The Phantom Moon

Being Elmo: A Puppeteers Journey

For the last week or so, I've been catching up on some Netflix movies as I work on some illustrations for a new project is in the works.  I "watch" things I can mostly listen to and don't require me to actually watch 100% to get whats going on.  Kinda of like a live book on tape.  I added the movie "Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey" to the Instant queue and thought nothing of it as I set it up to play.  And of course you know what happened ... I was hooked!

I totally got immersed in Kevin Clash's story (aka the heart and soul of Elmo!) and the world of puppets, Muppets and Sesame Street friends.  Kevin comes across as one of the most real people I've seen who have come into fame and not let it get to their head.  He's seriously one of the guys you'd love to have as your friend and enjoy his company and bounce ideas off of.  His story is like a dream come true to any puppeteer.  It's awe inspiring to see how much talent and drive Kevin has.

He was also friends with another great that I admire, the one and only Jim Henson.  My Mom loved Jim, especially his favorite Muppet Kermit the frog, and we were all sad to see him pass ...  

Suffice to say it includes some behind the scenes footage of Jim, Muppet movies and Sesame Street which was a totally joy to watch for a fan like me.  And it also included some footage of Jim Henson's Memorial service which had me blubbering like a baby as I watched it, but try as I might I couldn't stop and had to Youtube it to share it with my family and friends (sorry for making you cry, Mom!).

 

Kevin makes it a point to connect with as many fans as possible, especially children who are genuinely interested in puppeteering, or in puppets / muppets in general.  He also meets with children from the Make a Wish foundation who ask to meet with Elmo.  It touched my heart to see how much it affected and meant to Kevin to have kids to ask to meet with him for their wish ... another tear jerker moment!

I honestly loved this movie - even though I totally didn't get any work done since I paying attention to this movie completely, lol.  

If you haven't seen it and are a Muppet / Elmo / Henson fan, I would sugget you check it out at your earliest convenience.  And don't forget to keep the tissues handy ... :)

Frankenweenie

Okay fellow Tim Burton fans, it's about time that I share the newest trailer for TB's new stop-motion animated film ... Frankenweenie!

I'm a huge Tim Burton fan so I was thrilled when I heard he was releasing another stop-motion animated gem.  The guy has talent for sure and I'm so glad he's helping to keep the art of stop-motion animation alive!  I love CGI (Pixar, Dreamworks, etc) but I also really love this type of film making as well.

Here's the incredibly small snippet about the film from IMDB: "Young Victor conducts a science experiment to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life, only to face unintended, sometimes monstrous, consequences."

I love TB and most of his films are premanent fixtures in our home movie library.  SyFy recently had a Burton inspired episode of their hit show Face/Off which was really fun to watch, but I want to tackle that in another post since I didn't exactly agree with the winner 100%.

Here are a few interesting tid bits of trivia on ol' Tim & his movie making ways:

* Burton directed the original live action Frankenweenie in 1984 and was then fired by dear old Disney after the movie was completed (they thought it was too scary for young audiences ... how times have changed!) and they shelved the movie.

* Burton as an animation designer on 1987's Amazing Stories, namely ... Family Dog (it was also briefly revived in 1993 but that seems to have been short lived ...)!  This was a big hit in my family and we were seriously quoting this show non-stop when it first came out.  I have the original VHS but I'm crossing my fingers it'll make it's way to DVD some day.  Do you guys remember it too? 

* Frankenweenie's main character is named Victor which is also the name of the main character in The Corpse Bride (Victor Van Dort) AND my nephew Victor too!  I'm sure he'll be thrilled to realize this when he's older, lol (thanks for reminding me, dear sister!).

* Burton has made seven films with Johnny Depp: Edward Scissorhands (1990), Ed Wood (1994), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Corpse Bride (2005), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), and Alice in Wonderland (2010).  Johnny Depp is also the godfather of his son Billy Ray Burton.  It helps he's easy on the eyes too ...

Frankenweenie is set to release on October 5th, 2012.  Maybe this could be a birthday date for someone special I know?

*All photos courtesty of IMDB

The Secret World of Arrietty

About 10 years ago, I was introduced to the amazing work of Hayao Miyazaki.  My hubby and I were vacationing at Universal Studios (after spending a few days in Disney World of course) and we decided to hit the movies which we often did back then.  One of our movie choices was Miyazaki's Spirited Away.  

Since we're both lovers of anime it was a no brainer ... we bought tickets and settled in with a big ol' bucket of popcorn, some Buncha Crunch and matching sodas.  I was immediately in love with Miyazaki's style of story telling and his gorgeous animation, not to mention that the feisty Chihiro / Sen reminded me of my second oldest niece.

Since then, I've collected Miyazaki's movies whenever they've been made available in the US and have enjoyed his offerings, especially Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and Kiki's Delivery Service just to name a few.  

And now it seems that Miyazaki is giving us another treat inspired by the Borrowers.  Take a look:

Via Wikipedia of The Secret World of Arrietty "The film tells the story of Arrietty, a young Borrower who lives under the floorboards of a typical household. She eventually befriends Sho, a human boy with a heart condition since birth who is living with his great aunt Sadako. When Sadako's maid Haru becomes suspicious of the floorboard's disturbance, Arrietty and her family must escape detection, even if it means leaving their beloved home."

As a lover of Miyazaki and The Borrowers I can't wait to see this movie!  BB's birthday is just a few days after it's release so we're debating on whether to take her to see this or not, but you know Miyazaki ... there is usually a dark element or two in his films and this child of  mine has a big imagination as it is.  If we do see it I will share my thoughts for sure.

What's your favorite Hayao Miyazaki film?