The Band Wagon (1953) + Other Movies

 

Well, it's that time of month, Happy Holidays everyone! 

Anyways, I want to start fairly normal right now. It's officially been a year since I did a series of posts that were ideas for an Artmania Christmas Special and to be honest, I'm not exactly sure about the whole thing. I changed my style a little more and became less keen on movies without a coherent plot whatsoever.

Recently I went on [FILMGRAB] and was inspired by pictures online, they felt like the best bits from the actual movies. 

It's been exactly 5 months since I last watched The Band Wagon (1953), it's still mostly phenomenal work to this day despite some of the characters. 

MGM musicals. While there isn't too much structure, their Technicolor movies are beautiful and have the best songs in cinema, that's why I easily like them especially when they create novelty sequences most of the time. 

This movie is well-known for the third act. It's like nothing you'd ever see in older movies, so much effort and creativity, yet it moves at an equitable pace. Look at the red staircases and the camera angle. It's satisfying.

 

Here's another example from The 39 Steps, I bought it on DVD and it did not look like the scenes above mostly because I bought it at the flea market and expected it to be somewhat decent. 

This movie has great cinematography. However, I just wasn't too amused by the rest.

I was slightly disappointed after watching the movie because I expected something more cruel, and frightening, it's mostly mellow and doesn't have too much storywise which is why it didn't really do anything for me.

Now am I judging or criticizing these films harshly? No. These were products at the time, and it's fair for me to express my opinions on a certain film. I have not once ever watched a film that ruined me ever, none of the films I watched wasted my time because why is that a considerably good thing to say? Nothing is a waste of time, it's part of learning and knowing your perspective.

I honestly like experiencing new things almost all the time. I would never know whenever I like a film or not. Here's another B&W movie, Winter Light (1963). It's a better paced film than The 39 Steps (1935). Realistic dialogue, a story that expresses real situations and events and more focus. It's a great film with a mix of Christian imagery.

Now if you mixed Winter Light and The Band Wagon simultaneously, it's something I would equally be interested in creating the most.

The Band Wagon (1953) has magnificent color schemes while Winter Light (1963) has phenomenal acting and pacing.

I don't remember everything from The Band Wagon, but this reminds me of Fantasia (1940) I have no idea if this was supposed to be animated, not gonna lie I doubt it but I could imagine it like that. The two-tone colors are incredible, it could give a more abstract meaning on what's behind the situation or thought just like with Gene Kelly's fantasies with films like An American In Paris, and Anchor's Aweigh.

I wouldn't change everything with my Christmas posts from last year. I felt like some of the concepts would work perfectly.

Dredd The Moose at the start would come along and sing White Christmas to homeless men. 

https://sngexplorationblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/artmania-christmas-special-other.html?m=1

Donald Duck Cartoons That Helped Paved A Way With My Ideas

 

There is 2 Donald Duck shorts that left me feeling inspired.

I remember watching these and it left me feeling interested in watching more of the classic Disney stuff. 

While I liked the Disney stuff as a kid, I'm not too keen on knowing everything about the company. What I admire about it the most is the old movies and the Illusion Of Life, the best book on how Disney's films and characters made an impact.

The first cartoon is called Goose I mean... Duck Pimples (1945). This cartoon I liked not for it's utter surrealistic themes, but it was also really funny with a very amusing pack of one-off characters.

This short opens with one of my favorite starts. I like the intensity of the atmosphere, I love the extra detail of the tree branches and the rain effect is really cool.

You may notice that this particular cartoon hasn't had a remastered version yet, but honestly, that's for the best, I like alot of the color palette and seeing Donald without his usual sailor cap is very interesting. 

Unlike some of Donald's more unamusing hits like his Chip and Dale cartoons, the beginning of this cartoon is already insane, Donald tunes in the radio and Donald imagines that the ape is behind him and right away it becomes dark and disturbing.

I love the camera angles given here, so as the expressions. Jack Kinney rarely made any Donald Duck cartoons, he mostly made shorts starring Goofy but Donald's facial expressions here are extremely well-drawn and fascinating. The characters we get are actually likeable, unlike some of the characters in a surreal movie Alice In Wonderland (1951), they actually move and have fast paced energy without being tediously slow. For example, Leslie J. Clark who is obviously a nod to Les Clark (Nine Old Men Fame) has alot of smooth and interesting movements and feels more cartoony, and has a distinctive design. I really like it. 

The other characters are fun too and are what I expect in a likeable abstract cartoon, straightforward and energetic. Pauline has some excellent poses and an amusing personality and H.U Hennessy is a really funny bad guy and Bletcher as always does an excellent job voicing the character. 

Later in the cartoon, we get different backgrounds with each given action scene and there's absolutely no sign of filler or flawed moments in the slightest, its honestly just all played for exaggeration and creativity. 

I also love the ending punchline, that little silly voice saying "Well possibly it was only your imagination" considering that Donald had to go through a few minutes of pure unrealistic possibilities. This was so different than what you usually see in Donald's cartoons and even his personality is different here. After re-watching it, it lead me to make my own version but this time with Dredd The Moose using his vivid imagination to meet with unusually different characters and silly scenarios.

First is Groucho, obviously inspired by Groucho Marx from the Marx Bros, and his witty charming humor. 

