Blog Post #11: Old Glory (1939)

Blog Post #12: Confederate Honey (1940)

Thanks For Everything and Have A Great Summer!

Vs.

It is a little surprising that the end of the semester is already here.  We have only a couple weeks of classes left, which means this is going to be the last blog of the semester.  Most of you who have read my blogs know that I talk about Merrie Melodies or some sort of old cartoon.  I have been doing this because I think it is interesting to learn about the cartoons that I have watched most of my life.  I actually didn’t even know that I watched Merrie Melodies all the time.  Anyways, as I was looking through some more cartoons, I noticed two animations that I used to watch frequently.  Surprisingly, they have many similarities and minor differences.  I found this interesting because of the fact that they were both produced by different companies.  These cartoons are Rhapsody Rabbit from Warner Brothers (a Merrie Melodies animation) and Cat Concerto from MGM.  In this post, I will just discuss the similarities and controversy between these animations.

Both of these animations deal with the nuisance of a mouse during a piano performance.  In  Rhapsody Rabbit, you have Bugs Bunny playing the piano being bothered by a random mouse.  In Cat Concerto, you have Tom playing the piano with Jerry bothering him.  Both Bugs and Tom play the “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2″ by Franz Liszt (whom was referenced in the Rhapsody Rabbit episode with a telephone call) with the piano.  There are also similarities with the jokes in the animations.  For example, both of the mice in each cartoon always play the piano through the inside, either confusing or messing up the characters of Bugs Bunny or Tom the cat.  Another way the mice are similar in their behaviors are each of them steal the show at the end, taking credit for the work and effort of playing the piano.  This then makes Tom and Bugs similar as well, considering they both lose the battle at the end.

Overall, both cartoons are enjoyable.  However, there was and still is a controversy over the two animations.  The creators of Rhapsody Rabbit believe MGM Animation Studios plagiarized Warner Brothers Animation because of the similarities.  MGM Studios believe they were plagiarized by Warner Brothers.  There was no court case involving this belief.  But you can imagine that it might have started a “battle” (if you will) between the two distribution companies.  Another interesting fact is MGM’s Cat Concerto won the 1946 Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons.  The two cartoons were produced the same year, however, they released on different dates, Rhapsody Rabbit in 1946 and Cat Concerto in 1947.  So, even though this is the last post, I have to ask one more question, Do you think MGM plagiarized the work of Warner Brothers Animation Studios?  Or do you think the opposite?

ETA: I commented on the Blogs of Jessica Martin and Chuck Soo-Hoo.

Have a Great Summer…

Throughout the semester, I have watched some cartoons with racial stereotypes in them.  However, this one is much more stereotypical than other cartoons that I have watched.  This most likely is due to the fact that the cartoon is supposed to take place during the Civil War.  It is known that there was slavery during the Civil War.  This cartoon was directed by Friz Freleng and produced by Leon Schlesinger.  It is also another one of Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies cartoons.  It was released on March 30, 1940.  In this blog post, I will give a brief summary of the cartoon and talk about the portrayal of the racial stereotypes.

This animation begins with some landscape and a sign saying Kentucky, as it points to the right.  The narrator says the story takes place in 1861 B. Sea, Before Seabiscuit, which was making fun of the term B.C. and saying it took place before the start of the famous race horse, Seabiscuit (from the late 1930s to early 1940s).  The camera then tracks to Colonel O’Hairoil, whom is a literal blue-blooded plantation owner in the literal bluegrass state of Kentucky.  The camera then cuts and tracks to “Uncle Tom’s Bungalows,” giving a reference to the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin (an anti-slavery novel published in 1852 by Harriet Beecher Stowe).  The camera then shows some slaves doing work on the tobacco and cotton plantation fields.  It then cuts to Crimson O’Hairoil, who is getting ready for potential men to marry her.  However, she loves the strong and brave Ned Cutler (who is actually the Elmer Fudd character).  Ned is seen riding a horse and gives it to a slave kid to watch while he enters the building.  Before Elmer can finish asking Crimson his question, they hear a bomb explosion.  Ned tells her he has to set off to war.  Crimson is impressed by her love’s decision to be patriotic and says she will give light through her window until he returns.  Ned leaves, while the kid is still watching the horse.

