That’s “Are You a Good Person?” in Tagalog, a language of the Philippines. Let me explain:

About a year ago I illustrated a cartoon gospel tract called “Are You a Good Person?” for a ministry called Living Waters. I gave it to them for free, under the condition that it remain copyright-free so that I can offer it to any ministry that wants to print them. I don’t make a dime off it, and don’t want to. The tract has been very well-received. So far almost a million copies(!) have been printed in English, and translations have recently been completed in French, Spanish, and Tagalog (a language in the Philippines). That’s more than I would have ever dreamed. But it’s nothing compared to all the hard work being done by full-time missionaries around the world who have comitted their lives to the gospel. I’m just a yutz at a drawing board. They’re the ones on the front lines.

Today I received word that the first Tagalog tracts were distributed at a Christmas party in a slum in the Philippines by Jeff and Mary Ann Anderson, missionaries with Action International. Jeff and Mary Ann are doing tremendous work, be sure to visit their blog. They were kind enough to send me photos of the tracts being distributed at the party. Mary Ann writes:

I’m really excited to tell you that we had our first Christmas party for children in a squatter area today. This was the first time we distributed the “Ikaw ba ay mabuting tao?” tracts. I wanted to send you a few pictures that I took. The first picture shows you about how many kids were there (more than in the photo) and the surroundings. The next two pictures are Jeff talking with kids as he was handing them out. The other pictures show how the kids immediately began reading the tracts. Everyone wanted one. We must have given out about 150 or more at this one party.

We are now praying that God will use the pictures throughout our distribution and Christmas parties this season. Our missionaries are asking for more copies they can hand out.

Is this cool or what?

This is pretty exciting. Thanks to new leadership at Disney, you will soon be seeing animated shorts in the theater when you go see a Disney film. And many of them will be done in 2D! That’s encouraging news for those who have been mourning the “death” of 2D animation at Disney.

From the article:

Four new shorts are in development at Disney: “The Ballad of Nessie,” a stylized account of the origin of the Loch Ness monster; “Golgo’s Guest,” about a meeting between a Russian frontier guard and an extraterrestrial; “Prep and Landing,” in which two inept elves ready a house for Santa’s visit; and “How to Install Your Home Theater,” the return of Goofy’s popular “How to” shorts of the ’40s and ’50s, in which a deadpan narrator explains how to play a sport or execute a task, while Goofy attempts to demonstrate — with disastrous results. The new Goofy short is slated to go into production early next year.

(Read more.)

My wife bought this DVD for me as an early Christmas present:

For those of you who don’t know, here’s some background:

Superman I and II were originally filmed simultaneously. As both films were being finished, the decision was made to focus on Superman I and then wait to see if it would make any money at the box office.

Of course, Superman I was a huge success. But tensions had been building between the producers and the director to the point where they would barely speak to one another. So the decision was made to fire director Richard Donner and hire a new director to finish Sueprman II. Even though the movie was about 80% completed, large portions of the movie were rewritten and re-shot (partly because the new director had a different take on the film, and partly to keep him from being accused of taking credit for Donner’s work). Only about 30% of Donner’s footage remained when Superman II hit theaters.

Now, finally, we can see the movie as Donner intended it to be. Well, almost. There are a few bits that Donner never got to finish shooting, including one scene with Clark and Lois that was only shot as a screen test. And in a “behind the scenes” featurette Donner admits that the film was shot so long ago that he has trouble remembering what his original vision was. But all things considered, the film holds together quite well.

There is a TON of new material in the film. For someone familiar with the original Superman II (as a kid I watched it about a zillion times and knew every line by heart) it was a real treat to watch this movie in a fresh new way. And dare I say it, I think I prefer this version to the original.

Granted, the plot (and some dialogue) are still cheezy and over-the-top by today’s standards. The special effects budget for this restored version must have been about ten bucks. And there were a couple of sequences that felt “cobbled together”. But so much of the Donner material is well-written, well-acted, and sprinkled with great one-liners, that the movie was still very enjoyable to watch. It feels smarter and snappier than the original.

(SPOILER ALERT) Some of the biggest changes I noticed include:

• The opening sequence at the Eiffel Tower is gone. Instead, the movie opens at the Daily Planet. Lois figures out that Clark Kent is Superman, and jumps out the window to prove it, declaring “You won’t let me die”.

• The scene at Niagra Falls where Lois jumps overboard is deleted, and replaced with a scene (shot as a screen test) where Lois fires a gun at Clark to prove he is Superman.

• Several new scenes involve Superman talking with his father Jor-El (Marlon Brando) in the fortress of solitude.

• Many scenes of General Zod and the gang wreaking havoc are deleted or replaced (for example, instead of re-carving Mount Rushmore the villains knock over the Washington Monument).

• Superman regains his powers thanks to a moving act of self-sacrifice on the part of his father.

• During the big fight scene, Superman is thrown into the torch on the Statue of Liberty.

• Instead of the “magic kiss” ending, Superman (again) turns back time, essentially undoing everything that happened in the entire movie. Still a dubious ending, but I prefer it to the silly “magic kiss” bit.

(END OF SPOILERS)

Has anyone else seen this movie? Anyone planning to see it? Let me know what you think.

I did these this evening while talking on the phone.

Apparantly this website has been around for a while, but I just discovered it. Illustration Mundo is a great little site for freelance illustrators. There are articles, book recommendations, a great little forum, and if you are a professional illustrator you can advertise your work for free, complete with a large thumbnail that links to your website. You can also rate other artists, add them to your favorites, and track news of their latest goings-on. I’ve seen some illustration sites that are, well, less than professionally done. But I’m pretty impressed with this one. Check it out.

Apparantly other bloggers are doing this, so I thought I’d join in.

Things currently on my desk include:

A yo-yo.

Several toys including a Buzz Lightyear doll and a Bob the Tomato mug filled with pens.

A photo of my wife as a young girl.

A stack of art books I was planning to sell on amazon.com or ebay until I discovered they were not worth very much.

A sketchbook.

“The Purple Cow” (a book I am currently reading)

Disney’s “Hercules” DVD (I’m studying one of the characters as reference for a project).

A jar of Carmex.

A stack of DVDs I bought at Comic-Con but still haven’t found time to watch.

A button that reads “I Done Real Good.” My wife gave this to me after we found out she is pregnant.