Here’s a quick post to share some wonderful news concerning our friend Yuji and his movie, TOKYO TOY GUY. This is THE Documentary Film all about a few very serious Vintage Batman Toy Collectors from 5 major countries. He showed the film to a major audience last weekend at the 2013 MEFCC event. Those letters stand for “Middle East Film and Comic Con”. This is held every year in Dubai. For more info about that convention show, just CLICK HERE!

The good news is that the film was a major success! They even has an interview and discussion about the movie live on stage. Another cool thing is that, as an example of what Yuji was talking about, he brought the TOKYO TOY GUY Movie Poster and a copy of Chip Kidd’s book, “Batman Collected” as examples. He told the audience how this book was a major inspiration for the movie and as a side-note we should mention that Chip Kidd and his Vintage Batman Toy Collection actually appear in the movie.

OK, the film has not been released in the USA yet. Yuji said he is working on “foreign distribution”. But as soon as we have more information about that we will mention it here for sure so please stay tuned to CHIPKIDD.COM, thanks!

WOW! Check out this extremely well done Italian Fan-Film inspired by the new “BEFORE WATCHMEN” (DC Comics) Graphic Novels. It is simply titled, “BEFORE RORSCHACH – PSYCHO KILLER”. The acting, set design, lighting, costumes, etc… are all very well done.

Directed by Simon Perini, with valuable advice Marcello Bonini and Giovanni Degli Esposti.
Special Effects by Giovanni Degli Esposti.
Costumes made by Deborah Santini, Michela Candi, Valentino and Simone Pellegrini Perini.
Makeup beautifully curated by Mika-p Artist
Shooting in New York by Camilla Santandrea.
Additional music by Vincent Muscari.
Stuntman coordinated by Daniek Giuffrida and Federico Mita.

Here’s a post that is both “book-related” and wacky! There’s a new movie in Japan, titled LIBRARY WARS, that is based on the Manga Graphic Novel stories by Toshokan Sensou. Now, this series of books have already been made into an animated TV Show, the graphic up above is an example of that. But wait! Now it’s a LIVE-ACTION MOVIE!

The film tells the story of Kasahara Iku, the first woman to join the Library Task Force. In the near future in Japan, the Media Enhancement Law has been forced upon the population censoring all books and media. To counter this, the Library Defense Force was created. To protect themselves against the Media Enhancement Law Commission, all major libraries are fully equipped with a military Task Force, who take it upon themselves to protect the books and freedom of media of the people. This anime follows Iku and her fellow soldiers as they protect various special books and artifacts from the oppression of the Media Enhancement Law Commission. A love story, war story, and comedy all rolled into one.

Check out the new Movie Trailer down below:

If you have been reading this awesome website for a few weeks then you might remember a blog post we did awhile back where we mention a documentary called, “TOKYO TOY GUY”. You can see that post by clicking right HERE. Anyway, TOKYO TOY GUY is a brand-new film being created by our friend Yuji and it’s all about Vintage Batman Toys. Yuji spent five years traveling all around the world to speak with major Batman Toy Collectors. The fun thing is that Yuji came to New York City where he talked with Chip Kidd. Up above is a film still showing Chip talking about his collection. Then, down below, is the brand-new movie trailer which features some new footage and we also get a chance to see some of the other people that will appear in the movie. We’re really excited about this and can’t wait to see it. The movie has a new release date around December 2012. Stay tuned to CHIPKIDD.COM and as soon as we have more info, then so will you!

Since this website is Chip Kidd’s Official Blog we knew we totally have to mention that Universal Pictures is going to be re-releasing the Classic JURASSIC PARK Movie ( Directed by Steven Spielberg ) soon and it will be in 3D!! The Release Date is set for April 5th, 2013. Yes, here’s a chance to view this film on the big screen again but this time the Dinosaurs will be jumping out at you, literally! Up above is the One-Sheet Movie Poster ( that features the JP Logo designed by Chip Kidd ). Then, please be sure to view the video of the new movie trailer we placed here, down below.

Also, as a special treat, here is Chip Kidd’s original artwork for the Michael Crichton Book Jacket Cover, which later became the logo for the movie. Wow, we can’t wait to see this film again!!