It then cuts to Union strikes.  The strikers have signs that say “The Army is Unfair to the Union.”  Then it cuts to soldiers getting ready for the war with a sign saying the clothes are furnished by Northern Underwear.  The animation cuts to an officer talking to his men about “Stoneball” Jackson, a “southpaw,” who is pitching and if they win, they will meet him in the South at the Cotton Bowl.  During this scene there are also faces of the soldiers shown.  These are the characteristics of the creators, giving themselves a reference in the animation.  An interesting scene is when the officer throws his cigar, the soldiers fight over it.  I’m assuming this references a shortage of cigars or cigarettes during the war, or even the value of tobacco.  Then there are several different cannons being fired off in a musical theme.  After this, there is a trumpet boy who breaks out in a solo with a drummer, creating some of that good old wacky humor.  A nervous confederate officer paces back and forth when information is being sent to him through telegraph, however, we find out it is just racing results.  Ned then shoots off a cannon that acts as a pinball machine, making him “tilt.”  The Colonel hears about the Yanks winning another victory, which makes him angry.  The animation also shows the slave boy waiting with the horse still.  It cuts back to Ned reading a letter.  A signal rocket follows turning into an ad for Mammy’s Shack.  Meanwhile, Crimson has a strong light coming from her window that it sets Paul Revere off screaming “the British are coming.”  The war ends in 1865 and Ned returns to Crimson.  We finally find out that his question for her was if she could validate his parking.  Crimson, upset, stamps a big “revoked” across his forehead.

After watching the animation, I’d like to bring up some of the racial stereotypes within the cartoon.  All of these stereotypes were actually censored in later screenings.  The first being the “Uncle Tom’s Bungalows” sign.  Uncle Tom’s Cabin was an anti-slavery book created during the time period of the Civil War.  It is known to be a very racial book.  In the animation they poke fun at the fact that these were places for slaves to sleep and live.  There are also the African American cotton pickers, or the slaves in general.  You have the plantation slaves, the slave who fixes Crimson’s dress, and the slave who watches the horse for Ned.  There is also a slave who is stamping the Parking tickets.  In the edited version this scene was cropped to just reveal a hand stamping the ticket.  Also, notice the portrayal of African American slaves in this animation.  Their lips are drawn to be big and exaggerated.  This is another racial stereotype of the African American population in this cartoon.  All of these scenes with the African American slaves were cut due to censorship issues of the animation today.  Who would of thought that animation could be so stereotypical?  Another interesting piece of information about this cartoon is that it is supposed to make fun of the film, Gone With The Wind.

ETA: I commented on the Blogs of Bonnie Hansen and Chuck Soo-Hoo.

Til Next Week…

Throughout the last several weeks, I’ve been talking about Warner Bros. and Merrie Melodies.  I know it would seem that I look obsessed with these cartoons, however, that is not the case.  Unlike Schlesinger’s other works’, this one is entirely different.  This cartoon is actually a very serious cartoon, compared to the usual funny antics Merrie Melodies.  This is what surprised me the most about this cartoon.  I’m actually a little shocked that Merrie Melodies produced something that was this serious.  There is no humor at all.  If you watch the animation above, you’ll see what I mean.  In this post, I will give a brief summary of the animation, talk about the style of animation, as well as, discuss the historical aspect of the animation.

The animation begins with Porky trying to learn the Pledge of Allegiance.  However, while trying to recite it properly, he gets bored and falls asleep.  Young Porky then has a dream where Uncle Sam comes and talks to him about the history of the United States.  Uncle Sam begins to tell Porky about the thirteen colonies and how they founded America.  He says that they came to this land for freedom, but instead they got “oppression, unfair taxes, tyranny, unfair laws, injustice (this word is repeated several times – it can be seen as a gag, but it is the only one if it is considered a gag).  It then cuts to Patrick Henry reciting the “give me liberty or give me death” speech.  At the end of his speech, it his image is superimposed with an image of a shooting canon.  The smoke from the fired canon transitions to Paul Revere riding on horseback yelling “to war.”  The image cuts to people marching down a street with weapons to the song Yankee Doodle.  Then the footsteps of the men are matched with the gavel of John Hancock, as he signs the Declaration of Independence.  Another canon transition occurs and shows the year 1776.  In that scene, there are three men playing the drums and flute marching towards the camera.  There image is superimposed with the liberty bell ringing.  This transitions to the U.S. Constitution being signed by George Washington.  Then Porky asks what happens next and Uncle Sam tells him the expansion to the West.  This is shown by an empty U.S. Map as silhouettes of people and wagons walking across the screen as states appear on the map.  It then cuts back to Porky and Uncle Sam.  This is where Uncle Sam calls Abraham Lincoln a great American, paying tribute to a statue of him.  Then Porky wakes up and recites the Pledge of Allegiance as the camera goes up the flag pole to reveal the waving U.S. American Flag.

If you have seen other Merrie Melodies animations, then you may be able to see a difference in the animation.  For example, if you look at the face of Porky, he is very shiny looking.  The more noticeable appearance is the way Uncle Sam is portrayed.  His face is very clean and defined, almost as a collectible plastic doll of some kind.  This is also seen with all of the other people.  It looks much more like a refined cartoon than an actual wacky cartoon.  It has a much more realistic feel to it than most other animations.  This animation is actually heavily based in rotoscope, which is a different style from what is usually done.  Chuck Jones was the director of this piece and was known for his Disney-like animation.  This is the reason Schlesinger had Jones do this piece of animation.

How historical does this piece get?  The answer to that question is simple; it is all historical.  This whole animation deals with the history of America.  You have the infamous Uncle Sam telling the story.  There are the original thirteen colonies to begin with.  We all know Patrick Henry gave a famous speech and was one of the nation’s founding fathers.  We also know about Paul Revere’s patriotism and how he rode on horseback to warn the Americans the British were coming during his midnight rides in the American Revolution.  Then there is John Hancock, who was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence, a very important document.  There was also the Constitution signed by Washington, which is an extremely important document, giving everyone freedoms.  At the end, Uncle Sam includes Abraham Lincoln as a great American.  We all know about Abraham Lincoln and his Gettysburg Address and Emancipation Proclamation.  Not to mention he was the 16th President of the United States.  There are also a couple of historical significance from year this animation was created.  At the end of the animation, if you listen to the Pledge of Allegiance Porky recites, there is no “Under God” section in what he says.  This is because that section of the Pledge was not put in until 1954, however this animation was made in 1939.  Also, if you count the number of stars on the U.S. Flag at the end, there are only 48 stars.  This is because Hawaii and Alaska did not become official states until 1959.  There is one last interesting thought about this animation.  It was released 3 days before Independence day in 1939.  I find it interesting that it came out 2-3 months before the start of WWII.  Do you find this interesting?

ETA: I commented on the Blogs of Courtney Webber and Samantha Francis.

Til Next Time…

For many blog posts, I have been looking at Merrie Melodies.  I know it is a little repetitive, but I find these cartoons hilarious.  Also, I remember watching them when I was a kid.  This is why the Merrie Melodies cartoon, Bugs Bunny Rides Again caught my eye.  I used to watch this episode a lot.  The part that gave it away was the scene when Bugs Bunny is dancing to the music and then makes Yosemite Sam dance into an open mine shaft.  I knew I could never forget about that part.  This cartoon brings back many memories for me.  In this Blog Post, I will give a brief summary of the cartoon, as well as, talk about some of the censorship issues.

The cartoons starts out with bullets being fired.  There is a gag where the bullets stop at a red light and once the crossing of the other bullets are done, they resume.  It then cuts to a saloon where a couple of men are drinking and one of the men shoots the other one.  When Yosemite Sam enters, everyone is scared of him.  This is where he makes a Gandhi joke, which will be discussed later.  Then all the “skunks” leave the bar, the last one being an actual skunk.  Yosemite Sam sees someone trying to escape and starts firing at him, which turns into a shooting dummy.  After, Bugs challenges Yosemite and he says the town isn’t big enough for the two of them.  So Bugs runs out and builds a city (another gag).  Yosemite Sam still says it isn’t big enough and starts to make Bugs “dance.”  This is where Bugs turns it around and makes Yosemite dance in an open mine shaft.  Bugs then dares Yosemite to cross a line.  This is repeated until Yosemite Sam crosses a line, falling off a cliff.  Bugs puts a mattress down, saying he has a guilty conscious, however he said he didn’t that day and took it away.  Then they chase each other on horse in with a western tune.  This is where Bugs builds a brick wall, making Yosemite Sam and his horse crash into a wall.  Seeing that this wasn’t going anywhere, the two of them decide to play cards to see who stays.  However, Bugs tells Yosemite Sam which card to put down and Bugs wins.  When they go to the train station (where Yosemite Sam is supposed to get on), they both notice a numerous amount of beautiful women going to Miami.  Bugs pulls Yosemite’s hat over him and gets on the train, allowing Bugs to be with all the women alone.

As seen above, this cartoon has several gags.  However, there are many different censorship issues that were corrected in order to show a viewing audience.  The Gandhi gag was taken out for an important reason.  Gandhi was assassinated earlier that year in January, which is the reason why that part of the cartoon is censored out to say “mamby-pamby” instead.  However, on this one above, the original version is shown so you can see that part at the beginning.  Another interesting censorship issue with this cartoon is when it aired on the WB.  When it aired on this station, there were three parts that were cut:  the part with the bullets stopping at traffic lights, the part where the man killed the other man and took his whiskey, and the part where Yosemite Sam is using a person as a target for practice.  I’m assuming these parts were edited out due to the violence.  However, I feel it was unnecessary to take those out.  It is cartoon violence and not real violence.  Ultimately, I don’t see the problem, however, the network apparently did.  It’s interesting what is actually censored in cartoons and why.

ETA: I commented on the Blogs of Jessica Martin and Samantha Francis.

Til Next Time…

God of War III for Playstation 3

God of War III is a game developed for the Playstation 3 console.  It was developed by Sony Santa Monica and published by Sony Computer Entertainment.  This video game was recently released on March 16, 2010.  The previous two games were made for the Playstation 2.  This game, made for the Playstation 3, has better graphics and stays faithful to the gameplay of the other previous God of War games.  In this blog, I will discuss what the plot of these three games, as well as, discuss advanced the animation is compared to the first two games.

In these next three paragraphs, I will give a brief synopsis of what happens.  Therefore, if you do not want to know what happens in these games, do not read them (I recommend playing them if you have the console and are a fan of Greek or Roman Mythology).  In the first video game, God of War, it starts off with Kratos jumping off a cliff.  Then, the story goes to an earlier time before everything that happened.  Kratos was a leader of the Spartan army and promised to serve Ares (the god of war in mythology) if he helped him defeat his enemies.  In doing this, Ares burned chains to his arms with swords attached to each end.  Then, while raiding a village for Ares, he accidently kills his wife and daughter.  Ares forced Kratos to do so because he felt it would get in his way.  So, Kratos, with the help of Athena (the goddess of Wisdom in mythology), Kratos seeks revenge on Ares.  In order to defeat Ares, Kratos has to find Pandora’s Box.  In the game, he goes on a journey to do so.  At the end of the game, after finding Pandora’s Box, he is killed by Ares.  However, Kratos goes to the underworld and fights his way back to the top.  Releasing the powers from Pandora’s Box, he gains strength to defeat a god, Ares.  After defeating Ares at the end of the game, he becomes the new god of war, hence the title of the game.

Playstation 2 God of War

In God of War II, while his Spartan Army attacks Rhodes, Kratos is up against a Colossus.  Earlier an Eagle came and drained his powers.  Zeus enters the game and gives Kratos a sword to defeat the Colossus.  In order to use the sword, Kratos infuses his godhood into it, leaving him mortal.  After defeating the Colossus, Kratos is hurt from rubble.  When he gets up, he learns Zeus was the Eagle that took his powers and is actually there to betray him because of his behavior.  Zeus impales Kratos with the sword as he is taken to the underworld.  However, Kratos gets saved by Gaia, a titan, who wants Kratos to help them defeat Zeus and the gods because they were humilated and banished by them.  Kratos agrees, but has to seek the Sisters of Fate.  Only they can help Kratos go back in time to prevent Zeus what he did to him.   Kratos finds the Sisters of Fate, defeats them and is able to go back in time.  When he does, Kratos and Zeus battle each other.  When Kratos is about to impale Zeus, Athena comes and steps in front of the sword, getting killed.  Kratos finds out from Athena (who is dying) that Zeus is the father of Kratos.  Angered, Kratos goes back to the Sisters of Fate and goes back to when the gods battled the Titans.  Kratos persuades the Titans to leave battle, in order to prevent them from getting banished and humilated (defeated).  At the end of this game, the titans climb up to Olympus to defeat the gods, with Kratos.

Playstation 2 God of War II

God of War III continues once again from the previous game.  As Kratos is on Gaia, you start off fighting some enemies.  Then, Poseidon (the god of water in mythology), comes to defeat Gaia and Kratos (mostly Gaia).  However, Kratos tries to defeat Poseidon.  After some running around, Kratos kills Poseidon.  As Gaia is climbing Olympus, Zeus throws a lightning bolt at Gaia and they are about to fall.  Kratos asks Gaia for help, but she tells him he was just a pawn to the titans to get to Zeus.  Kratos then falls into the underworld once again, losing all of his power except for Icarus’ wings and the Golden Fleece (Acquired in the previous games).  Athena’s spirit comes to help Kratos and she gives him some weapons and power.  As he fights his way through the game, he kills Hades (the god of the Underworld in mythology), Hercules (the son of Zeus), Hera (the wife of Zeus), Helios (the son god in mythology), Hermes (the messenger god in mythology), and Hephaestus (the god of technology/craftsmenship in mythology).  In order to defeat Zeus, Athena tells him he has to seek Pandora’s Box one last time because of a greater power to kill Zeus.  In order to release it from the flame, he has to find Pandora (the daughter of Hephaestus).  After finding her, she is about to release the box from the fire, but Kratos won’t let her.  After Zeus comes and fights Kratos, Pandora jumps into the fire.  Kratos opens Pandora’s Box, but it is empty.  He eventually kills Zeus at the end of the game.  We find out that the power to kill Zeus was already in Kratos from the first game, but it was hidden by guilt and fear.  Athena wants her power back from Kratos, but Kratos insists he doesn’t have any power.  He ends up killing himself at the end of the game because he is done with his task.  After the credits, the body of Kratos is gone, with a trail of blood at the end of the cliff.  Is this the end?  We don’t know because it can be interpreted in different ways.

