In “Renfield,” an outrageous new take on Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” told from the point of view of the count’s perpetually put-upon manservant (played here by Nicholas Hoult), the notion of being too over-the-top is considered and then hastily breezed by. In the opening sequence alone, an ancient curse is placed on the dark prince; when Dracula is freed he turns into a vaporous mist and explodes a priest from the inside. Then Dracula catches on fire and is turned into a crispy skeleton.
The sequence is telling both for its bold tonal shifts and for the manic approach to action. It’s the type of scene you would say could only be devised and executed by a man well-versed in animation. (The crispy skeleton bit could have been out of an old “Looney Tunes” Roadrunner cartoon.) And you would be right. “Renfield” was brought to life by Chris McKay,...
The sequence is telling both for its bold tonal shifts and for the manic approach to action. It’s the type of scene you would say could only be devised and executed by a man well-versed in animation. (The crispy skeleton bit could have been out of an old “Looney Tunes” Roadrunner cartoon.) And you would be right. “Renfield” was brought to life by Chris McKay,...
- 4/13/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
There are few communities as obsessive as Adult Swim fans. The Cartoon Network nighttime programming block debuted in 2001 as a subversive spin on the animated channel’s daytime fare, and soon grew into a catch-all for bold creators. It eventually shook off its animated-only ethos to allow for surreal visions and adventurous filmmaking that fostered some of Hollywood’s most off-the-wall thinkers, and even brought in game celebrities to join in the insanity. Nearly every As title has disparate cults to fight for the programs that speak to them, whether it’s the rockers who ride for “Metalocalypse,” the Tim & Eric faithful who crowd the duo’s live shows, or the chemically enhanced who get their kicks on “Off the Air.”
Here are our picks for the network’s top 20 original comedy series, taking cultural influence into account alongside laughs.
20) “Robot Chicken” (2005–present)
Seth Green and Matthew Senreich’s long-running...
Here are our picks for the network’s top 20 original comedy series, taking cultural influence into account alongside laughs.
20) “Robot Chicken” (2005–present)
Seth Green and Matthew Senreich’s long-running...
- 10/3/2017
- by William Earl
- Indiewire
Clay is a medium generally associated with lovable, friendly, harmless characters like Mr. Bill; Wallace and Gromit; and those singing, dancing California Raisins. But U.K. artist and prop maker Lizzie Campbell has gone in a decidedly different, more threatening direction with her clay work, which is far removed from the safety and piety of Davey And Goliath. At her spooky, fun Instagram account, appropriately called Clay Disarray, Campbell has used her clay molding skills to recreate the posters for a variety of creepy and disturbing movies, including Donnie Darko, The Blair Witch Project, Eraserhead, and A Clockwork Orange. Along the way, the artist has created a succession of killers, monsters, freaks, and psychopaths far worse than any Blockheads that Gumby and Pokey ever had to face. Here, for instance, is Campbell’s blood-drenched rendition of the title character from Carrie. The telekinetic teen looks as determined and wide-eyed as...
- 10/25/2016
- by Joe Blevins
- avclub.com
By Don L. Stradley
I remember a kid in my old neighborhood who owned a Ken doll. Ken, you may remember, was the sexually ambiguous boyfriend of the infinitely more famous Barbie. If that wasn’t weird enough, this kid kept his Ken doll in a state of near nudity, stripping off his safari gear until poor Ken was down to a pair of bright red swimming trunks. The kid would walk around the neighborhood with his near naked Ken doll tucked under his arm, and occasionally visit my yard, where I and my Neanderthal pals were having fun with our far more manly “action figures,” which included the likes of GI Joe, and Stretch Armstrong. Ken wasn’t a natural fit – he was too small, his hair too perfect, and he was always smiling. The kid claimed that if you left Ken in the sun for a while, he’d actually get a tan.
I remember a kid in my old neighborhood who owned a Ken doll. Ken, you may remember, was the sexually ambiguous boyfriend of the infinitely more famous Barbie. If that wasn’t weird enough, this kid kept his Ken doll in a state of near nudity, stripping off his safari gear until poor Ken was down to a pair of bright red swimming trunks. The kid would walk around the neighborhood with his near naked Ken doll tucked under his arm, and occasionally visit my yard, where I and my Neanderthal pals were having fun with our far more manly “action figures,” which included the likes of GI Joe, and Stretch Armstrong. Ken wasn’t a natural fit – he was too small, his hair too perfect, and he was always smiling. The kid claimed that if you left Ken in the sun for a while, he’d actually get a tan.
- 7/7/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
By Michael Juvinall, MoreHorror.com
Probably the number one name in make-up effects in Hollywood for over 40 years is being honored with a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame. Rick Baker has won 7 academy awards with 12 nominations, more than anyone else in the business. Read on for more details.
From The Hollywood Walk Of Fame Website:
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will honor makeup artist Rick Baker with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 30, 2012 at 11:30 a.m. at 6764 Hollywood Boulevard in front of The Guinness World Records Museum. “We are proud to honor those who have successfully helped make Hollywood what it is today with their talent and magical creations that fans have enjoyed since the beginning of the motion picture industry. Rick Baker is a revered artist who we are proud to say started his extraordinary career in California, home of the movies,...
Probably the number one name in make-up effects in Hollywood for over 40 years is being honored with a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame. Rick Baker has won 7 academy awards with 12 nominations, more than anyone else in the business. Read on for more details.
From The Hollywood Walk Of Fame Website:
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will honor makeup artist Rick Baker with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 30, 2012 at 11:30 a.m. at 6764 Hollywood Boulevard in front of The Guinness World Records Museum. “We are proud to honor those who have successfully helped make Hollywood what it is today with their talent and magical creations that fans have enjoyed since the beginning of the motion picture industry. Rick Baker is a revered artist who we are proud to say started his extraordinary career in California, home of the movies,...
- 11/16/2012
- by admin
- MoreHorror
It has been announced that The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will honor Rick Baker with a well-deserved star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame later this month:
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will honor makeup artist Rick Baker with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 30, 2012 at 11:30 a.m. at 6764 Hollywood Boulevard in front of The Guinness World Records Museum. “We are proud to honor those who have successfully helped make Hollywood what it is today with their talent and magical creations that fans have enjoyed since the beginning of the motion picture industry. Rick Baker is a revered artist who we are proud to say started his extraordinary career in California, home of the movies,” stated Ana Martinez, Producer of the Walk of Fame ceremonies.
During the ceremony, Mr. Baker will also be entered into The Guinness World Records™ Book twice – once for the most Oscar®wins,...
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will honor makeup artist Rick Baker with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 30, 2012 at 11:30 a.m. at 6764 Hollywood Boulevard in front of The Guinness World Records Museum. “We are proud to honor those who have successfully helped make Hollywood what it is today with their talent and magical creations that fans have enjoyed since the beginning of the motion picture industry. Rick Baker is a revered artist who we are proud to say started his extraordinary career in California, home of the movies,” stated Ana Martinez, Producer of the Walk of Fame ceremonies.
During the ceremony, Mr. Baker will also be entered into The Guinness World Records™ Book twice – once for the most Oscar®wins,...
- 11/14/2012
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
Well, this was a long time coming. Finally, after many movies and many decades, special effects giant Rick Baker is getting his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Read on for the details, and offer your congratulations in our comments section!
From The Hollywood Walk of Fame Website
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will honor makeup artist Rick Baker with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 30, 2012, at 11:30 a.m. at 6764 Hollywood Boulevard in front of The Guinness World Records Museum. “We are proud to honor those who have successfully helped make Hollywood what it is today with their talent and magical creations that fans have enjoyed since the beginning of the motion picture industry. Rick Baker is a revered artist who we are proud to say started his extraordinary career in California, home of the movies,” stated Ana Martinez, Producer of the Walk of Fame ceremonies.
From The Hollywood Walk of Fame Website
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will honor makeup artist Rick Baker with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 30, 2012, at 11:30 a.m. at 6764 Hollywood Boulevard in front of The Guinness World Records Museum. “We are proud to honor those who have successfully helped make Hollywood what it is today with their talent and magical creations that fans have enjoyed since the beginning of the motion picture industry. Rick Baker is a revered artist who we are proud to say started his extraordinary career in California, home of the movies,” stated Ana Martinez, Producer of the Walk of Fame ceremonies.
- 11/14/2012
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Dick Beals, the voice-over star best known as the voice of the animated characters Gumby, Speedy Alka-Seltzer and Davey from Davey and Goliath, has died. He was 85.
Related: Beyonce to Star in Animated Movie
Beals died Tuesday at Vista Gardens Memory Care in Vista, according to The Los Angeles Times. The animation pioneer, whose radio and TV career spanned seven decades, stood only 4 foot 6 inches tall, weighed less than 70 pounds and had a voice that hadn't changed since grade school due to a glandular condition. But he turned his challenging situation into a golden opportunity in the late 1950s with his work in The Gumby Show, Davey and Goliath in the early '60s, and more than 200 Alka-Seltzer commercials that aired between 1954 and 1964. He also pitched for Oscar Mayer, Campbell's Soup, Bob's Big Boy and many other brands.
"He was one of the great voice actors of all time," Ron Simon, curator of TV and...
Related: Beyonce to Star in Animated Movie
Beals died Tuesday at Vista Gardens Memory Care in Vista, according to The Los Angeles Times. The animation pioneer, whose radio and TV career spanned seven decades, stood only 4 foot 6 inches tall, weighed less than 70 pounds and had a voice that hadn't changed since grade school due to a glandular condition. But he turned his challenging situation into a golden opportunity in the late 1950s with his work in The Gumby Show, Davey and Goliath in the early '60s, and more than 200 Alka-Seltzer commercials that aired between 1954 and 1964. He also pitched for Oscar Mayer, Campbell's Soup, Bob's Big Boy and many other brands.
"He was one of the great voice actors of all time," Ron Simon, curator of TV and...
- 6/1/2012
- Entertainment Tonight
Ned and Edna = Nedna?
"Ned 'N' Edna's Blend" offers the stunning revelation that Ned and Edna are married. Exactly when did this happen? While the unveiling of this new couple was a shocking turn of events, it was a little unbelievable. Ned and Edna don't really seem like two people with very much in common.
Ned Flanders, a.k.a Jesus' best friend, hasn't exactly been living it up as a widower. Although he did date a movie star a la Notting Hill in "A Star is Born Again" back in the 14 season. Regardless, Edna Krabappel - with her chain-smoking, divorcee desperation, and overall cynicism - doesn't really strike me as Ned's type. And vice versa. Each character is enjoyable in his/her own right, but I guess I never imagined them together.
For whatever reason, the two were paired up. I imagine the unconventional duo was married off to...
"Ned 'N' Edna's Blend" offers the stunning revelation that Ned and Edna are married. Exactly when did this happen? While the unveiling of this new couple was a shocking turn of events, it was a little unbelievable. Ned and Edna don't really seem like two people with very much in common.
Ned Flanders, a.k.a Jesus' best friend, hasn't exactly been living it up as a widower. Although he did date a movie star a la Notting Hill in "A Star is Born Again" back in the 14 season. Regardless, Edna Krabappel - with her chain-smoking, divorcee desperation, and overall cynicism - doesn't really strike me as Ned's type. And vice versa. Each character is enjoyable in his/her own right, but I guess I never imagined them together.
For whatever reason, the two were paired up. I imagine the unconventional duo was married off to...
- 5/14/2012
- by tlopez@utk.edu (Teresa L.)
- TVfanatic
Can’t wait until Thanksgiving dinner to witness a pointless conversation between a pompous fundamentalist Christian and a sneering atheist? Then “The Ledge” is the movie for you. This shrill and pedantic exercise in speechifying gives us “deep” conversations about religion and the afterlife that wouldn’t pass muster in a freshman Philosophy 101 study group, delivered with all the earnestness and lack of subtlety of the old “Davey and Goliath” show. (If that Christian cartoon had featured Liv Tyler’s boobs, that is.) Tyler, fresh off playing a former drug addict who married Rainn...
- 7/7/2011
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
The fourth season of Heroes ended not with a bang, not with a whimper, but with a collective synchronized shrug. You could see everyone involved with the show – the actors, the writers, the cameraman who's developed a nasty shoulder tilt after a season of those nauseating carnival camera angles – join all together, raise their shoulders, and mumble "Meh" under their breath. Until the very last scene, I thought this might be the first episode of Heroes with truly no redeeming value whatsoever. Even the worst show about superpowers is bound to be interesting, even if it just accidentally trips over...
