The Muppet Movie

The Muppet Movie is a 1979 British/American musical road comedy film directed by James Frawley and produced by Jim Henson. A co-production between the United Kingdom and the United States, it is the first theatrical film featuring the Muppets. The film was written by "The Muppet Show" writers Jerry Juhl and Jack Burns. Produced between the first and second half of "The Muppet Show"s third season, the film tells the origin story of the Muppets, as Kermit the Frog embarks on a cross-country trip to Hollywood, encountering several of the Muppets—who all share the same ambition of finding success in professional show business—along the way while being pursued by Doc Hopper, an evil restaurateur with intentions of employing Kermit as a spokesperson for his frog legs business.
In addition to the Muppets performers, the film stars Charles Durning and Austin Pendleton, and it features cameo appearances by Dom DeLuise, James Coburn, Edgar Bergen (in his final film appearance), Steve Martin, and Mel Brooks, among others. Notable for its surreal humour, meta-references and prolific use of cameos, "The Muppet Movie" was released in the United Kingdom on May 31, 1979, and in the United States on June 22, 1979, and it received critical praise, including two Academy Award nominations for Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher's musical score and their song, "Rainbow Connection". The success of "The Muppet Movie" led to several other feature films and television series starring the Muppets across different media. In 2009, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Plot.
The story opens with the Muppets sitting down at a private screening to watch a movie that is a pastiche of how they all met.
Kermit the Frog lives a simple life in a Florida swamp. One day, he plays his banjo and sings "Rainbow Connection", and is approached by Bernie, a talent agent who encourages Kermit to pursue a career in show business. Inspired by the idea of "making millions of people happy", Kermit sets off on a cross-country trip to Hollywood.
Kermit meets Fozzie Bear, who is working as a hapless stand-up comedian, and Kermit invites Fozzie on his journey. The two set out in Fozzie's 1951 Studebaker, but are soon pursued by entrepreneur Doc Hopper and his assistant Max. Hopper attempts to convince Kermit to be the new spokesfrog of Hopper's struggling French-fried frog legs restaurant franchise. Horrified, Kermit kindly refuses and he and Fozzie drive away. Unwilling to accept Kermit's refusal, Hopper resorts to increasingly forceful means of persuasion. In an old church, Kermit and Fozzie meet the rock band Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem, and the band's manager Scooter, who help them disguise their car. Driving on, they meet and are joined by Gonzo and his girlfriend Camilla the Chicken, who are also interested in becoming movie stars. They trade in their failing vehicle at a used car lot, where they meet Sweetums. They invite Sweetums to come with them, but he runs away. The others drive away, only for Sweetums to emerge and reveal that he had only gone to pack his things.
The group meets Miss Piggy at a county fair, and she immediately becomes love-stricken with Kermit. When Kermit and Miss Piggy meet for dinner that night, Hopper and Max sneak up on Miss Piggy and abduct her as bait to lure Kermit. When Kermit arrives at the designated location, mad scientist Professor Krassman tries to brainwash Kermit into performing in Hopper's advertisements, but Miss Piggy furiously knocks out Hopper's henchmen and causes Krassman to be brainwashed by his own device. However, immediately after the fight and saving Kermit, Miss Piggy receives a job offer and promptly abandons a devastated Kermit.
Joined by Rowlf the Dog and reunited with Miss Piggy along the way, the Muppets continue their journey to Hollywood, but their car breaks down in the desert. Sitting at a campfire, the group sadly realizes that they will likely miss the audition the next day. Kermit wanders off, ashamed for bringing his friends on a fruitless journey, but some personal reflection restores his commitment. He returns to camp, where he discovers the Electric Mayhem have come to their rescue, having learned of their plight by reading ahead in the film's script. The Mayhem offer to drive the entire group the rest of the way in their bus.
The group is warned by a reformed Max that Hopper has hired an assassin, Snake Walker, to kill Kermit. Kermit decides to face his aggressor and proposes a Western-style showdown in a nearby ghost town. There, they find inventor Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker. Kermit confronts Hopper with an appeal to Hopper's own hopes and dreams, but Hopper is unmoved and orders his henchmen to kill Kermit and his friends. They are saved when one of Dr. Bunsen's inventions, "insta-grow" pills, temporarily enlarges Mayhem drummer Animal, who frightens away Hopper and his henchmen for good.
Once the Muppets reach the Hollywood studio, they finally meet studio executive Lew Lord, who signs the Muppets to a "standard 'rich and famous' contract". The first take in their attempt to perform the script goes awry when Gonzo crashes into the prop rainbow, and an explosion blows a hole in the roof of the studio. A rainbow shines through the hole and onto the Muppets. Joined by other Muppet characters and the "Sesame Street" characters, the Muppets all sing in unison before Sweetums tears through the movie screen in the theater, ending the film and catching up with the rest of the crew as they congratulate each other on their performances.
Cast.
Muppets performers.
Frank Oz appears in a cameo as a biker who beats up Fozzie Bear while Steve Whitmire appears as a man in the Bogen County Fair. Also, director Tim Burton is one of the puppeteers in the final shot of the film. John Landis is also in the final shot, performing Grover. Landis and Burton were both uncredited.
Many other long time members of Jim Henson's team also provided puppeteer services, including Whitmire, Kathryn Mullen, Bob Payne, Eren Ozker, Carolyn Wilcox, Olga Felgemacher, Bruce Schwartz, Michael Earl Davis, Buz Suraci, Tony Basilicato and Adam Hunt.
Production.
Development.
The main obstacle the filmmakers were faced with during the development of "The Muppet Movie" was whether the Muppets would transition seamlessly from television to film. In 1978, director James Frawley, Jim Henson, and Frank Oz filmed several camera tests outside London to test how the characters would appear in real-world locations. Austin Pendleton recalled that the film was shot on "a very unhappy set, because Jim [Frawley] was very unhappy directing that movie. And I noticed that was the only time the Muppet people used an outside person to direct a Muppet movie. They never did that again. After that, it was either Jim Henson or Frank Oz. And I would have liked to have been in one of those, because those sets were very harmonious. But this was not." Principal photography began in July 1978, and filming locations included Albuquerque, New Mexico as well as various parts of Los Angeles and Northern California.
To perform Kermit sitting on a log, Henson squeezed into a specially designed metal container complete with an air hose (to breathe), a rubber sleeve which came out of the top to perform Kermit and a monitor to see his performance, and placed himself under the water, log, and the Kermit puppet. He was also assisted in this operation by Kathryn Mullen and Steve Whitmire. This scene took five days to film. Before this, no film had a hand puppet act with its entire body appearing on-screen. That is, hand puppets were only seen from the waist up, and it became a major plot point to show Kermit with legs. To have Kermit ride a bicycle in a full-body shot, a Kermit puppet with legs was posed onto the seat and his legs and arms were attached to the pedals and handlebars. An overhead crane with a marionette system held the bicycle through strong strings invisible to the camera, guiding the bicycle forward. The crane and system were out of the camera's frame of vision.
Other shots required Muppets standing and acting in a full-body shot. Specially-made, remote-controlled puppets were placed on the set and controlled by puppeteers out of the frame. A dancing Kermit and Fozzie Bear were operated by Henson and Oz in front of a blue screen, and they were composited onto a separate reel of the stage. Both of these effects and the bicycle effect were used again, and refined, in subsequent Muppet films.
For scenes involving driving, a dwarf sat in the trunk and controlled via remote control. A television monitor showed what was ahead
The closing reprise of "Rainbow Connection" featured a crowd of more than 250 Muppet characters—virtually every Muppet that had been created up to that point in time. According to Henson Archivist Karen Falk: "137 puppeteers were enlisted from the Puppeteers of America (along with the regular Muppets performers) to perform every Muppet extant. Prior to the day-long filming of the shot, Henson gave the enthusiastic participants a lesson in the art of cinematic puppetry. Amazingly, it did take just one day." The Muppet Show Fan Club newsletter answered the question of "How did they do it?" The response was "There are 250 puppets in the last shot of the film, and they're all moving. How? 150 puppeteers in a 6' deep, 17' wide pit, that's how. They were recruited through the Los Angeles Guild of The Puppeteers of America and almost every puppeteer west of the Rockies reported for pit duty." In September 1978, Edgar Bergen, Henson's idol who appeared in a cameo role, died shortly after completing his scenes. Henson dedicated the film to his memory.
Style.
"The Muppet Movie" uses meta-references as a source of humor, as characters occasionally break the fourth wall to address the audience or comment on their real-life circumstances. In one scene, Kermit and Fozzie encounter Big Bird on the road, offering him a lift to Hollywood, but he declines, heading to New York City to break into public television, referencing the character's role in "Sesame Street".
In a particularly meta-fictional plot twist, Kermit and Fozzie actually give the screenplay to Dr. Teeth, who later uses it to find and rescue them after they have been stranded in the desert.
Prop vehicles.
Several classic cars were specially selected by Henson for appearances in the film. The most prominent were a pair of 1951 Studebaker Commander Coupes driven by Fozzie Bear in the film. One car was painted but unmodified and driven by a person in the front seat. It was used for long, traveling shots. The second car was driven by a person in the trunk who viewed the road through a TV set. The television received its image from a camera located in the center nose of the car's front grille. This made it possible for Frank Oz to perform Fozzie Bear in the front seat, and have the character seemingly drive the car in close-up shots. This car is now on display at the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana.
Doc Hopper is chauffeured throughout the movie by Max in a 1959 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 Limousine.
The final car driven by the Muppets is a 1946 Ford Woodie station wagon, famous for its wood panel siding and a valuable collectible.
Music.
The film's music was written by Kenneth Ascher and Paul Williams. Regarding the music's composition, Williams said; "Jim Henson gave you more [creative] freedom than anybody I've ever worked with in my life. I said, 'You want to hear the songs as we're writing them?' He said, 'No. I'll hear them in the studio. I know I'm gonna love them.' You just don't get that kind of freedom on a project these days."
"Movin' Right Along", "Never Before, Never Again", and "I Hope That Somethin' Better Comes Along" were shortened in the film, compared to their soundtrack versions, for continuity purposes. The latter, a duet between Rowlf and Kermit, contained references that the studio considered too mature for children, although the song appeared complete in the British theatrical and home video debut versions. In "Finale: The Magic Store", a line performed by Kermit in the film is sung by Fozzie on the soundtrack recording.
Release.
Marketing.
In May 1979, CBS aired "The Muppets Go Hollywood", a one-hour television special that promoted the then-upcoming release of "The Muppet Movie". In April, the film was promoted further when the Muppets hosted "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson". Additionally, a book adaptation of "The Muppet Movie", adapted by Steven Crist, was published by Peacock Press/Bantam Books.
Home media.
"The Muppet Movie" was the first film from ITC Films to be released on home video when Magnetic Video issued it in May 1980, having acquired the video rights to ITC's films. It was reissued in 1982 and 1984 by CBS/Fox Video. On January 29, 1993, Buena Vista Home Video re-released the film under their Jim Henson Video label on VHS and LaserDisc. The movie was reissued again on VHS by Columbia Tristar Home Video and Jim Henson Home Entertainment on June 1, 1999, who released the DVD on June 5, 2001. After Disney's acquisition, the film reissued as a Walt Disney Pictures release and was re-released by Walt Disney Home Entertainment on DVD in November 2005, as "Kermit's 50th Anniversary Edition". Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the film as the "Nearly 35th Anniversary Edition" on Blu-ray Disc and DVD in August 2013.
Premiere and initial release.
"The Muppet Movie" had a royal premiere at the Leicester Square Theatre in London on May 31, 1979, attended by Princess Anne.
It was released in the United States on June 22, 1979.
Re-release.
In celebration of the film's 40th anniversary, "The Muppet Movie" returned to theaters for two days on July 25 and 30, 2019.
Reception.
Box office.
In its first six days at the Leicester Square Theatre, it grossed $31,884. The film would later earn over $65 million in the United States and Canada, returning $32 million in box office rentals. Ever since its release, "The Muppet Movie" has become the second highest-grossing Muppet film after the release of "The Muppets" in 2011.
The film's successful theatrical release encouraged Lew Grade into furthering his own film distribution company, which later backfired with the massive box office failures of "Can't Stop the Music" (from EMI) and "Raise the Titanic" (from ITC), both released by Associated Film Distribution just a year later.
Critical reception.
Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars. In his favorable review, he was fascinated that ""The Muppet Movie" not only stars the Muppets but, for the first time, shows us their feet." Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" offered equal praise, stating that the film "demonstrates once again that there's always room in movies for unbridled amiability when it is governed by intelligence and wit." Gene Siskel of the "Chicago Tribune" gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and called it "surely one of the summer's most entertaining films," which "does a fairly nice job of trying to be all things to all people. Which is not an easy job." Dale Pollock of "Variety" wrote, "'The Muppet Movie' is a winner ... Script by Jerry Juhl and Jack Burns incorporates the zingy one-liners and bad puns that have become the teleseries' trade mark, but also develops the Muppets themselves as thinking, feeling characters."
Charles Champlin of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote, "as you might well expect, it is hip, funny, technically ingenious, fast-moving, melodious, richly produced, contemporary and equally and utterly beguiling to grown-ups and small persons." Katrine Ames of "Newsweek" stated, "'The Muppet Movie' is a delectable grab bag of influences — stories by L. Frank Baum and Lewis Carroll, Westerns, the Crosby-Hope and Garland-Rooney movies — as well as its own inventive devices. The result is a kind of 'That's Entertainment!' with a plot attached. Its charm — and success — lie primarily in its loving pokes at Hollywood conventions and in the lovable characters who do the poking." Leonard Maltin's annual movie guide found the film enjoyable, though he called the score "pedestrian".
"The Muppet Movie" currently holds an 88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an average score of 8.00/10, based on 50 reviews. The site's consensus says ""The Muppet Movie", the big-screen debut of Jim Henson's plush creations, is smart, lighthearted, and fun for all ages." In 2009, it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". In 2020, "Rainbow Connection" was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry.


