Some concepts

"She chopped his knob right off.." Jumping Jack

"Sad, Mad, Glad Mrs. Bobbitt"

"A cleaver she did wield"

Toy theater in film

Toy theater has always fascinated me. I remember as a child building various toy theaters out of cardboard, dioramas out of shoeboxes, and a full-sized handpuppet theater out of a fridge box. Toy theaters were originally mass-produced miniature facsimiles of famous opera and stage-play productions, made of card cut-outs. Some examples of the traditional toy theatre can be found below. Sliding the small figures back and forth in these theatres might be considered an early version of moving picture. Many films pay homage to the form, in particular the films of Ingmar Bergman. Below is the opening to his film "Fanny and Alexander" His film version of The Magic Flute takes place within the world of an old theatre, the sets of which have a very toy theatre feel to them, which I suppose isn't unusual, considering how most stage sets were built at the time: Flat painted panels. It's best illustrated at the 4:30 mark as winter transforms into spring. Below is the trailer for the excellent "Dante's Inferno" by Sandow Birk, an entire film created in a toy theatre: Other films of interest: "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" "The Thief of Baghdad" Below you will find some great toy theatre resources: Penny Plain Twopence Colored, a wonderful blog devoted to toy theater. Great Small Works is a theatre company that curates toy theater exhibitions and toy theater festivals at St. Ann's Warehouse in NY. And here are some clips from more traditional toy theatres:

The Persistence of Vision

Thaumatropes





Zoetropes

Little Miss Bobbitty-Boo

I originally came up with this version of Lorena Bobbitt's nursery rhyme, based on the rhyming and rhythm schema of "Three Blind Mice"

A  Little Miss Bobbitty-Boo. Little Miss Bobbitty-Boo.
A  Whatever did she do? Whatever did she do?
B  With a carving knife commit a deed
B  That caused her man to thrash and bleed.
B  She threw his knob into the weeds.
A  That Little Miss Bobbitty Boo.

For comparison's sake:

A  Three Blind Mice. Three Blind Mice.
C  See how they run. See how they run.
B  They all ran after the farmer's wife,
B  Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
B  Have you ever seen such a thing in your life,
A  As Three Blind Mice?

The rhyme retains the convenient carving knife element and also borrows the the "title" of Little Miss Muffett. 

Soon afterwards, I came up with something a little more colorful and original:

Sad Missus Bobbitt. 

Mad Missus Bobbitt. 

Glad Missus Bobbitty-Boo.
She served her man a cold revenge,

with verve and derring-do.

When one night Mister Bobbitt 

Came home quite besotted
A cleaver she did wield.
She chopped her husband's knob right off
And tossed it in a field.

Soon later the Bobbitt 

Appendage was spotted.

And swiftly sewn back on.

Then Bobbitt and his Knobbit had

A brief career in porn.

Sad Missus Bobbitt. 

Mad Missus Bobbitt. 

Glad Missus Bobbitty-Boo.

Don't cross her path when she is mad

You might lose your knob too!

Bobbitty-Boo, which uses Lorena's name, is also a reference to the magical song sung by the Fairy Godmother in Disney's Cinderella, "Bibbidi bobbidi boo".

Contemporary and Technical Influences

An overview of my final project:

An adaptation of a recent event, presented as a nursery rhyme, using various hand-made methods of animation.

Contemporary Influence:

Many nursery rhymes are said to be inspired by news-worthy scandals of the day. These theories are usually apocryphal, such as Jack and Jill being a retelling of the rise and fall of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. However, historical inspirations, and disproving them, seem to be a prominent element within the study of nursery rhymes. 

For my project, I am writing and animating one or two nursery rhymes based on the scandals of our generation.

The first is the story of Lorena Bobbitt and John Wayne Bobbitt, an infamous news story in the mid-nineties. John Wayne was an abusive husband, and after returning home drunk and forcing himself on her, Lorena chopped off his penis with a carving knife, went for a drive and deposited the dismembered member in a remote field. It was later recovered and reattached. Lorena Bobbitt was acquitted due to a defense of "temporary insanity" caused by abuse at the hand of her husband and the psychological aftermath of a forced abortion 3 years prior. 

John Wayne Bobbitt cashed in on the notoriety of the case. He appeared in two adult films, "John Wayne Bobbitt: Uncut" and "Frankenpenis". He also spent some time working as a minister in a Las Vegas Wedding Chapel.

Lorena has been hailed by some in the feminist movement, and her name lives on as a threat: "Don't do that or I'll bobbitt you!"

Technical Influence

I am looking to use early forms and pre-cursors of animation, such as the toy theater, the thaumatrope, zoetrope, flipbooks and stop-frame animation. Many of these early forms of animation were used not only to entertain children, but also adults, with many naughty mutoscope (a flip-book style precursor to the nickelodeon) presentations, leading to them being called "What-the-butler-saw machines".

I am also looking at stop-frame animations by Lotte Reiniger and Ray Harryhausen, both stop-frame pioneers who amongst other subjects, created animated fairy tales and nursery rhymes.

Mini Mind Map

Origins of 'Jack and Jill'

There are many theories as to the origin of the rhyme Jack and Jill. As with the origins of most nursery rhymes, most, if not all of these are apocryphal.