As you can see, the story to this game is incredible.  This is just a quick summary of the games.  It goes much more in depth.  The animation in God of War III is very sharp and defined compared to the other two previous games.  This is due to the fact that this game was made for the Playstation 3 compared to the other two that were made for the Playstation 2.  This game was made with blue ray technology.  Blu-ray technology outputs a much more clear and crisp picture.  It also helps to have an HDTV to have while using a blu-ray based game.  If you look at Kratos in the movie sequences, you can see the definition in his skin.  Also, while playing the blood from enemies actual stain his skin for a little bit when it squirts out on Kratos.  The movie sequences make it seem as if you are watching an actual animated movie.  It is so compelling that you get lost in the sequences.  The technology today is truly amazing.  Due to this, video games are being developed on a higher level and greater images for the animations are giving characters from these video games a much more realistic look to them.  The next thing you know, technology will be so advanced that when someone plays a video game, it will look like real life.

ETA:  I commented on the Blogs of Chuck Soo-Hoo and Christopher DeMarco.

Til Next Time…

Similar to Blitz Wolf, this cartoon deals with the way animators used cartoons during the World War II era.  However, this cartoon was distributed by Warner Brothers Animations and produced by Leon Schlesinger.  It was directed by Friz Freleng.  It is interesting how many animation studios used the war as a means for profit.  Instead of developing normal cartoons, animators used the war for different ideas.  In this blog post, I will give a brief synopsis of the short animation, some interesting facts about the animation, as well as, discuss how this short gives the audience a sense of nationalism.

In the beginning of the animation, a German commander (Von Vulture) is given a telegram from the “Gestinko Gestapo.”  The telegrams says if he allows anymore unwanted people through, he’ll get in trouble.  After hearing a plane outside, Von Vulture calls Schultz, a soldier who Von Vulture hits over the head with a mallet.  When they use the spotlight, they see Daffy Duck.  However, after Daffy yells at them to turn off the light, Schultz does so, but turns it back on when Von Vulture yells at him.  Unable to locate Daffy, there are hand puppets visible from the light.  After noticing Daffy is doing this, he runs behind a curtain that says “asbestos.”  When Von Vulture opens the curtain, Daffy has a funny face (used to make fun of the Japanese in other cartoons) and scares off Von Vulture.  Then the typical bomb joke takes play and Daffy gives Von a bomb as a gift.  When he realizes what it is, he gives it to Schultz who is flown up in the sky.  When he comes down, Von is about to hit him with a mallet, but Daffy hits him instead.

Von Vulture then chases him to a phone booth, saying “hail Hitler” at a skunk.  Then, Daffy goes inside the telephone booth, talking to someone on the phone.  Here, there are a series of cards Daffy holds up to translate what he is saying.  When he allows Von Vulture to go in and use the phone, he thinks he is talking to Schultz, however he isn’t.  After realizing this, Daffy jumps into plane and is almost taken out by German airplanes.  However, they end up destroying each other and Von Vulture shoots down Daffy.  Daffy hides in a human canon, which Von shoots off.  Daffy flies out with to United States Flags in his hands.  He lands beside Hitler, who is giving a speech.  Daffy then hits Hitler on the head with a mallet, when all of a sudden Hitler yells for Schultz.

Along with humor, this animation has some very interesting facts.  One fact is when Daffy is parachuting down at the beginning, he is singing “She was poor but she was honest.”  This song was popular in Britain during World War II.  A funny fact about this cartoon is about the telegram.  It was to Von Vulture as an uberkommandant, which is a fictional German rank.  Also, all of the words in German on the telegram were words for foods.  When Von takes down Daffy’s plane, he uses an MP40.  The music playing while Hitler is giving his speech is a distorted version of “The More We Play Together.”  Out of all of these facts, the last one is the most intriguing because it has absolutely nothing to do with something inside the cartoon.  A clip from this cartoon is played during the introduction of Futurama.

Looking at this cartoon as a child, I would not really associate it to any kind of propaganda.  However now, I can see how it is propaganda and supports United States Nationalism.  For example, the good guy, Daffy Duck, prevails throughout the whole cartoon.  He is never hurt and when it looks like he is about to get hurt, he doesn’t because he comes out winning in the end.  Another interesting thing about this is the fact that he waves two American Flags in the air, signifying that the United States is the superior.  This cartoon, as well as many other cartoons, had one mission and one mission only:  to support the war efforts and to create humor while doing so (to make it less noticeable to the public).  Overall, this cartoon achieves this goal.

ETA:  I commented on the Blogs of Jessica Martin and Myca Taylor.

Til Next Time…

Blog Post #4: Magical Maestro (1952)

Blog Post #5: Blitz Wolf (1942)

Til Next Week…

Before the special Spring Break Post, I was talking about Tex Avery Cartoons and the Merrie Melodies from Warner Bros. Animation.  This week I was going to talk about Logorama, the winner for Best Animated Short at the Academy Awards.  However, someone already beat me to it.  Therefore, I decided to talk a little about A Wild Hare.  This animation is credited as the first cartoon to feature the popular character, Bugs Bunny.  In this Post, I will discuss the antics used to create humor, as well as, the character’s exaggerated expressions from these antics.

Everyone knows what this cartoon is about (or at least you should know).  Elmer Fudd is a hunter who is hunting rabbit.  Bugs Bunny is the rabbit he tries to hunt.  However, Bugs tricks Elmer several times, preventing him from ever catching him.  In this particular cartoon, Bugs makes Elmer so mad that Elmer Fudd leaves crying in anger because he can’t catch “that screwy wabbit.”  In a way, this shows how naive Elmer Fudd is and how clever Bugs Bunny is, but we’ll get to that later.

There are a number different antics Bugs does in order to keep Elmer in check.  The animation starts off with some comedy when Bugs takes the carrot, eats most of it, and then puts it back.  However, he feels the gun and attempts to reclaim the eaten carrot once again.  The first antic in this cartoon is when Elmer Fudd sticks his gun in the hole.  Bugs ends up tying his gun into a “pretzel”  knot.  After that, Elmer starts digging a hole to catch the rabbit.  However Bugs Bunny comes out of his hole and asks what Elmer is doing.  Elmer is so naive that he doesn’t realize he is talking to the rabbit (even after seeing him – makes Elmer look pretty dumb).  Then Bugs yells into his ear and runs away.  Bugs Bunny procedes to make him guess who he is, but Elmer does not know.  This is when he kisses Elmer twice on the lips.  Wait, isn’t Bugs a guy?  I think he is.  Anyway, Elmer thinks he can catch Bugs with a carrot under a box, however, Elmer ends up catching a skunk instead.  One last antic that makes Elmer go over the edge, is when Bugs lets Elmer “shoot” him, and he thinks he killed the “wabbit.”  But he didn’t and ends up kicking Elmer Fudd right in the behind; making  him angry and upset.

As you can see things happen to Elmer (in a negative way).  Elmer has big, wide eyes in this animation.  When he is getting his gun knotted, you notice his eyes and eyebrows.  In this case, the eyebrows give away his feelings and expression.  Also notice his eyebrows are tilted downward with his eyes shut to show the audience he is smelling something bad.  You know which part I’m talking about; the skunk scene.  At the end, we can tell his anger by his facial expressions and the yelling.  Bugs is a little different when it comes to facial expressions.  Instead of just using his face for his expressions, Bugs uses his ears.  For example, after he kisses Elmer Fudd in his hole, we can see his eyes go down, like a dog.  We instantly know that when the ears go down, it shows vulnerability and love.  This is part of the humor with Bugs.  So, unlike Elmer, Bugs has an extra advantage for expression, long, Bunny ears.

ETA:  I commented on the Blogs of Emily Witt and Michael Griffith.

Til Next Week…

Little Nemo:  Adventures in Slumberland is an animated cartoon released in Japan in 1989.  It was directed by Masami Hata, Masanori Hata, and William Hurtz.  It wasn’t released in the United States until 3 years later, in 1992.  I remember watching this movie when I was a kid, about 13 – 15 years ago or so.  Throughout the semester, we have learned various techniques used in animation, various animators, and have seen various animations.  However, throughout all of the lectures, there was something told to us from the first lecture that stood out; a good animation comes from a combination of drawing, film, and story.  I personally believe in this because being a film major, this can easily relate to live-action films as it does to animation.  In this blog post, I will discuss the origin of Little Nemo, give a brief synopsis of the film, as well as, discuss the development of the drawing and story of this particular animation.

