The big new toy: America’s Next Top Model dolls
There are many TV shows that are a natural when it comes to making dolls and action figures for them: Lost, Heroes, Star Trek. Maybe even those bobbleheads of Dwight from The Office. But dolls for America’s Next Top Model? That makes as much sense as a line of dolls for The McLaughlin Group (”I’ll trade you my Pat Buchanan for the Eleanor Clift!”), but they’re here, and they’re scary.
I think this is going to screw up kids even more, as if image and weight problems aren’t already a problem with girls approaching their teen years. I’m terrible at math so I can’t really figure out what those dimensions mean, but something tells me the waist size on these dolls wouldn’t make sense in the real world. Not that the world of modeling is the “real world.” Just look at the names of these dolls: Paisley, Sienna, Sidney, and Tascha. Are those the names of people or colors for a new clothing line this spring? Remember when George dated a girl named Sienna and Jerry said, “yeah, he’s dating a crayon.”
But it’s good to see that little girls around the world can now have the world of anorexia, bulimia and bitchiness in their own households twenty-four hours a day!
New Line Options The Plucker; Could this be a Dark Toy Story?
Rotten Tomatoes has made me see the potential in this concept, calling it a “dark Toy Story“. Variety describes the plot:
Published in 2005 by Harry Abrams, “The Plucker” revolves around a toy jack-in-the-box that awakens beneath its owner’s bed and realizes it has been relegated to a place where undesired playthings go to die. There, he discovers the Plucker, a malevolent spirit from a mysterious new toy that has evil designs on the young owner of the toys.
The book is 160 pages, full color, over-sized hardbound, with over 100 paintings. The illustrations in the book are pretty cool. I’m really down for the darker fantasy movies ala Pan’s Labyrinth or the upcoming Todd Mcfarlane’s Oz.
And who is this Brom guy? He’s contributed conceptual artwork for a bunch of video games an movies, including: Van Helsing, the Scooby Doo films, Ghosts of Mars, Galaxy Quest, Sleepy Hallow, World of Warcraft, Diablo II and Doom II.
Producers were apparently introduced to the book by actor Channing Tatum, “who’ll likely take some producing credit.” I’m sure he would likely be available to provide a voice (assuming that the film will be animated).
Check out another one of the book’s many cool illustrations.
Photo and Video: Batman’s Bat Pod from The Dark Knight
The LA Times has revealed a silhouette image of Batman’s new “Bat Pod” from Christopher Nolan’s upcoming Batman Begins sequel: The Dark Knight. Created by Lucius Fox (played in the film by Morgan Freeman), The Batpod has armor, weapons, “other bat toys” which includes grappling hooks, cannons and machine guns. The Bat Pod is rideable, but so far stuntman Jean-Pierre Goy is the only one to ride it. Not enough? MSN.com has video of Batman’s new toy in daylight from the Today show. It appears that Batman has to lay forward (almost similar to how he operates the Batmobile during the chase sequence in Batman Begins) to ride the cycle.
According to the Times article, The tires “are both a monstrously huge 508 millimeters, and the engines are in the hubs of each wheel. Steering isn’t by hand but by shoulder, since there aren’t handlebars. Instead, there are shields that fit each arm like sleeves and have the ability to rotate around the bike’s frame. The two foot pegs are set 3 1/2 feet apart on either side of the tank, which the rider lies on, belly down.”
The new ride was created by Nathan Crowley, the same guy who designed the new Batmobile for Batman Begins. He created six Bat Pods for the film in case some of them crashed or stopped working during filming.
High Resolution Photos: Batman’s Bat Pod
showed you the first images of Batman’s new bike, the “Bat Pod.” Today, Warner Bros has sent us some high resolution versions of the previously shown images. Check them out above and below and you can click on the photo to enlarge.
MSN.com has video of Batman’s new toy in daylight from the Today show.
Update [6/20/07]: As it turns out, the Bat Pod also made an appearance at the New York Licensing Show. Check out two more photos below thanks to AICN:
