Draconis Zodiark

40 years to this hybrid genius of 2D & 3D. For the Big Ben climax in 'The Great Mouse Detective', Disney wanted dynamic camera moves through Big Ben’s gears, but in 1986 there was no digital compositing. Solution? 3D wireframes plotted by literal ballpoint pen machines, xeroxed onto cels, hand-painted, then filmed with 2D characters layered on top. Animation is supposed to be about these creative innovations, not soulless shortcuts.

@TBOGaming I'd say in terms of the Pacific in WWII, it's the Coral Sea to Little Mermaid being Midway. Not enough by itself, but a part of it. The push for or new content of TV helped. Oliver & Company? Didn't feel like Disney, I know folks that didn't know it was even Disney.

🎉🐭 40 YEARS OF THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE 🕵️‍♂️✨ A film that didn’t just entertain us — it saved Disney Animation. Today marks the 40th anniversary of The Great Mouse Detective, the scrappy little film that pulled Disney back from the brink and reignited the spark that would become the Renaissance. In 1986, Disney Animation was struggling — low morale, a damaged reputation, and the shadow of Don Bluth’s rising success. But then came Basil of Baker Street: a passionate, clever, wildly inventive mystery that proved the studio still had magic left in it. And it paid off. Critically loved. Financially successful. A victory at a moment when the studio desperately needed one. Because of Basil, Dawson, Olivia, and the artists who fought for this film, Disney kept the lights on. And from that spark came the era that defined a generation: Oliver & Company. The Little Mermaid. Beauty and the Beast. Aladdin. The Lion King. None of it happens without The Great Mouse Detective. This movie deserves more than nostalgia — it deserves recognition. It deserves celebration. It deserves respect for the role it played in saving the studio we all grew up with. So today, on its 40th anniversary, we honor the film that carried Disney through the storm. We honor the artists who believed in it. And we honor Basil — a protagonist so sharp, so eccentric, so brilliantly realized that he stands toe‑to‑toe with Disney’s greatest characters. Disney may not have given this anniversary the spotlight it deserves… but we will. Happy 40th, Basil. You saved the day once — and you saved the studio forever. 🕯️🐭❤️ #GreatMouseDetective40 #BasilOfBakerStreet #DisneyAnimation #AnimationHistory #JusticeForBasil #DisneyRenaissance #MouseDetective #Disney

@AeresChronicles DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp was another that somewhat fell through the cracks. They had others planned if it had been successful. Side note, it was not produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. Another reason it's mostly forgotten.

In theaters 40 years ago today. Although it didn't completely "rescue" Disney animation, it was a mild success and paved the way for the "Disney renaissance." It was the first movie I remember seeing in theaters, and although it had some dark moments, I was not "traumatized" by it, not by any means. (It would take me watching Aliens to actually get nightmares from a movie.) A couple of tidbits of trivia. The clock tower fight scene, which was an early example of CGI, was inspired by a similar scene in Hayao Miyazaki's Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro and in turn, the Clock King episode of Batman: the Animated Series was (unverifiably) influenced by the Great Mouse Detective. Also, Professor Ratigan, loosely based on Sherlock Holmes' arch nemesis Professor Moriarty, was one of the most sinister and violent Disney villains. His greatest caper was to dump a bunch of widows and orphans into the Thames and stand there shooting the ones that didn't drown. Ratigan briefly references this notorious act in his villain song, but parts of the song were left on the cutting room floor. Lastly, and this should come as no surprise but honestly a lot of people might not know that the movie was based on the 1958 children's book, Basil of Baker Street, by Eve Titus. There's a whole series of these books, not just the ones the film took as material. #animation

40 years ago today, ‘The Great Mouse Detective’ released in theaters.

@gijoeguy84 Meh. They got the USS Flagg back later.

Good morning! The massive sea & air battle between GI Joe & Cobra creates heavy losses of the Cobra aircraft carrier & the USS Flagg. And to think, all of this happened because Mainframe was a simp. (Ask ya kids) G.I. Joe A Real American Hero season 2 “Computer Complications”

They said it shouldn't be done... I'LL SHOW THEM!

Happy birthday Mel Brooks — and thanks for the laughs! ‘Blazing Saddles’ director turning 100 trib.al/BW5FpLV

I’ve been telling people this for years. GRRM pissed off millions of customers but he don’t give a shit. He got his bag. But his legacy is being such an epic bum ass bum that he crippled an entire genre, ruined consumer sentiment, and killed off an entire generation of epic fantasy authors. Romantasy and LitRPG grew as a direct result of filling the smoking crater George left in the industry. New writers could no longer get deals to write epic fantasy unless the entire series was in the bag, and nobody can afford to gamble that much time to write that many books they may never sell. Publishers no longer took chances on new series because customers had got burned by lazy shirkers like George and Pat. Agents wouldn’t represent new epic fantasy unless the whole thing was done. It hurt Indy because dudes had to convince customers that they weren’t bums too. Except when book one makes $50 total, because customers said Im not starting a new series until it’s done! they sure as shit ain’t writing book two. So it’s a self fulfilling prophesy of suck. In the comments Dunning-Krugerands are saying this isn’t true. Look at guys like Brandon Sanderson. Wrong. Guys like him, or me, who already had established names, reputations, and fan bases were fine. We had enough customers who trusted us we could still do new things and people would come along to make it economically viable. For example, the only reason my epic fantasy series got picked up is because I was already successful and could guarantee a viable level of sales off my existing fans. Newbs don’t have that. And over the ten years it took for me to write the six books to finish it, the entire time I heard from potential customers, nope, not gonna start a new series that might not finish because of George. I am fine during this because I’m still gonna make a couple hundred grand off each of those just off my existing fans. Newbs make two bucks an hour, say to hell with being a writer I’m going back to my day job, and you all missed out on the next great author and his absolutely brilliant series, because you were too mad at billionaire George shoving twinkies in his mouth instead of writing. Nope. Guys like me and Brandon are fine. George’s profound laziness screwed over the new guys. Customers and the industry quit taking chances on new guys. We will never know how many excellent fantasy series we missed out on, robbed by George’s laziness burning so many customers. Some writers gave up, but others moved into different genres. Which is good. But it sure does suck if epic fantasy is your jam. LitRPG is close but different enough it blew up during this time frame because that’s where the talented went. Being such a pretentious, bloviating bum that you damage an entire industry and strangle a generation of aspiring artists is quite the legacy. Kal (who is a good writer btw, check out his books) asks what can we do about this? For me personally I’m just gonna continue mocking George’s work ethic in the hopes more normies realize what an outlier he is, and how they should expand their horizons to read other authors who aren’t stuck up, know it all, dickheads. And before anybody starts barking at me that I’m such a hypocrite because I’ve not finished all my series, sorry I’ve only finished three of eight so far, and have only written THIRTY books since George’s last one, the next MHI comes out in December, and the last two books are next year, and I’m not planning on retiring anytime soon (if ever).

Happy 91st birthday to the legendary Floyd Norman. Disney’s first Black animator, Norman has spent more than 65 years in the animation industry, contributing to beloved classics including Sleeping Beauty, The Jungle Book, Mulan, Toy Story 2, and Monsters, Inc. He is also set to receive an Honorary Oscar next year in recognition of his groundbreaking career and lasting impact on animation.

@Nerdcognito Want.

I don't want the stone lions at the end of the driveway anymore...

A fantastic read from the great Ron Coleman!

Before Gotham can be saved… its hero must fall. Batman: Knightfall Trilogy — Coming Soon #DCAnimated

quake happy 30th anniversary to the game of shoot

Happy 30th Anniversary Quake. You were my very first FPS game when I was a kid back in the 90s. I will always treasure you and all the memories we make! #quake #anniversary #pcgaming #idsoftware

‘Lilo & Stitch’ creators Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois have shared a tribute artwork honoring the late Daveigh Chase.

@CynicalPublius @MaxPaxCat Weren't the slave catch laws "federal" and didn't they violate the rights of "free" states? Did the CS Constitution protect slavery and forbid an individual southern state from abolishing slavery on its own?

"...they would have sat down at a table and talked everything out." Incorrect. Slavery was too essential to the Southern economy, particularly with respect to the rich slave owners who constituted the Southern political class. (And please don't tell me the tired trope of "The war was not about slavery, it was about states' rights," because we all know exactly which single "right" it was about.)

"Twenty months have elapsed, but the rebellion is not crushed out; its military power has not been broken; the insurgents have not dispersed. The Union is not restored; nor the Constitution maintained; nor the laws enforced . . . after nearly two years of more vigorous prosecution of war than ever recorded in history; you have utterly, signally, disastrously—I will not say ignominiously—failed to subdue ten millions of ‘rebels,’ whom you had taught the people of the North and West not only to hate, but to despise. … You have not conquered the South. You never will. It is not in the nature of things possible; much less under your auspices. But money you have expended without limit, and blood poured out like water. Defeat, debt, taxation, sepulchres, these are your trophies . . . The war for the Union is, in your hands, a most bloody and costly failure." Democrat Senator Clement L. Vallandigham said this on January 14, 1863 about President Abraham Lincoln. Some things never change.

Who's going to be PressTrainLive's 100th follower? 🤔🎉 #steamtrain #locomotive #diesel #railfans #trains #steamlocomotive #steammuseum #museum #UP4014 #UPRRMuseum #History #RailwayHistory #BigBoy4014 #BigBoy #Illinois #Volunteering #railfan 🎥@Fox13now

@Reirakiyo A mount, probably.

Yall call me crazy but like, don't those legs look familiar?👀

@TimothyImholt Being born in '77 means I may have seen this before the real Star Wars movie.

This was absolutely hilarious. It’s probably on YouTube if you get the chance you won’t be disappointed

@MilHistNow The railroad tunnel is my favorite part of the whole film.

"To a New Yorker like you, a hero is some sort of weird sandwich, not some nut that takes on three Tigers." — Oddball