Mr. Bug Goes to Town

Mr. Bug Goes to Town (also known as Hoppity Goes to Town and Bugville) is a 1941 American cel-animated Technicolor feature film produced by Fleischer Studios, previewed by Paramount Pictures on December 5, 1941, and released in California and New York City in February 1942.
The film was originally intended to be an adaptation of Maurice Maeterlinck's "The Life of the Bee," but the rights could not be attained, or, more rightly, Paramount was unwilling to purchase them from Samuel Goldwyn. Instead, they fashioned and crafted an original modern story loosely inspired on the book.
The film was produced by Max Fleischer and directed by Dave Fleischer and Shamus Culhane, with animation sequences directed by Willard Bowsky, Culhane, H.C. Ellison, Thomas Johnson, Graham Place, Stan Quackenbush, David Tendlar, and Myron Waldman. It featured the songs: "We're the Couple in the Castle", "Katy Did, Katy Didn't", "I'll Dance at Your Wedding (Honey Dear)" by Hoagy Carmichael and Frank Loesser, and "Boy Oh Boy" by Sammy Timberg and Loesser.
This would also be Paramount's last animated feature film until "Charlotte's Web" released in 1973.
Plot.
Hoppity the Grasshopper, after a period spent away, returns to an American city (Manhattan, New York City). He finds that all is not as he left it, and his insect friends (who live in the "Lowlands" just outside of the garden of a cute bungalow belonging to down-on-his-luck songwriter Dick Dickens and his wife Mary) are now under threat from the "human ones," who are trampling through the broken-down fence, using it as a shortcut.
Insect houses are being flattened and burned by cast away cigar butts. Old Mr. Bumble and his beautiful daughter Honey (Hoppity's sweetheart) are in grave danger of losing their Honey Shop to this threat. To compound their problems, devious insect "property magnate" C. Bagley Beetle has romantic designs on Honey Bee himself, and, with the help of his henchmen Swat the Fly and Smack the Mosquito, Honey is tricked into marrying the Beetle for the good of the insect community.
Hoppity discovers that the Songwriter and his wife are waiting for a "check thing" from the Famous Music publishing company for the songwriter's composition, "We're the Couple in the Castle." With this money they can save the whole bug community. But C. Bagley Beetle and his henchmen "steal" the check, and the Dickens house is foreclosed. Days pass and with nothing improved nearly everyone in the lowlands loses faith in Hoppity's claim. To make matters worse the Dickenses lose their home when a skyscraper is built on the site. Mr. Beetle can force everyone to pay his exorbitant prices -- until he finds out that the building will be on his property too. Realizing that Hoppity was nearby and overheard him, he seals Hoppity inside the envelope that the Dickens' check came in, hiding it in a crack in a wall.
Construction begins while everyone is at the wedding of Beetle and Honey; a weight from a surveyor's level that rips through the chapel causes the terrified bugs to flee back to the Lowlands (not realizing the whole parcel is endangered by the construction crew). Hoppity escapes when the construction crew demolishes the wall, freeing the envelope. Hoppity comes to Honey's rescue, battles Beetle and his henchmen, and wins.
Hoppity tells everyone what happened and manages to get the check to Mr. Dickens. "We're the Couple in the Castle" becomes a massive hit. Meanwhile, Hoppity leads an exodus from the Lowlands to the top of the skyscraper, where he believes the Dickens' have built a new home and invited the bugs to live there. They get to the top, which at first appears to be barren, but the young bugs discover the Dickens have built a new penthouse with a "Garden of Paradise" just as Hoppity had described. Honey and the rest of the Lowlanders live there happily ever after in their new home. And as Ambrose looks over the edge, he remarks, "Look at all the human ones down there. They look just like a lot of little bugs!"
Production.
Fleischer Studios' first feature, "Gulliver's Travels", did such impressive business in its first week that Paramount president Barney Balaban ordered another feature for a Christmas 1941 release.
"Mr. Bug Goes to Town" is similar in concept to "Gulliver’s Travels" with its large cast of characters, complicated crowd scenes, and the contrasting scale of tiny characters against the gigantic human world. In "Mr. Bug", the environment is central to the picture. While the lead characters, Hoppity the grasshopper and Honey Bee, do not lead the story as clearly as Disney characters do, it is the situation that propels the plot combined with colorful supporting comical characters.
"Mr. Bug Goes to Town" was beset by problems due to the rift between Max and Dave Fleischer that began during the production of "Gulliver's Travels". From that point on, they communicated with each other via internal memos while working in the same building. Running a major animated cartoon studio solely by written communique turned out to be "a sort of tragicomedy."
Paramount was acutely aware of the problems between the Fleischer brothers and structured their contract for the completion of "Mr. Bug" in an unusual way, allowing for the resignation of either brother following its completion. When Paramount renewed the Fleischer contract on May 24, 1941, a clause stipulated that the brothers deliver signed letters of resignation to Paramount to be used at the studio's discretion. Post-production concluded in Hollywood just before Thanksgiving, and Dave tendered his resignation one month before the scheduled release.
"Mr. Bug Goes to Town" was the first animated feature to give screen credit to the voice actors. The voices were provided by actor Stan Freed (Hoppity) and Pauline Loth (Honey). The supporting characters were voiced by members of the studio staff including Jack Mercer, the voice of Popeye (Mr. Bumble, Swat the Fly), and storymen Tedd Pierce (C. Bagley Beetle), Carl Meyer (Smack the Mosquito), Pinto Colvig (Mr. Creeper), Margie Hines (Mrs. Ladybug), and Mae Questel (Buzz the Beescout). Singer Kenny Gardner and actress Gwen Williams portrayed "The Human Ones," Songwriter Dick Dickens and his wife, Mary.
Book and other merchandise.
The film received a book adaptation which was released around the same time - it features new characters along with the ones from the film and goes further on key plots. For example, in the film Honey is aware of Beetle's romantic interest, expressing dislike to him but willing to make the sacrifice if it means everyone can live safely on his property away from the broken fence. However, in the book, Hoppity is made aware of this fact by Ambrose the Bee Scout, making Beetle's conflict with Hoppity more apparent from the start. Whether this was part of the film's script is unknown. The film also inspired a "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" board game and a series of trading cards.
Release.
"Mr. Bug Goes to Town" was previewed on December 5, 1941 in advance of its scheduled Christmas release. While it was well-received by critics, theater operators rejected it. Two days later, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor signaled America's entrance into World War II, and Paramount canceled the Christmas release. Three weeks later, Paramount president Barney Balaban activated Max Fleischer's resignation. Paramount finally released the film in California on February 13, 1942 (February 20 in New York City). In the UK, it opened during January 1942 under the name "Hoppity Goes to Town".
"Mr. Bug" was a financial disaster. Paramount reorganized Fleischer Studios as Famous Studios. Before the film's release, [[Walter Lantz]], [[Paul Terry (cartoonist)|Paul Terry]], and [[Leon Schlesinger]] all considered producing animated feature films, but after seeing the disappointing box-office of this film and the initial failures of [[Walt Disney]]'s new films "[[Pinocchio (1940 film)|Pinocchio]]" and "[[Fantasia (1940 film)|Fantasia]]" (both 1940), they cancelled any potential animated feature projects.
[[Harlan Ellison]] described vivid memories of having to outwit his family in order to see "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" for free on his birthday in his book "[[Harlan Ellison's Watching]]". He credits his exploit as having fostered his rebellious nature rather than remaining a sweet obedient child. He never got to see the entire film until it came out on videocassette, and he watched it frequently throughout his adult life.
Paramount later re-released "Mr. Bug" as "Hoppity Goes to Town" (the original title is a [[parody]] of the title of the 1936 film "[[Mr. Deeds Goes to Town]]"). The film cost $713,511 to make, but by 1946 had only made $241,000 back, and was withdrawn from circulation. Under the reissue title, "Hoppity" has had multiple re-releases on home video throughout the 1970s (most with inferior image quality) to its DVD release by [[Legend Films]], in which the studio re-titled the film again to "Bugville" (presumably to position against [[Pixar]]'s "[[A Bug's Life]]").
The film was acquired in the 1950s by [[National Telefilm Associates]] (which became Republic) and enjoyed a renewed popularity as a staple on local "movie classics" shows such as "[[Family Classics]]" on Chicago's WGN. The film (as "Hoppity Goes to Town") was officially released by [[Republic Pictures]] on VHS and [[LaserDisc]] in May 1989. Although the NTA did forget to renew the copyright for some films, "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" was one of various films that did get its copyright renewed. Despite the fact that the film is still copyrighted (by Republic successor Melange Pictures, managed by parent company [[ViacomCBS]], which also owns Paramount Pictures), [[public domain]] companies have released the film on [[VHS]] and [[DVD]]. Possibly due to the public domain video releases that have surfaced, Paramount hasn't licensed the movie a DVD release to either Lionsgate or Olive Films.
In Japan, the movie was released on December 19, 2009 as part of [[Studio Ghibli]]'s [[Ghibli Museum Library]]. A DVD was released in April 2010 by [[Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment]] in Japan, and it has been reported to be a restoration using NTA re-release elements. Recently, "Mr. Bug", along with many other Fleischer-produced cartoons (including the Fleischers' previous film, "Gulliver's Travels"), was restored from the original three-strip negatives by the [[UCLA Film and Television Archive]], and a few art-house theaters have recently screened the restoration (which features the original titles).
On October 21, 2012, the [[Turner Classic Movies]] channel debuted the film, transferred from an original 35mm Technicolor release print owned by the [[Museum of Modern Art Department of Film]], for the first time on television in a special hosted by [[Robert Osborne]] and [[Jerry Beck]] dedicated to rare animated films, including "[[Gulliver's Travels (1939 film)|Gulliver's Travels]]", [[Halas and Batchelor]]'s "[[Animal Farm (1954 film)|Animal Farm]]", Lotte Reiniger's "[[The Adventures of Prince Achmed]]", the [[UPA (animation studio)|UPA]] cartoons and the silent cartoons of 1907 to 1932 of the New York Studios. and again on the channel in June 2015.
"Mr. Bug Goes to Town" was planned to be released on [[Blu-ray]] in June 2017 from [[Thunderbean Animation]]. However it has currently been put on hold as of July 2017.
External links.
[[Category:1941 animated films]]
[[Category:1940s musical films]]
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:American musical films]]
[[Category:Paramount Pictures films]]
[[Category:Paramount Pictures animated films]]
[[Category:1940s children's fantasy films]]
[[Category:Fleischer Studios films]]
[[Category:Animated films about insects]]
[[Category:Fictional grasshoppers]]
[[Category:Films directed by Dave Fleischer]]
[[Category:Rotoscoped films]]
[[Category:1940s American animated films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Leigh Harline]]
[[Category:1941 films]]
[[Category:1940s children's animated films]]
[[Category:Films set in New York City]]


