oz@rlgvax.UUCP (THE GREAT AND POWERFUL OZ) (02/28/86)
USHER: Excuse me sir (astounded gasp from my four companions as they are
used to hearing me referred to as "screwball," "sicko," or
"marketing weenie") but this theater is showing THE ADVENTURES OF
MARK TWAIN.
OZ: I know. That is why I chose this particular cubical at Tysons 8.
USHER: But Sir, it's a kiddies film.
OZ: Wrong Alpo Nose, it's a CLAYMATION* film.
USHER: Oh.
The above actually took place when myself and 4 coworkers went to see THE
ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN this past weekend. I have long been a fan of
animation and being a friend of Steve Knights had been told about it some
months before. My exposure to clay animation in the past has been
primarily Gumby (which was terrible) and the famous Jimmy Carter "Georgia"
video of a few years back (which was pretty good) so I wasn't sure what to
expect. What I found was an excellent, funny and throughly enjoyable movie
which showed me how wonderful clay animation can be.
It is my belief that when you have a movie that is based on a book (or
books) that you should treat the two as separate entities. GONE WITH THE
WIND the movie should be considered a movie that has characters and
situations from GONE WITH THE WIND the book. We shouldn't expect them to
replicate the book (and indeed they didn't) for books and movies are two
separate mediums (the other children that Scarlet had in the book while
good characters that helped show what kind of person Scarlet was, were
unnecessary in the movie as they could more vividly SHOW you what kind of
person she was).
The same is true of the way the Mark Twain stories are presented. There
were some additions and subtractions in the presentation of the stories to
make them work better in an animated film. None of this "editing"
detracted from my enjoyment of the stories.
You have probably already heard of the basic premise of the movie, but just
in case you haven't hear goes: Haleys Comet has come again in the early
1900's. Mark Twain had written that he came in with the comet and he would
go out with the comet (true story, and he did die during the last
appearance of the comet). In the movie Mark Twain has built a flying
machine (a fantastic balloon that has Rube Goldberg sitting up and taking
notice) to chase the comet. Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn and Becky all sneak
aboard the balloon to get a peek at it and end up joining Mr. Twain.
Aboard the balloon they are shown some of Mr. Twains stories including:
The Famous Jumping Frog, The Diary of Adam and Eve, The Mysterious
Stranger, and excerpts from Captain Stormfields trip to heaven. Inbetween
the short stories the children talk to Twain and learn a little about the
man, his sense of humor, and the sadness of his life after his wife died.
As for the stories themselves, they maintain the wry sense of humor that
Twain was noted for. In Adam and Eve they don't beat you over the head
with the humor but show it subtly as Twain did in his writing. Such as the
great running gag "The new creature says the leafy things in the forest are
called 'trees.' I asked her why and she said 'because they look like
trees.'" I enjoyed the stories as much as when I originally read them with
the exception of "Captain Stormfield." Their presentation of the excerpts
were too fragmented for my taste and I didn't get any feeling for what the
story was about. Three out of four ain't bad.
But what of the animation you say? I can't think of the words that I need
to get you to leap up from your terminals and run to see if there is a
showing of this film right now.
When Steve Knight first raved about how incredible the facial expressions
were, I thought that he was exaggerating. After all Disney, and Warner
Bros were able to convey many emotions in the faces of their characters. I
owe Mr. Knight an apology and am glad to do it here publicly, I have never
been able to read what a animated character is thinking as well as I could
in this film. In Adam and Eve you watch Adam go from total enjoyment in
his paradise, to confusion in the arrival of Eve, to caring when he
discovers that he loves her, and finally to sorrow when he is left alone.
All of these emotions were shown SUBTLY in his face. It was incredible.
The sorrow on Mr. Twains face when he speaks of his late wife makes you
want to put your arm around his shoulder and comfort him. Animated
characters have made me laugh, cry and shrink back in my seat before, but
this is the first time that they made me feel empathic.
For me the most striking scene was The Mysterious Stranger. Tom and Becky
are asked by the Mysterious Stranger, who has identified himself as the
Angel Satan, to take some clay and make figures to live in the clay palace
that he made. The children make typical child like clay "people." Satan
then makes the characters come "alive" and you see these child made figures
come to life. Then he causes a terrible storm and earthquake to strike the
castle. I watched in terror as these unrealistic clay figures tried to
stay alive in the tempest and perished. I felt sorry for their demise.
The long and the short of it, is that I found it to be an entertaining and
amazing film. I do not think that it is a good film for kiddies for the
adult moments out weigh the childish moments and I think kidlings would be
bored. If you like Twain, and especially if you like animation, I strongly
recommend that you go see it. One warning is that Clubhouse films which
distributes the film has arranged that it only be shown at matinees. This
is a great injustice for it will drive many people away. Please take the
time to see it. It will be worth your while.
"Not Twain yet, but doing my best."
George S. Kaufman (author of such
great plays as "You Can't
Take it With You) in a letter
to his sister.
OZ
seismo!rlgvax!ozmdr@bentley.UUCP (M. Rossner) (03/03/86)
Speaking of claymation, there are two excellent examples of this animation technique. One is in John Fogarty's video "Vanz Kant Dance", done by the same person who produced the "Mark Twain" claymation. The other is an Academy Award winning short from a few years back called "A Day in the Park". This excellent piece features a clay facsimile of Ed Koch singing "New York, New York" while undergoing various metamorphoses made possible by his clayness. Anybody else ever seen this short? Anybody have more information?
moriarty@fluke.UUCP (The Napoleon of Crime) (03/04/86)
[Thanks, Oz!]
I haven't seen this yet, but definately will. The man behind the film (and
the trademark "Claymation") is Will Vinton, a longtime Portland, Oregon
animator who releases short, and occasional full-length claymation films,
while he does commercials on the side to "pay the rent". He won an Oscar
about ten years ago for "Closed Mondays", and has been nominated for several
others. It's a rare International Tournee of Animation that doesn't have
one of his films in it.
If you like THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN, may I suggest several of his
shorts (his short FILMS, not his underwear!): CLOSED MONDAYS, THE LITTLE
PRINCE, RIP VAN WINKLE and the most recent one I saw, THE GREAT COGNITO,
which is one of the funniest things you'll ever see. Many of these can be
borrowed from your public library (they can in Seattle and Portland, at
least).
I also admit that I am a bit predjudiced; Vinton let my high school film
class visit his studios back in '77, and his enthusiasm and quiet humor are
very clear in the films of his I see. I'm glad to hear that MARK TWAIN is
out (this is one of those "10 YEARS IN THE MAKING!" films), and look forward
to it.
"So gather the kids, a dog... Grandma... and
lock them in another room."
-- Orson Welles
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
ARPA: fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPA
UUCP: {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb6, lbl-csam}!fluke!moriarty
<*> DISCLAIMER: Do what you want with me, but leave my employers alone! <*>leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (03/05/86)
>The other is an Academy Award winning short from a few years >back called "A Day in the Park". Isn't that "Sundae in the Park?" Yes, it is quite good. Also "Closed Mondays" is an earlier claymation that is quite good. I was mildly negative on the story content of TWAIN but the claymation is certainly among the best I have seen (one exception is that the comet is not very well done). Mark Leeper ...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper