Bad Cartoons

In chapter 14 of Illusion Of Life, it is said that "A good story cannot be ruined by poor animation, but neither can a poor story be saved by the very best animation". I wanted to find examples of each and see how much this statement holds up.

For a good story with poor animation, let us consider the Soviet version of Winnie the Pooh.

I must be clear, I am not saying that "Winnie Pooh" is an outright bad animation. The way the characters move is delightful, the issue of the animation is that, rather than going for the look of an airbrushed story book, like Disney's version, they went with the look of a child's drawings. Because of this, the camera movements seem like a cheap way to fill space, rather than an interesting shift in image. By not trying to emulate the multi-plane camera, they sold their abilities short, but did not harm the story. The story is still just as interesting as Disney's Pooh, so long as we hold our attention during some of the less interesting animation spots.

For a poor story with good animation, let us consider... It actually pains me to do this, because it's still one of my favorite films, but Disney's Dinosaur.

So, the story of Disney's Dinosaur is that they took the same basic dinosaur migration story of the smash hit Land Before Time, and ruined it. In Land Before Time, we want the dinosaurs to survive so that they can see their families again. In Dinosaur, we want them to survive... so they can die later? These are dinosaurs. We know they all die, and if the meteors have started coming and extinction is already started, then watching them struggle for 2 hours to live another month is less a plot of a family movie and more of a Dinosaur hospice. There's no winners in this movie, even if the dinosaurs survive, except maybe the monkeys, who get to evolve into humans and warn their descendants that even though it's one of the most visually stunning films ever, it's really not worth watching more than once for the plot.

The Cutest Common Denominator

Big Hero 6 was, in the 90s, a comic book about some former X-Men members teaming with some new heroes to fight crime in Japan. The plots were as complicated as anything else that came out of that era of comic books, and the bigger tie-ins to the Marvel universe are not exactly super family friendly. Silver Samurai, one of the original team members from the comic, was, at one point, a Daredevil villain. Daredevil being one of Marvel's most violent comics, this would not be a good association for a children's movie.

So, when the time came for Disney and Marvel to make the film version of Big Hero 6, what did they do? They cut all reference to the X-Men, partially for legal reasons with Fox's X-Men series, but still to the benefit of the lowest common denominator. Then they changed the characters of Hiro and Baymax.

In the comic, Hiro built Baymax himself, then, somehow, Baymax's internal memory absorbed the brain of Hiro's dead father. Baymax was built to be a shapeshifter, allowing him to transform, Gundam style, into a few forms, from humanoid male to dragon monster.

In the film? Well, the comic was a little thick for most people, so they made it simpler. Baymax was the invention of Hiro's genius brother, and didn't have any hard-to-understand shapeshifting abilities, but rather had a suit of armor.

But the connection to Hiro's brother gives the film a lot more heart than the comic. Hiro has to deal with his brother's death, and deal with Baymax as an extension of his brother. Having Baymax absorb his father's brain allows Hiro to see death undone. Growing to deal with his brother's memory is a much more heart-warming experience for the audience, to the point where the dumbed down mass appeal film is unarguably a better story than the comic.

Cultural Events: becoming: Hillary Erin Russell at Gallery 924.

On April 3rd, in Indianapolis, Indiana, I attended the opening of the very first solo art show of Hillary Erin Russell, "becoming". I've been following Hillary's art for about eight years, since she was first starting out as a Photography major at Shepherd. Her art (or HER's art, if you like funny acronyms) covers many of the walls of my house. Hillary, incidentally, is my sister.

Her art deals with pornography, and how it's images can relate to her own feelings, as well as her own personal stories. One of the most striking pieces is a folding table we had bought for her on clearance at Target. In it, she has carved the names of every girl she had a crush on, growing up in the closet in West Virginia. Her art touches a lot on her experience as a lesbian, and it happened that her show was scheduled for the weekend after that law was passed in Indiana allowing for discrimination against gay people by local businesses.

I think that her art was the perfect amount of provocative at the perfect time to really  effect culture. She was featured in several local publications, including Indianapolis's biggest gay newsletter. Her opening was packed, and it seemed to garner a really positive response. I think that going out and exhibiting art that deals with lesbian issues, in one piece she used photos from OKCupid and gold-star stickers to obscure faces of the women she met, is very important to create understanding of the struggle of lesbians.

Cultural Events - Natural History Museum

On March 14th, I also visited the Natural History Museum on the DC mall. The main reason for attending this museum was the current exhibit on Indian-American culture, showcasing the struggle of Indian immigrants to be successful in America. Featured was a large wall of famous Indian Americans, including M Night Shyamalan, and Mindy Kaling. At the end of the wall was a sign that said "email us if we missed any Indian American trailblazers". I noted to my girlfriend that Aziz Ansari was conspicuously absent from the wall. She pointed out that it was a wall of Indian American firsts, and we couldn't think of anything he was the first to do.

The exhibit also showed many cultural artifacts and religious symbols, as well as contemporary Indian American art. I thought it was very important to see art so closely linked to another culture, but still coming out of an American locale. The culture of Bollywood and of Indian Americans was on show, and as weird as it is that they placed it in the Natural History Museum, particularly with the American History Museum half empty, it was a great show of culture.

Cultural Events: American History Museum

On March 14th, I was in Washington, DC on the mall. I went, with high hopes and childhood memories, to the American History Museum. My hopes were satisfied, my memories were less so. Many of the long-standing exhibits, including the ones that covered the history of television and film, from Seinfeld's puffy shirt and Dorothy's red slippers to Oscar the Grouch's trash can, were under construction, and in their stead was a much smaller version of the same exhibit, lumping cultural artifacts from the colonial era just 20 feet away from Tony Hawk's skateboard and an old Apple II.

Regardless, the cultural importance of the items on display was great. There was a large exhibit about wartime America, which helped to connect me to the time of my grandmother's youth, as well as an exhibit on food culture in america, covering everything from the first drive-thrus to Julia Child's kitchen, remade in the museum's space. There was a large exhiibit on Edison's light bulbs, and on the invention of the Internal Combustion Engine, prompting me to give my girlfriend a long-winded explanation of why we need internal combustion engines powered by hydrogen, and how global  warming wouldn't have happened if the Hindenburg never crashed...

Being in this muesum made me feel like the "American" identifier meant a little more than I'd previously felt. It was also pretty funny to see the exhibit on First Ladies, clearly written before the 2008 election, juxtapose the question "Who will be the First Lady to the first female president?" next to a photo of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Cultural Events - Quilt Exhibit at Scarborough Library

On March 11th, I went into the Scarborough Library to see what the "Quilt Exhibit" that had been run on our calendars all semester was. I was surprised to find, after looking at all the quilts, that they were all made by the same woman, Phyllis Nichols Rowe, when I picked up the program. I was also confused by the date listed on the program indicating that the event should have ended months ago, but that's alright.

I never understood quilts. I've been perpetually confused by what the meeting point between art and blanket is, and why anyone ever thought to make such a thing anyway, but then I remembered that I own 4 different zebra-print blankets, and figured that's probably weird to someone who likes their blankets in basic beige. Quilts, I suppose, must be a fashion, but one that comes from a cultural background that I don't really understand. I respect, however, the artistry and effort that goes into a quilt. I don't think I would be able to machine-sew a quilt, much less hand-sew and embroider a story into each panel.

So I suppose the great value in this exhibit is helping to explain the artistry and  culture behind quilting to people like me who are completely ignorant of the form.

Cultural Events - March 7th - Laurel Art Guild 46th Annual Juried Open Exhibition

On March 7th, I attended the opening of the Laurel Art Guild 46th Annual Juried Open Exhibition at the Montpelier Arts Center in Laurel, Maryland. The program celebrated local artists in the Prince George’s County and Montgomery County area. Many great works of art were on display, primarily photographs, paintings, and drawings, alongside a small handful of digital art and mixed media. The event was attended by most of the artists featured. It was interesting to see so many people able to walk up to the artists and ask questions.

I felt this event was culturally important because local art events show the world that the gallery is not a place of elitism. Anyone can be a great artist and have a chance, and open events such as this one show that off in a beautiful way. There was no notion of superiority at this event. The curator walked the room the same way that the attending audience did, the same way that the artists did. A small handful of children were playing in the hall, and rather than scream or get upset, as one might expect from an art gallery curator, he was entirely gracious and forgiving, understanding that contemporary art is not always a child’s greatest interest.

I think that the world of art as a place of acceptance, rather than elitism, is what makes an event like this truly special and important. I hope that future art events I visit have a similar attitude.