Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Animated Cartoon Shorts massacred
I admit I'm no animation expert but this is just a piece of me.
Lately, Hollywood started creating movies that were once cartoon short subjects, the first of these horrible full length reincarnations that i saw was the movie The Grinch which was originally authored by Tedd Geisel or popularly known as Dr. Seuss, which he published in book form after the war. When he met animation director Charles "chuck" Jones sometime Jones tried asking Geisel to have the story translated into a cartoon short and after much convincing the author consented to the endeavor of translating the humble elephant's story into a cartoon subject which will be directed by Jones who was already a veteran in directing cartoons, specially animated shorts during his time at Warner's.
When The Grinch hit the theaters i was excited I immediately bought a ticket that early afternoon with high expectations and a sense of pride since I am a Dr. Seuss fan not just his words but also his art. The movie was funny I enjoyed the effects and i commend the efforts of the effects team for turning Jim Carrey and everything into a seussish world. I admit the flick was visually stunning but i think it lagged on the story department, sure, the kids and the casual seuss fan might be all starry eyed and stuff but for me it's another story. The script was lambasted, although the main plot of the story remain unchanged but I'm still not impressed. It was murder most foul to the Dr. Seuss stories and especially the most popular christmas character The Grinch. They were trying to extend this very short but whimsical script into a full length live action movie. Fine, fine the efforts are acknowledged but in my opinion it's not really applicable for it to be a full length bullshit. It's really frightening that a second helping was underway. Horton Hears A Who..again, in full length and the rape of the animated shorts is once again in full swing with more lousy script and storytelling..it's such a waste of good talent and resources.
Disney practically started everything they dazzled the world with their then brand new concept of animation with musical scoring through the cartoon short the skeleton dance, that's how Art Babbitt was inspired to be an animator. Then they had Silly Symphonies which was an artistic experimentation and also the bread and butter of the studio. Then Mickey Mouse was born which totally changed everything in the Disney studio. Enter Warner Brothers Animation unit. A fledgeling studio that was a Disney clone from head to foot. Everyone tried copying the mouse even warners wasn't an exception. Then a screwy rabbit came into the scene asking the famous question "What's up doc?" and animation will never be the same again. Warner's creation of Bugs Bunny was the start of the perfection of the cartoon short and sadly it ended with its decline. But with what Pixar is doing right now I hope with people like Brad Bird or John Lasseter will totally turn around not just the short animation subject but he whole animation industry as well.
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