Quentin Quail

Quentin Quail is a 1946 Warner Bros. "Merrie Melodies" cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on March 2, 1946.
It presents a tale about a quail (voiced by Tedd Pierce) who goes through various trials and tribulations to try to get a worm for his baby, Toots (a take-off on Fanny Brice's radio character, Baby Snooks, voiced by Sara Berner), only to be rebuffed by her because the worm looks like Frank Sinatra.
Prior to the release of this short, the name "Quentin Quail" first appeared on a model sheet by Bob Clampett, done at some point before 1942. The character is a precursor to Clampett's more famous creation, Tweety, and bears a striking resemblance to the canary.


Raja Bheema

Raja Bheema is an upcoming Indian Tamil language action thriller film directed by Naresh Sampath on his directorial debut and dialogues written by Karundhel Rajesh. The storyline of the film is based on the connection between a man and elephant. The film stars Arav, Ashima Narwal in the lead roles. The music for the film is composed by Simon K. King with lyrics penned by Madhan Karky . The film is produced by S. Mohan under the production banner Surbhi Films.
Cast.
Oviya and Yashika Aannand made a cameo appearance.
Production.
The film was announced by Naresh Sampath on his directorial debut in early 2018 and revealed that Arav would play the lead role for the first time in his career after taking part in "Bigg Boss Tamil 1" (2017). It was also reported that Arav made his film debut as playback singer through this film as he voiced for one song. Ashima Narwal was approached to play the female lead in the film while she was poised to make her Tamil film debut "Kolaigaran" (2019).
The first schedule of the shooting procedure commenced and progressed in Pallakad. The second schedule of the film went on floors in around December 2018 in Pollachi and the final schedule of the film took place in Coimbatore during January 2019. Oviya who is known for her speculations as Arav's girlfriend who also took part during the first season of the "Bigg Boss Tamil" appeared in a cameo appearance and she is set to feature in an item song with his "Bigg Boss" mate Arav. The shooting of the Luthu song featuring Oviya took place in around January 2019.


The Midnight Zoo

The Midnight Zoo is a 2010 novel by Sonya Hartnett. It was first published on 1 November 2010 in Australia and was then released in the United States a year later. It follows the story of two gypsy boys that find an abandoned zoo after fleeing a traditional celebration. The novella has gained critical praise for its "lyrical" prose and for the illustrations in the United States version, done by artist Andrea Offermann.
Plot.
 It is midnight in a destroyed village somewhere in Europe. Through the moonlight, two boys, one with a baby in his backpack, come walking. The realism of the opening paragraphs is disrupted by the personification of Night. Clearly we are in for a fabulist story.
The two boys have been on the road for weeks, scrounging an existence in a landscape often devoid of humanity and sustenance. The back-story to the boys’ current situation reveals itself slowly: their family has been slaughtered by soldiers two months previously. They find a pitiful zoo which miraculously has survived the war that has ravaged its village. Also miraculous is that each of the animals in the zoo speaks to the boys.
1
Over the course of one night, we are given the stories of the animals, the zoo, and its most recent zookeepers. This is not a chronological telling but the narrative events come to us almost like a play, with limited settings, such as glimpses of the boys’ travels, the zoo, and the Rom camp. The structure of the novel is instrumental in our interpretation of events.
While the story can be read as a narrative of survival during war, much of its significance operates beneath the surface of realism. Symbolic meanings are fundamental to understanding the narrative: its time frame, the survival of the zoo, its midnight setting.
Critical reception.
"The Midnight Zoo" received positive reviews from critics, mostly for the "lyrical" prose and the illustrations from Andrea Offermann in the American version. "Kirkus Reviews" called it "[a]n evocative story" with "lyrical, spare prose". "Booklist" was similarly favorable, but it said that the ending "may confuse some readers". "Publishers Weekly" gave it a starred review and said that Harnett "mak[es] a profound case for the futility of war while exploring questions about responsibility and freedom." "Library Journal" also gave it a starred review, saying that it was also good for adults who were "interested in wartime fiction and thought-provoking, fable-like tales", while its juvenile companion "School Library Journal" called it a "beautiful and sad book [that] will stay with readers long after the story is done."
Awards and nominations.
"The Midnight Zoo" won the CBCA in 2011. It was also shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal in 2012.


The Yearling

The Yearling is a novel by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings published in March 1938. It was the main selection of the Book of the Month Club in April 1938. It was the best-selling novel in America in 1938 and the seventh-best in 1939. It sold over 250,000 copies in 1938. It has been translated into Spanish, Chinese, French, Japanese, German, Italian, Russian and 22 other languages. It won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for the Novel.
Rawlings's editor was Maxwell Perkins, who also worked with F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and other literary luminaries. She had submitted several projects to Perkins for his review, and he rejected them all. He advised her to write about what she knew from her own life, and "The Yearling" was the result"."
Plot.
Young Jody Baxter lives with his parents, Ora and Ezra "Penny" Baxter, on a small farm in the animal-filled central Florida backwoods in the 1870s. His parents had six other children before him, but they died in infancy, which makes it difficult for his mother to bond with him. Jody loves the outdoors and his family. He has wanted a pet for as long as he can remember, but his mother says that they barely have enough food to feed themselves, let alone a pet.
A subplot involves the hunt for an old bear named Slewfoot that randomly attacks the Baxter livestock. Later the Baxters and the rowdy Forresters get in a fight about the bear and continue to fight about nearly anything. (While the Forresters are presented as a disreputable clan, the disabled youngest brother, Fodder-Wing, is a close friend to Jody.) The Forresters steal the Baxters' hogs and, while Penny and Jody are out searching for the stolen stock, Penny is bitten in the arm by a rattlesnake. Penny shoots a doe, orphaning its young fawn, in order to use its liver to draw out the snake's venom, which saves Penny's life.
Jody convinces his parents to allow him to adopt the fawn — which, Jody later learns, Fodder-Wing has named Flag — and it becomes his constant companion. The book then focuses on Jody's life as he matures along with Flag. The plot centers on Jody's struggles with strained relationships, hunger, death of beloved friends, and the capriciousness of nature through a catastrophic flood. He experiences tender moments with his family, his fawn, and their neighbors and relatives. Along with his father, he comes face to face with the rough life of a farmer and hunter. Throughout, the well-mannered, God-fearing Baxters and the good folk of nearby Volusia and the "big city," Ocala, are starkly contrasted with their hillbilly neighbors, the Forresters.
As Jody takes his final steps into maturity, he is forced to make a desperate choice between his pet, Flag, and his family. The parents realize that the growing Flag is endangering their very survival, as he persists in eating the corn crop on which the family is relying for food the next winter. Jody's father orders him to take Flag into the woods and shoot him, but Jody cannot bring himself to do it. When his mother shoots the deer and wounds him, Jody is then forced to shoot Flag in the neck himself, killing the yearling. In blind fury at his mother, Jody runs off, only to come face to face with the true meaning of hunger, loneliness, and fear. After an ill-conceived attempt to reach an older friend in Boston in a broken-down canoe, Jody is picked up by a mail ship and returned to Volusia. In the end, Jody comes of age, assuming increasingly adult responsibilities in the difficult "world of men", but always surrounded by the love of family.
Adaptations.
The novel was adapted into a film of the same name in 1946, starring Gregory Peck as Penny Baxter and Jane Wyman as Ora Baxter. Both were nominated for Oscars for their performances. Claude Jarman Jr. as Jody Baxter won the Juvenile Award Oscar.
In 1949, Claude Pascal adapted the film into a newspaper comic, under its French title "Jody et le Faon" ("Jody and the Fawn").
A Broadway musical adaption with music by Michael Leonard and lyrics by Herbert Martin was produced by "The Fantasticks" producer Lore Noto in 1965. The book was written for the stage by Lore Noto and Herbert Martin. David Wayne and Delores Wilson played Ezra and Ora Baxter, and David Hartman, later of "Good Morning America", was Oliver Hutto. The show played only three performances.
Barbra Streisand recorded four songs from the show: "I'm All Smiles", "The Kind of Man A Woman Needs", "Why Did I Choose You?", and "My Pa".
A Japanese animated version was released in 1983.
Also in 1983 the film was adapted by Martin Ritt. It starred Mary Steenburgen, Rip Torn, Peter Coyote and Dana Hill.
A 1994 television adaptation starred Peter Strauss as Ezra Baxter, Jean Smart as Ora Baxter, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Buck.
A 2012 song by singer/songwriter Andrew Peterson, "The Ballad of Jody Baxter", deals with themes from "The Yearling". The song is on his album "Light for the Lost Boy".
Notes.
The Long homestead in the book and the film's shooting location are now part of the Ocala National Forest. Visitors can hike the Yearling Trail and pass the sites where the homes were and the now dry sinkhole, and pay respects at the Long Family Cemetery.
Near Rawlings's home in Cross Creek, Florida, is a restaurant named after this book. It serves Southern food such as catfish and alligator tail, and regularly features live folk music played by local musicians.