The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams

The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams is a 1974 independent feature film created and produced by Charles E. Sellier Jr. The film's popularity led to an NBC television series of the same name. The title character, played by Dan Haggerty, was loosely based on California mountain man John "Grizzly" Adams (1812–1860).
NBC aired the series finale of the TV series on February 21, 1982 by way of a two-hour TV movie called "The Capture of Grizzly Adams" where a bounty hunter used Adams' daughter, who was not seen or mentioned since the 1974 film, in a kidnap-extortion ploy to lure the fugitive mountain man back to civilization. In the end Adams proves his innocence.
In the television series, Adams had two human friends, an old mountain man trader named "Mad Jack" played by Denver Pyle who was often featured with his mule ("Number Seven"), and a Native American by the name of "Nakoma" played by Don Shanks. Adams, Mad Jack, and Nakoma helped myriad mountain visitors while protecting wildlife at the same time.
Plot.
The film portrays the somewhat fictional Grizzly Adams as a frontier woodsman who fled into the mountains after he was accused of a murder he didn't commit. While struggling to survive, Adams saves an orphaned grizzly bear cub he adopts and names Ben. The bear, while growing to its huge adult size, becomes Adams' closest companion. Consistently kind and gentle, Adams discovers and demonstrates an uncanny ability to gain the trust of most of the indigenous wildlife of the region, and he helps, sometimes rescues, takes in and tames many species. Originally a hunter, with his learned affection for wildlife Adams resolves never to harm another animal whenever possible.
Cast.
In addition to Ben, there were many other named animals in the TV series, the most prominent being "Number 7", Mad Jack's ornery mule. Bart the Bear, then a bear cub, made one of his first acting appearances in the series playing Ben as a cub.
Production.
"Grizzly Adams" was created and produced by Schick Sunn Classic Pictures, a company based in Park City, Utah and operated by its founding executives, Patrick Frawley, Charles E. Sellier Jr., and Rayland Jenson. Parts of the film were shot in the Uinta National Forest, Wasatch National Forest, and Park City. The low-budget independent studio successfully introduced innovative marketing and promotional methods. Its 1974 "Grizzly Adams" movie was a runaway success. Produced on a small $140,000 budget, the film grossed over $45 million at the domestic box office and $65 million worldwide. It was the 7th highest grossing film of 1974. The 43% market share captured by a 1976 airing of the film on NBC led to network executives green-lighting the television series. The series drew a 32% market share, a significant figure to this day. The series also aired at a time when the environmental movement flourished.
Bozo was purchased from a Kansas zoo, and trained by R.E. (Bob) Leonard.
The show's theme song, “Maybe,” was written and sung by Thom Pace. The song was released as a single in Europe, where it reached number one, and in 1980 won Germany's Goldene Europa award for best song. At the beginning of each episode, part of the theme song is sung, while at the end, the entire theme song is sung. "Mad Jack" also introduces the circumstances of Grizzly Adams, referring to him as a "greenhorn", his friendship with Ben and all of the animals. After selling many products bearing the Grizzly Adams brand name, the brand was eventually trademarked by its creator, film producer, Charles E. Sellier, Jr. Following Sellier's death in early 2011, the brand rights were transferred to Grizzly Adams LLC.
Production for the series also took place in Utah, with location work in Arizona and Ruidoso, New Mexico, depending on weather conditions, due to the similarities in terrain. As with the film, animals were provided and trained by the Olympic Game Farm, housed at a second game farm built at Woodland. A scaled-down version of Grizzly Adams' cabin, used to make Dan Haggerty appear taller, is currently located at the Olympic Game Farm in Sequim, Washington.
Home media.
Shout! Factory, under license from CBS Home Entertainment, released both seasons in two region-1, 4-DVD sets: season 1 on November 6, 2012, and Season 2 on February 19, 2013. The same eight discs were reissued as "Grizzly Adams: The Complete Series" on May 31, 2016.
The Season sets do not include the 1974 film "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams", which led to the series. The Season 2 set does include "Once Upon a Starry Night," which aired just after the regular series ended in 1978, but not "The Capture of Grizzly Adams", which aired in 1982.
On November 12, 2013, CBS Home Entertainment released "The Capture of Grizzly Adams" on DVD in Region 1.
Sequels.
Dan Haggerty also played Jeremiah, a modern-day version of Grizzly Adams, in the films "Grizzly Mountain" (1997) and "Escape to Grizzly Mountain" (2000).


Pecking Holes in Poles

Pecking Holes in Poles is a Woody Woodpecker cartoon that was released in theaters on March 1, 1972. It is one of the last Woody cartoons that Walter Lantz Productions released into theaters.
In addition to Grace Stafford, who provides Woody's voice, Daws Butler guest stars.
Summary.
In this cartoon, Woody extols his love for pecking utility poles to the point where they are destroyed. At various times in this cartoon he sings a song about his hobby.
One group of people who are not pleased with Woody's habit is the local telephone company, which has had to pay thousands to dollars to replace the poles Woody has ruined. Phone company employee Floyd Farkle comes across a set of twelve poles Woody has destroyed and radios into headquarters that Woody has struck again. His boss is not amused and orders Farkle to find the woodpecker or he will lose his job.
Hearing Woody pecking nearby, Farkle exits his truck. Meanwhile, Woody pecks the top of a pole so much that it falls off. Farkle then tries to hook Woody with a lasso, only to pull the pole too hard so it crashes on his head. Woody decides to help Farkle by fixing his hard hat, using a stick of dynamite. Woody lights it and tells Farkle to hold his hat over it, and amazingly it works and restores Farkle's hard hat to like new. Of course, since Woody used dynamite to do this the explosion knocks the senses out of Farkle.
Farkle's next attempt uses a hot air balloon to fly up to where Woody is so he can shoot him. However, it backfires on him when Woody is able to spin the balloon around, grab Farkle's shotgun, and shoot the balloon causing it to crash to earth. Woody then throws the gun back to Farkle, only to have it go off when it hits the ground and nearly shoot off Woody's tail feathers. Farkle then tries using a rocket and a club, but shoots past Woody into the sky and then crashes to the ground once the rocket burns off. Woody then mocks a frustrated Farkle by saying he should join the circus with that performance.
Farkle then goes back into the truck, and Woody sees his next plan: to dress up as a woodpecker himself. Woody plays along and pretends to sleep as Farkle climbs the pole, then pecks him in the rear end as he tries to shoot. Woody then makes small talk with Farkle and allows him to peck the pole with him, but instead pecks the part where Farkle is standing causing him to fall. As Farkle cannot fly, Woody tells him to go practice and pushes him off the pole.
As Farkle climbs the pole again after grabbing his shotgun, Woody goes into the truck and radios to the boss imitating Farkle claiming that he has seen the biggest woodpecker ever. The boss dispatches the telephone company's helicopter to take care of it, and the pilot of the helicopter knocks Farkle unconscious with a hammer and then hooks him, dragging him away. A triumphant Woody finishes his song and pecks one last time.


Wounds (film)

Wounds is a 2019 psychological horror film written and directed by Babak Anvari, in his English language debut, and starring Armie Hammer, Dakota Johnson, and Zazie Beetz. The film is based on the novella "The Visible Filth" by Nathan Ballingrud.
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2019, and was released in the United States on October 18, 2019, by Hulu and internationally on Netflix.
Plot.
Will is a New Orleans-based bartender who works at a run-down cockroach-infested bar. One evening, Alicia (one of his exes), her (current) boyfriend Jeffrey, a drunk Eric, and a group of college kids enter the bar. Eric gets into a fight with another guest, resulting in Eric being stabbed in the cheek with a broken bottle. The kids leave the bar in a panic and Will discovers one of them has left their phone behind. Will returns to his house, which he shares with his student girlfriend Carrie. While inspecting the phone, he receives messages from someone called Garrett, who claims that he is scared and something from the "tunnel" is following him.
The next morning, Will awakens to discover that overnight, Garrett has sent the phone a photo that shows a pile of bloody teeth. Carrie insists they call the police. Will drops Carrie off at school, where he suspects her professor is sleeping with her. He then visits Eric. Eric's wound is now infected, and he claims he is suffering from nightmares. Will spots some sort of inhuman flesh in Eric's wound. He visits Alicia and it is revealed that he has a crush on her and envies Jeffrey. Returning home, Will doesn't notice one of the college kids following him around town. He discovers photos and videos on the phone of a corpse and decapitated head being surrounded by cockroaches. Carrie sees the footage and forces Will to hand it over to the police. She discovers a book in one of the photos entitled "The Translation of Wounds". They call Garrett and hear an inhuman screeching on the other end.
While driving to the station, Will spots one of the college kids following him and receives messages from another member of the group, stating that he "has been chosen". Will hallucinates the phone turning into a cockroach creature and throws it out the car window, where it is picked up by one of the kids. Without the phone, the police cannot do anything. Will and Alicia later hang and make out before Alicia stops, feeling guilty. Will receives strange texts from Carrie and discovers her at home, staring at a strange video of a tunnel in a trance. Carrie has no memory of sending Will the texts. Later that night, Will awakens to discover Garrett in the house. Garrett throws up a pile of teeth before claiming he and his friends summoned "something", that it possessed them and Will has now brought it into his own home: it now sees him as "the perfect vessel for more".
Will hallucinates a cockroach crawling out of a wound in his armpit. Will and Carrie start to get more distant and aggressive to one another. He discovers she has been searching for Garrett online, as well as the books she noticed in the photo and Gnostic rituals which state that a wound is a portal for higher beings to enter the world. At work, Will gets more and more erratic and starts a fight with Jeffrey. He receives another text from Carrie, claiming someone is in the house with her. Will rushes home and discovers her in a trance again. She is in a catatonic state that does not stop until she is bathed, which results in a strange dark liquid washing off her. The next day, she and Will break up, with Carrie accusing Will of being empty.
Will goes to work and snaps at his boss, resulting in him quitting, while Alicia tells him to stop calling her. Broken and alone, Will decides to stay at Eric's house. Eric's wound has worsened. He reveals the college kids forced him to lure Will to the house, and they asked him to give Will "a present". Will spots an eye looking at him through Eric's wound. He discovers the phone in Eric's possession and is prompted to accept the "present" wrapped in flesh. He realizes the higher being the kids summoned is inside Eric's wound. After calling Garrett again, which fills the room with the inhuman screeching, a swarm of cockroaches arrive. Will finally submits and starts to absorb the higher being in an attempt to become whole as cockroaches envelop the house.
Production.
In February 2018, it was announced Armie Hammer had been cast in the film, with Babak Anvari writing and directing the film. Megan Ellison, Christopher Kopp, and Lucan Toh produced the film under their Annapurna Pictures, AZA Films, Two & Two Pictures banners, respectively. In March 2018, Dakota Johnson and Zazie Beetz joined the cast of the film. In April 2018, Karl Glusman, Brad William Henke and Jim Klock joined the cast.
Principal photography began on April 4, 2018, in New Orleans.
Release.
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2019. It also screened at the Cannes Film Festival in the Directors Fortnight section on May 22, 2019. The film was scheduled to be released on March 29, 2019. However, it was pulled from the schedule. It was released in the United States on October 18, 2019, by Hulu. Netflix distributed the film internationally in all territories outside of the United States on October 18, 2019.
Reception.
"Wounds" received mixed reviews from film critics. It holds a 49% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 57 reviews, with a weighted average of 5.29/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Wounds" isn't without its creepy-crawly charms, but they -- and the efforts of a talented cast -- get squished by a story that never quite gets completely under the skin." On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 51 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


Summer of the Monkeys

Summer of the Monkeys is a 1976 children's story written by Wilson Rawls. It was published by Doubleday (later released by Yearling Books) and was the winner of the William Allen White Book Award and the California Young Reader Medal.
Plot summary.
The book is set about the end of the nineteenth century. The protagonist is a 14-year-old boy named Jay Berry Lee, who had enjoyed an idyllic childhood. Born to Missouri sharecroppers, he moves with his family to Oklahoma after his grandfather offers them free land. Daisy, his sister, has a crippled leg, and they devote much effort to gaining enough money to pay for reconstructive surgery. One day, while looking for their lost milk cow, Jay Berry discovers monkeys in a nearby river bottom. Visiting his grandfather's store, he learns that they have escaped from a traveling circus, which has offered a vast reward for their capture: $100 for the chief monkey, "Jimbo", and $2 each for the others. Jay Berry makes multiple attempts to capture them using traps and a net borrowed from his grandfather, but he gains only scratches and bites from them, at one point even losing his pants in the process.
Under the direction of his grandfather, Jay Berry contacts the circus and is advised to attempt to befriend Jimbo. Upon returning to the monkeys' grove, he finds them around a hidden still; the drunken monkeys indeed befriend him, but their gesture of friendship is a gift of whiskey that leaves him drunk. After returning to his shocked family, he goes with his grandfather to a nearby town to visit the library and discover alternate methods of monkey-catching. Having bought supplies, they return home, but the monkeys steal it all.
Daisy discovers a fairy ring, and believing it capable of granting wishes, secretly wishes that Jay Berry may be able to buy the pony and rifle that he has long desired. Soon afterward, a fierce storm frightens the monkeys into accompanying him into captivity, and he quickly returns them to the circus for his reward. Although he considers buying the pony and rifle, he chooses to finance Daisy's surgery instead. By the conclusion, he and his grandfather have accumulated enough money to buy him a paint pony. Daisy was able to gather enough money to get him a .22 gun while she was in the city.
Film adaptation.
Summer of the Monkeys is a 1998 American family adventure-drama film directed by Michael Anderson and stars Corey Sevier as Jay Berry Lee, a young boy who discovers circus monkeys living in the forest near his home. The movie also stars Michael Ontkean and Leslie Hope as Jay Berry's parents, as well as Katie Stuart, Don Francks, and Wilford Brimley.
The book was made into the movie in 1997 by Edge Productions in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and received a limited theatrical release in both Canada and the United States in 1998 and was released on home video in the United States by Walt Disney Home Video, a subsidiary of Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc.


The DinoHunters

The DinoHunters is an advertisement-supported first-person shooter and machinima series created by Kuma Reality Games. Using Valve's Source for its engine, "The Dinohunters" is distributed in free downloadable episodes for the PC. The first episode was released in 2006 through Kuma Reality Games' game client. Accompanying comedic machinima movies were also created to bring the player closer to the world of "The DinoHunters", as well as advertise for "The Dinohunters" real life sponsors such as Schick, which was replaced later by Jeep (in levels, there are S.U.V.s that have license plates that say Jeep on them).
The story of "The DinoHunters" is centered on a fictitious reality show on the Total Hunting Channel and sends a crew of washed up celebrities into the past to hunt dinosaurs for sport and big ratings. The crew consists of Australian stunt-man and actor Roger Wallaby, country singer Harlan Davis, native New Yorker Shaw, and their sexpot producer Candace "Candy" Spencer.
"The DinoHunters" is one of the pioneers in the advergaming space of the video game industry. For its first episodes Kuma Reality Games partnered with Schick to promote its Schick Quattro Razor. Kuma Reality Games uses partnerships like this to also keep their other published games free: Kuma\War and The History Channel's ShootOut!: The Game.
Gameplay.
"The DinoHunters" is a first-person shooter that uses Valve's Source engine. Featuring single- and multiplayer modes, the game features a variety of different weapons and enemies for the player to encounter. "The DinoHunters" currently features 6 playable episodes and 6 machinima episodes. New free episodes are released periodically.
Machinima.
Along with the game, "The DinoHunters" is also a machinima series.


Jazz Jackrabbit

Jazz Jackrabbit is a video game trilogy featuring the eponymous character of Jazz Jackrabbit, a green anthropomorphic hare, who fights with his turtle nemesis, Devan Shell, in a science fiction parody of the fable of "The Tortoise and the Hare". Created by Arjan Brussee and Cliff Bleszinski and developed by Epic MegaGames, the series debuted on the IBM PC in 1994 with "Jazz Jackrabbit". The series consists of two computer games and a handheld console game.
Games.
"Jazz Jackrabbit" (1994).
The first Jazz Jackrabbit game was developed and released by Epic MegaGames in 1994 for IBM PCs running DOS. Jazz had to rescue Carrotus princess Eva Earlong, who was kidnapped by his nemesis, Devan Shell. The shareware edition was extremely popular and the game was named Arcade Game of the Year by PC Format.
"Jazz Jackrabbit 2" (1998).
A sequel, "Jazz Jackrabbit 2" was developed by Orange Games, produced by Epic Games and released in 1998 by Gathering of Developers in North America and Project 2 in Europe. Jazz and his brother, Spaz, team up to get back Eva's stolen wedding ring. Despite moderate success in Europe, it was the first game Gathering of Developers ever lost money on.
"Jazz Jackrabbit 3".
"Jazz Jackrabbit 3" (alternatively called "Jazz Jackrabbit 3D: Adventures of a Mean Green Hare") is the cancelled game of the series. Spearheaded by Dean "Noogy" Dodrill (an animator for "Jazz Jackrabbit 2") and coded by World Tree Games, it was being developed for the original Unreal Engine technology in 1999. As the game's alternate name implies, Jazz would have ventured into the realm of 3D for the first time. The game was planned for release on PC and PlayStation 2.
Development of the game was ceased part way through in May 2000 as Epic MegaGames was unable to find a publisher. Since then, the alpha has been leaked on to the internet. Spaz and Lori, both of whom were from the preceding game, were also intended to be playable, but only Jazz is playable in the alpha.
Following the events of "Jazz Jackrabbit 2", Jazz Jackrabbit and his wife, Eva Earlong, settle down in Carrotus Castle and become parents. Devan Shell, the main antagonist of the series, kidnaps their children, taking them into an alternate universe via the time machine from the previous game.
"Jazz Jackrabbit 3" is a third-person shooter with platforming and adventure game elements. The mouse is used to aim and shoot, while the keyboard moves Jazz around the world. Jazz can fire his weapon, or charge up a more powerful shot. Jazz's arsenal can be expanded using coins collected to purchase new weapons and combine them with Elemental "Dream Cells" to create various weapon effects. In the alpha, only Fire and Ice Dream Cells can be acquired, and usable with two guns (the standard Blaster and the Gizmo Gun). When Jazz moves around in a level, he leaves a trail of footprints on the ground.
Unlike the previous installments, "Jazz Jackrabbit 3" has no levels. Instead, it is divided into sections, similar to "Super Metroid". At specific points in a map, the player can travel back and forth between these sections. Each new area that is visited is prefaced by its name.
"Jazz Jackrabbit" (2002).
"Jazz Jackrabbit", developed by Game Titan and published by Jaleco under license from Epic Games, was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2002. As a reboot to the series, several changes were done in overall design, oriented towards cosmic science fiction inspired by Star Wars. Jazz's appearance was changed, losing his trademark bandana, backpack, and wristbands, and portraying now as similar looking to Han Solo, with his blue large gun also being replaced by conventional weapons. Eva Earlong is missing from the game and Devan Shell, featuring a Darth Vader-esque appearance, is now known as Dark Shell.
Other appearances.
Jazz, along with Devan and Eva, made a cameo in ', which was developed by Diversions Entertainment and published by Epic Games, in single-player tournament mode. Each character piloted a fighting mech that was suited to their individual personalities. "Jazz Jackrabbit 2" also has one cameo from '.
At one point Epic Games was considering an animated series based on "Jazz Jackrabbit", as evidenced by Epic filing a trademark registration for the name "Jazz Jackrabbit" on March 28, 1997. The application contains a description for goods and services which says "entertainment in the nature of animated TV series".
In December 2010, Epic Games released development kits for the Unreal Engine for iOS. One of the tutorials for these devkits features "Jazz Jackrabbit" as a top down twin-stick shooter game.
A "Jazz Jackrabbit" easter egg has appeared in "Fortnite", a game released in 2017 by Epic Games.


