12 Movies of Christmas: Christmas Cartoons

By Geeky Gem

We all love a good cartoon and there is nothing better than wrapping up in a blanket with a warm drink and watching some cartoons. It’s one of my favourite pass times, I know this can be done at any time of the year but on this list (yay a list) I have looked at some of my all time favourites that I enjoy watching.

He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special – 1985

I loved He-Man and She-Ra and when they got together in Christmas episode I was over the moon. I know its sad but I own it on DVD, it is really good. It is a really good cartoon if you love He-Man And She-Ra and can be found below it isn’t a very long cartoon but it really fun to watch.

The Snowman – 1982

I watch this cartoons every year, as it is always shown here on television at this time of year. I still watch it on TV even if i do own the DVD, It’s a story of a by and the snowman he builds that comes to life and shows him a fun time at christmas. There are now words in this 26 minute long cartoon but an unforgettable song.

Shrek the Halls – 2007

Another short cartoon set at Christmas with some your best-loved characters, Shrek the Halls is a funny 30 minute cartoon that we can all enjoy. All of the characters are there Shrek, Fiona and Donkey. What more could you want.

A Charlie Brown Christmas – 1965

Oh Charlie Brown, I love this cartoon and if you have never seen it then you really have missed out. Maybe now is the time to watch it and enjoy it with friends or family. Even if only for this song –

How The Grinch Stole Christmas – 1966

It may not come as much of a surprise that I also own this on DVD, its one of my all time favourite Cartoons and I love the voice of th Grinch as play by Boris Karloff. Fantastic animation and a brilliant story.

If you watch any of these this year i hope you enjoy them.

MONDAY MUSING

By @hmsbeefnuts

It happened a few weeks ago now, and which seems like ages. Millions of words have been written and spoken about it. Bitching, cheering, fear, hope, all seems to be in the mix when discussing the biggest news to hit the Geek community for, well, maybe ever. I am of course referring to Disney’s acquisition of George Lucas’ company, Lucasarts. It was about time that someone here at All Geek To Me wrote some thoughts on this huge story, so I elected myself to write it.

I don’t have a problem with Disney, in fact, I kind of love it, I think they do a great job with the franchises they control, from ones they created themselves, to the ones they have bought, such as The Muppets and of course Marvel Comics. They seem to show a great deal of respect for all of their individual fans and one just needs to look at The Avengers to see how Disney can treat a massive franchise, beloved of fans world wide, with a hands off attitude. Disney are obviously in the business of making loads of cash, and they don’t want to fuck up huge franchises like Star Wars, and Indiana Jones, in fact, a trip around Disneyland will reassure you that Disney is the exact place for these specific franchises. Star Tours and the Indiana Jones rides are some of my favourite attractions in Disney, you can tell they care about and realise the importance of these films and characters.

I’m sure that we can look forward to a Star Wars Land, or even a whole Star Wars Theme Park in the future, and I for one can’t wait. As for the movies, I look forward to Episodes VII, VIII, IX and all the future movies have the potential to be excellent. Of course, they ould be awful, but then without the direction of Lucas, Star Wars gets a chance to breathe. I don’t happen to hate the prequels, I think that Revenge of the Sith is the best Star Wars movie, but I don’t think you can deny that Lucas can not direct actors. He is however a great ideas man. Give new Star Wars movies to the likes of Brad Bird, Del Toro, Spielberg or Peter Jackson, and I can’t wait to see the results.

All in all this is a very exciting time for fans of Star Wars, and I’m sure we can look forward to more and more epic announcements from Disney in the coming months and years, I have but one request, no fucking Jar-Jar.

My Geeky Trivia

By Geeky Gem

Cartoons are a great way to enjoy television, they are even better when they are based on video game characters. Some of you may recall this cartoon I am about to tell you about. Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon was a light and funny show. Here are some things you may not know about it.

