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October 2012

Fursuiter and event organizer PandaGuy loses battle with heart failure, diabetes

Your rating: None Average: 4.8 (11 votes)

PandaGuy v3 Fursuiter and fan organizer PandaGuy (Jon Albers) died Sunday at age 44, after congestive heart failure accompanied by diabetes. [tip: Antimon]

PandaGuy was an ardent fursuiter, acting out the eponymous PandaGuy (created in 1996, rebuilt twice), Amiri Lion, Bamboozle the panda/coon, Boris Bear, Arkune Raccoon, and Big/Little Jabari.

Despite suffering from heart failure previously in 2004, PandaGuy threw himself into organizing PandaGuy's Picnic, held annually to 2005. He was a guest of honor for Mephit Fur Meet 12 in 2008.

How should furry site submissions be critiqued? (feel free to comment)

All should be open to critique through comments
35% (19 votes)
All should be open to private critique
20% (11 votes)
Critique should only be provided at the creator's request
45% (25 votes)
Votes: 55

September 2012 Newsbytes archive

Your rating: None Average: 2 (2 votes)

Komodo dragon party hatPinkie Pie party of oneThere ain’t no party like a Newsbytes party, 'cause a Newsbytes party don’t stop!

Newsbytes turned two years old last month, and, wait, didn’t we already do this?

Anyway, this month’s contributors include crossaffliction (17), dronon (7), earthfurst (1), Equivamp (1), Fred (9), GreenReaper (24), Higgs Raccoon (5), Patch Packrat (1), Rakuen Growlithe (1), RingtailedFox (5) and Sonious (3) for a total of 74 Newsbytes.

Video: Rainfurrest 2012 fursuit parade

Your rating: None Average: 4 (4 votes)

Keep your eye out for the 2012 Golden Hairball award winner for "Best Dressed" at 6:56.

Video by Poxy Wolf.

Hollywood screening of 'Uproar/Havoc in Heaven'

Your rating: None Average: 5 (2 votes)

Havoc in HeavenOn Wednesday, October 17, there will be a rare screening by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in the Linwood Dunn Theatre, 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood, of the 1961/1965 Chinese feature Uproar in Heaven (also translated as Havoc in Heaven), directed by Wan Lai-Ming and Tang Cheng at the Shanghai Animation Film Studio.

This film is considered the culmination of classic Chinese animation, and was completed and won several international awards just before the Cultural Revolution tore the Shanghai studio and the entire Chinese animation industry apart.

Retrospective: Still the world’s most awesome fighting team

Your rating: None Average: 3.3 (3 votes)

After years of comics, cartoons and movies, they’re still a lean, green fighting machine.

TMNT 1987 series logoBorn in 1984 as an underground comics parody of various martial arts and mutant comic books, the reptilian superhero team known as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles turned 28 last May, making them a bit old to still be considered teenagers.

Review: 'Jazmyn', by Bernard Doove

Your rating: None Average: 4.1 (9 votes)

Jazmyn, by Bernard DooveJazmyn, a bioengineered vulpeen (fox-woman) Companion in a parallel world, is fleeing into the forest after the murder of her human lifemate when a lighting flash enables her to stumble into our world. She is glancingly struck by the car of Ken Morita, who nurses her back to health, teaches her English, falls in love with her, and they get married and live happily ever after.

The End.

No, seriously. There are plenty of interesting and well-written details between page 7 and page 214, but that is the basic story. You can hardly imagine a more pure Furry wish-fulfillment novel: a beautiful, caring, talented human-sized fox-morph comes to our world, falls in love with [you], and they get married.

CreateSpace, April 2009, trade paperback $16.95 (215 pages; illustrated).

Weasyl goes up, then down again over "obvious issues"

Your rating: None Average: 3 (6 votes)

Weasyl on an easelNew art site Weasyl has been taken down after just a day online, while developers "work on some obvious issues".

The site's support forum has been flooded with threads reporting a variety of issues and feature requests.

More seriously, some are already probing for vulnerabilities, though at least one has been reported responsibly.

Weasyl appears to be hand-coded, raising the spectre of security holes, although past experience may have been enough to encourage the use of basic precautions.

Update (8 Oct): Weasyl is back, with a laundry list of fixes.

Was the 1973 animated 'Robin Hood' Disney's worst movie?

Your rating: None Average: 3.5 (12 votes)

Robin Hood cookingDisney’s 1973 Robin Hood with Robin as an anthropomorphic fox has been revered by Furry fans for decades. Many early fans credit it as what first got them interested in anthro animals.

This is us. Animation veteran critic Martin “Dr Toon” Goodman has just written an article for the Animation World Network on “The Animation Critic’s Art: Taking the Heat”, in which he reveals that in 2003, he was asked to name the worst Disney feature ever made. He chose Robin Hood.

Many Disney fans have since reviled him, but in subsequent pages he defends his choice. And, from an animation if not a Furry standpoint, he argues a good case. What do you think?

This article is also pertinent to all the discussion lately on whether there should be more criticism in Furry fandom. (And don’t miss my AWN review of The Art of Rise of the Guardians.)

Upcoming Furry comics for November 2012 (Previews and Marvel Previews)

Your rating: None Average: 2 (2 votes)

Over a decade ago, a furry called Doodles started listing comics that might be of interest to furries that appeared in Diamond Previews. Last year, Doodles’ heir, Treesong, submitted his last list. Well, after over a year hiatus, I got my hands on a Previews, complete with a Marvel Previews, so here we go again. Better late than never.

Review: 'Sherlock Holmes: The Army of Dr. Moreau', by Guy Adams

Your rating: None Average: 3.5 (4 votes)

Sherlock Holmes: The Army of Dr. MoreauFollowing the trail of several corpses seemingly killed by wild animals, Holmes and Watson stumble upon the experiments of Doctor Moreau.

Moreau, through vivisection and crude genetic engineering is creating animal hybrids, determined to prove the evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin. In his laboratory, hidden among the opium dens of Rotherhithe, Moreau is building an army of 'beast men'. Tired of having his work ignored -- or reviled -- by the British scientific community, Moreau is willing to make the world pay attention using his creatures as a force to gain control of the government.

A brand-new adventure for Conan Doyle's intrepid sleuth! (blurb)

London, Titan Books, August 2012, paperback $12.95 (284 [+ 1] pages), Kindle $6.39.

Television: Is 'Las Cuevas' anthropomorphic? Who knows?

Your rating: None Average: 1.9 (7 votes)

Animation Xpress volume 10, #370 for October 3, 2012, headlines “MIPCOM ‘12 Special: Las Cuevas, a 52 x 13, 2D Animated Television Series by Ink Apache”, by Zeenia Boatwala.

Reading through the gushing press release, “Spain based Ink Apache” is “all set to pitch this series at MIPCOM JUNIOR in a few days from now. Directed by Antonio Morales, Las Cuevas [English: The Caves] is a buddy comedy about two young friends, Danny and Balti and amateur detectives living in the oddest and mysterious town of the world.” Las Cuevas is an animated “buddy dark thriller comedy targeting boys and girls aged between 9 -12 yr.”

Danny is a new kid in the town of Las Cuevas and has a fresh eye of a newcomer, wanting to know more about this town whereas Balti, who is born and raised in Las Cuevas is packed with full of local knowledge and the entire series is based on Danny and Balti encountering and solving mysteries.

Yeah, but is it anthropomorphic? Apparently not, but the press release does emphasize “SPINE-TINGLING CREEPINESS” and “paranormal” so much that there may be a few ghostly or enhanced beasties in it. Check out the bizarre promo art. There is a non-anthro dog.