- 2/9/2010
- by Darren Franich
- EW.com - PopWatch
The creator of everyone’s favorite and most flexible green man died on Friday in his home in California. Art Clokey was 88 years old when, according to his son, he died in his sleep. Gumby made his television debut in 1956 on The Howdy Doody Show. A year later he starred in his own stop-motion animation program, The Gumby Show, which followed the adventures of the bendy clay man and his trusty orange steed, Pokey. Clokey also created the animated TV series Davey and Goliath that ran in the 1960s and 1970s....
- 1/11/2010
- Pastemagazine.com
Animator Art Clokey has died at the age of 88.
The star, who found fame as the creator of bendable doll Gumby, died in his sleep on Friday in Los Osos, California.
Clokey's Gumby toys featured on U.S. TV's The Howdy Doody Show in the 1950s and soon became a toy phenomenon.
Gumby, a green clay figure born from a student art project, enjoyed a surge in popularity in the 1980s when comedian Eddie Murphy performed a skit portraying the doll as a prima donna on sketch show Saturday Night Live.
Clokey also created and produced the 1960s programme Davey and Goliath and later landed his own syndicated show with Gumby.
The star, who found fame as the creator of bendable doll Gumby, died in his sleep on Friday in Los Osos, California.
Clokey's Gumby toys featured on U.S. TV's The Howdy Doody Show in the 1950s and soon became a toy phenomenon.
Gumby, a green clay figure born from a student art project, enjoyed a surge in popularity in the 1980s when comedian Eddie Murphy performed a skit portraying the doll as a prima donna on sketch show Saturday Night Live.
Clokey also created and produced the 1960s programme Davey and Goliath and later landed his own syndicated show with Gumby.
- 1/11/2010
- WENN
Art Clokey, whose bendable creations became a pop culture phenomenon through countless satires, toys and revivals, has died at age 88.
Caretaker Chrisanne Wollett Clokey says Clokey died Friday in Los Osos on California's Central Coast.
Clokey is best known for the creation of Gumby, the green clay character with his horse friend Pokey. Clokey first molded Gumby for a surreal student project at the University of Southern California called "Gumbasia." That led to his making shorts for the Howdy Doody Show and several series through the years. He said he based Gumby's swooping head on the hairdo of his father, who died when Clokey was nine.
Clokey also created the moralizing and often satirized claymation duo Davey and Goliath, which became the direct inspriation for Adult Swim's Moral Orel.
Eddie Murphy restored Gumby's popularity in the 1980s with his send-up of the character on "Saturday Night Live" as a cigar-smoking primadonna.
Caretaker Chrisanne Wollett Clokey says Clokey died Friday in Los Osos on California's Central Coast.
Clokey is best known for the creation of Gumby, the green clay character with his horse friend Pokey. Clokey first molded Gumby for a surreal student project at the University of Southern California called "Gumbasia." That led to his making shorts for the Howdy Doody Show and several series through the years. He said he based Gumby's swooping head on the hairdo of his father, who died when Clokey was nine.
Clokey also created the moralizing and often satirized claymation duo Davey and Goliath, which became the direct inspriation for Adult Swim's Moral Orel.
Eddie Murphy restored Gumby's popularity in the 1980s with his send-up of the character on "Saturday Night Live" as a cigar-smoking primadonna.
- 1/9/2010
- by Glenn Hauman
- Comicmix.com
You've heard it already, how Wes Anderson's model railroad-making and Tinker Toy-like narrative constructions, emotionally unmediated characters, pleasure with antiqued surfaces and visual tableaux-love would've led him eventually to making an animated film, more probably a stop motion animation, and thus we have "Fantastic Mr. Fox," a frame-by-frame expression of the single man's passion for particular detail that's no less obsessive than your average Jan Švankmajer. So, Andersonites will kvell, and those on whom the filmmaker's whimsical vision has been lost or squandered will wonder what in hell their children are supposed to make of the thing.
I belong to a third borderland camp, never convinced that Anderson's bric-a-brac notionalism has yet produced a masterpiece, but nevertheless thankful for the presence of his personality in my head, seething with the joy to be had in hyper-devising human terrariums that reek faintly of yesteryear and pulse with gentle irony. I'm...
I belong to a third borderland camp, never convinced that Anderson's bric-a-brac notionalism has yet produced a masterpiece, but nevertheless thankful for the presence of his personality in my head, seething with the joy to be had in hyper-devising human terrariums that reek faintly of yesteryear and pulse with gentle irony. I'm...
- 11/11/2009
- by Michael Atkinson
- ifc.com
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