October 29, 2009
Found this one through the reliably bookmarkable Cartoon Brew. It’s a fascinating and insightful study of the color choices used in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown by Justin Hilden.
Bill Melendez’s 1966 television animated special It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown may not seem the obvious choice for a study in color theory. The Peanuts shorts from that era are usually considered beloved yet simple children’s fare. In animation circles these specials are often footnoted as being produced quickly and on the cheap. While it is certainly true that The Great Pumpkin is not high art, it has endeared itself into the collective holiday psyche of Americans since the late 1960s. Such an emotional attachment stems from the familiarity of the characters, the breezy quality of the music, the innocence of the voice acting, and also – I believe – the use and direction of color.
Mr. Hilden has graciously accompanied his article with illustrative screen captures and comments, e.g.:
The kids are surrounded and buried in these deep, dark tones with two exceptions. The kids who go trick-or-treating are anchored onto a baby blue sidewalk in the same value as the boring house interiors, in contrast to Linus and Sally who remain half covered by the Halloween intensity. This makes trick-or-treating feel less exciting than waiting in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin.
I love this stuff. The early Peanuts specials are more sophisticated and crafted than they may first appear. No wonder these things are classics. For another fascinating over-analyzation in the same vein, see “The Art of Bill Melendez.”
Color Design in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
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Charlie Brown, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, ex situ | Tagged: Bill Melendez, Flying Ace, Great Pumpkin, Halloween, hue, Linus Van Pelt, Snoopy | 
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Posted by The Editor
October 28, 2009
Never saw Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, but since it’s coming to home video soon (I wish I got paid for that plug), it’s time for an apropos update.
Page Schilt has mixed feelings about Ice Age 3. On one hand, it shows animals of heterogeneous gender permuting peacefully. On the other hand, it does its best to reinforce stale stereotypes, particularly masculine tropes. Here’s a bit:
In an attempt to create a compensatory family of his own, Sid appropriates a trio of dinosaur eggs. Now in nurturing mode, he begins referring to himself as “Mommy” and even–unless I’m much mistaken–using feminine pronouns.
All of this, I know, sounds really queer.
But, like so much pop culture, Ice Age 3 simultaneously subverts and reinforces sex and gender norms. All the stuff it’s dredging up from our collective cultural anxiety closet–changing gender roles, the anti-sociality of the nuclear family, alternative communities, homoeroticism–is, I would argue, kept in check by the film’s policing of traditional gender roles.
and
The utopian nature of the collective is emphasized by the subplot about heterosexual romance between two squirrels. The female squirrel, a hot femme fatale, repeatedly uses her sexual wiles to part the male squirrel from his nut (pun intended, I’m sure). After battling it out in SM foreplay for most of the movie, the squirrels briefly succumb to sexual bliss before descending into domestic hell.
It’s a good read, with some links that I’ll probably highlight individually in the future.
Ice Age 3: Can a Queer Utopia be Built on Prehistoric Gender Roles?
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Ice Age 3, anthropomorphica, cross-dressing, ex situ, gender, homosexuality, stereotypes, the female gender, the male gender | Tagged: nuclear family, Scrat, utopian collective | 
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Posted by The Editor
September 3, 2009
Contributed by Krissy N.
Many people like to hypothesize that perhaps Peppermint Patty and Marcy are lesbians, despite a blatant lack of evidence. Peppermint Patty is not gay. This much is obvious from her treatment of Charlie Brown. She likes him. She expresses her crush through her aggressiveness, by being overly chummy and encouraging him to do things he would normally avoid. She is forcing a relationship between them. Notice that Charlie Brown never contacts her intentionally; they run into each other at school or afterward, on the baseball team, or while shopping. Their relationship is based on knowing the same people and attending the same school.
Why Patty chooses to be aggressive toward Charlie is a matter of observation. Aside from Patty, the other girls include Sally and Lucy. Sally is Charlie’s sister, he has no choice about his relationship with her, they live in the same house. Lucy is the only girl Charlie approaches willingly, seeking her “advice” often. In these sessions she abuses and ridicules him. From observing this type of behavior, one may conclude that Charlie Brown is a masochist. Patty figures that the only way to have any sort of relationship is to abuse the poor boy. But she can’t be like Lucy because of her love for Charlie; she wouldn’t intentionally hurt him.
Marcy has no strong evidence to prove that she is not gay, but there are some interesting things I can say in support. Marcy is very passive. We have never seen her take great action, or even say much beyond offering a few helpful points to Patty or covering for her in class. Marcy reminds me a bit of Charlie Brown in her passiveness. She never places herself into any given situation, more that she is flung into it. Her actions are often dictated by others. She doesn’t have any strong ambitions or goals, neither does Charlie outside of his desire to succeed at least once. Both of them are very polite, honest, and nice to other people (especially adults). The two don’t force their opinions onto anyone, neither of them have an outgoing or aggressive “will” to speak of (Even Linus has a strong will, though no actual personality flaws. Instead, he is a dynamic personality, with an old and knowledgeable soul). Because of these similar traits I always wished to see the pair together.
Their similarities make one think about their relationship to Patty. Charlie Brown is the object of Patty’s affections, so what does that make Marcy? The Peanuts gang is partly defined by its relationships: Patty likes Charlie, Lucy likes Schroeder, Sally likes Linus, Charlie Brown likes the cute little redhead girl. Marcy is an anomaly in this social circle as a figure not involved in any type of crush as the other characters are. So it is not entirely unlikely that Marcy likes Patty. Having some of the same personality traits as Charlie Brown makes her a likely candidate as a significant other for Patty. In contrast to Charlie, Marcy chooses to be near Patty, showing more control over her circumstances than he ever could. Seeing what kind of person Patty chooses to adore, Marcy emulates that behavior, trying to draw the attention toward herself. Of course that is merely not enough. Marcy makes herself helpful so that Patty acknowledges her existence, depending on Marcy to help her out of tough situations. She wedges herself into Patty’s life the way Patty attempts to place herself into Charlie Brown’s day. Marcy uses Patty’s actions as the basis for her own.
Though Marcy might act passive to gain Patty’s favor, I do not believe that it is merely a facade. Part of the behavior is native to her personality. She spends a lot of time with Patty, it is nearly impossible for any person to maintain a passive facade that long. Patty is very overbearing and egotistical, if there existed anything with Marcy’s personality to disagree, the two egos would have clashed and the pair of girls would always be fighting. Marcy’s lack of a personality saves her persona from being crushed by the monster that is Peppermint Patty. Marcy’s innate passiveness ultimately prevents her from revealing her true feelings. Admitting now one feels about someone else takes courage, especially for introverts such a Marcy, who must live in the perfect and most likely repressed society that is the world of Peanuts.
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Charlie Brown, Peanuts, from the archives, homosexuality, psych, stereotypes | Tagged: Linus Van Pelt, Marcie, Peppermint Patty | 
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Posted by The Editor
August 21, 2009
Now here’s an overanalyzation! Written by bona fide Drs. Robert Patterson (general surgeon) and Charles Weijer (bioethicist) in 1998, it’s a comparison of the methodology and practical philosophy of Springfield’s most prominent medical professionals. Published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, no less! Exclamation point!
I’m afraid Dr. Marvin Monroe isn’t considered one of Springfield’s most prominent medical professionals. But Dr. Julius Hibbert is:
Deeper analysis, however, reveals that Hibbert is no Semmelweiss. He treats the health care system like his personal cash cow by taking time to talk to his patients and distributing lollipops to children. No wonder the US system is so expensive. Worse yet, he stocks his office with patient education materials that either contain value judgements or are poorly written.
Bonus points for a Semmelweiss reference. Of course, the other prominent medical professional is Dr. Riviera:
…he’s no shill for the medical establishment. Knowing that physicians’ fees are the real cause of the health care funding crisis, Dr. Nick produced a TV ad in which he offered to do any surgical procedure for just $129.95 (Can$193.95 at time of writing [Can$140.87 today. -Ed.]). Cost-effective and consumer conscious, Riviera would never let quality of care interfere with discount-rate fees.
Topical!
An analysis of the medical care provided to the family of Homer J. Simpson
> Catena Ex Situ
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Posted by The Editor
August 6, 2009
Contributed by Brendan S.
Two of my all-time favorite movies, 1939’s The Wizard of Oz and 1968’s Yellow Submarine, have several things in common besides being musical fantasies- they’re practically parallel in a number of ways:
| The Wizard of Oz |
Yellow Submarine |
Colorful, peace-loving kingdom under siege by evil despots and their minions:
The Wicked Witch of the West
The flying monkeys |
Colorful, peace-loving kingdom under siege by evil despots and their minions:
The Chief Blue Meanie
The Dreadful Flying Glove |
| The Mayor of Munchkin City |
The Lord Mayor of Pepperland |
| A sepia-toned Kansas |
A bleak, grey Liverpool, England |
| Dorothy wanting more than her drab surroundings |
Ringo: “Nothing ever ‘appens to me.” |
| The song “Over the Rainbow” |
The rainbow gate to Pepperland |
| The Kansas farmhands each having counterparts in Oz |
The Beatles meet their Pepperlandian doubles- namely Sgt. Pepper’s band |
| Evil talking trees throw apples at Dorothy and the Scarecrow |
The Apple Bonkers drop large apples on the heads of innocent victims |
| The Yellow Brick Road served as the path to Oz |
The Yellow Submarine brought the Beatles on a perilous journey |
Highly intellectual albeit slightly befuddled individual who befriends the main characters:
The Wizard |
Highly intellectual albeit slightly befuddled individual who befriends the main characters:
Jeremy Hilary Boob, Ph.d. |
| The Emerald City, which led to the Wizard’s palace |
The Sea of Green, which led to Pepperland |
| The Wizard, in his hot-air balloon, accidentally leaves Dorothy stranded in Emerald City |
Old Fred, on board the submarine, Old Fred, on board the submarine, stranded in the Sea of Phrenology at one point |
Brief but effective use of classical music:
“Night On Bald Mountain” by Mussorgsky |
Brief but effective use of classical music:
“Air On a G String” by Bach and “Peer Gynt Morning Suite” by Grieg |
| On her broom, the Wicked Witch skywrites “Surrender Dorothy” over Oz in hideous black smoke |
The Flying Glove left behind a trail of smoke jetting the skies of Pepperland while terrorizing the populace |
| The Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion successfully infiltrate the Witch’s army to rescue Dorothy |
The Beatles crudely disguise themselves as an Apple Bonker to infiltrate the Meanie army and bring Pepperland back to its glory |
Act of kindness used to defeat the bad guys:
a bucket of water thrown at the Wicked Witch |
Act of kindness used to defeat the bad guys:
music was used as a weapon against the Meanies & completely restored Pepperland |
| With the Witch having been killed, the flying monkeys and army are free from her control |
The Blue Meanies decided to give up their evil ways and join in the eternal celebration/happiness |
| In spite of it all being a dream, Dorothy spoke fondly of her adventure in Oz, the good and the bad |
Back in our world, the flesh and blood Beatles speak of the great time they had in Pepperland-even with more Blue Meanies lurking in theaters |
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1 Comment | Yellow Submarine, knock-offery, villains | Tagged: Blue Meanies, Liverpudlian, Mussorgsky, Surrender Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz | Permalink
Posted by The Editor
June 23, 2009
Who would have thought that Twitter would be useful for more than paradigm-shifting omnidirectional awareness of social zeitgeist? Well, since joining Twitter (by the way, I joined Twitter: @overanalyzation), in addition to fomenting unrest I have found it to be a useful tool for discovering new and exciting over-analyzations. Like this one: our first Twitter-found article, from a re-tweet by @SaturdayMorning of a tweet originally from @SpaceMonkeyX.
Space Monkey X (the son of Space Monkey IX, inventor of the tungsten grapefruit) has written an impressively detailed over-analyzation of Yo Gabba Gabba!, placing it firmly and confidently within the Abrahamic canon. Here are some choice quotes to hopefully get you to read the whole thing:
Unlike the Golem – and more like the Muslim story of Adam, the first man, created from sand, clay, water, and dirt – once they’ve been animated by their Master, the Gabba Gang enjoys a certain level of free will to play in Gabba Land. Lance is still a presence as He watches from above, but for the most part He lets them do their own thing. However, that’s not to say that Lance never intervenes, as He did with the bird seed in the episode referenced above. In fact, He will often influence the events below by dictating when the Gabba Gang should eat, sleep, what to play with (bouncy balls, balloons, Super Martian Robot Girl comic books, etc.), how to treat one another, and even reprimands them if they misbehave. Similarly, the Bible chapter Leviticus deals with the laws that were passed down to the Jews regarding what they should eat, how they should raise their children, proper sexual practices, and other guidelines so they could remain in God’s favor. Of course the punishment for going against Lance’s wishes takes the form of a wagging finger and a disappointed demeanor, rather than fire, brimstone, or a plague of frogs…
…This leads us to the question of what roles the Gabba Gang plays in this scenario. If DJ Lance is God and Plex is Jesus/Muhammad/Moses, who are Brobee, Toodee, Foofa, and Muno? One could argue they are the four major sects of religion that worship God – Judaism, Islam, and Christianity broken into Protestant and Catholic. Muno, for example, would definitely be considered Catholic thanks to the guilt he carries in being the one who knocked down the blocks, bit his friends, and took things from others. His numerous reiterations of the song, “I’m So Sorry”, including the line, “I can fix it / I can make it better” show his obvious desire to atone for his sins against DJ Lance’s moral teachings. However, trying to equate the other Gabbas with the “personalities” (AKA stereotypes) of the other religions becomes more difficult. Perhaps the best answer, then, is that they are, as the characters’ personalities imply, children.
“Jesus wept.” – John 11:35
Yo Gabba Gospel! >Catena Ex Situ
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1 Comment | Yo Gabba Gabba!, ex situ, philosophy, religion | Tagged: DJ Lance, golem, Jesus, Leviticus, Toodee, twit populi | Permalink
Posted by The Editor
June 12, 2009
[Editor's Note: I found this Ex Situ via the indispensable The Disney Blog.]
Mr. Michial Farmer at Ladder on Wheels has written an excellent two-parter about themes of darkness and anxiety in Disney and Pixar movies (including Up). It’s practically a survey of disturbing things in Disney and Pixar movies. The first part is all about how dark the early Disney features were, and how they lost some of that darkness after (roughly) World War II:
…All of the early Disney features—for our purposes, let’s define “early” as prewar, which would allow us to work with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi—are shiny and beautifully drawn, but all of their prettiness only serves to hide the deep, existential dread at their cores.
While Mr. Farmer has a good point, I do think he neglects some of the darker imagery of The Rescuers, The Black Cauldron, The Lion King, or even Lilo & Stitch. Though the darkness in these films isn’t quite as fundamental or thematic as most of the pre-WWII examples he gives.
His second part is all about how Pixar’s stories are successful partly because they have embraced those mature themes which have been largely absent from the post-war Disney films. Here’s part of his discussion of Finding Nemo:
Finding Nemo, on the other hand, begins with a reference to and amplification of the central terror in Bambi. Here Marlin’s wife dies a terrible death just as they’re planning their life together, and the Barrucuda who eats her also goes ahead and takes out all but one of her eggs. Marlin—understandably, although the film doesn’t seem to acknowledge that!—becomes a picture of anxiety, protecting his disabled son (a nod to Dumbo, though Nemo doesn’t get the brutal mocking that his elephantine counterpart does) from the world that took his wife with little to no warning.
It’s very true that Pixar does not shy away from including more sophisticated and mature themes. It’s certainly part of the reason why Pixar movies resonate strongly with both kids and adults. Pixar also does not make the mistake (common among the filmgoing public) of mistaking “dark/edgy” for “dark/mature.” A lot of cartoon and comic fans seem to think it validates their love of the artform if disturbing stuff is haphazardly included, whether or not it actually adds anything symbolically or thematically. Pixar probably learned its lesson after that first disastrous “edgy” draft of Toy Story.
