The Loss of Earl Kress
I had a huge shock today. I learned, through Facebook, about the passing of one of the great writer-historians in the animation industry, Earl Kress. Jerry Beck at Cartoon Brew, Mark Evanier at Newsfromme.com and Steve Hulett at The Animation Guild pay tribute to a man who will sorely be missed. Here’s one of my […]
The Tax Collector from Space!
With the exception of about a dozen copies of Return of the Jedi Weekly, today I finished cataloging the Marvel Comics issues of Star Wars in both the U.S. and in the United Kingdom, for my Star Wars Reference Guide. In acquiring Star Wars comics, I’ve had to purchase sets to fill in the holes […]
“Head-Hopping” in Fiction
Author/editor Ray Rhamey objects to authors “head-hopping,” that is, obtrusively changing the point-of-view from one character to another in the narrative. For his blog, “Flogging the Quill,” he asked an executive editor of a New York publisher what he thought about the matter, here. Further comments from executive editor “Mad Max” Perkins, an unnamed “top […]
Darth Vader: Just Say “No”
Since today, September 16, 2011, marks the North American release (September 12 international) of the Blu-Ray editions of the Star Wars saga, it’s opportune to present one of George Lucas’s updates in Return of the Jedi. The first clip demonstrates Darth Vader’s disposal of the Emperor, without dialogue. The second clip is the new, “improved” […]
What does a Krayt Dragon sound like?
In the original Star Wars, a tribe of Sandpeople have clobbered Luke Skywalker and are stripping his landspeeder. Ben Kenobi frightens them away by imitating the cry of a Krayt Dragon. George Lucas changed the Krayt Dragon noise for the 2011 Blu-Ray version. Listen for yourself. Which is the better version?
Star Wars Begins, An Insightful Documentary
Here’s a fascinating 2-hour-19-minute documentary on the making of Star Wars, compiled by Jamie Benning, with commentary by George Lucas, Gary Kurtz, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, John Williams, John Mollo and others in the cast and crew. See the original Jabba the Hutt! Watch the deleted Anchorhead scenes! Hear Darth Vader as voiced […]
Daniel on Dagobah
Here’s a video from a UK children’s show, Jim’ll Fix It. This episode aired in early 1980, prior to the release of The Empire Strikes Back. Daniel’s visit to Dagobah was taped months earlier while filming continued on the bog planet set at Elstree Studios. Did you know that Artoo-Detoo can teleport picnic baskets? Enjoy […]
The Prisoner’s Fall Out
Patrick McGoohan discusses the final episode of The Prisoner in this interview from The Prisoner Files, from 1984. Here it is: http://youtu.be/gMLly2u6xA4
The Secret of Rover
In this English documentary, The Prisoner Files, Patrick McGoohan discusses the genesis of the spherical Rover, guardian-enforcer for The Village. Note: Some clips shown during this interview contain scenes of intense drama. http://youtu.be/J_DRXAf0iGI
Theme from The Prisoner
It’s a joy to listen to Ron Granier’s theme for The Prisoner. Here is the full version without the ancillary sound effects: Just the opening: And the closing: For kicks, “High Wire” by the Edwin Astley Orchestra, the theme used for the second series of Danger Man, the precursor to The Prisoner: In America, the […]
