Pick & Mix: Bugs

This is Pick & Mix, In which we ignore the distinctions between feature, short, promo, commercial, viral, art film and more, in order to focus on the moving image; this column is a weekly, in-depth presentation of works which, in some cases, you may not have seen and which, in other cases, you may have watched, but not from our perspective. 

What’s Opera Doc
Chuck Jones (1957)

When was the last time you saw Mickey Mouse? The odds are, it hasn’t been long – on a mug, a t-shirt, a bus, plastered to the cover of a DVD or video game. Like the Golden Arches of McDonald’s, the three dark, overlapping circles which constitute that rodent are one of the most recognisable symbols in the world. But when was the last time you saw Mickey in a cartoon? I, personally, can’t remember. But I guarantee you that when I did, I didn’t laugh. The Mick’s not fun. He’s a pompous, moralising older brother, with a high, whooping, teeth-grating voice.

Try his long-time rival, Bugs Bunny, instead. Bugs eked out an existence in the suburbs of the Warner Brothers cartoon catalogue, in the late 1930s. He launched himself from rabbit holes to outwit an increasingly irritated Porky Pig, and played victim to a couple of cartoon dogs. Then, as the Second World War edged nearer, Bugs’s star rose into the firmament of cultural popularity, where it remained for several decades. He evolved into a kind of cross-dressing Groucho Marx character, a trickster with a cultural root as deep as the woodland creatures that piss around in the margins of medieval manuscripts. His greatest moment – the single moment that you should investigate, if you’re a rabbit virgin – is What’s Opera Doc?

Swap Errol Flynn for Elvis Presley – having been around since 1938, by 1957 the Bugs formula was getting a little tired: Elmer shows up, disturbs Bugs’s peace by announcing that it’s ‘wabbit huntin’ season’, and Bugs tries to get along with him until he’s pushed too far. He announces that ‘of course ya know, this means war’, and the two duke it out for the next five minutes.

Changes to the formula weren’t new – the early 50’s saw the production of Duck Amuck and The Rabbit of Seville – which are both worth checking out, if What’s Opera Doc? whets your appetite. But the latter movie is the place to start. In it, Chuck Jones – a long time Bugs director – takes the pathos and the pomposity of Wagner’s entire oeuvre and packs it into seven minutes in which we see Bugs and Elmer fight, marry, kiss, fight again and, ultimately, come to blows in a conflict in which Elmer is – for once – the victor. I dare you to not shed a tear.

As parody, the cartoon is impressive enough. It inhabits a pseudo Germanic world – a theatre set come to life. Its art style is a surreal combination of angular castles and gravity defying trees and shrubs, presided over by an art-deco rainstorm that shoots down heavily-designed lightening; the characters themselves are quickly swept up into operatic stereotypes that can’t help but propel them towards a tragic end.

Toy Story 3 aside, there aren’t many cartoons that can effectively comment on the nature of fate and pre-determination, before making you cry. Ahead of Akira, Pixar and Studio Ghibli, What’s Opera Doc? makes a legitimate case for cartoons as a serious art form, a medium that can move beyond generic conventions into truly mature, engaging entertainment.

This was written by Fred Rowson, a freelance filmmaker and music video director. You should check out his work by visiting www.fredrowson.com

And Now For Something (Absolutely Anything)

At 11.35pm on Thursday the 26th of January 2012 (A.D.), I read that Monty Python were reforming to do another film. Like millions of other Python fans, I wet myself.

For anyone who is unfamiliar with Monty Python, they are a comedy group from the’ 60s and ’70s, the majority (bar Palin and Jones who met at Oxford) hail from Cambridge University’s infamous Footlights Dramatics Club; their influences vary from Spike Milligan to Peter Cook, and they specialise in surreal humour pronounced by bizarre animatation courtesy of the legend Terry Gilliam. Their films have been banned in certain states of America, caused outrage in religious campaigners and succeeded in being so unlike any other style of comedy that they unintentionally coined the term ‘Pythonesque’, that is now in the Oxford English Dictionary, described as “Deoniting or resembling the absurdist or surrealist humour or style of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, a British Television series (1969-74)”.

