The guys from the popular, long-running NPR radio program Car Talk get animated with Click & Clack: As the Wrench Turns, a toon sitcom revolving around the Tappet Brothers, the alter-egos of real-life siblings Tom and Ray Magliozzi. The PBS series makes its home video debut Tuesday, along with The Mindscape of Alan Moore, a documentary on the celebrated author of such bestselling graphic novels as Watchmen, V for Vendetta, From Hell and The League of Exraordinary Gentlemen.
PBS’ first primetime animated series for a general audience, Click & Clack is based largely in a fictional Cambridge, Massachusetts garage and focuses on the off-air escapades of the Magliozzi brothers (known to their listeners as Click and Clack) as they try to fix cars, fend off disgruntled customers and seek out ways to do less and less work. Tom Sito (Skrek, The Lion King) serves as director of animation for the series, and animation is produced by Karen Johnson, founder and CEO of Aha! Studios. Exec producer of animation is Bill Kroyer, an Academy Award-nominated animation director who helmed the feature film Ferngully: The Last Rainforest and animated the light-cycle sequence in Disney’s Tron. Paramount Home Entertainment has packaged entire first season in a two-disc set that lists for $34.99.
Even those outside of the comic-book world are familiar with Moore’s creations through movies based on his books. The latest to make the leap to the big screen is the Hugo Award-winning Watchmen, which Warner Bros. and director Zack Snyder (300, Dawn of the Dead) are readying for a March 6, 2009 release. Press materials say The Mindscape of Alan Moore presents a ‘portrait of the artist as contemporary shaman’someone with the power to transform consciousness by means of manipulating language, symbols and images.’ The award-winning documentary from director DeZ Vylenz leads the audience through Moore ‘s world with the writer himself as guide. Beginning with his childhood, the narrative follows the evolution of his career and explores his immersion in a magical worldview where science, spirituality and society are part of the same universe.
The two-disc collector’s set features a 20-page book and more than three hours of extras that dig deeper into the mind of Moore. These include interviews with artists Melinda Gebbie (Lost Girls), Dave Gibbons (Watchmen), David Lloyd (V for Vendetta), Kevin O’Neill (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) and Jose Villarubia (Promethia, Mirror of Love). There is a making-of featurette, an introduction to Moore’s work by Paul Gravett, selected scene analysis with director’s commentary, and interviews with the director, composer and special make-up fx artist.
Recipient of the Special Recognition Award for Creative Achievement in Documentary Filmmaking at the San Francisco World Film Festival, The Mindscape of Alan Moore has been featured at film festivals and trade shows around the world. The film is available through The Disinformation Co. ltd. for the suggested retail price of $29.95.
