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January 2021

Newsbytes archive for December 2020

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Contributors this month include 2cross2affliction, dronon, GreenReaper, mwalimu, Rakuen Growlithe, and Sonious.

Furries raise over $500,000 for charity in 2020 in spite of its issues

Your rating: None Average: 3.7 (7 votes)

Thabo Meerkat and Dixie Lioness have released their Charity Index finding that furries raised more the $500,000 for Charity in 2020. This is in spite of the challenges caused by the pandemic. It should be noted that information was more difficult to obtain this year, and the numbers for Virtual Midwest Furfest are not included in this tally.

Documentary review: 'Hero, A Furry Story'

Your rating: None Average: 3.2 (21 votes)

Picking up from where the 2020 documentary The Fandom left off, Ash "Coyote" Kreis' new 44-minute film, Hero: A Furry Story takes a deeper look into the fandom's disability community, particularly its less-looked-at subset with cancer and chronic illness, where people have found that fursuiting and its networks can create a source of happiness during a time of pain and illness. Hero is the film's star, a canine-identifying fan, diagnosed with cancer at age 22, who receives a new fursuit from the talent at Waggery Costumes.

As viewers are slowly introduced to all of the different people it takes to make a fursuit, Hero's story demonstrates what furry fans have already come to know: affirming that people in the fandom can be as family, loved ones, and mentors. Pulling itself away from the criticism that Kreis received after The Fandom, this new film's attention to disability, illness, and networked connections provides another interesting gateway into something that will surely be enjoyed by fans and non-fans alike.

FurCast ends after a decade on air

Your rating: None Average: 4.2 (9 votes)

Furcast.jpgFurCast, the self-proclaimed slow motion car crash that has occured over the past decade finally had the wreckage settle as it came to its conclusion on October 31st, 2020. On that Halloween it would air what would be its final episode of its 10 season run. This ending was not announced on air, but would be announced on their site on December 21st in a post titled It’s Time.

The first thing I want to say is that me, and everyone involved in the history of the production of this show, absolutely love you guys. There has been so much blood, sweat and tears over these years to try and bring you all happiness, help us all have fun, and bring people together.

This comes after 392 episodes of live broadcasts featuring furries that would discuss the week’s events for an 18+ audience, not afraid to take on adult topics with humor and laughs. The good news is that they plan on keeping the show archived on their site so that those who want to take a look back to old times can feel free to watch.

Ursa Major 2020 Nominations are Open

Your rating: None Average: 3.3 (4 votes)

Ursa Majors Awards.jpgThe Ursa Majors have opened up nominations for 2020. Those wishing to nominate have up until February 13th to do so. The categories for this year are the for this year are as follows:

  • Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture
  • Best Anthropomorphic Dramatic Short Work
  • Best Anthropomorphic Dramatic Series
  • Best Anthropomorphic Novel
  • Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction
  • Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work
  • Best Anthropomorphic Non-Fiction Work
  • Best Anthropomorphic Graphic Story
  • Best Anthropomorphic Comic Strip
  • Best Anthropomorphic Magazine
  • Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration
  • Best Anthropomorphic Game
  • Best Anthropomorphic Website
  • Best Anthropomorphic Costume (Fursuit)

There is a recommended list of all the content that came out last year.

As a reminder, last year, non-fiction work was removed due to lack of nominations. So if you are a regular reader, please take the time to go over the 2020 archives and nominate one of our pieces, or at the very least Jon Oliver's search for rat erotica.

The full roster of the Tune Squad from 'Space Jam'

Your rating: None Average: 3.4 (12 votes)

tunesquad.jpg

The 1996 movie Space Jam is about Michael Jordan playing basketball with a bunch of Looney Tunes. It's possibly both one of the most beloved and most hated movies of the entire 90s.

It was notably hated by Chuck Jones, an animator famous for his work on the original Looney Tunes shorts, though, to be fair, Chuck Jones pretty much hated anything Looney Tunes that he didn't do himself, and also about half of his own stuff. Joe Dante directed the next live action/animation hybrid Looney Tunes movie, Back in Action, and his stated goal was basically to direct the anti-Space Jam. Flayrah's own coverage of Back in Action was not pro-Space Jam, calling it a "disaster". On the beloved side of the equation, however, Warner Bros. will be releasing a very belated sequel to the movie on July 16 of this year (both theatrically and on the HBO Max streaming service), and they usually don't do that if no one liked it (and, seriously, you can probably find someone who actually does like Space Jam very easily).

But despite the fact that the original 1996 website is still up (with the following link, this article is now in compliance with ancient Internet law stating that all articles about Space Jam must mention the original website), there isn't really a good list anywhere on the Internet that provides the complete line-up of the members of the Tune Squad, the Looney Tunes basketball team in the film. Seriously, the Space Jam Wiki does not have a team roster. The IMDB trivia page for Space Jam has a bare bones roster buried half way down the page (and it's very incomplete). Well, that won't stand. Here's the full roster of every character (animated or otherwise), who played against the Monstars in the movie's big game.

Game review: Spirit of the North

Your rating: None Average: 3.6 (5 votes)

Spirit of the North is a casual adventure game with light puzzle elements, where you play as a fox accompanied by a spirit. I played the Steam version which was released in May 2020, although it debuted on the Playstation in November 2019. It is listed on Steam as a Windows-only game, but I was able to play it on Linux using Steam Proton without any problems.

Trailer: 'Raya and the Last Dragon'

Your rating: None Average: 3.3 (4 votes)

Disney has posted a trailer (now two) for its next animated movie, Raya and the Last Dragon, which will have a release date of March 5, making it officially Walt Disney Animation Studio's first movie of this exciting new decade. It has a talking Eastern-style dragon in it, so that's furry.

Raya and the Last Dragon will release theatrically, but as actually going to movie theaters is still not really recommended at this point, it'll also be released on the Disney+ streaming service the same day, though with an additional "Premier Access" charge of $29.99 in the US.

The movie features Kelly Marie Tran as the titular Raya, with Awkwafina as the titular last dragon (meanwhile, Disney animation regular voice actor Alan Tudyk will once again be "voicing" a non-anthropomorphic animal; this time, the giant pillbug / armadillo creature Tuk Tuk). The movie is set in the fictional fantasy world of Kumandra.