So they just announced Vermintide 2, with the reveal trailer coming in a few weeks. Mixed on this one as Vermintide was a good game, filling in the gap left by the lack of Left 4 Dead games, but also adding to my Warhammer love. It was more melee focused and really brought out the Skaven numbers. That said, as a massive Skaven fan, it really disappointed me that you couldn't play as them (not even a mini side campaign). Still, that would probably work better as a different game (a prequel to Vermintide perhaps).
As with all games based on Warhammer fantasy it is kinda pointless, given that even if you do win, you ultimately loose. The Old World is destroyed no matter what, so I do find the stakes in these games no not be as effective on me. I am interested to see what they do for the second game. A new location, probably with more variety would be nice (we needed DLC just to get that) and a more unique set of races/class options. So perhaps adding in Lizardmen, Wood Elves, Dark Elves or even Undead (given that this is the End Times and they do side with the forces of Order later on) to the roster. Hell, maybe do the forces of Destruction option and have various Chaos factions turn on them (just a thought). Perhaps allow more customization into it cause just having different hats as a visual option was limiting in my view.
Overall, am curious as to what we'll see, but I assume we will have more enemy variations which were promised in the first. Maybe, GW could work with them in inventing a new enemy type which they can then release in their miniatures line. Perfect opportunity to do it.
Thursday 31 August 2017
Wednesday 30 August 2017
General's Handbook 2017 - You Confuse Me GW
So there was a real sense of worry with the release of the new General's Handbook for Age of Sigmar, mostly down to the fact that with games like Skirmish and Path to Glory, their promise of ensuring that all those factions that are now gone (e.g. Tomb Kings) would still be supported. Now don't get me wrong, the new book is adding more things like games, theme bonuses etc, but given their history, it is rather concerning. Sure enough, none of those units that were in the first book are now there.
At first I was rather upset and wasn't in the mood to do another GW rant, but something strange occurred. While looking at reviews to see other peoples opinions of this, one mentioned that all the PDF versions of the classic 8th forces would be updated to include points for missing units. Sure enough, he was right. The Warscrolls have point numbers on their final page. That said, many of these profiles have been removed and linked to generic scrolls already out and many named heroes and their rules are now either changed to a new generic hero (such as Markus Wulfhart now being the new Huntmarshal) or being just the generic hero type (most High Elf characters are now Dragon Noble). Not sure if I like this option, but then again, I could try and convert a Markus Wulfhart model perhaps.
So for me, they still kept to their word, so I'm happy with that. Good for you GW.
At first I was rather upset and wasn't in the mood to do another GW rant, but something strange occurred. While looking at reviews to see other peoples opinions of this, one mentioned that all the PDF versions of the classic 8th forces would be updated to include points for missing units. Sure enough, he was right. The Warscrolls have point numbers on their final page. That said, many of these profiles have been removed and linked to generic scrolls already out and many named heroes and their rules are now either changed to a new generic hero (such as Markus Wulfhart now being the new Huntmarshal) or being just the generic hero type (most High Elf characters are now Dragon Noble). Not sure if I like this option, but then again, I could try and convert a Markus Wulfhart model perhaps.
So for me, they still kept to their word, so I'm happy with that. Good for you GW.
Friday 25 August 2017
Animated Reflections: Hilltop Hospital
Another romp into the wonderful world of claymation, Hilltop Hospital is probably best described as a hospital drama show for kids. Based on the book series by Nicholas Allan, this crazy little show was something I had stumbled upon years ago, probably grabbing my attention thanks to that up-beat theme song. So what was my opinion on it? Well, lets look at:
Hilltop Hospital takes place in an anthropomorphic animal world and is what I can only describe as the ER of children's television. Each episode is short (running around the 10 minute mark) and tends to have at least two running plots within each one. These are broken down into a plot involving a patient(s) and the other between the staff.
Speaking of which, lets start with the cast. First up is Dr Matthews. He's a dog and is basically the main doctor of the hospital. Despite his successes, he tends to be a little silly and stupid at times, though he tends to get the job done and does have his moments. Straight off the bat it's clear he has a thing for Surgeon Sally, constantly trying to get her attention. We'll get deeper into this soon.
Speaking of which, Surgeon Sally is a hippopotamus and someone who is far too serious for her own good. Work is above all else and she can't tolerate mistakes and sloppiness. She's doesn't have a cold heart, she just tends to be a bit too stern and serious then the rest. Despite Dr Matthews attempts to draw affection from her, she shows no interest in him (either cause she has no interest or simply doesn't see it that way). Her actions make it clear that she is the one who runs the hospital.
Dr Atticus is a tortoise and the anesthetist (basically, the person who puts the patient to sleep before the operation and keeps track of the patient during it) of the hospital. He runs by the usual tropes of a tortoise of eating, sleeping and being slow. He does have a scooter to help him move around the hospital for things like emergencies. There are the two lab rats called Arthur and Clare, who run the lab and medical research section, though from all the episodes I saw I couldn't tell if they were friends, siblings or a couple. The seem to work well together, which is probably why I probably thought that.
Then there is Nurse Kitty, who is a cat. She has a lot of duties to perform and one can only wonder how she keeps up with everything. She tends to be calm and demure at times, but is still softly spoken even when she is angry. Nurse Kitty also has a massive crush on Dr Matthews, who for the most part doesn't seem to notice or is clueless to her advances. Again, we'll get to it.
Then there are the twin bears called Ted. These guys are probably the shows comedic duo, mostly cause of their clumsiness and constant bickering. They are in charge of the hospitals vehicles. Finally there are Nurse Bunny, a rabbit who is tends to be part of the maternity section and Felicity, who appears to be the hospital psychologist/psychiatrist (I think she's a koala or wombat, I couldn't find anything on her beyond marrying a guy named Bruce, so I'm guessing based on her appearance and Bruce being a name more associated as Australian).
The show itself tends to tackle a number of themes. Many of these are more focused towards children as many of the patients with problems are children. Some tend to help relate to children who may experience similar problems while other ones tend to focus on a moral message. These can range from simple bed wetting or being afraid of the dark up to being alright to feel down because your parent passed away in an accident. I am not joking on that last one. Seriously, while watching these episodes, the episode called The Blues started and the introduction conversation goes like this:
Dr Atticus: "How is our new Patient?"
Sally: "Hedgehogs really ought to look both ways before they cross the road"
Dr Atticus: "Don't be too hard on her. Her mother's just died in a road accident"
Wait, WHAT? Did I really just hear that right. I know this is a hospital, but I honestly didn't expect to hear that in a show that tends to be positive for the most part. The rest of the episode is the hedgehog being extremely happy, only to learn she hides away to cry, saying that if she looks sad then people feel sorry for her and it reminds her how much she misses her mother. This leads to her going to visit Felicity to talk about her problems and going off with another family to stay with (so I'm guessing she never had any other family to take care of her, which is really sad now that I thought about it). I can only assume that these kinds of episodes are design to help children in such situations open up about their own feelings and get help. Given I'm not a child psychologist, I have no idea if it works, but I applaud the work non the less. I can't tell if the episode is considered dark, given just how desensitised we are these days.
Now lets get down to the other drama. While some episodes focus more on the other staff, a majority revolve around the Dr Matthews/Sally/Kitty drama. For the most part, it involves Dr Matthews failing to grab Sally's attention in the way he wants and Nurse Kitty commenting on Dr Matthews in a positive way. I have to admit, I'm not a fan of drama shows and don't like a lot of the ones out there, yet after a few episodes into this show, I suddenly realised that I was getting more and more frustrated with Dr Matthews for not noticing Nurse Kitty. It's only once you start noticing how aggravating you've become that you just want to shout at Dr Matthews for being an idiot for ignoring Nurse Kitty with things like "Are you an idiot? Nurse Kitty is right there, she cares about you, show her some gratitude" or "This is the perfect moment, don't pretend you don't notice. Nurse Kitty is perfect for you, just notice her you flea-brained moron" (I may have gotten a little carried away at times). Towards the second season (or is it forth? Some sites say 2 seasons, some say 4), it appears that the two have definitely had moments together, but considering I haven't been able to find all the episodes, I'm not sure when or how this turn about happened.
I honestly don't mind this style of claymation and even though some animal designs are more simple then others (probably due to needing various types of patients in a hurry), I really don't notice it as I feel more invested in these short little episodes. Lighting in some scenes is rather nice, though I do find the parts underwater hard to believe. Perhaps a water filter over the footage may have worked, then again, I doubt it would help given how they can talk clearly and understand each other underwater with scuba gear on. As for the music, it tends to feels like a drama show, sometimes a little over the top. The romantic moments between Dr Matthews and Nurse Kitty really show that off, almost to the point you expect a record scratch sound to end it as something interferes. The positive moments feel more loud and active and the sadder moments being more low. May not be the greatest at times, but it does add to the mood of the moment.
Overall, this one was enjoyable to watch again. A show with simple dramas for people who can't stomach the bigger drama shows. I do enjoy watching these claymation shows, which is sad knowing that more and more are turning to doing computer generated ones over classics like these. So pop on down to Hilltop and have some fun...
....just don't get too involved in the Dr Matthews & Nurse Kitty moments like I did.
Hilltop Hospital takes place in an anthropomorphic animal world and is what I can only describe as the ER of children's television. Each episode is short (running around the 10 minute mark) and tends to have at least two running plots within each one. These are broken down into a plot involving a patient(s) and the other between the staff.
Speaking of which, lets start with the cast. First up is Dr Matthews. He's a dog and is basically the main doctor of the hospital. Despite his successes, he tends to be a little silly and stupid at times, though he tends to get the job done and does have his moments. Straight off the bat it's clear he has a thing for Surgeon Sally, constantly trying to get her attention. We'll get deeper into this soon.
Speaking of which, Surgeon Sally is a hippopotamus and someone who is far too serious for her own good. Work is above all else and she can't tolerate mistakes and sloppiness. She's doesn't have a cold heart, she just tends to be a bit too stern and serious then the rest. Despite Dr Matthews attempts to draw affection from her, she shows no interest in him (either cause she has no interest or simply doesn't see it that way). Her actions make it clear that she is the one who runs the hospital.
Dr Atticus is a tortoise and the anesthetist (basically, the person who puts the patient to sleep before the operation and keeps track of the patient during it) of the hospital. He runs by the usual tropes of a tortoise of eating, sleeping and being slow. He does have a scooter to help him move around the hospital for things like emergencies. There are the two lab rats called Arthur and Clare, who run the lab and medical research section, though from all the episodes I saw I couldn't tell if they were friends, siblings or a couple. The seem to work well together, which is probably why I probably thought that.
Then there is Nurse Kitty, who is a cat. She has a lot of duties to perform and one can only wonder how she keeps up with everything. She tends to be calm and demure at times, but is still softly spoken even when she is angry. Nurse Kitty also has a massive crush on Dr Matthews, who for the most part doesn't seem to notice or is clueless to her advances. Again, we'll get to it.
Then there are the twin bears called Ted. These guys are probably the shows comedic duo, mostly cause of their clumsiness and constant bickering. They are in charge of the hospitals vehicles. Finally there are Nurse Bunny, a rabbit who is tends to be part of the maternity section and Felicity, who appears to be the hospital psychologist/psychiatrist (I think she's a koala or wombat, I couldn't find anything on her beyond marrying a guy named Bruce, so I'm guessing based on her appearance and Bruce being a name more associated as Australian).
The show itself tends to tackle a number of themes. Many of these are more focused towards children as many of the patients with problems are children. Some tend to help relate to children who may experience similar problems while other ones tend to focus on a moral message. These can range from simple bed wetting or being afraid of the dark up to being alright to feel down because your parent passed away in an accident. I am not joking on that last one. Seriously, while watching these episodes, the episode called The Blues started and the introduction conversation goes like this:
Dr Atticus: "How is our new Patient?"
Sally: "Hedgehogs really ought to look both ways before they cross the road"
Dr Atticus: "Don't be too hard on her. Her mother's just died in a road accident"
Wait, WHAT? Did I really just hear that right. I know this is a hospital, but I honestly didn't expect to hear that in a show that tends to be positive for the most part. The rest of the episode is the hedgehog being extremely happy, only to learn she hides away to cry, saying that if she looks sad then people feel sorry for her and it reminds her how much she misses her mother. This leads to her going to visit Felicity to talk about her problems and going off with another family to stay with (so I'm guessing she never had any other family to take care of her, which is really sad now that I thought about it). I can only assume that these kinds of episodes are design to help children in such situations open up about their own feelings and get help. Given I'm not a child psychologist, I have no idea if it works, but I applaud the work non the less. I can't tell if the episode is considered dark, given just how desensitised we are these days.