Rex (Slovak TV series)

Rex is a Slovak police procedural drama, based on the Austrian drama "Inspector Rex". The television series commenced in 2017 on Slovak television channel Markíza. The show follows the German Shepherd police dog Rex, his partners, and the rest of the team in Bratislava as they work together to solve crimes. Rex is played by three different dogs, originating from Poland. In November 2017, it was announced that "Rex" was being renewed for a second series.


Raptor Ranch

Raptor Ranch (also known as The Dinosaur Experiment) is a 2012 science fiction action adventure horror comedy film written and directed by Dan Bishop. Produced by Stephan Galfas, Mosh Moe Grunberg and Shlomo May-Zur, it stars Jana Mashonee, and Lorenzo Lamas.
Plot.
A modern-day Texas community is overrun by vicious prehistoric raptors and a group of people try to survive the raptor onslaught at a cattle ranch.
In Fossil Ridge, Texas, a reclusive, Dr. Cane experimenting with bird DNA, managed to create several species of carnivorous dinosaurs. One of them gets loose and causes a string of killings, drawing the attention of the police and the FBI who send two agents to investigate.
Abbi Whitecloud, a waitress and aspiring singer whose mother was one of the casualties, is forced to work for her demanding boss, Eddie Wayne to pay off a debt. Entering Fossil Ridge are college buddies Sheldon, Lucas, and "Manbeast", who run out of gas, and touring band Little Willie and the Willettes, who suffer engine trouble. Abbi agrees to take Sheldon and Manbeast to the rancher's property for gasoline. They are accompanied by Willie's drummer, Kolin. The rancher suffers a heart attack and Manbeast is devoured after accidentally releasing the rest of the dinosaurs.
Abbi, Sheldon, and Kolin return to Abbi's house to find her boss there, who is subsequently eaten by a T-rex. It then trashes Abbi's house while going after her and her friends. As they escape, they are chased by a pair of Megalosaurs, but Abbi is able to fend them off with a bow and arrows. They return to the gas station to find Lucas as the only survivor; Willie and Willie's band member, Josie has been killed by raptors. After attempting to escape in Willie's broken down tour bus, they are trapped by the dinosaurs and hide in a store. Kolin finds a book containing the dinosaurs' origins. Lucas is eaten by the T-rex in an attempt to fight it. A few hours later, the others escape the store and make it to a factory while the dinosaurs converge and fight one another, with the Megalosaurus emerging victorious.
The Megalosaurus tracks them to a processing plant and in the ensuing chase, Kolin and Sheldon are crushed to death by the rampaging reptile. Abbi lures the dinosaur to a different part of the factory containing flammables, pours gasoline onto the floor and ignites it, incinerating the beast. She is then taken into custody by the FBI agents, who release her and cover up the incident by attributing it to attacks by "killer emus" or "the chupacabra".
One year later, Abbi finally realizes her dream as a cabaret singer and is performing in an undisclosed nightclub. As her show wraps up, a surviving raptor appears and pounces at the screen.
Production.
Filming.
Filmed on location in St. Petersburg, Russia, Leonard and Celeste, Texas, and in Los Angeles, California.


Up from the Depths

Up From the Depths is a 1979 horror film directed by Charles B. Griffith and starring Sam Bottoms, Susanne Reed, Virgil Frye, Kedric Wolfe, and Charles Howerton. The film, along with many other natural horror films at the time of its release, was made due to the success of "Jaws".
Plot.
The staff and vacationers at a first-class resort on the island of Maui are beginning to mysteriously disappear. A biologist believes that an underwater earthquake has caused a giant and very hungry dormant prehistoric fish to be released from its slumber. The fish voraciously helps itself to a tourist buffet. Now it is open season for the local fishermen to find and kill the creature.
Production.
Charles B Griffith later called making the film a "terrible experience".
We had it written by one of the typists or secretaries in the office who didn't have any thoughts of becoming a writer. I think Roger did it to punish me, to send me out to The Philippines where I didn't know what I was getting into. I was making an action picture, but The Philippines people were all so depressed, and they had made this goofy-looking fish with bug eyes. I told them that we'll make it a comedy, and their eyes lit up! So I sent back a comedy on one plane, and I arrived on the next one. By the time I arrived, Roger had already cut 75 minutes out. As an editor would say, "That's a set-up, that's a payoff!"
Release.
Home media.
"Up from the Depths" was released on DVD by Shout Factory as a part of its "Roger Corman's Cult Classics" on January 18, 2011. Shout Factory later re-released the film on October 9, 2012.
Reception.
Kurt Dahlke from DVD Talk gave the film 1.5 out of 5 stars, criticizing the film's corny acting, uneven tone, and obvious rubber monster suit. Dahlke concluded his review by writing, ""Up From The Depths" isn't remotely scary or thrilling, it lacks sufficient violence or gore to please the punters, and its mid-course switch to comedy isn't all that funny either. We're talking about a real heap of bronze-plated crud, so if your taste runs to Z-movies, you'll still probably have to get real drunk to eke any pleasure out of this one." Charles Tatum from "eFilmCritic" gave the film 1/5 stars, panning the film's lack of characterizations, and suspense, as well as the film's special effects, and poor dubbing. R.L. Shafer from IGN called the film "severely lacking", and "a low-rent knock-off of Steven Spielberg's smash-hit, "Jaws"".


The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show

The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show is an American animated television series featuring characters and storylines from the Charles M. Schulz comic strip "Peanuts". It aired Saturday mornings on the CBS network from 1983 to 2007.
Due to lower-than-expected ratings, in an attempt to boost viewership, CBS moved the series to 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time early in 1984. It did not help the ratings much, and while the show was not formally cancelled in 1984, further production was on hiatus, and in 1985, CBS ordered five new episodes for what would be a second and final season. Early in 1986, CBS dropped the show after many weeks of reruns."
"The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show" is one of the few television series produced by Bill Melendez, whose animation studio generally produced specials.
The show reaired on The Disney Channel in 1993 and was aired on YTV in Canada by 1996. It was also aired with the TV Specials on Boomerang in the UK from 2002 to 2004.
Voice cast.
The characters were performed by real children, and there was a large cast turnover between the first and second season due to the child actors maturing out of their roles.
Theme song.
The first season's theme was a Vince Guaraldi styled piano-based instrumental written and produced for this series, which was composed by Desiree Goyette and Ed Bogas. The song was given lyrics and released in 1984 as "Let's Have a Party with Charlie Brown and Snoopy" on the album "Flashbeagle", the soundtrack to the special "It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown". On the second season, a shortened version with the lyrics that appeared on the "Flashbeagle" album was used.
The Chinese-Cantonese version and the Japanese version were written by Seeyan Wong, Charles M. Schulz Hong Kong Fan Club in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
Home media.
In 1987, Kartes Video Communications released the show on VHS in nine volumes (with titles in the style of normal "Peanuts" specials), with two episodes each.
From 1994 to 2001, Paramount Home Video released the show on VHS and LaserDisc in the same fashion, but under the actual title of the show.
On June 14, 2011, Warner Home Video released the fourteenth episode of the show on DVD under a single disc called: "Happiness Is... Peanuts: Snoopy's Adventures". They also announced that on October 18, 2011, the eighteenth and final episode of the show would come to DVD under a single disc called: "Happiness Is... Peanuts: Snow Days", the thirteenth episode of the show came to DVD under a single disc called: "Happiness Is... Peanuts: Friends Forever" on December 27, 2011 and the fifteenth episode of the show came to DVD under a single disc called: "Happiness Is... Peanuts: Team Snoopy" on May 1, 2012. On October 9, 2012, "Happiness Is... Peanuts: Go Snoopy Go!" featured the twelfth episode of the show. Also, the entire series is available through iTunes. On January 21, 2014, the first, fourth and eleventh episodes appeared on a single disc DVD called "Touchdown Charlie Brown".
On November 20, 2012, Warner Bros. released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection.
All episodes have previously been released on DVD in Australia and Germany across two 2-disc box sets.


Fury (TV series)

Fury (retitled Brave Stallion in syndicated reruns) is an American western television series that aired on NBC from 1955 to 1960. It stars Peter Graves as Jim Newton, who operates the Broken Wheel Ranch in California; Bobby Diamond as Jim's adopted son, Joey Clark Newton, and William Fawcett as ranch hand Pete Wilkey. Roger Mobley co-starred in the two final seasons as Homer "Packy" Lambert, a friend of Joey's.
The frequent introduction to the show depicts the beloved stallion running inside the corral and approaching the camera as the announcer reads: "FURY!...The story of a horse...and a boy who loves him." "Fury" is the first American series to be produced originally by Television Programs of America and later by the British-based company ITC Entertainment.
Outdoor footage for the series was filmed primarily on the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif., throughout the five-season run of the series, with some of the earliest footage for the series shot on the Garner Ranch in Idyllwild, Calif. One episode, "Packy, the Lion Tamer," which premiered on Jan. 2, 1960, included footage shot at Jungleland USA in Thousand Oaks, California, and occasional footage appearing during the series was shot at Corriganville Movie Ranch near Simi Valley, California.
Synopsis.
The story begins with two young boys fighting on the street. As Joey Clark, the winner of the exchange, walks away, the loser attempts to throw something at him, but the object goes through a nearby window. The store owner quickly pins the blame on Joey, who has been labeled a troublemaker from past incidents. Rancher Jim Newton witnesses the incident and follows along as Joey is taken before the judge to clear the boy's name. After learning that Joey is an orphan, Newton takes him home to his Broken Wheel Ranch and begins adoption procedures.
A typical plot involved a guest star who falls into mischief, was rebellious or disorderly, and got into trouble but is subsequently rescued by Fury. In most episodes, Fury allowed only Joey to ride him, but occasionally others were allowed the honor of mounting Fury if they had done a good deed for the horse. One of the original concepts of the show was that Fury remained a 'wild' (untamed) horse, who wouldn't allow anyone but Joey to ride him or even come near him. In several episodes people would see the calm interaction between the horse "and the boy who loved him," and assume that the horse must be broken — but when they tried to put a saddle on him, Fury would rear up and attack them.
Numerous episodes focus on youth organizations, including the Boy Scouts, Big Brothers, Junior Achievement, 4-H Club, Little League, and even the Girl Scouts. A 1957 episode is dedicated to Fire Prevention Week.
Ann Robinson played Joey Newton's dedicated teacher, Helen Watkins, in nine episodes of the first season. In addition to Roger Mobley as Packy Lambert, another friend of Joey's is portrayed in the series by child actor Jimmy Baird (born 1945), who was cast as Rodney "Pee Wee" Jenkins.James Seay portrayed a sheriff in six episodes. Maudie Prickett was cast twice, once in the title role of "Aunt Harriet" (1958).
Among the other guest stars were Shelley Fabares as Midge Mallon in "The Tomboy" (1957), Tony Young in "Timber Walker" (1959), Lee Van Cleef as Race Collins in "House Guests" (1959), and Walter Maslow in "The Relay Station" (1959).
Jim Bannon appeared twice on "Fury", once as a prison warden in the episode "Fish Story" (1958). Andy Clyde was cast in "Fury Runs to Win" (1956) and "Black Gold" (1959). Russ Conway was cast in "Joey Goes Hunting" (1955) and "A Present for Packy" (1960). Nan Leslie was cast twice on "Fury", as Stella Lambert in "The Model Plane" (1958) and as Packy's mother in "The Pulling Contest" (1959). Paul Picerni of "Untouchables" fame, portrayed Tupelo in "Packy, the Lion Tamer" (1960). He also appeared in "An Old Indian Trick" (1959). John M. Pickard, star of the syndicated "Boots and Saddles" western series, appeared in the episodes "Timber" (1956) and "Trail Drive" (1959). Will Wright, known for his curmudgeonly roles, was cast in "Ghost Town" (1955) and "The Meanest Man" (1958).
Much of the outdoor footage was shot on the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, California, where the "Fury Set" was built in 1955, specifically for the series. This set included a small house, a cabin, corrals and other features, but it was dominated by a large barn. In addition to being used throughout five seasons of "Fury," the Fury Set was used in many films, including "Fury at Showdown" (1957) and "The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock" (1959), and in other television series, including "Bonanza" and "Cimarron Strip," before it burned to the ground in the massive Newhall/Malibu fire of fall 1970.
Cast.
The cast included:
Syndication.
The series continued in reruns on NBC until 1966 and was syndicated throughout the 1960s and 1970s by ITC Entertainment, which produced the series. Season 1 now plays on STIRR from 2-3pm central time Sunday-Saturday.


