Spring Break: Mad Hatter in Wonderland
I am a huge fan of Tim Burton’s animation such as Nightmare Before Christmas and Johnny Depp’s unique acting skills that has brought life to some of Hollywood’s famous characters. When Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland came to theaters over spring break I knew it was destiny.
As a fan of Disney’s 1951, Alice in Wonderland which was inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice Adventures in Wonderland it was interesting to understand some back ground information. According to Maltin (1980), Disney’s Alice in Wonderland did not go over well with the critics. They resented him in disturbing the original story line of Lewis Carroll novel. Despite the bad reviews of the story line, Maltin stated that three parts of the movie stood out in crowds for the remarkable animation which included Cheshire cat, Procession of the cards, and the famous Tea Party. In viewing the new Tim Burton’s twist I focused on the quality of these three focal points from Disney’s original film.
I was fascinated by the new spin Burton placed on the classic tale but it was unmistakable at how big the role of Johnny Depp’s Character, The Mad Hatter.
There were two things I would like to address about the new version of Alice in Wonderland in comparison to the Disney’s verision. The main difference is the choice of which charectors Burton choose to keep as animations and which ones he choose to be actors.
First, the movie is dominated by the performance of the Mad Hatter unlike the original idea of the relationship between Alice and the Hatter. The original version has the Hatter as a character Alice meets along the way. Even though this is not a remake of the original movie it is a sequel.
Take a look at the original scene from Disney’s version in which the Hatter and Alice are in the same scene;
Now, take a look at the trailer that was displayed:
I feel as though the movie should have been name Alice and Hatter in Wonderland since the movie is equally distributed between the two characters. Instead of a few appearances of the famous characters such as Cheshire cat or the Smoking Caterpillar, Hatter is a huge part of the movie journey. Throughout the movie the relationship between Alice and the Hatter were very close in which they were brother and sister. They both protect one another and risk their lives to save each other. This is a differently twist from the original creations in which I consider a new and invigorating!
Secondly, I would like to focus on the character of the mad hatter. Through the original making the Hatter was this crazy and out of his mind character throughout the story line. In the newer version Johnny Depp gives a new personality to the character in giving him a type of a bi-polar personality. The mad Hatter wears his emotions on his sleeve and can go from a serious character to an eccentric one. The Mad Hatter has a high range of emotions that are displayed instantly, what he’s feeling-so much so that his clothes, his skin, his hair, everything, reflects his emotion.
When he’s beaming, you get this kind of bright effect and everything comes to life quickly. Displayed below:
When he is in a gloomy displayed below:
The term “mad as a hatter” originates to a disease peculiar to the hat making industry in the 1800s. “A mercury solution was commonly used during the process of turning fur into felt, which caused the hatters to breathe in the fumes of this highly toxic metal, a situation exacerbated by the poor ventilation in most of the workshops. This led in turn to an accumulation of mercury in the workers’ bodies, resulting in symptoms such as trembling (known as “hatters’ shakes”), loss of coordination, slurred speech, loosening of teeth, memory loss, depression, irritability and anxiety — “The Mad Hatter Syndrome” (Connealy, 2006).
In conclusion, I am excited of type of opposite reality when Disney introduced a concept of a human girl in a toon world such as Alice in Cartoonland. I am upset with the idea of the animated Mad Hatter being turned into the charector Johnny Depp displayed. I feel that the Mad Hatter should have been an animation in order to display the array of emotions and mannerisisms that Johnny Depp struggled to create. I believe to give the story of Alice in Wonderland a believable picture is to use the Alice in toonland idea. Where Alice is human and all the toon land or wonderland should be animated and lively.
References:
Connealy, Leigh. (2006, January 6). Natural news. Retrieved from http://www.naturalnews.com/016544.html
Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic. Plume Books, 1980. Print
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#6 Can You Buy Love?
Can You Buy Love?
In the Warner Brothers chapter, Maltin displays a short produced in 1937 titled, Porky’s Romance. The cartoon starts off with Porky getting rejected by Petunia, once he walks away, she notices him carrying roses and a box of candy behind is back. Having these items changed Petunia mind about Porky and runs after him and accepts is romantic gesture. When viewing this demonstration my first instinct is why do you have to buy objects in order to show your love? Here are animals that are using the humanistic approach to show their love is presenting them with purchased items. Petunia reaction to the purchased items is typically displayed through the media. I feel it is disturbing that in order to show we care we have to present our loved ones with items that are only temporary and soon will perish. These items only last for a short amount of time and then there gone is this the correct metaphor you want to share with your loved one?
I came across this cartoon short and feel this is a more realistic way to show affection.
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Did you notice the difference between this cartoon and the one Warner Brothers demonstrated? At first the male cat tried to show is infatuation for the female cat by giving perishable items such as flowers. Then he realized that she already had that item and that it was not a decent way to show his love. Instead of shifting to food items or another perishable item he resorts to music. Even though his voice did not win her over, he is persistent. This type of persistence is what the female cat is looking for and after endangering his life she finally understands his intent.
It is clear that in 1937; the Hollywood glamour was shown that the fanciest and most expensive items were a way to win over the lady. It is understood that this was effective during this time. During the present time period we are bombarded with commercials demonstrating that jewelry and the finest chocolates are way to a woman’s heart. We have come a long way in society since the 1930’s and angered that this is still acceptable way of showing affection.
I love how this cartoon shares a deeper meaning of notion of ‘winning over the girl’. Porky’s idea of the gifts of flowers and candy might have won over Petunia but it is not realistic and meaningful. The male cat idea of showing his affection is meaningful and long lasting notions. The cat did not present purchased items and everything was from the heart. This is a realistic approach in today’s society of how to show a meaningful notion of love and affection.
References:
Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic. Plume Books, 1980. Print.
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Blog #5 Progression of Betty Boop
In honor of our readings Of Mice and Magic in which we focused on the role of Max Fleischer I want to focus on the episode of Barnacle Bill in which Betty Boop is first showed. She has not fully taken on the character yet and is considered by a different name and a different breed. In this first appearance she is a puppy dog by the name of Nancy Lee and is the girlfriend to the villain of Bill, Bimbo. This first appearance of her is as a long eared puppy dog. Her demeanor is similar to Betty Boop by the tone of the voice and similar hair style and wardrobe.
Take a peek at this short that I am referring to:
Unbelievable right?
There are few things I would like to you take a closer look at is the fact that her couch walks into the room in anticipation of the sexual act that is about to follow. Also the type of pick line used by Barnacle Bill of “I will rare and tear and rant and roar. I will spin you yarns and tell you lies. I will drink your wine and eat your pies. I pinch your cheeks and black your eyes.”
This character is undeniable similar to the famous Betty Boop character. She is wearing a thigh high gown, which shows a visible garter. She hangs out the window displaying her chest in a provocative way. She has the same high pitch voice and flirtatious demeanor.
After a few appearances in several Fleischer’s shorts, she eventually shed her floppy poodle like ears into hoop earrings. She took on a human form with ample curves and a trademark sexy sway.
The idea of Nancy Lee/Betty Boop is the sexual enticement of her body and demeanor. As Maltin (1980), states that Betty Boop character is the ideal of the 1920′s flapper. The idea of Betty Boop is that she is a symbol of the depression era because she was reminder of the more carefree days of the jazz aged flappers and should not be discriminated by the characters provocative ness. Instead we should look at how well Fleischer was able to demonstrate a sexy woman, human cartoon character and still give her a sweet and innocent nature.
As discussed by Maltin’s (1980) , Betty Boop is a perfect example how Fleischer was able to take his animations and give them adult traumas and emotions unlike Disney’s characters dealing with childhood like fears and emotions. It is a shame that Betty Boop was banned due to provocative nature of her character. Even though I do not agree with some of the earlier works of Betty Boop in representing her being ‘easy’ when it comes to sexual nature but shows a first of its kind in reference to animation. Most of our works today use Fleischer’s adult like emotions in childlike animations.
References:
Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic. Plume Books, 1980. Print.
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Blog #4 The Miracle of Stop Motion in Coraline
I believe Coraline is a true milestone of achievement for stop motion in animation, as well as film in general. It was directed by Henry Selick who was also the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas. His uses of stop animation, 3-D production, and dark style gives Coraline it’s uniqueness.
The conceptual design, sculpting and model making of Coraline were beathtaking but you should just not appreciate the beauty of this film but rather look at the details tat makes the film unique. Stop animation can be a very tedious process and that is what makes Coraline such an incrediable movie and the hard work by the animators should be appreciated. Everything in the film is made by hand, so when you look at the following trailer take a careful look at details such as the flickering of the candle (in stop motion takes a lot of work to create) to the flapping of a birds wings. The large amount of detail placed in the movie ahows that the animators placed their heart and soul into every frame.
Coraline feels realistic than a computerised animation. I was mesmerized from start to finish by the ambitious scale of it all– from the tiny miniatures work, to the fluidity of the movements and specific detail given to the items on set. From previous films the hair and fabric are sculpted as solid-bodies for stop motion (since they’re so hard to control), so when watching Coraline, I was stunned by seeing real flowing hair. Then I came across this clip that demostrates why creating flowing hair is usually skipped in the animation process due to difficulty and time.
As mentioned before, typically stop motion animation productions usually have puppets that have clothing already painted or built ont hem due to the difficulty of having clothin made for such a minuature puppet. That is why I feel you have to watch this interview done by the clothing specialist to understand the time and difficulty it takes to make charecters such as Coraline seem realistic.
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Post #3 Behind the Scenes of Animation in the 1930′s
“In a Cartoon Studio” created by Bailey and Foster was releases in July of 1931. I feel that this is a create piece that demonstrates a lot that was discussed in class in the time consumption it takes to develop a cartoon.
Please take a look before reading the reason of the blog.
