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tenjad129 · 4 days ago

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12 Things to Know About Planet of the Toons

It was three years ago today, on January 4th, 2022, that I began thinking about, talking about, and even developing and writing a full epic-length story treatment in progress so far for a prospective film, animated (if mainly 2d hand drawn plus the occasional 3d CG element) or otherwise a Who Framed Roger Rabbit-esque seamless blend of both animation (mainly 2d hand drawn and occasional CGI) and live action, to be titled "Planet of the Toons".

Yes, sure, I may be a very highly notorious user here, mostly because many of you animation fanboys and fangirls just don't get my sometimes obsessive interests in certain characters and also just happened to be VERY deeply dissatisfied with any or all of my ideas, especially regardless of my good intentions, and yes, I know it can be VERY predictable sometimes, but imagine this thing called Planet of the Toons possibly garnering lots and lots of controversy before or once it even hits the big screen of movie theaters in some future time, with three or more countries banning it outright, a whole lot of older, lifelong cartoon lovers threatening to boycott my Planet of the Toons epic especially if the depictions of cartoon characters like Dexter, Mandark (from Dexter's Laboratory and Ego Trip), Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck (from Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, of all things), Fievel Mousekewitz and his sister Tanya Mousekewitz (from An American Tail as well as An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, of all things) and/or the very like of them are definitely not to their absolute liking, troubling reactions caused by test screenings for it or even the hysterical and unethical wrath of notorious anti-animation and cost-saving-obsessed Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav (comparable, perhaps, to how William Randolph Hearst and his organization and especially his female lackey Louella Parsons trying to destroy Orson Welles' 1941 classic movie Citizen Kane before even the public ever got a chance to see it in the first place, or how North Korean hackers conspiring to cripple Sony Pictures Entertainment, resulting in the swift, outright withdrawal of Superbad writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's political satire film The Interview towards the very end of 2014, which will be a full ten years ago), the families and children and descendants and current owners of whoever created or owned the animated films and cartoon shows and shorts that inspired my movie and/or that my epic in progress so far have also referenced in the first place also trying to very ruthlessly suppress this Planet of the Toons thing of mine and its release to movie theaters or any type of on screen entertainment, and even someone like yours truly struggling with my artistic rights forever more (see also whatever happened to Orson Welles ever since the making of, controversy over, and VERY limited release of Citizen Kane in 1941!), as well as a whole lot of casual movie goers and/or film or animation buffs writing off this project as an outdated thing of the past or some other, and VERY unknown, reason.

But what many of the possible detractors of this project as well as myself may also seem to ignore, however, is to be that if you will ever one day get a little closer to that epic, inspiring poster in the future featuring, of all things, the very face of the Dexter’s Laboratory Dexter that Genndy Tartakovsky created back in the 1990s, or the Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck that the Warner Bros. animators and animation directors had worked on and refined during the 1940s and 1950s, or even the Fievel Goes West redesigned iterations of Fievel Mousekewitz and his sisters Tanya and Yasha Mousekewitz, rather than the original iterations of the three youthful mouse children that Don Bluth ever animated for Steven Spielberg and David Kirschner back in the 1980s, you will be able to read in tiny print above the title, and something like: “A FILM BY TIMOTHY ROBERT MCKENZIE”.

And this will be massively important: I, Tim McKenzie, have always wanted to be an audacious and ambitious and aspiring filmmaker in my own right, one who will carve out my very own auteurist style and enjoy pursuing topics and things that catch my eye, interest and imagination since I was a little boy, if only I have the power to do it all! Especially to the very best of my abilities.

And, come the release of this Planet of the Toons epic thing of mine in the especially foreseeable future, when all will be said and done about it, I still cannot say if Planet of the Toons will be a good or great film or not and more than just a piece of fan fiction, but here are no more or less than twelve things for all of you to know about my new dream and passion project so that my epic of the Planet of the Toons will definitely not be a childhood-ruining disaster worthy of everything from George Lucas’ controversial Star Wars Prequels to the even more controversial Last Airbender movie by M Night Shyamalan to even the ever more controversial Disney Live Action Remakes...

Now, the First Thing to know about this Planet of the Toons epic of mine is that it is a Fantasy Film!

One day, if you’ll ever go to Planet of the Toons' IMDB page in the future, you will one day find my epic (in progress so far) under the genre of action-adventure and/or drama. And not only just simply comedy or kids & family!

Plus, even with any dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes populating the sweeping Earthlike and off-world vistas and landscapes of my epic (in progress so far), I think it will be definitely safe to say that this epic of the Planet of the Toons epic of mine is a fictional as well as a fantastical story, and even an action-packed one, and not just simply one derived from other sources, and especially any number of animated film and TV cartoon sources, both old and new, classic and contemporary, major and minor, famous and obscure, etc.; And yes, the American Tail franchise is full of the fantastical in addition to its historical late 19th century trappings while Dexter’s Laboratory is full of the fantastical in addition to its science fiction trappings, but so does most popular fiction.

And even for me, Planet of the Toons can best be described as a sci-fi and fantasy action adventure piece...which happened to star or feature any or all kinds of animated and 2d hand drawn cartoon characters -- both old and new, major and minor, preexisting and original, familiar, established, and made up, classic and contemporary and modern, famous and obscure – from all throughout animation art history (and not just simply in other countries like Japan or other parts of Asia and the Far East, but especially in America and other parts of Western civilization, too!) as well as three human astronauts and one chimpanzee mascot from Earth. And with possibly a full bodied, James Cameron-esque sense of thrilling action and adventure to boot! And not only just solely some expanded remake or upgrade of sorts of Genndy Tartakovsky's 1999 animated TV special Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip, y'know!

Of course, Planet of the Toons is also going to be a film project that might well defy the usual genres or categorizations, and it will surely mean something completely different to everyone or anyone who watches it all when all will be said and done. But it will REALLY be pointless for anyone or even any of you to try and point his or her or even your finger on what a thing like my Planet of the Toons epic film project will typically be like or even what its cinematic intentions really are, because the answer to all that will be a whole lot more complex than a simple modern or expanded update of, say, Dexter's Laboratory's Ego Trip TV special, for example.

Now, the Second Thing to know about the Planet of the Toons epic of mine is that certain elements of its story and plot (especially my own work in progress so far) is not going to be exclusive to any culture or religion around the real world!

Any of the three or so universal story or plot elements that my work on Planet of the Toons might include are as follows:

1. Overcoming the Monster

What do James Cameron’s Avatar, the story of Beowulf and of Peter and the Wolf (the latter being a kids' symphony music piece by Russian composer (and Sergei Eisenstein collaborator on Alexander Nevsky and the two still-surviving parts of Ivan the Terrible) Sergei Prokofiev and George Lucas’ Star Wars: A New Hope and even the Cyclops episode from Book 9 of Homer's epic poem The Odyssey (the above illustration for which, depicting Odysseus and a few of his surviving guys ramming a fiery olive stick onto the single eye of the cyclops Polyphemus (aka Poseidon's son) is brought to you by Lord of the Rings movie concept artist (for New Zealand filmmaker Sir Peter Jackson's classic three LOTR movies, of course) and Tolkien illustrator Alan Lee (who also did an illustrated version of LOTR back in 1991 in time for the 100 year anniversary, well, at the time at least, of J.R.R. Tolkien's birth in 1892 South Africa) have in common? In all five of those stories the main character sets out to defeat a powerful baddie or evil force that is threatening his or her home. Often it will seem that the odds are stacked against the hero, but their courage and resourcefulness will help them overcome the threat.

Overcoming the Monster can be good to use for the following reasons:

Talking about succeeding despite the odds being stacked against you

Discussing the life lessons that an encounter like this teaches you

Demonstrating how you, your team or company became stronger through adversity

2. Voyage and Return

The main character travels to an unfamiliar place, meeting new characters and overcoming a series of trials, all the while trying to get home. Their new friendships and newfound wisdom allow them to find their way back again. This plot is common in children’s literature because it often involves the main character discovering a magical land to explore.

Voyage and Return can be good to use for the following reasons:

Talking about the benefits of opening up to new experiences

Showing what your protagonist learned on their travels

Demonstrating the power of friendship

And

3. The Quest

The hero sets out in search of a specific prize, overcoming a series of challenges and temptations. They may have flaws which have held them back in the past which they will need to overcome to succeed. He or she is usually accompanied by a group of comrades with complementary skills that support him or her along the way.

The Quest can be good to use for the following reasons:

Talking about the importance of sticking to your convictions

Showing how your protagonist grows emotionally to be able to succeed

Demonstrating the power of teamwork

Anyway, and hopefully, Planet of the Toons' story and plot elements will be far more timeless and far more universal than even those who have ever seen any of the original animated film and TV cartoon stuff, especially those from the 20th century that are being referenced by, and which also inspired Planet of the Toons (and that especially includes An American Tail and Fievel Goes West, Looney Tunes and even Dexter's Laboratory and Ego Trip) may suggest, and from the look of any foreseeable future trailer or actual and foreseeable future footage from it, I think my epic of the Planet of the Toons in progress so far will have to contain something of a diverse fusion of many multiple cultures, settings and iconographies from all over the entire globe, with the quest to liberate the planet of the toons undertaken by the Fievel Goes West iterations of An American Tail's Fievel and Tanya (whose original Don Bluth-involved iterations may still appear in some extended flashback scenes, like the nightly dragon attack and rampage that burns down Fievel's home in my epic), the playful and bickering rivalry between Looney Tunes' Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny, and even the conflict between Dexter and Mandark (or even an expanded remake of sorts of the Dexter-Mandark conflict as played out in Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip) being at the very center of it all, especially with even more characters, even more settings, and even more of everything else than those of Lord of the Rings.

So, out of all the three universal story plots, which are Overcoming the Monster, Voyage and Return or The Quest, which one out of the three universal story plots do you think will work best for my Planet of the Toons story in progress so far, even if it's not yet finished until the foreseeable future? Or, maybe all three.

Anyway, The Third Thing to know about my Planet of the Toons epic in progress so far is that I'm not the Next Chris Chan nor am I a lolcow anymore, but a nice and smart and very creative talent in the making!

And also, why would I ever have any interest in making a film that panders exclusively to kids or the family audience? And also, why would I ever have any interest in making a gritty, real and often downbeat film that reflects the ongoing upheavals going on right now not just in the United States but elsewhere in the world? Well, No, I am not a realist, but yes, I am and would rather be a fantasist and not a lolcow or the next Chris Chan (whom I may have heard about before, whom I would still rather condemn for their beastly, monstrous behavior, and who spent all of his life having frequent run-ins with the rule of law and authority) anymore, but rather a very nice,, creative, and very smart person, especially outside of the internet itself!

And plus, since I am not even a gritty realist, I will find it very highly unlikely that I might have any inclination to even make a movie which would only make me look sold-out while simultaneously dragging down my future reputation as an artist so quickly, especially at the very expense of the hell-raising internet users and especially that hell-raising David Zaslav, etc., among other people.

And I do not know whether or not any of my future film work will ever alienate any group of movie goers, but I will never make a movie for just one breed of viewer and I will never make a movie that ditches storytelling in favor of profit or unchecked corporate greed like what Hollywood had become in this day and age! And in fact, I have tackled the notion of incorporating anything that catches my eye, interest and imagination ever since the time when I was a young boy, and if one were to one day project my mind or mental state to the big or small screen one day, it better be:

1. Vivid

2. Imaginative

3. Creative

4. Fantastical

5. Purely Cinematic

And

6. Vividly, Beautifully Dreamlike

So there you go!

And now, The Fourth Thing to Know about my epic work on the Planet of the Toons is that it is as much an emotional journey—especially one of self-discovery, unexpected love or friendship, redemption, even perception—as it is a physical journey through an epic or fantastical planet, or world.

As stated above, Planet of the Toons is to be designed as an epic, emotional journey, especially one of self-discovery, redemption, perception, or even unexpected love and friendship and teamwork, just as much as it is also a physical epic journey in an exotic, fantastical and epic world located somewhere in deep space, and in fact, one of the very fundamental ideas that my work on the Planet of the Toons should also possibly use is also this very idea that James Cameron explored in his 2009 film AVATAR: maybe that it is necessary to look past cultural differences, past form, or especially past skin color, to see the truth of other people and to even understand them for who and especially what they really are.

And plus, it is mainly and both through the eyes of one of the three astronauts from Earth, David Joseph Zarus, that is, and as well as through the eyes of the Fievel Goes West redesigned iteration of Fievel's big mouse sister Tanya Mousekewitz from An American Tail that the entire story or saga of the planet of the toons will really unfold from start to finish, from beginning to end, and especially from first frame to the very last.

And, in addition to An American Tail's Tanya and Fievel Mousekewitz themselves, David Zarus of Earth should also undergo the most dramatic change or transformation from the very beginning of the film to the very end, as during the very course of my epic in progress so far, he will surely evolve from a teenage boy trying to make a good living on Earth to a young space astronaut accompanying two others and a monkey mascot to the planet of the toons, all the way to a very enlightened young hero who also cares passionately about the cause against Dexter's rival, The Dark Lord Mandark, and all his terrible minions and servants on the planet of the toons that also threatened the universe.

The Fifth Thing to Know about Planet of the Toons is that it will be as much something that revels in story or character development or emotion as it also revels in visuals and spectacle.

When any story work done for film and other types of on screen entertainment (like television) is crafted to be the perfect vehicle to show the old and new toys that the film, television, and animation entertainment industries had at its disposal whether past and/or present, a story like Planet of the Toons' should nonetheless and also be deeply rooted in story and character and emotion, and when we discover a new world, we have to do so through the prism of a distinct framing device.

And even though most adventure stories and action movies today would contain a group of characters united by a common goal, as in MGM’s 1939 Wizard of Oz classic, each character should also look for something that they lack, but not just fame or fortune, but rather also something of a personal quality that they believe will make them whole again.

Dexter, for example, needs some back-up from other cartoon characters and others who will be able to help him wrest back control of his stolen, ancient invention, the all-powering Neurotomic Protocore from Dexter’s Laboratory: Ego Trip, from his hateful rival Mandark, who had gained control of the Core after killing his and Dexter's own employer who had hired both kid scientists to research and develop new technology and other hallmarks of civilization to help better and improve the future of civilization itself, also as in the Ego Trip TV special.

Daffy Duck needs the money to feed and fend for himself, maybe, while Bugs Bunny, the king of all rascals and tricksters on the planet of the toons itself, needs something that could help him tune out Mandark's tyranny and evil threats so that he can peacefully relax in the underground comforts of his rabbit hole, maybe.

And as for An American Tail's Tanya and Fievel Mousekewitz themselves (or rather specifically, the Fievel Goes West redesigned iterations of both mice, in particular)…

Both sister and brother toon mice, for all the former's desire to fulfill her dreams to become a singer, needed to find some way to liberate the planet of the toons around them, especially for Dexter's benefit, from the Dark Lord and Dexter's rival Mandark of Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip infamy and his evil forces that were threatening the universe outside the planet, to seek proper revenge against Mandark for the fiery destruction of their old home during a wintry nightly attack on their village in the spectacularly transformative form of a rampaging fire-breathing dragon like the one that Maleficent had turned into at the climax of Disney's 1959 Sleeping Beauty, and to seek out the full-sized human ally from another planet such as our own Earth that will help them and even Dexter reach the closely-guarded (in Mandark’s faraway castle, to say the least) Neurotomic Flow Controls and set them all the way back from negative to positive, thereby undoing the tyrannical evil that the mad Lord Mandark had unleashed upon the planet many hundreds and thousands of years before (when Ten'Jad was still young but much older than and more technically ahead of us or of anything else on our Earth)...and somehow, they found one in the name, shape and form of a teenage kid living on Earth named David Joseph Zarus, who also happened to be into animation and cartoons and even dinosaurs, just like me.