Little Nemo in Slumberland was originally a comic strip by Winsor McCay, which appeared in the New York Herald from October 15, 1905 to April 23, 1911.  From April 30, 1911 to July 26, 1914, this comic strip switched to the New York American, with its name changed to In the Land of Wonderful Dreams.  If you noticed, the comic strip ended a month or so after the start of World War I.  This comic strip wasn’t very popular among the crowd compared to other comics like Buster Brown and Krazy Kat (which we saw in class).  In the comic strip, Nemo was invited by King Morpheus to become the “playmate” of the Princess in Slumberland.  The comic strips consisted on Nemo trying to make it to Slumberland, but he would always end up getting hurt, dying, getting old, etc., right before he woke up (the comic strip would end with him waking up on or beside his bed).  He would eventually make it to Slumberland, but it took him four months to reach the Princess because he would be awakened by Flip (a green-faced dwarf with a hat that says “wake up”).  Flip would later become his friend in the comic strip series.  Even though this was a comic strip, it was far from a children’s fantasy; it was dark, surreal, and very violent at times.

Similar to the original comic strip, this movie is called Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland.  It starts out with a shot of Nemo sleeping.  As his bed flies out out of his window down the street, a bird (an owl I believe) makes a noise, which wakes him up.  Then he flies through the town, up into the sky, into a darker place.  This is where his bed starts to descend slowly and a train starts chasing him.  When his bed gets torn apart, he sees a house that resembles his own and runs into it and shuts the door as the train is coming towards it.  He yells to his mother, but she seems to not notice him whatsoever.  As he opens the front door and peeks, he sees the train coming fast right to the door.  When he closes the door again, holding it shut, he still screams for his mother.  However, the train busts through the door, as he goes flying in the air, it cuts to him falling out of bed.  It was just a dream.  This is just the beginning of the movie, which you can view above (the rest of the clips are on youtube if you want to watch the whole movie).  We then meet Icarus, his friend, a flying squirrel with wearing a pilot’s hat (similar to Rocky from Rocky and Bullwinkle, except Icarus is Brown).  They go to a parade, advertising there is a circus in town.  You don’t know this yet, but all of the characters from his dreams are those who are in the circus.  We see the “Professor” on the piano, the “Princess” throwing him a flower, “Flip” knocking him over while balancing on his ball and juggling, and “King Morpheus” riding a horse.  The others in the parade are the people of Slumberland and servants to the King and Princess.

(From Left to Right: King Morpheus, the Professor, Servant, the Princess, Nemo, Flip, and Nemo's mother and father. Icarus shown throughout the picture in various places.

After talking to the “King,” Nemo goes home to ask to go to the circus, when his father tells him “tomorrow.”  That night, after Nemo sleep walks trying to take a pie from the fridge and running away from his mother, he tries going to sleep, however he notices a light shining through his window.  Professor Genius and some other characters come inside his window to invite him to Slumberland as a playmate to Princess Camille.  After they give him a gift from the Princess
(a box of cookies), he boards a dirigible (or airship) outside his window.  When arriving at Slumberland, Nemo sees Flip; the professor tells him to avoid him.  When going to see the King, he is missing, so they all split up to find him, while Nemo is told to wait.  However, Flip tells him to follow him.  Nemo follows him into an upside room.  While Nemo is trying to follow Flip, he falls down into a toy room, where he helps a conductor fix a toy train.  While Icarus gets on to ride it, the conductor and Nemo run around to catch it and hop on board.  The train crashes into the Professor and we find out the conductor was actually King Morpheus.

King Morpheus ends up giving Nemo a key which will open everything in Slumberland.  However, he makes him promise to never open the door with the same symbol as the key, which Nemo promises.  Nemo is then taken to meet the Princess, where he gets a bit of an attitude with her because of he gets offended by what she says to him.  However, they end up getting along and playing with one another.  Then Nemo is thrown to some adults to teach him how to act proper (become royalty, if you will).  After a dance and song number, Nemo escapes and runs into Flip.  Then Flip shows Nemo how to have “fun” by making the guards hit one another.  They run after him and Nemo, whom get away and do more mischievous things.  Then, of course, Flip talks Nemo into opening the door which he is not supposed to open to take a peek.  Nemo and Flip do it and there is something scary on the other side.  They slam the door shut, with the key still in the lock and run away in fear.  Nemo makes it back to the palace, running late for his ceremony.  They dress him up and he is introduced to all of Slumberland.  The King shows them the scepter which has kept Slumberland safe from Nightmare King.  The Professor and King start to dance, as Nemo runs to retrieve the key, however, a black fog already has gotten out and consumes the King at the Party, where the King has vanished.  The crowd blames Flip for what has happened and then he blames it all on Nemo.  The crowd starts looking at Nemo and as they crowd around him, he “faints,” ending up at home in bed.  When he wakes up, he realizes it was a dream.  However, when he uncovers his blanket, he finds the scepter there.  He starts hearing the King’s voice and starts to walk down the stairs.

When he makes it downstairs, he sees a flood heading towards him.  He runs upstairs and the flood takes him, Icarus, and the bed down a waterhole.  They are seen floating on water, where they find the Professor.  Nemo learns Flips is going to be banished from Slumberland (by canon).  Knowing Flip has a map to Nightmareland, Nemo and the Professor paddle quickly to stop the banishment.  Nemo makes it and makes Flip give him the map.  However, it is in code that only Flip can read, so Flip takes Nemo, Icarus, the Professor and the Princess to Nightmareland (to save the King).  However, they all fall asleep and are taken down a waterhole, where the boat is destroyed and they end up in what seems to be Nightmareland.  There they meet some nice goblins or woodland creatures who are looked down upon because they are not evil.  As night falls, they camp for the night.  However, evil bats come and take Flip, the Professor and the Princess.  As, Nemo waves the Scepter back and forth, trying to recite the words to activate it, he falls out of bed.  Nemo seems relieved it was just a dream, however, he notices the scepter and the woodland creatures in his room.  Another woodland creature falls into his room, which he has never met before.  We find out he escaped Nightermare King and has a message from the King.  The message is the words to recite to activate the scepter.  So, they go off on Nemo’s bed to Nightmareland.

They finally end up in Nightmareland with the scepter.  They make it inside to find the Nightmare King.  Nemo defeats a flying creature by only reciting part of the words for the scepter.  Eventually, Nemo defeats the Nightmare King and saves everyone.  However, it seems Nemo died in the process.  So the King takes the scepter and brings him back to life.  After going back to Slumberland, the Princess takes him back home on the airship.  Right before Nemo wakes up, him and the Princess kiss each other.  When he wakes up, he finds out his dad is going to take him to the circus.  Nemo and Icarus go to the window happy and dance as the camera keeps pulling farther away from his house until he is barely visible by the window.  Then the movie ends.  Sorry for the lengthy summary, but I felt it was necessary for those who haven’t seen it in a while.

The Nightmare King

When looking at the drawing, you can tell it’s not as similar to other movies as Aladdin or Mulan.  This movie, in my opinion, was drawn to be a much more dark movie (something similar to Tim Burton movies, except actual hand-drawn animation).  Also, it seems to be more of an Anime (style of animation originated in Japan) feel to it.  This could be due to the fact that it was developed in Japan, which is a popular place for Anime.  In a way, this movie is on the borderline between English animation and Japanese animation (Anime).  I personally don’t watch too many Anime films, however, this one I enjoyed as a child, even now.  Overall, the feel of the movie is very interesting, due to the fact that it can either be considered a regular animation or a stylized Japanese animation (in my book anyway).

The story to this film is also very important.  It does stay mostly true to the comic strip, which is a good thing because it should satisfy those who enjoy reading the comic strips.  Also, the storyline is engaging, both to adults and children alike.  Children have dreams and nightmares, which would allow them to relate to this movie.  Adults can understand how intricate the film was done to achieve this feel of a dream.  Throughout the entire film, the story plays tricks on your mind, making you think it was just a dream, but then showing you it wasn’t just a dream.  This is seen when he ends up in his room a couple of times, but notices the scepter is still there or the creatures are in his room.  This is supposed to give the audience a feeling that we are in a dream-like state.  Dreams trick your mind, which is exactly how the story makes you feel while watching it.  At the end, you can either believe it was just a dream or it wasn’t just a dream.  Most people should understand that it was most likely not real and just a dream because it was the characters from the circus, but I guess arguments can be made.  I also really like how the main character went on a journey through his dreams.  A good story is usually done with the character going through a journey.  In this case, his journey was done to essentially prevent himself from having nightmares, which he achieved in the end.  So, in the end, we know Nemo will most likely not have anymore nightmares, just good dreams.  Also, in the end, Nemo learned a lesson; to not break a promise.  In a good screenplay, the main character should learn some type of lesson and have some type of redemption.  Overall, this story, written by Chris Columbus and Richard Outten, really captures a terrific journey by a main character in an animation.

ETA:  I Commented on the Blogs of John Lyver and James Scutari.

-Hope Everyone Is Having A Good Spring Break…Til Next Time…