Saturday, February 11, 2012

ROAD TRIP!
Doctor Strange in: 'The Incredible Drive'
Marvel/Toyota: Yaris commercials
A "MAGIC of VIDEO" Post

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Coming off of the mammoth, herculean task of orchestrating my Annual SANCTUM AWARDS post and with a lot of big things planned for this blog over the next few weeks (and beyond) I thought it best to toss in a few "lighter" pieces in the interim.

Not that these aren't good posts, but for those who are used to my epic-length dissertations, the next few days will be of briefer (yet awesome) stuff.

To that end, for this weekend, I wanted to present something fun.

This four-part, online-only commercial series for the 2012 Toyota Yaris "It's A CAR!" promo, was a collaboration by TOYOTA and the folks at MARVEL who produce the "WHAT THE--?" stop-motion animated shorts.

Starring; Hulk, Doctor Strange and the Punisher, and featuring Marvel Super Heroes & villains (or at least their Marvel Legends Action Figure equivalent), this series shows them taking part in a road trip to Cleveland - with all the “hilarity” that thus ensues.


Originally begun in November 2011 with monthly installments, I waited until the 4-part series was completed to present it here complete.

While I'm not thrilled with Doctor Strange's treatment here (or in any of his previous "WHAT THE--?" appearances), still, there ARE some good parts.
And look for an AWESOME cameo appearance by MAN-THING in episode two!


I'm presenting these as lower res videos hosted here on my blog, rather than on YouTube, because frankly, while i want to showcase them, I don't need any hassles with "the man" wanting me to take them down, or having my YouTube account shuttered.
However, by placing them here, with some commentary, criticism - AND helping to advertise their respective products, I call into play the "FAIR USE" clause.

The quality here is pretty good, but if you absolutely must see them in sparkling high-res, they can be found on Marvel's and Toyota's pages.

Enjoy!


















As I pointed out in my 4th ANNUAL SANCTUM AWARDS [HERE], the first two episodes had the dubious honor of "winning" for "WORST MEDIA APPEARANCE".
(The last two came out in the first two months of 2012, respectively - and as such, will probably be contenders for that self-same "prize" in the 2012 SANCTUM AWARDS.)

While it should be freakin’ awesome for there to be Doctor Strange featured in a national advertising campaign, and one that isn’t utterly terrible (there are a few funny points to each episode), the fact that Doc is portrayed as a whining, irritatingly high-pitched-voiced, annoyance makes me feel that it might be better to not have him involved at all, rather than be so poorly represented (especially as Marvel needs to increase Doc's media Q-rating for any future big-media push... *cough* Feature Film *cough*).

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Strange got totally mutilated in this. I'm surprised I could even watch it. o_O

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