Famous Birthdays for this Watchcat Wednesday

Sept 26th: On this Watchcat Wednesday, Windsor McCay was born in 1869. Considered the Father of Animation, this American cartoonist and animation pioneer created the first true animated character in the form of Gertie the Dinosaur. 

McCay premiered the film at the Palace in Chicago on February 2, 1914.

Gertie was drawn by hand and that includes drawing the entire background as well. This was way before cel animation was invented.

And speaking of a modern day cartoonist 

Happy 60th to cartoonist and illustrator Bob Staake!

And back in 1888, T. S. Eliot was born. Most famous for his writing and it seemed that he fancied cats as well.

illustrations of T.S. Eliot and the poem “The Naming of Cats” © Nathan Gelgud

Check out one of his poems...

In 1939, T.S. Eliot also wrote his most whimsical masterwork called Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.

This book was later adapted by the British musical composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and became the longest running musical in history, simply known  as "Cats".

And now more about Noir

Here's Jimmy McCammon's LAaf pocast featuring a talk with screenwriter/directors Lee Anthony Smith and Gregory J. Bradley, who's credits include the action thriller WAR and their upcoming horror crossover NOIR. Click this Link to Listen to Part 1 and Part 2.

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On this Watchcat Wednesday

For this Watchcat Wednesday, we have to travel back to France in 1940. Three teenagers were out looking for their lost dog and found him near the Lascaux cave. Inside, they discovered that the cave walls were filled with paintings and drawings of animals, human figures and abstract symbols. 6,000 images have been catalogued and were estimated to be made over 17,300 years ago. 

Below is a replica of the cave, which was created so tourist would not destroy the original site.

7,300 years earlier, Saber-toothed cats roamed the land and back in 2012, one returned to his old stomping grounds near the LaBrea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.

 

Actually, this Saber-toothed cat puppet named "Nibbles" was created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop in 2010 and weighs about 75-pounds. The robotic head is controlled remotely by another puppeteer who can blink the eyes and change facial expressions. 

Nibbles was seen hanging out over at the LA Natural History museum as a part of their Ice Age Encounter.

And on September 12th, 1962 : In response to the progress made by the Soviet Union in the space race, President John F. Kennedy announced that America will place a man on the moon and safely return him before the year 1970.

Can you imagine being in that crowd, listening to the President explain how the US will send a man to the moon?

 

So, if you are in Berkley, CA tomorrow, you can see some films about cats at the 1st Annual Cat Film Festival.

 

And Fenilely...

Funny cat puns from Illustrator Katie Ruby, check out more of her purrfect puns, follow this link to see more.

The Watchcat Files hopes that everyone in North and South Carolina prepares for the worst as Hurricane Florence heads their way. This Hurricane path is the first one ever and so please take this one seriously and hang on tight. Anyone who follows this blog in that area, please let us know how you are doing.

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Noir Interview Part 3

We begin September with $2.57 in ad clicks and 42,340 all time views so far. Its been a slow week in Watchcatland with a lot of my time going to teaching 3 Harmony classes and learning more about the software. I actually woke up from a dream where I was using the software and trying to explaining it to someone. Not very restful.

Fall has always been a season of change and we are working on new changes as well. In order to tell the tale of Watchcat story properly, I feel I don't have the time or resources to create an animated series. Doing a graphic novel would be less of a challenge. 

J.R.R.R.Jim Hardison has a new novel called "The Fish Wielder" which I just finished reading over the weekend. This is a major accomplishment for me, since I don't read a lot of books, only ones I want to read.

Hardison tells the tale of Thoral Mighty Fist who is in search of adventure with his best friend, an air breathing Koi fish named Brad. And what an adventure they get in "Fish Wielder". Here's a sample of the first chapter.

I'm working on an interview with J.R.R.R... and will post it here soon. Until then, here's the third and final interview with the makers of Noir, Lee Anthony Smith and Gregory J. Bradley.

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