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”).

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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.

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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.

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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.