Elena Rainn

Zach P

Kyrsten Iris

Fede Bonino

_ eshago@uw.edu

Watashi Wa Jigabudesu

Karl Halmos-Westram

lonely loser

Ljsly Bernard

Miguel Barreto Carrillo

Leonel González

Tim M

Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime? Freakonomics will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much heralded scholar who studies the stuff and riddles of everyday life -- from cheating and crime to sports and child rearing -- and whose conclusions regularly turn the conventional wisdom on its head. He usually begins with a mountain of data and a simple, unasked question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: freakonomics.Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and co-author Stephen J. Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives -- how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freakonomics, they set out to explore the hidden side of ... well, everything. The inner workings of a crack gang. The truth about real-estate agents. The myths of campaign finance. The telltale marks of a cheating schoolteacher. The secrets of the Ku Klux Klan.What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world, despite a surfeit of obfuscation, complication, and downright deceit, is not impenetrable, is not unknowable, and -- if the right questions are asked -- is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking. Steven Levitt, through devilishly clever and clear-eyed thinking, shows how to see through all the clutter.Freakonomics establishes this unconventional premise: If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work. It is true that readers of this book will be armed with enough riddles and stories to last a thousand cocktail parties. But Freakonomics can provide more than that. It will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.(front flap)

The war against Voldemort is not going well; even Muggle governments are noticing. Ron scans the obituary pages of the Daily Prophet, looking for familiar names. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses.And yet . . .As in all wars, life goes on. The Weasley twins expand their business. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate - and lose a few eyebrows in the process. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Classes are never straightforward, through Harry receives some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.So it's the home front that takes center stage in the multilayered sixth installment of the story of Harry Potter. Here at Hogwarts, Harry will search for the full and complete story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort - and thereby find what may be his only vulnerability.

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is an inventor, amateur entomologist, Francophile, letter writer, pacifist, natural historian, percussionist, romantic, Great Explorer, jeweller, detective, vegan, and collector of butterflies. When his father is killed in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre, Oskar sets out to solve the mystery of a key he discovers in his father's closet. It is a search which leads him into the lives of strangers, through the five boroughs of New York, into history, to the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima, and on an inward journey which brings him ever closer to some kind of peace.

Now available in a handsome paperback box set for the first time, these four paperback chapter books of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" each have unique movie covers from the blockbuster Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media film and black-and-white interior movie photographs. Each book tells the movie story of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" from the perspective of one of the four Pevensie heroes: Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy.

J. D. Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye celebrated its fiftieth anniversary of publication in 2001. The Catcher in the Rye: New Essays presents a variety of new approaches to this extremely popular and intensely influential novel, ranging from the examination of the intertextual relationship between The Catcher in the Rye and Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses, to the evaluation of Salinger's mythic place in American film and popular culture, to the interrogation of what it means for a reader to claim that a novel such as The Catcher in the Rye has changed his or her life. These essays provide new commentary and new insights, and demonstrate the continuing relevance of Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, and Holden Caulfield to American culture and literature and, in turn, to American cultural and literary studies.

When first published in 1899, The Awakening shocked readers with its honest treatment of female marital infidelity. Audiences accustomed to the pieties of late Victorian romantic fiction were taken aback by Chopin's daring portrayal of a woman trapped in a stifling marriage, who seeks and finds passionate physical love outside the confines of her domestic situation.Aside from its unusually frank treatment of a then-controversial subject, the novel is widely admired today for its literary qualities. Edmund Wilson characterized it as a work "quite uninhibited and beautifully written, which anticipates D. H. Lawrence in its treatment of infidelity." Although the theme of marital infidelity no longer shocks, few novels have plumbed the psychology of a woman involved in an illicit relationship with the perception, artistry, and honesty that Kate Chopin brought to The Awakening.

A New York Times Notable BookA Time Magazine “Best Comix of the Year”A San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times Best-sellerWise, funny, and heartbreaking, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. Marjane’s child’s-eye view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, Persepolis is at once a story of growing up and a reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, with laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love.

Here, in one volume: Marjane Satrapi's best-selling, internationally acclaimed graphic memoir.Persepolis is the story of Satrapi's unforgettable childhood and coming of age within a large and loving family in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution; of the contradictions between private life and public life in a country plagued by political upheaval; of her high school years in Vienna facing the trials of adolescence far from her family; of her homecoming--both sweet and terrible; and, finally, of her self-imposed exile from her beloved homeland. It is the chronicle of a girlhood and adolescence at once outrageous and familiar, a young life entwined with the history of her country yet filled with the universal trials and joys of growing up.Edgy, searingly observant, and candid, often heartbreaking but threaded throughout with raw humor and hard-earned wisdom--Persepolis is a stunning work from one of the most highly regarded, singularly talented graphic artists at work today.

With only a yellowing photograph in hand, a young man -- also named Jonathan Safran Foer -- sets out to find the woman who may or may not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Accompanied by an old man haunted by memories of the war; an amorous dog named Sammy Davis, Junior, Junior; and the unforgettable Alex, a young Ukrainian translator who speaks in a sublimely butchered English, Jonathan is led on a quixotic journey over a devastated landscape and into an unexpected past.

Ian McEwan’s symphonic novel of love and war, childhood and class, guilt and forgiveness provides all the satisfaction of a brilliant narrative and the provocation we have come to expect from this master of English prose.On a hot summer day in 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses the flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant. But Briony’s incomplete grasp of adult motives and her precocious imagination bring about a crime that will change all their lives, a crime whose repercussions Atonement follows through the chaos and carnage of World War II and into the close of the twentieth century.

More than two million copies of Things Fall Apart have been sold in the United States since it was first published here in 1959. Worldwide, there are eight million copies in print in fifty different languages. This is Chinua Achebe's masterpiece and it is often compared to the great Greek tragedies, and currently sells more than one hundred thousand copies a year in the United States.A simple story of a "strong man" whose life is dominated by fear and anger, Things Fall Apart is written with remarkable economy and subtle irony. Uniquely and richly African, at the same time it reveals Achebe's keen awareness of the human qualities common to men of all times and places.

From Harper Lee comes a landmark new novel set two decades after her beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird. Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch—"Scout"—returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise's homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in a painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past—a journey that can be guided only by one's conscience. Written in the mid-1950s, Go Set a Watchman imparts a fuller, richer understanding and appreciation of Harper Lee. Here is an unforgettable novel of wisdom, humanity, passion, humor and effortless precision—a profoundly affecting work of art that is both wonderfully evocative of another era and relevant to our own times. It not only confirms the enduring brilliance of To Kill a Mockingbird, but also serves as its essential companion, adding depth, context and new meaning to an American classic.

We owe The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902) to Arthur Conan Doyle's good friend Fletcher "Bobbles" Robinson, who took him to visit some scary English moors and prehistoric ruins, and told him marvelous local legends about escaped prisoners and a 17th-century aristocrat who fell afoul of the family dog. Doyle transmogrified the legend: generations ago, a hound of hell tore out the throat of devilish Hugo Baskerville on the moonlit moor. Poor, accursed Baskerville Hall now has another mysterious death: that of Sir Charles Baskerville. Could the culprit somehow be mixed up with secretive servant Barrymore, history-obsessed Dr. Frankland, butterfly-chasing Stapleton, or Selden, the Notting Hill murderer at large? Someone's been signaling with candles from the mansion's windows. Nor can supernatural forces be ruled out. Can Dr. Watson--left alone by Sherlock Holmes to sleuth in fear for much of the novel--save the next Baskerville, Sir Henry, from the hound's fangs? Many Holmes fans prefer Doyle's complete short stories, but their clockwork logic doesn't match the author's boast about this novel: it's "a real Creeper!" What distinguishes this particular Hound is its fulfillment of Doyle's great debt to Edgar Allan Poe--it's full of ancient woe, low moans, a Grimpen Mire that sucks ponies to Dostoyevskian deaths, and locals digging up Neolithic skulls without next-of-kins' consent. "The longer one stays here the more does the spirit of the moor sink into one's soul," Watson realizes. "Rank reeds and lush, slimy water-plants sent an odour of decay ... while a false step plunged us more than once thigh-deep into the dark, quivering mire, which shook for yards in soft undulations around our feet ... it was as if some malignant hand was tugging us down into those obscene depths." Read on--but, reader, watch your step! --Tim Appelo

