The Beatles’ Bizarro Boxing Day

December 26, 2021 Morphizm 0

On this day, after the one known so well as Christmas, The Beatles beamed a sloppy, surreal cult standout into holiday televisions, confounding many and captivating few.

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.

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.

We Can’t Separate Food From Politics

November 9, 2017 Morphizm 0

One of our most persistent fictions of climate change is that the food industry, whose waste and emissions must be brought under immediate control if we are to survive the Anthropocene, can live without immigrants, whose existence puts the lie to nations and nationalism.

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.

Niko and The Sword of Light Illuminates Amazon

July 31, 2017 Morphizm 0

The fact that Amazon chose to invest a healthy budget in Titmouse and Niko, in search of staying power and cultural relevance, should be a warning shot to the animation business as usual. After all, as Titmouse told me, we’re in a cartoon gold rush.

Cartoon Saloon Schools St. Patrick’s Day

March 17, 2017 Morphizm 0

From director Tomm Moore’s Oscar-nominated masterpieces The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea, to director Nora Twomey’s The Breadwinner and beyond into the great unknown, the indie studio that was once international animation’s best-kept secret is a secret no longer.

Seed Takes Root In The Sixth Mass Extinction

March 9, 2017 Morphizm 0

Earth seeds itself. Then we get involved. Then you get what we have, right now: An extinction. From the makers of Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us?, another exploration of an apocalypse we manufactured with our own hearts and minds.

At Last, Samurai Jack Returns

February 6, 2017 Morphizm 0

Last year, I once again interviewed Samurai Jack creator and animation auteur, Genndy Tartakovsky, who told me the samurai’s arrival was imminent. Now here he is, in all of his glory and wonder, when we need him most.