Welcome to the Crowdsourcing Mornings segment! Every weekday morning, Geek Alabama talks about and features one crowdsourcing project from crowdsourcing sites such as, Indiegogo, and others. The hope with Crowdsourcing Mornings is to feature and help a project be successful and reach its fundraising goal. Please enjoy today’s featured project!
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MOUSETRAP: The Air Pirates War Against Disney is a documentary that follows a group of underground cartoonists, led by the audacious Dan O’Neill, in their quest for creative freedom and the right to parody – igniting one of the most incendiary legal battles in American cultural history.
In 1971, frustrated by the constraints of mainstream media and fueled by artistic vision, O’Neill assembles a crew of like-minded rebels—Shary Flenniken, Bobby London, Gary Hallgren, and Ted Richards. Together, they become the Air Pirates, a renegade collective determined to take on the pseudo-wholesome facade of corporate America. Their first act? Mickey Mouse and friends, in the most anti-Disney way imaginable.
Set against the backdrop of a 1970s counterculture, MOUSETRAP is a tale of creativity, defiance, and the fight for freedom of speech. It shaped the future of parody and fair use practices for decades to come. It’s an entertaining and energetic story that will be told in an artistically creative manner. It’s a story never before told on film … until now.
MOUSETRAP: The Air Pirates War Against Disney is told through verité footage, interviews, rare archival material, and 2D animation rooted in underground comix aesthetics.
Animation will feature Hugh and Fred Bird – O’Neill’s iconic creations from his nationally syndicated comic strip Odd Bodkins. Hugh is an ever-optimistic humanoid and Fred is a borderline paranoid bird. Hugh and Fred sequences will act as narrative guides injecting humor, philosophic musings, and a touch of the absurd into this extraordinary journey.
The style will help capture the bold biting satire that fueled the conflict. The overall visual language will seamlessly transition between contemporary and archival footage and the animated sequences, blurring the lines between reality and the subversive world of the Air Pirates.
MOUSETRAP is set against the backdrop of 1970s counterculture rebellion, the Vietnam War and Nixon-era repression, yet current everyday threats to freedom of expression, digital censorship, and monopolistic control of media could not be more prevalent. It captures the psychedelic spirit of the time while also drawing urgent parallels to today’s battles over who controls culture and who gets to speak. MOUSETRAP is timely.
Welcome to the Kickstarter campaign for MOUSETRAP: The Air Pirates War against Disney. Acclaimed filmmaker Jed Riffe, alongside an award-winning team, is bringing to life the untold story of Dan O’Neill, The Air Pirates, and their principled fight – the battle for free speech and the right to parody – mixing interviews, live action, and animation.
Jed and his team have launched this campaign on Kickstarter to help them tell the story truthfully, artfully, and independently – the only way it should be told.
As of June 17th, this project has raised $46,000 of their $51,500 goal. This project has 3 days left to raise the $51,500 or it will not be funded. For a pledge of $20, you will get a one-time digital stream of the movie. For a pledge of $30, you will get to download the film. To learn more and to pledge money, go to: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jedriffefilms/mousetrap-the-air-pirates-war-against-disney?
Categories: Crowdsourcing Mornings Stuff
