What I’m watching: a pair of great documentaries

Date: 11/16/2021

On DVD: “Cartoon Carnival”

To say I completely enjoyed this new documentary that was aired earlier this year on Turner Classic Movies and then was released on DVD is an understatement. Of course, I was not just happy about the subject matter – silent era animation and the people who are bringing it to a new audience in the 21st Century – but also the fact I know a bunch of the people interviewed for the film.

The unofficial star of the film is Tommy Jose Stathes, a young man in Brooklyn who has built up one of, if not the largest, personal archives of silent animation. Stathes has done much to bring attention of film scholars and animation fans to a whole era of the medium that has been largely ignored.

Stathes is a hero in my book.

The simple historical fact is that experiments in both cartoon and stop motion animation go back to the birth of film. It was a rich field in the Teens and ‘20s that was largely forgotten with the coming of sound.

It is also an era in which the field was not dominated by Walt Disney. The most popular cartoons series was “Felix and Cat” by Otto Mesmer, “Out of the Inkwell” produced by Max Fleischer and the “Aesop’s Fables” produced Paul Terry, all of whom received their proper notice in this film.

Director Andrew Smith balances the story of silent animation well, noting the earliest of pioneers and the accomplishments of cartoonist Winsor McCay. McCay was both a popular and impressive cartoonist who was fascinated by animation. His best-known work is “Gertie the Dinosaur,” the earliest example of personality animation – in which the gags come not just from situations but from the personality of the characters.

“Felix the Cat” is noted in the film as one of the best-known characters whose humor sprang from his personality.

Max Fleischer’s invention of the Rotoscope brought life-like and smooth movements to the field and Fleischer’s “Out of the Inkwell” series featuring Ko-Ko the Clown was innovative and highly influential as both Disney and Walter Lantz both drew considerable inspiration from Fleischer’s cartoons.

The title of the film comes from the shows that Stathes regularly staged in venues in Brooklyn, attracting young people to see rare animated cartoons projected on a big screen. Stathes had to curtail these showings because of the pandemic but he is starting them back up again. I’m planning to go to one of these as soon as I can.

If you’re a fan of cartoons, seek out this film. If you consider yourself a big movie fan, you owe it to yourself to expand your knowledge of film by watching this documentary.

On Blu-ray: “Elstree 1976”

This documentary from 2015 has just made it to Blu-ray and if you are a “Stars War” fan, this should be a must-see.

The film interviews a number of bit players who were in the “first” Stars Wars film – now listed as the fourth film in the series – and how the experience of being in a bit part in such a famous movie affected their lives and careers.

Some of them had legitimate careers as actors while several never made it past being an extra.

The film sets up an interesting question: what if the one part of an acting career is your most famous role even though you were working behind a mask or had only a line or two? How does that affect your outlook on your career?

Take Paul Blake for example. He played Greedo in the cantina scene with Harrison Ford as Han Solo. He went on to do more in film and on British TV but those few moments of screen time have given him celebrity among “Star Wars” fans.

He seems perplexed and thankful for the continued interest from fans.

The best known of the actors interviewed is the late Dave Prowse, who played Darth Vader. Despite the fact he spoke the lines written for Vader, George Lucas replaced his voice with that of James Earl Jones. Prowse also thought his face was going to be shown when Vader’s helmet is removed at the conclusion of the series, but it was not.

The documentary is a compelling meditation on the nature of fame, something most actors seek, but something they find difficult to control.