– – In the beginning, there was the classic The Wizard of Oz in 1939, based on L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Disney had contemplated an animated film based on the first of Baum’s Oz books, but lost out the rights to MGM in 1938, and the rest became film history. Disney Productions did acquire the rights to the remaining thirteen Oz books in 1954, and in 1985, Disney produced Return to Oz, a rather dark and eerie film which was not exactly child-friendly or in the spirit of its predecessor, and so performed poorly, both critically and commercially. The Oz franchise was then basically put into mothballs for more than a quarter century…and lo, I have waited these many years for a really good flying monkey, one with a discernible personality, not just one of the “Army of Darkness” type drones that served the Wicked Witch in the original…
…and at long last, Sam Raimi, who gave us the Spiderman trilogy, appears poised to deliver just that! In Oz the Great and Powerful, we are given flying monkeys that not only talk, but are gentle and whimsical creatures, worthy furry sidekicks! We are also given so much more…three witches, and the backstories to the Oz saga that fleshes out both the place, and the “Wizard” who becomes its reluctant and faltering savior. Constructed as a “prequel” to the original 1939 classic, this film has big shoes to fill, but just might pull it off…but don’t expect to see ruby slippers, they are copyrighted to the original. It will be so good to see the Wicked Witch again, as the better the villain, the better the tale! And the green-hued one looks awesome!
Oz the Great and Powerful is coming to theaters March 8th…and as always, best witches to you all!
– – When an asteroid passes within a cosmic whisker of Earth and a meteorite smashes down in the former Soviet Union, one might not be totally surprised that small, plaque-mounted anthropomorphic fish are becoming more vocal than humans. In a variant of the McDonald’s Fish McBites commercial, we again visit with the young gentleman in the checked plaid shirt, this time in a beautiful, wood-paneled cabin.
– – It’s hard to find a good petrified cat; most are dried out and decayed, and don’t smell very good. There are aesthetics to be considered when buying a petrified cat, or for that matter, a mummified squirrel; not just any one will do!
– – If Skynet designed greyhounds, they would probably look something like these beauties; starkly striking robotic greyhound creatures who are racing for their lives in a Mad Max styled desert wasteland. Both a music video and a commercial, the video features the music of electronic dance trio Swedish House Mafia, who appropriately perform their track, Greyhound, while electronically transformed in the video to robotic dogs who chase a floating orb. Bizarrely costumed guests watch the greyhounds go through their paces while drinking Absolut cocktails served by a waiter in a mask with animal styling.
– – Goats tend to be slighted, and really don’t get the attention that they deserve. One crosses a goat at their own peril…or some might infer from the “Goat 4 Sale” commercial by Doritos featured on the Super Bowl. 
– – Maxwell the Geico pig continues to evolve; he doesn’t appear to exclaim “Wheee!” anymore, plays with electronics, and apparently can even drive a car. He could use some coaching on relationships with the opposite sex, however, passing up an ideal lover’s lane opportunity with a girl who appears to be hot for his porky body.- -Maxwell, it would seem, is more of a techie than a lover!
– – For those not into the almost omnipresent Super Bowl in the U.S. this weekend, the Animal Planet network will air as in past years its “Puppy Bowl” event, complete with new commercials by Subaru of America that target consumers likely to transport canine passengers in a recurring campaign called, “Dog Tested. Dog Approved.” 
– – It’s been said that were videos about cats and pornography eliminated from the internet, there would be little left! While appealing and loved by many, cats can at times also show a darker side. Here we see the lap cat of Bond arch-villain Blofeld. Cats have demonstrated abilities to be efficient predators, as has been recently noted by research conducted by the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications. 
– – The Aflac Duck had seemed almost indestructible up to this point…after all, he’s been bonked by soccer balls, whacked with logs, singed by flames, and even dropped into the Grand Canyon. Now the daredevil duck has suffered the unthinkable, involved in an undisclosed accident with ensuing injuries to his wing and beak! In a new series of television commercials, a “doctor” discusses the duck’s disaster in front of reporters, and we only see the familiar fowl as a small fixed image on the screen. 
– – The month-long python purge is in progress in Florida, with about 800 intrepid hunters in pursuit of the estimated 15,000 to 20,000 Burmese pythons who live in the Everglades where they are an invasive species and decimate natural populations. The pythons are elusive, however, and not that many carcasses have been turned in to date. Recommended methods of dispatching them include shooting or cutting off their heads with a machete; the “captive bolt” method is also mentioned if the device can be attached to their heads to destroy their brains as one would a zombie. 
FOXSYLVANIA 
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