Alien Sculpture

Okay, I've been working on this alien character for almost two years, and it's time to publish something. I call her Athena. She is actually composite creature, composed of  7 separate organisms. I've decided to set the canon for her origin; "she" brings herself together, after several failed attempts by Herman Bear. This is their attempt at an anthropomorphic form, after looking at Herman, and, uh, one particular "swimsuit edition" Herman had on board his ship.

When Herman Bear becomes stranded on the planet Solstice, he first believes the native life forms are unintelligent, and they seem to prey on each other regularly. He later realizes that the creatures only combine, separate, and then recombine to sustain and nourish each other. It's also how they communicate. He tries to "build a being", but is never completely successful. But soon after Herman's meddling, the separate creatures get the idea and come together to form Athena. The butterfly/flowers soon learn to speak. Their "legs" are formed from large lampreys, the feet are simple, shoe-like snails, and the body and head are one unit, like a large, uh, potato with a beak. The beak is actually a large claw the body pod uses to drag itself over the ground.

After pages and pages of sketches, I finally committed myself to their forms and proportions. The figure is just under 9 inches tall, carved from styrofoam, wire and plaster. I also roughed out a Herman Bear figure to get a definite size relationship. I'm struggling to make him more refined as well.

I'm working on the next model, with more detail and posable joints. At any rate, when these seven organisms come together, they become the forerunner of a new species on the planet Solstice. She/they eventually become the good will ambassador of their world, the possible matriarch, and perhaps even the custodian of the planet's future. And Herman Bear has a companion, so he isn't left alone on the planet. She/they teach how to survive. And more.

I must admit, I got the inspiration for this from the old animated Star Trek series episode "BEM". (Bug Eyed Monster). But I think I'm original enough with this creature, and her motives and origins are quite different.  http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Bem_(episode)

(Now I even see parallels to Voltron, and other anime' where separate components come together to form a greater being. But this isn't quite the same case here.)

All images copyright Ken Roskos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crj0V_R77Ns

Herman Bear on the planet Solstice

Here's some sketches from July in Canada...

Herman Bear lands on my new planet Solstice...

I didn't want him to be alone on the planet,
so I gave him a new companion.

(Cubcake is also there, but I'm not sure I'll keep her in the story.)

 

The bear has to make a new friend, literally! Herman assembles "Athena" from different organisms to build a composite creature. Sort of a cross between Larry Niven's Pierson's Puppeteers, and Sylvia the "Zbornak" from Disney's "Wander over Yonder".

http://larryniven.net/puppeteer/pupbod.shtml

(It's a long story)

When Herman first sees Athena, she is just some kind of seed pod that drags itself along the ground with some sort of beak. Herman has to put her together as an intelligence test designed by other aliens. Enjoy!

Wander Over Yonder cancelled

Well, this is not what I wanted to hear:

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/disney/craig-mccracken-confirms-wander-over-yonder-finished-137583.html

 

(copyright Disney)

 http://wifflegif.com/tags/177984-wander-over-yonder-gifs

 

I was enjoying this series, even though it was designed for a younger audience. There are a few, *ahem*, mature quirks in the show, but you have to look very closely.

Some of the episodes really pushed the artistic boundaries, such as "The Void" where everything this side of "Yellow Submarine" was possible.

 

http://crackmccraigen.tumblr.com/post/140529754374/wander-over-yonder-over

"WOY" creator Craig McCracken has confirmed this. Personally, I think Wander was railroaded the way the original Star Trek was put into lousy time slots by NBC during its original broadcasts. The Mouse picked up a Cartoon Network type show, and didn't know what to do with it.

http://crackmccraigen.tumblr.com/

 

No toys, no other merchandise, All I can say is "Bah, Humbug".

Speaking of Star Trek, I was hoping we would see Lord Dominator get her comeuppance. Maybe in the way Trelane did in the "Squire of Gothos".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqQa1Xhu9cQ

 

Still, I fell in love with the characters, and the designs, so Wander, Sylvia, and all the villains will still have a place in my heart. 

 

Except for Hater, he's still a jerk. 

Wander over Yonder The Bot

Wander over Yonder - the Bot - A character dies!

Well, I didn't see this coming:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-26EHu5kRQY

 Lord Dominator is not turning out to be such a likable villain. At first I thought she was so powerful that she was simply competing with the other supervillains just for fun. But now we see her ruthless side, and executes not just one, but two of her minions in a demonstration of sheer callousness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_NN46_3Pvw&ebc=ANyPxKr2_tug_gmLO8EpvEd_0qo7CdXhcF-Oia5Obzc1T2aUOvfDk6Hx9-kbgZP9aC5NQJqxNuAS 

SPOILER ALERT!!!

http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/wander-over-yonder-and-jon-hamm-show-limited-anima-231835 

First, "Bot" 42 ( a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference?) is sent to a fiery death after he turns in a poor survey report. It turns out that Lord Dominator needs a special element, "Volcanium X", to power her army. Dominator then calls on her favorite evil space probe, "Bot" 13. "Bot"13 inadvertently helps cause "Bot" 42's demise when his report shows 3 planets rich in "Volcanium X". In a fit of pique, Lord Dominator tosses poor "Bot" 42 out of her ship, and lets him burn up on entering a planet's atmosphere.

After making an example out of  "Bot" 42,  Lord Dominator demands that the rest of her 'bots to move it, and resume their search for more "Volcanium X" in a hurry. "Bot"13 seems eager to please, and heads off to keep his good record going.

Naturally, "Bot"13 crash lands after getting snagged on Wander's kite. Damaged, "Bot"13 is unable to attack Wander, and Wander, naturally, tries to help him. Unable to speak clearly, Wander mishears the robot's name, and calls "Bot"13 simply "Beep Boop".

After resisting Wander's initial attempts at being friends, "Bot"13 learns to appreciate Wander's kindness, and refuses to cooperate with Lord Dominator. After deleting his files containing the location of the mother load of "Volcanium X", (which happens to be the planet Wander and Sylvia are visiting), "Bot"13 shares the fate of "Bot"42.

Only this time, "Bot"13 takes a last look at photo of him and Wander as friends.

Wander managed to stir something in "Bot"13, and helped him outgrow his obedience to Lord Dominator. Before "Bot"13 vaporizes, his memories go back to the good times he had with Wander, and states: "I am Beep Boop".

At the same time, Wander and Sylvia begin to realize that "Bot"13 did not give their position away to Dominator, and are impressed at his bravery. They look up at the night sky and see a shooting star.

Unaware of "Bot"13's situation, Wander can only say, "Good luck Beep Boop".

Wander Over Yonder Season 2

Disney XD - Wander Over Yonder ID from Golden Wolf on Vimeo.

Wander Over Yonder Season 2 Trailer at Comic-Con

 Looks like they are turning up the heat on Wander Over Yonder. There's a lot more action, and the new super villain is a girl. We also get to see some male Zbornaks.

I like the MST3K tribute with He-Man thrown in, and Sylvia as Gigantor. According to Disney XD, new episodes will be begin Monday, August 3rd.

                               

(artwork copyright Disney)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg00b_nz8PE&feature=youtu.be

Wander over Yonder - the Gift

I guess I'm projecting too much of my own ideas onto Wander over Yonder. They could have had a real cliff hanger with Sylvia seriously considering getting back together with Ryder.
Spoiler Alert!

Disney might have added more depth if Ryder did have some redeeming values, instead of being a selfish jerk. The "B" story could have been Wander's comical attempts at being the tough guy to win Sylvia back. Wander could have teamed up with the giant space slug that was sneaking up behind him to eat him.

(art copyright Disney)

But we have learned more about Sylvia, after seeing "The Rider" episode. She was turning into quite an outlaw after leaving her relatively happy world of Marshfalaffle Apple Meadow. But being with Wander let's her share in his magic, and so she can tolerate most of his goofy antics. For instance, being decorated with jingle bells as they deliver gifts throughout the galaxy.

Wander is still a mystery, and maybe he should be left that way.

It leaves some things to the viewers imagination, and makes the show more fun.

Happy Holidays folks, I'm still trying to get into the spirit out here.

http://youtu.be/1Ji0f869QlU

Wander Over Yonder - The Liar

Here we see Sylvia in "Loch Ness Monster mode" as she rescues some little Tiki guys. They are trying to escape from an erupting volcano which is about to blow it's top. She swims away frantically as giant flaming boulders rain down from Mount "Krak-yer-big-toa".

(Spoiler Alert) 

Having reached the mainland, Sylvia thinks the excitement is over and heads to a beach side bar. She's unable to relax when she sees that Wander has gone back to rescue a momma bird and her chicks.

In a tree.

Right over the mouth of the volcano.

Sylvia can only mutter to her drink: "Wait for me, tiny umbrella".

 (copyright Disney)

The action really begins as they struggle to rescue the family of birds from the volcano. When Sylvia says trying to save the birds is impossible, Wander chastises her with "I smell a big pile of  'can't do-do'".

The running gag is the momma bird keeps biting them to protect her young. (She thinks Wander and Sylvia are attacking her chicks.) The bird also delivers an electric shock which illuminates their skeletons. 

One baby bird runs off ("Gary") and hides in a hole in the side of the hill. Naturally, Wander and party pursue, and only to fall into some caves underneath the volcano.

 I kept wondering who the Liar was in this episode. It turns out that it's Wander. He swore that no one would die this day. Instead, it is Wander who turns out to be the Liar when they become trapped. 

Fortunately, Sylvia does not succumb to despair. She notices the hazards they faced before, and gets an idea. She makes a literal leap of faith, and takes them to safety riding one of the giant flaming boulders as Mount "Krak-yer-big-toa" finally blows itself to bits.

Their boulder crashes back on the beach, which also knocks over the bar. Fortunately, one of the little Tiki guys brings Sylvia her drink, complete with little pink umbrella. But before she can take a sip, she gets shocked by the birds one more time, only this time they jump on her out of gratitude.

Wander compliments Sylvia on her bravery and ingenuity.

Sylvia smiles and walks away, saying: "I never doubted it for a second".

With her back turned, her smile turns into a grimace of worry.

Thanks again to-

http://wandernews.tumblr.com/

Cartoon Horse and rider - Wander Over Yonder

I've become a big fan of Wander Over Yonder. and noticed over the years how the cowboy, or adventurer theme comes back to TV animation every now and then.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder?from=Main.WanderOverYonder

Wander Over Yonder seems to have some roots in these old shows.
Wander is the hippie-cowboy who rides his alien "Zbornak" named Sylvia.
Sylvia serves as his horse.
In most of these shows, the horse is very often the reluctant companion,
or, after a misadventure, is the one who usually says "I told you so."

(copyrights clockwise from upper left: Terrytoons, Filmation, Jay Ward Productions, & Disney)

Starting in the upper left, we have The Adventures of Lariat Sam from Terrytoons in the early 1960's. Lariat Sam was produced by Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo). Lariat Sam's horse was Tippy Toes, a fussy horse who wore a bowler hat with a white dickie and bow-tie. While Lariat Sam relied on his lasso instead of a gun, Tippy Toes often took the brunt of the jokes in the show's physical humor.

Then in the 1980's, there was BraveStarr with his cyberhorse 30-30 by Filmation. 30-30 could use his bionic limbs to transform from a four legged horse to a person that stood upright. 30-30 was large, strong, had a short temper, liked a good scrap, and seemed to be a weapons expert. (He even talked to his gun "Mary Jane" in one episode.) But it was BraveStarr who saved the day in overcoming the villians with the right amount of reasoning, insight and directed power. 30-30's direct confrontations with opponents never seemed to end well.

Going back to the 60's, there was Dudley Do-Right. As a Mountie in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Dudley was far from being the sharpest knife in the drawer. His horse, simply called "Horse", was the only one to notice when things were going wrong. Horse was also the only cartoon horse that I know of who could not speak.

Which brings us back to Wander Over Yonder. Wander is a good-natured alien meddler who travels from planet to planet with his best friend Sylvia, who also happens to be his "Sapient Steed".

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SapientSteed

Sylvia is the more grounded "straight man" to Wander, and the voice of reason in contrast to his impulsive need to bring help and fun across the entire galaxy. She also gets more than her fair share of physical punishment from their enemies, and just by trying to keep Wander out of trouble. It's amazing she still stays with Wander with all the abuse she has to put up with.

*  *  *  *  *  *

Another show that was kind of obscure was Luno the White Stallion: I actually only saw one episode while on a car trip to Florida while passing through Atlanta. From then, I was hooked. It took me years to find some episodes on VHS. Luno was another version of Pegasus that symbolized travel, adventure, and magic. Luno and Tim could fly back in time to classic storybook adventures.

(original copyright Terrytoons)

Hey, the Aquabats liked him enough to put him in a song:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpmwW68FOJU
www.theaquabats.com

While not a TV show,  I have to bring up the Magic Pony by Soyuzmultfilm. CFPL TV 10 in London, Canada would drift over Lake Erie to northeast Ohio. The CBC brought me an extra range of children's shows in addition to the U.S. networks in the 1960's.

 (copyright Soyuzmultfilm)

To my knowledge, the Magic Pony was never shown, but I loved the full animation Soyuzmultfilm put out. The boy in this story learns the dangers in telling tall stories, and gets more than he bargained for when he accidentally captures the queen of the magic horses.

Disney Fantasia Ostrich Ballerina meets Wander over Yonder Sylvia

Still trying to get back in my groove after my trip to Canada...

Here's another quick mashup of Wander over Yonder's Sylvia, and the Ostrich Ballerina from Disney's Fantasia. The potential for calamity here must be astronomical. I wonder how long Sylvia would put up with "Mademoiselle Upanova's" haughty attitude...

Probably a whole 2 seconds I would think...

(All artwork copyright Disney Corp., strangely enough.)

Enjoy!

Wander over Yonder - Sylvia

Okay, this will get me in trouble: I gave Wander's dino-horse-friend Sylvia a "makeover", and turned her into a torch song singer. From what I've seen of Sylvia's character, I'm sure she would hate it.
Maybe it's her sister, or a close cousin. For what it's worth, someone on deviantART liked another one of my Sylvia drawings SO much, he gave my makeover a makeover.

http://brandonultimate.deviantart.com/art/Sylvia-the-Zbornak-in-a-one-piece-Swimsuit-441460045

Ain't the internet grand?

(artwork copyright Craig McCracken/Disney Corp.)

Here she is with some slapdash Photoshop coloring. I picture her here singing "What's new"

(With apologies to Craig McCracken and Linda Ronstadt)

Wander over yonder

Now this looks like fun! Wander over Yonder reminds me of Tom Terrific done in a Quisp cereal style, with a little BraveStarr thrown in. The star on Wander's hat made me think he was some type of marshall, but I guess he's just the opposite. I like the magic setting of going from planet to planet, looking for adventure. And a spot for the perfect picnic.

https://www.google.com/search?q=wander+over+yonder&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#

Looks like the Disney Channel is getting a boost now that Craig McCracken has left Cartoon Network. McCracken is the creator and executive producer of the show. McCracken had created the Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends for CN. It's not so much about the studio name anymore, but where the top talent goes

I like the contrast between Wander, who is joyful and fun loving, and his dino-horse-girl pal Sylvia. Sylvia is the first cute female character (that I've seen) who likes a good scrap and seems to go looking for trouble. Their voices are performed by Jack McBrayer as Wander, and April Winchell as Sylvia. It turns out April is the daughter of famous ventriloquist Paul Winchell.

                          (Artwork copyright Disney Channel)

A friend at the Animation Guild tipped me off about this show. It takes me back to my old back to school days, and my anticipation of the new fall TV line up. Especially for the new Saturday morning cartoons. I've been watching the previews on YouTube over and over again already.

And the primary villain is named Lord Hater. Hater? That's pretty bold for a kid's show. I hope there will be more for the adults. "Yes, Lord Vader, I mean Hater." Huh?

Hey, the show has some spunk. It's been missing in animation for a long time. I hope this succeeds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgX839ftKO8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwN5HLiZ7_o