Archives: Character

Pink Panther Original and Limited Edition Art

The Pink Panther is a fictional animated character who appears in the opening and/or closing credit sequences of every film in The Pink Panther series except for A Shot in the Dark and Inspector Clouseau. In the storyline of the original film, the “Pink Panther” is the name of a valuable pink diamond named for a flaw that shows a “figure of a springing panther” when held up to the light in a certain way; in the credits this was translated to an animated pink panther.

You can read all about Friz Freleng and his creation HERE.

The character’s popularity spawned a spin-off franchise of theatrical shorts, television cartoons and merchandise. He starred in 124 short films, four TV series and four TV specials. The character is closely associated with “The Pink Panther Theme“, composed by Henry Mancini.

The animated character’s initial appearance in the live action film’s title sequence, directed by Friz Freleng, was such a success with audiences and United Artists that the studio signed Freleng and his DePatie–Freleng Enterprises studio to a multi-year contract for a series of theatrical cartoon shorts. The first entry in the series, 1964’s The Pink Phink, featured Pink harassing his foil, a little white mustachioed man who is often considered a caricature of Friz Freleng (this character is officially known as The Little Man), by constantly trying to paint the Little Man’s blue house pink. The Pink Phink won the 1964 Academy Award for Animated Short Film, and subsequent shorts in the series, usually featuring the character opposite the Little Man, were successful releases.

Theatrical trailer

In an early series of animated cartoons, Pink generally remained silent, speaking only in two theatrical shorts, Sink Pink (one line) and Pink Ice (throughout the film). Rich Little provided Pink’s voice in these shorts, modeling it on that of David Niven (who had portrayed Clouseau’s jewel thief nemesis in the original live-action film). Years later, Little would overdub Niven’s voice for two other shorts, due to Niven’s ill health. All of the animated shorts utilized the distinctive jazzy theme music composed by Henry Mancini for the 1963 feature film, with additional scores composed by Walter Greene or William Lava.

 

The Hitchhiking Ghosts Original and Limited Edition Art

The Hitchhiking Ghosts are three resident spirits of the Haunted Mansion known as Phineas (A.K.A. The Traveler), Ezra (A.K.A. The Skeleton), and Gus (A.K.A. The Prisoner). As hitchhiking ghosts they use their ghostly powers to haunt mortals that cross paths with the mansion, working to fill up a quota from mansion officials.

The three got their semi-official names from a cast-member created backstory for the mansion called The Ghost Gallery. Since the story’s creation, the names have been frequently affiliated with the trio in merchandise and the ride itself.

The Hitchhiking Ghosts are the, “Poster Ghosts” for the Haunted Mansion, appearing in most promotional materials and posters for the ride.

In all versions of the ride (except Phantom Manor and Mystic Manor), the trio appear in the exit crypt to haunt guests as they leave the mansion as the Ghost Host explains their nature. Each of the ghosts appear alongside the guests in mirrors showing their Doom Buggies. In the Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland versions of the attraction this is achieved with a semi-transparent mirror that has doom-buggies with Hitchhiker AA figures on the other side. In the Magic Kingdom this was replaced with a CGI effect in 2011 that allowed them to move more freely at the expense of the figures’ visibility.

Carl Fredricksen Original and Limited Edition Art

Carl Fredricksen is the main protagonist of Up. He also appeared in Dug’s Special Mission as a supporting character, in George and A.J. as a minor character and in the Disney+ series Dug Days as the deuteragonist. The character is voiced by Ed Asner.

 

In 1939, 9-year-old Carl Fredricksen was a shy, quiet boy who idolized renowned explorer Charles F. Muntz. One day, Carl befriended an adventurous girl named Ellie, who was also a Muntz fan. She confided to Carl her desire to move her “clubhouse”—an abandoned house in the neighborhood—to a cliff overlooking Paradise Falls, and made him promise to help her. Carl and Ellie eventually got married and grew old together in the restored house, working in a zoo as a balloon vendor, and as a zookeeper, respectively. They plan to have children, but Ellie was diagnosed infertile and they repeatedly pooled their savings for a trip to Paradise Falls, but ended up spending it on more pressing needs.

Just as Carl and Ellie finally seemed to be able to make their trip, Ellie contracted a terminal illness and passed away. Carl became bitter living in the house on his own as he missed his wife terribly. As the years passed, urban growth surrounded Carl’s old house, which he refused to sell to developers.

One of the stylization choices made for Up was that a square represented the past and a circle represented the future, the reason for Carl being box-shaped. After the death of his wife Ellie, Carl has shut off the world around him and has sunk very low to the ground, like a brick. But the characters around him, which have curves, circles and other shapes making up their figures, continue to change while Carl stays within the confinements of his “square”.

  • If Carl is 78 years old in 2009, and if he was 9 in 1939, he was either born in 1930 or 1929, which would make him roughly the same age as Ed Asner, his voice.
  • Carl wore the same style of glasses at every age.
  • Carl’s personality may be a reference to Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree.
  • To lift a house such as Carl’s (and rip it loose from the utility pipes/cables anchoring it) would in reality require vastly more balloons than are shown.
  • An unpowered airship (such as Carl’s house) would not be steerable; it would go wherever the wind goes.
    • Both these last two points were Pixar deciding to go for believable rather than realistic.
  • Although Carl doesn’t have his own musical theme, Ellie’s theme plays whenever he thinks about her, and also plays against Muntz’s theme during the climax.
  • Carl is the second oldest protagonist of a Pixar film, the oldest being WALL•E, as he has been “alive” for more than 700 years (the movie WALL•E takes place in 2805, and Up takes place in 2009 the year it was released).
  • Carl is also the second Pixar protagonist to lose his love interest after Marlin from Finding Nemo.
  • It is believed that Carl is inspired by American actor Spencer Tracy.

Marc Antony and Pussyfoot Original and Limited Edition Art

Marc Antony is a burly bulldog who is usually brown with a tan belly and black ears, although his coloration varies in some shorts. Pussyfoot is an extremely cute kitten to whom Marc Antony is utterly devoted. Charles Jones has discussed the efforts to maximize the kitten’s sheer adorableness. All head and eyes, she is black with a white face and belly and a white tip on her fluffy tail.

Animator Chuck Jones first introduced the odd duo in his film “Feed the Kitty”, first released on Groundhog Day, 1952. Prior to this, a bulldog similar to Marc had appeared in previous shorts with Claude Cat and Hubie and Bertie, but he was never named. In the short, Marc Antony adopts the interminably cute kitten, only to receive a stern warning from his owner not to “. . . bring one more thing into this house! Not ONE, SINGLE, SOLITARY thing!” Marc Antony is thus forced to go to extreme lengths to keep his new pet under wraps. Meanwhile, the kitten’s curiosity gets her into a series of life-threatening situations, which Marc Antony must, of course, rescue her from.

Jones would largely repeat the scenario in 1953 with “Kiss Me Cat“, only this time, Marc Anthony tries to convince his owners that the kitten (now named Pussyfoot) is a champion mouser so that they will let him keep her.

In “Feline Frame-Up” (1954), Jones pitted the dog and kitten against another of his lesser-known players, Claude Cat, with Claude as the villain bullying and causing trouble to the duo. Later in 1954, Marc Anthony (or a bulldog looking just like him) made a brief appearance at the end of the Claude Cat/Frisky Puppy short, “No Barking“.