Tekken Tag Tournament

 is a spin-off of the Namco's "Tekken" fighting game series.It is the fourth installment in the "Tekken" fighting game series.
"Tekken Tag Tournament" was released as an arcade game in 1999 before becoming a North American and European launch title for the PlayStation 2 in 2000. The arcade version operated similarly, but ran on a 32-bit graphics engine like "Tekken 3". It received upgraded graphics when it was ported to the PlayStation 2. Its sequel "Tekken Tag Tournament 2" was released in 2011. A remastered version of the game titled "Tekken Tag Tournament HD" was released for the PlayStation 3 in November 2011, as part of "Tekken Hybrid".
Gameplay.
Continuing the fighting mechanics from "Tekken 3", "Tekken Tag Tournament" sees players battling in teams of two characters. At any point in the match, the player can hit a tag button to swap out with their other fighter, allowing the resting fighter to recover some lost health. The tag can be implemented in many ways, such as in between combos or utilizing special throws. At times when a resting fighter's lifebar is flashing, that character can be tagged in to be given a temporary boost in strength. Unlike other tag games such as Capcom's "Vs." series, players are defeated when only one of their fighters lose all of their health, requiring players to be strategic about tagging their fighters. In the event of a timeout, the team with the most accumulative health remaining wins the round.
The game features over 35 characters that previously appeared in "Tekken 2" and "Tekken 3". In addition, there is a boss character, Unknown, who is similar to "Tekken 3's" Mokujin in that she can randomly imitate any character's fighting style, albeit she is able to change her style any time during the fight. The PlayStation 2 version added enhanced graphics and various modes, including 1-on-1 mode, in which players only choose one fighter each, and Team Battle, where players choose up to eight battles and play with the tag rules, with each new character replacing the one that was defeated (the remaining fighter must fight on his/her own). Also featured is the "Tekken Bowl" mode, a bowling minigame where each character has different attributes.
The arcade and console versions of "Tekken Tag Tournament" differ slightly. The arcade version ran on a 32-bit engine, utilizing the graphics engine of "Tekken 3". These graphics ran using the "Tekken 3" PCB board, based on the PlayStation hardware. The console version ran on a highly updated engine, utilizing the PlayStation 2's graphics processor. The game does not run on a 32-bit engine, yet on a new and updated engine highly similar to that found on "Tekken 4". The background designs and BGMs differed too, as the console version has new updated tracks, while the arcade version was based on MIDI tracks with an instrumental backing. Unknown is not playable on the arcade version, yet the character is on the PlayStation 2 version. The arcade version also allows players to only select the alternative colors that have been added to the costumes at first, while the normally colored ones are unlocked when the bonus characters are. There are also crucial differences concerning the playability of the characters, as some moves or attacks are much more efficient in the arcade version than in the console version and vice versa.
If Unknown is chosen in the arcade version of Tekken Tag Tournament even though the stages were at random, all of those 8 stages were always Unknown. Completing arcade mode as Unknown, goes straight to the credits.
Characters.
As the game was made to be a compilation of previous games, the game include nearly every character from the original "Tekken" up to "Tekken 3", including those who were canonically missing in the current canonical game "Tekken 3". All of them have improved appearance and movesets to make them on par with the "Tekken 3" characters.
Additionally, the game adds two new characters, both of them being mimic characters: Tetsujin and Unknown. Unknown also serves as the final boss of the game. Both characters seldom appear in future games, with Unknown resuming her role as final boss in the sequel "Tekken Tag Tournament 2", while Tetsujin is featured as a boss in the free-to-play "Tekken Revolution" and the mobile game "Tekken".
The only absent characters in the game that were playable in previous entries of the series are the original Jack, the first King, the first Kuma, Marshall Law, Dr. Bosconovitch, and Gon (he is a guest character in the third Tekken).
Returning characters.

Remaster.
"Tekken Tag Tournament HD" is a remastered version of "Tekken Tag Tournament", released in November 2011 for the PlayStation 3. The game comes on the same Blu-ray Disc as the 3D movie "" and is accessible if the disc is loaded on a PlayStation 3 (the entire package is referred to as "Tekken Hybrid" which also includes "Tekken: Blood Vengeance" and a demo version of "Tekken Tag Tournament 2"). It is based on the PlayStation 2 version and features updated HD visuals and Trophy support. A limited edition version of "Tekken Hybrid" was released alongside the standard version, which included an art book, selected soundtracks of both "Tag Tournament" and "Tag Tournament 2", and PlayStation Home content.
Reception.
"Tekken Tag Tournament" received highly positive reviews from critics. It has an aggregate score of 85/100 on Metacritic, and a score of 86% at GameRankings. Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot gave it a 9.6 out of 10 described it as "delivering the same solid gameplay that Tekken fans crave in large doses" but added "wait for Tekken 4 to find that out". IGN gave it an 8.7 out of 10, praising its graphics and character moves. Prince Paul of "GamePro" praised "Tekken Tag Tournament" for its visuals "where you could see individual blades of grass!" In Japan, "Famitsu" scored the PlayStation 2 version of the game a 38 out of 40.
Frank O'Connor reviewed the PlayStation 2 version of the game for "Next Generation", rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "The only thing preventing "Tekken Tag" from receiving a perfect score is its lack of innovation – it's basically a prettier "Tekken 3". However, that still makes it the best "Tekken" yet."
Frank O'Connor reviewed the PlayStation 2 version of the game for "Next Generation", rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "A densely packed, gloriously rendered, and very playable fighting game. Almost but not quite a killer app."
Sales and awards.
In Japan, "Game Machine" listed "Tekken Tag Tournament" on their August 15, 1999 issue as being the second most-successful arcade game of the year. The game was added to the list of Sony Greatest Hits games on March 1, 2002. By July 2006, "Tekken Tag Tournament" had sold 1.4 million copies and earned $48 million in the United States. "Next Generation" ranked it as the 35th highest-selling game launched for the PlayStation 2, Xbox or GameCube between January 2000 and July 2006 in that country. Combined sales of "Tekken" games released in the 2000s reached 3 million units in the United States by July 2006. It received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.
It was a runner-up for GameSpot's annual "Best PlayStation 2 Game" and "Best Fighting Game" awards, which went to "SSX" and "", respectively. In 2007, IGN listed "Tekken Tag Tournament" as the 23rd best game on the PlayStation 2. In 2008, "PSM" stated ""Tekken Tag" is regarded as the best installment in the series".
Legacy.
A sequel for "Tekken Tag Tournament", titled "Tekken Tag Tournament 2", was announced at the Tokyo Game Show 2010 on September 18, 2010. The game expanded on the original's tag mechanics, allowing for more flowing tag combos and combined moves, inherited some gameplay mechanics from "Tekken 6", and featured characters from more recent "Tekken" games. It was released as an arcade cabinet in Japan on September 14, 2011, with an "unlimited" revision following on March 27, 2012. PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in all territories in the week of September 11, 2012, and a Wii-U port followed in November 2012. A free "Tekken Bowl" app based on the original "Tekken Tag"'s bonus mode was released on iOS on July 23, 2011.


Jennie (novel)

Jennie is a novel by American author Douglas Preston. The book was published on October 1, 1994 by St. Martin's Press .
Plot summary.
Jennie is a chimpanzee, living in the 1970s. Naturalist Dr. Hugo Archibald delivers Jennie from her dying mother in the Cameroons and brings her home to his American family. His young son, Sandy, becomes extremely attached to Jennie, but Archibald's daughter, Sarah, resents the chimp. Jennie, through her learning of ASL (American Sign Language), starts to converse and interact with the humans around her. Eventually, Jennie goes to a wildlife preserve where she cannot function.
Reception.
—Review by "Kirkus Reviews"


Fowl Play (documentary)


Weenie Roast

Weenie Roast is a 1931 short animated cartoon distributed by Columbia Pictures. It stars Krazy Kat.
Plot.
Krazy Kat and his spaniel girlfriend are singing and dancing at the beach. As they do their rhythmic leisure, they also roast some sausages for lunch above a bonfire. But because the fire is too close to the shore, waves come by which put out the flames and wash away their food. To startover, Krazy picks up some driftwood in the vicinity and lights them. The cat and the dog resume what they are doing.
Following their trip to the beach, Krazy and the spaniel head to a carnival. The two then decide to start with the roller coaster which the spaniel is quick to take seat. But while Krazy is still outside trying to pay for the ride, the coaster operator suddenly sneezes, therefore blowing the coaster away, much to the girl mutt's panic. Krazy scales up the elevated the tracks to rescue his sweetheart. After chasing the coaster for a number of yards, the cat is able to get on board but wonders how he could stop it. The coaster eventually comes off the tracks and onto the fairgrounds where it runs through some tents and a tunnel of mirrors. Upon reaching the tunnel's exit, the runaway railway vehicle finally drops into a shallow pond, thus spilling out its passengers. Down on their bottoms, Krazy and the spaniel are daze but also relieved from their nightmarish ride.


