Sometimes I think I should worry about the part of my brain that created Toivo.
And that’s what playing Tunnels and Trolls is like with these three.
Happy Friday! Monday, it’s the start of an anniversary celebration! I think you’ll like it.
GROOVY, KINDA
Love is Funny Like That
TOIVO?!! Strange stuffing in a wild bikini.
As the three rode into battle on their mighty War Chickens…
“Is that a chicken joke?” (Jo Anne Worley, Laugh-In). When I saw the ‘War Chicken’, I immediately thought of Ralph Bakshi’s 1977 ‘Wizards’ (I love that movie).
“wizards”? i thought that was forgotten, lost in the mists of time. i’ve got a video tape of it, but no video player anymore.
Ralph Bakshi was waaaaay ahead of everybody, not only in animation, but film in general. I never missed his films, but ‘Heavy Traffic’ (1973, I love that movie) was overwhelming. I was working downtown as an engineer, but I was still an art/arcade/movie-house kinda guy. ‘Traffic’ was something I had never seen before, except in life. It was ‘graphic noveling’ on film and I lived every day among its characters. It would be a while before the industry realized what he was doing and the bean counters still don’t. But I think the Japanese ‘got it’. Considering Groovy’s 1970’s mind set, Michael Corleone could very well have been Charlie’s alter-ego (bell-bottoms and all).
WARNING, dark philosophy follows.
I spent much of my physical existence in New Orleans and this much I know: Survival depends on separating good garbage from bad garbage . . . but uptown or downtown, it’s still garbage.
Ka-chunk . . . ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
It is available on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm1dsnTuBkM
The Mighty War Chickens is the name of my new band.
I would go watch the Mighty War Chickens play.
I saw “Wizards” in the theater, way back in 1977. I think I went 3 times. What a long strange trip it was.
And I still have my VCR, since there’s a lot of movies that I can’t get on DVD yet (or could, but not anymore). I even have a Beta player, though I can’t get a good picture since there’s about 12 tracking dials to fiddle with.
Forty years later, Heavy Traffic is Art, frame by frame beautiful.
Yeah ‘Beta was bettah’, but VHS was a video tsunami.
Tape players: If you can find one new, do. If not, check out the Thrift Stores. Usually they have provisions for testing electronics (just grab one of their tapes off the shelf). Push in the door and see if the heads are in good shape, otherwise you could destroy a priceless tape. Use Alcohol (NOT RUBBING ALOCHOL) and Q-tips to clean the heads. While you’re there, check out the movies. There’s treasure in the trash. Most of my stuff came from thrift stores, yard sales, flea markets, video store liquidations, and library sales. Oh, a video store owner told me that they could resurface scuffed video disks.
@ JPZ,
thanks very much, been a long time since i last enjoyed that one. i’ve dropped it in my favourites while i look for a dvd copy, amazon maybe, i’ll run a search later tonight. thanks again.
@ charlie,
do you want, or need a video tape of wizards? if so i’ll try to find that tape and pass it along, free, no charge. if it does turn up i’ll ask for your address off list to ship it.
there’s another one by bakshi worth looking up, “fire and ice” done in conjunction with frank fazzetta, circa, i believe, 1983. good old conanesque sword and sorcery with musclebound hero and zoftig damsel, along with mysterious warrior lending a hand. nothing deep, just a good old fashioned bash the villian win the fair maid romp.
ooops, correcting typos “frank frazetta”.
Funny you should mention “Fire & Ice.” I got to hang out with James Gurney (Dinotopia) many years ago, and he worked on that project. I shall say no more.
This is by far the COOLEST collection of WebComic Readers.
Wizards is one of my all time favorite movies. Unfortunately, I missed it in the theater. “Star Wars” and “The Black Hole” were about the best an 8 yr old could get. BUT, I have a copy of the RPG and a couple of supplements.
Ralph Bakshi was a wicked filmmaker. I even liked his “Lord of the Rings”. “Cool World” is right at the top of my list of animated favorites.
OK, now I’m watching “Rock and Rule” on youtube. I know it’s not Bakshi, but I need to hear Iggy Pop’s “Pain and Suffering”
Nerds…
Seriously, you are absolutely right, jimtullis. You guys are great.
Oh Man, Oh Man. Memory Lane Special!!!!
Way back in the 80’s I took my wife to an ALL-Night (22:00-06:00) “animation” special in the Tyneside Film Theatre.
The bill was Wizards, Fire & Ice, Lord of the Rings, Fritz the Cat, Heavy Metal, Fritz the Cat 2(?) and my very first encounter with Japanese Anime.
Now that was a night! Cool movie memories thanks Guys & Gals.
(Oh and my wife loved the movies!)