Now lets get down to the other drama. While some episodes focus more on the other staff, a majority revolve around the Dr Matthews/Sally/Kitty drama. For the most part, it involves Dr Matthews failing to grab Sally's attention in the way he wants and Nurse Kitty commenting on Dr Matthews in a positive way. I have to admit, I'm not a fan of drama shows and don't like a lot of the ones out there, yet after a few episodes into this show, I suddenly realised that I was getting more and more frustrated with Dr Matthews for not noticing Nurse Kitty. It's only once you start noticing how aggravating you've become that you just want to shout at Dr Matthews for being an idiot for ignoring Nurse Kitty with things like "Are you an idiot? Nurse Kitty is right there, she cares about you, show her some gratitude" or "This is the perfect moment, don't pretend you don't notice. Nurse Kitty is perfect for you, just notice her you flea-brained moron" (I may have gotten a little carried away at times). Towards the second season (or is it forth? Some sites say 2 seasons, some say 4), it appears that the two have definitely had moments together, but considering I haven't been able to find all the episodes, I'm not sure when or how this turn about happened.
I honestly don't mind this style of claymation and even though some animal designs are more simple then others (probably due to needing various types of patients in a hurry), I really don't notice it as I feel more invested in these short little episodes. Lighting in some scenes is rather nice, though I do find the parts underwater hard to believe. Perhaps a water filter over the footage may have worked, then again, I doubt it would help given how they can talk clearly and understand each other underwater with scuba gear on. As for the music, it tends to feels like a drama show, sometimes a little over the top. The romantic moments between Dr Matthews and Nurse Kitty really show that off, almost to the point you expect a record scratch sound to end it as something interferes. The positive moments feel more loud and active and the sadder moments being more low. May not be the greatest at times, but it does add to the mood of the moment.
Overall, this one was enjoyable to watch again. A show with simple dramas for people who can't stomach the bigger drama shows. I do enjoy watching these claymation shows, which is sad knowing that more and more are turning to doing computer generated ones over classics like these. So pop on down to Hilltop and have some fun...
....just don't get too involved in the Dr Matthews & Nurse Kitty moments like I did.
Biomutant - Interesting
So flicking through the videos from Gamescom and stumbled on something that caught my eye, a game called Biomutant. Having watched the interview and gameplay videos, I have to say that I am very interested in this game. The world looks very nice, gameplay mechanics look fun and some of the creatures and creations look very interesting.
I am kinda pumped for it and the fact it will be on PC is great (I don't have an Xbox One or PS4), though I feel I'll need to upgrade for it, which may be a problem. Oh well, at least there are games coming out now that actually interest me.
I am kinda pumped for it and the fact it will be on PC is great (I don't have an Xbox One or PS4), though I feel I'll need to upgrade for it, which may be a problem. Oh well, at least there are games coming out now that actually interest me.
Wednesday 23 August 2017
Looking Into Making Puppets
So have been thinking a lot about the Puppet Skith idea and have been looking into what would be needed to work on such a project. The first option is having someone make it, but a professional standard usually costs around the $600-$700 mark. The second option is for me to make it myself. Now apart from the risk that it may not be of a decent started, its biggest problem is material costs.
Turns out Australia isn't exactly the country for making puppets. Most of the recommended materials are hard to find here and to get them from overseas is expensive in their own right (which would explain why it costs so much to have someone else make it). At the moment I'm looking into cheaper alternatives. Project Puppet tends to sell patterns for puppets, so I may have to ask what one would be the preferred one for my puppet designs. The Antron Fleece is very hard to obtain (particularly in the colours I need), so I am looking into alternative options, possible woolen fleece. The Reticulated Foam is a little harder to find alternatives as many say Polyfoam, yet whenever I search for it locally all I get is Polystyrene and that stuff is not recommended.
Once I have a set pattern and design, I'll first focus on obtaining the foam (honestly, I'll look around local fabric shops to see what I can use for the skin/fur). Still not sure if I'll add legs or tail. I have looked around at a number of puppets on the Internet to see if I could find a design similar to mine, but those that even remotely look somewhat similar are costumes, not puppets. I guess I'm throwing myself too quickly into this. After all, this is still early stages and it'll be a few months before I can truly start working on it.
Turns out Australia isn't exactly the country for making puppets. Most of the recommended materials are hard to find here and to get them from overseas is expensive in their own right (which would explain why it costs so much to have someone else make it). At the moment I'm looking into cheaper alternatives. Project Puppet tends to sell patterns for puppets, so I may have to ask what one would be the preferred one for my puppet designs. The Antron Fleece is very hard to obtain (particularly in the colours I need), so I am looking into alternative options, possible woolen fleece. The Reticulated Foam is a little harder to find alternatives as many say Polyfoam, yet whenever I search for it locally all I get is Polystyrene and that stuff is not recommended.
Once I have a set pattern and design, I'll first focus on obtaining the foam (honestly, I'll look around local fabric shops to see what I can use for the skin/fur). Still not sure if I'll add legs or tail. I have looked around at a number of puppets on the Internet to see if I could find a design similar to mine, but those that even remotely look somewhat similar are costumes, not puppets. I guess I'm throwing myself too quickly into this. After all, this is still early stages and it'll be a few months before I can truly start working on it.
My Empire Collection - An Age of Sigmar Problem
So this thought has come into my mind over the last few months. The Empire force I have was started as part of an army painting challenge between myself and my brother. However, he soon gave it up while I continued on. After the Old Worlds destruction, I've had issues where I've questioned if I should keep going and finish the rest of the miniatures I bought for it. As I'm close to finishing off the Light Wizard, one could wonder if I should just go into Age of Sigmar with it.
There are two problems with that (three if you count re-basing the miniatures). The first is that it is technically lead by a Celestial Wizard Lord on a Royal Pegasus, which under Age of Sigmar means he'd have to use the rules for Balthasar Gelt, which I guess is OK with the exception that his rule list stated Metal instead of Celestial.
The second has to do with Command Models. Under 8th edition, most units such as the Handgunners could skip the Standard Bearer and Musician. Likewise, detachments didn't need a command structure too. This meant you could use those extra points for gear or more model numbers in units. Age of Sigmar works differently. The points for a unit is based on an average box amount (so most are points costs for box units of 5 or 10) with extras based on box unit sizes (so in a box of 10, you get the first unit cost for 10, with extra model points only being counted per 10 miniatures). Command units are already included in the initial cost, as it is assumed that when you get your box that you will just add them. Correction, you need to add them. Under Age of Sigmar, the Standard Bearer and Musician are now a vital importance to the unit.
I'll use the unit of Skeleton Archers as an example as to why I had to go full Command. The Champion adds 1 to his To Hit rolls with his bow (Champions previously just got an extra melee attack), Standard Bearers let you add D6 slain models to the unit in your Hero Phase (previously it just added +1 to your Combat Resolution) and the Musician now lets the unit can move up to 6" in the Charge Phase, (unless roll is higher) and can let the unit shoot even if they ran that turn (as opposed to adding one to melee combat if a tie, adding +1 LD to rally -pointless for Undead- and letting you take a Ld test to get a reform move). As such, a Command unit was really unnecessary back in 8th edition for a unit like this, but now it's a basic requirement to have or risk making your units less effective. Now given my Handgunner units only have Champions and the Halberd detachment has no Command, that sort of puts my forces in a bit of a predicament. As such, I'd need to purchase an entire box set just to get full Command for these units, which feels a little unnecessary.
I guess when it comes to Skirmish it doesn't matter, so I guess that would be alright (though I refuse to re-base just for that). I mean, for friendly games we could come to some arrangement, but I don't think in-store or competition use would be wise. For the moment I'll continue working on them, but they will end up as back log over more active projects (like my upcoming Blood Bowl team for example).
There are two problems with that (three if you count re-basing the miniatures). The first is that it is technically lead by a Celestial Wizard Lord on a Royal Pegasus, which under Age of Sigmar means he'd have to use the rules for Balthasar Gelt, which I guess is OK with the exception that his rule list stated Metal instead of Celestial.
The second has to do with Command Models. Under 8th edition, most units such as the Handgunners could skip the Standard Bearer and Musician. Likewise, detachments didn't need a command structure too. This meant you could use those extra points for gear or more model numbers in units. Age of Sigmar works differently. The points for a unit is based on an average box amount (so most are points costs for box units of 5 or 10) with extras based on box unit sizes (so in a box of 10, you get the first unit cost for 10, with extra model points only being counted per 10 miniatures). Command units are already included in the initial cost, as it is assumed that when you get your box that you will just add them. Correction, you need to add them. Under Age of Sigmar, the Standard Bearer and Musician are now a vital importance to the unit.
I'll use the unit of Skeleton Archers as an example as to why I had to go full Command. The Champion adds 1 to his To Hit rolls with his bow (Champions previously just got an extra melee attack), Standard Bearers let you add D6 slain models to the unit in your Hero Phase (previously it just added +1 to your Combat Resolution) and the Musician now lets the unit can move up to 6" in the Charge Phase, (unless roll is higher) and can let the unit shoot even if they ran that turn (as opposed to adding one to melee combat if a tie, adding +1 LD to rally -pointless for Undead- and letting you take a Ld test to get a reform move). As such, a Command unit was really unnecessary back in 8th edition for a unit like this, but now it's a basic requirement to have or risk making your units less effective. Now given my Handgunner units only have Champions and the Halberd detachment has no Command, that sort of puts my forces in a bit of a predicament. As such, I'd need to purchase an entire box set just to get full Command for these units, which feels a little unnecessary.
I guess when it comes to Skirmish it doesn't matter, so I guess that would be alright (though I refuse to re-base just for that). I mean, for friendly games we could come to some arrangement, but I don't think in-store or competition use would be wise. For the moment I'll continue working on them, but they will end up as back log over more active projects (like my upcoming Blood Bowl team for example).
Tuesday 22 August 2017
Ideas for a Blood Bowl Team
So I've been throwing around the idea for a while on creating a Blood Bowl team. At one point I was suppose to get the Skaven team, but it took so long that the order was eventually cancelled. I am willing to GW a second chance (given I'm still waiting for the AoS: Skirmish book, this technically means a third chance). As someone who loves Skaven, they were to be the faction. However, I've been thinking a lot about another group recently.
See, when the list of models available to be used in AoS: Skirmish came out, I was rather disappointed in the lack of Night Goblin themed ones (along with a lack of Tomb Kings and swarms), as I had hoped to give Glibbins McGibbinz (Pie Assassin) a revival. When I was looking at the Blood Bowl range more recently, I learned of a team called The Underworld Creepers. Going back to my Blood Bowl video game, there was in fact an Underworld team. Given that the Blood Bowl universe is a alternate one to the original Fantasy Battle universe, I finally got the lore idea.
In it, Glibbins McGibbinz of the Funky Fungus Tribe and Snikkitch Twitchnose of Clan Skryre weren't rivals, but instead joined forces to create what they believed to be the ultimate team. The team (called The Funky Warpstoners - name may change, but it is accurate to their players mental state) was filled with players who have abused way to many substances, to the point that they can't be disqualified for using performance enhancing products because in their state one can easily argue that their performance is far from enhanced. The team is more of a comedic one, in that they are far better at giving a show then they are actually winning. As such, they have quite a big fan base and many show up just to see what insane antics they use next.
This could also see the return of the legendary curse of the Skaven linesman, Twitchy's curse. This one came about from my Skaven team in the Blood Bowl video game, in which I named one of the linesman Twitchy. In his first game, he got killed. So I got a new linesman and called him Twitchy the second and he lasted a few games before dying too. So I got another and called him Twitchy the third, who soon died after that and so forth. This way, I can keep the legend of Twitchy's curse alive and maybe sell Twitchy shirts to the crowd, possibly dooming them when things go wild (maybe saying 'Can you survive the curse of Twitchy').
I do note that the video game had a Warpstone Troll (a Troll with Warpstone shards coming out of its flesh), but now it's just a Troll. May do some slight conversion with the Troll miniature. The Goblins seem to have Warpstone veins and at least one green glowing eye. One of the Skaven throwers also had a mechanical arm, so I'm going to go over some ideas to see what kind of conversions I could possibly do. I also need a team banner/icon (maybe a Mushroom made of Warpstone) and a motto (I don't know, maybe "Glowing Shrooms are the Best!"). I will probably go with a dark purple team colour with whatever team icon being of a Warpstone green-like colour to stand against it.
Still early stages, but it's a good start. Might also create a Manager's box to have the Glibbins and Snikkitch miniatures in for games (they could discuss team details, give interviews or get into arguments). Certainly could get a good sponsorship for some experimental fungus brew or Warpstone based training equipment.
