Recently in Cartoon Corner Category

By Anna Valmero Inquirer.net The creators of the comic series Aporia as well as Kraust and Ninja Girl Ko! all share one thing: passion for comics. Comics, as a medium, convey stories with fewer words and instead, make the best use of panels, lines and drawings to convey stories. These features contribute to the uniqueness of comics as artwork. A comic lover myself, I see comics as the mother of animation (and increasingly of live action titles as well). For Mangaholix, comics provide an avenue for their interpretation of art. The roots of the Mangaholix team can be traced from BlitzWorx, a high school comic club that later formed Mangaholix, under Groundbreakers Inc. In the local comic industry, pricing is a big factor so to be sustainable the then high school enthusiasts tied up with a corporate house and the rest is history, according to Emmanuel Javier one of the founders of BlitzWorx and now senior VP and editor-in-chief of Mangaholix. To promote comics as medium for artful story telling, the group entered the local market last year and at present, is eyeing to gain inroads in the international market as well. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to limit yourself to the local industry, especially if you are a pure comic book artist,” said Ian Cang, president and senior art director of Mangaholix. “It’s always a very challenging industry and it’s nice to be always open to cater to other markets as well.” It is no question that the Filipino comic artist is world-class. Artists such as Whilce Portacio, Lan Medina and Eric Canete have worked under big international comic houses and have proven the Filipino talent worldwide. As for Mangaholix, Cang shared an anecdote in which they promoted the Mangaholix magazine at Singapore and it was actually thought of as comparable, if not equal to Japan-made comics. This shows huge potential for the Filipino comic artists to make it big internationally. I believe aggressive campaign is needed for this. The Mangaholix team does its share of helping budding comic artists via free workshops. High schools and colleges can contact them via email. Cang said, it is their way of thanking its followers as well as promoting their magazine, the seventh issue of which is set to be released soon. During the afternoon that I tagged along with the Mangaholix crew, I’ve learned that to survive in any industry, it is important to have passion for what you do and to not lose sight of what you want to be.

By Alex Villafania INQUIRER.net PANDAS are not always seen as funny. They're just cute, something you'd like to take home as a pet. However, if the panda is Jack Black, then he's not just funny but extremely hilarious and in the latest computer animation flick from DreamWorks, you'll wish a panda could actually be your pet. This writer has tried to keep spoilers to a minimum in this review, but stop reading if you don't want anything spoiled for you. The movie uses the tried and tested zero-to-hero formula, which is common in many children's cartoons so as to teach kids to believe in themselves and conquer all obstacles. The movie's solid storyline, written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, is predictable but again, this kind of script formula works just fine with younger viewers. Likewise, there are many elements from Japanese anime and even Hong Kong martial arts movies in terms of story progression, dialogue and most especially the fight scenes. In fact, those familiar with the old Jackie Chan flicks and the new Stephen Chow movies will find some script and comic references. There are also some philosophical ramblings that seem to target children. Some martial arts buffs and anime purists might not like the nearly copycat plot because of the lack of originality. Incidentally, it has almost no reference to pop culture, which is often the staple of computer graphics animation films like the "Shrek" and "Toy Story" movies. At any rate, the movie is about Po the panda (Jack Black), the son of a noodle house owner named Ping, who is strangely a goose. Po knows nothing more than making noodles but he loves anything related to martial arts. He inadvertently gets chosen by the wise old turtle Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) who asks Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) to train him in the ways of kung fu because he is thought to be the mythical Dragon Master. Po is initially scoffed at by Shifu and his students the Furious Five who are masters of different art forms. They are the masters Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Crane (David Cross), Viper (Lucy Liu), Monkey (Jackie Chan) and Mantis (Seth Rogen). He later faces Tai Lung (Ian McShane), a savage master who is revealed to be the first student of Shifu who went rogue. It's often a difficult task to associate the actors with the movie characters to whom they lend their voices. In this movie only Po seems to have been made with Black in mind as the panda's antics, movements and even chatter were much like what Black would do in his other films like "School of Rock" and "Envy." However, it's not the same with the other voice actors. Audiences might not realize who the voice actors are until the credits, except for Chan, whose voice is quite obvious. Still, the character development of each of the Furious Five, as well as the other main characters, was well balanced. The animation is spectacular, to say the least. It reminds me of the animated action in last year's 3D movie "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and somewhat a bit of the Japanese animation "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" wherein a majority of the fight scenes and stunts are done in mid-air. Yes, they're flying. Yes, they're unrealistic. And yes, it's still visually stunning. Still, it will not come as a surprise when children, after watching the film, will emulate its fighting styles. In fact, just right after the film, children were already making martial arts stances similar to the ones used in the film. Hopefully, children will not physically copy what was shown in the movie. "Kung Fu Panda" is primarily a kiddie movie but the wit and sheer comedy it exudes makes it a film adults would also enjoy.

By Candice Montenegro, Contributor INQUIRER.net FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD singer Sam Concepcion is out to prove that the Philippines is indeed a goldmine of great musical talent, as he sings the song "Kung Fu Fighting" for the DreamWorks animated movie "Kung Fu Panda." At a press conference held at Annabel's in Tomas Morato on May 13, Selina Gecolea, general manager of the Philippine office of United International Pictures, announced that DreamWorks gave Concepcion the green light to record the movie's theme song. "On every single screening of 'Kung Fu Panda' in the Philippines, Sam's version of 'Kung Fu Fighting' will be played during the end credits of the film," Gecolea said. Here's a photo of Gecolea with Concepcion. "Kung Fu Panda," which features the voices of big Hollywood celebrities like Jack Black, Angelina Jolie and Dustin Hoffman, is about a big clumsy panda named Po, a kung fu fan who was chosen to fulfill an ancient prophecy alongside five legendary kung fu masters. Here I am (left) posing with Po and INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla. The original version of the theme song that will be used in the movie was recorded by US band Gnarls Barkley's frontman CeeLo Green. An Asian version was also recorded by Korean pop star Rain, but UIP Philippines took the opportunity to nominate a local talent who can sing the song for the movie's Philippine release. Concepcion’s version of the song will be included on the limited edition Asian recording of the movie's original soundtrack, giving him the international exposure he deserves. The song's music video, directed by Marie Jamora, was shot in an authentic Chinese temple and will be released soon. Sam, who played Troy in the local adaptation of Disney's "High School Musical," was the perfect pick not only because of his talent but also because of his wholesome image. Besides being a pop star, he is also currently a youth spokesperson for the Department of Education. He said that everything happened so fast, from studying the song to submitting a demo, and before he knew it, he was recording the final version of the song. “Everything just fell into place after that. It's really great to be a part of this highly anticipated movie. It's an honor to be the first local artist to sing the theme song. This is a first for me, in terms of doing something international,” he said. The young star said it is hard to explain how happy and excited he is about the project, but at the same time he hopes that more local artists can make it internationally. "Sana more doors will open for other Filipino artists. There is so much talent that needs to be recognized," he said.

