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I'd be surprised if the Czech title weren't another Brdecka film, considering their (very justified) focus so far. I'd like to see The Emperor and the Golem or Lemonade Joe, myself.

Lemonade Joe would be a godsend and very likely to be released, if not now, at least in the future. The Emperor and the Golem would also work but if it is another Brdecka title, I have three that would fit pretty well.
Old Czech Titles: One of the most revered Czech animated films of all time that could fit with Prague Nights in a way.
Adele Hasn't Had Her Dinner Yet: Another Oldrich Lipsky film that feels like the older brother of The Mysterious Castle of the Carpathians, even featuring many of the same actors.
The Emperor and the Nightingale: A Jiri Trnka animated film which features Boris Karloff and fits well with their Pied Piper release considering Trnka's influence on Jiri Barta and both are stop motion takes on fairy tales.

How the hell have I never heard of this label until today?

They’re pretty new, and they’ve only had a dedicated thread for a few weeks - most of the posts above were originally in the Vinegar Syndrome thread.

(Deaf Crocodile still is a partner label, but quite a few people felt that it was distinctive enough to deserve its own thread here.)

It's actually been since early November

November 2nd to be exact.

I reckon twelve weeks still counts as “a few”.

MichaelB wrote: Mon Jan 29, 2024 1:17 pm They’re pretty new, and they’ve only had a dedicated thread for a few weeks - most of the posts above were originally in the Vinegar Syndrome thread.

(Deaf Crocodile still is a partner label, but quite a few people felt that it was distinctive enough to deserve its own thread here.)

To be honest, I thought Vinegar Syndrome's output was pure trash until I revisited it recently, when I saw their sister labels had put out some titles of interest.

I need to look at how people best order to the UK. I presume during one of their sales and either paying for shipping direct or to a reshipper, as it looks like they are a rare US label who will ship internationally.

Vinegar Syndrome has a lot of trash I agree but I urge anyone interested in serious art house to give Buddies a look, one of the most harrowing documents of an AIDS victim ever made. It is a genuine masterpiece.

TMDaines wrote: Mon Jan 29, 2024 3:03 pm I need to look at how people best order to the UK. I presume during one of their sales and either paying for shipping direct or to a reshipper, as it looks like they are a rare US label who will ship internationally.

VS are very UK friendly, as not only are they quite cheap for shipping ($17 flat fee, regardless of order size), they also don't charge UK VAT at checkout like HMRC expects them to (as the vast majority of US stores now do), and they mark the packages down (typically each item as $1) so they are never intercepted by customs (who now only seem interested in packages declared above £135, the threshold at which non-UK stores are not expected to charge VAT at checkout).

They have 2 major sales each year in May and November, so naturally a UK buyer is best off making a bulk order during those periods (though you can expect a good 4-6 weeks for them to actually ship it, as they get ridiculously busy during those sales, and seem to leave international orders to last, though to make up for it they ship with a fairly fast priority service, I usually only have wait 5-7 days from dispatch).

The only problem is many of the most popular partner labels eventually opt to leave the VS shop and go it alone. My Fun City Editions purchases dropped from many to zero when they left.

Nobody tell TMDaines about those two Kickstarters last year for the animated titles that shipped to the UK and even provided a free pin. :-$

There was also an earlier Kickstarter in January 2023, to restore Solomon King that I missed out on. Although it seems that the "announced in October" Kickstarter that was mentioned did not occur. Since we appear to have a representative of Deaf Crocodile posting in the thread, it might be worth asking if there is any news about that, in terms of whether there is a future Kickstarter project planned.

It got postponed to I believe Spring.

Oh my god.

Just announced!
ADELA HAS NOT HAD SUPPER YET.
Nick Carter, America’s Greatest Detective is called to Prague to investigate the case of a missing dog and instead winds up in the jaws of a giant carnivorous plant controlled by his old nemesis, The Gardener!

Fantastic news! My thoughts:

therewillbeblus wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2020 5:30 am It’s been a long time since I’ve felt comfortable calling a film definitively slapstick, but this is; not because it’s always shooting for a joke (though the gags are of the slapstick variety) but because the choices here are so wildly self-conscious, confidently goofy, and relentlessly inspired, yet ultimately willing to stop plot to embody a series of flowing non-sequiturs, that developing a fantasy around them makes the entire exposition work like a slapstick vibe externalized into an orchestral movement. Even if the atmosphere is born from this tone, the melting pot of influences contains a lot, as knives said, including multiple direct sources from other media’s plot and characters, to create its own unique universe. I was more than happy to spend as much time as possible in there.

If you didn’t already know that the giant carnivorous plant was a Jan Švankmajer creation, its tongue is as distinctive as a signature - nobody else animates real tongues quite like that!

(Švankmajer was banned from making his own films during this period, so paid the rent by working as a special effects expert at Barrandov Studios.)

Ptushko Fantastika set Kickstarter campaign launching next Monday

Also, Ruslan and Ludmila restoration trailer

Disappointingly, the Ruslan and Ludmila Kickstarter is for US residents only.

Although it seems to be doing well enough without my input.

I’m honestly glad that it’s going so well for them, as suggested by my presence in this thread, I do love them and there is no way I’m going to miss out on that gorgeous box set. But I will offer a bit of advice for anyone wanting just Ruslan and Ludmila and that is I recommend just going the cheaper route of waiting for the Non Kickstarter release to go out on their site.

It's nice that they have an option so you don't have to re-buy any of the older titles.

I've bought these for non-US residents before and would be happy to do so again, though international shipping may cost a lot. PM me if interested

swo17 wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2024 6:22 pm It's nice that they have an option so you don't have to re-buy any of the older titles.

And that one's already sold out

The box itself though is still available and I believe it’s only limit is the length of the Kickstarter.

It's now open to non-Americans.

Does anybody having Deaf Crocodile's release of Sampo could tell me how the 5.1 track sounds ? I'm currently watching the French release of it (by Artus), which has a 2.0 surround track with an awfully artificial lL/R separation. Basically, any speaking character slightly on the right side of the frame will have its sound fully coming from the right speaker, same for stuff slightly on the left. It almost makes me want to force my amp to mono because of how artificially separated it sounds, and I wonder if it's down to the sound restoration (meaning the US release should sound the same) or if it's a specific issue on the French release.

What A Disgrace wrote: Mon Jan 01, 2024 8:12 pm Bill Plympton has directed eight feature length films so far, making him one of the more prolific directors of animated features, the best case scenario would be for all of his features to be released on blu-ray. I hope The Tune is just the start of this.

I watched an interview with Bill Plympton by James Hancock and he said that there’s not any plans, at the moment, for another release of any of his films.

World War III up for Pre-Order

Featuring:

• New hour-long video interview with director Houman Seyedi and co-writer Azad Jafarian, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile (In Persian with simultaneous English translation)

• New commentary by film critic Walter Chaw (Film Freak Central)

• Blu-ray authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion

• English subtitles

Interesting to note this their first limited edition to be 1,000 units so this is probably a title they don’t expect to sell well.