My Mix Can Beat Up Your Mix

.....Do You Remember....-....The Summer Obsession
Soundtrack to Your Life....-....Ashley Parker Angel...... .
Written at a Rest Stop....-....Ronnie Day.................
Beat Mamma....-....Cast...............
In The Summertime....-....Thirsty Merc............
........Thunder....-....Boys Like Girls
......Fall Behind....-....Moses Mayfield

Slipping Under....-....William Tell.... .
...............Why Cry....-....The Panic Channel

You know what to do...It will make your day more better.

For those of you who find yourselves laughing out loud at the thoughts in your head.

I've met people named John-Paul, but why not Lennon-McCartney?

Or what about Frehley Simmons? Or Walsh Henley?

OH oh I've got it: Tyler Perry. Wait...that one's taken.


[ r i m s h o t ]

Copycat, or Common Ancestor?

I've noticed a trend....Observate.

.............Disney............Dreamworks SKG

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A Bug's Life (1998)............Antz (1998)..............

Finding Nemo (2003)............Shark Tale (2004).........

..The Wild (2006)............Madagascar (2005)

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In addition, Dreamworks Animation SKG has a movie in the works called Monsters Vs. Aliens which is centered around, you guessed it, a california girl who comes in contact with several monsters including a large, ape-like Missing Link and a short, one-eyed B.O.B. Sound like any animated Disney movies you've seen?

People I've talked to about this say that one company is copying the other, much like Leigh Scott copies every movie that makes money and ruins it and would probably be upside-down on net returns if he didn't have such a low budget to begin with. Stupidface. Wait, what was I talking about again?

.

But seriously, people are so quick to point the finger and I was too at first, but while partaking in a casual debate among friends about Darwinian evolution versus intelligent design, it struck me that these movies might not be the result of idea theft, but rather a common creator.

I've done some research and here's what I've found:

• The musical director for Dreamworks Animation SKG (Karey Kirkpatrick) got his start professionally writing musical scores as an intern at Disney Animation Studios in 1987.
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• Bonnie Arnold, producer of Dreamworks' Over the Hedge, was originally recruited by Disney back in '91 to do live action. The job that moved him up from associate producer to producer producer was none other than Disney and Pixar's Toy Story in 1995.
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• Cecil Kramer, visual effects producer for Dreamworks' Flushed Away, did the exact same job at Disney Imagineering and Buena Vista Films prior to moving to Dreamworks.
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• The story artist for Dreamworks' The Prince of Egypt, animation college drop-out David Bowers, worked on Disney's Who Framed Roger Rabbit (which happens to be a collaborative project between Disney Studios and Amblin Entertainment) back in 1988, then moved to Speilberg's Amblimation. After hopping back and forth between a few more projects, he landed at Dreamworks to storyboard Dreamworks' first animated feature film, The Prince of Egypt.

Other findings:

• A little less than a month ago, Dreamworks Animation turned the title "Head of Development" over to one Alex Schwartz. I'm currently investigating the backstory on Mr. Schwartz, but it might take some time since I left my FBI starter kit at home.
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• The SKG found on the bottom of Dreamworks' logo stands for Speilberg, Katzenberg and Geffen, the founding fathers of the company.
  
  - Steven Speilberg worked with Disney Studios on the infamous Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
  
  - Jeffrey Katzenberg worked for Disney up until 1994, when he left due to a spat with Michael Eisner, CEO of Disney.
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• The broadcast rights to many of Dreamworks' films belong to ABC. Interestingly enough, ABC has been owned by Disney since 1995.

This is all well and good, but it doesn't truly prove anything. It does, however, show the undeniable link between Disney and Dreamworks. The findings above are but a fraction of a myriad of similar discoveries linking Dreamworks employees to previous Disney projects. It is true that Dreamworks only exists because of Disney, but as per the original question, it's hard to say.

There is definitely some communication between the two, but the question is, at what level?

My hypothesis: During the next 10 years, Disney will slowly begin to creep into Dreamworks' territory - starting by sitting down over a cup of tea and settling the dispute over the shared rights to the Roger Rabbit franchise - and will eventually eat the company alive for upwards of ten million dollars. Let's sit back and see what happens.

Interesting...veeeeery interesting.

The Infamous Time-Killing Countdown

10 Most Interesting Things I've Learned from Working at the Blockbuster Distribution Center:

TEN
There are two genres of black people movies: gun-slingin' gangsta movies, and Tyler Perry comedies.

NINE
Each decade that passes is an automatic excuse to re-release an old movie in a special "10th Anniversary Edition" cover for twice what it's worth.

EIGHT
Someone out there actually thinks Paris Hilton is hot, because she keeps showing up on the covers of movies that shouldn't even exist. And she's always wearing a miniskirt even though she looks like a blonde skeleton with a camel face. People, really?

SEVEN
The chicks in the poster for Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Move Film for Theaters actually are hot. Too bad they're probably nowhere in the actual movie. And they're just paintings.

SIX
Lord of the Rings and Halo both take themselves way too seriously. What the heck am I supposed to do with an 8-inch replica of Gollum sitting on a rock with a fish or a "life-sized" Master Cheif helmet?

FIVE
Anything put out by production company The Asylum is a 90-something minute stupidfest full of knock-off plot lines and crappy acting, with titles and cover art intentionally designed to make you confuse it for a popular best-selling box office hit. Examples include Transmorphers (Transformers), Monster (Cloverfield), and my personal favorite, AVH: Alien vs. Hunter (duh).

FOUR
It really is possible to trace any actor to Kevin Bacon through six degrees or less.

TREE
50-Cent's real name is Curtis Jackson. Apparently it's also impossible for him to say the word "the."

TWO
The cover of the Beatles' album Abbey Road depicts Paul - not John - walking barefoot. Interestingly enough, Paul is also the only one with his right foot forward, and he's the only one smoking. And the only one named Paul.

ONE
...And the #1 most interesting DC finding: Contrary to popular belief, Steamboat Willie is not an earlier form of Mickey Mouse, but rather a character he played in one of his first cartoons. It was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon with sound, and consequently the cartoon that single-handedly sky-rocketed the little guy's filmmaking career to super-stardom.

flippin' sweet.