Two and a half years ago, we explored
the early history of Cartoon Network... but it wasn't the only player in the youth television game.
As a matter of fact,
Fred Seibert -- the man responsible for the most inventive projects discussed in that post -- first stretched his creative legs at the network's
truly venerable forerunner:
Nickelodeon.
Founded as Pinwheel, a six-hour block on Warner Cable's innovative
QUBE system, this humble channel struggled for years before Seibert's innovative branding work transformed it into a national icon and capstone of a media empire.
Much has changed since then, from the mascots and game shows to
the versatile orange "splat." But starting tonight in response to popular demand, the network is
looking back with
a summer programming block dedicated to the greatest hits of the 1990s, including
Hey Arnold!, Rocko's Modern Life, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Double Dare, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Legends of the Hidden Temple, and
All That.
To celebrate, look inside for the complete story of the early days of the network that incensed the religious right, brought doo-wop to television, and slimed a million fans -- the golden age of Nickelodeon.
(warning: monster post inside) [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Jul 25, 2011 -
116 comments
James Cameron has acknowledged that Avatar implicitly criticizes America's War in Iraq and the impersonal nature of mechanized warfare in general, although it's not the films main theme.
American Conservatives have blasted Avatar for depicting U.S. marines as villains. Others see it as a "race fantasy" for
white people. Over in
China, Communists see parallels between the movie’s plot and one of the nation’s most prominent social issues: the forced removal of Chinese citizens from their homes for government development projects. The
St. Petersburg Communist Party believes the film is an American apology for Obama's Nobel Peace Prize. “It is quite funny to watch how the activists of the national liberation movement of Pandora accept a Pentagon-made mutant instead of judging him by the laws of the revolutionary time,” the communists noted.
posted by stbalbach
on Jan 14, 2010 -
264 comments
In a very unusual move, 20th Century Fox has decided to release James Cameron’s entire screenplay for AVATAR online. Read
the script as a PDF.
posted by twoleftfeet
on Jan 11, 2010 -
230 comments
People have been trying to make the appearance of three-dimensional movement
almost as far back as
the first movie cameras. The very first efforts used
stereoscopy (
more pre-
vious-
ly), which wasn't functional for theater-settings.
In 1915, the first public test of 3D film was deemed unsuccessful, as images presented with
green/red lenses detracted from the plot, but that didn't stop people from trying to make 3D films.
Polarized glasses are another inexpensive method of simulated 3D, while
shutterglasses are a more costly method. Up to 1998 or so, there were
approximately 187 3D movies made, not counting porn, cartoons and shorts (which bring the 1998 total to 263). 2009 is supposedly
the year that 3D movies really take off, as it has been reported that 3D films are expected to gross over $1bn (£700m) at the box office next year, a five-fold increase on their $200m haul in 2008.
There are some really big titles coming, including
the "3D drug trip" that is Avatar, and
all of the announced future Pixar releases will get the Digital Disney 3-D treatment. But 3D isn't limited to the big screen and big companies. The next format war
could be over 3D TV. And now the independent production company
MeniThings has released the feature-length movie,
Battle for Terra. [via
mefi projects, and a bit more on the movie after the jump]
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on May 8, 2009 -
56 comments
Mel Lyman 1938-1978. Mel Lyman was controversial. He was the brilliant folk musician who soothed the Dylan-ruffled crowd at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, the Fort Hill guru whose prose in the undergound newspaper Avatar shocked conservative Bostonians of the late 60s... Many years of collecting, and help from numerous people has resulted in the large collection of articles reproduced here. Some say Lyman was God... others that he was a devil... but most of these articles show him as a charismatic individual somewhere between those two extremes.
An exhaustively authoritative page about a very interesting harmonica player who became God. And, man, does this bring back the 60s...(Details within)
posted by y2karl
on Mar 24, 2002 -
21 comments
Looks like Haptek is going to give
Ananova a run for her money. Haptek is working on a virtual newscaster. The difference is Ananova get's built on the server and streamed like a tv show. Haptek renders the character on your machine. Which is better? We'll see.
posted by triptych
on Mar 6, 2000 -
3 comments
