title: Daken

text: Daken has a powerful mental defense to telepathy, for his mind is a trap for telepaths that attempt to enter his head. The trap turns a skilled telepath's powers against them.


title: Daken

text: After being resurrected by the Apocalypse Twins, who use the Death Seed to turn him into a Horsemen of Death, Daken had been granted with the power and potential to become the new repetition of Apocalypse on Earth. In "Iceman" #9, a new mutant named Zachary unintentionally helps Daken access the Death Seed's powers, which significantly amplified Daken's abilities, including amplifying his super senses and increasing his biomass, granting him superhuman strength and durability.


title: Daken

text: Daken is a superb martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant, acknowledged by his former instructor, Cyber. His combat prowess was demonstrated when he bested Wolverine, Deadpool, Skaar, Punisher, and Sabretooth in combat. Combined with his ability to manipulate pheromones, this grants Daken an incredible advantage over his opponents in combat. Daken is also a trained Samurai, acquiring great skill in both Japanese swordsmanship arts and Kyūdō.


title: Daken

text: Daken is a master strategist and tactician, as seen when he was able to infiltrate a heavily-guarded S.H.I.E.L.D. base to free his father without getting caught. He's also a master manipulator and deceiver, capable of fooling two of the most intelligent men, Norman Osborn and Reed Richards, at the same time.


title: Daken

text: In "" #1, Logan was present when Daken was born and was able to save him from the people who would have raised him in the original course of events, taking him to live in seclusion in the mountains in the hope that he could raise John Howlett (as Daken is known in this timeline) away from the kind of life he has lived himself. However, despite his attempts to ensure privacy by turning Professor X away when he came to recruit Logan to join the X-Men, Logan's attempts to suppress Daken's darker instincts failed when Sabretooth found them, revealing the truth about his father's past to John. Leaving his father, John became a brutal killer, roaming various cities and killing his opponents, proclaiming that Logan made him what he is by denying him his heritage. Concluding that he will never bring anything good into the world, Logan stabs John in the heart with the Muramasa Blade, subsequently impaling himself to end his own dark stain on the world.


title: Robin Sachs

text: Robin Sachs (5 February 1951 – 1 February 2013) was an English actor, active in the theatre, television and films. He was also known for his voice-over work in films and video games.


title: Robin Sachs

text: Born to a theatrical family, Sachs studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and made a theatrical and screen career, working his way up from supporting parts in the 1970s to leading roles from the 1980s. He made his later career in America, and became known for his role of Ethan Rayne in the television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".


title: Robin Sachs

text: Sachs was born in London, the elder of two sons of the South African-born actor Leonard Sachs and the English actress Eleanor Summerfield. His father was Jewish. After leaving school he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, after which he followed the traditional route of provincial repertory and touring before being cast in supporting roles in West End productions during the 1970s, including Pirandello's "Henry IV", with Rex Harrison; "Pericles", with Derek Jacobi, and Pinero's "The Gay Lord Quex", with Judi Dench, directed by John Gielgud.


title: Robin Sachs

text: He appeared in leading stage roles, in Leicester in 1979 in Sartre's "The Assassin", Brighton in 1984 in "Love Affair" with Siân Phillips, and at the Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon in 1985 in "On Approval" with Polly James and Christopher Biggins, On British television he was cast in "Brideshead Revisited", "Upstairs, Downstairs", "Rumpole of the Bailey", "Quiller" and "Gentlemen and Players". In the 1983 series "Chessgame" he played the secret agent Hugh Roskill.


title: Robin Sachs

text: Sachs's first film role was as Heinrich, a young vampire, in Hammer's "Vampire Circus" (1972). He played Thomas Culpepper, Catherine Howard's lover in "Henry VIII and his Six Wives" (1973), and featured in "The Disappearance" (1977) alongside Donald Sutherland.


title: Robin Sachs

text: In the early 1990s Sachs moved to Los Angeles after being cast as a guest star in the television series "Jake and the Fatman" and played Adam Carrington in the miniseries "". He remained based in the US, guest starring in television shows including "The Return of Ironside" with Raymond Burr (1993). Among his later films were Steven Spielberg's "" (1997) and Steven Soderbergh's remake of "Ocean's Eleven" (2001). He appeared in several science-fiction programmes on television, including "Star Trek" and "Torchwood", and in 1999 played General Sarris in the satirical comedy "Galaxy Quest", co-starring Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver. In 2002 he was cast as Peter Brazier, head of Nexexcon in "Megalodon". In his last film appearance, "Northfork" (2002), he played Cup of Tea, the leader of the vestigial community of a town about to be flooded.


title: Robin Sachs

text: Sachs became known for his role as the sorcerer Ethan Rayne in the American television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", and for voicing Zaeed Massani in the "Mass Effect" video game franchise, Admiral Saul Karath in "", Sergeant Roderick in "SpongeBob SquarePants" and Xoloti in "Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom". In recognition of his popularity as a voice artist, following his death, a "Mass Effect 3" multiplayer challenge was enacted during the last weekend of February 2013, called "Operation Tribute".


title: Robin Sachs

text: Sachs was twice married – from 1979 to 1991 to Siân Phillips, and from 1995 to 2006 to the American actress Casey DeFranco. Both marriages were dissolved. He died of a heart attack on 1 February 2013, four days before his 62nd birthday.


title: Christopher Nixon Cox

text: Christopher Nixon Cox (born March 14, 1979) is an American lawyer based in New York. He is the son of Tricia Nixon Cox and Edward F. Cox, and grandson of President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon. Cox is the CEO of Lightswitch Capital, a private equity fund investing in biotech companies.


title: Christopher Nixon Cox

text: Christopher Nixon Cox was born on 14 March 1979 at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City, the only child of former New York State GOP Chairman Edward F. Cox and Tricia Nixon Cox, older daughter of Richard Nixon, 37th president of the United States from 1969 to 1974.


title: Christopher Nixon Cox

text: He graduated "magna cum laude" from Princeton University with an A.B. in Politics. He then went on to receive his J.D. from NYU School of Law and a certificate in finance from the NYU Stern School of Business.


title: Christopher Nixon Cox

text: Cox is the CEO of Lightswitch Capital, a private equity fund investing in biotech companies and is a member of the Board of Directors of several privately held companies including Alto Neuroscience.


title: Christopher Nixon Cox

text: Cox serves on the board of trustees of the American University of Afghanistan and the Board of Trustees of the Command and General Staff College Foundation. Cox is a member of the Board of Directors of the Nixon Foundation and a member of The Nixon Seminar on Conservative Realism and National Security co-chaired by Secretary Michael R. Pompeo and Ambassador Robert C. O'Brien.


title: Christopher Nixon Cox

text: Cox is a frequent guest on national and international news programs including Fox News, Newsmax TV, Bloomberg TV, CNBC, ABC News, CNN, BBC, NBC and other news outlets and has published numerous articles including in The Hill, L’Express, Newsmax, Foxnews.com and the South China Morning Post.


title: Christopher Nixon Cox

text: Cox is a non-resident fellow at the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination at Princeton University.


title: Christopher Nixon Cox

text: Cox served as Senator John McCain's executive director for New York State during the 2008 presidential campaign and is co-founder of the consulting firm, OC Global Partners, LLC.


title: Christopher Nixon Cox

text: Previously, Cox was a corporate associate at the law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges in their New York office where he worked in the Private Equity Group. Recently, Cox was Vice Chairman of Brightsphere Investment Group.


title: Christopher Nixon Cox

text: In 2010, Cox finished third in the Republican primary for New York's 1st congressional district, behind businessman Randy Altschuler and former SEC Enforcement Attorney George Demos. He was endorsed by the Suffolk County 9/12 Project.


title: Christopher Nixon Cox

text: Cox was also endorsed by State Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos, Suffolk County Conservative Party First Executive Chairman Bill Fries, and State Senator Marty Golden. Cox was also endorsed by several former contestants in the race, including Gary Berntsen and New York State Assemblyman Mike Fitzpatrick (R – Smithtown).


title: Christopher Nixon Cox

text: On June 4, 2011, Cox married Andrea Catsimatidis, daughter of Gristedes billionaire John Catsimatidis, at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity on New York's Upper East Side. The couple filed for divorce on December 17, 2014.


title: BMW iX

text: The BMW iX is a battery-electric mid-size luxury crossover SUV manufactured and marketed by the German automobile manufacturer BMW. It was unveiled in concept form named Vision iNext at the 2018 Paris Motor Show, and then as fully production-ready in November 2020. The iX is the first purpose-built electric vehicle by BMW since the i3 from 2013, and the fourth BMW i sub-brand model.


title: BMW iX

text: The iX nameplate was chosen to signify the model’s position at the top of the electric i line-up and its role in showcasing technology as it uses the new fifth-generation version of BMW’s electric drive system, and also offers high levels of autonomous and connected technology.


title: BMW iX

text: The BMW iX is built on a bespoke electric drivetrain architecture and an aluminum spaceframe that supports an inner carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP). The electric platform is a "totally new development", though it is "highly compatible" with the modular CLAR platform. This shared chassis componentry allows BMW to produce the iX alongside cars with combustion engines at the Dingolfing plant.


title: BMW iX

text: The body is made out of a combination of high-strength steel, aluminium, thermoplastics and carbonfibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) to keep weight as low as possible. Underpinning the iX is an aluminium-intensive chassis featuring a double-wishbone (front) and multi-link (rear) suspension, offering active rear-wheel steering. The front features a large blanked off grille, which contains camera, radar and other sensors needed for the driver assistance systems. The grille comes with a self-healing coating that can smooth-out scratches and small chips to make sure that the sensors can always "see" clearly.


title: BMW iX

text: The iX resembles the G05 X5 in length and width, but with the roof height of an G06 X6 and the wheel size of an G07 X7. It has a 0.25 drag coefficient and a 2.82 m frontal area (thus m). BMW says the vehicle's low aerodynamic profile improved its WLTP range by around 40 miles. The iX features a fixed clamshell-style bonnet. The windscreen washer bottle is accessed via the BMW emblem above the grille.


