And “The King and The Mockingbird” was directed by French director Paul Grimault - interesting to note (to me at least) that the French live-action director Jacques Demy (Umbrellas of Cherbourg) worked briefly under Grimault following an early desire to be an animator, recreated in early parts of his wife Agnes Varda’s biographical film “Jacquot De Nantes”.
Also interesting in Grimault’s film is the appearance of a giant robot and I wonder how much this inspired the giant robot trope in Japanese animation.
Didn't know that about Demy! Wild. As for the robots, you're definitely onto something. Toei's people took directly from the Grimault film for the robot rampages in Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon and The Flying Phantom Ship in the '60s, from what we've read. It's hard to believe that Mushi didn't have a similar frame of reference. The movie was released theatrically in the mid-1950s and bootleg manga based on it spread in Japan as well, according to Miyazaki. It's crazy to think about.
Yes, there’s something about the style of the robot in Grimault’s film that refers back to early representations of similar giant robots in popular magazines / books of the time - quite minimalistic and boxy but rounded/off for animation purposes, like “Gigantor”.
I was similarly blown away by Demy’s interest in animation revealed in Varda’s film - he was quite accomplished at an early age despite having limited access to equipment & materials and it’s interesting to imagine how this early interest translated into his subsequent work, especially “Les Demoiselles de Rochefort”, with its bright colours and art direction.
More than happy to! Wish we could've included one for The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep as well, but the best copy is on the Internet Archive, which is currently down due to a hack. It should be back up soon, though, and we'll edit the piece to add a link when we can.
They’re right here in SF and a fantastic resource. Bummer that it got hacked and I’ve had to change some passwords as I’m a member. The times we live in; villainy is not just in animation.
And “The King and The Mockingbird” was directed by French director Paul Grimault - interesting to note (to me at least) that the French live-action director Jacques Demy (Umbrellas of Cherbourg) worked briefly under Grimault following an early desire to be an animator, recreated in early parts of his wife Agnes Varda’s biographical film “Jacquot De Nantes”.
Also interesting in Grimault’s film is the appearance of a giant robot and I wonder how much this inspired the giant robot trope in Japanese animation.
Didn't know that about Demy! Wild. As for the robots, you're definitely onto something. Toei's people took directly from the Grimault film for the robot rampages in Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon and The Flying Phantom Ship in the '60s, from what we've read. It's hard to believe that Mushi didn't have a similar frame of reference. The movie was released theatrically in the mid-1950s and bootleg manga based on it spread in Japan as well, according to Miyazaki. It's crazy to think about.
Yes, there’s something about the style of the robot in Grimault’s film that refers back to early representations of similar giant robots in popular magazines / books of the time - quite minimalistic and boxy but rounded/off for animation purposes, like “Gigantor”.
I was similarly blown away by Demy’s interest in animation revealed in Varda’s film - he was quite accomplished at an early age despite having limited access to equipment & materials and it’s interesting to imagine how this early interest translated into his subsequent work, especially “Les Demoiselles de Rochefort”, with its bright colours and art direction.
This is really cool. Thanx for adding the links to the animation. I have put them in my watch list. 👍👍👍
That's awesome! Hope you enjoy them. A lot of these films are absolute gems.
Absolutely love you providing the links.
More than happy to! Wish we could've included one for The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep as well, but the best copy is on the Internet Archive, which is currently down due to a hack. It should be back up soon, though, and we'll edit the piece to add a link when we can.
They’re right here in SF and a fantastic resource. Bummer that it got hacked and I’ve had to change some passwords as I’m a member. The times we live in; villainy is not just in animation.
Busifan present at Russian festival breaks my heart, I am not going to follow the news about him anymore.