Honky Tonk Freeway

Honky Tonk Freeway is a 1981 American-British comedy film directed by John Schlesinger. The film, conceived and co-produced by Don Boyd, was one of the most expensive box office bombs in history, losing its British backers Thorn EMI between 11 and 22 million dollars and profoundly affecting its fortunes and aspirations.
Plot.
In a small Florida tourist town named Ticlaw, the mayor/preacher Kirby T. Calo (William Devane) also operates a hotel and tiny wildlife safari park. The town's major draw is a water-skiing elephant named Bubbles.
When the state highway commission builds a freeway adjacent to the town, Calo slips an official $10,000 to assure an off ramp. The ramp does not come, so the townsfolk literally paint the town pink to attract visitors.
Meanwhile, tourists from various parts of the United States, shown in a series of concurrent, ongoing vignettes, are heading to Florida and will all end up in Ticlaw, one way or another. They include a pair of bank robbers from New York (George Dzundza, Joe Grifasi) who pick up a cocaine-dealing hitchhiker (Daniel Stern); a Chicago copy machine repairman and aspiring children's book author (Beau Bridges), who picks up a waitress (Beverly D'Angelo), who is carrying her deceased mother's ashes to Florida; a dentist and his dysfunctional family (Howard Hesseman, Teri Garr, Peter Billingsley, and Jenn Thompson), vacationing cross-country in their RV; an elderly woman (Jessica Tandy) with a drinking problem and her loving husband (Hume Cronyn), who are heading to Florida to retire; two nuns (mother superior Geraldine Page, novice nun Deborah Rush); and a wannabe country songwriter (Paul Jabara) hauling a playful rhino and other wild animals to Ticlaw.
Production.
Development.
The film was the idea of British producer Don Boyd, based on his imagination of American life rather than knowledge. "I hadn't been to the United States since I was a child," he said. "My father worked for the British-American Tobacco Company and was assigned to New York for six months, but I didn't remember a thing about it." Boyd's New York agents put him together with Ed Clinton, an actor who wanted to write. The two of them toured the US for nine months, researching and writing the script. Boyd returned to London, showed the script to Barry Spikings of EMI films who agreed to finance.
Boyd originally wanted to direct the film himself on a budget of $2–3 million but Spikings encouraged him to think on a bigger scale with a bigger name director.
"We could have done a fast road movie and still sold toys," said Spikings. "But to do this film right it had to be vast and expensive."
John Schlesinger, who was keen to try a comedy, agreed to direct in January 1979. Schlesinger later said "some of the charm comes from Clinton’s naivete, which was one of my original attractions to the script. Clinton’s writing is fresh and completely original. He is highly imaginative. It is not a smug or knowing film at all. In fact, it’s very charming. It’s also quite intelligent."
The director added, "If we had really wanted to make it totally surefire commercial, we would have hired six gag writers and I wouldn't have directed it. It would have been a series of gags, which is what the public seems to be oriented to... I wanted to do an affectionate comedy that had a dark side, and yet had moments when you could be absolutely serious... The only way to make it work, as far as I was concerned, was to go for whatever truth you could find in it...to give whatever human thrust dramatically to each of those characters that I could."
Schlesinger called it "the most complicated project I've ever attempted" adding that the film was "a comedy about characters, so it needs extremely fine care and acting. This is what appealed to me, because I’m mainly intrigued with the people in my films rather than with the plot. This is a comedy about people living on the brink, and that’s the way most people actually live, I think. Many scenes often have something else happening in the same frame, so the timing becomes extremely important. If some incident is a bit off, the sequence just won’t work. You use less close-ups in a movie of this kind, so you need to stand back a little and see it all happening – how two people are relating to one another while some other action is going on. So often, with these things in consideration, more takes are required."
Schlesinger later said when he came on board they did "four or five" extra drafts. "I changed a lot about the town and the thrust of the town: I also tried to give a film with this many characters as much development as I could. I think it is important to let a film live, so we are constantly changing the script."
Casting.
Shelley Duvall was originally announced for the film. The star part went to William Devane, who had been in Schlesinger's last two films. Other lead roles were played by Beverly D'Angelo, Beau Bridges and Teri Garr.
Kay Medford was going to appear in the film but died of cancer before shooting began.
Jessica Tandy did not like the script but agreed to do it because she wanted to work with Schlesinger.
Filming.
The film originally was going to take 83 days to shoot and cost $18 million, with 103 speaking parts. Filming began on 19 February 1980.
Spikings later admitted the budget was not set until a week before production. "You can't put a false cap on some pictures," he said. "You've got to allow [the filmmakers] to grow, to break new ground."
The budget increased to $23 million due to a combination of factors: the Florida weather, care for the Vietnamese orphans, and various animals in the film.
This movie was filmed in the small central Florida town of Mount Dora. The off-ramp filming took place at the I-75 and Palmer Road overpass in Sarasota, Florida. Most of the highway scenes take place on I-75 between Sarasota and Ft. Myers while the highway was still under construction. Dynamite crews blew up a wooden bridge built to look like the southbound lane overpass at I-75 and Palmer Road before the Tampa-to-Miami leg of the highway was completed in 1981. Many portions of Fruitville, Florida, were painted pink to match the sets in Mount Dora and remained pink for decades afterward. Palmer Road never was designated for an I-75 exit because it is not a main thoroughfare. The exit for Fruitville is about two miles north of the filming location. Part of the film was also shot in Salt Lake City, Utah, and New York City.
The final scene cost $1 million.
While the film was in post production, Boyd said, "on the strength of a film that hasn't been released yet and which nobody knows will be a success or a flop, Ed Clinton and I are being buried in movie offers."
Release.
The film was going to be released by American Film Distribution, but that company folded in February 1981 and it went to Universal. An estimated $5 million was spent on marketing.
Reception.
Critical response.
The film received negative reviews upon release, and was pulled from theatres after just one week. "Variety" wrote: "The overriding question about EMI's "Honky Tonk Freeway" is why anyone should want to spend over $25m. on a film as devoid of any basic humorous appeal...[Its] long-term commercial appeal appears to be almost nil."
Some have argued that the film can be viewed as a satire on the American way of life, and this contributed to its unfavorable critical reception at the time.
"I thought it was the funniest movie I'd ever made," said Schlesinger shortly after the reviews came out. "I'm surprised at the hostility...I think it's been misperceived. The [critical] tone is, 'How dare he? These characters are all monsters.' I'm amazed they find it misanthropic. I think whats happened is American comedy lately is either immensely middle class or very 'gaggy' with a lot of mugging...I couldn't make a 'gag' comedy."
Box office.
The film was a box-office disaster. It was called "the unquestioned commercial disaster of the summer".
Nominations.
The film was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song for the song "You're Crazy, but I Like You."


The Screwdriver

The Screwdriver is the second animated cartoon short subject in the "Woody Woodpecker" series. Released theatrically on August 11, 1941, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures.
Plot.
Woody Woodpecker is driving through the countryside with no respect for the rules of the road. He confronts a traffic cop who explains he is looking for speeders. Woody reveals himself to be a speeder by driving to Alaska and back in less than a minute. The cop tries to arrest him but Woody states, "I bet ya wouldn't be so tough without that uniform." The officer undresses but Woody attacks him with a boxing glove camera. Woody also gets his goat by dressing as a farmer on horse-and-buggy and as a Chinaboy with rickshaw. Finally, the cop flips out and is sent to a mental hospital with Woody as his caretaker.


Louis (Garfield)


Wedding in the Coral Sea

Wedding in the Coral Sea (; ) is a 1944 Czech animated short film. It was written, animated and directed by a group of Czech cartoonists including Jiří Brdečka, Břetislav Pojar, Stanislav Látal and Jaroslav Doubrava in German-occupied Prague in Ateliér Filmových triků studio.
Plot.
The plot involves the creatures of the sea preparing for the wedding of two fish. When the fish bride is kidnapped by an octopus all the sea creatures must team up to defeat him and rescue the bride.
Production.
German cartoonist Horst von Möllendorff was appointed as an official director, while his role in the making of the film was in fact minimal. The film was shot on Agfacolor film material.


Scorch (TV series)

Scorch is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS in 1992, and was canceled after three episodes were broadcast.
The title character, a miniature dragon, is a puppet that was used by ventriloquist Ronn Lucas before the series came to be; although Lucas never actually appeared in the series, he did supply Scorch's voice.
Premise.
Scorch, a small 1,300-year-old dragon, awakens from a 100-year sleep in 1992. While flying around, he's struck by lightning and he crash-lands in front of the apartment of Brian Stevens (Jonathan Walker) and his daughter Jessica (Rhea Silver-Smith). The next day, as a result of awkward circumstances, Brian lands a job as a TV weatherman at New Haven, Connecticut television station WWEN-TV by pretending that he's a ventriloquist and Scorch is his puppet; no one except Brian and Jessica knows that Scorch is a real dragon.
Episodes.
Six episodes were made, but only three were aired.


The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon

The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon is a Canadian children's television series which aired in Canada on YTV and the United States on public television stations, through Tampa, Florida PBS member station WEDU. The show ran for five seasons from 1993 to 1997, with reruns continued until 1999. It was a live-action show incorporating actors, full body costume characters (notably the titular dragon) and puppets. The story follows Dudley, a dragon who recently woke up from centuries of hibernation and his new ten-year-old friends Matt and Sally. The two kids would guide Dudley around the modern world and the trio would learn about environmentalism, friendship and pro-social values.
Besides Matt and Sally, Dudley was later joined by other kids, Terry, Julia, Mickey and Laura. Other recurring characters included a laid back frog named Sammy, the Robins, a grouchy apple tree named Mr. Crabby Tree and a lovable caveman.
Graham Greene won a Gemini Award in 1994 for his role, and was nominated in 1998 for the episode "The Tiny Little Raincloud". Jackie Burroughs was also nominated in 1994 for the same award, for her performance in the episode "High Flying Dragon".
Cast.
Recurring characters.
These characters, while mostly portrayed by well-known performers, made several appearances throughout the series.
Production.
Dudley first appeared in "The Conserving Kingdom", a 1982 play, and the rights to the character were bought by Ira Levy and Peter Williamson, partners in Toronto's Breakthrough Films and Television Inc, who produced the show with provincial educational broadcaster TVO. Dudley appeared as a six-storey tall float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The creators have stated that the show does not directly compete with Barney, to which it has been compared and seen as more entertaining for adults, as "Dudley" was intended for what they claim is a slightly older age group of three years old to seven years old. Jean Morphee-Barnard, an educational consultant on the show, said that, "We don't want to use violence or insults. We want to avoid stereotyping; girls have to be just as involved as the boys are. And usually our villains are misguided rather than evil." The creators of the show have stipulated that merchandising, such as toys and clothing or food products, should be made from natural fibres or should not include any sugar or preservatives. Series writer and co-creator Alex Galatis was inside the costume for the first two seasons, but later only did the voice.
Broadcast history.
In 2008 Breakthrough closed a deal with APTN to rebroadcast the show. APTN also broadcast the series in French as "Les Aventures d’Arthur le Dragon".
Home media releases.
VHS Tapes released from GoodTimes Entertainment and Malofilm Video.
Les Aventures d'Arthur le Dragon.
During the production of the first two seasons of "Dudley", a French version was also produced. For the French version, puppeteers Alex Galatis, James Rankin, and Sue Morrison (as well as Patrick McKenna, who played the Troll) continued to portray their characters, with their voices dubbed by French-speaking actors. These actors included Olivier L'Ècuyer, Christian Laurin, and Mireille Dumont. Asia Vieira, Daniel DeSanto, and Robin Weekes were replaced by French actors. The young actors portraying the kids would watch Vieira, DeSanto, and Weekes perform a scene, and then would do their version of the same scene. In addition, most of the Canadian guest stars on the show were replaced by French celebrities, with the exception of Graham Greene, who continued to portray "Mr. Crabby Tree" (with his voiced dubbed by a French actor).
French Cast