Deep in the Big Black Heart of the Sunshine State
Part 1 >Catena Ex Situ
Part 2 >Catena Ex Situ
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Leave a Comment » | A Bug's Life, Atlantis, Bambi, Bolt, Brother Bear, Cars, Chicken Little, Cinderella, Dumbo, Fantasia, Finding Nemo, Home on the Range, Lady and the Tramp, Lilo and Stitch, Meet the Robinsons, Monsters Inc., Pinocchio, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Song of the South, The Black Cauldron, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Incredibles, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Frog, The Rescuers, Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3, Up, WALL-E, death, ex situ, morality, philosophy, villains, violence | Tagged: angst, existential dread, ontological, The Island, World War II | Permalink
Posted by The Editor
June 9, 2009
Mr. Kyle Evans at Canned Geek has an interestingly dark take on Disney’s Hercules (a film which was kind of a mess, but kooky and enjoyable). He finds the film to be quite the parental tragedy:
…Yet for all that Hercules goes through – both physical and mental – I argue that the characters who suffer the most hardship in the entire film are Hercules parents, Zeus and Hera…
…The idea that these parents are separated from their child, yet can look upon him from Mount Olympus as though through a one-way mirror is just heartbreaking. For eighteen years Zeus and Hera can see their son, but they can’t interact with him. Young Hercules doesn’t even know who his real parents are…
…There is no happy ending for Zeus and Hera. They lose their son, watch him grow up for eighteen years, are teased with the prospect of being re-united and finally are rejected by their son. That would have to hurt.
Still, it could have been worse. There’s definitely some weird, unaddressed melancholia in Hercules, e.g. the surprisingly accurate depiction of the Ancient Greek concept of the afterlife.
Click below to read Mr. Evan’s full article, which also includes ruminations on parental figures in other films directed by Musker and Clements.
The Tragedy of Hercules > Catena Ex Situ
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Posted by The Editor
June 4, 2009
Just in time for Up: WALL•E!
SynchroLux (né Kevin Koch) decided to revisit WALL•E and share some of his thoughts on the relationship between theme and plot:
My issue, put simply, is that the film’s theme was revealed and resolved early, robbing the remainder of the film of meaning. Put another way, by climaxing and resolving the theme about half way through the movie, it ended up feeling like two distinct, shorter episodes welded together, with the first one quite a bit more compelling than the second.
and:
Let’s take a step back and look at the issue of theme. Plot is about what happens, to whom, and in what order. Theme is what the film is about. Themes give films meaning, depth, and enhance our sense of entertainment. Not all films have much of a theme, but I’d argue strongly that there are no memorable or great films that don’t have well-developed themes that infuse and drive the narrative. And, as I recall reading somewhere I can’t place now, the great films tend to make the resolution of the theme the key to resolving the plot…
His primary solution, which will not be completely revealed here, is to tweak the character of Captain McCrea to keep more in synch with the theme to get that nice, endorphin-releasing thematic resolution.
…Perhaps the Captain, instead of being a bored dope, could have been a devoted scholar of man’s time on Earth. Maybe this is how he spent his countless hours of leisure time, looking at old National Geographics…
Mr. Koch’s specific objection of thematic resolution never bothered me, since the movie supports all manner of thematic analysis and symbolism, despite what Mr. Stanton says. I don’t think WALL•E truly possesses one consistent theme, but seems to be a bit of a hodgepodge.
I do like his idea of tweaking the Captain character, since his transformation to proactive go-getter was a little bit easy. (The filmmakers did at least right away show how bored he was with his day-to-day routine.) I wouldn’t tweak quite so dramatically as Mr. Koch suggests, since this might rob the film of any suspense or mystery regarding Captain McCrea if we know from the outset that he’s going to be emphatically on WALL•E’s side. It might also telegraph the return-to-Earth ending a little too much. Having the Captain as an interested go-getter from the start would also undercut a bit of the importance of humanity taking charge again. He can’t seem like the kind of guy who would have already flipped the switch to MANUAL.
WALL•E: When Theme and Plot Get Out of Sync > Catena Ex Situ
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2 Comments | Up, WALL-E, ex situ | Tagged: Eve, irrational love, plot, Theme | Permalink
Posted by The Editor