title: BMW iX

text: The iX utilise BMW's fifth-generation scalable electric drivetrain that is developed in-house. The electric powertrain combines the electric motor, power electronics and single-speed transmission in a single housing. The power density of the system is around 30 percent higher than previously, according to BMW. The electric motors operate without the use of cobalt that makes the motors in the iX spin using electricity alone, instead of permanent magnets making the rotor spin around the stator. BMW claims its fifth-generation eDrive technology is 93 percent efficient. There is still some cobalt used in the lithium-ion batteries.


title: BMW iX

text: The iX's default regenerative braking mode utilizes adaptive recuperation. With the help of GPS data and sensors, Adaptive mode adjusts the regen to be more aggressive in urban traffic and less so on open roads, where it allows coasting. There are three levels of adjustable regenerative braking: high, medium, and low. The high setting essentially enables one-pedal driving as all the braking is achievable regeneratively, while the low level amounts to a very modest amount of energy recovery to get close to a traditional coasting experience.


title: BMW iX

text: The batteries consists of prismatic cells and has a standard 400 V battery system. According to BMW, the gravimetric energy density of the lithium-ion battery has been increased by around 20 percent compared to the previous generation. The vehicle has a thermal management system featuring heating and cooling with heat pump, and a battery pre-conditioning feature ahead of fast charging.


title: BMW iX

text: The xDrive40 is able to DC fast charge up to 150 kW using a CCS connector and the xDrive50 up to 200 kW, with both being able to charge 10–80 percent in less than 40 minutes. As for home charging, an 11 kW charger can fully charge the battery from empty in around 11 hours.


title: BMW iX

text: The BMW iX is the first vehicle to feature the iDrive 8 that combines a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster with a 14.9-inch infotainment touchscreen to form a single curved unit. The system comes with an upgraded version of BMW’s personal voice assistant and retains the iDrive controller. It is the first time the technology has been offered in a production BMW, and it comes standard with a hexagonal steering wheel. Other standard equipments are the 18-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, as well as BMW safety systems like parking assistant and driving assistant professional. Available options include a panoramic sunroof and sun-protection glass, soft-close doors, heated and ventilated seats, parking assistant, interior camera, a Bowers & Wilkins stereo, and M Sport styling.


title: BMW iX

text: It is the first luxury car to feature built-in 5G technology that allows it over-the-air functionality. The iX has 20 times the on-board computing power of previous BMW models, allowing it to process double the amount of data coming from cameras and sensors mounted. This allows for Level 2+ semi autonomous driving capability and an extensive range of driver-assistance and collision-avoidance technology. The advanced driver assist system in the iX can help drivers stay in their lane, maintain speed, and even make lane changes safely.


title: BMW iX

text: BMW hinted at Level 3 autonomous driving when it unveiled the iNext concept in 2018. However, any mention of iX’s self-driving capabilities were absent from the official release. Product-development chief of BMW's luxury cars, Frank van Meel stated: "I can't give a promise of a date. We are preparing, we are collecting data [from a large test fleet of modified 7 Series cars], and we will improve the iX by software over the air. We will take an evolutionary path, not jumping forward and having to pull back." Frank Weber, head of R&D at BMW, confirmed in November 2021 that the iX will be offered with Level 3 capabilities as an option as the iX’s hardware and software are Level 3 system.


title: BMW iX

text: The BMW iNext was first announced by BMW in March 2016 as the "new spearhead of innovation and technology" with a launch goal of early in the next decade.


title: BMW iX

text: The BMW Vision iNext was unveiled at the 2018 Paris Motor Show. Referred as "Project i 2.0", the Vision iNext was developed to address key questions for the future of motoring, with a focus on electrification, connectivity and autonomy. It was an SUV roughly similar in size to the BMW X5, although it was substantially bigger inside due to its EV architecture, with front and rear motors and underfloor batteries. BMW confirmed that it would use BMW’s fifth-generation electric powertrain, 0– in 4.0 seconds and range of . The level of autonomy the production version would offers depended on regulations and infrastructure.


title: Ben Burtt

text: Benjamin Burtt Jr. (born July 12, 1948) is an American sound designer, film director and editor, screenwriter, and voice actor. As a sound designer, his credits include the "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" film series, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1978), "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" (1982), "WALL-E" (2008) and "Star Trek" (2009).


title: Ben Burtt

text: Burtt is notable for popularizing the Wilhelm scream in-joke and creating many of the iconic sound effects heard in the "Star Wars" film franchise, including the 'voice' of R2-D2, the lightsaber hum, the sound of the blaster guns, the heavy-breathing sound of Darth Vader and creating the Ewoks’ language, ewokese. Burtt was also the sound editor for "WALL-E" and performed the vocalizations of the titular character as well as other robots in the film.


title: Ben Burtt

text: Burtt has won four Academy Awards, two of which are Special Achievement Academy Awards. He has also directed numerous documentary films and was the editor of the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy.


title: Ben Burtt

text: Burtt was born in Jamesville, New York, on July 12, 1948. The son of a chemistry professor and a child psychologist, Burtt made films as a child, and later studied physics at Allegheny College, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1970.


title: Ben Burtt

text: Burtt made films during his time in college, and in 1970 won a National Student Film Festival for his war film entitled "Yankee Squadron," reputedly after following exposure to classic aviation drama. He had previously made an amateur film at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, a living aviation museum in Red Hook, New York, under guidance from its founder, Cole Palen.


title: Ben Burtt

text: For his work on the special-effects film "Genesis", Burtt won a scholarship to the University of Southern California,"" where he earned a master's degree in film production.


title: Ben Burtt

text: Burtt pioneered many aspects of modern sound design, especially in the science-fiction and fantasy-film genres. Before his work in the first "Star Wars" (now known as "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope") in 1977, science-fiction films tended to use electronic-sounding effects for futuristic devices. Burtt sought a more natural sound, blending in "found sounds" to create the effects. The lightsaber hum, for instance, was derived from a film projector idling combined with feedback from a broken television set, and the blaster effect started with the sound acquired from hitting a guy-wire on a radio tower with a hammer.


title: Ben Burtt

text: In the "Star Wars" series, part of R2-D2's beeps and whistles are Burtt's vocalizations, also made using an ARP 2600 synthesizer, as are some of the squawks made by the tiny holographic monsters on the "Millennium Falcon" spacecraft. In "" (2005), Burtt's provided the voice for Lushros Dofine, captain of the "Invisible Hand" cruiser. The heavy breathing of Darth Vader was created by recording Burtt's own breathing in an old Dacor scuba regulator.


title: Ben Burtt

text: Burtt used the voice of an elderly lady that he had met in a photography shop for the voice of "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial". The woman's low pitch was the result of very heavy smoking, specifically Kool cigarettes. Burtt created the "voice" of the title character and many other robots in Pixar's film "WALL-E" (2008), about a lonely garbage-compacting robot. Additionally, Burtt is responsible for the sound effects in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" (2008).


title: Ben Burtt

text: Burtt has a reputation for including a sound effect dubbed "the Wilhelm scream" in many of the movies he has worked on. Taken from a character named "Wilhelm" in the film "The Charge at Feather River", the sound can be heard in a large number of films, including in "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope" when a stormtrooper falls into a chasm and in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" when a Nazi soldier falls off the back of a moving car.


title: Ben Burtt

text: One of Burtt's more subtle sound effects is the "audio black hole." In "", Burtt's use of the audio black hole involved the insertion of a short interval of absolute silence in the audio track, just prior to the detonation of "seismic charges" fired at the escaping Jedi spaceship. The effect of this short (less than one second) of silence is to accentuate the resulting explosion in the mind of the listener. Burtt has recalled the source of this idea as follows: "I think back to where that idea might have come to me...I remember in film school a talk I had with an old retired sound editor who said they used to leave a few frames of silence in the track just before a big explosion. In those days they would 'paint' out the optical sound with ink. Then I thought of the airlock entry sequence in "". I guess the seeds were there for me to nourish when it came to the seismic charges."


title: Ben Burtt

text: Burtt was among the golden ears that critically reviewed the various audio compression systems that were proposed for the ATSC 1.0 digital television system.


title: Ben Burtt

text: A tongue-in-cheek homage to Burtt appears in the 1997 Activision PC game "" - the spell 'Beburtt', which 'creates the illusion of inclement weather', plays dramatic thunderclap and rainfall sounds when cast.


title: Ben Burtt

text: Burtt has directed several IMAX documentary films, including "Blue Planet", "Destiny in Space", and the Oscar-nominated "". He edited the entire "Star Wars" prequel trilogy, and several episodes of "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles". Burtt also wrote several episodes of the 1980s "Star Wars" cartoon "".


title: Ben Burtt

text: Burtt makes a cameo appearance in two of the "Star Wars" films as an extra. In "Return of the Jedi", he appeared as Colonel Dyer, the Imperial officer who yells "Freeze!" before Han Solo knocks him off a balcony. The scream as Burtt falls is his own imitation of the Wilhelm scream that he popularized. In "", Burtt appears in the background of the end celebration scene; his character is named Ebenn Q3 Baobab, a reference to a "Droids" character.


title: Ben Burtt

text: The Hollywood Post Alliance awarded him with The Charles S. Swartz Award for outstanding contributions to the field of post production.


title: Don Francks

text: Don Harvey Francks (February 28, 1932 – April 3, 2016), also known by his stage name Iron Buffalo, was a Canadian actor, musician and singer.


title: Don Francks

text: Don Harvey Francks was born on February 28, 1932, and was adopted shortly after his birth. His mother worked at a music store and his father was an electrician. As a child, he performed on Vancouver radio doing imitations of singers. After dropping out of high school at age 15, he worked in several jobs. In 1955, he won a recurring role on the CBC-TV program "Burns Chuckwagon from the Stampede Corral". After guest appearances on television shows during the late 1950s, he received his first lead role in the 1959–60 CBC-TV program "R.C.M.P.", playing Constable Bill Mitchell.


title: Don Francks

text: During the 1960s, he had roles on the US television programs "", "Jericho", "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.", "The Wild Wild West", and "Mannix". His most famous film part was in Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of "Finian's Rainbow". He acted on Broadway in "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" and "Kelly". In 1969, he rejected an offer to work with Katharine Hepburn in "Coco", her only stage musical.


