==========================
animation/silver.screen #1, from hmccracken, 2811 chars, Sun Apr 14 19:30:28 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Upcoming animated features
There are several dozen animated features currently in the works.
Here are comments on a few of note:
_Beauty and the Beast_: Disney’s next, for release this Fall. Directed
by Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale, who I’ve never heard of. Someone
I know who has seen large chunks of it dismisses it as Disney’s worst
feature in a decade, but this person is a harsh critic.
_Rock-a-Doodle_: this Don Bluth feature, which has been finished for
a long time, may actually come out this Summer from MGM/UA. Voices
include Glen Campbell and Phil (Baloo) Harris. Folks who have seen
it say it’s kid stuff, but respectably-done kid stuff that’s at least
better than Bluth’s _All Dogs Go to Heaven_.
_An American Tail II: Fievel Goes West_: the sequel to Bluth’s _An
American Tail_, but this one was done by a studio in England created
for the purpose by Steven Spielberg. Voices include Jimmy Stewart
and John Cleese. Directed by ex-Disney animator Phil Nibbelink and
Simon Wells. I hear the production values are very sharp but the
story may not be so hot.
_Fern Gully: the Last Rain Forest_: directed by Bill Kroyer, the
computer animator who worked on _TRON_, the credits to _Honey, I
Shrunk the Kids_, and the excellent _Technological Threat_.
As the title suggests, it’s an ecology story. Voices by Robin
Williams and Tim Curry.
_Rover Dangerfield_: a film about Rodney Dangerfield’s dog, done
by Hyperion Studios (who did the good _Brave Little Toaster_.)
I don’t know much about it except that it’s been in the works for a
long time and the character design of Rover is cute.
_Little Nemo_: this animated film based on the great Winsor McCay
strip, produced by TMS in Japan, has been in production for years
and has already inspired a Nintendo game and an upcoming syndicated
series. Supposedly it looks just like a 1950s Disney feature
(Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston consulted on it.)
_The Short, Happy Lives of Barnaby Scratch_: a story about a cat
set during World War I. Written by Chuck Jones; I don’t know if he
plans to direct. This is something he originally tried to get going
in the 1960s, I believe.
_The Thief and the Cobbler_: yet another film that’s been in the
works for years; in fact the earliest production work was done when
I was maybe six months old (that’s 1964). Richard Williams’s
(_Who Framed Roger Rabbit_) life work, with animation by Ken Harris,
Grim Natwick, and Art Babbitt. It *could* be a masterpiece.
_Aladdin_: Disney’s next film after _Beauty and the Beast_, with
a computer-animated flying carpet for the title character. Like
_Beauty- it has songs by Ashman and Menkin (_The Little Mermaid_);
it’s said to be having production problems and may not get released
in the Fall of 1992 as planned.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #2, from sje, 1209 chars, Sun Apr 14 20:06:03 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: BEST TIME-OF-DAY TO SEE ANIMATION IN THEATERS
For the adults out there, what have you determined to be the best time
of the day to see an animation feature at a theater? Here are some of my
observations:
1) Weekday afternoon (school in session) — Probably the best time as
most noisemaking children are stuck in the classroom.
2) Weekday evening — Not too bad, a good point is that one doesn’t
have to take time off from the day job.
3) Weekend Matinee — (Did you know that “matinee” comes from the Latin
_matins_ (ecclesiastical time-of-day)) Not so good because of a large
percentage of unsupervised kids.
4) Weekend evening — The little ones are more likely to be supervised,
but few animation shows are held during these prime periods.
Some of the best screenings I’ve had were during weekday afternoons
where I was just about the only one in the theater. An incredible difference
over the usual setting. The absolute worst I’ve had was a weekend night
showing of _Fantasia_ where the show didn’t get going until nearly 22:00 (it
was scheduled for 21:00) and several parents didn’t know enough not to bring
tired and cranky pre-schoolers out well after their bedtimes. — Steve
==========================
animation/silver.screen #3, from davemackey, 317 chars, Sun Apr 14 21:14:04 1991
————————–
TITLE: Has it been mentioned around here…
…that, according to the recent book by Jim Korkis and John
Cawley, “How To Create Animation,” the next Bugs Bunny short in
the production pipeline is “Beach Blanket Bunny,” with some of
Mike Giaimo’s designs displayed in the book?
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #4, from davemackey, 206 chars, Sun Apr 14 21:14:24 1991
This is a comment to message 2.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 2.
————————–
When I first saw “The Little Mermaid,” it was on a weekday
evening and there was only one small fry (but boy, was he
hyperactive!), so you could be somewhat correct.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #5, from hmccracken, 1277 chars, Sun Apr 14 21:53:23 1991
This is a comment to message 2.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
When I like to see animation at a theater depends upon my mood.
There are times when I actively *like* having a lot of kids around —
it’s certainly the best way to gauge the audience’s reaction to most
animated films — and in these cases I’ll go during the day if possible.
If I’m feeling more analytical, or going to see something like
_Fantasia_ which kids go to but can’t really appreciate, I’ll go at
night. Weekday matinees are also a nice time to go if you’re feeling
thoughtful, since they’re often practically empty (especially in
urban theaters). Almost like going to a critics’ screening (which
I’ve gone to a few of — seeing David Brudnoy react to _The Chipmunk
Adventure_ was a slightly surreal experience).
Of course, the other problem that adults who go to animated films alone
have is that you run into theater employees who seem to be wondering
if you’re A) mentally retarded in some way, or B) a child molester.
(In the post-Roger Rabbit era, this is less of a problem.) I once
had to *argue* with a ticket seller who was convinced that I didn’t
understand that the film I was trying to buy a ticket to was _Peter
Pan_, that it was a Disney film, and that it was G rated and animated!
He couldn’t conceive of an adult wanting to see it.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #6, from sharonfisher, 652 chars, Sun Apr 14 22:24:44 1991
This is a comment to message 5.
————————–
I saw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with a group of my friends, I believe
on a Saturday afternoon. We were the only adults not accompanied by
children. The children behind me had to visit the facilities a number of
times during the picture, with the necessity and purpose of each visit
announced in a loud voice. At one point, one of the mommies said that
the kids couldn’t spend the whole picture in the lobby, and if they didn’t
sit down and behave, they’d have to go out and sit in the car. I turned
around, said intensely “That would suit me just fine,” and turned back
around. I expected to be bopped on the head, but instead silence
reigned.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #7, from davemackey, 842 chars, Mon Apr 15 21:13:42 1991
This is a comment to message 1.
————————–
Back in the days when the Nine Old Men were still active, Disney
had one team doing features; now we have a number of different
units. Which may explain why the relatively unknown Wise and
Trousdale are getting their shot at this feature, rather than
some of the tried-and-true directorial talent like George
Scribner or Musker/Clements.
I’ve been hearing about “The Thief…” for many many years,
and I suspect we’ll be hearing more and more in the years to come
as the feature lurches toward completion. But I think this
feature could be marketed to the animation community on the
strength of its talent roster, some of whom (like Ken Harris) did
some of their final work on the film. Of course, the general
public will have more general “almost 30 years in the making”
hoopla thrust upon them.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #8, from hmccracken, 964 chars, Tue Apr 23 18:42:57 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: _The British Animation Invasion_ and _Best of the Festival of
Animation_ are the two current traveling animation shows from
Expanded Entertainment and Mellow Magic, respectively. They’re
both worth seeing if they come to your town. _British Animation_
is especially good, with some great commercials (*nobody* does
better animated commercials than the British) and a wonderful
Winsor McCay-like film called _Night Travelers_ (I think).
_Best of the Fest_ is exactly what the name suggests, and includes
Nick Park’s _Grand Day Out_ (the film about a man and his dog going
to the moon in search of Cheese that was nominated for an Oscar this
year) and John Lasseter’s _Knickknack_ (the absolutely *wonderful*
computer-animated film about a wistful snowman who lives inside a
keepsake paperweight). It also includes the cult classic _Lupo
the Butcher_, a bizarre film popular enough to warrant its own
T-shirt which is sold at intermission time.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #9, from hkenner, 119 chars, Tue Apr 23 19:24:29 1991
This is a comment to message 8.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 8.
————————–
>>In search of cheese that was nominated for an Oscar this year …
Well, they’ve nominated worse things than Stilton.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #10, from hmccracken, 155 chars, Tue Apr 23 21:04:08 1991
This is a comment to message 9.
————————–
I *knew* that sentence was going to come ot sounding like that!
Serves me right for not composing off-line, so I can think
these things through.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #11, from jshook, 89 chars, Tue Apr 23 23:38:32 1991
This is a comment to message 8.
There are additional comments to message 8.
————————–
What variety of cheese was nominated for an Academy award? What
was the category?
🙂
==========================
animation/silver.screen #12, from jshook, 86 chars, Tue Apr 23 23:39:47 1991
This is a comment to message 8.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 8.
————————–
What variety of cheese was nominated for the Oscar? What
was the category? Who won?
==========================
animation/silver.screen #13, from hmccracken, 152 chars, Wed Apr 24 00:06:53 1991
This is a comment to message 12.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Gosh, Jim, I feel bad enough about it without you asking me twice! 😉
— Harry
(For the record, it was a finely-aged Brie that took home the Oscar.)
==========================
animation/silver.screen #14, from jshook, 211 chars, Wed Apr 24 09:39:52 1991
This is a comment to message 13.
There are additional comments to message 13.
————————–
Sorry…I thought BIX did something funny when I replied the
first time so I assumed my message didn’t make it. Should
have checked, though….
Certainly ironic overkill for a mistake I often
make myself….
==========================
animation/silver.screen #15, from aturn, 243 chars, Wed Apr 24 23:33:11 1991
This is a comment to message 13.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION DEPARTMENT:
In 1971, Jane Fonda won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance
in “Klute”, where she played a prostitute named Brie Daniels.
Whether she is “finely-aged” or not is a matter of personal opinion…
==========================
animation/silver.screen #16, from hmccracken, 1287 chars, Sun Apr 28 21:57:52 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: _Who Discovered Roger Rabbit_…
is the planned title of the next Roger Rabbit movie, scheduled to
go into production this Fall for a 1993 release. Gary Wolf,
Roger’s creator, spoke at the Mice Con in Boston yesterday, and
says he likes the script and that a number of stars, including
Danny DeVito, will be in the film. The opening cartoon will
feature Baby Herman and Screwy Squirrel (the Avery MGM character?).
Wolf also revealed the film’s closing gag, which I won’t reveal
here. I bet that it’ll be changed, for reasons of copyright, taste,
and because it isn’t very funny.
I’ve read what I guess is a first draft of the next movie, and
while it’s not bad I really don’t think *any* new Roger Rabbit
movie could hope to make the impact the first one did. The
story for the new movie is a prequel which covers Roger’s youth
and experiences in WWII, as well as how he gets into show
business. It was written by the folks who wrote Disney’s_Rocketeer_
movie, which will be out this Summer.
Wolf, by the way, has his own sequel *novel* coming out in
August: _Who P-p-plugged Roger Rabbit_ is a different story
from _Who Discovered Roger Rabbit_, but will supposedly serve as
the basis for the third movie. Wolf also has two more Roger
Rabbit books underway.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #17, from davemackey, 151 chars, Mon Apr 29 21:01:04 1991
This is a comment to message 8.
————————–
The winner was a little Roquefort, though some said it stunk up
the joint (as many Paul Terry cartoons did)…
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #18, from davemackey, 289 chars, Mon Apr 29 21:03:10 1991
This is a comment to message 15.
————————–
Only her plastic surgeon and Ted Turner know for sure!
I remember “Klute,” but only on this level: my parents went
out to see it when it came out and didn’t let me go with them
because I was only 10 at the time and wouldn’t have understood
it.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #19, from elfhive, 286 chars, Tue Apr 30 17:23:48 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Fantasia
Got another look at it in Washington D.C. The 50th Anniversary restoration
on 70mm film and in dolby(tm) sound. Practically had the theater to myself
if that isn’t a sad commentary on society.
What a marvelous work of art and how timeless. I was once again enthralled.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #20, from hmccracken, 436 chars, Mon May 6 12:39:20 1991
This is a comment to message 19.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Maybe Bostonians are more into cartoons than Washingtonians
(there’s a joke in there somewhere relating to congress, but I’m
not going to make it), but on the two times I saw _Fantasia_
last Fall, it was in near-full-house crowds. Perhaps the reason
that didn’t happen in your case is that everybody’s already seen
the 50th anniversary restoration. Nice thought, although I
don’t know how well it’s done at the box office.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #21, from elfhive, 625 chars, Mon May 6 18:11:45 1991
This is a comment to message 20.
————————–
I went back for another private screening during the matinee on the day
before the run ended. The manager told me that they had lost a lot of
money on the run.
BTW, When I went back I was treated to an entirely different aspect
ratio than the first two times I saw it. Those times it was roughly
square. This time it was almost 1:1.35 with loss of picture at the
top and the bottom, but not so much as to be too annoying. It was
*huge* I was sitting in the third row and I think it may have been
the best screening I ever hope to have of _Fantasia_. The theatre
was absolutely dead quiet and the sound was phenomenal. Woof!
==========================
animation/silver.screen #22, from elfhive, 781 chars, Wed May 8 22:43:21 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: British Animation Invasion
managed to catch this at the Biograph yesterday. Well worth the trip.
Aardman Studios seems to dominate the scene with the excellent modelling
animation they do (although it becomes predictable after so many in a
row). _Creature Comforts_ is very funny and I’m glad I saw it on a big
screen. Well a screen slightly larger than my slide screen at home,
anyway.
Loved _Night Visitors_ and _Deadtime Stories_. Lots of other good stuff
but I need a crib sheet to remember all the credits. Wish they would
provide a program along with these shows.
All in all I’m very impressed with the reels that Expanded Entertainment
is putting out. They recently had a mail order sale and I’m waiting for
some videos of the International Tournee that I ordered.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #23, from bferg, 222 chars, Thu May 9 01:06:38 1991
This is a comment to message 4.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Doug and I saw “The Little Mermaid” on a weekday afternoon
and had the entire theater to ourselves. We only took up
two seats! It was interesting having no one else around,
espcially kids, at an animated movie!
Barbara
==========================
animation/silver.screen #24, from aturn, 1014 chars, Thu May 9 01:40:11 1991
This is a comment to message 23.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 23.
————————–
The last time Pinocchio was in theatrical release, I went to a 10PM
weeknight showing. I wasn
than five other people in the audience, none of whom were children.
Come to think of it, my then-girlfriend and I trudged up the street
on a weekend afternoon to see the animated feature “The Last Unicorn”
(anyoone else here remember that?). A surprise blizzard had struck that
morning (hence our “trudging”), and we were in fact the only people in
the theater. The feature was so forgettable, and the relationship ultimately
so disastrous that it slipped my mind until just now.
And, while it wasn’t animated, when I saw the movie “Magic” (a thriller
about a crazed ventriloquist. Ann-Margaret was the female lead, Burgess
Meredith had a major role, but I can’t for the life of me remember who played
the ventriloquist) at a mall theater on a weekday afternoon, I was the sole
person in the audience. OOO! SCARY! (and the staff seemed a bit peeved
that someone had actually turned up for the movie, too…)
==========================
animation/silver.screen #25, from switch, 80 chars, Thu May 9 09:55:23 1991
This is a comment to message 22.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
_Deadtime Stories_ as in _Deadsey: Deadtime Stories For Big Folk_?
Great!
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #26, from bferg, 56 chars, Thu May 9 16:10:02 1991
This is a comment to message 16.
————————–
“Your floor, sir.”
“Mind your step, sir.”
😉
Barbara
==========================
animation/silver.screen #27, from elfhive, 62 chars, Thu May 9 16:55:14 1991
This is a comment to message 25.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
The very same (although I don’t remember the _Deadsey_ part).
==========================
animation/silver.screen #28, from hmccracken, 335 chars, Thu May 9 19:20:59 1991
This is a comment to message 27.
————————–
As I recall, the film in the British animation festival is a sequel to
the _Deadsey_ one. Didn’t like either of ’em, personally — too
pretentious and artsy for my taste. Does anybody know if the Russell
Hoban who wrote them is the same guy who wrote the Francis childrens’
books and several interesting novels for adults?
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #29, from davemackey, 149 chars, Thu May 9 19:27:21 1991
This is a comment to message 23.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 23.
————————–
Only took up two seats? You could have put your feet over the back of the
seat in front of you, at least! 😉
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #30, from davemackey, 93 chars, Thu May 9 19:27:29 1991
This is a comment to message 24.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 24.
————————–
Anthony Hopkins was in “Magic” as the ventriloquist.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #31, from hmccracken, 316 chars, Thu May 9 20:30:06 1991
This is a comment to message 24.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I don’t recall how many people were in the audience when I saw
_The Last Unicorn_, but when I went to _Twice Upon a Time_ —
an obscure animated feature produced by none other than George
Lucas — there were three people there, myself included. And
I was the only person who seemed to be enjoying myself.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #32, from bferg, 163 chars, Thu May 9 21:47:24 1991
This is a comment to message 29.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Well, yeah, we also put our jackets in a seat, my purse in a seat,
we even had the option of changing seats in the middle of the film!!
What Liberty!
😉
Barbara
==========================
animation/silver.screen #33, from aturn, 93 chars, Fri May 10 00:08:27 1991
This is a comment to message 30.
————————–
THANK YOU!
I kept thinking Anthony *Perkins*, but I knew darn well that that
wasn’t right.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #34, from davemackey, 220 chars, Fri May 10 00:15:59 1991
This is a comment to message 32.
————————–
You didn’t pull a “Mystery Science Theater 3000” and talk to the screen in
the middle of the film, did you? That was one of the few times where you
could have gotten away with it.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #35, from jshook, 280 chars, Fri May 10 09:09:39 1991
This is a comment to message 31.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I was the only person in the audience when I went to see
Albert Brooks’ “Real Life”–I thought this was a rare situation
but I can see from the messages here it is fairly common.
Even stranger was when I was the only passenger on a flight
from New York to Boston one time….
==========================
animation/silver.screen #36, from hkenner, 384 chars, Fri May 10 13:08:26 1991
This is a comment to message 35.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
A small audience can alter a film amazingly. Some years ago I was
one of about 5 people at a Woody Allen movie in Tulsa, OK. (Woody
is too reliant on NY-Jewish in-jokes to be a big draw in Oklahoma.)
The film (forget the title, but many overt Ingmar Bergman allusions)
had been skilfully paced to allow pauses for the big-boffo laughs
… which at that showing weren’t coming.
–HK
==========================
animation/silver.screen #37, from hmccracken, 579 chars, Fri May 10 14:18:14 1991
This is a comment to message 36.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 36.
————————–
I’ve attended a few press screenings, and I wonder if they’re a very
good way for a critic to judge a film. The audience is small, and
at the screenings I’ve attended not all that interested in following
the film carefully. In fact, they chatted loudly throughout much
of one of the films. Granted, the films I attended the screenings of
were not very good; it’s possible that the same critics sit enraptured
through Woody Allen’s or Martin Scorsese’s works. But I wonder.
I really think a large audience full of laymen is the best type of
audience to be part of.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #38, from rcrook, 111 chars, Sat May 11 12:43:20 1991
This is a comment to message 23.
————————–
Musta been a showing of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the same
theatre at the same time … 🙂
= Argosy =
==========================
animation/silver.screen #39, from switch, 450 chars, Sat May 11 17:03:24 1991
This is a comment to message 36.
————————–
Right. And the press screening I attended for the English Akira
had four people in the audience — two of whom (my roommate and I0)
who had seen the Japanese movie already. We laughed at a grand
total of one of the jokes, and while we were impressed with some of
the visuals, we left wondering why we liked the film so much before.
At the first public screening with the screaming fans and the
awed crowd, it was infinitely more enjoyable.
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #40, from switch, 415 chars, Sat May 11 17:07:05 1991
This is a comment to message 37.
————————–
I agree. John Griffin (who was among the four viewers a our screening)
panned the film. Granted, I didn’t agree with most of his comments
and he only stayed for the first forty-five minutes, but if I hadn’t
seen the original Japanese movie and read the comics, I would’ve
left. Audience participation — be it along the lines of Rocky Horror
or just cheers, laughter, or heckling — make a big difference.
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #41, from davemackey, 884 chars, Mon May 20 22:16:13 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Preview of “B&B” on ABC
The Disney special just aired on ABC had a rather lengthy scene from “Beauty
and The Beast,” a scene where a teapot voiced by Angela Lansbury sings
something on the order of “We Have Guests.”
It looks more (for want of a better word) theatrical than anything else
Disney’s done in animation, possibly the influence of Alan Menken and the
late Howard Ashman, who have written the tunes for this one too. There is
some real nice Busby Berkeley type choreography.
There were completed scenes intermixed with pencil tests, which
supposedly demonstrated the contrast between drawn animation and the
completed color scene (after Neil Patrick Harris explained how the animation
is transferred to cels and painted; if I’m not mistaken isn’t this film being
computer-colored like “The Rescuers Down Under” was?)
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #42, from hmccracken, 352 chars, Tue May 21 09:11:18 1991
This is a comment to message 41.
————————–
I *thought* it was being computer colored, but as far as I know Disney
has never discussed the computer coloring process in public and wants
everyone to think that it’s still being done the old-fashioned way.
I don’t think they ever actually said that this particular film was
being hand colored, although they certainly implied that it was.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #43, from grekel, 414 chars, Tue May 21 23:23:03 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: The Wizard Surfaces…
While watching “Ghost” on tape last night, I noticed Mike Jitlov was
credited as one of the two “bad-guy-ghost” animators.
Funny, I remember reading some reviews of the movie that mentioned how
Disneyesque those shadows were. I guess Jitlov would see that as a
compliment, eh?
In any event, I forgot to make a note of the company he worked for. Anyone
know what else he’s been up to?
==========================
animation/silver.screen #44, from richard.pini, 537 chars, Wed May 22 12:24:47 1991
This is a comment to message 43.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
He’s still just doing Jittlovesque stuff, which means catch as catch can. And
as far as that credit on “Ghost” goes, the way Mike explained it to me when
last we talked, it was the same sort of “animation” that he did so much of
in “Wizard of Speed and Time” – that is, *he* was the object being filmed
at a speed other than what the rest of the world was going at. He said that
since he was so good at holding a position (like a living mannikin) for long
times, they used him to play at least some of the ghosts at the end of the
film.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #45, from bferg, 101 chars, Fri May 24 13:10:57 1991
This is a comment to message 44.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
(like a living mannikin)
How many other animation scenes used this technique? Anyone know?
Barbara
==========================
animation/silver.screen #46, from grekel, 324 chars, Sun May 26 15:50:49 1991
This is a comment to message 45.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Barbara, the best example of this type of stop-motion animation is
Jitlov’s “The Wizard of Speed and Time,” available at your local
video rental store. Run — no, fly — there and get it. Today.
Goofy storyline, but jam-packed with eye candy, made even more special
when you realize it all came out of One Guy’s Head.
greg
==========================
animation/silver.screen #47, from bferg, 72 chars, Sun May 26 16:46:36 1991
This is a comment to message 46.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Made a note to pick up the video on the next video run.
Thanks
Barbara
==========================
animation/silver.screen #48, from richard.pini, 117 chars, Sun May 26 20:03:13 1991
This is a comment to message 47.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Not only a great eye-feast, but scathingly autobiographical. The film is
exactly about how itself tried to get made.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #49, from dquick, 139 chars, Tue May 28 19:07:51 1991
This is a comment to message 48.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
…and from what I hear, the result was the same. Mike gets no money from
the sale or rental of his video as I understand it.
Dave Quick
==========================
animation/silver.screen #50, from hmccracken, 850 chars, Tue May 28 19:23:49 1991
This is a comment to message 49.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
…Which is why as I understand it he openly encourages folks
to rent the tape at their favorite video store and then copy
it (which must *really* endear him to his producers).
_Wizard of Speed and Time_ is a must-see if you’re a Jittlov fan,
and well worth seeking out even if you aren’t, although his
shorter films are more accessible and better to my way of thinking.
Historical note: Jittlov’s short film _Animato_ inspired the title
of the animation fanzine of the same name which I formerly edited.
(I didn’t steak Mike’s title; Mike Ventrella, the magazine’s founder,
asked and got permission to do so.) The version of _Animato_ which
is included in _Wizard of Speed and Time_ is ruined by not having
the original soundtrack — Petula Clark singing “I Know a Place,”
which they presumably couldn’t or wouldn’t get the rights to.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #51, from sharonfisher, 88 chars, Tue May 28 19:37:34 1991
This is a comment to message 50.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I understand that he used to offer to make copies for you if you sent him
a blank tape.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #52, from richard.pini, 1131 chars, Tue May 28 19:46:22 1991
This is a comment to message 51.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
This sounds very much like Mike, and is one of the reasons (IMO, knowing the
guy kinda well) he gets himself into scrapes…he’s one of the *nicest*
people this world has in it, and those gods who look after drunks and little
children don’t seem to have an interest in brilliant, quirky artists. It’s
bleeping frustrating. At one convention, he was selling (for $25) these
really great Kelly Freas posters of “The Wizard of Speed and Time,” to raise
money for this or that debt. I did covet one of the posters and got out the
money to pay for it. He insisted that I take one for free. I insisted back
that it was my pleasure to pay what was a quite fair price for the poster.
We Alphonse-and-Gastonned back and forth for a few minutes, and then I finally
prevailed by telling him that I really wanted that money to go to the person
to whom it was owed. He couldn’t really argue with that, so he took the $20
and the $5, and then proceeded to turn the $5 bill into one of his well-known
money origamis, and autograph it, knowing full well I wouldn’t take it apart
after that. AAnd then he grinned. And wouldn’t take another fiver.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #53, from hmccracken, 156 chars, Tue May 28 21:20:53 1991
This is a comment to message 52.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I haven’t met Mike, but from everything I hear the guy in _The
Wizard of Speed and Time_ is a very accurate fictionalized
version of the man.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #54, from richard.pini, 76 chars, Wed May 29 18:04:28 1991
This is a comment to message 53.
