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Cohen’s Cartoon Corner July 2023 by Karl Cohen
A scene from 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'. photo: courtesy Marvel Entertainment
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Spiderman Subversion
"Spiderman" was censored for having a subversive image, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Indeed, the new blockbuster feature “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” has been “blocked from release in the United Arab Emirates after failing to pass local censorship laws. The film has apparently fallen foul of the country’s censors due in part to the blink-and-you-miss-it protect trans lives poster featured in the background of one frame, according to a source familiar with the situation.”
The film debuted on June 22nd across the Middle East and has grossed $569,613,989 worldwide as of this writing, June 29th.
Super Mario Bros. Billion Dollar Feature
Also as of June 29th, the film “The Super Mario Bros”, based on a video game, has grossed over $1.346 billion worldwide, passing “Frozen”, “Minions” and “The Incredibles” on the list of billion dollar hits.
What does the success of this film tell us about the American taste in animation?
Happier times at SFAI's lovely Moorish front garden, replete with goldfish pond. photo: D. Blair
The SF Art Institute Tragedy Continues
After the April bankruptcy filing of the SF Art Institute, its gorgeous campus, located in the city’s prestigious Russian hill neighborhood, has been listed for sale, albeit without a price. That is because it is contingent on whether the building includes Diego Rivera's fantastic mural, “The Making of a Fresco, Showing the Building of a City” (1931), appraised at over 40 million.
Although the University of San Francisco planned to acquire the school in 2022, as with the many other merger deals negotiated over the years, it never came through. Evidently, SFAI is too avant-garde for more modest institutions to handle.
Sale price would have to include the $450,000 in back rent on its 800 Chestnut location and $750,000 at its graduate school in Fort Mason, an albatross initiated by an innovative dean, Ella King Torrey, who tragically committed suicide in 2003, at age 45.
The notion that no silicon billionaire wants to buy the campus of 93,000 square feet, replete with bell tower, a library, two galleries, a theater and a rooftop amphitheater with phenomenal views, is a testimony to their lack of fore- or in- sight and poor harbinger for their ability to deal with AI.
Indeed, the land parcel's back yard could easily accommodate an apartment building, solving the student housing problem, while a design department could continue Steve Jobs innovative leadership in that field for Silicon Valley. Imagine if, in 1870, Paris decided to save money by closing its École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts.
Disney Economics 101
Hollywood’s economic guiding principal was made quite clear by Michael Eisner before he joined Disney. When he was the president of Paramount Pictures from 1976 to 1984 he wrote an infamous internal memo that stated his belief that, "We have no obligation to make history. We have no obligation to make art. We have no obligation to make a statement. To make money is our only objective."
Eisner was head of Disney from 1984 to 2005 and guided it through the historic period now known as "the Disney Renaissance."
The ol' Disney homestead in the Hollywood hills. photo: courtesy Disney
Disney House for Rent, Only $40,000
The house Walt Disney built in 1932 for his wife Lillian and family in Los Angeles is now for rent, only $40,000 a month. Although a bit pricey, it is well preserved and has the same home theater where Disney screened his dailys.
How Big Is Cricket to Disney
For Disney when they lost the streaming rights to Indian Premier League cricket matches, they lost several million subscribers to Disney+ in India. That sent the company in a panic, so they started to cut expenses including current shows that don’t have high ratings. They also become more critical about taking on new projects.
Nevertheless, they still have an impressive number of subscribers, some 157.8 million of them, to be precise.
And those subscribers will now get to enjoy 28 newly restored classic Disney shorts. Rarely seen, groups of this incredible old animation will appear monthly.
Disney and Florida Cage Fight
Disney and Florida are in a high-stakes legal fight as Governor DeSantis opposes their support of equal rights for LGBTQ people and has attempted to curtail benefits to the company. Since the judge assigned to the case ruled against DeSantis in a similar First Amendment case, he wants a different judge. If DeSantis doesn’t win he will probably appeal it to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where more than half of the judges were appointed by former President Donald Trump.
While DeSantis loves throwing red meat to his base, Florida in general suffers. Not only is Disney fantastically popular with international tourists, Floridians enjoy it.
Moreover, Disney has cancelled a proposal to build a billion-dollar college campus in the state. Indeed, the project was going to attract 2000 employees. Hence, DeSantis’s anti-gay stand will cost the state tax revenue from both income they would have gotten from the construction project and the taxes employees new to the state would have paid.
Adult Swim Developments
Adult Swim is bringing back old favorites, including ‘Dexter’s Lab,’ and ‘Courage the Cowardly Dog’. The new programming block will begin August 28th on Cartoon Network at 6 PM, Monday through Friday. The lineup will also include "Dexter’s Laboratory", "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy" and "Ed, Edd n Eddy".
Frame from Vince Collins's 'Retina Psykosis'. photo: V. Collins
New from Collins
Vince Collins's brand new "Retina Psykosis" is a mind bender. Vince has been making experimental animated shorts since the 1970s and his latest film is beyond far out. Check it out here