This demonstrates an exaggeration of how cartoons were made in the 1930′s. Some of it is surprisingly accurate to the videos we watched in class. Some of the scenes are added just for entertainment purposes, like the assembly-line cartoon production set-up where a given artist is responsible for a different type of body part of the cartoon such as a belly button or a right foot, as the drawings move past on the conveyor. The interesting part of the assembly line is that they draw the same cartoon in the same position and does not alternate them. So you can tell this piece is very exaggerated.
At the end of the behind the scenes of how animation is created they show a movie on a big screen for the community to watch. As you noticed that the plot seemed very familiar to us; where a girl is kidnapped by a villain and tossed onto a log at the sawmill.
Just a side comment but I feel as though this could be inspiration for classic villain cartoon such as “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends” where Boris and Natasha were famous villains that tied a damsel to a railroad track or a log in dangers way. Just to have a hero rescue the damsel.
Even though this cartoon was intended to but a comic spin on the animation process, but it’s also an ironic take on the worst movie-making conventions. Though the guidance of our lectures and Maltin’s Of Mice and Magic, it is clear to us today that this process was extreme and exhausting to animators.
Refrences:
Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic. Plume Books, 1980. Print.
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Post #2 Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a Dedication to Animators
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a Dedication to Animators
Is Who Framed Roger Rabbit a dedication to some of the most amazing animators that are described within Maltin’s, Of Mice and Magic? The creators of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg used the magical charm of Walt Disney creations, the Warner Brothers characterization, Tex Avery’s art of gag cartoon; such as the avalanche falling on the head or dynamite in your pants. They demonstrate the collaburation of all the main contributions through this one goofy rabbited, named Roger Rabbit. Watch the clip below to see a better look at Roger Rabbit demonstrating some of the things listed above. See if you can observe the type of magical and realistic features of Walt Disney, the Tex Avery’s unrealistic and dangerous gags, and of course the way you can feel the characteristics of the cartoon as demonstrated in Warner Brothers productions.
As you have noticed in the short or throughout the movie, Roger Rabbit behaves in a humanistic way with a full range of emotions such as Walt Disney creations. Then he is able to transition to a extreme and far stretched qualities such as buggling eyes or jumping 200 feet in the air. But Roger Rabbit easily transitions back into a conservative, humanistic cartoon. I feel this movie is an unique display created by Zemeckis and Spielberg, to create a contribution piece to Animation.
One thing that sets this movie apart is that Roger Rabbit lives in a world of humans. Similar to the type of opposite reality when Disney introduced a concept of a human girl in a toon world such as Alice in Cartoonland. Then in years later Disney was able to take the concept of mixing humans with animation in a short scene in Mary poppins. Where Dick Van Dyke had his famous scene in animation when he danced with penquins. Can Imagine the difficulty in producing the human interacting with cartoons? I recall listening to an interview with Dick Van Dyke in working in Mary Poppins; he recalls that he had many retakes because it was difficult to imagine were to look. The penguins in the dance were only a few feet high and he would tend to look too high or too low.
One other way you can look at Who Framed Roger Rabbit as a dedication piece to various animators is by the special appearances of various cartoons from the decades. Before Jessica Rabbits performance Donald Duck and Daffy are the opening act in which they have piano battle. Also you can not miss appearance by Betty Boob, Tweety Bird, Minnie Mouse, Droopy the doorman, and Woody Woodpecker. The most memorable scene is when Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny are falling from a cliff. The clip shown below demonstrated the two of the famous characters from Warner Brothers and Disney. This scene alone, can not be a bigger sign to show a dedication piece.
Refrences:
Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic. Plume Books, 1980. Print.
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Posting #1 What Angered Me About Ice Age 3
I would like to discuss the main concept of, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs .The fact that they were introducing Dinosaurs during the Ice Age intrigued me. How is this going to be possible? Dinosaurs were long gone before the Ice Age. They tried to display that a variety of dinosaurs were saved and spared in a cavern underneath. The animators displayed a hot, green land underneath a prehistorically ice. They display a large world flourishing with different types of plants but being placed under Ice with no possibility of sunlight; Could these be possible? These are completely two different types of climates and they are supposed to run parallel to one another? The animators demonstrate a dinosaur climate warmed by volcanic activity, come on and this is possible underneath the ice? How can plants survive with such a hot, volcanic activity around them. Also, how could the gigantic lava river not melt the ice and collapsing this fantasy world?
Is this a message we should portray to our children, that this could ever be possible. I understand that children movies should have a meaningful message in their plot and Ice Age 3 did just that with the dedication to friendship. My conflict with Dawn of the Dinosaurs is I felt as though the creators choose to bring dinosaurs out of extinction in order to appeal to kids and their love of dinosaurs just for profit instead of enriching the children with more relaistic plots. into the movie to carry on the series and the attempt of having their land underneath ice is just sending a too far stretched scenario to children. Again, I was bothered by this far stretched scenario but I did not feel that it affected me so much that I could not enjoy the beauty and the well plotted story line.
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