FLAT STELLA

No one tells me nothin'.

Especially about Flat Stanley.

Yeah...

I read the original book a long time ago.

But I 

ain't 

never  

done

heard of no

Flat Stanley Project.

That is

until 

FISH HOOKS

mega executive producer

and 

GRIM ADVENTURES OF BILLY AND MANDY 

creator

Maxwell Atoms

brought in 

a 

FLAT STELLA

sent to him by his nephew.

See,

the whole point is ya gotta

send your

Flat Stanley or Stella

to a friend or relative who then takes 

pictures of him/her doing new and exciting things.

Like recording in a real voice over studio:

and hanging with Shaun White:

Or 

GRAVITY FALLS

creator

(and voice of Clamantha)

Alex Hirsch:

And who wouldn't like to get a kiss from

the voice of Billy,

Richard Horvitz:

Unfortunately,

 that got voice actor 

Travis Willingham 

a bit jealous:

But Tiny Lister 

(voice of Mr. Muscles)

stepped in to protect her:

So as you can see,

Flat Stella 

had a

ROCKIN' day

in 

LA!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS IN THE PRINTLAB

The holidays are all 

kinds of here again!

So...

It's that time

at the

PRINTLAB

again!

Aw yeah!

Time to order an awesome 

signed 

and 

inscribed

print for 

you,

your best friend,

your hip hop dance instructor,

taco truck driver,

saxophonist,

invisible boss,

pet hamster

and/or

boy named 

Sue.

C'mon...

one of them 

absolutely 

would 

LOVE

this:

or this:

or that:

And there's 

MOAR!

Go check 'em out

at the

mighty 

mighty

PRINTLAB!

But 

WAIT!

If you order before January 1st, 2013

you'll get a signed original

one-of-a-kind

hand-drawn sketch card

of the KND character of your choice

absolutely

FREE!

(limit one per person)

Here's an example or two:

So what are you waitin' for?

Head on over to the PRINTLAB

right

over

HERE!

ROBOTECH!

I've loved

ROBOTECH

for, like,

ever.

I first saw the series on TV when I was in high school

and through obsessive/compulsive research 

(the only way to research in the pre-internet age)

learned about it's true Japanese origin:

MACROSS.

Transforming fighter jets.

Alien mecha.

Soap opera love triangles.

What wasn't to love?

I was able to find VHS bootlegs of the series

along with the 1980 movie

MACROSS: LOVE DO YOU REMEMBER,

which totally changed my life.

Unfortunately, there were no dubs or subtitles.

I had to rely on fan mags like

ANIMAG

and 

PROTOCULTURE ADDICTS

for synopsis'.

(and finding them was no easy task)

I was also reading the comic adaptations 

by COMICO and when I found out their offices 

were in nearby Norristown, PA

I drove out and visited!

(YAY!  Free comics!)

Many years later when I lived in NYC,

I went to a small comic convention and found

this awesome art by Rich Rankin: 

I was psyched to get a page with both 

Khyron AND the SDF-1!

It's still hanging up in my studio today!

And here,

as an added bonus,

is the end battle from

MACROSS: LOVE, DO YOU REMEMBER.

And boy, is it DATED and clunky looking!

Blech!

But I still get chills at 5:45 when

the song ramps up and 

Hikaru guns his Veritech forward.

Oh, and I doubt you can see it in this low-res version, but one of the missiles that flies through screen  around 6:12 is a soda can. I was the nerd freeze-framing through my VHS  because I thought I saw something weird on my 2000th viewing.

FANART FUN

LOVE LOVE LOVE these KND portraits  by sooper talented operative

Patti Robinson.

Here's what she says about them:

Some were done with colored pencils and regular pencils, 

while others were done digitally with a neat program called ArtRage 

that simulates using paints on a canvas. I've also included a fun little digital illustration 

I drew in the KND style of Numbuh 86 dressed up 

like my favorite singer ever, Sarah Brightman, 

inspired by one of my favorite albums by her ever, Fly.

FUN! Thanks for the awesome art, Patti!

PARANORMAN SCREENING BONUS

Not sure if you know this...

but I LOVE me some Marx Brothers.

So how psyched was I when I walked into the 

Paranorman screening at the 

Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study

to find a mini-exhibit featuring

assorted Harpo Marx paraphernalia?

VERY

psyched!

LOVE IT!

Just wish J.J. Sedelmaier coulda been there

because I totally thought of him when I saw this exhibit

AND

because he just-so-happened 

to mention me in a

Marx Brothers-related 

post over 

HERE!

FAR FROM NORMAL PARANORMAN SCREENING

Tis the season for the studios 

to start courting the Oscar and Annie voting public!

So there are lots of free DVD's coming in the mail

and invitations to free screenings!

For instance,

I took my little ninjas

to a sooper special screening

of Laika's

PARANORMAN

last weekend.

And it was a great one!

BELOW THE LINE 

really pulled out all the stops

to make it a kid-centric event.

There was a fun photo booth,

kids coloring activities

and a

HUGE 

spread of ghostly treats!

There were a couple actual models from the movie:

And some characters in costume:

And doesn't everyone love a goody bag?

When it was time to watch the movie,

director/writer Chris Butler

came out to introduce it

and you know what?

I thought it was a really fun movie!

Lots of really good laughs...

Next-level stop motion animation and FX...

And sooper fun characters.

I especially loved the sequence when Norman meets the witch.

Really amazing and scary FX!

Thanks, Laika

and

Below The Line!

You guys did a screening

RIGHT!

THE KND ARE AT THE LIBERTY SCIENCE CENTER

I've been thinking non-stop about all my people back East

after Hurricane Sandy dropped on 'em.

But if I know East Coast folks right,

(and I do)

they'll be back on their feet in no time.

Especially the New Yorkers.

So if you're out that way

and all is right with the world again,

you oughta stop by the Library Science Center

for some fun.

Why?

Because there's a 

"new"

animation exhibit that explains how

some for your favorite 

Cartoon Network shows

are made!

And I hear there's 

LOTS

of KND goodness in there!

So we had one of our top operatives,

 Numbuh Gabrielle,

sneak in and take some pictures:

 

I'm not sure how long the exhibit is running

but for more information head over to 

The Liberty Science Center's website.

But 

WAIT!

Perhaps you noticed

the quotes I put around the word

"NEW"

exhibit.

That's because it's not quite new.

It's actually an updated version of an older exhibit that's been 

traveling the country for a while now.

I got to see it at 

The Franklin Institute 

in Philadelphia around 6 years ago.

Back then the show was much more KND-centric.

I'm kinda bummed I can't find the picture 

I took of the GIANT banner stretching across 

the front of the museum with Numbuh Five on it.

It was a big moment for me because I used to 

go to the Franklin Institute a lot when I was a kid.

And there was one of my characters 

for all of Philly to see!

Awesome.

But I did find a couple of old pics:

So cool!