MAY in Chicago

H-B Pull Toys by IDEAL

It was 20 years ago today

A picture of PATRICK OWSLEY & myself about 20 years ago!

Another YUKON Prototype I did for ENESCO

My 2nd attempt with slightly different colors and I made ear muffs on him as well. Published on EBAY under ANIMAGIC1

MITCH O' CONNELL RANKIN/BASS Christmas

BEAUTIFUL 70 degrees in CHICAGO today and sunny! This was one of the first things MITCH gave me when I met him and I loved that he included some RANKIN/BASS characters and the UPA Frosty! This is why I asked him to do the cover art to my first book! www.mitchoconnell.com

THE PETER POTOMUS SHOW

Here is some cool art my friend PATRICK OWSLEY made me aware of from THE PETER POTOMUS SHOW! It was used for puzzles.

TIME & SPACE TOYS!

http://www.timeandspacetoys.com/ is having a sale! They also have pics from our RUDOLPH & SANTA tour 2006-2007

Another 1966 reissue is coming to DVD September 2nd

Looks like it has a featurette too! WB needs to add lots of extras if they expect fans to re-buy DVDs! Especially on the RANKIN/BASS Special DVDs!

THE MONKEES 1966

Here is one of the many original MITCH O' CONNELL pieces I own. My sister asked me if I had anything with a MONKEY in it...Peter got cut off on the scan.

1966 THE DAYDREAMER May 13th Re-release of ANCHOR BAY DVD

1966 BATMOBILE

Here is a RED LINE CLUB EXCLUSIVE HOT WHEELS BATMOBILE! For other HOT WHEELS 1966 George Barris BATMOBILES check www.timeandspacetoys.com !

BOB (Bozo) BELL

I hope everyone had a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! Heard Marshall Brodien on WGN RADIO on the Bob Sirrott show on Mother's Day and thinking of BOB BELL today. He said BOB made the comment on BOZO's CIRCUS when he was talking about the STONE OF ZANZIBAR as WIZZO...."I remember when you got stoned in Zanzibar." I think of Bob Bell every day on lunch as I walk past BOB BELL WAY. He was by far the BEST Bozo!

SPEED RACER (2008)

I almost skipped seeing SPEED RACER after reading the reviews in the newspapers. I am glad I did not! MOVIE CRITICS base their reviews on alot of the other garbage that circulates the movie theaters these days and may not understand POP CULTURE as I do. Being an animation historian and Biographer, I have a different take on films like this and understand where this film is coming from, growing up on the classic cartoon series. The Wachowski brothers (THE MATRIX) also understood what made the series work for millions of children as MACH A GO GO and clearly had fun with the film! Perfectly cast, I am happy to report my son and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is not quite as good as IRONMAN and it certainly will win no Academy Awards BUT if you loved the series, you will definitely enjoy the film! Going in, I was expecting the ONE STAR film the newspaper reported about. What I saw was good family morals being displayed by the RACER family and the BEST role I have ever seen JOHN GOODMAN (POPS RACER) in! SPRIDAL was played by an actor that looked like he was right out of THE LITTLE RASCALS. He had a unique look and he was very funny! Usually, Hollywood casts cute, unlikeable kids in a role like this. CHIM CHIM was played by a real Chimp (Not a bad CGI character) and he was GREAT as well! SPEED and TRIXIE were perfect! All of the actors were. The score featured all of the original suites from the series, just rerecorded by an orchestra (I have the original soundtrack from JAPAN on CD). I guess what I liked most about the film was what SPEED and his family stand for...STAND UP for what you believe in and don't let anyone stop you. Too many of today's heros have a darkside and are sinister instead of heroic. The Warchowski brothers could have easily have taken that route BUT they chose to represent the show and the characters as they were..heroic and likeable.

RANKIN/BASS Magic Slates!

PIRATES!

Here is a good picture of the guy who towed (stole) my car a few weeks back! He is the one all the way to the right. Yo ho ho!

HIYA, KIDS! Saturday Morning lineup from the 1950's

This NEW DVD set is GREAT! All shows before my time BUT it is GREAT to see how Children's television began and there are LOTS of PUPPETS! Includes TIME FOR BEANY, KUKLA, FRAN & OLLIE, HOWDY DOODY, THE CISCO KID, SUPER CIRCUS, SHEENA, QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE, ROY ROGERS, LASSIE, etc. SHOUT is to be commended for always offering such GREAT classic TV! Wonderful packaging too!

STEVE RUDE: ARTIST IN MOTION

I have been friends with the DUDE a very long time! His new slipcase edition of his book STEVE RUDE: ARTIST IN MOTION (FLESK) arrived today and I have to say, I am completely blown away by it! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND It to anyone that loves GREAT art! He is truely the artist's artist! There is all kinds of GREAT stuff in here from his beautiful paintings of SPIDER-MAN, SPACE GHOST, SUPERMAN and the HULK...to sketchbook pages, life drawings and portraits of beautiful women! Pick this one up!

www.steverude.com

SAM THE SNOWMAN

BURL is telling SAM (In this very RARE publicity shot c. 1964 RANKIN/BASS) "If you owe someone SILVER & GOLD, you should pay them!" Hopefully, BORDERS BOOKS & MUSIC will learn from this.

BORDERS BOOKS & MUSIC chapter 11 in an empty book?

Do you remember when we brought the original RANKIN/BASS ANIMAGIC figures of SANTA & RUDOLPH out to BORDERS BOOKS & MUSIC in Schaumburg, IL this past Holiday season for TWO book signings of my book THE MAKING OF THE RANKIN/BASS HOLIDAY CLASSIC: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER (in good faith)? Well, I may have something to say about BORDERS BOOKS & MUSIC that may not be very pleasant. I will give them a few more days to respond, before I say anything.

RENDERED SERVICES, INC.

Mark Saxenmeyer of FOX NEWS CHICAGO did a NEWS STORY on FOX NEWS tonight called "Carried Away," exposing RENDERED SERVICES, INC. and their towing of legally parked cars and then charging the people that own them, $170 to get them out of lock up. Literally hundreds of complaints have been filed with the BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU and the ILLINOIS COMMERCE COMMISION and they are still in business, doing what they do. RENDERED SERVICES, INC. towed my car and pulled the same scheme with me on April 25th and I am considering a class action suit. Hopefully, this NEWS story will bring all the victims together and unite them for justice.