peculiar and splendorous: a collection

Once upon a time, there were some people called the Rushers of Din. Each night as they slept, sweet dreams were delivered to them from sunny Frivoli, while nightmares came to them from the mysterious Murkworks. But the malevolent master of the Murk, Synonamess Botch, was not content. He wanted the Rushers to have non-stop nightmares. To do that, he would need to gain control of the Cosmic Clock. To accomplish this, he kidnaps the deliverers of the dreams, Greensleeves and the Figmen of Imagination, and then tricks Ralph, the All-Purpose Animal and his pal Mumford into stealing the mainspring from the Cosmic Clock. Realizing they've been tricked, Ralph and Mumford try to get the spring back and prevent Botch from unleashing his nightmare bombs. Along the way, they get help from their Fairy Godmother, Greensleeves' niece Flora Fauna, the junior varsity superhero Rod Rescueman, and Botch's own head nightmare writer, Scuzzbopper.

Arthur (aka Wart) is a young boy who aspires to be a knight's squire. On a hunting trip he falls in on Merlin, a powerful but amnesiac wizard who has plans for Wart beyond mere squiredom. He starts by trying to give Wart an education (whatever that is), believing that once one has an education, one can go anywhere. Needless to say, it doesn't quite work out that way.

A young boy whose dreams transcend reality is sucked into his own fantasy, which is everything he has dreamed of until he unleashes a century old secret that may not only destroy this perfect dream world but reality itself.

Centuries ago, in the land of Prydain, a young man named Taran is given the task of protecting Hen Wen, a magical oracular pig, who knows the location of the mystical black cauldron. This is not an easy task, for The Evil Horned King will stop at nothing to get the cauldron.

In a post apocalyptic future that appears as a blend of World War II Europe and J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, a pint-size wizard named Avatar must save the world from a band of fascist mutants controlled by his evil twin brother, Blackwolf, who likes to confuse enemy armies by projecting films of Adolf Hitler speeches during attacks. Painted live-action footage of advancing Nazi armies contrasts with Saturday-morning-cartoon-style animation of fairies and elves as Avatar travels through various magical and radioactive realms on his quest. Aiding him are the beautiful Fairy princess Elinore, hot-blooded warrior elf Weehawk, and Peace, a misunderstood robot rebelling against his Blackwolf-controlled programming. A bizarre and psychedelic meditation on magic vs. technology, this ultimate futuristic fantastic epic cult film still finds an audience on college campuses and will prove quite rewarding to viewers in the right frame of mind.

Charlie B. Barkin (Burt Reynolds), a rascally German Shepherd with a shady past, breaks out of the New Orleans Dog Pound with the help of his faithful friend Itchy (Dom De Luise), a nervously hyperactive dachshund. He then makes tracks to reunite with his gambling casino partner Carface Malone (Vic Tayback), a shifty pitbull who has planned a dastardly, and potentially deadly, double cross. Suddenly, Charlie finds himself at the Pearly Gates, face to face with the Heavenly Whippet (Melba Moore). Charlie weasels his way back to earth and reunites with Itchy. He plots his revenge against Carface and, along the way, acquires help from a little girl named Anne-Marie (who can talk to animals). After a series of fiendish schemes, close scrapes and unexpected adventures, both Charlie and Anne Marie find their lives at stake. Only one can be saved and the outcome is in Charlie's paws...

A group of dated appliances that find themselves stranded in a summer home that their family had just sold, decide to, á la "The Incredible Journey", seek their young 8 year old "master". Children's film which on the surface is a frivolous fantasy, but with a dark subtext of abandonment, obsolescence, and loneliness.

Raggedy Ann and the rest of the toys in Marcella's playroom are curious about a package that has just arrived. They look inside and discover it contains a beautiful French doll. The haughty girl, named Babette, is horrified by her new home. She wants to go back to Paris. Meanwhile, the Captain, a pirate in a snow globe, sees Babette and falls in love. He tricks Raggedy Ann into freeing him and then immediately kidnaps Babette and sails out the window. Raggedy Ann and Andy leave the playroom to rescue her. Their adventure includes meeting a blue camel with wrinkled knees; the Greedy, a living, self-consuming taffy pit filled with every candy and confection known to the palate; King Coo Coo and the Loonie Knight, who love to laugh, but only at the expense of others; and Gazooks, a tickle monster hired to give King Coo Coo the last laugh. Finally, they find the Captain; but the damsel in distress proves more capable than they had imagined.

Milo is a boy who is bored with life. One day he comes home to find a toll booth in his room. Having nothing better to do, he gets in his toy car and drives through - only to emerge in a world full of adventure.

As the blackest of magic, summoned by the evil megalomaniac Lord Nekron, gives birth to a towering, ever-growing glacier, the remnants of humankind flee south, seeking shelter in the temperate, volcanic realm of generous King Jarol. With the unstoppable glacial mass devouring everything in its path, war draws nearer, and King Jarol's resilient and resourceful only daughter, Princess Teegra, finds herself in harm's way. More and more, the suffocating stranglehold of Nekron's sorcery tightens around the last of the survivors as his beastly minions emerge from the bowels of the Earth. Now, to save raven-haired Teegra, the young defender, Larn, selflessly embarks on a peril-laden quest in the heart of a hostile, monster-ridden land, risking life and limb to thwart Nekron's sinister plans. If Fire and Ice meet on the blood-soaked field of battle, who can guess the outcome?

Life at the Magic Roundabout is disrupted when a blue cat called Buxton finds his way into town. Everyone loves Buxton except for Dougal, who discovers the cat's mad plan to become the king of blue army and destroy all who are not blue.

The story is about the adventurous Princess Irene. The princess is off playing in the woods when she is attacked by goblins pets. She is saved by a mining young warrior boy named Curty. They quickly become friends and get into a lot of trouble. The goblins attack and Irene must rely on her own magic to save Curty, and in turn the entire kingdom.

James' happy life at the English seaside is rudely ended when his parents are killed by a rhinoceros and he goes to live with his two horrid aunts. Daringly saving the life of a spider he comes into possession of magic boiled crocodile tongues, after which an enormous peach starts to grow in the garden. Venturing inside, he meets not only the spider but a number of new friends including a ladybug and a centipede who help him with his plan to try to get to New York.

In this dreamlike Hungarian folk myth, a horse goddess gives birth to three powerful brothers who set out into the Underworld to save three princesses from three evil dragons and reclaim their ancestors' lost kingdom.

Gandahar is a utopian world of rare beauty and tranquility, the result of extensive mutation and genetic experimentation. But the perfect peace is shattered when a mysterious evil force invades this idyllic serenity, turning people into stone with petrifying rays. The Council of Women hold court and decide to send Sylvain, son of Queen Ambisextra, on a mission to destroy the enemy. Together with the beautiful and adventurous Arielle, the enemy that Sylvain eventually discovers very far from his home is the ultimate failure of Gandaharian scientific experimentation. It is a giant brain known as the Metamorphis, which has created an indestructible army of metal men to destroy Gandahar. Sylvain must battle the Metamorphis, but not until 1000 years in the future.

This is an animated movie based on the book by Peter Dickinson. In this movie the realm of magic is being threatened by the realm of logic, so Carolinus, the green wizard decides to shield it for all time. Ommedon, the evil red wizard, stands in his way. Carolinus then calls for a quest that is to be led by a man named Peter Dickinson, who is the first man of both the realms of science and magic. It is Peter's job to defeat Ommedon.

In a little village somewhere in Africa, a boy named Kirikou is born. But he's not a normal boy, because he knows what he wants very well. Also he already can speak and walk. His mother tells him how an evil sorceress has dried up their spring and devoured all males of the village except of one. Hence little Kirikou decides, he will accompany the last warrior to the sorceress. Due to his intrepidity he may be the last hope of the village.

Bilbo Baggins the Hobbit was just minding his own business, when his occasional visitor Gandalf the Wizard drops in one evening . One by one, a whole group of dwarves drop in, and before he knows it, Bilbo has joined their quest to reclaim their kingdom, taken from them by an evil dragon named Smaug. The only problem is that Gandalf has told the dwarves that Bilbo is an expert burglar, but he isn't....