Secondly is the beastly Wolf, his fur is a reddish-brown tone. He's described as being bold and logical, while also being welcomed to any situation. 

And lastly The Jester who is simply a performer with tons of talents, in most instances, he grabs out a yo-yo, but still keeps accidentally failing over and over again, but The Wolf can't get enough it.

This isn't where it starts, but I did it anyway, hope you like it. 

For the next and final cartoon, is something a little more passable, but it was definitely drawn to me in alot of ways, like the title of the cartoon, Donald Duck and The Gorilla, and some of the scenes are actually really enjoyable. 

Just like with Duck Pimples which would come out a year later, this film has an introduction that's quite similar. It begins with a house, it's storming, and Donald alongside his nephews are listening to the radio. 

Like I said, this version of the cartoon I captured pictures to isn't entirely the remastered version, in fact it was partially on the House Of Villains DVD, but I prefer the colors to this print alot more.

Anyways, this film heavily focuses on the suspense that a gorilla has escaped the zoo, and the nephews worried that they are fully aware that it might break through their house. It's all pretty darn good so far.

Then completely obvious out of nowhere, Huey, Dewey and Louie decide that they would disguise themselves to trick and scare Donald. It's weird how the costume looks identical to the actual real gorilla we get to see later in the cartoon.

This is fresh for a short subject by Disney. I remember first watching this film and being heavily impressed by how creative you can get in only 7 minutes and a straightforward premise. 

This frame of Donald accidentally using the candle to burn the door knob is an underrated and stellar image. 

My favorite sequences are when the chase actually begins, especially when the gorilla tries to destroy Donald's table, it's fantastic.

I did feel like the ending to this cartoon was kinda embarrassing. Both the gorilla and Donald crying while the nephews use the tear gas is just not that clever to end it off. 

Still both these cartoons have alot of good qualities and have interesting premises and character development. 

So what I came up with was Dredd The Moose meeting with spooky, or horror novel characters.

The first one I created was a tap-dancing skeleton named Ol' Smoky. I talked about this character of mine in another post I made last September. 

Here's the link if your curious.

https://sngexplorationblog.blogspot.com/2024/09/halloween-is-coming.html?m=1

If you read that post, you'll know that I came with alot of more conceptual characters that Dredd will meet next.

The titles will be inspired by those classic Abbott and Costello movies.

Fashion Is The Best Distraction

 

Fashion can be really easy to appreciate and love, it can be more fresh, attractive and vibrant to how you can express yourself.

Wouldn't it be great to make people entertained by the way you look or how other people look? 

I think cartoons barely go for special occasions where they dress casually or in special, unique ways.

It makes the character have more personality and a chance at being iconic.

I've been loving this genre ever since I watched The Three Stooges, almost every episode they would have different and fun outfits. 

I love the duo/trio group trope. I'm doing it myself with my characters. I think having just one character isn't as easy as it sounds. It's all fun in games when you bring another pal, or even a few more of them.

Drawing characters and making them wear clothing takes alot of work and adds more attention to the audience. They can't just be bare-naked, they have to fit into the right atmosphere and setting.

Look at Porky Pig here. In the Charlie Dog cartoons, he always wears his usual blue coat and red bow tie, here he's fit into the farmer archetype. The straw hat, overalls you name it. It's more sensible and fitting.

Characters like Bugs Bunny don't need to have too much clothes because his natural and witty personality fits perfectly with how he looks, however when he does wear fashion, it's less expressive than you think but it's still able to work decently. 

In fact, Bugs absolutely looks fine in various outfits. 

I love stuff like this. The poses, the amusing talking, A Hare Grows In Manhattan in particular is really underrated, and well told. 

It takes inspiration and influences to create something just like The Three Stooges and Bugs Bunny and this proves otherwise. 

You barely see anyone wear fashion like this anymore and it's really good to explore and experience the past. It's also visually pleasing. Everyone looks slim, clean and confident. 

I love a good bit of quirkiness and whenever one of my favorite cartoon characters or actors just go to the silly route, it's a really interesting ride. 

Sometimes weird can be funny and I believe that. When I first saw Three Stooges's Creeps (1956), I was absolutely floored by how uncanny but hilarious Moe, Larry and Shemp are dressed as babies. The short is a clip-show, but I think it has some good clips. 

While we all love to wear whatever we want and try not to be too modest and classy especially in the modern world of today, we still have to appreciate what styles and trends we have experienced so we can talk about them and send love and passion for it. We gotta be grateful somehow. 

Even in those animated versions, you can still like it and appreciate the appeal. 

I love Cock O' The Walk. It has some fantastic dance scenes, and underrated silent characters.

Not only does this 90 year old cartoon have personality but it's widely acceptable for the era. Seeing anthropomorphic roosters dance and having a rubbery boxing match feels like true cinema. I really miss stuff like this. If this ever happens again, don't make it have useless talking involved, make it have exceptional dialogue and trust-worthy and reliable characters who know how to dance and feel at ease and spirit. I'm begging for this genre to come back. 

I think the post renaissance of fashion and entertainment was the 90s and 2000s. I grew up with one of the most creative, sharp and collected TV shows I ever watched. Backyardigans was full of exploration and I loved alot of the music. I think it was clearly inspired by the classics. It's really fun and perfect for younger audiences.