Daria Morgendorffer is a fictional animated character from MTV’s animated series Beavis and Butt-head (1993-1997) and its spin-off Daria (1997-2002). Daria is a bespectacled, unfashionably dressed, highly intellectual, sarcastic teenage girl. She is portrayed as a seemingly pessimistic icon of sanity in an insane household in an equally insane upper middle-class suburb. She resides with her vacuous, fashion-obsessed younger sister Quinn and career-obsessed parents Helen and Jake.
P.S. Last month CollegeHumor released a fake movie trailer for Daria: The Movie, starring Aubrey Plaza (of the excellent Safety Not Guaranteed) as Daria. Plaza nails the cynical, monotone voice. I kind of wish this wasn’t a fake trailer. I want to see the live-action movie. Happy Friday the 13th!
Ramona Flowers is a fictional character in the comic book series Scott Pilgrim and the film adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) by Canadian cartoonist Bryan Lee O’Malley. Ramona is a 24-year-old American expatriate from New York, a “ninja delivery girl” for Amazon.ca and Scott Pilgrim’s main love interest. She is very guarded about her past in New York before she moved to Toronto. Ramona is capable of traveling through subspace and has seven evil exes who challenge Scott for her affection. She changes her hairstyle every three weeks.
I read and enjoyed the entire six-volume Scott Pilgrim comic series before seeing the movie, but the movie is great too. And I love “Ramona” by Beck. In other music news, I am trying to decide if I should go see Lotte Kestner and Kevin Long play a house show in the Sellwood-Moreland neighborhood of Southeast Portland tonight. I’m very excited that Anna-Lynne Williams scheduled a couple of summer tour stops in Oregon. I have reserved two tickets to the Portland show, but I don’t know if I love Lotte Kestner enough to miss a few hours with my wonderful wife and darling newborn daughter Ramona.
Ramona Quimby is a fictional character in the series of novels by Beverly Cleary. She starts out in the Henry Huggins series as the pestering little sister of Henry’s friend Beatrice, called “Beezus” by Ramona and her family. Ramona was given a larger role in the novel Beezus and Ramona, and the series concentrated on her from kindergarten onward. Ramona lives on Klickitat Street in Portland, Oregon. She likes fairy tales, playing in the park and adventures. She dislikes spelling, perfect Susan and having to play with Willa Jean.
I have some exciting news. My daughter Ramona Mira Cavalier was born on August 5, 2013 at 4:36 a.m., weighing 8 lbs. 8 oz. and measuring 19.5 inches. When she’s a little older, I’m sure we will read books from the Beverly Cleary series with her. I remember Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (1981), the sixth book of the series, with particular fondness. Also, when my wife Heidi was in her mid-20s, she lived on Failing Street in Portland, which is three blocks from NE Klickitat Street. And Heidi’s grandmother lived just two blocks away on Beech Street. In nearby Grant Park is the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden. I am lucky to have such a wonderful wife and darling newborn daughter. ♥
Space Cat is a children’s book series from the 1950s, written by Scottish author Ruthven Todd and illustrated by Paul Galdone. The third book, Space Cat Meets Mars (1957) introduces Moofa, a female cat with striped red fur and pink whiskers. While visiting Mars, the protagonist space cat Flyball meets Moofa, who is the last surviving Martian cat. She subsists on golden fish from the Martian canals and takes shelter in caves during the frigid Martian nights and red dust storms. Her story continues in the fourth and final book in the series, Space Cat and the Kittens (1958).
Sidd Finch was a fictional baseball player, the subject of the notorious article and April Fools’ Day hoax “The Curious Case of Sidd Finch” written by George Plimpton and first published in the April 1, 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated. Plimpton reported that Finch was a rookie baseball pitcher in training with the New York Mets. According to Plimpton, Finch was raised in an English orphanage, learned yoga in Tibet, and could throw a fastball as fast as 168 miles per hour (270 km/h). Finch pitched wearing one work boot and one bare foot. For the article’s photographs, Sidd Finch was played by Joe Berton, a mild-mannered junior high school art teacher from Illinois.
Note: Despite the obvious absurdity of the article, many people believed Finch actually existed. Plimpton eventually broadened his article into a novel, first published in 1987.
Prester John is one of my favorite historical/mythological figures. The legends of Prester John were popular in Europe from the 12th through the 17th centuries, and told of a Christian patriarch and king said to rule over a Christian nation lost amidst the Muslims and pagans in the Orient. Prester John was reportedly a descendant of one of the Three Wise Men and presided over a realm full of riches and strange creatures, including unicorns. His kingdom contained such marvels as the Gates of Alexander and the Fountain of Youth, and even bordered the Garden of Eden. Prester John was first imagined to reside in India, as tales of the Nestorian Christians’ evangelistic success probably provided the first seeds of the legend. After the coming of the Mongols to the Western world, accounts placed the king in Central Asia. But as the Mongol Empire collapsed, Europeans began to shift away from the idea that Prester John had ever really been a Central Asian king. Eventually, Portuguese explorers convinced themselves that they had found him in Ethiopia. The legend of Prester John affected several hundred years of European and world history by encouraging generations of Europe’s explorers, missionaries, scholars and treasure hunters to venture into India, Asia and Africa.
Prester John, the fabled king/priest invented by Crusader kingdoms, is basically the Forrest Gump of the Middle Ages (1100s-1500s). Dude was everywhere. For example, during the Mongol Empire, Prester John was identified as both Genghis Khan and a Nestorian Christian monarch defeated by Khan. The myth of Prester John was a comforting (if ethnocentric) symbol to European Christians of their religion’s universality, transcending culture and geography to encompass all humanity. Even the boneheaded Christopher Columbus cited the discovery of Prester John’s kingdom among the goals of his travels. Despite centuries of European exploration in search of treasure—and evangelizing the locals—the quest for the fictitious kingdom remained unfulfilled. But the legend served many medieval Christian kingdoms, and the Catholic Church, handsomely.
Ming the Merciless is a character who first appeared in the Flash Gordon comic strip in 1934. When the heroic Flash Gordon and his friends land on the planet Mongo, they find it ruled by the evil Emperor Ming, a despot who quickly becomes their enemy. Ming has since been the main villain of the strip and its related movie serials, television series and film adaptation.
Pecos Bill is an American cowboy, apocryphally immortalized in numerous tall tales of the Old West during American westward expansion into the Southwest. Probably invented by Tex O’Reilly in the early 1900s, Pecos Bill is considered an example of fakelore. Pecos Bill was a late addition to other “big man” characters like Paul Bunyan and John Henry.
Space Cat is a children’s book series from the 1950s, written by Scottish author Ruthven Todd and illustrated by Paul Galdone. The first book, Space Cat (1952), introduces Flyball, an ambitious young cat who is off to the moon in a rocket. Flyball not only makes an important scientific discovery on his way to the moon, but also saves the pilot’s life. The sequels are Space Cat Visits Venus (1955), Space Cat Meets Mars (1957) and Space Cat and the Kittens (1958).
In celebration of Earth Day and my 607th character, I was thinking of cutting back on my pixel art updates to focus more on other creative projects, such as my novel(s). This concept of “other creative projects” might also include “trying to buy all four vintage Space Cat books on eBay for less than $50 each.” However, since I don’t yet feel inspired to write, I think I will carry on as usual with 3+ pixel art characters per week.
Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in the silent film era. His black body, white eyes, and giant grin, coupled with the surrealism of his cartoons, make Felix one of the most recognized cartoon characters in film history. Felix appeared in 1919 and was the first animated character to attain a level of popularity sufficient to draw movie audiences. With the arrival of sound cartoons in the late 1920s, including Disney’s Mickey Mouse shorts, Felix’s success faded – though he was revived as a television star in 1953.
Bosko is an animated “talkie” cartoon character created by animators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising. Bosko is the first recurring character in Leon Schlesinger’s cartoon series, and is the star of over three dozen Looney Tunes shorts released by Warner Bros. Bosko, created in 1927, was registered with the copyright office as a “Negro boy.” His looks were based on Felix the Cat, but his personality was derived from the blackface characters of minstrel shows.
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character who originally appeared in the Talkartoons and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios. She has also been featured in comic strips and mass merchandising. Betty Boop was created as an anthropomorphic French poodle in 1930, but was transformed into a caricature of singer Helen Kane by 1932. In the mid-1930s, her carefree flapper persona was toned down to appear more demure.
