Filed under: Fantasy Classics, Fantasy Movies | Tags: Bilbo Baggins, fantasy, martin freeman, peter jackson, pic, picture, play, smaug, The Hobbit, the lord of the rings, theater
Here’s a great new pic just released today from the upcoming Hobbit movie due out next December 2012, it’s a simple picture of Martin Freeman as the Younger Bilbo Baggins and all I can really say is get me the HELL back to Middle Earth as soon a possible! It seems us ‘Rings’ fans are getting exactly what we want, with Peter Jackson completing the story and here seeing how perfect Freeman looks in the role of Bilbo…
In the meantime thought check out these live clips way back from 1990, for this live performance of the Hobbit done by The Children’s Theater Company of Minneapolis MN, Pretty damn bad ass!
Filed under: childhood nostalgia, Fantasy Classics | Tags: collectible, Dungeons & Dragons, fantasy, legend, Lord of the Rings, mythology, norway, ny form, statue, troll, trolls
Ever since I was a little kid I have had a fasination with Ny Form Trolls! No not the weird mongoloid looking ones with the neon hair, the bad ass ones from Norway! Ny Forms also have “real” hair as well but these ones look the way trolls were meant to. These amazing little sculptures hit the scene in 1964.
Here’s the history of how they came to be via the Trollshop.net:
“Somewhere in the middle of Norway, you will find a small and sparsely
populated mountain village called Tynset. It is located at the foot of a
five thousand feet high mountain (more…)
Filed under: books, Fantasy Classics | Tags: childrens book, favorite tales of monsters and trolls, george jonsen, john o'brien, pictureback, random house, stones cheese, the troll and the pussycat
Hey there! So I am finally back on the blog after a little hiatus without any internet access for about a week-but never fear you can listen to my incoherent babbling consistantly once again! Anyway I just had to blog about one of my favorite books EVER as a child. It was simply titled “Favorite Tales of Monsters and Trolls” and it came out in 1977 by Random House. Let me tell you, as a kid you couldn’t pry this particular book out of my hands with a crowbar and a stick of dynamite!! Yeah the book is that cool! So first off any older dorks out there with kids need to hunt this down and read this book to your kids before bed. I am sure you can find it on ebay or I know for a fact they have a few copies for sale on Amazon.
Anyway I must say first off that this book has some of the coolest most beautiful artwork ever seen in a childrens book and some of the best images of trolls you are ever likely to see. The artist John O’brien beautifully illustrates this book with incredible detail. Everytime you look at a picture you’ll notice something new. (more…)
Filed under: Fantasy Classics, Fantasy Movies, Movies | Tags: daybreakers, fantasy, henson company, jim henson, news, sequel, spierig brothers, the dark crystal 2, the power of the dark crystal, undead
It has been quite a while since I have heard anything at all about the Dark Crystal 2, “The Power of the Dark Crystal” and I actually thought it wasn’t going to ever see the light of day. It seems however the Dark Crystal 2 is happening after all with some most interesting recent news and development on the highly anticipated yet feared sequel.
According to The Hollywood Reporter The Jim Henson Company is to partner with Australian production outfit Omnilab Media to make “Power of the Dark Crystal”. (more…)
Filed under: Cartoon Hall Of Fame, Cartoons Dorks Should Be Watching, Epic Battles, Fantasy Classics | Tags: battle, cartoon, Don Bluth, epic, fight, jenner, justin, secret of nimh
So in my opinion The Secret of Nimh could easily be the best animated movie ever! It really doesn’t get any better- an epic, intellegent story, Don Bluth‘s absolutley stunning animation and some serious ass kicking action to boot!
Seriously rewatch this movie if you haven’t seen it in a while and you WILL not be let down! I wish we could get Bluth back to focus on another amazing movie- let’s not forget he animated Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace too both incredible classic 80′s arcade games! Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find a fight sequence of better quality to put here-but the final battle between the evil rat Jenner & the heroic Justin is one of the best cartoon battles ever!
