wondercon anaheim 2015 event review by david l. $money train$ watts & auggie cavanagh - futurxtv...

7/23/2019 WonderCon Anaheim 2015 Event Review By David L. $Money Train$ Watts & Auggie Cavanagh - FuTurXTV & Funk Gumbo Radio - 5-25-2015

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/wondercon-anaheim-2015-event-review-by-david-l-money-train-watts-auggie 1/12

“ WonderCon is an annual comic book, science fiction, and motion picture

convention, held in the San F rancisco Bay Area (1987 – 2011) then, under the

name WonderCon Anaheim, in Anaheim, Cali fornia (2012-2015), and most

recentl y WonderCon Los Angeles starting in 2016 ”…Wik ipedia.com

WONDERCON ANAHEIM 2015 EVENT REVIEW- 5-25-2015

5-25-2015 - Written By: David L. $Money Train$ Watts - Journalist/Web Host/Editor -

Howard Hobson - Auggie Cavanagh - Cameraman - FuTurXTV & Funk Gumbo Radio

I have covered Comic-Con in San Diego multiple times, yet this was my first time

covering WonderCon Anaheim 2015 at the Anaheim Convention Center and

Anaheim Marriot. I can honestly say that WonderCon Anaheim is one of the

closes major comic book convention event that matches the complexity and

professionalism of SD’s Comic-Con. And WonderCon should be great because it

is produced by the same folks who give us a mega-popular SD Comic-Con. The

only quick and significant difference I would say between WonderCon Anaheim

and SD Comic-Con is a greater possibility that a novice comic fanboy or families

could buy general tickets at least a month or a few weeks before WonderCon.Whereas San Diego’s Comic-Con is always 80% sold-out a month after it is over.

David L. $Money Train$ Watts • @MoneyTrain • FuTurXTV • Funk Gumbo Radio • Hollywood, CA 90028 • http://about.me/funkgumbor adio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_book

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_picture

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_convention

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Bay_Area

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaheim,_California

http://about.me/funkgumbo



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaheim,_California

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Bay_Area

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_convention

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_picture

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_book



2

As a journalist for FuTurXTV and Funk Gumbo Radio I know should focus our

WonderCon review on mainly what happens in the Anaheim Convention Center.

But I could not help but notice or ignore covering the three “so-called” Christian

religious bigots who were posted at the end of the many food trucks and by the

entrance to the convention center. This was Easter weekend and these intolerant

idiots thought it would be appropriate to insult, mock and shame many of the

young and impressionable attendees going to WonderCon Anaheim. I could not

understand why a few people who claim to love Jesus would then openly attack

fanboys and Cosplayers as being sinners because they love the multi-billion

comic book culture. I won’t repeat the hate they said I’ll just post the video later.

Once I got our outlet’s WonderCon press pass I knew I had to go to a few panels.

It is always best to start any Comic-Con event by going to panels first, then hit

the convention floor to meet the artists and exhibitors and then catch another

late panel, premiere or Hall H type major premiere to end the day. So I officially

started my WonderCon 2015 journey by going to the Teen Titans GO! Screening

and Q&A panel in room 300 AB. The fun and affable speakers on the panel were

Greg Cipes (voice of Beast Boy), Scott Menville and producers Michael Jelenic

(Batman: The Brave and The Bold ) and Aaron Horvath (Mad ). I chose this panelbecause I was a big fan of the first run of Cartoon Network’s “Teen Titans”

before it got cancelled for no reason and then replaced with the excellent “Young

Justice” series. And then out of the blue “Young Justice” was dropped and we

got “Teen Titans GO!” which is lighter and funnier in tone and writing than the

original “Teen Titans”. It is rare to have three distinct Teen Titans TV shows.


http://www.funkgumbo.com/




3

The producers premiered a funny new “Teen Titans GO!” episode about Robin

convincing the Teen Titans to do a virtual reality simulator as a training exercise.

