March 25, 2017

Paul McCartney – The Music and Animation Collection

Everyone knows Paul McCartney from his time in the Beatles, and afterwards, his own efforts and popular work with Wings. He has also dabbled in scoring movies and writing classical music. Enough for anyone, right?

Enter the Paul McCartney – The Music and Animation Collection:

Enchanted Animated Tales with Original Music

This set contains three original animated tales featuring one famous bear (who is not named Pooh), one book adaption, and one completely original effort (my favorite!)

But before we go on, below is some information about the two men who led the teams that created these wonderful pieces:

The Collaborators

McCartney was definitely the man behind the music but equally important was the man behind the animation, Geoff Dunbar. Between them, I believe they produced some Oscar-worthy material!

Introduction Screen

Here you can select to play all three animated films in sequence, or select them one by one. There are also many extras to choose from, which we will touch on later.

Main Menu

You can choose from Rupert & The Frog Song (1984), Tropic Island Hum (1997), and Tuesday (2002).

Let’s have a look at each in turn:

Rupert Bear is a children’s comic strip character created by the English artist Mary Tourtel. He first appearing in the Daily Express newspaper on 8 November 1920. Rupert was a childhood favorite of McCartney and a natural selection for his first foray into animation.

Rupert Bear

Perhaps not as well know outside of the British Isles as Winnie the Pooh or Paddington Bear, Rupert is still a very popular character.

McCartney himself introduces the tale:

The book he is dusting off is presumably his own childhood copy of the original children’s book.

Shush! ‘The Frog Song’ is about to begin…

The Frog Song, actually called We All Stand Together, happens only once every 200 years or so, so listen now for you won’t have a chance to hear it again! It was released and reached number three in the UK Singles Chart in 1984.

This animated film about Rupert stumbling upon the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of hearing The Frog Song is animated in a simplified style but with beautiful imagery. The highlight of the film, however, is the music.

Psychedelic!

One scene of the frogs swimming to the music is reminiscent of some of the work done for Disney’s Fantasia. Given how both collaborators praise Disney in the Special Features section, this homage is not surprising!

I just wonder why McCartney never did any more of the Rupert Shorts?

The next film is:

Disney-like Animation

A squirrel is saved by a hot air ballooning frog and taken to a tropical island where animals of all sorts have gone to escape slaughter by man. Upon arriving, the two new friends are welcomed with a song.

Love

Tropic Island Hum is a catchy, imaginative, animated musical romp! By far my favorite of the set. The single of the title song reached #21 in the UK. The animated Short accompanied Disney’s Hercules movie in theaters in 1997.

The final film in this set is:

This film is based on a children’s book by David Wiesner but contains no words, only images to convey the story. Other than croaking and a few comments from confused humans at the end of the story, and a final piece of narration by Dustin Hoffman, the film pretty much follows that storytelling device.

Flying Lilly Pads

The story takes place on a Tuesday around 8pm. Frogs are lifted into the air, much to their surprise, and enabled to fly. They do so, right into town, where they cause all sorts of mischief.

Like knocking on windows…

… and crashing houses to watch TV.

The town is left littered with debris and lily pads. The mystery is never solved. But this is not the end! It seems that this occurs every Tuesday, but not just with frogs:

Even pigs get a turn to fly!

And why now pigs? The closing narration tells us:

“The events recorded here are verified by an undisclosed source to have happened somewhere, U.S.A.. on Tuesday. All those in doubt are reminded that there is always another Tuesday.” So… why not, I guess?

The Special Features are interesting:

This is a nice collection of extras that round out the DVD collection. The set comes with a 16-page booklet with details about the production:

COOL FACTOR: 5/5

I love Paul McCartney’s music. I love animation. So having the two together is just amazing! The quality of animation is Disney-worthy and the soundtracks and original songs are obviously good. McCartney himself provides most of the voices for all three films with an assist by wife Linda for one female character.

If you are a Disney fan, an animation fan, or a music fan, this collection is for you! If only to hear Tropic Island Hum. Man, that’s one catchy tune! See for yourself:

Animation, Music, Reviews

Animation, David Wiesner, DVD, Geoff Dunbar, Music, Paul McCartney, reviews, Rupert, The Frog Song, The Music and Animation Collection, Tropic Island Hum, Tuesday, We All Stand Together

Mike Ellis

May 25, 2014

1 Comment

Prayers for the Week – Memorial Day

Correction: This is actually Isaiah 60:20, not 60:18.

“Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end.” ~ Isaiah 60:20 NIV.

To all of my fellow countrymen and women that serve or have served in our armed forces, I thank you. To all of your families that have sacrificed just as much as our soldiers have so that we can enjoy the freedoms that we do as Americans, I thank you. For all of you that have lost loved ones in their service to our country, my heart breaks for you for all the pain, grief, and sorrow that you went through, and I lift my prayers up to God today for all of you. On this Memorial Day weekend, I remember that it is because of all of you that have served our country that my family is safe and has the freedoms that it enjoys to this day. That dedication is not forgotten by my family, nor will it ever be. Thank You. Now, please lift up our prayer requests and praises.

Prayer Requests and Praises…

My friend Amanda has an update on her husband Daniel and his cancer treatments. Here is what she wrote:Are you all tired of the updates yet?! This has been a long week but we are trudging forward. School has ended for the year, softball season is over and we’ve passed another checkpoint in our journey towards Daniel’s liver resection. Now, hopefully, we can have time to take a deep breath and reset!Daniel was able to have the embolization on Friday. YAY! It went well and the radiologist was happy with the embolization he was able to get. We started cycle 2 of chemo this past Monday. It was rough but not as rough as the first round. Daniel is very tired and it seems he gets chemo hiccups as one of the lovely side effects. For those that have never heard of chemo hiccups, they are caused by the steriods they give the patients prior to administration of the chemo regimen. He will have them off and on (mostly on) for the second through fourth days of the cycle and they are not a nice calm hiccup but a move your whole body hiccup. The chemo nurses are working to get them under control for next round. Otherwise, he had limited vomiting but still had nausea and the fatigue that comes with treatment. He will get fluids Friday through Tuesday to help with dehydration and neupogen shots on Friday and Tuesday to try to keep that white blood cell count up. Since we only have 4 cycles, the oncologist is kind of throwing everything at him to help get that healthy liver to grow.As for the resection, we will re-image in the next 6 weeks or so (the 4th of July holiday will affect the scheduling) to see if the healthy liver has grown and the tumor has shrunk enough to move forward with the resection. There needs to be enough healthy liver for the surgeon to take the tumor and good margins and him still have 20-25% liver left. If we have the results we want, the resection will be scheduled for 2-3 weeks after the imaging so mid- July to early August. If we don’t have the results we want, we will likely have more chemo and work with the doctors on next steps.So specific prayers, beyond total healing, is that the embolization and chemo work together successfully to get us enough healthy liver to move forward with the resection this summer (I’m praying for at least 45% healthly liver but that’s just a number I came up with – not medical guidance), that Daniel continue to have the strength to fight the fight he needs and that we can continue to support each other and keep perspective.Once again, thank you for all the love, support and prayers! We love our prayer warriors and pray for each of you daily! If you have anything specific need us to pray for, please let me know!
Also, several people have asked if there is something they can send Daniel for encouragement. Before I go into this idea, please do not feel any obligation! In my frantic and scattered state, I can’t remember who has asked so I have to include it here. As one of the side effects of chemo, Daniel’s hair is thinning and he must always where a hat. He mentioned he won’t wear any of his ball caps he is currently wearing after the chemo has stopped because of the chemical smell and general emotional stress. So if you would like you, feel free to send a baseball cap. He doesn’t like the fitted or elastic banded caps because it hurts his hair follicles and the trucker hats don’t protect his scalp from the sun so just your general run of the mill baseball cap would be perfect. Again, no obligation!
Please pray for my friend Linda. She is having the first of two eye surgeries on Wednesday, May 28, 2014, to repair cataracts. The second surgery is scheduled for the following week. Please pray for her doctors as they repair her eyes, for her strength, peace, and comfort during this time, and for a quick turnaround on her healing.
I want to give a big praise for my sister Robin and her husband Jim. Today is their 29th Wedding Anniversary! Happy Anniversary you two! It has been an honor to see you two grow in your love together and to watch you raise your children to be fantastic adults! I love you both!
Lastly, I want to give a big praise to God for all of you that so readily pray for all of these requests week in and week out. It means a lot to me, and I know that it means a lot to those that we are praying for. Thank you for doing so, and may God Bless each and every one of you for doing this for those that we’ve never even met.

Do you have any prayer requests that you want to share with us? If you do, please leave them in the comments, and we’ll pray for you! Until next week, let’s close like we always do by praying the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray:

Our Father, who art in Heaven
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, thy Will be done,
On earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our Daily Bread,
And forgive us our Trespasses,
as we forgive those who Trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory,
Forever and ever. Amen.

Bloggers, My Dreams of Disney, Prayer Requests, Services

Amanda, Daniel, Featured, Friday, God, Health, Kingdom, Memorial Day, New International Version, Prayer, Tuesday, United States

Mike Ellis

April 27, 2014

3 Comments

Prayers for the Week – Walking with the Lord

Proverbs 16:9 ~ “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”

Hello my brothers and sisters in Christ, and welcome to this week’s Prayers for the Week post! Last week reminded us that, despite the sin with which we live, and our shouts of Crucify Him, despite all of that, Jesus conquered sin and death for us, and He is Risen! If there is any takeaway from last week, it should be that we all take time to remember that Our Lord loves us, and wants the best for us. The best way of doing and remembering that is by turning to God in our daily walk. Today in my YouVersion Bible App verse of the day, Proverbs 16:9 was displayed. What a great verse! It is especially valid today, because Cindy and I made the decision to trade out our old car that needed a lot of work — more than it was worth — and get a new car that will last us several years. We thought about it on our own, we talked about going this way versus that way for at least a month, we prayed about it, and in the end, we decided to make the decision to go with a new car, so that’s what we did. It was while I was in the dealership today that I saw that verse, and I immediately knew that I had taken the path that I needed to take, and that God had directed my steps appropriately.

