Saturday, March 30, 2013

Animal Farm[s]

I have two different copies of the 1954 cartoon adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm. I'll display them in the order I got them, starting with this more artsy one...

I quite like this one! Simple and very effective. :) A more adult presentation, if you will.

The more novel-like approach continues on the back. Very classy.

Now let's take a look at the much more kid-friendly version...

Simple watercolor painting for this one. I don't know why they have the American flag there instead of a Union Jack, since Manor Farm is in England. Marketing, I guess. :p

Somewhat non-descript back cover with somewhat hard to read text. (but not too bad)

As is the case with many old films, it's YouTube time! I definitely recommend it! :D

Enjoy!

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

The Jet Benny Show

*sigh* It's The Jet Benny Show...

Prepare yourself indeed! But how?! This painting reminds me of something... No, don't tell me! :p

The packaging is nice, as is the logo. (which also reminds me of something...) Anyway, the premise is interesting, but overall, ugh. It drags on and on and on and on and on... I picked it up at a video store that was closing and I believe it had been rented twice in the past 25 years. :p

This is the only clip I could find of it at YouTube:


So there you go. Here are a couple of other Bennys...


Benny "The Jet" Urquidez versus Jackie Chan...

and Benny (on the right), one of the cats that lives outside...


UPDATE Mar. 16, 2020: I don't know what happened to Benny, but her brother Handsome on the left is still around. Saw him yesterday. He'll be 8 in a couple of months!


Sunday, March 10, 2013

Psycho Skate

I love old school skateboarding videos and still buy VHS copies when I find them. The older and more obscure the better. :) I was so happy to find this legendary (and controversial, as explained below) video!
 
 Typical busy, though not terribly interesting, cover. The huge bright lettering certainly draws your attention, though.

Same busy look on the back. (obviously)
 
This tape featured a LOT of the big names at the time, including Vision posterboy Mark "Gator" Rogowski. A lot of people hated his parts in this at the time (some goofiness, some arrogance), viewing him as a bit of a corporate sell-out. He had the look and they took advantage of it. (this even led to the rise of smaller companies like Blind, who tried to be the opposite of the corporate machine called Vision) Sadly, he later became a rapist and murderer, so some people also hate this video in hindsight. (similar to how people say that WWE is now supposedly erasing Chris Benoit from history) I take it for what it is: a fascinating snapshot of a great era of skating. It really has everything.

Happily, the entire video is available for your viewing pleasure! :)