Jones directed a quite different entry in 1957 with “Go Fly a Kit,” the story of an eagle who teaches a different-but similar-looking-male kitten how to fly. In this cartoon, Marc Anthony serves as a villain, chasing an orange female-cat, that the Pussyfoot-like kitten saves. This is the only cartoon which saw the two on opposite sides.

In 1958, Jones paired the cat and canine for one final film, “Cat Feud“, in which Marc Anthony (with grey coloring, and a more fierce personality) must defend Pussyfoot (and her cat food) from a thieving interloper from the alleys that resembles Claude. This is the second time Claude, Marc and Pussyfoot are paired together, and much like Feline Frame-Up, the Claude-like alley cat is the villain.

A grey version of Marc Anthony also made a cameo appearance during the final scene of Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). They also appear in a cameo during the basketball game in Space Jam (1996). The duo would later make a cameo appearance in the ending scene of Looney Tunes Back in Action (2003).

 

 

Franklin Armstrong of Peanuts Original and Limited Edition Art

Franklin is a fictional character in the comic strip Peanuts, created by Charles M. Schulz. Introduced on July 31, 1968, Franklin was the first African American character in the strip. He goes to school with Peppermint Patty and Marcie.

In his first story arc, he met Charlie Brown when they were both at the beach. Franklin’s father was a soldier fighting in Vietnam, to which Charlie Brown replied “My dad’s a barber… he was in a war too, but I don’t know which one.” Franklin later paid Charlie Brown a visit and found some of Charlie Brown’s other friends to be quite odd. His last appearance was in 1999, the year before Schulz’s death.

A Los Angeles schoolteacher named Harriet Glickman wrote to Schulz on April 15, 1968 (eleven days after the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.), urging him to introduce a black character into Peanuts. On April 26, Schulz wrote back, saying that he had thought about this, but was afraid of “patronizing our Negro friends.” This began a correspondence between Schulz and Glickman that led to Schulz’s creation of Franklin.

In an interview in 1997, Schulz discussed receiving a letter from a Southern editor “who said something about, ‘I don’t mind you having a black character, but please don’t show them in school together.’ Because I had shown Franklin sitting in front of Peppermint Patty… I didn’t even answer him.” 

As a permanent character of the comic strip, Franklin is also a frequent character in the animated Peanuts television specials and movies. Unlike most characters, however, he did not appear in animation until the 1970s with his debut being a silent role in the 1972 movie Snoopy, Come Home at Snoopy’s farewell party. His first speaking role is in the 1973 special There’s No Time for Love, Charlie Brown, in which he is voiced by Todd Barbee.

Franklin became Franklin Armstrong in the 1990s. Schulz had become close friends with Robb Armstrong, an African-American cartoonist with the most widely read comic strip  artist in the world. Armstrong was profoundly influenced by Franklin’s addition to Peanuts, which Schulz knew, so when Franklin needed a last name, he asked Armstrong if he could use his last name for the iconic comic strip character. You can read more about Franklin in this great article from NPR released at Franklin’s 50th anniversary.

Peppermint Patty Original and Limited Edition Art

Peppermint Patty is a fictional character featured in Charles M. Schulz‘ comic strip Peanuts. Her full name is Patricia Reichardt, which is very rarely used in the strip. She is one of a small group in the strip who lives across town from Charlie Brown and his school friends (although in The Peanuts Movie, Snoopy in Space, and The Snoopy Show she, along with Marcie and Franklin, lives in the same neighborhood and attends the same school). She has freckles and “mousy-blah” hair, and generally displays the characteristics of a tomboy. She made her first appearance on August 22, 1966. The following year, she made her animated debut in the TV special You’re in Love, Charlie Brown and began (in the comics) coaching a baseball team that played against Charlie Brown and since has had other adventures with him. Uniquely, she refers to Charlie Brown and Lucy as “Chuck” and “Lucille”, respectively. In most of her appearances, she is attracted to Charlie Brown, based on her reactions. Her birthday is on October 4.

Tweety Bird Original and Limited Edition Art

Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated cartoons. The name “Tweety” is a play on words, as it originally meant “sweetie”, along with “tweet” being an English onomatopoeia for the sounds of birds. His characteristics are based on Red Skelton‘s famous “Mean Widdle Kid.” Tweety appeared in 46 cartoons during the golden age.

Bob Clampett created the character that would become Tweety in the 1942 short A Tale of Two Kitties, pitting him against two hungry cats named Babbit and Catstello (based on the famous comedians Abbott and Costello). On the original model sheet, Tweety was named Orson which was based on the model sheets in the early 40s (which was also the name of a bird character from an earlier Clampett cartoon Wacky Blackout).

Tweety was created not as a domestic canary, but as a generic (and wild) baby bird in an outdoors nest: naked (pink), jowly, and also far more aggressive and saucy, as opposed to the later, more well-known version of him as a less hot-tempered (but still somewhat ornery) yellow canary. In the documentary Bugs Bunny: Superstar, animator Clampett stated, in a sotto voce “aside” to the audience, that Tweety had been based “on my own naked baby picture”. Clampett did two more shorts with the “naked genius”, as a Jimmy Durante-ish cat once called him in A Gruesome Twosome. The second Tweety short, Birdy and the Beast, finally bestowed the baby bird with his new name, and gave him his blue eyes.

Many of Mel Blanc‘s characters are known for speech impediments. One of Tweety’s most noticeable is that /s/, /k/, and /g/ are changed to /t/, /d/, or (final s) /θ/; for example, “pussy cat” comes out as “putty tat”, later rendered “puddy tat”, and “sweetie pie” comes out as “tweetie pie”, hence his name. He also has trouble with liquid consonants: as with Elmer Fudd, /l/ and /r/ come out as /w/. In Canary Row and Putty Tat Trouble, he begins the cartoon by singing a song about himself, “I’m a tweet wittow biwd in a giwded cage; Tweety’th my name but I don’t know my age, I don’t have to wuwy and dat is dat; I’m tafe in hewe fwom dat ol’ putty tat.” (Translation: “I’m a sweet little bird in a gilded cage…”) Aside from this speech challenge, Tweety’s voice is that of Bugs Bunny‘s, done a speed up only (if The Old Grey Hare, which depicts Bugs as an infant, is any indication of that); the only difference is that Bugs doesn’t have trouble pronouncing /s/, /k/ and /g/ as mentioned above.

Norville “Shaggy” Rogers Original and Limited Edition Art

Norville “Shaggy” Rogers is a fictional character in the Scooby-Doo franchise. He is a cowardly slacker and the long-time best friend of his equally cowardly Great Dane, Scooby-Doo. Like Scooby-Doo, Shaggy is more interested in eating than solving mysteries.

Shaggy has a characteristic speech pattern, marked by his frequent use of the filler word “like” and, when startled, his exclamations of “Zoinks!”. His nickname derives from the shaggy style of his sandy-blond hair. He also sports a rough goatee. His signature attire consists of a green v-neck T-shirt and maroon bell-bottom pants, both of which fit loosely. In The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo and early made-for-TV movies, he wore a red v-neck and blue jeans.

Both Scooby and Shaggy are readily bribed with Scooby Snacks due to their mutual large appetites. Both display tendencies toward loafing and cowardice. Both justify their hunger by insisting that “Being in a constant state of terror makes us constantly hungry!” in Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. Shaggy’s favorite dish is “extra cheese pizza with pickles” (as revealed in the TV movie Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo). In “Bedlam in the Big Top”, he says he used to be in track and in “What a Night for a Knight”, that he was a gymnast – both of which hint at his uncanny skills in quickly evading villains and the reason he is invariably assigned the role of bait in Fred’s traps. Due to being in track he has shown, in some instances, to be able to run even faster than Scooby, even when the latter is running on all fours. An early episode “A Clue for Scooby-Doo”, from the inaugural series Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, reveals that his taste for unlikely food combinations (chocolate-covered hot dogs and liverwurst “a la mode”, for example) is a consequence of an infant Shaggy receiving a garbage disposal unit for his first toy. In Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico, Fred states that the reason Shaggy eats so much (and maintains his slender physique) is his “high metabolism”. However, in Scooby-Doo: Behind the Scenes, Fred states that the real reason Shaggy is so skinny is because he goes on a vegan diet (a reference to Casey Kasem’s vegetarian lifestyle). Shaggy has shown himself capable of impressive feats of athleticism through fear alone; however, these abilities are invariably of a comic nature, with Shaggy only seeming capable of such feats when panicked. In Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare, in frustration at being trapped, he shakes the iron bars of an old-fashioned jail cell so hard they collapse.

Shaggy’s typical immediate reaction to experiences or perceptions of supposed supernatural occurrences is terror-struck cowardice. This was explained in the Legend of the Phantosaur as a possible type of panic disorder; in this instance, he was temporarily cured with hypnotherapy.

Hogarth Hughes Original and Limited Edition Art

Hogarth Hughes is an energetic boy who befriends The Iron Giant and acts as his mentor while trying to protect him from the authorities. He is the son of Annie Hughes and was voiced by Eli Marienthal in the 1999 animated science fiction film The Iron Giant.

A curious nine year-old with an active imagination, Hogarth truly is the “luckiest kid in America” after discovering the Iron Giant in his backyard. He quickly befriends the Giant, teaches him to speak and tries to satisfy his insatiable appetite for metal while hiding him from his mother, the townspeople and the government. Hogarth becomes best friend and unlikely guardian to the 50-foot Giant as he teaches him about heroes and what it truly means to be human and what it truly means to be alive. Hogarth himself learns some valuable lessons along this journey.

Growing up in 1957, in Rockwell, Maine, Hogarth is a fairly average kid; he is talkative, curious, intelligent, funny, sarcastic, friendly, quirky, sassy, fun, and a good friend. Hogarth is also very smart for his age and has been pushed up a few grades higher by his mother for his strong intelligence. Growing up alone with his widowed mother, Hogarth spends much of his time exploring the woods and trying to find “pets” that he can be friends with, since he tends to be an outcast in school for his intelligence and being a grade higher than everyone else. Hogarth’s mother had moved him up a grade because of his current grade at the time being too easy and simple for him and not challenging enough for him (said by his mother). She was doing her best for her son supporting him even though he constantly gets bullied for being moved up a grade.

At nine years old, Hogarth had already moved up a grade and was bullied by the older kids at school as a result. Hogarth shows a surprising amount of maturity and intellect, as he already has a deep understanding of people, likely coming from losing his father to war. He teaches the child-like Iron Giant humanity and the concept of an inner soul, essentially teaching the Giant right from wrong and that he has either the potential for evil destruction and chaos, or the potential for peace, friendship, rebuilding, and to help those in need. In a sense, it is his own personality that shapes the person that the Iron Giant comes to be. Hogarth is also very confident with what he knows and he is the kind of person that will do what’s right even if it means jeopardizing his own safety. One example of this is when the Giant becomes extremely dangerous, by mourning over Hogarth, and lets the technical part of his metal body take him over, forcing a defense program (from the metal suit), about to bring down the hostile force attacking him. Hogarth still approaches him, trying to bring him back to his senses and show the Iron Giant that he is still alive, risking his own well-being to save the people that were about to be the Giant’s first kills and the Giant himself from doing something that is wrong and would lead him astray as the Iron Giant would never want to hurt anyone.

Hogarth is also shown to be a fan of Superman, Mad Magazine, The Spirit, Atomo The Metal Menace, and some other comic books. He shows some of his comics to the Giant when trying to teach him right from wrong and to be good. This shows Hogarth’s personality, his curiousness, that he is talkative at times, and that he’s very kind

The Iron Giant Original and Limited Edition Art

The Iron Giant, a 50-foot, metal-eating metal man with a pleasant, inquisitive demeanor enters Hogarth’s life and changes everything. With eyes that change color according to his mood or mechanical action of the Giant’s suit, parts that transform and reassemble, and an innocent heart, he becomes a best friend, coolest toy, and immortal hero to Hogarth. He learns that you are who you choose to be and uses his strength for good rather that destruction, proving to the world that he recognizes the value of human life.

While capable of incredible destructive powers and equipped with highly advanced and destructive weaponry, the Iron Giant would not ever want to harm anyone or any living thing. When he first came to earth, the Iron Giant had a bump on his head that was holding back info from his suit’s defense systems. The Iron Giant would only allow his suit to activate its defense weapons in self defense but it is hard to control his suit’s defensive programming. The Iron Giant may be very big and tall, and might also contain weapons more deadly than anything Earth has ever seen… but he does enjoy playing with Hogarth, pretending to be Superman with him and help make amazing, beautiful-looking sculptures and art with Dean. While normally peaceful after Hogarth saves his life, the Iron Giant’s suit reacts defensively if it recognizes anything as a weapon, immediately attempting to destroy it in protection of the Iron Giant, but at first “Giant” (also known as The Iron Giant) couldn’t stop his suit until later when he had learned how to control it. The Iron Giant’s eyes have a bit of personality; his eyes color would change to different colors for different reasons: At night, his eyes are normally blue for a possible alien type of night vision; in the day, they turn yellow or white for a more normal type of vision to see regularly with the current light at hand. His eyes also turn red when his metal suit gets triggered into a defense mode by the spotting of a weapon and when he is being attacked as well.

The Iron Giant is a large 50 foot tall metal man of alien origin, and the deuteragonist of the film, adapted from the original novel by Ted Hughes, “The Iron Man”. The Giant’s crash landing on Earth caused a bump on the Iron Giant’s head making his suit not enforce its’ protocol for planetary invasion and controlling, allowing the Giant to be his exploring, kindhearted, childlike self also leaving him with a childlike sense of wonder to find out more about the planet he’d crashed on. The dent on his head is an indicator that his suit is restricting certain protocols and actions that it would normally take. The Giant is well-armed but will only use his weapons in self-defense until the end of the movie when he let his suit fully take over, he is capable of flight and can also repair himself with a homing beacon in his head. The Iron Giant has eyes that glow in different colors depending on his mood and time of day as well as if his suit goes into a defensive mode, and his suit can part / transform and reassemble. He is also indestructible to almost anything. The Iron Giant’s diet consists of only metal and metal materials.

In 1957, the Giant came to Earth and crash-landed off the coast of Rockwell, Maine. After terrifying a fisherman by the name of Earl Stutz, who called the government upon his return to land, the Giant wandered into the town’s nearby woodlands after eating a few abandoned vehicles, and set his sights upon devouring a power station. Not a second later he would have been electrocuted had nine year old Hogarth Hughes not been searching for the culprit who ate their TV antenna and shut the power down. The Giant continued to eat local pieces of machinery and later re-encountered Hogarth, befriends him and then proceeds to follow him home. The Giant was seen by one of the train’s engineers Frank Thomas after the train hit the Iron Giant, who was trying to fix the railroad tracks that he was trying to eat earlier. This led to him being hunted down by obsessive government agent Kent Mansley, after following the train engineers’s suggestion on where to find a phone. Kent leaves only to figure out that the BB gun that he was in possession of was Hogarth’s since Hog Hug was the only thing left of Hogarth’s name on the gun. Kent trying to get Hogarth to tell him about the whereabouts of the Giant, rented the room that was for rent at the Hughes’s residence.