My friends, one thing that I really need to improve on in my daily walk with the Lord is to call on Him a lot more than I do. Today was a good example of listening to what He would have me do — but I need to rely on Him every day, and for much more mundane things than purchasing a car. The more I do that, the closer I will be with God.

My prayer for you is that you would also take the time to rely on God, ask Him what is best for you in life decisions, and listen — don’t just ask and ignore the answer, like I often do — ask Him, wait, listen to what your heart is telling you, and that will lead you to what God is telling you to do. Now, please take time and read and pray for our requests, and thank you for doing so each and every week! God Bless You all!

Prayer Requests and Praises!

My friend Kourtney has some incredibly exciting news about her nephew Ryan that we have been praying for. Here is what she told me via email:

Just wanted to let you know that he was released from the hospital on Tuesday (after 7 long months) and he’s doing great at home! Mom, Dad, brother Max and even the dog look so happy! Thank you again for all of your thoughts and prayers. Unfortunately, one of the families they met during their stay at the hospital was not so fortunate this week. Their 3 month old daughter passed away from the same heart condition. This is not the first family they have met that has suffered this tragedy. Makes us realize even more how fortunate we are to have Ryan with us. Please pass along our thanks to everyone that you have shared Ryan’s story with. I know words can never be thanks enough, but THANK YOU!
Of course, praises to God for Ryan are mingled with prayers for God’s Peace, Comfort, Strength, and Love to descend upon all of those families that were not as fortunate with their children. We know that their little ones are safe with God, that they have no more problems, but that doesn’t always help for those of us that are left behind. Please pray for these families, the nameless ones that we don’t know, as they struggle with their loss. Also, please continue to lift up Kourtney and her family in their daily challenges.

Thank you all for your dedication to prayer — it means so much to me, and to all of these people that you pray for also!
My sister Robin had this to say:
Thank you Mike, you are so eloquent and I can hear the prayers in your voice. I can only imagine the beautiful sound of the prayers of the saints being lifted continuously to God every moment of every day. Someday we shall hear it!
My friend Kristin had this incredible praise for God. Here is what she wrote:
My friend Kristin shares with us a huge praise on the anniversary of God’s Miracle for her sister Ally:This time last year, I posted this:
“How do I say enough thank you’s for today? It’s been a year since we almost lost you, Gracie, and there is so much to be thankful for. The friend that called 911 and the officer who stayed with you until EMS arrived. The crew that airlifted you to CMC and the surgeons, docs and nurses that saved your life. Our guardian angels. The prayers that got Mom and Dad through that hour long drive in the middle of the night. The fact that you awoke from surgery and spoke, after a traumatic brain injury. And 4 days later you walked. I just want to shout it…”Ally is here!” Thank you Jesus, your grace is immeasurable. There will never be enough thank you’s but I will do my imperfect best to try and you, Lord, will always be more than enough.”
And so, I will continue with this-
Two years ago Kevin and I made a long 9 hour drive from Hershey, PA to Charlotte, NC. I experienced for the first time what my husband was like as a doctor. He kept me calm, delegated what needed to happen next, and hid from me what he thought could be true…irrevocable damage to my sister’s brain. And, that whole long trip, for one of the first times in my life, I didn’t worry. I didn’t worry because GOD didn’t let me worry. HE was present the whole time. It’s now been two years, and my sister Ally is thriving! I couldn’t be more proud of her. And most of all, I can not be more thankful for Jesus, His presence, His love and His grace.
Love you more than words Gracie! Love you forever Jesus!So many praises — for her husband’s skill as a doctor, the way he was able to keep his wife calm and collected, for the safe 9 hour journey for them and the 1 hour journey for her parents, but most of all, huge praises for God for being there for them that day, and for the witness that they have become for Him.
Lastly, my friends, I want to give a huge Thank You to the men that have walked with me in the Men’s Study. The list goes on and on, but I would like to specifically thank these people by name:
- Russ, for guiding us and leading us each week.
- Jim, for being the #2 man, and keeping us all straight and organized each week.
- Hardin, my Brother-in-Christ, for leading our small group.
- James, for helping out Hardin with the weekly communications in our group.
- Mark, for praying for me each week and hearing and praying over my prayer requests.
- My good buddy Cullen, for working the door with me each week, and for ALWAYS having a smile on his face and a laugh in his heart.
- Lastly, but by no means least, the other men in my small group — it has been my absolute pleasure in getting to know each of you, to pray with you, for you, and to walk with you as we each walk our path with God.

My friends, isn’t it amazing how uplifting it is to our Spirit when we hear of how God is working on people’s lives each and every day?! Sometimes I shed tears just reading these words because it is a direct reminder to me of just how incredible God is, and that He loved me enough to send His son Jesus to die for my sins — my disgusting, selfishly motived sins! Thank you God, I love You!

Lastly my friends, let’s take the time to pray the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray: