The Tooth Fairy’s hunky new boyfriend “Merman” stars in Bent Image Lab/Deustch’s latest spot for Diet Dr. Pepper. Directed by Ken Lidster, the stop motion spot continues the plight of the Diet Dr. Pepper delivery man and his need to prove that a satisfying diet drink does exist! Produced in stop motion with CG elements, the fifth spot of the “Unbelievable” campaign features a blond, bronzed Merman mobilized in his seaway segway and escorting the Tooth Fairy to the “I Exist” support group. Stunned to discover the delicious, zero calorie beverage he downs the cola and smashes his aquarium cart in exuberance, causing his water filled carriage to leak all over the floor and soaking the other make-believe characters.

“Merman” began airing on January 2nd, 2012.

Check it out below:

The Creds:

Client:   Diet Dr. Pepper

Title of Spot(s):   “Merman”

Airdate:   1/2/2012

Advertising Agency:  Deutsch

Chief Creative Officer:  Mark Hunter

Group CD:  Chris Ribeiro

ACD/Art Director:  Barney Goldberg

ACD/Copywriter:  Rob Goldenberg

Art Director:  Denison Kusano

Copywriter:  Jason Pickar

Director of Integrated Production:  Vic Palumbo

Director of Broadcast Production:   Victoria Guenier

Producer:   Autumn Myers-Childress

President:   Mike Sheldon

Group Account Director:  David Dreyer

Account Director:  Helen Murray

Senior Account Executive:  Andrew Vranicar

Assistant Account Executive:   Jessica Gorelick

Production Company:  Bent Image Lab

Director:   Ken Lidster

 
Exec Producer:   Ray Di Carlo, Tusi Ling Toomer

Senior Producer:   Kara Place

Associate Producer:  Kirsten Acheson

 
Production Coordinators:  Nate Baston, Keith Rice

Character Designer:   Ken Lidster

Sculptor:  Scott Foster

Armaturist:  Gary McRobert

Costume Lead:  Kate Fenker

 
Character Fabrication:  Marty Easterday, Matt McKenna

Expression Lead:  Jen Prokopowicz

Storyboard Artist:  Sam Neiman

Art Director:   Solomon Burbridge

Art Dept. Coordinator:  Evan Stewart

 
Art Production Assts:  Samala Coffey, Eddie Wickline

Set Dressing:   Perci Harding

 
Mold Makers:  Matt McKenna, Marty Easterday

Principal Animator:  Juliana Cox

 
DP:  Bryce Fortner

AC//Moco/Stage Manager:  Jim Birkett

Gaffer:  Doug Zajackowski

Visual Effects Company:  Bent Image Lab

Technical Director:  Fred Ruff

CG Artist:  Shirak Agresta

Compositors: Brian Kinkley

Colorist:  Jalal Jemison

Lead Compositor:  Brian Kinkley

Composite Artists (After Effects): Orland Nutt, Barna Howard, Jon Whisman

 
Composite Artists (2D):  Stephen Bodin, Abbey Paccia

Post:  Bent Image Lab

Editor:   JD Dawson

Assistant Editor: Shawn Wight

Additional Post Production Facilities

Sound Design Company:   Lime Sound

Sound Designer:  Mark Meyuhas

Music:  “Do You Believe in Love” by The 88

Audio Post:  Lime Sound

Mixer/Sound Engineer:  Mark Meyuhas

 
Endtag Animation:  Digital Kitchen

3D:   Chad Ashley

Compositing: Jeremy Stuart

Executive Producer:  Kent Smith

Producer:  Brian Behling

]]> http://bentimagelab.com/blog/2012/01/diet-dr-pepper%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cmerman%e2%80%9d-adds-new-imaginary-character-to-an-already-unbelievable-cast/feed/ 0 http://bentimagelab.com/blog/2012/01/bent-image-lab%e2%80%99s-rankinbass-style-christmas-for-bing/ http://bentimagelab.com/blog/2012/01/bent-image-lab%e2%80%99s-rankinbass-style-christmas-for-bing/#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 02:32:42 +0000 hollyp http://bentimagelab.com/blog/?p=1367

It wouldn’t be the holidays without flipping on your TV and seeing the charmingly animated misfits of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” warming the television landscape. So when Bent Image Lab got the call from the folks at Bing to produce some “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” themed spots showcasing the video, travel and local search talents of the Bing search engine, they rolled up their sleeves and went right to work. Directed by Ken Lidster, these four spots follow Bumble, Hermey, Rudolph and several other familiar faces on their quests for Internet information. Co-writing the project with Bing, Bent Image Lab’s long relationship with these famous characters of yesteryear made these spots a treat to produce.

“This project came to Bent because of the long history we have with the ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ franchise,” says Lidster. “I think they phoned up and said ‘I understand you have a reindeer in the closet and a Santa’s workshop down the hall?’”

With some basic concepts but no pre-written scripts, these particular Rankin/Bass spots were unique to Bent. Prepared with the creative ideas from his team, Bing’s Sean Carver road tripped it from Redmond, Washington based Microsoft to Bent’s Portland, Oregon studio where a brainstorming session ensued. The group quickly came up with concepts for the Internet intended spots.

“We ended up fleshing out a couple of the original Bing team’s ideas and came up with some brand new humorous scenarios to put into contention,” says Ray Di Carlo, Bent’s Executive Producer/Partner. “Ken pitched one script that did not seem that funny to us until he acted it out for the group. Then we all thought it was hilarious.” That idea later became “You Won’t Believe This”, in which Hermey the Misfit Elf shares a video of Santa and Mrs. Claus playing with copious amounts of bubble wrap. “It was great to be a part of the creative process,” says Di Carlo.

 
“Working directly with Bing allowed for a lot of creative conversation back and forth. Even the script writing process was collaborative,” says Bent’s Senior Producer Kara Place. “Because of the accessibility to the clients we were able to come up with jokes mid way through shooting, which in animation is not common.”

 
The concepts generated included “Bumble-Less” in which the Abominable Snowman utilizes Bing to educate himself on the art of the scare; “Hot Yoga” where Hermey finds his friend Cornelius a local yoga class to help his aching back; “Social Search” in which Cornelius, Bumble and Hermey turn to Bing’s travel search to find the perfect place for vacation; and of course Lidster’s “You Won’t Believe This”.

“The goal of the campaign was to generate awareness and favorability for Bing, break-through the advertising clutter of the holiday season, and encourage people to visit Bing.com,” says Microsoft’s Lisa Gurry. “We are thrilled we had the opportunity to extend the storyline of the characters to include Bing in contextual and timely ways.”

With the ideas fleshed out, Bent’s art department’s pushed its gears to full throttle in order to meet the short production window. Art Director Greg Arden had the fun task of fleshing out the interior of Cornelius’s cabin in “Social Search”. Referencing the color palette of the original “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” Arden and his crew fashioned and created Cornelius’s décor including a diamond tucked lavender velvet fainting couch with pink lace pillow, and added some heretofore unseen details like wainscoting and a “mahogany” wood grain floor.

Bent’s puppet builders recreated Rudolph, Bumble and of course Hermey in which they used real Alpaca hair from a local farm for Hermey’s wig. Washing the sticks and dirt out of the hair, the crew would then card it, dye it and iron it until it was just what they needed for the Hermey puppet. The Cornelius puppet also employed interesting details such as working shoe laces in his shoes and tiny, functioning buckles on his backpack.

“It’s those little things that capture the nuances of a character,” says Arden. “The little things that a child might have noticed is what makes them heartfelt. It hits a note for people, especially of my generation who have seen Rankin/Bass specials our whole lives.”

Creating the animation style of the 1960’s also proved challenging. Advancements in animation techniques have created such a smooth, fluidity in stop motion that it can almost appear CG. Going back and reproducing the Rankin/Bass clunky style of animation went against the instincts of modern animators. “You have to make it stop looking so slick,” says Lidster. “When you are actually doing the animation it goes against everything you have learned how to do for years and years and years.”

Completing production of the spots on a tight schedule, Bent’s vast experience producing Rankin/Bass sets and characters paid off. “The biggest challenge of producing these spots in such a short amount of time was making sure we were creating the highest quality puppets, sets, and animation ON SPEC with the style and appeal of previous Rudolph-esque spots,” says Place.

“Bent’s the best production company for this job because they have a history with this style and these particular characters,” says Lidster. “There is no way you can get them made at the type of quality, in that amount of time, correctly in character and clear it through all of the different channels. It just wouldn’t be able to happen without having that experience.”

Bing released all four commercials online November 18th but ended up changing their original “online only” distribution plan. Starting on November 24th, both “Bumble-less” and “Social Search” aired on television during holiday programming such as “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”, “Frosty the Snowman”, “South Park Christmas” and many others. “Bumble-less” even got the nod for cinemas and aired in front of highly anticipated movies, “Arthur Christmas”, “The Muppets”, and “Happy Feet Two.”

“Bent Image Lab has been an amazing partner – they quickly embraced our goals, brand, and objectives for this campaign,” says Gurry. “We are delighted with the creative production, the quality of the campaign, and how quickly they executed the campaign on our behalf.”

 
Check out the spots below:

 
“Bumble-Less”


 
“Social Search”


 
“You Won’t Believe This”


 
“Hot Yoga”


 
The Creds:

 
Bing Team
Sean Carver
Aaron Lilly
Sam Reich
Lisa Gurry

 
Liquid Thread North America
Brent Poer, President
Vanessa Adamo, Content Director

 
Voice Talent
“Bumble-Less”
Bumble – Ken Lidster

 
“Hot Yoga”
Hermey – Ken Lidster
Cornelius – Ron Peterson
Charlie in the Box – Thomas Colby

 
“Social Search”
Bumble – Ken Lidster
Hermey – Ken Lidster
Cornelius – Dave Manuel

 
“You Won’t Believe This”
Hermey – Ken Lidster
Mr. Claus – Stephen Stanton
Mrs. Claus – Melissa Hutchison

 

Bent Image Lab Crew
Director – Ken Lidster
Executive Producer – Ray Di Carlo
Executive Producer – Tsui Ling Toomer
Senior Producer – Kara Place
Production Coordinator – Keith Rice
Assistant Director – Octavia Hunter
Director of Photography – Dan Ackerman
Animator – Jerold Howard
Animator – Joe Mello
Art Director – Greg Arden
Art Coordinator – Evan Stewart
Puppet Lead – Matt McKenna
Puppet Fabrication – Kimi Kaplowitz
Puppet Fabrication – Marty Easterday
Puppet Fabrication – Brandy Cochrane
Puppet Fabrication – Hazel Malone
Jr. Puppet Fabrication – Samala Coffey
Jr. Puppet Fabrication – Maeve Callahan
Puppet Costumer Lead – Kate Fenker
Puppet Costumer – Sarah Frechette
Armaturist – Gary McRobert
Storyboard Artist – Sam Niemann
2D Artist – Abbey Paccia
2D Artist – Stephen Bodin
2D Artist – Traci Cook
Models – Brian Peitrowski
Model Maker – Perci Harding
Model Maker – Mich Conklin
Sculptor – Tony Candelaria
Set Fabrication – Keenan Keeley
Set Fabrication – Loren Candela
Set Dresser – John Kirkley
Set Fab PA – Jeremiah Brooks
Scenic Lead – Christina Owen
Art PA – Becky Steele
Art PA – Mattie Bowden
Art PA – Derek Bourcier
Art PA – Renee Staeck
Art PA – Jesse McManis
Art PA – Katlin Kennedy
Art PA – Stephanie Loftis
Production Assistant – Lane Clark
Grip – Charlie James
Grip – Doug Zajaczkowski
Gaffer – Matt Hazelrig
Gaffer – Jean Margaret Thomas
Data Wrangler – Jenny Souza
Runner – Kally Kahn
Runner – Lee Luker
Art Intern – Danie West

 
Post
Compositor(s) – Orland Nutt
Colorist – Orland Nutt
Editor – Brent Heise
Sound Design Company – Lance Limbocker Studios

Now you can get a dog treat that will keep your mutt chewing and drooling for at least two hours! “Check Out My Chompers”, the latest spot from Bent Image lab and agency Engauge, promotes Gnawin’ Forever a long-lasting dog snack that encourages your pooch to gnaw with their front teeth instead of their back, resulting in a longer chomp time.

 
Presented sitcom style, this stop motion story features Gnawin’s “unofficial spokes dog” Mr. Chompers and his wife Fifi, discussing the finer points of teeth sharpening snacks, while nestled in their homey dog decorated set, complete with paw print wall border and rolled newspapers. When Fifi gives Mr.Chompers Gnawin’ Forever its unique design make it impossible for the furry pup to wolf it down. Directed by Rob Shaw, “Check Out My Chompers” launched the Gnawin’ Forever campaign, announcing the sale of the new product at www.petfooddirect.com

 

Check it out here:

Bent’s Rob Shaw and agency Taxi 2 bring us two new Koodo spots for the holidays.

In “Bearskin” El Tabador nestles naked on a bearskin rug, texting his “mamacita” and boasting about Koodo’s data plan. Unfortunately El Tab finds a new definition for “chestnuts roasting” when he sprawls to closely to a crackling fire.

In “Tree” El Tab’s search for the perfect holiday tree mirrors our own search for the perfect cell phone plan. Alas El Tab’s pursuit pay off and the tiny Mexican wrestler get his tree – right on his face.

 
Bearskin:


 
Tree:

Bent teamed up with agency Saatchi & Saatchi and used its repertoire of specialties: stop motion, CG and live action to create Buckley’s “Duckley’s”. Bent Image Lab’s latest ad for Complete Liquid Gels showcases Buckley’s ability to knock out the worst cold and flu symptoms via the shooting gallery analogy.

Saatchi & Saatchi’s Associate Creative Director Tyler Serr and Copywriter Michael Tung developed the “Duckley’s” concepts for Buckley’s. “We wanted to make people aware that one small pill will take care of all of your cold and flu symptoms,” says Saatchi’s Head of Production Rob Tunnicliff.

The spot features a sickly woman swallowing a Buckley’s gelcap. As the capsule drops down her throat we zoom into the “interior” of her stomach where wooden ducks seemingly float on several stacked waves in a shooting gallery. Each duck has the name of some form of illness inscribed on it, such as “headache” or “mucas”. The Buckley’s gelcap lands in the shooting gun and takes out each of the ducks in the gallery and the symptoms they represent in one shot. The spot shows how a shooting gallery of ducks floating atop wooden waves can work symbolically for relaying the effectiveness of Buckley’s complete liquid gels as the commercial starts with a symptomatic woman, uses an analogy for the gel cap relief and she ends up feeling better, dressed and ready for her day.

“We wanted to show that this product works. We wanted to really convey a sick feeling and a well feeling with a metaphor in between,” says Bent Director Sol Burbridge. “I like the simplicity of the story. It’s very relatable but at the same time very whimsical.”

The opening shot (featuring the woman) is live action followed by the animated world of stop motion ducks, guns and waves. The plates of the shooting gallery itself are a combination of 7 to 8 motion control passes melded together in post using After Effects. Compositor Evan Thomas Phillips used animation and time remapping to follow the practical camera move into the shooting gallery shot. The gun was filmed in three different positions (since there was only one stop motion gun) and combined with other elements such as the ceiling pass, the ducks and waves to create the final effect.

Bent produced both French and English versions of the “symptoms” flanking the ducks, since the spot will air throughout French and English speaking Canada. Imagineer Systems Mocha software tracked the movement of the ducks. This information allowed Phillips to fix the correct word to each individual duck in After Effects. The Buckley’s gelcap that drops into the gun is CG, created in 3D Studio Max and rendered in V-Ray. The smoke cloud residue that explodes out of the gun was created in Fume FX.

“The agency was so much fun! I feel like we really connected with them,” says Burbridge.

“Having worked with Bent previously, I knew that I would get excellent production value and be working with the industry leaders in their craft,” says Tunnicliff. “When we decided to use a combination of stop motion and CG animation I could think of no better company to partner with.”

Buckley’s “Duckley’s” began airing on Oct.17th through Canada nationwide.

The enchantment of the holidays comes alive in Bent Image Lab’s mixed media spot for Raley’s. From creative agency Ivie & Associates and production companies Saxon Productions and Bent Image Lab “Tis the Season” is about the spirit of the holidays, the excitement of a good idea and the people who brought it all together.

Conceived by Ivie Creative Director Anthony Woolridge and directed by Robert Saxon of Saxon Productions and David Daniels of Bent Image Lab the spot is a labor of love for all those involved. “It is a very collaborative process,” says Debi Amon, Senior Director of Client Services at Ivie. “A lot of people have put a lot of time and effort behind it.”

