Replicants, superheros, and reboots await you in our Fall Movie Guide. Plan your season and take note of the hotly anticipated indie, foreign, and documentary. Easter Eggs found in Movies. Find hidden easter eggs in movies, tv shows, software, music, books, and art. The classic US stereotype of attempted Iranian ideological indoctrination via chants of Death to America and such has been old hat for quite some time. As noted. You knew that there was something different about Apples big iPhone event this year when the company introduced Animoji, cute, animated cartoon emoji that would. The HeelFace Turn trope as used in popular culture. When a bad guy turns good. This usually makes for a good plot, for three reasons It lets them. Apples Creepy New Emoji Are a Gateway Drug to Furrydom. You knew that there was something different about Apples big i. Phone event this year when the company introduced Animoji, cute, animated cartoon emoji that would move and speak based on the motion of your actual face. Oh, you thought to yourself. This is. new. Though Apple went on to describe the technology that actually makes the Animoji possible, the concept alone was enough to pique your interest. And the moment you saw it in action, you were sold. Unlike Snapchats familiar filters, Animoji entirely transform your face into the icon that youve selected. When your mouth opens, its mouth opens. The two of you share words, thoughts, and emotions. You arent just a person wearing a fox mask or makeup, you are the cartoon fox and the cartoon fox is you. It was funny watching Apple executives banter back and forth using their alien and fox Animoji. But as you sat at your desk watching the cartoon fox relay a message in Apple software chief Craig Federighis voice, another stray thought welled up inside of you What if. The way Apple presented it, the Animoji were a harmless little way to joke around with friends. But you know what your friends are like. Theyre crass and rude and theres no chance that the Animoji would stay tame for very long. If youre being entirely honest, though, you know that thats not really the reason why you keep thinking about the Animoji. No, youre still thinking about that talking fox because for the first time in your life, you get it. You understand it. You know what your fursona is and you have Apple to thank for it. Though youve never admitted it to anyone out loud, youve always known that there was part of you that felt the mildest attraction to furry culture. Youve always quietly admired the artwork and perhaps the errant piece of steamy erotica, but it wasnt until you saw that Apple presentation that something important slid into place. You arent just a person wearing a fox mask or makeup, you are the cartoon fox and the cartoon fox is you. Somewhere deep inside, you flirted with the idea of diving into the world of furrydom, but never got around to imagining a fursona for yourselfmuch less finding the audacity to commission an artist to draw one for you. But seeing that laughing fox changed something within you. It gave you hope. You saw yourself in the cartoon foxs expressive face and felt a primal sort of kinship with the character that took you by surprise. And then the possibilities began to wash over you. Who said you had to be a fox You could be a panda or a mouse or a pig. You could try on the entire barnyard until you found an augmented reality persona that felt like a true representation of who you are. This. Apples website. This is the beginning of a new era. Bionicle Wikipedia. Bionicle stylized BIONICLE was a line of construction toys created by the Lego Group marketed primarily towards 8 to 1. Originally a subsidiary theme of Legos Technic series, the line was launched in Europe and Australasia in 2. North America in 2. Over the following decade, it became one of the Lego Groups biggest selling properties and played a part in saving the company from its financial crisis of the late 1. Despite a planned twenty year tenure, the theme was originally discontinued in 2. Unlike previous Lego themes, Bionicle was accompanied with an original story that was told on a multimedia spectrum that expanded as it continued. Set in a science fantasy universe featuring a diversity of cyborgs, the premise depicts the tales of the Toa, heroic beings with elemental abilities whose duty is to protect the Matoran, a villager like populace, from the many evils of their world. This method of storytelling inspired latter Lego themes to feature original stories alongside their sets. BackgroundeditConcepteditAfter suffering a ten year downturn in the 1. Lego Group went forward with the idea of storytelling and thought a theme with a storyline behind it would appeal to their audience. Their first attempt was the Star Wars line based on the film series of the same name. It was an instant success upon its 1. Lucasfilm limited Legos profit. The company later decided that an original story created by Lego themselves would be more advantageous to them, with their first attempts being the SlizerThrowbots and Robo. Riders themes released in 1. Elements from Lego Technic construction series were incorporated into the sets, with systems such as the innovative ball and socket new to the Lego building system at the time being used to create free joint movement. This system would go on to be used and greatly expanded upon in Bionicle. Despite SlizerThrowbots and Robo. Riders being short lived, they proved popular, prompting Lego to create a new theme with an original story. Originally conceived to run for one year, it was later decided that it would run continuously as a staple to their line up of themes with the prospect of lasting at least twenty years. Brain storming, an early concept entitled Bone Heads of Voodoo Island was worked up by Lego employees Bob Thompson, Martin Riber Andersen and Christian Faber of Danish creative and advertising agency Advance from a brief by Erik Kramer and sent to outside writers, along with several other concepts. The names Bio. Knights and Afterman were also considered prior to the finalization of the brand. Watch The Full When Black Birds Fly The Movie. One of the writers who received it was Alastair Swinnerton, who rewrote the concept and sent it back to Thompson, and was later invited to pitch it to Lego at their headquarters in Billund, Denmark. The revised concept, which formed the basis of what was to become Bionicle, was well received by Lego, and Swinnerton was commissioned to expand his initial pitch into a full bible. On his second visit to Billund, the project was given approval, having been entitled Bionicle at an internal Lego meeting a portmanteau constructed from the words biological chronicle. To accompany the sets, Lego worked with Swinnerton and Advance to create an elaborate, original story featuring red herrings, arcs and an extensive lore centering on characters made up of bio mechanical components half organic, half robotic and telling it on a vast multimedia scale that would grow as the theme continued. As well as incorporating the same building system used in SlizerThrowbots and Robo. Riders, uses of tropical environments and characters based on classical elements were also taken. Initially, the idea of Bionicle faced resistance from company traditionalists as Lego had no experience of creating a story based brand of their own. The war like appearance of the Bionicle characters also went against the companys values of creating sets without a modern warfare or violence theme. The Lego Group reconciled on this statement by claiming that the theme was about Good versus evil good hero warriors designed to combat evil enemy fighters in a mythical universe, so children are not encouraged to fight each other. Launch and initial receptioneditThe first wave of Bionicle sets were initially launched in December 2. Europe and Australasia as a test market to predict how well the sets would sell in North America. The themes website also debuted around the same time, explaining the premise of the Bionicle story. After a positive reception, Bionicle premiered in mid 2. North America where generating massive success and earned the Lego Group 1. New sets were released every six months and ranged from buildable action figures to constructive play sets and vehicles while also increasing in size and flexibility. A number of collectibles were also incorporated into the set waves, such as weapon ammo and the Kanohi masks that certain characters wore, some of which became rare and valuable and withheld secret codes that when entered onto the official Bionicle website provided the user with Kanoka Points, enabling them to access exclusive membership material. Bionicles popularity rose and became one of Legos biggest and successful properties. It was named as the 1 most rated Lego product in terms of sales and popularity in 2. Legos financial turnover from the previous decade. No other Lego theme at the time came close to the amount of profits generated by Bionicle. Its popularity led to web traffic on its official website, averaging more than a million page views per month and further kinds of merchandise outside the Lego building system costumes, toiletries, and fast food restaurant toy collectibles, among others. DiscontinuationeditIn November 2. Lego announced the shutdown on production of new Bionicle sets after a final wave would be released in 2. Reasons that contributed included a loss in sales, a lack of new interest and a complicated back story that put potential new consumers off. In mid 2. 01. 0, Lego launched Hero Factory, a new theme marketed as a successor to Bionicle. It continued to utilize the building system introduced in its predecessor eventually evolving into the Character and Creature Building System CCBS which carried over into other Lego themes after its 2. Bionicles 2. 01. At his request, long term comic book writer and story contributor Greg Farshtey was given permission to continue the Bionicle storyline on his own, with chapters of new serials arranged to be posted regularly on the website Bionicle. Story. com. 6 This was abruptly halted in mid 2. Farshteys other commitments. The website was shut down in June 2. Work on a relaunch for Bionicle began in 2. Matt Betteker, who previously created concept art for Hero Factory as a Junior Designer, became a Senior Designer on the project. The themes comeback was announced on September 1. New York Comic Con the following October 9. For the relaunch, the Bionicle story was rebooted into a simpler narrative for new consumers the trait of extensive lore contributed to the themes 2. Changes included simpler names for story elements, a less complex plot, and a scaled down multimedia spectrum. The reboot officially launched in January 2. Bionicle franchise, who praised the playability of the new sets and the inspiration taken from the themes original toy waves. The sets themselves utilized the CBBS taken from Hero Factory. The Bionicle website was also relaunched with material detailing the new story. However, Lego cancelled Bionicle again in 2. Generation 1editThe story for Bionicles first run was published between 2. Lego toys, and was told on a multimedia platform developed by a team of Lego employees led by Bob Thompson,3 who decided which piece of media got which part of the narrative. Mediums include comic books, novels, animated videos, as well as console and online games, among others.