Norse Mythology

The story of Hjúki and Bil is about a brother and a sister who follow the personified moon, Máni across the sky. The story, written in the 13th century Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson, tells of how, as they fetched water from the well of Byrgir, carrying the pail Sæg, Máni kidnaps them from the Earth. They are now immortalized on the face of the moon, and the pair personify the waxing and waning moon, appearing and disappearing one-by-one on the moon's face ("Jack fell down and broke his crown, and Jill came tumbling after"). Some have drawn a connection between the stories due to the similarities in the names and the actions of the two children.

The Rise and Fall of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

This theory can be disproved by the simple fact that Jack and Jill first appeared in print in John Newbery's Mother Goose's Melody in the 1760s, well before the French revolution. Many, however, continue to propagate this origin story. Louis and his queen ascend to the throne (up the hill) and Louis falls and is beheaded, and Marie soon after (broke his crown, etc.) The "pail of water" is usually not taken into account, though some have said that it is a metaphor for the royal couple trying to quell the fires of the revolution.

Charles I and tax reform

(quoted from wikipedia)

In the 17th century, King Charles I tried to reform the taxes on liquid measures. He was blocked by Parliament, so subsequently ordered that the volume of a Jack (1/2 pint) be reduced, but the tax remained the same. This meant that he still received more tax, despite Parliament's veto. Hence "Jack fell down and broke his crown" (many pint glasses in the UK still have a line marking the 1/2 pint level with a crown above it) "and Jill came tumbling after". The reference to "Jill", (actually a "gill", or 1/4 pint) is an indication that the gill dropped in volume as a consequence. A variant of this is that liquids (specifically alcoholic beverages) were watered down, hence, "fetch a pail of water."

THE FORM!

Your Name

Gabriel Aronson

Statement of Intent

An animated adaptation of the classic nursery rhyme Jack and Jill with roots in illustration, early animation and cinematic composition.

Field of Study

Motion graphics and character animation.

Focus

1. Parodic cartoons

2.  Old forms of animation.

Context

This piece is a reaction to the tradition of animated fairytales. Practitioners include Lotte Reiniger and Ray Harryhausen. People who have parodied the fairytale include Tim Burton and the Looney Tunes cartoons. Looking at composition in illustration and film: Edward Gorey, Wes Anderson. Looking at praxinoscopes, zoetropes. Drawing from my experiences at Blink Productions. Practitioner: David Wilson. The aesthetics of the flat, in a 3-dimensional world: toy theater, pop-up books? Practitioner: Andrea Dezsö. The history of fairy tales, and the subversive process of breaking down such moralistic tales for comedic purposes.

Methodology

Primary research includes figuring out the logistics of zoetrope animation. Creating a looping animation as a title sequence for the piece. Integrating scanned and photographed textures into the piece. 

Secondary research includes looking at the work of previously cited practitioners, and further research into the world of animation in the victorian and edwardian eras. Also looking at the origin and meaning of fairytales.

Resolution

A subversively funny piece of animation.

Jack and Jill development ramblings

My final project is an adaptation of the Nursery Rhyme "Jack and Jill"

For the storybook feel, I've been looking at Lotte Reiniger, who did many adaptations of fairytales in her signature silhouette style. Because her work is silhouette, it means all movements, and environments, need to be laid out laterally, across the screen. This leads to very figurative landscapes, delicate and intricate. 

I really like this paper-cut feel and am looking to incorporate some of it's fragility into my work.

Because I am going for a dark feel, I am also looking at one of my favorite writer/illustrators, Edward Gorey. His work falls into the category of literary nonsense, and the same can be said of many nursery rhymes. His characteristic drawings are usually quite bleak and minimalist: empty hallways, half-open doors, grey landscapes, dead gardens, etc. The compositions of his drawings are very specific and geometric, with the placement of characters within their environment (or deliberate omission of content within the frame) telling as much a story as the actual content.

Because of the Edwardian influences, I'd like to explore the use of a zoetrope as the bookends for the piece. Though most of it will be animated in the computer, I think it would be fun to introduce the nursery rhyme as a strip of animation played back in a zoetrope. The idea is that the scroll is one in a large cabinet of dark nursery rhymes, hinting at the possibility of a larger series.

If I am to going to go with the zoetrope idea, my main concerns in that area will be to

a) find/build a zoetrope.

b) make the film strips 

c) storyboard and film that sequence.

Based on these influences, I am thinking of employing a 2.35:1 cinematic aspect ratio, which allows for almost triptych-like compositions. The sort of two-dimensional cinema feel that I am going for is characteristic of the films of Wes Anderson, who primarily uses constrained lateral camera movements such as tracking and pedestaling. 

I am looking for humor in restraint. Little movement or action, minimal gestures used to convey over-the-top emotions.

I have re-written the last two lines of the nursery rhyme as a "twist ending" if you will.

Jack and Jill

Went up the hill

To fetch a pail of water.

Jack fell down,

And he did drown,

And Jill had peace thereafter.

The idea is that Jill is constantly plagued by her younger brother Jack, and decides to push him down the well in retribution. The narrative is simple, with titles alternating with corresponding sequences, like in silent film.

An interesting article on awkwardness in film at Splice Today.

The Film in question is this:

Watch Death to the Tinman in Entertainment  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Jack and Jill

Character designs:

2.35:1 super widescreen aspect ratio gives storybook feel: