Toy OTD: Mezco South Park Figure: Jesus (Series 3 - 2006)

The Mezco South Park line lasted long enough to include some great characters! Of course, it wouldn't really be complete without one of the stars of The Spirit Of Christmas - Jesus! Happily, Mezco did a terrific job.

The figure is as simply designed as its construction-paper counterpart. Generally, it's very accurate to the original design, but the head looks a little rounder - thought it's possible the design has changed over the run of the show, too. It's a really nice compromise between two- and three-dimensions! The paint work is also tight, which helps preserve the cutout look.

This character doesn't really lend itself to articulation, so big props to Mezco for thinking outside of the box and adding articulated eyebrows! It's a nifty way to customize your figure a little more, especially if you consider the facial variants that Mezco usually produce (I'm sure this toy has more than one). Other than that, we're talking the neck, shoulders, and maybe the wrists.

The big plus of the sculpted robe is that there's no stability issues! While he may not balance on your dashboard, the toy will probably be well-centered on any other flat surface. Any possible branding or legal-ese is hidden away, which is also very cool!

Mezco's South Park blister packaging is deceptively basic. The show's simple, attractive graphics may seem like a gimme, but many toy companies don't always consider the source content. Mezco picked a snowy 'Colorado' background for the blister card, which is eye-catching and on-theme without becoming obnoxious or busy. Very nice!

Rather than bombard us with tiny, easily-lost accessories, Mezco gave us a 'God' mini-figure instead! It's also quite well-made, accurate right down the thin whisker-hairs on its head. Not only is it on-theme, but it's like getting two figures for the price of one!

This toy is three years old, but it's not terribly hard to get today. Unfortunately, it's gone up in price significantly - the cheapest it's going for right now is $49.99 + shipping at superherotoys.com. You may want to hunt around a bit more and comparison shop... good luck!

Toy OTD: Colgate Soaky Toy: Dick Tracy

I think one of the main reasons I like older toys is that so many of them have to find an appealing solution within a multitude of material/technological/aesthetic limitations. Soaky toys are great example of how you can take something as boring and uniform as a bath soap bottle, and make it playful and fun. How do you capture the essence of an animated (or comic strip) character, and still fit it into the practical dimensions that you're given?

Naturally, taller bipedal characters work the best for Soaky toy designs, so Dick Tracy here works great. The pose is stiff, but it maintains as much of the bottle's volume as possible. I love the minimal color usage in the design - the plastic does most of the work, with black and a skin color filling in the rest.

I also like the head sculpt - it's a lot friendlier than the comic character's chiseled grimace (how cheerily he reaches for his gun!), but it still has some feel for Tracy. As drawn, the famous profile almost defies dimensionality, but the I think the sculptor found a solution that works. I'm not thrilled that Tracy's name is emblazoned on the base, but at least it's not emphasized with paint.

There's not much additional packaging to a Soaky - a paper label wrapping the base, and some cellophane - but since the bottle is toy and package in one, that makes sense. It's a great idea that's still around today (though not made by Colgate), and works even better in these conservation-minded times!

Dick Tracy is not a rare Soaky character, so you should be able to get one without much effort. There's a slightly damaged one for sale at timepassagesnostalgia.com for $19.99 + $5.50 shipping, and another on eBay for $22.00 + $6.50 shipping. Happy shopping!

Toy OTD: Applause Rover Dangerfield Plush (1991)

It's obscure character time once again here at Toy of the Day! How many of you remember the 2-D animated feature gold rush that started to build in the late '80s with The Little Mermaid and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? And who also remembers that Rodney Dangerfield once starred in his own cartoon movie?

If you were working in the feature realm, and weren't on salary somewhere at that time, chances are you probably worked on it (I was still part of the Not-Ready-For-Feature-Length Players, so I didn't). Many of the the non-Disney films from this period quickly vanished into the mists, leaving only a few toys in their wake.

I'm a big Rodney Dangerfield fan, and I always liked how the design looked like him, so I'm still drawn to the toy even though I wasn't that fond of the movie. I think Applause did a nice job of capturing the design in a simple, even-more-streamlined plush form. The colors are striking, the construction is solid, and it has a cute, sad-sack quality to it.

This toy is long out of stores, but since there isn't a lot of demand for Rover merchandise, it'll be very affordable - in fact, there's one for sale on eBay right now for $24.95 + shipping. Snap it up!

New Clone Wars Spot

This two-minute spot premiered at last weekend's Star Wars Celebration convention. This shot looks just like an old Ralph McQuarrie painting, and there's a neat bit with Mace Windu leaping from one sky bike to another - but the rest of it leaves me cold.

The 2-D Clone Wars looked great, but it for me was primarily a string of action sequences. I don't think CG really adds anything to the concept - in this case, I think it dilutes the graphic style and the animation performances. In terms of content, there's not much here that I haven't seen endlessly repeated in the three prequels.

Synergy OTD: The Sims Movie

VARIETY: Fox brings 'SIMS' to bigscreen
Film will be a live-action version
By PETER GILSTRAP
Posted: Thurs., May 24, 2007, 7:30pm PT

20th Century Fox has acquired feature rights to the life simulation computer game "The SIMS" from Electronic Arts, and has set project up with Fox-based John Davis.

The five-year-old franchise is the best selling PC game in history, with worldwide sales topping 85 million, bringing in over $1.6 billion. Pic will be a live-action version.

Steve Asbell is overseeing the project for Fox with SIMS Studio head Rod Humble managing the creative property for Electronic Arts. Brian Lynch will script; story is under wraps with talent yet to be named.

"'The SIMS has done an interactive version of an old story, which is what it's like to have infinite power and how do you deal with it," said Humble. "Given that that's an old story, you can imagine how easily that would translate to traditional story telling."

Davis' most recent projects include "Norbit," "When A Stranger Calls," and "Eragon."

Lynch scripted and helmed upcoming "Big Helium Dog," and penned "Scary Movie 3," and is managed by Benderspink.

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Okay, somebody has to help me out here. If somebody makes a live-action film version of a video game that's a simulation of real life... isn't that just... a regular movie? You could call any movie 'The Sims Movie'. Heck, just pick the biggest hit of the season, claim it was the 'Sims' film, and show up for your free money.

Synergy OTD: The Addams Family Musical

VARIETY: 'Addams Family' heads to Broadway
Show to open in the 2009-10 season
By GORDON COX
Posted: Mon., May 21, 2007, 6:00pm PT

They're creepy and they're kooky, and they're headed to Broadway. "The Addams Family," a new large-scale tuner based on the cartoons of Charles Addams, aims to hit the Rialto in the 2009 -10 season.

Composer-lyricist Andrew Lippa ("The Wild Party") is writing the songs, while Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice ("Jersey Boys") provide the book. Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch, the Improbable Theater founders who created the gleefully macabre "Shockheaded Peter," will direct and design.

Produced by Chicago-based Elephant Eye Theatrical, the musical will be capitalized at more than $10 million, according to Elephant Eye producer Stuart Oken.

Addams' cartoons -- about a ghoulish family whose members include father Gomez, mother Morticia, uncle Fester and daughter Wednesday -- appeared for more than 50 years in the New Yorker. The cartoons inspired several TV series, including the 1960s live-action sitcom and a couple of animated skeins, along with two features.

The tuner will be based solely on the cartoons, not on the big- or small-screen incarnations. It hasn't yet been determined whether the creatives will be granted permission to include the familiar TV theme song.

Elephant Eye was granted the rights to develop the tuner by the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation. The cartoonist died in 1988.

"This property has great potential," Oken said. "It's an iconic title. We have both the advantage and the responsibility of having these characters that people all think they know."

The creative team recently met for 12 days in Gotham to hammer out the initial outline, and Oken hopes to have a reading of a first draft by March or April 2008. "Addams" will preem out of town before heading to Gotham.

Elephant Eye, formed in late 2005 by Disney Theatrical alum Oken, Michael Leavitt and Five Cent Prods. to develop new tuners for Broadway, has more than "Addams" on its development slate.

Company is attached to "Saved," the new musical based on the 2004 indie film due to preem Off Broadway at Playwrights Horizons at the end of next season, with Celia Keenan-Bolger starring. Also on the company's plate is "The Boys Are Coming Home," a WWII-set adaptation of "Much Ado About Nothing" by scribe Rebecca Gilman and composer Leslie Arden, set to bow at the Goodman Theater in Chi in spring 2008.

Additional projects in development are a Bruce Lee biotuner and "Beauty Sleeping," a project from writer-helmer Tina Landau and composer Jeanine Tesori based on Landau's play "Beauty."

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Where will this end? A musical based on the animated television show spun off from the live-action 'Flintstones' movies inspired by the cartoon show ripped off from 'The Honeymooners'?