Seriously.. that bear will mess you up. Smokey the Bear (apparently, he’s officially “Smokey Bear”, but that’s news to me) has always been at the forefront of the fight on forest fires. Yes, I enjoyed getting to write that. Anyway, I grew up with the image of him telling me that only I could prevent forest fires – which at the time I didn’t entirely understand. I realised that I was a child, and I wasn’t really sure why they would give me – a child who rarely ventured into the forest – all of this fire fighting power. At some point I suppose I came to the conclusion that Smokey was speaking to all children individually, but regardless of how he went about it, he did reinforce some bits of fire safety. Well, other than the phase most boys go through where they enjoy lighting things on fire. Fire is pretty cool. Oh, the shirt! Right. This violent and aggressive side of Smokey isn’t one I really remember, but if the man (or, I should say, the bear) wants to really hammer his point home to children who won’t listen, sometimes a wallop with a shovel is the only answer. Most bears would use their claws, but not Smokey – this shirt shows how civilized he truly is. (Available at Threadless)
Both “unicorn for breakfast” and “rainbow blood” sound like band names or movies or something. Maybe alternative indie comic books? Either way, the quite obviously fierce lion on this shirt has been munching on the most heavenly of treats – pure unicorn. I didn’t realise unicorns fell under the purview of the forest – the forest that said lions are the kings of. But a king is a king, and it’s good to be the king. I thought unicorn blood was silver, though? (Available at Design By Humans)
I can’t say I think a city is the best place for a giant gorilla to hang out. I’ve seen evidence that such practices don’t end well. It’s the sort of thing a mama and papa giant gorilla should teach a baby giant gorilla (yes, I said a baby giant gorilla, stay with me now) is best avoided. Nonetheless, on a hot summer day, I suppose there are some advantages, as we see on this shirt. For the ape that is, the helicopter pilot (and said helicopter pilot’s loved ones) probably feel differently – but this is a funny shirt, ethics and point of view don’t really come into play. (Available at Threadless)
Curling has pretty much captured the world by storm .. or at least, it does during the Winter Olympics. Otherwise I imagine it to mostly just take Canada by storm. Really, when we’re not in the middle of the Olympics, I can’t say I hear much about the sport, though I do still imagine a curler when I hear a other sports guys talking about an opposing team “coming into their house” – I know it’s supposed to reference their home stadium/arena/whatever, and how the home team should perform well in front of their own fans, but I can’t help but think of sliding curling rocks down the sheet (ideally) into the house. This shirt just shows what it might be like if animals performed this on their own, quite adorably I might add. I know Curling wasn’t originally designed to have a polar bear hurling a turtle down a frozen lake, but I also imagine those Scots (I think it’s Scottish folk that first curled, no?) would be happy to hear it’s been depicted as such. I also don’t completely understand what it’s doing on a shirt, but again, adorable + curling = don’t ask questions. Plus, there’s a result shot on the back of the shirt! Two sided print! The turtle hit the house! I do love those so. (Available at Threadless)
What’s the plural of octopus? Octopi? Octopusses? I’m wading into lewd waters here, so I’ll stop there (get it? waters? because it’s an octopus? Ha!). Anyway, this singular octopus, avoiding my plural dilemma, has decided it’s time to disguise himself (actually, I’m not sure if he’s a him, but enough with the marine biology). What else but Bugs Bunny? I’m not sure it’s the most convenient – he needed a poor scuba diver (who appears to lose his oxygen tanks in the process) to be the character’s teeth – so at very least it’s a situational disguise. Still, if anyone other than Elmer Fudd is looking for an octopus, and they’re willing to look past an underwater rabbit, it might just work. (Available at Threadless)
A mechanical owl operated by a mouse? I like it. I don’t think the owl on this shirt is meant to represent every owl and imply that they are all beasts operated by rodents – at very least I think owls would eat fewer rodents – but the king part implies that perhaps the owls are following a false leader. Though, in this case, they’d still probably eat fewer mice. So maybe this is just a fluke of a steampunk owl (it wouldn’t be the first time). (Available at Threadless)
