Sunday, January 1, 2017

Happy New Year! I'm In Love With A Chicken.

Happy 2017, everyone!

For New Year's Eve John and I got wild and crazy and had some garlicy white pizza (Blaze at Disney Springs. SO GOOD.) followed by a vastly overdue viewing of Moana at our local theater. And oh. Migosh. You guys. YOU GUYS.


Believe the hype. If you haven't seen this movie yet, RUN to your nearest theater and see it immediately. Just be sure to bring Kleenex for the buckets of happy tears. (Yep, not a single tear for Rogue One, but I produced a two-hour rainstorm for Moana. Not because it's sad, but because it's just so beautiful.)

Seriously, Moana's animation is off-the-charts gorgeous, but you almost don't notice because the story is so relentlessly fantastic. Original, hilarious, touching, multiple strong female characters... ah! I can't wait to see it again. I could have stayed in the theater then and there for a second showing.

But here's the thing:


I LOVE THIS CHICKEN.

Well, he's a rooster. Named Heihei, which is pronounced, "Hey Hey."

If you're like me, and enjoy CGI slapstick done by a bug-eyed rooster, then you, too, will fall beak-over-tail for Heihei. And when you learn Alan Tudyk is the voice behind all of Heihei's chicken sounds, your love will only grow.

I feel deep in my soul that I must possess a Heihei of my very own, so I've been looking at all the Heihei merch out there. Then my friend Steph found the most AMAZING THING EVER:

This is Gladzy Kei Art & Cosplay and her hand-sculpted Heihei.

Behold his magnificence!!

Gladzy made him using Apoxie Sculpt and Worbla - a brilliant choice for those feathers. Her paint job is what really drops my jaw, though. Those color fades! And the metallics! Ah! I'm making involuntary "gimmie" hands in-between typing right now.

I also want to drop everything and buy some Worbla and try sculpting my own Heihei. Maybe with his head tilted to the side? I don't know that I could ever match Gladzy's amazingness, but dang, it seems fun to try!

Anyway, here's to trying lots of fun new things in 2017. Thanks for sticking around with me, geeking out with me, and for being my tribe. You guys rock. Sending you ALL the hugs and rooster pecks.

27 comments:

  1. Nice to know I'm not the only one who cried through half the movie. Disney hasn't pushed all my buttons so thoroughly in ages.

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  2. Yasss! Moana was *SO GOOD.* I went home and immediately downloaded the soundtrack. :D

    And I love how she is allowed to be strong and independent, and nobody tells her girls can't do those things. She's the daughter of the chief, and everyone expects her to take his place one day. Her father tells her not to leave because it's dangerous for *everyone.* I just love how this movie just treats girls as equals without making a big deal about it. That, to me, is a huge deal. And Moana isn't the first example I've seen.

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  3. Well if any evidence from when you sculpted Mertie the snail still exists, then yep you can make an awesome HeiHei! Happy new year!
    Pinkie Welborne, 16
    Indiana

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  4. We love HeiHei too! Can't wait to see your version.

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  5. I surprisingly didn't love Moana (I enjoyed it, but found it very derivative of other Clements/Muker films), but Heihei is the best Disney sidekick ever. BOATSNACK!

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  6. Darn, I saw Sing instead! That chicken looks amazing.

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  7. I have no doubt you will create an excellent HeiHei. You have mastered every task to which your hand has been set. Post Progress Pics, Please!!

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  8. Much love to you and John, and Happy New Year!

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  9. Fun Fact that you may or may not know: HeiHei is "voiced" by Alan Tudyk!

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  10. Ok, now I REALLY need to go see Moana. Look forward to seeing your finished HeiHei!

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  11. Thank goodness you're telling people how amazing this movie is. I don't know that anyone beloved me. I have loved a Disney movie like this in a LONG time. The story was fantastic, I didn't hate the heroine, and the effects were amazing. That whole sequence where things were cartoony. I fell in love with it. I mean, just HOW? And Heihei was hilarious. I felt bad for him, but also couldn't get enough of him. I'm sure yours will be beautiful and can't wait to see ��

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  12. I just got back from seeing it! I loveeeeddd it. So beautiful, so intriguing. My sister went with me and said they discussed it in her class on culture representation in media-it received a lot of praise! I sincerely hope they use this template and make a princess movie set in Africa-it would be sooooooo gorgeous!

    Also, did you notice that Lin-Manuel Miranda helped write the music? It made a lot of sense once I watched it.

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  13. Alan Tudyk: "...I went to Julliard..."

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaGYXjMwS60

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    1. I was just coming in here to link that. XDD

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    2. That was the best. Thing. Ever. Thank you for sharing! Made my day!

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  14. Man, my rock must be huge as I didn't even know this was finally in theaters. That or I don't have a car and our dinky movie theater is on the side of town I don't need to walk to every dang day.

    Alan Tudyk voices the rooster? Oh yes, that's a definite need now.

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  15. I NEED TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!
    (thanks for the reminder / push. xo)

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  16. I have listened to "Shiny" at least once a day every day since seeing this movie way back in November.

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  17. Disney Store online has a Heihei plush for sale.

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  18. HeiHei and Becky from Finding Dory need to get together and be BFFs.

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  19. My husband and I were in IKEA the other day, and I grabbed a stuffed rooster and went "Boat snack!" (way too plump to be HeiHei but heyou, the opportunity presented itself). People gave us strange looks as we laughed our butts off. We both loved HeiHei so much! However, we -did- want to see more of Poa!

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  20. I know how you feel about crying when viewing something beautiful. When the Lion King first came out in the theaters, the opening scenes caused tears to fall like crazy. I have always wanted to be a Disney artist and seeing the animated herds of animals, with each one moving independently, just made my heart swell 3 sizes that day. :)

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    1. To this day I have to listen to the Lion King soundtrack by myself because it makes me cry. That movie will forever be stuck to me!

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  21. We love this movie in our house, also. Got to take my 5 year old after Thanksgiving with my sister- what a great movie to see as a "girls day." My little one is in love with the Kakamora and has requested a Moana birthday with a Kakamora cake. The soundtrack is on permanent rotation in my house/car- whether or not the kids are around.

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  22. I was blown away by the movie. Gorgous visuals, wonderful family messages, amazing music (I sung everything on the way home after hearing it once), and a "princess" who never once has a love interest or even suggestion. I don't even know how old she's supposed to be!
    I'm a big fan of Lin Manuel Miranda and you can totally hear him in the music (and he does do vocals for the voyager songs). You need to search out the behind the scenes stuff on youtube. They have some of in the studio song recording and Lin is conducting and he's just so excited and bouncy! Trust me on this.

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  23. Loved Moana. Bummed it lost out to Zootopia last night at the Golden Globes. And yes, I did shed a tear or two during this movie. Especially during the ******* scene.

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  24. Heihei is the Maori word for "chicken" (ignore any reports that it means disturbance).
    I'm so proud of the Maori content that was included in the film - we are often a forgotten culture.

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