#also love seeing the little tidbits of campaign as art rolls in

[ashmcgivern]

Revenge for @palidoozy-art of their scrungly cryptid of a man, Kjosev!! Love this guy, glad I finally got to draw him >:]

[upontheshelfreviews]

Last year I talked about Fantasia, which is not just one of my favorite Disney movies, but one of my favorite movies in general. And if I may be self-indulgent for a moment, it’s also one of the reviews that I’m the proudest of. Fantasia is a visual, emotional masterpiece that marries music and art in a manner few cinematic ventures have come close to replicating. One question that remains is what my thoughts on the long-gestated sequel is –

…you might wanna get yourselves some snacks first.

As anyone who read my review on the previous film knows, Fantasia was a project ahead of its time. Critics and audiences turned their noses up at it for conflicting reasons, and the film didn’t even make it’s budget back until twenty-something years later when they began marketing it to a very different crowd.

“I don’t wanna alarm you dude, but I took in some Fantasia and these mushrooms started dancing, and then there were dinosaurs everywhere and then they all died, but then these demons were flying around my head and I was like WOOOOOAAAHHH!!”

“Yeah, Fantasia is one crazy movie, man.”

“Movie?”

Fantasia’s unfortunate box office failure put the kibosh on Walt Disney’s plans to make it a recurring series with new animated shorts made to play alongside handpicked favorites. The closest he came to following through on his vision was Make Mine Music and Melody Time, package features of shorts that drew from modern music more than classical pieces.

Fast-forward nearly fifty years later to the golden age known as the Disney Renaissance: Walt’s nephew Roy E. Disney surveys the new crop of animators, storytellers, and artists who are creating hit after hit and have brought the studio back to his uncle’s glory days, and thinks to himself, “Maybe now we can make Uncle Walt’s dream come true.” He made a good case for it, but not everyone was on board. Jeffrey Katzenberg loathed the idea, partly because he felt the original Fantasia was a tough act to follow (not an entirely unreasonable doubt) but most likely due to the fact that the last time Disney made a sequel, The Rescuers Down Under, it drastically underperformed (even though the reasons for that are entirely Katzenberg’s fault. Seriously, watch Waking Sleeping Beauty and tell me you don’t want to punch him in the nose when Mike Gabriel recalls his opening weekend phone call).

Once Katzenberg was out of the picture, though, Fantasia 2000, then saddled with the less dated but duller moniker Fantasia Continued, got the go-ahead. Many of the sequences were made simultaneously as the animated features my generation most fondly remembers, others were created to be standalone shorts before they were brought into the fold. Since it was ready in time for the new millennium, it not only got a name change but a massive marketing campaign around the fact that it would be played on IMAX screens for a limited run, the very first Disney feature to do so. As a young Fantasia fan who had never been to one of those enormous theaters before, I begged and pleaded my parents to take me. Late that January, we traveled over to the IMAX theater at Lincoln Center, the only one nearest to us since they weren’t so widespread as they are now, and what an experience it was. I can still recall the feeling of awe at the climax of Pines of Rome, whispering eagerly with my mom at how the beginning of Rhapsody in Blue looked like a giant Etch-A-Sketch, and jumping twenty feet in the air when the Firebird’s massive eyes popped open. But did later viewings recapture that magic, or did that first time merely color my perception?

We open on snippets from the original Fantasia…IN SPAAAAAAAAACE!

It reminds me a little of the opening to Simply Mad About The Mouse, where bits of classic Disney nostalgia fly about to evoke the mood of this upcoming musical venture. In a clever conceit, snippets of Deems Taylor’s original opening narration explaining Fantasia’s intent and music types plays over the orchestra and animators materializing and gearing up for the first sequence, which jumps right into –

DUN DUN DUN DUUUUUUN – I mean, Symphony #5 – Ludwig Van Beethoven

Here, a bunch of butterflies flee and then fight off swarms of bats with the power of light – I can’t be the only one who saw these things and thought it was butterflies vs. bats, right?

It does look cool with its waterfalls and splashes of light and color bursting through the clouds, but this brings me to a bit of contention I have with the movie.

When I planned this review I was going to do a new version of “Things Fantasia Fans Are Sick of Hearing”, except there were only four major complaints I could think of that. On further introspection, I admit they are legitimate grievances worth addressing. I’m going to get them out of the way all at once in order to keep things rolling.

#1 – This Seems Familiar…

Certain sequences are noticeably derivative from the first movie. It’s as if they were afraid of trying too many new things that would alienate audiences so they borrowed from their predecessor in an effort to say “Hey, we can do this too!” Symphony #5 is clearly trying to be Tocatta and Fugue with its abstract geometric shapes swooping all over to kick things off. Though I love how much character the animators managed to give two pairs of triangles, Tocatta’s soaring subconscious flights of fancy leaves me more enthralled. Carnival of the Animals literally began as a sequel to Dance of the Hours until the ostriches became flamingoes. And Roy E. Disney openly stated he wanted the last sequence, The Firebird Suite to have the same death and rebirth theme as Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria, which they got, right down to a terrifying symbol of destruction emerging from a mountain to wreak chaos.

‘Sup, witches?

#2 – Too Short

Speaking of repeating the past, the original idea for Fantasia 2000 was to follow Walt’s vision in that three favorite segments would make a return amongst the newer ones – the Nutcracker Suite, which was eventually cut for time, Dance of the Hours, which I’ve already stated morphed into Carnival of the Animals, and finally, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, the obvious choice to keep since that’s the most popular piece out of any of them. Cutting things for time doesn’t make that much sense, however, when you realize that Fantasia 2000’s runtime is only 75 minutes. A very short animated film by today’s standards that lasts barely half as long as its previous installment. I don’t see why they couldn’t keep at least one other sequence from the first Fantasia to make things last a little longer and keep in the original idea’s spirit.

#3 – All Story, No Experimentation

Unlike the first Fantasia, all of the sequences have a linear narrative structure that’s easy to follow. Not a bad thing and kudos to you if you’re among that group who prefers Fantasia 2000 for because of that, but again, I admire how the original film didn’t stick to a coherent story the whole time; how it was unafraid to let the music, atmosphere, and visuals speak for itself without sticking to a three-act plot and designated protagonist for every piece.

#4 – The One You’ve Been Waiting For, The Host Segments

One of the things that turned Fantasia off for its detractors was Deems Taylor’s seemingly dry narration. But maybe Fantasia 2000 can fix that with some folks who are hip and with it, perhaps a wild and crazy guy or two…

Eh, he’ll do.

Now, the idea of varying segment hosts isn’t an altogether bad idea. Most of them work well: Angela Lansbury gives the lead-in to the Firebird Suite plenty of gravitas befitting the finale, as do Ithzak Perlman, Quincy Jones, and James Earl Jones, who build plenty of intrigue for Pines of Rome, Rhapsody in Blue and Carnival of the Animals respectively; this seriousness makes James’ reaction to what the Carnival segment is really about a successful comic subversion. Even Penn and Teller for all their obnoxiousness kind of works with The Sorcerer’s Apprentice due to the linking magic theme.

I suppose what turns people off is the self-congratulatory tone and seemingly forced attempts at comedy you get from Martin, Penn, Teller, and Bette Midler. But you know what? They still make me laugh after all these years (well, you have to laugh at Bette Midler’s antics or she’ll come after you when the Black Flame Candle is lit). In fact, I have to hand it to Midler’s intro in particular. Fantasia 2000 came out right around the time I began taking a keen interest in what animation really was and how it was made. For me, her preceding The Steadfast Tin Soldier piece with tidbits about Fantasia segments that didn’t make it past the drawing board was like the first free hit that turned me into an animation junkie (plus this was before you could look up anything on the topic in extraneous detail on the internet, so it had that going for it). If I have to nitpick, though, The Divine Miss M referring to Salvador Dalí as “the melting watches guy” is a bit reductive. That’d be like calling Babe Ruth “the baseball guy” or Walt Disney “the mouse and castle guy”. Plus, Dalí and Disney were close compadres with a layered history. They planned on many collaborations, though the fruit of their labors, Destino, would not be completed in either of their lifetimes. Couldn’t show just a modicum of respect there, Bette?

Ahhh! I take it back! Don’t steal my soul!

So, I wouldn’t say I hate or even completely dislike the host segments. Sorry to disappoint everyone who was hoping for me to rip into them. They’re not awful, just uneven. And if you think they ruin the movie for me, you’ve got another think coming.

Pines of Rome – Ottorino Respighi

The idea for Pines of Rome’s visuals came about due to an unusual detail in some concept art. Someone noticed that a particular cloud in a painting of the night sky heavily resembled a flying whale. So why make a short about flying whales? The better question would be why NOT make a short about flying whales? A supernova in the night sky miraculously gives some whales the ability to swim through the air over the icy seas. Again, seeing this in IMAX was incredible. There’s just one minor issue I have with. This and another segment were developed well before Pixar made its silver screen debut, and unfortunately, it shows twenty years later; the worst cases are the close-ups.

Okay, who put googly eyes on the moldy beanbag?

There are ways of blending CGI and hand-drawn animation well, and this isn’t one of them. I understand the necessity of having expressive eyes but simply dropping one on top of a CGI creature gives it a bit of an uncanny valley feel. They should have either stuck with traditional all the way or made the whales entirely CG. The CG animation of the whales themselves isn’t too shabby, so they could have pulled it off.

Because simply giving whales flight apparently isn’t enough to hold an audience’s interest, we have an adorable baby whale earning his wings, so to speak. Once he gets his bearings above the surface, he swoops ahead of his family and bothers a flock of seagulls. They chase him into a collapsing iceberg, leaving him trapped, alone and unable to fly. The quiet dip in the music combined with the image of this lost little calf adds some genuine emotional weight to this piece. The baby navigates the iceberg’s claustrophobic caverns until he finds a crevice that elevates him back to his worried parents. From there a whole pod of whales rises out of the ocean to join them as they fly upwards to the supernova’s source.

“So long, and thanks for all the krill!”

As the music reaches its brilliant crescendo, the whales plow through storm clouds until they reach the top of the world and breach through the stars like water. It’s an awe-inspiring climax of a short that, flaws and all, reminds you of what Fantasia is all about.

Majestic.

Rhapsody in Blue – George Gershwin

The music of jazz composer George Gershwin? Timeless. The art of renowned caricaturist Al Hirschfeld? Perfection. All this brought to life with the best animation Disney has to offer? It’s a match made in heaven. Eric Goldberg, who animated the Genie among other comedic characters, idolized Hirschfeld and drew plenty of inspiration from drawings, so getting to work alongside him while making this was nothing short of a dream come true. That attention to detail in rendering Hirschfeld’s trademark curvy two-dimensional style goes beyond mere homage. It is a love letter to a great artist that encapsulates everything about him and his craft, and to a great city that we both had the honor of calling home. The story goes that Goldberg screened the final product for Hirschfeld shortly before his 96th birthday and his wife told him after that it was the best gift he could have ever received.

All this to say I am quite fond of this particular short, thank you very much.

The piece follows four characters navigating 1930’s Manhattan and crossing paths over the course of a single day:

Duke, a construction worker torn between his steady, monotonous job and following his dream of drumming in a jazz band,

Joe, a victim of the Great Depression desperately looking for work,

Rachel, a little girl who wants to spend time with her parents but is forced to attend lesson after lesson by her strict governess,

and “Flying” John, a henpecked husband longing to be free from his overbearing wife –

And her little dog too!

By the way, John is modeled in name and in looks after Disney animation historian John Culhane, who also was the inspiration for The Rescuers’ Mr. Snoops, hence why the two look so similar. He’s not the only name who appears in this sequence: Gershwin himself makes a surprise cameo as he takes over Rachel’s piano solo halfway through the story.

Speaking of, my family used to compare me to Rachel because at that point in my young life I was doing or already did the same mandatory activities as she – swimming, ballet, music, sports, all with the same amount of speed and varying degrees of success.

No one can argue that art is where we both excelled, however.

The physical timing of Rhapsody in Blue’s animation is hilarious, though it doesn’t rely wholly on slapstick for its humor. The sight gags and clever character dynamics all weaved into the music milk plenty of laughs, and envelop you in this living, breathing island that is Manhattan.

I speak from experience, this is the most accurate depiction of commuting on the 1 train that there ever was.

Even with such a premise and two masters of combining comedy and art, there is still enough pathos to keep the story rooted. Take when all four characters are at their lowest point. They look down on some skaters in Rockefeller Center and picture themselves in their place fulfilling their deepest desires. Seeing their dreams so close in their minds and yet so far away while paired with the most stirring part of the score is heartwrenching.

In the end, things pick up as the characters unwittingly solve each other’s problems. Duke quits the construction site, leaving an opening for Joe to fill. Joe accidentally snags John’s wife on a hook and hauls her screaming into the air, allowing him one night of uninhibited fun at the club where Duke performs.

“Anyone hear something? Nah, it’s probably just me.”

Rachel loses her ball while fighting with her nanny, which Duke bounces off the window of her parents’ office, which in turn gets them to notice their daughter about to run into traffic and they save her. Everyone gets their happy ending and it ends on a spectacularly glamorous shot of Time Square lit up in all its frenetic neon glory.

And not a single knockoff costumed character hitting up tourists for photos. Those were the days, my friend.

If you haven’t guessed by now, I adore Rhapsody in Blue. It’s easily my favorite part of the movie; a blissful ménage-a-trois of art style, music and storytelling, and it’s so New York that the only New York things I could think of that are missing are Central Park and amazing bagels. This sequence is gut-busting, energized, emotional, and mesmerizing in its form. I don’t often say I love a piece of animation so much that I’d marry it, but when I do, it’s often directed at Rhapsody in Blue.

  Piano Concerto #2 – Dmitri Shostakovich (aka The One With The Steadfast Tin Soldier)

This piece has an interesting history attached to it. Disney wanted to do an animated film surrounding Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales – including The Little Mermaid and The Steadfast Tin Soldier – as far back as the 30’s, but the project fell by the wayside. During Fantasia 2000’s production, Roy E. Disney asked if they could do something with Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto #2 since he and his daughter were attached to that piece. He looked over sketches and storyboards made for the unrealized Tin Soldier sequence and discovered the music matched in perfect time with the story.

This is the second sequence that features CGI at the forefront. Unlike Pines of Rome, though, it works because the main characters are toys, and you can get away with your early CGI looking shiny and metallic and plastic-like when you’re animating toys.

Hell, it worked for Pixar.

The story centers on a tin soldier cast with only one leg who is shunned by his comrades for routinely throwing off their groove. He falls in love with a porcelain ballerina when he mistakes her standing en pointe as her also missing a limb. Despite his embarrassment when he learns the truth, the ballerina is enamored with him as well. This rouses the jealousy of an evil jack-in-the-box who I swear is a caricature of Jeffrey Katzenberg minus the glasses but with a goatee and Lord Farquaad wig.

“MUST. CHOP. EVERYTHING!!!”

The jack-in-the-box and the soldier duke it out for a bit before the former sends the latter flying out the window in a little wooden boat. The boat floats the soldier into the sewers and attracts a horde of angry rats who attack him, because animated rodents seem to have a natural hatred towards toy soldiers.

Case in point.

The soldier hurtles into the sea where he’s eaten by a fish – which is caught the following morning, packed up to be sold at market, bought by the cook who works at the very house he came from, and he falls out of the fish’s mouth on the floor where his owner finds him and places him back with the rest of the toys. Now the story this is based on hints that the jack-in-the-box is really a goblin who orchestrates the soldier’s misfortunes with his malicious magic. But based the extremely coincidental circumstances of his return home, I’d say the soldier’s the one who’s got some reality-warping tricks up his sleeve.

The soldier and jack-in-the-box duel again that evening, but this time the harlequin harasser falls into the fireplace and burns up. Our hero gets the girl and lives happily ever after. A nice conclusion, though a far cry from what happened in the original tale: the ballerina is knocked into the fire, the soldier jumps in after her, and all that remains of them by morning is some melted tin in the shape of a heart. I gotta say, for all my love of classic fairytales, Disney made the right call. Andersen’s life was far from magical and it reflected in his stories, making many of them depressing for no good reason. The triumphant note the music ends on also would have clashed horribly if they stuck with the original. Even the Queen of Denmark agreed with Disney’s decision to soften their adaptations of Andersen’s work. I don’t know if I’d call The Steadfast Tin Soldier one of my very favorite parts of Fantasia 2000, but in the end, s’all right.

  Carnival of the Animals: Finale – Camille Sant-Saëns

This shortest of shorts (clocking in at less than two minutes) kicks off with James Earl Jones asking with as much seriousness as he can muster from the situation, what would happen if you gave a yo-yo to a flock of flamingos?

The answer –

Good answer!

Fie on those who dismiss this part as a silly one-off that doesn’t belong here. Fie, I say! It’s a pure delight full of fun expressions and fluid fast-paced action. Once again we have my man Eric Goldberg to thank for this, though this time he animated it entirely by himself. I’d call it a one-man show except for the fact that his wife Susan handpainted the entire thing with watercolor, making it look like it sprung to life straight from a paintbrush. It’s a simple diversion about a flamingo who wants to play with his yo-yo while the other snooty members of his flock try to force him to conform. As you can see from the still, they fail quite epically. Nothing beats the power of nonconformity and yo-yos (also every yo-yo move featured here is authentic; I love when animators go that extra mile).

  The Sorcerer’s Apprentice plays next, but since I already touched on that in the first Fantasia review, I’m skipping over it. The segment ends with Mickey congratulating Leopold Stokowski (again), then crossing the barriers of time and space to inform the conductor, James Levine, that he needs to track down the star of the next segment, Donald Duck. Levine stalls by explaining a bit about what’s to come while Mickey frantically searches for his errant costar. The surround sound sells the notion of him moving around the back of the theater accidentally causing mischief all the while. Thankfully, Donald is found and the sequence commences.

Pomp and Circumstance – Edward Elgar

This famous piece of music was included at the insistence of Michael Eisner after he attended his son’s graduation ceremony. He wanted to feature a song that everyone was already familiar with. Of course, since this was after Frank Well’s untimely passing and no one was bold enough to temper Eisner’s worst instincts with common sense, his original pitch had every animated couple Disney created up to that point marching on to Noah’s Ark – and then marching out with their babies.

Okay, A: Unless you’re doing a groin hit joke or are Ralph Bakshi or R. Crum, cartoon characters don’t have junk as a rule. And B, one of the unwritten rules of Disney animation is that barring kids that already exist like the titular 101 Dalmatians or Duchess’ kittens, the established canon couples do not in any official capacity have children.

To which Eisner laughed maniacally and vowed that they would.

But in order to placate Eisner’s desire to turn every branch of the Disney corporation into a commercial for itself, the animators compromised and agreed to do Pomp and Circumstance with the Noah’s Ark theme, BUT with only one couple – Donald and Daisy Duck. In this retelling of the biblical tale, Donald acts as Noah’s beleaguered assistant (I guess Shem, Ham, and Japheth were too busy rounding up the endangered species). Daisy provides emotional support while preparing to move on to the ark as well. It’s refreshing to see these two not losing their temper at each other for a change. I wish we got to see this side of their relationship more often. Donald returns Daisy’s easily lost plot device locket to her and as the rain rain rain comes down down down, he starts directing the animals on board; the lions, the tigers, the bears, the…ducks?

Anyway, all the animals and Donald get on board – well, most of them do.

The world’s first climate change deniers.

Donald realizes Daisy hasn’t arrived yet and runs out to look for her, unaware that she’s already boarded. Daisy sees Donald leaving but is too late to stop him before the first floodwaters hit their home. Donald made it back to the ark in time, however, though both of them believe that the other is forever lost to them. I find it astounding that they never run into each other not even once during the forty days and forty nights they’re cooped up on that boat. It’s the American Tail cliche all over again, and well, at least it’s happening in a short and not the entire movie.

Soon the ark lands atop Mount Ararat and the animals depart in greater numbers than when they embarked on their singles cruise. Daisy realizes halfway down the mountain that she’s lost her locket again, which Donald finds at that very moment while sweeping up, and the two are joyously reunited.

“I thought you were dead!” “I thought YOU were dead!”

I kid around, but I truly enjoy this short a lot. There’s so much warmth to Donald and Daisy’s relationship that makes their reunion at the end all the sweeter, and there’s plenty of great slapstick to offset the drama in the meantime. I will admit it’s nice to hear there’s more to Pomp And Circumstance than just the famous march, and the entire suite matches flawlessly with the visuals, though the main theme itself is so ingrained into the public consciousness that it’s difficult to extricate it from that what we’ve seen accompany it countless times.

Come on, you all know what I’m talking about.

“What? Don’t tell me YOU don’t think of heads exploding like fireworks when you hear Pomp and Circumstance! Name one other life-changing moment could you possibly associate it with…you weirdo.”

The Firebird Suite – Igor Stravinsky

Fantasia 2000 comes to a close with a piece that has some emotional resonance if you know your history. You might remember from my first Fantasia review that Igor Stravinsky was disappointed with how Rite of Spring turned out, especially since he was a big admirer of Walt Disney and really wanted to do more projects with him beforehand. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they picked his premiere ballet to end the movie on decades later. After all these years, Disney worked hard to do right by Stravinsky – with a few twists, though. Instead of a balletic retelling of Russian folktales involving kidnapped princesses and immortal sorcerers, we have a fantastical allegory for the circle of life.

No, not that circle of life.

A lone elk who I’m fairly convinced is the Great Prince of the Forest walks through the forest in the dead of winter. With his breath, he awakens the spirit of the woods and one of the most beautiful characters Disney has ever created, the Spring Sprite.

I. Love. This character. Her design is gorgeous, shifting from a shimmery opalescent blue as she steps out of the water into an eternally flowing fount of live greenery spreading from her hair in her wake. Wherever she moves, grass, flowers, and trees blossom, fulfilling the idea of a springtime goddess more than Disney’s own Goddess of Spring ever did. The Sprite was a massive influence in developing my art style, particularly in her face and expressive eyes, and I used to draw her a lot. Visit any relative of mine and chances are you’ll find a picture of her by me hanging up on a wall somewhere in their house. Yet there’s far more to her character than just a pretty representation of nature; there’s plenty of curiosity, spunk, determination, and a drive for creativity. I love her frustrated expression when she’s dissatisfied with the tiny flower she sculpts out of the ground and how her face lights up when she morphs it into a buttercup as tall as she is.

The Sprite paints the forest with all the colors of the wind (mostly green) until she reaches a mountain that isn’t affected by her magic. Perplexed, she climbs it until she finds a large hunched over rock figure – or is it an egg? – standing inside. She reaches out to touch it and…

The Sprite has awakened her counterpart, the wrathful and deadly Firebird. Think giant evil phoenix made of smoke, flame and lava. And it goes without saying that seeing this on the biggest screen left quite the terrifying impact. One of the biggest inspirations for this sequence was the eruption of Mount St. Helens (though the shot of the Sprite surveying the breadth of the Firebird’s destruction reminds me far too much of the Australian bushfires going on) and the sheer horror of nature’s irrepressible chaos is fully captured here. But the Firebird refuses to settle for merely destroying the Sprite’s handiwork, oh no. It won’t rest until creation itself is consumed, and the Sprite is reduced to a powerless mite as she scrabbles to escape the Firebird’s relentless pursuit of her. Try as she might, however, the towering monster corners and devours her in one fell swoop.

The forest is reduced to gray ashes in the wake of the Firebird’s rampage, but the Great Prince has survived. Once again he brings the Sprite to life with his breath, only this time she is tiny and weak (the animation of her slowly developing from the ash into her huddled ragged form is breathtaking). Now, I didn’t think I’d get emotional revisiting a small part of a single movie I’ve rewatched countless times before but viewing this through a mature eye combined with the beauty of the Firebird Suite’s climax and its timely message has caused me to see it in a new light:

The Sprite is utterly broken by what she’s been through and the destruction she carelessly caused. She’s lost all faith in herself and in the idea of returning the forest to what it once was. Even so, the Prince gently insists on carrying her on his antlers to the remains of their favorite cherry blossom tree. Where her tears fall, grass shoots begin to sprout. This fills the Sprite with hope, and she soars into the air becoming one with the sky and rains life down on the forest. New trees burst from the earth. The air is filled with leaves and pollen and new life flowing from her essence. The Sprite’s joy and power grow so strong that she even encircles the Firebird’s mountain in all her verdant glory. Life and creation overcome death and destruction. It’s not Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria, but it’s close.

And unfortunately, that’s the biggest problem Fantasia 2000 has.

While working on the original Fantasia, a storyman made the mistake of referring to the work they were doing in “the cartoon medium” in Walt’s presence. Walt turned on him and snapped “This is NOT ‘the cartoon medium’. It should not be limited to cartoons. We have worlds to conquer.”

And conquer they did…just not the way Walt intended.

The point I’m trying to make is Walt was breaking new ground and experimenting with things nobody ever tried when it came to Fantasia. While those risks were initially deemed a failure, it eventually gained the recognition it deserved from the animation and filmmaking community. Any attempt to recreate the magic of Fantasia is no small feat. But rather than taking new risks that not even the first film dared, the studio opted to adhere to Fantasia’s formula with pieces that recall if not flat out copy from the original segments. I hesitate to call it a pale imitation or cash grab however because this was done for the art much more than the money (though Eisner was probably hoping it would bring in some bank). There’s even a little bit of depth to it: while the first Fantasia had themes of differing natures in conflict – light vs. dark, fire vs. water, etc. – Fantasia 2000’s theme is accidental but brilliantly meta: CGI vs. traditional animation, a conflict Disney would become very familiar with in the decade following the film’s release. In some ways, it reminds me of Epcot’s genesis. The driving force behind it was long gone, but the attempt to bring it to life as close to the original vision as possible is still much appreciated.

For all my gripes, I really do enjoy Fantasia 2000. Perhaps not on the same level as its predecessor, but it has its moments, oh yes. And believe me, as far as Disney sequels go, you could do far, far, far worse than this one. Fantasia 2000 is Fantasia’s kid sister mimicking its beloved older sibling in an attempt to show it can be cool like the big kids too. But hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this review, please consider supporting this misfit on Patreon. Patreon supporters receive great perks such as extra votes for movie reviews, movie requests, early sneak-peeks and more! If I can hit my goal of $100 a month, I can go back to weekly tv series reviews. As of now, I’m only $20 away! Special thanks to Amelia Jones, Gordhan Rajani and Sam Minden for their contributions! I’ll see you in a few weeks when I and review the 1959 Disney animated classic, Sleeping Beauty!

Artwork by Charles Moss.

Screencaps from animationscreencaps.com

Yes, I know The Lion King and Lady and the Tramp ended with the titular characters having babies, but was there anyone out there apart from Eisner who demanded there be sequels to those films that focused on their offspring?

January Review: Fantasia 2000 Last year I talked about Fantasia, which is not just one of my favorite Disney movies, but one of my favorite movies in general.

[theonyxpath]

Actually, it’s Pan’s Guide FOR New Pioneers, it’s a starter guide for Pugmire, and it is going on sale on DTRPG this Wednesday.

I’m highlighting this not just because it goes on sale to the public this week, after all that’s what we have the Blurbs! section for below, but because there’s a very specific thought process that got us here.

We knew Pugmire was a fun new take on fantasy gaming, with a great chance to appeal to dog-lovers. It took Pugmire‘s Kickstarter campaign to demonstrate that there was an interesting demographic drawn to the game – folks who had never or only minimally played TTRPGs before.

We heard so many anecdotes, and still do, about how Pugmire is the first game that non-gaming relatives were willing to try out, that spouses who didn’t gather round the table on game night expressed interest in trying, and that folks wanted their kids to have as their first TTRPG experience.

So Eddy and I hit on a “quickstart” that was set more into the Pugmire setting; something that was set up as a guide with our friend from the setting and Kickstarter, Pan Dachshund, explaining in detail how this gaming thing works. At the same time, we wanted to provide enough game material so that a new or semi-experienced group would also have what they needed to play – a clear and well explained adventure.

Finally, because so many new gamers are coming into our venerable hobby via on-line feeds and videos, we wanted to include videos covering the help info from the book on our Onyx Path YouTube channel that could be linked to in the book. (The PDF should have actual working links, the print book, obviously, would require typing the link into a browser).

Naturally, Eddy reached out to our most experienced YouTuber, the Gentleman Gamer himself, Matthew Dawkins, and the two of them developed the project. This is before I hired Matthew on as one of our full-time in-house devs, but his work and assistance with this project certainly set the stage for our developing relationship.

(Heh, heh, Little pun there. Drive safely, enjoy the veal.)

What we got, once all the creative work was done, is actually so much more than we originally imagined. Like much of Pugmire, there is a lot beneath the surface. In this case, we started with all of the above as concepts we needed to include, and wound up creating an excellent adventure for experienced players as well. In fact, I have a quote from Matthew about Pan’s Guide right here:

I’m bloody proud of this book. With Pan’s Guide, we wanted to create the best kind of adventure sourcebook. We pursued several lofty aims: it had to be accessible to new players and enthralling for established ones; we wanted an accompanying video series; there had to be an even layout for each chapter of the scenario comprising two pages of adventure, one of accompanying rules, and one of fiction that can be used for hints and clues regarding that part of the adventure; and it needed beautiful, full-colour art. I believe we delivered on all our ambitions. I truly hope you all check it out, as I think the whole team pulled out the stops on this one.

I asked Eddy for a quote too, but he just howled and scratched his ear with his foot.

      Scion: Origin illustration by Pat McEvoy

      Speaking of the two of them, I might as well bring Dixie Cochran (no e) into things here by reminding everyone that all three of them (Dixie, Eddy, and Matthew) appear in their 3rd episode of the Onyx Pathcast now live on PodBean and other podcast sources : https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

This episode they talk a lot about their early and formative gaming experiences, reveal tidbits about upcoming Onyx Path projects that they are overseeing and developing – in fact Matthew continues to just spill all the beans about the Contagion Chronicle – and share some thoughts about BackerKit and how it works with our Kickstarters.

I believe that they have a surprise message for listeners that they’ll be putting up later this week, but don’t quote me on that.

And as I mentioned last week, we’re going to be doing my interview with Dixie and Matthew for the Pathcast this week, so there’s still time to submit questions that you want them to ask me. Just pop them into the comments here, and thanks to all of you who did that last week.

Enough about those three!

    Boggans illustration by Brian LeBlanc

      I’m very happy to share the news that our developer and marketing guru Monica Valentinelli has been picked to present at the Nebula Awards seminars this coming weekend from Thursday to Sunday. In addition to a few panels and SFWA volunteering, she’ll also be available to answer questions. Attendees should definitely check out the great program: https://nebulas.sfwa.org/

We’ll be starting a sale next Monday at our sales partner Indie Press Revolution (IPR) on our Chronicles of Darkness Prestige Editions from Kickstarter. Mummy: The Curse, Demon: The Descent, Beast: The Primordial, and the first Chronicles of Darkness Dark Eras will all be on sale at around 40%. Now’s the time to give them a try with these very beautiful traditionally printed versions while we still have a few on hand!

Finally, once you scroll down you might notice that this blog has been a tad bit pruned and neatened, and I’m just getting started. For a while now, I’ve felt like I needed to keep projects on sale and with our burgeoning list of venues and partners as part of the blog for a bunch of weeks in order to be sure that ya’ll had a chance to see them.

But, not only have we started to establish other ways for you to get that info, like with more blog posts on different days and the Onyx Pathcast, but as we have kept on growing, this blog has become unwieldy and just stuffed with too much info for folks to absorb.

So, like you can see below, I’ve made the first steps – but now it comes to a point where I’d love to hear from you as to what info bits you want to see here. As always, please post your suggestions and preferences in the comments. With your help, I hope to give you a focused look here each week into our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

    BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER:

Fetch Quest, the adventure card game set in the Realms of Pugmire will be going live Tuesday, May 22 at 2pm Eastern US time! That’s 2pm, not noon like most of our other Kickstarters!

      ELECTRONIC GAMING:

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is both rolling and rocking!

Here are the links for the Apple and Android versions:

http://theappstore.site/app/1296692067/onyx-dice

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onyxpathpublishing.onyxdice&hl=en

Three different screenshots, above.

(The Solar Anima special Dice above)

Hunter: The Reckoning and Mage: The Awakening dice on a Mage: The Awakening tabletop

      ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

Our latest offering is the Mage 20 Cookbook, now in a convenient Kindle ebook version! https://www.amazon.com/Mage-Cookbook-World-Darkness-Enlightened-ebook/dp/B07C71BRDC/

Nook version is coming soon!

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue you bought it from. Reviews really, really help us with getting folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these fiction books:

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Endless Ages Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Rites of Renown: When Will You Rage II (Kindle, Nook)

Mage: The Ascension: Truth Beyond Paradox (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Mummy: The Curse: Curse of the Blue Nile (Kindle, Nook)

Beast: The Primordial: The Primordial Feast Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Masquerade: Of Predators and Prey: The Hunters Hunted II Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: The Poison Tree (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Songs of the Sun and Moon: Tales of the Changing Breeds (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Requiem: The Strix Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Forsaken: The Idigam Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Mage: The Awakening: The Fallen World Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Beast Within Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: W20 Cookbook (Kindle, Nook)

Exalted: Tales from the Age of Sorrows (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: Tales of the Dark Eras (Kindle, Nook)

Promethean: The Created: The Firestorm Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Demon: The Descent: Demon: Interface (Kindle, Nook)

Scarred Lands: Death in the Walled Warren (Kindle, Nook)

V20 Dark Ages: Cainite Conspiracies (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: Strangeness in the Proportion (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Requiem: Silent Knife (Kindle, Nook)

Mummy: The Curse: Dawn of Heresies (Kindle, Nook)

And here are the Champions of the Scarred Lands fiction anthology and the Huntsmen Chronicles anthology for Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition!

    OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the Screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there!

https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

    Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: http://theonyxpath.com/press-release-onyx-path-limited-editions-now-available-through-indie-press-revolution/

You can now order wave 2 of our Deluxe and Prestige print overrun books, including Deluxe Mage 20th Anniversary, and Deluxe V20 Dark Ages! And Screens…so many Screens!

And you can now order Pugmire: the book, the screen, and the dice! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=296

Here are the direct links for the Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras Prestige Edition: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Chronicles-of-Darkness-Dark-Eras-Prestige-Edition.html

Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras Storytellers’ Screen: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Chronicles-of-Darkness-Dark-Eras-Storytellers-Screen.html

Deluxe Exalted 3rd Edition: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Exalted-3rd-Edition-Deluxe-Edition.html

Ultra-Deluxe (Orichalcum) Exalted 3rd Edition: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Exalted-3rd-Edition-Ultra-Deluxe.html

Exalted 3rd Edition Storytellers’ Screen: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Exalted-3rd-Edition-Storytellers-Screen.html

EX3 Chibi Bookmarks: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Exalted-3rd-Edition-Chibi-Bookmarks.html

Deluxe W20 Shattered Dreams: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/W20-Shattered-Dreams-Deluxe-Edition.html

W20 Shattered Dreams Storytellers’ Screen: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/W20-Shattered-Dreams-Storytellers-Screen.html

Plus price adjustments on M20, Book of the Wyrm, Anarchs Unbound and a few other projects!

    DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

  Pan’s Guide to New Pioneers has found its way through the wilderness to arrive in PDF and physical book PoD versions on DTRPG this Weds!

(see notes above)

    Book of Freeholds for Changeling 20th Anniversary Edition has arrived in PDF and physical book PoD versions at DTRPG.com! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/239407/C20-Book-of-Freeholds

They are the center of Kithain culture, the havens and shelters required when times get grim. They are dreams made manifest, and hopes kept burning. From the Mythic Ages to the present day, freeholds have been the linchpin around which the changeling world turns. Learn the history of freeholds as they wind throughout Kithain history. Discover the lost Treasures that bind the fae and their homes together, soul-to-balefire. Study the dangers, the threats, understand the duties and responsibilities, and then gather your motley to claim your birthright.

The Book of Freeholds contains:

• Two new freehold Archetypes

• Four new Glade Archetypes

• Full rules for the creation of freeholds and Glades

• 11 fully developed freeholds and Glades

• New chimera, Treasures and Oaths, and more

        To celebrate the opening of the Slarecian Vault for Scarred Lands, we’ve put four Scarred Lands posters on sale via DTRPG.com. These 12? x 18? posters feature both classic SL covers with Hollowfaust and the Blood Sea, and new images from the new book, like the SL PG cover wrack-dragon, and a hearty band of adventures well met and ready to divvy up their magical treasure.

      CONVENTIONS!

Matthew Dawkins, Steffie de Vaan, and Mighty Matt McElroy will be at the UK Games Expo in a very few weeks in early June running games and talking shop with fans and retailers.

Prep is also underway for Gen Con 2018 in August, which takes place in Indianapolis, IN. In addition to our booth presence, be sure to check out the games and panels in the Gen Con Event Schedule.

From Fast Eddy Webb, we have these:

Eddy will be speaking at Broadleaf Writers Conference (September 22-23) in Decatur, GA. He’ll be there to talk about writing for interactive fiction, and hanging out with other writers who have far more illustrious careers. http://broadleafwriters.com/3rd-annual-broadleaf-writers-conference/3rd-annual-broadleaf-writers-conference-speakers/

Eddy will also be a featured guest at Save Against Fear (October 12-14) in Harrisburg, PA. He’ll be running some Pugmire games, be available for autographs, and will sometimes accept free drinks. http://www.thebodhanagroup.org/about-the-convention

If you are going and want to meet up, let us know!

    And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM FAST EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

CofD Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)

Night Horrors: Shunned by the Moon (Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd Edition)

C20 Players’ Guide (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Wr20 Book of Oblivion (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Aeon Aexpansion (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

In Media Res (Trinity Continuum: Core)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Tales of Excellent Cats (Monarchies of Mau)

Dog and Cat Ready Made Characters (Monarchies of Mau)

  Redlines

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

  Second Draft

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Guide to the Night (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Dystopia Rising: Evolution (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

  Development

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)

Fetch Quest (Pugmire)

They Came From Beneath the Sea! Rulebook (TCFBtS!)

  WW Manuscript Approval:

  Editing:

M20 Gods and Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Night Horrors: The Tormented (Promethean: The Created 2nd Edition)

  Post-Editing Development:

Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)

GtS Geist 2e core (Geist: the Sin-Eaters Second Edition)

  Indexing:

    ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

Scion Hero – Art notes and contracts being sent.

Trinity Continuum – Got notes and text for both Aeon and the Core. Also… workin on it.

Wr20 Guide for Newly Departed – Everything with Gaydos.

Geist 2e – We have a nice window to get KS art – fulls and splats assigned.

The Realm

M20 Gods and Monsters

Ex3 Dragon Blooded – Wave 2 art in progress

Monarchies of Mau– First finish coming in.

  Marketing Stuff

  In Layout

Wraith 20 Screen – I’ll pull this together while doing errata. I got the list from Dansky of what tables to pull… just want to make sure they are right.

Fetch Quest – KS stuff ready, ad banners to do.

EX3 Dragon Blooded – firming up layout and backgrounds while waiting for new art.

Changeling: the Lost 2 – With Josh.

  Proofing

Cavaliers of Mars – If everything panned out over the weekend, we are in final proof.

Scion Origin – Sheet stuff with Mr. Gone. Adding in cover text for cover.

Boggans – Waiting for WW approval.

Monarchies of Mau – Second proof with Eddy for page XX’s.

  At Press

Beckett Screen – At shipper.

Scarred Land PGs & Wise and the Wicked PF & 5e – At fulfillment shipper. PDF and PoD physical book versions on sale at DTRPG.

Prince’s Gambit – Being sent to the US, expected at fulfillment shipper this this week.

V20 Beckett’s Jyhad Diary– Deluxe edition finishing printing now.

Scion Dice – At fulfillment shipper.

Wraith 20 – Errata being input.

SL Champions of the Scarred Lands Anthology PoD – PoD proof coming.

Pugmire – Pan’s Explorer’s Guide (or whatever) – On sale this Wednesday in PDF and PoD versions!

  TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: Mark Zuckerberg’s birthday is today. Yay, Facebook?

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Ovechkin Clicking at Career-Rate, Rantanen On Another Planet, Meier, & Johnsson (Dec 12)

Alex Ovechkin – USA Today Sports Images

  William Nylander hit the scoresheet for the first time this season. The 22-year-old led the way for the Leafs with two even-strength assists as they beat the Hurricanes 4-1 on Tuesday evening. Nylander continued to skate alongside Nazem Kadri and Patrick Marleau on the team's third line. He's also working the half-wall on the team's second power-play unit. 

  It isn't exactly the ideal spot to push his metrics to the next level, but it should be enough for him to play at a 60-point pace – about where I'd peg his floor to be. 

  **

Freddie Andersen continues to roll on. The 29-year-old has been the best fantasy netminder in all setups. His win tonight pushes his record to 17-8-0 with a 0.928 save percentage. He's posted a quality start rate of 72 percent. That's a puck-stopper you can rely on. 

  **

Andreas Johnsson scored a goal on Tuesday night but it was quickly changed to give credit to Morgan Rielly. Despite the pointless night, Johnsson has been playing well of late. He was a sleeper pick by many last offseason to break out in Toronto this year. He started his season by watching up in the press box as a healthy scratch. When he did get into the lineup, it was in a depth role.

  Well, Willy Nylander is back in Leaf-land and things are moving and shaking. Johnsson has been lining up on the left side of Auston Matthews at even strength the past few games. He's also seeing his fair share of second power-play unit duties.

  The 24-year-old has made the most of his upgrade in deployment.  He came into the game against Carolina with two consecutive games with a goal and an assist. He’s owned in just 16 percent of Yahoo leagues but that number is climbing.

  Patty Marleau doesn’t look like a true fit beside Matthews, and Johnsson’s speed, skill and tenacious-style fits well to pursue the puck and cause turnovers for the big pivot to operate with. I love this type of streamer. A young player with upside who is in a good spot. He won’t see PP1 time, so the results will be held back to some degree. But he could become a staple on that line with a few more strong performances.

  Buy-in if you can.

  **

It was reported that Ryan Miller will miss six weeks with a sprained MCL. The Ducks wasted no time in claiming Chad Johnson off of waivers from St Louis to provide some support to John Gibson.

  Jordan Binnington is the new back-up in STL. The 25-year-old has a single NHL game on his resume. He managed to wrestle the starting gig in the American league from Ville Huuso who has been projected as the up and comer for a few seasons.

  With the way the Blues are playing these days, it is conceivable that Binnington sees some ice, but the results will likely be very muted.

  **

It was Jake Allen who got the start and the win against the Panthers on Tuesday. St Louis needed this one. After getting shelled on home ice by Vancouver on Sunday, the media was all over the practice tilt involving Bortuzzo and Sanford. Perhaps that was the gelling moment for a squad that should be much better than they've been. 

  David Perron (2+0), Brayden Schenn (1+1) and Jaden Schwartz (0+2) led the way for the Blues. 

  **

Speaking of bad teams, the Blackhawks dropped their eighth consecutive contest on Tuesday. They fell 6-3 the Jets on the road. 

  Winnipeg was led by Kyle Connor and his two tallies. Dustin Byfuglien chipped in with three assists. He seems to be back to his old ways after that terribly managed concussion. 

  **

More injuries in Anaheim? You don't say. This time it's the team’s top left-wing, Rickard Rakell who continues to be out with a sprained ankle. There is no timeline for his return at this point.

  That’s another gaping hole on a team that has been decimated with injuries this season. It was Pontus Aberg who rolled next to Getzlaf and Ondrej Kase on the team’s ‘top line’ during the last game. Aberg and Sprong both took turns on the team’s top power play unit.

  No one is replacing Rackell in the short term, but Sprong or Aberg could provide some streaming options if they are getting exposure to Getzlaf in all situations.

  **

Boston and Arizona squared off in a cross-conference battle that drew…very little attention. While it didn't have the heat of a divisional matchup, this was a good game. The Coyotes jumped out to a 2-0 lead after Nick Schmaltz and Nick Cousins potted first-period tallies. Schmaltz has seven points in the seven games since landing in the desert. Here's hoping you bought in when we told you to. 

  The Bruins stormed back to score four unanswered goals. Brad Marchand popped two. David Pastrnak chipped in with a goal and two helpers. The Bruins haven't been their dominant self with Patrice Bergeron on the shelf. But they're finding their way. 

  Of note, Ryan Donato skated on the team's second line and top power-play unit. He saw 3:35 of PPTOI and recorded an assist and two shots on goal. That's the type of deployment you want to see the young sharp-shooter receive to start considering him an asset for this season. 

  **

The NHL has its first 50-point scorer in 2018-19. Mikko Rantanen buried his 13th and 14th goals of the season and added two assists on Tuesday in a 6-4 loss to the Oilers. That extended his point streak to 12 games and 23 points. This dude is on another planet. 

  He has a six-point lead atop the Art Ross race. 

  **

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl combined for five points in the victory. Drai was chucking some backhand sauce out there. 

  https://dobberhockey.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/12/Drai-to-McD.mp4

  The big German has quietly slid into the top-15 point producers with 37 points in 31 contests. He and McDavid belong together. I don't ever want to see those two split up again. 

  Mikko Koskinen was good once again. Ken Hitchcock appears to have cleaned the squad up defensively, and it's Koskinen who is thriving the most. He sporting a 0.928 save percentage in 15 games played. He has two regulation losses in his last 11 games and has posted a quality start rate of 60 percent. 

  The crease is his. 

  **

  The LA Kings are dreadful. Leading the Sabres 3-1 heading into the third period they managed to blow things. Jeff Skinner ended up potting the overtime winner, his 21st of the season. His captain and linemate, Jack Eichel contributed a goal and an assist. It was his fifth multi-point outing in the last six games. 

  Eichel now sits tied for ninth in NHL scoring with 38 points in 31 contests. The 22-year-old has officially arrived. And so have the Sabres. Buffalo is solidly in the playoffs and third in their division. Just three points behind the Leafs for second. It's been a long road in upstate New York, it's good to finally see some success. 

  Rasmus Dahlin was held off the scoresheet in this one. But the 18-year-old played 28:34, had eight shots and three blocks. He played 10:04 on the man-advantage! 

  Fret not keeper league owners, his counting stats may not jump off the page just yet, but he's out there doing things like this before he even has to shave. Imagine what he'll do in a year or three. 

  https://dobberhockey.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/12/Dahlin-dangles.mp4

  **

Nick Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin teamed up to lay a beatdown on the Red Wings on Tuesday. Ovi proceeded to score three goals to push his league-leading total to 25 in 30 games. The 33-year-old has never had that many tallies through 30 games in any of his previous 13 seasons. 

  Let that sink in for a moment. He's 33 years old and on pace for his highest output yet. The man is pacing for 68 goals!

  What a legend. 

  Ovechkin is currently riding an 11-game point streak where he's scored 13 goals and 19 points. 

  Meanwhile, Backstrom continues to be the most underappreciated fantasy star ever. Left for dead by many after a 'disappointing' 71-point campaign a year ago and looking like his days of dishing to Ovi at even-strength were over. Well, turns out he's far from dead. The 31-year-old has 38 points in 30 games to be living in the top-10 league-wide. 

  I keep trying to trade for him in my main league and you should too.

**

Rick Roos is rolling again with his annual Cage Match Tournament. Check out the forums to vote for The New Normal edition.

  **

Gus Nyqvist potted a goal and an assist. The 29-year-old has produced nine points in the six games since Anthony Mantha went down with a hand injury. Nyqvist is having his best start to date with 28 points in 32 games. A quiet but effective producer who is seeing high-end deployment.

That's a good combination.

**

The requisite Elias Pettersson tidbit.

  Heading into Tuesday’s contests, Pettersson had 15 goals and 30 points in 26 career games. Here’s a look at some other current stars and their totals after 26 contests.

  Some current NHL stars and their points totals after 26 career games:

  Elias Pettersson – 30

Evgeni Malkin – 30

Alex Ovechkin – 29

Sidney Crosby – 28

Connor McDavid – 28

Patrick Kane – 27

Patrik Laine – 21

Johnny Gaudreau – 20

Auston Matthews – 20

  {source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Adjust for scoring era and this changes but worth noting.<br><br>Some other comparables in their first 26 games:<br><br>Yashin – 34 pts<br>Selanne – 34 pts<br>Lindros – 34 pts<br>Sakic – 33 pts<br>Makarov – 32 pts.<br><br>All but the first guy are in the HHOF.<br><br>Pettersson is tied with Malkin for 6th.</p>— Stephen Burtch (@SteveBurtch) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveBurtch/status/1072623138553368576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

    **

Since we're talking about Pettersson (when am I not?), the 20-year-old rookie posted a goal and an assist in Tuesday's 3-2 win over Columbus. His 32 points in 27 games vaults into the top-30 for skaters league-wide. His 1.19 points-per-game represent the 18th best mark. 

  As amazing as that is, the thing that really stands out is that 1.19 points-per-game is only good for 18th in the league! We are living in a high-scoring and enjoyable time. Perhaps the 22 skaters that played at or above a point-per-game last year wasn't an aberration after all. The goalie pads are slimmer, and the red lights are warmer. 

  Good times. 

  **

The Wild laid the boots to Canadiens 7-1 on home ice on Tuesday. Matt Dumba scored two goals, while Zach Parise added a goal and two helpers. 

  Dumba has been good again this season. The 24-year-old has 12 goals and 21 points in 30 games this year. His 12 markers lead all blueliners and he's on pace for another career year. That would be five seasons in a row where the former WHL stud improved on his goal and point total. 

  **

Jeff Petry may not be working the top power-play unit in Montreal now that Shea Weber is healthy, but that hasn't slowed him down yet. The veteran defender has five points in the five games since Weber rejoined the team. 

His five-on-five shooting percentage is a bit high, but the rest of his metrics remain solid. Better not drop him yet.

  **

Let's talk about Timo Meier for a moment. The 22-year-old is tied for 10th in the NHL with 26 even-strength points. His 3.6 P/60 is 17th most – tied with Crosby, Wheeler, Eichel, Pasta, and Malkin.

  He's putting 3.31 shots on goal per night and is on pace for 44 goals and 82 points in 79 games.

  PLUS! his name is really fun to say.

Teeeee-moe!

  People need to be waking up on this kid. He’s a play-driver and he’s driving the bus in San Jose as a third-year player. We keep waiting for his numbers to slag, but there have been no signs of slowing down yet.

  **

Feel free to follow me on Twitter @Hockey_Robinson

    from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-ovechkin-clicking-at-career-rate-rantanen-on-another-planet-meier-johnsson-dec-12/

[minnievirizarry]

The Ultimate Guide to B2B Content Marketing

Most businesses benefit from content. But for B2B companies, content marketing makes a huge difference—like 67% more leads difference. Most founders and leaders just don’t know where to start. And with content, the starting line is of massive importance.

This is our guide to creating valuable B2B content. We’ll go over how your B2B company can master the art of content marketing. Here are some valuable tips, tools and tactics to create content that results in new leads and revenue:

Create Content Your Audience Cares About

To create something valuable, you have to understand your target market.

When we say understand them, we don’t mean, “the CTO is the decision maker for our product.” Customer avatars much?

Just because you’re B2B doesn’t mean you don’t need a customer avatar. Here’s a good example of a customer avatar: “Tommy is our average customer. He’s a middle-aged and VP of Sales working at a mid-sized tech firm in Silicon Valley.”

B2B brands can also opt for an ICP (ideal company profile). This means you’d define your target company’s size, yearly revenue, location, industry/vertical and other details that paint a picture of who your content should target.

Your Customer Avatar Should Shape Your Content

The more specific your audience, the more targeted your copy can be. Tommy from our example, is probably interested in becoming a better sales manager and might also be into team productivity. In order to appeal to him, you could add a tidbit of productivity content to your blog.

Other examples of shaping content to your audience would be things like:

Avoid saying ROFL or TL;DR in posts targeting non-millennials.

Minimize tech jargon in your posts for sales leadership or non-techies.

Create Value by Teaching Your Audience Something New

Knowledge is value. Think about what you have to teach your target market. Share the right knowledge, and people will read it and subscribe for more.

Shopify’s audience consists of brands always on the hunt for ways to market their products and services. So creating and sharing a piece of content on how to start a podcast is valuable to their audience.

If you understand the value of creating content for your #business and brand with a blog, then creating content with a #podcast can arguably be as equally important. https://t.co/LrawEa9cGt

— Shopify (@Shopify) February 20, 2018

You can even build upon what other experts have written.

For example, if you see a top-ranked post called The Ultimate Guide To Content Marketing, you could use that same idea but targeted toward different readers like The Ultimate Guide To B2B Content Marketing.

What Is Valuable to Your Market?

Use Google to find out what appeals to your readers. If you target Fintech startups, then Google “best fintech blogs” or “LinkedIn groups + Fintech.”

You could also use a tool like Buzzsumo to search for industry-related content that’s been highly shared.

Read the posts and the comments and questions posted by your target readers. Search your industry or blog topic ideas on Reddit. Listen to your market and you’ll start to understand what they want.

Keywords Help You Discover Value

Research keywords and phrases that you think will drive the most traffic. You can use tools like Google’s Keyword Planner, KWFinder or SEMrush to find the keywords and phrases your audience is searching for.

Something to keep in mind is that the more specific a search query, the further a prospect is in the buying process. For instance, someone searching “best marketing software for B2B startups” is probably more qualified than someone that Googles “marketing tools.”

Targeting those highly specific searches might bring if fewer visitors, but the quality will be higher.

Watch this video below to learn how to use Google’s Keyword Planner.

When doing keyword research, don’t focus only on keywords and phrases that have high search volume. Oftentimes, it’s easier to rank for keywords with lower search volume and less competition.

Add each keyword or phrase to a spreadsheet or Airtable to start a content calendar. Each keyword could be the basis for an article or even a cluster of articles (more on this in the next section).

Google Your Competitors

What are your competitors writing about? Do their posts get a lot of shares, comments or backlinks? Subscribe to their newsletters and look at what’s in their emails.

You can use Ahrefs (mentioned below) to see which keywords your competitors rank for as well.

Building Keyword Pillars Is Essential

New research tells us that pillar and cluster content rank well in SERPs (search engine results page). Pillar posts are like the center of a bicycle wheel, focused on broad topics. Cluster posts are like the spokes of the wheel—they’re focused on longer, more specific keyword phrases.

Check out this infographic from HubSpot for a visual:

Let’s say you’re a SaaS company offering a one-click data analytics dashboard that measures marketing efforts. You target startups with less than $5MM in funding.

You might decide that one pillar you’d like to rank for is content marketing and another is email marketing. You can write a ton of cluster content around each of these pillars. These two topics are broad, but not too broad.

Once you’ve decided on your pillars, you need to write in-depth posts on each. You might write a post titled “Content Marketing 101 For Startup Founders” for your keyword, content marketing.

Next, you’d create cluster content around that post.

For example, you may want to rank for the more specific keyword phrase, “best content marketing tools for startups.” You could write a cluster post titled “The 10 Best Content Marketing Tools For Startups.” This cluster post would be a link in your in-depth, content marketing pillar post.

The Baremetrics blog is a great way to get a clear visual of this practice in action. They’ve got pillar content in their Academy, where they teach startups about broad topics like SaaS sales, hiring or building startup culture.

Then, they have this genius Glossary where they define specific analytics metrics. They then link to these hyper-specific metric articles from any article on their blog.

Many of their pillar and cluster articles rank in the top spots in SERPs.

B2B Content Marketing Tools

Here are a few great B2B content marketing tools to help with SEO, research, writing, publishing, and sharing content.

WordPress – The most popular CMS (content management system) in the world. WordPress makes it easy for non-techies to create great content.

Yoast – A lovely little plugin for WordPress that will help anyone to optimize a page for SEO easily.

Ahrefs – A tool content marketers can use to get details about their competitors and their niche including which sites link to you, what keywords you rank for and more.

Canva – Create infographics, logos, and other images to make your content pretty.

Sprout Social – Social media management software to help with everything from scheduling content to analysis of your social media campaigns.

OmmWriter – This writing app is easy to use, affordable, and will help you stay focused.

Evernote Web Clipper – Use this browser extension to highlight and save images/text from your research.

Grammarly – Keep your grammar in check.

Hemingway App – Make sure the reading level of your content is at 8th grade or below.

CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer – Write a compelling headline.

Airtable – Create and manage your content calendar.

Bambu – An employee advocacy tool that makes it easy for you to curate new content to your entire company.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Writing Amazing B2B Content

After you’ve got your keywords, pillars and customer avatars all mapped out, it’s time to write. We’ve created a list of the do’s and don’ts of robust B2B content crafting.

Do Use Correct Grammar & Spelling

Grammarly and Hemingway App are great first checks on grammar and style. Opt for another set of eyes after you’ve checked your own work. Read your copy from bottom to top if you can’t get a fresh set of eyes on it.

Don’t Use a Big Word When a Small Word Will Do

Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King and so many big-named authors live by this rule. When it comes to writing great content, keep it simple.

Do Prioritize Quality When Looking for Writers

You get what you pay for. Don’t expect five-star quality content when you’re paying pennies.

Instead, opt for an intermediate freelance writer if you’ve got a tight budget. Content is an investment and hiring folks that will do a bad job is a bad investment.

Don’t Plagiarize

This should go without saying, but we’ve seen it happen so many times that it’s worth mentioning. Plagiarism is the worst look ever for your brand.

Don’t do it.

Use tools like Grammarly or Copyscape to check for plagiarism before you hit publish.

Do Write a Compelling Title

CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer will help you write a more compelling headline. Just remember to avoid being too click-baity.

Don’t Overdo It With Adverbs

This is another biggie with B2B content. Some businesses think they need to have everything “salesly.” So they use adverbs like “truly stunning” or “really necessary.”

Poor Hemingway is rolling in his grave.

Do yourself a favor and use the Hemingway App and limit your use of these horrendous words. They’re not adding value to your content.

Do Keep it Simple

This is a big one in the world of B2B content marketing.

Sometimes it can’t be avoided, particularly if you write technical content. But if you can find a more straightforward way to say something, stick with simplicity, even if you write for a technical audience.

Here’s a great of example of how Invision clearly states what they do in a way anyone can understand.

Don’t Be Stuffy

Just because you’re writing B2B content doesn’t mean it should read like a 1950’s press release.

Here’s a good rule of thumb if your writing tends to be too formal—type it how you would say it in a conversation.

Do Write For Humans

Don’t stuff as many keywords as you can into your content in hopes of ranking higher in Google. Keep it conversational and natural.

Search engines have evolved since 2007 when you could jam as many keywords into a page as possible and rank.

Remember, you’re writing for humans, not bots.

Packaging & Distributing B2B Content

The number of ways to package and distribute your content is growing like crazy. There are blogs, ebooks, podcasts and videos. I even noticed that one of my favorite startups, HotJar, created their own show.

Smart companies are listening to what their customers want and packaging content in the ways their audience prefers.

Here are some ideas on how to package your B2B content:

A blog is essential. It’s the bread and butter of content. A blog should be informative, easy to navigate and organized. If your content is a dining room, your blog is the chandelier.

Ebooks are great for lead generation. Something about having content in downloadable format makes it all the more valuable to your target market. You can take several of your most popular blog posts and find a way to elaborate on those articles or combine them to form a cohesive ebook. Then use that ebook as a way to generate more email subscribers.

Podcasts have never been more popular. In fact, 40% of Americans have listened to at least one podcast. An easy way to start a podcast is to simply turn existing written content into audio.

Webinars and videos work well. These formats are a great way to connect with and educate your market. You can use webinars to collect more leads too. Simply make a landing page for people to sign up for the webinar and capture their email address. Here’s an example of a signup page for Sprout’s webinar on how to build a B2B social content calendar. You can check it out here.

How to Distribute B2B Content

Your content means nothing if people don’t see it. You need to get it in front of the eyeballs that matter.

Social media: Schedule your content to be shared on all your social channels the day it’s published. You can use Sprout Social’s scheduling tools to make planning your social media calendar a breeze.

E-mail: Email is an effective way to get B2B conversions, so definitely keep your subscribers in-the-know with valuable content.

LinkedIn groups: LinkedIn groups that are relevant to your target market are great for sharing new content, particularly B2B content. Spend some time looking for groups that you can join.

Slack channels: Slack channels are another, lesser-known, way to share your content. I’ve had some personal success building relationships and converting prospects to clients by sharing my content in relevant Slack communities.

Be in It for the Long-Haul

If one thing’s for sure, it’s that the content game is long-term. It takes months to get your search rankings up, months to build a community on social networks, and months to streamline your content creation process.

Be consistent and over time, you’ll start to see results.

Share Your Thoughts

What are some B2B content marketing practices that have paid off for your company? What are your favorite tools? What types of content do you prefer to share and why?

This post The Ultimate Guide to B2B Content Marketing originally appeared on Sprout Social.

from SM Tips By Minnie https://sproutsocial.com/insights/b2b-content-marketing/

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Interview with Mike from Not Like You

Hello, Mike! Friends here wanna know about you. Would you tell us about you?

I grew up on the East Coast of the US in New Jersey. Got into punk and skateboarding at a young age. Starting going to shows in 1987. Was lucky to experience NY, NJ and CT Hardcore at a very instrumental stage and see so many bands people only wish they could have seen. I moved to New Mexico in 1996 and have lived here ever since. I have done fanzines on and off since 1985. I have helped book shows, worked at a record label (Gern Blandsten), owned record stores, put out records and tried to give a little back to the scene which has given so much to me for so many years.

Why do you choose Not Like You as the named of your Fanzine and Label Record?

I wanted to find a name that would convey what I was all about. To create a home for the misfits, punks, skaters and everyone else who just didn’t fit into the norms of conventional society. I’d grown frustrated and tired with cliques in the scene. I got into punk because it was a home for the outcasts, not somewhere else with a “cool group” and outsiders. I wanted to breathe that back into everything I was doing. No rules, no cool kids, just a home for everyone with an open mind and an open heart. The name comes from the Underdog song “Not Like You” which has been a favorite of mine since their 7” came out back in the 80s. Not Like You is for everyone with the courage to stand apart from the popular crowd even if it meant standing alone.

NLY could be this high, who inspires you?

I have been inspired by so many people. From every band I work with, to my friends who skate, to people have kept the torches burning all these years keeping the true ideals of what made punk and hardcore what it is. Labels who continue to put out records and support the scene thru their efforts. I could go on and on. I guess honestly you could say I am constantly inspired by some aspect of the scene and people involved with it.

You released 6 issues and 16 records, what makes you consistense until now?

It is a lot of work to do each issue and to put out each record. I do it because I love it. The zine is my way to stay connected to things while living in a place with a much smaller scene. Where I grew up there were always shows and always things going on. Out here you learn not to take them for granted because it may not happen again. So I began the zine as a way to reconnect with something that was such a big part of my life but I felt so removed from being here. The label began as an idea between myself and long-time friend Tony Rettman (author of NYHC book, Why Be Something That You’re Not, and an upcoming book on Straight Edge). We both had so much going on and he was working on the NYHC book then and didn’t have the time to dedicate to a label so I decided to do it on my own. I’ve been very lucky to work with some great bands and to keep finding others to work with. Luckily my day job allows me the time and freedom to work on these other projects. If I had the money I would put out more records, faster but all the money the label makes gets recycled into new projects and that’s how I fund them.

In your photo zine, you dedicated to one of your favorite photographer who wants you to always taking photos. Share to Indonesian friends about that?

I was at a Fugazi show in Hoboken NJ and photographer Glen E Friedman was there, unbeknownst to me at the time. I grew up a fan of his from his My Rules photo zine and his photos in other zines and on albums. Well I shot pictures of Fugazi that night and only had 2 rolls of film which I went thru pretty fast. I stopped and was about to put my camera in my bag when a hand came out of nowhere and handed me 2 rolls of film and said “Keep shooting” I looked up and it was Glen. I was blown away but I took the man’s advice and kept shooting. Here I am about 25 years later still shooting pictures. It’s always an incredible blessing when the people you look up to or admire in any aspect of life turn out to be supportive of you and what you do. I never forgot that night and it became the dedication to the “Photo Issue” of Not Like You

You released Impact EP titled Worlds Apart. Why did you choose them to be NLY’s 11th records?

I heard Impact’s Demo and knew I wanted to work with them. I got in touch with the band explained who I was and what I did and that I wanted to work together and that was it. We agreed to release their “World’s Apart” 7”. It became the 11th release by mere coincidence. It takes time to get masters ready and do cover art etc so when Impact was ready to go it was NLY-011.

What criterias in choosing band to be released? Is there any requirement to join NLY?

I made a promise to myself from the beginning that Not Like You would release whatever bands I enjoyed. It wasn’t about being the cool guy, or fitting into some niche in the scene. Not Like You is just bands and people who make music that I really enjoy and am inspired. No rules just I like your band and I’d love to work together. Keep it simple!

Since NLY formed, do you find any obstacles on it?

YES and I could talk about this all day. For the zine the hardest part is getting people who commit to interviews to finish them. If you have seen the zine then you know I try to do lengthy interviews that go deeper than surface topics and make for a more interesting read. Sometimes people say they will do interviews I spend the time to come up with 25 or 30 really good questions only to have them never do the interview. I have a couple that are coming up on almost 3 years with still no completed interview even though they told me more than a few times it was in the works. That’s hard and can be frustrating. But at the same time look at all the amazing people I have interviewed who have taken the time and have given me some incredible interviews. For the label, it’s a constant battle of financing. Putting records out is expensive. Even 7”s are so expensive. Plus distributors take less records and are slower to pay. It’s just the way music has become. Less people buy records, its so easy to find free music or whatever the case. So I find myself constantly trying to get the financing for new projects together. I’m working on a few projects right now that are in various stages of completion that I’m hoping some checks from distributors will be in by the time they are ready to head to the pressing plant.

A bit about politic, America has chosen a new President, yes, Trump. What’s your opinion?

Honestly I hate that we grow up being told we live in a Democracy because it isn’t. This election was the lesser of 2 evils (In my eyes both extremely evil). I expected to wake up the morning after the election and be extremely pissed off at who my president was but I didn’t expect to wake up and have it be Trump. Already there is so much negativity and violence and racism stemming from his appointment, it’s sad and disgusting. I really don’t know what the future holds for the US. This is something we have talked about a lot since waking up and finding the news. I could go on and on about how prior to the election Trump was the complete opposite of all the things he said during his campaign. Does he really believe those things? Did he say them to get elected? I don’t know. I do know that Rain Like The Sound of Trains sang “Lesser of 2 evils still evil to me..” I don’t believe this is a system of the people by the people and for the people. It is rules by corporate interests and the very elite ruling class.

In 2017, how many EP will you release? And what bands?

I don’t know how many releases will come out in 2017. A lot of it depends on the bands recording and when things are ready but we have 7”s planned with Concrete Criminals, Slam, King Face, Spit It Out,Enuf, Shock Treatment and a few surprises. There are also LP’s planned with Nine Lives, Frontside Five, Odd Man Out (the old skate rock band), Clay Wheels, Against the Wall discography, Minus One, and Vicious Circle. Also a couple unannounced compilations and reissue projects too.

Tell us a bit about New Mexico hardcore scene!

I live in Albuquerque. It’s a very small scene. It has some very shining moments of local bands and cool all ages spaces, which unfortunately often disappear as fast as they happen. There are always kids getting into it and always new things going on. Unfortunately due to where we are on the map we often get overlooked by bands on tour. I hope to do more to change that in the coming years too.

What are your favorite bands? Give us 3 bands and why do you love them?

The Cro-Mags When I first heard their demo and The Age of Quarrel it changed me forever. It opened my eyes to the world at large, to spirituality and so much more

Underdog Such an incredible band to see live and I loved how in your face they were. There’s a reason we are called ”Not Like You” They pulled no punches and called it like it is. They have been a favorite of mine for almost 30 years.

Avail From the first time I heard Satiate I was hooked. I have been up and down the east coast following them, and even got to do some California dates with them while they were out there in 1994. I have never seen a band live as many times as I have Avail and if I could see them 30 more times it still wouldn’t be enough

Do you know anything about Indonesia? Are there any Indonesian Bands you’ve ever heard?

Most of what I know of your country is based around spirituality. I would love to learn about some of the bands from there

A message to all Hardcore Scene in the world!

Hardcore is the one thing that breaks down so many barriers and can unite people around the world who come from different backgrounds and have never met. Don’t ever let someone’s “rules’ dictate what hardcore means to you. “Do what you want and how you want it, if it feels right go out and do it” as the Cro-Mags once said.  And I will leave you with this little tidbit from Void “Why should I listen to those fools, I’m gonna live by my rules”  Keep making zines, making music and supporting your scene.

Thank you Mike! NLY Rules!!!

Thanks so much for the interview. It’s an honor to speak to our friends across the  globe!