Category: 1

There’s any number of reasons that I’m thrilled to see the return of Disney’s 2-D animation department (God bless you, John Lasseter), not the least of which is that the swan song of that venerable institution should not have been the horrific misfire that was “Home on the Range.” So instead we have “The Princess and the Frog” which initiated controversy when it was first announced that the lead character was named “Maddy” and was a maid. This caused great resentment since “Maddy” apparently sounds like “Mammy” if, I dunno, your ears are clogged. My objection to the name would be that after Aurora, Mulan, Ariel, etc., “Maddy” just doesn’t sound especially exotic. Oh, and people didn’t like that she was a maid, which apparently is, I dunno, demeaning. Personally, if I were a maid, I’d be kind of insulted by that attitude, but that’s probably just me. So instead of being on the social level of Cinderella, she was instead rewritten into being an aspiring cook, thus putting her on par with a Pixar rat. Problem solved.

So with that controversy set aside, was the film worth the extra expense and time involved in our taking Caroline to see it during its limited release at the Ziegfeld?

The answer is, Hëll yes. Because for all that computer animation can accomplish in terms of storytelling, groundedness, and brilliance, the one thing I have never seen is a CGI film that I would characterize as “enchanting.” The title of the Amy Adams film got it exactly right: “Princess and the Frog” is enchanting.

Continue Reading “The Princess and the Frog” →

…a massive snowstorm was dumped on Long Island. Kathleen and I were unaware of it because we were in a small, windowless room, catching sleep where we could, while Kathleen labored to bring our daughter into the world.

She succeeded splendidly. It was not until some hours later that I emerged from the hospital to discover the car buried under a foot of snow. I then skidded several times on the way home on ice-slicked roads, where newly minted big sister Ariel wanted nothing except to turn right around and head back to meet her little sister. That joy would wait until the following morning.

Today her little friends and cousins are en route and we are looking forward to spending yet another birthday with little Miss Caroline. Snow is not predicted until later this evening. This time Caroline and her mommy and I will have windows through which we can watch it all together.

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Comics didn’t hit the stores until Thursday. So…what’d’ja get?

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Which is, curiously, how pundits seem to describe every televised speech he makes.

Nevertheless, in the spirit of this awesome importance, I will be here blogging it beginning at 8 PM. Swing by for fair and balanced coverage, right in this space below!

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Continue Reading “Tonight is the Most Important Speech of Obama’s Career!” →

Just in the off chance that Republicans should have the opportunity to think for themselves, the GOP has issued a list of ten items, a purity test, that defines whether you are an acceptable Republican and thus eligible for campaign funds. Check to see how many of them you’re in line with (hint: if you disagree with more than three, you’re out.)

Continue Reading “Are YOU a good Republican? Or only Seventy Percent Republican?” →

Ken Krueger, one of the co-founders of the San Diego Comic Con, has passed away. Between losing him and Shel Dorf just a few weeks ago, the reading of the list of people in the industry who have passed away that’s typically read by Maggie Thompson at the Eisner awards is going to be particularly melancholy last year.

Ken, I knew far better than Shel because of his involvement in comic distribution back when I was Marvel’s direct sales manager. He was a great guy, always professional, friendly, outgoing and helpful. I saw him at the last San Diego Con and he looked in very poor health, and I had a really bad feeling that we were going to lose him. He will be sorely missed.

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Ariel is back home from college and we’re having a small, simple family gathering.

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