BestCovery (Free subscription) | 11/22/2009
This soundtrack to the classic 1964 Rankin/Bass Christmas special, RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, is full of holiday songs that have been forever burned into the craniums of several generations. Sung by venerable pop/folk vocalist Burl Ives and others, these are the Christmas tunes that countless American kids grew up with, and they can still bring a warm Yuletide glow into even the...
LAist (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009
... Charlie, Dennis, and Dee (they appear to have used cloning!); classic animation in the style of Rankin/Bass; a disturbing and surreal Christmas sing-a-long with the gang from Paddy's. Unfettered by even the somewhat lax broadcasting rules of basic cable, there's more swearing, gore, and just plain bad behavior in this twisted take on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol . As a TV bonus...
Political Class Dismissed (Free subscription) | 11/14/2009
Gotta love this libertarian Christmas Classic from Rankin/Bass which tells the story of government run amok with arbitrary, oppressive laws and the one outlaw willing to stand up for what was right. Many of the statists of today have much in common with the mean and grouchy Burgermeister Meisterburger. The Burgermeister has outlawed all toys in [...]
Digital Daily - All Things Digital (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
As clever as it is, Verizon’s reimagining of a Rankin/Bass animated Christmas television special as a criticism of AT&T’s wireless network coverage did not go over well with Ma Bell. On Wednesday, the carrier amended its complaint against Verizon, asking a federal court in Atlanta to force it to pull the ad and the two other holiday-themed spots that debuted along with...
Technologizer (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009
Once again, Verizon is bashing away at the iPhone in a commercial–one that places an animated iPhone lookalike on the Island of Misfit Toys from the classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV special: For entertainment value and diligent recreation of the Rankin-Bass studio’s stop-motion puppetry style, this ad gets an A. I do wonder, however, just [...]
Laughing Squid (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009
Verizon makes fun of AT&T’s inferior network in a new holiday ad that brilliantly recreates the “Island of Misfit Toys” scene from the 1964 Rankin/Bass stop-motion animated Christmas television special “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. via Engadget This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Twitter, Facebook & FriendFeed. This is...
"Let's Not Talk About Movies" (Free subscription) | 11/05/2009
... without her morning pick-me-up —of dark, despairing fore-shadowing ** inspires a switch-back Rankin-Bass-styled opening that comes crashing to a halt. ("This would be an excellent time to walk out of the theater, living room, or airplane where this film is being shown." says the Lemony Narrator, as read by Jude Law ) "Fade to Black" is the more appropriate...
Duncan's TV Ad Land (Free subscription) | 11/10/2009
Verizon’s latest Christmas-themed television commercials continue the teleco’s critique of competitor AT&T, using the Island of Misfit Toys, Blue Christmas and Santa’s Elves. The three ads set out to reveal the flaw in Apple’s iPhone deal with AT&T, subtly suggesting that the Verizon Droid make its way onto Christmas shopping lists this year. Island of Misfit Toys An adapted scene from the 1964 Rankin/Bass...
Digital Daily - All Things Digital (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009
... The standout among the three, this recreation of the “Island of Misfit Toys” scene from the 1964 Rankin/Bass stop-motion animated Christmas television special “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Note that the conceit of the ad is that iPhone has been banished to the Island of Misfit Toys, not because of its quality, but because of of AT&T’s 3G network. A pretty brilliant escalation...
Babel Clash (Free subscription) | 11/02/2009
Does anyone remember the Rankin-Bass animated version of “The Hobbit”? Orson Bean starred as Bilbo Baggins…one thing about that excellent production that has stayed with me was the sense of whimsy it captured withint he framework of a more serious topic. The colors of the Shire night, on the bridge above the stream, for example, were [...]
Gearlog (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009
... taking a more tongue-in-cheek approach to the whole fight with a series of ads including the above Rankin/Bass holiday throwback, which casts the iPhone on the "Island of Misfit Toys." A new holiday classic? Probably not, but the carrier certainly gets points for creativity, humor, and the use of stop-motion clay figurines. Check out two more holiday spots from the company, after...
The Apple Blog (Free subscription) | 11/08/2009
... coverage, but the latter most directly and hilariously attacks the iPhone. Paying homage to the Rankin/Bass animated classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer , a familiar-looking device shows up on the Island of Misfit Toys, the place where defective toys are exiled. When the misfits ask why such a great toy that can download apps and browse the web is there, the familiar lackluster...
Final Girl (Free subscription) | 11/01/2009
I know some people who flip out over Christmas- people who get excited when the radio stations switch over to holiday music, when it's time to dig the decorations out of the attic, when Rankin-Bass takes over the TV. I get it. Christmas is cool...but come on, let's not pretend for even one minute that Halloween isn't the best. I get jazzed when TV stations show nothin' but the scary stuff,...
Monster Rally (Free subscription) | 10/26/2009
... Experience Mansion CryptBats Font @ David Occhino Monsterphemera... Mad Monster Party Band @ Rankin Bass Historian Horror movie posters and The dark world of fashion photography @ Haunt Style Limerwrecks Playing a Hunch-back Father's Brittle Dividend Blind Man's Puff Movies... The Thomas Edison Frankenstein movie @ Cavalcade of Awesome Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter @ Caffeinated...
Circumstantial Evidence (Free subscription) | 10/28/2009
It's a Halloween spooktacular edition of View From The Couch , as Kent and Michelle dig into childhood memories of tricks and treats, and open the crypt on Tim Burton's creepy comedy Beetlejuice . Meanwhile, Connor and Emily stake their claim with their reviews of the 1967 Rankin/Bass classic Mad Monster Party and an educational title from Rock N' Learn called Earth Science . It's phantasmagorical...