There are additional comments to message 53.
————————–
Strike out “fictionalized” and you’ve got it. He really lives like that! 🙂
==========================
animation/silver.screen #55, from bferg, 163 chars, Wed May 29 20:19:49 1991
This is a comment to message 53.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Hum, could not find the video in the store we frequent, any
major stores that may have it we could check. We will be looked
(er looking) elsewhere, too.
Barbara
==========================
animation/silver.screen #56, from hmccracken, 163 chars, Wed May 29 22:38:24 1991
This is a comment to message 55.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Can’t give you specific advice on video stores in your area,
Barbara, but the Blockbuster near me has two copies, so it
shouldn’t be *too* hard to find.
– -Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #57, from bferg, 125 chars, Thu May 30 09:29:13 1991
This is a comment to message 56.
————————–
The chain video stores are in most major cities, yes,
we do have Blockbuster! Will have to check that out.
Thanks!
Barbara
==========================
animation/silver.screen #58, from davemackey, 1693 chars, Sun Jun 2 08:53:17 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Coming Soon to a theatre near you
Brief overview of theatrical animation that will hit screens this year, as
noted in this week’s “Variety” special section:
“101 Dalmatians” will be reissued July 12.
“Rover Dangerfield,” a dog version of Rodney, is due August 16 from Warner
Bros.
Expanded Entertainment will present “The 23rd International Tournee Of
Animation” on August 30.
“Rock A Doodle” from Sullivan/Bluth is due this summer. (This has been
delayed so much, I’ll believe it when I see it. 😉
“An American Tail 2” is the first of the holiday season releases on November
22. Steven Spielberg is co-producer, and voices will include James Stewart,
John Cleese, Dom DeLuise, Jon Lovitz, and Amy Irving (the former Mrs.
Spielberg.)
“Beauty And The Beast” will be released November 26, marking Disney’s 30th
animated feature.
Around Thanksgiving, 20th Century Fox should be releasing an environmental
story called “Fern Gully: The Last Rain Forest.”
And around New Year’s, another compilation from Expanded Entertainment, “The
Fourth Animation Celebration.”
Among the upcoming projects that haven’t been reported on here at one point
or another include an animated adaptation of the musical “Cats” from
Spielberg; “Cool World,” a new Ralph Bakshi feature for Paramount (Bakshi
briefly ran Paramount’s cartoon operation in the 60’s); “The Endangered” from
Hanna-Barbera, to be produced by David Kirschner and Charles Grosvenor and
due next summer; a Gumby feature from Art Clokey; a “Sinbad” animated feature
which will be the first work in the genre from “Animal House” director John
Landis; and “A Troll In Central Park” from Sullivan/Bluth.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #59, from davemackey, 379 chars, Sun Jun 2 08:53:30 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Also worth noting…
“The Thief and The Cobbler” should soon be completed and is due for a 1992
release through Warner Bros. The film, which Richard Williams had been
working on in dribs and drabs for the last 25 years with some of animation’s
most legendary talents, is now staffed by a 140-person crew in Williams’
London studio.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #60, from hmccracken, 318 chars, Sun Jun 2 12:18:11 1991
This is a comment to message 59.
————————–
Another real “I’ll believe it when I see it” film, but I’ve
seen a few minutes’ worth of footage on this which is
extraordinary. Among the animators who worked on this who
are no longer with us are Grim Natwick and Ken Harris; Art
Babbitt and Emery Hawkins also have contributed to the
film over the years.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #61, from bferg, 68 chars, Mon Jun 3 15:30:59 1991
This is a comment to message 58.
There are additional comments to message 58.
————————–
Wow, that round-up sounds exciting!! Thanks for the info!
Barbara
==========================
animation/silver.screen #62, from hmccracken, 247 chars, Mon Jun 10 09:20:04 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Steven Spielberg’s next film project after the upcoming
_Hook_, I am told by a reliable source, may be a
_Casper, the Friendly Ghost_ film with Casper in animation annm/com/
everything else in live-action….I am *not* joking…
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #63, from hmccracken, 496 chars, Mon Jun 10 09:26:47 1991
This is a comment to message 58.
There are additional comments to message 58.
————————–
You’re right to have not believed the report about _Rock-a-Doodle_
coming out this Summer, Dave — it’s now scheduled to come out
next Spring from the Goldwyn Company. (MGM had been planning
to distribute it before that company’s financial woes interfered.)
Another Bluth film, _Troll in Central Park_, may even
get released before _Rock-a-Doodle_, which has certainly
been a long time aobrnin’ (I believe it was originally
finished and ready to release something like two
years ago).
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #64, from davemackey, 152 chars, Mon Jun 10 21:14:37 1991
This is a comment to message 62.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Just as long as there isn’t a scene where Casper and his new human girlfriend
play around on the pottery wheel.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #65, from morganfox, 12 chars, Mon Jun 10 22:49:26 1991
This is a comment to message 64.
————————–
ROFL!!!!!!!
==========================
animation/silver.screen #66, from davemackey, 649 chars, Sun Jun 30 10:37:22 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Woody’s back on the big screen…
…but, unlike Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse and other stars, not in a new
cartoon. Universal is re-releasing the cartoon “Smoked Hams” as an extra
added attraction when “Problem Child 2” debuts in theatres on Wednesday.
Don’t worry about transcribing credits, cause here’s everything you need
to know… another public service at no extra charge.
“Smoked Hams” was released on April 28, 1947. Director: Dick Lundy.
Story: Ben Hardaway, Milt Schaffer. Animation: Grim Natwick, Stanley C.
Onaitis. Music: Darrell Calker. Backgrounds: Fred Brunish. MPAA No. 11860.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #67, from davemackey, 901 chars, Wed Jul 3 19:05:20 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: “Jazztoons” at Film Forum
Like cartoons? (Of course.) Like jazz, too? Then New York’s popular revival
house Film Forum 2 has a treat for you this Saturday, July 6.
As part of its weeklong Jazz Film Festival (which I think is part of the
JVC Jazz Festival for the first time), the Jazztoons program will present
many examples of the marriage of music and animation. Among the titles will
be the 1956 Warner Bros. cartoon “Three Little Bops,” directed by Friz
Freleng and featuring a jazz score by Shorty Rogers.
One might also expect to see some of the Walter Lantz boogie cartoons of
the 40’s and possibly also some of Betty Boop’s encounters with Cab Calloway
which rank as some of the best musical cartoons of all time.
Film Forum 2 is at 209 W. Houston St. in New York City, and the phone
number for more information is (212) 727-8110.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #68, from hmccracken, 651 chars, Thu Jul 4 22:26:03 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Anybody know…
Precisely when _101 Dalmations_ is being re-released? The ads are
everywhere and have been for some time, but I haven’t seen an
actual date attached to any of them. In fact, when I was at the
Disney-MGM Theme Park animation studios earlier this week, a
guide plugged the re-release as being “sometime this summer,”
as if even Disney doesn’t know…This is beginning to be an odd
pattern: Disney p[romoted a re-release of _The Great Mouse Detective_
last year that never happened, and are now flogging a videotape
release of _The Rescuers Down Under_ that I bdelieve has not been
scheduled for any specific date. Odd.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #69, from hmccracken, 376 chars, Thu Jul 4 22:29:06 1991
This is a comment to message 66.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
That’s nice…I wonder why they did this? Universal seems to be
newly interested in aanimation and comics in general, what with the
opening of its own studio, its investment in Harbvey Comics, and
its purchasiong of the licensing rights to Bullwinkle. This may
just be another sign of this. It’s nice that the cartoon is
well-promoted in the _Problem Child_ ads.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #70, from sje, 90 chars, Thu Jul 4 23:14:56 1991
This is a comment to message 68.
————————–
The film _101 Dalmations_ is scheduled for US release on Friday July
12, 1991. — Steve
==========================
animation/silver.screen #71, from sje, 196 chars, Thu Jul 4 23:17:21 1991
————————–
TITLE: Release Date for Disney’s _Beauty and the Beast_
Disney’s latest full length animated feature, _Beauty and the Beast_,
is scheduled for US release on Friday, November 22, 1991. — Steve
==========================
animation/silver.screen #72, from davemackey, 99 chars, Fri Jul 5 19:03:56 1991
This is a comment to message 69.
There are additional comments to message 69.
————————–
I think you answered your own question quite nicely there!
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #73, from davemackey, 3437 chars, Sat Jul 6 23:18:15 1991
This is a comment to message 67.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
“Jazztoons” — Not A Review
Film Forum, 7/6/91 — programmed by Greg Ford and Bruce Goldstein
Program and opinions…
“Birth Of Jazz” (Columbia, 4/13/32) — The not-Herriman Krazy Kat
teaches the world the jazz groove. Very good orchestration by Joe De Nat.
“Minnie The Moocher” (Fleischer, 3/11/32) — Cab Calloway shows up in
lots of these cartoons; in this one, he’s rotoscoped into a walrus who tells
the story bout that hoochy-koocher.
“Woodland Cafe” (Disney, 3/13/37) — The bugs cavort to hot jazz in this
Wilfred Jackson Silly Symphony.
“I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead You Rascal You” (Fleischer, 11/25/32) —
The three Fleischer cartoons in this program are so full of surreal images
you wonder what sort of muse was servicing Dave and his animators. Louis
Armstrong and his band of the early 1930’s were filmed for possibly the only
time for this cartoon short.
“I Love To Singa” (WB, 7/18/36) — Oddly, this cartoon got the biggest
response from the crowd, rousing applause at the end. The tale of Owl Jolson,
who loves to singa despite his dad’s cries of “Enough is too much!” Directed
by Avery.
“You Don’t Know What You’re Doin'” (WB, 10/31/31) — The fourth Merrie
Melodie is the only one recorded by Gus Arnheim’s orchestra, after which the
idea of having name bands lay down the tracks was dropped (Fleischer
continued to use the idea well into the 30’s).
“Date With Duke” (Paramount, 10/31/47) — The next-to-last George Pal
Puppetoon features Duke Ellington in glorious Technicolor interacting with
animated perfume bottles. He also wins over another bottle steadfastly
opposed to any type of music whatsoever. Written by Jack Miller.
“Swing, You Sinners” (Fleischer, 9/24/30) — Pre-Betty Boop but every
frame as spooky and mystifying as the rest. Animated by Ted Sears and Willard
Bowsky.
“Solid Serenade” (MGM, 8/31/46) — Louis Jordan’s version of “Is You Is
or Is You Ain’t My Baby” is the hit of this cartoon. So is Tom attempting to
seduce the bulldog.
“Koko” (George Griffin, 1988) — Using cutout printed images against an
undulating background of black and white beans, Griffin interprets the music
of Charlie Parker in an unusual manner. Bird himself appears at the start and
end of the short, rotoscoped with colored pencils.
“Porky At The Crocadero” (WB, 2/5/38) — Dishwasher Porky fills in for
the big bandleaders at the exclusive Crocadero club. Beautiful first-state
Warner Bros. print sparkles on the big screen. Directed by Tashlin.
“Your Feet’s Too Big” (Nancy Beiman, 1983) — Beiman, now a Warner Bros.
animator/director, shows sensibilities that will do her good in her present
job with this humorous reel set to the music of Fats Waller.
“Swing Wedding” (MGM, 2/13/37) — This is an MGM cartoon? Hugh
Harman pulls out all the stops and turns in a winning effort using
caricatures of many of the great black musicians. Released three months
before Freleng’s similar “Clean Pastures,” and possibly even better. A
beautiful new print courtesy of Turner Entertainment.
“Three Little Bops” (WB, 1/5/57) — Not the strongest cartoon to close
with, but I can think of worse choices. Freleng throws out the WB stylebook,
brings in guest voice talent and music, and comes as close as he ever has to
a “personal” work. Gerry Chiniquy’s unparalleled animation brings life even
to mundane scenes.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #74, from switch, 176 chars, Sun Jul 7 12:19:59 1991
This is a comment to message 73.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 73.
————————–
Sigh — that’d be perfect for both the Montreal Jazz Festival
and the Just For Laughs Festival. Pity, I’d like to see some of
those again, especially on the big screen.
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #76, from hmccracken, 217 chars, Sun Jul 7 12:23:06 1991
This is a comment to message 73.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 73.
————————–
Dave, _I Lover to Singa+_ is something of a cult classic that I’ve seen
turn up on more than one cartoon fanatic’s top ten list. It’s a cute
cartoon that always gets a good reception when shown to a crowd.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #77, from hmccracken, 418 chars, Sun Jul 7 14:16:49 1991
————————–
TITLE: Now Playing at a Theater Near You…
is the trailer for the upcoming _Addams Family_ movie, due out
at Thanksgiving. I won’t give away the details of the trailer
except to say that uit’s short and funny and definitely whetted
my appetite for the film. The trailer seems to be spliced onto
the head of _The Naked Gun 2 1/2_ (which has twenty or thirty
hearty laughs mixed into a lot of dull moments).
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #78, from hmccracken, 407 chars, Sun Jul 7 14:21:55 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: It’s Official
A rumor that was reported here some months ago has been reported
in the Hollywood tabloids: Universal is working on a theatrical
short starring Baby Huey, a character formerly associated with
Paramount. It must be something like thirty-five years since
the gargantuan duckling’s last film appearance; his comic book
recently resumed publication after a seventeen-year lapse.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #79, from davemackey, 1219 chars, Sun Jul 7 20:47:35 1991
This is a comment to message 76.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
On line, I overheard one young woman saying she watched “I Love To Singa” all
the time on television, loved it to pieces. Recently, while visiting
relatives in Mexico, she heard a familiar melody… the cartoon had been
dubbed into Spanish, something on the order of “Me amo cantar.”
Now “Date With Duke” is a relic from MY childhood! Channel 7 in New York
used to have all the UM&M-released films, including the Puppetoons, and I
remember seeing Duke Ellington sitting at the piano and the perfume bottles
dancing around. (The girl sitting next to me asked her boyfriend/husband “I
wonder what UM&M means, so I’m not the only one whose curiosity is piqued.)
Omissions? I didn’t see any Lantz boogie cartoons. Nor did I see “Rooty
Toot Toot,” which would have been a natural with its somber story and jazz
score by Phil Moore. (Some of the other programs in the series have included
biographical pieces like “Let’s Get Lost” and “Bird,” jazz-score films like
“I Want To Live,” and such tributes as the Nicholas Brothers and Louis Jordan
and his Tympany Five. The last day of the fest will be the program that has
gotten the best response. Will let you know what it is.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #80, from davemackey, 269 chars, Sun Jul 7 20:47:45 1991
This is a comment to message 78.
————————–
Not quite 35 years, Harry — the last Baby Huey cartoon was “Huey’s Father’s
Day,” released May 8, 1959.
I saw one of those Worldvision tapes of Baby Huey once, and it was like
watching the same cartoon five times in a row.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #81, from davemackey, 709 chars, Sun Jul 7 20:48:00 1991
This is a comment to message 73.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Two random thoughts on the program that would have added unnecessarily to the
length of the original message:
(1) The film “Woodland Cafe” was not listed in the printed program. It
was the only film not to be so documented. Wonder if this has to do with the
Disney policy regarding unauthorized theatrical showings of its profit.
(2) “You Don’t Know What You’re Doin'” is absolutely, unequivocably and
irreparably the first time the sound effect called “trombone gobble” was ever
heard in a WB cartoon. It occurs in the middle of a trombone solo by a member
of Gus Arnheim’s band; the sound effect as we know it is actually a “loop” of
a short section of it.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #82, from hmccracken, 400 chars, Sun Jul 7 23:27:17 1991
This is a comment to message 81.
————————–
I have been to other screenings where a Disney cartoon was shown
unannounced…I believe some of their films are leased under an
agreement which states that the film cannot be promoted (!). This
sometimes leads to school showings which advertise that “a famous
film about a princess who meets seven little men and marries a
prince will be shown at the Smith school on Friday” and the like.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #83, from davemackey, 379 chars, Thu Jul 11 19:05:05 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: A reminder…
“101 Dalmatians” will be rereleased tomorrow.
USA Today had an article about the film in today’s edition, which
besides dispensing the usual trivia about the film (6,469,952 spots total in
the film), had interviews with the actress who voiced Cruella De Vil, and the
animator who brought her to life, Marc Davis.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #84, from davemackey, 570 chars, Thu Jul 11 19:05:20 1991
This is a comment to message 79.
————————–
The programs which were reprised today on the final day of the Jazz Film
Festival were “Jazztoons,” “Louis Armstrong In Hollywood,” “A Tribute To
Louis Jourdan and Slim Gaillard,” “Tribute To The Nicholas Bros.,” “The Great
Jazz Singers” and “Let’s Get Lost.”
If memory serves, “Let’s Get Lost,” a biographical sketch of the
late trumpeter Chet Baker, had its New York premiere at Film Forum about two
years ago, when the theatre was mounting a major Warner Bros. cartoon
retrospective; I remember seeing the posters for it.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #85, from hmccracken, 257 chars, Thu Jul 11 19:26:44 1991
This is a comment to message 83.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Yay! See it, everybody, if only for the fantastic animation of
Cruella and for the graphic design, which was rather daring for
Disney at the time (it was the first Xeroxed Disney feature,
and one of the few whose design took that into account).
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #86, from rfranzen, 307 chars, Thu Jul 11 20:51:31 1991
This is a comment to message 85.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 85.
————————–
I saw “101 Dalmations” as a kid. I only remember two things, though. I
liked it was the first, and the second was the song sung by those stuck-up
cats. It goes something like:
We are Siamese if you please;
We are Siamese if you don’t please!
Why do we remember what we remember, anyway? 😉
Rich
==========================
animation/silver.screen #87, from sharonfisher, 51 chars, Thu Jul 11 21:16:45 1991
This is a comment to message 86.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 86.
————————–
Actually, the Siamese are from Lady and the Tramp.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #88, from rfranzen, 152 chars, Thu Jul 11 21:38:21 1991
This is a comment to message 87.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Oops! Like I was saying, there is only one thing I remember about “101
Dalmations”–I liked it.
BTW, why do we forget what we forget? 🙂
Rich
==========================
animation/silver.screen #89, from tsin, 19 chars, Fri Jul 12 11:54:18 1991
This is a comment to message 88.
There are additional comments to message 88.
————————–
cuz we’re dumb?
🙂
==========================
animation/silver.screen #90, from bferg, 60 chars, Fri Jul 12 19:12:17 1991
This is a comment to message 86.
————————–
Hey, the two siamese in that movie had class!!
😉
Barbara
==========================
animation/silver.screen #91, from mscoville, 192 chars, Fri Jul 12 20:37:38 1991
This is a comment to message 85.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
101 Dalmatians was the first full length feature film that used the Xerographic process. It was tested in an earlier Di
sney film to see if it worked. That film
was Sleeping Beauty. mscoville
==========================
animation/silver.screen #92, from hmccracken, 165 chars, Sat Jul 13 01:22:02 1991
This is a comment to message 91.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Right, Mike, and for the record the short subject _Goliath II_,
about a Dumbo-like elephant, was the first cartoon completely
done with the Xerox process.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #93, from morganfox, 88 chars, Sat Jul 13 09:04:23 1991
This is a comment to message 92.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Anyone care to enlighten me? What is the Xerox process as you refer to it in
animation?
==========================
animation/silver.screen #94, from hmccracken, 1425 chars, Sat Jul 13 10:43:53 1991
This is a comment to message 93.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 93.
————————–
Morgan, in the good old days cels were created by having a large
staff of employees who traced the drawings made by the animators
off of the animation paper onto the cel. The colors on that cel
are then painted in. This latter step is still done by hand,
but the hand inking has almost entirely been replaced by using
a special Xerox machine to photocopy the drawings onto each
cel. This is much cheaper, since it allowed the studios to
get rid of all the folks (usually women) who did the tracing,
which was a painstaking process. Artistically, the good thing
about Xeroxing cels is that it removes the tracing step, thereby
making what you see on the screen closer to what the animator
created. The bad thing is that the Xerox process gives a kind
of scratchy line to everything, and if the animation drawings
are rough the film itself looks rough. In some of the cartoons
Disney made during the 1970s, they didn’t bother to erase all
the construction lines, stray pencil marks, etc. from the
drawwings before Xeroxing, so all that stuff showed up on the
screen.
Right now, Disney (who developed the Xerox process) is automating
things even further by scanning the original drawings into a
computer, then coloring them by computer rather than with a
brush and paints. Oddly enough, the first film they’ve done
this way (_The Rescuers Down Under_) looks rather like an
old-fashioned, hand-inked and painted film.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #95, from davemackey, 913 chars, Sat Jul 13 12:29:24 1991
This is a comment to message 93.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Never fret, Morgan, I am always here to enlighten.
It was discovered that cartoon characters could be traced onto clear
sheets of nitrate film (inert plastics used later) called celluloids, or
cels. While J.R. Bray only hinted at the use of cels, Earl Hurd was awarded
patent no. 1,143,542 for this discovery in 1915 that forever changed animated
cartoon production.
In the old days, the animation drawings needed to be hand-inked onto
the cels using a brush or pen, then the cels were turned over and painted.
Think of the Xerographic process as a photocopier, only you’re using
cels instead of paper, and you can better grasp the ease and speed which were
attained.
But with the Xerox process, every deviation in the artwork shows up on
the cel, so you can use a more raggedy character outline for effect, and this
is indeed done in “101 Dalmatians.”
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #96, from morganfox, 60 chars, Sun Jul 14 13:48:20 1991
This is a comment to message 94.
————————–
Ah thanks! Makes things a great deal easier to understand!
==========================
animation/silver.screen #97, from morganfox, 210 chars, Sun Jul 14 13:52:20 1991
This is a comment to message 95.
————————–
Great, thanks to you too Dave! You guys sure make it easy to not be embarressed
to ask simple, basic questions. And your answers certainly help increase my
appeciation of the work and the process.
Thanks again
==========================
animation/silver.screen #98, from davemackey, 583 chars, Fri Jul 19 19:03:59 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Cartoon ahoy!
Most of the programs that showed cartoons in our youth seemed to be ships or
boats or barges, hosted by guys with nautical names like Skipper Bill or
Captain Jack. But now, in New York City this weekend, the idea of a cartoon
barge comes to life.
The Floating Cinema Festival Cartoon Barge, as it’s called, will show
Popeye cartoons and others. It sets sail tonight from the 107th St. Pier at
the East River, and tomorrow and Sunday from the 69th St. Pier in Brooklyn.
Gangplank goes up all three nights at 8:45 p.m.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #99, from davemackey, 405 chars, Tue Jul 23 19:09:33 1991
This is a comment to message 69.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Incidentally, I saw “Smoked Hams” this morning on TNT and found it to be
somewhat of a lower-echelon Woody cartoon. There are lots of better choices
from that era such as “Who’s Cookin’ Who” or “Barber Of Seville.”
“Problem Child 2” I probably won’t be seeing due to a perverse
fascination the film has with bathroom humor. Some things you just gotta
outgrow.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #100, from davemackey, 532 chars, Fri Jul 26 21:16:42 1991
This is a comment to message 98.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
The Cartoon Barge shows for this weekend will be at Francis Lewis Park in
Queens on Friday (the weather isn’t that great, though) and Orchard Beach in
The Bronx on Saturday and Sunday. It’s at 8:45 p.m. all nights, and please
bring a picnic basket and folding chairs.
“Bugs Bunny On Broadway” will be at Jones Beach on Sunday, at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $20 through the box office at (516) 221-1000 or Ticketmaster:
(516) 888-9000 or (212) 307-7171. Rain date for this performance is Monday.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #101, from davemackey, 443 chars, Wed Jul 31 19:05:46 1991
————————–
TITLE: What fur?
The editor of “Fur Age Weekly,” one Lisa Marcinek, recently penned an
editorial blasting television ads for “101 Dalmatians” as being anti- the fur
industry.
The editor argues that yes, it would be cruel to make doggies into fur.
But foxes? Naah….
WNYW-TV, which reported the story, found that no pro-fur people,
including Marcinek, would consent to an on-camera interview.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #102, from davemackey, 235 chars, Fri Aug 2 19:09:35 1991
This is a comment to message 100.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
All three Cartoon Festival Barge shows are on Staten Island, at Alice Austin
House, at the end of Hylan Blvd. in Rosebank. Showtime remains 8:45 p.m. and
bring those folding chairs and blankets.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #103, from tsin, 599 chars, Sat Aug 3 22:14:35 1991
This is a comment to message 99.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I wouldn’t recommend ANYONE see a “Problem Child” film…1 or 2….
In the first film the female half of the adopting couple is uninterest-
ed in adopting…”You mean take care of SOMEBODY ELSES kid?”…until
her partner equates theadoption process with shopping…
“You mean we can go pick one out???Like SHOPPING???!!!!”
The child is left on the doorstep and the first thing he does is
urinate in the fathers face….
I would feel badly for any adopted person seeing these films…
Hard to believe that Jack Ritter spends all that time with Sally
Struthers promoting “Save the Children.
cynthia
==========================
animation/silver.screen #104, from jshook, 167 chars, Sun Aug 4 00:31:23 1991
This is a comment to message 103.
————————–
I saw the preview for “Problem Child II” and I can’t remember
ever forming such a strong impression that I did NOT want to
see this thing under any circumstances.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #105, from hkenner, 116 chars, Fri Aug 9 15:12:10 1991
This is a comment to message 88.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
>>”101 Dalmations” …
Let BIX not follow the New York Times into total indecision re the
spelling of “Dalmatians.”
==========================
animation/silver.screen #106, from hmccracken, 151 chars, Fri Aug 9 15:24:42 1991
This is a comment to message 105.
There are additional comments to message 105.
————————–
We discussed that issue during a recent animation CBIX session,
Hugh — Dave Mackey corrected my spelling of that word, as a
matter of fact.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #107, from davemackey, 405 chars, Fri Aug 9 19:22:50 1991
This is a comment to message 102.
————————–
The unsinkable Floating Cartoon Festival Barge docks this week at:
Tonight: Exchange Place, Hoboken
Saturday: Grand St. Park, Brooklyn
Sunday: 107th St. Pier, Harlem
All shows at 8:45 p.m. Be sure to bring blankets, folding chairs, and other
applicable creature comforts — and possibly also an umbrella as rain is
predicted for most of the weekend.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #108, from davemackey, 243 chars, Sat Aug 10 01:57:38 1991
This is a comment to message 105.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
The entire Movie Directory in the Daily News spells it wrong. And as I have
mentioned in the past there’s a lot of people who don’t spell it properly,
whether they’re talking about the dogs or the film.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #109, from hmccracken, 40 chars, Mon Aug 12 17:42:41 1991
This is a comment to message 108.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Ditto for the _Boston Globe_.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #110, from davemackey, 335 chars, Mon Aug 12 19:35:37 1991
This is a comment to message 109.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
The News did have an article that stated that the dalmatian breed is becoming
one of the more popular, in part because of the film. A number of advertisers
have recently used the spotted dogs in their TV spots — one, Hewlett
Packard, even had to pull their spots off the air due to puppy glut.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #111, from jshook, 86 chars, Tue Aug 13 00:02:20 1991
This is a comment to message 110.
There are additional comments to message 110.
————————–
Well, that’s better than if they had pulled the puppies’ spots off
*on* the air….
==========================
animation/silver.screen #112, from d_n_nenov, 394 chars, Tue Aug 13 21:07:01 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Peg-Bars for cells?
Is there a “standard” peg-bar used for hand-drawing on “cels”?
I have a friend, who claims that one needs “a standard” peg-bar
to stack his drawings on…. I am just trying to figure out if
this is true….
By the way, where does the “todays animator” buy his art supplies?
For example what paints are used to color cels?
Many questions, eh?
Best Regadrs,
D. Nenov
==========================
animation/silver.screen #113, from hmccracken, 288 chars, Tue Aug 13 21:17:45 1991
This is a comment to message 112.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 112.
————————–
As I recall, there are at least two different common pegging systems:
one that’s used in California and another one for New York. A good
place to look for animation supply house ads is _Animation_
magazine; I can probably pull soime addresses out of there if
you’re interested.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #114, from switch, 59 chars, Tue Aug 13 21:47:19 1991
This is a comment to message 113.
There are additional comments to message 113.
————————–
A third standard is that used in England, I believe.
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #115, from jshook, 1751 chars, Wed Aug 14 00:39:39 1991
This is a comment to message 112.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 112.
————————–
There are several standard, non-compatable peg bar formats (and you
thought this kind of thing was true only of computers?) The two most
widely used in the US are Oxberry and Acme. They both have a round
central hole and two oblong holes, one on each side of the round
central one.
The difference between the brands is:
BRAND CENTER SIDE
Oxberry smaller fatter
Acme larger thinner
(although I could have the characteristics of the center holes
reversed…or is it the side ones….)
Anyway. I once saw a cel punched in a format that I did not recognise,
but I think it’s fair to say that you do not have to worry about that.
In Europe they use Oxberry and several others I cannot remember too
well (I lived in Berlin for a while and did some work in a studio
there and they used some other format).
Based on no hard facts whatsoever I would hazard to say that Acme
is used more widely, but there are pockets of Oxberry use (Boston,
for instance, tends to go Oxberry over Acme most of the time).
What you decide on depends on things like what your camera service
can handle (most animation stands can use either format since the
pegs can be screwed in or out and the distance between the pegs is
the same in both formats), what they use in your studio, what other
equipment you will be using (like drawing discs) and so on. Either
format seems to work just fine (but watch out–this can be a religious
issue).
You can get paper and cels pre-punched in either format. The place to
call is Cartoon Colour (note spelling) somewhere in Southern California
(sorry…don’t have a reference handy). They sell EVERYTHING you need.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #116, from jshook, 372 chars, Wed Aug 14 00:42:45 1991
This is a comment to message 113.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Well if you insist on a polarisation it would be West Coast=Acme,
East Coast=Oxberry, but this is only a trend. I once thought of
trying to plot peg format usage on a map of the US, but abandoned
the idea for lack of data 🙂
The refernce he wants is Cartoon Colour, somewhere in sunny California.
If you have an ad from them handy, that would be the thing to post.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #117, from davemackey, 476 chars, Wed Aug 14 01:46:26 1991
This is a comment to message 112.
————————–
Shamus Culhane’s excellent book “Animation From Script To Screen” is
uncharacteristically vague when it comes to peg bar systems, and looking
there I couldn’t find a definitive answer. I believe the most used is the
Acme system, which alternates rectangular and round pegs. I think there’s one
other system. As Harry alluded to, each coast seemed to have its own
technique, with the New York studios tending to use more aged equipment.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #118, from switch, 108 chars, Wed Aug 14 15:22:25 1991
This is a comment to message 115.
————————–
I’ve got the address to Cartoon Colour, but not on me; I’ll post
it in /sources when I get back home.
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #120, from davemackey, 957 chars, Wed Aug 28 19:29:48 1991
————————–
TITLE: Animation on the big screen in NYC
Two animated anthologies opening in New York City this week: the 23rd
International Tournee Of Animation at the Angelika theatre (now playing), and
The Festival Of Animation 1991 at the Cinema Village Third Avenue (opening
Friday).
Among the works at the Festival are “Deadsey,” “Balloon,” and all three
nominated shorts at this year’s Academy Awards: “Grasshopper,” the Oscar
winner “Creature Comforts,” and “A Grand Day Out.” As a bonus on weekend
midnight showings, the risque “Pink Komkommer” (supervised by Marv Newland)
will be shown. Cinema Village Third Avenue is at 12th Street and the phone
no. is (212) 505-7320.
The Tournee features the likes of “Fast Food Matador,” “Photocopy Cha
Cha,” “Capital P,” “Push Comes To Shove” (a great Bill Plympton short!) and
“The Potato Hunter.” Angelika is at Mercer and Houston Streets; (212)
995-2000. Happy tooning!
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #121, from hmccracken, 130 chars, Fri Aug 30 13:56:09 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Has anyone out there seen…
the new _Tournee of Animation_ yet? I’m planning to catch it
sometime this weekend.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #122, from davemackey, 188 chars, Sat Aug 31 07:52:22 1991
This is a comment to message 121.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I might be going up to New York on Monday to catch both the animation
anthologies currently playing. If I do I will post Not Reviews in this topic.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #123, from switch, 95 chars, Sun Sep 1 12:34:09 1991
This is a comment to message 122.
————————–
I should be catching it next weekend
(it premieres in Montrealon Friday).
Emru (from a C64 🙂
==========================
animation/silver.screen #124, from hkenner, 347 chars, Sun Sep 1 13:26:40 1991
————————–
TITLE: Comics & novels
It’s also worth noticing that the comic-book (especiaally in its
Japanese incarnation) is a logical development of the 19th-century
novel, which involved an omniscient narrator doing scene/action cues
and reporting dialog. The comic simply absorbs the scene/action into
pictures, and inscribes the dialog in balloons.
–HK
==========================
animation/silver.screen #125, from hmccracken, 489 chars, Fri Sep 13 13:34:25 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: _Rover Dangerfield_…
is the name of an animated feature, in production for a long time,
about Rodney Dangerfield’s dog. The current edition of the
Warner Bros. catalog cover-features _Rover_ and includes gobs
of Rover merchandise, and I’ve seen Rover books in stores, so I
thought the film would be released soon. Latest word, however, is
that the movie fared poorly in test screenings and may go directly
to home video, or see theatrical release only in the L.A. area.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #126, from davemackey, 345 chars, Thu Oct 3 05:44:15 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: B&B at NYFF
If anyone has seen the premiere of “Beauty And The Beast” at the New York
Film Festival and would like to report on it, feel free to do so, but please
try not to tip your hand too much as to plot and denouement for those of us
who are patiently waiting the six weeks until its release.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #127, from hmccracken, 134 chars, Thu Oct 3 09:13:39 1991
This is a comment to message 126.
————————–
Well, the _New York Times_ gave the film (which was shown in rough
cut, with much of it in pencil-test form) a rave review.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #128, from hmccracken, 351 chars, Sun Oct 6 20:39:49 1991
This is a comment to message 110.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Late update on mangled spellings of _!01 Dalmatians_: it’s spelled
wrong on the marquee at the Burlington (Mass.) Cinema, and _Parade_
magazine gets it wrong today (in its “Intelligence Report,” oddly
enough), while noting that the film was the sixth-biggest box-office
attraction this Summer — Disney’s most successful film of the
season.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #129, from davemackey, 309 chars, Wed Oct 9 21:18:29 1991
This is a comment to message 128.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
And this in a summer where Disney was pinning their hopes on some big box
office hits (I refer you to the short piece in this week’s Time about Disneys
dismal earnings for fiscal 1991). I wonder how much Rocketeer toys have been
marked down to at the local Kay-bee. 😉
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #130, from hmccracken, 265 chars, Wed Oct 9 22:26:22 1991
This is a comment to message 129.
————————–
Check out last week’s _New York_ for a long and negative article on
the state of the Disney company, gleefully pointing out the
studio’s recent string of flops. Maybe _Beauty and the Beast_ will
bring an end to Disney’s recent bad luck at the box office.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #131, from hmccracken, 499 chars, Wed Oct 9 22:31:01 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Has anyone seen…
the “Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation,” currently touring the
country? It’s part of the series put on by Mike and Spike of Mellow
Madness. Among the films in the lineup are _Push Comes to Shove_,
_Bambi Meets Godzilla_, _Thank You Mask Man_, and the infamous
_Lupo the Butcher_ (all of which I’ve seen), and a few pretty gross-
sounding ones I haven’t seen. I’d appreciate any reports on the
show — if it’s any good, and just how sick and twisted it is…
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #132, from switch, 342 chars, Sat Oct 12 22:45:41 1991
This is a comment to message 131.
————————–
Not yet, and it’s only running another five days here. The Cinematheque
Quebecoise is back on track with weekly animation showings as well: just
this Wednesday Cynthia and I saw the second part of the best from Annecy
’91 (including the uncut _Gray Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood_)… gonna
be a busy month for animation around here.
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #133, from hmccracken, 206 chars, Sun Oct 13 00:30:27 1991
This is a comment to message 125.
————————–
Another update on _Rover Dangerfield_: the film will probably not be
released theatrically. Oddly enough, I was at a fair today and saw
fake stuffed Rober Dangerfields being given away as prizes.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #134, from davemackey, 279 chars, Thu Nov 14 22:39:34 1991
————————–
TITLE: “American Tail II” premiere
The gala benefit premiere of “An American Tail II: Fievel Goes West” will be
this coming Sunday in Washington, DC. Steven Spielberg, ex-wife Amy Irving,
and some of the film’s voice cast will be on hand.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #135, from hmccracken, 485 chars, Sun Nov 17 02:44:42 1991
————————–
TITLE: _Beauty and the Beast_
I saw the latest Disney animated feature this morning. I should
be uploading a brief review tomorrow (with proper warning so those
that would rather skip it until they’ve seen the movie themselves
can do so). It shouldn’t give anything away, though, to say that
the movie is well worth seeing. Disney has been on a roll
(artistically, and usually financially) as far as animated
features go for awhile now, and [20~_B&B_ continues the streak.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #136, from hmccracken, 323 chars, Sat Nov 23 19:56:47 1991
————————–
TITLE: _Beauty and the Beast_ tidbit
I went to see _The Addams Family_ yesterday night, and before the
film started, they showed the trailer for _Beauty and the Beast_.
At the end of the trailer, the audience applauded! That’s the
first time I’ve ever seen that happen; they didn’t even applaud
the main feature.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #137, from hmccracken, 735 chars, Sun Nov 24 11:01:38 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: _The Addams Family_
I suspect that Charles Addams would probably have been fairly
pleased. This film does justice both to his cartoons and to
the 1960s TV show — it’s a superbly-cast, wonderfully-designed
series of gags that resembles a book of Addams cartoons in
structure. That’s the optimist’s way of stating that it doesn’t
have much of a plot.
The lack of a strong story didn’t bother me, because the film
does such a nice job of bringing the Addamses to life as a
loving, very happy family. Anjelica Huston is the perfect
Morticia; Raul Julia is very good as Gomez (and quite close
to John Astin’s TV version); Christopher Lloyd makes a dynamite
Uncle Fester. And both Puggsley and Wednesday are very funny.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #138, from hkenner, 60 chars, Sun Nov 24 13:52:22 1991
This is a comment to message 137.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 137.
————————–
Wonder why they didn’t *get* John Astin? He’s around.
–HK
==========================
animation/silver.screen #139, from jshook, 178 chars, Sun Nov 24 23:15:51 1991
This is a comment to message 138.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 138.
————————–
I read somewhere that they got Anjelica Huston first, and the
producer(s) felt that she deserved a co-star of equivalent
stature. I’m not neccessarily defending their choice.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #140, from davemackey, 244 chars, Mon Nov 25 18:38:02 1991
This is a comment to message 138.
————————–
I don’t know if they wanted him… same as asking why they didn’t get Adam
West to play Batman in the 1989 version. But I do know Astin has a recurring
role on “Taz-Mania”; he was in yesterday’s episode.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #141, from davemackey, 192 chars, Tue Nov 26 00:57:50 1991
This is a comment to message 139.
————————–
I won’t argue with their choice: Raul Julia can be a gifted comedic actor…
anyone else remember a picture a few years ago called “Moon Over Parador”?
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #142, from sharonfisher, 1265 chars, Wed Dec 4 12:12:51 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Beauty & the Beast article
There’s an hysterical article in the Hartford Courant (which was reprinted
in today’s San Francisco Chronicle) about the history of the Beauty and the
Beast mythos. Excerpts include:
“Possibly the most upsetting explanation comes from Jack Zipes, a folktale
compiler and professor of German at the University of Minnesota: brainwashing
little French girls into becoming trophy wives. ‘The tale was originally a
rationalization to get girls to enter contractual marriages with old, ugly
men,’ says Zipes, author of Spells of Enchantment: Wondrous Fairy Tales of
Western Culture (Viking, $29.95). It was customary at the time for girls in
their mid-teens to be married off to rich old guys, Zipes says. The message
of the tale was that if they hung in and tried to love old Monsieur Nosehaire,
he would come to seem a charming prince.”
And, describing the Beauty and the Beast television show:
“What woman hasn’t thought to herself: If only my golden retriever, Burt, could
talk to me about my inner life and occasionally read 19th century poetry to
me but never expect me to fake an orgasm or put him through law school or
make hamburgers for his golf buddies? That was kind of the idea of this show.”
Author is Colin McEnroe.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #143, from rcook, 359 chars, Wed Dec 4 16:37:43 1991
This is a comment to message 142.
There are additional comments to message 142.
————————–
Once again, each generation re-interprets myth and fairy tale
in light of its own experiences and needs. 🙂
The article sounds like lots of fun.
Actually the basic story goes back further than that. It’s a
variation on the “fair by night, foul by day” story that can be traced
back at least to the dark ages. (cf the old English ballad “King Henry”)
–RC
==========================
animation/silver.screen #144, from hmccracken, 423 chars, Fri Dec 6 15:24:49 1991
This is a comment to message 142.
————————–
The article sounds interesting, Sharon. I have no idea whether or
not Zipes’s theory is correct, but it’s certainly true that as
fairy tales are told, generation by generation, their underlying
meanings tend to evolve to match the times. Disney has been
criticized by folks like the late Dr. Bruno Bettelheim for ruining
stories like _Snow White_ by tampering with their original
psychological underpinninings.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #145, from davemackey, 408 chars, Fri Dec 13 19:04:45 1991
————————–
TITLE: Beauty, Beast, and Steve
Tomorrow evening select theatres around the country will be showing a Sneak
Preview of the forthcoming Steve Martin film “Father Of The Bride” along with
their regular showings of “Beauty And The Beast.” It is being billed as a
Double Feature — when’s the last time you walked into your local theatre and
got two for the price of one?
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #146, from davemackey, 249 chars, Fri Dec 20 14:49:49 1991
This is a comment to message 137.
————————–
Word on the street is that if the script is good and the actors can
coordinate their schedules, there will be an Addams Family II. (I can just
see Thing’s hand coming out of the box holding up two fingers…)
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #147, from hmccracken, 564 chars, Sun Dec 29 21:39:41 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Oscar in Disney’s Future?
Quite a few folks have predicted that Disney’s _Beauty and the Beast_
will be the first animated feature to be nominated for an Academy
Award for Best Picture, but on an episode of ABC News’s _Nightline_
last week that was devoted to 1992 predictions, two panelists
predicted that _B&TB_ would *win* the Oscar for Best Picture!!
Of course, the two panelists were Frank DeFord (a sportswriter)
and Arthur Laffer (an economist) — I still haven’t heard a film
critic make such a prediction. But it’s an interesting idea!
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #148, from adunkin, 81 chars, Mon Dec 30 00:43:38 1991
This is a comment to message 147.
There are additional comments to message 147.
————————–
I think Siskel & Febert were talking about Oscaring B&TB too.
— Alan Dunkin
==========================
animation/silver.screen #149, from davemackey, 395 chars, Mon Dec 30 04:18:55 1991
This is a comment to message 147.
There are additional comments to message 147.
————————–
I wonder if Disney is taking out “for your consideration” ads in the trades
to that effect?
I’ve heard of Arthur Laffer but only to the extent that his picture is
on the back of the box for “The Laffer Utilities” which I got for Christmas
but cannot load due to inadequate equipment… something I seem to have in
common with Leisure Suit Larry. 😉
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #150, from bferg, 71 chars, Mon Dec 30 10:21:39 1991
This is a comment to message 147.
————————–
Harry, it certainly has all the qualities to be best picture!
Barbara
==========================
animation/silver.screen #151, from hmccracken, 387 chars, Mon Dec 30 23:17:28 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Cocteau’s _Beauty and the Beast_ in Boston
Folks around here had been asking about the 1946 live-action version
of _Beauty and the Beast_; if you live in the Boston area, you’ll soon
have a chance to see it. The Brattle Theatre will be showing it on
Febvruary 7th and 8th. I’ll certainly be going to see it, the better
to compare and contrast it with Disney’s version.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #152, from hkenner, 83 chars, Tue Dec 31 00:09:06 1991
This is a comment to message 151.
————————–
Cocteau’s B&B is said to be available on video. Can someone tell
me where???
–HK
==========================
animation/silver.screen #153, from hmccracken, 1644 chars, Mon Jan 6 17:21:22 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: That other animated feature
_American Tail: Fievel Goes West_ is currently at theaters, but
hasn’t gotten a tenth the attention that _Beauty and the Beast_
has. This film (a sequel to Don Bluth’s 1986 film _An American
Tail_) was produced in London — without Bluth’s participation —
and is a fairly lavish, Disneyesque production. As the title
suggests, the story takes Fievel, the immigrant mouse hero of
the first film, to a Western town sometime in the late 19th
century. There he meets up with Wylie Burp, a canine lawman
voiced by Jimmy Stewart.
Unlike _Beauty and the Beast_, _Fievel Goes West_ is aimed pretty
squarely at kids. It’s full of chase sequences and slapstick,
and doesn’t have the romantic angle to appeal to grown-ups.
While it has a couple of musical sequences, they aren’t nearly
as memorably as _Beauty_’s are.
Artistically, _Fievel_ is quite good — it features animation
by talented artists such as Nancy Beiman, and characters like
Cat R. Waul (voiced by John Cleese) and Miss Kitty (voiced
by Amy Irving) are engaging creations. Fievel himself is
surprisingly likable — a much more realistic little kid than
the somewhat similar character “Chip” in _Beauty and the Beast_.
The film also has some fantastic crowd sequences in which every
character is an individually-designed and animated personality.
The kids at the showing I attended seemed to enjoy _Fievel_,
and animation fanatics like me should certainly make a point
of seeing it. Let’s hope that it does well enough at the
theaters to inspire more studios to go up against Disney
with their own ambitious, full-length animated features.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #154, from mscoville, 1280 chars, Tue Jan 7 22:10:21 1992
This is a comment to message 153.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 153.
————————–
I really have to disagree with the previous notations about Fievel and his
heading west. It seems that the film should have headed off into the sunset and
kept going. Not only is the plot made for 2 year olds with a learning dis-
ability, but the animation looks like it was done under a lot of pressure and
no time to devote to the finer aspects that we have learned to enjoy from the
efforts of Disney. I watched in horror as Fievel’s tail would appear and
disappear from the screen. The backgrounds, which could have been wonderful,
were many times flat and one dimensional. One minute there is a lush, beautiful
bg. and then they go to this flat, dull bg. It didn’t make sense. The final
judge has to be the little ones, the ones who were in the theatre with Mom and
Dad not only were fidgety, but many wanted to leave because they were bored.
The parents were bored and dulled beyond belief. As a final note, the
distributor rental figures are in and it is Beauty and the Beast above 40
million and still climbing, while Fievel is 9 million and has already left the
NYC area. I really think that it is unfortunate that this happened, but it is
hoped that Steven Spielberg will learn about plot and continuity in animation
for his up and coming films. mscoville TINAR
==========================
animation/silver.screen #155, from dferg, 591 chars, Wed Jan 8 03:04:38 1992
This is a comment to message 153.
————————–
I had the good fortune of seeing _American Tail: Fievel Goes West_ today…
…with my wife Barbara in a totally empty theater (except for us, of course 😉 )
…and I thought it far superior to the first _American Tail_. The picture
kept me entertained throughout, and I laughed rather often, despite the lack
of an enthusiastic audience to ‘pump’ the laughter out of me…a good sign.
I heartily recommend this film, and I will surely purchase it on videotape
when it is released. If you haven’t seen it on the big screen, catch it
before it goes out of release! ‘Good show!’ 😉
-Doug
==========================
animation/silver.screen #156, from dferg, 91 chars, Wed Jan 8 03:06:21 1992
This is a comment to message 154.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 154.
————————–
Gads Badkins! Did we see the same film?
But everyone knows I am a simpleton. 😉
TINAR.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #157, from hmccracken, 161 chars, Wed Jan 8 09:36:13 1992
This is a comment to message 156.
————————–
Well, I liked it too, Doug — at least a little. It was certainly
vastly superior to _All Dogs Go to Heaven_, Don Bluth’s most
recently-released film.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #158, from bferg, 715 chars, Wed Jan 8 10:18:06 1992
This is a comment to message 154.
There are additional comments to message 154.
————————–
I viewed Fievel yesterday with Doug, the animation nut in
the house. I think your criticism is a little harsh. This
film was geared primarily for children with Fievel being a
child with a wild imagination. I found the animation, color,
and background believable, I felt like I was right under that
train, for instance. The characters were, shall I say, zanny,
I found myself laughing a good bit at the characters and gags.
Should this film be compared to Beauty and the Beast? Really,
I think not, BatB was a musical of a story, Fievel not a musical.
NOW, I will admit, it is not my favorite animated film, but I
think it was well worth the time to view the talents of the crew
that masterminded it!
Barbara
==========================
animation/silver.screen #159, from tsin, 126 chars, Sat Jan 11 10:35:09 1992
This is a comment to message 154.
————————–
2 year old, with a learning disability?
more than likely this would have to be a child born with a mental handicap.
not nice.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #160, from hmccracken, 590 chars, Sun Jan 19 09:12:05 1992
————————–
TITLE: _Beauty and the Beast_ cleans up at Golden Globes
Last night the Hollywood Foreign Press Association presented its
annual Golden Globe film awards — often thought as a sort of
warmup for the Oscars — and Disney’s _Beauty and the Beast_ won
in more categories than any other film! _Beauty_ picked up the
Oscars for Best Musical or Comedy, Best Score, and Best Original
Song. In late February, the Oscar nominations will be released and
we’ll know how many categories _Beauty_ will compete in there
(the big question is whether it’ll be nominated for Best Picture
or not).
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #161, from davemackey, 167 chars, Tue Feb 4 16:30:11 1992
————————–
TITLE: “Great Mouse Detective” reissue
Walt Disney Pictures will be rereleasing “The Great Mouse Detective” on
February 14.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #162, from hmccracken, 379 chars, Wed Feb 19 08:48:49 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Hip, Hip, Hooray
Moments ago, Walt Disney Pictures’ _Beauty and the Beast_ got one of
the coveted Oscar nominations for Best Picture — the first-ever
animated film ever to be nominated in that category! I haven’t heard
the complete list of nominations yet, but it’s probably safe to guess
that _B&B_ got nominated for best score and best original song as
well.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #163, from davemackey, 215 chars, Wed Feb 19 19:23:50 1992
This is a comment to message 162.
————————–
Yes, Harry, but I beat you in posting this by exactly ONE MINUTE (see message
in /main section). Now how can I do that en route to work? Well, I work in
mysterious ways… 😉
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #164, from hmccracken, 414 chars, Sun Feb 23 22:22:15 1992
————————–
TITLE: Disney Flicks Score at Boxoffice
Last week, both _The Adventures of the Great Mouse Detective_ and
_Beauty and the Beast_ placed in the top ten films nationwide.
This isn’t the first time two animated features have done that,
but I think it might be the first time two *Disney* animated features
have done so. In fact, Disney having two animated features in release
at one time is highly unusual.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #165, from hmccracken, 730 chars, Sun Feb 23 22:25:46 1992
————————–
TITLE: _Mouse Detective_ Name Changes
_The Adventures of the Great Mouse Detective_ has the odd distinction
of being the first Disney animated feature to have undergone a name
change for its re-release. When it first came out in 1986, it was
simply _The Great Mouse Detective_ — a name it got at the last
moment. It was going to be _Basil of Baker Street_ (a much better
title, I think), but the box office failure of the film _Young
Sherlock Holmes_ frightened Disney into changing the name.
I really don’t know why Disney tacked that “The Adventures of” onto
the title, but it may be the start of a trend. I’ve heard that
when _The Black Cauldron_ gets re-released, it’ll be under the
name of _The Magic Cauldron_.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #166, from davemackey, 260 chars, Thu Feb 27 00:02:34 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Turn on your TV now…
If it hasn’t already aired in your area you might want to catch tonight’s
“Dennis Miller Show” because Paige O’Hara is one of Dennis’ guests…she is
the voice of Belle in “Beauty And The Beast.” –Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #167, from paulr, 10464 chars, Wed Mar 4 13:35:51 1992
————————–
TITLE: Godzilla Stuff
I forget if I had posted this here already, I know I *meant* to-
if so sorry, if not- enjoy. 🙂
-Paul
—–
From da**@bl******.edu Mon Jan 13 22:07:35 1992
Path: email!atc!umn.edu!spool.mu.edu!yale.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!lin
ac!att!rutgers!cunixf.cc.columbia.edu!blackbox.cc.columbia.edu!dave
From: da**@bl******.edu (David Milner)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
Subject: Re: Newest Godzilla movies
Summary: SPOILERS!!!
Keywords: Godzilla Japanese Monster Ghidrah
Message-ID: <19********************@cu****.edu>
Date: 14 Jan 92 04:07:35 GMT
References: <92****************@ru*****.edu>
Sender: us****@cu****.edu (The Network News)
Organization: Columbia University
Lines: 84
Nntp-Posting-Host: blackbox.cc.columbia.edu
GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE is going to be released by MIRAMAX here in
the US sometime around the end of 1992.
GODZILLA VS. GHIDRAH opened in Japan on Dec. 14, and is doing very well.
This was originally posted a few weeks ago, but since you asked…
GOJIRA TAI KING GHIDORA
(GODZILLA VS. GHIDRAH)
In 1992, a UFO appears over Tokyo. It eventually lands near Mt.
Fuji. A Russian, an American, and a Japanese woman born outside of
Japan named Emi, all claiming to be from the year 2204, disembark
from the ship and meet with Japanese authorities. They give as
their reason for coming back in time a desire to prevent Godzilla
from completely destroying Japan, which he has done by wrecking so
many of its nuclear power plants.
A member of the Japanese army unit that was saved from US Navy
forces on Lagos Island in the South Pacific during WW II by the
appearance of a giant tyrannosaur-like dinosaur is found. He
produces a very old photograph of the beast. Certain similarities
to Godzilla are seen, and it is hypothesized that this creature is
Godzilla before his mutation by radiation.
The time travellers go to the year 1944 and find the dinosaur, now
called a gojirasaur, in a struggle with US Navy landing forces. He
is seriously wounded. Knowing that Lagos was the site of a nuclear
bomb test conducted by the US in 1954, and that this is what most
likely caused Godzilla’s transformation, it is decided to teleport
(i.e. transport a la Star Trek) the creature to a remote island in
the Bering Sea.
Three genetically engineered cat-sized creatures with gold scales
and wings called drats are left behind on Lagos as the time
travellers return to 1992 Tokyo.
Upon their return, it is discovered that although Godzilla now
never existed, an even more terrible monster called King Ghidora
(Ghidrah) has appeared and is destroying Japan. After witnessing
this for a few moments, Emi reveals to authorities that in fact
Godzilla never did completely destroy Japan, and that she and her
companions have really come back in time to prevent Japan from
dominating the world economically. This is why she left the drats
behind – she knew they would be mutated into King Ghidora by the
nuclear bomb test.
The Japanese decide that the only way to fend off Ghidrah is with
another monster, namely Godzilla. Toward this end, they send the
submarine Musashi II to the Bering Sea armed with a nuclear
missile. On its way, the submarine is destroyed by Godzilla, who
has already been transformed by the crash of a Russian bomber that
was carrying nuclear weapons.
Godzilla appears in northern Japan, and the time travellers,
fearing for the safety of their own countries, send Ghidrah to
destroy him. A tremendous battle takes place. Godzilla is the
victor, and Ghidrah falls into the ocean, his left wing ripped up
and his middle neck severed.
Emi manages to teleport the time travel machine to the battle area,
where it is destroyed by Godzilla.
Godzilla works his way south, destroying everything in his path.
When at last he reaches Tokyo, he is met by MechaGhidrah. Emi
managed to return to 2204 in her own small ship, find the remains
of Ghidrah, and resurrect him by fitting the beast with a
prosthetic head and neck and wings.
A battle even more fierce than the previous one ensues. Godzilla
appears to be victorious again, but MechaGhidrah grabs a hold of
Godzilla with five hooks that come out of a chest plate, takes off
into the air, and tows Godzilla out over the Pacific Ocean. A blast
of Godzilla’s breath sends both creatures tumbling into the water.
MechaGhidrah is destroyed, but Godzilla survives.
The next Godzilla film, due out in 1993, will be GOJIRA TAI MOSURA
(GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA).
David Milner Columbia University
inet: da**@bl******.edu
usenet: …rutgers!columbia!blackbox!dave
…rutgers!columbia!blackbox.cc.columbia.edu!dave
From da**@bl******.edu Tue Jan 14 07:41:40 1992
Path: email!atc!umn.edu!spool.mu.edu!uwm.edu!psuvax1!rutgers!cunixf.cc.columbia.edu!blackbox.cc.columbia.edu!dave
From: da**@bl******.edu (David Milner)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
Subject: Re: Newest Godzilla movies
Summary: MORE SPOILERS!!!
Keywords: Godzilla Japanese Monster Biollante
Message-ID: <19********************@cu****.edu>
Date: 14 Jan 92 13:41:40 GMT
References: <92****************@ru*****.edu>
Sender: us****@cu****.edu (The Network News)
Organization: Columbia University
Lines: 58
Nntp-Posting-Host: blackbox.cc.columbia.edu
GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE
In 1990, professor Shiragami, a genetic engineer, is studying cells
of Godzilla collected after his fight with the Super X flying tank
in 1985. He discovers the secret of Godzilla’s power. Godzilla’s
cells have been mutated so he can absorb radiation and get stronger
from it. His cells are constantly reproducing which means that he
can recuperate from injury and poison. He also doesn’t get tired.
This makes him virtually indestructible and possibly immortal.
The goal of the professor’s experiments is to create a bacteria
that will digest radioactive material, thus disabling any nuclear
weaponry, including Godzilla. Two forces are trying to obtain the
results of the experiment. The first is the country of Saradia,
located in the Middle East. The second is Bio-Majors, a genetics
company. The Bio-Majors company tries to steal the Godzilla cells,
but an accidental explosion prevents the theft. It also kills the
professor’s daughter.
The professor mixes the Godzilla cells with cells from a rose, the
girl’s favorite flower. The cells start to grow, and a hybrid
creature, a tremendous rose with tentacle-like feelers that have
sharp teeth on them, is created. He is called Biollante.
In the meantime, a group from Bio-Majors threatens to blow up the
volcano that Godzilla fell into after his last appearance, thus
freeing him, if it is not given the secret of the Godzilla cells.
Eventually Godzilla is released, and he resumes his rampage. To
fight off the monster, the Super X II is launched, equipped with
the fire-mirror, an atomic powered reflector composed of man made
diamond. It absorbs and reflects back Godzilla’s atomic breath,
amplified by a factor of 100. After a fierce battle at sea, the
Super X II is damaged, and is forced to retreat.
Soon after coming ashore, Godzilla comes upon Biollante, and the
two do battle. Even though Biollante seems to get the best of
Godzilla at first, he proves to be no match for Godzilla’s
radioactive breath. Eventually, Biollante literally goes up in
smoke.
Godzilla proceeds to Osaka, where he is challenged by the Super X
II again. After a battle even more intense than the previous one at
sea, the Super X II is destroyed, as is a large part of the city.
Godzilla then heads for the countryside, and runs into an
electrical blockade that the military has set up to stop him.
Although it does have an effect, it is the return of Biollante, who
comes down from the sky as part of a torrential rain, that seals
Godzilla’s fate. Biollante, now somehow transformed into a hideous
creature that is much larger than even Godzilla, proves to be more
than Godzilla can handle, and Godzilla retreats into the ocean
while Biollante returns to the heavens.
David Milner Columbia University
inet: da**@bl******.edu
usenet: …rutgers!columbia!blackbox!dave
…rutgers!columbia!blackbox.cc.columbia.edu!dave
From m1****@mw**.org Tue Jan 14 11:02:51 1992
Path: email!atc!umn.edu!spool.mu.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!think.com!ames!agate!linus!linus!mw
vm.mitre.org!m14494
From: m1****@mw**.org (Mike White)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
Subject: Re: new Godzilla movies
Message-ID: <19********************@li***.org>
Date: 14 Jan 92 17:02:51 GMT
Sender: ne**@li***.org (News Service)
Organization: The MITRE Corporation
Lines: 27
Nntp-Posting-Host: mwhite-mac.mitre.org
GODZILLA VS. DAN QUAIL
In a network news conference, one of the TV lights falls on George Bush’s
head, suddenly transforming him into a liberal. He mutters “tax and
spend, tax and spend” under his breath, and announces the Bush-Cuomo
ticket. The Republicans, realizing that they have only Dan Quail and Pat
Buchannon to deal with, secretly resurrect Godzilla from the volcano and
bring him to DC. Meanwhile a group of eco-terrorists from an alternate
universe in which Ronald Regan was Secretary in the Interior arrive in a
trans-dimensional saucer, kidnap Bush and take him back to their universe
where he takes over as host of the Tonight show after David Letterman
kills Jay Leno in a fit of pique. Back in the here and now, Godzilla,
knowing an opening when he sees one, files for matching campaign funds,
eats Cuomo, and runs against the Quail-Buchannon ticket with the Alien as
his running mate. The Big Guy loses, but only because he accidentally
toasted Arsenio Hall with his atomic breath when Arsenio asked about his
sexual history; up until then, he had been leading Dan in the polls
two-to-one. Dan and Pat change the name of the country to The Really Cool
United States Of Just Us And Nobody Else Ever, and Godzilla retires to
upstate New York where he teaches courses in political science at SUNY at
Oneonta and works the lecture circuit. Be sure to catch the sequal:
Godzilla vs. Godzilla: the Big Guy and his better half split and go to
court over custody of an unhatched egg.
************************
* These are my opinions only.*
************************
==========================
animation/silver.screen #168, from hmccracken, 549 chars, Tue Mar 10 15:33:10 1992
————————–
TITLE: Disney to Double Production
Walt Disney Pictures plans to dramatically expand animation production
at its Florida studio in order to release two new animated features
each year instead of only one. One film will be made at the Burbank,
California studio each year, and one in Florida.
A related tidbit: _Beauty and the Beast_ was Disney’s highest-grossing
film of any kind for 1991, beating out more than two-dozen live-action
films (most of which were released under the adult-oriented Touchstone
and Hollywood Pictures labels).
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #169, from hmccracken, 795 chars, Tue Mar 10 15:45:04 1992
————————–
TITLE: Bluth Back at MGM
Don Bluth Entertainment has signed a contract with MGM to release
its next three animated features — _Thumbelina_, _A Troll in Central
Park_, and _The Pebble and the Penguin_. _Thumbelina_ is scheduled for
release late this year, with a voice case including Jodi Benson
(voice of Disney’s Little Mermaid), Carol Channing, Charo (!), and
John Hurt. _Troll_ is planned for Spring, 1993 release, and includes
Cloris Leachman, Hayley Mills (!), Charles Nelson Reilly, and
Jonathan Pryce in the cast. _Pebble_ has a Christmas, 1993 target
date, with Tim Curry, Martin Short, Joanne Worley, and Geoffrey
Holder in the cast.
Besides these three films, look for _Rock-a-Doodle_, still another
Bluth film, which will be released by Samuel Goldwyn later this
Spring.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #170, from hmccracken, 884 chars, Fri Mar 13 09:43:07 1992
————————–
TITLE: Oswald to Stage Comeback?
This week’s _Comics Buyer’s Guide_ says that Universal Animation may
be working on a project involving Oswald the Rabbit. For those who
aren’t familiar with Oswald’s career — he was created by Walt
Disney in the mid-1920s; Walt lost the rights to him (which led to
the creation of Mickey Mouse), after which Oswald continued on for
more than a decade in films made by others, most notably the Walt
Lantz studios. Oswald began as a rabbit who looked a lot like Mickey Mouse,
but Lantz eventually turned him into a cuddlier white rabbit.
Oswald hasn’t made any films in more than fifty years, but his comic
book career lasted until fairly recently, and has started up again
in Harvey’s line of Woody Woodpecker comics. The Oswald of the comic
books, oddly enough, is a *brown* rabbit who looks little like wither
of his animated versions.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #171, from hmccracken, 201 chars, Thu Mar 26 22:13:28 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: _Ferngully_
Has anyone out there seen coming attractions for this upcoming
animated feature? Anyone know when it
is coming out? I’m interested in hearing anything folks
know about it.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #172, from davemackey, 118 chars, Fri Mar 27 06:31:01 1992
This is a comment to message 171.
————————–
Television commercials are running. At first glance it doesn’t look that bad.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #173, from davemackey, 534 chars, Fri Mar 27 09:14:01 1992
————————–
TITLE: Attention New York-area folks….
Variety, The Children’s Charity will be hosting special screenings of the
new Don Bluth animated feature “Rock-A-Doodle” tomorrow morning at 11 a.m.
with a specl admission price of $3.00 Proceeds go to benefit needy
children in the Tri-State Area.
At that price, and for that cause, and since one of the theatres showing
it is a mile from my house, it’s too good to pass up — and I’ll post my
thoughts on “Rock-A-Doodle” here tomorrow afternoon.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #174, from davemackey, 176 chars, Sat Mar 28 06:58:32 1992
This is a comment to message 166.
————————–
Paige is a busy lady… she was on the “Larry King” show on CNN last night,
but I didn’t see it.
And a very talented lady at that.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #175, from davemackey, 2247 chars, Sat Mar 28 13:28:34 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: “Rock-A-Doodle”: This Is Not A Review
“Rock-A-Doodle” is a pleasant-enough (mostly) animated feature which
juxtaposes shopworn “save-the-farm-in-time” melodrama with that 20th century
folk hero, Elvis.
Chanticleer (voice of Glen Campbell) wakes the populace every morning,
evoking the warm sunshine (one of those obligatory happy-face suns), until
one day he decides not to, opting instead for a career as The King (we would
presume of Rock and Roll) in The City, a gaudy magenta neon landscape evoking
Las Vegas.
The usual assortment of obligatory cutesy-pie animal characters,
including one little boy who’s been turned into a cat, try to find
Chanticleer/King before a horde of owls led by Grand Duke (deliciously voiced
by Christopher Plummer, with Charles Nelson Reilly as obligatory goofy
henchman) take over the farmlands with their spell of darkness. There’s also
a delicious-looking pheasant named Goldie voiced by Ellen Greene, adding the
obligatory romantic interest Elvis movies were famous for. And the obligatory
narration by Phil Harris wasn’t really necessary, though it’s a pleasure to
still hear his warm voice once in a while.
There’s a good film hidden beneath the derivative characters and
storyline, including Grand Duke’s final act of malevolence, which appears to
be a lift of similar footage from “The Little Mermaid.”
The peppy song numbers written by T.J. Kuenster are performed by
Campbell doing his best Elvis voice, and backed by no less than The
Jordannaires!
The Bluth Sullivan animators in both Ireland and Burbank turned in
great footage for this one, with excellent color styling, especially The
City’s landscapes, and Bluth’s direction is generally unintrusive.
Nevertheless, there were several minutes of live-action footage, which, with
long credits that take up the end of one reel and all of another, get the
film to a bare-minimum 73-minute running time.
The screenplay by David Weiss wavers between sophisticated comedic lines
and characters stating the obvious for the benefit of the film’s younger
viewers — you could guess the bookish mouse Peepers would say “ooh, it’s
beautiful” when she first saw The City, for instance.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #176, from davemackey, 749 chars, Sun Mar 29 19:23:37 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Aside to “Rock-A-Doodle” screening
Echoing earlier comments made about adult attendance at animated features…
my local screening of “Rock-A-Doodle” was at a theatre in my hometown of
Oakhurst, New Jersey, and due to the fact that the local paper had no mention
of the preview in its movie timetable, there were only about 8-10 people in
the theatre, and I was the only adult there without kids. (They probably
figured me to be some sort of critic since I was watching the film with
notepad and pen in hand throughout.)
The fact that this screening was all but ignored was sad, because one of
the local benefactors of Variety Clubs has been Camp Oakhurst, a summer camp
for handicapped children.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #177, from hmccracken, 218 chars, Sun Mar 29 22:46:53 1992
This is a comment to message 176.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Too bad the benfit wasn’t better publicized. I see in today’s
paper that _Rock-a-Doodle_ will open everywhere next Friday —
almost 2 1/2 years after it was completed — so we’ll all have
a chance to see it.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #178, from hmccracken, 637 chars, Sun Mar 29 22:50:09 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Newsies/B&B Double Feature next Saturday
_Newsies_, a live-action musical film about newspaper boys at the
turn of the century, will receive sneak previews next Saturday.
Now, what makes this worth mentioning in this conference — besides
the fact that the movie’s songs are by the _Little Mermaid_/_Beauty
and the Beast_ songwriting duo of Alan Menken and the late Howard
Ashman — is that the preview is accompanied by a showing of
_Beauty and the Beast_, for one ticket price. I’ll probably take
it as an opportunity to catch _Beauty_ one last time…although,
as a former paperboy, I’m interested in _Newsies_, too!
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #179, from davemackey, 86 chars, Mon Mar 30 06:32:17 1992
This is a comment to message 177.
————————–
Let us know your thoughts when you do, Harry.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #180, from davemackey, 795 chars, Tue Mar 31 00:31:06 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Oscar Recap
Due to BIX being down for system maintenance, I was unable to post the Oscar
results As They Happened, as I have in years past. Here are the relevant
results:
Best Animated Short Subject: “Manipulation”
Best Sound: “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” (“Beauty And The Beast” was
nominated)
Best Original Song: “Beauty And The Beast,” from “Beauty And The Beast,”
music by Alan Menken, lyrics by the late Howard Ashman (this award was
accepted by Ashman’s longtime companion, who noted that it was the first
ever Oscar awarded to someone who had died of AIDS)
Best Original Score: “Beauty And The Beast,” by Alan Menken
Best Picture: “Silence Of The Lambs” (“Beauty And The Beast” failed to
cash in on its nomination)
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #181, from davemackey, 126 chars, Tue Mar 31 00:31:14 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Oh, did I mention…
…that this year’s Disney summer reissue is “Pinocchio”?
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #182, from hmccracken, 192 chars, Tue Mar 31 01:07:20 1992
This is a comment to message 180.
————————–
*sigh* I really hoped that _B&B_ would win. ‘Twas not to be, I guess.
Could be that we’ll never see an animated film win Best Picture until
they let cartoon characters cast votes…
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #183, from hmccracken, 385 chars, Tue Mar 31 01:09:23 1992
This is a comment to message 181.
There are additional comments to message 181.
————————–
Hurrah! Another chance to see my favorite Disney feature (and my
candidate for Greatest Animated Film of All Time) on thje big
screen. Note also that this release of _Pinocchio_ will be the first
time that a Disney animated feature has hit the theaters after being
released on video (the movie was released on tape in 1985, though
it was withdrawn from the market long ago).
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #184, from switch, 78 chars, Tue Mar 31 07:48:58 1992
This is a comment to message 181.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Oh, good! I can finally catch it on the big screen, in its entirety…
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #185, from hmccracken, 1373 chars, Sun Apr 5 17:29:26 1992
This is a comment to message 175.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Well, I just saw _Rock-a-Doodle_, and I’m not sure what to make of it.
It’s definitely one of the strangest afternoons, I’ve ever spent in
a theater, and one of the most incomprehensible. Probably 75% of the
time I couldn’t really tell what was going on: very few scenes seemed
to have much to do with the plot, and within each shot there seemed to
be about five or six different activities going on. The dialogue was
pretty off the wall, too. (And I’m *still* trying to figure out why
all the characters were wearing penguin suits in one scene.)
Watching the film, I recalled the early days of silent animation,
when the making of (say) a Mutt and Jeff cartoon would consist of
each animator being told that this particular Mutt and Jeff film would
be set at a dude ranch, or in the jungle, or whatever. Each animator
would then animate a scene, making it up as he went along, and then
they’d tack the scenes together into a film. I could almost believe
that this was how _Rock-a-Doodle_ was made.
Despite this, I liked this film better than _All Dogs Go to Heaven_,
Bluth’s most recent film before _Doodle_. Once I got used to the
fact that I had no idea what was going on, I had a reasonably
good time. It’s a little like watching Salvador Dali and Luis
Bunuel’s _Un Chien Andalou_ (and I’ll bet nobody has ever compared
a Bluth film to that one before…).
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #186, from ianl, 369 chars, Sun Apr 5 22:25:19 1992
This is a comment to message 185.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
So, did you get the impression that the film was 1) Purposefully designed
to be surrealistic, or 2) just badly edited/conceived?
I rather like surrealistic things, and animation is a medium that gives
surrealists a lot of freedom. But a bad film is not necessarily an
entertaining piece of surrealism unless it’s really really bad to where it
becomes comedic.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #187, from hmccracken, 256 chars, Mon Apr 6 09:39:08 1992
This is a comment to message 186.
————————–
I think the surrealism was unintentional — Bluth has never been like
this before. I’d place _Doodle_ in a similar category to some of the
Max Fleischer cartoons of the 1930s, which created their own sort of
accidental-but-appealing surrealism.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #188, from dano, 55 chars, Wed Apr 8 21:41:29 1992
This is a comment to message 184.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
It’s usually the other way round.
Movie ——> Video.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #189, from switch, 63 chars, Wed Apr 8 23:58:06 1992
This is a comment to message 188.
————————–
Yeah, but I have a habit of doing things the hard way 🙂
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #190, from hmccracken, 191 chars, Mon May 4 17:38:47 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Ferngully
I still had time to see this current theatrical release; I ought to
rush out and do so before it’s too late. Anybody seen it yet? The
reviews have been very mixed.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #191, from davemackey, 343 chars, Mon May 4 20:46:03 1992
This is a comment to message 178.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I want to correct you on this: the songs in “Newsies” were by Alan Menken and
Tim Rice. Howard Ashman was too ill from the AIDS to work on the music for
this film. Though this film didn’t catch box-office fire, Disney is still
commissioning another film from choreographer-turned-director Kenny Ortega.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #192, from elfhive, 515 chars, Mon May 4 23:37:43 1992
This is a comment to message 190.
There are additional comments to message 190.
————————–
I have been trying to see this film but it is mostly playing in suburban
theatres and only in matinees generally ending at 5pm. As I am without
a car and docherish the idea of a Saturday or Sunday matinee viewing
in the suburbs anyway, I think this is going to have to be a video
screening. It’s unfortunate. It also looks like I’m going to have to
miss Rock-A-Doodle on a bigger screen. Although, from the looks of
things I would likely be faced with a not so big theatrical screen as
well as a juvenile audience.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #193, from hmccracken, 173 chars, Tue May 5 09:16:53 1992
This is a comment to message 191.
————————–
That’s right; thanks for the correction. Tim Rice also worked on the
songs for the upcoming _Aladdin_, since they weren’t completed at
the time of Ashman’s death.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #194, from switch, 120 chars, Tue May 5 19:56:05 1992
This is a comment to message 190.
————————–
I’ve heard nothing good of it to date, save “Robin Williams was
great!”
I haven’t decided if I’ll see it or not.
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #195, from davemackey, 428 chars, Fri May 15 21:04:35 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Who did what in “RA&A”
Does anyone know which animators were responsible for what characters in
Richard Williams’ “Raggedy Ann And Andy”? I know that Tissa David did Ann,
and Arthur Babbitt did the Camel With The Wrinkled Knees. And I think I
vaguely remember that giant blob thing being credited to Gerry Chiniquy. I
haven’t seen the whole film in a while but I saw a clip today.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #196, from mscoville, 300 chars, Sat May 16 00:09:41 1992
This is a comment to message 195.
There are additional comments to message 195.
————————–
I cannot say who did what, but here is a list of the animators. They include
those mentioned and Grim Natwick, Emory Hawkins, Gerald Potterton who was also the sequenc director, Hal Ambro, John Br
uni, Charlie Downs, John Kimball and
Spencer Peel. Hope this helps refresh the memory cels. mscoville
==========================
animation/silver.screen #197, from hmccracken, 402 chars, Sun May 17 02:22:15 1992
This is a comment to message 195.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Here are some of the credits, from John Canemaker’s book on
_The Animated Raggedy Ann and Andy_ (Bobbs-Merrill, 1976)
Raggedy Ann: Tissa David
Camel: Art Babbitt
The Greedy: Emery Hawkins
Babette: Hal Ambro
Maxi Fix-It: Spencer Peel
The Loonies: Grim Natwick
King Koo Koo: Gerry Chiniquy
The Captain: Charlie Downs
Naturally, more than one animator worked on most or all of these
characters.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #198, from davemackey, 157 chars, Sun May 17 10:11:50 1992
This is a comment to message 197.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
That’s right. The Greedy was the blob, and I knew some old Warner Bros. guy
worked on it. Very impressive animation.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #199, from hmccracken, 128 chars, Sun May 17 10:58:48 1992
This is a comment to message 198.
————————–
Well, there was another “blob” character — a green, balloon-like
guy — and I think Chiniquy may have worked on him.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #200, from hmccracken, 1480 chars, Sat May 23 11:23:57 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: _The Thief_ Dead?
Richard Williams’ Persian-themed animated feature _The Thief and the
Cobbler_, which has been in production since not long after Johhny
Carson started on the Tonight Show and they built the Berlin Wall,
is in serious trouble…again. Warner Bros., who fronted money to
Williams to finish the film after his great success as the animation
director for _Who Framed Roger Rabbit_, is unsatisfied with the
progress that has been made (the film was scheduled for a December
release), and has seized it from the Williams studio.
The question now is, what will happen to the film? Warner’s may
have another studio complete it, or figure out some way to put
Williams on a strict schedule to complete it…or they might kill
the project altogether. Something similar happened during the production
of _Who Framed Roger Rabbit_, when Williams fell behind on the
schedule and another studio was brought in to do some of the work.
The sad part is that _Thief_ is a very personal film — not something
that should be hastily completed by Hanna-Barbera or whoever — and
one that contains a great deal of work by some of the greatest
animators ever: people like Grim Natwick, Art Babbitt, and Ken Harris
(all of who have passed away). I have seen a little bit of the film
(actually, I saw it many years ago), and it looks fantastic. Let’s hope
they figure out some way to allow Williams to finish it himself, and
that he gets his act together and does it.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #201, from bferg, 486 chars, Tue May 26 20:48:22 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Doug and I finally viewed “FernGully” last Monday. I was
pleasantly surprized at it overall. I was entertained and
enjoyed the characters as they did their heroics of saving
the last rain forest. In particular, the humor and light-
hearted attitude of the fairies kept me tickled. But, best
of all, the villian (the Hexxus) voiced by Tim Curry brought
ohhhs…and ahhhs from me. All the voice choices were right
on. So, if anyone has not viewed the film, it is worth it.
Barbara
==========================
animation/silver.screen #202, from jshook, 323 chars, Tue May 26 22:54:26 1992
This is a comment to message 201.
There are additional comments to message 201.
————————–
I haven’t seen the film yet, but the SIGGraph advance program I
got in the mail last week announces that some of the people
involved with this film are giving a talk on the way computers
were used in the production of it. Apparently they use
a system similar (from what I could tell from the notice) to
the Disney one.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #203, from davemackey, 222 chars, Wed May 27 02:13:24 1992
This is a comment to message 201.
There are additional comments to message 201.
————————–
It has surprised me that Tim Curry has become quite a prolific animation
voice of late. He’s made appearances on “Tiny Toon Adventures” and “Peter Pan
And The Pirates” besides this.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #204, from hmccracken, 243 chars, Sat Jun 13 23:04:57 1992
This is a comment to message 200.
————————–
Latest word on Richard Williams’ _The Thief and the Cobbler_ is
that Warner’s is bringing in another studio to finish the film
for Christmas, 1992 release. That’s sad; it’s a little as if someone
else had finished up _Citizen Kane_.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #205, from hmccracken, 825 chars, Tue Jun 16 00:38:41 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Fantasia Hoax Revealed
I can’t recall offhand if we discussed it here or not, but a few months
ago, _Time_ magazine reported a protest at a San Francisco showing
of _Fantasia_, at which a myriad of protesters attacked the film
for everything from being too scary for children to being unfair to
rabbits (!). Tonight’s episode of _Entertainment Tonight_ revealed that
the protest was a hoax, one which apparently not only fooled _Time_
but also the _Washington Post_ and other reputable news sources.
You’d think that since the protesters included a representative of
“Sensitive Parents Against Scary Movies” and a man in a rabbit suit,
that _Time_ and the others would have looked upon it with a dubious
eye, but they were taken in.
(And I’m still trying to figure out how _Fantasia_ is unfair to rabbits.)
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #206, from ianl, 273 chars, Tue Jun 16 03:34:41 1992
This is a comment to message 205.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 205.
————————–
“Sensitive Parents Against Scary Movies” — That reminds me of the lady
who drops in to a Tiny Toons episode and says “I’m a member of Adults
Against Funny Cartoons, and we’ve noted 61 acts of meaningless violence
in this episode.” (An anvil then falls on her.) 🙂
==========================
animation/silver.screen #207, from switch, 42 chars, Tue Jun 16 10:12:33 1992
This is a comment to message 205.
There are additional comments to message 205.
————————–
Because there are no rabbits in it?
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #208, from switch, 58 chars, Tue Jun 16 10:12:52 1992
This is a comment to message 206.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I saw that for the first time yesterday. Loved it!
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #209, from elfhive, 76 chars, Tue Jun 16 22:55:43 1992
This is a comment to message 205.
There are additional comments to message 205.
————————–
It must have something to do with what Thumper’s father always used to say!
==========================
animation/silver.screen #210, from jshook, 42 chars, Tue Jun 16 22:58:52 1992
This is a comment to message 205.
————————–
Because there aren’t any rabbits in it?
==========================
animation/silver.screen #211, from davemackey, 167 chars, Wed Jun 17 05:33:53 1992
This is a comment to message 208.
————————–
“The Anvil Chorus” — without a doubt, the best of “Tiny Toons” and
definitely having the touch of the master (Leonardi)… 🙂
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #212, from davemackey, 173 chars, Wed Jun 17 19:24:22 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: “Cool World”
It’s almost finally here: Ralph Bakshi’s latest project, “Cool World,” will
be theatrically released on July 10.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #213, from hmccracken, 284 chars, Sun Jul 5 22:09:47 1992
This is a comment to message 212.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
It’s going to be a pretty animated summer: at the theater tonight, I
saw ads for _Cool_, _Bebe’s Kids_ (a feature from Hyperion based on the
comedy routine of the late Robin Harris_), and _Little Nemo_, the
long-awaited Japanese feature based on Winsor McCay’s comic strip.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #214, from hmccracken, 383 chars, Sun Jul 5 23:43:53 1992
————————–
TITLE: _New York Times_ readers, take note
Today’s (Sunday’s) edition has a nifty article on Ralph Bakshi and
his new film, _Cool World_. (For accuracy’s sake, it should be noted
that the article says that Bakshi left animation after the failure
of _American Pop_ — actually, he made another feature (_Fire and
Ice_), and _Cool World_ was preceded by several TV projects.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #215, from davemackey, 456 chars, Mon Jul 6 19:00:50 1992
This is a comment to message 213.
————————–
You might want to check out the current issue of “Premiere” for an
interesting profile of Robin Harris, the comic upon whom the animated feature
“Bebe’s Kids” is based. Harris apparently was a man driven to be successful,
often going from engagement to engagement with very little sleep. The fatigue
took its toll on Harris. His death (caused by a heart arythmia) came just as
his career was beginning to skyrocket.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #216, from mscoville, 864 chars, Fri Jul 10 22:02:42 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Cool World?
Pam & I saw a preview of Bakshi’s Cool World. Today, when the film was to
premiere, I looked for the reviews and discovered that they were missing.
According to one paper, the studio did not have press screenings which can be
an alarm as to how the studio feels about the possible success. I did see one
review on TV who called it “uncool” and rated it a 2 out of 10.
I will save my review or at least a discussion for a later time, but in capsule
form I thought that the story line needed work. Parts of the animation are
exciting and the backgrounds are stunning. ONe problem is the blending of live
action and animation in the same scenes. In Who Framed Roger Rabbit, this was
done very well, in Cool World, something was not done and it looks it. There
are some wonderful comical moments, but they are sometimes far apart.
mscoville
==========================
animation/silver.screen #217, from davemackey, 264 chars, Sat Jul 11 09:13:59 1992
This is a comment to message 216.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I looked all over for reviews, too. Most likely, this means that you’ll
probably see pans in today’s papers.
I won’t be seeing “Cool World” until next Monday or so; if I can get to
a computer, I will post a Non-Review.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #218, from hkenner, 177 chars, Sat Jul 11 10:27:03 1992
This is a comment to message 217.
There are additional comments to message 217.
————————–
Panned by Janet Maslin in today’s New York Times. She mentions stupid
story line and much technical ineptitude, esp. in coordinating the
movements of live & drawn figures.
–HK
==========================
animation/silver.screen #219, from peabo, 288 chars, Sat Jul 11 19:31:36 1992
This is a comment to message 217.
————————–
“Cool World” is a tremendous disappointment. There is virtually nothing to
the plot, and nearly every scene is damaged to one degree or another by
endless repetitions of 16 TON weights being dropped on cartoon characters
who are flitting around in front of the foreground action.
peter
==========================
animation/silver.screen #220, from hmccracken, 1636 chars, Sun Jul 12 20:44:27 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Batman Returns
I finally got around to seeing _Batman Returns_ this weekend, and boy,
was I ever disappointed. In fact, if I hadn’t been with someone else,
I might have walked out — and I *never* walk out of movies.
I haven’t seen _Beetlejuice_ or _Edward Scissorshands_, so I’m
probably not qualified to make blanket statements about Tim
Burton’s directorial abilities. But based on the Burton films
I’ve seen (all his other live-action features), he’s not much
of a storyteller. _Batman II_ goes beyond merely not having
much of a plot — it seems to be a random assortment of scenes
with very little connecting them. Within each scene, Burton
does so little to establish what’s going on that it’s often hard to
tell where the scene is going on.
Trying to remember the film, I come up mostly with blurry images
of clowns killing people (the movie is very violent, in an
emotionless way). Batman himself seems inserted into the film
almost as an afterthought; the only interesting idea is his
love/hate relationship with Catwoman — and the Batman TV series
did that better!
Did I like anything? well, the Penguin rides around in a giant
rubber duckie-mobile that’s visually striking. And there are
one or two funny lines, although there are a lot more unfunny
ones — this is a film that has a little style, but spreads
it very thin. And yes, Michelle Pfeiffer made a great Catwoman.
Am I crazy? Has anyone else seen the film? I thought _Batman I_
was not bad, but if you asked me what the best comic-book movies
that have been made are, I’d probably mention the first two
Superman films and _Dick Tracy_ first.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #221, from hmccracken, 498 chars, Sun Jul 12 20:50:34 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: _Stay Tuned_
The upcoming John Ritter film _Stay Tuned_ features an animated
segment directed by Chuck Jones that depicts Ritter and other
characters as mice (a la several Warner Bros. cartoons that
did that with celebrities). Based on the trailer for the film,
with shows several clips from the scene, it looks like it
stands a good chance of being much better than Jones’s last
big animation project — the credits he supplied for 1990’s
_Gremlins II_, which were disappointing.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #222, from elfhive, 1489 chars, Sun Jul 12 21:37:21 1992
This is a comment to message 220.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 220.
————————–
I agree that _Batman Returns_ is a disappointment as are most of the
sequel films. (Although I do wish the team that did _Buckaroo Banzai_
would do the sequel they promised). Burton excels at setting up a
mood in his films and I think the establishment scene of the abandoned
zoo where the Penguin makes his HQ is terrific. I wonder whether he
used a camera on a wire or some kind of crane+steadicam for that shot.
On the other hand the story and character development was pure trash.
I realize that these are cartoon characters but even comic books give
more depth to these elements, particularly the “Dark Knight” material.
One wonders if it is that much cheaper to write new plots than it is to
buy something that has already appeared.
The other detail that makes me question these multi-million dollar films
was in the scene where DeVito visits his parents’ gravesite. As he is
approaching, he brushes up against a headstone that begins to wobble
like it was made out of styrofoam, probably was too. You’d think that
someone with an eye would have picked that up and reshot it, or at
least have ordered real stones for the path DeVito had to walk.
And what was the point of the “first son” business anyway? In one case
I’m supposed to believe that the target is Walken’s thirtysomething
boy, in all the others that the victims are going to fit in tiny
carnival cages. I was so busy trying to work out idiocies like that
that I couldn’t really become involved with the film itself.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #223, from ianl, 424 chars, Sun Jul 12 21:43:11 1992
This is a comment to message 220.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 220.
————————–
Well, I rather liked Beetlejuice, and Edward Scissorhands was okay (its
real problem was that it wasn’t quite surrealistic enough for my tastes; ie,
I had expected more than it delivered, not exactly the film’s fault). On
the other hand, I hated Batman, and expect to hate Batman II when it makes
it to cable. Funny that (in my opinion) the worst movies made by an ex-
animator are ones that had their roots in comics.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #224, from hmccracken, 361 chars, Sun Jul 12 22:20:22 1992
This is a comment to message 222.
————————–
I liked _Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure_ a lot, and liked _Vincent_ (Burton’s
terrific stop-motion animated film) even better. But based on the two
Batmans, I think Burton’s much-praised ability to create mood is
over-rated…Or maybe it’s just that he’s only able to create *one*
mood (a vaguely creepy, morose one). _Batman Returns_ is awfully mono-
tone.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #225, from hmccracken, 367 chars, Sun Jul 12 22:23:39 1992
This is a comment to message 223.
————————–
Actually, it may not be that strange that Burton’s animation training
hasn’t resulted in great comic-book movies. Other than the fact that
they’re drawn, there isn’t that much that connects Disney animation
and a Batman comic book in content or style. I can think of lots of
live-action directors whose work is more comic-booky than Disney’s
has ever been.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #226, from jshook, 2306 chars, Sun Jul 12 22:49:03 1992
This is a comment to message 220.
There are additional comments to message 220.
————————–
I, too, was disappointed with the new Batman picture. I found myself
in the same frame of mind that I experience more and more with
the new Hollywood blockbusters–while everything has apperently been
done to create a spectacular visual experience, my response is one
of depression and boredom. This film is pedal-to-the-metal all the way
through, but for all its intensity I found it numbingly unengaging.
Despite the effort and manifest skill that have gone into this
project, I felt the same way that I did about the Baron Munchaussen
film of a few years back–they might just have well gathered the
total budget for this film as a heap of dollar bills and filmed it
as it burned. The results, for me, might well have been just as
entertaining.
I also found the violence disturbing. The people making this film
clearly belive that my attention will wander if more than a few minutes
go by without maimings, explosions and car crashes. They’re wrong, at
least about me–all of my favorite films feature very little violence,
and while I admit I used to enjoy the spectacle of things being blowed
up real good, all I can think of as I sit there in stupifaction is
the apalling waste of material and imagination I am seeing. I don’t
object to violence in films out of hand, but I am disturbed that so
many films now seem nothing more than wraparounds for the numbingly
casual mayhem the filmmakers think we crave.
There were some things in the film I admired–the first shot of
the pengun’s lair (a long tracking shot through the gates of an
abandoned zoo), some of the set design and aspects of the performances.
The story-telling aspects of the film strruck me as incoherent at best,
but perhaps that’s just me–I have a hard time following the plots of
even the most lucidly-told movies.
I wish the industry were set up so that artists of real talent
(as I believe Burton, at bottom, is) can create outside the straight-
jacket created by what marketers think we want. I fear that in order
to command the resources involved in a project like this, filmmakers
like Burton have had to jettison the very qualities that made them
interesting to begin with. All we get are the bloated and corrupt
shells, inside of which there might once have been the germ of
real imagination and vision….
==========================
animation/silver.screen #227, from jshook, 1421 chars, Sun Jul 12 23:03:28 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Cool World
I saw Cool World today, and am sorry I did. I had forgotten how much
I have disliked being trapped for 90 minutes in Bakshi’s aesthetic
in his previous films. The ugliness of virtually all of the
chracters, his bilious palette and the crudity of most on the
(non-rotoscoped) animation make this an experience to be missed.
The film is technically pedestrian, the storyline faint at best
(I think so, anyway–I pretty much lost the thread about a third
of the way through). The integration of live action and cartoons
was done to perfection in Roger Rabbit. Bakshi’s goal was clearly
set a lot lower, but even by this standard there are scenes that
are so badly composited that they draw attention to themselves
(and laughs from the audience). The freneticism of the action
creates (for me at least) a kind of hyperstasis that is not
pleasant. The casual ugliness of so much of what happens in
this film is not something I want to experience again. It’s
really a shame about Bakshi. He has some extraordinary talents,
but they are in service of a sensibility that is unredeemingly
vulgar. If you disregard my advice and see this film you are
certain to find something offensive. I don’t think anyone can
make a case that Bakshi’s vulgarity and crudeness represent an
attempt to surmount the canons of accepted taste blah blah blah,
as people have tried to do in the past. He’s just a jerk.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #228, from ianl, 152 chars, Sun Jul 12 23:23:01 1992
This is a comment to message 227.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
> Bakshi’s previous films
Speaking of which…what are some of his previous films? I know I’ve heard
the name before, but I can’t remember where.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #229, from hmccracken, 274 chars, Mon Jul 13 09:24:13 1992
This is a comment to message 228.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
_Fritz the Cat_, _Heavy Traffic_, _Coonskin_, _Hey Good Lookin’_,
_Wizards_, _Lord of the Rings_, _American Pop_, _Fire and Ice_…
that covers most or all of Bakshi’s feature film work. He also
produced _Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures_ for TV a few years
back.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #230, from davemackey, 1601 chars, Mon Jul 13 20:12:41 1992
————————–
TITLE: “Cool World” — Not A Review
Well, I finally got around to seeing “Cool World” this afternoon. I came away
somewhat dazed and confused. Bakshi seems content to clutter up the screen with
so many extraneous characters and unrelated action, it just gets annoying after
a while. The live-action acting was just passable (with young Brad Pitt being
perhaps the best of the bunch). Bakshi’s animation style runs the gamut from
freehand 30’s style to ultrarealistic rotoscope (expecially in the opening
sequence of Holli dancing for an audience of Tex Avery-type wolves), and one
wishes he would stick to one style.
For those interested in personnel, perhaps the most surprising revelation on
the animation credits is that Bill Melendez, a former Warner Bros. animator and
later producer of the Charlie Brown TV specials, was one of the animators on the
film. Many of the 30’s type characters (who look like refugees from “Tattertown”
were handled by Milton Knight, an artist certainly at home with those style
characters.
But to me, the film had its moments, but cried out for a little more unity
of purpose and focus.
The night before I saw the new film I pulled out Bakshi’s seminal work of
two decades ago, “Fritz The Cat,” and was in awe at the film’s cheekiness for
its era. One wonders why Bakshi didn’t go that route with “Cool World.” For its
subject matter (Parents: this is NOT a film to take children to, despite the
presence of many cutesy-type characters; believe me, they aren’t cute), “Cool
World” comes off as pretty tame.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #231, from davemackey, 588 chars, Mon Jul 13 20:16:46 1992
This is a comment to message 229.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 229.
————————–
Don’t forget, Harry, that Bakshi got his start in animation in the late 1950’s
at Terrytoons, first working under producer Gene Deitch, then Bill Weiss; he
got his first director credit there in 1964 for “Gadmouse, The Apprentice Good
Fairy.” He also produced the “Mighty Heroes” series for Terrytoons. Later, Bakshi
produced the last four theatrical cartoons produced by what was known at one time
as Famous Studios. And it’s ironic that Bakshi’s latest feature is released by
that same company whose cartoon studio he closed in 1967, Paramount.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #232, from ianl, 136 chars, Mon Jul 13 20:31:08 1992
This is a comment to message 229.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 229.
————————–
> _Lord of the Rings_
That’s why I know the name. Gee, I liked that too.
I also liked _Wizards_, but didn’t realize he did it.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #233, from hmccracken, 130 chars, Mon Jul 13 21:39:33 1992
This is a comment to message 231.
There are additional comments to message 231.
————————–
Me, forget that Bakshi was the creator of Sad Cat (justly famous as the
dreariest character in cartoon history)? Never!
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #234, from switch, 64 chars, Tue Jul 14 21:52:17 1992
This is a comment to message 231.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Don’t forget the _Spider-Man_ cartoons of the late 60s…
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #235, from switch, 228 chars, Tue Jul 14 21:54:09 1992
This is a comment to message 232.
There are additional comments to message 232.
————————–
I didn’t like _Lord of the Rings_ that much. I felt that he might as well
have shot the whole thing in live-action, considering the extent to which
he used live footage straight out, for rotoscoping, or just compositing.
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #236, from davemackey, 766 chars, Thu Jul 16 20:08:59 1992
This is a comment to message 220.
There are additional comments to message 220.
————————–
Harry, I saw “Batman Returns” the other day and I rather liked it. I think the
tongue-in-cheekiness of the 60’s television series meshed well with the darker
Burton feel. There were more than a few funny lines in this one (few of them
topping the many gems of the first), and yes, Pfeiffer was a saucy Catwoman
indeed.
Part of the appeal of the first two “Batman” films for this Jersey boy is
that the actors playing the key villain in each film spent most of their
boyhoods a few miles from where I live — Jack Nicholson in Neptune, and
Danny DeVito in Asbury Park. (If the rumors I hear are true, this string will
be broken for the third “Batman” film, in which Robin Williams is already
signed to play the Riddler.)
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #237, from davemackey, 214 chars, Thu Jul 16 20:10:06 1992
This is a comment to message 221.
————————–
I saw that trailer and was impressed with the animation styling, which, added
to its cable-TV theme, might make this worth the several bucks it will cost
me to see it… 😉
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #238, from bferg, 1216 chars, Thu Jul 16 21:05:56 1992
————————–
TITLE: My two cents worth “Cool World”
As most of you know, I am not an animation expert, but
being married to Doug, who is really into animation and
reading animation conference, I have come to really enjoy
animated movies. I have also learned what *I* like and
what is really good. For “Cool World,” I did not want
to blurt out my first opinion, but cover the “good”
parts of it, then go into the overall opionion. First,
the opening was good in terms of the fact that it esta-
blished a place in time. Second, the animation in parts
was very good. Third, a few of the side characters were
zanny and gave me a giggle. Last, the music was good.
But, overall, the movie lacked that “punch” that we look
for in a movie these days, especially in an animated f
feature. The characters were poorly defined and their
purpose not apparant. I found myself confused often
on the flow of the movie, the story line just was very
obscure. The extra characters the “appeared” here and
there became quite distracting to the scenes, seemed as
if they saturated every scene with nonsense characters.
With so many other animated features to compare this
film, I find it low on my totem pole of animated features.
Barbara
==========================
animation/silver.screen #239, from davemackey, 70 chars, Fri Jul 17 23:26:33 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: “Bebe’s Kids”
So, has anyone seen this film yet? –Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #240, from hmccracken, 25 chars, Sat Jul 18 19:54:46 1992
This is a comment to message 239.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Is it out yet?
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #241, from hmccracken, 633 chars, Sun Jul 19 01:01:58 1992
————————–
TITLE: _Off His Rockers_
Oddly enough, the least-promoted theatrical animated film of the
Summer comes from Walt Disney Pictures. _Off His Rockers_ is a
short, done with a combination of hand-drawn and computer-generated
animation, that is shown before the Disney live-action film
_Honey, I Blew Up the Kid_. For some reason, it isn’t mentioned
in any of the ads for _Honey_ that I’ve seen.
It’s a cute litle film about a boy and his rocking horse, and
since the opening credits of _Honey_ are done as an animated
cartoon (animated by Kurtz and Friends studio), there’s a lot
for cartoon fans to see at a _Honey_ showing.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #242, from davemackey, 110 chars, Sun Jul 19 15:44:52 1992
This is a comment to message 240.
There are additional comments to message 240.
————————–
Opens next week, I believe. I think I have my release dates mixed up.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #243, from hmccracken, 2100 chars, Sun Jul 19 23:56:58 1992
————————–
TITLE: _Cool World_
One side effect of a movie getting as universally negative
a critical reception as _Cool World_ got is that you go into
the theatre with expectations so low that even a poor movie
can surpass them at least a little. Maybe that’s why I enjoyed
_Cool_, even though the animation, story, characters and
effects work were all just as weak as everyone’s said they
were.
Bakshi films have never been slick and seamless, so I wasn’t
surprised that _Cool_ was quite crude from a technical standpoint.
Visually, there are some interesting components, like the
nifty, ominous backgrounds and Milton Knight’s crowd scenes
of 1930s-like characters. But Bakshi hasn’t given the film
a consistent look — for instance, Holli Would, the main
animated character, is done in a clumsy rotoscoped style that
looks nothing like the other characters. (Another, similar
animated bombshell, Lonette, is much better animated — and
actually gives a better performance than any of the live-
action characters in the movie.)
What little storyline the movie has — a detective story involving
“Doodles” (cartoon characters) and “Noids” (real live people)
is pretty much a second-rate Roger Rabbit knockoff with an
adult twist. Only during the last twenty minutes or so, which
are mostly live-action, does Bakshi’s storytelling become even
halfway coherent.
Despite all that, I had a better time at this movie that at a
lot of contemporary animated features. Why? Well, for one thing,
it’s nice to see an animated film that’s aimed at adults, rather
than kids. It’s also nice to see one that isn’t done in a
carbon copy of the Disney style (as all of the Bluth and
Spielberg features have been).
But mostly, it’s the *weirdness* of the movie that makes it
worth watching. You get the feeling that Bakshi threw in every
idea that crossed his mind, without considering whether or not
they were appropriate to this particular movie.
That doesn’t make for a coherent film, but it does
result in something that has a personal, unprocessed
feel that made it — for me at least — kind of engaging.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #244, from davemackey, 131 chars, Mon Jul 20 22:37:11 1992
This is a comment to message 240.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Update: “Bebe’s Kids” (and it’s pronounced “Bay-bayz”) will be released on
Friday, July 31.
Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #245, from sharonfisher, 96 chars, Wed Jul 22 17:16:23 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Rudolph Ising dies
No mention here of the death of Rudolph Ising? Half of Harmon-Ising?
==========================
animation/silver.screen #246, from davemackey, 270 chars, Wed Jul 22 19:10:37 1992
This is a comment to message 245.
There are additional comments to message 245.
————————–
If you have more information, please let us know. That is sad. Ising, of
course, and his partner Hugh Harman were pioneer animators with the Walt
Disney organization, and launched the cartoon operations of Warner Bros. and
M-G-M.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #247, from hmccracken, 134 chars, Wed Jul 22 22:13:49 1992
This is a comment to message 245.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
That’s a shame — thanks for letting us know, Sharon. Did it just happen?
I know that Mr. Ising had been ill for some time.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #248, from davemackey, 112 chars, Thu Jul 23 09:22:33 1992
This is a comment to message 247.