Star Fox Zero

 is a 3D rail shooter video game developed by Nintendo and PlatinumGames for the Wii U. It is the sixth installment in the "Star Fox" series and the second reboot of the franchise after "Star Fox 64". Formally announced at E3 2015, the game was released in April 2016 to mixed critical reception, with the most polarizing aspect of the game being its control scheme. A standalone tower defense game, titled "Star Fox Guard", was bundled with the game.
Gameplay.
"Star Fox Zero" is a 3D rail shooter that largely follows the gameplay of its predecessors, predominantly "Star Fox 64", in which the player controls Fox McCloud as he pilots his Arwing craft through various levels. The game is controlled using the Wii U GamePad, with the left control stick used to maneuver the craft while gyroscopic controls can be used to aim weapons. A cockpit view is displayed on the second screen to assist with aiming. The select button on the GamePad can be used to swap the two displays at any time.
Some of the game's vehicles can transform in certain situations. For example, the Arwing can transform into a bipedal Walker (which originated in the canceled Super NES game "Star Fox 2") that lets the player freely walk around on platforms and in enclosed spaces. The Landmaster tank can transform into the Gravmaster, which can perform extended aerial maneuvers for a short time. A new vehicle introduced to the series is the Gyrowing, a dronelike helicopter which can lower a small robot called Direct-i that can enter small spaces, hack into computers, or latch onto explosive cubes that can then be dropped on enemies. Players can also add laser upgrades and smart bombs to their ships. Special techniques such as the charge shot, barrel roll, somersaults, and U-Turns can be performed. Two gameplay modes are featured in the game: the on-rails sections put the player in a predetermined path, while All-Range Mode allows the player to move freely in a closed-off space. If players lose all their ships (which serve as extra lives) in a mission, they must restart the entire mission in order to proceed.
Various elements return from previous games, including Fox's teammates, Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, and Slippy Toad, who can assist the player if they protect them from enemy attacks, as well as Star Wolf team rivals Wolf O'Donnell, Leon Powalski, Pigma Dengar, and Andrew Oikonny. Several level locations have also returned, including Corneria, Zoness, Titania, Fichina, and Fortuna, while five new locations, Sector Alpha, Area 3, Sector Beta, Sector Gamma, and Sector Omega, have been added. Players can scan the Fox and Falco Amiibo figurines to respectively unlock the Retro Arwing, which is based on the model used in the original SNES game and cannot lock on but has a larger blast radius, and the Black Arwing, which sports a black and red color scheme and is stronger and faster but takes more damage. Both Arwings can also be unlocked by acquiring enough gold medals in the campaign.
Development.
The game's development began with experimentation on leftover assets from a never-released "Star Fox" game for the Wii that had been worked on by a small group since about 2008. The game's existence was confirmed in a press sheet on June 8, 2014, two days before E3 2014 began. On June 10, 2014 during the Electronic Entertainment Expo, "Time" leaked information about the game in the morning, then Nintendo announced the title publicly, and Nintendo's E3 presentation again hinted at its further details later in the day. Later during an interview with "Wired", Miyamoto expressed his desire to work with external developers for faster completion of the project.
In an interview with "GameSpot", Miyamoto revealed that both "Project Guard" and "Project Giant Robot" were connected to "Star Fox" for Wii U in some fashion. During a Nintendo Direct presentation on March 3, 2016, "Project Guard" was formally revealed as "Star Fox Guard", and bundled both digitally and as a physical copy alongside "Star Fox Zero". "Project Giant Robot" was never released, and was canceled in 2017.
Miyamoto stated that the game's main storyline and overall presentation would be structured episodically, taking inspiration from the 1960s television series "Thunderbirds", with the main missions featuring traditional "Star Fox" gameplay acting as "primetime programming", while side-missions featuring more quirky, experimental gameplay mechanics (such as those found in "Project Guard" and "Project Giant Robot") act as "late-night programming". Yusuke Hashimoto of PlatinumGames stated they were approached by Nintendo about co-developing the game after requesting to add an Arwing-themed bonus level to "Bayonetta 2". Hideki Kamiya of PlatinumGames had also previously expressed his desire for Nintendo to approach them about developing a new "Star Fox" game. According to Nintendo, the story of "Zero" is neither a prequel or a sequel to previous "Star Fox" games.
Release.
In December 2014, Miyamoto stated that "Star Fox Zero" would be released before the of "The Legend of Zelda" series in 2016. He also confirmed that the game would be compatible with Amiibo, but did not specify in what way. On January 5, 2015, he confirmed that "Star Fox" would be playable at E3 2015, and reiterated of the GamePad/monitor gameplay method, which would "allow for cinematic moments to blend with continuous gameplay". On August 24, the planned release date was announced by Nintendo for November 20, 2015, but the game was subsequently delayed to the first quarter of 2016. The November 2015 Nintendo Direct officially announced that the game would be released in North America and Europe on April 22, 2016, and in Australia the next day.
On April 1, 2016, Nintendo of America began a contest called the ""Star Fox Zero" Intergalactic Art Event". Entrants needed to create "Star Fox Zero" fan art and post it on the game's Miiverse page, with the best 40 entries winning Nintendo eShop credit. A "Star Fox Zero" menu theme for the Nintendo 3DS was also released in Japan two days before the game's release. An animated short based on the game, titled "Star Fox Zero: The Battle Begins", was released online on April 20, 2016. The short was produced by Japanese animation studio Wit Studio, with assistance from Production I.G and Nintendo. The 3D CGI animation work was provided by Orange. In July 2016, a free demo of the game was released on the Wii U eShop. The demo includes the training mode from the full game, as well as the "Star Fox Zero: The Battle Begins" animated short.
The game's credits hold a small tribute to former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, who had passed away during the game's development. When asked if "Star Fox Zero" could potentially be ported to the Nintendo Switch, Atsushi Inaba of PlatinumGames stated that they did not know if it could happen, and he also said that they have not been approached by Nintendo about it.
Reception.
"Star Fox Zero" received mixed to positive reception, according to the review aggregator Metacritic. Common points of discussion include the control scheme, the length of the campaign, and the structural similarities to previous titles in the series.
Jose Otero from "IGN" praised the levels and bosses, commenting that ""Star Fox Zero" reimagines a classic Nintendo 64 game, but mastering its awkward controls takes some time." Similarly, Damien McFerran from "Nintendo Life" observed that "the first time you play through "Star Fox Zero", you will inevitably curse the controls" before admitting that "with perseverance it's possible to become totally attuned to the controls", comparing them to "Splatoon". Peter Brown of "GameSpot"s primary fault with the controls was that it forces the player to divide attention back and forth from the TV to the GamePad. However Brown did conclude that the "second run was more enjoyable than the first, and solidified my appreciation for the game", praising the branching paths and level design. Other reviewers, however, found the mandatory motion-based controls frustrating or actively detrimental to the experience. David Roberts of "GamesRadar" felt that the game was "constantly undermined by a slavish devotion to wrapping the core design around every feature of the Wii U's GamePad, regardless of whether it makes sense or feels good to play". Jim Sterling criticized the game's controls, and slammed Nintendo for using gimmicks in order to sell their games. Sterling felt the game was "masquerading as an innovative and all-new experience, Nintendo and PlatinumGames' miserable adventure is actually a bare-bones space shooter utilizing a deliberately obtuse control scheme in order to mask the fact it's nowhere near as interesting as it pretends to be". Arthur Gies of "Polygon" declined to assign a score because he found that it was too miserable to finish the game on account of its controls.
Reviewers were also divided about the game's length and high similarity to its predecessor, "Star Fox 64". Some were not bothered by it; McFerran called it "essentially a retread of "Star Fox 64" - which, in turn, was effectively "Star Fox" all over again", but found this aspect of the game "reassuringly familiar". On the other hand, Ray Carsillo of "EGM" said that it "fails to really build on ["Star Fox 64"] in new and exciting ways". He was disappointed by the choice to "re-imagine an older game instead of creating a truly brand new one". Steve Watts of "Shacknews" found the alternate vehicle missions, where the game sets itself apart from earlier titles, ultimately distracted from the core Arwing gameplay. McFerran concluded that "Star Fox Zero" is "easily on-par with the excellent N64 entry from which it draws so much inspiration". Dan Ryckert of "Giant Bomb" was more critical, considering the game a relic of 2002.
Sales.
The game was the highest-selling game on Amazon.com on April 19, 2016 based on its preorders, a position it held for two days. Days after its launch in Japan, both the standalone and "Star Fox Guard" Double Pack sold 8,135 and 17,114 units respectively, individually placing 5th and 8th for that sales week. Sales of both combined was 25,249 units, making it the fourth best-selling game that week overall. During the same time frame, it was also the sixth best-selling game in the United Kingdom, the third best-selling in France and the fifth in Australia. According to the NPD Group, which tracks physical sales data, "Star Fox Zero" was the fifth best-selling video game on any platform during the month of April 2016. However, sales were not nearly as strong in Japan, as it became the single worst-selling game in the franchise in the country.


