Disney's Into the Woods

Click the image above to be taken to the exclusive iTunes trailer of Disney's Into the Woods!

Rocket Raccoon

Rocket Raccoon

First Appearance
Marvel Preview #7 (1976)

Hundreds of years ago, humanoids from an unidentified planet sought a world to use as an asylum for their outcast insane members, and settled on a planet located in the Keystone Quadrant, out by the stars of Sirus Major. There the psychiatrists created robots to care for their patients' particular brands of insanity. For years they studied the functions and dysfunctions of the mind, writing their observations in the starship Gideon's logbook until their funding was cut off and they were ordered back to their homeworld. As they left, they erected a forcefield-generating Galacian Wall around the star system to keep their uncured patients safe from the normal society that loathed them. 

Galacian Wall

For generations the robots faithfully watched over their charges, whose children were born insane themselves, or affected by their insane environment. The Loonies, as they came to be known, created a religion worshiping the ancient Shrinks as gods, with straight-jacketed priests called the Good Humor Men venerating the logbook as their Bible, housing it in the Admissions Ward and performing rites to attain the Final Cure. Gaining sentence (due in part to radiation from a nearby star going nova), the supremely logical robots sought a way out from directly caring for their illogical charges. They played around with the genetics of the various companion animals left by the Shrinks and created a race of animal people to care for the Loonies while the robots retreated to their own side of the planet and began to work on a giant humanoid starship, and started to deduce how to shut down the Wall from the inside. Over time the planet came to be known as Halfworld, divided between the robots' industrial half, and the verdant half occupied by the others, with the robots building toys designed by the animals to keep the Loonies entertained, and making other machines and weapons for the animals' use only, and giving many animals requested cybernetic enhancements. Over time the animals created their own advanced society somewhat apart from the Loonies, with the major industry toymaking for the Loonies' amusements, and the Loonies paying for services rendered with animal cracker currencies.

In recent years, the Incredible Hulk (Bruce Banner) was transported to Halfworld via energies released during the destruction of the energy creature Galaxy Master. The Hulk met Quadrant guardian Rocket Raccoon and his partner Wal Rus, who tried unsuccessfully to figure out how the strange green human got through the Galacian Wall. When the head of Inter-Stel Mechanics, Judson Jakes, had the mercenary Black Bunny Brigade steal the Gideon's Bible and held his ward, the otter Lylla, as a hostage, Rocket enlisted the Hulk's aid to rescue both the Bible and his girlfriend. They invaded Jake's orbital Spacewheel spacestation and rescued both the book and Lylla, but not before Jake's chief scientist/toymaker, the tortoise Uncle Pyko, sent the Hulk back to Earth to prevent the Hulk's presence from destroying the political status quo among the various Halfworld animal factions.

The saurian Lord Dyvyne, head of Dyvynities,Inc., forcibly took over Inter-Stel Mechanics, forcing Jackes and Pyko from Spacewheel, and hiring the Black Bunny Brigade away from Jakes. Relocating to Halfworlds's equator, Jakes reincorporated as Mayhem Mekaniks, where he had Pyko created more members of his mechanical Psycho-Circus (a.k.a. Killer Clowns) and the cybermetric bat-like Drakillars, and plotted to find a way to marry Lylla to gain permanent control of her late parents' fortune and the toy company they had founded. Desiring to be the top toymaker, Jakes had one of his mechanical Killer Clowns assassinated Lord Dyvyne's chief toysmith, igniting a trade war. Rocket went after Jakes to stop the war, but then Dyvyne had Lylla kidnapped to force a marriage between them to gain control of her fortune, forcing Rocket and her uncle Wal to rescue her instead. They tracked Lylla to the Loony shrine Asylum, where Brigade leader Blackjack O'Hare had taken her to seek her fortune for himself, putting him on the outs with his employer. When the Killer Clowns vacuumed up the Black Bunny Brigade, O'Hare was forced to rescue Rocket and himself from the wrath of lord Dyvyne's misty creature Red Breath. luring the pursuing Clowns on their vacuum sleds to vacuum up the erasing Red Breath, destroying both sets of assassins.

Now finding both toy moguls allied against them, Rocket, Wal Rus, Lylla, and O'Hare fled to the robotic side of Half World, where they found Uncle Pyko; he had "borrowed" and deciphered Halfworld's Bible, learning the truth of Halfworld's origins, and left Jakes to pursue his own agendas of becoming the Quadrant's chief toysmith for the pure joy of creating toys. Escaping from the treacherous O'Hare and his cronies, Pyko led the other three to the Assembly Line to meet the head robot, where Rocket handed over the Bible to the robots to uses psychiatric knowledge to create the Wonder Toy, a helmet designed to correct the imbalances in the Loonies' minds, curing them. Jakes and Lord Dyvyne combined forces for one last attack on Rocket and Pyko to keep them from distributing the Toys and destroying their markets forever. The Killer Clowns and Lord Dyvyne's simian samurais almost succeeded in slaying them until reinforcements - the robots, a repentant O'Hare, and the now-cured Loonies - arrived to turn the tide of battle against Jakes and Dyvyne, who were deliberately thrown from their Drakillar perch onto the ground below, apparently killing them. While some animals elected to stay and help the former Loonies rebuild their world, Wal, Lylla, O'Hare and many other animals joined almost all the robots aboard the humanoid Ship with Rocket as its captain, seeking adventures among the stars.
Note: 10,000-15,000 years in the future, Rocket Raccoon, now called Rocky Raccoon, met Ithican Prince Wayfinder on the planet Hailailae, also known as Witchworld, where he aided the offworld Prince by instructing him about the dangers of Witchworld, and helped him battle the animal men of the sorceress Kirke. How Rocket survived the intervening millennia, or if he was somehow transported there through space/time to the planet remains unrevealed.

More on Marvel.com: http://marvel.com/universe/Rocket_Raccoon#ixzz38xbK8SUE

Retrieved from "http://marvel.com/universe/Rocket_Raccoon"

Meet the Robinsons - Power Discs

Disney Infinity will be out on September 23, 2014 and we continue our countdown to Infinity with more power disc wish list items!

Wilbur's Time Machine

Travel through time with Wilbur Robinson's Time Machine! Fly through the Toy Box at lightning speed while listening to "To the Future" from the film's soundtrack. The Time Machine features a glowing blue shield and boost. There's room for two!

Disney Team-Up - Tiny

Need help squashing your enemies? Tiny the T-Rex, who has little arms and a big head, will help stomp your foes and toss them into next week! He may be big and fierce, but he's as gentle as a puppy.

Meet the Villains of Disney Infinity 2.0

Probably the biggest news to come out of SDCC 2014 is the ability to play a new set of villains in Disney Infinity 2.0. I know I can't wait to play as Loki, Ronan the Accuser, and the Green Goblin (Venom too) and bring chaos to Disney Infinity! This looks to be the biggest and baddest Disney Infinity yet!

Official Disney Inifinity Announcement:
Bring on the Trickster. Bring on the Monster. Bring on the Accuser. Bring on the Villains! Soon you’ll be able to play as some of Marvel's most formidable foes: Loki from The Avengers, Green Goblin from Spider-Man and Ronan from The Guardians of the Galaxy play sets in Disney Infinity Marvel Super Heroes (2.0 Edition). Characters are playable in their respective play sets and the Toy Box 2.0

Painting Fun with Mickey & Friends

Painting Fun with Mickey and Friends

Originally created for the Mickey & Friends Threadless contest.

Disney Infinity Villains! Wave 2

Disney Infinity Villains in Wave 2

Announced at San Diego Comic Con today are three super villains as playable characters. We here at the blog have speculated, based on footage, that the villains might be playable, and sure enough, we were right!

The three characters announced include one for each playset:

Loki - The Avengers

Green Goblin - Spider-man

The image that gave it away!


Ronan the Accuser - Guardians of the Galaxy

Review: MOGUERA S.H. Monsterarts Figure

The 4^th figure in the Tamashi Nations S.H. Monsterarts line comes as a surprise in the form MOGUERA. The battle ready robot follows after Godzilla and Space Godzilla to bring your battles to life in the most accurate representation of MOGUERA to date. The Tamashi Nations figures just get better and better as they progress.

MOGUERA is made from durable plastic and die cast metal to give him a heavy feel and a real metal look. The paint job is superb but also very simple with greys and blues highlighting the figure. The articulation is spot-on but sort of lacking, however, that is understandable since MOGUERA doesn’t do a lot of leg work in the movie because he is made from two separate machines. Matching in size to the previous characters, MOGUERA feels like he belongs with the previous characters but stands out because he is so different.

Where MOGUERA really shines is all the accessories. He comes with swappable drill hands that open to reveal missiles, another head to swap out for flying mode, flying fins to place on his back and legs, a little city base to hold the incredibly long and detailed missles trailing smoke, a chest cannon burst (very similar to MechaGodzilla II’s), and parts of his body can open and close to reveal more weapons. I think due to his lack of articulation money could be spent elsewhere and we get a whole slew of accessories. The rerelease of Godzilla 90’s came with no accessories. MOGUERA actually cost less than Godzilla so it’s a win-win.

 

Overall, MOGUERA is a welcome addition to the S.H. Monsterarts series and is on display next to the rest of the Godzilla family. Sculpt, paint, and accessories really make this figure stand out among the rest but feels right at home with the others. Go get one already!

Disney Infinity Reveals More!

Disney Infinity has been sharing some great images that reveal fantastic additions to the game.

Jim Hawkins Solar Surfer! Disney Infinity fans requested it all over the forums (and so did I). Wish granted!

Lew Zealand's Boomerang Fish! Not only do we get Miss Piggy's USS Swinetrek, but we also get boomerang fish! I'm super excited to see more Muppets in the game. Let's get Kermit the Frog as a playable character!

A flying bed? It must be from Bedknobs and Broomsticks!

Gravity Falls has some representation, too with Mabel's Kitten Fists. Check out the lifeguard stand in the background - it's from Lilo & Stitch!

From Ultimate Spider-Man comes the Spidercopter! And we know the Spidercycle is in the game, too!

Green Goblin in a vehicle? Does that mean we'll see him soon as a playable character? I mean, it is a two-seater!

Guardians of the Galaxy Disney Infinity 2.0

We finally have our first look at the Guardians of the Galaxy figures for Disney Infinity 2.0! They look amazing and I cannot wait to play them all.  Well, Groot and Rocket Raccoon.  Enjoy!

Titanosaurus

Name: Titanosaurs
First Appearance: Terror of Mechagodzilla

Titanosaurus, the amphibious sea monster that dwells in our oceans, falls into the category of prehistoric monster. Like Rodan and Anguirus, Titanosaurus was not exposed to radiation and mutate, but is rather the forgotten descendant of aquatic creatures that roamed the ocean millions of years ago. This is a common theme with the very early Godzilla monsters: creatures of nature rather than myth or science-experiments. Titanosaurus is probably one of the tallest monsters, sporting a huge head fine and dorsal fin. He has a long tale that ends in a fish-like tail and is covered in a  bumpy red skin. Able to create hurricane force winds with his tail, match Godzilla’s strength, jump extraordinarily far, and emit supersonic blasts from mouth, Titanosaurus is a formidable foe for the King of the Monsters.

This lumbering giant only makes one appearance in the Godzilla series along-side MechaGodzilla and is forced to be the resurrected aliens ally. Discovered in the deep ocean by Shinji Mafune, a mad scientists obsessed with the brain patters of marine life, Titanosaurs is mentally taken over by Mafune and is set forth to destroy Tokyo and the scientific community that exiled Mafune. Later, Mafune rebuilds MechaGodzilla and pairs the two against Godzilla, who is trying to stop Titanosaurs. Ultimately Titanosaurs and MechaGodzilla are defeated. It is said many times in the movie that Titanosaurs is of a peaceful nature (how they know I have no idea since this is the first anyone has seen of the dinosaur) and therefor is not really a foe to Godzilla. Perhaps if he wasn’t under mind control Godzilla would have gained another ally to rank among his friends like Rodan and Anguirus.

Titanosaurus does however make a triumphant return in Godzilla: Unleashed and is a welcome addition to the characters. He is nimble and quick and sports all his abilities he had in the movie.

Collector's Edition Disney Infinity 2.0

Check out this massive Marvel Super Heroes Collector's Edition for the PS3 and PS4 of Disney Infinity 2.0!