————————–
I just posted the ‘official’ obit over in animation/main. It’s #2646.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #249, from dcolton, 236 chars, Mon Jul 27 23:01:47 1992
This is a comment to message 220.
————————–
Yes, I agree. In fact, it seems most of the potential audience
for the movie has not materialized. Thank God it proves that
McDonalds tie ins or no, some things can’t be forced on the public
(of course, it still did over $140 million).
==========================
animation/silver.screen #250, from dcolton, 115 chars, Mon Jul 27 23:06:06 1992
This is a comment to message 229.
————————–
Harry, now that you list them, I am forced to agree with an earlier rock.
None of them are aesthetically pleasant.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #251, from dcolton, 283 chars, Mon Jul 27 23:10:25 1992
This is a comment to message 232.
————————–
LotR was poor rotoscoping — in fact, sometimes, the real actors
were painfully visible. Thank Ghu that the Tolkien estate did not
permit him to destroy the trilogy any further.
Strangely though, I must agree that _Wizards_ was not completely
devoid of merit. It had some moments.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #252, from dcolton, 142 chars, Mon Jul 27 23:11:48 1992
This is a comment to message 234.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Emru — you mean the ones where Spidey would land on a wall and his
left hand and foot would be off the wall into the air by a good measure?
==========================
animation/silver.screen #253, from switch, 108 chars, Tue Jul 28 10:34:29 1992
This is a comment to message 252.
There are additional comments to message 252.
————————–
Don’t remember that gaffe, but I was busy being beaten up by my
playmates when I was watching that…
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #254, from davemackey, 358 chars, Tue Jul 28 19:04:23 1992
This is a comment to message 252.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Those are the ones. But I should make note that Ralph Bakshi was not
responsible for every episode of “Spiderman.” Some were done by an outfit
called Grantray-Lawrence Animation, named for animators Grant Simmons and Ray
Patterson (who had been working as a team since the early 1950’s), and
producer Robert Lawrence.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #255, from dcolton, 125 chars, Tue Jul 28 23:14:58 1992
This is a comment to message 254.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Dave — this may be a silly question, but what ever happened to Grantray-
Lawrence. Some of the Spidey stuff was intriguing.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #256, from davemackey, 1015 chars, Wed Jul 29 01:36:44 1992
This is a comment to message 255.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Grantray-Lawrence was also the studio that did the other Marvel cartoon
series, which were nothing more than comic book panels with very limited
mouth animation.
Ray Patterson and Grant Simmons had been animators for M-G-M in the
1940’s and 1950’s; Patterson with Hanna-Barbera on “Tom And Jerry” and
Simmons in the Tex Avery unit (I think Simmons was with Screen Gems before
that). They animated and directed a couple of cartoons for Walter Lantz on a
subcontract basis in 1954-1955 (Ray’s brother Don Patterson was a staff
director for Lantz and may have had a hand in getting his brother this work).
Both men later worked for UPA on the Mr. Magoo and Dick Tracy cartoons, then
did their work on Spiderman and the other Marvel shows. Shortly afterward
the partnership dissolved and Patterson went back to Hanna-Barbera as an
animator (he’s now supervising director at HB and just turned 80), and
Simmons had some director credits at DePatie-Freleng in the early 70’s.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #257, from dcolton, 144 chars, Wed Jul 29 02:05:44 1992
This is a comment to message 256.
————————–
Thanks Dave — your rock is an example about what I love most
about this conference/topic. People here know how to put things
into _context_.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #258, from davemackey, 1968 chars, Sat Aug 8 19:35:33 1992
This is a comment to message 244.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I finally got around to seeing “Bebe’s Kids,” and while I found some of the
animation and gags amusing, it wasn’t consistent enough to hold my interest
for the entire hour and ten minutes. I also had problems with the film’s
“message”, that these children’s unruly behavior is easily explained away by
the fact that their mom (Bebe) is never around.
The animation, as noted, was a little patchwork, because there were so
many studios and subcontractors involved, in no less than three different
locations including London and Ohio. The linework and animation styling could
have used a little tightening up. But when it’s good, this animation really
sparkles and makes the gags work (two of the three animation supervisors were
Chris Buck and Frans Vischer, both late of Warner Bros.). Faizon Love is a
good substitute for the late Harris, with Rich Little doing a turn as one of
two audio-animatronic former presidents (the other provides the film’s most
blatant Disney swipe).
Old-time cartoon buffs may notice one of the love scenes with Robin and
his girlfriend has the old tune “Moonlight Becomes You” in the background,
which had been used for many years by the Famous Studios in the Popeye
cartoons.
The film, by the way, is preceded by a short subject also produced by
the Hyperion studio (they executed the animation for “Bebe’s Kids”) entitled
“The Itsy Bitsy Spider.” I groaned when I saw the title, since I never really
had a soft spot for this childhood standard. But I was rolling on the floor
by film’s end. The spider in question disrupts a piano lesson, so the teacher
calls in a super-exterminator who uses various incendiary devices to try to
dispatch the spider (voice of Frank Welker). The short was directed by
Matthew O’Callaghan and written by Michael “Mr. Mike” O’Donoghue. I hope
Paramount got a good response to the short, because I personally would like
to see more of this type stuff.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #259, from hmccracken, 792 chars, Sun Aug 9 22:17:41 1992
This is a comment to message 258.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 258.
————————–
I agree with most of what you say about _Bebe_, Dave, but I think I
liked the film a little more than you did. The animation *was* awfully
patchy, but at it’s best, it’s not bad, and Robin and his girlfriend
are rather well-designed and animated characters in the best scenes.
The Disneyland-inspired amusement park gave me some chuckles, especially
the scenes with the security guards (and I speak as someone who was
arrested by the Disney World cops at the age of 13!). Most of all, I
give the film credit for *not* being a sugary Disney clone — like
all the recent Bluth and Spielberg films, and Hyperion’s own _Brave
Little Toaster_. _Bebe_ is being mismarketed as a kiddie-matinee film,
but it’
s really an animated film in the _House Party_ or _Mo’ Money_ vein
in many ways.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #260, from davemackey, 234 chars, Mon Aug 10 00:34:39 1992
This is a comment to message 259.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
No theatres around here are showing the film after 6 p.m., which is
inappropriate, given the not-quite-for-kids subject matter. I had to wait
until the weekend before I could see it, therefore.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #261, from switch, 44 chars, Tue Aug 11 21:46:27 1992
This is a comment to message 260.
————————–
They’re showing it at all times here.
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #262, from davemackey, 337 chars, Wed Aug 12 19:04:10 1992
This is a comment to message 258.
————————–
I might be wrong, but “Bebe’s Kids” is the first animated feature directed in
its entirety by a black man, Bruce Smith. And a number of minority artists
worked on the film, most notably Phil Mendez.
For the record, the third animation supervisor, besides Buck and
Vischer, was Lennie Graves.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #263, from davemackey, 884 chars, Sat Aug 22 16:35:22 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: “Little Nemo”: Not A Review
I just got back from seeing the “Little Nemo” theatrical feature released by
Hemdale and produced by the TMS studio. I enjoyed it with little reservation,
and it was a throwback to the kind of feature I’d want to see if I were a kid
again.
I think kids will take to “Little Nemo” more eagerly than adults, but I
was in awe at the production gloss on this film. The production design and
settings were superb. (the film boasted Moebius as one of its chief
conceptual artists, with contributions from the likes of Corny Cole and Paul
Julian).
The story and general structure seem very much in debt to any Disney
feature — perhaps this had to do with the fact that Frank Thomas and Ollie
Johnston were consultants to the film. And possibly also to the fact that
the Sherman Brothers wrote the tunes.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #264, from hmccracken, 672 chars, Sun Aug 23 10:23:02 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Bluth Troubles
The Don Bluth studio, which has lurched in and out of financial peril
many times over the years, is in trouble again. While I understand
that reports of the studio filing for bankruptcy (again) are premature,
they *have* laid off most of their staff, and were unable to meet
payroll for a month before that.
What this does to upcoming Bluth films is unclear. _Thumbelina_ and
_Troll in Central Park_ are both nearly complete, and both have
distribution deals with MGM. Indeed, it’s rumored that MGM may pump
money into the studio to keep it afloat. And Bluth’s Special Projects
Group, which does commercials and other work, is solvent.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #265, from grekel, 670 chars, Sun Aug 23 16:07:06 1992
This is a comment to message 264.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
That’s a shame about Bluth. One of his animators spoke at a
Softimage User Group meeting at SIGGRAPH last month, and talked
about how they incorporate computer animation in their movies, then
lambasted Softimage (who sponsored the meeting) about bugs in their
software and upgrade policy. It was rather refreshing among all
the hype and hooplah Softimage was generating.
Bluth has not made the jump to fully-computer-generated backgrounds,
a la the Beauty & The Beast ballroom — I guess they still feel it removes
the “human” touch from the final scene. To me, computer-generated
backgrounds which have been badly traced and colored are even more
distracting…
greg
==========================
animation/silver.screen #266, from elfhive, 557 chars, Sun Aug 23 16:42:09 1992
This is a comment to message 263.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 263.
————————–
Saw the film yesterday and enjoyed it. It seems like a good marriage
between anime and western animation. The plot was horribly predictable
although I liked the returns to Nemo’s bedroom and the variations on
the walking bed. I guess I’ve just read too much Bradbury 🙂
I was surprised by the Moebius credit because the design didn’t look
like his past material. I thought the last incarnation of evil
borrowed very heavily from Fantasia’s Night on Bald Mountain. In all
though, I never got bored of looking at the work on a big screen.
Glad I caught it.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #267, from switch, 148 chars, Sun Aug 23 21:37:46 1992
This is a comment to message 266.
————————–
The _Nemo_ laserdisc boxed set has two Moebius posters which are
a better marriage of his and McCay’s style. They’re absolutely
fantabulous.
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #268, from hmccracken, 1579 chars, Mon Aug 24 22:38:40 1992
This is a comment to message 263.
————————–
I’m glad you enjoyed _Nemo_, Dave, but I found it weird more than
entertaining. I mean, it’s a film that answers the question
“What if a Japanese animation studio hired a lot of elderly
American animators to make a film based on Winsor McCay’s work, but
done in a pseudo-1950s Disney style?” It answers the question
rather successfully, but I’m not sure it was a question worth
asking.
For me, McCay’s visuals are absolutely wonderful, and almost nothing
else about his work — his characters, storylines, and so forth —
is particularly memorable. So _Nemo_ gets off to a very bad start
by dumping McCay’s style in favor of the faux Disney one. (And it’s
an inconsistent fake Disney style at that — the goblins who appear
at the end of the film seem to be Ewok knock-offs drawn in a Hanna
Barbera-ish style.)
Nemo himself is totally unsympathetic, even more so than McCay’s
original character, and the other characters are pretty dreary, too.
In mood and plot, the film struck me as much more Japanese than
American – which isn’t a problem in itself, except that the source
material and intended mood are American.
My favorite part of the film was the end credits, which had one
of the most impressive rosters of American talent I’ve ever
seen (although I wonder how much input they really had). I mean,
the folks who worked on the film included Ray Bradbury, Chris
Columbus, Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas, Dave Hilberman, Paul Julian,
Corny Cole, David Swift, John Canemaker, June Foray…The list goes
on and on! (Oops, forgot to mention Ken Anderson in there.)
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #269, from hmccracken, 350 chars, Thu Sep 24 00:03:31 1992
————————–
TITLE: Cartoons on Planes
We all know that cartoon shorts have made at least a modest
comeback in movie theaters. The revival seems to have swept
to in-flight movies — on a recent flight on America West,
I was surprised to find them showing a made-for-TV Droopy
cartoon after the feature. Anyone know of other airlines that
show cartoons?
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #270, from hmccracken, 185 chars, Sun Sep 27 23:05:55 1992
This is a comment to message 265.
————————–
I’ve heard that Bluth has escaped studio-death once again —
an Irish bank has lent him enough to complete two of the
features his studio was working on at the time it closed.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #271, from davemackey, 512 chars, Wed Oct 7 19:03:51 1992
————————–
TITLE: Lee wins another appeal
The California Court of Appeals upheld yet again a decision that Peggy Lee
was entitled to royalties from videocassette sales of “Lady And The Tramp.”
The latest victory netted Lee $3 million, but still angrily noted that
“after three decisions against it, Disney will end these hostilities,”
according to Richard Johnson in today’s New York Daily News.
Lee voiced four characters, sang three songs, and collaborated on the
musical score.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #272, from hmccracken, 1084 chars, Thu Oct 15 23:50:23 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Bill Plympton’s _The Tune_
When I heard Bill Plympton was making a feature length film, I
wasn’t sure what to think. I’m a great fan of Plympton’s short
films, but plot and characterization aren’t two of their strengths.
Happily, _The Tune_ is a very funny, winning film that has all
of Plympton’s usual strengths, effectively stretched into a long
format.
The storyline isn’t much — it’s about Del, a songwriter who can’t
think of a line to finish a song, and visits an odd city called
Flooby Nooby for inspiration — but the film’s visuals pack more
variety and inventiveness into this film than you’ll find in two or
three Animation Tourness or Festivals of Animation. The film is
a musical — there isn’t a lot of expository dialogue — and the
songs (each in a different genre) are catchy and well-illustrated
by what’s on screen. For me, it’s Plympton’s drawing style —
old-timey and genuinely romantic, but with an edge — that makes
him special.
One question about the film, and Plympton’s work in general:
why do all his characters look like Ross Perot?
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #273, from jshook, 65 chars, Fri Oct 16 22:54:22 1992
This is a comment to message 272.
There are additional comments to message 272.
————————–
Or, rather, why does Ross Perot look like a cartoon character?
==========================
animation/silver.screen #274, from elfhive, 763 chars, Sat Oct 17 01:09:34 1992
This is a comment to message 272.
————————–
The film bombed during its two week run at the Biograph in DC. I saw the
last screening and it was practically a private session. I’m not too
sure what to think of it, there was something missing in terms of the
dynamics that keep me involved in viewing a feature length film.
Certainly, the inventiveness and variety of the musical segments was
very entertaining — I particularly liked the “wise” man’s changing
head. The music was accomplished but not much more than representational
of various styles [pop, blues, etc.]. I guess I really didn’t care about
the characters at all. If I had to sum it up, I’m glad that I saw the
film but as Plympton’s hero says when the old short about the two guys
punching each other out finishes: “Why am I watching this?”
==========================
animation/silver.screen #275, from davemackey, 307 chars, Tue Oct 20 12:55:51 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Interesting ad on CNBC…
… offering potential investors of First National Film (trading on
Nasdaq as FNAT) a prospectus, and video preview of a film called
“Happily Ever After” which seems to have been made in Filmation when
they were still in business.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #276, from davemackey, 254 chars, Thu Oct 22 19:45:26 1992
————————–
TITLE: “Aladdin”: The TV Commercial
Disney has broken television ads for “Aladdin” piggybacked on the end of a
spot for “The Mighty Ducks.” The feature boasts “many exciting new
characters.” Gee, what a surprise. ::grin::
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #277, from hmccracken, 604 chars, Mon Nov 2 21:27:21 1992
————————–
TITLE: The Movie That Wouldn’t Die
Walt Disney Pictures’ _Beauty and the Beast_ is *still* playing in
theaters, nearly a year after it was released, and some days after
it came out on videotape. While other films have played for more
than a year, they’ve generally been cult favorites (_Rocky Horror_,
_Cinema Paradiso_, etc.). As a decidedly mainstream film, _Beauty_’s
endurance is unique as far as I know.
On the video front, the _Beauty_ tape is widely available for under
$15.00, and the $5.00 rebate offer packaged with all copies brings the
price down to a very reasonable $9.98 or so.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #278, from hmccracken, 500 chars, Mon Nov 2 21:29:20 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: _Aladdin_ is Coming!
Disney’s next animated feature, _Aladdin_, opens on November 25th.
The film, which was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, the
men behind _The Little Mermaid_, has exceptionally good advance
word-of-mouth from those who have seen it. Check out the new issue
of _Time_ for a two-page article/rave review on the film, complete
with tantalizing illustrations. There’s also a trailer for the
film on the _Beauty and the Beast_ video, which I haven’t seen yet.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #279, from davemackey, 173 chars, Wed Nov 4 04:28:13 1992
This is a comment to message 278.
————————–
Thanks for the tip in this week’s issue of Time… I’ve been too busy staring
at that ’57 Chevy on the cover to open the damn magazine… 😉
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #280, from hmccracken, 285 chars, Wed Nov 4 16:11:21 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: If you live in NYC or LA, You’re Lucky…
…Because you can go and see Disney’s _Aladdin_ starting on November
11th, a full two weeks before we unfortunate souls who live in little
burgs like Boston. (Today’s _USA Today_, by the way, has a nice article
on the film.)
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #281, from davemackey, 243 chars, Thu Nov 5 03:27:26 1992
This is a comment to message 280.
————————–
With the same three or four publicity stills you’ll see in every other
newspaper and periodical from now until the end of the year… can’t Disney
be a little more diverse in its selections of publicity frames?
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #282, from hmccracken, 635 chars, Thu Nov 12 22:03:03 1992
————————–
TITLE: _The Thief and Cobbler_
As readers of this conference know, Richard Williams’ _The Thief and
the Cobbler_, a Persian-themed animated feature that has been in
production for almost thirty years, was taken out of hands recently
when he went over budget. The latest news is that the film *is*
being finished, by other studios; it no longer has a distributor
(Warner Bros. bailed out), but it will probably wind up somewhere.
Ironically, one of the folks who’s working on finishing the film
is Don Bluth, who had *his* unfinished films — _Thumbelina_ and
_Troll in Central Park_ — taken out of his hands recently, too.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #283, from hmccracken, 242 chars, Sat Nov 14 07:22:40 1992
————————–
TITLE: _Aladdin_ Opens Tonight…
…at least a special advance screening does, which will allow you
to get an 11-day jump on the film’s official opening. Look for at
least one review here, because I’ll definitely be going tonight!
– Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #284, from hmccracken, 215 chars, Sun Nov 15 05:56:35 1992
————————–
TITLE: Spoiler Alert
In the next message, I’m going to talke about _Aladdin_ — I won’t give
away any surprise plot twists, but if you want to go to the film with
a completely open mind, skip the message.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #285, from hmccracken, 1890 chars, Sun Nov 15 06:07:32 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Walt Disney Pictures’ _Aladdin_
The follow-up to _Beauty and the Beast_ is pretty spectacular. After
a slow start, _Aladdin_ becomes quite wonderful about a third of the
way through, and stays that way until the end. It’s also one of the
most visually spectacular of all Disney features, and one of the few
that’s howlingly funny at times.
Thw peoblem with the the way the film starts is that it’s very
close to _The Little Mermaid_ and _Beauty and the Beast_ in feel.
Aladdin is a talky character who spends a lot of time getting in
touch with his feelings through song; Princess Jasmine is a Little
Mermaid/Belle clone. A lot of the early scenes are set in Aladdin’s
village, which is the village in _Beauty_ transplanted to an Arabian
setting, and there’s an awful lot of plot exposition, most of which
is done in dialogue.
Then, Aladdin finds a lamp and rubs it, and the film picks up
tremendously. The genie in the lamp is voiced by Robin Williams,
and he’s just as funny as you’ve probably already heard (and I’m
not even a Williams fan, so I’m unbiased). While most of the human
characters are dull — as Disney humans always have been — there
is a splendid cast of funny animals and a wonderful flying carpet, who
dominate the last two-third of the film. The villain, Jafar, is also
splendid.
Visually, this is an amazing film, due is large part to use of computers.
Many of the backgrounds are computer-animated, for a remarkable 3-D
look, and the multi-dimensional feel of the Disney multiplane camera
has been recreated with computers. There are some *very* exciting
action scenes, too.
That’s all I’ll say for now (more thoughts later, once more of us have
seen the film), except to predict that _Aladdin_ will do at least as
well as _Beauty and the Beast_ at the box-office. It’s a real crowd-
pleaser, and the full house I saw it with loved it.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #286, from davemackey, 383 chars, Fri Nov 20 19:03:08 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: If cartoon-style gags are your bag
No less than two New York critics noted that the violent gags in “Home Alone
2: Lost In New York” owe a lot to animated cartoons. The New York Post’s Jami
Bernard doesn’t think these type gags work well in live action and finds
the violence quite hurtful in live action: “Pardon me, but this isn’t a
cartoon”
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #287, from ianl, 431 chars, Fri Nov 20 19:32:20 1992
This is a comment to message 286.
————————–
Interesting. Last night after watching a clip and fluff news piece on
Home Alone 2, Candy said to me, “You know, I think this movie is like Boris &
Natasha: to see the humor, you have to think of it as a cartoon that just
happens to have live actors.”
(But, it’s a sitcom, so even with a suspension-of-belief along the “think
of it as a toon” lines, I doubt I’d find it very funny, since sitcoms are
so very predictable.)
==========================
animation/silver.screen #288, from hmccracken, 295 chars, Wed Nov 25 17:27:43 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Aladdin Opens Today
It’s been running in New York and Los Angeles for a while, and has undergone
“special” previews practically everywhere else, but today’s the official
opening of Walt Disney Pictures’ _Aladdin_. Rush out and see it, then
come back here so we can discuss it!
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #289, from ianl, 426 chars, Wed Nov 25 19:52:38 1992
This is a comment to message 288.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I was sitting in the living room today when Candy had the afternoon fluff news
show on, and saw a bunch of little clips from Aladdin. I must say, from
what I saw, this movie looks a lot more toony than other Disney features.
It seemed to be full of quick-quips and silly sight gags. If this is true,
I might actually go see it; my main problem with Disney features is the
terminal cutesy factor they all seem to have.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #290, from davemackey, 1769 chars, Sun Nov 29 13:55:39 1992
This is a comment to message 285.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I just got back from “Aladdin”, and I can say that I liked the movie, but I’m
not in love with it.
The presence of the comic genius of Robin Williams as the Genie (and to
a lesser extent, Gilbert Gottfried as Jafar’s parrot) lift this film, as does
the remarkable animation of the Genie by Eric Goldberg and his crew.
The new show tunes weren’t too bad, either, with Tim Rice as adequate
replacement for the late Howard Ashman on some musical numbers.
And it was visually spectacular. The sequence with Aladdin’s escape with
the lamp from the cave rivals the similar multidimensional sequences of “Star
Wars.”
But the rest? Seems mighty familiar. I could swear some of the poses of
Aladdin were traced from old drawings of The Little Mermaid, making him
look rather effeminate. When Princess Jasmine twirled around to express her
admiration for the Prince version of Aladdin, I could swear I saw that
characterization before, too. Most of the rest seemed derivative of other
Disney films, including one sequence where the Genie, under the control of
Jafar, turns into a big blue version of Chernobog.
I’d really like Disney to try something a little more contemporary and
less-reliant on mysticism (and oodles of hard-to-keep-track-of ancilliary
characters) in a future animated feature. Unfortunately, Disney seems trapped
into a set formula for its animated features. They tried to break free
before, but nobody would watch those type of features (e.g. “The Black
Cauldron”). In the wake of the phenomenal financial successes of “Beauty
And The Beast” and “The Little Mermaid,” asking them to try something a
little different — be adventurous with an animated feature — would be a
wish no genie could grant.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #291, from ianl, 457 chars, Sun Nov 29 14:55:34 1992
This is a comment to message 290.
There are additional comments to message 290.
————————–
> I’ve seen those characterizations before
In live persons, perhaps? I saw a fragment of an interview with some Aladin
animators the other day (CNN? E.T.? I forget). The artist was saying that
he studied dance moves of Prince, M.C. Hammer, and other contemporary music
artists in deciding how to animate some of the characters. I got the clear
impression he was talking about watching for ideas then drawing freehand,
no rotoscoping or anything.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #292, from switch, 677 chars, Sun Nov 29 18:07:07 1992
This is a comment to message 290.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 290.
————————–
I agree that Disney should try to stretch some more – I said that
last night to my buddy-in-crime – but I enjoyed every second of
Aladdin, for the same reason I enjoyed most of Beauty and the Beast:
there was always something to entertain me. I don’t mind Disney’s
bent towards fantasy, because the animated film is one of the
few visual media where it can work well. In my opinion, it’s
the stress on the G-rating and the music that have got to go.
Disney has the talent and marketing clout to make something that
will appeal to an older audience (say, adolescents instead of
younger kids)… I’d like to see them flex their creative muscles
a bit in that direction.
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #293, from ianl, 273 chars, Sun Nov 29 18:25:58 1992
This is a comment to message 292.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 292.
————————–
> something that appeals to adolescents
But marketing research (which I doubt Disney ignores) indicates that
“toonagers” are children under 10 and adults over 25. I think that folks
in the 11-24 range have better things to do with their lives than watch
toons. 🙂
==========================
animation/silver.screen #294, from hmccracken, 420 chars, Sun Nov 29 21:38:51 1992
This is a comment to message 292.
————————–
Oddly enough, in the animated feature domain, Disney is probably the
most “adult” producer there is. Not in terms of language, sex or
violence, of course; but _Aladdin_, _Beauty_, and the other
recent Disney features have a graphic sophistication and at least
a tinge of emotional depth to them. Remember, the competition
consists mainly of films like _Rock-a-Doodle_, _Freddie as FRO7_, and
_Little Nemo_.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #295, from hmccracken, 421 chars, Sun Nov 29 21:41:15 1992
This is a comment to message 290.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Very observant about Aladdin looking like the Little Mermaid, Dave;
some of the expressions are remarkably similiar.
In general, I found the first half hour or so of the movie pretty
much a retread of themes from _Mermaid_ and _Beauty_. Pretty boring.
When the Genie shows up and all logic is thrown to the winds, the
film gets very entertaining (and different from typical recent
Disney stuff) very quickly.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #296, from davemackey, 487 chars, Sun Nov 29 23:54:04 1992
This is a comment to message 295.
————————–
In fact, the character of Aladdin looked so much like Ariel, I made it a
point to check the end credits to see if Sherri Stoner was still doing
live-action reference for Disney (she wasn’t… she’s obviously spending her
time doing more rewarding things… ;).
No, the key there is Glen Keane, who was the head animator of the
character Aladdin, and three years prior was primarily responsible for
Ariel on Musker/Clements’ prior picture for Disney.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #297, from peabo, 192 chars, Mon Nov 30 14:13:33 1992
This is a comment to message 289.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Robin Williams’ genie is terminally hilarious, though some of the jokes go
by almost to fast to follow, and some of them require old people’s knowledge
(such as “who is Ed Sullivan”?).
peter
==========================
animation/silver.screen #298, from davemackey, 455 chars, Mon Nov 30 19:09:25 1992
————————–
TITLE: Short Subject Oscars curtailed; not animation
The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences has announced its intention
to cease awarding Best Live-Action Short Subject and Best Documentary Short
Subject because these categories are no longer representative of the
moviegoing experience.
You then have to ask yourself if the Best Animated Short Subject
category is next, if you apply the Academy’s rationale.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #299, from davemackey, 181 chars, Mon Nov 30 20:11:47 1992
This is a comment to message 297.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Remember, the Genie also lapses into Donald Trump and Arsenio Hall
impressions, too, so I guess you have to be pretty hip to get all the
references.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #300, from switch, 33 chars, Mon Nov 30 22:23:34 1992
This is a comment to message 293.
————————–
Hey! I resemble that remark! 🙂
==========================
animation/silver.screen #301, from hmccracken, 194 chars, Mon Nov 30 22:30:31 1992
This is a comment to message 299.
————————–
For folks interested in reading more about _Aladdin_, the current issue
of _Entertainment Weekly_ — which cover-features a great story on the
film — is definitely worth snapping up.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #302, from ianl, 479 chars, Wed Dec 2 00:19:48 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Paul Frees: voice actor and more?
During the MST3K “turkey day” marathon on Comedy Central last week, the
first movie Joel and the ‘bots trashed was _The Beatniks_, a really truly
vile movie (that didn’t have a single character in it even remotely like
a beatnik!) One odd thing that caught my eye, though: the movie was
written and directed by Paul Frees. Does anybody know if this is the same
Paul Frees who did voices for Rocky & Bullwinkle and other cartoons?
==========================
animation/silver.screen #303, from hmccracken, 167 chars, Wed Dec 2 09:49:01 1992
This is a comment to message 302.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Gee! I would think it would almost have to be. How many Paul Freeses
could there be working in Hollywood? What was the movie about, and
when was it made?
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #304, from ianl, 634 chars, Wed Dec 2 20:57:57 1992
This is a comment to message 303.
————————–
> How many Paul Freeses could there be working in Hollywood?
Actually, doesn’t the screen actor’s guild have a rule that prevents members
from using the same name (professionally) as someone else?
> What was the movie about?
Ummm, well. It wasn’t very coherent. A group of teenage punks. One of
them is a self-taught singer. An agent manages to hear him, and sign him
for a TV deal. There’s strife within the group over this. Redeeming
social values ending.
I’ll have to check the credits to see when it was made; the VCR is busy now.
It was B&W, I’d guess mid 50s to very early 60s by the styles and slang used.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #305, from davemackey, 1035 chars, Sun Dec 6 11:56:13 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: A new addition to the National Film Registry
Twenty-five films were selected for the National Film Registry of the Library
Of Congress, bringing the total number to 100. One of those films is the
classic Warner Bros. cartoon “What’s Opera, Doc?”
James Billington, Librarian of Congress, said “The films we chose are
not necessarily the ‘best’ American films ever made, nor the most famous, nor
the most pleasing.” (He obviously was not talking about “What’s Opera, Doc?”
when he made that statement, because it certainly is the best, the most
famous, and the most pleasing, at least as far as Warner Bros. cartoons are
concerned.)
Maurice Noble, the film’s designer, was thrilled with the decision,
telling me that his wife had called him at 1:30 in the morning from the West
Coast with the good news.
Among the other, less cartoony films chosen were D.W. Griffith’s “The
Birth Of A Nation”, Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho”, Robert Altman’s “Nashville”
and Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall”.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #306, from ianl, 133 chars, Sun Dec 6 15:14:44 1992
This is a comment to message 305.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 305.
————————–
Birth Of A Nation is only now making it onto the national registry? I
would’ve thought it would be one of the first to make it.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #307, from hmccracken, 473 chars, Sun Dec 6 18:23:08 1992
This is a comment to message 305.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
What a smart decision on the part of the Library of Congress (and does
anyone out there know if any other cartoons are part of the Registry?).
Congratulations to Chuck Jones, Maurice Noble, and everyone else who
worked on the film! And does this mean that Warner Bros. can no longer
tamper with the film? Maurice is still steaming, understandably,
about a Warner Bros. TV special of a couple of years ago that combined
bits and pieces of _Opera_ with new work.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #308, from davemackey, 399 chars, Mon Dec 7 02:45:40 1992
This is a comment to message 307.
There are additional comments to message 307.
————————–
Let’s be generous and name “everyone else”: writer Michael Maltese, animators
Ken Harris, Abe Levitow and Richard Thompson, background painter Phil
DeGuard, editor Treg Brown, musical director Milt Franklyn, and of course,
Mel Blanc.
I presume the special Mr. Noble is still steamed about was the “Bugs
Bunny’s Overtures To Disaster” from a couple of years ago?
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #309, from davemackey, 151 chars, Mon Dec 7 02:46:07 1992
This is a comment to message 306.
————————–
I think “Birth” was bypassed for the first few collations because of recent
criticism about racist themes in the film.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #310, from davemackey, 371 chars, Thu Dec 17 19:27:31 1992
This is a comment to message 307.
————————–
I think “Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs” was one of the first films named.
And in listing “everyone else” involved with “What’s Opera, Doc?” I neglected
to mention Arthur Q. Bryan. Quite frankly it was Elmer Fudd’s last great
moment. His remaining films were no great shakes, and he was definitely not
sounding like himself near the end.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #311, from hmccracken, 269 chars, Tue Dec 29 08:40:59 1992
————————–
TITLE: _Aladdin_’s the best
_Time_ magazine’s annual year-end issue (which has Bill Clinton on
the cover as Man of the Year this time) ranks _Aladdin_ as the best
film of 1992. I’m not sure if I’d agree, but it’s nice to see an
animated film get that honor!
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #312, from hmccracken, 556 chars, Sun Jan 10 13:48:07 1993
————————–
TITLE: _Beauty_’s Box Office Peformance: Beautiful!
Now that 1992 is over, it’s worth noting that _Beauty and the
Beast_ was the second-highest grossing movie of the year, bested
only by _Batman Returns_. Since _BR_ was widely considered a
box-office disappointment, _Beauty_’s terrific performance is
arguably the biggest movie news of the year. It’s probably
the best performance of any animated film at the box office
since _Snow White_ became not only the biggest film of 1938
but the most successful one of *all time* up until that point!
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #313, from hmccracken, 632 chars, Wed Jan 13 03:30:27 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: _Aladdin_ Racist?
An interesting news story that went over one of the wire services
today accuses Walt Disney Pictures’ _Aladdin_ of being anti-Arab.
(Well, the story doesn’t do the accusing, but critics of the
film do.) The complaints have to do with some of the song lyrics
about how harsh punishments are in Aladdin’s country, and a
scene in which an apple seller threatens to cut off Princess
Jasmine’s hand when he thinks she’s stolen an apple. Also under
fire is the fact that some of the villains are swarthy, large-
nosed folks with accents, while the heroes — Aladdin and
Jasmine — are “Americanized.”
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #314, from peabo, 496 chars, Wed Jan 13 13:04:26 1993
This is a comment to message 313.
There are additional comments to message 313.
————————–
I was thinking along those lines too, as I listened to the opening monologue,
but I haven’t asked anyone of Middle Eastern descent if it makes them feel
uncomfortable. It’s not clear that the “chopping off hands” refers to ancient
customs, and not for example to Saddam Hussein’s misbegotten regime.
Did you see the review in the Boston Phoenix? They made a big point over the
“Semitic features” of Jasmine and Alladin, but I dunno, when they sing they
sounds like they come from Ohio.
peter
==========================
animation/silver.screen #315, from ianl, 565 chars, Wed Jan 13 19:55:05 1993
This is a comment to message 313.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Well, making the heroes look like white-bread characters whilst leaving
the villians as swarthy types is pretty scummy in my book.
But, as for the rest of it, I suspect that (as has always been the case
with Disney) the film is probably *much* tamer than the original story in
terms of things like punishments and behaviors of characters. When you
look at the degree to which Disney sanitized Snow White, Pinnochio, and
other fairy tale classics, it’s hard to make a case for the idea that
they present the grisly details of a story in any extreme fashion.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #316, from eet, 223 chars, Wed Jan 13 20:07:31 1993
This is a comment to message 315.
There are additional comments to message 315.
————————–
cartoonists always distort the features of villans. Just like the heros
always have nice voices, the villans always have grating voices. In the
early westerns… the good guys wore white hats, the bad guys wore black
hats.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #317, from switch, 668 chars, Thu Jan 14 22:45:09 1993
This is a comment to message 315.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I don’t know if I’d call it scummy. It’s an animated fairy tale,
and fairy tales have a history of painting extremes. I can’t
deny that Aladdin and Jasmine are _more_ Caucasian (they’re certainly
Arabic), but all fairy tails make an aesthetic distinction between
our heroes and everyone else — especially the enemy. How many
fairy tales have ugly, misshapen people automatically cast as
bad guys, when the heroes are ultra-handsome/beautiful, and/or blonde?
Disney sanitized Pinocchio and Snow White, but they still have
their scarier moments (esp. Pinocchio). However, it takes more
than Lampwick transforming to scare most cartoon viewers these days…
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #318, from hmccracken, 280 chars, Fri Jan 15 10:25:56 1993
This is a comment to message 317.
————————–
Disney has been getting ocomplaints that it “Americanizes” its characters
for a long time. Back when _Pinocchio_ was released, a relative of
the story’s author wanted the Italian government to sue Disney on the
grounds that they had turned Pinoke into an American boy.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #319, from davemackey, 228 chars, Mon Jan 25 11:48:47 1993
————————–
TITLE: “Aladdin” gets Globed
“Aladdin” received three Golden Globe awards last night: Best Score, Best
Song, and a special award to Robin Williams for his voice performance as Genie.
P P –Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #320, from davemackey, 734 chars, Tue Jan 26 19:04:51 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: WB reference alert! WB reference alert!
If his track record is any indication, we will sure to be seeing some sort of
Warner Bros. animation reference in Joe Dante’s new film, “Matinee,” which
stars John Goodman. The film is set in a movie theatre circa the early
1960’s, when cartoons were still a part of the filmgoing experience (and
Warner Bros. was one of the few studios still making theatrical cartoons).
Past Dante films have had scenes or sequences inspired by the old cartoons,
and “Gremlins” featured a cameo by Chuck Jones.
The film does have a tenable connection to Warner Bros. cartoons of the
present day: Kellie Martin, voice of Molly on “Taz-Mania,” is in the film’s
cast.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #321, from hmccracken, 118 chars, Tue Jan 26 22:00:32 1993
This is a comment to message 320.
————————–
One of Dante’s films (_Explorers_, I think) featured a Charles M.
Jones Junir High School. The guy’s a fan!
– Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #322, from hmccracken, 431 chars, Wed Feb 3 13:20:27 1993
————————–
TITLE: _Aladdin_’s Tops
It’s official: last week, _Aladdin_ became the highest-grossing animated
film in box-office history, beating out *last* year’s Disney feature
_Beauty and the Beast_ for the title. Since _Aladdin_ probably has a
good six months of theater life ahead of it — and is currently the
#1 movie in the country, more than two months after its release —
it should beat _B&TB_’s record by a large margin.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #323, from davemackey, 469 chars, Wed Feb 17 19:17:39 1993
————————–
TITLE: No Oscar nod for Robin…
Robin Williams has been denied a performance nomination for his role as the
Genie in “Aladdin.” Oh, well, maybe next century.
However, the song “A Whole New World” is nominated for Best Song. The
song is currently at Number Two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; the only song
keeping it from the top is Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” which
has been atop the charts for 13 straight weeks.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #324, from davemackey, 341 chars, Fri Feb 19 19:05:34 1993
————————–
TITLE: Betty Boop back on the big screen?
CNN reported today that the producers of the film “Driving Miss Daisy”
(which, incidentally, will be shown on ABC this Sunday night) are preparing a
new animated feature which will star Betty Boop. Though set in the 1930’s,
the film is said to have a “modern twist.”
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #325, from davemackey, 688 chars, Fri Feb 19 19:05:50 1993
————————–
TITLE: Oscar time, excellent!
It’s been quite a long time since there have been six nominees for the annual
Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. They Are:
“Adam”
“Mona Lisa”
“Descending A Staircase”
“Reci, Reci, Reci… (Words, Words, Words…)”
“The Sandman”
“Screen Play”
Gee, howcum “Itsy Bitsy Spider” didn’t get nominated??
And for those of you counting the nominations for “Aladdin,” the Disney
feature received five:
Best Music Original Score (Alan Menken)
Best Music Original Song (“Friend Like Me”)
Best Music Original Song (“A Whole New World”)
Best Sound
Best Sound Effects Editing
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #326, from davemackey, 263 chars, Tue Feb 23 19:17:51 1993
————————–
TITLE: Could be animation related
The cable channel American Movie Classics is going to have a festival devoted
to film preservation sometime in March; it is noted that there are some
animated classics among the films to be shown.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #327, from davemackey, 983 chars, Thu Feb 25 19:03:12 1993
————————–
TITLE: More awards for “Beauty”…
It’s too early to give Grammys to any of the musical performances from
“Aladdin,” since the eligibliity cutoff was last Fall. But the music from
“Beauty And The Beast” was awarded five of the NARAS awards last evening,
seemingly winning all the Grammys that Eric Clapton didn’t.
“B&TB” won for:
Best Pop Vocal, Duo Or Group (Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson)
Best Album For Children
Best Instrumental Composition Written For A Motion Picture Or Television
Best Song Written Specifically For A Motion Picture Or Television
Pop Instrumental (by the Nuremberg Sumphony Orchestra)
The Best Song award was one of seven posthumous Grammys awarded, in that
particular case to the late lyricist Howard Ashman. Miles Davis, Vladimir
Horowitz and Stevie Ray Vaughan were among the other such winners.
Should be interesting to see how the music from “Aladdin” does at next
year’s Grammys.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #328, from davemackey, 190 chars, Mon Mar 1 19:09:46 1993
————————–
TITLE: New Roger Rabbit toon!
Roger Rabbit stars in his latest Maroon Cartoon, “Trail Mix-Up,” to be
released on March 12th at the head of “A Far Off Place.”
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #329, from davemackey, 386 chars, Thu Mar 25 19:08:00 1993
————————–
TITLE: Honey-TOON In Vegas
Seen on the closing credits of the film “Honeymoon In Vegas”: Clip from AH,
SWEET MOUSE-STORY OF LIFE Courtesy Turner Entertainment Company.
The former film stars Nicolas Cage as a man who loses fiancee Sarah
Jessica Parker in a poker game to James Caan. The latter was a Chuck Jones
Tom & Jerry cartoon from the 1960’s.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #330, from davemackey, 349 chars, Fri Mar 26 00:16:32 1993
————————–
TITLE: “Flintstones” Without Stone
Live-action “Flintstones” movie update: Sharon Stone, who was supposed to
play a character named Sharon Stone, is being replaced by Halle Berry, who
was most recently seen in the television miniseries “Alex Haley’s Queen”.
Obviously, there needs to be a character name change here.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #331, from davemackey, 100 chars, Mon Mar 29 22:15:12 1993
————————–
TITLE: Best Animated Short Oscar…
…has just been awarded to “Mona Lisa Descending A Staircase.:
==========================
animation/silver.screen #332, from davemackey, 142 chars, Mon Mar 29 23:22:53 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: An Oscar for Alan
Alan Menken has been awarded an Academy Award this evening for Best Original
Score for “Aladdin.” –Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #333, from davemackey, 134 chars, Tue Mar 30 06:19:45 1993
This is a comment to message 332.
————————–
…And the Alan Menken/Tim Rice composition “A Whole New World” won the
Academy Award for Best Song.”
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #334, from davemackey, 264 chars, Tue Mar 30 19:32:29 1993
————————–
TITLE: Disney’s Christmas Plans
The Walt Disney Company’s Christmas 1993 release will be the collaboration
with Tim Burton, “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” The film has a brief
trailer on the videocassette reissue of “Pinocchio.”
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #335, from davemackey, 148 chars, Wed Mar 31 01:36:50 1993
This is a comment to message 58.
————————–
“The Endangered,” that Hanna-Barbera eco-feature, has been retitled “Once
Upon A Forest” and will be released soon.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #336, from davemackey, 301 chars, Mon Apr 5 19:03:25 1993
This is a comment to message 275.
————————–
An updated ad for First National Film running on CNBC notes that the film
“Happily Ever After” will be released nationwide on May 29.
Those interviewed in the updated commercial include co-producer Lou
Scheimer, voice talent Phyllis Diller, and singer Irene Cara.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #337, from davemackey, 185 chars, Mon May 10 16:16:48 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Meet “My Neighbor…”
50th Street Films, a unit of Troma Inc., will release “My Neighbor Totoro”
theatrically beginning on Friday.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #338, from switch, 235 chars, Mon May 10 16:56:56 1993
This is a comment to message 337.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Totoro is an excellent film which everybody should rush out to see. I’ve been
following the news of its release with bated breath. If it does well in the
US, they’re going to consider Canada as the next market. Here’s hoping.
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #339, from hkenner, 126 chars, Mon May 10 17:27:47 1993
This is a comment to message 338.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Emru, I am proud of a fellow-Canadian. Unlike two other BIXen I’ll
not name, you didn’t say that breath was “baited.”
–Hugh
==========================
animation/silver.screen #340, from hmccracken, 170 chars, Mon May 10 17:38:49 1993
This is a comment to message 339.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Hugh, the animation conference is one of the few places where “baited
breath” might actually make sense. Sounds like a gag from a Tom and
Jerry cartoon to me!
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #341, from davemackey, 108 chars, Mon May 10 22:35:57 1993
This is a comment to message 340.
————————–
Or, at the very least, a leftover gag from Tex Avery’s “Symphony In Slang”!
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #342, from davemackey, 1551 chars, Wed May 12 19:28:26 1993
————————–
TITLE: The animated summer… and beyond
This summer’s major animated features are going to be “My Neighbor Totoro,”
which is getting a head start this weekend, Hanna-Barbera’s “Once Upon A
Forest,” and this summer’s Disney reissue, “Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs.”
But beyond that, here’s what’s on the drawing boards, courtesy a recent
listing in the Hollywood Reporter.
“Betty Boop” is a concoction of Richard and Lili Fini Zanuck, with Jerry
Rees (back to animation after the live-action flop “The Marrying Man”) in
charge of production and writing, with Steven Paul Leiva co-producer.
Universal Cartoon Studios is working on a sequel to “The Land Before
Time,” with ex-Hanna-Barbera executive Roy Smith producing.
Hanna-Barbera is in production with “The Pagemaster” with a voice cast
that features Macaulay Culkin, Christopher Lloyd, Whoopi Goldberg, and
Patrick Stewart. Joe Johnston is director.
Roger Alfers and Rob Minkoff are working on “The Lion King,” formerly
known as “King Of The Jungle”, for Walt Disney. The music for this one is
being done by Elton John and Tim Rice. But before that one comes out,
Disney’s holiday release, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” from Tim Burton.
Steven Spielberg is finishing up “We’re Back” for a Holiday release,
with Dick Zondag, Ralph Zondag, Phil Nibbelink and Simon Wells directing.
Don Bluth’s long-delayed projects “A Troll In Central Park,”
“Thumbelina,” and “The Pebble And The Penguin,” are still on the production
roster.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #343, from tshim, 72 chars, Tue May 18 01:50:34 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
This is a bit off the beaten path, but what exactly does “bated” mean?
==========================
animation/silver.screen #344, from switch, 38 chars, Tue May 18 20:57:06 1993
This is a comment to message 343.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
In reference to breath, “held.”
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #345, from jshook, 132 chars, Tue May 18 23:21:21 1993
This is a comment to message 344.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Actually, I think the meaning is closer to “reduced” or “lessened”
(as in “the wind abated.”)
Pedantry Patrol at your service…
==========================
animation/silver.screen #346, from ianl, 209 chars, Wed May 19 00:32:31 1993
This is a comment to message 345.
————————–
Actually, you’re all right. Bated is moderated, restrained, diminished,
lessened, or in relation to breath specifically, a breath drawn in and
then held. Or at least, so says the Random House Unabridged.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #347, from hmccracken, 748 chars, Sun May 23 17:11:52 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: _Happily Ever After_, Finally
_Happily Ever After_, a feature-length animated sequel to _Snow White_
produced by Filmation is allegedly going to open in theaters this
Friday. I say “allegedly” because the film has been set for release
several times before and then failed to appear; in one case, ads even
appeared in newspapers announcing the film would open the next week…
and it didn’t.
The film, part of an ill-fated plan by Filmation to produce unauthorized
sequels to many Disney films (_Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night_
was the only other one that got completed) was made in the mid-1980s,
shortly before the studio closed. The voice cast includes Zsa Zsa
Gabor, Carol Channing, Ed Asner, Irene Cara, and others.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #348, from switch, 368 chars, Sun May 23 20:53:22 1993
This is a comment to message 347.
There are additional comments to message 347.
————————–
I caught a scene of that in the “Siskel & Ebert Wannabes” show.
The animation was not so hot, the voices were annoying, and it
was basically Saturday morning fare. The two reviewers (who were
hesitant about Miyazaki’s _Tonari no_Totoro_) thought it was great
because it had good moral messages and was gender-positive (hey,
Snow’s rescuing the Prince!) Blech.
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #349, from davemackey, 261 chars, Sun May 23 21:43:22 1993
This is a comment to message 347.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I finally figured out that First National’s plans to release this film at
this time seem to be an attempt to undercut Disney’s re-release of “Snow
White And The Seven Dwarfs”. I wonder if Disney is going to attempt legal
action.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #350, from hmccracken, 229 chars, Sun May 23 23:32:42 1993
This is a comment to message 349.
————————–
Well, they sued when Filmation announced plans for its series of
pseudo-sequels, and lost. But knowing Disney, they might sue again.
Who knows? Judging from the ads, I don’t think they have a lot to
be afraid about.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #351, from davemackey, 358 chars, Mon May 24 22:26:26 1993
————————–
TITLE: “R&S” the movie?
Last week Nickelodeon and Twentieth Century-Fox agreed to a two-year deal to
produce movies that would be released under the Nickelodeon banner, none
rated higher than PG-13. There aren’t any projects in development yet, but
some think this would be a great opportunity to do a “Ren And Stimpy” movie.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #352, from davemackey, 342 chars, Tue May 25 20:16:58 1993
————————–
TITLE: “T&J” finally being released
An ad for “Tom And Jerry” videogames is being tagged with the line “Look for
‘Tom And Jerry: The Movie’ in theatres this summer.” The feature was produced
a few years ago by Film Roman, with T&J as pals and with voices. It got
generally lukewarm reviews in the trade press.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #353, from davemackey, 371 chars, Mon Jun 7 19:20:37 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: The “Batman” toon movie…
Though it’s been on the boards quite a bit on one of the other comics forums
of another telecommunications service, it hasn’t been mentioned here yet that
Warner Bros. will release “Batman: The Animated Movie” on December 24th. The
same people who bring you the animated series each day will be involved.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #354, from hmccracken, 394 chars, Mon Jun 7 20:32:55 1993
This is a comment to message 353.
There are additional comments to message 353.
————————–
…It should be a busy rest-of-the-year for animated features. Besides
the Batman one and Disney’s _Nightmare Before Christmas_, we can look
forward to Hanna-Barbera’s _Once Upon a Forest_ (due later this month,
I think), Film Roman’s _Tom and Jerry_ (July), and possibly Don Bluth’s
_Thumbelina_ (which has been completed) and Richard Williams’ _The Thief
and the Cobbler_ (ditto).
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #355, from switch, 110 chars, Mon Jun 7 23:24:24 1993
This is a comment to message 353.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Previously, I heard this was going to be a video release. Is it certain
this’ll be a big screen thing?
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #356, from hmccracken, 74 chars, Tue Jun 8 10:29:10 1993
This is a comment to message 355.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I think so. That’s the word coming down the grapevine, anyhow.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #357, from switch, 114 chars, Tue Jun 8 21:22:26 1993
This is a comment to message 356.
————————–
I’m not complaining, I guess, but if it’s a big screen thing it’s
not as certain it’ll make it here. Sigh.
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #358, from hmccracken, 337 chars, Wed Jun 16 23:00:35 1993
————————–
TITLE: Now playing at your local theater…
A trailer for the live-action _Flintstones_ movie, due out a year from now.
It’s mainly a bouncing-ball rendition of the theme song, but it does
show John Goodman in his Fred get-up. He looks a lot more like John
Goodman in a Fred Flintstone costume than he does like Fred himself.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #359, from hmccracken, 607 chars, Sun Jun 20 23:30:11 1993
————————–
TITLE: Disney’s Future Features: Up in the Air
This Fall, we’ll see _The Nightmare Before Christmas_, a stop-motion puppet
film produced by Tim Burton and released by Disney; it’s the closest thing
we’ll get to a Disney theatrical cartoon this year. What’s next after
that is a little uncertain: _The Lion King_ and _Pocahontas_ are both in
production, but both have had story problems that have bogged down work
on them. Also in production is a theatrical film starring Goofy, which is
being made by Disney’s Paris studio, which was responsible for the unfortunate
_DuckTales_ theatrical film.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #360, from hmccracken, 1714 chars, Sat Jun 26 00:13:28 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: _Dennis the Menace_
Unswayed by the negative reviews, I voyaged out to see _Dennis the Menace_
tonight. The movie has its moments, but the reviewers were right: this
movie is about as close to a _Home Alone_ sequel as John Hughes can
get without actually it official. (And I have the hunch that Mason
Gamble, who plays Dennis, comes a lot cheaper than Macauley Culkin does
these days.)
