Sam and Badtz

I'm usually one of these two penguins.

Life Day

     On this day in 1978, the Star Wars Holiday Special aired. I, therefore, thought it appropriate to put my own artistic spin on Ackmena, the bartender from the infamous television special, who was played by the great Bea Arthur and (on a personal note) my wife bounded as when when we visited Oga's Cantina earlier this year. 

     I actually really like the Star Wars Holiday Special. Not because it's good, (it's definitely NOT GOOD) but because it helps me keep a little perspective. The original Star Wars was a surprise hit. No movie had ever been that big of a success and after it was over, everyone was clamoring to get more of it in any way they could. Thus the Holiday Special was born! The whole thing centered on an idea of George Lucas' to tell an entire story just about Wookiees and... it wasn't good. Not even a little bit. Two years later, however, we got The Empire Strikes Back which, in my opinion, is the greatest Star Wars film ever made!

     You see, sometimes... a LOT of times, Star Wars is bad. It's been this way since the very beginning. For every A New Hope, we may get a Holiday Special. For every "Mortis Trilogy" we'll get... The One Where Jar Jar Has a Girlfriend? Sometimes Andor. Sometimes Lizzo. This is just the ebb and flow that is Star Wars. If there's one central theme to the entire franchise it's that no matter how bad things get, there's always hope, and the Holiday Special reminds me of that.

     People didn't really have anything good to say about it back when it aired, but I doubt they lost their minds in a fit of rage and exclaimed, "Star Wars is dead!" They probably didn't worry about it and just tried to have fun. And to quote me some Dickens, "may that be truly said of us, and all of us!"

Happy Life Day, everyone!

Rebooting Ruxpin... again.

     One thing I love coming back to, and will probably continue to come back to until someone else does it in a more official capacity, is conceptualizing a reboot of Teddy Ruxpin! You can scroll down here and see how long I've been goofing around with this thing, and I decided it was time to goof around some more. So here again is another pass at the main lineup from my Teddy Ruxpin reboot!

     Maybe someone will actually do this someday and I'll lose all interest, but for now, I'm wide-eyed and full of hope.

Teddy Ruxpin

Grubby

Leota the Woodsprite

Newton Gimmick

Princess Erin

Tweeg

L.B.

Beep Boop

     I don't think there's a more iconic Star Wars character than R2-D2. Oh sure, there's plenty of characters who are just as iconic, but none more so! Sometimes I think we fail to appreciate the incredible feat of turning this faceless trashcan who communicates through beeps and whistles into such a beloved character. It's mind-boggling to me and a testament to many people, I'm sure, namely sound designer Ben Burtt, the late Kenny Baker obviously, and of course... George Lucas.

     One thing that disappoints me is just how underused Artoo is in the sequel trilogy. It feels as if the filmmakers just didn't really know what to do with him. There'll be like one scene per movie where they plug him into a thing and then that's it! Take a bow, buddy. You're done. I don't get it.

     I love BB-8 as much as the next guy, but I don't see why it has to be an either/or situation. They had an opportunity to turn one of the greatest sidekick duo's in movie history into a trio! It could've been great! 

I'm ranting now... about droids. Don't get me started on D-0.

Trick or Treat!

     Here's Donald and Mickey sporting their fun costumes from the new Halloween special on Disney+. I've never really been a fan of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse versions of the characters, but I do love stop-motion animation, so I watched this new special and... while I'm still not a fan of these versions of the characters, I am still a fan of stop-motion animation! 

Pretty interesting take, huh?

Never Underestimate a Droid

     Recently Disney did what they call a "play test" with some new droid characters walking around Disneyland's Galaxy's Edge. I love this sort of thing and hope we'll see more of these little guys in a more official capacity. 

     To me, they're basically the Huey, Dewey & Louie (or maybe even the Flora, Fauna, & Merryweather) of the Star Wars universe and although they were only in the park for one day, I still think they deserve some fan art.

Real American Heroes

Here's to the Halcyon!

     Disney's Galactic Starcruiser sets off on its final voyage soon and, while I was never a passenger, the ship will always hold a special place in my heart. Here's a video where I talk about what the Halcyon, and specifically its crew, meant to me.

Spares

      My oldest has really been getting into Harry Potter lately. It's a fun thing to watch happen and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't becoming a little re-obsessed myself.

     My favorite part of the whole series has to be the rich and colorful characters that fill out the background. 

Here are a really small (and very random) few.