Walt Disney's War of the Worlds (In Color)

He's A Rock - It - Man!

Most lovers of hammy actors who also like to sing (but should never have gone near a recording studio) have heard or seen Big Bill Shatner's take on Elton John's Rocket Man, right? A combination of low-tech video special effects and a disintegrating tuxedo - who needs a malfunctioning transporter to deliver multiple Shatners?

But ... have you seen TV cult fave Chris Eliott's take on the tune (and the performance)? Chris answers the question "Can a parody of a performance that was already a parody the moment it aired still be funny?" with a resounding, "Affirmative!"

And finally, here's Stewie Griffin's attempt to out-Shatner Shatner. Talk about in-jokes most teenagers wouldn't get (which does dispel the notion that Family Guy is aimed exclusively at adolescent males). Same goes for all of those musical comedy gags and references as well!

Toons In 3-Dimensions

Check out this amazing flickr set of View-Master slides courtesy of Matt Hinrichs ... quite simply put, these are some of the most beautiful sculptures of animated images you'll ever see.

Hey, I Wrote That!

Feel the Thunder! Kung Fu Panda Coloring and Activity Books from Kappa Publishing are on sale now! Choose from three 32 page originals ("Go Po!" "Panda-Monium" and "Kung Fu Crew") with a beginning, middle and end as I wrote 'em or go for the extra value meal that mashes the trio into two new 96 page configurations with extra pages written for a fourth unpublished book. I personally recommend "Go Po!" as my favorite of the trio. Be warned that the larger books don't flow as logically as their shorter cousins and come minus the bonus goodies (tattoos, stickers and the like) found in the glossier and shorter versions.

Whoopie Once! Whoopie Twice!

Today, I'm flashing back to 1975.

I was eight years old, and if memory serves, was exposed to the animated "Really Rosie" as a syndicated special. The half hour video adapted the poetry and artwork of Maurice Sendak, best known then and now for Where The Wild Things Are. In less than 30 minutes, a short series of books called The Nutshell Library was set to music and performed by the legendary Carole King.

For decades afterwards, songs such as "One Was Johnny" and Chicken Soup With Rice," were lodged in my head.

Flash forward to last year on a trip to Massachusetts, when I was able to pick up a copy of the special on VHS in a used book store. Said video was filed away, with my thinking I would enjoy it again when the time was right.

Today, the time was right. I had a half-hour hole in my lesson plan on poetry, so I screened the video for my eighth grade middle school classes (I teach English, by the way) to reinforce the concepts of alliteration and rhyme.

I wasn't sure the admittedly dated animation would hold some of the attention of today's kids ... but, amazingly enough, all of my blocks were well-behaved, and seemed to really enjoy the special! There was no sleeping, and talking was non-existant. A pleasant surprise, and one that helped me to remember that even today's jaded teens are still children in so many ways....