Fan Art: More of Those Little Blue Guys (and Gals)

Okay, so it's now official: based on the box office returns of the past few weeks, "The Smurfs 2" is a big blue disaster. For a film that cost well over $105 million to make with all the special effects and CGI animation, nobody saw it, and those who did were shocked at the prevalence of blue humor (pardon the pun) and sexual innuendo. I think because the first film did so well, the producers thought they could do more of the same and get away with it, but they really smurfed the shark (er, jumped) with this one. These little blue guys were nothing like the 80's Hanna-Barbera TV series that reruns on cable TV to this day, and audiences smurfed out on the disconnect.

But since I grew up on the TV series and the Smurfs were the first characters I seriously tried to copy and draw, ultimately developing my own original style, it was that cheerful, family-friendly memory that went into the below Smurf fan art I drew up the past few weeks.

Here is a part of "The Smurf Ohana (family)": From left to right, we have Papa Smurf, Smurfette, Baby, Brainy, Vexy, Husky, Sloppy and his beloved pet fly Fly, Snappy, Grandpa, Sassette, Nanny, her pet Smoogle, Clumsy, Grouchy and Painter. It's a mix of the classic Smurf characters with their newer relatives from the films. Vexy's hair was changed to brown based on other Smurf fan art I got a real kick out of.

Here again is Vexy Smurf, post-Naughtie and with change in hair color, explaining her hot temper and adventurous spirit.

And finally, little Baby Smurf ratting out Jokey, whom Vexy wants to have a little talk with after opening one of his trademark "surprises". (Personally, instead of Christina Ricci voicing Vexy, I think Gwen Stefani would be a better choice. Just looking at her CGI style from the movie automatically has me thinking of Gwen!)

This past month has been a very stressful one for me personally, as I have continued to look for work, finally landing some temporary jobs, and dealing with a lot of venting and anger from customers. Rediscovering my childhood friends has been a great creative and emotional release. I've never had this much creative energy in several years, and the ideas just keep on coming. Developing Maranappta may have been the impetus for that creativity, and now drawing these family-friendly Smurf toons has just about broken the dam holding everything back.

So until Studio Peyo of Brussels, Belgium (which owns the Smurfs) sends me a cease-and-desist letter, which they probably won't do because Smurf fan art is all over the web and is actually good publicity for them, I'll keep smurfing away, and giving credit where proper credit is due. Enjoy.

Phone Apps, a Disco Dancing Smurfette and Release

This past week, in addition to continuing to build Maranappta, I've dusted off my traditional animation skills by creating an original short clip called "So You Think You Can Smurf", which stars Smurfette from the Smurfs shyly tiptoeing onto the dance floor and finally succumbing to "Boogie Fever" by The Sylvers. It was inspired by a visit on Monday to the McDonald's at Main and MacArthur in Irvine, CA next to John Wayne Airport, where "Smurfs 2" Happy Meals are being promoted and clips from "Despicable Me 2" were playing on the in-house TV channel. "Boogie Fever" is a running gag in the original minions movie, and I had a goofy idea to mash up the two, developing and promoting my animation skills in the process.

Smurfette was an easy choice because she's not only the first female Smurf, but also the most popular one of all based on merchandising and overall fan appeal. This isn't the saucy seductress as reimagined by Katy Perry in the recent movies but the original innocent, girly and spunky Smurfette from the original Hanna-Barbera TV series as established by her original voice actor Lucille Bliss, which became the defining role of her decades-long career and her all-time personal favorite.

It's been an interesting past few weeks. As I wrote in my last post, I got a temp job at a real estate software company in part because I've been a lot more open about my technical skills in web development, coding and creating apps. I've been getting a lot of smiles at church and with my friends about the above Smurf video with the new movie on everyone's mind. And at church the pastors have been teaching us to stop making excuses to God for not obeying His call on our lives to serve Him with the gifts He's given us, and to learn to release (let go) of controlling everyone and everything, entrusting it all to His loving hands. Very timely messages if you ask me.

Animators are often actors through their pencils or software as they bring their characters to life, infusing their personalities into their creations. Smurfette's dance moves in the above clip are my own choreography, acting out each step when I'm sure nobody else is looking (or doesn't care), draw the movements onto paper and translate them into the computer. So yeah, that's basically me in her poses. But don't get any pupule (crazy) ideas about me, even though I live in hopelessly weird California.

Newport Muse Now Linked to Newport Muse Live

I was planning on doing this later this week, but the chronic server problems at my now ex-web hosting service prompted me to add a direct link to the Newport Muse website immediately as I moved all the content to a new service as an emergency measure. Just click on the Website tab at the top of the page and you'll be sent to the site. Everything's still there; it just has a new URL.

As for my ex-web hosting service, I think Mr. Spock said it best at the end of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country:

If I were human, I believe my response would be "Go to hell". That is, if I were human.

Live long and prosper.