By Alex Villafania INQUIRER.net IT certainly is the most absurd mini-cartoon series ever created but it does a lot of good for the heart, because it'll make you laugh pretty hard. Harvey Birdman is one of the characters in "Adult Swim," a late-night show that is one of Cartoon Network's most original comedy animations. It is quite a surprise that a video game was released by Capcom to emulate the show's off-beat humor. The PlayStation 2 game Harvey Birdman, Attorney-at-Law is largely an interactive video game that takes the player to the world of Harvey Birdman, a retired 1960s superhero-turned-lawyer for a law firm called Sebben and Sebben. The entire series is very short; about four to five hours, depending on your speed of gameplay. Speaking of which, this game doesn't have much gameplay. Would-be players of Harvey Birdman may have to be told to watch out for its lack of the normally fast-based gameplay that is expected of a video game. There is barely enough playing around and it's basically a TV series offshoot squeezed into a DVD game. Its interactive nature is more of pointing and clicking on items on the screen, moving forward and backward and, well, that's basically it. However, what it lacks in gameplay it makes up for with its utter absurdity to comedic effect. The humor used in this game is just as good as the Adult Swim TV series and it will give players moments of laughter, especially with the dialogue of the characters. Just as in the TV series, Harvey Birdman will take on court cases that range from finding out who robbed a bank to proving that Harvey's partner, Peter Potamus (another Hanna-Barbera cartoon character way back in the 60s) is not an arsonist. You play Harvey Birdman to solve these cases. Each case will require Harvey to search for evidence or clues that he can use during the court case. Harvey can interact with witnesses (most of whom are also 60s characters) and police officers to help him out with his cases. It's quite easy to examine crime scenes as the animation would almost always point these out and the relevant items themselves stand out already. All throughout his investigation, Harvey will have to contend with characters whose idiotic statements could be used in his case. Investigations will require Harvey to ask questions, which the player will have to choose via an on-screen menu. Many of the selections are just very easy but once in a while you'll want to ask stupid questions and most often, the responses are comic. Some statements are truly funny but definitely not for kids. Once the investigation is completed, off he goes to the courtroom where the gameplay moves somewhat faster. Here, you will examine your witnesses and cross-examine the other lawyer's witnesses. Just as in the investigation, you'll have to ask questions and listen to witness testimonies before using your evidence, which you could either present or press against the characters on the witness stand. Making correct choices in pressing or presenting evidence will give the players additional crests, which serve as life bars. Making wrong moves, however, will reduce the crests and it's game over if you run out. It's fairly common that you'll be making mistakes and running out of crests but the good part here is that the game has its own save system so that you can backtrack a few times to make the correct choices. It can become a bit tedious at times but the verbal exchanges between the lawyers, witnesses, and even the judges and jury are very funny and sometimes it you almost wouldn't even be able to tell if you were playing the game or watching a really long episode of "Adult Swim." The overall look and feel of the game isn't any different from the TV series. In fact, it is the TV series. The only difference is that it that gives the player/viewer a chance to play the second-rate-former-superhero-turned-second-rate lawyer for a firm that defends has-been cartoon characters. The storylines for each of the cases are continuous so there is little downtime. It's even a form of encouragement for players to finish their investigation quickly so they can move to the courtroom where much of the witty dialogue takes place. For anyone who expects action and lots of clicking, this isn't the game for you. Only fans of the series or just anyone who wants a hearty laugh should watch/play this. Not everyone will say it's worth P2,000, but people who love cartoon comedies will be happy to have paid the amount.

By Alex Villafania, hackenslash Reporter INQUIRER.net AFTER showing positive growth in 2007, kid’s channel Cartoon Network (CN) revealed its plans for the Philippines in 2008 that will include the introduction of several new shows as well as a relaunch of its localized website. Turner Entertainment Networks Asia general manager Soumitra Saha described their growth in the Philippines as phenomenal as over 80 percent of children watching cable TV are tuned in to CN, with their target market tuned in for an average of 44 minutes per day. Saha attributed their success to strong content, which they have continued to localize for the Philippine market. For this year, the company will be introducing a slew of shows, under a new slogan “Todo na Toons.” New cartoons are "Class of 3000," "Naruto," "Ultimate Muscle," "Skunk Fu," "Chowder," "Ben 10," "Fantastic Four," and "Transformers," among others. Saha said they will be organizing a special series dedicated to the iconic Powerpuff Girls, which will include a new series called "Powerpuff Girls Z." Likewise, there will also be timeslots for full-length films such as the Jurassic Park trilogy, "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial," "Polar Express," "Curious George," and "Looney Tunes: Back in Action." Saha also emphasized the company's re-introduction of its local website, which will now be enhanced with Flash and multiplayer games, user-generated content tools, a blog system and video-on-demand service. Saha said the website logs in approximately 3.4 million pageviews per month, which is expected to grow as they introduce new online services. “Eventually, the Internet will become the source for their favorite shows for them to watch anytime and anywhere,” Saha said.

By Alex Villafania, hackenslash Reporter INQUIRER.net TWENTY-FIVE years ago, an army of Americans invaded the Philippines with guns a-blazing, tanks, choppers and attack boats. But they weren’t here to take over the country but to show how it is to be a real Joe. Anyone who’s more than 20 years old now would remember G.I. Joe, a US military-themed cartoon series that first ran from 1982 to 1994 in the US. It was about the battle between the heroic G.I. Joes and the international terrorist group called Cobra. It was similar to the cartoon series and toy line Transformers, only there were about a hundred more characters and dozens of vehicles that came with it. This meant that parents of young boys back then had a bigger nightmare of having to subdue their kids from asking to buy the next character or vehicle from the TV series. The cartoon was only shown in the Philippines in 1985 but nevertheless became a major hit, much like the Transformers and Voltron cartoons. The cartoon series culminated in "G.I. Joe the Movie." Among the most popular characters in the series were Duke, Lady Jaye, Flint, Falcon, Gung Ho and Snake-Eyes. The Cobra characters most noted in the series were Destro, the Baroness, Zartan and of course, Cobra Commander who was voiced in the TV series by the late Chris Latta (who also voiced the legendary villain Starscream from "Transformers"). Last October 13, a group of nostalgic cartoon fanatics started the first ever Philippine G.I. Joe event, celebrating 25 years since the G.I. Joe franchise was relaunched. The event was held in Toys R’ Us at Robinsons Galleria in Ortigas. The group of G.I. Joe fans that held the event is actually a subset of the Transformers Philippines fan base, which collects Transformers memorabilia. It is headed by Azrael Coladilla, who thought of having the G.I. Joe celebration as a way to get old fans of the TV series to showcase their toys. “We’ve never had a real G.I. Joe group like we do with Transformers Philippines,” Coladilla said. During the event Coladilla and his colleagues showcased various G.I. Joe toys, comics and videos. They also held trivia quizzes, character drawing contests, diorama competitions and panel discussions on the beloved toy line. While it was only a one-day event, Coladilla already deems it a success. “We’ll finally get them together because our next plan is to have a major G.I. Joe convention soon.”

By Noelani Torre Inquirer MEET the Robinsons: fast-talking 13-year-old Wilbur, molar-deficient Grandpa Bud, perky Lucille, flower-pot-dwelling Uncle Spike and Uncle Dmitri, the bespectacled dog, the purple octopus butler, the snappily-dressed singing frogs -- and around a dozen more characters. Yes, the Robinsons are one strange family, but though they're mentioned in the title of Disney's newest animated CGI feature, "Meet the Robinsons," they’re not exactly what this movie's about. The focus is more on 12-year-old Lewis, an orphan kid inventor with big, round glasses, and a shock of blond hair. Despite his irresistible cuteness -- or more likely, because of it -- you won’t find him a very sympathetic character at first. Lewis, however, is a believably earnest little kid. A foundling living in an orphanage, he has been waiting a long time for a family to adopt him. After his 124th disappointing interview, Lewis decides to look for his real mom and ask her to take him back. Unfortunately, he was just a baby the last time he saw her, so this leads him to invent a memory scanner. When he enters his invention in the science fair, his showing ends in disaster after a stringy villain in a bowler hat sabotages it, and before he knows it, he finds himself catapulted into the future to meet the Robinsons! Confused? Further plot developments explain everything, including the whys and wherefores of the bowler hat. The story is bewildering, but you don't really notice until after everything is over because the movie proceeds at such a madcap pace. As for the visuals, they're one of the animated feature's strongest points. In the director’s vision, the future is bright, colorful, and filled with zany people and buildings that are all curves. There are no angles there, and everything is on the clean and wacky side. It's very 1950s -- and very charming, indeed. Though "Meet the Robinsons" doesn't have a lot of belly-laugh moments, it will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy. It’s not as good as Pixar's best, but it's a step in the right direction.

By Agence France-Presse LOS ANGELES--The 1980s animated television show "Thundercats" will leap on to the big screen under the direction of Warner Bros., entertainment magazine Variety said Wednesday. Real actors will star as the half-cat-half-human superheroes battling the evil Mumm-Ra mummy who lives in a sarcophagus. The television series put out some 130 episodes of "Thundercats" in 1985 and 1986. The announcement follows Warner Bros.' recent decision to also make a movie out of the 1980s cartoon series "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe."

By Alex Villafania, hackenslash Reporter INQUIRER.net IN PART 1, Shrek was funny for his ogre attitude and irreverent sarcasm that merged quite well with Donkey's fast-talking effervescent jibes. In Part 2, Shrek had to deal with a Spanish-speaking, swashbuckling Puss in Boots but he was still funny. In Part 3, well, Shrek was simply not funny enough to compensate for a sequel that attempted to cash in on the popularity of the fat, green fairy tale monster. Just imagine: kids yanking their parents to the movie house to watch "Shrek 3," even if the parents wouldn’t expect as much fun watching it. It should be understood, though, that movies like these are not meant for tired and jaded adults. It's for kids who marvel at the 3D rendered antics rather than the jokes, which are most often, subtly adult in nature. OK, so I do sound cynical about "Shrek 3" but that's because this new installment in the DreamWorks franchise puts too many characters in the movie. Sure there was a motley crew of fairy tale creatures in the first two movies but at least they remained funny and consistent throughout. In Part 3 the producers had to give some airtime to the three fairytale princesses, namely Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Rapunzel who acted more prima donna than their antagonists in their respective fairy tales. Plus, these three princesses’ acting was, to say the least, bad. They could win the Razzies for worst supporting virtual actresses if ever there was such an award. Anyway, "Shrek 3's" plot revolves around the search for a new heir to the Frog King (and father-in-law of Shrek) of Far Far Away. Apparently, Shrek is reluctant to take the reins so he searches for the cousin of his wife, Princess Fiona. Not surprisingly, the cousin is a young Arthur who is taunted in high school. Shrek's mission is to take back the equally reluctant Arthur and make him king. Their journey is a close reference to Shrek’s first adventure when he saved Fiona from her curse. However, this is not the only plot in the story… Meanwhile, the disgraced Prince Charming plots to take over Far Far Away while Shrek is away by employing the services of other villains in fairy tales who haunt a drinking hole in the outskirts of the kingdom. There's a multitude of these villains and it's difficult to get them to act together because there is no character build up, just like with the three prima donna princesses. A subplot involving Shrek’s fatherhood is revealed in the first 10 minutes of the film. Shrek dreams about having a ton of ogre children and is afraid to be a father. All throughout the film, Shrek returns to the idea of being a father and sometimes tries to interject it with Arthur’s own reluctance to be king. I have nothing against two ogres’ parenthood, but this subplot would have been better left off in a fourth sequel, if not the main plot in Part 3. But then again, the producers needlessly shoved it into the film. There are funny moments in "Shrek 3" but these are mostly limited to the dialogues among Shrek, Puss in Boots and Donkey. Eddie Murphy’s voice talent as Donkey is irreverent and is a saving grace for the seemingly un-funny Shrek. Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas) tries to employ his cute, wide-eyed look that worked wonders in the second Shrek movie, but not in this one. Consequently, Puss made a second attempt to seem cute but tried it in the body of Donkey (when they were accidentally switched after being teleported by a crazy Merlin). This was the only scene that drew a laugh in the entire movie when I watched. From a child's perspective, the funny faces and antics of the characters in "Shrek 3" are just as funny as the previous movies, without understanding some of the dialogue. But for adults who will watch this film, they would only have fun less than half the time and would have wondered if it was better if they watched another film instead. Seriously, I'd rather watch the first two movies twice over than watch Shrek 3 again.

THIS is so cool! Got this teaser of Challenge of the Super-Duper Friends from Filipino comic book artist Jonas Diego, whose company made this animation. According to his e-mail, the animation, which is a tribute to those Saturday morning cartoons we watched when we were kids (well, when I was a kid, anyway, heh) and portrays several US presidential candidates and politicians as the Super Friends, took a month to create. Here's the YouTube clip of the teaser. Go to the site to sign up for the world premiere.