You know.. I've made the realization that I talk a lot about what I don't like, but hardly mention the things I DO like.

Regardless of what ANYONE says, I really like the old Rankin & Bass stuff. You know: Their adaptions of The Hobbit, The Return of The King,The Last Unicorn... NOT Lord of The Rings--that's a common misconception--that one was done by Ralph Bakshi and its a disgusting roto-scoped nightmare. Blah!

Anyway, There's something really cool and weird about the drawings in those cartoons... They have atmosepehere, they've got really strange and distinct character designs (there's no way the Peter Jackson version of Gollum beat this one).. And there's subtlety in their expressions-- Their exhaustion, their joy, their pain, all seems to come through when it really doesn't seem like it would. Ha ha ha.

There's something else they seem to do that I've always felt was missing from Disney animation, and especially television animation (not that there aren't TONS of things missing from that).. but still,

One of my favorite Rankin and Bass scenes is from The Last Unicorn. Its where Molly finally meets the Unicorn... At first she's stunned.. in awe and you can see a bit of joy in her eyes.. Slowly however, she realizes the implications of this. She becomes angry, lashes out verbally, "Where were you twenty years ago?? Where were you when I was new! How dare you come to me now when I am THIS.." And it came off feeling SO "honest." Im not sure why. Perhaps because it was so unexpected--surprising at first, but when you think about it, it makes so much sense.. Like of course it wouldn't occur to YOU in the audience, but to her (operating as a PERSON) it did.

I was reminded of it again I guess cuz I was watching Signs for the first time about two weeks ago. And regardless of what you think of the movie, the dinner table scene is pretty awesome, when they're all sitting down for their last meal... The father getting angry at God, lashing out at his children and brother, all culminating in, of all things, a family hug..

You dont often see compications like that in animation.. Largely, I'd gather because many of them are "children's" films and a lot of people seem to believe there's no room for honesty when it comes to kids.. Or to themselves either really. I can't count how many times I've watched a Disney movie (or LOTS of hollywood movies, not even just animated) and the music or the actions would TELL me that I should be sad, all the cues are there... except for the characters acting.. I remember watching The Lion King for the first time with my family in a Drive-In Theater. I loved the movie at the time.. and even now I dont mind it, but I remember when it came to the quiet aftermath of Mufasa's death, seeing Simba shed a few "precious moments" style tears but only quietly asking his father to wake up... My mom saw my head was down a bit, just cuz thats how I sit and I guess she couldn't see my face so she asked if I was crying. And very bluntly, I just scoffed, "No." Cuz what I was watching didn't touch me at all. The stampede gave me a few goosebumps, but as for genuine loss, genuine sadness, I felt nothing. I was just.. watching what I guess should have been the emotional heart of the film, but I felt nothing.

Wouldn't a child be HYSTERICAL if they just watched their father die? I mean, depending on the kid, I suppose another option could be "stunned silence"... The kind that traumatizes you for the rest of you life and keeps you sort of locked inside yourself for just as long. But if that's wat they were going for, I didn't GET that.. It felt so distant, so.. 'nothing'. So "accepting". It was NOTHING...

Even earlier back, and a better movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit--I remember being really into the alley scene where Roger was distraught over Jessica cheating on him. But even at the time, I don't remember the specific thought, but I honestly felt like there was something.. not there. I would draw scenes from it, for whatever reason trying to figure it out I guess because I was obsessed with stuff like that... So I guess my obsession with drawing things 'crying' goes back a long way.

Not to say every other emotion is always done well,but I find that they're often done BETTER than sadness (in animation I'm mostly talking about here.. AND well, I guess lots of very hollywood pictures too). I suppose its because people underestimate it, don't feel it when they're drawing it? When was the last time you saw someone cry HYSTERICALLY in a cartoon? I can name a couple--In the old warner stuff there's a number of cool things, often times ones you can laugh at BECAUSE they're so accurate... An example off the top of my head is Sylvesters agony over not being able to quiet his "bird addiction". A more recent one (that was REALLY good actually) was Skippy in "Bumbi's Mom", a Slappy cartoon from Animaniacs.. But those are usually FOR a laugh. Which isn't bad.. that's GOOD, cuz it IS funny in the right places. But what I guess I'm saying is that all these big studio pictures that claim they WANT to move you, whether they can't or won't, simply DON'T.

Also open for discussion, since I feel like saying it right now, is WHY I guess I'm so concerned with tragedy that I often stand up for it.. It feels like you can tell a lot about a character from the way they behave when they're at 'the bottom.' When someone's life is in danger, when resources are at their lowest, whatever those resourcs might be, THAT seems to be where the true nature of a person is visible. At least for me.

Perhaps that explains why my 'other love' is Horror Movies. Zombie films are a good example of what I'm talking about, and I think that's why I like them so much--they tend to focus on the people dealing with their situation instead of just.. well, they DO splatter a lot of people. Heh heh heh. That's cool. But they tend to focus on the RELATIONSHIPS within a group of survivors. Someone might have been a preist or a doctor, and they might be the first one to abandon god and push you out in front of them to shield themselves from an oncoming zombie hoard.

I see that came into play in "A Fistful of Ed"the last EP of season 5. Or for me it felt like it did. To me, that episode pretty much WAS Edd's lowest point. Given the relationship he has with his parents, loneliness and abandonment are enormous issues with him, even if they're never spoken about and even if he doesn't consciously acknowledge it (which I dont think he does yet). He suffers SO MUCH in that single episode... and yet, when Ed tells him he can't be his friend anymore, when no one will speak to him but Eddy (though Eddy is being a bit.. er.. caught up in the current glory), Edd doesn't -actually- lash out at anyone but himself. When people THINK he's lashing out by "beating up Ed", his ACTUAL reaction is to seal himself in a dark room, away from everyone so no one has to be scared of him. Which would be more evident if there were still that scene after Jimmy tells Edd to follow him out, where Edd stops in the doorway and looks aroudn worryiedly saying "Wait! What if someone SEES me?" Its not like he's scared of being beaten up. But I think that point survives the edit as something subtle at least.

Interesting also, is Jimmy's situation in this ep. As the character to finally reach out to Edd, I'm sure its hard for some people to scrutinize him. But as compared to Edd, I think it provides a very interesting character study. Keeping in mind what I just said about Edd's inability to lash out, his tendency to (physically even) curl inward on himself, is a huge contrast to Jimmy beating the living bejesus out of Edd over some name-calling. Like, holy crap! It took so little provocation! Edd's suffered through HELL and he's STILL not beating on anyone. Jimmy beats the CRAP out of him and he still never lifts a genuine finger to stop him when I honestly think he could have if he'd wanted to. And then even though everyone was so scared of Edd, in the end they're cheering for the guy who reacts to things like they THOUGHT Edd did.

I know it sounds like Im being hard on Jimmy. If this were the only time we'd seen Jimmy fly off the handle, become enraged and lash out, it COULD be excused as a simple mistake. Lord knows Edd has had his (non-thinking) moments of giving Eddy a shove or grabbing Ed by the collar.. But never a moment of actually beating the shit out of anyone. Ever. Edd wouldn't even throw a snowball at someone. But its not like its some kind of repressed -thing- building up inside him like it is for Jimmy--being nice simply cuz you dont have the muscle to defend yourself. Edd just doesnt have it in him.

To me, that's a HUGE contrast in character, revealed by a 'lowest point'. Not to say that you can't see things in people from observing them when they're happy.. I just think people, in general ARE more agreeable and more willing to share when they're already got what they want. Its when a part of them is STARVING that you see them either deny their animal instincts or indulge on them, no matter what the cost to others.

By the by, I've figured out a formula:

[link]

Either that will make perfect sense or no sense at all.. Toodles!

-RM