title: Don Francks

text: In 1962, Francks led Three, an avant-garde jazz trio with Lenny Breau on guitar and Eon Henstridge on double bass. The band performed regularly in Toronto and New York City and appeared in the National Film Board documentary "Toronto Jazz".


title: Don Francks

text: In 1963, Franks released "No One in This World Is Like Don Francks", his first solo album, recorded at the Village Vanguard in New York City. The title of the album derived from a remark made by Jackie Gleason when the trio performed on the April 23, 1963 "The Jackie Gleason Show" playing "Bye Bye Blackbird". Two years later, he recorded his second album, "Lost... and Alone", with orchestral arrangements by Patrick Williams. He recorded his final album, "21st Century Francks", in 2002 at the Top o' the Senator in Toronto. The album was released in 2014.


title: Don Francks

text: An avid motorcycle rider, he had a collection of twelve antique cars, mostly Model-T Ford racing cars from 1912 to 1927. He was a poet, native nations champion, author, and peace activist. He supported Greenpeace and the Tibetan independence movement. After quitting alcohol at the age of 21, Francks smoked marijuana, performing a song called "Smoking Reefers". As a spokesman for "Other Voices (Canadian TV series)" in mid-1960s, he investigated a boy's murder at Red Pheasant First Nation in Saskatchewan.


title: Don Francks

text: Later in life, Francks had a son, Bentley Clay Francks-Slaughter, who died in a house fire late in 2008.


title: Don Francks

text: Francks composed songs and played trombone, drums, and flute. He performed in jazz clubs such as George's Spaghetti House in Toronto and the Village Vanguard in New York City, where he recorded the album "Jackie Gleason Says No One in This World Is Like Don Francks" (Kapp, 1963). In New York City he recorded "Lost...and Alone" (Kapp, 1965).


title: Don Francks

text: In August 1962 his avant-garde jazz group Three debuted unrehearsed at the Purple Onion coffeehouse in Toronto, Canada. Francks, Lenny Breau, and Eon Henstridge were joined on stage by tap dancer Joey Hollingsworth. The evening was recorded live by Breau's manager, George B. Sukornyk, but wasn't released until 2004 under the name "At the Purple Onion" (Art of Life, 2004). A National Film Board documentary called "Toronto Jazz" included rehearsals and performances by Three and two other groups. Francks and Breau briefly reprised Three in early 1968 in Toronto with bassist Dave Young in place of Eon Henstridge, who had died the year before. In 1999, Francks appeared in the documentary "The Genius of Lenny Breau".


title: Don Francks

text: Francks' acting career began with CBC Television as a regular on "Burns Chuckwagon from the Stampede Corral" (1955–55) and "Riding High" (1955), then in the drama "The Fast Ones" (1959). In 1957 he had a part in the US series "The Adventures of Tugboat Annie" (actually filmed in Toronto, Ontario), then back to Canada in 1958 for "Cannonball" and "Long Shot" (1959). In 1959–60 he starred in the CBC-TV series "R.C.M.P.", playing Constable Bill Mitchell. In 1968 he co-starred with Fred Astaire and Petula Clark in the film version of "Finian's Rainbow".


title: Don Francks

text: "This Land" (1970–86) was a CBC-TV documentary series on Canadian nature, wildlife, natural resources, and life in remote communities. Francks was the narrator. He portrayed writer Grey Owl, returning fifty years after his death to be disturbed by the ecological deterioration (Episode "Land of Shadows", first aired 2 August 1983).


title: Don Francks

text: From 1997 to 2001, he played "Walter" in "La Femme Nikita (TV series)". Early television credits include: "", "Wild Wild West", and several other episodic television appearances. In the 2015 six-part series "Gangland Undercover" on the History Channel, he played "Lizard". His film work includes "The Big Town", "My Bloody Valentine" and "Johnny Mnemonic".


title: Don Francks

text: On February 16, 1964, he appeared on Broadway in the title role of the musical "Kelly", as a daredevil planning to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. The show was the first on Broadway in a generation to close on opening night.


title: Don Francks

text: Francks played Archie Goodwin with Mavor Moore as Nero Wolfe for a 1982 series on Canadian radio. He provided the voice of "Skunk" in Gene Simmons' animated television show, "My Dad the Rock Star".


title: Don Francks

text: According to differing sources, either Francks or Gabriel Dell was the uncredited actor providing the voice of Boba Fett, a Mandalorian bounty hunter, in the "Star Wars Holiday Special". Francks, credited, voiced the role of Boba Fett in an episode of "". He voiced several characters in "Inspector Gadget", along with his daughter, Cree Summer, who voiced Penny during the first season of the show. He provided the voice for Mok Swagger in the 1983 Canadian animated film "Rock and Rule", and the voice of Sabretooth on "". He also voiced both Thomas "House" Conklin & Sergeant Carl Proctor on the 1988 "Police Academy" animated series.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket utilizes a rocket engine that uses liquid propellants. Liquids are desirable because they have a reasonably high density and high specific impulse ("I"). This allows the volume of the propellant tanks to be relatively low. It is also possible to use lightweight centrifugal turbopumps to pump the rocket propellant from the tanks into the combustion chamber, which means that the propellants can be kept under low pressure. This permits the use of low-mass propellant tanks that do not need to resist the high pressures needed to store significant amounts of gasses, resulting in a low mass ratio for the rocket.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: An inert gas stored in a tank at a high pressure is sometimes used instead of pumps in simpler small engines to force the propellants into the combustion chamber. These engines may have a higher mass ratio, but are usually more reliable, and are therefore used widely in satellites for orbit maintenance.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Liquid rockets can be monopropellant rockets using a single type of propellant, or bipropellant rockets using two types of propellant. Tripropellant rockets using three types of propellant are rare. Some designs are throttleable for variable thrust operation and some may be restarted after a previous in-space shutdown. Liquid propellants are also used in hybrid rockets, with some of the advantages of a solid rocket.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: The idea of a liquid rocket as understood in the modern context first appeared in 1903 in the book "Exploration of the Universe with Rocket-Propelled Vehicles", by the Russian school teacher Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.The magnitude of his contribution to astronautics is astounding, including the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation, multi staged rockets and using liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen in liquid propellant rockets. Tsiolkovsky influenced later rocket scientists throughout Europe, like Wernher von Braun. Soviet search teams at Peenemünde found a German translation of a book by Tsiolkovsky of which "almost every page...was embellished by von Braun's comments and notes." Leading Soviet rocket-engine designer Valentin Glushko and rocket designer Sergey Korolev studied Tsiolkovsky's works as youths, and both sought to turn Tsiolkovsky's theories into reality.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: From 1929 to 1930 in Leningrad Glushko pursued rocket research at the Gas Dynamics Laboratory (GDL), where a new research section was set up for the study of liquid-propellant and electric rocket engines. This resulted in the creation of ORM (from "Experimental Rocket Motor" in Russian) engines to . A total of 100 bench tests of liquid-propellant rockets were conducted using various types of fuel, both low and high-boiling and thrust up to 300 kg was achieved.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: During this period in Moscow Fredrich Tsander, a scientist and inventor was designing and building liquid rocket engines which ran on compressed air and gasoline. Tsander used it to investigate high-energy fuels including powdered metals mixed with gasoline. In September 1931 Tsander formed the Moscow based 'Group for the Study of Reactive Motion', better known by its Russian acronym “GIRD”. In May 1932, Sergey Korolev replaced Tsander as the head of GIRD. Mikhail Tikhonravov launched the first Soviet liquid propelled rocket, fueled by liquid oxygen and jellied gasoline, the GIRD-9, took place on 17 August 1933, which reached an altitude of . In January 1933 Tsander began development of the GIRD-X rocket. This design burned liquid oxygen and gasoline and was one of the first engines to be regeneratively cooled by the liquid oxygen, which flowed around the inner wall of the combustion chamber before entering it. Problems with burn-through during testing prompted a switch from gasoline to less energetic alcohol. The final missile, long by in diameter, had a mass of , and it was anticipated that it could carry a payload to an altitude of . The GIRD X rocket was launched on 25 November 1933 and flew to a height of 80 meters.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: In 1933 GDL and GIRD merged and became the Reactive Scientific Research Institute (RNII). At RNII Gushko continued the development of liquid propellant rocket engines ОРМ-53 to ОРМ-102, with powering the RP-318 rocket-powered aircraft. In 1938 Leonid Dushkin replaced Glushko and continued development of the ORM engines, including the engine for the rocket powered interceptor, the Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1. At RNII Tikhonravov worked on developing oxygen/alcohol liquid-propellant rocket engines. Ultimately liquid propellant rocket engines were given a low priority during the late 1930s at RNII, however the research was productive and very important for later achievements of the Soviet rocket program.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Pedro Paulet wrote a letter to "El Comercio" in Lima in 1927, claiming he had experimented with a liquid rocket engine while he was a student in Paris three decades earlier. Historians of early rocketry experiments, among them Max Valier, Willy Ley, and John D. Clark, have given differing amounts of credence to Paulet's report. Valier applauded Paulet's liquid-propelled rocket design in the Verein für Raumschiffahrt publication "Die Rakete", saying the engine had "amazing power" and that his plans were necessary for future rocket development. Wernher von Braun would later describe Paulet as "the pioneer of the liquid fuel propulsion motor" and stated that "Paulet helped man reach the Moon". Paulet was approached by Nazi Germany to help develop rocket technology, though he refused to assist and never shared the formula for his propellant.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: The first "flight" of a liquid-propellant rocket took place on March 16, 1926 at Auburn, Massachusetts, when American professor Dr. Robert H. Goddard launched a vehicle using liquid oxygen and gasoline as propellants. The rocket, which was dubbed "Nell", rose just 41 feet during a 2.5-second flight that ended in a cabbage field, but it was an important demonstration that rockets utilizing liquid propulsion were possible. Goddard proposed liquid propellants about fifteen years earlier and began to seriously experiment with them in 1921. The German-Romanian Hermann Oberth published a book in 1922 suggesting the use of liquid propellants.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: In Germany, engineers and scientists became enthralled with liquid propulsion, building and testing them in the late 1920s within Opel RAK, the world's first rocket program, in Rüsselsheim. According to Max Valier's account, Opel RAK rocket designer, Friedrich Wilhelm Sander launched two liquid-fuel rockets at Opel Rennbahn in Rüsselsheim on April 10 and April 12, 1929. These Opel RAK rockets have been the first European, and after Goddard the world's second, liquid-fuel rockets in history. In his book “Raketenfahrt” Valier describes the size of the rockets as of 21 cm in diameter and with a length of 74 cm, weighing 7 kg empty and 16 kg with fuel. The maximum thrust was 45 to 50 kp, with a total burning time of 132 seconds. These properties indicate a gas pressure pumping. The main purpose of these tests was to develop the liquid rocket-propulsion system for a Gebrüder-Müller-Griessheim aircraft under construction for a planned flight across the English channel. Also spaceflight historian Frank H. Winter, curator at National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, confirms the Opel group was working, in addition to their solid-fuel rockets used for land-speed records and the world's first manned rocket-plane flights with the Opel RAK.1, on liquid-fuel rockets. By May 1929, the engine produced a thrust of 200 kg (440 lb.) "for longer than fifteen minutes and in July 1929, the Opel RAK collaborators were able to attain powered phases of more than thirty minutes for thrusts of 300 kg (660-lb.) at Opel's works in Rüsselsheim," again according to Max Valier's account. The Great Depression brought an end to the Opel RAK activities. After working for the German military in the early 1930s, Sander was arrested by Gestapo in 1935, when private rocket-engineering became forbidden in Germany. He was convicted of treason to 5 years in prison and forced to sell his company, he died in 1938. Max Valier's (via Arthur Rudolph and Heylandt), who died while experimenting in 1930, and Friedrich Sander's work on liquid-fuel rockets was confiscated by the German military, the Heereswaffenamt and integrated into the activities under General Walter Dornberger in the early and mid-1930s in a field near Berlin. Max Valier was a co-founder of an amateur research group, the VfR, working on liquid rockets in the early 1930s, and many of whose members eventually became important rocket technology pioneers, including Wernher von Braun. Von Braun served as head of the army research station that designed the V-2 rocket weapon for the Nazis.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: By the late 1930s, use of rocket propulsion for manned flight began to be seriously experimented with, as Germany's Heinkel He 176 made the first manned rocket-powered flight using a liquid rocket engine, designed by German aeronautics engineer Hellmuth Walter on June 20, 1939. The only production rocket-powered combat aircraft ever to see military service, the Me 163 "Komet" in 1944-45, also used a Walter-designed liquid rocket engine, the Walter HWK 109-509, which produced up to 1,700 kgf (16.7 kN) thrust at full power.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: After World War II the American government and military finally seriously considered liquid-propellant rockets as weapons and began to fund work on them. The Soviet Union did likewise, and thus began the Space Race.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: In 2010s 3D printed engines started being used for spaceflight. Examples of such engines include SuperDraco used in launch escape system of the SpaceX Dragon 2 and also engines used for first or second stages in launch vehicles from Astra, Orbex, Relativity Space, Skyrora, or Launcher.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Liquid rockets have been built as monopropellant rockets using a single type of propellant, bipropellant rockets using two types of propellant, or more exotic tripropellant rockets using three types of propellant.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Bipropellant liquid rockets generally use a liquid fuel, such as liquid hydrogen or a hydrocarbon fuel such as RP-1, and a liquid oxidizer, such as liquid oxygen. The engine may be a cryogenic rocket engine, where the fuel and oxidizer, such as hydrogen and oxygen, are gases which have been liquefied at very low temperatures.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Liquid-propellant rockets can be throttled (thrust varied) in realtime, and have control of mixture ratio (ratio at which oxidizer and fuel are mixed); they can also be shut down, and, with a suitable ignition system or self-igniting propellant, restarted.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: All liquid rocket engines have tankage and pipes to store and transfer propellant, an injector system, a combustion chamber which is very typically cylindrical, and one (sometimes two or more) rocket nozzles. Liquid systems enable higher specific impulse than solids and hybrid rocket motors and can provide very high tankage efficiency.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Unlike gases, a typical liquid propellant has a density similar to water, approximately 0.7–1.4g/cm³ (except liquid hydrogen which has a much lower density), while requiring only relatively modest pressure to prevent vaporization. This combination of density and low pressure permits very lightweight tankage; approximately 1% of the contents for dense propellants and around 10% for liquid hydrogen (due to its low density and the mass of the required insulation).


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: For injection into the combustion chamber, the propellant pressure at the injectors needs to be greater than the chamber pressure; this can be achieved with a pump. Suitable pumps usually use centrifugal turbopumps due to their high power and light weight, although reciprocating pumps have been employed in the past. Turbopumps are usually extremely lightweight and can give excellent performance; with an on-Earth weight well under 1% of the thrust. Indeed, overall rocket engine thrust to weight ratios including a turbopump have been as high as 155:1 with the SpaceX Merlin 1D rocket engine and up to 180:1 with the vacuum version


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Alternatively, instead of pumps, a heavy tank of a high-pressure inert gas such as helium can be used, and the pump forgone; but the delta-v that the stage can achieve is often much lower due to the extra mass of the tankage, reducing performance; but for high altitude or vacuum use the tankage mass can be acceptable.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: The major components of a rocket engine are therefore the combustion chamber (thrust chamber), pyrotechnic igniter, propellant feed system, valves, regulators, the propellant tanks, and the rocket engine nozzle. In terms of feeding propellants to the combustion chamber, liquid-propellant engines are either pressure-fed or pump-fed, and pump-fed engines work in either a gas-generator cycle, a staged-combustion cycle, or an expander cycle.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: A liquid rocket engine can be tested prior to use, whereas for a solid rocket motor a rigorous quality management must be applied during manufacturing to ensure high reliability. A Liquid rocket engine can also usually be reused for several flights, as in the Space Shuttle and Falcon 9 series rockets, although reuse of solid rocket motors was also effectively demonstrated during the shuttle program.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Thousands of combinations of fuels and oxidizers have been tried over the years. Some of the more common and practical ones are:


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: One of the most efficient mixtures, oxygen and hydrogen, suffers from the extremely low temperatures required for storing liquid hydrogen (around ) and very low fuel density (, compared to RP-1 at ), necessitating large tanks that must also be lightweight and insulating. Lightweight foam insulation on the Space Shuttle external tank led to the 's destruction, as a piece broke loose, damaged its wing and caused it to break up on atmospheric reentry.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Liquid methane/LNG has several advantages over LH. Its performance (max. specific impulse) is lower than that of LH but higher than that of RP1 (kerosene) and solid propellants, and its higher density, similarly to other hydrocarbon fuels, provides higher thrust to volume ratios than LH, although its density is not as high as that of RP1. This makes it specially attractive for reusable launch systems because higher density allows for smaller motors, propellant tanks and associated systems. LNG also burns with less or no soot (less or no coking) than RP1, which eases reusability when compared with it, and LNG and RP1 burn cooler than LH so LNG and RP1 do not deform the interior structures of the engine as much. This means that engines that burn LNG can be reused more than those that burn RP1 or LH. Unlike engines that burn LH, both RP1 and LNG engines can be designed with a shared shaft with a single turbine and two turbopumps, one each for LOX and LNG/RP1. In space, LNG does not need heaters to keep it liquid, unlike RP1. LNG is less expensive, being readily available in large quantities. It can be stored for more prolonged periods of time, and is less explosive than LH.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: For storable ICBMs and most spacecraft, including crewed vehicles, planetary probes, and satellites, storing cryogenic propellants over extended periods is unfeasible. Because of this, mixtures of hydrazine or its derivatives in combination with nitrogen oxides are generally used for such applications, but are toxic and carcinogenic. Consequently, to improve handling, some crew vehicles such as Dream Chaser and Space Ship Two plan to use hybrid rockets with non-toxic fuel and oxidizer combinations.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: The injector implementation in liquid rockets determines the percentage of the theoretical performance of the nozzle that can be achieved. A poor injector performance causes unburnt propellant to leave the engine, giving poor efficiency.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Additionally, injectors are also usually key in reducing thermal loads on the nozzle; by increasing the proportion of fuel around the edge of the chamber, this gives much lower temperatures on the walls of the nozzle.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Injectors can be as simple as a number of small diameter holes arranged in carefully constructed patterns through which the fuel and oxidizer travel. The speed of the flow is determined by the square root of the pressure drop across the injectors, the shape of the hole and other details such as the density of the propellant.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: The first injectors used on the V-2 created parallel jets of fuel and oxidizer which then combusted in the chamber. This gave quite poor efficiency.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Injectors today classically consist of a number of small holes which aim jets of fuel and oxidizer so that they collide at a point in space a short distance away from the injector plate. This helps to break the flow up into small droplets that burn more easily.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: The pintle injector permits good mixture control of fuel and oxidizer over a wide range of flow rates. The pintle injector was used in the Apollo Lunar Module engines (Descent Propulsion System) and the Kestrel engine, it is currently used in the Merlin engine on Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: The RS-25 engine designed for the Space Shuttle uses a system of fluted posts, which use heated hydrogen from the preburner to vaporize the liquid oxygen flowing through the center of the posts and this improves the rate and stability of the combustion process; previous engines such as the F-1 used for the Apollo program had significant issues with oscillations that led to destruction of the engines, but this was not a problem in the RS-25 due to this design detail.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Valentin Glushko invented the centripetal injector in the early 1930s, and it has been almost universally used in Russian engines. Rotational motion is applied to the liquid (and sometimes the two propellants are mixed), then it is expelled through a small hole, where it forms a cone-shaped sheet that rapidly atomizes. Goddard's first liquid engine used a single impinging injector. German scientists in WWII experimented with impinging injectors on flat plates, used successfully in the Wasserfall missile.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: To avoid instabilities such as "chugging," which is a relatively low speed oscillation, the engine must be designed with enough pressure drop across the injectors to render the flow largely independent of the chamber pressure. This pressure drop is normally achieved by using at least 20% of the chamber pressure across the injectors.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Nevertheless, particularly in larger engines, a high speed combustion oscillation is easily triggered, and these are not well understood. These high speed oscillations tend to disrupt the gas side boundary layer of the engine, and this can cause the cooling system to rapidly fail, destroying the engine. These kinds of oscillations are much more common on large engines, and plagued the development of the Saturn V, but were finally overcome.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Some combustion chambers, such as those of the RS-25 engine, use Helmholtz resonators as damping mechanisms to stop particular resonant frequencies from growing.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: To prevent these issues the RS-25 injector design instead went to a lot of effort to vaporize the propellant prior to injection into the combustion chamber. Although many other features were used to ensure that instabilities could not occur, later research showed that these other features were unnecessary, and the gas phase combustion worked reliably.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Testing for stability often involves the use of small explosives. These are detonated within the chamber during operation, and causes an impulsive excitation. By examining the pressure trace of the chamber to determine how quickly the effects of the disturbance die away, it is possible to estimate the stability and redesign features of the chamber if required.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: For liquid-propellant rockets, four different ways of powering the injection of the propellant into the chamber are in common use.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Fuel and oxidizer must be pumped into the combustion chamber against the pressure of the hot gasses being burned, and engine power is limited by the rate at which propellant can be pumped into the combustion chamber. For atmospheric or launcher use, high pressure, and thus high power, engine cycles are desirable to minimize gravity drag. For orbital use, lower power cycles are usually fine.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Selecting an engine cycle is one of the earlier steps to rocket engine design. A number of tradeoffs arise from this selection, some of which include:


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Injectors are commonly laid out so that a fuel-rich layer is created at the combustion chamber wall. This reduces the temperature there, and downstream to the throat and even into the nozzle and permits the combustion chamber to be run at higher pressure, which permits a higher expansion ratio nozzle to be used which gives a higher "I" and better system performance. A liquid rocket engine often employs regenerative cooling, which uses the fuel or less commonly the oxidizer to cool the chamber and nozzle.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Ignition can be performed in many ways, but perhaps more so with liquid propellants than other rockets a consistent and significant ignitions source is required; a delay of ignition (in some cases as small as a few tens of milliseconds) can cause overpressure of the chamber due to excess propellant. A hard start can even cause an engine to explode.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Generally, ignition systems try to apply flames across the injector surface, with a mass flow of approximately 1% of the full mass flow of the chamber.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Safety interlocks are sometimes used to ensure the presence of an ignition source before the main valves open; however reliability of the interlocks can in some cases be lower than the ignition system. Thus it depends on whether the system must fail safe, or whether overall mission success is more important. Interlocks are rarely used for upper, unmanned stages where failure of the interlock would cause loss of mission, but are present on the RS-25 engine, to shut the engines down prior to liftoff of the Space Shuttle. In addition, detection of successful ignition of the igniter is surprisingly difficult, some systems use thin wires that are cut by the flames, pressure sensors have also seen some use.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Methods of ignition include pyrotechnic, electrical (spark or hot wire), and chemical. Hypergolic propellants have the advantage of self igniting, reliably and with less chance of hard starts. In the 1940s, the Russians began to start engines with hypergols, to then switch over to the primary propellants after ignition. This was also used on the American F-1 rocket engine on the Apollo program.


title: Liquid-propellant rocket

text: Ignition with a pyrophoric agent: Triethylaluminium ignites on contact with air and will ignite and/or decompose on contact with water, and with any other oxidizer—it is one of the few substances sufficiently pyrophoric to ignite on contact with cryogenic liquid oxygen. The enthalpy of combustion, ΔH°, is . Its easy ignition makes it particularly desirable as a rocket engine ignitor. May be used in conjunction with triethylborane to create triethylaluminum-triethylborane, better known as TEA-TEB.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: Shaun the Sheep Movie is a 2015 stop-motion animated adventure comedy film based on the 2007 British television series "Shaun the Sheep", created by Nick Park, in turn a spin-off of the "Wallace and Gromit" film, "A Close Shave" (1995). The film follows Shaun and his flock into the big city to save their farmer, who finds himself with amnesia there as a result of their mischief. Also, an animal hunter follows all of them to capture them.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: It was produced by Aardman Animations, and financed by StudioCanal in association with Anton Capital Entertainment, with the former company also distributing the film in the United Kingdom and several other European countries. Richard Starzak and Mark Burton wrote and directed the film, Ilan Eshkeri composed the music, and Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, and Omid Djalili provided the voices. The film premiered on 24 January 2015, at the Sundance Film Festival, and was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 6 February 2015 and 5 August 2015 in the United States.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: The film made $106.2 million at the box office and was widely praised by critics, who called it "fun, absurd, and endearingly inventive" and became the 9th highest-grossing animated film of 2015. "Shaun the Sheep Movie" was nominated at the 88th Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature but lost to Pixar's "Inside Out". It was nominated in The 73rd Golden Globe Awards, BAFTA Awards and won in the Toronto Film Critics Awards for Best Animated Film. It earned five nominations at the Annie Awards including Best Animated Feature. A stand-alone sequel entitled "" was released on 18 October 2019.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: Shaun, a mischievous sheep living with his flock at Mossy Bottom Farm, is bored with the routine of life on the farm. He concocts a plan to have a day off by tricking the farmer into going back to sleep by counting his sheep repeatedly. However, the caravan in which they put the farmer to bed accidentally rolls away, taking him into the city. Bitzer, the farmer's dog, chases after him. The farmer receives a blow to the head and is taken to a hospital, where he is diagnosed with amnesia before leaving. He wanders into a hair salon and, acting on a vague recollection of shearing his sheep, cuts a celebrity's hair. The celebrity loves the result and the farmer gains popularity as a hair stylist called "Mr. X".


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: Meanwhile, the sheep find life impossible without the farmer, so Shaun sneaks onto a bus to the city; to his surprise, the rest of the flock follow him on another bus. They disguise themselves as people and begin looking for the farmer, but Shaun is captured by Trumper, an overzealous animal control worker. Shaun is reunited with Bitzer in the animal lock-up, and with the help of a homeless dog named Slip, they manage to escape while imprisoning Trumper. They find the farmer, but he does not recognise them, much to their dismay.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: Shaun, Bitzer, and the flock take refuge in a dark alleyway when they find evidence of the farmer's memory loss, lifting their spirits. They devise a plan which involves putting the farmer to sleep again, returning him to the trailer on a pantomime horse (really the flock of sheep in an elaborate disguise), and hooking the trailer up to a bus returning to Mossy Bottom. The plan is initially successful, but they are pursued by Trumper (having escaped the lock-up), who is now intent on killing them outright.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: At the farm, the group hides in a shed. The insane Trumper, using the farmer's tractor, tries to push the shed into a nearby rock quarry. The farmer wakes up, regains his memory, and Trumper is defeated through teamwork. Slip leaves, but is adopted by a bus driver who finds her on the road. The farmer and the animals have a renewed appreciation for each other, and the next day the farmer cancels the day's routine activities for an official day off. Epilogues show that the animal-control service is turned into an animal protection centre, and Trumper finds work wearing a chicken suit to promote a restaurant.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: In a mid-credit scene, the Farmer sees a news report detailing some of the mayhem he slept through during his rescue from the city, much to his and the animals' shock.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: In a post-credits scene, the rooster who had been holding the sign at the beginning of the film carries a sign that says "The End" and then turns it and it says “Go home.” The rooster then leaves the room. One of the flock then enters the room with a vacuum cleaner, and begins to clean.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: The film was in development by January 2011, with a plan to release the film in 2013/2014. Directors Burton and Starzak said they wanted to "take the sheep out of their comfort zone," which resulted in having the story set in a city. In adapting the television shorts to feature length, the directors sought to give the characters "an emotional life," with Burton noting, "If you get that right, the audience is going to root for those characters [and] laugh more."


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: The film, in keeping with the TV shorts, is largely silent. The lack of dialogue in the TV series was a practical decision, as the team had limited resources, but Burton and Starzak sought to keep this element, with Starzak citing his disappointment with voice changes on cartoon shows when he was growing up. Early on, both Burton and Starzak struggled to write an entire film without words. They came up with several contingency plans, which included inserting a speaking human character into the cast, or having a character that performed songs to explain the narrative.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: The film had an initial release date of 20 March 2015, which later was moved to 6 February 2015. Principal photography and production began on 30 January 2014.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: Ilan Eshkeri composed the music for the film. The title song, "Feels Like Summer", was a collaboration between Tim Wheeler (of rock band Ash), composer Ilan Eshkeri and former-Kaiser Chief Nick Hodgson. The soundtrack was released in the United Kingdom digitally on 1 June 2015, and on CD on 29 June 2015. The Frederic Chopin composition Grand Valse Brillante is heard during the restaurant scene but is not included in the soundtrack.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: "Shaun the Sheep Movie" premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, as part of the Sundance Kid program on 24 January 2015. The film was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 6 February 2015, by StudioCanal.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: The film was released in the United States on August 5, 2015 by Lionsgate, and its film posters spoofed some of the higher-budgeted films of that year, including "Ant-Man" (renamed "Ant-Lamb"), "Minions" (renamed "Muttons"), "Spectre" (renamed "Shaun"), "" (renamed "Mutton: Impossible – Rogue Bacon"), "Fantastic Four" (renamed "Fantastic Flock"), and "" (renamed "The Hungry Games: Eating Hay").


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: "Shaun the Sheep Movie" was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United Kingdom on 1 June 2015 by StudioCanal.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes records positive reviews based on critics and an average rating of , which makes it the 21st-highest-rated animated film of all time. The site's consensus reads, "Warm, funny, and brilliantly animated, "Shaun the Sheep" is yet another stop-motion jewel in Aardman's family-friendly crown." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 81 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". On CinemaScore, audience members gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: Lou Lumenick of the "New York Post" gave the film three out of four stars, saying, ""Shaun the Sheep Movie" may be less elaborate than Aardman masterpieces like "Curse of the Were-Rabbit", but there's still much to enjoy. It's not often you see a cartoon that references both "Night of the Hunter" and "Silence of the Lambs"." Inkoo Kang of "The Wrap" gave the film a positive review, saying, "Refreshingly for children (but especially for adults), there are no lessons to learn and no faults to admonish. Instead, it's an 84-minute, dialogue-free distillation of all the innocent fun we wish childhood could be."