The Kwicky Koala Show

The Kwicky Koala Show is a 30-minute Saturday-morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Hanna Barbera Pty, Ltd. that aired on CBS from September 12, 1981, to September 11, 1982. This series is notable for being among cartoon director Tex Avery's final works; he died during production in 1980. As it was produced in Australia, the Cartoon Network and later Boomerang broadcasts were sourced from PAL masters, rather than NTSC masters like many other Hanna-Barbera productions. Each segment has also been shown separately as filler between shows on Boomerang.
"The Kwicky Koala Show" contained four short segments: "Kwicky Koala", "The Bungle Brothers", "Crazy Claws" and "Dirty Dawg".
Segments.
Kwicky Koala.
Kwicky Koala (voiced by writer Bob Ogle) is similar to Avery's Droopy, except that Kwicky can escape his pursuer Wilford Wolf (voiced by John Stephenson impersonating Paul Lynde). The difference is that Kwicky moves at super-speed, which looks more like vanishing into thin air with an accompanying "beep" sound effect, much like Speedy Gonzales (the animation shortcut used to facilitate this often went to extremes by making Kwicky disappear from one spot and reappear instantly in the next, with no intermediate smear frames). Although koalas are native to Australia, Kwicky has an American accent rather than an Australian accent.
The Bungle Brothers.
A pair of beagles named George (voiced by Michael Bell) and Joey (voiced by Allan Melvin) seek vaudeville stardom. This segment is mostly short wraparounds.
Crazy Claws.
A wildcat named Crazy Claws (voiced by Jim MacGeorge impersonating Groucho Marx) uses his sharp wits and equally sharp claws to evade the fur trapper Rawhide Clyde (voiced by Don Messick) and his dog Bristletooth (voiced by Peter Cullen) in a U.S. National Park run by Ranger Rangerfield (voiced by Michael Bell).
Dirty Dawg.
A vagrant Labrador Retriever named Dirty Dawg (voiced by Frank Welker impersonating Howard Cosell) seeks to improve life for himself and his friend Ratso the Rat (voiced by Marshall Efron) while staying ahead of a police officer named Officer Bullhorn (voiced by Matthew Faison).
Home media.
A VHS release of the series was issued by Worldvision Home Video during the late 1980s, and several episodes were released on DVD by Warner Home Video as part of "Saturday Morning Cartoons: The 1980s Collection, Volume 1" on May 4, 2010. The episodes on this set are "Dry Run", "Robinson Caruso", "High Roller", "The Claws Conspiracy", "Hat Dance" and "Dirty's Debut".
On October 11, 2016, Warner Archive released "The Kwicky Koala Show: The Complete Series" on DVD in region 1 for the very first time, as part of their Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com.


Tribes of Redwall Otters

Tribes of Redwall Otters was published in 2002 as an accessory to the "Redwall" series by Brian Jacques.
Summary.
This booklet about otters features trivia questions, a giant poster, profiles of many of the otter characters that are featured in the series, and the much anticipated recipe for Shrimp and Hotroot Soup. The book offers insight into the culture and history of otters, listing important otter characters and customs from the series.
It was illustrated by Jonathan Walker.


Undercover Cat

Undercover Cat is a novel by Gordon and Mildred Gordon, about a cat who assists the FBI in tracking down a pair of bank robbers. It was first published in 1963 by Doubleday.
It has been adapted to a live-action Disney film twice, as "That Darn Cat!" (1965) and "That Darn Cat" (1997).
Two sequels were written by the Gordons: "Undercover Cat Prowls Again" (Doubleday, 1966) and "Catnapped! The Further Adventures of Undercover Cat" (Doubleday, 1974).
Plot summary.
Damn Cat or DC, is in the habit of prowling the neighborhood at night and stealing food from a neighbour named Greg. His owners, Patti and Ingrid Randall (also known as Inky) look after him while their parents are away on holiday.
One night DC returns home with a wristwatch round his neck. Patti determines that the watch belongs to a bank teller, Helen Jenkins, who was kidnapped by two bank robbers.
One day DC discovers a duck Greg has caught and takes it away to eat, much to the agitation of Greg, who says that if DC takes anything else from him he'll shoot him.
Zeke Kelso, an FBI agent, puts surveillance on the cat in the hope he will lead them to the kidnappers. Zeke has a cat allergy, which makes it difficult for DC to like him. Zeke gets DC's paw prints on ink for evidence. They are both helped and hampered by Patti, Ingrid and their neighbors. The FBI keep an eye on where DC travels to see if he goes back to the bank robbers' lair, but with little success at first.
Jenkins tries to find ways of escaping, which is difficult because Sammy and Dan, the robbers, live in an apartment building, and keep the radio and air conditioning on so that if she screams it'll be muffled. One night she creates a fire to get help, but is the robbers stop her in time. One evening, while tracking DC, Zeke and the neighbours hear a gunshot. Patti confronts Greg, who she suspects trying to kill DC, but he explains that he was not trying to shoot DC, but rather fired because he saw a man on his property.
On the final evening DC, with Zeke tracking him, finally reaches the apartment building where the criminals are holding Jenkins hostage. Zeke confronts Dan and Sammy, who recall the time DC came around. Seeing that Dan and Sammy are the criminals he's looking for, Zeke throws DC at them as a diversion and arrests them.
The next day DC is all over the papers as the spotlight of the news, and people are gathering round his house wanting his autograph. Not caring about being famous, DC remains on his usual routine, prowling the streets and tailing Greg.


Joanna Cannan

Joanna Maxwell Cannan (1896–1961) was a writer of pony books and detective novels. The former were aimed mainly at children. She belonged to a family of prolific writers.
Life.
Herself the youngest daughter of Charles Cannan, the Dean of Trinity College, Oxford, and secretary to the Delegates of Oxford University Press, and Mary Wedderburn, also a cousin of Gilbert Cannan, it is perhaps for her children that Joanna Cannan is best known. She was mother to Josephine, Diana and Christine Pullein-Thompson and Denis Cannan. She was one of three daughters. One sister was the poet May Cannan. She was also grandmother to Charlotte Popescu.
Joanna Cannan was born and brought up in Oxford, but had a fondness for Scotland, which was the destination for many family holidays and part of her maternal heritage. Her ancestors participated in some of the seminal events in Scottish history, such as the Jacobite rising and Battle of Culloden. The wilds of Roshven in the West Highlands must have seen a dramatic and romantic location in comparison to sedate Oxford, especially as the Cannan children were apparently "provided with an unrelenting diet of boys' adventure stories."
During World War 1 she became a VAD nurse, as did her Oxford friend Carola Oman, who was to become a children's author and biographer. Georgette Heyer was another friend there. It was during Cannan's nursing duties in Oxford that she met her future husband, Captain Harold J "Cappy" Pullein-Thompson, whom she married in 1918.
On her marriage she became Joanna Cannan Pullein-Thompson, but she continued to publish as Joanna Cannan. Her husband had been badly injured during the war and she was the main earner in the family, producing a book every year until she died. After their marriage, the couple moved to Wimbledon. Disapproving of traditional education, she encouraged her daughters to write and to be self-reliant. However she did impose a variety of strict house rules including, "Don't talk horses at meals." This was hard for her daughters to keep.
Cannan was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1951. She died of heart failure in 1961 at the Blandford Cottage Hospital at Blandford Forum in Dorset. She is buried at Fairmile cemetery, Henley-on-Thames.
Books.
Most of Cannan's pony books were published before or during World War II. After the war she began to experiment with detective novels, because she felt that the world she had used to write about was beginning to disappear. In the early 1950s her health began to decline: she was eventually diagnosed with tuberculosis. She died in 1961, four years after her husband.
A painting and some photographs of Joanna Cannan belong to the National Portrait Gallery in London.
As well as the books listed, she also contributed to magazines during her lifetime.
References.
Citations
Bibliography


Red Riding Hoodwinked

Red Riding Hoodwinked is a "Looney Tunes" cartoon animated short starring Tweety and Sylvester. Released October 29, 1955, the cartoon is directed by Friz Freleng. The voices are performed by Mel Blanc and June Foray.
The cartoon was Warner Bros.' latest adaptation of the "Little Red Riding Hood" children's story, with the Big Bad Wolf and Granny playing their respective roles, with Tweety and Sylvester taking appropriate sides.
Unlike her previous appearances, the usually cheerful Granny here is a female caricature of Ralph Kramden (of television's "The Honeymooners"), complete with ill-temperedness and use of the catchphrase, "One of these days, one of these days...POW! Right in the kisser!" As such, "Red Riding Hoodwinked" marked one of the earliest parodies of "The Honeymooners". In addition, Granny's appearance is updated: although she appears as a sourpuss here, her physical attributes (such as a less-pronounced chin) would be used in future appearances. Also, Granny's old-fashioned ways would be de-emphasized.
The wolf character would re-appear in "Hare-Less Wolf", albeit designed differently and given the name Charles M. Wolf.
Plot.
The story begins much like the classic fairy tale, with Red Riding Hood, who lives in the city, off to see her grandmother, who lives in the woods. The present she plans to bring her grandmother is Tweety (in his cage). Sylvester sees Red's cargo and immediately begins going after her, his primary interest being Tweety. Red boards the bus, but Sylvester continues after her as it drives into the woods, the inattentive cat striking a road sign along the way.
In the woods, the Big Bad Wolf — rougher looking in appearance than in later shorts — waits for Red to come by. A sign announces who Big Bad is, much to his disgust. Sylvester overhears the requisite exchange of Big Bad asking Red where she is headed and soon joins Big Bad in trying to reach Granny's house first. In fact, both villains nearly beat each other up trying to be "Grandma" to catch their prey ("You're musclin' in on my racket!")
Big Bad ousts Granny from the house, to which she immediately swears revenge (mimicking Ralph Kramden's signature "POW! Right in the kisser!" line). Big Bad and Sylvester hurriedly dress in Granny's clothing in anticipation of Red's arrival. Big Bad takes his place in the bed after shooing Sylvester underneath it. Once Red arrives and presents "Grandma" with Tweety, she sets it down as asked; Sylvester immediately approaches the cage, prompting Tweety to ask: "Hewwo, Wittle Wed Widing Hood's gwandma! Whatcha doin' under da bed?" After the signature exchange ending with "The better to see, and smell, and eat you with," and each character's realization of their sworn enemy (Red: "Oh! The Big Bad Wolf!" Tweety: "Eek! The big bad puddy tat!"), the chase begins.
After several back-and-forth chases, with Big Bad and Sylvester both getting the worse end of things, Red and Tweety flee Granny's home and head for the nearest bus stop. Their pursuers chase after the bus and immediately board at the next stop, only to be forcibly ejected and punched by the bus driver. That driver is none other than Granny, who then shouts, "I told them, one of these days...!" Red and Tweety supply the rest of the line: "POW! Right/wight in the kisser!" The screen irises out.


List of SpongeBob SquarePants episodes

"SpongeBob SquarePants" is an American animated television series created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. The series is set in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom, and centers on the adventures and endeavors of SpongeBob SquarePants, an over-optimistic sea sponge that annoys other characters. Many of the ideas for the show originated in an unpublished, educational comic book titled "The Intertidal Zone", which Hillenburg created in the mid-1980s. He began developing "SpongeBob SquarePants" into a television series in 1996 after the cancellation of "Rocko's Modern Life", another Nickelodeon television series that Hillenburg previously directed.
Since its debut on May 1, 1999, "SpongeBob SquarePants" has broadcast episodes, and its twelfth season premiered on November 11, 2018. On July 17, 2019, the series was renewed for its thirteenth season. It will consist of 13 episodes. "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie", a feature-length film, was released in theaters on November 19, 2004 and grossed over US$140 million worldwide. "Atlantis SquarePantis", a television film guest starring David Bowie, debuted as part of the fifth season. In 2009, Nickelodeon celebrated the show's tenth anniversary with ' and "SpongeBob's Truth or Square". ', a stand-alone sequel, was released in theaters on February 6, 2015 and grossed over US$324 million worldwide.
Episodes of "SpongeBob SquarePants" have been nominated for a variety of different awards, including 17 Annie Awards (with six wins), 17 Golden Reel Awards (with eight wins), 15 Emmy Awards (with one win), 19 Kids' Choice Awards (with 18 wins), and four BAFTA Children's Awards (with two wins). Several compilation DVDs have been released. In addition, the first twelve seasons have been released on DVD, and are available for Regions 1, 2 and 4 as of .
Series overview.
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Episodes.
Season 1 (1999–2001).
The first season of "SpongeBob SquarePants" consists of 20 episodes (41 segments, since the first episode has three segments). This is the only season that used cel animation. The episodes are ordered according to Nickelodeon's packaging order, and not their original production or broadcast order.
Season 2 (2000–03).
The second season of "SpongeBob SquarePants" consists of 20 episodes (39 segments), which are ordered below according to Nickelodeon's packaging order, and not their original production or broadcast order.
Season 3 (2001–04).
The third season of "SpongeBob SquarePants" consists of 20 episodes (37 segments), which are ordered below according to Nickelodeon's packaging order, and not their original production or broadcast order.
Season 4 (2005–07).
The fourth season of "SpongeBob SquarePants" consists of 20 episodes (38 segments), which are ordered below according to Nickelodeon's packaging order, and not their original production or broadcast order.
Season 5 (2007–09).
The fifth season of "SpongeBob SquarePants" consists of 20 episodes (41 segments), which are ordered below according to Nickelodeon's packaging order, and not their original production or broadcast order.
Season 6 (2008–10).
The sixth season of "SpongeBob SquarePants" consists of 26 episodes (47 segments), which are ordered below according to Nickelodeon's packaging order, and not their original production or broadcast order.
Season 7 (2009–11).
The seventh season of "SpongeBob SquarePants" consists of 26 episodes (50 segments), which are ordered below according to Nickelodeon's packaging order, and not their original production or broadcast order.
Season 8 (2011–12).
The eighth season of "SpongeBob SquarePants" consists of 26 episodes (47 segments), which are ordered below according to Nickelodeon's packaging order, and not their original production or broadcast order.
Season 9 (2012–17).
The ninth season of "SpongeBob SquarePants" consists of 26 episodes (49 segments), which are ordered below according to Nickelodeon's packaging order, and not their original production or broadcast order.
Season 10 (2016–17).
The tenth season of "SpongeBob SquarePants" consists of 11 episodes (22 segments), which are ordered below according to Nickelodeon's packaging order, and not their original production or broadcast order. It is the shortest season, lacking the usual 26 episode length.
Season 11 (2017–18).
The eleventh season of "SpongeBob SquarePants" consists of 26 episodes (50 segments), which are ordered below according to Nickelodeon's packaging order, and not their original production or broadcast order.
Season 12 (2018–21).
The twelfth season of "SpongeBob SquarePants" consists of 26 episodes, which are ordered according to Nickelodeon's packaging order, and not their original production or broadcast order. This was the last season that series creator, Stephen Hillenburg was involved in before his death from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis on November 26, 2018 at age 57.
Season 13 (2020–21).
The thirteenth season of "SpongeBob SquarePants" consists of 13 episodes, which are ordered below according to Nickelodeon's packaging order, and not their original production or broadcast order.


The Rescuers (book)

The Rescuers is a British children's novel written by Margery Sharp and illustrated by Garth Williams; its first edition was published in 1959 by Collins in the United Kingdom and Little, Brown in the United States. The novel is the first in a series of stories about Miss Bianca, a socialite mouse who volunteered to lend assistance to people and animals in danger.
Plot.
The story begins in an unnamed, supposedly "Barely civilized" country in the 1950s, during a meeting of the Prisoners’ Aid Society, an international organization of mice dedicated to brightening the lives of prisoners. When the old clerk informs delegates about the case of a Norwegian poet, imprisoned (most likely wrongfully) in the horrible Black Castle, the moderator lady suggests changing the traditional rules of the organization to try to rescue him. Despite the clerk's doubts, the Society agrees with her proposal. Needing a mouse who can speak Norwegian to translate for them, the society decides to ask Miss Bianca, a privileged white mouse belonging to the Ambassador to Norway's household, for help.
Bernard, a resident of the pantry who previously won a medal for saving some other mice from a cat, volunteers to accept the rescue mission. He enters the Ambassador's house and finds Miss Bianca in her magnificent porcelain pagoda. As she cannot speak Norwegian, Bernard tries to convince her to undertake the journey to find a brave Norwegian mouse for them. Having been pampered by the Ambassador's little boy all her life, Miss Bianca is first terrified and refuses. However, as Bernard explains the situation, Miss Bianca, herself a poet, warms to the idea, and also begins to have feelings for Bernard. When she next travels to Oslo with the Ambassador, she decides to undertake the mission.
Upon arrival in Norway, Miss Bianca escapes her family and enters an underground pub full of sailor mice at a bachelor party. The Petty Officer volunteers a sturdy, seasoned adventurer named Nils for the mission; Nils instantly agrees and takes Miss Bianca back to the Prisoner's Aid Society, the first half of the journey stowing away on a cargo ship and the rest of the way by speedboat (a toy of the Ambassador's son). Miss Bianca's part in the mission ends here; however, instead of going home, she finds herself drawn to the adventure and decides to accompany Bernard and Nils to the Black Castle.
The three mice hitch a ride on a supply wagon, and travel two weeks across country to the prison, located in the nearly impenetrable ruins of an old castle. They find the doors are all locked except the head jailer's office, and the office is guarded by Mamelouk, a giant grey and black Persian cat belonging to the head jailer. Finding the only mouse hole in the castle in the back of the office, the three set up living quarters and wait for an opportunity.
Over the next couple months, Bernard and Nils undertake many scouting expeditions while Miss Bianca keeps Mamelouk distracted with her charm and wit. He is easy to bait, being incredibly boastful and equally stupid. Miss Bianca even convinces him with a confusing argument not to eat Bernard and Nils the one time he does catch them, and learns from him of the horrible conditions the prisoners live in. The mice begin to despair, until Bernard discovers a disused water gate at the rear of the palace, and Miss Bianca learns from a boast of Mamelouk's that he and the jailers will be unconscious most of New Year's Day, having drunk and feasted more than their fill at a party the night before.
After packing up the living quarters, the mice set out on New Year's Day. They manage to steal the keys from a sleeping/drunk guard and unlock the door to the cell hall. They travel past the cells, with Nils calling out in Norwegian, finally getting a response from a sick and emaciated young man with overgrown hair and nails. This is indeed the poet - being an artist and a dreamer, he is the only one in the prison who can believe the mice really are talking to him. He follows them to the water gate, which they open, and escapes. The whole party nearly drowns in the freezing, swollen river, but they are rescued by a kindly family traveling on a barge. Having no respect for the Black Castle, the family takes the poet and the mice downriver as far as they can, no questions asked.
The three mice are welcomed back to headquarters amidst a huge celebration, and several artifacts of their time in the black castle are framed in the meeting hall for posterity. All three mice receive new silver medals with a picture of a broken fetter etched upon them, as well. Healed and cleaned up by the barge people, the poet thanks them all and returns to Norway, promising to meet up with Nils in Oslo. Miss Bianca gives Nils the speedboat, in which he sails home to Norway, and Bernard invites Miss Bianca to live with him and join the Prisoner's Aid Society. She nearly accepts, until the Ambassador's footman discovers her and picks her up, commenting on how much the Ambassador's little boy has grieved for her. Deciding fate has decreed her destiny, she bids Bernard farewell, and returns to her beloved master, much to the joy of the household. Nils and the poet meet up in Oslo and have a night on the town together; afterwards, the poet publishes some verses about Miss Bianca which become famous, and Bernard becomes the new secretary of the Prisoner's Aid Society.
Reception.
"Kirkus Reviews" described the book as "an absurd and beguiling fantasy" that was "made to order for Walt Disney—but a strange departure for Margery Sharp", and shortly after its publication, Walt Disney Productions began developing an adaptation of the novel. The result was the animated film "The Rescuers", released in 1977 and based primarily on the second novel in the series, "Miss Bianca", with elements from the original novel.
In his 1997 collection of essays on children's literature, "A Child's Delight", Noel Perrin noted that the book is very different from (and in his opinion far superior to) the movie, commending the book for its inventive plot and for the "ease and freedom", "elegance", and "irony" of Sharp's writing.
In 2011, a decade after going out of print, the book was reissued in a new edition by "The New York Review of Books". Reviewer Meghan Cox Gurdon of "The Wall Street Journal" noted that the book "is much funnier and more interestingly textured than the high-fructose movie version."


Searching For Santa!

Searching For Santa! is a silent short film by Winkler Pictures, starring Krazy Kat. The cartoon was thought to be lost but was rediscovered in 2004.
Plot.
Krazy is spending some time at a house with a human boy. The boy suddenly gets bored and starts crying. To entertain his friend, Krazy shows him a ball, but the boy just kicks it away in apathy. When the cat asks what the boy wants, the bawling boy wishes for Santa Claus to pay them a visit. Krazy then sets off towards the North Pole to fulfill his friend's wish.
On his journey to find Santa, Krazy enters what looks like a subway station in the city. He goes through a secret passage inside and eventually reaches the exit at the Arctic. He then tries to ask the locals for directions, starting with what he thinks is an Eskimo. It turns out the "Eskimo" is a vicious polar bear which chases him. To lose the bruin from behind, Krazy constructs a sled with a sail on top. It is a smooth ride until he runs off the edge of a chasm.
At the bottom of the chasm, Krazy finds a turntable and a record. He plays the record on the player and dances, attempting to carol someone out of an igloo. Unfortunately, no one comes out. While he is still standing and thinking what to do, a hostile sea lion hurls a snow ball at him. The impact sends him bouncing into an Eskimo woman. The Eskimo woman responds by hurling Krazy back to the sea lion. The cartoon concludes with the sea lion having fun in rebounding the airborne feline.