“Tis the Season” features a shooting star transforming the soul of a Raley’s store for the holidays. Accompanied by the rhythmic beat of “Sugar Plum Fairy”, the light zips from one place to the next illuminating everything it touches. The magical beam brings the store to life multiplying hams, filling the market with decorations, holiday meal accoutrements, desserts, and boxing up a turkey with all the fixings.  A watermelon bowl fills with beautiful fruits such as grapes, oranges, strawberries, blueberries and kiwi then multiplies and turns into ornaments that are hung on a Christmas tree.  A red ribbon curls around the Christmas tree as various ornaments appear and a shining star topper adorns its top. The star radiates an intense warm glow, filling the whole store with light as Raley’s message plays “While you’re getting ready for the holidays, we’re getting ready for you. Tis the season, for food, for family for you.” Outside the glimmering store the light zooms past the Raley’s sign, dissolving it in its glow and shooting off into the star filled sky.

The spot debuted in Raley’s regional markets (California and Nevada) on Nov. 7^th and overnight Raley’s 135 stores transformed into “holiday” markets.

“We wanted the spot to be warm and genuine but different from every other grocery,” says Mike Allison, Creative Manager Merchandising for Raley’s.

“Tis the Season” began as one of 8 to 10 different concepts that Ivie created for Raley’s.  “It felt like ‘Tis the Season’ was the one that hit it right,” says Woolridge. “We felt it. We all believed it.” David Palmer VP of Marketing and Consumer Relationships at Raley’s agrees, “When I listened to this and saw the initial storyboard I had a tingly feeling. It was the magic.”

With the concept approved the team launched into production mode. Ivie & Associates hired Robert Saxon of Saxon Productions to produce the spot. Saxon bid the animation elements out and Bent won the job. “This was a very short schedule; literally 8 days after we were awarded we were shooting it,” says Daniels. A store in Petaluma, CA was set up for the live action plates which took an entire night to shoot. The Raley’s team pulled together the needed elements for the spot in a matter of days, preparing hams and turkeys for the food shoot and shipping poinsettias to the store when they were out of season. “People were up all night baking all the treats,” says Alyssa Lulie Advertising Manager at Raley’s. “Everyone believed in the spot and thought that it was going to be awesome, but we had to turn it around fast!”

Bent Animation Director David Daniels participated in the live action shoot, working closely with Director Robert Saxon. “We shot a plate and spent 10 minutes panning 5k’s and 10k’s around the store in order to get realistic lighting effects,” says Daniels. “So when the light spirit is moving around the store it is actually casting real light and shadow effects on every item in the store in a realistic way.”

The next step involved shooting the food and animating the stop motion components back at Bent Image Lab in Portland. Animator Javan Ivey animated the stop motion side dishes around the turkey, decorations on the Christmas tree, the tower of cans on the aisle end cap and the rotating stop motion watermelon/fruit basket.

The rest of the spot is a combination of live action and CG elements. The turkey and its box are live action but are surrounded by boxes created in CG. The CG hams sit cozily in a live action freezer case. The CG cupcakes rest upon a live action table and are surrounded by practical desserts.  The stop motion fruit morphs into a CG ornament on the tree. The light sprite was created in After Effects using the plug-in Trapcode Particular. Using Trapcode Shine and Trapcode Starglow to create the rays of light and shimmering effects on the glowing objects, compositors Evan Thomas Phillips, John Foreman and a compositing team assembled all the elements together.

“The CG, motion graphics, stop motion, live action, mixed media combination is always seamlessly moving from one to the next, to the next,” says Daniels. “It brings all the strengths of Bent together in the best ways.”

With four companies involved in such a passion project the most unique part were the relationships that formed along the way. “It has been a phenomenal experience,” says Saxon. “Bent’s responsiveness and understanding of what was required creatively was perfectly matched to mine. We are both obsessed with the details.”

“This was unlike any TV production Ivie has done,” says Ivie Director Sandra Ogden. “Live action, stop motion, CG. We could not have done that without David there.”

Overall Saxon Productions, Ivie and Assoicates and especially Raley’s were very pleased with the end result. Once the spot was finished the team of Raley’s and Ivie sat at a conference room table at Bent Image Lab in Portland, Oregon, discussing their happiness and excitement over a spot they hope will be around for years to come.

“When you talk to David he says probably one of the things he is most known for is the animation of the M&M characters,” says Allison. “Next year he can say he is best known for the Raley’s TV spots.  He doesn’t have to bring up M&M’s anymore.”

