Internet cartoon delivers violent fun

Internet cartoon delivers violent fun

Once upon a time, two graduates of the University of Colorado decided to make a perverse cartoon for adults, which would simultaneously lampoon the fads and politics of society while also testing the outer limits of their audience’s gag reflex. Thus Matt Stone and Trey Parker begat “South Park,” and so the modern age of mature cartoons was born.

On this very campus, one animator and a group of friends from the area have created a similar monster: “Goremaster,” a bloody Flash epic that follows the exploits of its eponymous hero. Imagine Rambo with Chuck Norris’ mullet and a temperamental wall-eye, and you have some idea of Hugo von Goremaster’s appearance, but looks aren’t everything.'
Goremaster, voiced by co-creator and junior in communications Zack Hicks, has, over two episodes, slain friend and foe in multitudinous manners. A flamethrower down the throat, an arm used to decapitate its owner, then as a high-powered aerial saw and the classic fist through skull are but a few of the entrail-covered means of bringing outlaws to justice.
Hicks said the show, rooted in the creators’ collective love of South Park and likewise violent comic animation, has been long in the works.
“It was me and two friends of mine,” Hicks said. “We’re basically South Park and Venture Brothers nerds. We figured, ‘We’re artists, we can make stuff make something really violent with a barbarian hero.’”
Thus came the show, which at the time of this writing is available on Newgrounds, Albino Black Sheep and YouTube and has amassed more than 89,000 views between the first two episodes. Hicks said a possible DVD release is in planning, but such a release depends on the success on the next few episodes of the show.
Hicks said that, while money is not the root of the show, the ability to turn it into a career may not be out of the question.

“We got sponsored by Albino Black Sheep and had over 20,000 views, and Newgrounds is sponsoring ‘Goremaster 2,’” Hicks said. “Right now it’s sort of my full-time job.”

Hicks’ cohorts include co-creator Luke Hatmaker, a student actor at Belmont who also voices Goremaster’s sidekick Grizzlefist, and Robert Stephan, a local actor who will appear in the Clarence Brown Theatre production of “A Christmas Carol” this year and lends his voice to nemesis Baron Skullprince, Goremaster’s chief nemesis.
Accompanied by original music from Lucas Samms, the show very much appears a work of love made by friends, though the love is not necessarily felt so much as the gut-crushing horror onscreen and the sick anticipation of what hellacious havoc Goremaster will wreak next.
Episode Two came out last weak and accounts for nearly half of the total views tabulated in this story. From the looks of things, viewers are flocking to the videos and have mostly positive responses. As Goremaster battles a familiar plummer who may or may not have enhanced many of our youths, one thing is certain: This brutal barbarian is here to stay.
This article is taken from-

Smoke's no joke for Tom and Jerry

Smoke's no joke for Tom and Jerry

Children's TV channel Boomerang is to edit scenes from Tom and Jerry cartoons where characters are shown smoking.
The move follows an investigation by media watchdog Ofcom into a viewer's complaint that the vintage animations were not appropriate for young viewers.
The watchdog recognised the "historic" cartoons were made at a time "when smoking was more generally accepted".
However, Boomerang will only edit those cartoons where smoking appears to be "condoned, acceptable or glamorised".
Two such cartoons include Texas Tom from 1950 and Tennis Chumps from 1949.
'Stylised manner'
In the former Tom is shown trying to impress a female cat by rolling a cigarette, lighting it and smoking it with one hand. In the latter, Tom's tennis opponent is seen smoking a large cigar.
"We note that in Tom and Jerry smoking usually appears in a stylised manner," said Ofcom.
However, it said that "the level of editorial justification required for the inclusion of smoking in such cartoons is necessarily high".
"Depictions of smoking may not be problematic given the context," it continued.
"But broadcasters need to make a judgement about the extent to which a particular scene may or may not genuinely influence children."

Channel 4 has avoided censure after Sir Elton John swore on a live edition of Paul O'Grady's teatime show. On the programme broadcast 9 May this year, the British singer said he had changed his name from Reginald Dwight because it had made him sound "like a banker, or a w****r".

Ten viewers contacted Ofcom complaining that the language was inappropriate for the time of broadcast.

The media watchdog said the use of the word was "unfortunate" but that it accepted C4 had taken steps to avoid similar occurrences in future.

This article is taken from- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5271470.stm

Tom & Jerry

Tom & Jerry

Name:     Tom & Jerry
First Published :     Date:     1940
Place:     Metro-Goldwyn Mayer.
Formats :     TV Series
Cartoonist:     William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
Characters Story:

Tom and Jerry were an animated cat (Tom) and mouse (Jerry) team who formed the basis of a massively successful series of theatrical short cartoons created, written, and directed by animators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera (later of Hanna-Barbera fame) and produced by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer from 1940 to 1958.

MGM later had more Tom & Jerry cartoons produced by outside studios in the 1960s (Gene Deitch's Rembrandt Films from 1961 to 1962, and Chuck Jones' Sib Tower 12 Productions from 1963 to 1967).

