I am honestly not a fan of Rataouille, but you have to admit that the rat can mix up some ingredients and come up with a good finished product!
Remy's voice, Patton Oswalt, will appear on the NBC show Parks and Recreation. For his scene he was asked to improv a filibuster scene, and was allowed to use any topic he wanted. His improved speech is the craziest pitch you may find for Star Wars Episode VII! And like the rat, he mixes some of my favorite things together!
What I love about this is Disney's two major hero franchises, Marvel and Star Wars, are both mentioned. I mean there is part of me that would love to see Han Solo and Tony Stark together. And part of me that would be horrified.
The Art of Cars by Michael Wallis with Suzanne Fitzgerald Wallis explores the artistic development of Disney/Pixar's 2006 Cars. The Wallises put into the readers hands readers the production images, paintings and sculptures used to develop the rich world of Cars. The authors explore both the background of American highways and Pixar's, especially John Lasseter's, love of the American automobile. They discuss the extensive research completed by the Pixar staff including visits to NASCAR races, shutter Detroit automobile plants and down the real Route 66. The books discusses how these influences came to influence Radiator Springs and the Cars' characters.
The Art of Carsis a very handsome book. And as disappointed as I was by The Art of Meet the Robinsons, my expectations were met with this volume. The text provides interesting background, but not so much to overwhelm the reader. And as it should be the images are the star of the book, and there are numerous images of various types and styles to help satisfy the Carsfan. Additionally they are arranged in a very pleasing way.
Michael Wallis has a special connection to the Carsuniverse. He wrote Route 66: The Mother Roadused by Pixar as a research tool. Additionally, he lead Pixar's two Route 66 research trips. Pixar was so impressed by Mr. Wallis that they designed Sheriff after his distinctive features, and he voices the character in both CarsandCars 2. It gives a very pleasing feeling knowing the author has such a special connection to the film.
Author and Voice Actor Michael Wallis
What I liked most about The Art of Carsis seeing how these designs have Disney connections. As one flips through the pages and sees the planned details around the map of Radiator Springs, the proposed early origins and the town's buildings, one who has visited Carsland cannot but help but feel like they are reading about a place that they have been. Then seeing the design of the flowers and other landscaping used both in the movie and the land further impresses the feeling that the theme park land was far from thrown together. A highlight for me was a presentation of cone gags, all puns that I felt like Marc Davis would have enjoyed.
For fans of both Disney animated films and the Disney parks The Art of Carsis sure to be delight. The images and designs found throughout the book are sure to give both a familiar feeling! And for me it has helped to redeem the Art of style books.
If you have a tween aged child, you are likely familiar with the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series. I am pretty sure we have every volume in our home library. Yeah, the oldest loves the series, but what I did not realize was how much my youngest would love the original Dairy of a Wimpy Kid movie. I would constantly hear shouts from the Between Kid yelling, Zoo-Wee-Mama! In the Between House these three movies are hits, and I have to admit I really enjoy Roderick. As we watched the most recent installment Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, which follows the misadventures of young Greg Heffley, I was thrilled I could declare this film Diary of a Mousey Kid:
Runt: In 1996, Steve Zahn who plays father Frank Heffley, caught my attention in Tom Hanks’ That Thing You Do as Lenny Haise. The somewhat creepy yet fun Lenny had me in stitches. He delivers quick lines throughout the film that just crack me up every time. And in 2005’s Sahara, directed by Michael Eisner’s son Brock, I loved and wanted to see more of him as sidekick Al Giordino. Basically, if Steve Zahn is in a movie’s cast I am more likely to watch it. Sadly that rule honestly has led me to sit through some stinkers. One of my complaints with the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid was there was not enough Steve Zahn. Of you bring in Zahn to play the dad, we need more dad! Okay the story may not have supported that choice, but I was thrilled this third installment really is a father/ son story that requires a lot of Zahn on screen time. For Disney, Zahn voiced Runt of the Litter in Chicken Little, also in 2005. For me the most memorable line of the movie is Zahn delivering, “Just leave me some ammo, a little water, some chips if you have 'em.” Yes, Zahn you do know how to give classic lines that make you chuckle. Seriously, can we get The Santa Clause 4 with Zahn entering a quip war with Tim Allen?
Wilderness Explorer: As Frank attempts to spend more time with Greg and get him away from video games, he signs Greg up for the Wilderness Explorers! Wait, is this Up? I had looked at the organization Wilderness Explorers as being a fictional Boy Scouts like group that only existed in the minds of Pixar. Here the Wilderness Explorers are used again as a fictional Boy Scouts like organization. I kept waiting for someone to yell, “The wilderness must be explorered!” But alas it never happened, and no one earned a badge for aiding the elderly.
Oh Jesse: You just cannot escape the cast of Disney Channel’s Jesse in this film. Peyton List plays Holy Hills, Greg’s young love interest and generally nice young lady, especially when compared to her older sister. Karan Brar returns as Chirag Gupta, one of Greg’s classmates and friends. Sadly Brar’s performance is somewhat lost as roles for Zahn and others are expanded. But honestly the storyline within Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules where Greg leads his classmates to completely ignore Gupta is unforgettable. When those kids ignore someone they do it right! On Jesse, List plays the oldest Ross sibling Emma a young lady who is all about fashion. And Brar plays Ravi Ross, a very intelligent young boy much like Gupta, who is the third oldest of the Ross kids.
It’s Nice to Be Nice: Zahn is not the only parent to get into the Disney film game. Rachel Harris who plays Little Women loving Susan Heffley is featured in one of my favorite movies of 2012 Wreck-It Ralph. She voices the Nicelander Deanna.
I’m a Real Boy: About an hour into Dairy of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days it hit me. Greg is Pinocchio! Greg lies constantly. He does it to stay out of trouble. He lies to make situations more convenient for him. And Greg really is a horrible friend as his best friend Rowley should have learned in the original Dairy of a Wimpy Kid. His lies have legal, financial and physical consequences for others. Greg lies, lies, lies. Much like Pinocchio, Greg has to learn to tell the truth and take responsibility of his actions to receive the approval of his father. Yes kids, as Walt Disney taught us in 1940, lying does not make parents happy!
I have to admit. Greg cannot seem to learn. He is a really bad friend and he lies constantly, and has done so since the first movie. I wonder if a Pinocchiotrilogy would still have him lying so much in the third film. The good news is the movie does provide a great opportunity to discuss the consequences of lying as we watch the wooden boy lie on screen, I mean Greg in this Mousey Movie.
This profile took months to complete and was one of my most involved biographies that I have undertaken. Why? Because Gurr was involved in almost everything. And he did not slip quietly into the night after his Disney years but continued a vibrant design career.
I hope you enjoy the story of the man who is truly the Dean of Disney Wheeled Vehicles!
Some moments get a lot of hype. In 2012, Peter Parker “died” within the main Marvel universe. In early 2013 Damian Wayne the current Robin in the DC universe was killed. I apologize if I spoiled something for you, but both of these story arcs led to major news coverage in the mainstream media. Yet, I heard nothing of something I believe is a major shift in the Marvel universe from 2011. Marvel released a miniseries titled Battle Scars written by Christ Yost, Cullen Bunn, and Matt Fraction. Seriously you may have never heard of this series, but you need to Disney fans, because its conclusion the Marvel print world and Marvel Cinematic Universe were reconciled. Because at the end, Nick Fury in the print world was African American and stylized after Samuel L. Jackson!
The trade paperback Battle Scars collects all six issues written by Yost, Bunn and Fraction and illustrated by Scot Eaton. The story follows U.S. Army Ranger Marcus Johnson, whose mother an “innocent” school teacher is killed while his is serving overseas. When Johnson returns for her funeral he discovers that he has a bounty on his head and some of the world’s most dangers assassins including Taskmaster and Deadpool are looking to collect, dead or alive. Though put under the protection of S.H.I.E.L.D., Johnson escapes their custody to solve the mystery of why someone killed his mother, targeted him, and the identity of his father who he never knew. While on this journey, he is assisted by a fellow Ranger named Cheese. The two ordinary men bring their training and friendship into a world of superheroes and super villains. By the time the action packed story concludes, the image of Nick Fury is reconciled with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
I enjoyed this story. I did not pick up the trade thinking I would need to think deeply. What I was hoping for was escapist adventure, and the creators delivered that in spades. This story is full of action. It is really fast paced. And you come to sympathize with Marcus as you want to help him uncover the mystery around him. Because I had seen much of the plot in internet searches earlier I was spoiled to some key point story points and reveals. But I still wanted to keep up with Johnson as he uncovered the mystery surrounding his life. Additionally, I really liked the character of Cheese. Though he lacks flash, his skill and loyalty shine throughout the story.
Again, minor spoilers, at the end of this issue S.H.I.E.L.D. gains two key agents. The first Nick Fury Jr., is an African-American with an eye patch and movie matching scars. If anything the biggest difference between this Fury and the movie version is a Captain America stylized uniform, a gift from Cap himself. Additionally this Nick Fury Jr. is a field commander not the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. This role is continued into the Secret Avengers series which launched in 2013. The other agent is Phil Coulson, suit and all. The writers make it clear that this version of Coulson is a highly trained fighter, who is as expected a Captain America fanboy. We get glimpses of Coulson in this book in the midst of fire fights and the reader understands he is a man of action. I like how he is depicted here more than Secret Avengers where he seemed more like a salesman than a hero to me. I would say if the Marvel Cinematic Universe was able to develop the Fury/Coulson back story that we find in Battle Scars, Coulson’s final act in The Avengers would have even more impact!
Fury and Coulson, Together for the First Time!
Marvel has reconciled itself. No longer is the Nick Fury of the Marvel print world an old crusty Caucasian. He is now an African-American, who looks like a younger version of Samuel L. Jackson. I think this is a good move for Marvel as it may help bring movie fans to the comics. I just don’t understand why more was not made of this as help spread the word, Agent Coulson is in the comics!
Recently I mentioned to a friend that I was planning on readingStar Wars: Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn. Despite the fact he really did not know much about the Star Wars Expanded Universe, his reaction was to say, “That’s what Disney is going to make the Han Solo movie from right?” After reading the book I would say, maybe, but some major rewrites would be needed.
Star Wars: Scoundrels is for Star Wars a small story. The action is almost exclusively on one world and the fate of the galaxy is not in the balance. Solo is recruited by Eanjer Kunarazti to recover 163,000,000 credits on encrypted credit tabs stolen by a local gangster on the planet Wukkar. Despite his rising star within the Rebellion after the Battle of Yavin, Solo is still a man with a price on his head. Seeing this as an opportunity to pay off Jabba the Hutt, Solo takes the job. The book follows Solo as he gathers his team, makes his plan, and attempts to steal back Eanjer’s credits. The Ocean’s 11 style caper sees the number of targets grow for Solo’s team as they add to the plan stealing the blackmail files of galactic gangsters Black Sun. Will Solo and his team make it out alive (okay you do you know that Solo is going to make it since this story is set before Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back)?
This is the Ocean's 11 of the Star Wars universe. It is a true caper story. We get the whole setup of building the team, making the plan, and trying to pull it off. Unlike a lot of Expanded Universe stories it is a small tale. There is no major planet hopping with almost all the action occurring on Wukkar. And the story sticks to the main cast, where there is no attempt to pull Princess Leia or Wedge Antilles into a Solo story. There is one character, Winter, who will be familiar to even casual fans of the Expanded Universe but will probably be new to fans who have only seen the films. This does not distract for the story. For first timers, Winter’s role does not need background information and for those familiar to her it honestly makes her relationship to the Solo family, wink wink, even stronger.
I do worry that I had too high of expectations for this book. It is written by Zahn who really is the dean of the Expanded Universe. You generally cannot go wrong with a Zahn Star Wars tale. And though the book is solid, I at times found it bland! It was okay but it does not compare to his Thrawn trilogy. But I should not compare, with the Thrawn trilogy being an epic tale and this being a small story. Maybe it’s because the scope allows for more character and less action. I could have used faster more intense. And maybe I have become accustomed to action packed quick paced Zahn stories. The story could really use some faster more intense. It is nice to see Zahn’s efforts focused on an original trilogy character instead of relying on his own creations of Thrawn and Mara Jade.
The big question is would Disney use Star Wars: Scoundrels for one of the reported Star Wars standalones movies, I have had friends state they thought this was the Han Solo movie plot. Well, let me say it could happen but not without a lot of editing. Admittedly this formula is one that has shown to work on the big screen. And I expect that the Han Solo movie would probably be on a smaller less epic scale (though can anything with Solo not be epic). So I think some of the right elements are there. But I do thing the screenwriters would have to change the time frame of this story. This book is set after the Battle of Yavin (the destruction of the first Death Star in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope). And I do not believe audiences would buy a Solo story after those events that did not have Harrison Ford and Billy Dee Williams as their respective characters. And I think that the movie going audience would need to be introduced in the movie to Black Sun in a more comprehensive way. And I think the key scenes would have to transition more quickly on the screen. Unless you have read Expanded Universe stories or seen some key episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, this criminal organization is completely new. But it is doable as a standalone theatrical release concept.
Star Wars: Scoundrels is the caper story of the Star Wars universe. Compared to other books by Timothy Zahn it is smaller and honestly slower. If one wanted to see Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissian in Ocean's 11, this may be the story for you.
