The Penelope Pitstop ending is so right.

If you are unfamiliar with the originals, here they are:

Starting a blog post often leads me to fun discoveries. In 2009, the Wacky Races were reproduced at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. They did a fabulous reproduction, and I so wish I could have seen them. Here are the cars:

And some of the crew.

But I had heard of the book before, and was interested. I had grown up with the idea of being “original” branded into my young mind. One thing I never wanted to be called was a “copy cat”. And I am sure I am not the only one. I have read quite a few internets rants about how one movie was similar to some other movie.

Using the word “Steal” in the title is provocative, intentionally I’m sure. This book is mostly about finding inspiration. Kleon basically recommends gathering multiple influences and synthesizing your own interpretations. It’s really true. This entire blog of mine is about all those people who produce material that makes me laugh.

Kleon supports his idea that artists can take from other artists with many excellent quotes. I particularly liked this one from Mark Twain:

It is better to take something that does not belong to you than to let it lie around neglected.

I have said as much about jokes. Should a joke be copyrighted, or shared person to person to travel as far as it can go?

Kleon is careful to distinguish between good stealing and bad stealing. Good stealing recognizes and honors multiple sources. Bad stealing is a reproduction to which you contribute nothing.

The subtitle of the book is “10 things nobody told you about being creative”. My only criticism is that in reaching the number 10, it drifts into some generic advice such as “be nice” or reminding us that the internet has removed geographical restrictions to our circle of friends.

One item that did resonate with me was this line: In the beginning obscurity is good. When an artist becomes successful, then there are way more expectations on him or her. Think of the abuse heaped on George Lucas, or a rock star driven to suicide by a record company. Being obscure is a form of freedom to do just what pleases you.

Fred from Misha Klein on Vimeo.

One of the difficulties of watching films from a past era is in distinguishing what is intended to be stylized playing and parody from the mannerisms and movements characteristic of “real” people of the period.  From century to century, and even from decade to decade, fashions in movement change as do fashions in clothing.

I like the word “fashion” being used here.  The word “style” doesn’t quite suggest the passing nature of what’s being discussed.  And it also brings to mind how human movement differs not only over time, but from place to place.

Humans learn to move in the same way we learn to speak.  We pick up motion the way we pick up our local accents.  It’s subconscious.  We do it to fit in, to be like others.   If a construction worker suddenly started swinging his hips like a streetwalker, his coworkers would notice.  A punk rocker moves differently from a classical pianist.  Each sub-culture will have it’s characteristic movement.

The actor Sacha Baron Cohen understands this.  His characters involve transforming every part of his appearance, voice and even his movement.

Borat moves in a rigid, angular manner.

Bruno is much more loose and swishy, while Ali G. strikes all the hip-hop poses.

Most actors don’t do this.  Jack Black always moves like Jack Black.  Jim Carrey has varying degrees of his signature wackiness, from Ace Ventura on down to his serious roles.   If they have found success with it, they wouldn’ want to change.  Animators need to think like Cohen, and look for great styles of movement to give characters.

I don’t recall what inspired me to buy the Charley Bowers DVD set a few years ago, but it was more than a pleasant surprise.   I was introduced to a great talent in comedy, and animation.  Before seeing the DVD’s I had not heard of him, he is not mentioned in any of the many books on silent film that I had read.  If it weren’t for an essay by the surrealist Andre Breton praising his work, he probably would have been lost to history.  It took some film historians years to collect his surviving films from dusty collections around europe.

Charley Bowers began his entertainment career in 2D animation, writing and directing hundreds of short films based on the cartoon strip “Mutt & Jeff”  as well as “The Katzenjammer Kids.”  In 1926 he went into live action slapstick comedy, which is where the DVD collection starts.  His live film work was respectable, but it was the addition of  some extremely imaginative stop motion animation that brings him up to a level of quality that makes him worthy of  your time to watch.

Here are some samples:

He even has a facebook page

Also, a book is published in France that looks interesting.

The Bowers’ Mother Goose Movie Book

It has flippable pages.

Panini Attack from Maxime Chillemi on Vimeo.

Someone should test that out on a face rig.

Here is another one.

And…

FALLS, BLOWS, SURPRISE, KNAVERY, MIMICRY, and STUPIDITY

FALLS. Easily the first one to come to mind. Gravity reminds us we are not special. The more important or serious the person is, the funnier it is when they fall. There are many combinations of people and ways of falling. It’s really about the set up, and also about having a reasonable belief that the person isn’t seriously injured. It’s about making them look foolish.

BLOWS This is the bread and butter of the Three Stooges. It’s also the category that pie fights fall into.

SURPRISE One reason Buster Keaton was considered a great film maker was his ability to set up surprises. You are all set to see one thing, then he gives you another. There are two good surprises in this clip from his short film “One Week.”

KNAVERY is the sneaky stealing of things. The sly trickster is appealing. He is the partner of stupidity. I immediately thought of Harpo Marx.

MIMICRY. You probably noticed the brief moment of mimicry in the previous clip. When someone pretends to be some one or something else, it is funny. Dressing in drag is a form of mimicry. The greater the skill, the greater the comedy. Jim Carrey has great skill and he pushes the exaggeration as far as he can.

STUPIDITY. Here’s the problem with demonstrations of stupidity: The professionals have been pushed out of the market by the amateurs. I’m talking about “fail” videos. Damn if there aren’t lots of cameras trained on lots of stupid people. But we want to see how the professionals act stupid. The comedy of mistakes. It’s about seeing things wrong, being confused, but it’s also seeing things in a different way. The stupid character misinterprets directions and repeatedly makes the same mistake over again. Stan Laurel was one of the great stupid comedians.