Super Mario World

Super Mario World is a 1990 platform game developed by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The story follows Mario's quest to save Princess Toadstool and Dinosaur Land from the series' antagonist Bowser and his minions, the Koopalings. The gameplay is similar to that of earlier "Super Mario" games: players control Mario or his brother Luigi through a series of levels in which the goal is to reach the goalpost at the end. "Super Mario World" introduced Yoshi, a dinosaur who can eat enemies, as well as gain abilities by eating the shells of Koopa Troopas.
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development developed the game, led by director Takashi Tezuka and producer and series creator Shigeru Miyamoto. It is the first "Mario" game for the SNES and was designed to make the most of the console's technical features. The development team had more freedom compared to the series installments for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Yoshi was conceptualised during the development of the NES games but was not used until "Super Mario World" due to hardware limitations.
"Super Mario World" is often considered one of the best games in the series and has been cited as one of the greatest video games ever made. It sold more than twenty million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling SNES game. It also led to an animated television series of the same name and a prequel, "Yoshi's Island", released in August and October 1995. It has been rereleased on multiple occasions: It was part of the 1994 compilation "Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World" for the SNES and was rereleased for the Game Boy Advance as "Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2" in 2001, on the Virtual Console for the Wii, Wii U, and New Nintendo 3DS consoles, and as part of the Super NES Classic Edition. On 3March 2016, it was released for the New Nintendo 3DS XL. Since 5September 2019, the game has been playable on the Nintendo Switch through the Super Nintendo Entertainment System app.
Gameplay.
"Super Mario World" is a side-scrolling platform game in which the player controls Mario or Luigi, the protagonists of the game. The game has similar gameplay to earlier games in the "Super Mario" series"Super Mario Bros.", "Super Mario Bros. 2", and "Super Mario Bros. 3"but introduces new elements. As well as running and jumping, the player can also fly or float with the aid of certain power-ups and can execute the new spin jump move. The game has 96 level exits in total.
The player navigates through the game via two game screens: an overworld map and a side-scrolling playfield. The overworld map displays an overhead representation of the current world and has several paths leading from the world's entrance to a castle. Paths connect to action panels, fortresses, ghost houses and other map icons, and allow players to take different routes to reach the world's goal. Moving the on-screen character to an action panel or fortress allows access to that level's playfield. The majority of the game takes place in these linear levels, populated with obstacles and enemies, which involves the player traversing the stage by running, jumping, and dodging or defeating enemies. The player is given a number of lives, which are lost if Mario comes into contact with an enemy while small, falls into a bottomless pit, gets crushed, or runs out of time. The game ends when the player runs out of lives, although the player can continue from the most recent save point (a successfully completed castle, fortress or haunted house) by selecting "Continue". Each world features a final stage with a boss to defeat; each of the seven worlds features fortresses controlled by one of the Koopalings, and the player also battles Bowser in his castle in the seventh and final world. "Super Mario World" includes a multiplayer option which allows two players to play the game by alternating turns at navigating the overworld map and accessing stage levels; the first player controls Mario, while the second controls his brother, Luigi.
In addition to the power-ups from previous games, such as the Super Mushroom and Fire Flower, "Super Mario World" has a new power-up named the Cape Feather, which gives Mario a cape and the ability to fly, glide in the air, and use the cape as a sail. The game also introduces the ability to "store" an extra power-up in a box at the top centre of the screen. For example, if the player obtains a Fire Flower or a Cape Feather, then a Super Mushroom will appear in the box. If Mario gets hit by an enemy, the stored item in the box will automatically drop. Alternatively, the player can manually release the stored item at any time.
The game introduces Yoshi, a dinosaur companion Mario can ride who is able to eat most enemies. If Yoshi attempts to eat a Koopa or its shell, he can spit it out and fire it at enemies. If the player fails to spit the shell out within a certain amount of time, Yoshi will swallow it, rendering it useless. When holding any Koopa shell in his mouth, Yoshi gains the ability that corresponds to its colour: a blue shell enables Yoshi to fly, a yellow shell causes him to emit dust clouds that kill nearby enemies, and a red shell allows him to produce three fireballs. Flashing Koopa shells produce all three abilities, while green shells produce none. The default Yoshi is green, but the game also has hidden blue, yellow, and red Yoshis; the player can obtain each coloured Yoshi by finding its egg in hidden areas and feeding it five enemies or one star, Super Mushroom, Fire Flower or Cape Feather, causing the baby Yoshi to mature.
Although the main objective is to navigate through seven worlds to reach the end of the game, the player can beat the game much faster by using secret Star Road routes. To access a hidden world, the player needs to find keys scattered throughout the game's levels. When a key is found, it must be brought to a keyhole to unlock either a new level or a Star Road. Exploring these secret stages can lead to other stages, such as Special World. Completion of Special World permanently changes some of the enemies' sprites and alters the overworld map's colour scheme.
Plot.
After saving the Mushroom Kingdom in "Super Mario Bros.3", brothers Mario and Luigi decide to go on vacation to a place called Dinosaur Land, a prehistoric-themed world swarming with dinosaurs and other enemies. While resting on the beach, Princess Toadstool is captured by Bowser. When Mario and Luigi wake up, they try to find her and, after hours of searching, come across a giant egg in the forest. It suddenly hatches and out of it comes a young dinosaur named Yoshi, who tells them his dinosaur friends have also been imprisoned in eggs by evil Koopalings. Mario and Luigi soon realise it must be the evil King Bowser Koopa and his Koopalings. Mario, Luigi and Yoshi set out to save Toadstool and Yoshi's dinosaur friends, traversing through Dinosaur Land for Bowser and his Koopalings. To aid him, Yoshi gives Mario a cape as they begin their journey. Mario and Luigi continue to follow Bowser, defeating the Koopalings in the process, and save Yoshi's dinosaur friends. They eventually arrive at Bowser's castle, where they fight him in a final battle. They send Bowser flying into the sky and save Toadstool, restoring peace to Dinosaur Land.
Development.
The game was directed by Takashi Tezuka, while Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of both "Super Mario" and "The Legend of Zelda", served as producer. Shigefumi Hino took the role of graphics designer. Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development handled development with a team of ten people, including three main programmers and a character designer, most of whom had worked on "Super Mario Bros." In a retrospective interview, the core team said Miyamoto wielded the most authority during development.
"Super Mario World" was the first "Mario" series game developed for the then-upcoming Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). As such, the team anticipated some difficulty in working with new and more advanced hardware. According to Tezuka, the software tools were not yet fully developed, and the team had to "go along with starting something new". Miyamoto acknowledged the team no longer had restrictions on certain mechanics such as scrolling and the number of colours they could implement. As a hardware experiment, the team ported "Super Mario Bros.3" to the SNES. However, it felt like the same game to them, despite the improved colours and sprites. After that, Miyamoto realised the team's goal would be to use the new hardware to create something "totally new".
Miyamoto said he had wanted Mario to have a dinosaur companion ever since "Super Mario Bros.", but Nintendo engineers could not add such a character into the game due to the limitations of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The inspiration for Yoshi can be traced back even further; Miyamoto designed a green dragon for the 1984 game "Devil World" which shared many similarities with Yoshi. During the development of "Super Mario Bros.3", Miyamoto had a number of sketches around his desk, including an image of Mario riding a horse. As development of "Super Mario World" progressed, the team opted to set the game in a "dinosaur land", so Tezuka asked designer Shigefumi Hino to draw a reptile-like creature based on Miyamoto's sketches. Hino originally produced a design that Tezuka deemed too reptilian, and "didn't really fit into the Mario world", so he encouraged the designer to create a "cuter" character. Tezuka speculated that Miyamoto's love of horse riding, as well as country and western themes, influenced Yoshi's creation.
Reflecting on how he had created different melodies for "Super Mario Bros.3", composer Koji Kondo decided to reuse the same themes for "Super Mario World", albeit in a rearranged form. By doing this, he assumed players would be able to recognise the same melodies, while exposing them to new variations of music as they progressed through the game. As "Super Mario World" was the first game developed for the SNES, Kondo felt "overjoyed" at being able to compose music by using eight sounds at once. To express the technological novelty of the new console, he used several different instruments, implementing them all one after the other in the game's title song. As development progressed, Kondo grew concerned over how people would react to his unusual combinations of instruments as he noted the use of more traditional square waves and triangle waves had "gained acceptance" with consumers. For the game's sound effects, Kondo decided to use a variety of musical instruments, as opposed to square waves, to emphasise that the game used traditional technology with a hybrid of new materials. It took Kondo around a year and a half to write all the music for the game.
"Super Mario World" was produced during the console warsa result of the rivalry between Nintendo's SNES and Sega's two-year-old Mega Drive systemwhich outsold the console and led to intense competition between the two, being the first time since December 1985 Nintendo did not lead the market though it eventually overtook Sega. Sega's mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, was seen by many as a faster and "cooler" alternative to Mario. After the game's release, Miyamoto admitted publicly he felt it was incomplete and development was rushed toward the end.
Release.
"Super Mario World" was released on 21 November 1990 in Japan. It was one of two launch games for the SNES in Japan, along with "F-Zero". The game was released in North America in August 1991. Nintendo also issued a version for arcade cabinets so players could try the game before buying it.
Re-releases.
The game was re-released in a special version of "Super Mario All-Stars", "Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World", as a pack-in game for the SNES in December 1994. "All-Stars" contains enhanced remakes of the first four "Super Mario" games released for the NES: "Super Mario Bros.", "Super Mario Bros.2", "Super Mario Bros.3" and "". In contrast to the other games in the collection, "Super Mario World" is largely identical to the original version, but Luigi's sprites were updated to make him a distinct character and not just a palette swap of Mario.
"Super Mario World" was ported to the Game Boy Advance as "Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2" between 2001 and 2002. It features the same number of levels as the original (albeit with a toned down difficulty), Game Link Cable support for four players, and the ability to save. In the United States, "Super Mario Advance2" sold 2.5 million copies and earned $74million in revenue by August 2006. During the period between January 2000 and August 2006, it became the second highest-selling portable game in the United States. It received positive reviews; critics enjoyed its new inclusions and retention of the SNES original's "feel". "GameSpot" named it the best video game of February 2002.
The SNES version was released on the Wii's Virtual Console in Japan on 2December 2006, in the United States on 5February 2007, and in Europe on 9February 2007. It was released for the Wii U in North America and Japan on 26 April 2013, and in Europe on 27 April 2013, along with the full launch of the Wii U Virtual Console. "Super Mario World" was also one of the 21 SNES games included in the Super NES Classic Edition in September 2017. On 5September 2019, Nintendo released "Super Mario World" on their Nintendo Switch Online service as a launch title.
Reception.
Super Mario World received critical and commercial acclaim. Review aggregator GameRankings ranks "Super Mario World" as the seventeenth highest-rated game of all time with an aggregate score of 94% based on nine reviews. Nintendo has sold 20.61 million copies of the game worldwide, making it the bestselling game for the SNES.
The visuals and presentation were two of the most praised aspects of the game. After its release, Rob Swan of "Computer and Video Games" noted that the graphics were an excellent example of what the then-new SNES was capable of, while in the same review, Paul Glancey similarly remarked that the visuals were stunning, and he was grateful the game came free with the console. Four reviewers echoed this in "Electronic Gaming Monthly," but commented that the game took little advantage of the SNES's capabilities compared to other games available for the system. Retrospective reviewers agreed the game's visuals were still of a high quality. Karn Bianco from "Cubed3" enjoyed the game's relaxed visual style, and praised Nintendo for keeping everything "nice and simple" designing a game perfect for children. "IGN"'s Lucas Thomas heralded the game as a significant leap over the visuals of the 8-bit era, but in retrospect felt it did not distinguish itself from being a graphically-upgraded continuation of its predecessor, "Super Mario Bros.3". In contrast, Frédéric Goyon of Jeuxvideo.com thought the game brought out the full potential of the SNES (albeit less so than "Donkey Kong Country"), and Nadia Oxford from "USGamer" also felt the game was a less rigid version of its predecessor. "AllGame"s Skyler Miller and Alex Navarro of "GameSpot" both praised the game's well-drawn characters, colourful visuals and pleasing animation. Morgan Sleeper of "Nintendo Life" said "Super Mario World" was the "graphical holy grail" that retro-styled games aspire to, and he insisted that its design holds up well today.
Critics commended the game's replay value and unique gameplay in comparison to older "Super Mario" games. Four reviewers in "Electronic Gaming Monthly" praised the game's number of secrets and diversity among its levels, expressing appreciation that Nintendo did not recycle assets from "Super Mario Bros.3". Swan and Glancey enjoyed the addictive gameplay and the vast number of levels, while Dan Whitehead of "Eurogamer" lauded the game's divergence from linear platforming and asserted that "Super Mario World" was an evolutionary leap for gaming in general. Likewise, Goyon appreciated the option of being able to finish the game by using alternative routes. Bianco opined that the game was "one of the smoothest platformers in existence" while Thomas thought its "masterful" and innovative level design enhanced the overall experience. Navarro similarly felt the game featured some of the best and most challenging levels the series has offered thus far, saying "nothing about the game feels out of place or superfluous". Miller considered the game's overall length to be its strongest aspect, while Oxford thought "Super Mario World"s gameplay could be both straightforward and complex, owing to the myriad of secrets the game contained. In retrospect, Sleeper believed the game's biggest achievement was its level design, calling it an "unrivalled master class" with a constant sense of momentum.
The game's audio was also well received by critics. Swan believed the game utilised the SNES' PSM chip to its fullest potential, and both he and Glancey agreed that the game's sound effects were "mindblowing". Thomas labelled the soundtrack "another one of Koji Kondo's classics," but in hindsight remarked that it was not as memorable as his earlier work. Goyon praised the originality of the game's soundtrack, and thought the technical contribution of the SNES allowed players to enjoy a "globally magnificent" composition. Both Goyon and Jason Schreider of "Kotaku" felt its rhythmic sound effects were important and helped to reinforce the game's atmosphere. Miller liked "Super Mario World"s upbeat music, and particularly enjoyed the echoing sound effects heard when Mario was undergrounda sentiment shared by other reviewers. Both Sleeper and Navarro wrote that the game featured the best music in the entire "Super Mario" series, with Sleeper praising Kondo's "timeless" soundtrack and memorable melodies.
Awards.
The game received 1991 Game of the Year awards from "Nintendo Power" and "Power Play". Many retrospective critics declared "Super Mario World" one of the greatest video games of all time. In 2009, a poll conducted by "Empire" voted it "the greatest game of all time". In its final issue in October 2014, "Official Nintendo Magazine" ranked "Super Mario World" the third-greatest Nintendo game of all time, behind "" and "Super Mario Galaxy". In 2012, "Nintendo Power" similarly named "Super Mario World" the fifth greatest game of all time, a step up from its eighth best ranking in their 2006 poll. The game has appeared on several "best video games of all time" lists such as those from "Electronic Gaming Monthly", "Game Informer", "Retro Gamer" and "GameSpot". In 2007, "Retro Gamer" ranked it as the best platform game of all time, while "USgamer" listed it as the best "Super Mario" platform game ever in 2015.
Legacy.
As a pack-in game for the SNES, "Super Mario World" helped popularise the console, and became the best-selling game of its generation. Shigeru Miyamoto has said that "Super Mario World" is his favourite "Mario" game.
Yoshi became one of the most important characters in the "Mario" franchise, re-appearing in later "Super Mario" games and in nearly all "Mario" sports and spin-off games. Yoshi appears as the main playable character in "Super Mario World"s 1995 prequel "Super Mario World2: Yoshi's Island", which helped lead to multiple video games focused on the character. A "Super Mario World" clone, "Super Mario's Wacky Worlds", was in development for the Philips CD-i device by NovaLogic from 1992 to 1993, but was cancelled because of the console's commercial failure. In a poll conducted in 2008, Yoshi was voted as the third-favourite video game character in Japan, with Cloud Strife and Mario placing second and first.
DIC Entertainment produced an animated series of the same name, consisting of thirteen episodes, which ran on NBC from September to December 1991. In recent years, fans have made a number of "Super Mario World" ROM hacks, notably "Kaizo Mario World", that have been used in many Let's Play videos. In a similar way, "Super Mario World" is one of the four games whose assets are available in "Super Mario Maker", a custom level creator released for the Wii U in 2015, and in its 2019 sequel.


Nankyoku Tairiku

 is a 2011 Japanese television drama series that premiered on TBS on October 16, 2011.
List of episodes.
1. "A Touching Story of Love and Life for the Revival of Post-War Japan/ A Miracle Between Dogs and Mankind that occurred 56 Years Ago, the Story Begins to Rotate"
During the era in Japan known as the Shōwa era or post-war, the people of Japan were struggling to recover from the destruction of World War II. Determined to prove to the rest of the world that Japan will not be shunned from the rest of the world, the Japanese government decided to launch an expedition and set up a research base on the mysterious continent that few men dared to have the courage and skills to explore it- the frozen continent of Antarctica. An old Japanese war vessel called the "Sōya", which had survived the war was repaired and redesigned as the first Icebreaker ship for the Japanese Antarctic Expedition, and fifty-three men were chosen for the journey to the continent.
Kuramochi, a mountaineer who lost his wife during the war, and Inuzuka, a young outcast who has little experience of many tasks, were given the task of choosing and handling the team of Japanese sled dogs that was to go with the expedition team to Antarctica. With the help of an elderly professor, his daughter, her two young children, and several dog owners, they succeeded in gathering a total of twenty-two Sakhalin huskies for the Antarctic Expedition, including the woman's children's dog Riki, who had once been the leader of a dog team, and two brother dogs Taro and Jiro that Kuramochi easily tamed. The two men train and run the dogs a number of times before they were finally ready for the upcoming journey.
After several months of agonizing work, the icebreaker "Sōya" was finally finished and the crew were ready to leave for Antarctica. On November 8, 1956, the "Sōya", carrying her team of fifty-three Japanese crew members and 22 sled dogs disembarked from the docks of Japan and headed south for the continent of Antarctica.
2. "Arrival! Antarctica"
The "Sōya" sailed south from Japan for the frozen continent of Antarctica, only to run into difficult obstacles along the way. Though Kuramochi, Inuzuka, and nine other members of the crew who were desperate to prove themselves desired to winter in Antarctica as the First Cross-Winter Antarctic Expedition team, the leader of the crew Shirosaki Suguru disapproved of the suggestions, stating that the first expedition team should set up the base on the mainland of Antarctica and that only the Second Cross-Winter Antarctic Expedition should winter in. Several of the men ended up fighting amongst each other for reasons they either are trying to forget or refuse to bring up in public. To make matters worse, a series of violent hurricanes battered the Icebreaker vessel, inflicting damage on both the crew members and the ship. During one storm, one of the dogs Anko was badly injured, but he slowly recovered after a few days' rest. A second storm resulted in the flooding of several rooms in the ship and several crew members badly injured. The brother dogs, Taro and Jiro got loose, but soon were found and rescued by Kuramochi, Inuzuka, and a few other crew members.
Finally, after several months of stressful sailing, the icebreaker "Sōya" arrived at the coast of Antarctica. After a brief discussion with the government and also with the ship's crew, Shirosaki finally decided that after setting up the Japanese base, the First Cross-Winter Antarctic Expedition will be permitted to winter in Antarctica. Eleven members of the crew were chosen for the expedition team, including Kuramochi, Inuzuka, and Himuro Haruhiko, a member of the Financial Ministries of Japan.
3. "Our Miracle Dogs"
After arriving at Antarctica, the Japanese team decide to set up their base on the island of East Ongul. The team members spend the next few weeks building the new Showa Station, but during that time, several tragic events apparently slowed things down and left the men frustrated and stressed. A heavy blizzard forced the team to remain in the "Sōya" for several days, resulting in the destruction of the half-finished buildings. Chunks of ice break apart, carrying some of the fuel and food supplies for the winter team out to sea. To make matters worse, one of the sled dogs, Kuma from Furen (father of Taro and Jiro) unexpectedly attacks the lead dog Riki and overpowers him, forcing him to lose his spirit of running the entire dog team. A few days later, three of the sled dogs (Moku, Tomu, and Mime) end up suffering serious injuries and are forced to return to Japan with the rest of the "Sōya" crew.
With the dog team unable to pull the sled without a leader, Kuramochi and the other crew members fear that their expedition will be a complete disaster. However, on a dark blizzard night, when Kuramochi and Inuzuka try to get the sled going, Kuma from Furen again attacks one of the other dogs. But before the men could lose another one of their sled dogs, Riki unexpectedly gathers his courage and attacks Kuma, defeating the black dog in a quick fight and gaining back his pride of leadership.
With the team finally able to pull the sled under Riki's regained leadership, the dogs were able to help their handlers rescue three members of the expedition team who were stranded in the middle of the blizzard after their snowcat shut down.
4. "Farewell, Our Beloved Friend"
The Showa Station was finally completed and the "Sōya" set sail for Japan, leaving behind a team of eleven Japanese scientists and nineteen Sakhalin huskies to winter in Antarctica for a year. Though the team members were excited about wintering in for a year and were more than willing to accept any challenges before them, they were forced to confront several major problems of their own. On the first day of their stay at the base, the men discovered that some of the ice near the base had broken apart and carried off half of their fuel and food supplies for the year. To fix this situation, the men started ice-fishing and began catching a good number of gobies to replenish their shrunken food supply. They also decided to rely most of their transportation work on the dogs to save their remaining fuel.
Things went from bad to worse when Bekku, one of the sled dogs suffered from a kidney disease and died a few days later. A few weeks afterwards, Inuzuka accidentally set the radio contact building on fire and was unable to put it out with the fire extinguisher because he had turned it on to test it. At first, the crew scolded and belittled Inuzuka for his carelessness, but after a day or so, the men encouraged him to try to make up for his mishaps and forgave him for what had happened. To make up for his mistakes, Inuzuka decided to accompany Kuramochi and Himuro on their most difficult challenge yet; to journey across the Antarctic wilderness and climb to the top of Botnnuten.
5. "Death of a Comrade"
Kuramochi, joined by Himuro and Inuzuka, began his journey to fulfill the team's mission of climbing to the top of Mt. Botnnuten. Back home in Japan, Shirasaki Suguru was busy preparing for the second Antarctica expedition to replace the 11 members from the first expedition that were left to do preliminary studies. Despite of the heavy blizzard and going off track from their plan route, Kuramochi and his companions were very glad and surprised that they managed to reach their destination. Kuramochi and Himuro climbed and reached the peak of Botnnuten where Kuramochi fixed a plaque with inscriptions of the achievement made in the name of the First Japanese Antarctica Expedition team, as well as his father's Antarctic expedition team photo. A heavy blizzard descended again on their return journey back to the base, and during the return journey, one of the sled dogs Tetsu broke loose and ran off. Making matters worse, the snow-covered ground over which the team was travelling collapsed beneath them, in which Himuro fell down and broke his leg. They managed to take shelter at the frozen whale carcass they found earlier near the foot of Mt. Botnnuten.
Shortly after seeking shelter in the whale carcass during the blizzard, Kuramochi was reunited with Tetsu who had followed them to their camp. With their food rations running out and the icy conditions taking their toll on him and his companions, Kuramochi comes up with a plan. Turning loose the lead dog Riki, as well as the brothers Taro and Jiro, Kuramochi sent the three dogs with a message to get help from their comrades at the base. Shortly after the dogs left to get help, Kuramochi, Himuro, and Inuzuka succumb to the bitter cold and lose consciousness.
6. "What Really Happened 54 Years Ago"
As the blizzard finally let up, Utsumi and Samejima took the snowcat to search for the missing explorers. While searching for Kuramochi and his party, the two team members were met by Riki, Taro, and Jiro carrying the message that Kuramochi wrote to the other team members. Utsumi and Samejima followed the three dogs back to the whale carcass, where they were reunited with the three missing explorers and the rest of the dogs. Kuramochi and Inuzuka praised Riki, Taro, and Jiro for saving their lives, and even Himuro embraced Riki in gratitude for the dogs' heroism. Some time after returning to Showa Base, Kuramochi and all ten members of the expedition team were overjoyed upon receiving news of the coming of the second expedition team.
Despite their joyous reunion, the expedition team ended up losing two more sled dogs. Kuma from Pippu broke his chain, ran off into the Antarctic wilderness, and disappeared, while Tetsu died at the base of natural causes. Shiroko, the sole female dog of the team, soon gave birth to a litter of eight puppies, bringing the number of dogs at the base up to 24 sled dogs. As the ship, "Sōya", carrying the second Antarctica expedition team approached, it became entrapped by pack ice due to the changing weather conditions and the ship's lack of power. Shirasaki, going against Iwaki's instructions under the government's orders, was able to get the assistance from the US icebreaker USS "Burton Island" to break through the ice. With time constraints and the worsening weather conditions, the expedition team was forced to be quickly evacuated from the base back to the icebreaker "Sōya". The 24 Sakhalin huskies, including Shiroko and her puppies, were left behind at the Showa station.
7. "The Conclusion with the Sakhalin Huskies"
Shortly after being evacuated from the base, Kuramochi and his team members were informed by the crew of the icebreaker "Sōya" that they would return to the base to pick up the dogs. They managed to however make one trip back to the base and pick Shiroko and her eight puppies, as well as leave a small supply of food for the remaining fifteen dogs who were still chained outside the base. Following behind the USS "Burton Island" icebreaker, "Sōya" managed to get out to open sea once again.
As a result of miscalculations however, the ship did not have enough reserve fuel in its tanks to send in the second expedition team or bring back the fifteen Sakhalin huskies left behind at the station. The worsening weather conditions prevented even air rescue of the huskies. Himuro and Kuramochi both angrily and desperately begged Shirasaki and the icebreaker crew to go back for the dogs, reminding them that they had saved their lives during the expedition to Mt. Botnutten, but Shirasaki tearfully told them that "Sōya" no longer had the power to help the dogs anymore. With the harsh weather conditions, badly damaged parts on the ship, and a shortage of fuel, the crew had no choice but to abandon the huskies at the base.
Devastated and betrayed, Kuramochi stormed out onto the deck of the icebreaker and looked out into the direction of the base which lay many miles away. With a heavy heart, he began screaming out the names of the dogs and cried out that he was sorry for failing to bring them back home. Meanwhile, at the base, the huskies had eaten the last of the food left for them and began struggling to break loose from their chains. As "Sōya" sailed away from the continent bound for Japan, Riki and three other dogs (Deri, Anko, and Jiro) managed to loosen their collars and break free. Back in Japan, news of the huskies being abandoned brought condemnation from the public. The government also began deliberating on cancelling the third Antarctic expedition.
8. "Our Heroes Have No Glory"
All eleven members of the First Japanese Cross-Winter Antarctic Expedition team reached back safely to Japan. Most of them went back to their respective jobs before embarking on the Antarctica expedition. Kuramochi quit his university job and went on a mission to Hokkaido to meet with the owners of the abandoned Sakhalin huskies to share with them about the contributions made by their dogs in the expedition. Most refused to talk to him and bitterly accused him of abandoning their dogs on the continent to die. Initially, the Furutachi kids who owned Riki also refused to talk to him, but later on they responded and forgave him after learning that Riki had saved his life during the Botnutten expedition. In the meantime, Shirasaki took it upon himself to persuade the government to proceed with the organizing of a Third Japanese Antarctica Expedition. Kuramochi, seeing this as an opportunity to return to Antarctica and bring back the stranded sled dogs, was determined to join the third expedition team.
Meanwhile, back in Antarctica, Riki, Deri, Anko, and Jiro returned to the base to check on their chained companions. Four more dogs also broke loose from their chains (Taro, Shiro, Jakku, and Kuma from Furen), but the remaining seven dogs were unable to get loose. Within several days, the seven chained dogs (Goro, Moku, Aka, Kuro, Pochi, Pesu, and Kuma from Monbetsu) succumbed to hunger, bitter cold, and raw wounds around their necks from chafing at their tightened collars and died. The eight freed dogs left the base and headed into the frozen wilderness of Antarctica to hunt for food. They soon turned to hunting for seals, penguins, and skuas for food, seeking shelter at night and during the harsh blizzards that hit the continent, and facing ongoing challenges that they never faced on their own before.
9. "The Curtain Falls...A Miracle Happens"
Six months had already passed since the fifteen Sakhalin huskies had been stranded at the Showa research station in Antarctica. At that point, seven of the dogs had died on their chains, while three of the eight dogs that freed themselves (Deri, Shiro, and Jakku) had died or disappeared in the wilderness. Only five dogs were left alive (Riki, Kuma from Furen, Taro, Jiro, and Anko) as they continued to survive the harsh winter conditions in Antarctica. Though the five dogs continued to survive in the harsh conditions of the brutal Antarctic winter and the coming of spring, hunting for food became difficult for them on the ice shelves. They were soon forced to eat their feces, eat the excrement of seals, and even dig on the surface of the ice for gobies that had been frozen into the sea ice. Riki, Taro, and Jiro become devastated when Anko runs off into the darkness one spring night and disappears, while Kuma from Furen drifts out to sea on a small ice floe.
Back in Japan, the government decided to proceed with the Third Japanese Antarctica Expedition on the condition that no members of the first and second expedition teams were to be involved except Shirasaki. Shirasaki, with Kuramochi in mind, started out on a quest to persuade the government to allow another member from the First Cross-Winter Antarctic Expedition team. Finally, after several months of being pressured by Shirasaki, Kuramochi, and much of the populace of Japan, everything was settled and Kuramochi was allowed to join the third expedition. The Third Japanese Antarctic Expedition was launched with as much grandeur as the first, bound for Antarctica with the hopes of rescuing the sled dogs stranded at the Showa Base.
10. "The Curtain Falls〜Transcending Time and Space...The Beginning of the True Miracle 52 Years Ago Concludes!!"
After more than ten months since they were first abandoned by the First Japanese Antarctic Expedition, only three of the fifteen sled dogs were left alive (Riki, Taro, and Jiro). However, during their return journey to Showa Base, a severely weakened Riki collapsed on the ice and Taro and Jiro ran off into the wilderness to find food for their weakened leader. However, a severe snowstorm separates the three dogs and Riki used what was left of his strength to continue his return journey to the research station. Upon arriving on the outskirts of Showa Base, Riki collapsed on a small hill nearby and thought back to the good memories he had with the Furutachi children, Kuramochi, and the other sled dogs as he lay dying.
Meanwhile, during the Third Japanese Antarctic Expedition, before the disembarkation of the team members and unloading of the equipment, Kuramochi was flown out by helicopter to check out the situation of the research station and the abandoned huskies. He found the corpses of seven huskies still chained at the base, but was greatly relieved to discover that eight of the dogs had managed to get loose from their chains. Later that afternoon, Kuramochi discovered the body of Riki covered in snow on the slope of a hill approaching the station. Even though he was surprised to discover that Riki's body was still warm, indicating that Riki had died just a short while before he was found, Kuramochi was devastated and heartbroken at the loss of one of the dogs that saved his life and that he had failed in his promise to bring Riki back alive. News of his discovery reached the people of Japan, including the owners of the eight deceased dogs, who were shocked and grief-stricken upon hearing of the demises of their beloved dogs.
The next day after arriving at the base, Kuramochi was preparing to bury his eight comrades when he noticed a dog standing on the summit of a hill many yards away from the base. Kuramochi thought at first that it was Kuma from Furen, but as the dog began moving and was followed closely by a second dog, he discovered that it was actually Taro and Jiro, both of whom had survived more than eleven months in Antarctica. Overjoyed to see his two dogs alive, Kuramochi called out to Taro and Jiro, to which the two dogs began bounding across the snow towards him. At first, Taro and Jiro didn't recognize Kuramochi, but after sniffing one of his gloves, they quickly recognize him and are reunited with the man who loved them both dearly. Kuramochi delivered this wonderful news to Shirasaki, who informed the people of Japan of Taro and Jiro's survival. He gave the deceased huskies an honorable send off linked via radio communication to the crew members aboard the icebreaker "Sōya" and the people of Japan. One by one, Kuramochi says goodbye to the eight dogs, promising each of them that he would see them again, especially to Riki whom he, Taro, and Jiro all express their final farewells of love and sorrow for the beloved leader of the sled dogs.
In 1961, Kuramochi, along with the dogs Taro and Jiro and the members of the Third Japanese Cross-Winter Antarctica Expedition team returned to a grand welcome from the people of Japan. Fifty years later, an elderly Kuramochi returned to Antarctica to visit the burial place of the sled dogs he had left behind in Japan, remembering the good times he had had with each of them.