Here are just the Jingle parts of the article:

The new cartoons offer a buffet of visual styles, from 2-D to 3-D to the stop-motion of Hallmark Channel’s “Jingle All the Way,” by far the best of the bunch. In addition to its charming art and pleasantly low-key storytelling, “Jingle” (Friday at 7 p.m.) stands apart from the other holiday programs by not focusing on the manufacturing or delivery of toys — those mandatory gifts that Santa offers at no cost only in animated Christmas specials.

No one is completely free from the taint of merchandising, however. “Jingle All the Way” stars a trademarked Hallmark character, Jingle the Husky Pup. Other programs promote children’s books or movie series.

 
For some honest emotion, and a combination of retro holiday spirit with adventurous animation, tune in for “Jingle All the Way,” a presentation that lists many of the same producers as the “hoops&yoyo” program. The two cartoons couldn’t be more different, however. The work of Bent Image Lab, a studio in Portland, Ore., “Jingle All the Way” looks like something you’d see at a European animation festival or late at night on Adult Swim, but it is also gentle and completely Hallmark-appropriate.

The simple but engaging story about a boy who wants a puppy for Christmas, and the puppy’s tireless efforts to make it happen, navigates a sure path between mawkish and sarcastic; it invokes holiday classics like the Frosty and Rudolph cartoons while feeling completely up to date. On this weekend’s couch-potato menu, it’s the blue-plate special.

Read the whole article here:

ujM0DS

Here’s a shout out to some of our Bent staff who moonlit on a project for Wild Flag. The music video is getting a nod and a grin from such publications as Rolling Stone and NPR. A throw back to the days of the Bad News Bears, Wild Flag’s “Electric Band” video features the group playing ball against some “real” bears. It’s just too good to pass up…check it out:

Rolling Stone:

wild-flag-electric-band-video-20111111

 
NPR:

first-watch-wild-flag-electric-band

 
Watch it here:

The Creds:
Directed by Hollerings (Andrew Ellmaker and Lara Gallagher)
Produced by Hollerings and Kara Place
Director of Photography: Bryce Fortner

Edited By: Jeffrey K. Miller
Color and Effects: Andrew Ellmaker

1st AD: Dennis Brenhaug
2nd AD: Greg Ash
Production Coordinator: Nate Baston
1st AC: Patrick LaValley
2nd AC: Leah Brown

Costume Designer: Stacey Berman
Bear Designer: Derek Bourcier
Costume Assistant: Tiana Brinton
Production Designer: Evan Stewart
Set Decorator: Derek Bourcier
Scenics/Props: Christina Owen
Art Assistant: Renee Staek

DIT: Nate Goodman
Gaffer: Brad Reeb
G&E Swing: Dylan Wainwright
Chris Alley
Assistant Editor: Jessica Baclesse

Hair/Make-up: Sam Denecke
Hair/Make-up Assistant: Melinda Thayer
Still Photographer: Randall Garcia
Craft Service: Mark Luecke + Julie Butterfield Luecke
Production Assistants: Jeff Stillwell
Andrew Nealon
Greg Peterson
Keith Rice
Audio Playback: Shaw Flick

Featuring:
Wild Flag Team: Carrie Brownstein, Rebecca Cole, Mary Timony, Janet Weiss, Leah Brown, Andrew Grow, Andrew Nealon, Jeremiah Hayden, Steph Lawson, Julie Butterfield Luecke, Jeff Stillwell
Bears: Andy Bristol, Derek Bourcier, Rob Campbell, Helena De Crespo, Andrew Grow, Avery Harrington, Mark Luecke
Umpire: George Walker
Fans: Angelina Kelly, Jeffrey K. Miller, Dara Pohl Feldman, Grace Volker

Portland filmmaker Chel White has been churning out shorts, music videos and more since 1985, so his first feature, “Bucksville,” would be entitled to the closing slot at the 38th Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival on pedigree alone. Fortunately, it also happens to be an ambitious, handsomely mounted and suspenseful experience in its own right.

 
In a small, rural Oregon town, a young man with the odd name of Presley French serves hesitantly as part of a vigilante militia that takes out under-punished crooks on behalf of the mysterious Patron (Tom Berenger, one of the film’s producers). They even have a logo. Presley wants out, imagining a new life for himself in the German Alps with a beautiful fraulein (Storm Large cameo alert!). But neither his hard-nosed uncle, who leads the group, nor the town sheriff will hear of him “betraying his covenant with the lodge.” (They talk like that.)