Man-Shy

Man-Shy (1931) is a novel by Australian author Frank Dalby Davison. It won the ALS Gold Medal for Best Novel in 1931.
Plot summary.
Set on a Queensland cattle station, the novel tells the story of the interactions between man and beast with the cattle receiving prominence.
Publication.
The author was originally unable to find a publisher for the novel and was forced to publish it himself. It was later picked up by Angus & Robertson who issued a new edition.
The book was later published successfully in America, under the title "The Red Heifer".
Reviews.
Aidan de Brune, writing in "The West Australian" in a retrospective of the author's work stated that "Like the painter of pictures in oils, the writer, who is a painter of pictures in words, must trust his eye, and use his eye, before he begins to use his pen. Frank Davison understands this. He has looked closely at Australia before beginning to write about it. He has looked through his own eyes and not through the spectacles kindly provided for our use by English, and other visitors, to this country. That is why the work of Frank Dalby Davison is a portent for the future of the Australian novel."
A reviewer in "The Queensland Times" noted that "With a happy gift of expression, Mr. Davison has painted the ordinary round of work on a cattle station with startling new tints, and always from the angle of the beast on the hoof."
References in books.
In Alex Miller’s novel, "Coal" "Creek," hard boiled inmates at Stuart prison soften at this tale of a red heifer’s bid for freedom, “and were like children with it, demanding to have it read to them over and over”. [3]
References.
3. Miller, A (2013) "Coal Creek," Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin, p279


Bump (British TV series)

Bump is a British animated children's television series which was created by Charles Mills and Terry Brain (who had previously created "The Trap Door" and "Stoppit and Tidyup"), produced by Queensgate Productions and originally shown on BBC One from 14 September 1990 to 26 December 1994.
The series' two main protagonists were the eponymous Bump (an elephant who was very clumsy, a trait that was emphasised by a bandage stuck onto his forehead) and his friend Birdie (a bluebird who often gave Bump advice on how he could become more graceful). The two series ran a total of twenty-six episodes, each 5 minutes long. The twenty-seventh and final episode was a Christmas special that was 10 minutes long. The programme was narrated by Simon Cadell (1950-1996) of "Hi-de-Hi!" fame.
Bump and Birdie regularly encountered animals that had a problem (such as Whizzer the mouse, Munch the tortoise, McDuff the dog, Big Bun and Little Bun the rabbits and Batty the bat) and would help them to find a solution. Most of these animals were recurring characters, and all of the characters' "Stoppit and Tidyup"-like sounds were generated by analogue synthesizers.
Episode list.
Series 1 (1990).
All thirteen of the first series' episodes were initially shown on BBC One as part of the Children's BBC strand on Fridays at 3:50pm.
Series 2 (1994).
All thirteen of the second series' episodes were initially screened on BBC One, again as part of the Children's BBC strand, on Mondays at 3:45pm, and although they were produced in 1993, they were not broadcast until 10 January 1994. The sixteenth episode was also renamed to just "Aunty Doreen's Surprise" when shown in the United States, while the twenty-fifth one was renamed to "Bump "and" the Builder".
Christmas special (1994).
The twenty-seventh episode was initially shown on BBC One, once again as part of the Children's BBC strand, on Boxing Day 1994 at 7:55am.
UK VHS releases.
Two VHS tapes, which contain all thirteen episodes of the first series between them, were released by Abbey Home Media in the UK in 1991. The first one was later reissued on DVD under the title "Bump: My First DVD" in 2004 (three episodes from the second series and the Christmas special were also released on another DVD, "Bump: Christmas Story", in 2006, but they were never previously released on VHS).


Krindlekrax

Krindlekrax is a thriller children's novel by author Philip Ridley. It was first published in 1991 by Jonathan Cape and republished in 1992 by Red Fox and then again in 2001 by Puffin Books where it is still in print.
The book won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize in 1991 in the 9 – 11 age category and was chosen by children as an all-time favourite. It was also selected by children aged 9 to 12 as the winner of the 1993 WH Smith Mind-Boggling Book Award..
The book became a Tellastory Audio Cassette in 1994 that was read by Rik Mayall.
In 2000, to celebrate the new millennium, Hachette Children's Group published "Out of this world", a collection of extracts from "the best in 20th century children's literature". "Krindlekrax" was one of the books featured and appeared alongside such classics as Roald Dahl's "Matilda" and J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".
Ridley adapted "Krindlekrax" into a stage play, which premiered at Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 2002.
Plot.
The story takes place in a street called Lizard Street, located in a town with cracked pavements, scorched brickwork and bumps and holes in the roads. It centres around a 9-year-old boy named Ruskin Splinter, who is small and thin with thick glasses, red frizzy hair, knock-knees and a squeaky voice. He wants to be the hero of a school play, but everyone criticises him for his appearance and voice, and the role is instead given to Ruskin's window-smashing former friend Elvis Cave. Ruskin's special friend is the local school caretaker, Corky Pigeon, who tells him his experiences with the evil monster that lurks in the sewers and terrorises the street, a giant fire breathing crocodile named Krindlekrax.
Later, Ruskin finds out from his drunken dad that everyone in Lizard Street was responsible for the monster getting into the sewers in the first place, and how it grew so big. Suddenly Corky unexpectedly dies, and everyone suspects it to be a heart attack, but Ruskin knows that Krindlekrax was responsible, and is angry with all of Lizard Street for allowing it to happen.
Ruskin is so upset with Corky's death that he can't get out of bed, but many people bring him gifts and tell him the story of how Corky got a gold medal (that he later gave to Ruskin as a present) for saving Lizard Street. After this, Ruskin decides to save the street from the wrath of Krindlekrax once and for all.
Later that night, Ruskin lures the monster out of the sewers, and tames it by throwing Corky's medal in its mouth, banishing it to the sewers forever.
After catching a terrible cold, Elvis can't do the play any more, so Ruskin takes his place and it all goes well, but Elvis isn't pleased and smashes all the windows in Lizard Street that he can in a tantrum. Ruskin stops Elvis' window smashing by bursting his ball and after a long talk, they become friends again.
The story ends with Ruskin saying how much he now loves his street.
Stage adaptation.
Philip Ridley (himself an acclaimed playwright) adapted the novel into a stage play for children. The play premiered at Birmingham Rep, where it was performed from 20th – 29th June 2002. The production transferred to the Nottingham Playhouse where it played 4th – 20th July the same year.
Premiere
On 20 June 2002 at The Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Birmingham.Directed by Anthony Clark.
Publication of script
The script was published by Faber and Faber in 2002. However, the text became out of print due to Ridley leaving Faber and Faber in 2005 as a result of their refusal to publish his controversial stage play for adults "Mercury Fur". Because of this Ridley then moved along with his back catalogue of plays to Methuen Drama, where many of them were republished, but not "Krindlekrax". On 23 September 2016 Samuel French Ltd. announced on their Twitter page that 17 of Ridley's plays had been added to their catalogue to purchase performance rights to. Amongst the plays were "Kridlekrax", the script of which has been republished by Samuel French in an "acting edition", after many years of being out of print.
Potential film adaptation.
It was revealed in 2005 that Ridley was working on a film adaptation of "Krindlekrax". In 2012 Ridley's agent, Knight Hall Agency Ltd, wrote on their website that "THE SUMMER OF 76 an adaptation of his own widely-acclaimed children’s book KRINDLEKRAX is in development".
A potential film by Philip Ridley called "The Summer Of '76" had previously been included as part of the line-up of the CineMart project market in 2003. CineMart is a event where film professionals can network and find "money for projects to be realized either through co-production or any other means" for films that are at various stages of development. The production company Kennedy Mellor Ltd were listed as being attached to the possible film. Development on this film might have began as early as 2001 because in June 2001 money was charged between Kennedy Mellor Ltd and the Childrens's Film and Television Foundation Limited for "All the company's rights title and interest in the literary and artistic work by philip ridley entitled "krindlekrax" including: treatment and screenplays".
In late 2019 reference to the development of the film was removed from Ridley's page on the Knight Hall Agency website.


The Million Dollar Duck

The Million Dollar Duck (also titled as $1,000,000 Duck) is a 1971 American comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions about a goose that lays golden eggs scenario. It was directed by Vincent McEveety, and stars Dean Jones, Sandy Duncan and Joe Flynn. The film was released on June 30, 1971, and received negative reviews from critics.
Plot.
Scientist Albert Dooley (Dean Jones) struggles to pay the bills. His wife, Katie (Sandy Duncan) gets a recipe for applesauce wrong and gives it to her husband to take to work for lunch, hoping it will help cut down on the budget. In a humorous chain reaction, the duck Albert is testing steals the applesauce after Albert has thrown it away in the trash and then wanders into a radiation lab and becomes irradiated. Albert is ordered to get rid of the duck, so he figures he can give it to his son, Jimmy (Lee Montgomery) who has been wanting a pet, only to discover it now lays eggs with solid gold yolks.
In a Pavlovian manner, the duck, named "Charley" (despite being female), lays an egg when prompted by the barking of a dog. At first, the only ones who know of Charley's golden yolks are Albert, Katie, Jimmy and Albert's friend, Fred, but as they sell the yolks of gold, they gain the attention of a suspicious neighbor, a government bureaucrat from the U.S. Treasury Department named Mr. Hooper (Joe Flynn). Hooper spies on the Dooleys in a haphazard manner, often suffering a mishap such as falling off a tree branch after being yelled at by Mrs. Hooper to leave the neighbors alone. However, Hooper sees a golden yolk laid firsthand, with Fred and Albert celebrating.
Hooper warns his boss Rutledge (James Gregory) about the economic upheaval. Although Rutledge doesn't believe Hooper at first, a series of nationwide phone calls among politicians spreads rumors, culminating in Rutledge getting a phone call from President Nixon ordering him to capture the duck. Albert becomes greedy and no longer cares for his son, which saddens Jimmy. The Treasury Department officials (with Mr. Hooper) soon arrive at the house and order the family to turn over the duck. Jimmy, watching from upstairs, climbs out the window with Charley and then rides off with a couple of teenage boys and their hot rod as the government officials try to seize Charley.
Jimmy is then suspended on a ladder between two parking garages and Albert attempts to convince his son to grab his hand before the ladder falls. Jimmy tells his dad to go away, believing he only wants to save Charley, but when the ladder begins to break, he grows fearful and realizes that his dad is there to help. Right before the ladder falls, Albert saves Jimmy. Immediately afterwards, Albert is arrested for owning gold as a private citizen. The family ends up in court and the judge breaks an egg into a glass after Mr. Hooper (unsuccessfully) and then Albert (successfully) barks at the duck to prompt the laying of the egg, which surprisingly turns out to be an ordinary egg yolk, as the effects of the radiation had worn off. The judge dismisses the charges, as there is no proof of the duck laying golden eggs, and Albert tells the family that the golden duck was nice while it lasted, but at least they can keep the duck for their pet, now realizing that his family is more important than wealth. The judge remarks to Jimmy "If that duck ever lays another golden egg...bury it quick!"
Reception.
"The Million Dollar Duck" was one of three movies that film critic Gene Siskel walked out on during his professional career, the other two being the 1980 horror film "Maniac" and the 1996 comedy film "Black Sheep". Roger Ebert described the film as "one of the most profoundly stupid movies I've ever seen". Scott Weinberg of DVD Talk criticised the depiction of Duncan's character, stating "Sandy Duncan...is asked to play a housewife who's easily as stupid as a stone. Throughout the entire flick she's about two steps up from mental retardation. And this stuff is played for laughs!" He also called "Million Dollar Duck" "easily one of the Disney studio's very worst live-action family comedies. Ever". Revisionist critics have been less harsh on the film, understanding its targeted appeal was to children and getting into the spirit of the essential silliness of the premise of an extremely valuable duck. Despite poor reviews for the film, the comedic acting was appreciated at the time of its release with both Sandy Duncan and Dean Jones being nominated for Golden Globes for their performances. The film also marked the motion picture debut of Tony Roberts, who received solid reviews for his performance.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has an approval rating of 17% rating based on 6 reviews and an average rating of 3.5/10. On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "Mixed or average reviews".


Star Fox 2

Star Fox 2 is a shooter game developed by Nintendo and Argonaut Software for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was completed in 1995, but canceled over Nintendo's concern that it would be compared to games on new 32-bit consoles from competitors Sony and Sega.
Like the original "Star Fox" (1993), "Star Fox 2" pushed the graphical capabilities of the SNES with Argonaut's Super FX technology. The story continues the battle against Emperor Andross, who seeks to destroy the Lylat system. It introduces semi-real-time gameplay, new ship types, new playable characters, and a more advanced 3D game engine.
In the years after the game's cancellation, various prototype ROM images leaked online, and the game influenced future "Star Fox" games. In 2017, it was officially released for the first time as one of the 21 games included in the Super NES Classic Edition. In 2019, it became available for the Nintendo Switch to subscribers of the Nintendo Switch Online service.
Gameplay.
Instead of following mostly linear paths inside predefined missions as in "Star Fox", the player moves a team of two ships freely around a map screen that represents the Lylat system. When the player's ships make contact with enemy forces, the game switches to an action perspective, piloting the Arwing ship directly with controls and gameplay similar to the first "Star Fox". When the player clears the specified objectives, they are taken back to the map screen to select a new destination.
The objective is to beat all enemy forces present in the map while defending planet Corneria, preventing its damage level from reaching 100%. The player must intercept fighters and incoming IPBMs (interplanetary ballistic missiles), while also dealing with battleships, which deploy more fighter squadrons, and planetary bases, which fire IPBMs. If Corneria's damage level reaches 100% or the player runs out of extra ships, the game ends. General Pepper employs a satellite that can shoot down enemies on a limited basis; the player must also defend this installation from special enemies that can take over the satellite, and use its cannon to fire at Corneria. The player also encounters the Star Wolf mercenary team and various bosses.
"Star Fox 2" employs a semi-real-time strategy system. While selecting a destination on the map screen, the game is paused, but while the player's ships travel to their destinations, enemies and missiles also move toward theirs. While fighting enemies in the action screen, time moves at a slower pace than on the map screen, allowing other enemies and missiles to advance and cause damage. To prevent excessive damage to Corneria, the player may need to leave a battle to intercept another enemy.
Plot.
After his defeat in the original "Star Fox", the antagonist, Andross, returns to the Lylat system and launches an all-out attack against Corneria, using his new fleet of battleships and giant missiles launched from hidden bases to destroy the planet. General Pepper again calls upon the Star Fox team for help. Armed with new custom Arwings, a Mothership, and two new recruits (Miyu and Fay), the Star Fox team sets out to defend Corneria by destroying Andross's forces before they can inflict critical damage on the planet. Along the way, Star Fox must also combat giant bosses, bases on planets throughout the Lylat system, members of the Star Wolf team and finally Andross himself.
"Star Fox 2" features six playable characters, more than any game in the series until "Star Fox Command" (2006). These include Fox McCloud, fearless leader of the Star Fox team, Falco Lombardi, the ace pilot with a headstrong attitude, Peppy Hare, longtime mentor to Fox, and Slippy Toad, the team's young tech analyst and Fox's childhood friend. The two new playable characters are Miyu, a tomboyish lynx, and Fay, a white dog and part of an aristocratic family. "Star Fox 2" also introduces a team of rival mercenary pilots, Star Wolf, which includes Wolf O'Donnell, leader of Star Wolf and a despicable criminal, Leon Powalski, an inscrutable and sinister chameleon, Pigma Dengar, an arrogant and selfish pig, and Algy, a devious creature with incredible precision aim.
Development.
Like its predecessor "Star Fox" (1993), "Star Fox 2" was co-developed by Nintendo EAD in Japan and the British company Argonaut Software. Development began shortly after work was finished on the European and competition versions of "Star Fox". Argonaut had a contract with Nintendo to create three games; after "Star Fox", Argonaut programmers Giles Goddard and Dylan Cuthbert worked on "Stunt Race FX" (1994) and Cuthbert on "Star Fox 2". Cuthbert worked out of Nintendo's headquarters in Kyoto and had little contact with Argonaut during development. He served as lead programmer and was assigned two Japanese Nintendo programmers to work under him. The team was overlooked by designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Katsuya Eguchi, with Eguchi as director. "Edge" reported in December 1993 that development on a sequel to "Star Fox" had begun.
The team decided early on to use the Super FX 2 chip in the game cartridge. It was an enhanced version of the Super FX, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) for SNES ROM cartridges developed by Argonaut. The original chip was designed to calculate 3D math quickly and was first used in "Star Fox". The Super FX 2 had more memory and ran at 21 MHz, twice as fast as the original chip. Argonaut's original proposal for the Super FX used this improved architecture, but Nintendo found it too expensive. Cuthbert also rewrote parts of the engine to run in parallel in RAM to free more Super FX 2 processing for more advanced features, such as planar clipping and advanced collision detection. These enhancements enabled the chip to manipulate more polygons and sprites, and to map textures more quickly, giving the team the computing power needed for free-roaming 3D environments. Such free-roaming gameplay was planned for the original "Star Fox", but it was made on-rails because of the original Super FX chip's limited computing powers. Cuthbert also retooled the engine to increase the frame rate from 20 to 30 frames per second, but it was not steady so they locked the frame rate at 20 FPS. Freely explorable environments were the only gameplay element planned for the original "Star Fox" carried into "Star Fox 2"; all other ideas were new.
Miyamoto considered the "Star Fox" series a platform for experimenting with new gameplay ideas. The team experimented more with "Star Fox 2" than "Star Fox". This creativity led to gameplay ideas such as the platforming sequences with the robot walker. Miyamoto took great interest in Cuthbert's platforming gameplay (before "Super Mario 64"'s release in 1996). At one point in development, the walker sequences occurred in much larger space stations with energy gates that needed to be unlocked, a gameplay structure comparable to dungeon crawling. Because of the Super FX 2's greater computing power, the team decided to have the fighters visibly transform into bipedal Walkers. The transformation was made in a realistic sense; the artists even drafted the mechanisms by which the fighters transformed.
Director Eguchi wanted to explore a more roguelike game system and use similar game mechanics to "Star Luster" (1985). He played "Star Luster" repeatedly for inspiration and was particularly fond of its random encounters system. He also enjoyed "Fortune Street" and was inspired by its more strategic gameplay elements. Given this direction, the team designed the main gameplay structure: players would move across a map defending planets from the enemy, battling in randomly generated enemy encounters. It was designed to play out differently each gameplay session. For further replayability, the team added six playable characters, two of which were series newcomers: Miyu and Fay. More antagonists were added, including Wolf. A two-player mode was planned and tested, but the team could not get the frame rate high and steady enough for it to be enjoyable.
Promotion at Winter CES.
"Star Fox 2" was playable on the show floor at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (Winter CES) in Las Vegas in January 1995. The version demonstrated was significantly different from the final version. "GamePro" enjoyed the free-roaming gameplay, the craft morphing ability, and strategy elements. "Electronic Gaming Monthly" also liked the shift to free-roaming and felt the non-linear gameplay and ship morphing abilities were major improvements. "Nintendo Power" dubbed it their top SNES game of the show. All three magazines thought "Star Fox 2" was better than the original. "Edge" was more critical, writing that "Star Fox 2" was Nintendo's attempt to keep the SNES relevant. They wrote that the Super FX polygons were not particularly impressive, and the gameplay lacked "the immediate appeal of its predecessor". A man was arrested and charged with felony grand larceny for attempting to steal a demo cart from the show floor.
Cancellation.
By mid-1995, "Star Fox 2" was nearing completion, and was planned for release in August. However, 3D technology was advancing quickly and the 3D game market was expanding, with competition from the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn. The consoles ran impressive 3D graphics that captured the public's attention. Nintendo was concerned that the 16-bit "Star Fox 2" 3D visuals would be compared to the superior 3D capabilities of competing consoles. Cuthbert said that "Star Fox 2" would be "compared directly against games such as "Ridge Racer", which felt like you finally had an arcade machine's power in your home."
Nintendo decided to prioritize its upcoming Nintendo 64 console, including a new "Star Fox" game, "Star Fox 64". According to Cuthbert, Miyamoto wanted a clear break between 3D games on the SNES and Nintendo 64. The Super FX 2 chip also raised the cost of production, which would have made "Star Fox 2" an expensive release.
"Star Fox 2" was canceled in mid-1995, when it was about 95% complete. Nintendo still wanted the game finished after cancellation, so took it through full localization and QA testing. Cuthbert said there may have been no official announcement of cancellation, and there was confusion about the game's status in the media. The August 1995 issue of "GamePro" printed that it had been delayed to 1996, while "Electronic Gaming Monthly" wrote that had been canceled in their September 1995 issue. "Nintendo Power" wrote in their September 1995 issue that "rumors of the demise of "Star Fox 2" have been greatly exaggerated", with a release most likely coming in the first half of 1996.
Release.
For many years, the completed version of "Star Fox 2" remained in Nintendo's archives. Super FX games were not considered for Nintendo's Virtual Console content distribution service because Nintendo had difficulty emulating the chip. In 2015, Miyamoto told journalists: "In my memory, I enjoyed ["Star Fox 2"] but I'm not sure I would release it, [...] I'd rather have people play a new game."
Beta leaks.
In the years following cancellation, ROM images of incomplete builds of "Star Fox 2" were leaked anonymously onto the internet. Cuthbert denied he had leaked it, and suspected the ROMs had been taken from his hard drive after he left Argonaut.
The first ROMs leaked in the late 1990s and were early test builds with numerous software bugs. These versions mostly consist of debug menus and sparsely populated landscapes; one version includes a 2-player mode. A few years later, Cuthbert was contacted by an anonymous person that had a non-working copy of the final beta ROM. Cuthbert assisted in determining that an internal header was missing, and was able to add the header to get it functioning. The ROM image was leaked online after. This version was in Japanese and much more complete than previous versions. The emulation community was inspired by the release to improve Super FX chip handling in their Super NES emulators. A fan translation patch was also released which took four people and over 100 hours of work. The patch developers also changed a debug modifier that was set to zero, preventing Corneria from taking damage.
All leaked ROMs are beta versions. Some gameplay features do not work correctly, are incomplete, or hampered by bugs. According to Cuthbert, all the leaked ROMs lack the final few months of QA work. They were also all set up in debug mode, so the encounter systems and randomized gameplay elements do not work correctly. Speaking about the final beta ROM, he said: "the basic parts are there, but there is an adage in game development, ‘The last 10 percent is 90 percent of the game,’ and the ROM is missing that last 10 percent of iteration and refinement."
Official release.
When compiling a list of games to include on the Super NES Classic dedicated console, the system's producer proposed the inclusion of "Star Fox 2". He thought it would be a waste otherwise to never release a completed and debugged game. The device was announced along with "Star Fox 2"'s inclusion on June 26, 2017. The announcement came as a delightful surprise to Cuthbert. No one from Argonaut or Q-Games was consulted or otherwise made aware ahead of the reveal. Some of the original developers celebrated the announcement.
The Super NES Classic was released September 29, 2017 in North America and Europe, and October 5 in Japan. The version is the localized English ROM that was completed in the 1990s, though Cuthbert suspected Nintendo had to make minor changes, such as altering screen flashing, to get it past modern regulations. Promotional artwork for "Star Fox 2" was created by Takaya Imamura, the original "Star Fox" character designer. The instruction manual was released digitally online and included concept art and design documents, an unusual move for Nintendo.
On December 4, 2019, Nintendo released a video of upcoming games for its Nintendo Switch Online NES and Super NES services. The update includes "Star Fox 2" as a part of its portfolio of games, playable by those with an active Nintendo Switch Online membership as of December 12, 2019.
Reception.
After its release on the Super NES Classic Edition in 2017, "Star Fox 2" received mostly positive reviews. "Eurogamer" described it as "wonderfully surprising and inventive". "Polygon" described it as ambitious and fun. "Nintendo World Report"s John Rairdin wrote that it was "arguably the most important game in the "Star Fox" series, and one of the greatest Super Nintendo games". "Nintendo Life" stated that "this 22-year-old relic is worth owning a SNES Mini for, and may well surprise you with its depth, complexity and challenge – so long as you're not expecting a straight sequel to the original." "Destructoid" described it as "solid and definitely has an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun." "IGN" complemented its "janky-yet-plucky aesthetic", but complained that severe frame-rate drops plagued the game and that it was difficult to control the ships. They stated it was the worst game in the SNES Classic Edition and that, "Looking back, it probably deserved to be cancelled."
Legacy.
After "Star Fox 2" was canceled, Argonaut's contract with Nintendo ended. Cuthbert left Japan and moved to the United States to work with Sony. In 2001, he returned to Japan to establish Q-Games. The company collaborated with Nintendo in 2006 to develop "Star Fox Command", and again in 2011 for "Star Fox 64 3D". Cuthbert found the experimentation with "Star Fox 2" personally helpful in his career.
"Star Fox 2" inspired the design of later "Star Fox" games. Free-range flying and grounded vehicle gameplay were implemented into "Star Fox 64", as was the Star Wolf team. Nintendo and Q-Games played "Star Fox 2" to gather inspiration on its strategic gameplay elements for "Star Fox Command". Miyamoto asked Cuthbert to make "Command" more similar to "Star Fox 2" than the original "Star Fox". The Arwing's ability to transform into the Walker was re-introduced in "Star Fox Zero" (2016). The game also drove ideas for future Nintendo 64 games. Cuthbert believes a lot of the platforming experimentation they ran in "Star Fox 2" gave Miyamoto confidence for "Super Mario 64".


