HUMAN SUFFERING

Have you ever stopped and wondered about not only your favorite movies, but your favorite cartoons?


I was recollecting on something that Shawn Dickinson said in one of the commentaries we did together, and he mentioned the particular cartoon series (it was either Popeye or Bugs Bunny, I can't remember) being so fun to watch partly due to its constant portrayal of the suffering that the characters went through.

We humans go through pain and suffering daily! And with tons of different kinds of angst, it's automatically a form of therapy for ourselves to take a break and watch the characters on stage or screen get the shaft for a little while.

With that in mind, I think that audiences can identify with characters going through the same real human feelings that they do. Claude Cat and paranoia/hypochondria. Daffy trying to escape from fear.
Sylvester going mad from trying to deny his own obsession (eating Tweety).

Jealousy/hatred of others


Here, the Aristo-Cat is dealing with some people's greatest fear- being alone!

Death

Of course the Disney cartoons kept pretty far away from crazy stuff like emotional torment, but a lot of the Donald Duck cartoons are exceptions! Here he is on his deathbed in "Donald's Off Day".


Anyway, compare these to cartoons where everything is constantly alright and never in any real danger, and maybe you have films and shows that don't quite catch on as much.

What about cartoons where there is nothing human whatsoever?


Are cartoons not enough for you? Here are a select few of many TERRIFIC live action movies that revolve around manly, human suffering! See to it that they make YOUR favorite film list!

Detective Story

A Clockwork Orange

8 1/2

The Conversation

Amadeus

Dog Day Afternoon

The Deer Hunter

M (starring Peter Lorre)

Lots by Woody Allen, Wes Anderson and Hitchcock

and especially films directed by Ingmar Bergman: Persona, Wild Strawberries, or Cries and Whispers (one of the ULTIMATE movies about human pain!)

FRAME-BY-FRAMES: "Mickey and the Seal"

Crazy Mickey drawings! Awesome.

"GET OUT! SCRAM!"

YAY INTERNET COMICS

A slightly off-topic entry, so I hope people will still read. This one's about my favorite comics! Comics only found on Internet!

Being on the web, they instantly have an advantage over other comics of today. Only the comic creator owns their series, so there's no pressure over being discontinued, or keeping squeaky-clean or merchandise-friendly like the newspaper comics do.

I only read a few internet comic series consistently, but they are better than any newspaper comics out there today. Seriously. Have you guys read Garfield?

ACHEWOOD
Achewood's greatness is hard to describe to anyone not in the know. One of the biggest, longest-running, and most popular internet comic series, Achewood is about a group of animals who all live and pay rent in a large housing complex. The way they all interact like a big dysfunctional family is what gives the series such an endless supply of jokes and stories.


This series has the most creative phrases and lingo imaginable. "Pimp skitters"? It's fantastic.



I had a REAL tough time picking which strips to put up here. Honestly, just pick an hour or two of free time, go to Achewood's site, and enjoy.



PENNY ARCADEI actually don't read Penny Arcade too much because, well if it's even possible, the series is a bit too nerdy for me. I don't really get a lot of the jokes, since you'll find mostly video game jokes aimed at the hardest of hardcore nerds.
But you must give it credit for being one of the first internet comics... I think it started in '98, or '99? And it's still going strong, that's for sure.
If you are really into World of Warcraft, Dungeons and Dragons, or XBox games or whatever, this is the series for you.



THE NON-ADVENTURES OF WONDERELLA
I love this series!


In a world if Wonder Woman was a sassy, self-centered party girl who looked at fighting crime as more of a chore than as something liberating, you will meet Wonderella.




DINOSAUR COMICSDinosaur Comics is another favorite. The misadventures of 3 college-age dinosaur friends (T-Rex, Utahraptor, and Dromiceiomimus) as they contemplate philosophy, literature, lesbians, the internet, and Batman.


Yes, the characters' positions, expressions, and order of speaking are identical in EVERY, SINGLE, STRIP. Only the dialogue changes. And true, that turns off a lot of readers, so Dinosaur Comics fans are kind of a scarce breed. In MY opinion, if you can get past the monotony of seeing the characters doing the same things every strip, I think it just adds to the hilarity of it. Other frequent characters include God and The Devil (off-screen, of course).



Again, I had an extremely hard time picking which strips to put here because they are all just SO GOOD. I had to resort to just picking these at random. Still, awesome. Hot crackers!


In conclusion, check out all of these series. You might just thank me.
Ok, bye!!

WANTING FLAIR LIKE MARY BLAIR'S

*siiiigh*


Oh, to be an artistic genius like Mary Blair.





*siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiggghhhh*




It's no wonder that my favorite Disney movies are the ones she was staffed on, usually as either the art/color director or the conceptual artist!
In my favorite movie, Alice in Wonderland, the White Rabbit's house is even modeled after Mary's head and hair-do!





I love my Mary Blair BOOK, by the way!!! Everyone should own it.


If you don't know her by name, but her work looks familiar, you've most likely seen it first hand at Disneyland's it's a small world, through which she created the ride's conceptual paintings, characters and artwork. She also designed a couple murals that USED to be up in Tomorrowland.



Man, her art is so appealing. I felt like studying some of her pieces and decided to make drawings of my own. Witness the horror of someone trying super hard to be Mary Blair! (it ain't easy, folks)



OH, and while I'm completely plagiarizing other people's styles-
Ben, over at his blog, has the cutest character!! A little girl mink named Jo Minkus, and I decided to make some fan art! I hope I did them a little justice. Nevertheless, go check out his stuff!