Glen Keane Interview

Really good stuff from famous Disney animator Glen Keane.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NubBTdn-zoE&feature=player_embedded#!

Brad Bird On Walt Disney's Take on Classic Stories

Here is a summary of director Brad Bird's (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, MI:4) talk at the Walt Disney family museum.  

On Saturday, May 19, two-time Academy Award®-winning director Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille) sat before a packed house at The Walt Disney Family Museum and discussed many of the stories Walt Disney adapted for the big screen. Author and Disney Historian Jeff Kurtti was on hand to moderate, and together the two speakers gave the audience fascinating insight into some of the movies many of us grew up watching. And as Brad so succinctly stated, “Looking back on the legacy of Walt Disney is the gift that keeps on giving.”

The program opened with an opening; the beginning of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Brad pointed out that while Snow White had a very simple opening, it showed what a good storyteller Walt was. When the book of the Snow White fairy tale opens, it has a bit of a “silent movie” approach, with text that audiences have to read. When the Queen’s castle is revealed, Brad noted, “Instead of happy music it begins with mysterious music, which immediately puts you in a different state of mind. The coolest thing is he (Walt) instinctively begins with not only the Queen, but also the mirror. He shows right away she is a slave to her own image.”

The dwarfs also received a Disney makeover, as most of the early adaptations of the Grimm fairy tale portrayed them as thieves, not jewel miners. And the number of dwarfs varied as well. Walt decided that they should be sympathetic characters, all with their own distinct personalities. Brad then marveled over the scene in which the Queen conducts her self-transformation. “To me this is ‘Exhibit A’ that this movie can match any live-action film,” he said. “It has a little bit of that silent movie feel—she’s telling you an awful lot for a woman who’s alone in the room, but I’ll put this up against anything else that was going on at the time.”

Moving from a well-known fairy tale to a relatively obscure children’s book, Brad and Jeff spoke to us about a puppet. “The appeal ofPinocchio was that he was mischievous, always getting into trouble,” Brad revealed. “The arc of the story is for him to not be like that. In the book, Pinocchio squashes the cricket.” In the original story, the cricket wasn’t appointed to watch over Pinocchio. And upon providing the little wooden boy with a single piece of advice, Pinocchio hurled a hammer at it, killing it. 

Brad continued, “Suddenly they hit upon the fact that since Pinocchio was trying to be good, they could create this character to help him. To act as his conscience. What’s cool is that Jiminy Cricket is kind of a vagabond. He has spats, but they’re worn out. And Jiminy didn’t think of himself as a vagabond.” (That is another variation on the cricket. In the original story, it lived in the house for over 100 years.) “You can see very quickly once they had that idea, it became the thing. They put him in the opening. And he’s not perfect either, he makes mistakes.”

Brad then showed us Pinocchio’s incredible opening scene. Like Snow White, the storybook opens, only this time with a little help from Jiminy. The camera zooms in on a picture of the night sky over an Italian village, and zooms out to reveal we are located in said village. The score is synchronized with the action onscreen, as we hop along from Jiminy’s point of view towards Geppetto’s quaint little shop. Many people to this day (myself included) consider Pinocchio to be the greatest animated film in history.

Other books of varying fame and popularity, including Bambi and Winnie the Pooh were adapted by Walt, but Jeff observed that, “One of Walt’s most skillful literary adaptations was Mary Poppins.”

“In the books she’s different,” Brad added. “Less humor, more strict. It’s wonderful, it’s very British. But in terms of making it a movie, a lot didn’t work.” 

“It’s interesting to see what Walt saw in it,” Jeff replied.

“Well, his daughters liked it,” Brad chuckled. “They were always amused by it.”

In 1960, Walt Disney gave a copy of author P.L. Travers’ tale of a British nanny to the Sherman brothers with the intention of making, “The greatest musical fantasy of all time." So Richard and Robert Sherman went through their copy, and underlined the chapters that they felt were particularly musical. When they handed their notes to Walt, he pulled out his copy of the book, and he had underlined the exact same chapters. 

“The heart of the story is about absentee parents,” Brad said. “Children are an obligation, a bother. The parents are absent for different reasons. The father works tirelessly at the bank, and the mother is a suffragette.” Brad then set up a clip for us. “Mary Poppins sees the problem very clearly.” Brad went on to explain how after Mr. Banks was tricked into taking his children to work with him, subsequently causing a run on the bank, he was later called back to work to be properly discharged. And when Mr. Banks opened the door to the bank’s bleak, scantly lighted boardroom, Brad observed, “This is Disney’s take on banks.”

Bank scene from Mary Poppins. © Disney.“Walt’s relationship with his father and his feeling towards banks was shown a lot in Mary Poppins, Brad stated. “Walt’s father Elias was a workaholic. So was Walt, but of course Walt was more successful. That’s something Walt struggled with also. Working all the time, but still making time for his children.”