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: Kenneth Turan of the "Los Angeles Times" gave the film a positive review, saying "Playful, absurd and endearingly inventive, this unstoppably amusing feature reminds us why Britain's Aardman Animations is a mainstay of the current cartooning golden age." Peter Keough of "The Boston Globe" gave the film three and a half stars out of four, saying "Like a great silent movie, it creates its pathos and comedy out of the concrete objects being animated, building elaborate gags involving everyday items transformed into Rube Goldberg devices."


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: Colin Covert of the Minneapolis "Star Tribune" gave the film four out of four stars, saying "Sometimes the simplest movies are the best. Case in point: "Shaun the Sheep", a dialogue-free, non-digitally designed, plain old stop-motion animated film that is hilarious beyond human measure." Guy Lodge of "Variety" gave the film a positive review, saying, "Though realized on a more modest scale than other Aardman features, the film is still an absolute delight in terms of set and character design, with sophisticated blink-and-you'll-miss-it detailing to counterbalance the franchise's cruder visual trademarks."


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: Joe McGovern of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film an A−, saying, "In a bold move that pays off, the movie jettisons dialogue altogether and tells its whole story through barn-animal noises, goofy sound effects, and sight gags so silly they’d make Benny Hill spin in sped-up ecstasy. The effect is contagiously cute." Jordan Hoffman of the New York "Daily News" gave the film four out of five stars, saying "From the company that gave us "Chicken Run" and "Wallace and Gromit", this adorable tale about a sheep who leads his comrades on a big-city adventure is some of the most pure visual storytelling you're going to see this year."


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: Bob Hoose of "Plugged In" gave the film a mostly positive review, praising the style and the plot but condemning the overuse of potty humor and the childishness of the humor in general, concluding; "Nobody's had this much silent fun since Harold Lloyd dangled from a clock face by his fingertips. I must bemoan the passed-gas, sheep-poop and guy-sitting-on-a-commode humor that gets sprayed from the Hollywood honey wagon, and preposterous pratfalls might split the difference at times, but...this pic is as active as it is droll. And it's just a touch sweet and heartfelt, too."


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: "Shaun the Sheep Movie" grossed $19.4 million in North America and $86.8 million in other territories (including $22 million in the United Kingdom) for a worldwide gross of $106.2 million against a budget of $25 million.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: In North America "Shaun the Sheep Movie" grossed $4 million on its three-day opening weekend, and $5.6 million on its five-day opening weekend, ranking 11th at the box office and far below the $7 million projection gross, averaging $1,740 per venue from 2,342 theatres. It dropped by 28.7% with $2.8 million, tipping down to 12th place while averaging $1,220 per theatre.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: The film opened in the UK on February 6, 2015 and opened with $3.1 million, reaching third behind Big Hero 6 and . On its second weekend, it dipped by 16.2% with $2.6 million, still in third, and it increased by 39.9% with $3.7 million, despite that, it still stayed at third.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: It first opened in United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Serbia and Montenegro, Jordan and Egypt on February 5, 2015 and grossed $182K combined on its opening weekends.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: The 10 biggest outside of the North America markets were the United Kingdom ($22 million), Germany ($11.7 million), China ($8.7 million), France ($6.7 million), Australia ($5 million), Japan ($4.5 million), Spain ($3.1 million), Italy ($2.6 million), Switzerland ($2.2 million), and Netherlands ($1.4 million)


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: On 25 October 2016, Aardman confirmed a sequel would go into pre-production in January 2017 as "Shaun the Sheep Movie 2", with Richard Starzak, co-director of the first film, returning.


title: Shaun the Sheep Movie

text: The sequel, titled "", was released in the United Kingdom on 18 October 2019, while Netflix released the film in the United States on February 14, 2020.


title: California Golden Seals

text: The California Golden Seals were a professional ice hockey club that competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1967 to 1976. Based in Oakland, California, they played their home games at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. The Seals were one of six teams added to the league as part of the 1967 NHL expansion. Initially named the California Seals, the team was renamed the Oakland Seals during the 1967–68 season and then the Bay Area Seals in 1970 before becoming the California Golden Seals the same year.


title: California Golden Seals

text: The Seals were the least successful of the teams added in the 1967 expansion, never garnering a winning record and only making the playoffs twice in nine seasons of play. Off the ice, they were plagued by low attendance. The franchise was relocated in 1976 to become the Cleveland Barons, who would cease operations two years later. They are the only franchise from the 1967 expansion never to reach the Stanley Cup Finals.


title: California Golden Seals

text: In 1966, the NHL announced that six expansion teams would be added as a new division for the 1967–68 season, officially because of a general desire to expand the league to new markets, but also to squelch the Western Hockey League's threat to turn into a major league. The San Francisco Seals were one such team from the WHL. The NHL awarded an expansion team to Barry Van Gerbig for the San Francisco Bay area. Van Gerbig decided to purchase the WHL club with the intent of bringing them into the NHL as an expansion team the following season.


title: California Golden Seals

text: Van Gerbig had planned to have the team play in a new arena in San Francisco, but the new arena was never built. He decided to move the team across the Bay from the Cow Palace in Daly City to Oakland to play in the new Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. He renamed the club the California Seals. This was done in an attempt to appeal to fans from San Francisco, and to address complaints from the other NHL teams that Oakland was not considered a major league city and would not be a draw for fans.


title: California Golden Seals

text: A year later, Van Gerbig brought the Seals into the NHL as an expansion team. The team participated with the other five expansion teams in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft however the terms imposed by the established Original Six teams were very one-sided in their favor. The existing NHL teams were permitted to protect nearly all of their best players, thus the players available for selection were mostly castoffs, aging players well past their prime and career minor leaguers. To bolster their roster and also to maintain a semblance of familiarity and continuity for existing Seals fans, the team retained a portion of the club's WHL roster such as Charlie Burns, George Swarbrick, Gerry Odrowski, Tom Thurlby, and Ron Harris.


title: California Golden Seals

text: The Bay Area was not considered a particularly lucrative hockey market, however the terms of a new television agreement with CBS called for two of the expansion teams to be located in California and other than the Kings there were no other prospective franchise applicants of similar pedigree to the Seals. Nevertheless, while the WHL Seals had drawn well at the Cow Palace the team drew poorly in Oakland once they entered the NHL. The plan to bring fans in from San Francisco failed, and on November 6, 1967, Van Gerbig announced that the team's name would be changed to the Oakland Seals (although the league did not register the change until December 8 to focus more on the East Bay.


title: California Golden Seals

text: The Seals were never successful at the gate even after the name change, and because of this poor attendance Van Gerbig threatened on numerous occasions to move the team elsewhere. First-year coach and general manager Bert Olmstead publicly advocated a move to Vancouver, resulting in an offer from Labatt's brewery to purchase and relocate the team to the Canadian city as well as a proposal to move the team to Buffalo from the Knox brothers, who like Vancouver had been shut out of the 1967 expansion. The NHL, not wanting to endanger its TV deal with CBS, rejected both proposals. As it turned out, the league's 1970 expansion would include Vancouver and Buffalo. The Knoxes bought a minority share of the Seals in 1969, only to sell it a year later to fund the Sabres.


title: California Golden Seals

text: This, as well as the team's mediocre on-ice performance, led to major changes to both the Seals' front office and the roster – only 7 of the 20 Seals players remained after the first season. The new-look Seals were somewhat more successful, making the playoffs for two years, although with sub-.500 records. Those were the only two years that the franchise made the playoffs.


title: California Golden Seals

text: The league's rejection of a proposed move to Vancouver prompted a lawsuit that was not settled until 1974 "(San Francisco Seals Ltd. v. National Hockey League)". The Seals organization filed suit against the NHL claiming that the prohibition violated the Sherman Act. The Seals asserted that the league's constitution was in violation by prohibiting clubs from relocating their operations, and that the relocation request was denied in an attempt to keep the San Francisco market in the NHL and thereby discourage the formation of a rival team or league in that location. The court ruled that the NHL was a single entity, and that the teams were not competitors in an economic sense, so the league restrictions on relocation were not a restraint of trade.


title: California Golden Seals

text: For the 1969–70 season the team was sold to Trans-National Communications, whose investors included Pat Summerall and Whitey Ford. However, the group filed for bankruptcy after missing a payment and relinquished the team to Van Gerbig, who put the team back on the market.


title: California Golden Seals

text: Prior to the 1970–71 season, Charles O. Finley, the flamboyant owner of baseball's Oakland Athletics, purchased the Seals. Finley and Roller Derby boss Jerry Seltzer had both put in a bid on the team. Although Seltzer's offer was slightly better and included a more detailed plan for revival, a majority of NHL owners from the "old establishment" voted in favor of Finley. General manager Bill Torrey left by mid-season due to clashes with Finley.


title: California Golden Seals

text: Finley renamed the team the "Bay Area Seals" to begin the 1970–71 season, but after just two games into the season on October 16, 1970, he changed the team name to the "California Golden Seals", following a number of other marketing gimmicks intended to promote the team to the fans, among them changing the Seals' colors to green and gold to match those of the popular A's. The team's uniform crest was now the word "Seals" in a unique typeface, but an alternate logo using a sketch based on a photo of star player Carol Vadnais was used on marketing materials such as pennants, stickers and team programs. The original 1967 California Seals logo recolored in green and gold was often seen on trading cards and other unofficial material, but was never adopted by the team. The Seals are remembered for wearing white skates, but initially Torrey convinced Finley to use green and gold painted skates instead, as team-colored skates were a trend of the period. However, this was all for naught, as the Seals finished with the worst record in the NHL that year. Other innovations that Finley's Seals incorporated, were the inclusion of player names on the back of the jerseys, which then set the precedent for today's 32 current NHL teams identifying players in the same fashion. Finley also was the first owner to allow players to fly first class on commercial flights to games, thus starting a trend that ultimately culminated in NHL teams regularly chartering aircraft by the 21st century. The Seals regularly used the new Boeing 747s the airlines had put into service at the time. Finley also introduced the flamboyant green and gold "Seals luggage" which all players and coaches were required to carry, to identify them as the northern California NHL team. On May 22, 1970, the Seals traded their pick in the first round of the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft to the Montreal Canadiens along with Francois Lacombe in return for Montreal's first round pick in the 1970 draft (Seals selected Chris Oddleifson), Ernie Hicke, and cash. As a result of the Seals' dreadful season, the Canadiens had the top pick in the 1971 draft, and used it to select future Hall of Fame member Guy Lafleur. This transaction now ranks as one of the most one-sided deals in NHL history.


