John Jordan’s short animated experiment is a film that would have pretty much benefited from a longer format, some original voice work, and perhaps better dialog in the end, but for what he serves up in the form of original animation and the public domain cartoons, “Superman vs. The Giant Robot from Outer Space” is a great short for the Super Geeks out there.
Tag Archives: Animation
TV on DVD: Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century (DVD)
Back in the nineties, there was this strange movement to take pulp and serial heroes and revive them for a modern audience. Everything from Flash Gordon to Doc Samson were revived. Some of them, like “Zorro,” were big hits, while a lot of them surprisingly missed with audiences. I’ve always loved the pulp and serial heroes, but a lot of the box office and ratings for movies and television decided that they were best left in their era. One of the bigger movements was to place serial heroes in to the future. So, The Phantom was placed in to a futuristic setting, and Sherlock Holmes was brought back a la “The Demolition Man.”
The Bootleg Files: K-9000: A Space Oddity
BOOTLEG FILES 633: “K-9000: A Space Oddity” (1968 animated short).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It is uncertain what the problem is with this title.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.
Fifty years ago this week, Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” had its theatrical premiere. It inspired controversy, debate and (for many moviegoers) a great excuse to get stoned in the cinema. It also inspired a cute animated short called “K-9000: A Space Oddity,” which was quickly produced and released within months of the Kubrick film.
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (2018) [4K/Blu-Ray/Digital]
After “Batman and Harley Quinn,” the cinematic adaptation of “Gotham By Gaslight” feels like a breath of fresh air. It brought me back to the time when Batman animation was mature and accessible, and we got entertainment like “Mask of the Phantasm” and “Return of the Joker.” Warner follows up with the aforementioned horrendous DC team up movie with what is a charming, creepy, and wholly creative twist on the Jack the Ripper legend that ponders on what would have happened if he and Batman were foes during the time he wrought havoc in the 1880’s.
Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay (2018)
It’ll take more than a bad movie to bring the “Suicide Squad” down. Deep down there’s still a great movie to be made with this concept. “Assault on Arkham” showed it, and “Hell to Pay” proves it. You don’t have to make this group the center of the DC Universe fighting massive gods. They can just be super powered thugs doing the slimy stuff like stealing Lex Luthor’s chunk of Kryptonite, or breaking in to Batman’s fortress to steal incriminating evidence he has to bring down Amanda Waller. Something neat in the same vein happens in “Hell to Pay” when the group are assigned to track down a maguffin that is both silly and clever.
The Bootleg Files: The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians
BOOTLEG FILES 632: “The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians” (1970 Rankin/Bass animated television special).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Most likely due to a rights clearance issue.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.
During the 1960s, Rankin/Bass Productions enjoyed a skein of hit films and television specials, including “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Mad Monster Party?”, “The Little Drummer Boy” and “Frosty the Snowman.” In 1970, the studio put forth “The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians,” which turned out to be their highest rated television show.
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The Bootleg Files: Inki and the Lion
BOOTLEG FILES 631: “Inki and the Lion” (1941 animated short by Chuck Jones).
LAST SEEN: On DailyMotion.com.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: VHS and LaserDisc only.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It is not politically correct.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.
Everybody knows about the notorious Censored Eleven animated shorts produced by Warner Bros. that were taken out of circulation in 1968 and have never been made available for television broadcast and home entertainment release. However, the studio had other lesser-known shorts with politically incorrect content that have also been quietly removed from release. Among these withdrawn films are five shorts created by Chuck Jones featuring the unusual characters Inki and the Minah Bird.