Curiouser and curiouser, sketches from Burton’s Alice in Wonderland!
Posted by Ms Harker | Filed under Horror Animation
Greetings and Salutations.
I for one am fanging for March to hurry up and get here! With March comes the release of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, which is one of my most anticipated films of the year.
So to tide you over during the long month of February I discovered these little beauties on Facebook for all the world to see. These are sketches created by the great man himself, detailing some of the characters, my favourite being The Red Queen. Just a little heads up, if we play Alice In Wonderland I am sooo The Red Queen!
If you like these sketches, Burton has also released a book of his artwork, which I received as a birthday gift from some delightful friends of mine! You can purchase it on his website.
For you lucky ducks living in or around New York I will personally spank you if you do not go and see his collection at the Museum of Modern Art, I am still living in hope the collection will travel the oceans to come Down Under!
Ms Harker.
Tags: Horror, Horror Animation, Horror Films
New Alice In Wonderland trailer! Meep!
Posted by Ms Harker | Filed under Horror Films
Greetings and Salutations.
Hold on to your tea cups and watch out for the Jaberwockie, the new trailer for Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland is out! I am so excited I need to rest my feet on the warm belly of a pig! Enjoy!
Ms Harker
Tags: Horror, Horror Animation, Horror Films
Horror Anime: Blossom, Butterflies and Breasts… Oh and food.
Posted by Ms Harker | Filed under Uncategorized
Lets start the weekend off in the correct fashion shall we? With a discussion about the glorious offerings that horror Anime can provide. I have always had an interest in Anime, more specifically within the horror genre but I am also a fan of the work of Hayao Miyzaki. The genius behind such Studio Ghibli classics as: ‘My Neighbour Totoro‘, ‘Spirited Away‘, ‘Howl’s Moving Castle‘ and who could forget ‘Porco Rosso‘. But I digress, I have been watching some new horror Anime of late as you have read I was in rapture with ‘Hell Girl‘ and am now becoming intoxicated with ‘XXX Holic‘.
‘XXX Holic’ is described as follows on IMDB:
“Kimihiro Watanuki, a high-schooler, is troubled by monsters and spirits who are magically attracted to him. However, nobody else can see them but him. One day, Watanuki stumbles into a shop that grants wishes, and encounters Yuko Ichihara, a beautiful, seemingly all-knowing witch. Yuko doesn’t waste time, she offers to grant Watanuki’s wish to not be able to see those bothersome monsters and spirits any longer, however, there is a price. Yuko soon sees that Watanuki is a hard worker and would be useful for housework and other chores Yuko wishes for him to do until he works off enough to pay for the amount of power that needs to be used to grant his wish.”
There is some stunning imagery in this Anime and the stories attached to the lurking spirits and lessons that must be learned are very similar to that in Hell girl. However this macabre animation employs what I have become to know as Ms Harker’s ‘Crimson Rules of Horror Anime’:
1: Blossoms: The symbol of the flowering cherry blossom appears often and through different transitions in the story and provides an opportunity for us westerners to say ‘Ahhh pretty’. Now listen up kids and get you some learning! The Cherry Blossom also represents the fleeting nature of life and was sometimes used to symbolise the suicides of young people in honour of an emperor. However they also have been used to symbolise extreme beauty or quick death. Which is how they are often employed within horror Anime.
2: Butterflies: Whilst being a symbol for metamorphosis, or the change one has made to their evil ways. Butterflies also carry the souls of the dead, or provides answers to the living to solve mysteries.
3: Food: Rice, sushi, noodles, Beer and Sake. Characters eat, they eat often and they eat with gusto, leaving Ms Harker craving Gyoza and Edamame beans! However we also often see spirits eating the souls of the wicked, or chomping down on entire villages, creating a dichotomous relationship with food for comfort or greed.
4: Breasts: There must always be a busty, raven haired woman, dressed mostly in traditional garb, however sporting large eyes and unusually large breasts for someone of Asian descent…
So there you have it, a wild ride through Ms Harker’s ‘Crimson Rules of Horror Anime’. If you are looking to indulge in some Blossoms, Butterflies and Breasts I highly recommend ‘Hell Girl’, ‘XXX Holic’ and for those of you who do not cringe away from a little vagina dentata ‘Wicked City’.
Sayonara,
Ms Harker.
Tags: Asian Horror, Horror Animation