Tokyo Toy Guy Japanese Batman Toys and Memorabilia Movie

Check out this AWESOME Movie Poster & Teaser Trailer Video ( down below ) for TOKYO TOY GUY, The BATMAN Toys and Memorabilia Collector Movie!! Yes, this is a film our Good friend Yuji Ueda has been working on for over 5 years. He traveled to 6 different Countries around the World to focus his video camera on some of the most major Batman Toy Collections in the world!! Now, not to brag or anything, but Chip Kidd makes an appearance in this film. Yuji traveled to the United States and made a special visit to Chip Kidd’s New York City Apartment. While there, he filmed a few super-rare Batman Toys that will appear in the film!

Seriously, this Documentary Movie will completely torture every serious Vintage Toy Collector out there because it has some of the most amazing, and super-rare, museum-quality stuff that you will probably ONLY ever EVER see in this film!

It’s still in post-production right now but please be sure to look for it to appear around November 2012. Also, please stay tuned to the CHIPKIDD.COM website because as soon as we have more information we will pass it along. Yes, we’re seriously excited about seeing this movie!!!

With the release of the recent movie trailer for the film adaptation of ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac ( 1922 – 1969 ) I thought it would be fun to share a LINK to a website where they have collected a ton of different covers for this famous book. Down below are just a few examples but if you visit the SITE you’ll be shocked by how many there are & it’s also sort of an interesting study on Graphic Design. Speaking of which, the drawing you see up above was actually done by Jack Kerouac has his idea of what the book jacket should look like. Strangely, the Publisher never considered it and even after all the covers that have been made over the years this version has never popped-up. It’s also interesting to note, about the website, that the Book Covers & Dust Jackets shown there are in English, German, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, French, etc…

ON THE ROAD was written in 1951, and published by Viking Press in 1957. The book is mostly autobiographical in nature. It portrays the story of a fierce personal quest for meaning and belonging. This comes at an interesting point in American history when conformity was praised and outsiders were suspect. This was during the start of the Cold War. The book instantly became a major hit and it is considered a defining work of America’s “Beat Generation”. One thing that is pretty interesting about the creation of this book was the fact that Jack Kerouac wrote it on one solid piece of paper that he called “The Scroll”. He taped many pieces of teletype paper together to achieve this. The “Scroll” still exists & can be seen in the photo down below.

Earlier I mentioned the “new movie” coming out and you can see that trailer at the bottom of this post. But first, I think it would be best to view another video where Jack Kerouac made an early appearance on TV’s “The Steve Allen Show” in 1959. He reads from the book and it’s pretty interesting to not only hear his original voice but it also gives you an idea of “the rhythm in which he wrote it”. Many Literary Critics have labeled the style of this book as a “Jazz Piece” because of it’s continuous flow.

Here’s a fun photo Chip Kidd wanted us to share here with you. He recently had the honor of meeting the Actor Stacy Keach! Yes, he said he’s an extremely nice guy which is always very cool to hear. Check it out, here’s what Chip had to say about the event:

On Monday I attended the New York premiere of the new installment of the ‘Bourne’ movie series, ‘The Bourne Legacy’ at the Ziegfeld theater. I was invited by one of my best friends in the world, Mr. Charles Kochman, who created the ‘Abrams Comic Arts’ imprint at Abrams Books (he also discovered and published a little book called ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’, but that’s another story). It was pretty great, and at the after-party at the Four Seasons I met one of the stars of the film, the venerable Stacy Keach. He plays one of the crooked CIA bosses, and has had a decades-long distinguished career. Anyway, he is the nicest guy, and posed with Charlie and me for a pic. He’s the one in the middle (duh), Charlie’s on the left. I should also geekily add that he was the voice of the Phantasm in ‘Batman: Mask of the Phantasm’, the great animated movie and a personal favorite.

They say that “Imitation is the Highest Form of Flattery”, so I thought this would be a fun idea for a post. Chip Kidd is pretty well known for creating the logo used for Steven Spielberg’s JURASSIC PARK Movie. Well, actually he had first designed it for the Book Cover to Michael Crichton’s novel that the film was based on and then Universal Pictures optioned it for the use as their Official Movie Logo, cool! It was a big part of the movie, not only for Advertising, Billboards, Movie Posters, etc… but it was also featured prominently IN the movie because it was the “Logo for the Dinosaur Theme Park” and they kind of made a point about the evils of mass-marketing ( Lunch Boxes, T-Shirts, Mugs, etc. ). Anyway, the rest is history and this classic logo has become sort of iconic. So much so, that there have been a million parodies! Here are just a few… for laughs, ha ha! Enjoy.