Zack Zero

Zack Zero is a 2.5D platform-adventure video game developed and published by Crocodile Entertainment via PlayStation Network on January 17, 2012 and Microsoft Windows on April 29, 2013.
The player is involved in helping Zack Zero save his partner Marlene from Evil Zulrog, who wishes to exchange her for a unique material involved in time travel called Kelestinia.


The Reckless Driver

The Reckless Driver is the 19th animated cartoon short subject in the "Woody Woodpecker" series. Released theatrically on August 26, 1946, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures.
Plot.
Woody discovers that his drivers' license is due for renewal, and quickly heads for the nearest Department of Motor Vehicles. Upon arrival, Woody attempts to awaken sleeping Officer Wally Walrus (voiced by William Wright) so he can complete the test.
First up is the eye test, complete with an eye chart whose letters spell out "I CAN'T SEE A THING." Then comes the reflex test, in which Woody violently pecks at Wally's head whenever he gets his knee jabbed. Next, Wally tries to get a fingerprint from Woody, only to have the two stack their hands high into the air.
Finally, Woody must complete the actual driving test. The careless woodpecker accidentally backs up into a wall. A fire extinguisher then falls off the wall and onto the back of Woody's car, providing him with steam propulsion. With this new power, Woody starts zooming in the air, (after lifting his car's body off its drive train) and in and out of the office, driving Wally insane. At the conclusion of the driving test, Woody blurts out, "Say, I've changed my mind. I want a pilot's license". He does his trademark laugh, pecks at Wally's head, slams the door on him and flies his plane out of sight.


Raptor Island

Raptor Island is a Sci Fi original film about an island in the South China Sea. The film debuted on the Sci Fi Channel on August 21, 2004.
Plot.
A team of SEALs chases a group of terrorists onto the island after destroying a weapons cache and rescuing a hostage special agent. While tracking the terrorists, mutated dinosaurs appear and the mission changes into simple survival. The dinosaurs use their skilled sense of smell and ability to swim to hunt down the SEALs and terrorists.
After losing several men to the raptors and killing some of the terrorists, the SEALs manage to rescue the female agent, Jamie, captured by the terrorists. She and the remaining SEALs discover a crash site of a Chinese airplane. Around the site are broken containers that had contained nuclear waste. The team figures the spilled waste caused the local animals to mutate into dinosaurs. The dinosaurs kill all the terrorists except Azir, who murders a SEAL, stealing his armor and machine gun. After encountering more mutant raptors, the last three SEALs and Jamie find refuge in a cave, which turns out to be the nest of the dinosaurs. In the end, Azir is eaten by a mutated "Carnotaurus" and the island is destroyed as a result of volcanic activity. The last scene is of three raptors escaping the carnage, swimming after the rescue helicopter.
Sequel.
"Raptor Island" was followed by the loosely related 2007 sequel "Planet Raptor". "Planet Raptor" is set in the year 2066, when Earth's only occupants are raptors and marines. "Planet Raptor" is directed by Gary Jones and was filmed entirely in Romania.
Home media.
Raptor Island was released on DVD on November 14, 2006 by Anchor Bay Entertainment.
Internet mobisodes.
Mobisodes can be found on YouTube in twenty parts.


Landing Stripling

Landing Stripling is a 1962 "Tom and Jerry" animated short film, released on May 18, 1962. It was the sixth of the thirteen cartoons in the series to be directed by Gene Deitch and produced by William L. Snyder in Czechoslovakia.
Plot.
Tom and Jerry are sleeping outside during the day when a yellow bird wearing a red pilot's helmet lands on Tom, waking him up. Although the warbling bird brushes Tom's torso off and reacts politely like "pardon me", Tom goes after the bird, catches it, and proceeds to beat it up.
Jerry wakes up hearing this and goes after Tom by tying a string to his tail, throwing the string over a tree then tying the other end to a telephone pole. After this, he cuts the pole and tips it enough to lift Tom up into the tree. The bird and Jerry then fill a large tub with water, put it on an outside fireplace and light a fire underneath. Tom is begging them to stop as the bird loosens the string. The string releases Tom and he sling-shots into the tub, where he splashes around shouting and screaming in pain, jumps out and bounces away and back (with funny "boing boing" noises). The bird and Jerry laugh at the fact Tom looks bottomless.
After all his fur is back, Tom grabs the hose and chases Jerry and the bird into the mousehole and with a nasty chuckle, tries flooding them out, but Jerry and the bird stop the hose with a mousetrap until the water backs up enough and the bird comes out and pops the hose, leaving Tom tied up in the hose.
Tom then tries catching the bird on a telephone wire and almost electrocutes himself, then falls off bashing into a wheelbarrow and into a shed, where he gets an idea. He turns himself into some kind of bird then climbs a tree, but before he could take off, Jerry brings an electric oscillating stand fan over, turns it on, and Tom loses his balance, falls off and bounces away.
Next, Tom returns to the house with a box saying "DANGER"!. We find out that it's a cannon, and while he is trying to take aim at the bird, Jerry sneaks down, drills a hole in the missile, then ties Tom's tail in it, so when he fires the missile, he is taken with it into a tree. As the missile goes through the tree, Tom gets his rear end stuck in the back of the tree and in the front part, Tom's head and feet are sticking out.
Finally, in the most memorable scene, Tom takes a medium-sized amount of grass around the outdoor fireplace, sets it in there and sets it on fire, causing smoke to just about blanket the sky. Afterwards, he grabs a lawnmower and mows a strip in the field, then lines the strip with Christmas lights, illuminates them, then waits at the end of the strip with his mouth open. However, instead of the "yummy" bird, a jet airliner comes down and picks Tom up by his mouth.
After the plane flies over the tree Jerry and the bird are in, Tom lands on the same branch they're on. The bird then slaps a sticker saying "VIA AIR MAIL" on his forehead, kisses him on the cheeks, then Jerry salutes him, while Tom tiredly returns the salute.


Le chant du rossignol

Le chant du rossignol (English: "The Song of the Nightingale") is a symphonic poem written by Igor Stravinsky in 1917. The score is adapted from his earlier work, "Le rossignol" ("The Nightingale"), an opera from 1914. The opera, based on Hans Christian Andersen's 1843 tale "The Nightingale", is set in three acts, told from the point of view of a Chinese fisherman. In the orchestral version, Stravinsky mostly uses music from acts two and three.
Opera.
The opera "Le rossignol", the first act written in 1908 and the later two in 1913–14, was Stravinsky's first opera. The delay between writing the first and the latter acts was caused by his commissions to write "The Firebird", "Petrushka", and "The Rite of Spring" for impresario Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. After this lapse of time, during which Stravinsky established himself as a ballet composer, he was unsure of returning to "Le rossignol", and although he did finish it, he chose to also create a purely symphonic version, "Le chant du rossignol".
In his autobiography, Stravinsky writes:
Symphonic debut.
"Le chant du rossignol"'s symphonic debut was on December 6, 1919 in Geneva, conducted by Ernest Ansermet at the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. It was met with criticism, much like that of "The Rite of Spring". Stravinsky's nontraditional use of dissonance and instruments was unwelcome in later performances of the piece as well. It is possibly due to this public reaction that he then let Diaghilev turn it into a ballet.
Ballet.
Productions.
The piece's ballet debut occurred on February 2, 1920 at the Théâtre National de l'Opéra in Paris. The choreography was by Leonid Massine and designs by Henri Matisse. This also was met with some skepticism; Stravinsky himself was not entirely pleased. "I had destined "Le Chant du Rossignol" for the concert platform, and a choreographic rendering seemed to me to be quite unnecessary," he says later in his autobiography.
Stravinsky agreed to do a revival of the ballet in 1925. Originally, the choreography was to be Massine's, but when that fell through, Diaghilev chose one of his newest students, George Balanchine, to choreograph the ballet. This is when Stravinsky first met Balanchine, who later became his most important creative partner.
The Diaghilev and Stravinsky relationship weakened during "Le chant du rossignol", as each liked to be the director in charge. As Balanchine was allowed more of a role, however, it was clear that the Balanchine-Stravinsky relationship was a lasting one. They had similar taste in art, music, and movement and lived to create. Stravinsky and Balanchine continued as a team for several years, creating a number of famous ballets.
Plot.
The ballet follows the main plot line of Stravinsky's "Le rossignol", based on Andersen's "The Nightingale". The first scene shows the Nightingale singing (or in this case, dancing) for the Emperor of China, who is pleased. In the music, the song of the nightingale is chromatic and swooping, it sounds free and natural, like the song of a bird. The second scene introduces the gift of the mechanical nightingale from the Emperor of Japan. All are mesmerized by its song and ignore the real Nightingale, who flies away. The music here is short and clear, without the smooth runs of the "real" Nightingale and more sounds of a mechanical automaton.
In the third scene, the Emperor meets Death, due to illness and suffering from having lost the nightingale. Then the Nightingale appears outside the Emperor's window and convinces Death to let the Emperor go. The final scene shows the courtiers discovering that the Emperor is now well, although his Nightingale leaves once again, returning to nature.
Themes.
The story's themes include the natural versus the artificial, with the real Nightingale juxtaposed with its mechanical replacement. This was not the first (or last) piece by Stravinsky centered on the character of a bird, nor was it his first fascination with a seemingly perfect machine, as records tell us Stravinsky often preferred the sound of a mechanical pianola, to the human (and inevitably imperfect) performance on a real piano.
Movement with music.
Stravinsky was always specific about the use of movement with music. He once said, "I do not see how one can be a choreographer unless, like Balanchine, one is a musician first," in praise of the famous choreographer who began working with Stravinsky for the revival of "Le chant du rossignol". Balanchine was in fact a musician himself, and already a fan of Stravinsky's work. He was immediately willing to take the challenge, saying, "I learned the music well, and so ... when Diaghilev asked me to stage Stravinsky's ballet "Le chant du rossignol", I was able to do it quickly,"
Recordings.
Stravinsky did not record the music during his extensive recording sessions for Columbia Records, other than a 1932 reduction for violin and piano of "Airs du rossignol" and "Marche chinoise" only, recorded in 1933 with Samuel Dushkin on violin. However, Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra recorded the ballet for RCA Victor in "Living Stereo," a pioneering process using triple track tape recorders and three microphones, in Chicago's Orchestra Hall. It was among RCA's first recordings to be released in stereo, in 1958.


Dog Tales

Dog Tales is a weekly half-hour syndicated documentary television series which features stories and news about all types of dogs and dog lovers. It is produced by Alex Paen, and distributed by Telco Productions, Inc.


Tom Yum Goong 2

Tom Yum Goong 2 (), known in the USA as The Protector 2, in the UK as Warrior King 2 and in Germany as Return of the Warrior. It is a 2013 Thai martial arts film directed by Prachya Pinkaew. The film is a sequel to Pinkaew's "Tom-Yum-Goong", with actors Tony Jaa and Petchtai Wongkamlao reprising their roles as Kham and Mark from the first movie.
Plot.
Kham (Tony Jaa) has resumed a quiet village life with his "brother"/elephant, Khon, back in Thailand. Job, an oddball who loves playing with electrical devices, has lived in the village for some time and has earned the trust of the locals. Unknown to Kham, he's an agent of an arms dealer known as Mr. LC (RZA). A fan of Kham's exploits, LC had Job keep tabs on Kham without his knowledge. Things change for Kham when a merchant, Suchart Vilawandei (Adinan Buntanaporn), wants to buy Khon, but Kham refuses to sell Khon. Suchart gives his business card to Kham in case he changes his mind.
While eating with the local villagers, Kham feels something is wrong and returns home to find that Job has been beaten and Khon has been taken by Suchart. Using the business card that Suchart gave him, Kham goes to Suchart's home to get answers but only finds that Suchart has been killed moments earlier. Suchart's two nieces, martial artists Ping-ping (Yanin "Jeeja" Vismitananda) and Sue-sue (Theerada Kittiseriprasert) arrive and believe that Kham must be responsible. The two attack him, but he evades and escapes; the authorities are alerted and the police give chase.
While running from the law, Kham encounters Mark, who fakes being assaulted and allows Kham to escape. Later on, they secretly meet to learn more about the situation. Mark himself is in Thailand on a job for Interpol investigating a recent terrorist plot involving the peace talks between East Katana and West Katana in Bangkok.
Kham is attacked by Suchart's nieces as well as a biker gang. Kham fights through them and faces a small group of LC's fighters. LC himself is a great admirer of martial arts and has gathered his own personal group of fighters ranked according to their strength. LC has his second-strongest fighter, No. 2, take on Kham, while the girls are also interfering. No. 2 kills Sue-sue, leaving Ping-ping to grieve. Kham loses the fight to No. 2 due to a needle stuck to his neck from the fight with Ping-ping. No. 2 realizes that he only won the fight because Kham was handicapped, and takes him to LC.
At LC's base, Kham finds his elephant and also discovers that Job is a traitor. Kham's enemies tie a specially made remote-controlled electrical device to shock Kham as well as Khon at the same time every time Kham disobeys. LC wants Kham to join him and uses the device to force Kham to help him assassinate a political figure related to the peace talks. LC also brands Kham on his chest as his fighter No. 1.
Mark is suspected of foul play by other Interpol agents. After he fails to capture Kham, he is told to go home. However, Mark finds Kham and helps him remove the electrical device. Mark also encounters Ping-ping and takes her to examine her uncle's body at the coroner's office, where it is explained to her that Suchart was killed by three powerful combo punches, the same method of killing that happened to Sue-sue. Ping-ping realizes that Kham was not the killer but rather No. 2.
LC, Job, No. 2, and Kham all go to a country temple to help war profiteers assassinate both leaders at the Katana peace talks to incite war and sell more weapons. Kham infiltrates the temple and fights against all of LC's men and No. 2. Kham and Ping-ping team up to fight against their mutual enemies. Ping-ping ignites an entire floor filled with gasoline in an attempt to burn No. 2, but No. 2 avoids the explosions and fire and finds Kham.
Kham, fighting one level below Ping-ping, takes advantage of the fire, setting his own shoes on fire to using them to defeat his enemies. They in turn copy him. Kham then fights No. 2 again, this time further below, on the train tracks. The two fight over a live rail and take advantage of the electricity to shock each other while fighting. Kham knocks out No. 2 and confronts LC. To Kham's surprise, LC is a highly trained martial artist and has marked himself as No. 0. The fight is short because both men fall and LC is knocked out.
Kham recovers and finds Khon. He tells Mark that there's a bomb threat, and Mark tries to explain this to his superiors but they won't listen to him. Mark decides to scream out that there's a bomb and it scares everyone away. Kham finds Job, and the two discover that Khon's tusks have been cut down and replaced with prosthetic tusks that are rigged to explode. Kham tries to find a way to save Khon, but LC and No. 2 interfere.
No. 2 and LC take on Kham in a two-on-one fight while Kham is busy holding Khon's tusks to prevent them from falling out and exploding. With the help of both Ping-ping and Mark, No. 2 is defeated and LC is killed after Kham releases the tusks and kicks them away at LC. The explosion kills LC and knocks both Kham and Khon over the cliff and into the ocean, but they survive.
Production.
"Tom Yum Goong 2" went into production in August 2011. The script was written by Eakasit Thairaat who previously had written scripts of the Thai films "13 Beloved" (2006), "Body" (2007) and "Long Weekend" (2013).
The film is shot in 3-D with action scenes directed by Weerapon Phumatfon and Somjai Janmoontree.
Release.
The film was released in Thailand on 23 October 2013. The film debuted at number one in the box office in Thailand grossing US$684,406 in its opening weekend. The film grossed a total of US$1,776,546 in Thailand. Worldwide the film grossed US$3,302,463.
Reception.
Film Business Asia gave the film a rating of seven out of ten, stating that "the action coming fast and furious, especially when the script basically gives up any pretence at coherency halfway through. The only differences are that Jaa abandons his usual claim to fame of not using wire-work or visual effects, and the film is lighter on the masochism that has permeated most of his work." The "South China Morning Post" gave the film a rating of three out of five, noting that the film "overcomes a clumsy, complicated set-up and unimpressive 3-D to deliver the requisite thrills." The movie holds an aggregate metascore of 45/100 based on 10 critics at Metacritic.