In some ways, the movie is not a bad adaptation of Hank Ketcham’s
evergreen comic panel. (It also reminded me of the 1960s TV
series and all those Dennis comic books.) The best thing about
it is the cast: everyone from Mason, who’s genuinely cute, to
Walter Matthau as an appropriately crusty-but-endearing Mr.
Wilson. (Casting Joan Plowright as Mrs. Wilson was an inspired
move that may someday lead to the trivia question, “What do
Laurence Olivier and Mr. Wilson have in common?) Lea Thompson and
Robert Stanton don’t look quite as much like Ketcham drawings
as the actors who played the roles on TV, but they capture their
personalities very well.
The problem is that John Hughes’ brand of slapstick violence
gets tired very quickly, and while it provides a few chuckles here
and there, the violence that Dennis does to poor Mr. Wilson is
awfully repetitive. Then towards the end, Christopher Lloyd
enters the picture as a burglar, and the film slips into being
a *total* carbon copy of the _Home Alone_ films’ little-blond-kid-
plays-devious-pranks-on-prowler recipe.
The best moments, though, are the down-to-earth ones that hew fairly
close to the comic. Let’s hope that Hughes’ next comic-strip
project — an adaptation of Charles Schulz’s _Peanuts_ is a bit
more faithful to its source.
— Harry
x
==========================
animation/silver.screen #361, from hmccracken, 666 chars, Sun Jun 27 22:42:26 1993
This is a comment to message 360.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Several things pertinent to this conference about _Dennis the Menace_ that
I forgot to mention:
1) The film initiates Warner Bros.’ new Warner Family Entertainment division
(meant, apparently, to compete with Disney); the Warner logo shot at the opening
includes a bit of animation of Bugs Bunny.
2) Lea Thompson’s role as Dennis’s mother marks her second appearance in a
comics-adaptation movie – anyone know the first?
3) Billed quite high in the movie is Arnold Stang, whose long career as a
live-action and animation performer includes his work as the voice of Top
Cat, Herman (from Herman and Katnip) and several other notable cartoon
characters.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #362, from sharonfisher, 31 chars, Mon Jun 28 10:09:24 1993
This is a comment to message 361.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
2) Howard the Duck, of course.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #363, from hmccracken, 85 chars, Wed Jun 30 21:31:43 1993
This is a comment to message 362.
————————–
That’s right! (And I’ll bet George Lucas wishes that we didn’t remember.)
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #364, from davemackey, 289 chars, Thu Jul 1 11:56:26 1993
————————–
TITLE: Same Lindsay?
I notice on the contractual credits of “The Firm” that one of its executive
producers is Lindsay Doran. Could this be tHe same Lindsay “P.” Doran who
typed the manuscript for Joe Adamson’s book “Tex Avery: King Of Cartoons”?
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #365, from hmccracken, 706 chars, Fri Jul 2 09:47:27 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: The Fairest One of All…
If you’ve been watching TV lately, you probably already know that
Disney is re-releasing _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_ today, with
the usual heavy fanfare — this time stressing the fact that it’s
not available on video or TV. (It’s the last “classic” Disney film
that isn’t.)
The ads call the film the greatest animated film ever made — and
perhaps it is, although I’d give _Pinocchio_ the edge. _Snow White_
is certainly *one* of the best cartoons ever made — a pretty spectacular
feat considering that it was the first sound animated feature. If
you haven’t seen it, go. Actually, even if you have seen it, go —
I’m certainly planning to very soon.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #366, from davemackey, 274 chars, Sat Jul 3 19:29:23 1993
This is a comment to message 365.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I saw it on its last reissue and cannot stress enough the importance of this
film. I will definitely go to see it again, since I have about a week or so
where my s.o. will be out of town and I’ve got a lot of potentially lonely
nights ahead.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #367, from davemackey, 706 chars, Fri Jul 23 19:03:16 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Tom And Jerry: a silent conspiracy?
If you’ve seen the millions of ads for “Tom And Jerry: The Movie,” you’ve
probably noticed that T&J are not shown talking on screen. Though in one
spot, we hear (but not see) Tom say “We gotta bust out of here” and in
another we see T&J singing and dancing along to one of the potentially
forgettably Henry Mancini-Leslie Bricusse tunes that appear on the film’s
soundtrack.
But I trust that if the moviegoing community finds out that T&J have the
gift of gab in this film (the gabbers are Richard Kind as Tom and Dana Hill
as Jerry), they’ll avoid this film and rent a reel of classic H-B T&J’s from
their local video store.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #368, from hmccracken, 191 chars, Tue Jul 27 10:44:25 1993
This is a comment to message 367.
————————–
At least one of the TV ads for the Tom and Jerry movie shows Tom talking
on-screen. It’s not a promising sight, although I’ll probably go to
see the movie for scholarly purposes.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #369, from hmccracken, 753 chars, Fri Jul 30 23:44:05 1993
————————–
TITLE: Tom and Jerry: Damned if they do and damned if they don’t?
All the reviews I’ve read of _Tom and Jerry: The Movie_ have harped on the
fact that the cat and mouse are buddies in this film, chalked it up to
political correctness, and regretted that they don’t spend the movie attacking
each other with mallets and butcher knives in classic Tom and Jerry style.
Fair enough — but if the movie *was* as incredibly violent as the vintage
T&J shorts, I bet they would have caught flack for that, too. And it’s
worth noting that the characters’ move away from combat dates back to the
1950s — in later shorts, they often didn’t fight much. They were also
generally portrayed as pals in the awful 1970s made-for-TV Tom and Jerry
cartoons.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #370, from hmccracken, 991 chars, Sun Aug 1 17:34:22 1993
This is a comment to message 366.
————————–
I caught _Snow White_ at a local theater yesterday, an, and she’s still the
fairest one of all. This particular showing, however, had about the
highest level of audience noise of any movie I’ve been to in many
years. (Childrens’ movies tend to be noisy, of course — I sometimes
try to go to late showinshowings if they’re available, although a certain
amount of audience response increases my enjoyment of a film.)
At this showing, there was the expected loud talking (by both kids
*and* parents) throughout thehe film, the reading of any printed text
out loud by parents, the singing along with songs, etc. But tabout
half the seats in the theatre he wtre squeaked throught the showing, an
effect made worse by the roooom’s weird acoustics. And about halfway
through the ugh the show, the fellow sitting directly behind me began to
snore, at a decibel level that would have impressed Sleepy. At
the end of the movie, a small child shouted “THAT WAS TOO
VIOLIOLENCE” (sic).
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #371, from hkenner, 457 chars, Fri Aug 20 13:51:25 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Block booking
As most of us are likely aware, the animated short flourished in a
time of “block booking,” when for instance a theatre owned by Warner
Bros., which owned thousands of them, got a package consisting of a
Warner’s feature, newsreel, short, and cartoon. That’s why every major
studio had to maintain a cartoon operation.
I believe it all ended, rather abruptly, amid anti-trust litigation.
Can anyone supply details? A date?
–HK
==========================
animation/silver.screen #372, from hmccracken, 962 chars, Sat Aug 21 16:26:40 1993
This is a comment to message 371.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Hugh — Gerald Mast’s _A Short History of the Movies_ has a brief and
somewhat sketchy discussion of all this. Independent theater owners
fought block booking in the courts, with some success, through the
1920s and 1930s; they were understandably opposed to having to book
a specific “B” feature, newsreel, cartoon, and so on in order to get
the “A” feature they wanted to run.
However, block booking continued into the 1940s, since the studios
owned so many theaters themselves, thus assuring a guaranteed venue
for their block-booked packages. But the studio-owned theater
chains were broken up after Paramount lost a Supreme Court anti-trust
case in 1948, which ended block booking and sounded, eventually, the
death knell for cartoons, live-action shorts, double features, and
other films that existed because of block booking. (Of course, television
came along at the same time, and it almost certainly played a hand
in these deaths as well.)
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #373, from jshook, 203 chars, Sun Aug 22 23:28:44 1993
This is a comment to message 372.
————————–
Hmmm… I wonder if this practise gave rise to the phrase “block-
buster” which might refer to a film so popular that exhibiters
could circumvent the normal booking pattern somehow. Just a
thought…
==========================
animation/silver.screen #374, from hmccracken, 343 chars, Sat Oct 2 16:48:06 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: If you’d like a sneak peak at _The Lion King_…
which will be the next Disney cartoon feature to be released to theaters,
check out the _Aladdin_ video, which has a preview. The film looks like
_Bambi_ in Africa, with perhaps a touch of _Kimba the White Lion_
thrown in for good measure. We’ll know for sure in Summer 1994.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #375, from davemackey, 209 chars, Tue Oct 5 11:36:57 1993
This is a comment to message 374.
————————–
I saw the trailer at the head of the Aladdin video, which I bought the day
it was released. It looks like Disney is going more for tears and awe than
laughs in this one. –Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #376, from hmccracken, 230 chars, Wed Oct 6 23:45:43 1993
————————–
TITLE: _Cats Can’t Dance_…
is the name of a planned animated feature that Hanna-Barbera is working on.
Michael Jackson was associated with the project at one time, but no longer,
for reasons that are probably obvious.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #377, from hmccracken, 560 chars, Sun Oct 10 23:54:18 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Oh Nooooooo, He’s Back!
It’s bad enough that Jim Varney’s “Ernest” character will be back soon in
_Ernest Rides Again_, a new live-action comedy. But to add insult to
injury, the film will be accompanied in theaters by _Mr. Bill Goes to
Washington_, a new film starring the clay-animation character best known
for his appearances on _Saturday Night Live_ circa late 1970s. For those
who don’t remember Bill, he was probably the stupdiest cartoon character
until the advent of Beavis and Butt-Head, and is certainly their spiritual
ancestor.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #378, from hmccracken, 314 chars, Sun Oct 10 23:55:42 1993
————————–
TITLE: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas…
will open in a handful of theaters next Wednesday, then will go into general
release on October 22nd. Note that it is a Touchstone release, not a Disney
one — making this the first Fall season in several years without a new
Disney cartoon feature.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #379, from ianl, 284 chars, Mon Oct 11 00:11:35 1993
This is a comment to message 377.
————————–
> Mr. Bill … the stupidest cartoon character…
Hey. HEY! I *love* Mr. Bill. Crude, yes. Simplistic, it’s true. But
those old SNL Mr. Bill sequences still have the power to make me roll on
the floor with laughter. (Can’t say B&B make me ROFL, but they are mostly
funny.)
==========================
animation/silver.screen #380, from hmccracken, 438 chars, Fri Oct 22 13:12:05 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: _The Nightmare Before Christmas_…
the closest thing we’ll get to a Disney animated feature this year,
is now in general release. The reviews have been excellent, and
Disney is promoting the film heavily (using the unusual method of
running several ads scattered throughout newspaper movie sections).
I’ll be seeing the film this weekend, I hope, and will post a
review — and would love to read anyone else’s comments!
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #381, from ianl, 362 chars, Fri Oct 22 20:21:09 1993
This is a comment to message 380.
————————–
I was fully prepared to hate _Nightmare_ but then I saw a clip the other
day that made me think I might actually like it. The clip featured a
scene that sounded like it had been co-written by Poe and Suess. If the
whole movie were done in that sort-of Cat in the Hat rap style, I probably
would like it, but I’m afraid it was probably just that one scene.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #382, from hmccracken, 1429 chars, Sun Oct 24 23:39:37 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: _Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas_…
may not be your typical Disney animated feature, but don’t let that stop you
from seeing it. It’s a very fine film that’s hauntingly beautiful at times
and technically extraordinary. If you liked any of Tim Burton’s live-action
films, _Nightmare_ will speak to you.
I don’t really want to give away the plot or characters except to say that
this story of a “Pumpkin King” who kidnaps Santa Claus and tries to take
his place is made up of equal parts Seuss, Gorey, Brecht, 1930s Silly
Symphonies and those tacky 1960s puppet Christmas specials like _Santa
Claus is Coming to Town_. “Nightmare” isn’t really an accurate description
of the film’s mood — despite a few morbid gags, it has a sweet temper,
and as Burton has said, has no real villains. Jack Skellington (our hero),
his girlfriend/soulmate Sally (a sort of Frankenstein/rag doll), and
Oogie Boogie (a Cab Calloway-like goblin) are all wonderful characters.
From a technical standpoint, the film is probably the most impressive
and ambitious stop-motion animated film ever made. Director Henry
Selick has a real eye for striking compositions and unusual visual
ideas, too. I don’t know if Walt Disney himself would like this film,
but it’s fresh, original, and very true to its artistic soul —
qualities that the early Disney cartoons had, but that more recent
Disney efforts haven’t always shared.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #383, from ianl, 206 chars, Mon Oct 25 23:33:23 1993
This is a comment to message 382.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 382.
————————–
I saw an interview with Tim Burton on the local news, in which he was
asked if the movie was appropriate for children. His response: “If I
cause even one child to become disturbed, I’ve done my job.”
==========================
animation/silver.screen #384, from hmccracken, 261 chars, Tue Oct 26 11:32:45 1993
This is a comment to message 383.
————————–
That’s a great line, but Tim may have said it with tongue-in-cheek.
_Nightmare_ is quite sweet-hearted and not particularly disturbing,
especially in these days of Garbage Pail Kids, Beavis and Butthead,
and other healthy role models for young folks.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #385, from elfhive, 570 chars, Tue Oct 26 20:37:11 1993
This is a comment to message 382.
————————–
I think Disney would have liked _Nightmare_ it is related in spirit to
the Mickey, Donald and Goofy “ghostbusters” cartoon. I enjoyed it very
much, although I would add to your list of influences the Weber/Rice
musicals, especially in the Elfman’s pop vocal tunes. It actually never
got dark enough for me except perhaps when Oogie Boogie’s threads get
unravelled.
You are absolutely right about the technical side, though, each set-up
was flawless. It was an absorbing film and I never could have believed
that a stitched up rag doll could actually impart sexiness 🙂
==========================
animation/silver.screen #386, from hmccracken, 297 chars, Fri Nov 5 09:41:05 1993
————————–
TITLE: The Return of Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones has apparently agreed to return to Warner Bros. to make
some new cartoons. I don’t know any of the details yet. Note also
that a lot of projects have been associated with the Jones name
in recent years that haven’t ever actually gotten made.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #387, from hmccracken, 416 chars, Sun Nov 7 11:12:21 1993
————————–
TITLE: Casper and Clint
The current TV ad campaign for _A Perfect World_, a new movie starring Clint
Eastwood, keeps showing scenes of a little kid wearing a Casper the Friendly
Ghost costume. The scenes are so prominent in these ads that either the
kid spends most of the movie dressed as Casper, or Harvey Comics paid some
sort of product-placement fee to get Casper into the scenes, I would imagine…
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #388, from davemackey, 302 chars, Wed Nov 10 12:08:48 1993
————————–
TITLE: Previewing the Batman feature….
HBO will air a “First Look” of the upcoming Batman animated feature, which
has been retitled “Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm.” The 15-minute program first
airs on November 25.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #389, from hmccracken, 338 chars, Sat Nov 27 02:01:14 1993
————————–
TITLE: _We’re Back_…
is the title of a new, Spielberg-produced, animated feature which has snuck
into theaters with relatively little fanfare, all things considered.
It’s about dinosaurs, is based on a well-regarded children’s book, and
was made by the same folks who made Spielberg’s _American Tail II_.
Anyone seen it yet?
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #390, from elfhive, 231 chars, Thu Dec 9 23:13:02 1993
————————–
TITLE: THE AIRTIGHT GARAGE
I have just posted an article about a possible feature length animation
co-production between Moebius, Otomo and Akira Kurosawa Enterprises
in long.messages #156. Comments and questions are welcome here.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #391, from hmccracken, 322 chars, Mon Dec 13 10:02:20 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Sneak Preview of Disney’s Next Feature
I’m told that the current Disney theatrical releases _Sister Act 2_
and _The Three Musketeers_ both are preceded by an extra-long
preview of _The Lion King_, the next Disney theatrical cartoon,
which isn’t due to hit theatres until next summer. Has anyone
seen it?
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #392, from davemackey, 143 chars, Tue Dec 14 20:12:12 1993
This is a comment to message 391.
————————–
Going to see it tomorrow. My girlfriend loved the original “Sister Act” film
and wants to see this one so bad.
–Dave
==========================
animation/silver.screen #393, from hmccracken, 403 chars, Sun Dec 19 23:54:54 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Christmas with the Caped Crusader
On December 25th, after you’ve opened all your presents, you can
venture out to a movie theater and see _Batman: Mask of the Phantasm_,
a feature-length animated Batman movie produced by the makers of
the Fox TV show. It is, as far as I know, the first feature-length,
theatrical, animated film about a superhero — at least as far as
U.S. studios go.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #394, from switch, 190 chars, Mon Dec 20 18:32:23 1993
This is a comment to message 393.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I’m hoping to cover this for a local weekly paper so I can get press kit
goodiesm, with Top Secret Information located therein. If not, I guess I’ll
just catch the first showing. 😉
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #395, from switch, 1656 chars, Mon Dec 20 18:42:01 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Speaking of the silver screen…
The last few weeks here have been interesting. Two weeks ago, I caught Rene
Laloux’ _Fantastic Planet_ (originally, _La Planete Sauvage_) on the big
screen. I’d seen it on TV several times (mostly on the weekend on channel 25
in Boston, during my stint there in the summer of ’86), but this was the first
time I saw it on the big screen, in the original French (with English
subtitles.) It’s still a pretty interesting piece of work, though the ending
is rather, um, abrupt. It’s almost like they ran out of money right towards the
end.
Say, has anyone here seen Laloux’ other theatrical venture, _Light Years_
(originally _Gandahar_)? Has anyone seen the original _Gandahar_, for that
matter? There’s about 20 minutes cut out of the original, and I’ve always
wondered what was excised.
(Trivia point: Teller, of Penn & Teller, provided a voice for _Light Years._)
Last Tuesday was a compilation of the best shorts from the Expanded’s Tournees
of Animation. Pretty enjoyable, despite the fact that most of the audience
seemed familiar with the shorts already. I might catch it again before the
run ends on the 29th, if only to see _Door._ (Say, does anyone know if _Door_’s
precursor, _Deadsey_, is on video or laserdisc?)
Last Friday wasn’t animated, but it might as well have been. We saw Buster
Keaton’s _Cops_ and _Sherlock Jr._, with piano accompaniment. Aside from
Keaton’s amazing stunts and body language, it was pretty easy to spot the
precursors to many cartoon gags, and overall cartoon logic. We had a great
time. I think I’ll be renting Keaton’s _The General_ over the weekend.
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #396, from peabo, 201 chars, Mon Dec 20 18:47:35 1993
This is a comment to message 395.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 395.
————————–
“Deadsey” is on Spike & Mike’s most recent Sick & Twisted video (undeservedly,
in my opinion, since the film is great). I’ve got the video at home and I’ll
get an exact citation for you later.
peter
==========================
animation/silver.screen #397, from elfhive, 1402 chars, Mon Dec 20 22:12:54 1993
This is a comment to message 395.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I very much enjoyed _Fantastic Planet_ when it was first theatrically
released and own a copy on VHS. I therefore looked forward to seeing
_Lightyears_ especially when it heaped on the hype in relation to name
authors like Asimov. Unfortunately the film did not live up to my
expectations. The animation became more sophisticated but I liked the
original style of _Planet_ better even though it might seem a little
more “primitive” in comparison. What really disconcerted me was the
storyline, it just didn’t work the way _Planet_ did. _Planet_ reminded
me of the days when I used to read the Fleuve Noire science fiction
series (I guess they would be compared to the Ace SF Double Backs).
They often printed translations of successful US SF but the French
and European originals had their own dark mood — similar to _Planet_.
When I saw _Little Nemo_ I was reminded of _Lightyears_ in the sense
that the plot and characters seemed to be very superficial and that
can be deadly in animation. Another one like that is _Flight of the
Dragons_, you can’t seem to get any resonance with the characters.
If you read the story it gets you involved but the translation to the
screen misses some important element. I wasn’t aware that the original
European release of _Lightyears_ had been longer but I’m not sure that
length would add anything. It might clear up some real gaping holes in
the plot though.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #398, from switch, 159 chars, Mon Dec 20 22:18:28 1993
This is a comment to message 396.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
On _Sick & Twisted_?!? Aw, no. I wasn’t very fond of that festival — only
liked about half the entries. Ah, well, if that’s the price I gotta pay…
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #399, from switch, 329 chars, Mon Dec 20 22:21:19 1993
This is a comment to message 397.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
_Planet_ reminded me of some of the French SF magazines I’d thumbed through
in previous years. (I wish I’d bought those _Barbarella_ reprints in
Togo — they were painfully cheap. Ah, lateral thinking. Where was I?)
I agree, though — _Planet_ was a more interesting watch, though as I said
the ending is a bit abrupt.
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #400, from elfhive, 105 chars, Mon Dec 20 22:28:18 1993
This is a comment to message 399.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I think they did run out of money. As I recall that was created in a
Czech (then also Slovakian) studio?
==========================
animation/silver.screen #401, from switch, 54 chars, Mon Dec 20 23:11:52 1993
This is a comment to message 400.
————————–
Yes, it was a France-Czechoslovakia production.
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #402, from peabo, 259 chars, Wed Dec 22 03:14:48 1993
This is a comment to message 398.
————————–
I have the tape here in my hot little hands: Spike & Mike’s Sick and
Twisted volume one, including “Deadsy” by David Anderson (5:00). You’re
right, there’s not much else to recommend it, except maybe “Pink Komkommer”
produced by Driessen and Newland.
peter
==========================
animation/silver.screen #403, from hmccracken, 2538 chars, Thu Dec 30 16:40:52 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: _We’re Back_…
is Steven Spielberg’s instant animated remake of his own
_Jurassic Park_, and it seems to have bombed. (It didn’t
come out very long ago, but is now in third-run theaters
running matinees only around here.)
While you’d think that Spielberg+Dinosaurs would be
a surefire thing in 1993, I’m not too surprised that
this particular movie didn’t catch on. The plot involves
a professor from today, voiced by Walter Cronkite, who
travels around time in a spaceblimp. He voyages back to
prehistoric time and feeds special breakfast cereal (!)
to some dinosaurs, who become intelligent, adorable, and
able to speak English as a result. The Cronkite character
then brings the dinos to the present day and lets them
loose in New York City so they can make children happy,
warning them that they should try to track down a
museum curator (voiced by Julia Child) but to stay
away from his evil brother, Professor Screweyes, who
runs a circus designed to scare people. The dinos
eventually meet two children whose parents don’t love
them, and spend the rest of the movie adventuring around
the city.
If all of this sounds kind of odd — well, the movie
itself is even stranger. While it’s not bad from
a technical standpoint (it was made with Disney-like
use of computers that gives much of the film a high-
tech sheen), the characters mostly seem like leftover
stereotypes from Disney and Bluth cartoons. The
dinosaurs, voiced by John Goodman among others,
aren’t very convincing either as prehistoric animals
or lovable buddies for little kids.
SPOILER ALERT — STOP READING HERE IF HEARING ABOUT
THE END OF THE MOVIE WILL SPOIL IT FOR YOU
The conclusion is particularly phony. First, the
dinosaurs come close to destroying Professor Screweyes,
who has been tormenting the kids by turning them into
monkeys and tricking them into indenturing themselves
into his service, among other things. But instead of
egging the dinos on to finish Screweyes off, the kids
save him. Touching, right? An all-too-rare example of
film characters showing compassion even for those
who have shown none for them? Maybe, except for
Screweyes is immediately destroyed by his own pet
crows. Apparently, the lesson is that it’s nice for
bad guys to die, as long as the good guys don’t
actually kill them personally.
The other phony touch is that the last thing that
happens is we learn that the two kids’ parents
suddenly begin to lavish attention on them.
No explanation — just a happy ending grafted on
to an unrelated story.
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #404, from switch, 22 chars, Thu Dec 30 18:56:47 1993
This is a comment to message 403.
————————–
Sounds painful.
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #405, from hmccracken, 176 chars, Tue Jan 4 20:41:08 1994
This is a comment to message 394.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Well, I *tried* to see _Batman: Mask of the Phantasm_ on Sunday, but it was sold
out! Anyone know how it’s doing at the box office? Was my experience a freak
event?
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #406, from srider, 112 chars, Tue Jan 4 21:13:55 1994
This is a comment to message 405.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 405.
————————–
Don’t know how it’s doing in receipts, but when I went to see it there were
four other people in the theatre.
==========================
animation/silver.screen #407, from hmccracken, 28 chars, Tue Jan 4 21:45:48 1994
This is a comment to message 406.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
…So how was it?
— Harry
==========================
animation/silver.screen #408, from switch, 222 chars, Wed Jan 5 16:07:16 1994
This is a comment to message 405.
There are additional comments to message 405.
————————–
Wow! Not bad. One or two people on Usenet have reported packed houses; I
caught it on opening day (Christmas) at 7:00 PM and it was fairly sparse, but
then the entire shopping centre was pretty sparsely populated.
Emru
==========================
animation/silver.screen #409, from switch, 1422 chars, Wed Jan 5 16:18:23 1994
This is a comment to message 407.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I rather enjoyed it. It has its flaws, but they’re pretty much the same flaws
us longtime readers got used to a long time ago.
Not having Fox BS&P around, the creators were allowed to go a bit farther than
usual. I haven’t got a copy of their BS&P regulations, but I can guess at
what would never have made it to the small screen:
– Chuckie Sol, when first under attack by the Phantasm, acquires a small cut
either from Phantasm’s blade or his broken windshield, and wipes the blood
off.