The Sheila Variations

That is freakin' awesome! Way to go Cashel!

Isn't it great???

Okay, so now that you have commented, here are my 2 favorite moments:

-- how his facial expression changes when he catches the hot dog

-- the swoopy backwards movement of his back leg

Cashel is amazing!

I like how the facial features kinda swoop around like the second hand on a watch.

And that the hot dog is hot pink.

Yeah - that the face moves to the side as he turns - very very nice touch!!

i'm impressed! i'm 2.4x his age -- still in the computer savvy generation -- and i can't do that!

Brilliant! I love how he goes from a horse-stance to a kneeling position when he catches the hotdog.

I hope he makes a sequel!

I like that he caught it in both display and serving position. The ambiguity of it all.

Cashel is Great!

I LOVE his imagination. I feel like I know him. Thanks for sharing his continuing adventures, Red.

Can I also just say that I LOVE the title? Like ... there's a pun in it and everything.

Rob - hahahahahahaha Great observation!

Mere - I'll tell him he needs to do a sequel! Maybe he can catch a hamburger next time ... or a bowl of pasta salad??

He sounded so excited in his message: "Auntie Sheila, it's okay if you put my movie on your blog. Actually, it would be really COOL if you put it on your blog." (You could tell he had been told what it was ... had no idea what a "blog" was, lucky boy)

The possibilities for a sequel are endless. I love him. Pasta salad...hmmm that would be tricky, but I bet he could pull it off.

Kungfood is obviously a master of catching all things food. I bet the guy could catch soup.

That is awesome. Cashel has obviously inherited the O'Malley Creative Gene.

That's great--now he needs to do a Stretchy Colorado movie.

I was going to link this after you e-mailed me yesterday, but I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a private O'Malley thing. I can't stop watching it. I'm so going to link it now.

Watch your back, Spielberg. There's a new master in town.

Loved Cashel's movie! And the title is genius! No wonder you are so proud of your nephew, Sheila...

That's great!

He did that with a limited number of shapes available, and no freehand drawing. Very clever, in a minimalist way. Scary talent for such a young kid.

When you can snatch the hot dog from my hand grasshopper...

Good stuff there!

My favoritie part is how the Kung Food guy is facing us in the opening shot while the hot dog is careening it's way towards him, and without actually seeing the hot dog, he senses it (which is what a kung food guy would do) and he turns to catch it just in time.

Very Zen.

And notice how one arm does not move - it stays in position. Now that's control.

//Now that's control.//

IIRC, that is the kung food move 'Hawk Chases Hot Dog.'

No love for the headband? (It is a headband, right?) I think that little detail is my favroite bit.

Oh, yes - lots of love for the headband! It's quite an important detail. Really gives you a sense of his character.

I literally can't stop watching this movie.

He could do one about a threesome of crime-fighting super heroes: Kung Food Man, Stretchy Colorado, and The Banana Sergeant (wasn't that what he was called? I seem to remember him making a card for someone with that character on it.)

Kung Food Man. Little kids just crack me up. It takes an imagination under 12 to come up with that kind of thing, I think.

D'oh.

It is, of course, Kung Food Guy.

I stand corrected.

Ricki - I absolutely love that you remember the Banana Sergeant. That has to be the best birthday card ever sent. what?? Banana sergeant? Happy birthday, Grandma? And the connections are ....???? hahahahahaha

And also ... Ken remembering Stretchy Colorado.

Good work, people!

All this talk of a sequel is a little premature. Let us allow the artist's work to stand on it's own for a while before we all start making demands. After all, no one demanded that Van Gogh paint A Starry Night, Part II. No one demanded George Gershwin compose Rhapsody in Blue-Green. No one demanded Hitchcock film Post-Vertigo, The Slightly Dizzy Years. Think what happened when "fans" demanded a Godfather III--need I say more.

The Kung Food Guy is reminiscent of the work of Jean Renoir in it's risk-taking and use of light, while it has the dynamic energy of the better films of Sam Peckinpah, and the human mystery often found in the masterworks of Fellini. All in all, an important new voice in cinema.

And let's not forget his savvy marketing skills, by getting his Auntie with the popular blog to link to it. Pure genius.

i love that his arms grow out of his head and one eye is a bit larger than the other...yet he still manages to catch the darn thing. how do you do it kung food man? how do you do it?!

my apologies...kung food GUY! very P.C.! love it!!