Culture Surfing

HUMBUG DEEZ: Ghost of Christmas Present (from left, performed by Jim Carrey) chides his charge Ebenezer Scrooge (also performed by Carrey) in A Christmas Carol.

GENRE: CGI holiday drama

THE PITCH: Disney gives Charles Dickens’ classic holiday tale an animated makeover. Miserly Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) is visited by ghosts who show him glimpses of his past, present and future in efforts to save his soul before Christmas.

MONEY SHOTS: It’s hard to pull away from the visual effects each of the ghosts utilize to show Scrooge various moments in time. Ghost of Christmas Past (Carrey) uses slingshot-ish flight sequences to take Scrooge to parts of his past. Ghost of Christmas Present (Carrey, again) hurls luminescent golden beads that turn the floor and walls translucent for he and Scrooge to spy on the present. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (yup, you guessed it … Carrey) uses ebon shadows to transport and frighten Scrooge back on to a righteous path.

Continue Reading “Hollywood Product: A Christmas Carol“

(Photo Courtesy Walt Disney Pictures)

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1) The Kills play Lenny’s.

2) Michael Davis discusses his new book, Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street, at Fulton County Central Library.

3) Tommy Keene and Magnapop play the Earl.

Continue reading “5 things to do: Monday”

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ICE CAPADES: A polar bear struggles to survive in its changing environment.

A polar bear treading water — the ice floes having melted out from under him — has become the poster boy of the movement against global climate change. The documentary Earth features a poignant extended sequence involving a polar bear “dad” in precisely such a plight. He’s been driven to extreme measures to find food because global warming, the film suggests, has wreaked havoc on his habitat. Bereft polar bears may be more effective at melting audience’s hearts than former Vice President and global warming opponent Al Gore.

Climate change provides a recurring theme in Earth, but the slick, spectacular documentary is no environmental screed. Based on the documentary TV series “Planet Earth,” the film primarily drinks in the splendors of Earth’s unspoiled landscapes and follows the exploits of various adorable animals. Earth conveys the environment’s preciousness and fragility without preaching to its viewers.

Globe-trotting directors Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield present sequences at both poles, Africa, the South American rain forest and in the ocean. They primarily follow mammals — especially the ones with cute calves, cubs or pups — allowing for easy audience identification. In one of the subplots, a whale mother and offspring migrate across half an ocean to feed on krill in the Antarctic. How the whale hunt provides an interesting detail, accompanied by triumphant music, but it’s probably not so great for the krill. (Screw the krill!)

Continue reading “Earth takes a spectacular look at the circle of life”

(Photo courtesy Disney Nature)

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PIMP MY PUPPET: Still not quite a real boy

To celebrate Pinocchio’s 70th anniversary, Disney presented our own Center for Puppetry Arts with a tiny handcrafted marionette to be put on display for the next several months. School children were on hand to “oooh!” and “ahhhh!” appropriately and receive copies of the new Blu-Ray DVD, though they were infinitely more captivated (as were we) by the 70-foot sub sandwich acting as a giant Pinocchio nose outside (for children not so thrilled with the Italian Sub — a nod to Geppetto — there were ham and cheese sandwiches also on hand).

The entire display was, in typical Disney style, tightly crafted, with every numerical and stylistic aspect connecting back in some way to the particular anniversary celebration in a sort of web of “minutia marketing.”  But Pinocchio Day is not over yet — for the rest of the afternoon, the Center will be open to the public for puppet making during a screening of the film.

The marionette itself, one of only 375 in the world crafted by master puppeteer Bob Baker, was made platinum through the painful-sounding process of electroplating. Catch it while you can — in precisely 70 days, the puppet will pack its bags and make its way into the wide world.

(Photo by Edward Adams)

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