Writer Ben Hurst revealed that the red eyes at the end of Sonic the Hedgehog: The Doomsday Project (the final episode) actually belonged to Naugus. He explained that the plans for the third season were: Snively tries to retake control of Robotropolis, but ultimately fails. On the verge of losing it all to the Freedom Fighters, he turns to “The Void”, where Naugus is busy torturing Robotnik. Snively frees Naugus, and in the process also frees Robotnik and King Acorn. Naugus assumes control, and starts his new command by trying to lure Sally into capture with the King as bait.

Robotnik becomes Naugus’ lackey. And Snively, now reduced to a simpering nobody, defects to the Freedom Fighters. Hurst went on later to say that more developments would have come along between the relationship of Sonic and Tails, coming a little closer to the game relationship it strayed so far away from. Sooner on down the line in possible future episodes we would also have learned of the origins of Robotnik and Snively.

A third season was planned, hence the cliff hanger at the end of the series.

Before this show first premiered in England, the English Sonic the Hedgehog comic (Sonic the Comic #12, 30 October 1993) showed pictures advertising a new Sonic cartoon and telling readers to watch out for it coming soon. Instead of the Freedom Fighters, the group was named the Freedom Team and consisted all the animals rescued by Sonic in Sonic the Hedgehog. The members were: Sonic, Johnny Lightfoot (rabbit), Tux (penguin), Princess Acorn, Joe Sushi (walrus), Chirps (chicken), Porker Lewis (pig) and Flicky (bird). These characters were later used in all the Sonic novels released in the UK, and Johnny and Porker became part of Sonic’s supporting cast in the “Sonic the Comic” stories. After radical changes to the show (basically making enormous alterations to pretty much everything in order to make it entirely different), it became this show.

The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog,  was originally going to air on ABC, but ABC executives did not like that show and told DiC they had to make a different cartoon starring Sonic the Hedgehog. DiC quickly came up with this show, which premiered on ABC in fall of 1993.

Kath Soucie used her real voice when speaking as Princess Sally.

Mark Ballou left the series by choice. He was asked to reprise the role for Season 2, but opted out at the last-minute due to personal reasons. Cam Brainard took his place for the second season. Years after the series was cancel, Mark stated on an Internet interview that he regretted making that choice.

Throughout the series, Snively went through very little changes in appearance. His gold belt buckle from Season 1, was gone in Season 2. His personality becomes much more pronounced in Season 2; while in Season 1 he was often merely in the background, obediently obeying Robotnik.Rotor was originally going to be named “Boomer” in the series, according to the SatAM Sonic Bible. In “Heads or Tails”, his fur was purple, and he had a slightly more “goofier” attitude. In Season 1, Rotor has grayish blue fur and more rounder than his “Heads or Tails” appearance. During Season 2 his fur was dark blue, had slightly different clothing, became a secondary character, and was involved in less action/screen time. As a result, Rotor is one of the fewest characters to undergo many changes in appearance and role play.

Robotnik’s roboticised pet bird Cluck, only appeared in 9 episodes of Season 1. While he was absent and never mentioned in Season 2.

Dulcy the dragon was added to the series during Season 2, because the show’s staff wanted another heroine in the cast along with Sally and Bunnie.

I do love a good cartoon and I love them even more when they about a charecator you can also play in a video game. Hope you enjoyed this look at Sonic as much as I did. I guess I’ll see you back here next week for more trivia.

All Geek To Me’s Geek Olympics: Final Round

By @hmsbeefnuts

Hello Geek Sport’s fans, and welcome to another, slightly delayed, post covering the greatest Geek Character’s competing in a series of events, loosely based on Olympic sports. You can read the first article here, and the second here. So without further a do, here we go…

HAMMER THROW

Thor, The Hammer Bros. Timmy Mallet, Greg ‘The Hammer’ Valentine, M.C. Hammer.

Now this event has been seriously mis-booked by the Geek Olympics’ organisers, oh, that would be me, never mind then, on with the fun. The Hammer Throw is a simple enough event, pick up the hammer, and throw it as far as you can. Beloved 80’s TV Children’s entertainer Timmy Mallet steps up to the plate, struggles to pick up the hammer, twists around, and flings it wildly, behind him. He scores a mighty throw of -2m. Oh dear. Next up The Hammer Bros from Super Mario Bros step to the plate, pick up the hammer and proceed to throw it in a high arc, straight up, and straight down, but being turtle things, perhaps they don’t fully understand the rules. They score 4m, an improvement, but not much of one.

Next up, Greg ‘The Hammer’ Valentine, who despite his name, has never actually thrown a Hammer. He has put people in figure four leg locks though, and he proceeds to drag M.C. Hammer, proving that you can indeed ‘touch this’, in the middle of the stadium and tries to apply the submission move. Unfortunately for ‘The Hammer’, M.C. Hammer is too legit. Too legit to quit, and as he is wearing frankly ridiculous parachute pants, the figure four is ineffective, M.C. Hammer breaks free and runs off. Greg is shamed and arrested by Green Lantern Security. That leaves Thor. He has brought his own Hammer, which he throws, and it keep going and going and going. Unfortunately, it comes back to his hand. Thor scores 0m. Gold Medal goes to The Hammer Bros. with a mighty 4m.

RUNNING

Flash, Quicksilver, Sonic, Superman.

Everyone seems to love the 100m and stuff like that. Personally I can’t see it. 9.65 secs and it’s all over. So this race will be from the starting point in our Geek Olympic Stadium here in Cardiff, all the way around the world, and back to the stadium. The contestants line up, eagerly awaiting the starter pistol. BOOM! The shot is fired and everyone is off. 9.65 secs later Flash crosses the finish line. Oh. Gold Medal Flash.

ARCHERY

Katniss Everdean, Merida, Robin Hood, The Green Arrow, Hawkeye.

You all know the classic way archery contests are held, same deal here, everyone lines up, and its the person who hits the bullseye most wins. Simple really. Hawkeye goes first, he lines up an arrow, steadies himself and fires. The arrow hits the target, and explodes, destroying the next persons target too. The Green Arrow is pissed. He takes out his arrow, lines up and fires one straight at Hawkeye. Luckily its a boxing glove arrow, it knocks Hawkeye out cold, but with no target to hit, Arrow is shit out of luck.

Robin Hood is fully in flirting mode with both Katniss and Merida, which is frankly, well, a bit dodgy, are they even of age yet? Anyway, so entranced is he with both maidens, he fires wild and misses his target. The fact that he is a cartoon fox didn’t really help matters to be honest either. But there we are. It seems Gold is going to the fairer sex today. Katniss and Merida take turns in firing arrows, both hitting bullseye after bullseye. The deadlock is broken however, when Merida suggest they try to see who is the best an horse archery. She is. And she wins. Katniss is forced to go home empty handed, home to her weird Lady Gaga inspired Capitol City. Gold goes to Merida.

WRESTLING/BOXING/MMA/JUDO/KARATE BASICALLY FUCKING SOMEONE UP

Hulk, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Thing, Jason Statham, Bruce Lee, Rocky, Mr. T, Rowdy Roddy Pipper, Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior, Andre The Giant, The Rock, Wolverine, Deadpool, Chewbacca, Hagrid, Legolas, Batman, Jon Matrix, Ivan Drago, Indiana Jones, Frankenstein’s Monster, The Wolfman, Bigfoot, Conan, Khal Drogo, A Predator, An Alien and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

This event is basically just a Royal Rumble Event to see who is the hardest Mofo in the universe. I’m not even going to attempt to try an describe the chaos that went down in this event. All super powers, all weapons are allowed, no rules apart from, when you get thrown over the ropes, your out, or if you die in the ring, your out. Simple right. All participants start in the, frankly, massive ring. This goes on for hours, and what initially seemed like a brilliant idea, has become a nightmare. Hours pass, and finally two contestants are left, Jason Statham and Batman. Clearly the two hardest people in the known universe, and the best two at beating the shit out of people.

There can only be one winner though. Both have never been beaten, but Batman is just slightly better, sorry Jason. Batman smashes his opponents face through the mat, and throws him over the ropes, simple, but effective. Gold Medal, and award for best person at fighting ever, Batman. Was there ever any doubt?

With that, our All Geek To Me’s Geek Olympics comes to an end. Thanks for reading. Catch you soon.

A Current Trip Down Memory Line

By Geeky Gem

So far I have taken you back in time to the cartoons of my childhood, through the 1980’s and the 1990’s, I’ve also shown you cartoons I have liked in the first decade of this century. I will now take you on a quick trip through the cartoons I have watched in recent years and in some cases am still watching. This list a bit shorter than the last few as we are only a few years into this decade. However I hope you will enjoy it none the less.

Adventure Time

Adventure Time wascreated by Pendleton Ward. The series follows the adventures of Finn, a 12- year old boy whose best friend is Jake, a dog with magical powers such as growing and shrinking or stretching into many shapes. Finn and Jake live in the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo. Ward describes Finn as a “fiery little kid with strong morals,” while Jake is based on Bill Murray’s character in the movie Meatballs. The series has been a critical and commercial success. This series is known for containing many adult innuendos and mild language throughout.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

This is one my friend got me into and I am very glad they did. It has all the things I remember from the old show mixed with a moden take on some of my favourtie all time ponies, along with some new ones, it is simple and fun and sometimes even has a song. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was brought back by Hasbro who selected animator Lauren Faust as the creative director and executive producer for the show. Faust sought to challenge the established “girly” nature of the existing My Little Pony line, creating more in-depth characters and adventurous settings.The show follows a studious unicorn pony named Twilight Sparkle as her mentor Princess Celestia guides her to learn about friendship in the town of Ponyville. Twilight becomes close friends with five other ponies: Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Each represents a different face of friendship, and discovers herself to be a key part of the “Elements of Harmony”. The ponies share adventures and help out other residents of Ponyville, while working out the troublesome moments in their own friendships.

The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes

The Avengers: Earth’s Mightest Heroes is a new take on the Marvel comic of old that centres around The Avengers.The series initially features a team based on the roster for the original Avengers, composed of Iron Man, Ant-Man, The Hulk, Thor and The Wasp. The team is later joined by Captian America, Black Panther, Hawkeye and Ms. Marvel. In terms of tone and style, the series is based primarily on the original stories by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. However, it also tends to utilize material from all eras of the comic’s run and other sources such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

　

ThunderCats

Now this is also a cartoon I have touched on in a whole article by it’s self. Which you can read here. All I can say is as the first series draws to an end, is it has been a fantastic new take on a story once told. The animation is just so good and is full of a voice cast that makes the whole show richer. If you haven’t seen it check it out.

 

Tron Uprising

 

Tron Uprising, now it may seem strange that I have this cartoon on the list seen as it hasn’t even been aired yet but I couldn’t resist. I have seen the first episode as Disney kindly released it before it’s air date to give every one a feel for what they can expect from this frankly beautiful looking show. The show takes place in time leading up to Tron Legacy and lays out like this, Beck is a young program who becomes the skillful leader of a revolution inside the computer world of The Grid. His mission is to free his home and friends from the reign of the villainous Clu and his henchman General Tesler. Beck will be trained by Tron – the greatest warrior the Grid has ever come to know. Tron will not only teach Beck the fighting and light cycle skills he needs to challenge this brutal military occupation, but he will be a guide and mentor to him as he grows beyond his youthful, impulsive nature into a courageous, powerful, strong leader. Destined to become the next Tron of the system, Beck adopts Tron’s persona and becomes the archenemy of General Tesler and his oppressive forces.

 

There we have come to an end of my journery with animated shows. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have and I hope I showed you some cartoons you remembered fondly, and some you didn’t even know existed.

TOP TOYS: PART TWO

By @hmsbeefnuts

Hello toy fans, and welcome back to Top Toys, part two. Last time we looked at some of my favourite childhood toys, Transformers, Turtles, Dino-Riders, WWF and Ghostbusters. A pretty great toy box worth of stuff, that I have very fond memories of. This time, we will go back in time to the first major toys craze I was part of, and forward in time to toys I was ‘too old’ to have, but wanted anyway. It is such a shame that most kids today think toys are for babies, and it’s all about video games. I know, I’ve asked some. Toys stimulate the imagination, and are great fun, lets hope that kids are still playing with Batman and Transformers a hundred years from now. So enough rambling, lets get involved with the toys!!!

HE-MAN

He-man was my first toy love. I had a load of He-man figures, and vehicles and monsters and play-sets, my favourite, was He-man on Battlecat. I loved Battlecat so much, still do. Who wouldn’t want to ride a gigantic green and yellow tiger into battle? The toys themselves all had the same body sculpts, to save money, but each had different accessories and head sculpts. The TV show was basically just an advert for the toys, which is no bad thing really. I can remember having horrendous ear ache whilst being in Cardiff with my Mum, and taking cover in Toys R Us, whilst a very loud and scary thunder storm happened all around us. To ease my pain, Mum bought me Buzz Off, a bee themed hero, awesome. I also remember for my birthday, picking up the Castle Greyskull play-set, and having to go to my Grandmothers, so excited, but could not play with it because it didn’t come with any figures, I had to wait till I got home. It was torture.

MASK

MASK, was pretty cool. A group of guys and gals, who fought the evil Venom with cars, trucks and bikes, that turned into other things like tanks, helicopters and boats, all armed to the teeth. My favourite MASK vehicle was a green motor bike that turned into a helicopter, so awesome, it is beyond my power to describe. Did I mention that MASK had their base in a hollowed out Volcano? Now you know. MASK figures were tiny, similar to the Dino-Rider humans/aliens, but that just meant they could interact with each other. Tooled up Dinos Vs. Transforming cars? Yes please.

LEGO

For it’s versatility alone, Lego is probably the greatest toy ever invented. Your options are only limited by your imagination. But, if you don’t fancy building your own entertainment, the Lego sets are some of the greatest things ever made. When I was young, we didn’t have Superhero Lego, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter or the like. We had Knights and Pirates, and these were my favourite sets to collect. Pirate Lego had brilliant ships and bases to build, and Knights had Castles and Robin Hood!! The sets I saw recently looked awesome, kids are spoiled these days I guess. My favourite Lego set was the Pirate Ship. It was so cool. The fact it can all work together with other Lego universes and sets is such a stroke of genius. Lego is awesome, and I want some right now.

JURASSIC PARK

Jurassic Park blew my mind, it is one of my most fond memories of seeing a film on an opening weekend. It was chaos at the old Cardiff ODEON that Saturday night I went to see it with the family, the kind of organised chaos I have only really experienced at Disneyworld. Everyone was buzzing. The film obviously was great, so good in fact that I wanted the next day to go immediately to a toy shop to buy every Jurassic Park toy I could lay my hands on. The Dinosaurs were beautifully sculpted and they looked awesome. The T-Rex in particular. I wish I had all these toys, but I have none, all gone to the great toy box in the sky…

MARVEL

I’ve always been a fan of superheroes, but apart from a a few Batman toys, and the odd Spider-Man, I never had a large collection of Comic Heroes. However, on my recent trip to Toys R Us, I noticed a vast selection of 3.5 inch Marvel Universe figures, and I couldn’t resist buying the four main Avengers. Why not? They look good on my shelf. Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America (WWII version) and Thor, they are lovely little things, well sculpted with great articulation and accessories. I had to stop myself at the four, I could have gone on and on, but I have bills to pay. These toys however are fantastic, with all kinds of famous and obscure characters being transformed into figure form. I know if I was a kid, I’d be all over these.

A Closer Trip Down Memory Lane

By Geeky Gem

 

As you could probably tell from a few of my articles, I like cartoons and I have already bought you top ten’s from the 1980’s and the 1990’s. I have always liked cartoons and this has never gone away. I even watched a few when I was teenager and now as an adult. I shall carry on with my list from 2000 to 2010 of cartoons I have enjoyed.

 

Family Guy

 

 

Yes, I know this one should be on the list of 1990’s cartoons as it came out in 1999, but you see here I was a little late to the party so didn’t watch it until 2000. I know it’s cheating right but how can I miss this show off the list. Family Guy is animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Louis; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their pet dog Brian. The show is set in the fictional city of Quahog, Rhode Island, and exhibits much of its humor in the form of cutaway gags that often lampoon American and Pop Culture.

