Well, one contest ends - see below - and another begins. We've got three Howl's Moving Castle theatrical posters and three matted Howl's Moving Castle lithographs, perfect for framing, up for grabs. Want one? Of course you do ...
Here's how this will work. It's a Miyazaki vs Disney Death Match! Sure, Hayao's got the advantage since he's alive and thawed while Walt is dead and frozen but such is life. Or death, as the case may be.
Listen carefully, here are the rules. This is a single elimination tournament with matches decided by coin flip. We begin with sixteen combatants, eight from Ghibli, eight from Disney. I'll give you the opening bracket then it's up to you to fill in your picks the rest of the way and send them in, every correct choice earns you a point, most points win free swag. Got it? It's like the NCAA brackets, only with cute animated characters killing each other rather than basketball games.
Here's the opening round: Match One: Totoro vs Mickey in a battle of company logos. Match Two: Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service vs Pluto in a battle of cat and dog. Match Three: A Laputian Battle Robot vs Pinnochio in a battle of Not A Real Boy. Match Four: A Tanuki From Pom Poko vs Chip in a battle of homoerotic chipmunk against large-testicled raccoon. Match Five: No Face vs Goofy in a battle of no face against no brain. Match Six: Yaku from Princess Mononoke vs Bambi in a battle of pointy horned deer against, well, frankly a completely defenseless faun. That one doesn't seem very fair, does it? Match Seven: Wounded Baby Ohm vs Pumba in a battle of insect against hungry warthog. Match Eight: Dragon Form Haku vs Dragon Form Witch From Sleeping Beauty in what is obviously a battle of dragons. If only I could figure out a way to work in Trogdor ...
Now, I've laid out the entire bracket here so all you have to do is compile your list of who goes through. For example only one person can go through each match so only one of Mickey or Totoro can possibly end up in position 'A'. Likewise only one of Jiji and Pluto will end up in position 'B' and so on. To enter you need to send me your list of who will appear in each position (A through O). Each correct pick will be worth one point and those with the most points get the free stuff. Yes, it's over complicated, but it makes me giggle.
We'll be taking entries until the end of the month. Send your completed brackets here.