It wasn’t so long ago that action figures, trading cards, plushies and posters were regular impulse buys on my trips to the comics shop or convention. Animation cels and special edition books, I ate them up too. Yup, I had the collecting bug pretty bad for a while there and if I hadn’t curbed the habit, I’d probably be broke and up to my neck in blister cards and boxes (True fact – I have box of unopened Star Trek: TNG action figures under my grandma’s house). There are still a few nerdy collectibles that I cherish, like my Sandman bookends and Harley Quinn production cel, but most of the rest of those collectibles I passed on to the next generation, donating to my cousins or other friends/family with kids. (I haven’t seen Toy Story 3 yet, but I have a feeling I’ll relate all too well).

Even though I’ve kicked the collecting habit, I still get a vicarious thrill looking at cool toys and treasures at stores and online, and ever since I started working on Return to Labyrinth, I’ve dreamed about seeing merch made for characters that I created. RtL as an intellectual property belongs entirely to the Jim Henson Company, so whether or not official merch is ever made is entirely up to them (and should it happen, I’d get no royalties anyway, but I’d still like to see it!). In the meantime, with the series ending, I wanted to do something special for my inner-collector to mark the occasion. In this era of etsy and blossoming DIY geekery, there’s no reason to let that stop me! And so I scoured the webs for an independent artist who could help make my dream a reality.

The artist I ended up working with is Jennifer Lin, aka Meowchee, a new but super-talented member of the Japanese-style plushie community (like those chibi stuffed dolls you see at the back of any anime/manga/otaku store). She has a blog and a deviantart page. Why did I pick her? Because of her amazing Jareth plushies, of course! She’s made him in several costumes, each more impressive than the last.

For my commission, I asked Jennifer to make Toby from the volume 2 cover and Moulin from the cover of volume 3. Moulin’s costume is pretty clearly presented on the cover, but for Toby, Jennifer had to do a fair amount of extrapolating, and I love what she did, adding a design based on Jareth’s amulet to the back of his vest. Moulin is definitely my favorite, with her adorable raincloud companion Nimbus and trusty book! (Both accessories feature magnets so that they’ll snap to moulin’s hands). I also asked for one of her “Magic Dance” Jareths. So cute!

These are one-of-a-kind commissions, so I’m afraid I can’t sell them to you, but I will have them at the booth at Comic-Con (Booth O-08 in the small press pavillion), so if you’ll be in San Diego next week, do stop by to give them a hug. Of course, you’re welcome (encouraged even!) to commission plushies of your own from Jennifer. Details and price estimates on her blog.

While I’m so excited to see and hold these pro-quality Return to Labyrinth dolls, I won’t be keeping them. They’re gifts for the wonderful folks that helped make Return to Labyrinth happen. And maybe, just maybe, someone will see them and decide to make some official merch.

UPDATE: Additional pics and commentator from the plushies’ creator at Jennifer’s blog.

There are few things I enjoy more than puppets, Egyptology and a good love story, so this new music video for Josh Ritter’s The Curse created by drummer/puppeteer Liam Hurley is a home run of whimsy and wonder and definitely a video to share. Also, is it just me, or does the Egyptologist in the video look a lot like a puppet version of Sarah?

Thanks to Bryce and NPR for bringing this video to my attention.

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful (at least here in San Francisco — I guess Chicago’s not so lucky) Memorial Day. Right now I’m working on a Skub’s Riddle Club challenge that will hopeful boggle minds in day or two.

-J

Apparently, this Saturday is World Labyrinth Day. What, you didn’t know? I didn’t either. Apparently it is put on every year by The Labyrinth Society, which, you might be shocked to find out, has nothing to do with the movie Labyrinth. Despite choosing a font that is highly evocative of the Jim Henson film, The Labyrinth Society homepage makes no mention of goblins or masquerade balls. They do speak of personal transformation, so perhaps there is a bit of magic to their mazes.

I’ve navigated a couple of corn mazes (“The A-Mazing Maize Maze!”) in my days, but I’ve never actually walked a proper labyrinth. Anyone out there have any labyrinth walking experiences they’d like to share?

Thank you, Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess, for sharing this amazing reading and animation of your latest book! Mr. Gaiman says on his blog that he wants “everyone to watch it,” and I agree, and so will do my part to help by reposting here. Beautiful stuff from two of my absolute favorite creators!

Wondercon, the San Francisco based convention of comics and geek culture, begins this Friday, and fantasy fans have plenty to celebrate. Forget Kick-Ass and Brightest Day — the real star of the show is The Last Unicorn! Author Peter S. Beagle will be reading a Schmendrick story from his upcoming collection, as well as answering questions. Across town (2 short BART stops away) at the gorgeous Victoria theater, the classic Rankin-Bass animated version of The Last Unicorn will be playing on April 2-4, with Beagle in attendance at each show. Q&A before the show, signings after. Finally, comics publisher IDW will be debuting their new adaptation of The Last Unicorn, with a special cover made for Wondercon.

Right before Peter Beagle takes the stage on Saturday afternoon, another of my favorite writers, Tim Powers, will be appearing at the Con. For those who haven’t read Powers, he’s a master of “secret histories” and genre-bending fantasy. His time-travel story The Anubis Gates helped inform the sensibilities of the Steampunk movement.

Unrelated to the con, fantasy film fans have a few cult-classic screenings to look forward to at the famous Castro Theater. On April 17, they’re doing a Roald Dahl double feature of Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder version) and the under-appreciated and Henson produced The Witches. (For fans of 80s horror, take that they’re also screening claymation demon-fest The Gate and John Carpenter’s cyber-satan gem Prince of Darkness on April 9.

Over on the Adult Swim games website, there is a brilliant homage to that uniquely ’80s intersection of rainbow fantasy and dancefloor melodies — Robot Unicorn Attack! The gameplay is simple, but sort of addicting (for about 10 minutes), but what makes me want to keep playing is the brilliant use of Erasure on the sound track. Oh, and if you do well, silver dolphins will join you in your star-bursting blaze of unicorn glory.

Do check it out.

And if you get hooked on the song, it’s “Always” by Erasure and it can be yours in seconds for 99 cents.

Director Werner Herzog isn’t just a brilliant filmmaker — he’s also one of the most amazing film subjects when he delivers his vivid blend of nihilism and naturalism in a soothing monotone. This reading/interpretation of Curious George isn’t really Herzog, but it does an amazing job of capturing his mad genius (especially the bit about the fishes in the lungs).  I hope you enjoy this as much as I did, and if you haven’t experienced Herzog’s films yet, go and watch Fitzcarraldo– it’s a gorgeous and haunting 2oth centry fable.

Bonus Link: What’s on David Bowie’s iPod these days?

It’s time to celebrate the season, Gobblin style!

There’s a new trailer out for Alice in Wonderland that finally hints at the direction the story is taking (previous trailers have shown characters from AiW and Through the Looking Glass as seen through Burton’s lens, but mostly out of context). It’s hard to tell if the movie’s a liberal retelling of Looking Glass, or a wholly original story, but this trailer makes it clear that the Queen of Hearts is the “Red Queen” and that Alice has been to Wonderland before. (Note — if you know more about the script, don’t spoil it in the comments, please!) Certainly there’s more action here than in any previous Alice retelling. Having Alice be the champion who has to save Wonderland seems a little odd, as the denizens of Lewis Carrol’s world seemed to universally live by nonsense rules rather than any sense of good and evil, but I don’t want to judge before seeing the movie. In any case, the visuals and the casting are fantastic and I’m terribly excited to see the movie next March. Between this, Clash of the Titans, Black Death, How to Train Your Dragon, Season of the Witch and The Lightning Thief, the first quarter of 2010 is going to be quite the season for fantasy!

There was a window there in the late ’90s early ’00s when anime was the epitome of cool. Not in an otaku way, but truly universally cool in the way that Marlon Brando or James Bond or Don Draper are cool. Really, can you get any cooler than Spike Spiegel or FLCL? Not really.

Anyway, an independent animator named Kousuke Sugimoto appeared out of the ether courtesy of youtube a couple days ago with a couple of videos. This one seems to be getting the most buzz, but I prefer this earlier effort, rough edges and all. I guess I just have a soft spot for monkeys. Thought I’d pass it along.

Elsewhere in the world of independent animation videos to share, here’s a slightly frightening (but still beautiful) short that uses children’s primers as a springboard. This one, titled Rabbit, was nominated for a BAFTA in 2006, so it isn’t exactly new, but it’s new to me (hooray friends + internet!)