Garfield television specials

The Garfield television specials are a series of twelve half-hour long American animated television specials based on the "Garfield" comic strip of the same name created by Jim Davis. All twelve specials were directed by Phil Roman, written by Davis, and featuring the voice of Lorenzo Music as the character. The specials were originally broadcast on CBS from 1982 to 1991. Although the first two specials were produced by Lee Mendelson Films, this boutique studio was fully committed to the production of the "Peanuts" animated specials and could not allocate resources for the "Garfield" specials. All of the remaining "Garfield" specials were produced by Roman's production company Film Roman.
Reception.
All the animated specials received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Animated Program, winning four by 1989, which includes "Garfield on the Town" (1983), "Garfield in the Rough" (1984), "Garfield's Halloween Adventure" (1985), and "Garfield's Babes and Bullets" (1989).


Odie

Odie is a fictional dog who appears in the comic strip "Garfield" by Jim Davis. He has also made appearances in the animated television series "Garfield and Friends" and "The Garfield Show", two live-action/CGI feature films, and three fully CGI films.
Appearances.
Odie is a yellow-furred, brown-eared dog. In the live-action/animated films based on the "Garfield" franchise, he is depicted as a wire-haired dachshund/terrier mix.
He has a large tongue and slobbers in his appearances. After October 1997, he began walking regularly on two feet, instead of all fours, like Garfield. In the feature film adaptation "", Odie's ability to walk, and more importantly dance on two legs, earns him a lot of attention, and is a major plot point throughout the film.
History.
The name came from a car dealership commercial written by Jim Davis, which featured Odie the Village Idiot. Davis liked the name Odie and decided to use it again. When "Garfield" was first submitted, Davis called Odie "Spot". He then visited cartoonist Mort Walker to show him his strips, and Walker told Davis "I had a dog named Spot". When Davis asked "Really?", Walker replied "Yes, in "Boner's Ark", one of my comic strips". Davis changed Spot’s name to Odie.
Odie first appeared in the strip on August 8, 1978; the date is considered his birthday. He was originally a pet to Jon Arbuckle's friend and roommate, Lyman, but Lyman disappeared from the series after about five years with no explanation, after which ownership of Odie transferred to Jon instead.
Speaking.
In the cartoon, he speaks minor words such as "Ta-da!", "My bone!", "Huh?", or, more commonly, panting, "Yeah, yeah, yeah!" He has said more intelligible sentences, such as "No horsey?" in the episode "Dessert in the Desert", and in the first episode, he even says, "Right!" while agreeing with Jon. When he talks on the show, he speaks by actually moving his mouth, although other dogs have also been shown to do so. Odie is the only animal character in the Garfield series to speak English. However, he was shown thinking, "I'm hungry" on June 15, 1980, and once said, ″Hi to the people, dummy″ in the March 3, 1989 strip (though this was likely Garfield throwing his thoughts to Odie in a sort of mental form of ventriloquism) and has had multiple minor "speaking" roles since then.
Odie's intelligence and tongue.
A running gag throughout the strip is Odie's idiocy. Garfield frequently calls him a moron, to the point where Odie was completely shocked one day when Garfield didn't insult him. He is mostly viewed as an idiot, but in rare cases, it is shown that he hides his high intelligence. For example, once while he, Garfield, and Jon were camping, he locked himself in the car. Garfield and Jon then get suspicious when Odie turns on the radio and the lights and start eating chips, smiling while Jon and Garfield were trapped outside with no food or shelter during a thunderstorm. Another time, when Garfield and Jon were out, Odie was reading "War and Peace", smoking a pipe, and watching a television special about Mozart. Another running gag is Odie's long tongue. In another strip, Odie is running around the family room, and Garfield grabs on to his tongue to see how long it is. The next panel shows Odie right next to Garfield, but with his tongue literally wrapped around all the furniture, going through the hallway, wrapping around Odie himself and Garfield, and with room to spare, much to Garfield's shock. Another strip shows Garfield theorizing how he can have such a long tongue, and store it in his mouth. He then guesses that he has the rest of his tongue stored in where his brain should be, also stating how much of an idiot he is. Also, in one winter themed Sunday strip, Odie's tongue is stuck to a lamp post stretched from two blocks to Jon's dining room, prompting Garfield to tell Jon, "We need a blow dryer and a really, really long extension cord."
 Another comic shows Jon, Garfield, and Odie are painting a wall, and Jon yells at Garfield because he's using the end of Odie's tongue as a paintbrush.
In "The Garfield Show", Odie's tongue is once again shown to be very long and stretchy. In the episode "Out on a Limb", Odie uses his long tongue in an attempt to lower Garfield down a very high tree.
Relationship with Garfield.
Although Garfield often impugns Odie's intelligence, one strip shows him enjoying classical music on TV with a novel, "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy, nearby after Jon and Garfield leave the house. (According to Davis's comments in the 20th-anniversary book, "I couldn't resist.") Another has him lock the others out of the car on a camping trip, where he enjoys the sandwiches, radio, and chips, while the others just get wet. In others he has been seen setting decoys, completing a sudoku puzzle, completing a crossword puzzle (to Jon's amazement), writing poetry, and while playing as superheroes with Garfield, finding a complete outfit to one-up Garfield's cape. One theory is that there are two Odies, a smart one and the more common idiot. It may be that Odie is actually smarter than he appears, and merely uses the idiotic front as a means to gain an advantage over Garfield. In two strips, Garfield went to see what was at the end of Odie's tongue, and it turned out to be a second Odie (which Garfield dismissed as an effect of a bad can of tuna from the previous night). Odie has managed to take revenge on Garfield occasionally, and Garfield sometimes cannot avoid noticing it. Garfield acknowledges this by saying "He's not as dumb as he looks, but then again who could be?" In the first episode of "The Garfield Show" an alien species that resembles lasagna scans Odie with a ray that indicates brain power - the result was zero.
Garfield on numerous occasions actually does care a great deal for Odie, most notably in the first Garfield special "Here Comes Garfield", in which Odie is briefly captured by the dogcatcher and a teary-eyed Garfield realizes through flashbacks of him and Odie playing together and how sad his life would be without him (in these series of flashbacks by Garfield, the song "So Long Old Friend" is played in the background). In Garfield's Halloween Adventure, Garfield even admits to the viewer that there were times that he loved Odie. In one strip, Garfield states that Odie is made of rubber. Other times Garfield tries to put the blame on Odie for some of the mishaps he has done. Jim Davis has stated, when asked why Garfield played so many pranks on Odie, that it was because "Odie is so kick-able. He sorta doesn't care. But Garfield would never hurt Odie for real. He just gives him a pinch now and again."
Odie all too often gets kicked off the table by Garfield; once Odie tried to push Garfield off the table, but Garfield was too heavy. In addition to getting kicked off the table, Odie is often the victim of Garfield's pranks.(Although, on a much earlier strip, Odie "had" kicked Garfield off the table while he was wearing a Garfield mask and Garfield was wearing an Odie mask.) Curiously, Garfield has taken offense to others treating Odie in this manner. In one strip, he punches out another cat who beats up on Odie, insisting, "Nobody beats up on Odie but me!" Similarly, in "" after seeing Happy Chapman use a shock collar on Odie, he says, "Hey, nobody gets to mistreat my dog like that except me!" That attitude is shown in an episode of "Garfield and Friends" when Odie is conned out of the grocery money by an alley cat. Garfield is visibly angry at what transpired and goes to great lengths to clear Odie's name.
Odie does manage to get a little revenge on Garfield. Jim Davis stated in the 30th anniversary book that Odie gets back at Garfield every few months. The first example occurs when Jon accuses Garfield of clearing out his closet except for the T-shirt saying "I love cats." While Garfield professes his innocence, he is hurled out of the house. Comically Odie, wearing a plaid shirt, steps out to grin at Garfield, indicating he framed him. In one strip, while Garfield confesses how good a friend Odie was as Odie never minds Garfield playing tricks on him, Odie slyly pastes a note on Garfield's back that reads "KICK ME". Once, he managed to give Garfield a taste of his own medicine in a strip where Garfield tried to have fun with an Odie mask. Odie wasn't at the edge of the table, and while Garfield wondered where Odie was, he showed up (wearing a Garfield mask) and kicked the tabby off the table. On at least one occasion, Odie was also prepared for Garfield trying to kick him off the table, setting up a pillow on the floor to land on after Garfield punts him. Yet another instance involved Garfield getting stuck in a tree and asking Odie (who sees him from the window) for help. Odie tosses Garfield Jon's bowling ball, and when Garfield curses Odie for his stupidity, the extra weight added by the bowling ball causes the tree branch to break and send Garfield falling to the ground. The final panel ends with Odie smiling evilly at the reader while Garfield notes how much he hates dogs. In yet another instance, Garfield approached Odie at the edge of the table, who was holding a large rock in his paws. Garfield wondered why he was holding it, only getting his answer when he kicked the dog. Odie did not budge from where he was standing, and Garfield hurt his foot instead, ending with Odie smiling smugly while Garfield was hopping around, saying "That's why." In one storyline, Garfield gets beat up by a bulldog after kicking him and has to wear a cast for nearly a week. The cast covers Garfield's entire body but his face. Odie torments Garfield throughout the duration of this time. In the final strip of the storyline, though, Garfield tells Jon that he'd like to keep his cast after being asked what he would like to do with it, and strikes Odie with it.