 
When the Patron ups the ante by providing the group with the opportunity to take out a Bernie Madoff-esque scam artist, things go from bad to worse, and Presley finds out who’s on his side and who isn’t. Even if the premise seems a bit unlikely, the story hums along with enough energy and tension that it hardly matters. The cast, especially Ted Rooney as Presley’s evil uncle, is solid, and Marc Greenfield’s cinematography is as crisp as autumn air.

the_catechism_cataclysm_bucksv.html

From the Klein Independent School District Press Release – It is a tale of two huskies, one real and the other fiction. As luck would have it, the real story rests at Metzler Elementary nestled in the heart of the Klein ISD.

 
The Hallmark storybook Jingle All the Way is written by author Tom Shay-Zapien and tells the story of homeless husky pup, Jingle, and a little boy who needed a friend. Jingle followed the kids to school every day in hopes that one of them would take him home. Coincidentally, the tale mimics that of a husky found at Metzler named Roxee.

 
Roxee, like Jingle, is a husky found wandering the grounds of Metzler shortly after it opened in 2005. The staff noticed the dog and immediately made efforts alongside Husky Haven to find her a home. After several failed attempts, it was avid dog-lover and Metzler principal Christine Rigia who adopted Roxee.

 
“Something in my heart told me that I had to take this dog,” said Rigia. “I was a little concerned at first because I had two cocker spaniels and had never taken care of a dog that size. Roxee, however, is the gentlest, kindest creature I have ever stumbled upon. It truly was just meant to be.”

 
Carol Frazier, reading specialist at Metzler, first stumbled upon the storybook when passing a local Hallmark store. As luck would have it, she was in the process of selecting a book Metzler could incorporate into its annual literacy day. Frazier was able to contact author Shay-Zapien and he flew in to join Metzler students last fall for a dose of Texas hospitality and a fun-filled day learning of Jingle and his adventures.

“Nothing could have prepared me for what I experienced that day,” recalled Shay-Zapien. “Seeing larger-than-life murals and banners with Jingle and all of his friends left me absolutely speechless. The staff and students made me feel so welcome and it was very clear to me just how much Jingle meant to them. The time spent at Metzler was a real gift and one I couldn’t wait to share with the Jingle team back in Kansas City.”

 
Shay-Zapien noted some favorites of his trip included eating Texas barbeque for the first time, and a special cake that depicted pages from the book. The success of his first book grew in popularity and Hallmark released the sequel A Snow Day for Jingle, along with a new interactive story buddy that debuted in stores in October. The movie is also scheduled to air on Nov. 25, 2011, on the Hallmark channel. Shay-Zapien was so moved by his visit to Texas that he dedicated the second book to the students and staff at Metzler Elementary.

 
“For a long time, I wanted to say ‘thank you’ to the staff and students for pulling together and working so hard to celebrate Jingle. This seemed like the perfect gesture,” he said. “I’ll always be grateful to Carol (Frazier) for contacting me and inviting me to be a part of it all. Jingle’s story continues to grow and I’m thankful beyond words that the Huskies are one of its happy little chapters.”

The Metzler school mascot incidentally became the Husky prior to opening, as Rigia wanted to build a school environment around teamwork – something she felt a husky portrayed. The school mascot, Trace, is a Siberian husky that is an international and national champion show dog that attends several Metzler events.

 
“Our kids at Metzler bring so much joy to us,” expressed Rigia. “We continue to always work as a team, and that is what Mr. Shay-Zapien got to see. Knowing that he was able to have such a tremendous experience that was a result of true teamwork by the teachers, parents and children is very breathtaking.”

 
Shay-Zapien announced he will rejoin the students and staff at its literacy day on Dec. 16, 2011, as the school hosts A Snow Day for Jingle Celebration. It is slated to be a real snow day at Metzler, complete with pajamas, sleeping bags, book-themed decorations, learning activities, a snow machine, popcorn, snacks and the movie based on the latest book.

 
“Our goal is to create life-long readers, and this event is a day each year for our students to share their love for books,” said Frazier. “Students will engage in a variety of activities, study different techniques of illustrations and writing, and have an opportunity meet and learn from Mr. Shay-Zapien about the true essence of Jingle.”

default.aspx?name=cr.pr.1111metzlerjingle