This is the story of how one angry, naked, sneezing albino managed to terrorize the English countryside. To be quite honest, I expected a bit more from the people who fended off the Nazis for years. But Wells seemed to think his fellow countrymen would be a bit too inept to toss a sheet over this shivering bastard and punch him in the throat. Instead?This:Attention:1) There may be spoilers for this 100+ year old book in the review.2) Only comment if you have a WORKING sense of humor.3) Seriously. Read # 2 again before you correct my review.When I first started reading, I assumed that The Invisible Man would be about a guy who was slowly driven mad by this unusual condition.Nope.He was a world class douchebag long before embarking on his experiment to become see-through. Although, if I had to point out one major difference between his beginning vs. his end? Well, I'm guessing his dick &amp; balls hadn't permanently retreated into his body before he became the World's Meanest Nudist. Really, dude? Really? Winter is not kind to naked folks. As every Mad Scientist will tell you, you've got to plan ahead. Mother Nature will not bend to your nefarious whims! Turn on the Weather Channel next time, moron.So, Griffin (that's the Invisible Man's name) discovers a magic not magic formula that allows his molecules to have fewer surfaces for light to refract off, and if he combines that with electrocuting not electrocuting himself with some sort of a radio wave contraption, he will become invisible.Pseudo-science, FTW! He tested it out on a cat, and it sorta worked. Except for the cat's eyes. Don't worry, though. The cat is fine! Kidding it's totally dead.One thing I found interesting was that until his body absorbed food, it remained visible. Which led me to spend quite a bit of my afternoon thinking about whether or not you could see his poop moving through his intestines. And if it did remain visible, that meant his Kryptonite could quite literally be cheese! Think about it, people. You could track him if he's constipated!Ha! I'll bet those assholes at MENSA are totally rethinking that rejection letter now.Yeah, so all they had to do was get a big cauldron (or Fry-Daddy) bubbling with oil, and then cook up a shit ton of mozzarella sticks. If placed strategically around the village, they could have had Griffin backed up and praying for prunes in no time. Between the groaning and visibly distended intestines, it would have been Problem Solved within two days. BOOM!Ok, so Wells does his dead-level best to make invisibility seem like a curse, but the reality was this was an AWESOME power. He's fucking invisible!The only reason Griffin wasn't immediately the richest man in the kingdom was due to his a-hole personality. All he had to do was tell people about his amazing discovery! Instead, he shoots himself in the dick trying to keep it a secret. Sure, the people in that first hillbilly town might not have been receptive. At least, not at first, anyway...Witchcraft! Kill it with fire, Cletus!But show up at a Science Fair (or wherever smart people hang out), and he would have been carried off on his peers' weak &amp; nerdy shoulders!I mean, his buddy Kemp was thoroughly impressed...until he started voluntarily boasting about his somewhat ill-thought-out crimes, and revealing his idiotic plans for world domination. Which, by the way, was the least well-planned villain plot...ever...in the history of badly planned villain plots! Terror? A reign of \
  terror\
? That's it?! What's the endgame, Griffin?Give me all your money! Or Terror!Make me king of the world! Or Terror!WTF, man? I think you're overestimating yourself a bit there...Sure, it's a bit spooky that you can't be seen, but, eventually, even the stupidest of villagers will band together &amp; figure out that you can be taken down by a dog with a good nose...or cheese!Which is pretty much what happens.Except for the part about cheese. If only they had consulted someone with my level of genius intellect, poor Adye would still be alive. Tsk.He stupidly tries to implement his Reign of Terror, and manages to get a few good shots in, but eventually becomes the recipient of the ass beating of a lifetime.Moral of the story: Even if you're a genius, don't be a dick.You will inevitably freeze your balls off, catch a nasty cold, and end up bludgeoned to death by people with half your intellect. Because all us stupid people know how to wield sticks, goddammit!Buddy Read  with Jeff, Delee, Evgeny, Tadiana, Stepheny, Will (be gentle it's his first time), Dan (he found a free copy!), Dan 2.0  (if he can remember his password), Alissa, Christopher, Steve, Jess, Licha, MIRIAM (because she can't quit us!), Jenna, (latecomer) Auntie J, Ginger &amp; Carmen (cutting it a little close there, Carmen!). Honorary Buddy-Reader: Karly *The Vampire Ninja &amp; Lumi...Lumin...Sparkly Monster*We gotta do this again, guys!

The quintessential novel of the Lost Generation, The Sun Also Rises is one of Ernest Hemingway's masterpieces, and a classic example of his spare but powerful writing style. A poignant look at the disillusionment and angst of the post-World War I generation, the novel introduces two of Hemingway's most unforgettable characters: Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. The story follows the flamboyant Brett and the hapless Jake as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates. It is an age of moral bankruptcy, spiritual dissolution, unrealized love, and vanishing illusions. First published in 1926, The Sun Also Rises helped to establish Hemingway as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.

Written in 1914 but not published until 1925, a year after Kafka’s death, The Trial is the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy of the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the madness of totalitarianism, The Trial has resonated with chilling truth for generations of readers.

Combined for the first time here are Maus I: A Survivor's Tale and Maus II - the complete story of Vladek Spiegelman and his wife, living and surviving in Hitler's Europe. By addressing the horror of the Holocaust through cartoons, the author captures the everyday reality of fear and is able to explore the guilt, relief and extraordinary sensation of survival - and how the children of survivors are in their own way affected by the trials of their parents. A contemporary classic of immeasurable significance.

That The Illustrated Man has remained in print since being published in 1951 is fair testimony to the universal appeal of Ray Bradbury's work. Only his second collection (the first was Dark Carnival, later reworked into The October Country), it is a marvelous, if mostly dark, quilt of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. In an ingenious framework to open and close the book, Bradbury presents himself as a nameless narrator who meets the Illustrated Man--a wanderer whose entire body is a living canvas of exotic tattoos. What's even more remarkable, and increasingly disturbing, is that the illustrations are themselves magically alive, and each proceeds to unfold its own story, such as "The Veldt," wherein rowdy children take a game of virtual reality way over the edge. Or "Kaleidoscope," a heartbreaking portrait of stranded astronauts about to reenter our atmosphere--without the benefit of a spaceship. Or "Zero Hour," in which invading aliens have discovered a most logical ally--our own children. Even though most were written in the 1940s and 1950s, these 18 classic stories will be just as chillingly effective 50 years from now. --Stanley WiaterContents:· Prologue: The Illustrated Man · ss * · The Veldt [“The World the Children Made”] · ss The Saturday Evening Post Sep 23 ’50 · Kaleidoscope · ss Thrilling Wonder Stories Oct ’49 · The Other Foot · ss New Story Magazine Mar ’51 · The Highway [as by Leonard Spalding] · ss Copy Spr ’50 · The Man · ss Thrilling Wonder Stories Feb ’49 · The Long Rain [“Death-by-Rain”] · ss Planet Stories Sum ’50 · The Rocket Man · ss Maclean’s Mar 1 ’51 · The Fire Balloons [“‘In This Sign...’”] · ss Imagination Apr ’51 · The Last Night of the World · ss Esquire Feb ’51 · The Exiles [“The Mad Wizards of Mars”] · ss Maclean’s Sep 15 ’49; F&amp;SF Win ’50 · No Particular Night or Morning · ss * · The Fox and the Forest [“To the Future”] · ss Colliers May 13 ’50 · The Visitor · ss Startling Stories Nov ’48 · The Concrete Mixer · ss Thrilling Wonder Stories Apr ’49 · Marionettes, Inc. [Marionettes, Inc.] · ss Startling Stories Mar ’49 · The City [“Purpose”] · ss Startling Stories Jul ’50 · Zero Hour · ss Planet Stories Fll ’47 · The Rocket [“Outcast of the Stars”] · ss Super Science Stories Mar ’50 · Epilogue · aw *

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In 1930s Italy, a carefree Jewish waiter named Guido starts a fairy tale life by courting and marrying a lovely woman from a nearby city. Guido and his wife have a son and live happily together until the occupation of Italy by German forces. In an attempt to hold his family together and help his son survive the horrors of a Jewish Concentration Camp, Guido imagines that the Holocaust is a game and that the grand prize for winning is a tank.

Jumanji, one of the most unique--and dangerous--board games ever, falls into the hands of the curious teen, Alan Parrish, in 1969. Mysterious and magical, the game strands the unsuspecting boy in the lush, savage forests of a mythical realm. Nearly three decades later, the game releases him before the awed eyes of the young orphaned siblings, Judy and Peter Shepherd. Now, the wild and incessant beat of the jungle's tribal drums is calling for the now-adult Alan and the other hesitant players, as the one who rolls the dice must never leave undone what the roll has started. Has anyone ever escaped from the game and Jumanji's formidable foes?

From the heights of notoriety to the depths of depravity, John Forbes Nash, Jr. experienced it all. A mathematical genius, he made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a painful and harrowing journey of self-discovery. After many years of struggle, he eventually triumphed over his tragedy, and finally - late in life - received the Nobel Prize.