Slowly, the Giant began to learn, through Hogarth’s teachings, how to speak his language, about right and wrong, life and death, and some elements of culture, specifically Superman, who Hogarth thought the Giant could relate to since Superman also crash landed on Earth and had to learn everything. After relocating the Giant to a Junkyard owned by beatnik artist Dean McCoppin, Hogarth spent much of his days having fun with the Giant while keeping his existence a secret. Nevertheless, Mansley called the army and General Rogard after interrogating Hogarth into revealing the Giant’s whereabouts, but Hogarth and Dean were quickly able to disguise the Giant as another one of Dean’s art projects. A short time after, the Giant’s automatic defense mechanisms activated when Hogarth pointed a toy gun at him pretending he was the evil robot Atomo, and Hogarth was almost killed by the Giant’s eye beams. The Giant didn’t seem to understand what he had just done or what happened.

Bamm-Bamm Rubble Original and Limited Edition Art

Bamm-Bamm Rubble is a fictional character in the Flintstones franchise, the adopted son of Barney and Betty Rubble. He is most famous in his infant form on the animated series, but has also appeared at various other ages, including as a teenager on the early 1970s spin-off The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show and as an adult in three made-for-television movies. Cartoonist Gene Hazelton contributed to the original model sheets for the character, and he has said that he based Bamm-Bamm’s design on his own son, Wes.

Bamm-Bamm is the adopted son of Betty Rubble and Barney Rubble after they found him left on their doorstep. After meeting his next-door neighbor Pebbles, he falls in love with her. Bamm-Bamm’s “nickname” came from a note left in the basket, causing Barney and Betty confusion over the strange name. This was explained when Bamm-Bamm yelled the phrase “Bamm, Bamm!” and swung his club. Bamm-Bamm’s excessive (and sometimes misused) strength was often a source of humor in the episodes the toddler version of Bamm-Bamm appeared in. Unlike Pebbles, Bamm-Bamm was past the crawling stage and could be seen in a few episodes trying to help Pebbles walk.

As a teenager, Bamm-Bamm attended Bedrock High School along with Pebbles. In this version, his super strength, while visible in the form of his muscular physique, was not actively mentioned and was only demonstrated on occasion. He became more passive and sensible in his manner and tended to be dominated by Pebbles’ more aggressive personality. He was the owner of a “cave buggy,” a prehistoric version of a dune buggy.

As an adult, he became a mechanic and married Pebbles. The two soon moved to Hollyrock (a fictionalized, prehistoric version of Hollywood, California) so he could pursue his true goal of becoming a screenwriter. Later the couple had twins, Chip and Roxy.

Pebbles Flintstone Original and Limited Edition Art

Pebbles Flintstone (also known as Pebbles Flintstone-Rubble as an adult) is a fictional character in the Flintstones franchise. The red-haired daughter of Fred and Wilma Flintstone, Pebbles is born near the end of the third season. She is most famous in her infant form on The Flintstones, but has also appeared at various other ages, including as a teenager on the early 1970s spin-off The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show and as an adult in three made-for-television movies. She spent most of her time with Bamm-Bamm Rubble, her childhood best friend whom she eventually marries.

According to the February 22, 1963, edition of TV Guide, Pebbles was born at the Bedrock Rockapedic Hospital on February 22, 10,000 B.C. That particular year was never actually cited within the show itself; most versions of the show put the Flintstones’ era as circa 1,000,000 B.C.

As an infant, Pebbles quickly became lifelong best friends with her next-door neighbor, Bamm-Bamm Rubble.

As a preteen, Pebbles was an excellent baseball player, which led to a misadventure involving her father, as seen in the primetime special The Flintstones: Little Big League.

By the time she was a teenager, Pebbles was noted for getting Bamm-Bamm and their friends into various misadventures, mostly due to sharing her dad’s penchant for schemes that would inevitably backfire (such as causing a strike by Bedrock’s city employees when she was elected honorary mayor for a week). She and her friends attended Bedrock High School; Pebbles had a catchphrase similar to her father’s: “Yabba-Dabba-Doozie!”

As an adult, Pebbles pursued a career in advertising and married Bamm-Bamm. After this, the newly married couple moved to Hollyrock, a fictional, prehistoric version of Hollywood, California. They eventually had a son named Chip and a daughter named Roxy, who were fraternal twins

 

Foghorn Leghorn Original and Limited Edition Art

Foghorn Leghorn is a cartoon character who appears in Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons and films from Warner Bros. Animation. He was created by Robert McKimson and writer Warren Foster, and starred in 29 cartoons from 1946 to 1964 in the Golden Age of American Animation. All 29 of these cartoons were directed by McKimson.

Foghorn Leghorn’s first appearance was in the 1946 Henery Hawk short Walky Talky Hawky. With the Tasmanian Devil, Foghorn ranks as the two most popular McKimson-created characters. Foghorn’s voice was created and originally performed by Mel Blanc and was later performed by Jeff Bergman, Joe Alaskey, Bill Farmer, Greg Burson, Jeff Bennett, and Frank Gorshin.

Foghorn Leghorn was directly inspired by the character of Senator Claghorn, a blustery Southern politician played by Kenny Delmar on Fred Allen’s popular 1940s radio show. Foghorn adopted many of Claghorn’s catchphrases, such as “That’s a joke, son!” Delmar’s inspiration for Claghorn was a Texas rancher who was fond of saying this.[1]

According to Leonard Maltin, the character’s voice was also patterned after a hard-of-hearing West Coast-only radio character from the 1930s, known simply as The Sheriff, on a radio program called Blue Monday Jamboree. The accent has similarities to that of another Mel Blanc voice: Yosemite Sam (a strictly Friz Freleng character); and even more similar to a proto-Sam character in Stage Door Cartoon.

Smurf Original and Limited Edition Art

The Smurfs (French: Les Schtroumpfs; Dutch: De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, human-like creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. The Smurfs was first created and introduced as a series of comic characters by the Belgian comics artist Peyo (the pen name of Pierre Culliford) in 1958, wherein they were known as Les Schtroumpfs. There are more than 100 Smurf characters, and their names are based on adjectives that emphasise their characteristics, such as “Jokey Smurf”, who likes to play practical jokes on his fellow smurfs. “Smurfette” was the first female Smurf to be introduced in the series. The Smurfs wear Phrygian caps, which came to represent freedom during the modern era.

The word “smurf” is the original Dutch translation of the French “schtroumpf”, which, according to Peyo, is a word he invented during a meal with fellow cartoonist André Franquin when he could not remember the word salt.[1][2][3]

The Smurfs franchise began as a comic and expanded into advertising, films, TV series, ice capades, video games, theme parks, and dolls.

The Smurfs secured their place in North American pop culture in 1981, when the Saturday-morning cartoon series The Smurfs, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in association with SEPP International S.A.R.L, aired on NBC from September 12, 1981 to December 2, 1989 (reruns until August 25, 1990). The show continued to air on the USA network until 1993, and on Cartoon Network until 2003. The Smurfs is still broadcast on the Boomerang channel throughout the United States. The show became a major success for NBC, spawning spin-off television specials on an almost yearly basis. The Smurfs was nominated multiple times for Daytime Emmy awards, and won Outstanding Children’s Entertainment Series in 1982–1983.[15] The Smurfs television show enjoyed continued success until 1990, when, after nearly a decade of success, NBC cancelled it due to decreasing ratings and plans to extend their Today morning show franchise to create a Saturday edition, although they did not do so until 1992 (two years later). The decreased ratings were the result of the network changing the format of the show, resulting in the final season featuring regular time travel with only a few Smurfs.

In the TV series, many classical masterpieces are used as background music during the episodes, among them Franz Schubert‘s Unfinished Symphony (Symphony No. 8 in B minor), Edvard Grieg‘s Peer Gynt and Modest Mussorgsky‘s Pictures at an Exhibition. Reruns of the show are played on the Cartoon Network’s sister channel Boomerang.

Astro Original and Limited Edition Art

Astro is a canine character on the Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Jetsons. He was designed by Iwao Takamoto, and originally voiced by Don Messick. Astro was more advanced than present-day dogs, in that he had a rudimentary grasp of the English language, albeit with r’s in many places they shouldn’t be, or replacing other consonants. For example, “I love you, George” would be “I ruv roo, Reorge”. This is similar to Scooby-Doo on Scooby Doo Where Are You!.

The pup was found by Elroy in the fourth Jetsons episode, “The Coming of Astro”. When Jane, Judy and Elroy proposed keeping him to George, he was against it, claiming that an apartment is no place for a dog. In an effort to make his family happy, he got an electronic dog named Electronimo, who was supposed to be the new hairless, non-eating, protect-your-house way to go. When The Cat Burglar tried to rob the Jetsons, Electronimo attacked him (which he did to anyone wearing a mask). Elroy tried waking his pup to get him to stop the burglar as a way to prove himself, but he turned out to be more interested in hiding in fear. However, when trying to escape, The Cat Burglar put the mask on George. Electronimo then proceeded to chase after George. It was Astro who was trying to run from The Cat Burglar that inevitably caught the criminal by accidentally crashing into him. This prompted George to decide that Electronimo was not the way to go. They gave Electronimo to the police and kept Astro as part of their family.

Betty Rubble Original and Limited Edition Art

Betty Rubble is a fictional character in the television animated series The Flintstones and its spin-offs and live-action motion pictures. She is the black-haired wife of caveman Barney Rubble and the adoptive mother of Bamm-Bamm Rubble. Her best friend is her next-door neighbor Wilma Flintstone.

Betty lives in the fictional prehistoric town of Bedrock, a world where dinosaurs coexist with cave people and the cavepeople enjoy primitive versions of modern conveniences such as telephones, automobiles and washing machines. She speaks with an Midwestern accent.

Betty Rubble’s personality was based on the stock character of the lead character’s best friend’s wife, commonly seen in 1950s television (other prominent examples including Trixie Norton of The Honeymooners, which by conflicting accounts was a major inspiration for The Flintstones, and Ethel Mertz of I Love Lucy). Much like Trixie or Ethel, Betty spent a lot of her time socializing with Wilma, and the two would often end up working together to bail their husbands out of whatever scheme of Fred’s had landed them in trouble, sometimes scheming with each other.

June Foray voiced Betty in a 1959 Flintstones pilot titled The Flagstones, but Bea Benaderet was cast for the series and voiced Betty for the first 4 seasons before stepping down in 1964 (due to her scheduling conflicts with Petticoat Junction). Gerry Johnson took over the role for the last 2 seasons. Anna Bentinck has since performed the role in later Flintstones media since 1990–2003.

In the 1994 film, Betty was portrayed by Rosie O’Donnell, who reportedly won the role because she captured the high pitch laugh at her audition. Jane Krakowski replaced O’Donnell in the 2000 prequel The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, in which Betty’s maiden name is “O’Shale”.

 

Dino the Flintstones Pet Original and Limited Edition art

Dino is a pet dinosaur of the Flintstones series’ main characters, Fred and Wilma Flintstone.featured in the Hanna-Barbera animated television series The Flintstones, and its spin-offs and feature films. Dino debuted in the opening credits of the pilot episode of The Flintstones, but is not mentioned by name until the first season’s fourth episode, “No Help Wanted.”

In the series, Dino serves the role of a pet dog, and exhibits the characteristics of a typical domesticated canine.

Dino is a prosauropod-like dinosaur, a Snorkasaurus. Dino is a relatively small dinosaur, only slightly larger than the humans of his time, smaller than mammoths that appear in the series, and much smaller than the numerous sauropods that appear as work animals in the series (a full-sized sauropod appears as a crane in the opening sequence, and oversized “bronto ribs” the size of an automobile are seen in the closing credits).

A recurring gag in the series is Fred coming home from work, and Dino gets excited and knocks him down and licks his face. But no matter how hard he tries to the contrary, Fred usually gives in to Dino’s ticklish and wet doglike kisses. Dino frequently exhibits human emotions, nearly “talking,” and can also be moved to anger, at which point he snarls and snaps, especially when Fred tries to lie either to or in front of him, which he can always tell. He also loves to play with Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm, the Flintstones’ and Rubbles’ respective offspring; these characters are introduced in the middle part of the series. In the episode “Hop Happy” Dino meets Hoppy, the Rubbles’ new pet hopperoo. At first, Dino and Fred get scared, thinking he’s a giant mouse, but they eventually become best friends after Hoppy helps Dino rescue their owners in an accident.

Although he is usually immune, Dino does take a couple of brief stabs at romance. The first comes in the episode, “Dino Goes Hollyrock”, which originally aired on September 14, 1962. In it, he falls in love with female TV star sauropod “Sassie” (an obvious takeoff on “Lassie“) and then becomes her co-star on her TV show. However, after she removes her false eyelashes and wig, he is shocked that she turned out to be an ugly, talented sauropod that could be beautified. The second comes in the episode, “Dino and Juliet”, which originally aired on November 26, 1964. In it, Dino falls in love with the new neighbor’s female sauropod (Juliet). Their romance, which results in the birth of 15 puppies, helps end the feud between Fred and the new neighbor, Mr. Loudrock.

Although the pet dinosaur had already appeared earlier in the series’ first season (such as the episode “No Help Wanted” and “Arthur Quarry’s Dance Class” – these episodes were made after the “Snorkasaurus Hunter” but aired before), he is portrayed quite differently in the first season’s 18th episode “The Snorkasaurus Hunter.” In this episode, Fred and his friend Barney Rubble are on a camping trip, trying to hunt a snorkasaurus. Unlike his other appearances, the snorkasaurus in this episode speaks and behaves toward Fred and Barney in a manner similar to comedian Phil Silvers. At the end of the episode, the Flintstones take in the dinosaur; the snorkasaurus (called “Dino” at one point by Wilma) is seen acting like a butler for the Flintstones: answering the telephone, dusting, and ironing. Dino in this episode also has purple skin instead of his varying pink-to-red color, which seems to vary from episode-to-episode during this early period, but is permanently purple after this episode. After this episode, Dino is permanently portrayed as behaving in a doglike fashion.

 

 

Black Panther – T’Challa of Wakanda

Black Panther – T’Challa of Wakanda, is a powerful, inspiring Marvel character, and a favorite of many Marvel fans.

ABOUT T’Challa:

A native of the small, yet technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda, T’Challa accepted the mantle of Black Panther, the legendary protector of the Wakandan people, from his father, King T’Chaka, who filled the role before him as his father before him and so on. T’Chaka relinquished the title as he grew older and delved further into politics. This was a subject T’Challa looked upon with some dislike, although he acknowledged the increasing importance of it, even as Wakanda maintained an air of secrecy to hide its true nature and precious vibranium mines.

Regardless of his feelings for Wakanda’s part on the world stage, T’Challa accompanied T’Chaka to an international summit in Vienna, Austria to ratify the Sokovia Accords, which promised to regulate all enhanced persons. Sadly, T’Chaka lost his life when Sokovian radical Helmut Zemo detonated a bomb at the well-attended meeting of heads of state, framing Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, in the process. At that moment, not only did the throne of Wakanda pass to T’Challa, but also the full weight of the Black Panther’s responsibilities, including the task of revenge for the death of the king.

T’Challa wears a high-tech suit as the Black Panther, including a mask which hides his features and provides him with overall stealth capabilities. With vibranium threads woven throughout, the suit offers protection from gunfire as well as the elements, and responds to T’Challa’s smallest touch. In keeping with the panther motif, the gear also features retractable vibranium claws, night vision optics, and is ultra-light and form-fitting. In addition, the Black Panther can also absorb energy directed toward him, physical or otherwise, which may then be redirected outward for defense and offense.

Huey, Dewey, and Louie Original and Limited Edition Art

Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck are triplet cartoon characters created in 1937 by writer Ted Osborne and cartoonist Al Taliaferro, and are owned by The Walt Disney Company. Huey, Dewey, and Louie are the nephews of Donald Duck and the grandnephews of Scrooge McDuck. Like their uncles, the boys are anthropomorphic white ducks with yellow-orange bills and feet. They typically wear shirts and colorful baseball caps, which are sometimes used to differentiate each character. Huey, Dewey and Louie have made several animated appearances in both films and television, but comics remain their primary medium. The trio are collectively the 11th most published comic book characters in the world, and outside of the superhero genre, second only to Donald.

While the boys were originally created as mischief-makers to provoke Donald’s famous temper, later appearances showed them to be valuable assets to him and Scrooge on their adventures. All three of the boys are members of the fictional scouting organization the Junior Woodchucks.

Squidward Tentacles Original and Limited Edition Art

Squidward Quincy Tentacles is a character from SpongeBob SquarePants, voiced by Rodger Bumpass. He is an anthropomorphic octopus who is the middle neighbor on Conch Street between Patrick Star and SpongeBob SquarePants, whose antics he detests. He is an avid artist and clarinet player. He is the only citizen in Bikini Bottom to be into the arts and culture, which causes him to feel like an outsider in his town. He currently works as the cashier at the Krusty Krab fast food restaurant. He first appeared on television in the series’ pilot episode “Help Wanted” on May 1, 1999.

ABOUT SPONGEBOB:

SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. The series chronicles the adventures and endeavors of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. The series’ popularity has made it a media franchise, as well as the highest rated series to ever air on Nickelodeon, and the most distributed property of MTV Networks. As of late 2017, the media franchise has generated $13 billion in merchandising revenue for Nickelodeon.

SpongeBob SquarePants Original and Limited Edition Art

SpongeBob SquarePants is an energetic and optimistic sea sponge (although his appearance more closely resembles a kitchen sponge) who lives in a submerged pineapple and loves his job as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab. He has a pet snail, Gary, who meows like a cat. Living two houses down from SpongeBob is his best friend Patrick Star, a dim-witted yet friendly pink starfish who lives under a rock. Despite his mental setbacks, Patrick still sees himself as intelligent. SpongeBob SquarePants, often referred to as just SpongeBob, is an animated television series created by marine biologist/animator Stephen Hillenburg. The series premiered right after the Kids’ Choice Awards on May 1, 1999. It officially began airing on July 17 of the same year with the second episode “Bubblestand/Ripped Pants”.

Perdita Original and Limited Edition Art

Perdita is very well-mannered, elegant, and ladylike, a complete foil to Pongo’s easygoing and carefree nature. Despite her well-coordinated nature, Perdita tends to fret during hectic situations, but Pongo can calm her. Both Dalmatians are fierce fighters, as demonstrated when they battle Cruella’s henchmen, Horace and Jasper. Perdita, sometimes referred to as “Perdy,” sports a blue collar and has spotted ears. She and Pongo are the proud parents of fifteen puppies.

ABOUT 101 DALMATIANS:

One Hundred and One Dalmatians, often abbreviated as 101 Dalmatians, is a 1961 American animated adventure film produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith. The 17th Disney animated feature film, the film tells the story of a litter of Dalmatian puppies who are kidnapped by the villainous Cruella de Vil (Betty Lou Gerson), who wants to use their fur to make into coats. Their parents, Pongo and Perdita (Rod Taylor and Cate Bauer respectively), set out to save their children from Cruella, all the while rescuing 84 additional puppies that were bought in pet shops, bringing the total of Dalmatians to 101.

Originally released to theaters on January 25, 1961, by Buena Vista Distribution, One Hundred and One Dalmatians was a box office success, pulling the studio out of the financial slump caused by Sleeping Beauty, a costlier production released two years prior. Aside from its box office revenue, its commercial success was due to the employment of inexpensive animation techniques—such as using xerography during the process of inking and painting traditional animation cels—that kept production costs down. It was reissued to cinemas four times in 1969, 1979, 1985 and 1991. The 1991 reissue was the twentieth highest earning film of the year for domestic earnings. It was remade into a live action film in 1996.

 

Doctor Strange Original and Limited Edition Art

A Marvel of a wizard.

Doctor Strange is one of the most powerful sorcerers in existence. Like most sorcerers, he draws his power from three primary sources: the invocation of powerful mystic entities or objects, the manipulation of the universe’s ambient magical energy, and his own psychic resources. Strange’s magical repertoire includes energy projection and manipulation, matter transformation, animation of inanimate objects, teleportation, illusion-casting, mesmerism, thought projection, astral projection, dimensional travel, time travel and mental possession, to name a few. The full range of his abilities is unknown. Doctor Strange’s powers are sometimes less effective against strictly science-based opponents, although he can overcome this limitation with effort. less

Abilities

Doctor Strange is a skilled athlete and martial artist with substantial medical and magical knowledge. Though an expert surgeon, Strange’s nerve-damaged hands prevent him from performing surgery except when supplemented by magic.

Group Affiliations

Formerly Avengers, the Order, Defenders, Midnight Sons; former disciple of the Ancient One

 

Gamora Original and Limited Edition Art

Not a starry-eyed waif who’ll give in to your pelvic sorcery.

Gamora is a fictional character appearing in American comic bookspublished by Marvel Comics. Created by Jim Starlin, the character first appeared in Strange Tales #180 (June 1975). Gamora is the adopted daughter of Thanos, and the last of her species. Her powers include superhuman strength and agility and an accelerated healing factor. She also is an elite combatant, being able to best most of the opponents in the galaxy. She has appeared as the occasional love interest of the superheroes Adam Warlock and Nova, and a member of the group known as the Infinity Watch. The character played a role in the 2007 crossover comic book eventAnnihilation: Conquest, and became a member of the titular team in its spin-off comic, Guardians of the Galaxy. She has been featured in a variety of associated Marvel merchandise. Zoe Saldana plays the character in the 2014 live-action film Guardians of the Galaxy.

Powers: Gamora received treatments from Thanos that enhanced her speed, strength, agility, and durability to rival Adam Warlock’s (to better slay the Magus, his evil future self). Thanos also helped her become a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, trained in the martial arts techniques from various planets, in the uses of the known weaponry of the Milky Way Galaxy, and stealth techniques. She is also a highly skilled gymnast and assassin, and formerly possessed a telepathic link to Thanos. She uses a wide variety of weaponry, most notably a dagger whose unknown properties made it capable of slaying even beings of such immense power as Thanos and the Magus.

In the pages of Infinity Watch, it is revealed that Gamora had been cybernetically enhanced to have superhuman strength, speed, and a rapid healing ability.[30] Gamora’s strength and speed were further enhanced by Adam Warlock when they returned from Soulworld.[31]

Gamora is one of the most skilled martial artists in the Marvel Universe. She is capable of defeating opponents who possess superhuman strength and durability that far surpass her own, and she has defeated a military platoon containing dozens of combat-trained men in only a few minutes. She has learned to paralyze or kill opponents using vital point strikes directed at certain nerve clusters. Although skilled in the use of most conventional weapons, she prefers to use knives and swords.

While Gamora was with the Infinity Watch, she possessed the Infinity Gem called the “Time Gem”. The gem was mentally linked to her, giving her the potential power to control time. She said that she did not know how to employ its powers and preferred not to use it. While she possessed the Time Gem, Gamora was prone to precognitive dreams and visions, though she had no conscious control over them.

Rocket Raccoon Original and Limited Edition Art

Raccoon?  What’s a raccoon?

Rocket Raccoon is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Bill Mantlo and artistKeith Giffen, the character first appeared in Marvel Preview #7 (Summer 1976). He is an intelligent, anthropomorphic raccoon, who is an expert marksman and master tactician. His name and aspects of his character are a nod to the Beatles‘ 1968 song “Rocky Raccoon“.

Rocket Raccoon appeared as a prominent member in the 2008 relaunch of the superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy. The character has appeared in several media adaptations as a member of that team, including animatedtelevision series, toys, and video games. He appears in the 2014 live-action film Guardians of the Galaxy, albeit only as “Rocket”, with his voice provided by Bradley Cooper and motion capture provided by Sean Gunn.

The character was created by Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen,[1] and inspired by the Beatles song “Rocky Raccoon“.[2] Other references to the song were featured in Rocket’s appearance in The Incredible Hulk #271 (May 1982), which was titled “Now Somewhere In the Black Holes of Sirius Major There Lived a Young Boy Named Rocket Raccoon” and saw the Hulk help Rocket stop a villain trying to steal “Gideon’s Bible”, which in the Marvel Universe was a book that contained the sum of all knowledge on the Loonies colony.[3]

Rocket Raccoon first appeared in Marvel Preview #7 (Summer 1976), in the back-up feature “The Sword in the Star”, under the name “Rocky”. He would next appear in The Incredible Hulk #271 (May 1982), where it is learned that “Rocky” is short for “Rocket”. In 1985, he received his own four-issue limited series and in an afterword to the first issue, Mantlo himself asserted that this was the same character seen in Preview, penciled by Mike Mignola and inked by Al Gordon with Al Milgrom. Rocket appeared in Quasar #15 in 1990 and later appeared in three issues of Sensational She-Hulk in 1992 (#44-46). The character only appeared in a total of ten comic books in his first thirty years of existence.

Besides a brief appearance in a 2006 issue of Exiles, Rocket Raccoon was next seen in 2007’s Annihilation: Conquest andAnnihilation: Conquest – Star-Lord limited series, and their spin-off series, a new volume of Guardians of the Galaxy. He remained a regular member of the series cast until it was canceled with issue #25 in 2010, also appearing in the follow-up limited series The Thanos Imperative.  Along with fellow Guardian Groot, Rocket starred in backup features in Annihilators#1-4 (Mar-Jun 2011) and Annihilators: Earthfall #1-4 (Sept-Dec 2011).

Rocket Raccoon, along with the other members of the Guardians, appeared in issues #4-8 of Avengers Assemble, a series intended as a jumping-on point for fans of the film The Avengers. He appears prominently in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, a part of the 2012 Marvel NOW! relaunch.

In February 2014, it was announced that Skottie Young will be the writer and artist for a Rocket Raccoon ongoing series. The series began in July 2014, with the first issue selling over 300,000 copies. Jake Parker replaced Young as the artist beginning with issue #5. The series ended in May 2015 as one of many titles to be cancelled for Marvel’s Secret Warsevent. A new volume, titled Rocket Raccoon and Groot, began in January 2016 as part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel relaunch.

Groot Original and Limited Edition Art

We are groot.

Groot is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Dick Ayers, the character first appeared in Tales to Astonish #13 (November 1960). An extraterrestrial, sentient tree-like creature, Groot originally appeared as an invader that intended to capture humans for experimentation.

The character was reintroduced as a heroic, noble being in 2006, and appeared in the crossover comic book storyline “Annihilation: Conquest“. He went on to star in its spin-off series, Guardians of the Galaxy, joining the team of the same name. Groot has been featured in a variety of associated Marvel merchandise, including animated television series, toys, and trading cards. Vin Diesel voices Groot in the 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy, and Krystian Godlewski plays the character via performance capture. Since his film premiere, Groot has become a pop culture icon, with his repeated line “I am Groot” becoming a famous reference.

The character played a part in Annihilation: Conquest, at which time it was shown he may be the last remaining member of the Flora Colossi, and was under arrest by the Kree for an unknown reason. Groot earned freedom by joining Star-Lord‘s strike force, where he and Rocket Raccoon formed a bond, Rocket being one of the few beings with the ability to understand Groot’s language. Star-Lord’s team fought their way through the Phalanx, but after the death of Deathcry the team decided to escape through a drainage pipe that he could not fit into.

Groot seemingly died, buying the team some time to escape the battle. He survived as a sprig offshoot and went on to accompany the team on their continued mission against the Phalanx, but was one of the team members captured by the Phalanx. In time, Groot’s body regenerated from the twig, growing back to full size. He and the others intended to carry on as part of Starlord’s team.

 

When the Guardians reformed, Groot joined with Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Drax the Destroyer and Gamora, whom he counted as friends.

The Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional spacefaring superhero team that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Dan Abnett andAndy Lanning formed the team from existing and previously unrelated characters created by a variety of writers and artists, with an initial roster ofStar-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Quasar, Adam Warlock, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, and Groot.

These Guardians first appeared in “Annihilation: Conquest” #6 (April 2008). A feature film based on this team was released in 2014. A sequel, titledGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, is scheduled to be released in 2017. This Guardians team is the second to operate under the name, following theoriginal team created by Arnold Drake and Gene Colan in 1969.

Star-Lord / Peter Quill Original and Limited Edition Art

Come and get his love.

Star-Lord (Peter Quill) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan, the character first appeared in Marvel Preview #4 (Jan. 1976). The son of a human named Meredith Quill and the Spartoi J’son, Quill assumes the mantle of Star-Lord, an interplanetary policeman.

The character played a role in the crossover comic book storylines “Annihilation” (2006) and “Annihilation: Conquest” (2007), and became the leader of the space-based superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy in the 2008 relaunch of the comic of the same name. He has been featured in a variety of associated Marvel merchandise, including animated television series, toys, and trading cards. Chris Pratt portrays the character in the 2014 live-action film Guardians of the Galaxy.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY:

The Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional spacefaring superhero team that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Dan Abnett andAndy Lanning formed the team from existing and previously unrelated characters created by a variety of writers and artists, with an initial roster ofStar-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Quasar, Adam Warlock, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, and Groot.

These Guardians first appeared in “Annihilation: Conquest” #6 (April 2008). A feature film based on this team was released in 2014. A sequel, titledGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, is scheduled to be released in 2017. This Guardians team is the second to operate under the name, following theoriginal team created by Arnold Drake and Gene Colan in 1969.

Pikachu Original and Limited Art

Pikachu is a short, chubby rodent Pokémon. It is covered in yellow fur and its ears are long and pointed with black tips. It has a small mouth, brown eyes, and two red circles on its cheeks. There are pouches inside its cheeks where it stores electricity. It has short forearms with five fingers on each paw, and its feet each have three toes. It has two brown stripes on its back and its tail is in the shape of a lightning bolt with a patch of brown fur at the base. A female will have a V-shaped notch at the end of its tail, which looks like the top of a heart. It is classified as a quadruped, but it has been known to stand and walk on its hind legs.

The anime has shown that Pikachu sometimes travel in groups. It raises its tail to check its surroundings, and is occasionally struck by lightning in this position. Living in forested areas, Pikachu is found foraging for berries it roasts with electricity to make them tender enough to eat. It has been observed eating and sometimes destroying telephone poles, wires, and other electronic equipment.

Pikachu is able to release electric discharges of varying intensity. Pikachu has been known to build up energy in its glands, and will need to discharge to avoid complications. It is also able to release energy through its tail, which acts as a grounding rod, as well as recharging fellow Pikachu with electric shocks. Pikachu can also electrify itself to use its signature move Volt Tackle. When threatened, it looses electric charges from its sacs, and a group can build and cause lightning storms. It is found mostly in forests, where a sure sign that Pikachu inhabits a location is patches of burnt grass.

Mew Original and Limited Art

Mew is a small, cat-like Pokémon with small, pointed ears, blue eyes, a long, thin tail, and large feet with three toes. It is covered with a layer of fine, pink hair, only visible with the aid of a microscope. It has short arms with three fingers on each paw, and has small, orange, paw pads on the undersides of its feet.

It is said that Mew’s DNA possesses the genetic composition of all existing Pokémon species, thus allowing it to use all known Pokémon moves. Its possession of every Pokémon’s DNA also allows it to devolve Pokémon.

Mew is said to possess the genetic composition of all Pokémon. It is capable of making itself invisible at will, so it entirely avoids notice even if it approaches people.

As demonstrated by its behavior in the first and eighth Pokémon movies, it shows signs of intelligence, curiosity, playfulness, and even selflessness. Mew is incredibly adaptable, able to travel freely in the air or underwater. As seen in Pokémon Snap, it can create a green/yellow/pink orb of energy around itself for protection.

Reports found in Cinnabar Island‘s Pokémon Mansion note scientific expeditions that have sighted Mew in Guyana, South America, the place where it was first discovered. Since Mew can make itself invisible at will, very few people have knowingly seen it, leading some scientists to declare it extinct and most to assume it to be a mirage. It will only show itself to a person who is pure of heart.

Ash Ketchum Original and Limited Art

From the Pokemon Wiki:

Ash Ketchum is the main protagonist of the Pokémon anime series who has always dreamed of becoming a Pokémon Master. As soon as he was ten years old, he rushed to Professor Oak‘s Laboratory to get his first Pokémon. He is the first human character to be introduced in the series. Originally wanting to choose Squirtle, but he was late. Ash ended up getting the Pokémon Pikachu, and left on his journey.

At first, Pikachu did not obey Ash and kept running away, so Ash had to tie him up. After getting chased by a flock of Spearow, Ash attempted to save Pikachu from them; seeing Ash so determined to help him, Pikachu protected Ash from the Spearow by electrocuting the entire flock, thanks to being struck by lightning at that exact moment, supercharging his Electric-type move. From then on, Pikachu and Ash became best friends for life. As a completely unskilled trainer, Ash started his adventure while meeting his friends Misty and Brock and capturing new Pokémon.

Ash eventually defeated all the Gym Leaders in Kanto, allowing him to enter in the Pokémon League. Since then, he has continued to travel, journeying through the regions, making new friends such as Tracey,May, Max, Dawn, Iris and Cilan, challenging all the Gym Leaders, entering each region’s Pokémon League, and catching new Pokémon while still following his goal of becoming a Pokémon Master. Since this goal is so close to his heart, he sometimes acts a bit rash and rushes to the next battle he can as fast as possible without thinking. Ash is currently traveling in the Kalos region, with his new friends Bonnie,Clemont and his old childhood friend Serena. Ash’s name in the Japanese version of the anime is Satoshi, likely after Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokémon. While there is much speculation, ultimately It is still unknown who Ash’s father is; but according to ‘Pokémon Live!’, his mother dated Giovanni and was in his gang but took a better route in life when she met Ash’s father.

Mewtwo Original and Limited Art

Mewtwo is a Pokémon that was created by genetic manipulation. However, even though the scientific power of humans created this Pokémon’s body, they failed to endow Mewtwo with a compassionate heart.

Japanese video game designer Ken Sugimori designed Mewtwo for the first generation of Pocket Monsters games, Red and Green, known outside Japan as Pokémon Red and Blue.[5] Its name, which means the “second of Mew”, derives from its existence as a genetic duplicate of the original Mew. Until the first Pokémon movie was released in the United States, Mewtwo was rarely referred to as a “clone” in Japanese sources. Kubo Masakazu, executive producer of Mewtwo Strikes Back, explained that they “intentionally avoid using the term ‘kuron’ [clone]… because the word has a frightening feel”. Despite being Mew’s descendant, Mewtwo directly precedes Mew in the game’s numerical Pokémon index owing to the latter’s secret inclusion by Game Freak programmer Shigeki Morimoto. During an interview, Pokémon Company president Tsunekazu Ishihara stated that Mewtwo was expected to be popular with North American audiences, citing their preference for strong, powerful characters.

Regarded as one of the series’ strongest Pokémon, it changed the way players approached the games by forcing them to find ways to counteract those using Mewtwo. Studies found the character popular with older male children, which contrasted with its counterpart Mew. Reactions to the creature’s first anime portrayal have been divided, as reviewers such as Daily Record cited it as a cliché villain, while others such as Animerica and Sight & Sound praised the character’s depth.

The Beatles

The Beatles Original and Limited Edition Art

The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they became widely regarded as the foremost and most influential act of the rock era. Rooted in skiffle, beat, and 1950s rock and roll, the Beatles later experimented with several musical styles, ranging from pop ballads and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock, often incorporating classical elements in innovative ways. In the early 1960s, their enormous popularity first emerged as “Beatlemania”, but as the group’s music grew in sophistication, led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, they came to be perceived as an embodiment of the ideals shared by the counterculture of the 1960s.

As animated characters, the popular band appeared in The Beatle, an American television series featuring their fanciful and musical misadventures every Saturday morning from the mid to late 1960s. In 1968, they got their own feature length animated film, “Yellow Submarine,” based off their album of the same name.