Canadians rejoice! A shirt representing all that is Canada. Well, there’s no maple leaves on here or anything. Plus, I don’t know a ton about Canada, so there’s probably more than geese and mounties. Still, this is two Canadian things, and they have those weird two dollar coins there, so two seems an appropriate numbers. I do know Canadian Geese, and I know Mounties, so the combination of the two seems kind of inevitable, right? (Available at Threadless)
There’s never been a hunt for animals quite like this. Well, that’s probably not true, I imagine there are actually loads of word search puzzles with animal names in them. Still, this shirt is pretty awesome – a giant word search with a ridiculous number of animals hidden on it, the all-over printing on this shirt makes for some fun conversation. After all, who doesn’t want other people poking and poring over their entire body looking for secrets? (Available at Threadless)
This is, indeed, a very Dark Raven. If Darth Vader were a bird, I suppose can see him as a raven. The Death Star moon in the background definitely makes the shirt, though.. very sinister. Or dark, as it were. (Available at Threadless)
Jelly bears in the wild! Warn the campers! I don’t think the wild jelly bears seen on this shirt would pose much of a threat, actually. I think they would be tasty, and do gummi bears (as we all know the shirt references) actually eat? And what would a Gummi Bear eat, if a Gummi Bear could eat? I don’t think people. So, we’re safe, and potentially full of delicious candy, if we want to go hunting. (Available at Threadless)
It’s both a lady and a man! Or at least, a ladybug and something wearing a tuxedo. I’m not going to say a ladybug can’t wear a tuxedo, but I think it says a little something about that ladybug, no? Like maybe that ladybug is into other ladybugs? Which is cool, of course. A tuxedo actually looks pretty sharp on a ladybug, I say. (Available at Threadless)
Blowfish are the best at blowing themselves up, like a child with puffy cheeks but even more! With spiky skin, it looks like those little guys are stretched out more than can possibly be comfortable. So given that, who’s to say they wouldn’t be awesome at blowing bubbles? I believe this shirt has answered such a question. (Available at Threadless)
Rarely does a shirt actually promote a good cause (though this isn’t the first time), but this one does. Depicting a poor pelican covered in dirty oil but rising up from the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the proceeds from this t-shirt will be donated to the Gulf Restoration Network. I think it’s well worth a couple of bucks for a nice shirt and the opportunity to promote a worthy cause, no? (Available at Threadless)
Look, it’s not the most clever of phrases. It’s not the most breathtaking of images. I get this. But still, it’s an aardvark, and you don’t get many aardvark shirts around this place. Plus, it’s kind of funny. A little? You don’t get many bling wearing aardvarks, you know. Maybe that “a” is for awesome? (Available at Threadless)
Well, it’s not quite your standard abduction, but it still does seem a little bit wrong. The deer are being abducted up to the alien ship from their home in the forest by the standard bright column of light with a tractor beam type pull, but hey – I guess this is maybe just how aliens hunt? (Available at Design By Humans)
There’s not a lot to say about this one, I guess. It’s an elephant being chased by a group of mice, being chased by an elephant …. etc. The mice are on the back of the shirt and the elephant on the front, giving the never ending chase thing and obscuring the detail of who is chasing whom. (Available at Threadless)
Giraffe’s are pretty strange animals. This shirt depicts one as a line drawing thoroughly enjoying a tree flavored snack, reaching out with its tongue to pry the delicious leaves from their high perch. It also features an amusing logo/slogan, stating that the wearer also loves trees. Good to know.
Edit: Reprinted!
Oh well indeed. The designer of this shirt just said they wanted to come up with a nice owl design, and went with this retro-styled one simply for the look. So I won’t try to draw out any more intent or meaning than that- it’s an owl that looks cool. There it is. (Available at Threadless)
Bunny ears! I’m not sure when or why putting bunny ears behind someone’s head for a photo came into play, but while it was never quite hilarious, it’s always a little funny. This shirt shows that maybe the habit actually came from rabbits themselves? We might never know. (Available at Threadless)
Hey, what are you gonna do? Sometimes a fella gets a little bit insecure. In the case of this shirt, this poor rhinoceros feels like his little horn signifies something .. less than masculine to some potential rhino mates. So he does what any self-respecting male with such a horn problem does – he overcompensates by buying a sports car. Makes sense to me.
Edit: Reprint!