While the Parr family has accepted its collective calling as superheroes, the fact remains that their special heroism is still illegal. After they are arrested after unsuccessfully trying to stop the Underminer, their future seems bleak. However, the wealthy Deavor siblings of Devtech offer new hope with a bold project to rehabilitate the public image and legal status of Supers, with Elastigirl being assigned on point to be the shining example. Now having agreed for now to stay at home to care of the kids, Mr. Incredible finds domestic life a daunting challenge, especially with baby Jack-Jack's newly emerged powers making him almost impossible to manage. However, Elastigirl soon has her own concerns dealing with the menace of a new supervillain, Screenslaver, who is wreaking havoc with his mind control abilities. Now, Elastigirl must solve the mystery of this enemy, who has malevolent designs on the world with the Parr family and friends key targets of this evil.

Three children - Violet (Emily Browning), Klaus (Liam Aiken), and Sunny Baudelaire (Kara and Shelby Hoffman) - are left orphaned when their house burns down, with their parents in it, in mysterious circumstances. They are left in the custody of a distant relative, Count Olaf (Jim Carrey). It is soon apparent that Count Olaf only cares about the children for their large inheritance.

2004 adventure film directed by Brad Silberling

The once hideous ogre Shrek (Mike Myers) is now living a good life with wife Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and his three children. But he soon has a meltdown in front of them and his friends during his kids' birthday party. He suddenly wants to be a real ogre like he was before he ever met Fiona. So he turns to devious dealmaker Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn) for help. At first, Shrek lives the life he once lost and everything is good. But he soon finds out that he has been set up by Rumpelstiltskin, who now rules the land with an iron fist. Teaming with friends Donkey (Eddie Murphy), Fiona, and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas), Shrek is in for the fight of his life as he tries to get his life back before time runs out.

Before thousands of enthusiastic spectators at the World Cup semi-finals between France and China, an elusive professional assassin murders the famous French coach, and manages, somehow, to steal from his hand his prized possession--the priceless Pink Panther diamond ring. Now, of all the Parisian Police Force's detectives, the deceitful Chief Inspector, Dreyfus, decides to appoint the maladroit investigator, Jacques Clouseau, to this difficult and mysterious case, knowing that the eccentric gendarme is way out of his depth. Does Dreyfus have a hidden agenda? Can France's clueless and most bumbling officer of the law piece together the scarce leads to pull off a surprising success?

In New York City, you would come across a small house, home to a family known as the Littles. You would happen to think of them as the nicest family you'd ever meet. One day, Fredrick and Eleanor, both parents and Littles, ho to and orphanage to find a brother for their son, George. While at it, they meet Stuart, a small, but charming mouse, who apparently, is human-civilized. They adopt him, and everyone, even George, loves him. But there is one problem with Stuart's life, Snowbell, the Little family cat, who wants him. But when trouble starts up almost immediately, Stuart must make it back to his home-before snowbell's friends find out about him

Mr. Bean enters a church raffle and wins a vacation trip to France as well as a camcorder. After boarding a Eurostar train and arriving in Paris, the French language proves a barrier for Bean, as he struggles to get across the city to catch a train to the south of France from the Gare de Lyon. Taking time to order a meal, he finds the consumption of a seafood platter to be a challenge. Just before catching his train, he asks Emil, a Russian film director on his way to be a judge at the Cannes Film festival to use his camcorder to record his boarding, but accidentally causes Emil being left behind at the station. Bean attempts to cheer up the director's son Stepan as the train continues south but matters are made more hectic by the fact that Emil has reported his son to have been kidnapped and Bean losing his wallet and essential travel documents at a pay phone where he and Stepan attempt to contact Emil. Heading in the direction of Cannes, Bean finds himself in the cast and disrupting the flow of a commercial being shot by the egotistical director Carson Clay. He and Stepan finally hitch a ride with the young and vivacious actress Sabine who is heading to Cannes to attend the premiere of Clay's film, in which she appears. After Bean sneaks into the showing, his camcorder images are destined to enliven the proceedings.

When the bee Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) graduates from college, he finds that he will have only one job for his entire life, and absolutely disappointed, he joins the team responsible for bringing the honey and pollination of the flowers to visit the world outside the hive. Once in Manhattan, he is saved by florist Vanessa Bloome (Renée Zellweger) and he breaks the bee law to thank Vanessa. They become friends and Barry discovers that humans exploit bees to sell the honey they produce. Barry decides to sue the human race, with destructive consequences to nature.

2007 animated film directed by Simon J. Smith and Steve Hickner

In a happy suburban neighborhood surrounded by white picket fences with flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the neighbors, hidden beneath this house is a vast secret hideout. Surrounded by a small army of minions, we discover Gru (Steve Carell), planning the biggest heist in the history of the world. He is going to steal the moon. Gru delights in all things wicked. Armed with his arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays, and battle-ready vehicles for land and air, he vanquishes all who stand in his way. Until the day he encounters the immense will of three little orphaned girls who look at him and see something that no one else has ever seen: a potential Dad. The world's greatest villain has just met his greatest challenge: three little girls named Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier), and Agnes (Elsie Fisher).

2010 American computer-animated 3D comedy film

Pongo and Perdita have a litter of 15 puppies. Cruella De Vil takes a fancy to the pups, and wants to get hold of them, as well as more pups, to make herself a lovely Dalmatian skin coat. Cruella hires some thugs to kidnap the pups and hold them at her mansion. Pongo and Perdita enlist the help of the local dogs London to find and rescue them.

Once again we're plunged into the world of sword fights and "savvy" pirates. Captain Jack Sparrow is reminded he owes a debt to Davy Jones, who captains the flying Dutchman, a ghostly ship, with a crew from hell. Facing the "locker" Jack must find the heart of Davy Jones but to save himself he must get the help of quick-witted Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan. If that's not complicated enough, Will and Elizabeth are sentenced to hang, unless Will can get Lord Cutler Beckett Jack's compass. Will is forced to join another crazy adventure with Jack.

This is the Disney animated tale of the romance between a young Native American woman named Pocahontas (Irene Bedard) and Captain John Smith (Mel Gibson), who journeyed to the New World with other settlers to begin fresh lives. Her powerful father, Chief Powhatan (Russell Means), disapproves of their relationship and wants her to marry a native warrior. Meanwhile, Smith's fellow Englishmen hope to rob the Native Americans of their gold. Can Pocahontas' love for Smith save the day?

The world is astounded when Willy Wonka, for years a recluse in his factory, announces that five lucky people will be given a tour of the factory, shown all the secrets of his amazing candy, and one will win a lifetime supply of Wonka chocolate. Nobody wants the prize more than young Charlie, but as his family is so poor that buying even one bar of chocolate is a treat, buying enough bars to find one of the five golden tickets is unlikely in the extreme. But in movieland, magic can happen. Charlie, along with four somewhat odious other children, get the chance of a lifetime and a tour of the factory. Along the way, mild disasters befall each of the odious children, but can Charlie beat the odds and grab the brass ring?

When two pre-teens named Hallie and Annie meet through their summer camp, their two lives are rattled when they realize that they are identical twins. With parents, British mother aka famous dress designer Elizabeth and American father, a wine maker named Nick, living in two different sides of the universe, the girls decide to make an identity swap in hopes of spending time with their other parent. The girls later choose to inform their guardians of the swap while at a hotel in San Francisco, which later reunites the divorced pair and sends them back into remarriage with each other.

In this animated comedy from the folks at Disney, the vain and cocky Emperor Kuzco (David Spade) is a very busy man. Besides maintaining his "groove", and firing his suspicious administrator, Yzma (Eartha Kitt), he's also planning to build a new waterpark just for himself for his birthday. However, this means destroying one of the villages in his kingdom. Meanwhile, Yzma is hatching a plan to get revenge and usurp the throne. But, in a botched assassination courtesy of Yzma's right-hand man, Kronk (Patrick Warburton), Kuzco is magically transformed into a llama. Now, Kuzco finds himself the property of Pacha, a lowly llama herder whose home is ground zero for the water park. Upon discovering the llama's true self, Pacha offers to help resolve the Emperor's problem and regain his throne, only if he promises to move his water park.

This is the story of Mr. Fox (George Clooney) and his wild ways of hen heckling, turkey taking, and cider sipping, nocturnal, instinctive adventures. He has to put his wild days behind him and do what fathers do best: be responsible. He is too rebellious. He is too wild. He is going to try "just one more raid" on the three nastiest, meanest farmers that are Walter Boggis (Robin Hurlstone), Nathan Bunce (Hugo Guinness), and Franklin Bean (Sir Michael Gambon). It is a tale of crossing the line of family responsibilities and midnight adventure and the friendships and awakenings of this country life that is inhabited by Fantastic Mr. Fox and his friends.

2009 stop-motion animated film directed by Wes Anderson

Sherlock Holmes and Watson are on the trail of a criminal and scientific mastermind who seems to control monsters and creations which defy belief.

German composer of partial Czech ancestry

Spanish violinist and composer (1844–1908)

The character-driven cartoon chronicles the nautical and often nonsensical adventures of SpongeBob, an incurably optimistic and earnest sea sponge, and his underwater friends. Dwelling a few fathoms beneath the tropical isle of Bikini Atoll in the sub-surface city of Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob lives in a two-story pineapple. Instead of taking the logical approach to everyday challenges, SpongeBob approaches life in a wayward and unconventional way. Whether searching for the ultimate spatula to perfect his burger flipping technique at the Krusty Krab or just hanging out with his best friend Patrick (an amiable starfish), SpongeBob's good intentions and overzealous approach to life usually create chaos in his underwater world.

Popular animated series featuring Scooby-Doo, a Great Dane who joins four California high school students (Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy) on many quests to solve strange mysteries. Each mystery is current and unusual and involves the group stopping someone from wreaking certain havoc on the world. The gang were always driving in the Mystery Machine, returning from or going to a regular teenage function, when their van develops engine trouble or breaks down for a variety of reasons. Their (unintended) destination turns out to be suffering a monster problem, and the gang volunteers to investigate the case. Eventually, enough clues are found to convince the gang that the ghost or monster was a villain. Invariably, the ghost or monster was apprehended and revealed to be an apparently blameless authority figure or otherwise innocuous local who uses the disguise to cover up a crime or scam. After proclaiming "And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!", the villain was then taken away to prison, and the gang was allowed to continue on their way to their destination.

The offbeat adventures of Courage, a cowardly dog who must overcome his own fears to heroically defend his unknowing farmer owners from all kinds of dangers, paranormal events and menaces that appear around their land.

American horror animated television series

The characters of Looney Tunes are all babies and live with Granny.

Follows James Isaac "Jimmy" Neutron (Debi Derryberry), his faithful robotic dog, Goddard (Frank Welker), and his eclectic friends and family as they experience life in Retroville. Jimmy is a typical kid, who just happens to be a genius. He creates gadgets to improve his everyday life, but his inventions go awry more often then not, and hilarious trouble ensues.

American computer-animated television series

Sabrina Spellman (Melissa Joan Hart), a perfectly normal sixteen-year-old, is informed by her aunts, Hilda (Caroline Rhea) and Zelda (Beth Broderick), that she (and they, and her whole family on her father's side) are witches. She lives with them in Massachusetts while preparing to receive her witch's license. Along the way, she gets into many scrapes while figuring out how certain spells work. She also has to keep the secret from her boyfriend, Harvey (Nate Richert), friends Jenny (Michelle Beaudoin), and later Valerie (Lindsay Sloane), stuck-up nemesis Libby (Jenna Leigh Green), and the ever-suspicious Principal Willard Kraft (Martin Mull).

A clerical error sends 12-year-old Adam Lyon to a middle school for zoo animals, but his best friend, Jake the Monkey, is standing by him every step of the way to help him adjust.

Two orphans are given access to a super foster agency that enables them to replace people in their life with aces and superhumans.

From Jeff Goode, the creator of the hit Mtv Undressed, unveils the funny, fantastic action-packed adventures Disney's American Dragon: Jake Long. It's a coming of action/comedy about an Asian-American boy trying to find balance in his life as a skateboard New York City teen who is also entrusted with the mystical powers of the American Dragon, guardian of all magical creatures that secretly live amidst the human world. The series is produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. "It's a great comedy/action show that I think you and all the other Disney animation fans are really going to love. And it's a bit different than anything Disney has done before. They're 22-minute stories, which is a different storytelling format for us." - Jeff Goode

American animated television series (2005 - 2007)

A young boy named Yugi Moto solves an Ancient Egyptian Puzzle and brings forth a dark and powerful alter ego. Whenever he and his friends are threatened by evil, this alter ego breaks out of the confines of the Millenium Puzzle and challenges wrongdoers to the Shadow Games: Life or Death situations that test the true nature of human beings. Those that lose or cheat suffer serious penalties that result in losing their sanity or even their lives. Along with his friends Joey, Tristan, Téa and Miho; Yugi and his dark counterpart faces off against foes such as Seto Kaiba: The ruthless champion of the duel monsters card game; and Ryo Bakura, who possesses the Millenium Ring containing a spirit more brutal than Yami Yugi. Will Yugi and his friends succeed or will they lose their souls?