 

X-Men: Evolution

 

 

X-Men: Evolution is another animated series based on the comic of the X-Men. In this incarnation many of the characters are teenagers rather than adults. The series ran for a total of four seasons. The plots were simple and very similar to the layout of the other cartoon. It’s nice to see some of the heroes as teenagers to see how they handled being a teenager and a mutant.

 

 

The Fairly Odd Parents

 

The Fairly Odd Parents (sometimes abbreviated FOP) is about the adventures of Timmy Turner, who is granted fairy godparents named Cosmo and Wanda. Each episode would see Timmy have an adventure with Cosmo and Wanda, and they would also take on many different forms. One of my favorite voice actresses in this show which is what drew me too it. Tara Strong has been in a number of cartoons and video games and never fails to deliver.

 

 

Justice League

 

 

Now for any of who read Avenging April you will now that in my article Heroes on Television I have already mentioned Justice League for those of you who haven’t read it you can check it out here. So I will keep this short. Justice League was and is one of favorite cartoons and kept my teenage years going.

 

Samuri Jack

 

 

Samurai Jack had the catchiest theme tune ever. It is noted for its highly detailed, outline-free, based animation, as well as for its cinematic style and pacing. The plots of individual episodes range from dark and epic to light-hearted and comic, but typically follow “Jack”, a time-displaced samurai warrior, in his singular quest to find a method of traveling back in time. Many of the battle scenes in the series are reminiscent of samurai films, and since Jack’s robotic enemies “bleed” oil or electricity and monsters and aliens bleed slime or goo, the series is able to exhibit the action of these films while avoiding censorship for violence.

 

Teen Titans

 

 

Teen Titans is based on the DC Comic book Superheroes team. The series revolves around main team members Robin (the leader), Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg. While it is an action cartoon, the series is also character-driven, with a focus on the main characters’ struggles with being teenage superheroes, their mutual friendships, and their limitations. A major difference between the animated series and the comic book is that while the comic portrayed the characters as being in their late teens to early 20s (resulting in the comic series at one point even dropping the word “Teen” from its title to reflect its older characters), the animated series characters are all depicted as being in their actual mid-teen years.

 

Drawn Together

 

 

This cartoon is more adult than some of the cartoons we have already looked at and I think that’s what set it apart for me. Drawn Together uses a sitcom format with a TV reality show setting. The show’s eight characters are a combination of personalities that were recognizable and familiar prior to the series. Drawn Together, however, uses cartoon parodies. In addition, their character traits parody personality types that are typically seen in reality TV shows. The characters agreed to live in a house together in a setup similar to that of Big Brother or The Real World.

 

 

Avatar: The Last Airbender

 

 

Before M. Night Shyamalan ruined this cartoon with a frankly awful adaption, it was a really good show and still is for those willing to ignore the movie. Avatar: The Last Airbender is set in an Asian-influenced world wherein some are able to manipulate the classical elements by use of psychokinetic variants of Chinese martial arts known as “bending.” The show combined the styles of anime and American cartoons, and relied for imagery upon various East-Asian, Inuit, and South-American societies, with a brief reference to the Indic. The series follows the adventures of protagonist Aang and his friends, who must save the world from the evil Fire Lord by ending his war against the neighbor nations.

 

 

Transformers Animated

 

 

In this re-working of the Transformers Cartoon five Autobots (Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Prowl and Bulkhead) find the fabled Allspark only to become a part of the long-lasting battle between the Autobots and their enemies, the evil Decepticons. A space battle ends up stranding the Autobots in futuristic Detroit (The year is never specified other than taking place in the future probably between the year 2050 but no later than the 22nd century) where they take on roles akin to that of Superheroes, fighting both Decepticons and human Super villains. The Transformers’’ battle is renewed in this future city on Earth. Instead of being known as the Motor City, it has now become the Robot City due to Dr. Isaac Sumdac’s non-alien robotic creations. Sari Sumdac, his eight-year-old daughter, is the main human character that the Autobots saved when they landed on Earth.