Tom and Jerry later resurfaced in TV cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions (1975-1977; 1990-1993) and Filmation Studios (1980 - 1982). The original Hanna and Barbera shorts are notable for having won seven Academy Awards, more than any other character-based cartoon series.

The plots of each short usually centre on Tom's frustrated attempts to catch Jerry, and the mayhem and destruction that ensues.

Reasons given may include normal feline hunger, the simple enjoyment of tormenting him, revenge for being slighted, or a misunderstanding between the previous cohabitators. However, Tom never succeeds in capturing Jerry, mainly because of Jerry's own craftiness and cunning.

The shorts are famous for using some of the most destructive and violent gags ever devised for theatrical animation: Jerry slicing Tom in half, Tom using everything from axes, pistols, rifles, dynamite, and poison to try and murder Jerry, Jerry stuffing Tom's tail in a waffle iron, and so on. A recurring gag has Jerry causing some sort of an explosive to blow up in his adversary's face, causing Tom to appear in blackface. 

This information is taken from- 

tom & jerry

tom & jerry

Warner Bros. is releasing Tom and Jerry: Fur Flying Adventures on DVD. Everyone's favorite cat and mouse Tom and Jerry are back in an all new collection with 14 shorts selected to give endless entertainment for the entire family.
Synopsis: They're at it again - hilariously - in a new and nutty 14-cartoon collection! In this corner, a perturbed pussycat. In the other corner, a mischievous mouse. Let the comedic mayhem begin with this menagerie of 14 fur-flying dust-ups. The tussling twosome travel through time (Guided Mouse-ille), to Europe (Neapolitan Mouse) and into space (O-Solar-Meow). And it's two against one when Tom's scaredy-cat cousin George comes to town in Timid Tabby. But Jerry comes out on top time and again in Pet Peeve, That's My Mommy and Robin Hoodwinked. This collection's classic cartoons starring your family's longstanding favorite cat and mouse duo again prove that as their rivalry is neverending, so are the joy and the laughs they spark

Exclusive: Producer Dan Lin on the Live Action/Animation TOM AND JERRY Movie and BONE by Jeff Smith

Over the past few days I’ve been posting “7 Days with Producer Dan Lin”.  As I explained in the previous articles, I spoke at length with the Sherlock Holmes producer about not only his latest film, but everything he has in development.  Since the conversation ran so long, I’ve decided to break up the interview into many smaller parts.  I’ve already posted what he said about the Lego movie and Gangster Squad, as well as his thoughts on the Terminator Salvation ending and what’s up with future movies.  For today’s article, I’ve got him talking about the Tom and Jerry movie and the animated Bone movie – which is based on the comic by Jeff Smith.

Regarding Tom and Jerry, Lin says it’s going to be live action/animation hybrid and he compared it what was done on Alvin and the Chipmunks and Scooby-Doo.  He also said it would be a “different tone, obviously” with “CGI creations of the cat and the mouse.”

On Bone, Lin said Justin Monjo is writing the script and they already did a test with Animalogic (who did Happy Feet and Guardians of Ga’Hoole). He went on to say “it really looks like a mix of Shrek as far as the three Bone characters and their comedy, their Looney Tunes or Marx Brothers comedy set in a Lord of the Rings world. We’ve met with several directors and we hope to come to a director decision by January and Jeff Smith has been very intricately involved in the development process with us.”

Much more after the jump:

For those not familiar with Bone, I suggest reading this.  But the quick info is it was an independently published comic book series from 1991-2004.  Time Magazine called the series “as sweeping as the Lord of the Rings cycle, but much funnier.”

Here’s what Powells.com had on Bone:

The Bone adventures tell the story of a young bone boy, Fone Bone, and his two cousins, Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone, who are banned from their homeland of Boneville. When the cousins find themselves mysteriously trapped in a wonderful but often terrifying land filled with secrets and danger – and special new friendships – they are soon caught up in adventures beyond their wildest dreams. In Out From Boneville, the three Bone cousins are separated and lost in a vast uncharted desert. One by one, they find their way into a deep, forested valley where they come face to face with…

What many fans came to love about Bone is the way the series mixed humor and adventure in a fantasy world.  While a movie based on the comic has been talked about for years, if they’ve produced a test with Animalogic, it sounds like this is the closest the project has been to actually getting made.

And with that…here’s the part of the interview on Tom and Jerry and Bone.  While Lin didn’t discuss the story for Tom and Jerry with me, in a Variety article from earlier this year, it was revealed the film would be “an origin story that reveals how Tom and Jerry first meet and form their rivalry before getting lost in Chicago and reluctantly working together during an arduous journey home.”

Look for more with Dan Lin tomorrow night.  I haven’t yet decided what part is next.  But I’m thinking his comments on Justice League and Suicide Squad…

Collider: You’re attached also to Bone?

Dan Lin:  Yes

What’s the status of that?

