Happy Halloween!

     What better time to roll out the first official wave of my new Penguin Suits than on the day that cosplaying practically built - Halloween!

Oh! And did you catch that? These are official!

...according to me.

Just an Ordinary Guy

"Gee, TC!"

Respect

The Party Dude

     There's a LOT of artists out there who have put their own spin on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and I thought it was about time I threw mine on the pile, starting with Mikey here!

     A lot of versions have Michelangelo as the little guy, but I always saw him as more of a big fratboy-type goofball. Oh! And I had to give him a ton of accessories. That was the whole fun of it.

     One turtle down. We'll see what the odds are of me actually seeing this through and drawing all four. Place your bets, kids.

All of That's a Lie!

They say when Hondo was on Tatooine, the Sarlacc fell into him!

Suit Up

     Once again it has apparently come time for me to give my Penguin Suits another stylistic overhaul. Since 2009, I've been drawing little penguins dressed as various characters from pop culture, but for this iteration, I thought I'd start off with some actual original characters.

The Magic is Back!

     This isn't really a theme park news blog, but this little tidbit that Disney Parks just recently released really made my day and I'd like to talk about it!

     TEN YEARS AGO, I wrote this post about one of my favorite attractions, The Magic of Disney Animation, closing to make room for "something Star Wars related." Well now, ten years later, that Star Wars related thing is closing and The Magic of Disney Animation is coming back in a brand new way!

     Apparently, the Once Upon a Studio short film that Disney made to celebrate its 100th birthday was a huge success (I don't know why I said 'apparently.' I ate that thing up like candy!) and it's serving as inspiration for this reimagined part of the park where Disney's beloved cartoons "come to life!"

And where I weep like an ugly baby.

     They released this poster with the announcement that definitely captures the same feel as the Once Upon a Studio short, but my favorite part is Genie sporting his vacation wear from the end of Aladdin which was inspired by Robin Williams' attire in a video that was part of the original Magic of Disney Animation attraction!

I see what you did there.

     The new Magic of Disney Animation (I'm just going to call it MODA to save time) will resemble the actual animation studios in Burbank and will showcase the different departments of said studio which, I guess, means Storyboards, Concept Art, etc etc. The original MODA allowed guests to look over the shoulders of actual artists at work. They even made Mulan and Lilo and Stitch in this building! I doubt that this part of the attraction will return but it will still be nice to have something in Disney's Hollywood Studios actually be STUDIO themed! Maybe they'll bring back the water tower with the Mickey ears next! Wishful thinking!

I like the kid taking a photo of his parents with Pluto instead of the other way around.

     There will be an indoor playground themed to Mary Blair's Alice in Wonderland artwork. I personally think indoor playgrounds are nothing more than noisy petri dishes, but I love me some Mary Blair so... bust out the hand sanitizer, kids! There will be some character meet-and-greets, of course, and something where guests can "pencil in some time to learn how to draw your very own character sketch." I'm pretty sure this means the Animation Experience from Animal Kingdom, where a cast member teaches guests how to draw a Disney character, will be returning to Hollywood Studios where it belongs. Because who wants to draw in a zoo?!?

     The attraction opens in 2026 and... since I like to think I'm always one day closer to my next Disney trip... see you soon, MODA!

Solzar the Eternal

     So, for quite a while now, I’ve been working on creating my own toy line – the ZAGLORDS. Just a fun thing on the side and strictly pretend… obviously. I’ve watched and rewatched a ton of The Toys That Made Us, developed my own lore (woof), and even came up with an extensive backstory for the fake toy company making my fake toys, but that’s all a bunch of nonsense for another post. 

     This past December, I finally conceptualized the first in the line – a main protagonist I’ve named Kilroy. But what’s a hero without a proper villain? 

So here he is – the evil corporate overlord whom I’m deciding to call SOLZAR THE ETERNAL! 

     In the He-Man episode of The Toys That Made Us, the artist who first conceptualized Skeletor talks about a moment that traumatized him as a child when he saw an actual human skeleton. It was probably just some malarkey to make him sound original in saying, “skeletons are spooky.” Nevertheless, it got me thinking – What frightens me? 

I mulled it over for quite some time and eventually came up with a two-part answer. Number one is rich people, or rather corrupt rich people. The thought of these larger-than-life type personas with unlimited resources who, rather than use their powerful position to benefit the less fortunate, take advantage of others for their own self gain… and there’s seemingly nothing anyone can ever do about it because they’re just that powerful. That terrifies me. 

I decided to have Solzar completely clad in gold – a bright and beautiful symbol of everything we think we want, exemplifying this notion that with wealth comes happiness and is therefore this goal that we must all strive to attain. All the while, there’s this fat, ugly monster underneath who only wants to consume more. Basically, a bunch of malarkey to make me sound original in saying, “the bad guy is greedy.” 

And the second part of my answer is a T-Rex with feathers. Those things freak me out!