Saturday, February 23, 2008
Saturday was definitely my busiest day at the convention, and every exhibitor that I spoke with had a similar experience. Exhibitors once again lined up around the block on Saturday morning, hoping to gain entry to the convention hall as soon after 10:00 am as possible. And once again, armed Stormtroopers were on hand to maintain the peace, like Hell's Angels at a much geekier version of Altamont.

I kicked off the day moderating a panel discussion on The Art and Flair of Mary Blair, the original art exhibition that my wife, Shaenon K. Garrity, and I curated for the Cartoon Art Museum. Panelists Karl Cohen (president of ASIFA-San Francisco and professor of animation history at San Francisco State University) and Ralph Eggleston (production designer, Pixar Animation Studios) regaled the audience with stories about the life and career of the legendary animation designer, while I did my best to keep the whole thing on schedule.

Sunday spotlighted the hit series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. © 2007 Warner Bros. Ent. Inc.

Hollywood programming was very well attended throughout the day and, fortunately for convention-goers, WonderCon is still small enough that no one was turned away from Hall A throughout the weekend's programming, meaning that, at least in theory, a well-organized visitor had the ability to see every panel on his itinerary. Warner Bros. trotted out sneak peeks at Get Smart (with special guests Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway) and 10,000 BC; Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny were on hand to promote Fox's new X-Files movie; New Line Cinema hosted a panel on Harold & Kumar featuring Harold himself, John Cho; and Kids' WB! premiered the first episode of The Spectacular Spider-Man, set to debut on the CW network on March 8.

Greg Weisman, co-creator and producer of Gargoyles (and writer of SLG's Gargoyles comic book), is the supervising producer of The Spectacular Spider-Man, and I spoke with him briefly about the new series. "I'm the editor and showrunner on the cartoon. Vic Cook is responsible for the visual elements, and I'm handling the writing and voice work. Both of us handle the stories together." With over a half-dozen other Spider-Man cartoons produced since the mid-'60s, I asked Weisman what sets this latest version apart from the rest. "It's very contemporary, but very iconic at the same time. From the outset, we wanted to create the classic Spider-Man cartoon. It's got action, it's got humor, it's got romance, and it's got all the classic characters. This show will be exciting for kids of any age, whether or not they've ever seen Spider-Man before."

In between other obligations, I managed to catch Disney-Pixar's WALL•E panel, with director Andrew Stanton presenting clips from the eagerly awaited film. This is the first science-fiction feature from Pixar, and Stanton couldn't be happier about it. "I grew up in a golden age of sci-fi, from the late '60s to the mid-'70s. We had 2001, Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alien..."

Director Andrew Stanton introduced four exclusive clips from WALL•E that seem to ensure Pixar's continuing success. © Disney/Pixar.

"This story takes place in the distant future. Earth is covered in trash, and mankind has left the planet on a mandatory five-year trip while robots clean up. Our story asks, 'What if mankind had to leave the earth, and someone forgot to turn that last robot off?'" Stanton then presented four exclusive clips from the film. The first showed WALL•E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth-Class) at work, gathering garbage at the dump and compacting it for easy storage and disposal. Having little context for these cast-offs, WALL•E examines bras, car keys, paddleballs, jewelry and fire extinguishers with curiosity, attempting to determine the purpose of each item.

The second clip revealed WALL•E's love interest, a probe droid named EVE. In an attempt to impress her, WALL•E gives her a guided tour of his home, a modified truck. The truck's interior is decorated with trash, all of which is fascinating to EVE. From the singing fish on the wall to WALL•E's prized eggbeater, Rubik's Cube, light bulb and (EVE's favorite) bubble wrap, the two take great delight in the garbage that all of us take for granted.

The remaining clips ventured further into sci-fi territory, with space cruisers, escape pods, explosions, and some awe-inspiring scenes of the cosmos. One particularly amazing scene depicts WALL•E floating through space, dragging his hand through a star-trail behind him, resulting in some absolutely beautiful animation.