Filed under: Cartoon Hall Of Fame, Cartoons Dorks Should Be Watching, Epic Battles, Fantasy Classics, Fantasy Movies | Tags: cartoon, dungeons and dragons, fire and ice, frank frazetta, ralph bakshi, Wizards
If you have NEVER seen Fire & Ice you better run to the video store immediately or head to Netflix! This has got to be one of the coolest animated movies ever made! Created in the 80′s by Ralph Bakshi & the legendary Frank Frazetta this has got to be one of the greatest fantasy epics ever.
Amazing animation, ultra violent and full of cool monsters this cartoon will blow your mind! (more…)
Filed under: Dungeons & Dragons, Fantasy Classics, Movies | Tags: dm, documentary, Dungeons & Dragons, fantasy, larping, Movie, rpg, the dungeon masters, trailer
Finally a movie I can really relate too, The Dungeon Masters! Well, we’ll see I guess, but nonetheless a movie centered around the lives of three Dungeon Masters. I guess this movie is showing what the life is like of those who are completely immersed in the culture and subculture of Dungeons & Dragons. How they deal with the real world and the role their fantasy world plays in their every day living. I know that there are groups of people who play D&D religiously almost every day of the week. People who LARP as well every weekend. I do play D&D though at the moment there is no game we’re playing, I am looking forward to the next adventure. I definately look forward to seeing this movie and seeing how different our lives are or maybe how similar they are. I’m also interested to see the game play of the different Dungeon Masters and what kind of game and environment they produce for their players.
I’d say the groups I have played in have been pretty hardcore. Sometimes we’ve dressed up, we play in the basement by candlelight, (more…)
Filed under: Fantasy Classics, Mobile Applicaiton, video games, World's Greatest Cartoons | Tags: App, Don Bluth, Dragons Lair, iPhone, iTunes, Mobile, Space Ace
Wow, I could not contain my excitement when I saw this so I had to write up a quick one for you.
SPACE ACE for the iPhone!
Now, I apologize to anyone that may not have an iPhone, but just perhaps this is the tipping point for you go out and splurge! For those with the iPhone and have no clue what Space Ace is…here is a quick rundown.
Space Ace was a laserdisc video game produced by Don Bluth. It was unveiled in October 1983 and then released in Spring 1984, and featured film-quality animation played back from a set of Pioneer laserdisc players. The game play was quite simple, but the timing was the tricky part. When I was a kid, it was always a gamble to go to the arcade with the hopes of playing Space Ace and only to find that it was out of order. This was common due to the laserdisc player format being very new and unpredictable. Obviously, with the iPhone…this is not a concern anymore. The iPhone version is actually the third incarnation of the game. The game was revamped in the late 90’s in a DVD format where you used your remote as the controller; also available on Blue Ray and HD DVD if you care.
Filed under: Fantasy Classics, video games | Tags: freakout, rpg, world of warcraft
If you have NOT seen this video yet you are in for a treat! It’s the WOW freakout of the century! This has gotto be simply one of the most amazing things I have seen in years. I remember freaking out as kid about some stuff I thought was pretty intense but it was never at this level of almost demonic like possession of the pre-teen soul! I guess in his defense his character was supposedly level 80 but STILL!!! Check this out!!
Ok so you didn’t have enough of this spazz? Well here he is again losing his damn mind!
Filed under: Awesome Music Videos, Fantasy Classics, Movies, Music | Tags: Artax, Atreyu, Awesome Music Videos, fantasy, Kajagoogoo, Movies, Music
I have to thank our local weekly paper’s music blog (The Portland Mercury’s End Hits) for reminding me of this gem from my childhood. I probably watched The Neverending Story about one zillion times when I was a kid. The adventures of Atreyu (not the lame band) and Artax (and later Falcor) really boostered my imagination as a kid. And, I think this video helped out. It’s the guy from Kajagoogoo. I always thought that big turtle guy looked like E.T.
