Posted on: Tuesday, March 6, 2001
Animation sites offer cartoons
By Burt Lum
It’s a mystery to me why Steven Spielberg et al. abandoned their Pop.com project. On the surface, it would seem like a slam-dunk success: Get Hollywood’s top names and produce a site rich with the latest animation and independent short films. It was around last summer that they pulled the plug on Pop.com, about the same time investments in dot-coms went into a tailspin.
Fortunately for us, a few strong-willed entrepreneurs are keeping Web projects like Atomfilms.com and iFilm.com around to entertain us. One of my latest turn-ons in this entertainment category is the animation site Icebox.com. Launched last June, the site features an array of titles, each quite entertaining in a “South Park” sort of way.
If you are familiar with “South Park,” then you will understand the style of humor in this genre of cartoon. Remember Ren and Stimpy? Imagine taking that up a notch or two in raunchiness and you will get a sense of what “Mr. Wong” is like. Don’t wear your Asian pride on your sleeve, because if you do, “Mr. Wong” is definitely not your cup of tea. Although funny as heck, “Mr. Wong” will shake every racially sensitive bone in your body.
Icebox.com has added many new episodes to its most popular productions. Once you get your fill of Mr. Wong, try out the other selections, such as “Zombie College,” in which humans aren’t the only weird creatures in class, or “Star Regulars,” an offbeat “Star Trek” parody. Unlike “Mr. Wong,” you won’t see the disclaimers or warning advisories: The raunch level is kept to acceptable levels.
Another title worth previewing is “Monkeybone.” The star of “Monkeybone” made its large-screen debut last month in theaters across the country. The Icebox site has previews of three “Monkeybone” shorts, each poking fun at stereotypes you love to hate. This makes for a great movie teaser. ;-)
Burt Lum, cyber-citizen and self-anointed tour guide to the Internet frontier, is one click away at burt@brouhaha.net
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