It is the natal anniversary of many luminaries we at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog love. First and foremost, celebrating his 65th today is one of this blogger's all-time favorite standup comedians, the great and original Stephen Wright.
As Stephen's standup comedy has, the films of Nick Park and Aardman Animations remain responsible for innumerable laughs over the past 30+ years.
First recall seeing an Aardman Animations film on the big screen in one of the late Prescott Wright's terrific International Tournee Of Animation programs (and shortly thereafter in a Spike & Mike's Festival Of Animation). That was Creature Comforts (1989) and it made quite the impression then. Still does!
The gang at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog could be considered Wallace and Gromit fanboys, but strictly on the proviso that we have some cracking good Wensleydale cheese to enjoy with our movies!
Arguably, our #1 choice of all the superb films by Nick and the gang at Aardman Animations would be Wallace & Gromit in The Wrong Trousers.
There are several greats from the world of music who have birthdays on December 6th. One would be ace lyricist from the Broadway stage and Hollywood movies Ira Gershwin, born on December 6, 1896 and responsible for countless standards as part of the best brother team short of the Coen brothers, the Heath brothers, The Brothers Johnson, Dizzy & Daffy Dean, Tommy & Dickie Smothers, The Brothers Karamazov and Tom & Dick Van Arsdale.
Ira Gershwin also contributed his signature witty, inventive and literate lyrics to superb songs by Harold Arlen, Kurt Weill, Harry Warren and Jerome Kern.
It is also the birthday of jazz and progressive rock bassist Miroslav Vitouš, noted as a member of the first version of Weather Report, a mighty multi-genre musical juggernaut.
Along with Stephen and Miroslav, Chris Stamey, intrepid rocker, Man Of A Thousand Tunes and frequent collaborator of Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog favorite Alex Chilton, celebrates a birthday today.
Of the many talented actors and comedians who sequed between sitcoms, radio, stage, recordings and cartoon voice work, it's tough to top Wally Cox, born on December 6, 1924.
Wally's yodeling on the following song is priceless.
We respectfully raise our eggnog glasses and toast all the December 6th birthdays!
Completing a trifecta that has thus far spotlighted Jay Ward Productions, Bert & Harry Piels ads voiced by Bob & Ray, Tom Terrific, Nudnik, Q.T. Hush and Roger Ramjet, today's tip of a top hat worn by either Jay Ward or Bill Scott goes to (drum roll). . . Aardman Animations!
While this writer often finds current CGI animation - with the exception of those features made by Pixar - a bit too snarky and dialogue-heavy (and lacking the saving grace of Jay Ward Productions/Stan Freberg style witty repartee), the films of Aardman, from their first music videos and short subjects to the latest efforts, delight this lifelong animation fan. That certain indefinable but welcome element of genuine whimsy - a quality not seen at all in the overwhelming majority of American movies and TV shows - delivered with intelligence and nuance, permeates the Aardman films and has since the very beginning.
Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog does not cover much along the lines of 21st century pop culture, but shall make an exception here, given how much we like the Shaun The Sheep movie.
And also the splendid 21st century Aardman Animations features that preceded Shaun The Sheep: Chicken Run and Wallace And Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (note: have not seen the 2006 Aardman CGI feature Flushed Away).
A Grand Day Out, the first Wallace & Gromit adventure, originated as a student film.
Indeed, the very British world of Wallace & Gromit possesses a knack for hitting this animation buff's sweet spot every time. We at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog are not alone in this assessment, as Wallace & Gromit have their own YouTube channel.
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Aardman Animations was founded in the 1970's, made their reputation as creators of wonderful short subjects and commercials in the 1980's. Many of us first encountered the model animation of Aardman in the 1986 Peter Gabriel music video Sledgehammer.
Not long afterwards, in such touring feature-length compilations as The Tournee Of Animation and Spike And Mike's Festival Of Animation, the Aardman Animations short subjects would premiere on the big screen in America. Audiences went nuts over the good humor, invention and, most importantly, the whimsy in such Aardman productions as Creature Comforts.
