InFurNation!
– October, 1999
“Pokemon…
Hey, weren’t we just here? Yes, afraid so… given the change-over of management and the training of some new hands (to say nothing of a new format!), the last In-Fur-Nation issue came out awfully darn late. So here we are, with our Fall ’99 issue following right on its heels! Read on for more helpful information on ConFurence Eleven, after a brief update from our intrepid reporters…
Prior to the death of leader Jerry Garcia, Knucklehead Productions was hard at work on creating a new animated feature called The Dead-Head Bears. After his death, the project has been revised and is now called Bearsville. The basic premise is still the same though: Adventures in a village of hippy, pot-smoking bears. The project should see the light of day in one form or another, sometime soon.
Coming up fast (this Thanksgiving) is Disney’s A Bug’s Life, the much-anticipated 2nd computer-animation feature from Pixar (the folks who brought you Toy Story). After the success of Dreamworks/Pacific Data Images’ computer-animated (and somewhat more adult-oriented) film Antz in October, many in Hollywood are watching closely how Bug’s Life will do. Regardless, be ready for an avalanche of Bug’s Life tie-in products and publications for sure. And, come Christmas, look for the release of Disney’s new remake of the classic giant ape movie, Mighty Joe Young, starring Bill Paxton.
Don’t forget: This Thanksgiving also brings the release of Babe, A Pig in the City the new sequel to the surprisingly successful film Babe. Returning in the sequel are not only Babe the pig and Ferdinand the Duck (and their original voices), but also human co-stars James Cromwell, Magda Szubanski, and producer George Miller.
Just a reminder: October 27th is the official release date for The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride from Walt Disney Home Video. The Disney merchandizing machine is in full-swing for this video-only release, with numerous tie-in items available at the Disney parks, Disney Stores, and other national chains. (Alas, most of the clothing is children’s sizes only…) Many of the original voices from The Lion King return in LK2, including Matthew Broderick, Moira Kelly, Ernie Sabella, Nathan Lane, and Robert Guillaume. New voices include Suzanne Pleshette as the villainous Zira, Andy Dick as her goofy son Nuka, and Neve Campbell as Simba’s grown-up cub Kiara.
Several summer movies of furry note are heading to video in November, including the re-makes of Godzilla (from Columbia/Tri-Star) and Dr Doolittle (from fox), as well as the toy-soldiers-vs.-toy-monsters epic Small Soldiers (from Universal and Dreamworks).
Warning: This is gonna be long! Fall TV season is here, and look out below! There’s a truckload of brand new animation headed your way; and more than a bit of it is furry! We’ll try to give you just a little taste of all there is to see that’s new this season… CBS has an entire new season of Saturday morning shows based on popular children’s book series (all of them animated by Nelvana) including Franklin (a turtle); Anatole (a mouse); The Dumb Bunnies and Birdz (well duh!); and Mythic Warriors, Guardians of the Legend. (Okay, they’re not furry, but a lot of the back-up characters and monsters are.) Speaking of furry back-up characters and monsters, Disney has a boatload of them in Hercules, the Series on ABC. It’s based on their comic animated film and features the mythic hero in his high school days. Disney is also readying Mouseworks for release in February of 1999 (on ABC or the Disney Channel; not yet determined). It will feature the original Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald and Daisy Duck, and Goofy in their first new short films since 1953 (not counting the recent Runaway Brain). Over on Fox on Saturdays, look for Oggy & The Cockroaches, Secret Files of the Spy Dogs, and a new animated series based on Godzilla (the Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich version; the show begins literally minutes after the movie’s end). Beast Wars creator Mainframe have a new computer-animated show, War Planets, which features several interesting non-human species in the cast. New on Kids WB is Steven Spielberg presents Pinky, Elmyra & The Brain – ’nuff said. The new Pax Net family-oriented channel features The Get Along Gang and The Sylvanian Families as part of their Cloud 9 wrap-around on Saturdays. Nickelodeon has some unusual entries, including The Wild Thornberrys (from Klasky Csupo, about a family that travels the world making wildlife documentaries – and one child who can speak to the animals) and CatDog (about a half-cat, half-dog – literally, the front half of each). Also on Nick is a new live-action series in syndication, based on the Animorphs series of young person novels by K.A. Applegate. Joining the line-up at Toon Disney are Hello Kitty And Friends and The Care Bears. VH1 even has a furry show in the works, though it’s not yet officially on the schedule: Animal Tracks, featuring the day-to-day workings at a funny-animal record company. In syndication, look for Pocket Dragon Adventures (based on the best-selling line of illustrations by Real Musgrave), The Lionhearts, and Monkey Magic (based on the Chinese legends of Monkey King).
Fox Family Channel has such a huge slate of animation (and much of it furry!), we thought we’d better give it a whole section to itself… Old friends syndicated at various points through Fox FC’s 24-hour programming include All Dogs Go To Heaven (the series), Eek!Stravaganza, Saban’s Oliver Twist, Heathcliff, and Classic Harvey Toons. A large chunk of each weekday is devoted to the new Captain Kangaroo show, which includes episodes of The Magic of Mumfi and Tabaluga, as well as the I.C. Ice and the Icebergs series of children’s music videos (featuring a penguin rock group). Also during the weekdays, look for Bad Dog (based on the screen-saver program), Monster Farm, and Wowser. Come the weekends, look for Animal Crackers (based on the long-running comic strip by Roger Bollen) on Saturdays and Donkey Kong Country on Sundays.
Word is out in the Hollywood Reporter that the Beastmaster series of fantasy films is being developed into a Hercules/Xena style TV show by Alliance Atlantis Communications and Tribune Entertainment. Look for Beastmaster: The Legend Continues to premiere in syndication in the fall of 1999.
Celebrating Warner Brother’s 75th Anniversary, a new trade paperback has been released – Bugs Bunny and Friends: A Comic Celebration. This 160-page collection features all the well-known characters in reprints of more than 50 years of Warner Brothers color comics, many of them reprinted here for the first time in the U.S.
New from Hall of Heroes is Dragon’s Bane #1 by professional playwright Harry Bauer and artist Jeff Lawter. In this new black & white comic, a radical archeologist in Dublin discovers the re-appearance of dragons in our modern world.
Coming soon (as in this December) from Dark Horse Comics is the Space Usagi Trade Paperback, collecting all three mini-series previously published by Dark Horse and Mirage. Miyamoto Usagi’s space-fairing descendant travels the galaxy, still adhering to his family’s unbending samurai code through-out his adventures. From the mind and pen of Stan Sakai, of course.
Dragons and fey-folk in the Old West? Believe it. New from Antarctic Press is Far West #1 by Richard Moore. In this black & white 4-part mini-series, a bounty hunter named Meg and her companion, a talking bear named Phil, encounter such trouble as dragon rustlers and shape-shifting outlaws.
Recently premiered (this last summer) from Bongo Comics is Hopster’s Tracks, written and illustrated by Stephanie Gladden. Featuring characters originally shown in a back-up in Action Girl, Stephanie now has her own black & white comic in which to show off the comedic (and very energetic!) mis-adventures of Jake the wolf, Melba the kangaroo, and Jake’s young daughter (who, much to Jake’s chagrin, takes a liking to Melba’s antics).
Out now from Publishers Group West and author Michael Mallory is the illustrated story of William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, and their nearly 60-year partnership in animation – titled, appropriately, Hanna Barbera Cartoons. The book includes more than 300 color illustrations, and detailed episode guides to many of the studio’s most famous animated series (including, in a furry way, Scooby Doo, Yogi Bear, and Top Cat).
Over in the Japanese section, look for three new Kaiju (giant monster) books of interest, all with Japanese text. The Gallery of Kaiju: Yuji Kaida Illustrations collects 76 full-color monster renderings by this famous artist in Japan. The Pictorial Book of Godzilla features 200 black & white photos (and 23 pages in color) from 40 years of Gojira’s film career – including many behind-the-scenes photos. Finally the Toho SFX Posters Collection features movie posters from many of Toho’s kaiju and other fantasy films, both in their original Japanese versions and in American and German variations. (While we’re at it, remember that Dark Horse Comics has two on-going Godzilla comic titles (both full color!) on the stands: Godzilla, King of the Monsters and Terror of Godzilla.) In English language books, look for Collecting Godzilla Memorabilia (Publisher’s Group West) by Dana Cain, featuring a comprehensive list of Godzilla collectibles, a pricing guide, and over 900 photographs.
New in the growing sub-genre of pretty-ladies-with-beasties-illustrated books is Dragon Tails 2 (“… more dangerous damsels, and the dragons who love them” [Previews]) from Gallery Girl Collections, which features black & white illustrations by Rich Larson, Esteban Moroto, Blas Gallego, Steve Fastner, and Mitch Byrd. Also look for Firebrands by Ron Miller (illustrator) and Pamela Sargent (text), which honors the women heroes of science fiction – including among them Lessa of Pern (from Anne McCaffery’s Dragonriders series).
If you’re ready for fur and lots of it (sooner than you’d think!), be sure to check out the Star Trek Tribble Handbook by Terry J. Erdman (from Pocket Books). The ultimate illustrated source on those purring, fast-multiplying balls of fluff.
Books recently discovered: In Great Apes by noted satirist Will Self, a famous British painter awakes after a particularly wild party to find that the entire human population have transformed into talking chimpanzees… except him. (From Grove Press Books.) Meanwhile, in Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls, a woman attempts to hide – and meanwhile falls in love with – a strange frog-like monster/man.
Coming soon from Tor Books is The Blood Jaguar, the first novel from furry writer (and frequent filk-song contestant at ConFurence) Michael H. Payne. Writer Algys Budrys said of Michael, “He is the next big name in fantasy” [in Locus]. Wow! Michael will also be a Guest of Honor at the 1999 Further Confusion.
New on CD-ROM is Walt Disney: An Intimate History of the Man. Created with the full cooperation of the Disney family, who opened their own personal family albums to share photos, home movies, and recollections of the man himself. Includes exclusive material from the Disney film archives in a multi-media format.
From the CF Mailbox
From: Limelight Publishing Company
Guardian Knights #5 will be in the stores by Dec/Jan. This issue wraps up the five issue two chapter story arc of Demon’s Knight and Changing of the Guard, setting up for a new story with issue six.
Tigerwing Press has been resurrected as a subsidiary of Limelight Publishing Co. The first book will be a resurrection of the small press zine, The Boudoir, issue number one to be released by January 99. The theme is erotica of a fantasy nature (anthro and non-anthro), pin ups and stories in comic book format.
Also due out around January 99 are new issues of Wild Side, Legion Manga Anthology, and Animeco.
If you would like more information, feel free to contact Limelight Publishing Co. at whols@aloha.net or send snail-mail to: Limelight Publishing Co, 1513 Young St, Suite #202, Honolulu, HI, 96826
From: Eli McIlveen <eli@golden.net>
Feral! 98, the first furry camp event, was a great success! Around sixty furs spent the August 22 weekend in beautiful Algonquin Park, Ontario, sleeping in cabins and enjoying the tranquility of the wilderness.
Campers spent their time swimming, hiking, kayaking, drawing and singing songs around the campfire, as well as taking part in hands-on workshops on drawing, writing and costuming. A big favorite was the Survival Game, in
which players took on roles in the food chain before running off into the woods to play them out in a giant game of tag!
The planning for Feral! 99 is well underway. Those with net access can visit the Feral! web site ( http://www.FurNation.com/Feral/ ) for the latest details, plus loads of reports and pictures from this year’s campers. You
can also send email to feral@idirect.ca, or write to: Feral!, Box 47008, Sheridan Mall P.O., Mississauga ON, L5K 1T9, Canada.
A Request to Our Readers:
Hey, got a favorite comic or book store that carries your favorite furry titles, or that you wish would carry more? Give us their address! We’ll send them a copy of In-Fur-Nation each quarter, and keep them abreast of the kind of comics and media that you would like to see on their shelves! Remember, they can’t order it if they don’t know it’s out there! As an alternate: Know of any good comic review zines or web sites that might be looking to trade issues?
Actually, interviewers… as a new feature, we’re going to present profiles of furry creators and furry-oriented companies that are helping to promote products and media of interest to funny animal fans all over. So, like to help out? Know a comic book creator, animator, publisher, or other such person in the field who’d like to discuss what furries mean to them, or to the world? Talk to them, write down what they say… then give us a write-up, about 300-500 words, and we’ll include it as a blurb in an upcoming INF, and give you credit for it. [We do maintain the right to edit for clarity and length, mind you.] Send hard copies to the ConFurence address, or, you can e-mail your submission to ed-otter Rod O’Riley at mink@firstlight.net .
Advertising in In-Fur-Nation:For those who’ve been asking, ads in In-Fur-Nation come in these sizes: 1/8-page “business card” size for $5.00 per issue, and 1/4-page size (4 1/2″ tall by 3 1/4″ wide) for $10.00 per issue. Full-page inclusions can also be arranged for $50.00 an issue. Check should be made out to ConFurence. Send camera-ready art and text to P.O. Box 1958, Garden Grove, CA 92642-1958.
(Many thanks to the people who helped provide information for this issue, both by mail and via Internet! Also, our appreciation to Previews magazine.)
- The original Furry Convention is proud to present the ConFurence General Store. Two of our popular T-Shirt designs are still available for a limited time: “Furries in Force” (black on honey-color) by Eric Schwartz from CF7, and “Furries in Love” (black and pink on grey) by Rachael Cawley from CF9. Plus, we still offer the ConFurence Seven Highlights Video, and now (newly available!) we have ConFurence Eight – Music and Mirth on video too! Not to mention many cool prints and extra Souvenir Books! Look for the order form from The General Store attached to the back of this very issue of In-Fur-Nation.
Gotta Catch’em All! (Endlessly, in the Pokemon videos et al!)
More Furry Conventions All Around!
Here’s the run-down on some upcoming furry gatherings in other parts of the country…
Other Conventions
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Further ConFusion, 1999 January 14 – 17, 1999, The Westin Santa Clara, California A brand new furry convention for California, right in the heart of Silicon Valley. Designed to promote a sense of community within Furry Fandom. Guests of Honor include animator/artist Ken Mitchroney, furry costumer/prop designer/artist Ed Kline, and furry writer/novelist/filksinger Michael H. Payne. Rooms at the Westin Santa Clara will be available for $85.00 per night for singles or doubles, if you register before December 21st, 1998. Call (408) 986-0700, or 1-800-WESTIN1 outside the local area, for reservations. Registration for membership is $30.00 until December 1st, 1998, then $35.00 at the door. For more information (including the art show, dealers’ room, and programming) write to: Further Confusion, P.O. Box 1299, Cupertino, CA 95015-1299, or e-mail them at info@furtherconfusion.org . And be sure to check out their home web site at http://www.furtherconfusion.org . |
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Feral!, 1999 For more information on this annual outdoor gathering of furries in Canada, check out Eli McIlveen’s post in the news section above. |