Water for Elephants (film)

Water for Elephants is a 2011 American romantic drama film directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Richard LaGravenese, based on Sara Gruen's 2006 novel of the same name. It stars Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz.
The film was released in the United States on April 22, 2011. It received mixed reviews from film critics and grossed $117 million worldwide for a budget of $38 million.
Plot.
Charlie O'Brien, Circus Vargas' owner, encounters an elderly man named Jacob Jankowski, who is separated from his nursing home group. The two strike up a conversation and Jacob reveals he had a career in the circus business and was present during one of the most infamous circus disasters of all time, equal in seriousness to the 1944 Hartford circus fire and the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus wreck.
Jankowski tells his story to O'Brien, starting in 1931 when he was a 23-year-old veterinary medicine student at Cornell University. During his final exam, he is informed that his parents were killed in a car accident. His father has left huge debts, and the bank was foreclosing on Jacob's home. Feeling there is no point in returning to school, and having no home to go to, he jumps onto a passing train where he meets a kind old man named Camel.
Jacob wakes up the next morning and discovers that he jumped on the Benzini Bros. circus train. He sees a beautiful young woman named Marlena Rosenbluth, and meets August, the circus's ringmaster, head animal trainer, and Marlena's husband. Jacob reveals he studied veterinary science and August hires Jacob as a vet for the circus animals after Jacob tells August that Silver (a show horse) has laminitis.
August instructs Jacob to fix Silver and keep him performing as long as possible. But Jacob cannot bear to see Silver's suffering and takes it upon himself to tell Marlena and shoots Silver. August is furious with Jacob's decision to euthanize Silver against orders. To show Jacob who is boss, he threatens to throw him off the moving train — telling him that an animal's suffering is nothing compared to a man's, and that Jacob must carry out all of August's future orders if he wishes to keep his job.
August eventually procures Rosie the elephant as Silver's replacement. He invites Jacob to his car for dinner and cocktails with him and Marlena. Jacob watches the married couple flirt and dance in front of him, but it becomes clear that their relationship is complicated because August is possessive, jealous and rough with Marlena.
In the next few weeks, August becomes frustrated when Rosie seems impossible to train. August is brutal with Rosie, beating her with a bullhook when she fails to follow orders. After a brutal beating that August gave to Rosie when she ran away after fleeing from the event and dropping Marlena, Jacob realizes that the elephant only understands Polish commands. After that, Rosie performs beautifully and the circus enjoys a short period of success. While working together to train Rosie, Jacob and Marlena fall in love. During a prohibition raid while the three are celebrating at a restaurant the two share a kiss after getting separated from August. Marlena runs off in a moment of regret and Jacob considers quitting but can't bear to leave Rosie to August's clutches. After August later observes their chemistry, he cruelly taunts the two, even to a point where he forces the two of them to kiss in front of him. Marlena discovers that August plans to throw Jacob from the train and they run away together, hiding in a local hotel. Soon after consummating their relationship, they are ambushed by August's henchmen who drag Marlena away and beat up Jacob.
Jacob covertly returns to the circus train to find Marlena. He holds a knife near a sleeping August but backs off. Marlena tells Jacob that his friends Walter and Camel were thrown from the train and killed and promises to run away with Jacob again once August is occupied. Several circus employees have become fed up with August's murderous cruelty and unleash their revenge by unlocking all the animals' cages while the big top tent is jam-packed with an audience enjoying Marlena and Rosie's performance. Jacob attempts to find Marlena in the chaos, but August attacks him. Marlena tries to save Jacob from being beaten by August, but this causes the latter to turn his fury on her. August attempts to kill Marlena by choking her while Jacob fights with one of August's henchmen, who easily defeats him. Wade and Grady, two of Jacob's best friends and one of the circus workers save Jacob, who sees Rosie hit August on the back of the head with an iron stake, killing him. As a result, Benzini Bros. is officially shut down, and no one is charged with releasing the animals.
Back in the present, Jacob explains to O'Brien in flashbacks that he returned to Cornell and finished his degree. He and Marlena took several horses and Rosie, and got jobs with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Jacob worked as a veterinarian and she continued to perform with Rosie. They married, had children and kept Rosie until her death. He took on a job as a vet at the Albany Zoo and after more children and many happy years together Marlena died.
O'Brien then asks Jacob to work as the ticket taker, to which Jacob agrees.
Production.
Filming.
On a budget of $38 million, filming began on May 20, 2010 in Los Angeles, Piru, Fillmore in California, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Kensington and Chickamauga in Georgia. The filming wrapped up on August 4, 2010. This is the second time Witherspoon and Pattinson have costarred together as they had filmed a deleted scene from 2004's "Vanity Fair" in which he was her estranged son. Reshoots for the film were scheduled for mid January 2011.
The stampede scenes were digitally composed.
Controversy.
Alleged animal abuse.
In the film "Water for Elephants" the elephant Rosie, whom Tai portrays, is severely abused. A spokesperson from the AHA assured people that all scenes of abuse in the film were the work of special effects and CGI, and that the moaning and crying sounds that Tai is seen making on film were audio tracks, and were not actually made by Tai.
Controversy erupted, however, regarding concerns Tai was mistreated prior to filming. A video released by the Animal Defenders International (ADI) in 2011 shows footage of Tai allegedly being shocked with handheld stun guns and beaten around the body and legs with bull hooks, while in the care of "Have Trunk Will Travel" in 2005. The ADI contacted AHA, urging them to re-evaluate how they assess the use of animals in films and the statements being made which effectively endorse the use of performing animals.
"Have Trunk Will Travel" responded to the video stating, "The video shows heavily edited and very short snippets, obviously taken surreptitiously six years ago, purporting mistreatment of our elephants. If there was truly any abuse going on why wait six minutes, much less six years?" and added "None of the footage being shown was taken during Tai's training for Water for Elephants."
Release.
Critical response.
On review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 60% based on 189 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "It's a tale tastefully told and beautifully filmed, but "Water for Elephants" suffers from a pronounced lack of chemistry between its leads." Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating to reviews, the film has a score of 52 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film three stars out of four, stating: "This is good sound family entertainment, a safe PG-13 but not a dumb one, and it's a refreshing interlude before we hurtle into the summer blockbuster season." Todd McCarthy of "The Hollywood Reporter" gave the film a positive review. He stated: "The Reese Witherspoon-Robert Pattinson film will please fans of Sara Gruen's best seller, but it lacks the vital spark that would have made the drama truly compelling on the screen."
Kenneth Turan of the "Los Angeles Times" gave the film a positive review, stating that "despite the stars' lack of romantic chemistry, there's much to enjoy in this cinematic retelling of Sara Gruen's big top bestseller, starting with the spectacular circus setting."
Richard Corliss of "Time" stated: "The proceedings get so slow and saccharine that viewers will relish the film's moments of redeeming idiocy. In one of them, Marlena whispers to Jacob, 'Bring Rosie to my tent and don't tell anyone' — as if the roustabouts wouldn't notice a 12-ft.-tall, 10,000-lb. creature striding down the midway. Granted, they'd also take a look at his handler, the divoon Robert Pattinson; but Rosie has a pretty strong odor too, and that's what will stick to you after seeing "Water for Elephants"." James Berardinelli, film critic for "ReelViews", wrote: "There's an old-fashioned vibe to "Water for Elephants"; it's the kind of movie Hollywood once turned out with regularity but rarely does anymore."
Some critics, however, praised the film's cast. Mick LaSalle of the "San Francisco Chronicle" stated that Pattinson succeeded at holding his own at the center of a major feature and that Witherspoon, while an odd fit for the role, was "actress enough to make it work." He continued: "the affectionate but turbulent dynamic among [Christoph] Waltz, Pattinson and Witherspoon is endlessly watchable." Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" also wrote that Pattinson and Witherspoon "smoldered" under the "golden gaze of Rodrigo Prieto's camera."
Box office.
"Water for Elephants" was released in theaters on April 22, 2011. In the United States and Canada, the film was released theatrically in 2,817 conventional theaters. The film grossed $6,924,487 during its opening day on April 22, 2011, with midnight screenings in 2,817 locations. Overall the film made $16,842,353 and debuted at #3 on its opening weekend. On its second weekend, it dropped to #4 and grossed $9,342,413 - $3,313 per theater. By its third weekend it dropped down to #6 and made $6,069,603 - $2,322 per theater. As of September 27, 2011 its final gross is $58,709,717 in the United States and $58,385,185 overseas, for a total of $117,094,902.
Home media.
The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD on November 1, 2011 in two physical packages: a 1-disc DVD and 2-disc Blu-ray/Digital Copy combo pack. As of Nov. 6, it has been on Direct TV Cinema.


Alaskan Knights

Alaskan Knights, also known as Animal Rhythm is some reissues, is an animated cartoon by Columbia Pictures, part of the Krazy Kat series.
Plot.
Travelling through the frosty landscape, Krazy rides on a sled pulled by a pack of huskies. At the end of his journey, he enters a saloon where he spends the rest of the film. The saloon is filled with dancing guests but Krazy stands by the counter.
Moments later, a beautiful female rat in a skirt and pumps shows up at the balcony before walking downstairs. She then approaches and selects Krazy to be her dance partner. They begin to strut their stuff.
After Krazy and the rat sat by a table where they each drank a mug of ale, and play a tune of "Oh! Susanna", the cat decides to have fun on his own. He then picks up a bow and comes to a table occupied by a sleeping hefty patron. Getting carried away, Krazy pulls one of the hefty patron's mustaches and rubs the bow on them as if they were violin strings. In no time, that patron wakes up annoyed and gives Krazy an intimidating gaze. But before an attack could be delivered, Krazy takes a pin, and pricks his would-be-attacker who then explodes. In this, a group of smaller and harmless versions of the patron appeared and started dancing merrily. Krazy and the rat went on to join the celebration.
Reception.
A reviewer remarked "Krazy Kat in his best form ... in the Alaskan locale, among snow, dogsleds and saloons full of grizzly miners."