Each character in the world in which Planet of the Toons takes place should be introduced to the audience–and not just you and me—in a location where they might well be vulnerable and where they think universal or divine help is the only thing that can ever save them from the forces of evil threatening the entire universe.

And maybe the five or six aforementioned characters (Dexter, Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, and even Tanya and Fievel Mousekewitz plus the little Mousekewitz girl Yasha Mousekewitz) or the like should also really be on their own hero’s journey like Dorothy and the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodsman and The Cowardly Lion in MGM’s Wizard of Oz and it will hopefully be just as important to the viewer that Dexter should get the better of his rival Mandark and should succeed his late employer as the proper ruling overlord of the planet of the toons, that Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny should overcome their bickering rivalry to keep everybody safe from the mad Mandark's diabolical harm as well as his tyrannical threats and that Tanya and Fievel Mousekewitz should finally bring peace and freedom to all of their fellow little cartoon mice (with Tanya becoming their new leader, maybe) and fulfill their proper revenge against Dexter's rival Mandark (who, according to a local prophecy, Tanya and Fievel and a human like David Zarus of Earth will ultimately defeat for Dexter's benefit) for getting their old home burned down in a rampaging dragon attack, as it is also to see Mandark and all of his terrible servants and minions defeated once and for all...so there you go!

Now, The Sixth Thing to Know about my Planet of the Toons epic in progress so far is that It would be cool if I have a good track record as a filmmaker or animation person, so as long that I’ll try to tell a good story and do it all for the art and the fun of doing it all, instead of just trying to scoring a profit.

What if I have a perfect or good track record both as a good filmmaker and even as a good storyteller (especially in the animation art world or especially the currently beleaguered US American animation industry and community) ? Well, only time and history will tell, especially if I get to know how to make a good or great movie, and especially an animated if mainly 2d hand drawn one at that, or how to tell a good or great story even if such things by reputation and by end product, maybe, visually breathtaking and beautiful as well as being made with passion and especially as long as my artistic sensibilities will even be unique and acute and as long as I have a powerfully distinct cinematic voice.

And the Seventh Thing to Know about Planet of the Toons is that the very things that catch my eyes, interest, and imagination ever since I was a little boy will also form part of my future directorial territory.

And especially if I could ever become one of those filmmakers or animation people who could really care less about how much money my movies, animated or live, will make, or whether or not they’ll ever be adored by the public, then even that sounds fine with me. And maybe I can also be a visionary filmmaker, especially of the animation kind, that make films that, whether live action or animated or even special/visual effects-driven, could, either way, shape, or form, also be talked about, analyzed, dissected and/or remembered.

And even if Planet of the Toons were to be a completely animated, if mainly 2d hand drawn (plus the occasional 3D CGI element or two) epic movie starring or featuring almost every major and minor, old and new, classic and modern and contemporary, famous and even obscure cartoon character from every studio/network/IP owner, style and era throughout animation art history as well as animation's glorious 2d hand drawn past, it would sure as hell be the best, biggest damnedest and most ambitious if also the most really expansive, epic, complex and/or fun and worthwhile film project ever made among this kind or type of filmmaking especially since or even outside of Robert Zemeckis' 1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit itself.

And I can and I could clearly see something especially in every such character from all throughout the history and world of cartoon and animation art that will also appeal to my (as of now) still developing artistic and even creative sensibilities. Even if I would one day be a respected director who will one day get the massive or sizeable enough budget and studio backing to do whatever I want to do or not, I will be damned if what I create or make would not be so spectacular at all!

The Eighth Thing to Know about Planet of the Toons is that I have been fascinated with cartoons, animation, and even other kinds and types of escapism for all of my whole, entire life (and especially so far)!

Yes, I do grew up having the higher functioning end of something that we now called Autism Spectrum Disorder (or ASD, for short), but I have also been fascinated with , among other things that catches my eye, interest and imagination since I was a young boy, animation and cartoons, like, for still another example, Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny.

In the case of Daffy and Bugs, they are the classic animated example of a a duo of rival comedians, as exemplified by the Rabbit Fire trilogy (consisting of Rabbit Fire, Rabbit Seasoning, and Duck, Rabbit, Duck!) of animated cartoon short made by Chuck Jones in 1951, 1952, and 1953.

Sure, not all the cartoon characters throughout animation art history will share the same amount of dialogue or screen time in my Planet of the Toons epic in progress thus far, as always, but they should still clearly have distinct personalities, postures and even mannerisms that will also enrich my epic work so far on the Planet of the Toons, and since David Zarus of Earth's relationship, or friendship, with Tanya and Fievel Mousekwitz from An American Tail and Fievel Goes West, the very cartoon mice that he is destined to team up with to help Dexter bring about the prophesied downfall of the latter boy genius' hateful rival Mandark, is going to be the emotional core of my Planet of the Toons epic, all this is especially important for any success that Planet of the Toons, and my work on it, should ultimately, somehow achieve.

Even as an aspiring director of films, animated or otherwise, I will still be fascinated with adventure stories (especially uplifting or upbeat ones) in which even ordinary people or cartoon characters have had fantastical or extraordinary responsibilities for him or her to fulfill (and especially, to bravely face down some evil or powerful threat to his or her community), among other types of escapist stuff, and I predict that the character arcs of all five or six aforementioned cartoon characters and even that of the three Terran space explorers, should also be something along these lines. I might even help compile and put together a companion book about the world in which Planet of the Toons is going to be place, especially in loving memory of any or all the things that catches my eye, interest or imagination since my childhood, and I might even clearly do a whole lot of extensive research to prepare for the actual Planet of the Toons epic film project for real, thereby making Planet of the Toons a true lifelong dream passion project for yours truly, Timothy Robert McKenzie, and in fact, I have actually started writing down or thinking about a whole lot of ideas for such a project three years ago today! And even If I could work on it slowly and bit by bit and piece by piece overtime, I also doubt that I could decide to get lazy when I will finally get my real shot to fulfill my vision at last!

And now, the Ninth Thing to know about my work on the epic of the Planet of the Toons thus far is that it will be pretty much like the epic destined to conquer the world, somehow, and hopefully...

Before anybody will ever take one look at some actual, foreseeable future poster design for Planet of the Toons, being, hopefully, the epic destined to conquer the world, somehow, I suggest you be sure to take a gander at say, for example, such epic stories as the Odyssey and Iliad of Homer, the story of Beowulf, and even the legends of King Arthur and the Lord of the Rings, as well as such epic films like Gone with the Wind, Ben-Hur (1959), Spartacus, Lawrence of Arabia, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and much more, plus the aforementioned Roger Rabbit and the aforementioned film and television cartoons and feature animations referenced by my epic work in progress, even.

Anyway, even to call Planet of the Toons the epic destined to conquer the world by storm, hopefully, or even somehow, may be very possible among some, or even all, of you, no matter where you are.

The Tenth Thing to Know about my Planet of the Toons epic in progress so far is that even if it has [some] science fiction elements or trappings…

I am not even judging anyone else or anyone else’s tastes here or there, for Planet of the Toons, or even my work on it in progress so far, should be unique in that it should always follow a young guy from Earth teaming up with famous cartoon characters (including an assortment of small, adorable mice, a rabbit, a duck, and a kid scientist) on another planet just like Earth to overcome the forces of evil (led by the latter's hateful kid rival) threatening both the planet that they happened to be on as well as the entire universe at large, and yes, sure, it may re-imagine things like that as a largely complete epic fantasy which may nonetheless has some science fiction or futuristic trappings or elements in the sense that it will also incorporate robots and laboratory equipment or some high technology on some highly civilized and highly technologically advanced society such as an Atlantis-like civilization (or Atlemûria, as the Atlantis like civilization could be called in Planet of the Toons).

And even the attitudes that Dexter or Mandark expresses as well as the aforementioned robots and laboratory equipment and highly advanced technology could not just co-exist alongside people or characters who came from from more ancient or medieval or early modern civilizations, and yet somehow they could on Ten'Jad, Planet of the Toons.

But even if Planet of the Toons has [some] science fiction elements or trappings, among other things, how well would it even sit especially for more modern or future audiences?

Anyway, if even the likes of An American Tail and Fievel Goes West as well as Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies and especially Dexter's Laboratory are really a part of any of your childhoods, then that is very fine and awesome and very cool with me, but seeing a trio of small, adorable boy and girl cartoon mice team up with three full-sized astronauts and one chimpanzee from Earth as well as a rascally cartoon rabbit and a greedy cartoon duck and a little boy mad scientist from a 1990s kids cartoon show to take on the evil forces of the latter cartoon kid geek's hateful nerdy rival (Mandark of Ego Trip infamy) might either be very exciting and very cool and very awesome to boot or else it might otherwise not go so well anyway with either some of you or the general public, and especially when vividly illustrated on the big screen of movie theaters and especially in the immersive, giant screen IMAX process. But either way, the cartoon mice and (real?) men and cartoon rabbit and cartoon duck and cartoon boy genius teaming up to quash the forces of evil led by a hateful cartoon rival nerdy child of the latter cartoon child scientist in order to save the universe and to liberate the planet of the toons that they themselves just happened to be on, will also be great or good news everywhere.

The Eleventh Thing to Know about my work in progress so far on the epic of the Planet of the Toons is that it would be very nice if it will also just look awesome and/or beautiful (especially on a visual level or even in a visual style)

Even if you ignore the fact that it is based on and/or inspired by an animated feature film or theatrical animated cartoon short or TV cartoon show or episode from the past, or even especially if it’s directed by someone like one certain mister Timothy Robert McKenzie (and that’ll be me, also known online as Timbox, or, at least on Deviant Art, Timbox129, although the term ‘tim box’ refers actually to a container of stuff (but not just cigarettes) that in turn made out of tinplate metal, mind you all!), either way, Planet of the Toons will still just look like a good or great and visually awesome or beautiful film or movie to especially look at.

In the foreseeable future, when any of the actual first footage or the actual first trailer for my work on Planet of the Toons will ever emerge for real someday, it will surely get people so excited in a way that anyone will watch it several times in a row, even as their eyes will grow brighter and brighter. And it is my hope that the first battery of footage or the first trailers ever to emerge for my Planet of the Toons epic will show just enough without ever spoiling anything and if so, it will seem apparent that when all will be said and done about Planet of the Toons, or even my foreseeable future work on this vast and very expansive, multi-part, multi-hour, and mostly 2d hand drawn animated cartoon epic film, especially if it were be done in lush, smooth, full color, striking Scope widescreen frames and compositions worthy of Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone of the Dollars trilogy (with Clint Eastwood) and Once Upon a Time in the West fame, and even presented in multi-channel digital stereo surround sound, so as long that I throw myself into my sincere work on it and ignore any hostile criticism or negativity about it, Planet of the Toons the epic movie will probably be exciting and entertaining, visionary and unique, awesome and beautiful. Especially on the big screen and especially in IMAX as well as widescreen, even.

And whether the ideas, story concepts and other materials that I might used especially for Planet of the Toons should well be enough to attract either a top-notch ensemble of animators, painters, illustrators, filmmakers, actors and actresses, and even voice talent or perhaps a bunch of cheap, fearless, naïve, and smart kids from outside the Hollywood system, either way, there must be something good here or even there.

And hopefully, for enough hours (or maybe two, three, or even almost a full four hours or much, much longer, if not just up to one hundred hours which, even in total, could best be spread through consecutive days and weeks or months) in a darkened movie theater, watching this big, ambitious, very expansive, epic, complex and/or fun and worthwhile animated (if mainly 2d hand drawn) feature length cartoon [mega-]film or something of literally epic proportions or literally epic epicness, we should all just view it as a movie or an event, but not an insult or a piece of propaganda, and not just a movie or an animated cartoon but an epic motion picture event a [whole] lifetime in the making (at least for yours truly).

And of course, the twelfth and final thing to know about my work in progress so far on the epic of the Planet of the Toons is, last but not least, who cares about what would happen otherwise?!

If, and when all is said and done, Planet of the Toons, or even my work on it in progress so far, is truly good or great enough, then that will be enough to unite all or any audience group, whatever their race, gender, class status, religion, culture, etc., for one epic motion picture event and experience that will be for me a whole lifetime in the making. Yes, Planet of the Toons will depict an assortment of small, adorable cartoon boy and girl mice, a cartoon rabbit, a cartoon duck, and a cartoon kid scientist as well as three (real?) astronauts and one monkey mascot but also another Earth-like fantasy planet encompassing similar geography, an entire history, even all kinds of races and species of beings and creatures, as well as a wilderness of still living dinosaurs -- the likes of which had otherwise disappeared on Earth for the past 66 million years before even we ever got to see a living specimen -- and whatever catches this person’s eye, interest, and imagination at the time since I was a little boy and continues to do so ever since. And of course it will not depict all of this exactly the way everyone from fanboys to cartoon lovers, etc. will want or expect such things to be depicted that way or even to their very specific liking, but why does that even matter?

I’m a dreamer (and especially a visionary dreamer almost just like Walt Disney himself!) and I’m a fantasist, and I even think the Lord of the Rings movies by Peter Jackson are masterpieces of fantastical cinema alongside the original 1933 King Kong classic movie and the works of the late great stop motion animator Ray Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts and the Sinbad movies (such as Golden Voyage of Sinbad) in particular), but of course before Peter Jackson turned his island home of New Zealand into Middle-earth, Lord of the Rings was already a thousand-page long and three volume fantasy text that had taken its South African-born but Oford, England, UK-based author J.R.R. Tolkien a grand total of seventeen to eighteen years to get published (albeit ultimately in three volumes, and they are, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers in 1954 and The Return of the King in 1955), so who’s to say what people read or seen in it today what people read in it over 70 years ago, or what people read in any inspirational source materials hundreds or even thousands of years ago? What is important even to me is that my ideas and concepts for my epic of the Planet of the Toons may not be the best idea in the world but it may still be a good movie, as well as an entertaining one that is not only a feast for the eyes, but also stimulates the brain as well as saying something important or meaningful or even powerful.

And yes, I aspire to be a good artist and a good animator and a good director and a good filmmaker and a good storyteller (especially to the very best of my abilities), and right or wrong, Planet of the Toons is my destiny, my epic film, my dream and my creative vision. And nobody, not even you boys and girls, should tell me how I should really fashion my art, nor should I be forced to be influenced by box office performance or approval by fandom or many a fan base. And look, I have worked to get this Planet of the Toons mega-movie epic this ultimate lifelong dream passion project of mine, still being written or even still being typed out, on Microsoft Word (especially the 2007 edition of Microsoft Word) for a full three years now, and would and could continue to do work to get it made probably for the rest of my life, and if anyone deserves to be satisfied by this Planet of the Toons epic of mine , especially if it's even a work in progress so far—this interpretation–this adaptation—this train wreck(?), even —this animated cartoon(?) epic destined to conquer the world by storm, somehow, and hopefully —it will not just any of you, especially on the internet, or the animation art world, or the film world, or the other creative arts and entertainment worlds, or even especially, let alone, the whole, entire world at large, but it will ultimately, definitely and always will be me, myself, and I, alone....

And that’s the end of it all, for now...

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