Dan Lin:  I love this project. You bring up all my favorite projects. The status of that is we’re…Justin Monjo an Australian writer is writing the script. I’m producing it with Animalogic, who did Happy Feet and Guardians of Ga’Hoole. They’ve done a test of what the movie will look like and it looks amazing. It really looks like a mix of Shrek as far as the three Bone characters and their comedy, their Looney Tunes or Marx Brothers comedy set in a Lord of the Rings world. Justin Monjo is writing the script. We’ve met with several directors and we hope to come to a director decision by January and Jeff Smith has been very intricately involved in the development process with us.

Zack Snyder is doing Guardians of Ga’Hoole.  Do you envision it in a similar look to what Zack is doing there?

Dan Lin:  No, it’s very, very different. I mean, the best way tonally again is Shrek meets Lord of the Rings. Very fantastical but between the Bone characters just a lot of comedy.

Since I’m not looking at IMDb, what else has….I forget the name of the writer you just said.

Dan Lin:  Justin Monjo, he’s an Australian writer.  We’re gearing it as an Australian production so he hasn’t written anything big that you may have known before.

When you have a project like that which a lot of people like that fits in very well at Comic-Con, is that nowadays almost easier to sell to the studio when you can say to them, we have a project we can sell at Comic-Con?

Dan Lin:  It depends on the title. Bone, honestly, is not because of the Comic Con crowd. It’s just that we loved the book and the studio loves the book. And in that case it’s a big seller as far as the Comic-Con world and it’s a cult favorite, but the fan base isn’t big enough when you look at other properties that justify the studio saying okay we’re going to buy it just because of the fan base or the brand name. I mean, it’s all well-known in genre fans and comic fans like you and me but it’s not well-known to the average person on the street. So if you and I were to go out to London right now and go in the street and ask them do you know Bone? Most likely people don’t know Bone. So we focus on really the story itself is what attracted the studio to buy it.

So you already have a take where you’re thinking about…

Dan Lin:  Very much so. We have a script and we’re talking to directors to come on and develop the next area.

How much is the story that you’re doing based on original material from what Jeff did?

Dan Lin:  All of it. If anything, right now we’re discussing how many books should be in the first movie and if we do things right hopefully there’ll be multiple movies to tell. But right now there’s a discussion of do we use the first 3 books? Do we use the first 4 books of Bone? That’s the discussion but the source material is all from Jeff’s books.

So you’re thinking that for fans of the material sometime early next year we’re going to hear something either way?

Dan Lin:  Yes.  I’m thinking in first quarter of next year you’ll hear who’s the director of Bone and that’ll give you a sense of where we’re going.

Are you already thinking about a rating on this or is that still way too early?

Dan Lin:  It’s early but I would say somewhere between either PG or PG-13.

You’re listed for Tom and Jerry. I have to ask-what’s that? Obviously the cartoon but I mean…

Dan Lin:  Yeah, it’s the cartoon. My kids love the show. It’s two things-my kids love the show, I love the show. It’s really the originator of cartoon violence.

Without a doubt.

Dan Lin:  And the way I view it is it’s almost like sibling rivalry. It’s the way my brothers and I fought growing up, Tom and Jerry fight. So, it’s a well-known show internationally as well because historically Tom and Jerry haven’t spoken a whole lot and so it translates well into other languages. But right now we’re working on a live action/animation hybrid of Tom and Jerry.

I’m trying to get my head around that one real quick. Live action/hybrid. I think Warner Brothers has done that with Michael Jordon for some movie in the past like Space Jam or…

Dan Lin:  Yeah, I would say certainly look-wise you can talk about Scooby-Doo. You can talk about Alvin. What I mean is CGI creations of the cat and the mouse.

I got it.

Dan Lin:  Different tone, obviously.

Tom and Jerry, when you look back on it now it’s unbelievable the violence that they did on that cartoon. I mean, can you even explore that kind of violence in a PG movie?

Dan Lin:  Yeah, well I’ll know better through the filmmaking process. Some we’re trying to retain some of the original what we call “cartoon violence”. There’s no blood. There’s a lot of laughing involved and you’re amazed at what you can do with music. So we really want to retain the spirit of the original Tom and Jerry. We’ll see how that changes as we go through the filmmaking process and also the MPAA process.

I know that this is a bit short notice, but for you London, England Tom and Jerry fans out there Boomerang TV is bringing you the Pet Personality Awards, a fun-filled FREE day in London’s Regent’s Park.

This star-studded event is happening this Sunday, the 13th September – there will be rides, stalls, races, obstacle courses and even a petting zoo! You can also bring your pet with you!

Visit and click “Read More About the Event” to find out how to get there and to get more information.

Sounds like a fun time!

It's October and the leaves are changing color here. The cold is coming...sigh...I'm more of a warm weather person. So, to bring a little warmth in this cooling down season I've added a section for mobile phone ringtones. Yup, I'm making ringtones from Tom and Jerry sounds. Now, before you get all excited there is a small catch: only iPhone ringtones at the moment. There are a lot of phones out there, I know, but I'm starting with one who's format I already know. I'm going to do some more research and see about narrowing down some more ubiquitous formats for ringtones and then add those to the site. This should be interesting.

So, for those iPhone users, head over to the ringtones page and download some tones.