An OZian view of THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN

[M. Rossner]

Speaking of claymation, there are two excellent examples of this
animation technique. One is in John Fogarty's video "Vanz Kant Dance",
done by the same person who produced the "Mark Twain" claymation.

The other is an Academy Award winning short from a few years back
called "A Day in the Park". This excellent piece features a clay
facsimile of Ed Koch singing "New York, New York" while undergoing
various metamorphoses made possible by his clayness. Anybody else
ever seen this short? Anybody have more information?

[The Napoleon of Crime]

[Thanks, Oz!]

I haven't seen this yet, but definately will. The man behind the film (and
the trademark "Claymation") is Will Vinton, a longtime Portland, Oregon
animator who releases short, and occasional full-length claymation films,
while he does commercials on the side to "pay the rent". He won an Oscar
about ten years ago for "Closed Mondays", and has been nominated for several
others. It's a rare International Tournee of Animation that doesn't have
one of his films in it.

If you like THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN, may I suggest several of his
shorts (his short FILMS, not his underwear!): CLOSED MONDAYS, THE LITTLE
PRINCE, RIP VAN WINKLE and the most recent one I saw, THE GREAT COGNITO,
which is one of the funniest things you'll ever see. Many of these can be
borrowed from your public library (they can in Seattle and Portland, at
least).

I also admit that I am a bit predjudiced; Vinton let my high school film
class visit his studios back in '77, and his enthusiasm and quiet humor are
very clear in the films of his I see. I'm glad to hear that MARK TWAIN is
out (this is one of those "10 YEARS IN THE MAKING!" films), and look forward
to it.

"So gather the kids, a dog... Grandma... and
lock them in another room."
-- Orson Welles

Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
ARPA: fluke!mori...@uw-beaver.ARPA
UUCP: {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb6, lbl-csam}!fluke!moriarty
<*> DISCLAIMER: Do what you want with me, but leave my employers alone! <*>

[m.r.leeper]

>The other is an Academy Award winning short from a few years
>back called "A Day in the Park".

Isn't that "Sundae in the Park?" Yes, it is quite good. Also "Closed
Mondays" is an earlier claymation that is quite good. I was mildly
negative on the story content of TWAIN but the claymation is certainly
among the best I have seen (one exception is that the comet is not very
well done).

Mark Leeper
...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper