Ready for a trip down memory lane wrapped up in a few brain teasers? Check out this mental_floss article about legendary cartoon voices. Her investigation started out innocently enough:

My husband and I went to Disney World for Halloween. Returning to our 9-to-5 lives was a little depressing. So, to get our little fix, we started watching some old-school Disney movies. We had on The Jungle Book and I wasn’t paying very close attention (I like to multi-task) when I heard a strangely familiar voice coming from the screen. I looked up and saw Kaa – you know Kaa, the evil snake who tries to hypnotize Mowgli – only I was stacy2.jpgpretty sure I knew that voice from somewhere else.

So I hopped onto the Internet Movie Database and looked him up. Turns out that the voice of scheming Kaa is also the voice of one of the sweetest Disney characters ever drawn – Winnie the Pooh. Let me tell you, my mind was blown.

(Animation fans already knew this about Holloway, as well as the various other roles he voiced. But I agree that picturing the same man doing both Kaa and Winnie the Pooh is a bit hard to do.)

After Holloway, it’s on to Nancy Cartwright (pictured above), the voice of Bart Simpson. The list from there includes both old and new legends, from Mae Questel (voice of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl) on up to Patrick Warburton (eh, he voiced a bunch of things, but he’ll always be Putty from Seinfeld to me).

While the article itself is good, it covers less than a dozen voice actors. If you really want to have some fun, read the comments. Wowza, there’s actors and cartoon characters in there that I haven’t thought about for years. Plus you can absolutely get your fill of obscure trivia. For example, did you know that Darla Hood of The Little Rascals was also the voice of the Chicken of the Sea Mermaid?

See, you never know what you don’t know until you learn it. Or something.

Regardless, it’s a great read if you have the time to go through it—a veritable treasure trove of cartoon voices and obscure connections.

If you’re unfamiliar with KidScreen Magazine, they’re the folks with their finger on the pulse of the kids’ entertainment industry. No, they don’t deal in things like stage moms and little girls in fake eyelashes (ewww), but they do cover all manner of what kids are into and where those kids’ parents will spend their dollars to support those interests. They’re the folks in the know, is my point.

Well, it’s time for the KidScreen Best of the Year Awards:

We polled industry players to get a read on who made waves in 2007 that would likely resonate for years to come, and the result of that fieldwork is the following shortlist of candidates competing in six categories - Producer, Distributor, Broadcaster, Licensor, Licensee and Licensing Agent…of the Year.

Guess who’s up for Licensee of the Year? Go on, guess! That’s right. Ty’s Toy Box is in the running for this auspicious recognition. KidScreen didn’t hold back with the admiration, either, to which we said, “Don’t. Stop. No, really—don’t stop!” In describing Ty’s, KidScreen said:

Since launching three years ago with a dedicated boutique housing all products Wiggles-related, the e-tailer has expanded at a rapid clip and now features products based on roughly 80 licenses. But what’s put Ty’s Toy Box in the running this year is the unique approach it has taken to helping properties kick-start their consumer products sales in a retail climate that’s, er, less-than-hospitable to brand-new IP. Acting as both retailer and licensee, Ty’s broke ground with The Doodlebops, producing quick-turnaround soft goods such as t-shirts for the preschool band’s online storefront in 2006. From there, licensor Cookie Jar Entertainment was able to take sales results of the Ty-produced goods to existing and potential partners, and build out a larger mass retail program.

To keep momentum going this year, Ty’s opened up TTB Marketplace to service licensors. The key to TTBM is its relationship with drop-ship software service CommerceHub, which enables Ty’s to expand the retail reach of its licensor partners and improve its own product development capabilities. Through the system, suppliers ship directly to online customers, cutting down on inventory investment for Ty’s. The e-tailer then takes the savings and plows them into developing product and retail programs for properties with fanbases clamoring for product that isn’t yet available.

Ty’s is one of only two retailers nominated in the Licensee category, and is in excellent company amongst the other nominees—Character Options, Jakks Pacific, Mattel, and Steve & Barry’s.

Who will win the title? Well, that’s up the public. The voting is currently open and winners will be announced in January. The prize is a Doodlebops guitar! Oh, I kid. The prize is the satisfaction of a job well done. And also bragging rights.

But this is certainly one of those situations where (as corny as it may sound), it truly is an honor just to be nominated. Who would thunk a little company in Kentucky would one day be rubbing elbows with an industry giant like Mattel, vying for a “Best of” award? It’s pretty exciting. Thanks, KidScreen!

I had to go back and look to see how long ago I’d first read about Where the Wild Things Are being made into a movie. It turned out that it was last February, and my feelings haven’t changed since then: I feel a deep sense of trepidation about the whole project. Sometimes a movie ruins a great book, and I worry about that, here.

So today when I saw that Lauren Ambrose has been cast as a voice talent for the project, I did not find myself feeling warm and fuzzy. Ambrose is a great actress; that’s not the issue. It’s that apparently the Wild Things will be talking. I’m already twitching. Though, people are apparently thinking really hard about this stuff:

Ambrose is replacing the previously cast Michelle Williams. According to a production source, the filmmakers enjoyed working with Williams, but her voice didn’t match their original vision of how the Wild Thing should sound.

You know how a Wild Thing should sound? I’m just guessing, here, but given a broad array of possibilities, I don’t think of Michelle Williams or Lauren Ambrose. Or, in fact, any perky young actress. Go figure. I could be picturing it wrong, I guess, but again, it all just seems a little weird to me.

So after reading about that and getting worked up all over again (”My preeeeeshus! You mustn’t wreck my preshus!”), I was delighted to run across this piece in Slate about the evolution of illustration in children’s literature:

Books were for schooling or for teaching religious and moral lessons—with properly serious illustrations chaperoning the text.

This somber mode continued through the Civil War. And then it went poof, dispelled by artists who became children’s illustrators by happenstance.

The piece is accompanied by a slideshow which is not to be missed. Where the Wild Things Are figures prominently in the history, of course, but so do Gellett Burgess’ turn-of-the-century Goops, who are an old family favorite of ours. (The article compares the Goops to the South Park gang, which made me laugh out loud.) Whether the movie meets expectations or not, there’s no question that Sendak’s Wild Things are an important piece of history. (But, uh, if the movie folks are reading? Here’s a special message from me to you: Please don’t screw it up.)

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and hopefully you got some good shopping in (and don’t forget that you can still get some great deals today only at Ty’s), and now it’s the season for holiday movies on television.

That’s right; it’s time for Charlie Brown’s pitiful Christmas tree; it’s time for everyone to warn Ralphie that he’ll shoot his eye out; it’s time to carve the roast beast; it’s time to watch the Heat Miser and the Cold Miser duke it out. It’s time to watch the movies that herald the magic of the holidays and remind us of the traditions of our childhoods.

Shrek the Halls is coming up this Wednesday night, a new contender for “classic” status. I’ve written about it before, and since then I’ve actually seen it. (ABC was kind enough to send me a screener copy.) We sat down and watched it as a family this past weekend and it was… fine. Not great, no, but okay. Much of the problem lay, I felt, with it only being half an hour long; there really wasn’t time to do any sort of plot development. But if you’re a Shrek fan (we are) it may be worth catching. Will it become a “classic?” I sort of doubt it.

The Baltimore Sun’s David Zurawik was less charitable in his assessment:

And, so, the entire 22 minutes (running time without commercials) is more or less a primer in how to celebrate Christmas as a family: Decorate the house, get a tree, hang the stockings — with Daddy reading ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas to the three baby ogres.

But just as the reading starts, Donkey, Puss in Boots, Gingerbread Man and a cast of dozens crash the intimate gathering. Now, after Shrek explodes in anger, he has to learn another lesson about the meaning of family — mainly from Donkey and Fiona.

While the story line speaks to loneliness and celebrates community belonging, the episode ultimately feels as flat and superficial as a mass-produced holiday greeting card. There is nothing nearly as daring or deep as the exploration of existential angst in the landmark Charlie Brown special.

The rest of his piece is an interesting exploration of why the various “true” classics like Charlie Brown have endured, and is worth the read. I’m not sure I ever thought about the role of existential angst in the appeal of the Peanuts gang, but he has a point.

If you want to do your own compare-and-contrast, stay tuned to ABC this week: Tuesday night at 8:00 pm will bring A Charlie Brown Christmas, while Wednesday night at 8:00 pm will debut Shrek the Halls, followed by How the Grinch Stole Christmas at 8:30 pm. No matter which specials appeal to you, do take the time to sit down and watch them with your children. That’s the part they’ll remember, not whether or not the cartoon itself was really any good. At least, that’s what I always remember. And what I tell my kids they’d better remember. Heh.

Wondering what Cyber Monday will hold here at Ty’s Toy Box? Wonder no more, as there’ll be a whole new crop of specials for one day only on Monday, November 26th, 2007.

Did you know that Cyber Monday began as a marketing campaign, and was—initially, anyway—a hoax? There was no evidence to suggest that people did any more online shopping the Monday after Thanksgiving than at any other time. But it has since become the very definition of a self-fulfilling prophecy, and now e-tailers everywhere gear up for a flurry of fingers shop-shop-shopping on this famous Monday.

Ready for a sneak peak at Monday’s deals? Read on to find out how planning ahead can score you some big bargain’s during Ty’s Cyber Monday Sale: (more…)

Let me ask you a very simple question. I know—we all know—that you love your kids and want to get them the things they love. Of course. And naturally you’d like to save a little money in the process, too. But just let me ask you something:

Is there some reason you’d rather head out on the busiest shopping day of the year at o’dark thirty just so that you can fight the crowds and the traffic, vs. staying in and ordering cool stuff online from the comfort of your own home (and possibly while still in your jammies)?

That’s right.

For the first time, Ty’s Toy Box is making their Black Friday specials known a few days in advance so that you can plan your day accordingly. (I recommend a cup of coffee while you finish your shopping online, followed by something like a cinnamon roll as a reward for having gotten it all done early and under budget.) Read through; bookmark what you need; and then get ready to rock on Friday, November 23rd, 2007.

Read on for the full list of Ty’s Toy Box Black Friday specials: (more…)

Notice anything different over at Ty’s? After unveiling the originally-named Treasure Hunt feature and then asking for your suggestions for a better name, you rose to the challenge. We got lots of great suggestions, but ultimately the winning name was Ty’s Toyrrific Deal of the Day, which was submitted by Crisanne.

As promised, in return for being brilliant, Crisanne was invited to select any DVD at Ty’s to receive in thanks for her suggestion. She opted to receive Charlie and Lola: How Many More Minutes Until Christmas? as her prize. I predict there are going to be happy small people in Crisanne’s house very soon. Just a hunch of mine.

So. That was exciting! I do love a good contest, and I especially love reader participation. And I don’t know if you’ve perhaps noticed, but there’s kind of a big shopping season right around the corner, here…? I’m sure you hadn’t noticed. Ahem.

Anyway, here’s the thing: We’d like to get into the swing of things, here at Ty’s, and we’re digging the warm fuzzies we got from having y’all involved. And I most certainly did not do a little victory dance here in my office while proclaiming “I told you, we need to have more contests!” or anything like that. Of course not. But, well, it’s possible that I suggested we give some more stuff away. And so… it’s possible that we’ll be giving away more goodies, so you should probably keep an eye here on the blog, is all I’m sayin’.

Also, tomorrow I’ll be announcing both Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals we’ll be having, so that you can plan accordingly. You know that I’m not getting up in the pre-dawn hours to go fight the mall crowds—the very thought makes my eye twitch—but this is largely because I know how to grab a great bargain from the comfort of my own home. While still in my pajamas. And now you can, too. Just stay tuned for the details, tomorrow!

I was well into my 20s before I saw my first Imax film, because I led a deprived childhood. Also, possibly, because Imax didn’t exist when I was a young thing, and then there was no Imax theater where I was living, so it wasn’t until I was on a business trip to Vancouver that I first got to experience the joy and wonder of a really big screen, surround sound that just about blew me out of my seat, and—of course—those cool plastic glasses that made everything 3-dimensional.

I fell immediately and deeply in love with the entire experience, even though one of the movies I saw was about Shackleton’s Antarctic Expedition. I’m not sure that it’s less horrifying to watch freezing men slaughter and eat their dogs when everything is super-huge. (To its credit, that one didn’t have any 3D effects, at least.)

Anyway.

What was my point here? Oh! Yes! I remember now. My point is that Imax is cool, and there’s about to be a whole lot more Imax coolness, because last week DreamWorks signed a 4-movie deal with Imax:

Imax and DreamWorks have agreed to release the studio’s first three 3D motion pictures worldwide in Imax 3D: “Monsters vs. Aliens” in March 2009, “How to Train Your Dragon” in November 2009 and “Shrek Goes Forth” in May 2010. A fourth DreamWorks title, “Kung Fu Panda,” will be released in Imax’s 2D format in June 2008. The films will be distributed by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc. (VIA).

Earlier this year, DreamWorks announced plans to release all its computer- animated films in 3D starting in 2009. It was welcome news for all that had a stake in the emerging 3D film industry, such as privately held Real D, the leading provider of digital 3D projection technology. At the time, DreamWorks made no specific mention of Imax and its giant-screen format.

“Obviously, DreamWorks is placing a large amount of strategic focus on 3-D and we’re gratified to be part of their launch platform,” Richard Gelfond, co-chief executive of Imax, told Dow Jones.

The piece goes on to discuss how Imax “is now on the threshold of a transition to digital” and looking to secure as many studio deals as possible, which, obviously.

As a parent who still lives in a town without an Imax theater (clearly I just keep setting up camp in the wrong sorts of towns), I wonder what this will mean for “regular” theaters. Will this deal (and similar ones) have any effect on the play time these animated movies—the ones my kids want to see—get at conventional theaters? Will these Imax deals herald the increase in Imax theaters? Because I have to tell you, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings one bit if there was an Imax theater ’round here. It already costs an arm and a leg to go out to the movies—it might as well be a total sensory experience as long as we’re dishing out the bucks.

But I’m going to go on record right now with this: Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D? I will drive to my nearest major city for that one, because that sounds like all kinds of awesome. Erm, I mean, according to my kids. Yeah.

Don’t forget, you only have until midnight tonight to enter your ideas for Ty’s latest bargain offering, and a chance to win your pick of DVD as a prize. All you have to do is think a little bit and tell us your great idea. Go on. You know you want to.

Next week, I’ll be baking pies and mashing potatoes and thinking of how thankful I am for my family, my friends, my health, and all the other good things in my life. I’ll give my children extra hugs and kisses and try to remember to be this thankful all the time, not just around Thanksgiving.

My daughter will be thankful for sweet potatoes, and probably for extra whipped cream. My son will be thankful only that there is just one week (after the holiday) left to wait until the premiere of the Avatar: The Last Airbender one-hour movie, Day of the Black Sun.

The epic third season of the series from creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko continues as Aang and his rag-tag crew launch their massive attack on the Fire Nation during the solar eclipse. This special television event features the guest voices of Avatar fan and tennis pro Serena Williams as Ming (Uncle Iroh’s guard) and WWE wrestler Mick Foley as The Boulder.

In “Day of Black Sun,” Aang’s army is unlike any force seen before, with fleets of Waterbenders and a battalion of Earthbenders (including The Boulder, one of the best-known fighters) working together to pull off one of the most bizarre and ingenious invasion plans ever imagined. With Sokka, Katara and Toph at his side, Aang is determined to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar. He and the gang hunt down the evil Fire Lord for the ultimate showdown while the solar eclipse temporarily hinders the Fire Nation’s powers. But the question remains; is the Fire Lord ready for Aang?

Ooooooh. And if that doesn’t get your heart pumping, just a little, check out this:

You know, every time I think that Avatar just cannot possibly sustain the suspense and energy its had for much longer, they come up with something else that tops whatever they’ve done so far. I don’t know how they do it.

Stay tuned for Nickelodeon’s dedicated website to contain special features, too. It looks like it’ll be launching this coming Monday. Just in case you need something to do while you wait.

Other than peeling potatoes or eating pie, that is.