Be The Birdgirl

March 27, 2021 Morphizm 0

Nearly two decades (and 40 million viewers) after signal boosts from early adopters like yours truly, Adult Swim reboots Harvey Birdman’s postmodern satire for an intersectional epoch.

Farewell, Kipo (For Now)

October 22, 2020 Morphizm 0

We have been thankfully kept sane during this apocalyptic epoch by an animated comedy anchored in species solidarity and spirited rewilding. But no longer.

Korra, Uncensored

August 14, 2020 Morphizm 0

The most powerful woman on television is back on television, where she belongs. We need her, more than ever.

Goodbye, The Beatles (Again)

May 8, 2020 Morphizm 0

Fifty years ago, The Beatles tragically left us, after changing the world for almost a decade. And what they left us with, like much of what they made, sequenced the genes for the recombined culture to come.

Welcome Back, Kipo

April 28, 2020 Morphizm 0

Great news, for an internetworked world locked down, looking for hope. Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts is returning for a second season.

Happy New Year, Sym-Bionic Titan!

January 1, 2020 Morphizm 0

What I wanted this year was one of the greatest animated series ever, created by one of the greatest animators ever, to blessedly return for a second chance at changing programming as usual.

Cli-Fi: Merry Christmas, Peace On Earth

December 25, 2019 Morphizm 0

Harman’s animated anti-war masterpiece is both a harrowing and instructive climate fiction about what happens when humanity pushes itself and its planet (and that planet’s myriad species) to the brink of extinction.

Legend of Korra, Reanimated

November 14, 2019 Morphizm 0

Once upon a time, The Legend Of Korra’s feminist, elemental superhero was one of the most powerful on television. Male, or female, or other, and/or another.

Miyazaki’s Rewarding, Rebellious Ronja

August 22, 2019 Morphizm 0

Miyazaki is a name, and a legend, not to be taken lightly. This historical truth alone is worth a viewing of Goro Miyazaki’s Ronja, The Robber’s Daughter, a rewarding animated adaptation of Astrid Lindgren’s fantastic coming-of-age cli-fi.

Rest In Peace, Richard Williams

August 17, 2019 Morphizm 0

While so many of us may remember the pathbreaking Who Framed Roger Rabbit, how many of us remember the relentless Richard Williams himself, the iconoclastic animator who influenced so many, while somehow remaining a secret?

Isao Takahata: 1935-2018

April 9, 2018 Morphizm 0

A towering influence.

And yet he still left so much to be discovered.

I watch his art each night before dreaming.

Rest in peace, dear influential.

The Big Bad Fox’s Hand-Drawn Laugh-Off

January 11, 2018 Morphizm 0

In our apocalyptic epoch, sometimes you need an old-school good time grounded in the natural world. Enter The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales, from the directors of the wondrous Ernest and Celestine, who I interviewed ahead of their consecutive Academy Awards nod.

Birdboy’s Interconnected Pollution

January 9, 2018 Morphizm 0

Writing about animation provides me the opportunity to probe the minds of brave filmmakers working against stereotype and industry. That struggle found an apotheosis in the surreal fever dream of Birdboy.

A Cartoon Man’s Cartoon Men

October 28, 2017 Morphizm 0

Some of the most influential animation in history have come from the hearts and minds of Phil LaMarr and Carl Jones, including The Boondocks, Samurai Jack, and more. That was all I needed to pick up the phone.

Animation Is Film, Said The Festival

October 23, 2017 Morphizm 0

It may not seem like we need to have a three-day festival in Hollywood celebrating animation as cinema with a capital C. But if that was the case, I would not have spent the weekend with my girls in Hollywood at the Animation Is Film festival.

Guru Studio’s Aim is True

September 8, 2017 Morphizm 0

For decades, cooler-headed Canada has helped lead the way in animation innovation and mindful programming. Its rising studio Guru is carrying those goals forward in the fantastic new Netflix series, True and the Rainbow Kingdom.

Cli-Fi: 75 Years Later, Bambi Terrorizes

August 15, 2017 Morphizm 0

Written by an immigrant Jew hounded by Hitler, and envisioned by a Chinese immigrant dreaming of America, Walt Disney’s Bambi remains an unheeded warning of terror and terraformation, sadly forgotten by a burning world careening into an exponential apocalypse.