 

 

And there we have the cartoons I watched through my teenage years and some of my adult hood. I have also picked a few I have been watching in last few years as well, and I will share these with you very soon. There are some I missed from these lists and maybe one day I will touch on them or maybe not we will have too see.

 

TOP TOYS: PART ONE

By @hmsbeefnuts

I loved toys when I was a kid, that may not be a shocking statement, but it is a true one. I love toys now if I’m honest, I just don’t buy them any more, but that doesn’t stop me looking. The recent Avengers buzz I was experiencing made me want to check out some of the toys that tie in with the movie. Off I went to Toys R Us, and other toy shops, and bizarrely supermarkets, to check out the toys that today’s kids are into. It was a massively fun exercise. Toys R Us was always my favourite shop when I was little, that and Forbidden Planet, and to be honest, that hasn’t changed. Toy shops sell fun, and there aren’t many more noble causes than fun, even if toys seem to be selling at extortionate prices these days. I thought I would look back at some of my favourite toys from my childhood, and hopefully Google Image Search will be able to provide some great pictures, for unfortunately, I don’t own any of these any more. Lets see what I decide to pick shall we?

WWF

The wrestling figures of my youth are a pale comparison to the amazing fully articulated representation of modern WWE Superstars. But I loved them never the less. I have talked about my Macho Man Figure before, and he was my favourite of the figures I owned. I had the ring, and spent many happy hours bashing them together, reliving Wrestlemanias and Summerslams. These were great toys.

TEENAGE MUTANT HERO TURTLES

To say I was obsessed with TMHT, is something of an understatement. Of course, the toys were worth their weight in pizza. My Dad valiantly waited outside of Woolworths and Toys R Us at some ungodly hour of the morning to secure my Brother and I the fab foursome. I also remember having some very cheap knock offs for a time, before finally getting my hands on them. My favourite, Michelangelo of course. I also was lucky enough to get the sewer play-set, and the blimp, which was simply one of the greatest things I ever owned.

DINO-RIDERS

Every kid loves Dinosaurs. What could be better? How about Dinosaurs that have gigantic guns and other weapons strapped to them, so that two alien species could battle it out on planet Earth? Yeah I thought so. Dino-riders were so cool. They were really nice sculpts of the Dinosaurs, and also the bigger ones could walk!! I remember my Grandmother being quite freaked out by them on Christmas morning. My favourite was the massive T-Rex, or the Dienonychus (a much better Raptor). I wish I had these in mint condition. The video that came with the toys had the greatest toy adverts ever, I could watch them constantly. How come toy adverts always make the toys look amazing? Why couldn’t I have a scale model jungle for my Dino-Riders? Sometimes, life ain’t fair.

TRANSFORMERS

It still amazes me that the cars, planes, trucks and Dinosaurs, turned into robots! What a great idea. My first transformer was Optimus Prime, the G1 original with trailer. So cool. My favourite was Grimlock, a robot that turned into a T-Rex!! Oh hell yeah, best thing ever? Close. I also owned Transformer knock offs, The Go-Bots, and Rock Lords. I don’t see why a robot turning into a rock was so cool, but I thought they were, and had quite a few of them for some reason. They were nothing compared to Transformers though.

GHOSTBUSTERS

Who ya gona call? The Ghostbuster cartoon was the source of the toys for this next entry. The toys were not very well articulated, but they were decent sculpts of the cartoon forms of Peter, Ray, Egon and Winston. The ghosts were the cool things in this series of toys, with transforming figures that turned into ghosts, and amazing cups of slime that came with many figures. The coolest toys, however, were the replica proton packs and traps. I can remember running around a friends house with his pack strapped to my back pretending to bust some heads, in a spiritual sense. Awesome. Busting literally made me feel good.

Here our nostalgic look back must end, but look out for part two, coming real soon, where we will look at a mild mannered Prince, who becomes a barbarian super man, a toy that can be literally anything, more transforming vehicles, and many more. Catch you next time, I’m off to Toys R Us, for research purposes only you understand…

My Geeky Trivia

By Geeky Gem

There are many things that I love in life, but two of my very favourite things are, trivia, and Anime. What better way to celebrate these two great loves than to write some trivia based on one of the greatest Anime films I have ever seen, and the film that started off my love for this Japanese art form, Akira. This movie was made back in 1988 but I didnt get to see it until much later. It was directed by Katsuhiro Ohtomo and here is some trivia about this frankly awesome movie.

This was one of the first Japanese anime films to have the character’s voices recorded before they were animated. While this is the typical practice in U.S. animation, in Japan the animation is generally produced first.

The film was re-released in 2001 with a new voice dub and soundtrack, reportedly costing over $1 million.

At one point in the 1990s, Sony contemplated a live-action version of the film, but scrapped the idea when the projected budget went north of US $300 million.

 

The music for the film was completed before any of the composers saw a frame of film or read the script. The music did have to be edited to fit some scenes though.

The production budget was nearly $10 million, a record sum for a Japanese animation film.

 

The movie consists of 2,212 shots and 160,000 single pictures, 2-3 times more than usual, using 327 different colors (another record in animation film), 50 of which were exclusively created for the film. The reason for this statistic is that most of the movie takes place at night, a setting that is traditionally avoided by animators because of the increased color requirements.

 

Katsuhiro Ohtomo originally created the AKIRA manga as an homage to manga artist Mitsuteru Yokoyama, who created Tetsujon Nijuhachi-Go (Tetsujin 28). Both AKIRA and Tetsujin 28 have a main character named Shotaro Kaneda and Akira’s no. 28 designation compares with the robot’s no.28 designation.

The 1940s-style song heard following the terrorist bombing is “Tokyo Shoe Shine Boy”, released in 1951 by jazz singer Teruko Akatsuki. The song was not included in either the Japanese or American releases of the soundtrack; however, it had previously appeared on the release of the soundtrack from MASH.

Because Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd. licensed Akira through Manga Entertainment rather than Pioneer/Geneon, the Australian DVD release of Akira has both the original Streamline dub (which Manga has the license to) and Pioneer/Geneon’s new English dub.

 

In the scene where Kaneda is at the jukebox you can see the logos of three famous classic rock bands: Cream, Led Zeppelin and The Doors.

 

There you have some trivia about this brilliant anime that paved the way for all other animes to make it here to us in the West. So untill next week stay geeky.

Summer Kights: Awesome Batman Merchandise

By Geeky Gem

As for one month only I am being allowed to talk about Batman again, I thought I would talk to you about some of the awesome Batman merchandise out there for fans of the Bat  to get their hands on. Here I will look at just a few must have items, that need to be in every Bat fan’s collection. I should know, I have them or have had them, or have had the pleasure of dreaming about them.

Batman T-Shirt

Personally I think this is a must have for many Bat fan’s. There are loads of different Batman t-shirt’s out there and if you have any you are awesome. However you cant go wrong with classic Bat Symbol t-shirt. Its simple and I love it.

Bat-Mobile Toy

Toys, who doesn’t like a good  toy. There are so many Bat toys out there its hard to pick just one and of course there are different versions of the Bat-Mobile as well. I picked this from The Dark Knight movie as it came with the bike. Its every thing you want from a good toy.

Batman Mug

Kirkie Chick bought me this Mug for Christmas last year and I love it. I use it all the time, I can often be seen in the Geek Cave with this mug full to the brim with coffee or other drinks. Its an epic mug.

Batman:The Animated Series DVD Box Set

If you have ever read anything I have written about cartoons or Batman, then you know I love this cartoon. This fantastic looking box set is epic. It would take pride of place in any Bat fan’s DVD collection.

Batman Arkham Asylum

If you are a regular to this site, then you may or may not know that all of us here At All Geek have played this frankly amazing game. If you are a fan of Batman and haven’t played this game then you need to beg, borrow or steal it and play it now. Actually don’t steal it that illegal and Batman would not be happy.

There we are just a little taste of just some of the amazing Batman stuff out there to get your geeky mitts on. I know I am looking to add more all the time, there is just so much Bat stuff about its awesome. Enjoy!