The really cool part about this is the backstory to the creation of these shorts. After writing the first script, these NYC brothers asked a few famous comedians to be in their short – comedians they didn’t know… and to do so without any compensation. The cool thing, was they all said yes.

The end result, a bunch of pretty funny people lending their voices. Leading the charge, is Jonathan Katz… starring as God. The shorts were also animated under the supervision of Ed Mundy (who has experience with Archer and Sealab 2021).

Needless to say, a pretty impressive cast and crew.

As usual, lists like these are always up for debate, but it is still worth a read. There were definitely episodes I thoroughly enjoyed that were omitted, but the article begins with a poignant description of the show and its impact on animation.

Plus, reading about most of these episodes was a nice blast from the past.

Being a huge fan of Samurai Jack and the original Star Wars: Clone Wars, hearing this definitely made my day. Plus, it stars John DiMaggio (Bender from Futurama) and Brian Posehn (the big guy from Mr. Show, The Sarah Silverman Program, and Mission Hill).

Seeing as how I just found out about Sym-Bionic (how did I not hear about this sooner?), I’ve decided not to learn much about the show. I want to go in fresh… fresh. So you’re on your own using Google to find clips.

As expected, it looks pretty sweet. Plus, four days after The Venture Bros’ season premiere, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia kicks off its sixth season.

That will be one kick ass week.

In case you were wondering,  the approximation of Pi is only 0.04% off of the real thing. It shouldn’t be used for any serious engineering calculations, but it’ll pass for a pretty solid estimate.

Although it’s disappointing that the movie didn’t live up to its potential, there have been several funny comments made in its criticisms:

* And The Last Airbender is a lavish parody of big-budget fantasy epics. It’s got everything: the personality-free hero, the nonsensical plot twists, the CG clutter, the bland romance, the new-age pablum. No expense is spared — Shyamalan even makes sure to make fun of distractingly shitty 3-D, by featuring it in his movie.

* Burdened by a never-ending onslaught of expository dialogue awkwardly delivered by actors giving career-worst performances across the board, THE LAST AIRBENDER is so outrageously bad it’s a wonder it ever got before cameras.

* Where to start with this one? How about this: If any movie ever warranted a class-action lawsuit against the filmmakers, it’s The Last Airbender.

* After his breakthrough with The Sixth Sense in 1999, M. Night Shyamalan’s career has been painful to contemplate. Hailed as the new Spielberg, he has made five movies, ranging from the awkward-but-promising (Signs) to the ridiculous (Lady in the Water).

* “The Last Airbender” is an agonizing experience in every category I can think of and others still waiting to be invented. The laws of chance suggest that something should have gone right. Not here.

* This one looks like “The Karate Kid” got lost in a Nickelodeon cartoon.

* “The Last Airbender” is a pacifist’s action movie.

Ouch. Not sure if all the criticism is warranted, but at least it’s entertaining. The sad thing is… this is supposed to be a trilogy.

One of the reasons I respect Pixar (more so than say Dreamsworks) is that they tend to believe in the art of animation – rather than the business aspect of it. With Toy Story 3 now out, I’m fairly confident that the story will be decent. But honestly, I’d much rather see original material – especially considering the sequel heavy releases expected to come from Pixar over the next few years.

Speaking of which, the next Pixar movie to be released is Cars 2. Cars was by far my least favorite movie of theirs – and critics seemed to agree. I hated the premise, the story, the execution, the voice acting… everything. So news of a sequel being made felt like a kick square in the nuts. To make matters worse (yes, it gets worse), an interview with John Lasseter gave insight to the idea of making Cars 2:

When I was traveling around the world doing interviews for Cars, I just had the characters on the brain. I kept looking out thinking, ‘What would Mater do in this situation, you know?’

Yes… the thought process of making a sequel to this horribly disappointing movie was Mater – the most annoying character in the original movie (and quite possibly in all of Pixar’s pictures). And as a result, the story will have more Mater in it (ugh). In fact, one of the key story points will be:

Mater gets involved in a “Hitchcockian” case of mistaken identity, saves the life of a British secret agent called Finn McMissile (voiced by Jack Black), and becomes embroiled in a huge spy thriller.

If you’re anything like me, you plan on visiting a doctor over the next few days because you’re worried reading the above passage gave you cancer.

So to summarize: a horrible first movie combined with the death of several original cast members (Paul Newman, George Carlin, and Joe Ranft) doesn’t lead to shelving any sequel plans. Instead, it gives more screen time for an obnoxious character with a bizarrely inane premise and a new character with a British accent (shine your tires, gov-nah?).

I am getting more and more convinced that Cars 2 might be the first Pixar movie I won’t see.

Despite decreasing the quantity and quality of shows in this genre, Adult Swim is at least airing Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. The series more  closely follows the manga compared to its predecessor.

Last weekend, Adult Swim aired Death Of The Undying – and… that… episode… rocked.

I miss watching really great anime, and this episode reminded me why.

On a side note, Louie premieres on FX next week. I’m a fan of Louie C.K.’s stand up – plus FX has had some pretty solid comedies in the past few years. Those are reasons enough to be optimistic about the show… that and the fact that I have to wait a few more months to see new Venture Bros.

Hopefully this sheds a little light as to why I haven’t been around to post in the last few weeks.

The accompanying website, in my opinion, is the really cool thing. It details a lot of the work throughout the process. In addition to a blog and production diary, a Making Of video was also released. This goes into a lot of the work required to create the short – from idea conception all the way through post-production. Plus, you get glimpses of the software and techniques used.