See, when the list of models available to be used in AoS: Skirmish came out, I was rather disappointed in the lack of Night Goblin themed ones (along with a lack of Tomb Kings and swarms), as I had hoped to give Glibbins McGibbinz (Pie Assassin) a revival. When I was looking at the Blood Bowl range more recently, I learned of a team called The Underworld Creepers. Going back to my Blood Bowl video game, there was in fact an Underworld team. Given that the Blood Bowl universe is a alternate one to the original Fantasy Battle universe, I finally got the lore idea.
In it, Glibbins McGibbinz of the Funky Fungus Tribe and Snikkitch Twitchnose of Clan Skryre weren't rivals, but instead joined forces to create what they believed to be the ultimate team. The team (called The Funky Warpstoners - name may change, but it is accurate to their players mental state) was filled with players who have abused way to many substances, to the point that they can't be disqualified for using performance enhancing products because in their state one can easily argue that their performance is far from enhanced. The team is more of a comedic one, in that they are far better at giving a show then they are actually winning. As such, they have quite a big fan base and many show up just to see what insane antics they use next.
This could also see the return of the legendary curse of the Skaven linesman, Twitchy's curse. This one came about from my Skaven team in the Blood Bowl video game, in which I named one of the linesman Twitchy. In his first game, he got killed. So I got a new linesman and called him Twitchy the second and he lasted a few games before dying too. So I got another and called him Twitchy the third, who soon died after that and so forth. This way, I can keep the legend of Twitchy's curse alive and maybe sell Twitchy shirts to the crowd, possibly dooming them when things go wild (maybe saying 'Can you survive the curse of Twitchy').
I do note that the video game had a Warpstone Troll (a Troll with Warpstone shards coming out of its flesh), but now it's just a Troll. May do some slight conversion with the Troll miniature. The Goblins seem to have Warpstone veins and at least one green glowing eye. One of the Skaven throwers also had a mechanical arm, so I'm going to go over some ideas to see what kind of conversions I could possibly do. I also need a team banner/icon (maybe a Mushroom made of Warpstone) and a motto (I don't know, maybe "Glowing Shrooms are the Best!"). I will probably go with a dark purple team colour with whatever team icon being of a Warpstone green-like colour to stand against it.
Still early stages, but it's a good start. Might also create a Manager's box to have the Glibbins and Snikkitch miniatures in for games (they could discuss team details, give interviews or get into arguments). Certainly could get a good sponsorship for some experimental fungus brew or Warpstone based training equipment.
My Problem with Super Lucky's Tale
A cute 3D platformer that looks amazing and a lot of fun, so why am I a little annoyed by it?
Is it the gameplay? No. Is it the bright colours? No. Is it the art style? No. So what is it then?
It's the main character. Believe it or not, when I first got glimpses of this trailer, I thought they were finally bringing back Conker the Squirrel after that disastrous VR character design. After all, Conker is an orange squirrel, has a bushy tail, has sneakers and wears blue. Given how badly Microsoft was treating this fan favourite character a person could have easily thought that it was a Conker revival, so you can imagine my shock when I looked into this only to find it was a different character. I do believe that this Lucky is a fox, but so much of his design (particularly when viewed from the back) was similar to Conker's design.
I do love the look of the game and am willing to give this game a chance as its own game (cause I like these colourful platformers), but as a big Conker fan, I am a little miffed that we never got a proper Conker squeal. I know that this is an entirely different company and that given how common most anthropomorphic animal designs are, I am forgiving in that. I'll probably play this and most likely enjoy it immensely, it's just that I really want a good Conker game (although if this does good, maybe Microsoft could give this company the Conker license to make a sequel....I really want one OK). That said, I do wish this game the best as it does look really good.
Animated Reflections: Blazing Dragons (Season 1)
Blazing Dragons was created by Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame) and was a Playstation and Sega Saturn game released in 1996. It was not long after that it was released as a cartoon series (created along side Gavin Scott) produced by Nelvana and Ellipse, with two seasons of which both were different from each other, which is why I will look at both separately as I do have some issues with the second season. But enough about that, lets look at:
Blazing Dragons is a world with a twisted tale of Arthurian Lore of Knights and Dragons, with the Dragons are the good guys and the human Knights are the villains. In the kingdom of Camelhot, King Allfire leads his Knights of the square table against the evil forces of Count Geoffrey and his evil Knights. Well, in theory that's how its suppose to go.
King Allfire isn't the Dragon he use to be and the Knights ain't exactly the most capable at their jobs. Enter the main characters of the show. First is Flicker, inventor and Sir Loungealot's squire and second is Princess Flame, a smart and capable individual who tends to go the extra mile when its required.
Flicker is the main focus of the show, wanting to be a valiant Knight of Camelhot and being the one who sticks to the King's Code of Shivery word for word (much to Flame's annoyance at times). Being Sir Loungealot's Squire isn't easy for him, as Sir Loungealot is one of the lazy and selfish Knight the kingdom has and is always taking Flickers glory for himself. Doesn't help that his inventions don't always work out the way he planned them too. He also has feelings for Princess Flame (who is also his best friend, which seems to be a thing between Princesses and Squires) who also shares his affections, but he tends to be shy at times.
Flame on the other hand suffers from being a Princess and by that I mean she is forced to follow the rules for medieval Princess, though that doesn't stop her from bending the rules. She's willing go do a number of things to save her kingdom, but also to save herself, taking a number of risks when dealing with her rather large step-mother. Flame is a rather good sword fighter, holding her own on a number of occasions,
Loungealot is technically a main character as he seems to be the one who makes Flicker's life a constant pain. He is lazy, self-absorbed and is a bit of a coward. He is also the kingdoms famed champion. As for his standing with his fellow Knights, sometimes he is praised, sometimes he is made fun of. More often then not, Loungealot's arrogance seems to get him into all sorts of trouble and it's up to Flicker to help get him out of it (usually at Flicker's own expense).
King Allfire himself is a good King, but too many good years seem to have affected his physique. Flame is his daughter from his first marriage, but what to his first wife is unclear. He re-married to Griddle and her own son Blaze became a Knight. Queen Griddle is a little selfish and has some anger issues, who just expects the kingdom to love her. Loungealot constantly tries flirting with her for his own benefit. Blaze has the stereotypical aspects of a character that one would think is possibly homosexual, being that of flamboyant and effeminate. What his sexual preference is is never explained in the show (due to it being a children's cartoon) and though he isn't the best at being a Knight, he does tend to prove himself more then capable on several occasions (in truth, I feel he's probably their best Knight having re-watched the series).
Then there's Sir Burnevere the Overly Educated, a Scottish Dragon who's accent and overly complicated words make's it difficult for his fellow Knights to understand him at times. Despite being the brains of the Knightly Order, he tend to show about as much intelligence as the other Knights when it comes to their tasks. The last two Knights are Sir Galahot the Proper, who is more straight forward and well spoken and Sir Hotbreath the Not-So Proper (an carried over theme from Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Sir Lancelot the Brave and Sir Robin the not-quite-so-brave-as-Sir Lancelot) who's only real gimmick is that he is constantly burping fire.
The last set of good characters are Cinder and Clinker, a twin-headed Dragon who is the kingdoms Jester, with one sounding more positive and the other sounding more negative. They usually have a number of jobs other then Jester and tend to appear all over the place. Lastly is the Minstrel, who has the job of doing the introduction, ending and is basically the in-story storyteller. He is usually playing his Lute.
Now that we have that lot out of the way, the Villain's section will be much easier. The main Villain is the evil Count Geoffrey (also known as the Dreaded Count Geoffrey de Bouillon, Oppressor Par Excellence of the Poor and Weak), who is constantly trying to take over the kingdom of Camelhot and bring ruin to the Knights of the Square Table. He is very much a cartoon villain in the way he works, which I do enjoy. His own fortress of Threadbare Castle is constantly falling apart and so uses the local Peasant's to stand on each others shoulders in order to form pillars to hold the roof up. In one episode alone he charges an air tax for people breathing air.
Count Geoffrey usually seeks help from Merle the Wizard (looks more like a witch then a wizard). Merle is usually one to come up with the creatures or spells needed for the plans, though tends not to get too caught up when things go wrong (in other words, she suffers the least from failed plans). Finally, there are his various henchmen. The first is his Evil Spy, a guy in a rather tacky Dragon suit which clearly looks fake, but it's a cartoon so most don't notice. Given how Geoffrey treats him, one wonders why he still works for him. Finally are Evil Knights #1,#2 and #3. Why are they called that? Beats me, maybe its just easier for Geoffrey to remember. The three can fight, but are all incredibly stupid.
Honestly, so much has been said about the characters, that nothing more can really be said when it comes to story. It goes by the usual standards, a problem occurs thanks to Count Geoffrey (or at least, he takes advantage of one) and its usually down to Flicker to find a way to solve it. The story is carried more so by its cast of characters and its comedy, relying on visual or running gags. A good example of this is the first episode in which the Knights embark on a quest to find the Holy Quell (which is a Quell dressed like a Bishop) and when every time they say it a holy choir is heard. Through out the episode this happens, but also a running gag of Sir Blaze firing a crossbow and picking up something that sounds like Quell (like Kale). Fairly simple, but entertaining in context.
Animation seems smooth enough, though simple in design. The background and foreground designs seem to have some being detailed while others are very basic in looks. The character designs are not overly complicated, with some being more sharp in edges compared to others. The Dragons themselves are of a different design compared to the Video Game version, with them walking on two legs as opposed to the four from the game. There is more colour to them as well. The shows music seems to blend in at times that you don't notice it, but then there are other times when you know it's trying to promote the comedic moment. Has a very catchy theme song to boot.
As something I got to watch on the weekends, this was a personal favourite of mine, with a high preference for Season 1 over Season 2. There are some rather humorous and clever ideas in some of these episodes, with the quest for the Stone of Wisdom in which the 'temple' is very much like a medieval shopping mall. You can see where some of the comedy was inspired from and even though it is a medieval theme, it's clear that it's only that in an over all theme, with various objects and places based on more modern things (such as the Stone of Wisdom episode). Heck, the show even makes jokes about it's own settings at some points, even breaking the fourth wall at times.
Overall, it's an enjoyable time, though don't expect to be enlightened at any point. It is a show that relies on its comedy for the most part, so you may or may not enjoyment if the humor isn't up to your standard. As I stated before, there are differences between Season 1 and Season 2, something I will be looking at another time.
Blazing Dragons is a world with a twisted tale of Arthurian Lore of Knights and Dragons, with the Dragons are the good guys and the human Knights are the villains. In the kingdom of Camelhot, King Allfire leads his Knights of the square table against the evil forces of Count Geoffrey and his evil Knights. Well, in theory that's how its suppose to go.
King Allfire isn't the Dragon he use to be and the Knights ain't exactly the most capable at their jobs. Enter the main characters of the show. First is Flicker, inventor and Sir Loungealot's squire and second is Princess Flame, a smart and capable individual who tends to go the extra mile when its required.
Flicker is the main focus of the show, wanting to be a valiant Knight of Camelhot and being the one who sticks to the King's Code of Shivery word for word (much to Flame's annoyance at times). Being Sir Loungealot's Squire isn't easy for him, as Sir Loungealot is one of the lazy and selfish Knight the kingdom has and is always taking Flickers glory for himself. Doesn't help that his inventions don't always work out the way he planned them too. He also has feelings for Princess Flame (who is also his best friend, which seems to be a thing between Princesses and Squires) who also shares his affections, but he tends to be shy at times.
Flame on the other hand suffers from being a Princess and by that I mean she is forced to follow the rules for medieval Princess, though that doesn't stop her from bending the rules. She's willing go do a number of things to save her kingdom, but also to save herself, taking a number of risks when dealing with her rather large step-mother. Flame is a rather good sword fighter, holding her own on a number of occasions,
Loungealot is technically a main character as he seems to be the one who makes Flicker's life a constant pain. He is lazy, self-absorbed and is a bit of a coward. He is also the kingdoms famed champion. As for his standing with his fellow Knights, sometimes he is praised, sometimes he is made fun of. More often then not, Loungealot's arrogance seems to get him into all sorts of trouble and it's up to Flicker to help get him out of it (usually at Flicker's own expense).
King Allfire himself is a good King, but too many good years seem to have affected his physique. Flame is his daughter from his first marriage, but what to his first wife is unclear. He re-married to Griddle and her own son Blaze became a Knight. Queen Griddle is a little selfish and has some anger issues, who just expects the kingdom to love her. Loungealot constantly tries flirting with her for his own benefit. Blaze has the stereotypical aspects of a character that one would think is possibly homosexual, being that of flamboyant and effeminate. What his sexual preference is is never explained in the show (due to it being a children's cartoon) and though he isn't the best at being a Knight, he does tend to prove himself more then capable on several occasions (in truth, I feel he's probably their best Knight having re-watched the series).