title: California Golden Seals

text: The team rebounded in 1971–72, but the arrival of the World Hockey Association (WHA) wiped out most of those gains. Finley refused to match the WHA's contract offers, causing five of the team's top ten scorers from the previous season to bolt to the new league. Devoid of any defensive talent save for goaltender Gilles Meloche, the Seals sank into last place again in 1972–73, where they would remain for the rest of their history. Although divisional restructuring in 1974–75 included a revamped format in which three teams in each division made the playoffs, the team's efforts were frustrated by their placement in the Adams Division, with the strong Sabres, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs of the day.


title: California Golden Seals

text: Finley soon lost patience with his struggling hockey team, especially given the contrast to his World Series champion Athletics. He tried to sell the Seals, but when no credible buyers came forward who were interested in keeping the team in the Bay Area, he sold the team back to the league for A 1973 attempt by Finley to sell the team to Indianapolis interests who planned to relocate the team to that city was rejected by the NHL's board


title: California Golden Seals

text: In early 1975, newspapers reported that the Seals and Pittsburgh Penguins were to be relocated to Denver and Seattle, respectively, in an arrangement that would have seen the two teams sold to groups in those cities that had already been awarded "conditional" franchises for the 1976–77 At the same time, the league announced that if the Seals' sale to the Denver group was not completed or new ownership found locally, the franchise would be liquidated at the end of the season.


title: California Golden Seals

text: The Denver arrangement fell through, and the league ran the Seals for more than a year until a group headed by San Francisco hotel magnate Melvin Swig bought the team on July 28, 1975 with the intention of moving the team to a proposed new arena in San Francisco. The team fell just short of the playoffs, and after a mayoral election, plans for the new arena were cancelled. With a new arena out of the picture, the league dropped their objection to the relocation of the franchise.


title: California Golden Seals

text: Although attendance was finally showing some improvement and the team playing better, minority owners George and Gordon Gund persuaded Swig to seek approval to move the team to their hometown of Cleveland. The team's final game in Oakland was a win over the Los Angeles Kings on April 4, 1976; league approval for the move was granted on July 14, and the team was renamed the "Cleveland Barons" after the city's old AHL squad. After two more years of losses and with attendance worse than it had been in Oakland, the Gunds (by this time majority owners) were permitted to merge the Barons with another failing team, the Minnesota North Stars on June 14, 1978. The merged team continued as the Minnesota North Stars under the Gunds' ownership, but assumed the Barons' place in the Adams Division. The North Stars ultimately relocated to Texas following the 1992–93 season to become the Dallas Stars.


title: California Golden Seals

text: The Cleveland Barons remain the most recent team in an established North American major professional league to fold. They were also the last actively playing NHL team to do so since the Brooklyn Americans in 1942 (the franchise was formally cancelled in 1946) and the last team to cease operations since the Montreal Maroons had their franchise formally canceled in 1947 (though they had not iced a team since 1938). As a result, the NHL consisted of 17 teams for the 1978–79 season.


title: California Golden Seals

text: The current NHL team in the Bay Area, the San Jose Sharks, has a historical connection to the Seals. Years after the Barons-North Stars merger, the Gunds wanted to bring hockey back to the Bay Area. They asked the NHL for permission to move the North Stars there in the late 1980s, but the league was unwilling to abandon a traditional hockey market like the Twin Cities. Meanwhile, a group led by former Hartford Whalers owner Howard Baldwin was pushing the NHL to bring a team to San Jose, where an arena was being built. Eventually, a compromise was struck whereby the Gunds would sell their share of the North Stars to Baldwin's group, with the Gunds receiving an expansion team in the Bay Area to begin play in the 1991–92 season. In return, the Sharks would have the rights to players from the North Stars and then participate with the North Stars as an equal partner in an expansion draft with the new franchise. On May 5, 1990, the Gunds officially sold their share of the North Stars to Baldwin and were awarded a new team in the Bay Area that eventually became the Sharks. Ironically, in their first two seasons in the league, the Sharks played their home games at the Cow Palace in Daly City (the same facility the NHL rejected as a home for the Seals in 1967) while their new permanent home arena in San Jose was being completed.


title: California Golden Seals

text: Dennis Maruk was the last Seals player active in the NHL, retiring as a member of the North Stars in 1989. The last former Seals player in any league was George Pesut, who was active in Germany until 1994.


title: California Golden Seals

text: Though no longer an active team, the Seals remained a popular subject, and are the subject of multiple works. In 2006, Brad Kurtzberg published the first book on the Seals franchise, "Shorthanded: The Untold Story of the Seals: Hockey's Most Colorful Team". In January 2017, filmmaker Mark Greczmiel released his documentary, "The California Golden Seals Story" on iTunes. In 2016, the Seals tribute site, GoldenSealsHockey.com was founded to help promote the November 2017 release of the book, "The California Golden Seals: a Tale of White Skates, Red Ink, and One of the NHL's Most Outlandish Teams", which covers the Seals' and Barons' entire history, including their six years in the WHL.


title: California Golden Seals

text: The San Jose Sharks unveiled their Reverse Retro jersey based on the final years of the Golden Seals on October 20, 2022.


title: California Golden Seals

text: "Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes"


title: California Golden Seals

text: In 1967–68, KTVU 2 televised 12 games with Tim Ryan on play-by-play. In 1968–69, away games were broadcast on the radio by KEEN with Tim Ryan again on play-by-play. In 1969–70, Saturday and Sunday games were broadcast by KGO radio. Jim Gordon, Bill Schonely and Bill McColgan each did play-by-play alone on multiple games. Meanwhile, Harvey Wittenberg and Rick Weaver did one game each; Weaver did the playoffs. In 1970–71, Roy Storey worked play-by-play on KEEN radio while Rick Weaver called 10 games on KTVU. In 1972–73, Joe Starkey called the games on KEEN radio while Jon Miller worked 15 games (all on delay) on KFTY 50. Starkey continued to call the Golden Seals games on KEEN in 1974–75 and 1975–76. In the Golden Seals' final season, their games were televised on KBHK-TV 44.


title: Junya Enoki

text: Enoki was born in Tokyo. He became interested in acting while in college. After watching "Gurren Lagann", he became a voice actor. He was a member of the Atomic Monkey Voice Actor & Acting Laboratory's third graduating class. His cousin is Chika Anzai. He is the Japanese dubbing voice actor of Tom Holland, who is known for his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Spider-Man.


title: Shenmue III

text: Yu Suzuki conceived "Shenmue" as a saga spanning multiple games. "Shenmue" and "Shenmue II" were developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for the Dreamcast in 1999 and 2001. The original "Shenmue" was the most expensive video game ever developed at the time, though this development also covered some of "Shenmue II" and groundwork for future "Shenmue" games. They attracted positive reviews and a cult following, but were commercial failures.


title: Shenmue III

text: At E3 2015, following years of speculation, Suzuki launched a Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund "Shenmue III", with Sega having licensed "Shenmue" to Suzuki's company Ys Net. It became the fastest campaign to raise $2 million, in under seven hours, and ended the following month having raised over $6 million, making it the highest-funded video game in Kickstarter history at the time. Further funding came from Sony and Deep Silver and crowdfunding on other platforms. The development team was much smaller than that of previous "Shenmue" games, though key staff from the original team returned. The game was built using Unreal Engine 4.


title: Shenmue III

text: "Shenmue III" was released on November 19, 2019, 18 years after "Shenmue II". It received mixed reviews, with critics divided over its similarity to its predecessors; some described it as outdated, while others praised its faithfulness to the franchise. Retail sales were low, but exclude digital sales and copies sent to Kickstarter backers.


title: Shenmue III

text: Like the previous "Shenmue" games, the player controls teenage martial artist Ryo Hazuki, who is searching for his father's killer. Most of the game is spent exploring the open world in Guilin, China, searching for clues, examining objects and talking to non-player characters for information. The game features a 3D fighting system similar to the "Virtua Fighter" series; Ryo can practice moves to increase their power. In quick time events, the player must press the right buttons at the right moment to succeed. Ryo can earn money through minigames such as gambling, fishing, woodchopping, and forklift driving, and by selling foraged herbs.


title: Shenmue III

text: "Shenmue III" introduces a stamina system, whereby Ryo's hit points (HP) gradually decline as the player explores. If his HP drops too low, he loses the ability to sprint while exploring. Ryo can restore HP through sleeping and eating.


title: Shenmue III

text: In 1987, the teenage martial artist Ryo Hazuki has journeyed from Yokosuka, Japan, to the mountains of Guilin, China, in search of his father's killer, Lan Di. Ryo and his new friend, Ling Shenhua, search for Shenhua's missing father, the stonemason Yuan, in Shenhua's hometown of Bailu Village. They learn that thugs have been harassing the local stonemasons, looking for the phoenix mirror, which Ryo has brought from his father's dojo. Another stonemason, Xu, is also missing. Ryo defeats two of the thugs, but is defeated by their boss, Yanlang.


title: Shenmue III

text: Ryo learns that Lan Di's father, Sunming Zhao, visited Bailu Village with Ryo's father to train under the local grandmaster. Zhao died under mysterious circumstances several years later. Ryo also discovers that the phoenix and dragon mirrors were created by Yuan's grandfather at the request of the Chinese emperor. Their creation is connected to the local Verdant Bridge, constructed to honor the visit of a Chinese envoy.


title: Shenmue III

text: At the thugs' hideout, Ryo is defeated again by Yanlang. He convinces Sun, a local martial arts master, to teach him a powerful Bajiquan move, and uses it to defeat Yanlang. A village elder helps them discover a map to the treasure connected to the mirrors. Ryo fends off an attack from Lan Di's henchman, Chai, who reveals that Yuan and Xu have been taken to the city of Niaowu.


title: Shenmue III

text: Ryo and Shenhua travel to Niaowu by boat. Ryo learns that a local gang, the Red Snakes, is holding Yuan and Xu. Ryo encounters his Hong Kong ally, Wuying Ren, who has traveled to Niaowu in pursuit of the treasure connected to the mirrors. At the Red Snakes’ hideout, Ryo and Ren are defeated by their boss, Ge, who uses an animalistic fighting style. Ryo meets a cormorant fisherman, Grandmaster Bei, who teaches him a similar Bajiquan move to defeat the Red Snakes.


