cinemabon
01-06-2006, 01:16 PM
It suddenly occurred to me, after seeing "Chronicals of Narnia" that had Disney still been alive, we'd be seeing this as an animated film rather than live action. Technology has changed all that, and the way we envision fantasy.
In the past, if someone wanted to bring a tale to the screen whose story was filled with fantastic images of the imagination, they would either have awful special effects, with puppets and strings showing, or they would go the route of animation. Take "Alice in Wonderland" as a perfect example. Only in the past few years could one truly make an "Alice" that would justify the novel. Past attempts at live action have resulted in terrible production values that detract from the film so badly as to take away any joy in the experience. Only Disney could present "Alice" in a way that was palpable, and even then he cut the hell out of the story pasting in other rather saccharin details aficiondos of Carroll's work loathed. The worst, or perhaps best example of murdering a decent work of fiction could be Ralph Bakshi's "Lord of the Rings." He tried to do what Disney did in bringing a 'fantasy' work of fiction to life by means of animation.
"Live action can't be done!" they cried back in the 1970's. Well, Peter Jackson proved them wrong. But now filmmakers have a bit of a quandry, don't they. Animation was usually presented for fairytales and things that were too fantastic for live action. However, anything is possible now that CGI can create everything from giant apes to a field of sheep (Brokeback Mountain - bet you didn't know they weren't real!)
How would "Dumbo" look in CGI? Or Cinderella? Or Sleeping Beauty? The Japanese keep pushing the envelope even further in their animation (Howl's Moving Castle). But once they get the CGI, I wonder if they'll bite.
Watch this month on TCM for the tribute to Miyazaki! Spirited Away aired last night in Japanese with subtitles. Delicious!
In the past, if someone wanted to bring a tale to the screen whose story was filled with fantastic images of the imagination, they would either have awful special effects, with puppets and strings showing, or they would go the route of animation. Take "Alice in Wonderland" as a perfect example. Only in the past few years could one truly make an "Alice" that would justify the novel. Past attempts at live action have resulted in terrible production values that detract from the film so badly as to take away any joy in the experience. Only Disney could present "Alice" in a way that was palpable, and even then he cut the hell out of the story pasting in other rather saccharin details aficiondos of Carroll's work loathed. The worst, or perhaps best example of murdering a decent work of fiction could be Ralph Bakshi's "Lord of the Rings." He tried to do what Disney did in bringing a 'fantasy' work of fiction to life by means of animation.
"Live action can't be done!" they cried back in the 1970's. Well, Peter Jackson proved them wrong. But now filmmakers have a bit of a quandry, don't they. Animation was usually presented for fairytales and things that were too fantastic for live action. However, anything is possible now that CGI can create everything from giant apes to a field of sheep (Brokeback Mountain - bet you didn't know they weren't real!)
How would "Dumbo" look in CGI? Or Cinderella? Or Sleeping Beauty? The Japanese keep pushing the envelope even further in their animation (Howl's Moving Castle). But once they get the CGI, I wonder if they'll bite.
Watch this month on TCM for the tribute to Miyazaki! Spirited Away aired last night in Japanese with subtitles. Delicious!