Fossil Fighters

Fossil Fighters, known as in Japan, is a 2008 video game developed by Nintendo SPD, Red Entertainment, M2, and Artdink and published by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 17, 2008 and was later released in North America on August 10, 2009, and in Australia on September 17, 2009.
A sequel titled "Super Kasekihoridā", was released in Japan on November 18, 2010. It was released outside Japan originally titled as "Super Fossil Fighters", but later changed to ', released in North America on November 14, 2011. A Nintendo 3DS entry, ', was released in North America in 2015, but the game has been available in Japan since February 2014.
Gameplay.
The central concept of "Fossil Fighters" is the revival of prehistoric fossils into supernatural forms known as "vivosaurs", charged with elemental energy, and the use of these creatures in combat against each other.
The player accesses regions called "dig sites" and collects "Fossil Rocks", each of which contains one-quarter of a dinosaur's skeleton; head, body, arms, or legs. Fossil Rocks are scanned and cleaned at a "Revival Machine" and then incorporated into a vivosaur. Although a vivosaur can be revived using only a head fossil, integrating the other three parts will grant it bonus strength and access to additional abilities. If the secondary parts are found without a head, they will be stored until the head is found and subsequently integrated into the vivosaur.
Cleaning a Fossil Rock involves removing the rock around the fossil with a hammer, and then the remaining layer of dirt with a drill. The player has 90 seconds to accomplish this task and risks damaging the fossil by hitting it directly with the hammer or drill. A cleaner and less damaged fossil grants more strength to the vivosaur it is integrated into.
Vivosaurs with a head fossil integrated are used in turn-based combat against opposing vivosaurs. Up to three of the player's vivosaurs may challenge up to three of an opponent's. Each team has access to one Attack Zone, two Support Zones and one Escape Zone; their starting positions are in the Attack and Support Zones. Vivosaurs can use attacks and other abilities by expending Fossil Power (FP) gained at the start of each turn. Fossil Power can also be conserved between turns in an attempt to expend a large amount on a strong attack. Two turns’ worth of Fossil Power is added to a combatant's pool if one of their vivosaurs runs out of Life Points (LP) and is defeated. LP also decides who is first to attack in a battle, in which the team with the lowest total LP goes first. The battle is over when all of an opponent's vivosaurs are defeated.
The basic strategy of "Fossil Fighters" is to use attacks with an Attack Zone vivosaur while Support Zone vivosaurs apply statistical bonuses to the player's Attack Zone or statistical penalties to the enemy's Attack Zone. However, "Fossil Fighters" contains much strategic diversity. A damaged Attack Zone vivosaur may be "escaped" to the Escape Zone when weakened, but a Support Zone vivosaur must enter the Attack Zone and take its place. The now-empty Support Zone will be filled by the escaped vivosaur in two turns.
"Fossil Fighters" uses a system of elemental balance where each vivosaur has an elemental affinity. Fire-element vivosaurs gain bonuses against Earth-element vivosaurs, which gain bonuses against Air-type vivosaurs, which gain bonuses against Water-element vivosaurs, which gain bonuses against Fire-element vivosaurs. Neutral-element vivosaurs have no elemental strength or weakness. Certain mythical vivosaurs, only granted to the player in special circumstances, are of the "Legendary" element; these function identically to Neutral-element vivosaurs.
Plot.
The game begins with the Hero on a boat with its captain, Travers. He'll ask a series of questions of which determines the color of the Hero's apparel. Once he arrives at his destination, the Hero visits the local hotel on Vivosaur Island, where the manager gives him instructions on how to work the basic game mechanics. Soon after the manager finishes delivering her instructions, she sends the Hero to a trial Dig Site for first-hand practice. Such practice includes a Fossil Battle against a young boy named Holt. Once he completes the required training, he gains access to his first official Dig Site, the Greenhorn Plains. Upon arriving at said location, a man called Medal-Dealer Joe steals everyone's Dino Medals. The Hero encounters a young girl named Rosie, whose medals have also been stolen (she described the police captain two medals, one of Lambeosaurus, and the other of Edmontosaurus). She informs him that his medals are still safe and that he must fight the criminal in a Fossil Battle. A victory results in Medal-Dealer Joe being arrested, and everyone's Dino Medals being returned safely. Rosie takes interest in the Hero, and decides to accompany him on his journey. Once the duo return to the Island, it is announced that Level-Up Battles have begun. Both Rosie and the Hero successfully complete their battles, bringing them one step closer to becoming a Master.
Soon after they level up, a new Dig Site, known as Knotwood Forest, becomes available. This particular location is home to a tribe called the Digadigs. They plea that the Hero must defend their treasures from the wretched BB Bandits. When investigating the Digadigmid, the Hero encounters a woman by the name of Nevada Montecarlo. The two later team up and take on Vivian, the leader of the BB Bandit Trio. In the meantime, Rosie becomes cursed and is only able to speak in a similar manner to those of the Digadigs. This curse will last throughout the majority of the game. Once the villains flee and peace is restored, Nevada and the Hero, who found a mysterious but tacky idol, part ways. He and Rosie then head back to the Island to compete in their second Level-Up Battle, in which both emerge victoriously.
The Hero then visits the Rivet Ravine site where a Fighter's Seminar is taking place. The fossils will now be seen in different colors depending on the type. A man named McJunker is trying to fix mine carts. The Hero brings him his tools from the BB Bandits and he reveals that Holt is his apprentice. Holt gives the player an Electromonite for McJunker after a battle. After the mine carts are fixed the Hero goes deeper into the cave battles the BB Bandits again, and finds another idol.
After leveling up again, the Hero is now able to visit Bottomsup Bay, with a diving mask. He is tasked with getting a ribbon for a pirate ghost. An eccentric man named Nick Nack has it but he'll only give it for a molted bug shell, a sandal fossil, and dentures of a denture shark in return. The BB bandits try to stop them, but the Hero and Rosie succeed in giving back the ribbon and get yet another idol as a reward. A mysterious girl named Duna appears to be following them.
The next day, Rosie is kidnapped. She is taken to the BB bandits hideout and the Hero is told to bring the three idols he found if he wants Rosie back. After battling Rex, Snivels, and Vivian, the BB Bandits leader is revealed to be Police Chief Bartholomew Bullwort. The Hero succeeds in getting him arrested and saving Rosie. However, Rosie's grandfather, Mr. Richmond, suspects there is something exquisite about the idols and believe the bandits were hired to steal them.
After another level-up tournament, Rosie thanks the Hero for saving him so many times. Dr. Diggins, who has been examining the idols, asks the Hero to go find one more at Mt. Lavaflow. The Hero encounters large lava rocks blocking his path, Duna arrives to get rid of them. After he finds the idol, she demands him to give it to her. Suddenly the lava heat disrupts Duna's "holographic transformation technology" revealing herself to be some sort of dinosaur-like alien. After attempting to attack the player, Duna gets crushed by a lava rock from an earthquake. The Hero saves her by using his digging tools, much to her confusion. After Duna runs off, Rosie meets up with the Hero, but when they return they find that Vivosaur island has been taken over by the BB bandits. Bullwort somehow got his hands on the legendary Vivosaur known as the Frigisaurus. It freezes the Hero and Rosie and they are put in a jail cell. Rex, Snivels, and Vivian help them escape to Diggins as they no longer want to take orders from Bullwort. The Chieftain of the Digadigs reveals that the Frigisaurus was rivals with another legendary Vivosaur known as the Ignosaurus. The Hero, with the help of Rex find the Ignosaurus fossil at Mt. Lavaflow, but Bullwort uses his Imperva-Ray on it making the fossil indestructible. Duna reverses the effects and the Ignosaurus is soon revived, it defeats the Frigisaurus and Bullwort is arrested. After defeating the champion Fossil Fighter, Saurhead, Duna reveals to the Hero that she is a Dinaurian, an alien race that believes humans were a mistake.
The next day, when the Hero and Rosie go to see how her grandfather is doing with the idols, Duna and another Dinaurian named Raptin arrive to take them. They reveal the idols to be Sub-Idolcomps and are going to be used to wipe out the human race. Raptin turns Rosie into a Triconodonta, knocks the Hero out and escapes with Duna. Rosie got Raptin's device that transports people their spaceship, after getting masks from Saurhead, the Hero and Dr. Diggins infiltrate the ship. The two find the Sub-Idolcomps connected to a much larger Idolcomp. Suddenly, the two hide as Duna and the king of the Dinaurians, Dynal, come in. He reveals that their plan is to use the Idolcomp to revert all humans on Earth to amoebas and start over, the plan is called Project: Mother Planet. Dynal tells Duna to press the switch but she refuses, she has come to accept that humans and just as intelligent as Dinaurians. Dynal is furious that she wants the plan shut down as he doesn't see it the same way, so he goes to do it himself but the Hero jumps in his way and battles him. Despite losing, Dynal manages to press the switch on the main Idolcomp. But Diggins manages to disconnect a Sub-Idolcomp so it wouldn't work. It also ends up sending him back in time to the Jurassic period, but the Sub-Idolcomp was with him. King Dynal attempts to kill the Hero and Duna but the two teleport to safety.
Duna reveals to Mr. Richmond that the plan of Project: Mother Planet is to recreate the Dinaurian home planet. After it was destroyed by the giant planet devourer, Guhnash, the Dinaurians searched space for a new home. When they found Earth, they used their DNA to create seeds to plant on the planet. However, the seeds took a different evolutionary path: humans. The Idolcomp was created to monitor the evolutions and regress humans back to amoebas so they can evolve into Dinaurians, but the Sub-Idolcomps got lost in an accident and ended up on Vivosaur Island. They didn't know about human society so they hired the BB Bandits to look for them. They all agree they have to find the Sub-Idolcomp before King Dynal. Rosie is back to normal as the portable regression ray Raptin had was weak, but excitement still triggers the effects. The Sub-Idolcomp got shattered into five fragments while traveling through time, after gathering them all Duna reveals that it's still missing its core processor. Mr. Richmond remembers a secret island that the spaceship was found on, the technologies found inside were used to revive fossils. Richmond and Diggins hid the Secret Island away to prevent the technology from falling into the wrong hands. When the Hero and Duna enter the dinaurian starship, the latter finds out that the scout ship on the first exhibition to Earth was attacked by Guhnash. In the main control room is a "human" with the last idol fragment in stone-sleep. Suddenly, Raptin appears and attacks the Hero to get the fragment, but the latter manages to win the battle causing Raptin to leave. The two revive Dr. Diggins back in the Fossil Center, he found the stone-sleep technology in the old ship. Returning to the Richmond building Mr. Richmond has Rosie and the Hero assemble the Sub-Idolcomp to make sure it's real, but he's actually King Dynal. He stuns all of the Hero's friends causing the latter to chase him. Back on the spaceship, the Hero suggests that the humans and Dinaurians could live on the planet together. Although Dynal considers it, Raptin, still seeing humans as their mistake, was against the idea and presses the switch, but then the Sub-Idolcomps suddenly speak. They reveal that the seeds the Dinaurians planted actually perished in the ocean and that humans originated from their own planet. They agreed to just watch them grow but the main Idolcomp wanted to destroy them, so it sent broadcast signals to Guhnash who didn't have the coordinates of Earth until the Sub-Idolcomps were returned. Upon returning to Earth, Diggins reveals that he found a sample of the monster when he went back in time, Guhnash can only be defeated by taking out its three brains. Dynal sets the teleporter to the mouth of Guhnash, it can only send one additional person for support, the Hero has the option to bring either Rosie or Duna. The two are successful in saving Earth, but the teleporter got interfered by the leaking of energy from Guhnash who is about to explode. The two use a portable stone-sleep inducer to turn them both to stone in order to protect themselves and head back to Earth. As soon he gets back, the Hero is revived but the girl he took with him met with a more unfortunate fate: if Duna was chosen her petrified state couldn't be reversed and if Rosie was chosen she lost her memories. Either way, the chieftain of the Digadig Tribe comes to help, he tells the Hero to perform a hip-shaker dance which restores the girl back to normal.
During the credits, the player sees what all the characters in the game are doing now. Afterwards, the Hero can take part in a series of side quests, where one includes helping Dr. Diggins build and use a time machine.
Development.
The director Azusa Tajima and Genki Yokota from Nintendo SPD along with their entire sound staff from Nintendo worked together with Artdink, M2 and Red Entertainment in the development of this game. In an interview with the 4-team development group, Nintendo's Hitoshi Yamagami describes the game's conception around 2004, when Red Entertainment proposed the idea of a game involving dinosaurs.
Manga.
The official manga currently has 15 "episodes" as stated on the Fossil Fighters official website, each of which has 16 pages.
Hunter, the main character of the manga has revived the following vivosaurs:
Reception.
"Fossil Fighters" received a score of 32 out of 40 by the Japanese magazine "Famitsu". The game was the third best-selling game in Japan the week of its release at 35,000 copies sold. By the end of 2008, "Fossil Fighters" had sold 240,176 copies, making it the 15th best-selling DS game of the year in the region. In the United States, it sold 92,000 units in August 2009, making it the 10th best selling game for that month.
In America, "Fossil Fighters" scores averaged between 7 and 8. Reviewers generally praised the game for being fun, having simple yet surprisingly addictive cleaning while having battles that were somewhat enjoyable. While most reviewers compared it to the "Pokémon" video game series, some reviewers like GameSpot didn't mind, saying that they might as well borrow from the best, while others didn't bring it up much. Reviewers found game elements like graphics and music overall lacking, and some reviewers, like IGN (who gave the game a 5.3), knocked the game for being repetitive and too "Pokémon"-like.


Stanley, the Ugly Duckling

Stanley, the Ugly Duckling, a.k.a. Stanley, is an animated American television special that was produced by Fine Arts Films and aired on May 1, 1982 as part of ABC's Weekend Special lineup. It is loosely based on the 19th-century fairy tale "The Ugly Duckling" by Hans Christian Andersen.
Home video releases.
"Stanley" was given its first American VHS release by Image Magnetic Associates in 1984. It was later re-released in 1992 by Family Home Entertainment, and more recently in 2005 by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.


Real Gone Woody

Real Gone Woody is the 58th animated cartoon short subject in the "Woody Woodpecker" series. Released theatrically on September 20, 1954, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal-International.
Plot.
Woody asks Winnie if she would like to go to the sock hop with him. She accepts, and Woody goes off to prepare for their date. Meanwhile, Buzz calls Winnie up to ask her to the sock hop, only to find she is already going with Woody. However, Winnie agrees that if Woody does not show up, she will go with Buzz. Buzz gets himself ready for the date, and beats Woody to Winnie's house. As Buzz and Winnie dance, Woody comes through the door and gets into a fight with Buzz. Winnie tells them to stop or she will not go with either one of them. She then suggest that all three of them go together, but once the trio gets outside Woody takes Winnie himself and ditches Buzz.
Woody and Winnie make it to the sock hop, where they hear a singer sing. Winnie likes the guy's singing, but Woody does not care for it. As Woody and Winnie dance, Buzz shows up and succeeds in disposing of Woody. The buzzard then takes Winnie to a drive-in restaurant to buy her a soda and a banana split for himself. Woody, dressed as a waitress, gives Buzz an explosive banana split. The two begin to fight once again, only to find Winnie riding away with the singer from the sock hop.
Winnie Woodpecker.
"Real Gone Woody" features the only animated appearance by Woody's girlfriend, Winnie Woodpecker, in his theatrical series ("International Woodpecker" is not counted because she made a double cameo, just to help on Woody's storytelling). Winnie's other appearances were in merchandise and comic stories. Winnie became a regular in "The New Woody Woodpecker Show", where she also starred in her own cartoon segments. However, unlike numerous comics and this cartoon, she is portrayed as Woody's best friend instead of his girlfriend.
In this cartoon, Winnie sported a ponytail. But in "The New Woody Woodpecker Show", she looked like Woody did in most of his later appearances.
Notes.
"Real Gone Woody" is the second Woody Woodpecker short where both Woody Woodpecker "and" Buzz Buzzard lose in the end, which occurred previously in Alley to Bali amd follows in Slingshot 6 7/8. Woody Woodpecker also loses in The Coo Coo Bird, Busman's Holliday, Tepee for Two, The Screwball, Solid Ivory, Well Oiled, Woody's Clip Joint, The Dizzy Acrobat, Bye Bye Blackboard, Rough Riding Hood, Ski for Two, Chilli Con Corny, The Tenant's Racket, What's Sweepin' and The Beach Nut.


Gorilla (film)

Gorilla is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language heist comedy film written and directed by Don Sandy. The film stars Jiiva, Shalini Pandey and Kong in the lead roles, while Yogi Babu, Radha Ravi, Sathish, Rajendran, Vivek Prasanna, Madhan, and Ramdoss appears in pivotal supporting roles. The film also features a real chimpanzee in a prominent role. The music was composed by Sam C. S. with lyrics penned by Yugabharathi, while cinematography was handled by R. B. Gurudev and editing was done by Anthony L. Ruben.
Plot.
The film revolves around three down-on-their-luck friends, who have their own problems. Jeeva is a petty criminal, but has fallen in love with Jhansi, who is being pressured to get married. Sathish, who is his family's sole breadwinner, has been given the pink slip at his work, and Venkat is an aspiring actor who hopes he can become a hero if he has money. Into their life walks Sadhik, a farmer who is on the verge of committing suicide after being turned down by the banks. All four hatch a plan to rob a bank, in an inebriated state, and circumstances force them to follow through with what seems to be a ridiculous plan with a chimpanzee as an accomplice.
Production.
The production of the film commenced in February 2018 by director Don Sandy who rose to prominence in Kollywood industry with his debut directorial venture "Mahabalipuram" in 2015. This film also brought the thought of having a gorilla in a key role which was the first ever instance in Indian film history. It was also revealed that the chimpanzee named Kong was hired from the Samut training station of Thailand, which is a world renowned destination for training animals like chimpanzees, gorillas for mainly Hollywood films. The production team also initially roped in RJ Balaji for the film but was later replaced by Sathish. The first look poster of the film was released on 21 June 2018. The teaser of the film was unveiled by actor Suriya on 16 September 2018 through his Twitter account. Most of the sequences related to the chimpanzee were shot in Thailand and the remaining portions were shot in Chennai.
Marketing and release.
The official trailer 1 of the film was released on 31 May 2019 by Sony Music South.
Soundtrack.
The music of the film was composed by Sam C. S. and lyrics were penned by Yugabharathi, Logan, Aishwarya and Sam C.S. Sony Music India hold the rights of music.


Footrot Flats

Footrot Flats is a comic strip by New Zealand cartoonist Murray Ball. It ran from 1976 to 1994 in newspapers, though unpublished strips continued to appear in book form until 2000. Altogether there are 27 numbered books (collecting the newspaper strips, with additional material), a further 8 books collecting the Sunday newspaper strips, and 5 smaller 'pocket' books of original material, plus various related publications. There was also a stage musical, an animated feature film called "", and even a theme park in Auckland, New Zealand. The strip reached its peak of popularity in the mid-1980s, with the books selling millions of copies in Australasia.
The comic's protagonist is a border collie sheepdog, called "Dog", owned by Wal Footrot, who runs a sheep and cattle farm called Footrot Flats near the fictional rural town of Raupo in New Zealand. The comic depicts the trials and tribulations of Wal, the Dog and other characters, human and animal, that come into their lives. The Dog's thoughts are voiced in thought bubbles, though he is clearly "just a dog", unlike the heavily anthropomorphised creatures of some other comics or animation. The humour draws on the foibles of the characters, which many farmers found easy to recognise around them. There was much "humour in adversity", making fun of the daily struggle that permeates farming life. The depictions of the animals are quite realistic and detailed, with a dose of comic anthropomorphism superimposed without spoiling the farming realism.
History.
"Footrot Flats" was initially rejected for syndication by both The New Zealand Herald and The Auckland Star. It was first accepted in 1976 by Mike Robson, editor of Wellington's The Evening Post. The strip appeared in hundreds of newspapers in Australasia and also gained an international following, especially in Denmark.
The strip's leading human character, Wal Footrot, is based on Murray Ball's cousin Arthur Waugh, who was a sheep shearer around the time of the strip's inception and went on to own a 2,100-hectare farm situated east of Pahiatua in the southeastern North Island of New Zealand.
Ball cited different reasons for quitting the strip, including the death of his own dog, and his displeasure with the direction of New Zealand politics.
Among the strip's fans were Peanuts creator Charles Schulz and Garfield creator Jim Davis.
Main characters.
The characters are invariably known by their nicknames, such as Cooch, Pongo, Rangi, and Aunt Dolly. However, Aunt Dolly never uses the nicknames and always addresses them by their proper names.
Sport.
Sport plays a major part in Footrot Flats. Wal plays all sorts of sports including cricket, golf, fishing, rugby union, tennis and snooker. The Dog often plays with Wal, sometimes helping him, sometimes embarrassing him and sometimes being exploited. Wal can never beat his younger brother Rex in any sport.
Wal plays for the Raupo rugby club as a hooker and is often seen playing and training in the strip. At one point Wal was replaced by a younger man as he was getting too old, but the younger player wasn't as good. The final few strips ever drawn involve an unlikely chain of events which culminate in Wal somehow scoring a try against a touring international rugby side. Wal also coaches the Raupo School rugby team, with Rangi being one of its more prominent members and the Dog serving as mascot (a duty he takes seriously, often blaming himself if the team loses).
In the cricket season, Wal plays for an unnamed team as an all-rounder, although he is sometimes pictured as the wicket keeper. Cooch often plays cricket with Wal and so does the Dog, usually fielding in the slips or in the covers (wherein the Dog's alias of 'The Scarlet Manuka' sometimes comes into play, stealing cricket balls to 'rescue' them from persecution).
Cooch also plays golf with Wal, who has a homemade course on his farm. Cooch is better than Wal at golf, even though the course is very hard (the first hole is a par 14). When they do play on a real course, Cooch usually wins. Wal claims the trees are on Cooch's side. Wal and Cooch also play snooker on a small table in Cooch's house, where a tree hampers play.
Wal also occasionally plays tennis with Cheeky Hobson and fights for her affections with Nigel Erskine, another member of the tennis club. The Dog is usually the ball boy.
Wal and Cooch frequently fish in various ways: whitebaiting, long line fishing, and most often floundering.
Other sports seen in Footrot Flats are boxing, polo, soccer, squash, badminton and shooting.
List of publications.
Main series
Pocket books
Combined collections
Murray Ball Collector's Trilogy
Misc
Miscellaneous merchandise
included:


Tekken Mobile

Tekken was a mobile fighting game in the "Tekken" series developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It was released worldwide for Android and iOS on March 1, 2018. As of February 2019, the game can no longer be played.
Gameplay.
"Tekken Mobile" is a touch based fighting game that incorporates gacha elements. Players select characters to place on a team and face off against a team of opposing characters. The objective is to defeat the opponent by using a collection of "Waza Cards" (a total of nine in one deck), which makes their character use a certain attack depending on the card's color. Each character has an elemental affinity that consists of either earth, fire, water, or lightning. The affinities give either an advantage or disadvantage depending on the matchup.
Players can upgrade their fighters by getting special fragments (common, to rare) which are bought in premium or epic packs using real money.
Cancellation.
The game's servers were abruptly switched off on February 15, 2019, making it no longer playable. Possible reasons for the cancellation was the negative reception of the game's expensive prices, and lack of revenue on the game's part. As a result, the upcoming new character named Taekwondo Girl (Fans gave her the name Shuwawei, but is not an official name) did not see a release.


Peter Clover

Peter Clover (b. Islington, North London, 9 June 1952) is an English children's book author and illustrator best known for the "Sheltie the Shetland Pony" series, featuring a young girl, Emma, and her shaggy Shetland pony. In addition Peter Clover has created four other short series: "Rescue Riders", "Hercules", "Donkey Diaries", and "Little Bridge Farm", along with numerous standalone titles. "The Tale of Blackeye Jax" is a ghost story about a phantom highwayman, published by Barrington Stoke who specialise in books for reluctant readers. "Dead Cool" and "Dead Cooler" are humorous ghost stories also published by Barrington. His inspiration for the Sheltie pony books camefrom when he used to live on Exmoor in Devon. Peter said, "I wanted to spend my time doing the two things I enjoyed most – writing and creating pictures. Illustrated adventure stories for kids seemed like a brilliant idea and I just love it. Being able to create an entire village like Little Applewood and bringing all the characters to life gave me such a buzz."
He is also known for his contemporary abstract paintings and has exhibited in both London and his current home of Mallorca. The Attack of the Killer Frogs is his latest children's horror story, published by A & C Black. With over 70 titles in print throughout UK, USA, France and Germany his latest books are the re-telling of classic tales with ten beautifully illustrated titles including "Treasure Island", "Robin Hood", "Gulliver's Travels", "Wind in the Willows", "Wizard of Oz", "Swan Lake", "Rumpelstiltskin" and others.
www.peterclover.co.uk
Works.
"Sheltie the Shetland Pony".
The "Sheltie the Shetland Pony" books were published by Puffin Books in the UK. The first seven were also published by Aladdin Paperbacks in the US.
"Rescue Riders".
The "Rescue Riders" books were published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1998.
"Hercules".
The "Hercules" books were published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2000.
"Donkey Diaries".
The "Donkey Diaries" books were published by Oxford University Press.
"Little Bridge Farm".
The "Little Bridge Farm" books were published by Scholastic Corporation in 2007.
"Classic Stories".
The "Classic Stories" books were published by Starry Forest Books in 2020.


TMNT (Game Boy Advance)

TMNT is a hack and slash video game featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for the Game Boy Advance. It is based on the 2007 film of the same name and was first released in North America on March 20, 2007, and was later released in Australia on March 22, 2007, and in Europe on March 23, 2007.
Another game with the same title was also released on the Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 2, GameCube, PC, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation Portable, though this version is vastly different from any of the others released, being a 2.5-D side-scrolling beat-'em-up game involving no three-dimensional gameplay - more in style of the original arcade installment.
Reception.
The game has received very positive reviews. Craig Harris from IGN said about the game "it's easily one of the best brawling games I've played in years."


Watchers (novel)

Watchers is a 1987 suspense novel by American author Dean Koontz. Along with "Strangers", "Lightning", and "Midnight", "Watchers" is credited with establishing Koontz's status as a best-selling author.
Plot summary.
Travis Cornell, a former Delta Force operative, feels that his life has become pointless, and is exploring a canyon near his home when he encounters two genetically engineered creatures that have escaped from a top-secret government laboratory. One, a Golden Retriever with enhanced intelligence, befriends Travis; the other, a creature known as the Outsider, appears to be trying to kill the dog. After eluding the Outsider, Travis takes the dog home. On discovering the dog's exceptional intelligence, he names him Einstein.
Later, he and Einstein find and rescue Nora Devon in a park, who was being pestered by a dangerous man, Arthur Streck. Together they form a trio.
Travis, Nora, and Einstein are soon on the run not only from the Outsider, but from federal agents, determined to track down the laboratory escapees, and Vince Nasco, a ruthless professional assassin, hired by Soviets to kill several human targets who carried knowledge of how to stop the Outsider, in order to further the destruction of the Outsider. He wants the dog to trade for a great sum of cash, alone, without any knowledge from the Soviets or others.
Adaptations.
A series of low-budget horror films was loosely based on the book.
In the film adaptation Travis is a sixteen-year-old boy, and Nora is his mother. The Outsider is renamed OXCOM, and Vince Nasco is replaced by NSO agents searching for the monster. Travis also has a girlfriend named Tracey.


Mortimer and Arabel

Mortimer and Arabel is a BBC puppet comedy-drama series based on the book series of the same name by Joan Aiken (1924-2004) that was aired on BBC One as part of the Children's BBC strand (as it was known before October 4, 1997) from November 15, 1993 to December 21, 1994. Some of the original books, which were illustrated by Sir Quentin Blake, had also first been seen as a part of the BBC's "Jackanory" programmes. The stories are about a four-year-old girl named Arabel Jones who adopts an injured raven that her Dad, a cab driver named Ebenezer Jones, brings home after finding him injured in the road and christens "Mortimer", but his only communication is to squawk "Nevermore!" when upset. The Jones family live at 6 Rainwater Crescent in Rumbury Town, London NW3½ where most of their neighbours, including Mr. Coughtrack, Mr. and Mrs. Hamstring and especially grumpy old Mr. Leggitt, cannot stand Mortimer due to all the chaos he causes, and it is always up to Arabel to keep Mortimer out of trouble, although he frequently causes chaotic upsets with his mischievous behaviour. A total of thirty-six fifteen-minute episodes were produced over four serials of varying length in two series.
Other characters include Arabel's Mum Martha Jones, Mr. Leggitt's accomplices Bill and Joe, Mayor Saddlejoy and his wife, the Town Hall's secretary Doreen, Sergeant (later Mayor, after Saddlejoy retired from his position at the end of the first series) Cutlink, P.C. Barnoff, Arabel's babysitter Chris Cross (who was the only one of the Joneses' neighbours to also have a fondness for Mortimer), Mr. Leggitt's pet pigeon Pianono, a Scottish odd-job woman named Flo (known as "Have-A-Go Flo" and "In-The-Know Flo" by Mr. Leggitt's accomplices and "Odd-Job Flo" by Ebenezer), an Indian singer named Seleena, a Greek Professor from the island of Pollyargos, an American millionaire named Mr. Bonny, the Duchess of Skew, a farmer named Mr. Westropp, a herd of Jersey cows named Daisy, Lazy and Maisie, Ebenezer's Mum Granny Jones, Granny Jones's pet cat Augustus, Ebenezer's evil cousin Perce Jones, and a ghost named Sir Humphrey Burbage who haunted Mallards' Bank (a parody of Lloyds Bank, which was managed by a man named Mr. Sterrett and his assistant Miss Gracie, and cleaned by a woman named Mrs. Catchpenny) every night at Christmas until Mortimer and Arabel returned his gold, which he had hidden behind a loose brick with an "H" on in the Tower of London (where he was a prisoner during the day) while he was alive, but he died owing Mallards' Bank a considerable debt.
Series 1: Mortimer's Pocket (1993).
The first series was originally shown on BBC One on Mondays at 4:15pm and Wednesdays at 4:20pm between November 15 and December 22, 1993. This series was also released on VHS (BBCV 5249) under the same name as the show itself on April 4, 1994, but it is now out of print. However, both series were rereleased for download on the BBC Store in 2016 (with the second divided into its three respective parts).
Series 2 Part 1: Mortimer's Mine (October–November 1994).
The first part of the second series was originally shown on both Mondays and Wednesdays at 4:20pm between October 3 and November 9, 1994.
Series 2 Part 2: May Day in Rumbury (November 1994).
The second series' second third was originally shown on Mondays at 4:00pm and Wednesdays at 3:55pm from November 14 to November 30, 1994.
Series 2 Part 3: The Bank Ghost (December 1994).
The second series' final third was, again, shown on Mondays at 4:00pm and Wednesdays at 3:55pm, between December 5 and December 21, 1994.


Dinosaur from the Deep

 "Dinosaur from the Deep" is a 1993 French horror science-fiction B movie by filmmaker Norbert Moutier and starring Jean Rollin, Tina Aumont and Sylvaine Charlet. Produced to capitalize on the success of Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park", the project was filmed with a minuscule budget and has become notorious for its poor special effects.
Plot.
After the death penalty has been abolished in 2004, and not knowing how to deal with an abominable criminal recidivist, the FBI's experts and lawyers decide to send the condemned on a journey through time to a time when the sentence still applied. For financial reasons, this expedition is coupled with a scientific mission charged with tracing the first dinosaurs. They find they did exist, and the crew is in pursuit of the prisoner now at large.
Production.
The film was produced to capitalize on the success of Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park". It was filmed with a low budget and the dinosaurs were made of clay and papier-mâché, and in some scenes moved in stop-motion.
Release.
The film was not released theatrically in France, but only in VHS in 1994.


Stray (novel)

Stray is a novel by A. N. Wilson. It is a precursor to his picture book "The Tabitha Stories", as it follows the life of Tabitha's father. The book was published in Great Britain in 1987, by Walker Books and was re-published in the United States by Orchard Books in 1989. "Stray" is dedicated to "A.L.R," who "reserved his kindest comments for a cat."
Plot summary.
A cat named "Pufftail" (he says that he truly has no name) tells his life story to his daughter Tabitha and his grandson. He tells of his life on the streets, in a pet shop, at a convent, with a kind grandmother, and with the cruel "June and Jim," among others and says that he has three tragic parts in his life.
In chronological order, the most important events of Pufftail's life are:


The Gay Dog

The Gay Dog is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Wilfred Pickles, Petula Clark and Megs Jenkins. It was filmed at Southall Studios, and features Petula Clark singing "A Long Way to Go", written by Joe Henderson and Leslie Clark (Petula's father). The film was based on a play by Joseph Colton; also starring Pickles and Jenkins, it had run at London's Piccadilly Theatre for 276 performances from June 1952 to February 1953.
Plot.
A miner, Jim Gay, owns a greyhound, "Raving Beauty", which has been very successful in races at the local stadium called Rodney Park. His bets on the dog are not winning him much money, so Gay hits upon a plan to improve its starting odds so as to win more money.
His friend Peter (a fellow miner) and he initially pretend that Raving Beauty is ill, and the rumours soon spread around the local community. Upon visiting the vicar, however, Jim and Peter find out that the vicar is looking after his brother's greyhound, called Prince of Erin, which is due to compete in the same race as Raving Beauty on the Saturday. Peter attempts to find out more about Prince of Erin and forms a relationship with the vicar's daughter Peggy. He eventually finds out that Prince of Erin has good form from Shelbourne Park and his breeding bloodlines relate to Mick the Miller. Jim and Peter then tell the local community that Raving Beauty is fit and well because they know Prince of Erin is most likely to win and want a better starting price.
Meanwhile, Jim's daughter Sally (Petula Clark) is attending the Women's Institute to avoid Peter, who is also her unwanted suitor. There, she meets and falls in love with a final-year medical student who is lecturing the group on first aid.
On race day, Jim and Peter bet Prince of Erin at odds of 7-1, whilst the local community (who would normally bet on Raving Beauty) bet on Raving Beauty where the odds are still 1-1. Both greyhounds perform well, but Prince of Erin wins. The local community realise that Jim and Peter knew more, which results in Jim getting a black eye. Jim has won enough money from the bookmakers, though, to take a taxi home, give the vicar a donation for his charities, and pay back four family members their stake money.
Meanwhile, Peter offers to be the best man at Sally's wedding and goes off with Peggy.
The film ends with a Jim and Maggie going on holiday to Blackpool in a new motor car with Jim sitting in the back with Raving Beauty. A subplot has Jim's daughter (Sally) and the vicar's son (Leslie) get engaged to be married.
Scenes.
The greyhound racing scenes were shot mainly at Belmont Stadium in Durham, an independent track (unaffiliated to a governing body). However the final race actually shows the greyhounds racing around two different tracks, Belmont and a much larger unidentified stadium (possibly New Cross). The portrayal of 1950s independent greyhound racing is reasonably accurate.


Redwall (novel)

Redwall is a fantasy novel by Brian Jacques. Originally published in 1986, it is the first book of the "Redwall" series. The book was illustrated by Gary Chalk, with the British cover illustration by Pete Lyon and the American cover by Troy Howell. It is also one of the three "Redwall" novels to be made into a television series, alongside "Mattimeo" (Season 2) and "Martin the Warrior" (Season 3).
Plot summary.
A young mouse named Matthias is a novice monk at Redwall Abbey, where he was adopted as a young orphan, though he dreams of a life of adventure, inspired by the legends of Martin the Warrior, the founder of Redwall. One summer, Redwall Abbey is surrounded by the army of Cluny the Scourge, an infamously evil one-eyed rat. Matthias is guided by visions of Martin the Warrior, while the abbey inhabitants prepare the defense of their home against Cluny's impending attack. Matthias seeks Martin's famous sword, supposedly hidden somewhere within the abbey, helped particularly by Methuselah, an ancient and grizzled mouse who serves as Redwall's historian. Cluny, meanwhile, attempts to gain entrance to the abbey and murders a defector from his horde, Sela the fox. Sela's son, Chickenhound, seeks refuge at Redwall but ends up accidentally killing Methuselah after being caught stealing. Driven from the abbey, Chickenhound is maimed in the wilderness by the venomous adder Asmodeus Poisonteeth, a local terror in Mossflower Wood, the forest that surrounds the abbey.
Clues to the location of Martin's sword and shield have been built into the abbey, allowing Matthias to recover the shield, though he discovers the sword has been stolen by a wild sparrow tribe, the Sparras, that dwell on Redwall's roof. He learns from the violent sparrows that the sword was stolen from them in turn by Asmodeus. The king of the sparrows attacks Matthias but dies when the two plummet together off the abbey roof. Matthias recovers and ventures to Asmodeus's lair with his new allies Log-a-Log, a shrew, and Warbeak Sparra, the new and just queen of the aforementioned Sparras. Matthias, Log-a-Log, and two other Shrews succeed in retrieving the sword from Asmodeus's cave, Asmodeus kills the latter two, and Matthias subsequently kills Asmodeus. Alerted to the fall of the abbey by the Sparra tribe, Matthias rushes back to Redwall to save his friends.
The Redwall inhabitants have been using boiling water, oil, barrels of hornets, and fire to repel Cluny's horde, but the abbey finally falls when Cluny threatens the family of the gatekeeper, who allows Cluny's forces access to the abbey. Matthias, his allies now including the Mossflower shrews and the whole Sparra tribe, along with the newly captive Redwall population, battles against Cluny's minions. Cluny strikes his poison-barb tail at the father abbot, Mortimer, but Matthias quickly avenges the abbot's injury by dropping the abbey's giant bell on top of Cluny, crushing him to death and cracking the bell in the process. Abbot Mortimer proclaims Matthias the Warrior of Redwall and dies from his wound. The battle ends in victory for the defenders of Redwall.
An epilogue reveals that Matthias has married the fieldmouse Cornflower and she has given birth to their son, Mattimeo, an abbreviated version of the name Matthias Methuselah Mortimer. The cracked Joseph Bell has been reshaped into two new bells: the Matthias Bell and the Methuselah Bell.
Discrepancies.
As "Redwall" was the first book set in the Redwall world, many of its defining traits were not yet developed, and are different from all subsequent books in the series:
Awards and nominations.
Winner:
Nominated:
Publication history.
Select print publications:
Graphic novel.
"Redwall" has been adapted into a graphic novel titled "Redwall: The Graphic Novel". It was released on October 4, 2007.
Musical.
"Redwall" was adapted into a musical called "Redwall: The Legend of Redwall Abbey".
Film adaptation.
In February 2021, Netflix announced an animated feature film adaptation. It will be based on the self-titled first book of the novels and its script penned by Patrick McHale.


The Calendar (novel)

The Calendar is a 1930 British thriller novel by Edgar Wallace. A racehorse owner agrees to throw a race and has to deal with the consequences of his decision. It is a novelisation of the 1929 play of the same title by Wallace.
Publication.
It was first published by William Collins, Sons, London, in 1930.
Adaptations.
The story was made into two films. A 1931 version starring Herbert Marshall and a 1948 version starring John McCallum
There was also a stage version by Wallace, published by Samuel French Ltd. in 1932; the original production being directed by the author.


Pandora and the Flying Dutchman

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman is a 1951 British Technicolor drama film made by Romulus Films and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the United States. The film was directed by Albert Lewin and produced by Albert Lewin and Joseph Kaufman from of Lewin's own screenplay, based on the legend of the "Flying Dutchman". It was filmed mainly on the Costa Brava in Spain. The land record speed scenes were shot at Pendine Sands in Wales.
The film starred Ava Gardner and James Mason, featuring Nigel Patrick, Sheila Sim, Harold Warrender, Mario Cabré and Marius Goring. The cinematographer was Jack Cardiff. Most of the movie was shot on location in Tossa de Mar, Catalonia, Spain, where a statue of Gardner has been erected on the hill overlooking the town's main beach.
Studio MGM delayed its release until Gardner's star-making performance in "Show Boat" (1951) could be seen. The tactic worked, and this film solidified her status as a rising star.
Plot.
In 1930, fishermen in the small Spanish port of Esperanza make a grim discovery in their nets, the bodies of a man and a woman. The resultant ringing of church bells in the village brings the local police and the resident archaeologist, Geoffrey Fielding (Harold Warrender), to the beach. Fielding returns to his villa, and, breaking the "fourth wall", retells the story of these two people to the audience.
Esperanza's small group of English expatriates revolves around Pandora Reynolds (Ava Gardner), an American nightclub singer and femme fatale. All the men love her (or believe that they do), but Pandora is unable to love anyone. One of her admirers (Marius Goring) commits suicide in front of Pandora and her friends by drinking wine that he has laced with poison, but Pandora apparently shows indifference.
She tests her admirers by demanding they give up something they value. Pandora agrees to marry a land-speed record holder, Stephen Cameron (Nigel Patrick), after he sends his racing car tumbling into the sea at her request. That same night, the Dutch captain Hendrick van der Zee (James Mason) arrives in Esperanza. Pandora swims out to his yacht and finds him painting a picture of her posed as her namesake, Pandora, whose actions brought an end to the earthly paradise in Greek mythology. Hendrick appears to fall in love with Pandora, and he moves into the same hotel complex as the other expatriates.
Geoffrey and Hendrick become friends, collaborating to seek background information on Geoffrey's local finds. One of these relics is a notebook written in Old Dutch, which confirms Geoffrey's suspicion that Hendrick van der Zee is the Flying Dutchman, a 16th-century ship captain who murdered his wife, believing her to be unfaithful. He blasphemed against God at his murder trial, where he was sentenced to death.
The evening before his execution, a mysterious force opened the Dutchman's prison doors and allowed him to escape to his waiting ship, where in a dream it was revealed to him that his wife was innocent and he was doomed to sail the seas for eternity unless he could find a woman who loved him enough to die for him. Every seven years, the Dutchman could go ashore for six months to search for that woman.
Despite her impending wedding to Stephen, Pandora declares her love for Hendrick, but he is unwilling to have her die for his sake, and tries to provoke her into hating him.
Pandora is also loved by Juan Montalvo (Mario Cabré), an arrogant, famous bullfighter, who murders Hendrick out of jealousy. But as soon as Montalvo leaves, Hendrick comes back to life as if nothing had happened. He attends the bullfight the next day, and when Montalvo sees him in the audience, he becomes petrified with fear and is fatally gored by the bull. Before dying, Montalvo tells Pandora about his murder of his romantic rival, leaving her confused.
On the eve of her wedding, Pandora asks Geoffrey if he knows anything about Hendrick that will clear up her confusion. Once he sees the Flying Dutchman preparing to sail away, he hands her his translation of the notebook. However, the Dutchman's yacht is becalmed. On learning the truth, Pandora swims out to Hendrick again. He shows her a small portrait of his murdered wife. She and Pandora look exactly alike. Hendrik explains they are man and wife and that through her he has been given the chance to escape his doom, but he rejected it because it would cost her death. Pandora is undaunted, however. That night, there is a fierce storm at sea. The next morning, the bodies of Pandora and the Dutchman are recovered.
Reception.
According to MGM records the film earned $1,247,000 in the US and Canada and $354,000 elsewhere."
The film was one of the most popular films at the British box office in 1951.
"Pandora and the Flying Dutchman" holds a rating of 66% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 32 reviews.


The Hoboken Chicken Emergency

The Hoboken Chicken Emergency is a 1977 children's book by Daniel and Jill Pinkwater. The book may have been inspired by the Jersey Giant breed of chicken.
Plot summary.
The main character, Arthur, is asked to pick up a reserved turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, but the market has lost the reservation, and no store in the area has any turkeys or other birds available for purchase. So Arthur finds and brings home a 266-pound chicken named Henrietta. The family welcomes her with open arms, but the neighbors are not so sure. Everyone in town is horrified after Henrietta escapes.
In other media.
"The Hoboken Chicken Emergency" was adapted into a television movie in 1984. It was adapted into a play by Chad Henry in 1988.


Pipkins

Pipkins (originally Inigo Pipkin) is a British children's TV programme. Hartley Hare, Pig, Topov and the gang were the stars of ATV's pre-school series which ran from January 1973 to 29 December 1981.
"Pipkins" was one of the first children's programmes on British TV where the characters had regional accents: Pig had a Birmingham accent; Topov the monkey was a Cockney; Octavia the ostrich had a French accent; Pigeon had an Upper class English accent; Mrs Penguin had a Geordie accent; Uncle Hare had a West Country English accent; Sophie the cat had a non-regional English accent; and Moonie the Badger had a Northern Ireland accent.
Origins.
In 1972, the ITV network expanded its daytime broadcasting hours and the Independent Broadcasting Authority commissioned four of the main ITV companies to each provide a series of interest to pre-schoolers, as an alternative to the successful US import "Sesame Street". From this commission Thames Television came up with "Rainbow", Yorkshire with "Mister Trimble", Granada with "Hickory House", while ATV's contribution would be "Inigo Pipkin".
"Inigo Pipkin" was first shown on New Year's Day 1973. When the show started, the main character was an elderly puppet maker called Inigo Pipkin (hence the original title), played by George Woodbridge. The puppets were his creations, and over the course of the first series, viewers saw Inigo bring to life Hartley Hare and the Tortoise (a.k.a. George) played by Nigel Plaskitt; and Topov the monkey, Pig and Octavia the ostrich, all played by Heather Tobias.
However, Woodbridge died suddenly from a heart attack in March 1973, while recording of the second series was still taking place. "Inigo Pipkin" was not recorded in the order it was transmitted, and Woodbridge had only completed taping of the latter episodes. The scripts for the episodes that would be broadcast first in the transmission run, i.e. those that Woodbridge had not managed to record, were thus hastily rewritten, with Inigo's absence explained by his being away on a fishing holiday.
In 1974, in a first for children's television, the death of Inigo was worked into the programme, predating the Mr Hooper episode on "Sesame Street" by nine years. From this episode onwards, the show was renamed "Pipkins" and Inigo's assistant, Johnny (Wayne Laryea), took over. The direction of the programme had to change; from here on, the show ceased to centre around a puppet workshop and the characters became the 'Help People', helping anyone in need of a hand. Similarly, another episode "Death of a Goldfish" dealt with the topic of death, in regards to losing a pet. Topov the monkey and Johnny discussed why the goldfish died and why do people die?
Johnny left "Pipkins" around 1978, to be replaced by Tom (Jonathan Kydd), who moved on in 1980, his place taken by Peter Potter (Paddy O'Hagan). In later years Sue Nicholls made regular appearances as the Pipkins' neighbour, Mrs Muddle. The name was somewhat ironic as she was always a calming, self-assured presence around the puppets.
The familiar workshop set was replaced in 1979 (in the story "Moving Out"), with new interiors based around a kitchen and backyard. The new set was built up from ground level to enable puppeteers to work standing up and to move around more freely, modelled on the methods used by "The Muppet Show" which was also filmed at ATV's Elstree Studios.
Cancellation.
"Pipkins" ended when ATV lost its franchise for the Midlands ITV region, was restructured and became Central Independent Television. The programme was replaced by "Let's Pretend".
The series was made at ATV's Elstree studios, with occasional filming on location. For the "Inigo Pipkin" episodes, the opening and closing titles were sung by Jackie Lee, who had earlier sung the themes to children's programmes "The Adventures of Rupert Bear" and "White Horses".
Unusually for a children's programme, there was no spin-off "Pipkins" merchandise (toys, games, books etc.) produced during the programme's run.
Archive status.
In common with other 1970s shows, several "Pipkins" episodes recorded on 625 line PAL Colour Videotape – including the very first "Inigo Pipkin" — are missing from the archives (poor storage of former ATV master colour videotapes has led to the loss of many shows), and not even any 16mm Black & White Film copies of the lost episodes exist.
Out of a total of 333 episodes, only 136 have survived. The other 197 episodes no longer exist in any format, while two others exist on 625 line PAL Colour Videotape only as incomplete copies (possibly due to videotape damage caused by poor storage). Nigel Plaskitt — who provided the show's narration, as well as voicing and operating Hartley and Tortoise – made off-air domestic videocassette recordings of around 56 episodes, now the only format in which these are known to exist, and some have been used for the DVD release in the UK.


Kumki (film)

Kumki () is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language musical adventure romantic drama film written and directed by Prabhu Solomon. It was presented by N. Lingusamy and produced by N. Subash Chandra Bose, under the banner Thirrupathi Brothers, and distributed by K. E. Gnanavel Raja under the banner Studio Green. It features Vikram Prabhu, making his acting debut, while Lakshmi Menon, Thambi Ramaiah and Ashvin Raja appear in other prominent roles.
The story revolves around a mahout and his trained Kumki elephant, who is used to guide other wild animals to minimize the destruction of properties and fields of nearby villages. Filming took place in various places of Karnataka and Kerala. The film's music is composed by D. Imman, in which his soundtrack was commended by the audience and critics. The cinematography was handled by M. Sukumar and editing was handled by L. V. K. Dass. "Kumki" was released on 14 December 2012.
The film opened to positive reviews from critics, praising the performances of Prabhu and Menon, the direction, and the film's soundtrack. It was a commercial success at the box office. The film was dubbed in Telugu as "Gajaraju", and released simultaneously on the same day. The film won three awards at the 60th Filmfare Awards South, including Best Supporting Actor for Thambi Ramaiah, Best Music Director for D. Imman, Best Lyricist for Yugabharathi. The film won 7 prizes at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards held in 2017. The film also won two Vijay Awards, three SIIMA Awards and three Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards.
Plot.
The film starts with an introduction to the main characters: the protagonist Bomman (Vikram Prabhu), his pet elephant Manickam, his uncle Kothali (Thambi Ramaiah), and his sidekick Undiyal (Ashvin Raja). Bomman spends most of his time with Manickam and earns his livelihood by hiring it out for festivals in temples and wedding celebrations. Meanwhile, in a village dominated by old principles, a rogue elephant (Komban) ravages crops and ambushes its people. Frustrated by this and without any help from the forest officers, their leader decides to bring a kumki elephant to tame Komban. Bomman and his crew reach the village as placeholders to stay for a couple of days until the real mahout and kumki elephant arrive. Life begins to change for Bomman when he falls in love with Alli (Lakshmi Menon), the daughter of the village leader. She is at first reluctant keeping in mind the village's principles but she soon starts to fall for Bomman. Life goes on smoothly, until Komban starts randomly attacking the village. On the eve of their departure, Komban attacks manickam. Komban's actions kill Kothali and Undiyal and injures Bomman. In the ensuing fight between Manickam and Komban, Manickam kills Komban but suffers serious injuries and dies. Bomman then cries out loud, regretting that his love had led to the death of his crew and Manickam. Alli's father then recognizes that Alli and Bomman are in love. The film then ends abruptly, leaving Bomman's fate to the viewer's imagination.
Production.
In a December 2012 interview to Nikhil Raghavan of "The Hindu", Prabhu Solomon felt that the success of his previous film "Mynaa" was because by producing and directing the film, it helped him have creative freedom and pay more attention to detail. He realised that "Kumki" would be a bigger venture and that he "didn’t want anything to go wrong." At that time, director N. Lingusamy and N. Subash Chandrabose, owners of the production company Thirrupathi Brothers offered to bankroll the film, much to Solomon's delight.
Solomon wanted a new face for the role of Bomman, for which over 60 auditions were held. Vikram Prabhu, who participated in the auditions, was selected. Vikram had earlier worked as an assistant director for films like "Sarvam" (2009) and "Aasal" (2010).
The film which was earlier titled as "Komban", was shot across the forests of Kerala and Karnataka. The film was shot at athirappalli falls and Munnar. Later, some scenes were shot in Kerala in dense jungles as well as at Jog Falls and on the Orissa border. For the climax portion, producers bought two-acres of land to shoot a scene where elephants destroy the land. Solomon shot the film mostly during the day, especially in morning and evening time, to create the right feel for the scenes. Solomon also wished to explore his love of nature through "Kumki". The elephant, Manickam, was around 12 feet tall.
Themes and influences.
Malathi Rangarajan of "The Hindu" compared the film's similarities to M. G. Ramachandran's "Nalla Neram" (1972) and Rajinikanth's "Annai Oru Aalayam" (1979) in terms of the protagonist's relationship with elephants.
Music.
The soundtrack album and background score is composed by D. Imman, in his third collaboration with Prabhu Solomon after "Lee" (2007) and "Mynaa" (2010). The album has seven numbers written by Yugabharathi with three karaoke versions. The soundtrack album was released by Sony Music on 1 August 2012, which coincided with an audio launch event held at Sathyam Cinemas in Chennai, where Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and Suriya, amongst other celebrities in the film's cast and crew, participated in the function. Kamal Haasan unveiled the audio CD and handed the first copy of the album to Rajinikanth and Suriya.
The soundtrack album received mostly positive reviews from critics as well as audience. Behindwoods gave the album a rating of 3.5 out of 5 and stated "The Imman - Prabu Solomon combo has come up with another huge winner. There are tasteful melodies spread across the album while one nice foot tapping number is there as well". Indiaglitz gave 3 out of 5 and summarised "All the 10 numbers make 'Kumki' a jumbo album". Milliblog gave a comment "Imman is firmly consolidating his form through Kumki!" Music Aloud gave 7 out of 10 to the album and stated "Couple of damp squibs, but otherwise impressive soundtrack from D Imman."
Release.
The satellite rights of the film were sold to Star Vijay. The film was given a "U" certificate by the Indian Censor Board. The film's distribution rights were acquired by K. E. Gnanavel Raja, under his banner Studio Green. The film was initially scheduled to release on 13 November 2012, coinciding with Diwali, but due to post-production works and also due to the release of Vijay-starrer "Thuppakki" and Silambarasan-starrer "Podaa Podi", the release was postponed to 14 December 2012. "Kumki" along with Gautham Menon's "Neethaane En Ponvasantham", were scheduled to release on the same day. Both becoming the most anticipated films of the year, because of the success of the soundtrack. On 1 December, the makers confirmed the release date on the said before date. Two days before the release of "Kumki" along with "Neethaane En Ponvasantham", the advanced bookings for the first weekend were sold out. The film was dubbed in Telugu as "Gajaraju", and was released simultaneously on the same date. Post-release, the makers has shot three climax scenes and planned to change the tragic climax with an alternate positive climax of the film, as the audiences were not happy over the film's ending. However, the climax of the film remained unchanged.
Reception.
Critical reception.
"Kumki" received critical acclaim. Malathi Rangarajan of "The Hindu" praised the performances of Vikram and Menon, noting that while Vikram "makes an impact with effective underplay", Menon showed "apt expressions"; she found Ramaiah's dialogues to be a bit "contrived" after a certain point of time. "Oneindia" gave 3 out of 5 saying that while the movie is at times "dragging", the subject makes it an "engaging affair although the climax is predictable". "Behindwoods" also gave the film 3 out of 5 saying that "Kumki definitely lives up to the hype. It is a beautifully shot movie with good performances and an emotional core". "The Times of India" rated 3.5 out of 5 to the movie and stated "Prabu Solomon’s ode to love in the times of elephant attacks, holds a lot of promise but sadly flatters only to deceive." Pavithra Srinivasan of "Rediff" gave 3.5 out of 5 and stated ""Kumki" is an unforgettable ride through the wilds of Tamil Nadu's virgin forests." Deccan Herald gave the film 3.5 out of 5 and summarised that "Kumki may not be the year's best film, but definitely can't be looked down upon." Bollywoodlife stated "Prabhu Solomon has come up with a neat entertainer, though the slow pace hampers proceedings at some places."
Box office.
Kumki was made with the budget of 5 crores. The film was a success at the box office. The film grossed 10 crore in 3 days. The film grossed more than 40 crore at the box office. The film got Super Hit status at the box office.
Sequel.
Prabhu Solomon has confirmed the sequel of this film, titled "Kumki 2". This sequel will feature newcomers in lead roles similar to the first part.


A Crooked Game

A Crooked Fate is a 1930 horse racing novel by Australian author Arthur Wright. It was the last of his novels published in his lifetime.


The New Adventures of Blinky Bill

The New Adventures of Blinky Bill was an Australian-live action series that featured actors, interacting with puppets that ran on ABC Television from 1984 to 1987. After production ended, it remained on air in repeats until 1991. Twenty-eight 26 minute episodes were made and the producers were Judith Simpson and Richard Smith.
Plot.
The show was a follow on from the original Blinky Bill books by Dorothy Wall. Set in the fictional Bollygum National Park, characters include Blinky Bill, Mrs Magpie, Angelina Wallaby and Walter Wombat from the books, and new characters such as Charlie Goanna, Eric Echidna, Sybilla Snake and Kerry Koala from the neighbouring fictional Acadia Ridge park.
Guest artists.
Most episodes also featured at least one Australian actor in a guest actor in a human character roleBenita CollingsMaggie KirkpatrickPaul ChubbDavid WatersJackie WoodburneMike MeadeJoanne Samuel and many others.
Puppets.
The series was unique for its production style. The puppets were designed and made by the late Beverley Campbell-Jackson, who chose to use a thick and fluffy yarn to knit the outer skin of the marsupial characters, which gave them their furry look on camera. Charlie's skin was made from a patterned lurex which gave him a distinctive look in sunlight. She designed internal mechanisms which used triggers to control the movements of each character's head, mouth and eyelids; while rods to each hand controlled arm movements. Each puppeteer used one hand for the trigger mechanism, and one hand to control both arm rods (this skill is somewhat like advanced chopsticks technique). Similar techniques are seen in some forms of Japanese puppetry.
Production.
At the time of shooting, the ABC network owned studios in the Sydney bush suburb of Frenchs Forest and the show was recorded using multi-camera and live sound recording on the back lot, with the puppeteers voicing the characters at the same time as operating the puppets. The only time that they would used one Camera was the scenes with Blinky Bill and Charlie Goanna talking in Blinky's Tree. Ross Browning and Alan Highfield Blinky and Charlie's Puppeteers would bet on who could complete the scene the fastest. The Outside Broadcast unit provided crew, equipment and the control room. Some sets, including the ranger's hut and Walter Wombat's general store, were built permanently on location, while others were constructed as required for each episode. Sets were raised by a metre or so, to allow space underneath for puppeteers to stand or kneel. Only one scene - featuring a rock and roll performance by Blinky, Kerry and Charlie - was shot in a studio.
The puppet performers wrote roughly half the episodes. Other writers included Mike Meade (who wrote the pilot episode)Heather March, Mark Page and Morris Gleitzman, who is now a well-known author of children's books. Every time the ABC wanted to make another season, they had to ask permission from Angus & Robertson to shoot the next series of episodes.
In 1993, Blinky Bill returned to ABC television in the animated series, "The Adventures of Blinky Bill", after which the ABC did not screen the puppet series again, a prospect that has become unlikely due to the conviction of Robert Hughes on sex offences.


Bingo Crosbyana

Bingo Crosbyana is a 1936 Warner Bros. "Merrie Melodies" cartoon short directed by Friz Freleng, and notable for its title song, composed by Sanford Green and with lyrics by Irving Kahal. The short was released on May 30, 1936.
Plot.
The plot revolves around a group of fun-loving anthropomorphic insects which have taken over a kitchen. The female insects promptly become enthralled by a crooning show-off of a fly, Bingo Crosbyana, "the crooning hit of all Havana", a caricature of the singer Bing Crosby, who incurs the jealous resentment of their boyfriends. Bingo, however, literally shows his colors (yellow) when a spider invades the kitchen, leaving Bingo to cower in fear inside a roll of wax paper. After the boyfriends team up to trap the spider on a sheet of fly paper, Bingo emerges from the wax paper roll and attempts to resume his braggadocio, only to be put in his place decisively.
Legal cases.
"Bingo Crosbyana" was one of two Warner Bros. cartoons (along with "Let It Be Me") which Bing Crosby initiated lawsuits to suppress because they portrayed him in what Crosby considered a defamatory light. In this case, he objected to his portrayal as a vainglorious coward and to the imitation of his voice.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount Pictures was suing Warner Bros. alongside Crosby. Their law firm wanted the distribution of the film to cease. Apparently they lost their case.


Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008 direct-to-video film)

Journey to the Center of the Earth (released in the UK as Journey to Middle Earth) is a 2008 direct-to-DVD film created by The Asylum and directed by David Jones and Scott Wheeler.
The film is a loose adaptation of the original 1864 novel "Journey to the Center of the Earth" by Jules Verne, but bears a close similarity to "At the Earth's Core", a similar 1914 novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It is also the second film by The Asylum to be based on a Jules Verne novel, the first being "30,000 Leagues Under the Sea". A mockbuster, it was released to capitalize on the higher-budgeted film of the same title starring Brendan Fraser.
Plot.
The film follows two intertwined subplots: a drilling operation that is taking place in South America, and a rescue mission to save a research team that has been teleported 600 km beneath the Earth's crust.
The drill, a fully Argentinian project, is powerful enough to send miniature drills through solid rock at a fast pace and is used to try to rescue the team from their fate. The operation begins, but the drills accidentally break through the Earth's crust and into the very mantle of the Earth. This is where the operators encounter hidden dangers awaiting them at the Earth's core. The team has to deal with prehistoric creatures in order to both save the research team and to return safely to the surface of the Earth.


Life According to Ohad

Life According to Ohad (Hebrew: החיים על פי אוהד "Hachaim al pi Ohad") is a 2014 Israeli biographical documentary about a vegan animal-rights activist named Ohad Cohen. The film highlights Ohad's struggle to reconnect with his family after separating from them for years due to their carnist lifestyle. Eri Daniel Erlich, writer and director, traveled alongside Ohad for three years to capture this documentary in which Ohad undertakes open rescue, chains himself to animal cages in protest, and performs public demonstrations in favor of animal rights. The film was awarded a Special Jury Mention by Docaviv in 2014. The website claims that 25% of profits made by the film are donated to promote research of cultured meat.
Background.
Eri Erlich met Ohad Cohen 15 years prior to filming the documentary. Erlich moved to Tel Aviv, Israel to join an animal rights organization where he met Ohad, and felt an immediate connection to him. Feeling they weren't achieving enough with the organization, the duo planned to burn down a factory farm together. Realizing that such a large undertaking be too difficult for novices, they instead decided to vandalize local McDonald's restaurants and butcher shops. After some time, the two felt that they needed more activists to join their cause, so they began doing local vegan outreach. Erlich felt that showing people videos was an effective form of outreach, so he studied film and video editing while Ohad continued doing fieldwork. This eventually lead to the creation of the film.
Plot.
The film begins with Ohad retreating from a balcony overlooking the noisy streets of Israel into his apartment where he places a phone call to his mother. Ohad reveals to his mother that he'd written a 28-page letter for her and his father to read, asking that they give serious consideration to the letter. His mother accepts, but explains that she is unhappy with Ohad's distance from the family. Upon ending the call, Ohad tells the camera that he misses his mother too, but could not bring himself to reciprocate the words to her.
Ohad visits his parents, who having read the letter, have a discussion with him. They oppose the tone of his letter and feel that he has slandered them. His father rejects the philosophy that all animals should be treated equally, saying that humans are superior beings, therefore unequal treatment of animals is justified. As Ohad's father rants, tension begins to rise. Ohad explains that similar arguments have been made to hurt others throughout history, and that people must empathize with animals and speak out for them. After some exchanges, Ohad becomes outraged, cursing at this father and storming out of the apartment.
Ohad is next shown doing vegan outreach in the city, educating passersby on the injustice of animal use. He and several others then travel to a facility where they rescue injured baby chicks from a dumpster outside the facility. The police and property owner arrive on the scene and the group get into a heated exchange, Ohad's group eventually leaving with a large cardboard box of chicks in their hands. Upset, the group agree that the chicks will likely not survive.
Ohad, his parents, and his two siblings share a vegan dinner together. He tells that he wants them to become more moral, comparing the atrocities that Nazi Germany inflicted upon the Jews to the atrocities humans inflict upon animals. As Jews who have been affected by the holocaust, Ohad says his parents are hypocrites for enabling the exploitation of animals.
Stepping into a slaughterhouse, Ohad photographs the bodies of dead cows, skinned and hung by their feet. At his next family dinner, Ohad's sister argues that Ohad will regret the distance he has put between himself and his family. Through tears, Ohad laments that his two lives seem irreconcilable. His father embraces him and his mother cries that she just wants him to be a part of their lives. At another slaughterhouse, Ohad films as turkeys are slaughtered and piled into a bloody bin. Blood spurts into Ohad's face.
At night, Ohad and some companions enter to a slaughterhouse and rescue chickens which they load into their van. During their escape they fear that someone is following them, but it turns out to be a false alarm; their friend Tal. After bringing the chickens to safety, Ohad converses with his friend about his regrets of being a former meat-eater. She tells him that line of thinking is "idiotic", and that she wishes he'd explained veganism to her sooner than he did.
In private, Ohad reveals to the camera that he is fond of the girl, but he doesn't know how to act. He says that he feels like he's failed in every aspect of his life except for in his defense of animals.
At his next family dinner, Ohad tells his family about the chickens he helped rescue. They respond negatively, criticizing him for breaking the law and committing theft. Ohad argues that one cannot steal a slave. Ohad and his brother argue about legality versus morality in terms of their merits and shortcomings.
In a dramatic public demonstration, Ohad (and several others) protest animal agriculture by being held down and branded as Ohad's parents and passersby look on. Ohad screams in pain as the hot brand touches his chest, and his mother cries. Next, demonstrators take away the baby of a woman activist and rip her shirt open, squeezing a milk pump against her breast in protest of the dairy industry.
In his final family dinner of the film, Ohad's brother argues that vegans are not ethical because they may accidentally step on insects, and because harvesting crops results in the death of some rodents. Ohad explains that while he is not perfect, that does not excuse people from murdering cows.
Before sunrise, Ohad and his peers block a truck that is taking caged animals to slaughter. Ohad steps onto the back of the truck and chains his neck to the cages, refusing to leave. The activists remain until after sunrise, until eventually Ohad is cut loose and the truck must return to its original location to due legalities about keeping farmed animals exposed for a long period of time. The film ends with Ohad and his love-interest curled up together outside the scene, falling asleep.