But Robin has tricked the Titans by turning the VR simulator into many 80’s

retro video games. I really liked this new version of “Teen Titans GO!” and fully

understood how the producers and Greg and Scott all fully decided to lighten the

whole approach to their highly popular DC teenage superhero franchise. And the

producers rightly expected there would be push back and outright hostility from

the original “Teen Titans” fans and the “Young Justice” fans. But Michael and

Aaron created episode “Let’s Get Serious” that mocked the more serious side of“Young Justice”. And truth be told I was in the “Young Justice” camp and badly

wanted to see more of that groundbreaking and mature animated series. Also

truth be told see more minority superheroes like Mal, Bumblebee Aqualad and

Milestone Comic’s Static, Icon and Rocket that were featured in the series. And

when you include that Black Manta was given a prominent super villain role in

“Young Justice” as well one could easily say that “Young Justice” was one of the

most diverse and progressive animation series that DC has ever produced on TV.

But after seeing the funny video game episode I and the packed and enthusiastic

audience in the room fully got and also fully supported this new comedic and

quirky “Teen Titans GO!” I did film some of the many funny exchanges between

Beast Boy and Robin on the panel and will be posting them up on FuTuXTV’s

YouTube channel. And after the panel was done I did go up and ask Michael and

Aaron would they be open to reintroducing the Milestone Comics characters and

more of DC’s minority characters to the new Teen Titans GO! And they were

highly receptive to my suggestion and I was sure to take a few photos of them.






4

The next WonderCon 2015 panel I wanted to check out was Big Hero 6: The Art

of the Story which was coincidentally in the same room as the Teen Titans GO!

panel. The main speakers were Head of Story Brian Kresinger (Big Hero 6 and

Frozen ) and Normand Lemay (Big Hero 6 and Frozen ). What was especially cool

about this WonderCon 2015 panel was that the speakers went out of their way to

walk the whole audience in all the fundamental steps that went in developing an

animated feature film like Big H ero 6. What was really cool was seeing black n’

white animation drafts of Big Hero 6 action scenes that were not used in the film

like a Baymax fight scene with Yokai in downtown San Fransokyo. They alsoshowed and extended version of the scene where Baymax flies Hiro, Fred, GoGo,

Honey Lemon and Wasabi over the water. Kresinger and Lemay also stressed

how making Big Hero 6 was a highly unique and collaborative process between

Walt Disney Animation and Marvel Comics. Marvel’s top creative teams were

involved in all the Big Hero 6 story meetings and major plot decisions. After Walt

Disney spent billions buying Marvel Comics and Big Hero 6 was the first Disney

animated film made with Marvel Comics characters. This could obviously lead to

more Marvel/Disney adaptations of characters or projects that are not going to

be developed as live-action feature films. The Big Hero 6 panel was extremelyinformative and entertaining about how to make a very successful animated film.






5

And another thing I liked about WonderCon Anaheim was the laidback and

casual mood. So after the Big Hero 6 panel was over Kresinger and Lemay went

into the adjacent hallway outside the panel room and patiently signed autographs

for all the fans who were there. They also drew original Big Hero 6 artwork for

fans and even drew artwork on white t-shirts of a few passionate fans as well.

Eventually, I got a chance to be a fan myself, so I got an autograph and drawing.

But I did take a moment to congratulate Kresinger and Lemay for winning Best

Animated Feature at the 87th Academy Awards just a few months ago. And Imade a special point to remark that Big Hero 6 did not know when it was

released would be one of the few great symbols of diversity even though there

was a lot of controversy about the lack of diversity at this year’s Oscars and in

Hollywood in general. Lemay was especially appreciative about my comment

because he and the whole Big Hero 6 team was dedicated to promoting diversity

a few years ago when the concept was approved for production by Walt Disney.

Big Hero 6 is definitely one of Disney’s most diverse animated films and truly fits

the Millennial generation’s expectations of a modern multiracial superhero film.

Ultimately, the huge number of kids who are Big Hero 6 fans will also grow upwith positive appreciation of minority or biracial animated characters like Hiro

Hamada (voiced by Ryan Porter), Tadashi Hamada (voiced Daniel Henney) and

Wasabi (voiced by Damon Wayans) and interesting female characters like Honey

Lemon (voiced by Genesis Rodriguez) and GoGo (voiced by Jamie Cheung).

Even the creation of Big Hero 6 ’s San Fransokyo is a merge of East and West

cultures that strengthen harmonious and subtle ethnic and multicultural themes.






6

BEST COSPLAYERS AT WONDERCON 2015:

There were many elaborate, detailed and innovative costumes by dedicated

amateur and professional Cosplayers at WonderCon 2015. I would like to say

one day that I would get dressed up as Darth Maul and cover SD Comic-Con. It

takes guts and lots of creativity to make sure your Cosplay character is accurate.






7






8

INTERVIEWS FILMED AT WONDERCON 2015:

The lists below are the video interviews we filmed at WonderCon Anaheim 2015

that will be posted on FuTurXTV’s YouTube and Dailymotion channel and our

social media platforms after we get them posted first on www.hiphopbattle.com.

We filmed various Cosplayers and some Black Cosplayers talking about the

#28DaysOfBlackCosplay campaign. We also got a Hip-Hop Trooper sing-a-long.

Artist Interviews at WonderCon 2015: Bombshell Comics, Exhumers of Demon

Comic Book, Legend of The Mantamaji, Lonnie Milsap Comics, Putnum Press,

Alex Thompson of Chaos Campus Comic Book, Heroes R Us Comic Book, JamesJones and Kenneth Strickland of Mythical Legends Comics, Ted Langedeford of

Warp Zone Comic Book and the Toi Soldier Project (PTSD) Comic Book.


http://www.hiphopbattle.com/



http://www.hiphopbattle.com/



9

Hip-Hop & Comics: Cultures Combining Panel: The moderator was the highly

knowledgeable and easy going Patrick A. Reed (Depth of Field Magazine editor)

and one main speakers was the talented artist David Walker (Shaft). David is one

of my Twitter & Facebook friends. The other Hip-Hop & Comics panelists werepictured below (L-to-R): Turner Lange (cartoonist, creator of The Adventures

Of Wally Fresch), Ted Lange IV (cartoonist, creator of Warp Zone), Kenny Keil

(cartoonist, illustrator of Rhyme Travelers, Superhero House Party, Big Boi’s

“Mashup Mondays”), Matthew Rosenberg (author/co-creator: Ghostface

Killah’s 12 Reasons To Die and 36 Seasons ), Emil Konishi (cartoonist, designer,

illustrator) and David Walker (author of Dynamite Comics’ Shaft series).






10

EXHIBITORS AT WONDERCON 2015:

WonderCon Anaheim 2015 had over 400 exhibitors, so it would be impossible to

name them all. I really wish I had a spare $1,500 to $2,500 and I would’ve blown

through that in just three days for cool Blerd/Geek stuff for just myself. I would

need another grand for very rare comics. The main difference about WonderCon

Anaheim and SD Comic-Con is that the Hollywood studios, TV networks and

gaming companies are not using exhibitor space for large and expensive filmexhibits and mini-theaters to premiere clips and trailers like they regularly do at

SD Comic-Con. And what that does is free up more space for local exhibitors,

artists and celebrity autograph stations. I did see that WB and their San Andreas,

Nintendo and Capcom had big promotional displays at WonderCon 2015. So I

did like the fact that I was getting a similar, but kinda different experience at

WonderCon than the more crowded feeling I’ve enjoyed at SD Comic-Con.






11






12

FOOD TRUCK VENDORS AT WONDER CON 2015:

Food Truck Row leading to the entrance to WonderCon Anaheim was a design

aspect about WonderCon that I think is far superior over SD Comic-Con’s food

trucks at San Diego’s Petco Park or even similar LA Con events at the Hooter’s

parking lot across from the Los Angeles Convention Center. Since waiting in line

for food truck orders can easily burn off an hour or more it was highly efficient

for WonderCon Anaheim’s food trucks to be parked by the convention centerentrance as well as the entrance to the Anaheim Marriot. It was far easier for any

WonderCon 2015 attendees to access a wide variety of top notch food trucks at

WonderCon and then quickly get back to panels, premieres or other Con events.




wondercon anaheim 2015 event review by david l. $money train$ watts & auggie cavanagh - futurxtv...

Documents