FNaF World

FNaF World is an indie role-playing video game created by Scott Cawthon. It is the first official spin-off to the "Five Nights at Freddy's" series. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on January 21, 2016 and Android on January 12, 2017, but came with unfinished gameplay and a large amount of bugs, leading to bad reception and ultimately the decision for the game's removal from digital storefronts. On February 8, 2016, the game was updated, and re-released as freeware on Game Jolt free of charge.
Gameplay.
The player has two modes to play in: Adventure and Fixed Party. The game also has two difficulty levels to choose from, Normal and Hard. The player starts by choosing two parties consisting of four characters each. The starter characters, the original and toy versions of the first main games characters, can all be swapped in and out of the party. As the player continues, they collect more characters to place in their party, with there being 40 characters available in total from across the first four games. Along the way, a character known as Fredbear will give the player tips on what to do next. These tips frequently break the fourth wall due to Fredbear's seeming awareness of the situation he is placed in.
The gameplay consists of exploring through the game world and accessing new areas. Once new areas are revealed and a special button is pressed in them, the player can use "jumping" to teleport between each area through an overworld map. Initially, the world was depicted in a 2D Atari-like style, but as of Version 1.2 released in May 2016, the world has been redesigned into that of a pre-rendered 3D style. Many enemy characters can be found throughout the game, each exclusive to their own area, which can be battled with. Upon defeating an enemy, the player will gain experience points and "Faz Tokens", which are used to buy upgrades such as chips and bytes to aid the player during the game.
The battles consist of turn-based random encounters, with several boss battles. For each turn, the player is given choices for each character and must choose one of their three commands, which differ depending on the characters. The commands have different color tags and have different impacts, including healing the team (pink), providing status buffs (white), single-target attacks (orange), area attacks (red), poisonous attacks (green), and possible instant-kill attacks (black), among others. Once a turn is used, the player has to wait for some time until the next turn begins. The player can also swap the current party with the reserve at any time. After each battle, all characters, including the knocked out ones, are restored to full health.
The Game Jolt version upgraded the overworld's graphics to pre-rendered 3D. Version 1.2 added a new area the player completes minigames such as "Foxy Fighters", "Chica's Magic Rainbow", "Foxy.EXE" and "FNAF 57: Freddy in Space" to unlock new characters.
Setting.
"FNaF World" takes place in a world inhabited by enemies and various characters from the "Five Nights at Freddy's" series, who live in different biomes, that include a snowy plain, deep forests, a graveyard, lake, carnival, and caves. There also exists an inner dimension known as the "Flipside", the world's game code, in which there are several glitches that enable travel to otherwise unreachable places. The Flipside has four layers in total, although going beyond the third level is a point of no return, leading to an alternate ending. Update 2 added the Halloween Update area, from which various minigames can be accessed along with the final area: a toxic maze where the final boss of Update 2 is located.
Development.
"FNaF World" was first announced on September 15, 2015, in a Steam post by Cawthon. Later, a trailer was uploaded to YouTube, depicting the characters of the four previous games as cute. The announcement was considered to be a hoax due to similar PR actions taken by Cawthon, however, it was not disproven until its release. Cawthon noted that the game is a spin-off, considering the main arc of "Five Nights at Freddy's" completed with the fourth game. Though originally planned for release on February 2, 2016, Cawthon rescheduled the release to January 22, 2016, but eventually launched yet another day earlier, on January 21, 2016, respectively, releasing it digitally through Steam.
Upon release, community and critics criticized the game for missing key features, being unstable and generally unfinished, which Cawthon later apologized for, stating that "[he] got too eager to show the things that were finished, that [he] neglected to pay attention to the things that weren't." He agreed with the community that he had rushed the release, and that the game's rough state was unacceptable. Cawthon stated that he would be working hard to get the game in order, but this eventually led to Cawthon temporarily taking the game off Steam, offering refunds to everyone who bought it. It was later announced that, once the game would be patched further, it would be released for free, first to Game Jolt, and stay free from that point on.On February 8, 2016, an updated version was released to Game Jolt as freeware, also featuring a new overworld and other new features.
On May 13, 2016, a second update to "FNaF World" was released, featuring new characters and a new map, as well as voice acting.
On January 12, 2017, "FNaF World" was released on Android, but was removed the next day. On January 31, 2017, Cawthon dispelled any rumors of the highly speculated "Update 3", saying that no further updates will be made to the game. He expressed his dissatisfaction of the game, stating that most mistakes in development were made "very early", and that attempting to better the game would "be remaking the game from scratch". He later removed the game from Steam.
Reception.
"FNaF World" received generally mixed reception among critics and community, with many YouTube gamers responsible for launching the franchise to its high popularity, such as Markiplier, opting not to play it, most likely changing how critics responded to the spin-off. However, Angelo M. D'Argenio from "The Escapist" gave the game a decent review, stating that ""Five Nights at Freddy's World" is a retro parody JRPG that feels incomplete now, but is steadily getting better as patches come out", giving "FNaF World" a score of 3/5. This, however, doesn't make it as popular as FNAF's other games. The Gaming Ground also gave a satisfactory review, giving the game a 3.5/5.


Scalp Treatment

Scalp Treatment is the 42nd animated cartoon short subject in the "Woody Woodpecker" series. Released theatrically on September 18, 1952, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal International.
Plot.
In a long shot of an Indian village way out West, all of the tepees have TV antennas, and some of the tepees are shops displaying Indian-made wares and merchandise. In the foreground is a millinery shop with a window full of feathered hats and coats, etc.; in the rear is a barber shop, complete with revolving barber pole. We discover Woody Woodpecker in the barber's chair reading a magazine, with Indian barber Buzz Buzzard stropping the blade of a tomahawk. Buzz tests the blade's sharpness by dropping a feather, which lands on the blade and slowly splits into two parts, each part floating in the air. Buzz trims the feathers on Woody's head, then, with "Feather Tonic," he gives Woody a vigorous scalp massage which, when finished, gives Woody's head the appearance of an Indian headdress, beautiful to behold. At this time, they discover a cute Indian maiden looking in the window and admiring a feathered bonnet, so they both zip out of the shop and tip their feathers to the maid. She continues to admire the bonnet, which carries a "$2,000.00 Wampum" price tag. She first asks Woody to buy the bonnet, but he's broke; she then asks Buzz, who's also without the necessary funds. The maid, with scorn, turns up her nose and walks away, leaving the two rejected swains very dejected and alone. Buzz then suddenly spies the beautiful feather-do that Woody has and, in a vision, dreams how it would look if transferred to the maid. With a malicious grin on his face, Buzz pulls out his tomahawk and starts for Woody, intending to acquire Woody's feather bonnet for the maid. From here on, there's a fast series of gags, with Buzz determined to get the feathers and Woody avoiding him at all times. Woody finally disposes of Buzz. In the final scene, we see Woody, his feathers all gone, now adorning the Indian maiden; Woody is stripped but happy.


Crowing Pains

Crowing Pains is a 1947 Warner Bros. "Looney Tunes" cartoon directed by Robert McKimson. The cartoon was released on July 12, 1947, and stars Henery Hawk, Sylvester, Foghorn Leghorn and the Barnyard Dawg. This is McKimson's first short to feature Sylvester.
Plot.
Sylvester is sneaking to the doghouse in a bush. He tries to steal the bone, but the Barnyard Dawg grabs the paw and looks inside the bush to see Sylvester with a flower in his mouth and several more flowers on his head.
After Sylvester deliberately whacks Barnyard Dawg on the head with his dog food dish, Barnyard Dawg gives chase and chases Sylvester on the wall and jumps over a branch, only to get caught by the leash and hangs from the branch by the leash. Sylvester is about to cut the leash with an axe, but Foghorn grabs the blade and Sylvester whacks too hard and vibrates as he goes by the fire wood, and the branch breaks and Barnyard Dawg gets hit on the head and walks off.
When Foghorn is telling Sylvester "Let's bury the hat- I say- let's bury the hatchet, but not in anyone's head, boy!" while Sylvester is trying to speak, Sylvester angrily yells "Ah, SHADDAP!" and whacks Foghorn on the head with the bladeless axe and leaves as Foghorn sees stars and still holds the blade. After Henery tells Foghorn that he is a chicken, Foghorn convinces Henery that Sylvester is a chicken. Foghorn sticks Henery in an fake egg, tells Henery "Open the window, Richard, that's what it's there for," and places it under Sylvester. Sylvester wakes up, thinking he's laid the egg and has become a mother, sings "Rock A Bye Baby" to it then hides the egg when he sees Foghorn coming and Foghorn congratulates Sylvester for laying the egg, only Sylvester realizes that cats can't lay eggs ("Hey, tom cats can't be mothers! Cats don't lay eggs! There's something screwy here!) and Sylvester attempts to detach himself from this egg that suddenly follows him and attaches itself to him and that literally scares Sylvester out of his wits when he thinks the egg is possessed by a ghost. He runs from it and literally does all sorts of things including running into the dog house belonging to the Barnyard Dawg. The dog pulls the cat out and stomps all over him and walks off. Henery, still in the egg, runs into the dog, which causes the dog to trip and fall over. The dog looks at the egg and then at the camera and says to the audience: "I takes a step, and PRESTO! I lays an egg!". The scene fades to a mother duck, with her ducklings, who says to herself "Presto, and he lays an egg. And to think for fifteen years I've been doing it the hard way". The egg/Henery finally discovers Sylvester's hiding spot (a barrel), and he starts to burrow himself into Sylvester's skin, presumably for "mock incubation" reasons.
Reaching a breaking point, Sylvester comes close to literally smashing the egg with a mallet. Just as the egg is about to be smashed, Henery busts out of the egg and yells "STOP!" to which Sylvester, in a classic "wild take" scene, literally yanks his head up and down by his ears and grabs his tail and literally yanks on it, causing his head to literally pop up and down on his shoulders because Sylvester thinks he's crazy. Henery, seeing enough, clobbers Sylvester with a mallet and drags him off. Sylvester wakes up and asks "Say, what's the big idea?!" and Henery warns the "chicken" to not give him any trouble and Sylvester realizes that he's been part of a trick and he leaps up and shows Henery that the actual chicken, is Foghorn himself. Foghorn replies, insulted by the accusation, "If I was a roost- I say -if I was a rooster, I hope to be struck by--" but gets interrupted when he almost literally gets struck by lightning, and decides to "put it another way. Way, that is," and an argument arises between Sylvester, Foghorn, and Barnyard Dawg as they accuse each other of misleading Henery Hawk.
Finally, Henery decides the only way to settle the matter is to see who crows at dawn, and they all agree to do so. At dawn, Sylvester appears to be crowing, which leads to Henery dragging Sylvester away. However, it turns out that Foghorn was crowing, and he shows a book on ventriloquism. Foghorn tells the audience "You gotta- I say -you gotta keep on your toes. Toes, that is!" just before the cartoon irises out.
Home media.
This cartoon was once thought to be in the public domain but it was copyrighted (and renewed) under the title "Growing Pains".


Verotika

Verotika is a 2019 American anthology horror film written, directed and scored by Glenn Danzig. Based on a line of comic books published by Danzig's company Verotik, the film stars Rachel Alig, Alice Haig, Natalia Borowsky, Sean Kanan, Scotch Hopkins, Ashley Wisdom, and Kayden Kross.
Premise.
The film consists of three segments. The first segment, "The Albino Spider of Dajette", is about a Parisian sex worker with eyeballs for nipples named Dajette and an albino spider that takes the form of an eight-armed humanoid, the latter of whom murders sex workers by breaking their necks. The second segment, "Change of Face", concerns a mysterious stripper who collects the faces of other women. The final segment, "Drukija Contessa of Blood", follows a countess who kills virgin women and bathes in their blood.
Production.
The film is based on comic books by published by Verotik, a company owned by writer-director Glenn Danzig. Danzig has referred to "Verotika" as a "tribute" to horror anthology films such as "Black Sabbath" and "Trilogy of Terror".
The third segment in the film, "Drukija Contessa of Blood", has been described as "a take" on historical figure and murderer Elizabeth Báthory.
Release and reception.
"Verotika" premiered on June 13, 2019 at the Cinepocalypse film festival in Chicago, Illinois. Throughout the screening, the film elicited laughter from the audience. In a Q&A session following the showing, Danzig asserted that he did not intend for the film to be comedic, stating that viewers laughed at parts that "[he] wouldn't have".
The film had its international premiere at the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival in Catalonia, Spain on October 4, 2019.
"Verotika" was panned by critics, with multiple publications comparing it to the 2003 film "The Room", which is commonly considered to be one of the worst films ever made. Patrick Bromley of Bloody Disgusting wrote that "the audience reaction at Cinepocalypse suggests that "Verotika" has a future as a midnight movie in the same vein as "The Room". There's plenty of entertainment and plenty of laughs to be had, even if I'm not sure it's what director Danzig originally intended. Creating a new horror cult favorite might just be the most punk rock thing he could have done." Nick Allen of "Vulture" wrote that "Verotika" "[follows] in the tradition of Ed Wood and Tommy Wiseau", and noted that Danzig may have unwittingly created "the horror-comedy of the year". Alex McLevy of "The A.V. Club" called the film "funny on a level that most comedies can't achieve. It's that rare fusion of painstakingly expressed love and total lack of ability that deliver the best of bad cinema, and [Danzig] should be proud."
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 23% based on thirteen reviews, with an average rating of 2.11/10.
Home media.
The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD in March 2020.


Fred Basset

Fred Basset is a comic strip about a male basset hound. The cartoon was created by Scottish cartoonist Alex Graham and published first in the "Daily Mail" on 8 July 1963. It has since been syndicated around the world.
Fred's cartoon strips are renamed as "Wurzel" in Germany, "Lillo il Cane Saggio" (Lillo the wise dog) in Italy, "Lorang" in Norway, "Laban" in Sweden and "Retu", "Pitko" or "Koiraskoira" in Finland.
Publication history.
"Fred Basset" has been published in the United Kingdom newspaper "Daily Mail", and latterly "The Mail On Sunday", from 1963 to the present. Alex Graham based Fred on his own dog Frieda and drew over 9,000 comic strips.
Alex Graham died on 3 December 1991. Once the stockpiled 18 months' worth of Alex Graham cartoons had been published, they were continued in Graham's style with artwork by Michael Martin and Graham's daughter, Arran Keith, continuing the family link. They are new cartoons being published, not merely re-runs of earlier ones.
The Michael Martin drawings started out with the general style and humour of the original Graham "Freds", but after around 2000 a more casual style of drawing is apparent. The current cartoons still have Alex Graham's original whimsical theme. Fred and his family still live in a pre-1990s era, with only a few hints to modern life, such as satnav and them finally buying a more modern car, as shown in the 2008 annual.
Despite Fred's many years featured in newspapers around the world, he is not as well known as other cartoon characters. "Fred Basset" is currently syndicated in newspapers using the current Michael Martin strips and is available by email subscription or online direct from GoComics.com and others.
Characters and story.
Fred's owners are a middle-aged husband and wife, who are not given names in the strip. The husband is a professional worker in the City of London. He enjoys socialising at his local pubs, The Swan and The Chequers and The Rose and Crown. He is shown often as being temperamental and spends much free time reading the newspaper, walking Fred, and playing golf. The wife manages the house and the family, and has a busy life socialising with friends. She is shown several times as being a bad driver with many accidents with the family car. Known relations to the family are "her rich eccentric" Uncle Albert and her sisters, one in UK and one overseas. A new relation introduced during the mid-1990s was mentioned as "her Aunt Flo". There are no children in Fred's immediate family, although Amanda and the Tucker Twins appear regularly.
The names and areas pictured are made from places and people Alex Graham knew, areas are said to resemble Scotland. Family friends' names would be used, as was Tinker's Wood, taken from a house Graham lived in.
Topical references in the strips are kept to a minimum. One mention of The Beatles and the family's continually recovered lounge sofa suite are among the few giveaways of their age. There are mentions of New Year during 1970 and 1971 and 1 January 1973 when the UK entered the Common Market. The Michael Martin era strips have more topical references and mention of modern appliances, such as mobile phones and a microwave oven, and feature some popular culture references such as 'Am I bovvered?' in the 2008 annual.
The early strips do not generally feature follow-on storylines. Storylines with Fred staying at Jock's house or Uncle Albert staying a few days are among the only times the a story extended beyond the single strip format. A variant of this are sequences of strips over several days having a common theme such as for Christmas or summer holidays, but without narrative continuation. Again, some later Michael Martin strips do follow on for a few days, as with a birthday party mentioned in the 1997 book or stories such as a summer holiday or buying a new car.
The first copyright dates (then for Associated Newspapers) were added to the cartoon strips during 1969.
The nature of Fred.
Fred Basset himself seems to have been born during 1959 from comments in the earliest cartoons, and in true cartoon style, seems not to age. Fred's observations can be wry and a certain amount of surrealism is evident, with one early strip having his owners mention they thought the "Fred Basset" strip in the day's newspaper was "quite amusing" (cartoon 553 in book number 4). Later strips mention both Fred, his owners and passers-by being surreally aware of the newspaper "Fred Basset" strip and commenting as such, unaware that their own Fred is the character mentioned.
Fred has a certain amount of snobbishness and appreciates the finer qualities of life, as shown clearly in the Alex Graham era strips, with attitudes of the time. He is equally at home misbehaving, being selfish, chasing other dogs and being a coward when more aggressive dogs are around.
A small black Scottie (Scottish terrier) dog, Jock, is a regular companion, as well as Yorky (a Yorkshire terrier) in later years. A canine girlfriend, Fifi the poodle, appears too. An Alsatian dog, referred to as Brutus, is his adversary. Fred likes chasing cats but freely admits he would not know what to do with one if he caught it.
Books.
"Fred Basset" features in many books worldwide, in the UK a long-running series of books reprints most of the newspaper strips. These are books number 1 (1963) to book 45 (1993). Later books dated by year, 1994 onwards, include the Michael Martin drawn cartoons, as well as Graham's colour ones until the Alex Graham cartoons stock had ended by the 1996 book.
During 1977, a large hardback book entitled "Fred Basset and the Spaghetti" was published by "The Daily Mail". It featured a children's story, not the usual comic strips, written by Alex Graham's son, Neilson, together with illustrations by Alex.
During 1989, a compilation book entitled "Fred Basset Bumper Book No 2" was issued. The title has since caused confusion, as there is no Bumper Book No 1 as such. A book published during 1988, "Fred Basset 25 Years", a similar compilation, is considered its forerunner.
Colour strips as used in "The Mail On Sunday" were added from book 36 during 1984. This backlogged the black and white strips, and by book 41 during 1989 they were still using 1984 strips. The next book 42 jumped from book 41 ending with strip 6483 to strip 8159 dated 1990. The missing cartoons remain unpublished since the original newspaper strips.
The distinctive "Fred" handwriting font was supplied by Les Hulme until the early 2000s. A variant of the font is still used today.
The Michael Martin era annuals from 1994 to 2008 featured earlier Alex Graham artwork on the front, yet only featured the contemporary Martin strips inside. The 2009 annual is the first one to feature a Michael Martin front cover.
Fred Basset annuals are usually only printed in black & white, but for years 1984 (book no 36) to 1990 (book no 42) as well as the 1994 & 1995 annuals they were printed with some in colour. The current 'gocomics' online versions are usually in colour. Sadly the poor picture reprint quality that marred the 2008 volume is still present in the 2009 book. Many strips look weak and washed out on the finer detail, looking like a photocopy. The 2010 annual is still in black and white, though the printing quality is much better.
One "Fred Basset" book appeared in USA during 1969, "Meet Fred Basset" published as a 'Fawcett Gold Medal Book'. Several books appeared in Australia from 1979–1985 and one published in Germany.
As of 2009, Summersdale Publishers UK published the "Fred Basset Yearbook" and published a gift book featuring some of the cartoons from previous strips in colour. 'Fred Basset for Garden Lovers' was published in September 2009.
The 2010 Annual, released in October 2010, is unusually entitled "Fred Basset Yearbook 2010–2011", in an attempt to keep the book selling in 2011. This follows a tradition of annuals since the 1930s which were dated the next year to stop buyers thinking it was an older edition.
A special 50th anniversary annual, Fred Basset Celebrating 50 Years was published in 2013 by Summersdale Publishers.
In other media.
J Salmon Ltd currently print a Fred Basset calendar displaying twelve cartoons drawn by Michael Martin.
Fred Basset, despite being a comic strip character, was read on radio regularly by Hamish Blake throughout Australia on the Today Network's Hamish and Andy Show (weekdays 4-6pm) on Friday afternoons (approx 5:50pm). Andy Lee does his best to stop the reading – trying everything from locking Hamish in a wheelie bin to smashing Hamish's digital camera in order to deter him. However, Hamish always reads the entire comic. The duo also own a real greyhound called "Fred Basset" which is raced in Victoria.
Fred Basset television cartoon series.
During mid-1977 a short-lived 5 minute television cartoon of "Fred Basset" was shown on the BBC, made by Bill Melendez Productions, voiced by actor Lionel Jeffries . 20 episodes were produced.