Brad and Jeff moved on to films derived from older-skewing adventure literature such as Kidnapped, Swiss Family Robinson,In Search of the Castaways, and Walt’s first live-action literary adaptation, Treasure Island. “No one remembers the other versions of Long John Silver,” Brad remarked. “The way people imitate pirates these days is…show the clip please.” The audience then witnessed the one-legged Long John Silver talking to young Jim Hawkins, donning his deep red restoration greatcoat and tri-corner hat, his dialogue peppered with “Matey” and “Arrrrr.” Brad followed with his own, “Arrrrr,” to everyone’s enjoyment, and went on to say, “That’s the guy we’re imitating.”

The pinnacle of Walt’s live-action adventure adaptations was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and although the pair acknowledged the unforgettable production design and stellar Hollywood cast, they agreed that it was the remarkably adult screenplay and intelligent direction that have made the film timeless. (The film was directed by Richard Fleischer, who happened to be the son of one of Disney’s biggest competitors, Max Fleischer. Also, Richard had yet to direct a big Hollywood feature. Walt relieved Richard’s concerns, advising him that he was hired because he was the best man for the job.) Leagues was quite an amazing film to have come from Walt’s “cartoon studio.” And Brad set up a bleak, emotional scene from the film for us, revealing the villainous Captain Nemo’s humane core. 

“This is not a spectacular clip visually,” Brad said. “But it does show Disney wasn’t afraid to get dark and pay full attention to the story.” The scene depicted Nemo talking about a ship he just sank by ramming it with the Nautilus. “He’s not afraid to go for that moment.”

All too soon, Brad and Jeff brought us to the final film of the presentation. “In terms of the most bulletproof adaptation,” Brad said, “It’sCinderella. But they didn’t make her a sad character talking to herself. They gave her pals,” referring to the mice, birds, and farmyard animals that make up her friends, and serve as “familiars” for the audience’s emotional understanding of Cinderella. 

He went on to detail the scene in which the Duke has to confess to the King that he has let Cinderella get away, and how the King wanted to kill the Duke for it. But after hearing that the prince would readily marry this girl, he declared that they would find her (the King reallywanted some grandchildren!).

“In the original story,” Brad pointed out, “They find Cinderella, the stepsisters mock her, the shoe fits, and that’s it. But look at what Disney does!” After the animals free Cinderella from her locked room, she barely catches the Duke before he leaves. The evil stepmother then trips the Royal servant, who was carrying the slipper, and we all watch helplessly as it falls to the floor and shatters. But our heartbreak doesn’t last long. “The audience forgets that she has the other slipper.” Brad said. “For me that’s the perfect way to end the show." 

While that did in fact end the presentation, Brad wasn’t through entertaining us. During Q&A an audience member asked if he wouldn’t mind showing us one of his alter egos. “You want Edna, dah-ling,” Brad said in his delightful Edna Mode voice. About to take the next question, the woman in the audience quickly asked, “Is that it?” “What do you want me to do dah-ling,” Edna responded. “I don’t perform like a monkey for you!”  

Brad Bird’s sense of humor during the afternoon was surpassed only by his knowledge of Disney adaptations, as well as cinema in general.

Jeff’s erudite moderation was the perfect complement, allowing for the two to engage with one another, as well as engage the audience with their intriguing perspectives on the wonderful world of Disney film. Jeff closed by stating how Walt Disney is still influencing filmmakers to this day, while gesturing toward Brad. And based and the quality of Mr. Bird’s work, I think it’s safe to say Walt would be proud.

'The Master' trailer and 'Let There Be Light'

"The Master" trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WTM8eO1Oec

John Huston's "Let There Be Light" documentary
http://www.filmpreservation.org/preserved-films/screening-room/let-there-be-light-1946

     Ok, I'm a huge PTA fan.  That's apparent in this blog.  I'm not sure how many of my posts in the past couple months have something to do with him, but it's definitely a big number.  I've been waiting to see what his new film 'The Master' would look like for a while.  I don't want to 'analyze' the trailer, but I've certainly seen it several times and would like to talk about it.
     I also saw recently, "Let There Be Light," John Huston's WWII documentary about nueropsychosis in war veterans.  There are a couple prominent similarities between this film and PTA's 'The Master' trailer, most noticably, a few lines of dialogue and the room's where soldiers are asked about their problems.
     I know that PTA is a huge John Huston fan, and 'There Will Be Blood" was certainly a type of homage to "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre."  The fact that he took inspiration from John Huston's documentary for his next film, tells me he's on a John Huston slant nowadays.
     "The Master" is about the collision of two worlds.  The world of Navy seaman Freddy Sutton (Joaquin Pheonix), and the world of Lancaster Dodd (Phillip Seymour Hoffman).  What I found interesting about the trailer is that we only see one world, the world of Freddy Sutton.  Now, I think that it is more for the sake of anticipation, which is a genius move from PTA.  In a way, he is already creating a dynamic between the characters, painting the problem early on in the process, before you even see the movie.  He's setting the stage for the arrival of Lancaster Dodd.
    A good writer, a good storyteller, knows how to set the stage.  In fact, I think that setting the stage is probably even more important than resolution.  In what way does the audience anticipate the arrival of a character?  How is the character to be perceived immediately?  It's almost like meeting a relative or close friend's fiance for the first time.  Your reputation precedes you.  Now I'm judging you.  Good luck.
     As a writer PTA has taken direct inspiration from the era prior to the understanding of PTSD in the aftermath of WWII.  As a filmmaker, he has already created a dynamic between the two most important characters in the film.  What I felt the teaser did extremely well was create the conditions necessary for a character like Lancaster Dodd to become the hero.  A man creating his own religion can appear wrong in so many different ways.  As a writer, you have to ask yourself, how do I get the audience to care for him?
     I think the film already answers that question for me.  Sutton is obviously a derelict sailor, caught up in the remains of WWII.  Lancaster Dodd is his Savior.  He is there to help him.  And in a way, the way I see the character dynamic so far, Sutton is there to help Dodd as well.  Sutton will give Dodd a purpose and proof for his religious creation.  Dodd will try to help Sutton assimilate back into society.
     I'm obviously just speculating, but I've seen this story before.  I would like to make the point that  PTA is an extroadinary filmmaker not because of the subject matter he chooses or even the stories he tells, but the level of execution of his films and his ability to entertain.  In a way, the fact that this movie has been called 'the scientology film' comes off as more of a selling point than anything else.
     I've heard there are shots in this movie that come off like 'The Shining."  I'm certain that there wil be elements of horror in the film, and I'm certain it'll be a crazy intense movie.  Can't wait to see it.

The Horrible, No-Good Realization of Your Pathetic Self

Boogie Nights
     I watched Boogie Nights recently for the second time.  I saw the fim a little over a year ago, and I can say it's changed for me.  I guess I didn't appreciate the details and finesse of the storytelling when I first watched it.  This time around I really wanted to focus on extraneous storytelling elements, such as color, light, camera work,  composition, character design, etc, but found again that the story was too compelling to care for other details.  
     Paul Thomas Anderson is a writer.  He can set the stage.  Boogie Nights is a play.  The actors are shouting at the top of their lungs, their range of expression and movement is larger than life.  Why?  Because that's the story being told.  It's larger than life.  
     A movie about the porn industry in the 70's should be visually interesting, colorful, expressive, and fun.  Boogie Nights is all that.  The first hour and a half of the movie is different, but not disconnected from the last hour of the film.  We see the character of Dirk Diggler succumb to the hubris and pleasure of accolades and praise.  We see him lose control.  
    I feel the best writers understand that at its most fundamental level, storytelling is about creating a character with a strong inner need or desire for something.  Every other detail is a symptom of this need, and the story paints this problem in color, and brings it to light.  These people are pornographers, sluts, whores, not actors, nor could they possibly function in society.  They are seen as druggies, infectous, grotesque human beings, who disrespect and exploit woman.
     Paul Thomas Anderson knew where the story was heading the whole time.  Echoes of the falls ahead were heard in rumblings from characters early on in the film; the inevitability of the porn industry moving to the home video format, the constant druge use, etc.   As an audience member you're having too much fun laughing at the misadventures of the lead characters to worry too much. However, it all comes crashing down in the end.
     Quentin Tarantino thinks of Boogie Nights as Paul Thomas Anderson's masterpiece.  He sights the films playfullness and exhuberance as reasons why.  It certainly has all that, but as far this film being a masterpiece, I would disagree.  There's definitely an energy about the film.  It's conveyed in everything; the constantly moving camera, the color, the acting, the dialogue, and the overall detail of the film.  This is Anderson's second film, and he certainly delivered.  However, I felt there were moments that could have been a little tighter, a little more finessed.  He earns that ability because the film is so vast in energy and emotion.  I don't think PTA did as well at painting the problem for Diggler as well as other leads in his other movies.   Anderson does sight the scene with Diggler and his mother as one moment he should have pushed a little more.  I agree.  The magnitude of the disconnect could have been greater for Diggler, if the diagnosis of the problem had a little more importance. 
   But let's get it straight.  This is still one of my favorite movies.

Martin Scorsese Interview

Check this kind-o'-corny interview with Martin Scorsese.  Love 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B21xaf1zIU&feature=g-vrec

Weekly Link Dump

Here's a few links that are worthy material to waste your time with.  That's assumming you do of course have the time.

     Cinematographer Style-Movie about cinematography with interviews from the industry's best

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJm2EGNIod0&feature=b-vrec

     Paul Thomas Anderson's 'The Master' film stills

http://cigsandredvines.blogspot.com/2012/05/exclusive-65mm-filmstrip-reveals-first.html

     Jeff Nichols ('Take Shelter''Shotgun Stories') Interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAyZ-ivHcGQ

     2012 Cannes preview

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-film-festival-unveils-competition-lineup-2012-wes-anderson-david-cronenberg-us-presence-313859

Criterion Cast

Check out this blog for real good info on new criterion releases as well as some extras.
     http://blog.criterioncast.com/