-
Bone Mother for Halloween
You can now watch the full short stop-motion animation of Bone Mother, created by Dale Hayward & Sylvie Trouvé and based on my short story, courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada. But be quick, there’s no guarantee she’ll remain online after Halloween…
-
Bugs at 75
I learned from a Variety article by Tim Gray that Bugs Bunny is 75 today. He first appeared in ‘The Wild Hare’, directed by Tex Avery, on 27 July, 1940. https://dailymotion.com/video/x20s0p3 When I was a kid I watched a lot of vintage cartoons, but Bugs Bunny was by far my favourite. I loved his sense of humour, and the madcap ways he managed to evade capture (mostly). Bug got out his scrapes through his imagination and smarts, which is what appealed to me most. This is a photo of a plastic model of Bugs I’ve owned since I was a kid, which I took this afternoon. He’s getting extra carrots,…
-
2014 Laydeez do Comics meeting
Lynda Rucker and I are organising another Laydeez do Comics meeting from 2pm onwards this Saturday in the Odessa Club in Dublin. Our guests will be C.E. Murphy, Philip Barrett, me, and Paul Bolger. We’re also celebrating being on the cusp of the holiday season, so bring along a wrapped comic book for our blind comic book swap – come with one comic and leave with another! Everyone is welcome! Pop along, listen to the speakers, meet the Irish comic book community, and get your comic book fix on!
-
the tell-tale heart
This is a video of the 1953 adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe short-story “The Tell-Tale Heart”, narrated by James Mason. It’s adapted by Bill Scott and Fred Grable, and directed by Ted Parmelee. The animation is by Pat Matthews. I discovered this tonight on YouTube. YouTube has its share of dross, but it saves itself by offering up gems like this.
-
die die die die die die
Continuing the topic of Women in Horror Recognition Month, I want to pivot the lens towards a fantastic little animated short film called “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty”, which was written by Kathleen O’Rourke and directed by Nicky Phelan. O’Rourke also provides the voice acting for Granny O’Grimm herself. The piece is delightfully animated, switching from 3D to 2D as Granny narrates her version of the opening of Sleeping Beauty as a bedtime story for her less-than-enthusiastic granddaughter. Initially I thought the ending rather abrupt, until I listened properly to the words of Granny’s lullaby, which accompany the finishing credits. What I like most about this little piece is that it…
-
for fun
Last night I wrote and completed a script for a short animated film. It was fun to doff the jaded and cynical cap that’s usually on my head, and write a piece that’s intended for a universal audience, with an emphasis on children. The story was clear in my mind because I had already pitched it to a friend who is interested in animating a short film. It was a blast to write, and I’m proud of it even though it’s a short piece. There is no dialogue in the script at all–it is purely visual storytelling. This is a restriction I had planned from the story’s inception. As usual…
