Three foreign animated film reviews! Behold the trailers for:

All of these films successfully blend 3D and 2D animation in their own different styles.

White Fang is the most 3D, applying a brush-like texture to characters to create a 2D, painted look. Angel's main characters are 2D, with 3D designs used for the settings. Bears uses 3D for almost everything, then alters its visuals to look as 2D as possible.

Furry conventions are inherently tied to the places people are, and thus can give us both context about furry history and perhaps a glimpse into the future. Plus, there are quite a few misconceptions about the world that annoy me; this may help break a stereotype or two.

Here is the British trailer for Top Cat Begins, directed by Andrés Couturier, that was released last October 30 in México as Don Gato: El Inicio de la Pandilla. It’s coming on May 27 in the U.K., distributed by Warner Bros. (so can the U.S. release be far behind?)

It was produced for only $8,000,000 (estimated). While I’m tempted to say that it looks it, it’s really not bad for only $8 million these days. It was produced by Ánima Estudios in Ciudad México, the makers of that Oz movie with the Day of the Dead look, Wicked Flying Monkeys. Haven’t seen that yet? Don’t worry; you will.

Look at the lip sync. Was this movie made for English or Spanish dialogue? What do you think?

A box office surprise just came out of Mexico; Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos (that's "The Rooster with Many Eggs" for our mostly-English-speaking audience, though "huevos" has a double meaning in Mexican Spanish slang) took a top-ten spot at the American box office for the Labor Day weekend.

Box Office Mojo is placing the movie with an estimated 7th or 8th place (final tallies will most likely arrive Monday) with an approximate box office of $3.4 million; this is a fantastic run for a movie that is currently only available in Spanish, and which opened in just 395 theaters.

The movie did seem to come out of nowhere to English-speaking American audiences; the announcement it exists was In-Fur-Nation's top story at this piece's press time. Cartoon Brew notes it "had no […] mainstream press coverage", so furries weren't the only group to drop the ball.

The spirit of Thorne Smith lives! Or it did in 1959, when this novel was published. Transformation was never so funny, or so inebriated, as when they wrote it.

There were no moral implications in Arthur Green’s watering the Scotch; it was purely an executive maneuver. A less efficient administrator might simply have apologized for having forgotten to stock his trailer with whiskey, but Arthur knew that his particular victims would then merrily have forgiven him and produced their own. If they were to drink, as they surely were, it was obviously better to have them do so from his unproofed stock than from their own authentic supply. (p. 1)

Arthur is the Hollywood producer of a Western being filmed on location somewhere in the Mexican desert. In the production company are Arthur, the harried producer; George McKaye, the matter-of-fact director; Jonathan Cartwright, the reluctant scriptwriter and Carol Holloway, his loyal secretary; Max, the practical horse wrangler; Bruce Gentry, the egotistical cowboy star; Melissa Drummond, the self-centered leading lady; and Beverly Dawn, a ditzy starlet. And Lightning, Gentry’s noble steed, who is in reality Gladiola, a well-trained but dimwitted and oversexed mare.

Jonathan, a heavy drinker and practical joker, is only at the production in the desert because his contract forces him to be there for on-the-spot rewrites. Jonathan loathes being away from “civilization” (the largest metropolises where alcohol is readily available), so he brought a large supply with him. He also loathes the vain Gentry, who takes advantage of his stardom as much as he can. Jonathan has been trying unsuccessfully to get Arthur Green to film one of his non-Western screenplays for three years. Jonathan seldom travels anywhere without Carol, his super-efficient secretary who is his pal in his binges, keeps him from getting fired, and has a crush on him.

NYC, Appleton-Century-Crofts, March 1959, 214 pages, $3.75. Based on an idea by Ann Noyes Guettel. Frontispiece by Doug Anderson.

32 days before the mayoral election in Xalapa, capital of the Mexican state of Veracruz, a feline candidate is making a mockery of the ruling coalition's politicians on social networks.

"Candigato Morris" has his own iconic posters and other campaign materials, and has captured the public fancy with such slogans as "no more rats in Xalapa" and "in Xalapa it suits you to vote for another animal; vote for Morris".

According to his Facebook profile, Morris, who was born in Xalapa, "promises no more than the other candidates" and "sleeps a lot, which is the ideal profile for a mayoral candidate."

It's yet to be seen whether the candigato's weakness for "quilts, sheets, pollows, couches, and clothing in general" will be his undoing. Still, given his charisma (and the fact that his campaign page has over 18,000 'likes'), the PAN and PRD coalition candidates may be in serious trouble come July 7.

A cartooning contest in Cancun, Mexico has themes of "cloning" and "free theme" (whatever the cartoonist wants) which artists could use to Furry advantage. Deadline: September 30, 2002. Grand prize: $US1,000. Four additional prizes of $US250 each. Humorous photo prize: $US500.