The Collector's Edition includes:
Iron Man
Captain America
Black Widow
Hawkeye
Hulk - available separately later
Dipslay base featuring Frost Beast and it glows!
2 Marvel Power Discs
The Avengers Playset
Web Code Card
Mini-poster

No pricing yet, but pretend you can afford it. Check retailers for price. So get ready to assembly your heroes in this awesome base!

Lilo and Stitch Power Discs - Disney Infinity 2.0

Disney Infinity 2.0 gets closer and closer every week and with all the new announcements we thought we should add to our Disney Infinity 2.0 Power Disc wish list!

Lilo's Tropical Paradise
This power disc would feature the beautiful Hawaiian sunset against the majestic volcanoes and dense foliage of the tropical islands. The music would be "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride."

Lilo's Day at the Beach
This power disc would feature warm golden sand spotted with shells and starfish for the terrain, deep oceanic blue water for the rivers, and brightly-colored plants and palm trees for the plants. The music would be "Stitch to the Rescue" by Alan Silvestri from the Lilo and Stitch soundtrack.

Elliott Power Disc - Disney Infinity

Disney Infinity 2.0 is inching ever closer. There are bound to be lots of announcements at San Diego Comic-Con as well. But before all that, let's see another Disney Infinity 2.0 Power Disc wish list item!

Disney Team-Up: Elliott

This power disc is a team-up with a Disney original: Elliott from Pete's Dragon. Elliott would appear and disappear as needed, breathing fire on your enemies. He's loyal and will stay by your side through thick and thin. Who knows, he might be useful against Frost Giants. 

Quelle Difference Ad

Review: Guardians of the Galaxy: TUW

With Guardians of the Galaxy being only a few short weeks away, Disney and Marvel have launched any original story in the form of a mobile game. Launched yesterday, Guardians of the Galaxy: The Universal Weapon, is a simple strategic arena game with all your favorite characters from the GotG universe. Done in a very Star Wars: The Clone Wars-esque style, the artwork is bright, vibrant, and suits the off-the-wall style that should be GotG. Cut-scenes are done in comic book style and help introduce each character as you unlock them. The animation is fluid and very fun to watch as you direct your little GotG  fighters around the arena.

Gameplay is just that, an arean style battle. You choose your team, starting with Star Lord (who is a ranged fighter). As more and more enemies appear, the battles get harder, and you need to recruit more players. Thus, you unlock Drax next, who, as you could guess, is a close-combat fighter. Followed by Gamora, then Groot (the healer), and finally Rocket Racoon. Basically, your characters enter an area, you tap where you want them to go, then tap them again, drag to the villian, and they start attacking. Pretty simple and straight forward. You do have to purchase the characters with crystals that you obtain by completeing levels in the game.

The character roster so far.

In the actual story mode you can only play the heroes, each with their own abilities, power-ups, and weapons. In the arena you can play any character.You can build up your character any way you like, but you must spend money in order to buy the items. The great thing about the game is after the initial purchase (yes, it cost $4.99) you never have to spend any more money in the game to progress. It is self-contained and can even play while not connected to a mobile network. I found myself playing every free moment I had in order to get further in the game, which looks to be pretty big and has many more surprises left before the movie comes out. 

Overall I think Guardians of the Galaxy: The Universal Weapon is highly entertaining and an addictive game. Fast, fun, and with a great sense of humor, the game moves quickly and allows for customization and varied game play. In a world filled with massive amounts of mobile games this one definitely stands out as one of the best in the universe.

Bring on the NAUGHTY and NICE! Disney Infinity 2.0

We finally have our first look at two more Disney Characters for Disney Infinity 2.0: Stitch and Tinker Bell. Two great additions to the team and Stitch being my absolute favorite! It appears Stitch can "tuck and roll" to travel faster, dual-wield his blaster, and has awesome melee attacks. Tink can fly around in Pixie Dust form and looks like she has longer range attacks. If you notice, the "Bed knobs and Broomsticks" bed has made it into the game as a vehicle as well! Exciting news so close to the launch.

Welcome to the Disney Ohana Stitch and Tink!

The Fazoobs

Name: The Fazoobs
First Seen in: The Muppet Show (Steve Martin episode 208)

The Fazoobs are a group of four koozebanians that auditioned on The Muppet Show. Each of the aliens in the group can use part of their body as a musical instrument. Though musically inclined, the music they play even seems alien for The Muppets. As far as we know, they did not make Kermit's cut. 

Though this group of Fazoobs does not become a regular act on The Muppet Show, the individual characters continued to make appearances in other Muppet productions. Look carefully in the pews during the wedding of Piggy and Kermit in The Muppets Take Manhattan.

I really like this weird little group and the context in which the show up works really well. Hopefully we'll see more of these guys! They not only were they appealing visually, but they had a fun act that could only be from outer-space.

Totoro Power Discs - Disney Infinity

Disney Infinity 2.0 is just around the corner. I'm super excited and can't wait to start collecting and playing! The power discs seem really incredible and diverse, utilizing many Disney properties. Today, we're going to start our Disney Infinity Wish List! 

My Neighbor Totoro

Totoro's Catbus

The Cat Bus would the best way to get around in the Toy Box. A twelve-legged bus that can run, climb, and jump. It would play the Nekobasu (ねこバス, "Catbus") music and have its recognizable meow as the horn.

Totoro's Camphor Tree

 The sky of the Toy Box would be transformed to the serene blue sky found above the Camphor Tree, which would be the prominent feature of the horizon. Surrounding the tree would be rice fields, gorgeous green pastures, and the calming green of a magical forest. The music to accompany the sky would be Chiisana Obake (小さなオバケ, "A Little Monster") or Tsukiyo no Hikō (月夜の飛行, "Moonlight Flight") from the soundtrack by Joe Hisaishi.

Totoro's Forest Realm

The terrain would be magically changed to the Tsukamori Forest, where Totoro dwells in the Camphor Tree. The water would be crystal clear with reeds and cattails growing around it and lily pads sitting atop the calm water. The trees would be strong and elegant with a little bit of whimsical charm. The colors would be bright, but true to nature. The ground would be a lush green, that looks soft enough to take a nap on. 

Stay tuned for more Disney Infinity Wish List items as we draw closer to the release date!

Wanted for War Crimes Against Humanity

War Crimes Against Humanity

Inspired by the many interpretations of the Martians from H.G. Wells' classic novel, War of the Worlds.

Just in the Stitch of time!

S.H.Monsterarts Godzilla 90's

Tamashi Nations and S.H. Monsterarts have come together to produce the

highly collectible and sought after Godzilla series of action figures. The series was originally available only in Japan many online retailers are currently carrying the figures, including Amazon. This is where my obsession began and where I go to for the most current figure available. Tamashi Nations generally makes high quality, highly articulated, anime characters such as Dragonball Z, One Piece, and now the much sought after Pokemon line. The amount of detail and thought that goes into each character is astounding and is easily on par with Sideshowtoy collectibles. However, you do pay for what you get and in this case it is worth it.

The first character is Godzilla. While there is only one Godzilla, there are many Godzilla figures. Godzilla 90’s is shown here, lifted from the Heisei series, and sculpting is a masterpiece. Many of the original creators of the characters have come back to sculpt the figures, including the much sought after Biollante. Godzilla has over 29 points of articulation. Able to turn his head left and right, nod, arms and legs on ball joints, tail is broken into segments so it can lash side to side. Basically, any pose you’ve seen Godzilla in any of the movies you can recreate with the figure. There are also many videos of the characters in stop-motion animation showing off exactly what they can do. The paint job is spectacular although the figure I received has a fleck of blue spike paint on his neck. Not a big deal but is distracting. The first edition of Godzilla came with a  beam weapon and clear stand, which I was lucky enough to get. However, the newer release of the figure no longer comes with any accessories. The figures are fragile though and break easily, but usually snap back together. Overall, the figures are amazing and I am very pleased.

The box artwork itself is equally as impressive. Full color artwork with a clear window to see the figure and on top of the box is a another clear window with the character’s name. All the photos on the box are from the figure itself and easily look like scenes from the movies. On the back are many poses of the figure and almost all the text is in Japanese with very few English words on the box. The presentation is awesome and even displaying the figure in the box would look nice. However, I have all of my figures out and posed for a monstrous presentation.