Merry Christmas 2024!

Merry Christmas everyone when it comes! What a hectic year it has truly been, but an incredibly fast one all the same.

As the year began, there was no real plan for me going forward, I had been working on prints, namely a Twechar map and had a few other pieces planned. In retrospect, its quite funny how tight for time I felt then, as now by comparison, I believe I had it easy.

2024 started with the horrible news that my friend & collaborator Mallorca had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He died only a matter of weeks after his announcement. After about seven years of collaboration on The Hashtag Show, I felt a bit unsettled and unsure of what the future had in store for me.

A month later, I was contacted by a film studio in Glasgow that I had previously worked with. I was presented the opportunity to create an animation with a runtime of 3-4 minutes and would be carrying out the majority of the work on the production - story sketches, storyboards, pre-production, animation, character design and backgrounds. The only major aspect of the piece that isn't being done by me is the sound, which the studio will take charge on.

This animation has now been ongoing for around ten months, albeit the post-production didn't end until late June and a different graphics project took priority for two weeks in September, followed by my two-week holiday to the US. The character design was signed off around May and the storyboards approved in late June so animation has basically been ongoing for 5 months now, minus the aforementioned gaps.

I currently estimate the animation to be around 75% finished, and I am hoping to be completely finished by late January. This has been a brilliant project to work on - I will probably do a much deeper and more detailed breakdown of the production in a few months, once it has been revealed publicly.

This project has been a huge undertaking for me and had a number of challenges. I have worked on similar productions in the past, but never by myself, I've practically done a whole team worth of work while also doing a lot of other work day-to-day. I keep reminding myself of this fact as I gradually reduce the amount of work still required. Every time I have hit another milestone in the production, I have encouraged myself along using three simple words (one word really) "Chip Chip, Chip" which basically means I'm gradually finishing the piece bit-by-bit, like a sculptor chipping away at marble.

I also recently completed other pieces of digital art - one of Ibrox stadium, a piece that I was often asked about doing upon completing the Celtic Park and another inside Celtic Park as a Christmas gift to a customer's father - which has now been printed, framed and collected.

Going forward, my road map has me finishing the animation by (hopefully) the end of January. Once this has been completed, I will be taking a much needed break (might be a long break) and only doing some occasional print work and I plan on spending some much needed time with my sons.

Favourite Animated Christmas Special

Hey Arnold - Arnold's Christmas (1996)

This episode has only very recently made it on to my list of animated favourites. I'd watched this Christmas Special several times before, but it was only during a recent rewatch (2021) that I truly appreciated how great the episode actually is. "Arnold's Christmas" has leapfrogged all The Simpsons Christmas specials that at one point would have topped my list, purely for nostalgic reasons.

In the episode, the tenants of Arnold’s home, an inner-city boarding house (Sunset Arms) are running a secret santa in the lead up to Christmas and Arnold draws the quiet Mr Hyunh, who always seems sad around the holidays.

Arnold soon pays him a visit to find out a little more about him and it becomes clear that the man has a very touching back story. Mr Hyunh, originally from South Vietnarn, explains how he was separated from his baby daughter Mai during the Fall of Saigon in the Vietnam war, holding her above his head as a U.S. Army helicopter was evacuating the Vietnamese. She was taken by the soldiers back to America, guaranteeing her safety.

When he was finally able to leave Vietnam himself, Mr Hyunh had been unable to find Mai, knowing only that she had been taken to Hillwood. I won't go into more detail on the plot here as this episode is better to be watched for yourself and I recommend you do! I watch it several times over the Christening period and its fast becoming a tradition.

This episode actually premiered on December 11,1996 - 28 years ago yesterday. I'm a little gutted that I didn't realise this fact sooner as I'd have loved to coincide this post with the anniversary of its release.

Overall, it is a wonderful, heartfelt episode and I wasn't surprised to find it is often included on "TV's best holiday episodes" lists including Variety's, Screen Rant's, Indie Wire's and Den of Geek's and is the top rated Hey Arnold episode on IMDB. I watch this special several times over the Christmas period and I recommend you give it a watch on Paramount+.

The episode's opening is my favourite part, a catchy tune and a very atmospheric scene - several shots of a snowy Hillwood and a few of the shows best known characters, and a certain football headed snowman. It always gives me strong, nostalgic 90's vibes.

Go watch it now.

First Cinema Experience

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

As I mentioned in a previous post, I vividly remember going to see The Hunchback of Notre Dame with my parents when I was a child, most likely at the Showcase in Barrbridge. I can't say with complete certainty that it's the first film I went to see as I have a vague memory of seeing Aladdin in the Odeon Renfield Street, but I'm not sure how reliable this is.

I would have been a little over three when Aladdin was released in November 1993, so it's certainly possible that it's one of my earliest memories if accurate. However, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the first cinema experience that I remember clearly and is what I am going to discuss today.

