Journey to a Galaxy Far, Far Away
Tuesday, December 15, 2015. The amazing Jerry Beck and I attend the day’s first screening at the Disney lot for Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens. So the Force actually … sleeps?
(Yes, the film is labeled “Episode VII” even though that’s not on the poster.)
Thomas Jefferson’s Thanksgiving Proclamation
As governor of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson issued a Proclamation Appointing a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer, November 11, 1779.
WHEREAS the Honourable the General Congress, impressed with a grateful sense of the goodness of Almighty God, in blessing the greater part of this extensive continent with plentiful harvests, crowning our arms with repeated successes, conducting us hitherto safely through the perils with which we have been encompassed and manifesting in multiplied instances his divine care of these infant states, hath thought proper by their act of the 20th day of October last, to recommend to the several states that Thursday the 9th of December next be appointed a day of publick and solemn thanksgiving and prayer, which act is in these words, to wit.
“Whereas it becomes us humbly to approach the throne of Almighty God, with gratitude and praise, for the wonders which his goodness has wrought in conducting our forefathers to this western world; for his protection to them and to their posterity, amidst difficulties and dangers; for raising us their children from deep distress, to be numbered among the nations of the earth; and for arming the hands of just and mighty Princes in our deliverance; and especially for that he hath been pleased to grant us the enjoyment of health and so to order the revolving seasons, that the earth hath produced her increase in abundance, blessing the labours of the husbandman, and spreading plenty through the land; that he hath prospered our arms and those of our ally, been a shield to our troops in the hour of danger, pointed their swords to victory, and led them in triumph over the bulwarks of the foe; that he hath gone with those who went out into the wilderness against the savage tribes; that he hath stayed the hand of the spoiler, and turned back his meditated destruction; that he hath prospered our commerce, and given success to those who sought the enemy on the face of the deep; and above all, that he hath diffused the glorious light of the gospel, whereby, through the merits of our gracious Redeemer, we may become the heirs of his eternal glory. Therefore,
Resolved, that it be recommended to the several states to appoint THURSDAY the 9th of December next, to be a day of publick and solemn THANKSGIVING to Almighty God, for his mercies, and of PRAYER, for the continuance of his favour and protection to these United States; to beseech him that he would be graciously pleased to influence our publick Councils, and bless them with wisdom from on high, with unanimity, firmness and success; that he would go forth with our hosts and crown our arms with victory; that he would grant to his church, the plentiful effusions of divine grace, and pour out his holy spirit on all Ministers of the gospel; that he would bless and prosper the means of education, and spread the light of christian knowledge through the remotest corners of the earth; that he would smile upon the labours of his people, and cause the earth to bring forth her fruits in abundance, that we may with gratitude and gladness enjoy them; that he would take into his holy protection, our illustrious ally, give him victory over his enemies, and render him finally great, as the father of his people, and the protector of the rights of mankind; that he would graciously be pleased to turn the hearts of our enemies, and to dispence the blessings of peace to contending nations.
That he would in mercy look down upon us, pardon all our sins, and receive us into his favour; and finally, that he would establish the independance of these United States upon the basis of religion and virtue, and support and protect them in the enjoyment of peace, liberty and safety.”
I do therefore by authority from the General Assembly issue this my proclamation, hereby appointing Thursday the 9th day of December next, a day of publick and solemn thanksgiving and prayer to Almighty God, earnestly recommending to all the good people of this commonwealth, to set apart the said day for those purposes, and to the several Ministers of religion to meet their respective societies thereon, to assist them in their prayers, edify them with their discourses, and generally to perform the sacred duties of their function, proper for the occasion. Given under my hand and the seal of the commonwealth, at Williamsburg, this 11th day of November, in the year of our Lord, 1779, and in the fourth of the commonwealth.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
Six Weeks Before Star Wars
April 9, 1977. At the Los Angeles Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Convention, held at the LAX Marriott from April 8-10, the Vice President of Star Wars Corporation, Charles Lippincott, presented a panel on the soon-to-be released feature film, Star Wars. Luckily for us, Barney Evans recorded that panel and uploaded the audio to YouTube on October 9, 2015. The panelists included Mark Hamill and John Dykstra. The program began with a trailer. Have a listen:
Photos of Mark Hamill signing autographs can be seen here as well as on the video.
A Portrait of Smaug by John Howe
Now THIS is a dragon! Yet another magnificent achievement from the magical fingers of John Howe.
A Spider-Man Workout
Here’s a video circulating on Facebook showing how Spider-Man doing some exercises. Amazing, isn’t he?
This guy.
Posted by Mud and Adventure on Friday, November 21, 2014
The Iron Giant — Enhanced!
In 1999, Warner Bros. released The Iron Giant, directed by Brad Bird. The story is about a kid named Hogarth, who befriends a mysterious giant robot, whose landing on the earth damaged his memory of being a weapon of mass destruction. But when an incident triggers the robot’s memory, will he resort to his destructive mandate? What if he chose not to kill? Could Hogarth’s friendship make a difference?
Sadly, The Iron Giant failed to meet box office expectations, though it won nine Annie Awards and remained inspirational to the animation community. Disney mimicked the Iron Giant’s basic premise for Lilo and Stitch, in which the alien Stitch, the living weapon, chooses not to be a weapon thanks to his friendship with Lilo.
Bird continued his directing career with The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol and Tomorrowland. He is currently writing/directing The Incredibles 2.
These credentials no doubt helped Bird convince Warner Bros. to do a “signature edition” for a Blu-Ray release, including two new scenes that had to be scrapped from the original due to time and budget constraints.