What ‘Pythonesque’ describes is why I, and I’m sure many others, are so excited by the news. There was nothing like them then and there has been nothing like them since. We want them to stay the same, exactly as different to everything else as they always were – just a bit older and with one of the members, Graham Chapman, sadly now deceased (which apparently hasn’t stopped him from starring in a film of his own).

In keeping with their three previous films, Absolutely Anything is directed by Terry Jones. It’s plot revolves around a group of aliens, who grant an unwitting Englishman absolute power and watch the havoc he wreacks.

‘Alright ..’ I thought. ‘This could be good, as long as it doesn’t have any CGI’.

The film will be part live action and part CGI.

It’s different.

Though Gilliam hasn’t been mentioned in regards to the animation side of the project, Producer Chris Chesser promises “Pythonesque, Gilliamesque effects”.

“-Esque” could be the thing to watch out for here.

In Absolutely Anything the Python members will be donating their voices to slightly characterised aliens and Robin Williams has been confirmed as a dog, potentially a jack russel and also possibly a character named ‘The Frenchman’.

So far, so odd, so good.

The details as to how this all came about (after a 16 year absence) remain sketchy “I just like having friends around” Jones quips truthfully, but he also promises that “It’s turned in to a very funny film!” And when quizzed as to whether it has any subliminal messages in regards to the current British Government or the upcoming US presidential elections Jones reinforced the point “I hope not. But maybe, I just wanted to make a funny film”.

Good for you Jones, I like your style.

And so, it is here that I lay down my prejudice against CGI, I smother the whispers of doubt in my mind and I await with breath that is baited; trusting these dons of comedy to do a bloody funny job; because when have they ever done anything else?

Oh,  and that’s not really a question. It’s one of them rhetorical thingies.

This was written by Jade Fitton. You can read more of her words by visiting her handsome blog: http://thisisfitton.wordpress.com/

What is Gorilla Film Magazine?

So what exactly is Gorilla Film Magazine? Well we’re certainly not just one thing, that would be ridiculous. In addition to this blog there’s obviously a rather awesome website, where we review both feature films and shorts, and archive a lot of films we like, so you can watch them straight from our site. We also have a fair bit of film theory, news about upcoming film-related events, as well as interviews with interesting filmmakers. Incidentally, as we’re all young, hip and cool, we’ve got our very own Facebook page, managed by this guy, and a Tw*tter account to keep you in the loop. It’s totally rad. People still say rad, right?

Of course primarily we’re a magazine, which means there are 64 page, full colour copies of Gorilla Film Magazine floating around London. Issues 1 and 2 have already been printed, and are full of sexy content you won’t find on the site. We have interviews with people like Elliot Grove, Oscar Sharp and Jack Garfein, a ton of stuff on the independent film world, tips on practical filmmaking including guides on how to write scripts and identifying stories and characters. We even have our very own ‘top five’ lists, and if you want an example of how we handle such an overused formula, check out our Top Five Alternatives to Summer Blockbusters on the website.

Gorilla Film Magazine wants to raise awareness for films and projects you might not otherwise have heard of, and talk about film in an interesting way without getting bogged down by too much pretentious waffle. There’s plenty of tips for aspiring filmmakers, as well as some down to earth theoritical stuff, including a continuing essay about movie monsters.

If you want to grab yourself a copy, you can buy them online. They’re about four pounds, depending on where you are, and we’ll use the money to buy alcohol print more copies.

We don’t just make magazines, blogs and websites though, we’re not lazy, we also spend a good deal of time hosting or co-hosting events around London. We’ve had film nights, we did a Treasure Hunt for the East End Film Festival, a 46 Hour Film Competition and entertained the Student Film Festival with our spin-the-wheel premise-making game. We’ll keep you informed about our next event, hopefully we’ll get to do a lot more film nights soon.

Finally, an important part of Gorilla Film Magazine is the community, we like the idea that anyone can get in touch with an idea for an article, or a film they want to send us. If you’d like to get involved in any way, send us an email to content@gorillafilmmagazine.com. We welcome all contributions, and if we like you we’ll happily promote your work.

So that’s us, Gorilla Film Magazine. Issue 3 will be coming online very soon, as a kind of celebration of our new and improved website, so stay tuned for that. If you have any further questions I believe the video below should make everything clear. Have a wonderful day.

The Goon gets CG Animated Adaptation

Making it’s debut in the late nineties, The Goon is a comic book series that follows the adventures of a hulking, muscular brawler who pretends to be an enforcer for the mobster he killed. Eric Powell is both writer and artist, The Goon being very much his baby, and is currently involved in bringing the comic to the big screen. While I’ve had more than enough of comic book movie adaptations, The Goon promises to be something quite different. Powell will be writing the story, while David Fincher produces and Clancy Brown and Paul Giamatti provide the voices. The film is CG animated, but retains a distinctly comic-book feel, down to the ‘blunked out’ eyes of Franky, a traditional flare found in many great newspaper comic strip characters, such as Little Orphan Annie.

The Goon looks to be a highly enjoyable animated movie, with an old school feel and an adult sense of humour. And I for one am very much looking forward to the big screen adaptation about two gangsters trying to make their way in the world. Oh, and they also have to deal with the zombies, vampires, witches, evil priests, demons, tentacle monsters and hobos that have infested their city.

The Goon is still in development, and there’s no word on a release date or even a plot. However there are a few trailers and clips, presumably test footage to get investors interested in the project. For more infomation, and updates, check out The Goon’s website by clicking on this link.

Check out the hilarious clip below!

An Animated Debate: Stephen Fry vs Ann Widdecombe

Featured on the Intelligence Squared website, this amusing animation is clearly designed to make the famous Stephen Fry/Ann Widdecombe debate accessible to those usually unwilling to give this sort of thing a try. The debate is formed around a simple/unimaginably complicated topic: The Catholic Church is a force for good in the world. Aaandd Discuss.

They’ve got their debating hats on

Ann Widdecombe very much thinks that the Catholic Church is a force for good, while Stephen Fry respectively disagrees, and Christopher Hitchens snorts derisively in the background- his argument is left out of this particular animation, but you can see what he has to say (and find links to the debate in it’s entirety) by clicking here. Acid tongued Christopher Hitchens is obviously very passionate about dismantling religion in all it’s hierarchical forms, but it’s very interesting indeed to see Stephen Fry’s take on the whole thing. While Ann Widdecombe manages to say a lot without saying very much, Stephen Fry skilfully crafts his argument, in a clear and simple manner, stating exactly what it is that he thinks is wrong with the Church, and questioning the so called moral values of religion.

It has to be said that this particular animation is very, very one sided, and gives Fry the last word on the matter (in a wonderfully final exclamation). However, Gorilla Film Magazine can hardly begrudge someone for being bias, given our own content, that would not only be churlish but downright hypocritical, and besides Stephen Fry speaks with such elegance and grace. If God truly does hate fags, as seems to be the case, then I don’t care whether he exists or not, I’m with Stephen.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

The Pirates! Band of Misfits is an upcoming stop-motion film produced by everyone’s favourite stop-motion studio people Aardman Animations. The film stars Hugh Grant as ‘the Pirate Captain’ and is based on the superiorly titled book The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists. The film is directed by Peter Lord and Jeff Newitt, and is distributed by Pathé, just like Chicken Run was.

The plot: Pirate Captain (Grant) sets out on a mission to defeat his rivals, Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek),for the Pirate of the year Award. The quest takes the Captain and his crew from the shores of exotic Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London.

There’s not much to say about The Pirates! Band of Misfits at the moment, other than it looks bloody good. Watch the trailer.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits will be released on the 30th of March 2012

Studio Ghibli’s adaptation of The Borrowers

From Castle in the Sky to Ponyo, the films of the animation studio Ghibli rival the groundbreaking work of Disney, and in terms of beauty, meaning and depth, easily surpasses them. Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata in particular have directed truly stunning feature animations, films that perfectly capture the innocence and wonder of childhood, without belittling or patronising it’s audience. 2001’s Spirited Away, perhaps Ghibli’s most famous film, became the second highest grossing film in Japanese history and was presented to a western audience under the supervision of John Lasseter, a huge Ghibli fan.

An example of Ghiblis’ passion and honour can be found in their strict ‘no cuts’ policy when their films are translated for other countries. This has been enforced ever since an Americanized version of Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, which butchered the original story in order to sell tickets to a more mainstream audience. When Harvey Weinstein suggested editing Princess Mononoke to make it more marketable, a Ghibli producer sent him an authentic katana and a message: “no cuts”.

It is fortunate indeed that we have such a beautiful and inventive alternative to western animations, with stories that are so rich in the mythology of Japan that they truly transport us to another world, in which everything is different and nothing is what you’d expect. The prejudices we may have about traditional storytelling fade away when presented with unrecognizable fairy tales from another world, full of genuine mystery and magic.

The Studio’s latest film is Arrietty, a retelling of Mary Norton’s charming tale of The Borrowers, and the directorial debut of Ghibli animator Hiromasa Yonebayashi. The Borrowers, as we all know, tells the story of a family of little people who live under the floorboards and borrow (steal) their possessions from the clueless humans. Apart from the books, there was also a wonderful television series starring Ian Holm and Penelope Wilton, as well as a horrible film starring Jim Broadbent and John Goodman.

The charming little tale of The Borrowers is perfect material for a Ghibli adaptation, just check out the trailer below to see how perfectly the classic story and the unique style of Studio Ghibli blend together.

Studio Ghibli currently have three films in the pipeline; Kokurikozaka Kara, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter and Porco Rosso 2: The Last Sortie.

Arrietty will be released in the UK on the 26^th of August.

Graham Chapman, DEAD, In 3D

I had no idea until recently that Graham Chapman is in fact dead” said Terry Jones placidly “I thought he was just being lazy. However, I am now delighted to find myself working with him again on this exciting project!”

Tucked away in an unassuming warehouse, a large group of animators are listening intently to David Sherlock, the wife of Brian, giving a heartfelt speech about the enigma that was Graham Chapman. Gorilla Film Magazine is perched at the back, desperately trying to balance on a rickety bench, that could fall and smash our legs to sawdust at any moment. This uncertainty adds to the excitement, as Justin Weyers, the co-founder of MV studios, which is heavily involved in the upcoming Monty Python film, talks the animators through the script, occasionally gesturing to a slideshow depicting various animations in the early stages of development. Thirteen groups of animators are coming together to portray the sometimes true story of Graham Chapman’s life.

“That is an interesting story to tell” declares Justin happily “and we are going to do it with the other members of Monty Python, 15 animation companies, a couple of composers, guest stars and also a few monkeys. Not only this but we are also jumping on the bandwagon to create it in stunning stereoscopic 3D, so Graham will really be face to face with you.”

But wait… isn’t he dead?

“Well, technically yes, but Graham Chapman wrote a book called The Liar’s Autobiography, published in 1980, and then in 1981 he recorded himself reading it in a single night, in Harry Nilsson’s studio, at a time when audiobook recordings were not yet commonplace. These tapes have been pulled apart and put back together with re-recordings to turn this book into a colourful feature film. This was done by the three main directors Bill Jones, Ben Timlett and Jeff Simpson, who have been hard at work writing and re-writing the script for 4 months.”

Meet the team: the animator’s who will help tell Graham Chapman’s story.

Justin Weyers and Alex Tovey founded Made Visual Studios, they were tasked with the difficult job of bringing an animated Graham Chapman back from the dead (although not really, of course). The idea is that the 15 animation companies will each do a section of the film, and learn how to bring their work kicking and screaming into the modern world with Stereoscopic 3D. It’s Justin’s job to manage them.

“Stereoscopic 3D has been taking over in the last couple of years, and going to the cinema and seeing something without glasses feels weird to me at the moment. The only way to start any project is research followed by research, so after going back to Avatar and then watching every 3D film that has been coming out from Pixar’s Up to the story of the choreographer Pina Bausch titled Pina, which was amazing stereo work, and even Justin Biber’s Never Say Never, which was a couple of hours I have lost forever.”

An important part of 3D is wearing silly glasses and smoking a pipe.

For more detailed information visit the Gorilla Film Magazine website, and you should also check out the Project Chapman 3D blog.

“We’ve been working closely with the Chapman estate and the Pythons to make sure we get this exactly right” said co-director Jeff Simpson “Graham would be delighted that his work is being re-imagined in glorious 3D. He always did like wearing silly glasses.”

Pixar’s Brave

Nobody seems particularly excited by the idea of a sequel to Cars, which many people believe to be Pixar’s weakest film. Personally I like Cars, or at least I like the philosophy behind Cars, despite the fact that cars themselves, that is to say the big metal things people drive around in, bore me rigid. The Buddhist-for-kids message of the film struck a chord with me, and I personally found the ending rather satisfying. However I, like so many, have no interest in Cars 2, primarily because the first one seemed to have a very definite ending, and the film certainly doesn’t have the franchise potential of Toy Story.

Julie Walters plays a Wise Woman in Brave.

So why exactly is there a Cars 2? Well the sequel actually seems inevitable when you remember that Disney made over five billion dollars off of the Cars merchandise, far more than the DVD sales of the film. As a matter of fact Up, the story of a grumpy old man’s coming of age, caused Pixar’s stock to go down before it’s release, as investors didn’t understand the point of a children’s film that didn’t have an abundance of marketable merchandise.

All is not lost however, sure Pixar have plans for a couple more sequels, not least Monsters University, but that’s not to say they aren’t still making highly imaginative and original children’s films. Brave is scheduled for a June release in 2012 and looks to be as wonderfully refreshing as Up was.

The synopsis of the film goes like this:

Brave is set in the mystical Scottish Highlands, where Merida is the princess of a kingdom ruled by King Fergus and Queen Elinor. An unruly daughter and an accomplished archer, Merida one day defies a sacred custom of the land and inadvertently brings turmoil to the kingdom. In an attempt to set things right, Merida seeks out an eccentric old Wise Woman and is granted an ill-fated wish. Also figuring into Merida’s quest — and serving as comic relief — are the kingdom’s three lords: the enormous Lord MacGuffin, the surly Lord Macintosh, and the disagreeable Lord Dingwall.

The role of Merida will be played by the wonderful Kelly Macdonald, while other characters will be played by the likes of Billy Conolly, Julia Walters, Emma Thompson and Robbie Coltrane, so a very fine cast indeed.

Brave is the first Pixar film to be based on fairy tale lore, and it certainly seems to be embracing that identity wholeheartedly. It’s also the first Pixar film to have a female in the lead role, and promises to be a bit darker, and more intense, than previous titles the animation studio has produced. Given that Pixar has managed to be very dark indeed, the end of Toy Story 3, for example, started to resemble the work of Hieronymus Bosch, I’m very much looking forward to Brave, and wonder if the title of this movie doesn’t represent the studio’s ethos when it comes to making children’s films.

It’s always been my belief that Pixar have generally continued the tradition of classic children’s stories that treat children with respect, and encourage them to keep up, unlike more reductive films that think that children are stupid. Pixar has rarely stumbled, and when they do I think they have to be forgiven, considering the sheer volume of beautiful and inspiring work they’ve made, which continues to push the boundaries of children’s animation.

Semantics for the Deranged

Peter Millard is a director and animator from Great Malvern (Worcestershire) in England and is currently studying an MA in animation at the Royal College of Art in London.

His first film Bluuuurgh was part of the travelling Spike & Mike’s Sick & Twisted Show where it was played in cinemas across America including Comic Con in San Diego. His graduation film Custard has been screened at various different screenings and short film evenings across London and Bristol and has been in competition at animation and short film festivals in the UK and Europe. Gorilla Film Magazine reviewed Custard in Issue 2, here’s an excerpt:

‘Custard is semantics for the deranged, a blur of strange images and misplaced sounds that form a narrative of nonsense. The childish scribbles zoom and whiz all over the screen, confident and purposeful, only occasionally pausing to observe one another with ponderous expressions, as if these characters acknowledge the chaotic nature of the animation, if only for a brief moment.’

Peter Millard has kindly made a little promotional video for us, to help spread the word, I think it sums us up rather nicely.

You can find out more about Peter Millard by clicking on this link.