Blue Cow (cartoon)

Blue Cow is a cartoon cow created by Blue-Zoo. She appeared on the BBC children's television series The Story Makers. The show was primarily shown on the CBeebies channel but has been shown previously on BBC Two.
Blue Cow wonders what goes on in the outside world beyond her field. In each episode she wonders about something different. The other (black and white) cows in the field don't appear to have the same inquiring mind as Blue Cow as whenever she starts wondering they say, "she's off again." Blue Cow then boards a red double decker bus which takes her to an appropriate destination where she will find out the answer to what she was wondering about.
When she returns to her field at the end of most episodes she tells the other cows in the field what she has done during the day. The other cows invariably do not believe her and say, "Everyone knows cows can't ..." followed by a description of precisely what Blue Cow has just done, with the narrator usually following up the remark with "But we know they can, don't we?"


Swamp Devil

Swamp Devil is a 2008 Canadian horror film directed by David Winning and starring Bruce Dern, Cindy Sampson and Nicolas Wright. It is the 13th film of the "Maneater Series".
Plot.
Melanie Blaime returns to her hometown of Gibbington, Vermont because her father, a former sheriff, is wanted for multiple murders. Jimmy Fuller wants to help find her father, and it looks as if something incredibly sinister is responsible for the corpses in Gibbington.
Production.
The film was completely shot in Montréal, Québec and actor Bruce Dern broke his leg on camera running in the woods, one week into the three-week shoot. He finished the film on crutches and using various photo doubles and camera tricks.
Release.
It premiered on April 17, 2008 as part of the Houston Film Festival and was released on DVD by Genius Entertainment on April 7, 2009 with no special features.
Reception.
Justin Felix, of DVD Talk, said that if you like your horror cheap and dumb - and don't have access to the Sci-Fi Channel - then this is worth a rental. Michael Simpson, of CinemaSpy, said that the film is a cheesy, predictable but entertaining chiller that isn't likely to scare the pants off anyone in their teens or older and that Winning's direction created enough suspense that such cliches were unnecessary. A Fangoria review says that the film pulls no punches about what it is—a throwaway monster flick that borrows heavily from "Swamp Thing" and the vine-attack sequence from "Evil Dead II".


