by on

Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko (2005)

Avatar: The Last Airbender is an American animated television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko,
with Aaron Ehasz as head writer. It aired on Nickelodeon for three seasons, from February 2005 to July 2008.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is set in an Asiatic-like world in which some people can manipulate one of the four elements—water, earth, fire, or air—with telekinetic variants of the Chinese martial arts known as “bending”. The only individual who can bend all four elements, the “Avatar”, is responsible for maintaining harmony between the world’s four nations, and serves as the bridge between the spirit world and the physical world. The show is presented in a style that combines anime with American cartoons, and relies on the imagery of mainly East Asian culture, with some South Asian, New World, and Inuit and Sireniki influences.

by on

Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko (2014)

The Legend of Korra is an American animated television series created by Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino for Nickelodeon. A sequel to Konietzko and DiMartino’s previous series Avatar: The Last Airbender, which aired from 2005 to 2008.
The series is animated in a style strongly influenced by anime.

As with its predecessor, the series is set in a fictional universe in which some people can manipulate, or “bend”, the elements of water, earth, fire, or air. Only one person, the “Avatar,” can bend all four elements, and is responsible for maintaining balance in the world. The series follows Avatar Korra, the successor of Aang from the previous series, as she faces political and spiritual unrest in a modernizing world.

by on

Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, & Dean Lorey (2019)

Harley Quinn is an American adult animated television series based on the DC Comics character of the same name created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm. The series is written and executive produced by Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, and Dean Lorey and follows the misadventures of Harley Quinn and her best friend/partner-in-crime Poison Ivy after leaving her boyfriend, the Joker.

by on

Tune-Yards (2021)

New album Sketchy out 26th March – https://tuneyards.ffm.to/sketchy

Video by Basa
Directed by Diego Huacuja T.
Producer: Melissa Lopez Ley
Character Design: Diego Huacuja T.
Background Design: Max Vera
Character Animation: Alberto Bala, Francisco OrtĂ­z, Daniela Espinosa.
Animation & Compositing: Diego Huacuja T., Eduardo Moya
Production Company: Obsidian
Executive Producer: Doug Klinger
Head of Production: Anna Heinrich
Post Coordinator: Maddie Ogden
Director’s Rep: Doug Klinger, Undine Markus @ Reprobates

Hamir Atwal – drums
Nate Brenner – bass, drum programming, percussion, keys, vocals
Merrill Garbus – vocals, drum programming, DX7, Mellotron, piano, percussion, loops
Matt Nelson – saxophone
Ross Peacock – synths
Mixed by Eli Crews / Mastered by Joe LaPorta

Official website: http://tune-yards.com

by on

David Cronenberg (1991)

Naked Lunch is a 1991 science fiction drama film co-written and directed by David Cronenberg and starring Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, and Roy Scheider. It is an adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ 1959 novel of the same name.

“Nothing is true; everything is permitted.” Welcome to Interzone, the hellish playground of William Burroughs’ ‘Naked Lunch’. Along with Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, Burroughs was among the central figures of the Beat generation. Over a frenzied decade bridging the 1950s and ’60s they were instrumental in reshaping America’s cultural landscape, tearing up their elders’ starchy doctrine and blazing the trail for the counterculture that followed. As dynamic, brilliant young things they seemingly make for ideal cinematic subjects, but only one film managed to capture something of the essence of its author and the Beat generation at large: David Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch.

A key idea of the Beat generation was to treat the most authentic, uncensored human thoughts and desires as art. In a buttoned-up society, they challenged social norms via their insatiable appetite for sex, drugs and confessional intimacy. ‘Naked Lunch’ was banned for years in the US and even taken to court for its perceived obscenity, while Ginsberg’s ‘Howl’ suffered a similar fate. Both eventually won their respective trials, ultimately helping to liberate American publishing. Liberalisation was, in many ways, what the Beat generation was all about: from strait-jacketed literature, from sexual repression, from lock-step social conformity.

The problem with films about the Beat generation is that so few are genuinely transgressive. But Naked Lunch is a different beast altogether. As is protagonist Bill Lee’s typewriter – it’s an insect that groans with pleasure as he works it, crowing for him to rim its pulsing sphincter with drugs. Bill Lee is really Burroughs, and Cronenberg’s film is about his becoming a writer – his relationship with his typewriter. Rather than attempting to adapt the book in a literal sense, Cronenberg treated Burroughs’ schizoid prose as a secondary source. He gave it structure, but it remains essentially a bizarre work.

To read more of this article by Tom Graham follow the link: https://lwlies.com/articles/naked-lunch-david-cronenberg-william-burroughs/

by on

Ralph Bakshi ft. Jefferson Airplane (1981)

The song Somebody to Love by Jefferson Airplane was featured on the movie American Pop by Ralph Bakshi in 1981.

Following the production struggles of The Lord of the Rings, Ralph Bakshi decided that it was time to work on something more personal. He pitched American Pop to Columbia Pictures president Dan Melnick. Bakshi wanted to produce a film with an extensive soundtrack of songs which would be given an entirely new context in juxtaposition to the visuals in a film. While the film does not reflect Bakshi’s own experiences, its themes were strongly influenced by individuals he had encountered in Brownsville. The film’s crew included character layout and design artist Louise Zingarelli, Vita, Barry E. Jackson, and Marcia Adams, each of whom brought their own personal touch to the film. Bakshi once again used rotoscoping, in an attempt to capture the range of emotions and movement required for the film’s story. According to Bakshi, “Rotoscoping is terrible for subtleties, so it was tough to get facial performances to match the stage ones.”

The score for American Pop was composed by Lee Holdridge. As the result of his reputation as an innovator of adult animation, Bakshi was able to acquire the rights to an extensive soundtrack, including songs by Bob Dylan, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, The Doors, George Gershwin, The Mamas & the Papas, Herbie Hancock, Lou Reed, and Louis Prima, for under $1 million in permissions fees. Due to music clearance issues, the film was not released on home video until 1998.

by on

Danny Elfman (2021)

Note: This work was originally created as a visual for the live performance of the song Sorry for Coachella 2020.
Sorry behind the scenes.

Animation by Jesse Kanda
Art Direction and production by Berit Gwendolyn Gilma
Videographer: Melisa McGregor
Make-up & Hair: Lizbeth Williamson

Music & Lyrics by Danny Elfman
Produced by Danny Elfman
Recorded and co-produced by Noah Snyder
Mixed by Zakk Cervini
Mix Assistant: Nik Trekov
Mastered by Joe LaPorta at Sterling Sound
Vocals, Guitars & Synths by Danny Elfman
Drums – Josh Freese
Guitars – Robin Finck & Nili Brosh
Bass – Stu Brooks
Percussion and Additional Drums – Sidney Hopson
Orchestration by Steve Bartek and Mikel Hurwitz
Choir orchestration by Marc Mann
Midi Prep – Orlando Perez Rosso
Copyist – Scott McRae
Executive Produced by Laura Engel
Project Produced by Melisa McGregor
Danny Elfman’s Representation – Kraft-Engel Management

Sorry (lyrics by Danny Elfman)

I’m So Sorry


There isn’t time – for revolution
There isn’t time – to evolutionize or hide
Those things most precious – Our most precious
Things that got erased, corrupted, infiltrated
I’m so sorry – I’m so sorry

I’m gonna try, I’m gonna try
To get away from your compelling
Mist of lies and misconceptions
No protection, no escape
Where I will never have to see your fucking face
You suffocate me

I can’t breathe while you’re alive
I can’t breathe while you’re alive
You suffocate, you suffocate
And I’m so sorry that I didn’t die
Or just evaporate into a toxic cloud

It’s gonna break – it’s gotta break,
It’s made of glass, it’s gonna break
And all the hate that you collected
And infused into protected piles of shit
Glass eyed devotees will flock to your gates
Your house is on fire — your house is on fire

Pull it forward – pull it back
Your eyes are empty, cold and black
We gotta break it, we gotta break it
We gotta break that fucking jack whip
on a broken hip – my life is a joke if I can’t even breathe.

Sorry you exist because you suck the fucking air out of my lungs
I am not afraid to die – still alive, still alive
And I won’t let you bury me

© 2021 Danny Elfman, under exclusive license to Epitaph / Anti Music & lyrics published by Morte Pharmaceutical Music (BMI)

by on

Don Hall & Carlos LĂłpez Estrada (2021)

Check out this new look at Raya and the Last Dragon featuring the brand-new song Lead the Way by Jhené Aiko. Experience the movie event in theaters or order it on Disney+ with Premier Access March 5. Learn more: http://disney.com/raya

Raya and the Last Dragon takes us on an exciting, epic journey to the fantasy world of Kumandra, where humans and dragons lived together long ago in harmony. But when an evil force threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, that same evil has returned and it’s up to a lone warrior, Raya, to track down the legendary last dragon to restore the fractured land and its divided people. However, along her journey, she’ll learn that it’ll take more than a dragon to save the world—it’s going to take trust and teamwork as well.

Raya and the Last Dragon features an outstanding voice cast, including Kelly Marie Tran as the voice of the intrepid warrior Raya; Awkwafina as the legendary dragon, Sisu; Gemma Chan as Raya’s nemesis, Namaari; Daniel Dae Kim as Raya’s visionary father, Benja; Sandra Oh as Namaari’s powerful mother, Virana; Benedict Wong as Tong, a formidable giant; Izaac Wang as Boun, a 10-year-old entrepreneur; Thalia Tran as the mischievous toddler Little Noi; Alan Tudyk as Tuk Tuk, Raya’s best friend and trusty steed; Lucille Soong as Dang Hu, the leader of the land of Talon; Patti Harrison as the chief of the Tail land; and Ross Butler as chief of the Spine land.

by on

John Halas & Joy Batchelor (1954)

Britain’s second animated feature, which, despite the title and Disney-esque animal animation, is in fact a no-holds-barred adaptation of George Orwell’s classic satire on Stalinism, with the animals taking over their farm by means of a revolutionary coup, but then discovering that although all animals are supposed to be equal, some are more equal than others.

Animal Farm was written by George Orwell in 1945. It is an allegorical novella, first published in England. The book tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy.

by on

Matt Groening (2021)

Destiny calls. Disaster awaits. Disenchantment Part 3 is finally here!

Bean (Princess Tiabeanie Mariabeanie de la Rochambeau Grunkwitz) must step up her princess game amid royal plots, deepening mysteries, King ZĂžg’s increasing instability, and concerns about who will rule Dreamland.

Bean must step up her princess game amid royal plots, deepening mysteries, King ZĂžg’s increasing instability and concerns about who will rule Dreamland. Set in the medieval fantasy kingdom of Dreamland, the series follows the story of Bean, a rebellious and alcoholic princess, her naive elf companion Elfo, and her destructive “personal demon” Luci. Disenchantment stars the voices of Abbi Jacobson, Eric Andre, Nat Faxon, John DiMaggio, Tress MacNeille, Matt Berry, David Herman, Maurice LaMarche, Lucy Montgomery, and Billy West.

by on

Ralph Bakshi (1988)

Christmas in Tattertown is a 1988 animated television Christmas special created and directed by Ralph Bakshi.
The special was an unsold pilot episode for a series, Tattertown, about a place where everything discarded in the world came alive. Christmas in Tattertown aired on the cable television network Nickelodeon.

Ralph Bakshi originated the idea for Tattertown in high school, where it was originally a comic strip called Junk Town. The strip made light of the human condition by showing the value of things we throw away.

Bakshi worked with Nickelodeon to bring his strip to life as a regular television series, which would have served as Nickelodeon’s first original animated series. In 1988, they commissioned him to create a pilot, which aired on December 21, 1988 during the network’s Nick at Nite block of programming.

Learn more about Ralph Bakshi at https://www.ralphbakshi.com/

by on

Willie Nelson & Diana Krall (2021)

Willie Nelson & Diana Krall cover I Won’t Dance, first cut by Sinatra in 1957,
for Nelson’s upcoming tribute album That’s Life.

Willie Nelson explores the deep corners of the Frank Sinatra catalog on his new album That’s Life, out February 26th. In addition to tackling classics like “You Make Me Feel So Young” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” Nelson interprets lesser-known Sinatra recordings like 1959’s “Just in Time” and “A Cottage for Sale.” “I’m just glad to be able to do another tribute to him,” said Nelson, who released his first Sinatra tribute, My Way, in 2018. “I’m anxious to get it out there.”

On Friday, Nelson released another track, “I Won’t Dance,” a standard composed by Jerome Kern and recorded by Sinatra in 1957 for A Swingin’ Affair!, his 12th studio album (He cut it in 1962 for Sinatra–Basie: An Historic Musical First too.) Nelson recorded the track — which has also been covered by everyone from Fred Astaire to Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett — with Diana Krall. The two star in a joyful animated video by Manuel Casares and Antonio Corral (a.k.a. Crocantes), an animation team who say their video was “inspired by classic cartoons, fashion illustrations and Hollywood glamor, screwball and slapstick comedies.”

Nelson has called Sinatra his favorite all-time singer. “He had a great choice of songs,” Nelson said recently. “He picked all the best songs in the world to record — and of course he had access to them. But I loved his phrasing. He and I recorded a couple of songs together many, many years ago. We did ‘My Way’ together, and we did ‘A Foggy Day (in London Town).’ We did a commercial together one time, I forget what it was for. Some satellite or something. I got to hang out with him a little bit but not as much as I wanted to.”

Written by Patrick Doyle for Rolling Stone magazine.