Fourteen-year-old Penny Proud (Kyla Pratt) has one wacky family: over-protective father, Oscar (Tommy Davidson), loving mother, Trudy (Paula Jai Parker), little brother Cece (Tara Strong) and sister Bebe (Tara Strong), and hardcore grandmother Suga Mama (Jo Marie Payton). Her wild friends: Dijonay Jones (Karen Malina White), Sticky Webb (Orlando Brown), Zoey Howzer (Soleil Moon Frye), and LaCienega Boulevardez (Alisa Reyes), and the bullies the Gross sisters (Raquel Lee).

It's a brand new life for Cory Baxter as well as his father Victor Baxter (from their predecessor series That's So Raven) as the father-and-son duo move from San Francisco, California to the White House in Washington, DC after Victor Baxter is named the new personal White House chef for President Richard Martinez.

In this television show for babies, the four colourful Teletubbies coo and play in idyllic Teletubbyland. They repeat fun, infant-pleasing activities such as rolling on the ground, laughing, running about, and watching real children on the televisions on their bellies. Mysterious pinwheels and telephones rise out of the meadow to loosely direct the day's activities. The Sun, featuring a baby's face, comments on the proceedings with baby noises, and it rises and sets to begin and end the show.

British pre-school children's television series

Chris and Martin Kratt meet their friend Zoboomafoo (a talking Sifaka Lemur from Madagascar) at the Animal Junction, a place where various other animals like to come and hang out. Together they introduce young viewers to the animal world through songs, video clips, and several forms of animation. 'Zoboo' also tells stories about his imaginary world of 'Zobooland', and a little girl named Jackie and the "Animal Helpers" provide short reports on ways people interact with animals. Through education, this upbeat show encourages kids to "Make an animal friend today!"

"Wizards of Waverly Place" focuses on the Russos. A typical family, which includes a mom, Theresa Russo; a dad, Jerry Russo; a son, Justin Russo; a daughter, Alex Russo; and another son, Max Russo. The kids and the family live normal lives but what their friends don't know is the kids are wizards in training and the dad was a former wizard!

Blue's Clues is a breakthrough play-along show that allows its preschool audience to "step inside" and become part of a bright, fanciful world where the host, Steve, lives with his animated puppy, Blue. The audience actively participates in Steve's daily routine and helps solve everyday problems, all within a context of entertaining games and activities. Blue's Clues is designed to develop preschoolers' thinking, reasoning and social skills through an educational approach called "flexible thinking," a theory that recognizes that children need to learn, not just what to think, but how to think for themselves. Blue's Clues uses a play-along format, which encourages kids to actively participate in using the clues as they view the program.

A pre-teen version of Scooby Doo, with a pint-sized version of the title character.

She's a talented 14 year old pop star. But underneath that blonde hair and makeup lives a normal life of a regular teenage girl. Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus) is a regular teenager who does normal things but she is also secretly a pop star "Hannah Montana". She plays Hannah to live her dreams and show the world her amazing talents but really she's just Miley who is a normal girl who lets Hannah hide her identity with the help of her best friend Lily Truscott (Emily Osment)

This is the spin-off of the hit Disney Channel Original Series, "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody." The series follows twin brothers Zack and Cody Martin, London Tipton, and Mr. Moseby aboard the luxurious cruise liner, SS Tipton. While on the ship, the kids enroll in a semester-at-sea program, leaving Moseby in charge of the kids on the ship. The ship, owned by London's father, will cruise around the world, with tourists and students attending classes on Deck Eight- the one school that Mr. Tipton believes will make his daughter a better student. While living on the ship, expect Zack and Cody to still have their compass towards mischief.

Phil Diffy is the oldest child in a normal family. His sister, Pim is an often devious girl with an unusual vocal talent, his mother has a robotic body, and his father spends all of his time working on their broken time machine. Okay, so Phil would be normal he were in his own time. Until then, the Diffys are stuck in the early 21st Century (what they consider the past) and trying to fit in. Only one person knows their secret, Phil's new best friend bubbly and popular Keely Teslow. But with this new life and the misadventures that come with it become the norm, when the time comes will Phil want to return to the future?

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