October viewing...

I keep a list of spooky, autumnal films I love to watch in October. As a Halloween baby, this is my favorite time of year. To mark the season, here's a list of 13 favorites:

The Exorcist (1973)...

It's scary, and disturbing, and even sad, but there are also beautifully shot scenes of Autumn in New York and DC.

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)...

This movie has one of my favorite trick-or-treating scenes of all time. Margaret O'Brien trying to be the 'most horrible' feels the way Halloween did for me when I was very little.

Over the Garden Wall (2013)...

Like most of my favorite Halloween things, Over the Garden Wall is spooky, beautiful, and a little bit heartbreaking. It has its roots in classics of early animation, as well as 19th century folk music.

Christmas Oddities

As much as I like watching traditional Christmas movies, sometimes I'm in the mood for something a little weirder. Presented for your viewing pleasure, one of my favorite unusual holiday offerings:

The BAFTA and Oscar winning Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life (1993) is a strange little mashup of Kafka's Metamorphosis and Frank Capra's holiday classic. Directed by Peter Capaldi (the current Doctor Who), starring Richard E. Grant, and costumed by Monty Python contributor Hazel Pethig, it makes for darkly funny December viewing.

In honor of March Hares...

The very first film adaptation of Lewis Carrol's Alice, filmed in 1903. From the British Film Institute:

"Made just 37 years after Lewis Carroll wrote his novel and eight years after the birth of cinema, the adaptation was directed by Cecil Hepworth and Percy Stow, and was based on Sir John Tenniel's original illustrations. Hepworth cast his wife as the Red Queen, and he himself appears as the Frog Footman. Even the Cheshire cat is played by a family pet.

With a running time of just 12 minutes (8 of which survive), Alice in Wonderland was the longest film produced in England at that time. Film archivists have been able to restore the film's original colours for the first time in over 100 years."

Spooky Shorts for Halloween

To help get in the mood for the haunting season, here are some of my favorite spooky shorts. Enjoy!

First, Tim Burton's brilliant stop-motion film Vincent (1982), made while he was an animator with Disney, and his original (and in my opinion superior) live-action version of Frankenweenie from 1984:




Next, the musical puppet short Graveyard Jamboree with Mysterious Mose (1999) by the wildly talented Screen Novelties:




This Oscar nominated short, The Sandman (1991) by Paul Berry, an animator for Cosgrove Hall and later The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, was based on a tale by E.T.A. Hoffman:




The nightmarish short The Cat With Hands (2001) by Robert Morgan (for those interested, there's also an earlier animated pilot version):




Lastly, The Listening Dead (2006) by Phil Mucci. Check out the "making-of" video to see more on the scale model and puppet shots:



Happy haunting!

Jim Henson Shorts

Jim Henson would have turned 77 last week. On what would have been his birthday, the Henson Company released "Drums West," a recently discovered short animated film made by Jim in 1961. I love the brief footage at the end of Jim at his paper-covered work table in the midst of making the film. Here are more of my favorite Jim Henson film experiments:

"Time Piece"

Made in 1964-65, Jim wrote, directed and starred in this surreal 9 minute short which was nominated for an Academy Award.

"Idea Man"

An experimental short from 1966, animated and narrated by Jim Henson.

Test footage for The Dark Crystal:
Early tests for the Podling puppets.


Tests for a rock puppet made by Cheryl Henson in 1979.


Testing early Gelfling puppets, Mystics and other forest creatures at Jim Henson's home in New York, 1978.

Finally, one of my favorite shorts from Sesame Street, produced in 1970 by Jim Henson and directed by Frank Oz, who also built the amazing contraption:
Another version with an alternate ending is here.

West of the Moon

West of the Moon, a truly lovely short film by Brent Bonacorso, based on the book El Monstruo de Colores No Tiene Boca by Roger Omar, an illustrated collection of interviews with hundreds of children about their dreams. You may read more about Omar's project here.

West of the Moon from Brent Bonacorso. Watching in full screen is recommended!

The Enchanted Forest

I had strange dreams last night and woke up thinking of the (now derelict) Enchanted Forest amusement park near Baltimore, Maryland. The Enchanted Forest was an independent fairy tale themed park which opened in the 50s, around the same time as Disneyland. By the 80s it was a picturesque mashup of nursery rhymes, fairy tales, and stories of Robin Hood and the Arabian Nights. I spent many childhood summers in Maryland and visited the park several times with my grandparents and assorted aunts, uncles and cousins. I was young enough that everything seemed completely magical, and not at all awkward or handmade.


Here's a narrated video about the Enchanted Forest:



and some vintage home movies taken in the park:



The inimitable John Waters also shot part of Cry-Baby there around 1990:



Some of the buildings and attractions have been moved to a nearby farm and restored, and the rest of the park has sadly fallen into ruin.

Bathing Beauties

I grew up swimming competitively, and Esther Williams was one of the only female swimming stars on my radar. Since she passed away last week I've been re-watching one of my favorite Esther Williams homages, the fantastic dream sequence from The Great Muppet Caper:



Here's a montage of water scenes from Esther's films:



They're well worth watching, and great for beating the summer heat!

Bringing in the May

Monty Python celebrate the first of May, 1971.

Happy May Day to you!

October travels

I recently met up with my sister, who shares my predilection for things odd and uncanny, for a road trip to Philadelphia to watch the leaves change and visit some unusual museums.

Eastern State Penitentiary was built in 1829 and abandoned in 1971. Designed to enforce solitude and inspire penitence, it is now preserved in an eerie state of decay.

The space is much more affecting and evocative as a ruin than it would be restored and pristine. It is also said to be haunted.

Some of the cells hold pieces commissioned by local artists, such as an collection of entomological specimens by Greg Cowper and a beautiful stained glass series by Judith Schaechter entitled The Battle of Carnival and Lent.

I have been enamored of Schaechter's work since coming across an image of Jazz Funeral for Didi several years ago, and it was fantastic to see her windows in person.

After the penitentiary we walked down to the Mütter Museum at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, which houses a collection of medical and anatomical specimens. The Soap Lady (depicted here in a truly lovely sketch by John G. Mundie) and the death cast (and shared liver) of Chang and Eng are housed there, as well as Einstein's brain. Sadly, they do not allow photography. Currently on display is a small but interesting exhibition entitled "Grimms' Anatomy" pairing excerpts from Grimms' fairy tales and rare illustrated volumes with corresponding anatomical specimens.

Also on display is a room curated by the Brothers Quay, and an accompanying film, Through the Weeping Glass: On the Consolations of Life Everlasting (Limbos and Afterbreezes in the Mutter Museum). Not as striking as their collaboration with the Wellcome Collection in London (The Phantom Museum, available to watch here), but still worth seeing. NPR did a piece on their creation of the film, which can be heard here... possibly more interesting than the finished product.

All in all a satisfyingly odd and Autumnal October outing.


Happy Halloween!

Banned Books Week Turns 30

 

In honor of the 30th annual Banned Books Week, here are short films based on two of my favorite stories by two of my favorite banned authors.

All Summer in a Day (1982) is based on a short story by Ray Bradbury and aired as part of PBS's phenomenal (and sadly defunct) children's series 'Wonderworks':



...and The Lottery (1969), based on Shirley Jackson's story of the same name and adapted for Encyclopædia Britannica's 'Short Story Showcase':

Part One

Part Two


I recommend reading (or re-reading) both, or choose a favorite from the American Library Association's lists of frequently challenged books or the London Libraries' list of banned books. Happy reading!

through the wardrobe

Earlier this year I spent a couple of months with a crack team of artists and makers creating a new stage version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, held in a purpose-built tent theatre in London's Kensington Gardens. Led by the illustrious Max Humphries, we were tasked with building puppets for the production.



We had a very short time in which to create a small army of giants, centaurs, minotaurs, woodland creatures, dryads, beavers and lions.

Here are some of the dryad (tree spirit) masks in progress:

...and the dryads in action on stage:

These are the Beavers' gloves before the fur has been applied:

Don't they look a bit like pangolins?

Mr. and Mrs. Beaver (Paul Barnhill and Sophie Louise Dann) on stage wearing their furry beaver gloves:

Aslan the lion was our most important and most difficult creation. Several versions of Aslan were built before we constructed the final puppet. A few early attempts may may be seen here, along with early puppet versions of the beavers and yours truly in giant beaver feet:



The final version of Aslan was built in less that five days, literally with blood, sweat, tears and very, very little sleep. Here are views of our final Aslan under construction in the workshop:

This is what Easter looked like in Narnia:

...and why exhaustion and butane heat tools should not mix:

This video shows Aslan, operated beautifully by Jane Leaney, Christian From and Will Lucas, in action:



Finally, two views of the threesixty° Theatre tents in Kensington Gardens.

The show, designed by Tom Scutt and directed by Rupert Goold, ends its run on September 9th, so if you haven't seen it you still have a little bit of time to get tickets!

swept away

Nerd chic? Check. Nods to Esther Williams/Busby Berkeley style choreography? Check. Swedish all-girl choral covers of pop songs, folk ballads and a Kate Bush classic? Check.

Yep. There was never any way I wouldn't like The Sweptaways:

bottoms made out of springs

For the last two days trampolinists have been competing at the Olympics. One of my great uncles was a tumbler (a form of gymnastics) in the 1930s. Shortly after the modern trampoline was invented by George Nissen and Larry Griswold in 1936 my uncle became one of the world's first trampoline athletes. Tragically, he was killed in a trampoline accident while still at university.


The sport has come a long way since the 30s. Witness this amazing trampoline double act from 1950:


(the Schaller Brothers perform on Cavalcade of Stars)

If you're interested in the history of Olympic sports this clip of gymnasts performing in the 1936 Berlin Games is also striking:

a lifetime of Olympic summers

The first summer Olympics held in my lifetime were the 1980 Moscow Games. My parents, both American, lived in England in the late 1970s and traveled to the then USSR where they picked up souvenirs, not knowing then the United States would boycott the Games. As a child I had this poster of Mishka the Moscow Olympics mascot on my wall and a little Mishka pin to wear.

Mishka, designed in 1977 by the Russian children's book illustrator Victor Chizhikov, was the first ever Olympic mascot. Here's some footage of Mishka in action at the 1980 Olympic ceremonies:



I'm off to watch the opening ceremonies. Well done London!!

Blog of the living dead...

It lives!!

After a lengthy hiatus 'The Day After Tuesday' is back in the land of the living. Normal transmissions will resume shortly. Over and out.

Blue Christmas

Hello all. Bit of a blue Christmas here. I realized I've been avoiding all the things I miss because thinking about them makes me feel like something very large and heavy is sitting on my heart. It's a bit of a backwards way to manage, I suppose. I miss my little attic and so many things it's hard to count. To all the far away people I've been missing (you know who you are) I send very much love and a promise to not be so quiet. Happy Christmas!

puppets and knitting

Today some friends and I went to see a puppet version of The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me at the Little Angel Puppet Theatre. My friend Max helped build several bits of the set, and the audience was full of excited kids and happy adults. We had a great time; the performers seemed to be having a wonderful time, too. The Little Angel has been going for more than 50 years, but recently the Arts Council of England cut its funding. Earlier this month the British Theatre Guide published an article on the reasons (*cough* Olympics *cough*) and effects of this cut, which can be read here. Despite funding cuts and recent economic worries it's heartening to see a theatre manage to keep going through donations and fundraising.

In knitting news, today I was given a flier for my friend Fi's knitting festival, Unravel, which will be held in The Farnham Maltings in February. Fi is a fantastic knitter and designer, and I can't wait to see what she's put together. Today I also swung by Loop to pick up the right size circular needle so I can knit a hat with the yarn I bough in Maryland this summer:


The color makes me very happy!

To round out my puppetry/knitting day, I've been watching Wool 100%, a Japanese film about two elderly sisters who take in a feral, obsessively knitting girl. It features wild knitting, puppets, an accordion and a very fetching pair of silver Louise Brooks haircuts.

yes we have no bananas

I slipped on a banana peel on the sidewalk today. Who knew it happened in real life?


(the Terry Twins sing the Chiquita Banana song, 1940s)

I'm sure I've not mentioned it before, but I collect banana stickers from around the world. If anyone finds an interesting one and would be happy to send it along let me know!

Pirat

..a short Czech animation by Jan Bubeníček and Bretislav Pojar. I'm such a sucker for pirates. And puppet films. A pirate puppet film, ahhh...

Part one:


Part two:


Apologies for being quiet, but it's been so sunny and I've been up to my elbows in pulp and wire and epoxy.

(note: the videos seem to be down, but check out clips from Pirat here and here, and Jan Bubeníček's lovely director's reel here!)