Earth Day 2024
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Art Dump, 2/27/2024
AI Art
Anthro YCH Price Sheets
Digital Art
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Art Dump, 2/26/2024
AI Art
Digital Art
Old birthday art for Kalika, a furry artist I’ve known since my early days in the fandom, side-by-side with newer digital art I did for her recently.
Yesterday was also the birthday of a DeviantArt user who really loves Polly Polaris, one of the four current mascots for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters baseball team in Japan, and I thought her design really cute, so I decided to do fanart with elements of my own style (i.e. referencing the faces of real-life squirrels).
Art Dump, 2/20/2024
I did this AI art for President’s Day, and decided from now on I’ll lump them together in one picture via the Mac app Freeform, so I’m not constantly spamming my DeviantArt account with AI images more so than my regular digital art.
Started this as a request for a FurAffinity/DeviantArt user yesterday and finished it today of a blue walrus character of his.
Since today was statehood day for a few of India’s states, I did this AI art for the occasion.
I did this today as birthday art for Quentin Coyote, though I can’t show him it since he’s somewhat fallen off the face of the internet.
Lady and the Tramp
Based on “Happy Dan, the Cynical Dog” by Ward Greene, this Disney classic opens at Christmastime in 1909 when a husband, addressed as “Jim Dear,” gives his wife, termed “Darling,” a Cocker Spaniel puppy as a present, ultimately named Lady. Years later, the stray terrier-mix Tramp encounters the pampered pooch, neglected due to Jim and his wife expecting a baby. Jim’s Aunt Sarah visits with her destructive Siamese cats after the child is born to babysit; after muzzling Lady, she escapes with Tramp, having it removed at the zoo and touring the town with her. Events at Jim’s home result in Tramp’s capture and potential euthanasia, although Lady’s canine friends go to the rescue.
Overall, Lady and the Tramp is easily one of Walt Disney’s hallmark films, with its music being notable and giving good character to the scenes. The opening credits theme, “Bella Notte,” recurs during the iconic scene at an Italian restaurant where Lady and Tramp share a spaghetti dinner, which Disney initially didn’t want in the film but is one of its highlights. However, the dog-howling rendition of “Home! Sweet Home!” at the pound (see below) feels like a case of Leave the Camera Running since it doesn’t add much to the film. Mileage will vary regarding ethnic stereotypes like the feline Si and Am’s musical self-introduction. Regardless, I found it a fun watch and would easily recommend it to those not of the modern “woke” crowd.
The Small One
Based on the Christmas novelette of the same name by Charles Tazewell and the first and only Disney animated project directed by Don Bluth before he went rogue (having worked small parts on some of the studio’s prior animated features), the short film focuses on a Galilean boy who seeks to sell the eponymous donkey, past his prime. However, no one except a tanner takes interest, though the boy eventually sells him to a notable historical and religious figure. I found it enjoyable and tender, with a beautiful titular theme song and solid voice performances that don’t seem out of place in the Israeli setting.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
The first Home Alone sequel, and the only one to feature a majority of the cast from the original film, starts similarly to its predecessor, with the McAllisters preparing for a Christmas trip to Florida, preceded by a school performance that goes wrong thanks again to Kevin’s older brother Buzz. This time, Kevin joins his family on the trip to the airport. However, circumstances divert him to a flight to New York City, where he stays at the Plaza Hotel, briefly meeting a future U.S. President and an adversarial concierge and bellhop portrayed by Tim Curry and Rob Schneider. Afterward, he again faces the fugitive Wet Bandits by boobytrapping his uncle’s residence-in-renovation. It’s structurally identical to the first film but decent in its way and likely better than its myriad sequels.
The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday
The first holiday special based on The Bad Guys serves as a prequel to the film, focusing on the eponymous animal-populated criminal gang as they seek to rob a bank on Christmas on account that most in their city will be celebrating home. At a parade, however, their car accidentally destroys a Santa Claus balloon, causing the city’s holiday mood to plummet to the point where Christmas gets canceled. Thus, they seek to cheer up the residents so they can commit their heist as intended, although they hit some hitches in their plan, and the end doesn’t pan out as expected. However, it ties into potential future specials, and I enjoyed the revisit to the world of the Bad Guys overall.
Home Alone
The first installment of the Home Alone film series, directed by Chris Columbus, stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, part of a sizeable family planning to spend Christmas in Paris, although a scuffle with his older brother Buzz and consequential cleanup leads his father to throw away his ticket and passport accidentally. Coupled with a power outage in the middle of the night and a miscount of heads the following morning, Kevin is left stranded at home, which he must defend from a pair of thieves known as the Wet Bandits, portrayed by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. It rightfully stands as a holiday classic, with great music by John Williams, and has aged well.
A Christmas Carol (1984)
Charles Dickens’s classic novella A Christmas Carol likely sets the record for having the most film and television adaptations, among them the 1984 live-action made-for-TV version directed by Clive Donner, starring the late George Campbell Scott as the misanthropic Ebenezer Scrooge, who considers his payment of taxes to the British government his main contribution to society, being a thrifty businessman and not a people-person. Scrooge displays apathy towards the Christmas season at his nephew Fred Hollywell, son of his deceased older sister Fanny, and his current business partner Bob Cratchit, who replaced the long-dead Jacob Marley.
On Christmas Eve, the earthbound specter of Marley visits Scrooge and admonishes him that he will meet a similar fate if he doesn’t change his ways, warning that three spirits will come after midnight. First is the Ghost of Christmas Past, which shows Scrooge in his youth, beginning with his abandonment by his father at a boarding school after his mother died in childbirth. The Ghost of Christmas Present shows him the Cratchit family’s celebration of the holidays, with the disabled Tiny Tim vulnerable to early death, and his married nephew’s festivities. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge that nobody misses him after his demise, some even purloining his possessions, which makes him change his ways.
Overall, I believe this to be the definitive adaptation of Dickens’s story, which is one of few pieces of literature I would term a masterpiece, given that despite being written in the mid-nineteenth century, it’s still readable by contemporary standards (more so than the author’s other works), and has a timeless message that the well-to-do should be more compassionate towards the lesser-privileged and of high character. I have a minor issue with Fred not mourning or bequeathing his uncle’s property in the alternate future where Scrooge dies. However, the central theme, “God Bless Us, Everyone,” is one of the most beautiful pieces of seasonal music ever composed and had me cry happy tears. Very highly recommended.
Listen to the main theme yourself:
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