearance of a clone security force on a fiercely inhospitable ice world, Anakin and Obi-Wan are caught in the middle of a conflict between the planet’s natives and the greedy representatives of a nearby moon. In an effort to broker a tentative peace, Anakin turns to C-3PO for help — and finds his fluency in more than 6 million forms of communication to be most useful.
Daniels has played C-3PO on screen in all six Star Wars movies, and has continued in the role since the inception of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. With the animated series, Daniels becomes the only actor to play the same role in every on-screen incarnation of the Saga. He has also become a spokesman and host for the popular Art and Science of Star Wars exhibition around the world, and has written extensively about his experiences as a part of the Star Wars phenomenon.
“I’ve never left the character or, rather, he’s never left me,” says Daniels. “I put him in the cupboard for a while, but people call and I take him out again. There was a time many years ago when I thought I should move on to other things, but then I thought that was stupid. I’m very fond of Threepio.”
Daniels says the voiceover performance of Threepio is a welcome respite from the rigors of bringing Threepio to the screen in live-action productions. He finds the animation process offers “quite a lot of freedom.”
“When you’re reading lines by yourself, it’s not always as easy to ad-lib,” Daniels says. “But what Dave (Filoni) and I do is to go over my lines before we start because, sadly, I am the world’s greatest expert. And I say that with a kind of wry fun, because Threepio is kind of like my best friend, and you know your best friend better than anyone.”
Filoni says, “It was important to have Anthony as Threepio because I wanted to learn as much from him as I could. Anthony has incredible insight into every word and phrase that he says. There’s rarely a line that he won’t adapt to Threepio’s cadence, so we’ve developed a good vocabulary. We’re both excited to do new things with Threepio, and hopefully in the future, viewers will see us expand our view of the character. After all, Threepio is as much an icon of Star Wars as Darth Vader.”
In “Trespass,” Threepio presents his most proper, most effective side — that of translator. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t provide a moment or two of levity, as is usually the case with the protocol droid.
“The thing I always liked about Threepio is that he wasn’t a hero — he was somebody who had no sense of humor and no sense of irony,” Daniels says. “He doesn’t know that he’s funny. We think he’s funny because he’s ridiculous, he’s uptight and a bit critical and it makes us laugh at him. But his saving grace and the reason that we like him is that he’s very thoughtful and very loyal. If he’s on your side, you would have a friend to the end of your existence. Or probably to the end of his existence, because he’s loyal to a fault, to his last nut and his last bolt.”
Daniels has a clear memory of the original reference to the Clone Wars, and the curious impression it had on the cast — though, he admits, nobody had any idea it would grow to the proportions it has achieved within the Star Wars universe.
“I was amused the other day to remember Mark Hamill going through his lines with me one day, and we both kind of looked at each other regarding this casual one-liner about ‘the Clone Wars,’” Daniels recalls. “And then of course, it got picked up in the prequels and now it’s its own TV series. Animation has grown up. It’s become very, very honorable, and I think Clone Wars has taken the next step.”
The Coraline movie premieres on February 6, and what better way to count down the days than to read, or reread, the award-winning children’s book by Neil Gaiman?
When Coraline explores her new home, she steps through a door and into another house just like her own… except that it’s different. It’s a marvelous adventure until Coraline discovers that there’s also another mother and another father in the house. They want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to keep her forever.
Coraline must use all of her wits and every ounce of courage in order to save herself and return home.
Coraline: The Movie Collector’s Edition is a new hardcover edition of the 2002 novel. It retains the original book’s interior illustrations by Dave McKean, but now has a movie art cover and an eight-page insert of full-colour images from the film. A section at the back of the book, entitled “Extra Delights for the Coraline Reader”, features a note from Neil Gaiman about director/screenwriter Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach), a note from Henry Selick about author Neil Gaiman, and an excerpt from Henry Selick’s screenplay for Coraline. Even if you have the first edition of Coraline, the Movie Collector’s Edition is well worth getting for these bonus materials.
Serving as a bridge between the novel and film is Coraline: A Visual Companion by Stephen Jones. This weighty coffee table book, with a foreword by Neil Gaiman, is a comprehensive guide to the making of the Coraline movie, divided in four parts:
The Book
The Movie
The Characters, and
The Other Coralines, a catch-all category covering Coraline‘s related projects:
the 2004 short student film of Coraline that combined live-action and cut-out animation.
the 2006 touring stage production of Coraline by Irish theatrical puppet troupe Púca Puppets.
the 2007 touring stage production of Coraline by Swedish children’s and youth theater group Mittiprickteatern.
the 2008 Coraline graphic novel adaptation by P. Craig Russell.
the 2009 Coraline: The Game, D3Publisher of America’s game adaptation of the film for PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, and Wii.
the 2009 Coraline musical, a theatrical adaptation with music and lyrics by Stephin Merritt and book by David Greenspan, produced by MCC Theater and True Love Productions off-Broadway at The Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York, set to have its world premiere on May 6.
movie tie-in marketing campaigns, such as in-store promotions with American fast-food restaurant chains Macy’s and Carl’s Jr., cards and gift-wrap at Hallmark, and toys created by NECA.
Glossy pages trace Coraline‘s path from novel to stop-motion film in lush detail, accompanied by a wealth of behind-the-scenes production photos, preliminary sketches, illustrations, character designs, conceptual art, and completed images from the movie. Interviews with cast members Dakota Fanning (“Coraline”), Teri Hatcher (“Mother/Other Mother”), Ian McShane (“Mr. Bobinski”), Jennifer Saunders (“Miss Forcible”), and Dawn French (“Miss Spink”) — John Hodgman (“Father/Other Father”) curiously absent — and the film’s crew, including Neil Gaiman, add further insight into the film’s creative process. Coraline: A Visual Companion is a peek behind the animated curtain “that will appeal to Gaiman fans, cinema buffs, visual art enthusiasts, and all those who fall in love with the inquisitive young heroine of Henry Selick’s extraordinary film.”
Once you’ve read Coraline, and spent time in its Other World, you’ll never look at buttons the same way again. (Trivia Note: The fear of buttons is known as “koumpounophobia”.)
Coraline: The Movie Collector’s Edition and Coraline: A Visual Companion are distributed by HarperEntertainment and William Morrow, imprints of HarperCollinsCanada and HarperCollins Publishers. For more information on Coraline, visit the Neil Gaiman website and its related website for young readers, Mouse Circus. Neil Gaiman may also be followed on Twitter.