For anyone not familiar with the film, The Hunchbank of Notre Dame is the Disney Studios adaption of the 1831 Victor Hugo novel of the same name. The main character, bell-ringer Quasimodo, lives high above the streets of Paris in the bell towers of Notre Dame with only the stone gargoyles to keep him company. His cruel master, Judge Claude Frollo, has forbidden him from ever leaving the cathedral but Quasi watches the world below and longs for freedom. After sneaking out to attend the "Festival of Fools" an incident causes him to be humiliated in front of the townspeople, saved only by the gypsy Esmeralda. Following this, the pair strike up a friendship and he helps her escape Frollo and his soldiers, returning to the gypsy sanctuary the “Court of Miracles:" This brings Quasimodo into direct conflict with Frollo who has a deep hatred and prejudice towards all gypsies, particularly Esmeralda whom he lusts after.

I remember "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" being a big part of my young life, it's the first film where I really bought into the merchandise - l've remained a bit of a merch addict ever since. Below I've included a bunch of the toys that I remember from that period. I owned the Hunchback of Notre Dame Carry Around Bell Tower from Mattel, I don't particularly remember the figures that came with it but the Notre Dame set always stuck in my mind years later. I also remember the toys McDonalds were doing at the time and particularly remember owning the Esmeralda figurine.

  However, what sticks in my mind most vividly is the nestle chocolates -I can't remember which ones it was specifically, it may have been both pictured, but I remember the toys that came in the box with them - everything seemed to come with a toy back then.

 I also owned the CD soundtrack which I think I may have had before I even seen the film. There was also this Quasimodo doll, which I have only just remembered owning, He had a little carpenter's belt and toolbox for his tools and figurines - he also carne with the "heart of the city" which could be worn around his neck. I was impressed by this figure as a kid, most figures were fugly and didn't look anything like the character they were meant to be. Even looking at this figurine now I'm astounded by how accurate and clean it looks, it's one of the best quality kids toys I've seen from Disney.

I remember my favourite character oddly being Clopin, the Gypsy leader and jester, who is barely in the film but is very memorable - he narrates the story and plays a big part in the Festival of Fools. I feel like he may have been quite a prominent character in the marketing and that's why I've always associated the film with an image of him. I do also recall the gargoyle characters - Hugo, Victor and Laverne being a highlight of our cinema trip. The film is quite drab and dreary in places and yet my memories of it are always of the colourful segments.

I've included some photos from our visit to Paris in early 2017, a couple of years before the infamous fire that destroyed sections of the cathedral and art within. We didn't have time to explore inside the cathedral and on subsequent visits it has been closed to visitors due to the repair work. I was quite surprised at how much smaller it was than I expected - it's still pretty big but the movie made it seem huge. I was also quite surprised by how much bigger the building was beyond the more famous façade side that features prominently in the movie.

Favourite Animated TV Show as a Child

The Dreamstone (1990)

This is an obscure British TV show that I actually only watched two episodes of and yet it left a lasting impression on me. 

I could have sworn I watched lots of episodes of this show but the VHS I owned only held two episodes. The tape I had was the one pictured below & most likely came from one of the rotating video stands in Safeway, Kilsyth. This VHS was kept in my grans house so I always associate it with her house - she most likely bought me it when we were out, as she would often do. The show actually had 52 episodes too, so in British terms, it was quite a long running program.

The theme song for The Dreamstone, “Better than a Dream" is also a consideration for my favourite childhood theme song. I'll probably share a clip of it at some point - its worth taking a few minutes to watch.

The Dreamstone is set between the Land of Dreams and the Land of Nightmares, following the struggle between The Dream Maker, and Zordrak, Lord of Nightmares. The main character is a Noop called Rufus, who loves to daydream, leading him to be hired as The Dreammaker’s assistant.

This TV show may also be why I later became so interested in anime & Final Fantasy games - it is such a fantastical story, with lots of adventure and diverse character species.

Favourite Anime

Dragon Ball Z (1989 - 1996)

This will probably be a foregone conclusion to anyone that knows me - at the very least, they'll know that it comes down to one of two choices. On the one hand you have Pokémon, a franchise of which I've consumed almost every type of media, from the card game and the manga to the video games and anime.

But on the other hand, there is Dragon Ball Z, a show that I first started watching in 2000 on Cartoon Network (later CNX/Toonami) and that I could practicallv play a part in. I was first introduced to this amazing show when I was in Primary 6, at around nine years of age. At that time, numerous members of the class were already deeply invested in the show: Ross, Chris, Jamie and Peter to name a few, whereas I was a little late to the party, starting my journey during the early Androids saga.

Having other kids in the class that were interested in Dragon Ball Z, particularly as they were all older than me, heightened my interest in the show, and gave me the chance to get into discussions about the previous day's episode. We would theorise where the plot was going each day and since the internet was still in its infancy, we didn't realise the original Japanese anime had already ended four years earlier.

I rapidly became obsessed with the show, and it became clear very quickly that this was going to become one of my all-time favourites. When an episode would approach the end, I'd nervously clock-watch, not wanting it to finish, desperately hoping for more plot development. Only a few shows have elicited this sort of response in me - these were Game of Thrones, Better Call Saul and Lost.

Often, after the day's episode had come to an end, I would sit with my own action figures and I would play out the next episode as I imagined what direction the plot could take. I remember using some generic lizard toy from Spain that was filled with sand to represent Cell, fighting against a Triple H figure (not much Dragon Ball Z figures on the shelves in those days.)

I continued to follow Dragon Ball from Primary all the way through the various hiatus' and eventually the show would reach the Buu saga and its conclusion in my first year of High School. By this point, I was joined by Grieg in watching the show - Ross was still watching and discussing it too.

I tried to continue beyond the series into Dragon Ball GT but, even at my young age, I knew the show wasn't a patch on Z, and I wasn't wrong - GT was an original creation by the studio, with very little input from creator Akira Toriyama.

Following the finale I took a bit of a break from Dragon Ball in my teens, though I continued to purchase the 42 volumes of the manga and the various video games. My passion was suddenly re-ignited with the release of Dragonball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! in 2008 & Battle of Gods in 2013. I quickly became a bigger fan of the series than ever before and have never looked back.

I have since continued to watch Dragon Ball Super, Dragon Ball Daima and read the Super manga. I also made sure to attend Super Broly and Super Hero in the cinema upon release in 2018 and 2022 respectively.

Thanks to Fortnite DLC, my twelve year old son Logan also found himself becoming a massive fan of Dragon Ball Z. He is now playing the games (currently Sparking Zero) and has watched the complete series from Dragon Ball through to the end of Super. I think he might actually have become a bigger fan than I was at his age! It fills me with pride that we had this shared interest from similar ages and that we can both now connect over the show.

For his 11th birthday my partner and I arranged a Dragon Ball themed night in our house where we both played Dragon Ball FighterZ ate snacks and watched the movies. 

I also once had a gamer room in our house that was practically dedicated to the series - numerous shelves filled with Dragon Ball figures, from Frieza and the Androids to Cell, Kid Buu and Zamasu. These have all since been packed away into storage after the arrival of our son Elias. I am patiently waiting for the day when we move to a bigger house and I can have everything on display once again haha! 

Animated Movie That Was a Pleasant Surprise

My Neighbour Totoro (1988)

I was incredibly late to the party with this one to say the least! I have been gradually watching through the Studio Ghibli collection over the years and in January this year, I watched this incredible film for the first time. I know to always expect great things when I watch a Studio Ghibli feature, but this was honestly a pleasant surprise and exceeded all expectation - I was truly blown away by the magic of "My Neighbour Totoro." It is hardly surprising that Totoro became such an important symbol of Studio Ghibli in much the same way as Mickey Mouse.

In terms of story, not very much actually happens in the film, but it's the small, slice-of-life moments depicted throughout that are its true strength. The first twenty-five minutes are perfect, in my opinion, from the opening tune which gave me a strong nostalgic feeling that I couldn't quite explain to the introduction of Totoro and some more fantastical elements. As mentioned, the opening song "Hey, Lets Go!" is perfectly suited to the coming-of-age themes of the movie, providing an uplifting introduction to the world of Totoro.

The plot follows two young Japanese sisters that have just moved to their new home with their father, in order to be closer to their mother, who is very ill in hospital. The film starts with their arrival in the area on the back of a moving truck, before they arrive at their new house and begin to explore, whist the father deals with the grown up stuff. Fantasy is soon injected into the plot as we are introduced to the "soot sprites" - harmless spirits that live in old dusty houses, as explained by "Granny" one of their new neighbours. Soon afterwards, four-year-old Mei encounters Totoro, a large animal spirit, alongside two smaller, similar spirits. There comes a point in the film where it feels like events may take a darker turn ala "Bridge to Terabithia" but thankfully the movie chooses to keep the spirit of this fantastical world alive in all the right ways.

What I enjoy most about this film is when I put it on Netflix, my three-year-old son is captivated for the first twenty or so minutes. He knows exactly when the soot sprites are about to make an appearance so, as the scene approaches, he moves behind the arm of the couch - I think because the music swells for a brief period when they first burst out.

I cannot recommend this film enough if you have young kids or if you appreciate the art of animation yourself - it has quickly injected itself into my "Top 5 List” of favourite animated films. My fiancée will attest to the fact that I have had "My Neighbour Totoro” on our TV about thirty times this year already and, as if I wasn't obsessed enough, I have even went to a screening at Vue Cinema.

Favourite Pokémon

Bulbasaur

What more do I need to say? Ash's Bulbasaur was an absolute beast when he was introduced in the original anime, quickly becoming my favourite. Pikachu gets so much of the attention and glory as the series mascot, but Bulbasaur is one of the best Pokémon in the entire series.

Stand-out moments for the anime character was his resistance when all of his fellow Bulbasaur were ritualistically evolving into Ivysaur around him (Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden S1 E51) and a commendable battle in the Pokemon League, beating a Beedrill and Scyther (The Fourth Round Rumble S1 E77)

Bulbasaur has one of the best designs of the Pokemon starters. It uses a combination of complimentary colours within its design, as well as a lots of curves, lending well to the animation principle of appeal which dictates that every line, curve and colour should contribute to how pleasant a character looks.

As a side note, Bulbasaur is also a solid pick for starter in Red & Blue as it has an advantage against many of the early gyms leaders and doesn't really get a type disadvantage until Blaine on Cinnabar Island.