Here’s Bird reminiscing about the two scenes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUfGOZheE58#t=15m07s
In my 1999 interview with Bird, he told me about the deleted dream sequence: “It was a dream that the Giant had. It suggested that he came from a whole planet full of them, and there was a war going on, but it was intermingled with scenes that we had seen during the course of the movie: watching Hogarth turn off the power switch at the power station, [watching] the deer and so on. So it was done in an abstract manner. It could have been interpreted several different ways, like a dream is.”
For the enhanced Signature Edition, visual effects maestro Michel Gagné provided the effects for the dream sequence, which you can see here:
The Iron Giant – Michel Gagné Animation – Dream Sequence FX Pre-Compositing 1080P
Published on October 15, 2015.
“The assets were later composited at Duncan Studios, which handled the production of the Signature Edition additional scenes,” Gagné says.
This is the completed result:
https://youtu.be/OSjqF5tR894
Published on October 7, 2015.
Warners decided to premiere the Signature Edition at select theaters, Wednesday, September 30 at 7:00PM local time, and Sunday, October 4 at 12:00PM local time.
Brad Bird invited people to see his enhanced film here:
And a new trailer was released, albeit one that replicated the same flaws as the 1999 trailer. That is, it was a condensation of the film itself. It left nothing to the imagination. It didn’t tease the viewer the way the trailers did for E.T.–The Extra-Terrestrial and Close Encounters or for that matter, the new Force Awakens trailer.
On Friday, October 23, 2015, Gagné, along with Ken Duncan, Wendy Perdue, and Dennis Venizelos, will do a behind-the-scenes panel, Getting Under the Hood: Remastering The Iron Giant in Vancouver at the VIFF Vancity Theatre, 1181 Seymour St. (at Davie). Click here for details.
Mari Iijima Live! Do You Remember Love?
Attendees of the Macross World convention on October 17, 2015 got a real treat: a concert by none other than Mari Iijima, singer and voice actress best known for her role as Lynn Minmei in the Super Dimension Fortress Macross franchise. Ms. Iijima is now a resident of Los Angeles and continues to engage audiences with her musical talents. Her signature tune has become “Ai Oboete Imasuka (Do You Remember Love?),” composed by Kazuhiko Kato (1967 – 2009) from the 1984 movie, Super Dimension Fortress Macross – Do You Remember Love?
Uploaded on August 1, 2012.
Over 30 years later, here is the lovely Ms. Iijima performing the number live at Macross World 2016:
https://youtu.be/mfMAjcL4_Qg
Uploaded on November 25, 2016.
Click here for the followup song from Macross Flash Back 2012, “Tenshi no Enogu.”
Jane and the Dragon’s Tenth TV Anniversary
Ten years ago, October 15, 2005, Canada’s YTV network premiered one of the greatest children’s TV shows ever: Jane and the Dragon. Among many reasons, what made it great was that it didn’t pander to the audience. Adults could watch without feeling their intelligence going down the drain.
The digital animation came from Weta Workshop of New Zealand—the craftsmen behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy—using the same motion capture technology. This was Weta’s first TV series, but it was also a co-production with Nelvana of Canada, who provided the director (Mike Fallows) and storyboard artists using Canadian voice talent.
The series was based upon a series of books written and illustrated by Martin Baynton, the first being Jane and the Dragon (1988), followed by The Dragon’s Purpose (1989) and Jane and the Magician (2000). After Baynton moved from England to New Zealand, he got in touch with Richard Taylor and his wife/partner Tania Rodger, and proposed a children’s TV series based on his books. Coincidently and propitiously, the Taylors also wanted to produce their own children’s TV series.
Baynton told the New Zealand Herald, May 10, 2007, “Richard and I both love beautiful, classic storytelling, the sort of storytelling we remember from children’s programmes growing up. There’s been a movement towards the fast and furious because kids are channel-hopping and catching the eye candy of the moment. We wanted to try to build a show that won our audience and kept them on board, a half-hour story with all the ebbs and flows of a normal drama.”
To that end, Weta succeeded brilliantly.
Watch “Pride and Pollen” and see for yourself:
Note that King Caradoc never speaks to Dragon. We are never told why. An example of one of the fine nuances of the show.
Jane and the Dragon premiered in the U.S. on NBC, September 9, 2006. When I saw it, I was blown away. I’ll detail my enthusiasm in a later post.
For now, happy birthday to Weta’s first TV show and heartiest thanks to Martin Baynton, Richard Taylor, Trevor Brymer, Mike Fallows and everyone involved in the adventures of Jane and the Dragon. My birthday wish, of course, is that they’ll make a movie and more episodes.
Wonky Dragons
Here’s some caricatured dragons from the Spanish film, El Corazón del Roble / The Heart of the Oak. This is the third and last of the Dragon Hill series, the earlier ones being hand-drawn efforts. 3D artist Jon Unceta textured, shaped, and rigged the CG versions, more streamlined than the hand-drawn versions. Oddly, the producers opted to make the wings teeny. Teeny wings for a dragon? No, thank you. But these are fun to look at.
This is Ken Green, who gives Homer Simpson a run for his money in the Stupid Husband department. He doesn’t mind spilling paint on the living room floor:
Galadrielle, Ken’s frustrated wife and the real head of the household:
Elfy, the rambunctious son:
Vivian, Elfy’s feminist sister and scaly equivalent to Lisa Simpson:
Last but not least, Ethelbert, the know-it-all grandfather and mystical leader of the dimension called “Dragon Hill”: