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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
I’ve been noticing a small resurgence of ALF in pop culture lately and I said to myself, “Self, you need to KablamaSlam this noise!”
The Premise: Everyone’s favorite sitcom alien puppet Gordon Shumway recounts his past adventures with family and friends on his home planet of Melmac.
It’s the ‘80s, and a guy named Paul Fusco annoys people at a party with his alien puppet that he apparently brought. Yeah. He’s that guy. Fusco pitches a concept for a sitcom based on the puppet to NBC president Brandon Tartikoff and it’s green-lit! Tartikoff is Mr. Must See TV and oversaw such hits as Golden Girls, Cheers, Seinfeld… so the guy apparently knew what he was doing. I mean, he obviously did because ALF was a hit and, like I said, we’re still talking about it to this day!
As with several things in the 1980s, ALF was quickly adapted into a Saturday morning cartoon show. Every episode of ALF: The Animated Series would have live-action puppet ALF (or Gordon) bookending each adventure. This meant less time spent animating and thus cheaper production. When I say “cheap” though, I certainly don’t mean in terms of quality! I personally thought the animation was incredible!
Again… this was the ‘80s, and just as animated spinoffs were commonplace, toy lines based on cartoons were even more so. Boy, did I love me some ALF toys! This is sort of a sidebar, I suppose, but we all have those “toys that made us” and for whatever reason, these were some of mine! Skip, Augie, Rick, Neep! I loved them all!
How bout a docuseries on these, Netflix?!
During the show’s final season, another spinoff was created. ALF Tales ran alongside ALF: The Animated Series and featured a very Gordonesque spin on classic stories in the public domain, such as Robin Hood and Cinderella, and would feature the Animated Series characters in different roles. I didn’t like this show as much and remember wondering how the people on Melmac had all of the exact same fairy tales as us on Earth. I was probably taking it a little too serious, I suppose. That was a thing I did.
That’s a thing I do!
The thing that made this show great was the same thing that worked for the original sitcom. This character is straight up timeless. When Fusco originally pitched ALF, producers scoffed at first. “Jim Henson corners the market on puppets. Why are we wasting our time with this guy?” I assume they said. Their minds changed almost instantly after seeing Fusco’s performance, however. ALF is brazened, yet lovable, with a sarcastic wit that I’ve revered ever since I was as a kid.
All of this to say: Be the guy who brings the annoying alien puppet to a party.