Subsequently, the first Wallace & Gromit adventures would be on the Tournee and Spike & Mike programs - and frequently were the runaway hits.
Ranking high on the short list of this writer's all-time favorite films is Wallace & Gromit in The Wrong Trousers.
The followup, A Close Shave, would introduce another Aardman Animations stalwart, Shaun The Sheep.
The three short subjects, A Grand Day Out (1989), The Wrong Trousers (1993) and A Close Shave (1995), were followed by a TV series, Cracking Contraptions, the Curse Of The Were-Rabbit feature, the featurette A Matter Of Loaf & Death and the Wallace & Gromit's World Of Invention TV series.
The studio has survived much hardship, including a fire in the Aardman Animations warehouse, to re-emerge, most recently with the Shaun the Sheep movie. After the October 10, 2005 fire, the hope was that the company would eventually be able to return from the damage. The blaze wiped out just about all the original sets for the Wallace and Gromit films and panels of original storyboards.
The studio made it back from this adversity, rebuilt and would launch the Shaun The Sheep TV series, as well as the children's show Timmy Time.
Wallace & Gromit returned to the big screen with the half-hour short subject, A Matter Of Loaf & Death (2008).
These would be followed by Wallace & Gromit amusement park rides, video games, an association with The National Trust and TV commercials.
We close with behind-the-scenes clips direct from Aardman Animations - and, last but not least, a cracking good concert from The Royal Albert Hall paying tribute to our heroes.
To paraphrase Wallace, "cracking good cheese - Gromit!"
The Puppetoon Movie, a feature-length compilation put together by George Pal and stop-motion historian Arnold Leibovit in 1987, is now available again on a limited edition Blu-ray.
Saw The Puppetoon Movie on the big screen back during its late 1980's theatrical run.
I was thrilled and delighted to find that it included Mr. Blogmeister's favorite Puppetoon ever made, the charming and romantic Together In The Weather, starring Punchy & Judy.
Reviews thus far include a thorough and well-written piece on the DVD release by Francis Rizzo III for
DVD Talk.
George Pal frequently featured swing jazz in his 1930's and 1940's Puppetoons.
Yes, admittedly, Pal's Jasper series, seen in the 21st century, can be a tad dated, but they nonetheless have incredible soundtracks to match the stop-motion invention. Swing-to-bop master Charlie Barnet provides the memorable music in Jasper In A Jam.
Here's a clip from the Puppetoon DVD, including a commentary by stop motion animator Bob Baker, who worked with Mr. Pal on the series, and historian/archivist Steve Stanchfield.
Channel Four, known for some pretty darn wonderful documentaries on music, produced this top-notch look at George Pal.
Even in the era of wall-to-wall CGI, this blogger finds Pal's imaginative special effects in such films as War Of The Worlds still positively mind-blowing after six decades.
The latest scoop from Animation Scoop - there's a new feature film forthcoming from a studio much beloved by Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog, the incomparable Aardman Animations.
Since Mr. Blogmeister adored the Aardman features Chicken Run and Wallace And Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit, this is truly jolly good news among this week's reeking current events stench.
Of course, ranking high on the short list of all-time favorite films is The Wrong Trousers.
When a October 10, 2005 fire at the Aardman Animations warehouse, the hope was that the company would be able to return from the damage. This blaze wiped out just about all the original sets for the Wallace and Gromit films and panels of original storyboards. . . as fully "up in smoke" as a 35mm nitrate camera negative of a Gale Henry or Alice Howell Universal comedy!
Well, they did make it all the way back, thank Wensleydale, and the official trailer for the upcoming Aardman opus, to be released in 2015, is here - the epic, the sensational, the big screen spectacle topping the special effects and severed-limb packed "300" movies. . . the Shaun the Sheep feature film!
While this will not be a horror flick that crosses Shaun Of The Sheep and Shaun Of The Dead, one sincerely hopes that the next feature from Aardman proves itself at the box office as an enormous international hit and Aardman gets to make more features (maybe even starring Wallace & Gromit). So today, the respectful tip of the Jack Buchanan top hat goes to the outstanding creative artists of Aardman Animations!
