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| See. I'm not the only one not wild about The Wild. More reason why I'm glad John Lassiter's in charge now.
Toy Companies Not Wild About 'The Wild'
Upon watching a rough-cut version of Disney's latest computer-animated feature The Wild, due to be released over the Easter holiday weekend, some of the nation's largest toy manufacturers and retailers, including Target, Wal-Mart, Toys 'R' Us, Hasbro and Mattel, all declined to seek licenses to produced merchandise featuring characters from the film, concluding that it was unlikely to do well at the box office, according to Disney watcher Jim Hill. Writing on his blog, JimHillMedia.com, Hill reported that the rejection by Toys 'R' Us particularly disappointed Disney execs since the film features one scene in which a giraffe character named Bridget rides through New York's Times Square and spots Geoffrey, the Toys 'R' Us mascot, on a sign at the toy store's flagship outlet. "Well, I guess you can see why Disney Studios execs thought that they had a virtual lock on getting TRU to produce a Bridget the Giraffe plush [toy]," Hill remarked. | | |
| Geez, where have I been? Nowhere, really. Just haven't had anything to say.
So you know that guy Desmond, the crazy Irishman on Lost? If you're like me and watch 24 also, you'll know that the same actor, Henry Ian Cusick, showed up there recently as a German agent-thorn in Jack Bauers side. That was weird enough, but Sunday in church they played a clip from that Gospel of John that was out a couple years ago, guess who played Jesus. Yeah, same guy. It was kinda weird and I had a little trouble taking him seriously. Wonder if they'll somehow tie all of this into Desmond and really freak people out.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: MUTEMATH!!! Finally saw them Sunday and I'm aching to see them again. Haven't seen that stunning a show since I don't know when. You owe it to yourself to find a show near you (and by near I mean within a four or five hour drive) and go. There are three more near me in the next month and were I not gainfully employed and had much more free time I would go to all three (and maybe a fourth). Although, if I weren't, then I probably wouldn't be able to go anyway. So ask for a day off or take a sick day and go. | | |
| Instead of doing anything productive today, I did some aimless recreational mall walking, something I haven't actually done in a while. I had planned to go watch Deep Sea 3D in IMAX and afterwards had lunch and just wandered around, ended up buying a couple magazines and a few votives. And a pretzel.
I think I offended the lady at the Disney Store Outlet when I expressed my dislike of Chicken Little. She tried to sell me a Chicken Little plush doll and plug the DVD coming soon, and I said, "Nooo, thank you. I hated that movie."
"Ohh no," she said, in a perky, quasi-hurt, but blatently customer service-y tone. "It was cute."
"Ugh, I thought it was terrible." I would have been more than happy to engage in further discussion about diverse levels of quality in recent animated films, but I got the feeling that she wasn't interested. She went back to the two people she was apprarently giving a tour of the store to (probably some district managers or executives on a visit), and went over to look at the half-off Stitch pillows with ears and arms that hung off the front and held a little stuffed frog. Almost bought one, too.
Maybe it's just because I haven't been to a mall in a while, but a couple things weirded me out a bit. Besides the lady with the wannabe Cher hair. In front of the perfume store, they had on display Hummer perfume...well, maybe cologne. I didn't work up the nerve to check it out, but who would really want to go around smelling like a Hummer? And who thought that would be a good idea anyway?
A new addition since the last time I was there is a place called Oxynate, an oxygen bar. I thought these things were just a myth but apparently not. Okay, I get the benefits, but the whole concept's just a bit weird. Here's what you get for $20--"You will start off your session in one of our fabulous reclining massage chairs. Where you will breathe in the oxygen/aromatherapy mixture for 15 minutes while receiving a relaxing massage. After which you will join us at the bar. At the bar, you will receive an additional 5 minutes of oxygen/aromatherapy along with a concentrated energy drink, followed by a Powerade drink and a spritz of liquid oxygen."
When I walked by, there were a couple people there, sitting at the bar in front of these weird glowing cylinders that looked like some futuristic Kool-Aid fountain, trying very hard to look hip and trendy with tubes in their nose like their in the hospital. It's like, "Hooray! We're breathing scented air. We're trendy and cool and more healthy and relaxed than you are." Maybe, until they realize that they just paid $20 to breathe air. I guess it's kinda like the people who decided to start selling "special" water in bottles.
I'll stick with my scented candles and Glade Plug-ins and strolls in the woods. | | |
| Maybe some of you know about this, but it's new to me. Apparently, David Crowder believes that squirrels have it in for him and all humanity. I don't know how to get to this video through his band's site (I stumbled upon it through another), but here's a direct shot to the explanation. And in the news section of the site, scroll down to 2004-10-29, a highly entertaining story called "Face to Face Encounter" involving a biker, an angry squirrel, and a couple unsuspecting police officers.
I personally don't understand where this sciurine antipathy comes from; I've never had anything but pleasant experiences with squirrels. The squirrels on campus were so docile you probably could have hand-fed them. (I'd always forget to go try that later by the time I got to class or wherever I was head, so I never found out; but they never scurried off when you'd pass them on the sidewalk.) I'm not saying squirrels are without quirks, but I find them to be the most pleasant and endearing of rodents, if not the most industrious. It's those chipmunks you gotta watch out for.
And yes, I have a lot of time on my hands; it's my day off. So back up. | | |
| So, I was checking out some podcasts while making flyers for work and I discovered one of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (The Office, Extras) and Karl Pilkington and I couldn't continue working from laughing. So I'm saying check it out.
And you may have noticed the pretty picture over there and might think it's something from The Dark Crystal. You'd be partly right. It's Kira (now Queen) from Power of the Dark Crystal, intended to be released next year from the Jim Henson Company and director Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack, Clone Wars). Super excited about that one. | | |
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