Been very icky for the past few weeks. Personally I don't feel comfortable talking about my regular ol' self, but I'm getting sick and tired of almost everything in general. But that doesn't stop me from watching stuff from the 1920s-50s.
Here's a very cuddly and soft escape from the past from Warner Bros., it's Tick Tock Tuckered (1944) starring Porky Pig & Daffy Duck, except it isn't brought that way and has this utterly cool and savage scene of Daffy getting fed up by the full moon, shoots it and something creatively unexpected happens.
Of course this amazing scene was animated by the one and only Rod Scribner. One of my favorite animators. This was Daffy at his cutest, but also most threatening as Scribner is known for animating characters with that angry facial expression.
The animation here is rubbery but it works well with the overall gag they're going for in this particular scene.
Right after he shoots Moon, it suddenly drops like a big drip of rain. Daffy is immediately in shock.
We get ourselves some wacky drawings.
This drawing stays on screen the longest. I find these scenes to be wonderful since it feels so different than "limited" animation where the characters don't move impulsively.
Daffy then breaks the 4th wall by saying "Unbelievable, isn't it?"
This is a remake of Porky's Badtime Story (1937). Still directed by Bob Clampett, there was different gags in that cartoon, and instead of Daffy Duck, it was Gabby Goat.
In the original, the certain scene with the moon disturbing Porky's sleep is by tying the window curtain to his bed, causing a wreck and an accident.
Here's the full scene in action.
Credits to Sakugabooru as I found the clip from there, only slightly trimmed.
Sometimes I change my opinion on what my favorite characters I created are, but something about Srobel Ghann just makes it the most unique, distinctive, newly original character I ever made. If you don't know Srobel is the yellow mask.
I first sketched him back in 2021, he was sorta different and more charismatic in a way that he could be more hilarious or charming, but I liked him more mysterious. It fitted his design clearer.
Just recently, I wanted to give Srobel Ghann a family. A group known as The Rymahites. There is a current total of 6 masks. Who knows when there might be a 7th.
These are sets of diamonds locked in precious safe places to protect them from danger. So far, Srobel Ghann and Dohl Whinn have their own diamonds. They're used for their special spells.
This entire idea was inspired by my love for crystals back when I was in the 5th grade. By then, I started to begin learning about spiritual activities like journaling, daily cards, affirmations and chakras. It was Mom's interest and I enjoyed the experience myself. I still have these sets of uniquely shaped colored crystals I still hold my heart to nowadays.
Making something so creatively inventive and out of the ordinary makes the franchise more iconic. Looney Tunes mostly had a human and animal cast yet they have Marvin The Martian, Aqua Teen had anthropomorphic food, Toy Story has toys that come alive etc.
Now let's get onto the 5 other masks, the names and straightforward info.
Below is basically the same, but there's more details added.
January I was on a movie spree, mostly watching the classics, my preferred decades 30s-mid 60s and I've just been having such an enjoyable time watching movies from incredibly talented directors, one of them I seem to admire as of now is Alfred Hitchcock. So far I have watched 5 of his films. I'm planning to just stick to his most likeable and iconic films in particular.
My favorite so far is North By Northwest (1959). This is probably Grant at his absolute coolest. I absolutely loved the acting, and the cinematography is just phenomenal. What I didn't expect from these specific movies is an actual music score. I'm starting to love Bernard Herrmann's music. I love good ol' intensity in the orchestra and it does a stellar job at it.
All images taken from FILMGRAB.
While I was watching the movie I was waiting for the most beautiful scenes of the film. Not to say I dislike ANYTHING from the movie, I didn't, but I just absolutely love these landscapes. They're natural and almost surreal in a way I expect to live in the 50s with it's correct color schemes, cities, and vehicles.
I like the look of these buildings, it's full of personality, I also have to mention the pacing of this film. It's perfect. It doesn't have actions that go on way too quick, no quick cuts, I'm starting to just like 2 hour films for that reason.
I'm including one character-oriented scene, this is what got me into the film in the first place. Cary Grant in sunglasses! Sometimes I like pictures of movie stars. I mostly like their more standout portraits like shots from actual film recording.
I like all the characters in this film. Eve Kendell in particular is one of the best female leads ever.
This view of the train is so GOOD! It appears quite a few times and to me it's breathtaking. Now you guys can have this scene long as possible!
I always liked the uniqueness of Mount Rushmore, it's hard for me to not like it because I'm not personally a fan of carved idolatry work, but I feel like they created it in honor of the most appreciated presidents of The United States. Once they shown it on screen, I was ready for what was going to happen next.
This clip below is one of my favorite parts of the movie. I think it's one of the most massive, cinematic scenes I seen in quite some time.
Some mild spoilers if you haven't seen it and want to watch the full movie yourself, but this isn't particuarly the final scene of the movie so don't hesitate.
North By Northwest is just fantastic. I enjoy when I watch a movie that makes me impressed and it inspires a little tint of my creativity, and this movie is no exception. As someone who's more animation oriented, these classic movies use inventive concepts that remind me of what I like about cartoons, in fact it's the best approach in creating something impressive. That's why when I watch movies directed by Hitchcock, Donen, Welles, and Capra they keep me invested with it's compelling characters, creative cinematography, memorable acting, sensible dialogue, and absolutely almost no filler at all.
Expect for me to look for another gem from the cinema archive. I watched 23 films last month.
Here's a very underappreciated Bugs Bunny cartoon, A Hare Grows In Manhattan (1947) more specifically Bugs's fresh interview look. This is the hottest I ever seen Bugs. I really like the poses he does in the final scene of the cartoon. Animated by Virgil Ross.
Here's a nice smear while at it.
I absolutely adore these frames. They remind me of what I like to do myself. I like those hands, the movement and exaggeration is really great.
Awesome facial expressions!
I bet alot of Line of Action was used in these drawings. It's one of the most important principles of animation.
There's actually a pencil test of this exact scene and it's just beautiful. I personally enjoy pencil animation, it made me realize how great 2D traditional animation really was.
Here's another astounding smear.
I like how I see Bugs's eyes since they weren't shown because of his glasses in these pencil sketches.
I've been wanting to talk about this certain topic for a couple years now. It's a rare piece of old filmmaking that's already been dated since the use of technology and software.
What you seen above is what we normally call "cue marks" or also known as either a cue dot, or changeover cue.
The first time I ever actually saw a cue mark was when I was starting to watch animated shorts that were supposedly public domain on YouTube. The first one I spotted was in a Color Rhapsody cartoon, The Mad Hatter (1940). It's a good cartoon but the ending rather changed how I would experience old films in general.
I think I remembered stating myself that they were a part of every cartoon remastered or not, and it felt like I was going to avoid it for a while until I realized that cue marks especially the ones that looked spiky and itchy were just from original theatrical prints or slightly remastered prints. It was a relief when I researched into it because I'm not gonna lie I'm kinda disturbed by these things.
It felt like getting rid of the cue marks for newer generations was a great idea since they were originally used to project each reel which was about 4-5 per average film feature. But now that we have television and not a single projector to manage any of the old films from the 40s-50s, why even have the distracting cues anyway? It can be difficult to get rid of them entirely, so as the grain overlay. Enough complaints. This was a method already done 20 years ago till now.
They appear every 14-20 minutes in a single reel, sometimes in animated shorts or considerably a short film, cue marks would appear whenever the film would end. No matter if it's 6-10 minutes long.
(Another example from my favorite Donald Duck cartoon Duck Pimples which is 7:44)
When it comes to the uniqueness of cue marks here's a list.
Yes fortunately I named them myself. I hope you like it. It's for entertainment purposes. They actually don't have names.
What's so peculiar about each of the cue marks is whether a certain film, prior to what decade, motion picture process it's applied. The original black dot I see all the time in B&W movies.
If you have noticed cue marks whether you seen them on TV, VHS tapes, etc. well now you know where they came from. It was a much more useful task for when a film reel was about to come to a close.
Anyways I hoped this gave you an insight on what I consider one of my most important topics when it comes to old cinema because it isn't talked about very much since we now have DVD and Blu-Ray and most people have seen the more iconic old movies beautifully remastered. I go out in my comfort zone to watch old movies as well but sometimes it's even more obscure films. I am quite cautious. Right now I seem to have a taste in films with no filler. Murder mysteries, wholesome stories, great actors etc.
