What If 'Wicked' Were A Disney Animated Film? Artist Minkyu Lee Shows You What It Would Look Like...

I recently took the wife to see 'Wicked: The Musical' on Broadway, and I have to admit that I think I left the show more enthralled than she was. I read the original book by Greg Maguire around two years ago and I really enjoyed it. I have long wanted to see the stage show, and my wifey's bday gave me an excellent excuse to get it done. It seems that I wasn't wrong with my lofty expectations, as the show was amazing! It really blew me away, and the story came to life on the stage. But with the fan friendly subject matter (a prequel to the Wizard of Oz??? Who doesn't want to watch that?) and excellent song book, it seems that it is a no brainer for a company like Disney or Pixar to come along and scoop this puppy up for animated adaption. Nothing is in the works yet, but one animator from Disney is taking a bit of initiative for the sake of his portfolio by coming up with some great prototypes for the key characters in the play... and it is exactly what a fan would hope/expect to see from Elphaba and the rest of the Wicked crew. Animator Minkyu Lee has worked on The Princess & The Frog and and Frozen, so the dude is qualified. Very good stuff, and even more proof that this adaption could work. Check out the first series of pics he has released of his Wicked prototypes after the jump, and check out his Tumblr for even more animated goodness by clicking here...

The Wizard May Be Important To Oz, But I am All About The Witches...

I have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of the plentiful amount of Wizrad of Oz based projects that are due to hit in the next couple of months. As a huge fan of the Skottie Young drawn comic (that header photo is from that series) from marvel, the original novels by L Frank Baum, and the Wicked novels... well, lets just say I love me some stories from the mystical land of Oz. But the classic film changed a bunch of stuff from the books and most of these newer projects planned on showing another side to the source material. The one that stands out the most has to be the Sam Raimi helmed 'Oz the Great And Powerful'. This one gives us James Franco in the titular role of the Wizard (does this guy ever stop working?) and tells us the part of the epic tale of when the Wizard first came to Oz. But it also gives us a glimpse at the wonderful witches of Oz, the ones made all the books & film versions of the land of Oz exciting. The three witches that plan to play a prominent role in this film are played by three killer actresses, and I am sure the they are going to do a great job. Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis, and Rachel Weisz are on deck to play the spell casters... and I can't possibly think of a better group of talented and beautiful actresses to fill the role. The movie hits theaters on March 8th, and I am sure we are going to get blitzed in the press over Super Bowl weekend, but you can meet the witches and take a look at the wonderful world that Sam Raimi has created in a small featurette after the jump....

Mike Mitchell Re-skins A Classic Superman Pose With Some Of You Favorite Pop Culture Characters

Artist Mike Mitchell is extremely talented. He has many detailed works that are absolutely fantastic. But sometimes its the simple ideas that shine the brightest. Mitchell is taking the classic Superman pose that is exhibited on the cover of Superman #6 and re-skinning them with the clothing and looks of some of your favorite pop culture characters. He admits that it is not truly challenging work, but it is super fun and he enjoys doing it. Don't knock the guys talent though... his original artwork is nothing to laugh about! Check out his prints by clicking here and click after the jump to see the re-skinned Supermen...

The Wizard of Oz Described As A Horror Movie???

If I had never seen it before, I would check it out in the expectation of some 70s/80s exploitation style horror!

Wizard of Oz Silkscreen Posters by David O'Daniel

David O'Daniel is one hell of an artist, and through his affiliation with San Francisco's Castro Theater he is gaining quite the following. He creates silk screen posters for classic films that are released in conjunction with the screenings of those films at the theater. His blog, Alien Corset, chronicles all his release... and all of them are special in the own right!!! The ones that are currently at the top of the list are his Emerald & Ruby edition Wizard of Oz series. These three posters come in two colors and look beautiful. You gotta love the inclusion of the flying monkey's, no? Take a look at a gallery of both series after the jump and check out the Castro Theater if you are in the San Francisco area...

'I'd Buy That...As a Tee!' Vol 34

Always on the look out for inspiring art... emblazoned across the chest of humanity. Here's some of the t-shirts I have my eye on to do just the trick but, there's only one problem....they aren't for sale yet! Please click each of the links below to the Threadless.com voting pages and give these beauties '5' ratings so I can throw 'em on my charge card one day.

**Please click READ MORE for tee-licious tees!**

'I'd Buy That...As a Tee!' Vol 31

Always on the look out for inspiring art... emblazoned across the chest of humanity. Here's some of the t-shirts I have my eye on to do just the trick but, there's only one problem....they aren't for sale yet! Please click the links below to the Threadless.com voting pages for each and give these beauties '5' ratings so I can throw 'em on my charge card one day.

**Please click READ MORE for tee-licious tees!**

'I'd Buy That...As a Tee!' Vol 22

Always on the look out for inspiring art... emblazoned across the chest of humanity. Here's some of the t-shirts I have my eye on to do just the trick but, there's only one problem....they aren't for sale yet! Please click the links below to the Threadless.com voting pages for each and give these beauties '5' ratings so I can throw 'em on my charge card one day.

***Please click READ MORE below for more terrific tees from Threadless!***

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!

The gang over at CineWeekly created a really funny video that plugs in the now infamous Darth Vader "Noooooo!!!!" scream from the recently altered Blu Ray version of Return of the Jedi into other famous scenes from some of Hollywood's most classic films. Check out the video after the jump....

LEGO Iconic Vol #10 by Jeff Bond

I am such a huge Lego nerd that words can not explain. Soooo I've decided to use my favorite blog site CCD.com as an outlet to get some of this stuff that I see every day, built out of bricks, out of my skull and onto the blogosphere where it can't hurt my cerebral cortex. Each month I'll be posting the best of the best hoping to inspire the Lego maniac in each of you...young and old.  Enjoy!

First up, an old stand-by, Profound Whatever, offers this re-imagining of Disney's lucky hare (whose name  he mixed with that of JFK assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald of course) armed to the whiskers in heavy artillery. The tubes used for spent bullet casings were an awesome touch and ya' gotta love the new design that's been popping up for fingers and hands for this scale creation. Mickey...watch the f*ck out!

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'Lee Harvey Oswald the Lucky Rabbit'

...also Profound Whatever created this homage to the iconic image 'Flower Chucker' from guerrilla artist and talk of the town Banksy (original image below). The likeness is uncanny. 

click 'READ MORE' below for much more Lego Iconery

Ryan Smith Puts His Artistic Spin On Some Classics

Check out artist Ryan Smith's take on some classic properties such as The Smurfs, He-Man, and The Wizard of Oz. You gotta love the originality of these:

Papa Skeletor & Panthor

A Wicked Spill

The Greatest Movie Villian Ever...

... is not who you think. It's not Darth Vader, or Lord Voldemort. Its not Count Dracula, or Freddy Kreuger. It's not Sauron, its not Keyser Sosa, it's not Tony Montana, and its not Nino Brown. True, all these people have legacies of being some of the baddest of the bad. But none come close to purportrating the henious deeds and actions of the greatest movie villian of all time.... this lady:

Yup, it's Glinda the Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz. Whats that you say? I got it wrong, I must mean The Wicked Witch of The West, not Glinda.... nope, I'm sorry, but I mean Glinda. Why you ask? Just check out Cracked.com's breakdown on all the evil shit that she is responsible for during The Wizard of Oz by clicking here, and then ask yourself if she is so good after all. I was shocked when I read this, and you will be as well. Fuck the flying monkees, this bitch is the real gangster of OZ!!! 

Thanks to Unreality Mag & Cracked for this story.... hysterical, but true!!!

Maybe They Should Try Some Of These Designs For A New Wizard Of Oz Movie

There are no less then 3 seperate Wizard of Oz projects that are either in pre-production or being considered for filming by all types of studios. One is rumored to be animated with the voices of Lea Michele & Kelsey Grammer, one is supposed to be based on another of L. Frank Baum's Oz books featuring Robert Downey Jr and to be directed by Sam Raimi, and there is even one that Warner Brothers is asking Robert Zemeckis himself to direct, using THE EXACT SHOOTING SCRIPT FROM THE ORIGINAL 1939 MOVIE!!! You would think after 70 years some people would let this one rest... but if we are going to get these movies, we might as well get some cool redesigns on Dorothy, Toto, and the rest of the gang. Here are 5 cool designs from the Deviant Art website that we would like to see make the cut:

The Twisted World of Oz by ginoroberto

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by mrsaturn123

Wizard of Oz by ultramegahyperbeam

Tyshea Tribute to Oz by firenhall

Wizard of Oz by chronicdoodling

Which one do you guys like the best? Tell us in the comment section below... great work guys!!!