My Neighbour Totoro

Time for some cartoon stuff...I think that one is never too old for cartoons and I still enjoy watching them. Well at least some kinds of animated stuff... like those produced by the Ghibli studio (and I found out that just yesterday one of its co-founders, Isao Takahata, had died at the age of 82 - I am starting to find the timing of my posts today a bit freaky now...if you haven't watched The Grave of the Fireflies, I recommend you do so, a really heart-touching story!

But today's card ain't related to Takahata, but to another one of my all time favourite directors, and that is Hayao Miyazaki - for me, the God of anime! :)
And the card above shows a scene from the first Miyazaki movie  I have ever watched and which made me want to watch everything by Miyazaki eventually, that's My Neighbour Totoro.

What I love about his work is that it all deals with humanity and teachers children good values, how to be human and a good person in general, how to love life and be grateful for what you have.
Much better than a number of dumb cartoons and animations shown nowadays =/
It is said that what makes his work so great is his - heart. Cos you can indeed easily see when something has been done from the heart and when you truly believe in it.

Do you watch cartoons? Any favourites? And of course, do you like the Miyazaki ones? :)

Btw, do you know on which date Totoro was released? April 16th... and it will be exactly 30 years this year since it first saw the light of the day.

Finding Nemo

And I decided to throw in one more card for today.

As many of you know, in 2012 the USPS issued a set of a Pixar stamps, with the motto, Mail a Smile. And besides the stamps, they also issued matching postcards. Bryon of course, sent those to me, and here I choose my favourite cartoon from that series, and one of my all time favourite cartoons as well, Finding Nemo.

I'm pretty sure there is no need for any special introduction or explanation who Nemo is.

However, my favourite character ain't Nemo but actually Dory, and probably it has been the favourite character of many, since in 2016 they released the Finding Dory cartoon. Super cute as well.

Anyways, from the Finding Nemo one, I have many favourite scenes and surprisingly enough, they all have Dory in it. So here is just one of them :))

A matching stamp of course, and also a stamp from 1982, featuring the Barrymores

Well Bryon, what else could I say except a millions of thank yous for all these beautiful things and the many many more that are still to be featured. It's really been a pleasure!!!

And to the rest of you, thanks for dropping by and...see you next time :)

Minions

Been writing these posts in the span of a few hours, and if I started it with, the weather is so lovely and all, we got the Apocalypse in the meantime...seriously...I went to the theatre to see a play...during the break they told us we had to leave the theatre...outside was raining cats and dogs along with a hailstorm, so my guess is the roof has collapsed...a lot of streets are flooded...but at least I got home...and then...bang!! an Earthquake!! And a rather shaky one! I couldnt help it but just started laughing...because sometimes when you are freaked out with such a sequence of events, it just comes to you to start laughing....oh my, I hope it's gonna end with this and no more unpleasant surprises...

aaand, I was actually gonna show you my two Minion cards!! Do you love these characters? Have you watched the Despicable Me cartoons? You probably should!

Though I must say I preferred Despicable Me 1 to Despicable Me 2, but still, both are really nice! And I was so excited when this girl from China had Minion cards for swap...couldnt resist it :D

аnd besides the Minions, there are a number of other lovely characters too :)

btw, do you know my Minion slippers? super cool winter footwear....and they DO keep you warm :)

Kak Kazaki, Ukraine

well, my last post for today may be unusual to some, but when some time ago I discovered that these cards existed, I was thrilled to no end!!!
I absolutely LOVE those old cartoons I used to watch as a child, coming from the former USSR, Poland, Czechoslovakia etc...there is simply something magical about them that no modern cartoon of today can come close to it.
And one of those cartoons was this one coming from Ukraine, or back then, the USSR, about the three guys called Kak Kazaki, or Cossacks, showing the adventures in their every day life.
Regarding the word Cossacks, it refers to a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military and semi-naval communities in Ukraine and Southern Russia.

Here in the cartoon we have 3 guys, called, Грай, Око and Тур. All the cartoon series are short, and last no longer than 20 minutes, each with its own title...and so the postcards seem to be issued according to the cartoons...and here comes a card from on of my favourite Cossacks cartoons called, Как Казаки Невест Выручали, or As the Cossacks rescued the brides.
This one dates back from 1973, with Vladimir Dahno as its director. The cartoon has won an award at the VI International Festival of Documentary and Short Films in Nyon ( Switzerland )

You dont really need to understand the language to be able to understand the plot (there is barely any talking either way)...but do turn on your speakers or put on your headphones, i highly recommend listening to the beautiful traditional accompanying songs, music and sound effects. These are the cartoons I can keep watching over and over again and never get bored, with the music always creating beautiful emotions.



I hope you liked it at least a bit :)
And lets not forget the stamps of course :)

The first card here came with the following stamps:

the first stamp, top left was issued in a set of stamps in 2011, under the title Generous Ukraine - Spring. The one below it is a definitive from 2012, from a set of 13 stamps showing trees and fruits (here you see an Acacia). While the stamp at the right is also from 2012, from a set of two, commemorating the 200th Anniversary of Birth of Taras.

the second card came with two stamps from the above mentioned Generous Ukraine-Spring series

I love it that both cards have a print of the card-image on the back as well...and that both senders were really thoughtful and hadn't placed a stamp over it :)

UP

the kindness called Bryon mailed me this awesome UP card...coz I mentioned i fell in love with the cartoon :)

I know that not all of us have the same taste, however, i do think you should give this cartoon a chance....it is one of the loveliest ive seen in a long long while, touching and hilarious at the same time...

the back of the card would say: UP sometimes dreams like a detour. Disney-Pixar's 10th feature film, opened on May 29 2009, and introduced Carl Fredricksen, a curmudgeonly former balloon salesman. At age 78, Carl finally fulfills his lifelong dream by tying thousands of balloons to his house to fly away to the wilds of South America. But when he finds himself on his great adventure with an overtly enthusiastic 8-year-old named Russell, a talking dog named Dug and a 13-foot-tall rare flighthless bird, Carl discovers that life's true adventure can be found not in travel or great accomplishments but in small, everyday moments with family and friends.

the trailer...just to give you an idea, in case you havent watched it so far




and just lay back and enjoy....you may need some extra napkins though :)

these cards from the Hello series are prestamped...but as you see, postage is not even closely enough for outside the US, so Bryon added another UP stamp, and the ice-bear definitive from 2009.

thank you sooooo much Bryon!

Bart Simpson

This is one of my all time favourite cartoons/series.....The Simpsons!

I have watched them for many years and sometimes they CAN get tedious, but in general, i love the sense of humour they have and actually how it is portrayed through their characters...in some ironic way...sometimes too subtle, sometimes too direct....
One of the things i dont like about the Simpsons is actually the violence and its enjoyment and fascination (which you can feel through the Itchy and Scratchy cartoon) but in general Simpsons are and WILL remain one of my favourite shows ever and im more than glad to actually have received not just one, but THREE Simpsons related cards! Wohooo!  Of course...you'll see them one by one....and probably with the next cards ill bore you with some facts and  figures info...

for now, just a Cranberry Sauce a-la Bart video :)

Garfield

Here is my second ever Garfield card and i love it! Feels like a real treasure...there was a small accident with my other one...i spilled some coffee on my desk (surprise! surprise!) and a few drops spilt over the card....it isnt very affected or ruined, just that it has a light brown spreaded spot over the back...i should definitely find a holder for my mugs where they would be safe and whenever i drink something, there will be no risk of knocking it over and making a mess of everything thats on my desk...and there is a pile of stuff on my desk! I really wonder what would happen when i get my lap-top...accidents like this are gonna be stroooongly prohibited...otherwise, the lap-top wont really have a long life :)

I havent really watched anything Garfield related in the meantime (which reminds me that i have a task to watch Snow White during this weekend though..)
But there are always plenty of comics and pictures to share about Garfield or the Garfield without Garfield concept...so here we go....I find the following ones rather amusing...from a psychological point of view :)

 

  

  

 

and here is one of my favourite Garfield videos...but you do need to watch it in full or closely to full attention to get the point of it :)

till my next Garfield card (which i hope will be soon) for more comics and videos to share...

Snoopy

I know it seems childish but i love receiving postcards with my favourite cartoon characters! I got this and another great Garfield one thanks to Minna.
Tervetuloa actually means Welcome :)  Maybe i should have made this card as a first post today...

I love Snoopy and his sense of humour...I love the Peanuts in general...Linus is my favourite...it has got to be coz of his name....Linus sounds just so perfect and so melodic to my ears.
I have downloded some of the Peanuts series, yet i havent managed to watch them actually...maybe once i get a new lap-top...on this PC simple browsing tends to get annoying...i dont even wanna think of making a more complex operation :)

here are a few Snoopy cartoons...in case you like him and have some extra time to kill :)











not the kind of a dog i want to keep at home though...too pesky :)

Garfield

My first EVER Garfield card and im soooo happy about it!! I absolutely love Garfield and when i saw this card offered in one of the tags i immediately knew I HAD to have it! Such a chance couldnt have been missed!

Im not sure if whats written here is in Estonian (since the card was sent from there) or maybe Finnish ...they look somewhat similar to me, but a translation with anyone familiar with the language would be greatly appreciated :)
Why I love Garfield? I dont know...makes me laugh, his way of life, his attitude to it, his sense of humour, his laziness (which probably reminds me of myself)...the relation between him and John, the relation between him and Oddie....altogether its just something to enjoy watching or reading...i may be preferring the cartoons over the comics simply coz they last longer....but comics are great as well and i have a whole archive of them...and id like to share some of them with you...hopefully ill get more Garfield cards in the future, so ill share more comics with you...if you have any Garfield cards can you please, pretty please send them to me? You have no idea how happy you'd make me with that :D

 

  

  

Ok, i dont know if you've heard about this Garfield without Garfield concept...at first i was totally against it and very skeptical, but soon i got to love it...of course, i would never give up on Garfield himself, but as a story by itself, Garfield without Garfield is a real psychology of man's loneliness and alienation and the inability to fit into the society....in this case, all of that portrayed through Jon

 

  

  

  

  

Sorry for the too longish picturesque post...but i just enjoy Garfield :)