I am so not a top ten list guy. At the end of a year, I kind of cringe at the "a year in review" stuff that a lot of news stations and publications do. So, I'll admit, I'm a hypocrite because here I am with a top ten list.... sorry, top 11 list of my favorite posters we put out this year. Feel free to agree or disagree with me in the comments.
Dracula by Aaron Horkey & Vania Zouravliov
Some people, when they first meet me, say, "I bet your house is covered with Mondo posters." It's weird, but that's actually the opposite of the truth. If you were to come over (you SHOULD come over. Text me.), you'd see a bunch of weird stuff like Ghana movie posters, original comic art or whatever.... and then this Dracula poster. It's the only Mondo poster up at present and I love it. Without a doubt, my favorite poster of the year.
Steamboat Willie by Tom Whalen
This poster was very fun to work on. We worked out the agreement with Sideshow to tackle the Disney properties and I remember seeing a Disney Big Fig Steamboat Willie statue on a Tumblr and thought, "Oh... that'd be cool to start the Disney series with." It was going to be a parallel where this was the cartoon that kind of kicked off the whole Mickey Mouse thing and it'd also be what kicked off the Mondo series, too. We were going to do it as a small thing attached to another poster release. Then, Tom Whalen turned this in and it became a standalone release. Tom is an amazing artist and we feel very fortunate to constantly get his best stuff. He's a genius.
Pan's Labyrinth by Aaron Horkey
Guillermo Del Toro is a huge art fan. Check out the bonus features on the Criterion CRONOS dvd. There is a tour of his Bleak House where he has all of his collection. It's covered with stuff from his movies, Struzan paintings, original comic art.... and now this original drawing for Pan's Labyrinth.
Akira by Tyler Stout
The first Mystery Movie! This was one of the most stressful days of my life. I think the show started at like 10pm or something like that and we were literally standing at a loading dock at the Austin airport at 9:30 helping them pull these off of a plane. That show was almost ruined by constant delays in this shipment getting in, but thankfully it worked out and we got to celebrate Tyler's Birthday properly. I think this poster matches Tyler's style SO WELL. Akira is so chaotic and nutso crazy and this poster matches it perfectly.
The Mummy by Martin Ansin
I remember when Martin sent this to us. We opened the email.... went "WHOA!".... submitted it for approval to Universal.... and thirty minutes later it was approved. No joke, it was the quickest any design has ever gotten the nod from a studio and I think it's because even they realized that it was perfect.
Swamp Thing by Florian Bertmer
I'm reading the Alan Moore Swamp Thing series right now. I wonder if he'd approve of this poster? I know that he had nothing to do with the movie, but we really tried to take inspiration from the books and Stephen Bissette's SWAMP THING art to make this poster. I wonder if they'd approve of what we did with it? Again.... this was the movie and they were doing stuff with a comic.... I guess I just want to have some kind of contact with or approval from Alan Moore. I really like that guy. And I like Swamp Thing.
Frankenstein by Drew Struzan
Cliche time! Doing this poster was a dream come true. Really.... it was.
Remember when you were in school? Almost every grade you were in, at least once during the year, they'd ask you to think about what you wanted to do for a job when you got older. A lot of people were like, "NBA Player!" "Model!" "The President!" or whatever. Not me... I always wanted to be a movie editor, or a special effects artist, or to work at Marvel comics so I could get free comics. None of that happened obviously, but I would've never guessed that when I was guessing what I'd be when I grew up that it would've included working with the guy that did STAR WARS and BACK TO THE FUTURE and a billion other posters I had hanging on my walls. The experience I had doing this aside.... this poster is a masterpiece. Drew, thank you.
The Iron Giant by Kevin Tong
Let's make a list publicly of movies that make Justin cry... 1. BIG; 2. Toy Story 2; 3. The Iron Giant.
Yep. Every time with this movie.... I'm turnin' on the water works. When we were planning the LA MMM we wanted to do under appreciated movies and this was one of the first ones that came to mind. Kevin showed me the poster after he was done and the first thing I searched for was the squirrel that Hogarth lets go in the diner. In my mind said, "If he put that on here, then this poster is AWESOME." And.... it was. I mean, if he would've left that off, then it still would've been good. That just showed me that Kevin cared and GOT the movie. He's a great dude. This is a great movie. And it's a marvelous poster.
Jurassic Park by JC Richard
"Where did you get this? Where was the photo taken?" That is what someone from Universal said to us when we submitted this. Can there be a better compliment than that for JC? I want him to do every poster... he's that exciting of an artist. Couple that excitement with something as iconic as JURASSIC PARK.... well, I guess you get this poster, huh? Can't wait to see what else is coming from JC.
The Burning by Phantom City Creative
This poster is truly a testament to how great Phantom City is. They're smart. Very, very smart and ultra talented. Those dudes knocked this one out of the park and I will go on record saying that even though THE BURNING isn't a very well known movie.... it's one of the best posters to ever be produced by Mondo.Maniac by Ken Taylor
Ken Taylor's MANIAC is a thing of beauty. It is special. And so is Joe Spinell. This movie is a time capsule of how things were in New York at one point. It's ultra scummy and grimy and even though I wasn't alive and was never there, I can only imagine what it was like thanks to this movie. And to me, this poster sums it up. This Ken Taylor drawing is so haunting and terrifying, but at the same time... sad. Spinell looks sad. It's a total Universal Monster movie, but without Frankenstein. Spinell is Frankenstein. I could go on and on about this poster, but I'm going to cut this short. If you see me out and about and you bring this poster up, I will talk your ear off.... plus, you'll instantly be my friend. Sure, we do lots of stuff for bigger movies like CAPTAIN AMERICA or GREMLINS that are more well known, but I get the same amount of joy introducing people to movies like this by putting a poster spotlight on them.
Thanks for a great 2011. It was really fun. Truly. You guys are the best. I know how a lot of companies and people wax poetic about how "they can't do it without you" and it sounds kind of corny, but I mean it. Mitch, Rob, Me, Jessica, Mo, Sophie, Justin, Eric.... the dudes that work at Mondo truly thank you for making stuff like the above 11 posters possible. Let's do fun things again in 2012? Ok?