title: Shenmue III

text: Ryo and Ren approach the hideout, only to find Li Feng, a mysterious woman whom Ryo has encountered previously in Niaowu. She tells them that the Red Snakes have kidnapped Shenhua and taken her across the river to a castle. Ryo convinces Bei to take him and Ren by boat. Before departing, Ren reveals that he has acquired a counterfeit phoenix mirror, believing it could be useful.


title: Shenmue III

text: The three cross the river with Hsu, a former student of Bei, and Lin Shiling, the maiden of a local shrine. Ryo and Ren infiltrate the castle while the others guard the perimeter. Ryo finds Yuan and Xu trapped in a cell; Ryo defeats Chai again and releases them. In the process, they learn that Li Feng is a Chi You Men leader: Niao Sun. Ryo gives her the real phoenix mirror to spare Shenhua's life, and Niao Sun tells them Lan Di is up ahead.


title: Shenmue III

text: Ryo and Ren fight their way to the top of the castle, defeat Ge, and find Lan Di. Ryo challenges him to a fight, but Lan Di defeats him easily. Ren offers Lan Di the counterfeit phoenix mirror in exchange for Ryo's life. Lan Di accepts, but Ren hurls the mirror out of a window. Niao Sun has her men distract Lan Di in the castle and consolidate her power, and Ryo and Ren escape.


title: Shenmue III

text: Ryo, Shenhua, Ren, Yuan, and Xu depart Niaowu by boat. On board, Yuan reveals that the mirrors were initially locked away in a cliff temple; Zhao Sunming retrieved them to keep them from "falling into the wrong hands". After Zhao died, his son, Lan Di, was raised by the Chi You Men. While captive, Yuan also learned that the Chi You have taken over the cliff temple. Ryo, Shenhua, and Ren continue their journey along the Great Wall of China.


title: Shenmue III

text: The first two "Shenmue" games were directed, written and produced by Yu Suzuki, developed by Sega AM2, and published by Sega for the Dreamcast in 1999 and 2001. Described by "IGN" as a "revenge epic in the tradition of Chinese cinema", Suzuki plans the series to cover at least four games. With a level of detail considered unprecedented, the original "Shenmue" was the most expensive video game ever developed at the time, reported to have cost between US$47 and 70 million, including marketing. The development also covered some of "Shenmue II", which was completed for a smaller figure, and groundwork for future "Shenmue" games.


title: Shenmue III

text: Despite attracting a cult following and appearances in several greatest video games of all time lists, the first two "Shenmue" games were commercial failures. Suzuki worked on various projects which failed to see release, including "Shenmue Online," a massively multiplayer online role-playing game for the Chinese and Korean PC markets.


title: Shenmue III

text: Fans petitioned for "Shenmue III," and in 2005 the BBC series "VideoGaiden" ran a campaign for its release. On several occasions, Sega spokespersons said they recognized the interest in "Shenmue" and did not rule out another game, and Suzuki said that Sega would be open to the project with the right budget. In 2008, Suzuki established his own development company, Ys Net, while remaining at Sega. That year, Sega announced "Shenmue City", a social game for the Japanese Mobagetown (for cell phones) and Mobage (PC) services. Suzuki hoped that if "Shenmue City" were a success it would allow him to make "Shenmue III"; however, it was shut down in December 2011.


title: Shenmue III

text: In September 2011, Suzuki left Sega to focus on Ys Net. In 2012, he suggested that Sega could license "Shenmue" to Ys Net to develop "Shenmue III" independently. News arose in March 2013 that Suzuki was considering crowdfunding or console exclusivity to fund "Shenmue III". During the 2014 Game Developers Conference, Sony Computer Entertainment approached him about "Shenmue III" as it was one of the most requested games. In March 2014, Xbox head Phil Spencer said "Shenmue III" was the most requested sequel from Xbox owners. Sega renewed the "Shenmue" trademark that May.


title: Shenmue III

text: On June 14, 2015, the day before the Los Angeles E3 industry event, Suzuki tweeted "E3" with a photo of a forklift, a reference to a minigame in the original "Shenmue". During Sony's E3 press conference the next day, Suzuki announced a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to develop "Shenmue III" for Windows and PlayStation 4 with a tentative release date of December 2017. The surprise announcement drew publicity, winning the "Best Debut" award from GameTrailers and generating a surge in sales of pre-owned Dreamcast consoles. In January 2017, "Time," "The Guardian" and "Den of Geek" included "Shenmue III" in their lists of anticipated games.


title: Shenmue III

text: The initial Kickstarter funding goal, the amount necessary for the campaign to succeed and development to begin, was $2 million. Additional goals, to encourage further donations, included a "rapport system" that changes interactions with characters depending on player choices, and a "skill tree system" allowing for greater customization of Ryo's fighting abilities. Suzuki said that for "Shenmue III" to be a "true" open-world game, the campaign would need to raise at least $10 million; nonetheless, he said he would not be disappointed by a smaller figure and would work within the budget.


title: Shenmue III

text: "Shenmue III" became the fastest game to raise $1 million in crowdfunding, in an hour and 44 minutes, and the fastest to raise $2 million, in eight hours and 43 minutes. It ended on July 17 having raised $6.3 million from over 69,000 backers, becoming the highest-funded video game in Kickstarter history at the time. On September 17, 2015, crowdfunding resumed using the online payment system PayPal, and on March 15 the project began accepting pledges through the Chinese crowdfunding platform Alipay.


title: Shenmue III

text: Crowdfunding ended in September 2018, having raised $7,179,510 from 81,087 backers across multiple platforms. Though this is a large amount for a crowdfunded project, it is relatively small for a high-profile game; however, Sony and Deep Silver provided further funding. In a retrospective interview with "IGN Japan", Suzuki said the project reached a budget of around $20 million.


title: Shenmue III

text: "Shenmue III" was developed by Suzuki's development studio Ys Net. Sony and Shibuya Productions provided production, marketing, and publishing support.


title: Shenmue III

text: Whereas "Shenmue" and "Shenmue II" were developed by between 250 and 300 people, "Shenmue III" had a core team of about 75, with a further 100 outsourced roles, excluding voice actors. Ten key staff had worked on the previous "Shenmue" games, including director Yu Suzuki, second director Keiji Okayasu, scenario director Takao Yotsuji, writers Junichi Yoshida and Masahiro Yoshimoto, character designers Kenji Miyawaki and Hideki Kawabata, and composer Ryuji Iuchi. Neilo chief executive Takeshi Hirai was a lead programmer on the first "Shenmue." Other staff had credits for games such as and series such as "Streets of Rage" and "Virtua Fighter". Masaya Matsukaze and Corey Marshall reprised their roles as the Japanese and English voices of Ryo respectively.


title: Shenmue III

text: In November 2015, Suzuki visited China to promote the project and research the locations, traditional clothes and martial arts of Guilin. In a presentation at China's Chuapp conference that month, he said that "Shenmue III"s story and "composition" were complete and that "baseline research" with Unreal Engine 4 had begun. Suzuki chose the engine as it allowed the team to build prototypes quickly. In late 2015, the team began using "Shenmue II" characters to run simple battle and conversation tests. In February 2016, Suzuki demonstrated the weather effects, lighting, and music at the Monaco Anime Game International Conference. By December, the game had left preproduction and motion capture and voice tests were under way.


title: Shenmue III

text: In June 2017, "Shenmue III" was delayed to the second half of 2018; according to Suzuki, "By utilizing new technologies, we have been able to discover new possibilities and expressions. In many ways, the game has become bigger and more beautiful than I initially expected." That August, Suzuki announced that Ys Net had partnered with the German publisher Deep Silver to publish "Shenmue III" globally. He told "Eurogamer" the partnership allowed the team to "make the game with a larger scale featuring open-world elements", and that Sony and Sega were still supporting development.


title: Shenmue III

text: Ys Net released a teaser trailer on August 22, 2017. Some fans and journalists criticized the trailer's "stiff" character models and animation. In December 2017, Ys Net announced that the Indian studio Lakshya Digital would provide additional character models. In May 2018, Ys Net and Deep Silver delayed "Shenmue III" until 2019. At the Gamescom trade fair in August, Deep Silver displayed a new trailer and announced a release date of August 27, 2019. A new trailer was shown in March 2019 at the Monaco Magic festival, showcasing the Guilin setting, fighting system, and several new characters. The fighting system was redesigned to make it accessible to less experienced players. In June 2019, "Shenmue III" was delayed to November 19. A new trailer, showcasing arcades and fighting gameplay, debuted at the Gamescom trade fair in August 2019.


title: Shenmue III

text: "Shenmue III" was released on November 19, 2019, 18 years after "Shenmue II". It was published in China by Oasis Games on PlayStation 4 and the WeGame platform on PC. "Shenmue III" includes a letter to fans from Suzuki expressing his hope to develop "Shenmue IV".


title: Shenmue III

text: A demo was released for Windows in September 2019. The Windows version of "Shenmue III" was exclusive to the Epic Games Store for the first year. The exclusivity announcement drew criticism from some fans. Kickstarter backers who had requested the Steam version were offered refunds.


title: Shenmue III

text: In January 2020, Ys Net released the first "Shenmue III" downloadable content (DLC) expansion, "Battle Rally". As Ryo, Ren or Ryo's sparring partner Wei Zhen, players compete in arcade-style races. A "story quest" DLC expansion was released in February, and features the return of Zhang Shuqin from "Shenmue II". The third DLC expansion, "Big Merry Cruise", was released in March. In April 2021, fans released a mod for the PC version that replaces the voices of Greg Chun and Kyle McCarley as Ren and Lan Di with Eric Kelso and Paul Lucas, who had voiced them in the original games.


title: Shenmue III

text: According to the review aggregator website Metacritic, "Shenmue III" received "mixed or average reviews". Reviewers were divided over its similarity to the older games; some felt it was a faithful sequel, while others criticized it as outdated. According to "GamesIndustry.biz", "Ys Net hasn't rebooted or reimagined its franchise; rather, it has made a game as if (for the most part) the intervening years never happened at all."