Then there's Sir Burnevere the Overly Educated, a Scottish Dragon who's accent and overly complicated words make's it difficult for his fellow Knights to understand him at times. Despite being the brains of the Knightly Order, he tend to show about as much intelligence as the other Knights when it comes to their tasks. The last two Knights are Sir Galahot the Proper, who is more straight forward and well spoken and Sir Hotbreath the Not-So Proper (an carried over theme from Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Sir Lancelot the Brave and Sir Robin the not-quite-so-brave-as-Sir Lancelot) who's only real gimmick is that he is constantly burping fire.
The last set of good characters are Cinder and Clinker, a twin-headed Dragon who is the kingdoms Jester, with one sounding more positive and the other sounding more negative. They usually have a number of jobs other then Jester and tend to appear all over the place. Lastly is the Minstrel, who has the job of doing the introduction, ending and is basically the in-story storyteller. He is usually playing his Lute.
Now that we have that lot out of the way, the Villain's section will be much easier. The main Villain is the evil Count Geoffrey (also known as the Dreaded Count Geoffrey de Bouillon, Oppressor Par Excellence of the Poor and Weak), who is constantly trying to take over the kingdom of Camelhot and bring ruin to the Knights of the Square Table. He is very much a cartoon villain in the way he works, which I do enjoy. His own fortress of Threadbare Castle is constantly falling apart and so uses the local Peasant's to stand on each others shoulders in order to form pillars to hold the roof up. In one episode alone he charges an air tax for people breathing air.
Count Geoffrey usually seeks help from Merle the Wizard (looks more like a witch then a wizard). Merle is usually one to come up with the creatures or spells needed for the plans, though tends not to get too caught up when things go wrong (in other words, she suffers the least from failed plans). Finally, there are his various henchmen. The first is his Evil Spy, a guy in a rather tacky Dragon suit which clearly looks fake, but it's a cartoon so most don't notice. Given how Geoffrey treats him, one wonders why he still works for him. Finally are Evil Knights #1,#2 and #3. Why are they called that? Beats me, maybe its just easier for Geoffrey to remember. The three can fight, but are all incredibly stupid.
Honestly, so much has been said about the characters, that nothing more can really be said when it comes to story. It goes by the usual standards, a problem occurs thanks to Count Geoffrey (or at least, he takes advantage of one) and its usually down to Flicker to find a way to solve it. The story is carried more so by its cast of characters and its comedy, relying on visual or running gags. A good example of this is the first episode in which the Knights embark on a quest to find the Holy Quell (which is a Quell dressed like a Bishop) and when every time they say it a holy choir is heard. Through out the episode this happens, but also a running gag of Sir Blaze firing a crossbow and picking up something that sounds like Quell (like Kale). Fairly simple, but entertaining in context.
Animation seems smooth enough, though simple in design. The background and foreground designs seem to have some being detailed while others are very basic in looks. The character designs are not overly complicated, with some being more sharp in edges compared to others. The Dragons themselves are of a different design compared to the Video Game version, with them walking on two legs as opposed to the four from the game. There is more colour to them as well. The shows music seems to blend in at times that you don't notice it, but then there are other times when you know it's trying to promote the comedic moment. Has a very catchy theme song to boot.
As something I got to watch on the weekends, this was a personal favourite of mine, with a high preference for Season 1 over Season 2. There are some rather humorous and clever ideas in some of these episodes, with the quest for the Stone of Wisdom in which the 'temple' is very much like a medieval shopping mall. You can see where some of the comedy was inspired from and even though it is a medieval theme, it's clear that it's only that in an over all theme, with various objects and places based on more modern things (such as the Stone of Wisdom episode). Heck, the show even makes jokes about it's own settings at some points, even breaking the fourth wall at times.
Overall, it's an enjoyable time, though don't expect to be enlightened at any point. It is a show that relies on its comedy for the most part, so you may or may not enjoyment if the humor isn't up to your standard. As I stated before, there are differences between Season 1 and Season 2, something I will be looking at another time.
Monday 21 August 2017
Thoughts On The DuckTales Reboot
So having watched the DuckTales premiere, I must say that I did enjoy it. As an introduction to this new series it feels both fresh, yet still sticking to the formula of adventure. There appears to be a lot more history involved in this, one that may finally answer some of long held questions when it comes to these characters, which only drives me to want more. I also appreciate the art style of the show, which does look more comic book like, yet flows well for animation.
I still stick to my concerns about the voice acting, though I do admit it didn't bother me too much. My concern was that we already had voice actors for these characters, so why did they need to replace them? I don't know the behind the scenes for the decision being made, so I really can't comment on why. I feel somewhat loyal to preset voices (they already had characters of Scrooge and the three nephews voiced in the latest Christmas movie length episode just last year, so if they already had them, why change it?) , particularly when companies want to bank on nostalgia to get the fans rolling in. I'm sorta torn on this one as the current cast did an amazing job, so I won't hold it against the show.
The writing is something that surprised me, as I didn't think it would be so deep when it came to the characters. The interactions between Donald and Scrooge in the first episode shows something has happened between them in the past and what ever it was, it wasn't good. The fact that the two did adventuring in the past hold true to the old comics, in which they did go on treasure hunts in between Scrooge trying to train Donald to replace him when he passes away (Donald was his preferred choice to succeed him out of all his family, which says how close they were despite Donald's flaws,), which explains why Scrooge takes issue with Donald's lifestyle choice. There is a bigger push for the story of family, which works a lot better as your dealing with three generations of the Duck family and it feels like there is more story to tell.
Speaking of characters, lets talk about the two big changes, Mrs. Beakley and Webby. Mrs. Beakley has become more in line with someone more stern and comes off as someone who has had military/special ops training. Webber has had the biggest changes and while she still has her annoying moments, but this time around her character makes sense. In the original she was this sweet and innocent little girl and while that's perfectly fine, why would you take her on some very dangerous missions. The trio at least had the Junior Woodchucks training, while not proper training, it was at least something, The changes in this one has her trained to protect herself by an overly protective Mrs. Beakly who is kept in the mansion and has rarely left it. As such, she is better trained then her original counterpart and has a much more active personality. I really enjoy this new version, who can give Huey, Dewey and Louie a run for their money.
With all that said, I see good things for the future of this franchise and others that may join the reboot line too. It's good to see we are getting people who know how to keep to the spirit of the original shows while creating something that feels new.
I still stick to my concerns about the voice acting, though I do admit it didn't bother me too much. My concern was that we already had voice actors for these characters, so why did they need to replace them? I don't know the behind the scenes for the decision being made, so I really can't comment on why. I feel somewhat loyal to preset voices (they already had characters of Scrooge and the three nephews voiced in the latest Christmas movie length episode just last year, so if they already had them, why change it?) , particularly when companies want to bank on nostalgia to get the fans rolling in. I'm sorta torn on this one as the current cast did an amazing job, so I won't hold it against the show.
The writing is something that surprised me, as I didn't think it would be so deep when it came to the characters. The interactions between Donald and Scrooge in the first episode shows something has happened between them in the past and what ever it was, it wasn't good. The fact that the two did adventuring in the past hold true to the old comics, in which they did go on treasure hunts in between Scrooge trying to train Donald to replace him when he passes away (Donald was his preferred choice to succeed him out of all his family, which says how close they were despite Donald's flaws,), which explains why Scrooge takes issue with Donald's lifestyle choice. There is a bigger push for the story of family, which works a lot better as your dealing with three generations of the Duck family and it feels like there is more story to tell.
Speaking of characters, lets talk about the two big changes, Mrs. Beakley and Webby. Mrs. Beakley has become more in line with someone more stern and comes off as someone who has had military/special ops training. Webber has had the biggest changes and while she still has her annoying moments, but this time around her character makes sense. In the original she was this sweet and innocent little girl and while that's perfectly fine, why would you take her on some very dangerous missions. The trio at least had the Junior Woodchucks training, while not proper training, it was at least something, The changes in this one has her trained to protect herself by an overly protective Mrs. Beakly who is kept in the mansion and has rarely left it. As such, she is better trained then her original counterpart and has a much more active personality. I really enjoy this new version, who can give Huey, Dewey and Louie a run for their money.
With all that said, I see good things for the future of this franchise and others that may join the reboot line too. It's good to see we are getting people who know how to keep to the spirit of the original shows while creating something that feels new.
Sunday 20 August 2017
10 Favourite Goon Show Episodes
A popular radio comedy program throughout the 1950's, The Goon Show starred the trio of Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan. A barrel full of insanity, the madness that was the Goon Show was very popular and would influence the field of comedy for years to come. As such, listening to this show has helped me out in some pretty dark times, though I must also admit that I won't listen to certain ones as they do actually disturb me. This isn't a top 10 list, merely 10 episodes I like in no particular order with another 10 list coming soon. So lets take a look at a few that I love.
1. Shifting Sands
I consider this to be my favourite episode of them all and it all comes down to just how well the jokes work for me. The appearance of Colonel Chinstrap (a character played by Jack Train from another radio show called 'It's That Man Again') and his interactions with Major Bloodnok is a real highlight for me. The story is that a British Garrison on the frontier of Waziristan has lost it's Union Jack ('they know which side their on, but they can't prove it') and Neddie Seagoon is sent to deliver the plans, though things don't go to plan when he gets there. I recommend this one if you want to give the show a shot.
2. The Moon Show
In an attempt to improve his poetry skills, Ned Seagoon buys the Moon from Grytpype-Thynne and Count Moriarty, but it soon appears something might not be right about the purchase. Another great episode with some fast moving jokes and well placed sound effects. Do not attempt to learn poetry from this show.
3. The Fireball of Milton Street
The first ever Goon Show I ever heard, the story is straight forward, yet marvelously silly. Henry Crun has taken a photo of the Sun and notices that it's on fire, which sends Neddie Seagoon into action. Yes, this is a story about a group of people panicking because they found out the Sun is on fire. I love it.
4. 6 Charlies in Search of an Author
The moral of this story is never give anyone a typewriter in a world where what you write happens. The idea is actually quite brilliant for a story and I have seen some shows implement something similar to this, but without the real comedy that this one did (the others were more serious shows, even if the episode was a little silly).
5. Tales of Montmatre
A story that bases some of its characters and humour on famous Artists, such as Paul Gauguin and Toulouse-Lautrec. This one guest stars Charlotte Mitchell in the role of Fifi, a sexy French model who seems to make out with every man in the episode. The silliness of the plot along with the constant duels due to insults makes this one more of a simple flow compared to many other episodes.
6. House of Teeth
For characters of a dark and sinister nature, the show would call upon Valentine Dyall, a man who's voice sounds like it would easily fit into any horror story. In this he plays the roll of Dr. Longdongle, who seeks false teeth for a particular reason. Valentine Dyall really steals the show, both in this episode and in The Canal episode.
7. 10 Snowballs that Shook the Earth
A title that has nothing really to do with the show, the story (from what I could make of it) is that the value of the Sterling (currency) is falling and that Neddie has to sell the Equator to save it. Yeah, I sorta don't understand it entirely, but then its more about enjoying the show then any deep and meaningful plot. There are a couple of gags here that I thoroughly enjoy and I hope one day to incorporate one or two of them here and there in some future project.
8. Queen Ann's Rain
Speaking of great gag's I want to incorporate, this one also has a few nice ones. The story for this is a small town is experiencing continuous non-stop rain and everything is flooding. Someone points out that Queen Ann is currently reigning over the country and the confusion is that they want Queen Ann to stop (confusing rain with reign).
9. The Treasure in the Tower
Two stories taking place, the burying of the treasure in 1600 and the attempts to find it in 1957. Unfortunately for the story, the characters in both can't seem to figure out which one they are suppose to be in, which leads to some great moments. Get the feeling this is not based on a historically accurate set of events.
10. The Six Ingots of Leadenhall Street
A crime story about an idiot Inspector and the lack of honor among thieves. Grytpype-Thynne and Moriarty are trying to smuggle six gold bars out of the country and plan to use Neddie Seagoon to do it. However, the number of gold bars keeps changing and things go down hill as the story progresses. The character of Bluebottle gets some nice parts in this.
1. Shifting Sands
I consider this to be my favourite episode of them all and it all comes down to just how well the jokes work for me. The appearance of Colonel Chinstrap (a character played by Jack Train from another radio show called 'It's That Man Again') and his interactions with Major Bloodnok is a real highlight for me. The story is that a British Garrison on the frontier of Waziristan has lost it's Union Jack ('they know which side their on, but they can't prove it') and Neddie Seagoon is sent to deliver the plans, though things don't go to plan when he gets there. I recommend this one if you want to give the show a shot.
2. The Moon Show
In an attempt to improve his poetry skills, Ned Seagoon buys the Moon from Grytpype-Thynne and Count Moriarty, but it soon appears something might not be right about the purchase. Another great episode with some fast moving jokes and well placed sound effects. Do not attempt to learn poetry from this show.
3. The Fireball of Milton Street
The first ever Goon Show I ever heard, the story is straight forward, yet marvelously silly. Henry Crun has taken a photo of the Sun and notices that it's on fire, which sends Neddie Seagoon into action. Yes, this is a story about a group of people panicking because they found out the Sun is on fire. I love it.
4. 6 Charlies in Search of an Author
The moral of this story is never give anyone a typewriter in a world where what you write happens. The idea is actually quite brilliant for a story and I have seen some shows implement something similar to this, but without the real comedy that this one did (the others were more serious shows, even if the episode was a little silly).
5. Tales of Montmatre
A story that bases some of its characters and humour on famous Artists, such as Paul Gauguin and Toulouse-Lautrec. This one guest stars Charlotte Mitchell in the role of Fifi, a sexy French model who seems to make out with every man in the episode. The silliness of the plot along with the constant duels due to insults makes this one more of a simple flow compared to many other episodes.
6. House of Teeth
For characters of a dark and sinister nature, the show would call upon Valentine Dyall, a man who's voice sounds like it would easily fit into any horror story. In this he plays the roll of Dr. Longdongle, who seeks false teeth for a particular reason. Valentine Dyall really steals the show, both in this episode and in The Canal episode.
7. 10 Snowballs that Shook the Earth
A title that has nothing really to do with the show, the story (from what I could make of it) is that the value of the Sterling (currency) is falling and that Neddie has to sell the Equator to save it. Yeah, I sorta don't understand it entirely, but then its more about enjoying the show then any deep and meaningful plot. There are a couple of gags here that I thoroughly enjoy and I hope one day to incorporate one or two of them here and there in some future project.
8. Queen Ann's Rain
Speaking of great gag's I want to incorporate, this one also has a few nice ones. The story for this is a small town is experiencing continuous non-stop rain and everything is flooding. Someone points out that Queen Ann is currently reigning over the country and the confusion is that they want Queen Ann to stop (confusing rain with reign).
9. The Treasure in the Tower
Two stories taking place, the burying of the treasure in 1600 and the attempts to find it in 1957. Unfortunately for the story, the characters in both can't seem to figure out which one they are suppose to be in, which leads to some great moments. Get the feeling this is not based on a historically accurate set of events.
10. The Six Ingots of Leadenhall Street
A crime story about an idiot Inspector and the lack of honor among thieves. Grytpype-Thynne and Moriarty are trying to smuggle six gold bars out of the country and plan to use Neddie Seagoon to do it. However, the number of gold bars keeps changing and things go down hill as the story progresses. The character of Bluebottle gets some nice parts in this.
Saturday 19 August 2017
TW: Warhammer - More Skaven
So the two named characters in the campaign clip are in fact in-game. They are Queek Headtaker and Lord Skrolk, which makes sense. Given the location of Lustria, Lord Skrolk of Clan Pestilens was an easy option for them as Clan Pestilens are the enemies of the Lizardmen. Queek Headtaker, while making little sense as to why he would be in Lustria, does make sense in his inclusion as given they have already added Skarsnik and King Belegar Ironhammer in their war to control Karak Eight Peaks, adding the third faction Warlord in that war would help bridge the two games for the Skaven well.
As for the army list, they do have some Skryre themed options with:
As for my starting lord in the beginning, I will stick with Queek (I'll even talk to the heads on the trophy rack just to keep in character of Queek). That said, I will stick with my Skaven loyalty rules and will not have a single Clan Pestilens character or unit as part of my army. I have always hated Clan Pestilens and I will continue that, even if it takes place in Lustria.
As for the Food mechanic, I really do like it. Skaven metabolism means they always need to consume and feeding a large number of rodents (given how quickly they breed) means that being on the move would risk starvation and thus, the consequences would be disastrous to their campaign. The Corruption mechanic has the negative effects for your enemies similar to the effects from Vampire and Chaos corruption, but it can also have negative effects for your own side as the growing Skaven consumes your own resources. Given both of the negative effects have on public order, the chance of Skaven uprising sounds just right.
The 'hidden' settlements is another thing that I feel makes sense to the Skaven, who tend to build their settlements under those of the surface dwellers. The fact that enemy heroes have to search ruins to see if the Skaven have a base there seems find (though I would expect that Dwarfs and Night Goblins should have a much better chance of finding them as they tend to be regular enemies). The menace below ability allowing you to summon Clanrats to aide you during combat is very nice and can help in keep invasions. Sure, Clanrats ain't the best, but you throw your numbers against the enemy while your real power units get into position. Besides, casualties are just a common thing among the Skaven.
My only complaint would be that I can't enjoy loosing in the campaign. Normally when my Skaven loose, I claim my plan was brilliant and lost because of treachery from my underlings. Probably a better attitude for single battles. Still, given from what I've seen so far, this looks to be very interesting and I'm looking forward to play it (at some point at least).
As for the army list, they do have some Skryre themed options with:
- Warlock Engineer
- Warpfire Thrower
- Poisoned Wing Globadiers
- Death Globe Bombardiers
- Warp Lightning Cannon
- Doomwheel
As for my starting lord in the beginning, I will stick with Queek (I'll even talk to the heads on the trophy rack just to keep in character of Queek). That said, I will stick with my Skaven loyalty rules and will not have a single Clan Pestilens character or unit as part of my army. I have always hated Clan Pestilens and I will continue that, even if it takes place in Lustria.
As for the Food mechanic, I really do like it. Skaven metabolism means they always need to consume and feeding a large number of rodents (given how quickly they breed) means that being on the move would risk starvation and thus, the consequences would be disastrous to their campaign. The Corruption mechanic has the negative effects for your enemies similar to the effects from Vampire and Chaos corruption, but it can also have negative effects for your own side as the growing Skaven consumes your own resources. Given both of the negative effects have on public order, the chance of Skaven uprising sounds just right.
The 'hidden' settlements is another thing that I feel makes sense to the Skaven, who tend to build their settlements under those of the surface dwellers. The fact that enemy heroes have to search ruins to see if the Skaven have a base there seems find (though I would expect that Dwarfs and Night Goblins should have a much better chance of finding them as they tend to be regular enemies). The menace below ability allowing you to summon Clanrats to aide you during combat is very nice and can help in keep invasions. Sure, Clanrats ain't the best, but you throw your numbers against the enemy while your real power units get into position. Besides, casualties are just a common thing among the Skaven.
My only complaint would be that I can't enjoy loosing in the campaign. Normally when my Skaven loose, I claim my plan was brilliant and lost because of treachery from my underlings. Probably a better attitude for single battles. Still, given from what I've seen so far, this looks to be very interesting and I'm looking forward to play it (at some point at least).
Thursday 17 August 2017
August/September Project Updates
So the last few months have been a living nightmare for myself and my health, to the point that I've had to differ my Bachelor course for six months to spend time focusing on my mental health. As part of that treatment, I am to focus more on some of my more creative aspects, with small end goals to help me recover.
That said, you may have notice that the photo shots of my miniatures lately have been terrible and that is definitely something I'll be looking into. As for miniature painting, it will be on small projects (as opposed to Crews or Units) to help get me back off the ground. As such I do have a few mostly completed ones I need to finish off (a Skaven Warlord, Ork Painboy, Light Wizard .etc), along with the Corporate Executive miniature from the Infinity range.
I'll also be looking into working back on visual effects, trying to get myself back up to the standards when I was doing the Diploma, so I'll probably place a few posts on here showing things or even just updates on what I'm doing.
I will be working on finishing Mr Sanderstone and the stupid video I have planned for him. Honestly, the video idea is terrible, but doing it is better then doing nothing. From here I will see where I can go in regards to creating on-screen characters, but I have no skill in this area so it may take some time. It's an end goal for me, hopefully getting characters like Puppet Skith and others made.
Finally there's the Blog itself. I really need to change the background and update the banner (woefully out of date). I'm trying to focus it in a more positive view point and to use things like Animated Reflections to better improve my writing skill.
This will all be a slow process, but over the next six to seven months I want to at least get into some sort of structure that will benefit myself and have it show in the work I produce.
That said, you may have notice that the photo shots of my miniatures lately have been terrible and that is definitely something I'll be looking into. As for miniature painting, it will be on small projects (as opposed to Crews or Units) to help get me back off the ground. As such I do have a few mostly completed ones I need to finish off (a Skaven Warlord, Ork Painboy, Light Wizard .etc), along with the Corporate Executive miniature from the Infinity range.
I'll also be looking into working back on visual effects, trying to get myself back up to the standards when I was doing the Diploma, so I'll probably place a few posts on here showing things or even just updates on what I'm doing.
I will be working on finishing Mr Sanderstone and the stupid video I have planned for him. Honestly, the video idea is terrible, but doing it is better then doing nothing. From here I will see where I can go in regards to creating on-screen characters, but I have no skill in this area so it may take some time. It's an end goal for me, hopefully getting characters like Puppet Skith and others made.
Finally there's the Blog itself. I really need to change the background and update the banner (woefully out of date). I'm trying to focus it in a more positive view point and to use things like Animated Reflections to better improve my writing skill.
This will all be a slow process, but over the next six to seven months I want to at least get into some sort of structure that will benefit myself and have it show in the work I produce.
Thought's On: Penelope's Betrayal
So yeah, if you haven't played the Sly Cooper series (Sly Cooper 3 and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time in particular) then yep, there are going to be major spoilers in this article. Given the last game Thieves in Time was released in 2013, I'd say most would have heard this stuff by now.
So anyway, the Sly Cooper series is something I got into a few years ago (it was ultimately the reason I got a PS3) and I enjoyed the series and it's characters immensely. However, one thing has always bugged me about it and it's this: Penelope's betrayal of Bentley and the team. Her actions just felt so out of character compared to Sly 3 (not to mention her design) and it was clear from the early work on Sly 4 that she wasn't originally intended as the boss for the Knight level.
While I don't mind a betrayal twist, this one just didn't sit well with me. Given all the things Bentley had created, I felt a little confused as to why she wanted to build weapon designs as all of Bentley's creations were probably worth a lot more in aiding people then killing. I mean, if he can build a super advanced wheelchair and a time machine, what couldn't he make? If money or power was the goal, then even Penelope's own skills could have easily brought her that, let alone the two forming a business together.
Then there was the hate towards Cooper. This felt more like an influencing effect then an opinion that grew over time. More confusing was her plan as when dealing with time travel, there are the consequences of ones actions to think over. After all, removing the Coopers so that Bentley would be 'free' of Sly's influence would only work if each and every stage of his life had been planned out as without Sly, who could say whether Bentley would become the genius that he was or that he and Penelope would have ever met at that point. Her plan seemed to miss these fine details. By the end of the game, she had escaped a maximum security prison (which feels odd given what happens to her in the third game) and that she was sending Bentley postcards of places with her graffiti mark on them, clearly taunting or teasing (depending on your point of view) Bentley to come find her.
Actually, thinking back to her complaints about the Cooper code of honor seems a little more hypocritical of her given that in the Black Barron part of Sly 3, she gave a small speech about honor when it came to those minions who were betraying the Black Barron by working for another team and trying to destroy the Cooper hanger. The character change between Sly 3 and Sly 4 felt like such a huge shift in her personality and having gone over both games again (because I wanted to write this), it was more easier to see those changes.
I also wondered why Bentley had to have another personal drama to his life. The fact he had to deal with the issues of his legs and no longer being able to walk (or being useful to the team) was hard enough for him, but throwing in the betrayal of a loved one and the fact his own creation was used to cause all the problems just felt unnecessary. I feel they could have had the same story, but have it more to do with being forced to work for the bad guys or that they have some kind of mind control. Bentley has already had to deal with enough and this felt more like it was forced onto him, possible to save time or that they needed to tie in a plot they had forgotten about until further down the track. It was poorly done is in my opinion (but that's just me).
While looking around to get peoples opinions on this, there were a great number of theories. My favourite of the bunch is that she may have been influenced by Clockwerk, given that those who have dealt with him at some point all tend to have a strong hatred towards the Cooper clan. I like this idea as not only does it explain Penelope's actions (and thus, open the option for a redemption ark......because I want a redemption ark), but allows the return of one of Cooper's greatest villains. After all, he had made himself a full metal body and was basically immortal in his quest to destroy the Cooper clan and in the second game it referred to Clockwerk having a hate chip. So if he was a machine well before they attacked Sly's father, what would be the possibility that he would have a back-up of himself, something that would activate when the previous version was destroyed? If you were so hell bent on the destruction of your hated enemy, would you not have a back-up plan in case you were somehow defeated?
The idea of a hate chip could work well with the idea of thought implantation. What if Clockwerk found away to use his eye components to focus his own hate into a means to influence others in sharing that hate. He could subject people to it, perhaps without them even knowing, during a conversation and by the end they too could also share his views. Would make for an interesting twist for more characters to appear having a strong hatred of Cooper, even though they've never met him (or having more friends/allies turn). Just an idea.
You could then link it up to the certain villains and their plots in both Sly 2, 3 and 4, meaning that Clockwerk was still manipulating Cooper's downfall from behind the scenes. Throw in a plot that he's been slowly crafting a more unstoppable body and you have the ark for Sly 5 and 6, thus having a second trilogy to work with Sucker Punch's own trilogy. I don't mind having new characters thrown in like in Sly 3, just so long as the main focus is on Sly, Bentley, Murry and Carmelita. A few time travel elements, some world traveling elements and some personal character arks and you could pull off a return for Sly.
I guess this is turning into more of a fan wish list by this point, but the Penelope story still feels very incomplete and the last thing I feel this series needs is a reboot with plot points still unresolved, which is something I don't like (then again, given past things that did that, they ended up resolving them in a bad way, so I should be careful what I wish for I guess).
One Final Salute by Armagenanstar
Added this image cause it's amazing, go check it out and show it some love.
So anyway, the Sly Cooper series is something I got into a few years ago (it was ultimately the reason I got a PS3) and I enjoyed the series and it's characters immensely. However, one thing has always bugged me about it and it's this: Penelope's betrayal of Bentley and the team. Her actions just felt so out of character compared to Sly 3 (not to mention her design) and it was clear from the early work on Sly 4 that she wasn't originally intended as the boss for the Knight level.
While I don't mind a betrayal twist, this one just didn't sit well with me. Given all the things Bentley had created, I felt a little confused as to why she wanted to build weapon designs as all of Bentley's creations were probably worth a lot more in aiding people then killing. I mean, if he can build a super advanced wheelchair and a time machine, what couldn't he make? If money or power was the goal, then even Penelope's own skills could have easily brought her that, let alone the two forming a business together.
Then there was the hate towards Cooper. This felt more like an influencing effect then an opinion that grew over time. More confusing was her plan as when dealing with time travel, there are the consequences of ones actions to think over. After all, removing the Coopers so that Bentley would be 'free' of Sly's influence would only work if each and every stage of his life had been planned out as without Sly, who could say whether Bentley would become the genius that he was or that he and Penelope would have ever met at that point. Her plan seemed to miss these fine details. By the end of the game, she had escaped a maximum security prison (which feels odd given what happens to her in the third game) and that she was sending Bentley postcards of places with her graffiti mark on them, clearly taunting or teasing (depending on your point of view) Bentley to come find her.
Actually, thinking back to her complaints about the Cooper code of honor seems a little more hypocritical of her given that in the Black Barron part of Sly 3, she gave a small speech about honor when it came to those minions who were betraying the Black Barron by working for another team and trying to destroy the Cooper hanger. The character change between Sly 3 and Sly 4 felt like such a huge shift in her personality and having gone over both games again (because I wanted to write this), it was more easier to see those changes.
I also wondered why Bentley had to have another personal drama to his life. The fact he had to deal with the issues of his legs and no longer being able to walk (or being useful to the team) was hard enough for him, but throwing in the betrayal of a loved one and the fact his own creation was used to cause all the problems just felt unnecessary. I feel they could have had the same story, but have it more to do with being forced to work for the bad guys or that they have some kind of mind control. Bentley has already had to deal with enough and this felt more like it was forced onto him, possible to save time or that they needed to tie in a plot they had forgotten about until further down the track. It was poorly done is in my opinion (but that's just me).
While looking around to get peoples opinions on this, there were a great number of theories. My favourite of the bunch is that she may have been influenced by Clockwerk, given that those who have dealt with him at some point all tend to have a strong hatred towards the Cooper clan. I like this idea as not only does it explain Penelope's actions (and thus, open the option for a redemption ark......because I want a redemption ark), but allows the return of one of Cooper's greatest villains. After all, he had made himself a full metal body and was basically immortal in his quest to destroy the Cooper clan and in the second game it referred to Clockwerk having a hate chip. So if he was a machine well before they attacked Sly's father, what would be the possibility that he would have a back-up of himself, something that would activate when the previous version was destroyed? If you were so hell bent on the destruction of your hated enemy, would you not have a back-up plan in case you were somehow defeated?
The idea of a hate chip could work well with the idea of thought implantation. What if Clockwerk found away to use his eye components to focus his own hate into a means to influence others in sharing that hate. He could subject people to it, perhaps without them even knowing, during a conversation and by the end they too could also share his views. Would make for an interesting twist for more characters to appear having a strong hatred of Cooper, even though they've never met him (or having more friends/allies turn). Just an idea.
You could then link it up to the certain villains and their plots in both Sly 2, 3 and 4, meaning that Clockwerk was still manipulating Cooper's downfall from behind the scenes. Throw in a plot that he's been slowly crafting a more unstoppable body and you have the ark for Sly 5 and 6, thus having a second trilogy to work with Sucker Punch's own trilogy. I don't mind having new characters thrown in like in Sly 3, just so long as the main focus is on Sly, Bentley, Murry and Carmelita. A few time travel elements, some world traveling elements and some personal character arks and you could pull off a return for Sly.
I guess this is turning into more of a fan wish list by this point, but the Penelope story still feels very incomplete and the last thing I feel this series needs is a reboot with plot points still unresolved, which is something I don't like (then again, given past things that did that, they ended up resolving them in a bad way, so I should be careful what I wish for I guess).
TW: Warhammer - Skaven Trailer
So my last post on the franchise wasn't great, so lets have a change of pace and focus on something positive: Skaven!
Oh my beloved Skaven, you fill me with such joy. While I admit I do feel a little disappointed to see no Ikit Claw, there was at least a Doomwheel and Weapon Teams, so the Skryre in me is pleased. I feel that from what I've seen so far I will still be able to pull of a force that is somewhat Skryre themed and begin my conquest of the Old World. I'll be keeping an eye to see what more will be relieved leading up to it's release (and with some luck I'll hopefully be able to get it).
Oh my beloved Skaven, you fill me with such joy. While I admit I do feel a little disappointed to see no Ikit Claw, there was at least a Doomwheel and Weapon Teams, so the Skryre in me is pleased. I feel that from what I've seen so far I will still be able to pull of a force that is somewhat Skryre themed and begin my conquest of the Old World. I'll be keeping an eye to see what more will be relieved leading up to it's release (and with some luck I'll hopefully be able to get it).
Wednesday 16 August 2017
Finding Animated Shows
One of the problems I've found since starting Animated Reflections is just how difficult it is to find episodes and information on them. I mean, the Internet is an amazing place as you find fans who have uploaded old VHS quality recordings online and that certainly helps (though if I was to ever turn this into a video series, the quality would be difficult to use), but it does make me sad that most of what I try and find just leads to an Into theme song and credits song for most part.
Still, when you do find them, it always feels like finding a piece of yourself that was lost and forgotten (though whether that's a good or bad thing I'll leave up to you).
Still, when you do find them, it always feels like finding a piece of yourself that was lost and forgotten (though whether that's a good or bad thing I'll leave up to you).
The Games-Workshop Lawsuit
So I did do a post on this previously, but deleted it as it was going in too deep. Instead, I'll just sum up my thought's on this.
I feel what was written in the document was done with a dash of venom. Yes, one can claim that they did copy some things from other works, but back when they did that it was also when they had a sense of humor. GW does have a mixed history with lawsuits, so chances are that even with some of the ranting, it will go ahead. Even if they guy won, I seriously doubt he'd get anywhere near the amount of money he's asking for.
While the document was that of an angry store owner, some of those points made however have merit. I know that one of Australia's biggest online miniature stores The Combat Company, stated in a more recent newsletter:
Unfortunately we have made the difficult decision to discontinue the majority of the Games Workshop range. Many among you may have already noticed the range has been difficult to aquire from us for quite some time now and there are numerous reasons why this has happened. However, rather than go into the specifics we'll just say this; we started this business because of our passion for Games Workshop products and while we would love to sell and stock their range Games Workshop have made such actions extremely difficult for us independent retailers.
We believe that we are no longer able to distribute this range to the standards our customers deserve and thus we are going to call it a day and clear it all out. Going forward we will continue to promote and sell ranges that you enjoy, ranges that have passionate manufactures that want to see you using their products and have the same respect for the stores selling their products as the stores do for them. We would like to thank all of the community for their support along the way.
I do have to agree with this view. The announcement from the Combat Company did take a number of people by surprise, as many pointed out that the company made it big selling GW ranges. I know from my previous experiences with ordering GW products from my local independent retailer that they seem to have issues trying to get stock. I've cancelled orders previously because after a month or so of waiting, you tend to want to focus your money else where (didn't help that the online store said that they had stock, yet when I went to my retailer for an update, he said they told him they still didn't have any available). Hell, I'm still waiting for my AoS Skirmish rule book and I'm holding off ordering anything else because I simply don't know if it'll ever arrive.
It isn't too much of a loss for most retailers with GW, as the miniature war gaming market is now quite large and there are so many games to choose from, so most can continue without selling their range. It's just sort of sad for me to see this sort of thing happen, but it wasn't unexpected.
I feel what was written in the document was done with a dash of venom. Yes, one can claim that they did copy some things from other works, but back when they did that it was also when they had a sense of humor. GW does have a mixed history with lawsuits, so chances are that even with some of the ranting, it will go ahead. Even if they guy won, I seriously doubt he'd get anywhere near the amount of money he's asking for.
While the document was that of an angry store owner, some of those points made however have merit. I know that one of Australia's biggest online miniature stores The Combat Company, stated in a more recent newsletter:
Unfortunately we have made the difficult decision to discontinue the majority of the Games Workshop range. Many among you may have already noticed the range has been difficult to aquire from us for quite some time now and there are numerous reasons why this has happened. However, rather than go into the specifics we'll just say this; we started this business because of our passion for Games Workshop products and while we would love to sell and stock their range Games Workshop have made such actions extremely difficult for us independent retailers.
We believe that we are no longer able to distribute this range to the standards our customers deserve and thus we are going to call it a day and clear it all out. Going forward we will continue to promote and sell ranges that you enjoy, ranges that have passionate manufactures that want to see you using their products and have the same respect for the stores selling their products as the stores do for them. We would like to thank all of the community for their support along the way.
I do have to agree with this view. The announcement from the Combat Company did take a number of people by surprise, as many pointed out that the company made it big selling GW ranges. I know from my previous experiences with ordering GW products from my local independent retailer that they seem to have issues trying to get stock. I've cancelled orders previously because after a month or so of waiting, you tend to want to focus your money else where (didn't help that the online store said that they had stock, yet when I went to my retailer for an update, he said they told him they still didn't have any available). Hell, I'm still waiting for my AoS Skirmish rule book and I'm holding off ordering anything else because I simply don't know if it'll ever arrive.
It isn't too much of a loss for most retailers with GW, as the miniature war gaming market is now quite large and there are so many games to choose from, so most can continue without selling their range. It's just sort of sad for me to see this sort of thing happen, but it wasn't unexpected.
Tuesday 15 August 2017
Animated Reflections: Skippy - Adventures in Bushtown
So here's one that has confused me for a little while. Apparently aired in 1998, I really only discovered this one when NITV (National Indigenous Television) went free-to-air I believe (my memory is a little hazy on this one). Anyway, while I do remember the continuous repeats of the Blinky Bill cartoon from Yoram Gross, I never saw this one when it was released. I'm not sure why, as Yoram Gross was a well known name when it came to children's animation in Australia. Well, back then he was, though most people I talk to about it don't seem to remember, which is a real shame in my opinion. But that's something I'll get to in another time. Instead, let's look at:
So to break this show down quickly, it's about a Bush Kangaroo name Skippy, who has to foil the plans of a corrupt Mayor named Croco with the help of his friends. A simple straight forward formula that works well for the most part. Bushtown is a mystery unto itself as I honestly can't even determine what what time it exists in. I mean, it's obviously influenced by Australian outback towns, but when you have shacks and black & white television next to limousines and an inventor who builds a robot, you can understand some of the confusion. The location of Bushtown itself is a mixture of places, being close to a national park, wetlands, dry desert areas and even the ocean. In fact, the only place I don't recall is a snowy mountain. Beyond that, it's really is in a prime location. Common places in the show include the television station (why hasn't it fallen down, it doesn't look like it could even stand), Croco's mansion and the professor's home.
The main character of the show is Skippy (if the near two minute theme song talking about him wasn't a clue) and the name is a well known Australian icon. Yes, it appears this character was based/inspired on the original Skippy show and yes I am aware that Skippy was a female. The point is he is the star of the show and his career is that of a Park Ranger (though he is also apparently part of the council and is a volunteer for a tone of other things too). That said, for the shows goody-goody, he tends to break a lot of laws. He's trespassed, spied, break and entered, impersonated and a whole lot more, all under the justification of trying to catch out the crooks. He also tends to dress up in disguises, some of them not very good (and yet he still gets away with it). Despite being the hero, he still messes up and not all of his plays go they way they should. He comes off as a genuine good bloke and is rather likeable.
His best friend is Matilda, a female Bush Kangaroo who runs the local television station and is their news and current affairs host and reporter. She is Skippy's best friend, though some moments suggest that they have a romantic connection at times, though sadly this is never explored. Unlike some cartoon reporters, Matilda wants to get to the bottom of most stories and works with her crew to get it. Her crew consists of Pos (a Possum who is their main camera man) and Bomba (Wombat I believe, boom mic operator and general assistant). Two other major characters are the absent-minded Professor Angus McPouch, who is a Pelican with a Scottish accent and Kooka (Yeah, both the spelling for her and Bomba are no where to be found) who is a Kookaburra who is the Professors housekeeper and the reason his place hasn't fallen apart.
The main antagonist is the Mayor Croco. Proving that the legal system doesn't work, Skippy rescues Croco during the Mayor election and the exiting Mayor (a Platypus who is going blind and deaf) accidentally declares Croco the new Mayor despite him not even running and apparently that is all legal. Anyway, he's greedy, corrupt and is usually the cause of Bushtown's problems. His wife Suka, while greedy, is more self absorbed and is always wanting the fame. She is also a terrible singer, which runs into one gag when at a dinner event she goes to sing, Skippy tries to leave only to find that they are locked inside until after her performance. The last set are the three henchmen of Brusier (a Boar), Sirloin (a Bull) and Damon (a Rat). The three a fairly stupid when it comes to most things.
The show itself has only had three voice actors from what I've found, with Keith Scott doing most of the voices, Robyn Moore as Matilda, Suka and Wallaby with Jamie Oxenbould as Skippy. Looking into it further, I was surprise to find that Keith Scott and Robyn Moore were basically the entire voice cast for the Adventures of Blinky Bill cartoon show, which was another Yoram Gross series (Seriously, I really need to look into this more. I feel like I've missed a major piece of Australian history here and now have new voice actors to add to my list of inspirations). What gets me is that a number of character voices seem to be based of famous people. The three henchmen for instance, with Sirloin based on Sylvester Stallone, Brusier with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Damon being the parody voice of former Prime-Minister Bob Hawke (I was seriously waiting for him to say Paul after a while). Kooka seems to be based on Barry Humphries' Dame Edna Everage character and in one episode where the three henchmen seek to be trained as spies, the frog in charge of the Spy School seems based on Don Adam's Maxwell Smart character. Heck, the first episode seems to have what appears to be Winston Churchill and Margret Thatcher (I think?) running for Mayor.
The animation is something I enjoy. The backgrounds are a completely different style to the animated sections, being more of a painted image which can be reused when needed, often being blurred in some sections to help add depth when closer in on characters. The character animation seems smooth enough, though I guess I do have to address the issue of animation recycling. It does happen a lot, mostly cause it's a small studio and when trying to produce hand drawn animation for a series, it's a lot easier. For the most part it does appear to be less noticeable (with the exception of the intro theme song), though if you do watch some episodes out of order, it can be a lot more noticeable. For instance, Episode 5: The Big Drought would have several scenes reused in Episode 24: First Croc on the Moon.
Character designs were also reused from the previous animated series of Blinky Bill. Honestly, I don't see this as a bad thing as a number of character designs were just as suited in this show. The Dingo's got themselves in big, with the designs of Meatball, Daisy and Ma making appearances in the second episode. Some might consider this a bit cheap, I feel it keeps to the style of the characters and a slight nod to the fans and I'm a sucker for that sort of thing (if done right, which I feel was in this case).
I enjoy the music, which suits the show quite nicely. That said, that theme song. Sure I keep bringing it up, but it really is a mixed bag for me. The lyrics are, what would you call them? Cheesy? I feels like an upbeat song praising Skippy as 'the best ever' type song. Hero worship perhaps. However, once you've heard it, it's damn impossible to get the bloody thing out of your head. That said, it is great if you want to pull off a silly dance with it, just be prepared to be humming it the next day.
Overall, it was great watching these episodes again. I can almost call this a guilty pleasure to watch, something fun to enjoy when days ain't the best. It's another great Yoran Gross series and one that really makes me wish my Australia was more like this sort of show. Well, minus the corrupt and uncaring politics. I think we've had enough of that already.
So to break this show down quickly, it's about a Bush Kangaroo name Skippy, who has to foil the plans of a corrupt Mayor named Croco with the help of his friends. A simple straight forward formula that works well for the most part. Bushtown is a mystery unto itself as I honestly can't even determine what what time it exists in. I mean, it's obviously influenced by Australian outback towns, but when you have shacks and black & white television next to limousines and an inventor who builds a robot, you can understand some of the confusion. The location of Bushtown itself is a mixture of places, being close to a national park, wetlands, dry desert areas and even the ocean. In fact, the only place I don't recall is a snowy mountain. Beyond that, it's really is in a prime location. Common places in the show include the television station (why hasn't it fallen down, it doesn't look like it could even stand), Croco's mansion and the professor's home.
The main character of the show is Skippy (if the near two minute theme song talking about him wasn't a clue) and the name is a well known Australian icon. Yes, it appears this character was based/inspired on the original Skippy show and yes I am aware that Skippy was a female. The point is he is the star of the show and his career is that of a Park Ranger (though he is also apparently part of the council and is a volunteer for a tone of other things too). That said, for the shows goody-goody, he tends to break a lot of laws. He's trespassed, spied, break and entered, impersonated and a whole lot more, all under the justification of trying to catch out the crooks. He also tends to dress up in disguises, some of them not very good (and yet he still gets away with it). Despite being the hero, he still messes up and not all of his plays go they way they should. He comes off as a genuine good bloke and is rather likeable.
His best friend is Matilda, a female Bush Kangaroo who runs the local television station and is their news and current affairs host and reporter. She is Skippy's best friend, though some moments suggest that they have a romantic connection at times, though sadly this is never explored. Unlike some cartoon reporters, Matilda wants to get to the bottom of most stories and works with her crew to get it. Her crew consists of Pos (a Possum who is their main camera man) and Bomba (Wombat I believe, boom mic operator and general assistant). Two other major characters are the absent-minded Professor Angus McPouch, who is a Pelican with a Scottish accent and Kooka (Yeah, both the spelling for her and Bomba are no where to be found) who is a Kookaburra who is the Professors housekeeper and the reason his place hasn't fallen apart.
The main antagonist is the Mayor Croco. Proving that the legal system doesn't work, Skippy rescues Croco during the Mayor election and the exiting Mayor (a Platypus who is going blind and deaf) accidentally declares Croco the new Mayor despite him not even running and apparently that is all legal. Anyway, he's greedy, corrupt and is usually the cause of Bushtown's problems. His wife Suka, while greedy, is more self absorbed and is always wanting the fame. She is also a terrible singer, which runs into one gag when at a dinner event she goes to sing, Skippy tries to leave only to find that they are locked inside until after her performance. The last set are the three henchmen of Brusier (a Boar), Sirloin (a Bull) and Damon (a Rat). The three a fairly stupid when it comes to most things.
The show itself has only had three voice actors from what I've found, with Keith Scott doing most of the voices, Robyn Moore as Matilda, Suka and Wallaby with Jamie Oxenbould as Skippy. Looking into it further, I was surprise to find that Keith Scott and Robyn Moore were basically the entire voice cast for the Adventures of Blinky Bill cartoon show, which was another Yoram Gross series (Seriously, I really need to look into this more. I feel like I've missed a major piece of Australian history here and now have new voice actors to add to my list of inspirations). What gets me is that a number of character voices seem to be based of famous people. The three henchmen for instance, with Sirloin based on Sylvester Stallone, Brusier with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Damon being the parody voice of former Prime-Minister Bob Hawke (I was seriously waiting for him to say Paul after a while). Kooka seems to be based on Barry Humphries' Dame Edna Everage character and in one episode where the three henchmen seek to be trained as spies, the frog in charge of the Spy School seems based on Don Adam's Maxwell Smart character. Heck, the first episode seems to have what appears to be Winston Churchill and Margret Thatcher (I think?) running for Mayor.
The animation is something I enjoy. The backgrounds are a completely different style to the animated sections, being more of a painted image which can be reused when needed, often being blurred in some sections to help add depth when closer in on characters. The character animation seems smooth enough, though I guess I do have to address the issue of animation recycling. It does happen a lot, mostly cause it's a small studio and when trying to produce hand drawn animation for a series, it's a lot easier. For the most part it does appear to be less noticeable (with the exception of the intro theme song), though if you do watch some episodes out of order, it can be a lot more noticeable. For instance, Episode 5: The Big Drought would have several scenes reused in Episode 24: First Croc on the Moon.
Same scenes altered
Sometimes spotting errors is fun
Character designs were also reused from the previous animated series of Blinky Bill. Honestly, I don't see this as a bad thing as a number of character designs were just as suited in this show. The Dingo's got themselves in big, with the designs of Meatball, Daisy and Ma making appearances in the second episode. Some might consider this a bit cheap, I feel it keeps to the style of the characters and a slight nod to the fans and I'm a sucker for that sort of thing (if done right, which I feel was in this case).
I enjoy the music, which suits the show quite nicely. That said, that theme song. Sure I keep bringing it up, but it really is a mixed bag for me. The lyrics are, what would you call them? Cheesy? I feels like an upbeat song praising Skippy as 'the best ever' type song. Hero worship perhaps. However, once you've heard it, it's damn impossible to get the bloody thing out of your head. That said, it is great if you want to pull off a silly dance with it, just be prepared to be humming it the next day.
Overall, it was great watching these episodes again. I can almost call this a guilty pleasure to watch, something fun to enjoy when days ain't the best. It's another great Yoran Gross series and one that really makes me wish my Australia was more like this sort of show. Well, minus the corrupt and uncaring politics. I think we've had enough of that already.
Monday 14 August 2017
Recent thoughts on my Articles
Been thinking about some of the stuff I write here and I feel that perhaps I need to focus on talking a bit more in depth on topics that I want to talk about or interest me. I do know that while I am enjoying doing my Animated Reflections series (though I could use a better name for it, I just don't want to use one that so many already use), I do feel that I need to expand on them and perhaps throw in a critique them a little more.
I just find it harder to punish something in the 80's when some stuff produce today comes off worse, though I guess pointing out a few flaws here and there in context should be fine. I just want the series to be a positive reflection rather then a negative one. My next one is one I happen to have episodes on DVD, so some quality screen grabs should be on it. The only problem I have is that it's Skippy, Adventures in Bushtown, which is a Yoram Gross production. Thing is, I have a huge amount of respect for the work of Yoram Gross and his production company (well, up until it was sold off and rename to Flying Bark Productions). I would like to write a small side version of Animated Reflections just about the work of Yoram Gross, but I feel that even a small recap would not do it justice. I'll have to think hard on this one (a dangerous risk for me indeed).
Actually, ever since I started doing Animated Reflections, I have manage to find the names of a tone of shows I saw as a kid. Trying to find the episodes so I can review them on it, well that is another matter all together. Despite my Youtube feed cluttered with so much negativity and hate, there are nuggets of gold to find out there. If it wasn't for dedicated fans, I wouldn't have found a number of these episodes and yes, they may not be as I remembered, they still have a special place for me. After all, it was thanks to these shows that helped me shape my own universe and characters. Nostalgia may blind people, but one shouldn't disregard things just because they aren't perfect either.
I also want to veer away from a lot of social issues or 'Youtube drama' like ones, partly cause I want to focus on more positive things (the worlds a shit place, I get it, don't need to be constantly reminded), but also because I feel that it's just hard to have a civilized discussion about most things these days, so it's just easier to avoid them altogether.
Also been reading a lot of writing articles on improving a persons Blog and I will try to take some of that advice into account when moving forward with it. I do feel many of these things would work better with an online video series, but I'm not ready to make that step yet (and I'm no good at script writing too). Perhaps I'll try a few tutorials at some point on some of the VFX skills I learned from my course on top of the Animation and character articles I do. More ideas to add to the pool, so we'll see what I do.
Finally, have started on the Mr Sanderstone project. It is currently under the Characters option in the top menu. Still very much a work in progress (as it the Characters page), but I want to not only start adding characters in set up for video work, but also give a little behind-the-scenes into their creation. More will come in the not too distant future I hope.
I just find it harder to punish something in the 80's when some stuff produce today comes off worse, though I guess pointing out a few flaws here and there in context should be fine. I just want the series to be a positive reflection rather then a negative one. My next one is one I happen to have episodes on DVD, so some quality screen grabs should be on it. The only problem I have is that it's Skippy, Adventures in Bushtown, which is a Yoram Gross production. Thing is, I have a huge amount of respect for the work of Yoram Gross and his production company (well, up until it was sold off and rename to Flying Bark Productions). I would like to write a small side version of Animated Reflections just about the work of Yoram Gross, but I feel that even a small recap would not do it justice. I'll have to think hard on this one (a dangerous risk for me indeed).
Actually, ever since I started doing Animated Reflections, I have manage to find the names of a tone of shows I saw as a kid. Trying to find the episodes so I can review them on it, well that is another matter all together. Despite my Youtube feed cluttered with so much negativity and hate, there are nuggets of gold to find out there. If it wasn't for dedicated fans, I wouldn't have found a number of these episodes and yes, they may not be as I remembered, they still have a special place for me. After all, it was thanks to these shows that helped me shape my own universe and characters. Nostalgia may blind people, but one shouldn't disregard things just because they aren't perfect either.
I also want to veer away from a lot of social issues or 'Youtube drama' like ones, partly cause I want to focus on more positive things (the worlds a shit place, I get it, don't need to be constantly reminded), but also because I feel that it's just hard to have a civilized discussion about most things these days, so it's just easier to avoid them altogether.
Also been reading a lot of writing articles on improving a persons Blog and I will try to take some of that advice into account when moving forward with it. I do feel many of these things would work better with an online video series, but I'm not ready to make that step yet (and I'm no good at script writing too). Perhaps I'll try a few tutorials at some point on some of the VFX skills I learned from my course on top of the Animation and character articles I do. More ideas to add to the pool, so we'll see what I do.
Finally, have started on the Mr Sanderstone project. It is currently under the Characters option in the top menu. Still very much a work in progress (as it the Characters page), but I want to not only start adding characters in set up for video work, but also give a little behind-the-scenes into their creation. More will come in the not too distant future I hope.
Uploads are finally up
FINALLY!!!!
Sorry, it's been a rough few weeks with everything going wrong. Just relieved to finally get them done and out. They aren't the best (heck, my past posts indicated that in advance), but they are up.
All here.
I honestly feel bad that they aren't that good. Normally I try to put genuine effort into my projects, but everything just seems to fall apart lately. Still, I feel the Swine Cursed was worth it. If anything, it showed me that I need to save my washes for painting things that are metal and use watered down paint to use as a wash for skin and cloth. Wonder if I can fix up the skin on Colette's crew now that I've figured that out?
Sorry, it's been a rough few weeks with everything going wrong. Just relieved to finally get them done and out. They aren't the best (heck, my past posts indicated that in advance), but they are up.
All here.
I honestly feel bad that they aren't that good. Normally I try to put genuine effort into my projects, but everything just seems to fall apart lately. Still, I feel the Swine Cursed was worth it. If anything, it showed me that I need to save my washes for painting things that are metal and use watered down paint to use as a wash for skin and cloth. Wonder if I can fix up the skin on Colette's crew now that I've figured that out?
Friday 4 August 2017
Banjonistas Arrive
So the Banjonistas order arrived and I have good news and bad news. The good news is that it actually came with the bonus miniature of a Swine Cursed. The Bad news is that there are still no instructions on line to put these miniatures together, meaning I'm just going to have to guess based on the packaging images. Not how I planned to do it, but I have no idea how long it will take for Wyrd to get those instructions online, more so given that they are prepping for GenCon, so I doubt they'd get them up until after it was over.
Still glad they arrived though. After all the crap I've had to deal with lately, it will be nice to finally get the Dimitri model done.
Update:
Well bugger. Turns out my Dimitri conversion will have to wait due to issues with the other model I had planned to use, so that's disappointing. On the other hand, the other two Banjonistas and Swine Cursed were put together with little trouble (though I must admit that I had some strong Asthma med before putting the Banjonistas together, which did make it difficult to put together due to the shaking it leaves in my arms). The female banjo player will need a little green stuff to fix one of her arms (it didn't exactly fit properly), but that shouldn't be a problem. Am looking forward to basing the Swine Cursed, that model is rather nice.
Still glad they arrived though. After all the crap I've had to deal with lately, it will be nice to finally get the Dimitri model done.
Update:
Well bugger. Turns out my Dimitri conversion will have to wait due to issues with the other model I had planned to use, so that's disappointing. On the other hand, the other two Banjonistas and Swine Cursed were put together with little trouble (though I must admit that I had some strong Asthma med before putting the Banjonistas together, which did make it difficult to put together due to the shaking it leaves in my arms). The female banjo player will need a little green stuff to fix one of her arms (it didn't exactly fit properly), but that shouldn't be a problem. Am looking forward to basing the Swine Cursed, that model is rather nice.
Thursday 3 August 2017
Wyrd's GenCon Previews Are Out
So Wyrd just threw out their list of GenCon early access miniature order list. I'd say it's a little mix (what am I saying, it's mixed every year), so instead I'll look at some of my favourite picks (images linked from Wyrd's newsletter section).
Holy crap does this alternate Hungering Darkness look amazing. This model is by far the main reason I'm so bummed that I can't order from GenCon this year. It looks so much better then the original (well, technically the original serves more as the companion model, where as this one looks more like an offensive combat version).
So I have no idea why the hell Gremlins got these guys, but damn if they don't look interesting. I am curious to see what the rules for these guys would be and what kind of interaction with the other Gremlins would achieve.
I'm going out on a limb and say........Swampfiend. Just a guess. But in all seriousness (...Pfft...), I really like the look of this one. With both the look of this and the Alt Hungering Darkness, I say Neverborn got some amazing looking miniatures this time round.
I honestly don't know anything about this lot, but the female model would look great as part of my Wild Ones Guild Crew.
This one feels like a bit of a mixed bag as Mucha Roja's theme was to sorta make him feel more unique, but then after reading Into The Bayou and The Bayou Games (given there's a wrestling comp in that), feels more natural that these guys should exist. Oh, I do hope they get that 'theme song' rule from the Bayou Games book cause I'd like to have one in a game where at the start of his turn I could just play a wrestling theme song, just for a bit of fun (the old Kurt Angle theme with chants of 'You Suck' as it's more then likely that my Gremlin probably won't last more then two turns).
The other ones do look great (though I don't know if having a character called Midnight Stalker in a female Outcast group is a safe thing), but these ones I do like just a little bit better.
Holy crap does this alternate Hungering Darkness look amazing. This model is by far the main reason I'm so bummed that I can't order from GenCon this year. It looks so much better then the original (well, technically the original serves more as the companion model, where as this one looks more like an offensive combat version).
So I have no idea why the hell Gremlins got these guys, but damn if they don't look interesting. I am curious to see what the rules for these guys would be and what kind of interaction with the other Gremlins would achieve.
I'm going out on a limb and say........Swampfiend. Just a guess. But in all seriousness (...Pfft...), I really like the look of this one. With both the look of this and the Alt Hungering Darkness, I say Neverborn got some amazing looking miniatures this time round.
I honestly don't know anything about this lot, but the female model would look great as part of my Wild Ones Guild Crew.
This one feels like a bit of a mixed bag as Mucha Roja's theme was to sorta make him feel more unique, but then after reading Into The Bayou and The Bayou Games (given there's a wrestling comp in that), feels more natural that these guys should exist. Oh, I do hope they get that 'theme song' rule from the Bayou Games book cause I'd like to have one in a game where at the start of his turn I could just play a wrestling theme song, just for a bit of fun (the old Kurt Angle theme with chants of 'You Suck' as it's more then likely that my Gremlin probably won't last more then two turns).
The other ones do look great (though I don't know if having a character called Midnight Stalker in a female Outcast group is a safe thing), but these ones I do like just a little bit better.
Animated Reflections: Plasmo (1997 Show)
Ah, so here's a classic for me. I do remember watching this series and enjoying it, but I could never remember the name of the show. All I could recall was a particular voice and it mentioning the name 'Coredor'. A few years back I mentioned it to my Brother and he instantly recalled the name. After a quick search, I finally got to see it all again.
Plasmo is a claymation (clay stop motion animation with various effects and styles thrown in) and is a short series of thirteen episodes that run for around five minutes each. Our main character, Plasmo, is a creature called a Polybop, which is a being capable of shapeshifting. He, a fellow Polybop called Parsty and their pet Nik-Nik are stranded on a planet called Pynco. They are survivors of a spaceship crash, but they appear to be the only ones on the planet (or that ship apparently as they refer to it as the place they hatched from). They're building a tower of scrap metal to reach the moon in the hopes to find a way to escape into space and while doing it, they meet two traveling aliens called Coredor (a one eye being who is very self absorbed, but it's more to cover up his own insecurities) and Brucho (who has a great comedic voice and never takes his helmet off, even when in the bath). Things go wrong, but somehow they get off world and their adventure begins.
Honestly, the story at times can be a little silly, but there are moments that do have emotion and it works well. This tends to be more down to the characters and their actions, mostly with Plasmo and Coredor. This helps as the short episodes tends to have limited story moments and the characters help keep certain moments interesting. To be honest, I really do like the character of Coredor, who is a real jerk but does have his moments.
The animation is mixed is a few episodes. Perhaps it was the way it was filmed or maybe the lighting. I noticed it between some episodes, like the library one feels so different compared to a majority of the episodes, which threw me off a bit when I re-watched them for this review. It has it's bizarre moments, but overall I enjoy this style. The sound is also good, with voices not being annoying for me and actually some being memorable (heck, Brucho's voice stuck with me for years before I got to see it again). Music also works well and is quiet enjoyable for some of the more emotional moments (though I can't tell is the music level is right. I probably need new headphones).
What got me was this was actually an Australian production. It certainly was very imaginative and I do enjoy going back and watching them every so often purely for the enjoyment of the whole thing. The whole series is on Youtube (video above) and there are even behind the scene segments which offer some insight into how they made it, so I do suggest you check it out.
Plasmo is a claymation (clay stop motion animation with various effects and styles thrown in) and is a short series of thirteen episodes that run for around five minutes each. Our main character, Plasmo, is a creature called a Polybop, which is a being capable of shapeshifting. He, a fellow Polybop called Parsty and their pet Nik-Nik are stranded on a planet called Pynco. They are survivors of a spaceship crash, but they appear to be the only ones on the planet (or that ship apparently as they refer to it as the place they hatched from). They're building a tower of scrap metal to reach the moon in the hopes to find a way to escape into space and while doing it, they meet two traveling aliens called Coredor (a one eye being who is very self absorbed, but it's more to cover up his own insecurities) and Brucho (who has a great comedic voice and never takes his helmet off, even when in the bath). Things go wrong, but somehow they get off world and their adventure begins.
Honestly, the story at times can be a little silly, but there are moments that do have emotion and it works well. This tends to be more down to the characters and their actions, mostly with Plasmo and Coredor. This helps as the short episodes tends to have limited story moments and the characters help keep certain moments interesting. To be honest, I really do like the character of Coredor, who is a real jerk but does have his moments.
First is the usual style, second is that library episode
The animation is mixed is a few episodes. Perhaps it was the way it was filmed or maybe the lighting. I noticed it between some episodes, like the library one feels so different compared to a majority of the episodes, which threw me off a bit when I re-watched them for this review. It has it's bizarre moments, but overall I enjoy this style. The sound is also good, with voices not being annoying for me and actually some being memorable (heck, Brucho's voice stuck with me for years before I got to see it again). Music also works well and is quiet enjoyable for some of the more emotional moments (though I can't tell is the music level is right. I probably need new headphones).
What got me was this was actually an Australian production. It certainly was very imaginative and I do enjoy going back and watching them every so often purely for the enjoyment of the whole thing. The whole series is on Youtube (video above) and there are even behind the scene segments which offer some insight into how they made it, so I do suggest you check it out.
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