Krampus is a demonic beast-like creature from the folklore of Alpine countries thought to punish bad children during the Yule season, in contrast with Saint Nicholas, who rewards nice ones with gifts. Described as half-goat, half-demon, Krampus is said to capture particularly naughty children in his sack and carry them away to his underworld lair. He beats people into behaving with a bundle of birch sticks. According to folklore, Krampus shows up in towns on the night before December 6, known as Krampusnacht, or Krampus Night. The history of the Krampus figure stretches back to pre-Christian Germanic folklore.
Note: Happy Christmas Eve! Hopefully Krampus the holiday devil doesn’t show up on your street dragging rusty chains and bells.
Jabberjaw is an air-breathing, anthropomorphic great white shark whose voice and mannerisms are similar to Curly of The Three Stooges. He is a drummer for The Neptunes, a rock group made up of four teenagers, who live in an underwater civilization in the year 2076. Jabberjaw was the star of a Saturday morning animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera that aired from 1976 to 1978.
Leeloo is the perfect, supreme being in The Fifth Element, a 1997 French science fiction film directed by Luc Besson. In the 23rd century, Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis), a taxicab driver and retired military officer, teams up with Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) to defend the world from an evil presence that enters the galaxy every 5,000 years. They must overcome the evil Zorg and locate four ancient stones representing the four basic elements of earth, air, fire and water. Positioning the stones around the Fifth Element will create a legendary cosmic weapon. Leeloo’s ancient language and strange customs are entertaining.
V for Vendetta is a 10-issue comic book series written by Alan Moore, set in a dystopian future United Kingdom imagined from the 1980s to about the 1990s. A mysterious anarchist revolutionary who wears a Guy Fawkes mask and calls himself “V” works to destroy the totalitarian government. Warner Bros. released a film adaptation of V for Vendetta in 2006.
Barbarella is a 41st-century astronaut in the 1968 French-Italian science fiction film based on Jean-Claude Forest’s French Barbarella comics. The tongue-in-cheek movie was directed by Roger Vadim and stars Jane Fonda, who was Vadim’s wife at the time. Barbarella is noted for the coy nudity of its title sequence, which features Fonda undressing in zero-gravity.
Note: The source of her torn 8-bit outfit is this Barbarella scene with a guy named Dildano.
The Pink Panther is the title character in the opening and closing credit sequences of almost every film in The Pink Panther series of comedies. First appearing in 1963, his popularity spawned 124 shorts, 10 television shows and three primetime TV specials. The Pink Panther Show aired on Saturday mornings from 1969 to 1979. The Pink Panther became the corporate mascot of Owens Corning in 1980 to promote its pink insulation.
Snagglepuss is a Hanna-Barbera cartoon character created in 1959. This pink anthropomorphic mountain lion is best known for his famous catchphrase, “Heavens to Murgatroyd!” He first appeared in several episodes of The Quick Draw McGraw Show and became a regular segment on The Yogi Bear Show.
Ranger Smith is a fictional character in the Yogi Bear cartoon series by Hanna-Barbera. A former U.S. Army soldier, Ranger Smith is the serious and stern authority figure in Jellystone Park, in contrast to the antics of the troublesome Yogi, and he greatly disapproves of Yogi’s picnic basket thievery.
Ramona Flowers (Scott Pilgrim) – No. 654
Ramona Flowers is a fictional character in the comic book series Scott Pilgrim and the film adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) by Canadian cartoonist Bryan Lee O’Malley. Ramona is a 24-year-old American expatriate from New York, a “ninja delivery girl” for Amazon.ca and Scott Pilgrim’s main love interest. She is very guarded about her past in New York before she moved to Toronto. Ramona is capable of traveling through subspace and has seven evil exes who challenge Scott for her affection. She changes her hairstyle every three weeks.
I read and enjoyed the entire six-volume Scott Pilgrim comic series before seeing the movie, but the movie is great too. And I love “Ramona” by Beck. In other music news, I am trying to decide if I should go see Lotte Kestner and Kevin Long play a house show in the Sellwood-Moreland neighborhood of Southeast Portland tonight. I’m very excited that Anna-Lynne Williams scheduled a couple of summer tour stops in Oregon. I have reserved two tickets to the Portland show, but I don’t know if I love Lotte Kestner enough to miss a few hours with my wonderful wife and darling newborn daughter Ramona.