Lad, A Dog

Lad: A Dog is a 1919 American novel written by Albert Payson Terhune and published by E. P. Dutton. Composed of twelve short stories first published in magazines, the novel is based on the life of Terhune's real-life Rough Collie, Lad. Born in 1902, the real-life Lad was an unregistered collie of unknown lineage originally owned by Terhune's father. Lad's death in 1918 was mourned by many of the story's fans, particularly children.
Through the stories of Lad's adventures, Terhune expresses his views on parenting, obtaining perfect obedience without force and the nature and rights of the "well-bred". Terhune began writing the stories in 1915 at the suggestion of his "Red Book Magazine" editor. They gained in popularity and, as Terhune was under contractual obligation to submit something to Doubleday-Page, he collected them into novel form. After Doubleday rejected the novel, he solicited other publishers until it was picked up by Dutton. After a slow start, the novel became a best seller in the adult fiction and children's fiction markets, having been repositioned as a young adult novel by Grosset and Dunlap in the 1960s and 1970s. Selling over one million copies, it is Terhune's best-selling work and the one that propelled him to fame. It has been reprinted over 70 times by Dutton and republished by a variety of publishers since its original release, including at least six international translations.
Contemporaneous critics praised Terhune's writing style and the overall story appeal, while dog breeders criticized his unrealistic canine characters. In retrospective reviews, critics considered that the novel had aged badly and that Terhune displayed little actual writing skill, but noted that the novel was able to hold long-lasting appeal as it triggered the reader's desire to have such an ideal dog. Terhune himself considered the novel "hack writing" and did not understand why it was so popular. Because of its reception, he went on to publish two additional novels featuring Lad and one featuring Lad's son, Wolf, as well as many other fictional stories featuring dogs. Warner Brothers released a in June 1962. A series of four children's picture books based on three of the stories from the novel were published by Margo Lundell between 1997 and 1998.
Plot.
A Rough Collie named Lad lives at the Place with his Master, Mistress, and his mate, Lady. When Knave, a younger collie, is boarded at the Place, Lady begins ignoring Lad in favor of the newcomer. During a romp in the forest with Knave, Lady is caught in a leghold trap. Knave leaves her there and returns home, but Lad finds her. Several days later, the still limping Lady accidentally gets locked in the library and is subsequently blamed for the destruction of the Master's beloved mounted bald eagle. The Master starts to whip her, but Lad intervenes and takes the whipping himself, knowing Knave was the culprit. Later, he attacks Knave for getting Lady in trouble, sending him fleeing from the Place. As the Master apologizes to Lad, Lady lovingly licks his wounds from the fight.
On a cold October day, the Mistress falls into the lake and develops pneumonia. As the house must be kept quiet during her recovery, the dogs are sent to a boarding kennel, except Lad who is ordered to keep quiet. One night a thief breaks into the house, hoping to take advantage of the absence of the dogs. After he climbs through a window, Lad silently attacks him. During the ensuing fight Lad is cut with a knife before sending the man crashing back through the window. The noise wakes the humans of the house and the thief is arrested. After Lad's wound is treated, he enjoys praise from the Mistress, then travels some distance from home to enjoy a lengthy session of barking.
One spring, a relative of the Mistress brings her invalid toddler, Baby, to the Place in the hope that the weather will help her grow stronger. Lad immediately befriends the girl and becomes her constant companion. By summer, Baby is growing healthier, though she is still unable to walk. One afternoon, the mother sits the child near the lake, then leaves her to go meet the Master and Mistress, who are returning from town. Lad saves the baby from a copperhead, but the distraught mother only sees Lad throw her backwards and begins beating him. To protect her friend, Baby manages to shakily walk to her mother and explain what happened. While the humans fuss over the occurrence, Lad sneaks off and spends four days buried in marsh mud to draw out the snake's poison.
Lady gives birth to three pups, but two of them die due to illness, she names the remaining pup Wolf. She later develops distemper and is taken away by the veterinarian, so Lad takes over the raising of his son, solemnly teaching him the Law of the Place. Wolf comes to love and respect his father and soon forgets his mother, though Lad continues to search for her daily. A month later, Wolf falls through the ice of the semi-frozen lake, and Lad nearly drowns while saving him. When Lad staggers to shore, he is ecstatically greeted by the recovered Lady.
The Master and Mistress enter Lad in the Westminster Dog Show in New York, much to Lad's abject misery as he dislikes the preparatory bathing and brushing. Dismayed to learn that Lad will have to stay chained to a small bench for all four days of the event, his owners begin to regret bringing him. To their joy, Lad wins the blue ribbon in both the Novice and Winner classes, and they decide not to subject him to the four-day stay. When they let Lad know he is going home, he joyfully perks up.
Due to city regulations, the Master and Mistress are forced to muzzle Lad when they take him from the show. During the drive out of the city, Lad falls out of the car and is left behind. After he realizes he is lost, Lad starts towards home. Along the way he is chased by the police and a crowd of people, who presume he is rabid, but he escapes them by swimming across the Hudson River. Later he is attacked by a mongrel guard dog, but he refuses to run from the battle. He initially struggles to defend himself while muzzled, but then the other dog inadvertently bites through the strap holding the muzzle on, allowing Lad to quickly defeat him. When the Master and Mistress return from searching for Lad, they find him waiting on the porch.
Glure, a wealthy neighbor who considers himself gentry, stops at the Place for a night while on the way to a livestock show with a flock of expensive sheep. During the night, Glure's "Prussian sheep dog", Melisande, worries the sheep and they break free from the pen. Though Lad has never seen sheep, he instinctively herds them together while keeping Melisande under control. When the humans arrive to take the sheep home, Glure's herdsman apologizes for having earlier insulted Lad and Glure offers to trade Melisande for Lad.
Tired of his high-priced imported livestock losing in local shows, Glure concocts a dog show with a special gold cup event that is limited to collies that are both American Kennel Club blue ribbon winners and capable of completing the tasks of a British working sheepdog trial. Initially, it seems like the only dog who meets the requirements is Glure's recently purchased blue-merle champion, Lochinvar III; however, the Mistress is able to command Lad through the motions of the trial. Lochinvar works primarily by hand signal, so when Glure accidentally burns his fingers on his cigar while going through the trial, the dog stops working and waits for Glure's hand-shaking to be explained. The dog is disqualified and Lad is declared the winner. The Master and Mistress donate the gold cup to the Red Cross in his name.
Glure tries to encourage the Master to support the "war effort" by killing his non-utilitarian animals, including his dogs. The Master quickly points out that Glure himself did not "sacrifice" his dogs, but lost them to distemper. Pointing out that Lad had just chased off a trespasser from the Place, he fiercely argues that his dogs are his home's best protection. A few days later during a livestock show, Lad attacks Glure's new groom, recognizing him as the trespasser he chased away earlier. Lad's attack frees a vicious bull, which goes into homicidal rage. Lad abandons his attack of the groom to protect him from the bull. The bull chases Lad over the river and consequently gets stuck in the mud. The Master quickly determines why Lad attacked the man and Glure grudgingly thanks them.
Lad is accused of killing eight sheep owned by a neighbor. When the Master refuses to believe the accusations, they are taken to court where the neighbor's farmhand testifies that he saw Lad kill two of the sheep. The Master successfully shows the improbability of a single dog carrying off six sheep in two nights and that the two dead sheep left behind were clearly cut with a knife, not teeth. After Lad is given a 24-hour parole, the Master asks the judge to accompany him to the neighbor's house that night, where they discover that the farmhand was actually stealing the sheep, then killing one from each batch to put the blame on Lad.
Wolf, the companion and friend of the Boy, is highly intelligent and an excellent guard dog. The Boy is upset that he is not allowed to enter the dog shows, though he understands that Wolf does not meet the breed standards. While the family is at a dog show with Bruce and Lad, Wolf is poisoned by an intruder. Having only eaten part of the tainted meat, Wolf is still alive when the thief returns to the house that night and is shot twice while protecting the Place. The thief escapes, but is later apprehended by the police while being treated for his bites. Wolf recovers and is given a "Hero Cup" trophy, to the Boy's delight.
On a cold, snowy day, thirteen-year-old Lad feels snubbed when the three-year-old Wolf does not invite him to join him and Rex, a five-year-old collie and bull terrier mix, for a run in the woods. Later, Lad goes for a walk, following their path. When he meets them on the trail, rather than letting Lad pass, Rex viciously attacks him. With his teeth dulled by old age, Lad is unable to really fight back. Refusing to just run, he defends himself as best he can while moving backwards towards home, half a mile away. Though Wolf betrays him and joins Rex in the life-or-death fight, Lad manages to get close enough to the house for Bruce to hear the battle and alert the Master and Mistress. The Master is forced to kill Rex after the crazed dog turns on him. After four weeks recovering from his wounds, Lad is able to go outside again and Wolf steps aside for him, acknowledging he is still the leader of the Place's dogs.
Themes.
The Lad stories tended to follow a persistent formula that Terhune used throughout most of his fiction. The main character was a "noble, almost saintly character" that could engage in battle, exact vengeance as needed, and displayed supernatural intelligence, loyalty, and understanding of the needs of his owners. Lad generally did battle with some villain, human or another dog, in defense of a helpless human or animal. Within each story, Terhune would speak in a positive, authoritative tone while dispensing various tidbits of information about canine behavior and thought processes. Injecting himself and his wife, Anice, into the novel, Terhune positioned the character of the "Master" as a "just, strict, well-intentioned but often rather bumbling man" who could be overly sentimental and was balanced by the "wise, calm, and patient" "Mistress".
One core theme of "Lad: A Dog" is the obtaining of perfect obedience without the use of force. Through the story characters' attempts at explaining Lad's inexplicable actions using "mythologies of atavism", Terhune reflects his own views of an ideal relationship between a parent and child, namely an "ideology of noble instinct tempered by inflexible training". An unknown third-person narrator also reflects Terhune's perspective and values regarding violence, which is both repelled and embraced. Reflecting patriarchy and the idea of a living creature that obeys unquestioningly and unhesitatingly, the novel indicates that "perfect obedience and submission to a master's will" can be obtained without needing violence or force. Indeed, Terhune regularly decries the use of physical punishment to gain obedience. For example, in the story "His Little Son", Lad takes over the raising of his son, using an even tempered, rational training system that reflects "discipline and firm kindliness". In the end, Lad is stated to have a stronger, love-based relationship with his son versus that of the pup with his mother, the temperamental Lady. Lady raised their son using physical force to impose her will, and thus after she leaves for a period, she is forgotten by him as he holds no love for her.
Within the novel, the Law forbids violence between the inhabitants of the Place. Despite its seemingly unyielding nature, it is in fact broken several times, though always with "good reason". In the story "His Mate", Lad meets and later must win the heart of his mate, Lady. Lad is clearly "enthralled" by the adult Lady's sexual appeal. As Terhune seems reluctant to note the facts of canine mating, Lady is never stated to actually go into heat. Instead the relationship is framed within the context of a "human courtly love triangle" when the "showy" Knave comes to the Place and Lady forgets Lad and fawns on the new arrival. When Lady is believed to have destroyed a beloved mounted bald eagle, the Master breaks the rules against violence and intends to beat her. Lad, in turn, breaks the rules of perfect obedience and growls, becoming the object of punishment and taking the beating in her stead. At the end of the story, when the Master realizes he was mistaken, he apologizes to Lad for beating the wrong dog. Despite the novel's overall theme of nonviolence, the Master's "unreasonable attachment to the bird" becomes the motivation for his "cruelty toward the helpless dogs", yet Lad perceives the Master's actions as "reasonable and functional". Though the numerous tenets of the Law forbid violence in various forms, if the dogs harm something of sentimental value it is deemed justifiable to treat them with "any amount of violence." This change is seen as reflecting a lack of maturity in the Master, and his having a "childish fixation on having his own way", showing a desire to have control and order over that which can never be perfectly ordered: everyday life. Throughout many of the stories, a consistent theme is the Master's imposition of will, behind which is the "blind rage of a child who cannot get exactly what he wants."
The dogs of the Place are trained and commanded to control any violent outbursts against the Place's occupants or guests, yet Lad's engaging acceptable targets is written to "glamorize" the use of violence. Throughout the novel, Lad is victorious in battles against two thieves, a runaway bull, an "invading Negro", and four other dogs, including a battle against two dogs at once. Each of the battles is referred to as a death match, with intricate detail on the tactics and strengths of a fighting collie. Terhune paints him as a "noble savage" who is "human-like, but better than human" and who worships, and is worshiped by, his humans.
Another theme frequently reflected is that of "breeding", in several senses: "pedigree, an inborn sense of manners and behavior, and, elliptically, sex." Showcasing contemporary views of "entitlement and "noblesse oblige", the novel reflects Terhune's place as a member of the aristocracy and attempts to "justify the natural rights of the well-bred." The Place is owned by a rich family, that needs to be guarded against threats by foreigners, thieves of all varieties, Negroes, poachers and the homeless. Within the novel, Terhune notes the provisions of the "Guest Law", which reflect a fear of "the flotsam of the American polity". In the character Hamilcar Q. Glure, shows his dislike for the "nouveaux riches", those with "new money", over those born and bred into wealth.
The novel also focuses on competition in the venues of the dog shows and combat. Within the novel, despite disliking shows and being an "old style" collie, Lad's "sheer noble nature" enables him to win despite the going preferences for "more superficial qualities". Lad obeys the Law in part because of his heredity as a purebred, and the Master considers himself a thoroughbred due to his having certain "race characteristics that are ingrained in his blood." Frequently, Terhune references atavism, attributing Lad's calling upon hereditary instincts to the presence of "a strain of wolf" in the brains of all collies. This idea also reflects the power of humans over nature.
History.
Albert Payson Terhune was an established newspaperman and author of several books in various genres—including histories and thrillers—when he penned his first canine short story, "His Mate". Ray Long, then editor for "Red Book Magazine", had jokingly suggested he write a story about Lad one afternoon, when the reticent dog put his head on Long's knee after having snubbed the familiar visitor for the last year. Having already tried to market the idea of his writing dog stories to magazines for several years, Terhune readily agreed. The first story featured three Rough Collies, Lad, Lady and Knave, and used a similar formula to his previous works: an average male (Lad) protects a beautiful female (Lady) from a larger villain (Knave). Long purchased the work for "Red Book" for $200 and it was published in the January 1916 issue. Four magazines requested similar stories, and Terhune complied, finding them easy to write and sell. Additional stories, all featuring Lad and titled "Lad Stories", were published in the "Saturday Evening Post", "Ladies' Home Journal", "Hartford Courant", and the "Atlantic Monthly", though "Red Book" remained his most consistent publisher. By 1918, the stories had grown in popularity and Terhune was paid an average of $1,000 each for the tales, with some selling for as much as $2,500. Though marketed as fiction, even people who were acquainted with the Terhunes and Lad reportedly believed that the stories were real.
In 1918, Long began urging Terhune to publish a book of his dog stories, though Terhune himself was not convinced at first. He considered them to be nothing more than "hack writing" and inferior to his other works. Even after Long convinced him of the public's love of the works, Terhune initially did nothing towards the goal. Later that year, Doubleday-Page, which had published Terhune's last novel "Fortune", wrote asking to see his next book while reminding him that their contract gave them first refusal rights to it. Wanting to escape from that publisher due to the dismal performance of "Fortune", Terhune decided to follow Long's suggestion so he could use the book of dog stories to fulfill his contractual obligation. After he collected together the twenty "Lad" stories he had written so far, he reorganized them into chapters and submitted the book. He was unsurprised that it was rejected, but in the rejection letter the company referred to Alfred Ollivant's 1898 novel "Owd Bob" and Jack London's 1903 novel "The Call of the Wild" as "superior pieces of work". As Terhune himself considered both authors to be unimpressive writers, he became determined that "Lad: A Dog" would be published. E. P. Dutton's John Macrae, who was a known dog lover, found the stories "simple but charming" and felt the public would like them greatly.
"Lad: A Dog" was published by Dutton in April 1919, a year after the real-life Lad's death. Terhune continued receiving royalties for the novel up through his own death. His wife, Anice Terhune, ceased receiving the royalties after she surrendered the rights to them, along with those of "Bruce" and "His Dog" in exchange for E.P. Dutton agreeing to publish and perpetually print her work "Across the Line", a supposed set of conversations she had with her late husband. With this agreement, Dutton became sole owners of the copyright to "Lad: A Dog". Macrae later decided that the agreement was not completely fair to Anice and modified it to provide her a payment of $100 a month for the rest of her life, likely exceeding the profits they earned on the novels as the years passed.
Real-life Lad.
Available evidence indicates that the real Lad was born in December 1902 and passed through the hands of at least two owners before coming to Sunnybank. An article in a Terhune family scrapbook indicates that he was likely a mature dog by the time he arrived, possibly not until after Albert Payson Terhune had purchased the Pompton Lakes, New Jersey property from his mother in 1909.
Unlike the fictional Lad, he was not registered with the American Kennel Club and was not a show dog. His pedigree was reportedly lost by one of his previous owners, though there was no doubt he was a purebred collie. At one point, Terhune's wife Anice claimed Lad had twenty champion collies in his pedigree, but this has never been confirmed. On July 4, 1917, Lad was entered into a dog show despite having no papers on his pedigree. It was the only show he ever attended and he won the Veteran Cup. As in the novel, Lad was extremely, even "hostile[ly] reserved" with strangers, wanting little to do with anyone outside of the family.
Terhune donated some of the earnings from the magazine stories to the Red Cross and the Blue Cross in Lad's name, earning the collie the Honorary Crosses of both groups. When Lad was fifteen, he lost his hearing, after which the other dogs in residence began ignoring him and vice versa. Lad died on September 3, 1918, having had a tumor in his heart for five years before his death. Lad's obituary was carried on a multi-page spread of the September 14, 1918 issue of "Field and Fancy" magazine. He was buried near the driveway of Sunnybank, with the Honorary Crosses he was awarded. He was mourned by thousands of fans who had read Terhune's stories, with dozens of readers, primarily children, visiting Sunnybank to see Lad's grave. In one season, over 1,700 visitors came to see Lad's grave, prompting Terhune to close the place to visitors for the day.
After the Terhunes died, Sunnybank slowly deteriorated, with the house and much of the grounds destroyed. Large chunks of the property were sold by the Albert Payson Terhune, Inc, an organization set up in the wills of Bert and Anice Terhune to provide funds for a charitable organization, the Terhune Foundation. The last ten acres of the property were eventually sold to a housing developer, which included the house, the graves of the Terhune collies and the dogs' old kennels. In 1967, this remaining chunk of Sunnybank was condemned by Wayne Township. The next year, the township made the remaining acres a historical park, Terhune Memorial Park. The Van Riper-Hopper Historic House Museum, located several miles away, displays Terhune's writings, the awards won by the Sunnybank collies and other memorabilia. The graves of Lad, Lady, Wolf and the other Sunnybank dogs are preserved there and available for viewing by visitors. Clippings of Lad's coat are stored at the Library of Congress, having been donated by Anice. Annual gatherings to Sunnybank are organized by the Collie Health Foundation on the third weekend in August, during which speakers familiar with Terhune and his dogs speak, seminars and tours are conducted and various collie-focused events and competitions are conducted. In 2005, Marilyn R. Horowitz published a Sunnybank calendar, the proceeds of which were used by the Terhune Sunnybank Memorial to restore Lad's grave, which had fallen into disrepair, and to aid in maintaining the grounds of Sunnybank.
Reception.
The original Lad stories were well received by readers of their respective magazines. After the appearance of "His Mate" in "Red Book", the readers began demanding further stories. Editor Ray Long, who initially purchased "His Mate", considered the story "In the Day of Battle" to be one of the top twenty to appear in "Red Book" during his time as its editor. The success of the stories propelled Terhune to fame, enabling him to purchase Sunnybank from his mother and quit a loathed job working for a newspaper to become a full-time freelance writer. Although the novel was initially ignored by critics, within weeks it had become a hit. According to Terhune biographer Kurk Unkelbach, it received praise from most of the important critics of the time. The American Kennel Club "Gazette" reported that Terhune earned over $32,000 from the publication of the Lad stories. Originally aimed towards adults, the novel was a best-seller and gained critical acclaim in the adult fiction market. By the end of the year, the book had gone through 18 printings and by 1935, over 250,000 copies had been sold. In 1939 an anniversary edition was released, marking its 71st printing. During World War II, the novel was republished as a paperback for mass distribution to servicemen as part of the Armed Services Editions. In the 1960s and 70s, the novel was repositioned into the young adult market, by dint of its animal subject matter. Grosset and Dunlap reprinted the novel in new editions that were prominently featured on their children's book lists. By 1970, these new editions had sold over 650,000 copies and overall "Lad: A Dog" has sold over 1 million copies and remains Terhune's highest seller. Considered the novel that "propelled Terhune to fame", it has been translated into and published in at least six different languages. Recorded Books released an unabridged audiobook edition in 1997 on cassette tape. In 2006, Alcazar AudioWorks released a CD version.
Veteran dog breeders of the times were the primary critics of the novel, chastising Terhune's depiction of an unrealistically perfect collie that would mislead the public into believing such a dog could exist. The anniversary and subsequent editions, featuring a sable-and-white collie, also drew criticism from loyal readers as it did not resemble Lad. "New York Times Book Review" reviewer Alden Welch felt the full novel would "surely appeal not only to all lovers and masters of dogs, but to many who have never owned any and who have no general and indiscriminate liking for them." He found the stories "interesting" and a "most welcome addition to dog-literature", praising the novel as the most "delightfully written" of Terhune's works to date. In 1968, "Sports Illustrated"s Robert H. Boyle stated that Terhune's stories were responsible for many of the active collie breeders at the time getting involved in the sport. Calling the author a "godlike figure" and the hero of "goggle-eyed youngsters of the 1920s, '30s and even into the '40s." In comparing the work to popular collie character Lassie, Boyle noted that rather than having Lassie's seeming immortality, Terhune's dogs "led epic lives and they had epic deaths".
In the Fall 1996 issue of "Raritan Quarterly Review", Stephen D. Cox, freely admitting to never having read the book, nonetheless called Terhune a "hack writer" who lacked "storytelling skill" and denounced "Lad: A Dog" as non-literature with "sentences [that] are insufferably stilted and hammy" and "have a tendency to wander off on long romps with his personal obsessions." Terming it a "socially interesting" work, he concedes that the novel has maintained "intense and long-lasting" interest from readers due to its successfully playing on their emotions and "desire to have a collie dog." He quotes Irving Litvag, author of Terhune's biography "The Master of Sunnybank", stating that Lad "became the dog we always wanted to have and never did. Maybe even more than that—maybe he became the friend we always waited to find, or even the brother, or the father." In "You're Only Young Twice: Children's Literature and Film", Timothy Morris felt the novel had "dated badly" due to changes in American society, and while he stated that he enjoyed the work, in comparing it to Anna Sewell's "Black Beauty" he faults "Lad: A Dog" for lacking an "autobiographical frame" and for leaving readers guessing as to what is happening.
Sequels and adaptations.
Building on the success of "Lad: A Dog", Terhune went on to pen thirty additional canine novels, including two featuring Lad. "Further Adventures of Lad", which includes the stories of his arrival at the Place and his death, was published in George H. Doran in 1922. Like the first, it went on to become a best seller, praised by both new readers and existing fans. Critics, however, gave it more mixed reviews. Though some praised the stories and Lad, others felt Lad was unbelievable and harshly denounced Terhune's writing style. "Lad of Sunnybank" was released in 1929 by HarperCollins, and included another selection of stories about Lad's life. Two of the collies that appear in "Lad: A Dog", Lad's son Wolf and another collie named Bruce, both received their own novels. "Bruce" was published by E. P. Dutton in 1920 and "Wolf" was published by Doran in 1925.
Published by Scholastic as part of its "Hello reader!" series, Margo Lundell adapted three stories from the novels into a series of 48 page picture books with illustration by Don Bolognese. The first book, "Lad, a Dog: Lad to the Rescue", was released in August 1997 and adapts the story of Lad saving the baby from a venomous snake. The next two, "Lad, a Dog: Best Dog in the World" (December 1997) and "Lad, a Dog: Lad is Lost" (February 1998) focus on Lad's first dog show and subsequently becoming lost. The final book, "Lad, a Dog: The Bad Puppy", released in May 1998, details Lad's raising of Wolf.
Film adaptation.
In the 1960s, Warner Brothers purchased the film rights for the novel from Max J. Rosenberg, of Vanguard Productions, who had purchased them from E. P. Dutton. They later negotiated with Anice Terhune for the rights to the two follow up novels, hoping to produce a sequel and television series if the first film proved successful. Starring Peter Breck, Peggy McCay, Carroll O'Connor, and Angela Cartwright, the film blended several of the novel's stories with some modifications to make a flowing narrative. Aram Avakian was initially selected to be the film's director, but his refusal to create a sentimental dog story resulted in his firing; he was replaced by Leslie H. Martinson. The film was released on June 6, 1962. Although it was praised by fans and modern reviewers, contemporary critiques felt Terhune's work did not translate well to film and it was considered a low budget B-movie.


Leeches!

Leeches! is a 2003 American direct-to-video horror film directed by David DeCoteau and starring Matthew Twining, Josh Henderson, Stacey Nelson and Alexandra Westmore.
Plot.
Members of a college swim team take anabolic steroids to enhance their performance. While on a daytrip to a local lake, a couple of the members pick up some leeches, which feed on the steroids in their blood. The leeches end up washed down a shower drain, where they grow to enormous size and return for more feedings.
Following the deaths of several members of the team and a college administrator, the few surviving team members and one of their girlfriends hatch a plan to kill off the monster leeches. They will draw them to the campus swimming pool by having one of the swimmers act as bait. Then they'll electrify the pool, electrocuting the leeches. Tragically, the team coach, who's been infected by a leech, attacks them, delaying the electrification just long enough to allow the leeches to kill one last swimmer. Finally the coach is subdued and the switch is thrown, frying the leeches.
As the film ends, a surviving swim team member, in true mad scientist fashion, is revealed to have had a hand in creating the leeches and is shown to have breeding stock left.


Soda Poppa

Soda Poppa is a 1931 short animated film by Columbia Pictures. It is one of many short films starring Krazy Kat.
Plot.
Krazy runs a soda shop where patrons come for drinks. One day, his spaniel girlfriend and two other guys come by. They, along with Krazy, then sing the song "Ice Cream (I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream)". Krazy serves each of them a mug of his beverages. After they drink, the two guys leave but the spaniel remains in the shop to spend time with her boyfriend. Krazy takes her to another room within the shop, and turns on a player piano. He then sings a song in the melody of his theme music, and dances with the spaniel.
Moments later, a labrador in a luxuriant car stops by the shop. The labrador courts the spaniel to have a ride with him. The spaniel appears enticed as she takes seat in the vehicle. The car leaves, and Krazy is in disbelief.
The labrador takes the spaniel to a hotel. In the room they entered, the spaniel seems to lose interest with her new date as she tries to avoid him. At one moment she pretends to agree with him, and the labrador hesitates with affection. The spaniel uses this to tiptoe towards a telephone, and call Krazy. Krazy receives the call and quickly comes to the scene. The cat breaks into the hotel room, and engages the labrador in a fistfight. After trading several hits, Krazy emerges the victor. Throughout the entire fight, the spaniel is weeping, thinking her boyfriend is badly beaten. Krazy comforts her by placing the knocked out labrador on her like a scarf. Krazy and the spaniel are together and happy again.


Wild Ocean (film)

Wild Ocean is a 2008 documentary 3D IMAX film about the annual migration of billions of sardines, the sardine run, up South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal coast and its human and animal impact.