Kyle Roberts’ “Battle of the Bonds” stop-motion event is Thursday night
I’ll be co-hosting the IAO Presents: Can’t Stop This Motion stop-motion event at IAO Gallery at 7:30 p.m. this Thursday. It will be the debut of Kyle Roberts’ new stop-motion film, “The Battle of the Bonds.” Denver Duncan will perform, and Kyle and I will discuss his stop-motion work. Fans can also get a look at Roberts’ previous stop-motion films, including the popular “Iron Man vs. Batman: Interactive Stop-Motion Parody.”
Have a question about stop-motion filmmaking or want to show off your knowledge of James Bond trivia? You’ll have your chance. There will also be cake provided by the outstanding Cupcakes and Mayhem.
The film was sponsored by Speeding Bullet Comics.
(For full disclosure, I will reiterate that my wife is the creative mind behind Cupcakes and Mayhem, and that we co-own Speeding Bullet Comics. Kyle Roberts is the co-host of the Planet 46/NewsOK comics podcast and is a NewsOK videographer. I feel like all of that should be read really fast, like in the pharmaceutical ads on TV.)
Find out more about the event here, here and here.
- Matt Price
Tara Platt: Nerdage’s #24 actress with geek appeal
Actress Tara Platt. (c) 2008 John Phillips.
Tara Platt, Nerdage’s #24 actress with geek appeal, got her start in the state of Oklahoma, where she lived from ages 7 to 11. After seeing a performance of “Annie, Get Your Gun,” the young Tara turned to her mother and said, “I want to do that.”
And that’s just what she’s done; the actress is maybe best known as the voice of Temari on the anime hit “Naruto,” but she has also portrayed superheroes Dream Girl (on “Legion of Superheroes”) and Wonder Woman (on the “DC vs. Mortal Kombat” game).
She’s also provided voice work for “Ben 10: Alien Force” and “Monster.”
She’s appeared in many live-action projects as well, including “Charmed,” “Attack of the Show” and “Parenthood.”
With husband Yuri Lowenthal, she wrote the book “Voice-Over Voice Actor: What It’s Like Behind the Mic.”
She was the fan-vote winner for Nerdage’s top actress with geek appeal in 2010.
Click past the cut for a video of Tara and Yuri at Comic-Con 2009.
- Matt Price
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Thor: Tales of Asgard DVD/Blu-ray review
Thor: Tales of Asgard
A young Thor stars in “Thor: Tales of Asgard,” a direct to DVD and Blu-ray Marvel animated film that explores the youth of the god of thunder. Before the days when he wields the powerful hammer Mjolnir, this young Thor (“Matthew Wolf”) is a brash young prince who bristles against control and craves praise.
Steve Blum voices the “megalomanical” robot Starscream in “Transformers Prime”
A scene from "Transformers Prime."
Voice actor Steve Blum has voiced villains from Captain Cold to Fin Fang Foom, but he’s really gotten a chance to dig into his dark side for his current role as the scheming robot Starscream in “Transformers Prime.”
“It was really fun to make him darker,” Blum said in a recent phone interview. “He still has that megalomaniacal delusional thing about
Steve Blum
him, but he seems equally capable of causing a lot of havoc. So it was fun to dig a little bit deeper into that, into the emotional side of his psyche, too.”
Starscream is one of the Decepticons, a cadre of sentient, evil alien robots who can transform into forms resembling earth vehicles. They’re opposed by the Autobots, robots from the same planet who want to protect earth’s inhabitants. Based on the toy line from Hasbro, the Transformers first appeared on television in a 1980s animated series, and have since appeared in multiple animated incarnations and two live-action feature films, with a third set for this summer.
Blum got his start as a voice-actor doing English dubs of anime programs, and is perhaps best-known for voicing the Marvel Comics hero Wolverine in multiple animated incarnations. He said when working on a vocal performance, he goes first with instinct.
“I always go with the gut first, and then I let the directors and producers dial me in to what their vision of it is,” he said.
In the case of Starscream, his instinct was to take the deadly Decepticon to some dark places.
“And as he’s developing throughout the season, we get to go a little bit farther and farther with him each time,” Blum said. “They’re very open to suggestions, and they’re very open to what I’ve been thinking about him, but they also have a very clear idea of where the arc is going to be going, and how they want him to develop. It’s definitely a team effort.”
The new “Transformers Prime” series, which airs on the Hub network, features two voices well-known for their association with the characters. Frank Welker, who voices Decepticon leader Megatron, and Peter Cullen, who voices the heroic Autobot leader Optimus Prime, reprise their roles in this series. They first voiced the characters in the 1980s cartoon series, and Cullen also worked on the Michael Bay films as the voice of Optimus Prime.
The vocal performances of “Transformers Prime” are done in a “cast record,” so that Blum and the other voice actors are recording together at the same time.
“That is probably the greatest joy of the whole project for me, is seeing Frank and Peter working together,” Blum said. “Even just being a fly on the wall in that room is like a fanboy’s dream come true. These guys are so incredibly talented, and they have such a rich history together. … And when the two of them get together, they’re like little kids, or Abbott and Costello, depending on their mood.”
Blum said at times the pair can “take over the room and fill it up with greatness,” which impresses him and the rest of the cast.
“I think we’re all fans of the Transformers franchise, so for all of us it’s a great thrill just to be there, just to be a part of it,” he said.
- By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
“Truly outrageous” Jem and the Holograms to return to TV on the Hub; Conan the Adventurer also in lineup
The Hub Television network, which airs a variety of retro animation, has added two new programs to the lineup.
Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck visit the White House
From Warner Bros: The Looney Tunes Show stars and animation icons Bugs Bunny (left) and Daffy Duck (right) joined President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in welcoming more than 30,000 guests to the 2011 White House Easter Egg Roll today, Monday, April 25, at The White House.
Eliza Dushku is Catwoman in Batman: Year One animated film
Eliza Dushku (AP)
The Hollywood Reporter indicates that Eliza Dushku (“Dollhouse”) has joined the voice cast of “Batman: Year One,” an animated film to be based on the Frank Miller-David Mazzucchelli graphic novel.
Milo Ventimiglia, Adrian Pasdar to voice Wolverine, Iron Man in G4 series
Milo Ventimiglia (AP)
Update from Wondercon: Marvel Television Announces Adrian Pasdar and Milo Ventimiglia for Iron Man and Wolverine Anime Series To Air On G4 July 2011
Marvel’s Head of Television Jeph Loeb announced casting for two of the company’s much anticipated anime series, IRON MAN and WOLVERINE, at its WonderCon panel today in San Francisco to the delight of fans in attendance. Both series will premiere on G4 in July 2011.
“Firebreather” features teen issues, larger-than-life family problems in fantasy adventure
A lot of teenage boys have issues with their fathers. Duncan Rosenblatt’s issues go a little farther.
Duncan’s a half-human, half-dragon hybrid, and if being the new kid in school is tough with a bad complexion, imagine how hard it is when you have Duncan’s craggy half-dragon exterior.
The Last Unicorn – Blu-ray review
“The Last Unicorn,” based on the book by Peter S. Beagle, is a wistful fantasy that moves at its own pace. The well-characterized fantasy is a good example of 2-D animation of the 1980s.
