|Strange Dominion Studio|

Slight Update..Kind of..

2010-09-02T16:52:00.000-07:00

Busy Busy, three different animations in the works and even a game!

Learning the powers of the mystical flixel.. check out a stupid demo i made. So terrible...

Retro Thursdays! - Rock & Rule

2010-08-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

Ending this month on a high note here, I've chosen one of my all time favorite animated movies!
Rock & Rule! This 1983 film was a doomed success. Plagued with setbacks and terrible, almost non-existent marketing, it never got released to the mainstream audiences that it intended.
The animation is great, the atmosphere reeks 80's, and it features original music by the likes of Earth, Wind & Fire, Debbie Harry, Iggy Pop, and Lou Reed!!! Seriously this should have been on the top of everybody's list.

Here's the Wikipedia synopsis of the film to give you all the little ins and outs. Just click on the picture below to begin playback of the movie.

This is the American edited version of the film. It's the much more rare Canadian version that contains all the uncut goodness...hard to find but if you do grab it!

Retro Thursdays! - Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

2010-08-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a classic for you all! Anybody remember Rikki-Tikki-Tavi?
This 1975 classic Chuck Jones toon was a made for T.V. movie that was fairly dark considering the classic Jone's look that it had. Though it did stay much more true to the source material unlike the Disney's Jungle Book from which Rikki-Tikki-Tavi was a short story in..

Here's the Wikipedia article however I couldn't find one focused on the cartoon itself. Oh well!...Click zee picture!

(EDIT: Video source has been updated :D)

And your Amazon.com link!

In the Mean Time..

2010-08-16T14:07:00.000-07:00

Yes I am keeping busy!

Besides working on a couple different projects (slowly but surely) I do sketch occasionally and mess around with Gimp. Thought I could at least update a bit more by posting some of the stuff I do here and there...

Here's a couple of wallpapers I made for my Ubuntu and Windows computer! Woooh!

Aaand there we go!

Retro Thursdays! - Shinbone Alley

2010-08-12T04:00:00.000-07:00

This week we have another UPA produced musical, 1971's Shinbone Alley.
This animation was considered a flop along with it's theatrical counterpart, but still is regarded as a cult classic due to its strange story. Basically some guy commits suicide and comes back as a cockroach and falls in love with a cat, but being a cockroach can't get her attention and repeatedly commits suicide again. There's a lot more to it than that but you get the basic gist of it all..

Check out some other random Wikipedia info here and click on the image below to begin the film...Enjoy!

As always if you enjoy this movie check it out on Amazon.com

Retro Thursdays! - When The Wind Blows

2010-08-05T04:00:00.000-07:00

Wow so it's been a while since I've last updated hasn't it? Well life has it's funny little way of, well...getting in the way!

However back to business, I have gathered about a months worth of Retro Thursdays movies for all you to watch so get ready for those! The comics however will be another story since I was hoping to have some new ones done by now..oh well :/

This week we have the 1986 film When the Wind Blows. This neat little film is based on the book of the same name (like most good movies I suppose..). It's also another hybrid film in which most of the environments are real and the characters are animated. This is an apocalyptic movie and although the movie starts out lightheartedly enough as it progresses things become more and more dark.

Here is your Wikipedia Synopsis as per usual and as always just click on the image below to begin the playlist of the film :D

And please if you enjoy the film and would like to own it then check it out here on Amazon.com

This Coming Month...

2010-07-31T09:57:00.000-07:00

New Retro Thursday movies coming this August!

...

2010-07-17T09:17:00.001-07:00

Comic - Apartment 308 Ep. 2

2010-05-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

And here is the next comic in which my second Apartment 308 short was based on.

As you can see I used to have a Tick character. I felt this was too much like Aqua Teen Hunger Force since I was having the Tick kind of act like a Meatwad character, Fly was mean like Master Shake, and Ant was the Frylock of the group. So I scrapped him in the cartoon version and added Worm in his place. Worm is much more pathetic and also won't play as big of a role. I kept Ant in there for now, but he is gonna be fazed out and replaced by Roach... Who is just as bad as Fly.

Comic - Apartment 308 Ep. 1

2010-05-17T04:00:00.000-07:00

Here it is as promised! This comic was the inspiration for the first Apartment 308 short.

I remember after I first drew it out something happened (most likely spilled soda on it) to where it was almost destroyed. I scanned it in, cleaned it up, and replaced the dialog with a computer font. This inspired me to do the same with the other comic...which you'll see next week!

...Unless of course you dig through my archives..in which it is hidden! Muahahah!

Sorry...

2010-05-13T12:23:00.003-07:00

No Retro Thursday movie today :(
Been very busy this week but I'll make it up tomorrow for sure!

Comic - Blue Marker Syndrome!

2010-05-10T04:00:00.000-07:00

I love these random comics I did.. Notice the Canadian guy? Yup same one from the first Apartment 308 cartoon!
Also there's a quick tribute to Homestarrunner right at the end :P

Retro Thursdays! - Gay Purr-ee

2010-05-06T04:00:00.000-07:00

This week we have the 1962 UPA movie Gay Purr-ee. I wanted to feature a Chuck Jones film and it was a toss between this and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. I ultimately went with Gay Purr-ee even though it wasn't officially produced by Chuck Jones merely writter by him, however his influence is more than evident.
Gay Purr-ee is a Parisian story about cats (yes more cats!) and before anybody starts drawing comparisons with Aristocats remember that this movie predates it by almost ten years! Although the character designs are typical Jone's savior-faire, and I say that in a good way, the background designs are very stylistic and almost painterly.

As always and again, here is your Wikipedia Synopsis. Please click on the image below to begin the playlist.
Note that this time the film is hosted on a Romanian site so dont be alarmed!

And you can always find this movie and more on Amazon.com!

New Layout!

2010-05-04T16:40:00.000-07:00

Ah yes.. Another month, another layout design.

I've finally got around to implementing the new layout I had made a while back. I was having trouble getting blogger to conform to my new columns and after some searching around the webz I more or less found the answers. I have a couple more additions to put in but those are minor. Also there's still a few quirks to fiddle around with, one namely being the magical disappearing footer whenever I try to add the Theyfollow.me widget, but more or less everything is on its way to being perfect...for now!

So if you happen to stop by in the near future let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions as to why that particular twitter widget just won't cooperate, I will be much appreciative!

:]

Comic - Ferris Wheel Frenzy!

2010-05-03T04:00:00.000-07:00

This has nothing to do with ferris wheels and everything to do with working at the office.

This is one of my favorite old-timey's. I love the chemistry i created between these two.

Spoiler Alert* They will be making an appearance in Apt. 308! Although they won't be stick figures.

Retro Thursdays! - Fantastic Planet

2010-04-29T04:00:00.000-07:00

This week's retro movie is from 1973. An international film Fantastic Planet or La Planete Sauvage was a production by both France and Czechoslovakia.

This is a very surreal story that takes place on the planet Ygam in which humans are taken and basically treated as animals. It's a little slow to start but if you can wrap your head around it then it is definitely worth the watch!

Once again here is your Wikipedia Synopsis! Click on the image below to view the movie playlist.

And if you find this movie worthwhile you can always purchase it on Amazon:

Comic - Doug's Imaginary Friend

2010-04-26T04:00:00.000-07:00

Here's one that was slightly inspired by Drop Dead Fred! If you've never seen that movie then go rent it now! Definitely one of my favorite childhood movies..

Google Search Story - Apt. 308 Style

2010-04-23T11:14:00.000-07:00

So Youtube has this thing going on where you can create your own Search Story. I tried it out and it's pretty fun for a laugh. I made an Apartment 308 one but found it lacked a little commentary. So I downloaded the file, and spiced it up a bit!

In the mean time production is coming along much slower than anticipated. The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy for me. Going up and down, up and down and now car troubles. Not to say that it's at a halt but things are begining to get on track once again.

Retro Thursdays! - The Plague Dogs

2010-04-22T04:00:00.000-07:00

This week we have a good one from 1982! Based off the book of the same name, The Plague Dogs is a very gripping tale of two dogs that have escaped an animal testing lab after being put through brutal tests. You really get a feel for what they are going through and all the trouble they must endure just to be free.

I really enjoy the animation in this movie. It's far from the typical Disney-esque animals in which they seem more human than otherwise. The animals in this film actually have all the little quirks and tendencies of the real thing and the only humanity you experience is when they speak. Definitely a must see!
Here is your usual Wikipedia synopsis. And as always you may click on the picture below to view the movie:

Once again you may find this movie on Amazon.com:

Comic - The First Apartment 308!

2010-04-19T04:00:00.000-07:00

Hmm... Let's try and spice up these Mondays with more comics!
This is a special one because it was the first time I ever had the idea for Apartment 308. You can see that there was another character which was supposed to be a Tick. I eventually scratched him out of the whole thing and replaced him with Worm.
Click To Enlarge:

Later on I'll post up the other two Apartment 308 comics that I based my cartoons on!

Retro Thursday! - Felidae

2010-04-15T04:00:00.000-07:00

This week we have have the 1994 film Felidae (yes the latin term for felines). This is a German animated film about...you guessed it, cats!
Directed by Michael Schaak and animated by the Trickompany animation studio, this movie is great in that it's basically a noir murder mystery involving a cat named Francis and the new neighborhood he's just moved into. So it has cats, mystery, murder, and an awesome 90's theme song to boot! Something for everybody!
Check out the full synopsis here on Wikipedia. Click on the image below to watch the movie:

Once again if you like what you see and want to purchase the film you can get it here below. It helps the creators and myself! . . . More or less haha.

One In The Morning & Still No Inspiration..

2010-04-14T01:04:00.001-07:00

I'm actually going to go to bed. I think Friday night I'll try staying up late and do that whole "make a comic strip because my mind is totally tired" thing... Maybe.

Comics! Goth-Stick-Boy

2010-04-13T12:04:00.000-07:00

Well, sort of...
Things have been going slowly once again. Been busy with the trials and tribulations of "real" life.
In an attempt to keep this blog updated more consistently I'm going to try and post a weekly comic! First I'll start off with some of my ancient comics that were done waaaay back yonder then newer one's after that. Do not be fooled though! These are mostly just randomly drawn out sketches that happen to have words in them. Good for a giggle or two I suppose :D
Note that I pulled these off of my old photobucket account and since I haven't been on there in ages all my images got progressively smaller and smaller...I'll try and enlarge them, hopefully they won't lose too much quality. Not that there was much there to begin with...

First one! Click to enlarge:

A little history:
I drew this back during my "goth" faze. I would go to a lot of parties and always, ALWAYS! There was at least one guy like this. Ah...2002. We survived the Y2K and it was just downhill from there...

Retro Thursdays Begin! - Hey Good Lookin'

2010-04-08T14:15:00.000-07:00

Hmm... So let's see how long I can keep this up!

Every Thursday I'll be posting a recommended "retro" animated movie or show along with a link to the video so that you can view it! And yes, this will be called "Retro Thursdays."

Enough talk! Since my last post was about the 1982 Ralph Bakshi movie Hey Good Lookin' I thought I'd start of easy with that! Here's the Wikipedia Synopsis of the film since I'm way too lazy at the moment to write my own...

Click on the image below to start the movie playlist:

I will try to fix broken links if and when they happen and only if the post is still relevent. Hope you all enjoy!

Also I know we live in a day and age where we can watch all this stuff for free, but if you really do enjoy these videos please support the creators by buying the film. I'll even link you to them!

Neat Article on Bakshi's Hey Good Lookin'

2010-04-06T16:32:00.000-07:00

LINK: Inner City Hues - The saga of Hey Good Lookin’, Ralph Bakshi’s fractured masterpiece..

Bakshi is definitely one of the more interesting animators of his time. Determined to stretch animation to it's limits he always tried to incorporate real life into his works, whether it be rotoscoping, recorded audio of actual street life, or...whatever!

This is an interesting article about "Hey Good Lookin'" a film in which Bakshi tries to blur the line between animation and real life. Click the link above and give it a read!

Original article written by Tony Best, hosted on Waxpoetics.com