John Gushue . . . Dot Dot Dot

Legolas gets friendzoned

Not just Legolas, but Lego-built Legolas. My son Nick drew my attention to this parody of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. 

And ... to this related video, which imagines that orcs can have their hearts broken, too. 

An animated take on Merry Xmas (War Is Over)

The Polyphonic Spree released a cover of John Lennon's Christmas classic in 2005; last year, they dusted it off for a holiday-themed album, Holidaydream, and released this animated video to go with it. 

Law & Order ... of the Phoenix

Our son told me about this video, a parody of the Harry Potter movies AND Law & Order. Nick actually was unaware of the TV series, as it went off the air three years ago, but he still found it funny. If you know the show (the doink-doink, the bad puns that the detectives make), it's even more of a smile. 

 

The Coneheads series that never was

The Coneheads sketches that aired in the first years of Saturday Night Live were classic. Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman played a family that only wanted to fit into the suburbs ... notwithstanding the fact they were aliens. 

Somehow, I did not know that there were plans, or at least hopes, to turn the Coneheads into a series in its own right. Rankin Bass produced the pilot below in 1983, and when it didn't find a buyer, it went to air as a special. 

That was not the end of the Coneheads, of course; a decade later, Aykroyd and Curtin reprised their roles, with Newman playing another part, in a feature film. It bombed, however, which is a pity for those who like things in mass quantities. 

Coneheads [1983][animated][Unsold Pilot] by UnknownArchiveTV

These two wildebeests go into a watering hole ...

Pale Blue Dot

When I was a teenager, Carl Sagan was cool ... well, at least as cool as a scientist could be. Cosmos was a best-seller, he was a fixture on PBS, and he helped make the science behind the science fiction of the day comprehensible. 

This is a cool animation based on remarks that Sagan made after seeing a photograph taken from the Voyager 1 probe. 

 

Pale Blue Dot from ORDER on Vimeo.

The Homer Shake

The most obvious attraction of the Harlem Shake meme of the last few weeks is that anyone could (and evidently did) produce their own version of the video: an opening shot, with a jump cut to a wildly dancing, usually gyrating crowd. Get a few friends, organize yourselves, turn on the camera, upload ... boom.

Give The Simpsons some credit for having to animate it! 

That video went up on Friday and has been seen at least a million times since. That's a small fraction of the overall views of the countless Harlem Shake knockoffs ... and it's not even the first time Homer made an appearance in one, either! To wit, this pick of 10 of them, which starts with a very clever use of the Peanuts classic A Charlie Brown's Christmas. 

Overcast

Ever had one of those days when you feel like you have your own personal raincloud? This short video, featuring some clever animation grafted to real life, ought to resonate. I spotted it on Vimeo's staff picks list. What makes it particularly impressive is that James Lancett and Sean Weston made it as a student requirement while enrolled at Kingston University in the U.K. 

Overcast from James Lancett on Vimeo.

Simon's Cat: Feed Me

A new video from Simon and his relentlessly perky cat is always something to celebrate. Anyone who has tried to feed themself while a hungry cat looks on will get a kick out of this one. 

 

A new Jack tale

Out now from self-described micro-press Running The Goat is a new Jack story by Andy Jones, who has been collecting and telling them now for a few decades. Jack and Mary in the Land of Thieves features illustrations by Darka Erelji, and it's on my list. 

Running The Goat even produced a pretty nifty video to promote it. Here it is: 

A trippy little video on recent events

I saw this on Tumblr this evening; the politics are a bit obvious and heavy-handed, but the CG animation is hard to not look at. 

I, pet goat II from Heliofant on Vimeo.

You are making me very skinny

Ever wonder what cartoon characters, like Marvin the Martian here, would look like in skeleton form? Wonder no more.

There's plenty more to be seen here.

 

Minions!

So, there shall be a sequel to Despicable Me, to be released in July 2013. While I'm wondering how Steve Carell's Gru will become despicable again, I'll be game to watch. The three of us quite enjoyed the movie; the phrase, "This is literature?" is a favourite saying around the house, particularly in Carell's accent. 

And, of course, there are the minions. 

Skhizein, and 91 centimetres away

Have a look at this: a French animated short from 2008, which has the subtitle of The Sad Story of a Man Who Was Living 91 Centimeters From Himself. 

Origami snowglobe

Nothing like a little stop-motion animation to brighten the mood. 

Winnie-the-superhero

I've never seen an episode of Young Justice, but the characters look familiar from the time when I inhaled DC comics in the Seventies. I still got a laugh out of this parody, which successfully matches images with audio straight from Winnie-the-Pooh.

The Calvin and Hobbes Christmas special we always wanted

 

Well, not a real Christmas special, even though it's called A Very Calvin and Hobbes Christmas. To see Calvin's demented snowmen come to life (the heart of animation, after all) is a treat. You can read more about it here. 

Roxanne meets Rudolph

As mashups go, this one is a bit of a chuckle - especially those opening guitar strums. 

 

Dance like Snoopy

Because sometimes, you just have to, and don't care what the Lucys out there think. 

BBC's flying penguins, and how they did it

A few years ago, the BBC promoted an upcoming natural history series featuring penguins ... with the remarkable disclosure that these penguins could fly.

Terry Jones showcased the spot, which had persuasive footage of penguins taking flight. 

The key detail: it was launched on April the first. 

 

This was not just an April Fool's joke (a long tradition within the BBC, by the way), but one with a purpose: to promote BBC's iPlayer.

They also launched a video to explain the sophistication behind the ruse itself.

Star Wars, retold in two minutes and 13 seconds, with Lego

So very entertaining! Thanks to Yuri for the pointer. 

Small Fry (the Pixar treat before The Muppets)

The Muppets, the movie that is, is funny enough, but it gets off to a great start with another animated short featuring the Toy Story characters. Small Fry involves Buzz Lightyear getting trapped with a support group made of abandoned Happy Meal-like toys, with a tiny Buzz determined to be played with. It's a hoot, with more sight gags and jokes (my favourite toy: Tae Kwon Doe, a deer that does martial arts) than many full-length features. Here's a taste. 

Baby I'm Yours

This song, by Breakbot, came out last year, and has a fascinating video: great animation, with the use of more than 2,000 hand-done watercolours. 

 

Buzzard lessons

Every now and then, we all need a kick to get going.

Oktapodi

Oktapodi was nominated for an Oscar for best animated short a couple of years ago. Easy to see why!