[ASTRO] Re: Toons (just a little ASTRO-content)

[Michael Kepler <kepler@metro1.com>]

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On Thu, 20 Nov 1997, the mad prince of skills wrote:

<SNIP!>
> ....  Think about the few occasions
> where the voice actors changed on a character (toon or puppet) and how
> jarring a change it is.  The new Warner Bros. voices for the old characters
> can't hold a candle to Mel, and they don't have the same "believablility".
> When Ren's voice changed after they kicked John K. off Ren and Stimpy, it
> was impossible for me to think of it as Ren.  Kermit the Frog, Crow on
> MST3K, and so on...
> 
> Sometimes it works just fine, like Crow, but even then it's really not the
> same character.  Even when the writers stay substantially the same, the
> person saying the words has an incredible amount of influence.
>

As a MSTie I just want to note here that the Brains handled the Crow
actor change in a very good way.  In the first episode with the new
Crow they went out of their way to explain that Crow had spent alot
of time away from the others and had gone through alot of changes.

The new crow is a very different character, but a beleiveable development
from the original character.  The original Crow was essentially a
sarcastic but innocent child.  The new Crow is the same character, but
many years older, even more sarcastic and considerably less innocent.

I can't beleive I'm attempting an in-depth analysis of a character made
of tupperware and sports equipment.

<SNIP!>
> Now *here* is the essence of why many toons are superior to live action.
> You've already suspended disbelief that this blob of color is a "person",
> so it's that much easier to accept falling anvils, exploding planets, blue
> hair by Frank Lloyd Wright...  The only limitations are the creators's
> imaginations and not an astronomical effects budget.  Even with
> "super-realistic" computer graphics, a la Jurassic Park or what have you,
> viewers are just too sophisticated to be fooled easily.  CGI animals
> attacking real people doesn't come *close* to looking legit.  Toon animals
> attacking toon people is a lot easier to swallow.  They each have the same
> level of reality/unreality, so there's no incongruous aspect jarring you
> out of the illusion.  It's just easier to create a consistent world when
> you have the level of control over it that animators have, relatively
> cheaply.  Whether it's a surreal world like Wile E vs. the Roadrunner, or
> hyper-real like much anime, the viewer only has to make one leap of faith,
> and then he/she is along for the creators' ride.  It's up to the creators
> to make sure that ride is glorious.
> 
> 					---Bill
> 

I'm normally opposed to long inclusions in replies, but Bill's words are
brilliant enough for everyone to read again.

The first pure claymation feature was a short called "Closed Mondays" by
the long-forgotten Bob Gardiner and the now-slightly-famous Will Vinton.
I had the great priveledge when I was a pup to visit the studio of
Bob Gardiner after the team had split.  He at that time expressed to me
the same point made above by Bill.  He and Will had a big argument over
"Closed Mondays".  Will wanted to dress the main clay character in
G.I. Joe clothes, and Bob insisted on an all-clay universe.  Obviously,
Bob was right.  The coarse weave on the G.I. Joe clothes would have
destroyed the congruity of the universe they were creating.  To this
day, Will Vinton still throws non-clay elements into parts of his films,
and it always detracts from the illusion of an alternate-but-consistent
reality.

Ooops, I went on and on again, and _still_ no MOA? content!

Ok, for MOA? content: I wish I had the time to make an animated entry
in the MOA? video contest, but I have a job and that deadline is rushing
at us like an anvil dropped on Wile E. Coyote.

Mookie

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