Rest In Peace, Stephen Hillenberg

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animation, animator, bikini bottom, cartoon, in memoriam, mr. krabs, nickelodeon, nicktoons, patrick, rest in peace, sandy squirrel, spongebob, spongebob squarepants, stephen hillenberg

2018 has had many ups, but it wasn’t without its downs. We’ve been made to part with brilliant minds, authentic artists, and storytellers who put the “excel” in “excelsior”. Now, we gather to say goodbye to another.

 

Movie Babble Link: ‘Scrooged: A Magical, Messed-Up Modern Christmas Carol’

In time for its 30th anniversary, HERE’S my thoughts on one of the most fun and bizarre adaptations of A Christmas Carol ever, Scrooged, starring Bill Murray!

“Meh, as long as you’re not pushing more of your merch on us.”

Black Friday Etsy Sale

Okay, LAST shameless commercial plug, I promise. I’m offering a 20% discount on my entire Etsy store today! Click HERE to view my gallery and enter ETSYCYBER2018 in the checkout should something catch your eye. This discount lasts until the 26th. And if you’d like me to draw a commission, let me know!

Shelf’s Christmas Clearance Sale! Everything Must Go!

Hi everyone. Normally I would never do this, but I need to raise a little bit of extra money to help me with shopping for my family this year. My mom had surgery done on both her knees, and my sister just got engaged, so I want to make sure I can give them both the best Christmas I can. To that effect, I’m putting up a few things for sale on EBay. Click HERE to go to my store (or HERE, HERE, or HERE to view the individual items up so far – buying them through these links saves me extra fees!) Keep checking in because you’ll never know what might pop up.

And as a reminder, I also have an Etsy store where I sell original and film-inspired artwork. They make great presents! I’m also considering taking commissions too.

Hope you have a warm and happy Thanksgiving, and I’ll see you December 1st for the first of my three part Christmas review extravaganza!

My Top 20 Favorite Mickey Mouse Shorts

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1930's, 1940's, 1980's, 1990's, 2D animation, 90 years, 90's, adventure, animated, animated short, animated shorts, Brave Little Tailor, cartoon, cartoon review, cgi animation, classic Disney animation, Disney, disney animated, disney animation, disney review, Donald Duck, Epic Mickey, Get a Horse, golden age of Disney animation, goofy, hand drawn animation, House of Mouse, Kingdom Hearts, Little Whirlwind, Lonesome Ghosts, magic, Magician Mickey, Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse Club, Mickey’s Mouse Works, Mickey’s Trailer, Minnie Mouse, Mouse Works, Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Peg-Leg Pete, Pete, Pluto, Prince and the Pauper, quest, Runaway Brain, short, Steamboat Willie, Symphony Hour, The Band Concert, The Mad Doctor, The Pointer, Through the Mirror, Thru the Mirror, traditional animation, Walt Disney, Wayne Allwine

As a lifelong Disney fan I can’t understate how much of an impact Mickey Mouse has had on me. In childhood, he was an icon and friend – instantly recognizable, a source of joy and entertainment, a hero and a role model. I know this is making me sound like one of those cheesy sponsors reading off a cue card, but when you’re talking about a mouse, expect plenty of cheese to be involved.

In the spirit of Mickey celebrating his 90th birthday, I’d like to share with you my 20 favorite shorts he starred in. Why 20? Because I couldn’t narrow it down to ten and I like to go nine steps beyond as opposed to one.

There were only two rules I set while making this list:

1. Mickey is the main focus, or at the very least he must be given as much to do as the other characters he shares the cartoon with. There’s a lot of great shorts out there that has Mickey’s name in the title – Mickey’s Parrot, Mickey’s Circus, Mickey’s Birthday, Mickey and the Seal, Mickey’s Christmas Carol, etc. – or has his face in the intro that advertises it as his adventure, but upon watching you find they’re really about Donald, Goofy or Pluto or literally anyone else but him.
2. Shorts only, no segments from full-length films or direct-to-video works. This means no Mickey and the Beanstalk from Fun and Fancy Free or various bits from Mickey’s Once/Twice Upon A Christmas, but sadly no Sorcerer’s Apprentice from Fantasia. I thought of excluding any short that ran over the usual length of five to seven minutes to about twenty, but that made my job even harder.

Now before we get to the countdown, here are a few Honorable Mentions:

• Mickey, Donald and Goofy in The Three Musketeers – If I were including full-length films on the list, this would be in the top five, bar none.
• The Sorcerer’s Apprentice from Fantasia – It would easily take the number one spot if it didn’t overlap with the #2 rule.
• Plane Crazy – The mouse’s first appearance on the silver screen, though he wouldn’t make as quite a splash until his sound debut in Steamboat Willie a few years later
• Orphan’s Benefit – One of my favorites as a kid. It made me laugh something fierce and still does, though a large part of it has to do with Donald and Goofy’s segments, hence why it’s only an honorable mention. Also, did you know that the color one we’re mostly familiar with is actually a remake of an earlier black and white version?
• Mickey’s Delayed Date – Pluto and Mickey tussle for attention in this outing.
• Haunted House – Spooky and atmospheric. Classic Disney nightmare fuel.
• The Gorilla Mystery – Mickey plays Minnie’s white knight yet again as he goes to-to-toe with a dangerous gorilla.
• Two-Gun Mickey – An American Tail: Mickey Goes West.
• Mickey’s Surprise Party – After Minnie’s dog spoils the cookies she was making for Mickey, he saves the day with some shockingly transparent corporate sponsorship. At least I take comfort in the fact that Mickey’s favorite cookies are the same as mine.
• Hansel and Gretel – Mickey and Minnie stumble upon a treacherous witch to the ominous strains of Danse Macabre.
• Mickey’s Cabin – Mickey outwits Pete and his dimwitted cousin with a little reverse psychology when they hold him hostage in his winter cabin. Hilarity ensues.
• Croissant – Mickey’s first short in the modern style proved you can’t keep a mouse on a mission down.
• Yodelberg – Continuing with the previous short, it’s modern Mickey at its most fast-paced and stylish fun.
• Shanghaied – It’s up to Mickey to save the day and Minnie again, this time from Pete and his dastardly crew of pirates.
• Mickey’s Christmas Carol – Mickey’s first cartoon in 30 years has him slightly out of the spotlight, but still got him back in the public eye for good.

Movie Babble: The Legacy of Steamboat Willie

Up for celebrating Mickey’s big 9-0? Here’s another article I wrote for Movie Babble delving into the impact of the Mouse’s premiere short. Enjoy!

Movie Babble Link: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms Review

Hi everyone! Turns out not even pneumonia will stop me from getting more reviews out. Here’s a link to my thoughts on the latest retelling of The Nutcracker as told by Disney (spoilers: not perfect, but it’s better than most would assume!) And not to spoil anything else, but I’m seeing quite a bit more surrounding nutcrackers in the month ahead…

December Review Voting Time!

Ah, Halloween has come and gone, the brisk autumn wind is shaking the last of the fiery leaves from their branches, it’s that time of year again…

Time to vote from the Christmas Shelf!!

Yes, I know it’s too frigging early and I completely sympathize. If you’re anything like me, you can’t stand how Christmas keeps getting pushed on us earlier and earlier every fall. At least I didn’t try to do this in the middle of August. And hey, that leaves a whole month of anticipating what you’ll be getting this holiday, and I’m gonna need the entirety of November and maybe some of December to prepare for it.

For you see, I’m not writing a singular holiday movie review, nor am I doing randomly chosen mini-holiday themed vignettes this year. Because I love you all for your patience, dedication, wonderful comments and support, this December I’m creating THREE full reviews, one for every Christmas Shelf category – one short, one tv special/episode, and one film, all spread out through the month.

As always, the vote is up to you. Tell me which selection from each category you’d like to see me review this December either in the comments or by emailing me at upontheshelfshow@gmail.com. Patreon supporters receive extra gifts including more votes* and adding movies of their choice to the Shelf. Speaking of, if you’d like to gift me a present this year, please consider supporting me on Patreon. For as little as two dollars you can help me support myself, and you get rewarded for it. Backing out after even one donation is totally optional. I won’t hold you to it, but it would mean so much to me at this time.

Well, that or a TV Tropes Page would be nice.

Happy Voting!

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* – In order to keep things fair, patrons who have the privilege of extra votes can only put them in towards ONE of the Christmas Shelf categories.