Before Jessica Rabbit...

This has nothing to do with sewing but I have had these links saved for so long and wanted to share them.

Swing Shift Cinderella (1945)

Do you remember when they used to run classic cartoons on regular TV? Before they moved them to the likes of Nick At Night, Cartoon Network, or TV Land.

When I was growing up we were exposed to an array of children's programming, consisting of Hanna-Barbera cartoons (The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo) and the live action shows of Sid and Marty Krofft, such as H.R. Pufnstuf, and Land of the Lost. In addition, we could also view vintage cartoons on basic cable, clear into the 1980s. Among these were gems from the 1930s-era Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes series. During that period of their rivalry with Walt Disney Studios, one particular type of cartoon caught my eye because it was not Disney-like; these characters were flippant and full of sarcasm and the situations were rude, sometimes violent, and even risqué. 

Some of these were produced by the great Tex Avery, one of the men behind the children-friendly characters of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck at Warner Brothers. During his tenure at Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), he dabbled in a adult jazzy series of fairy tales using elements of modern life in the 1940-50s. I believe the fairy tale element was included to make them seem children-friendly while the story content was not. His work changed the language of cartoons; with exploding bombs, eye-popping doubletakes, and girl-hungry Hollywood wolves. Instead of skipping through forests and castles, his characters frequent bars, night clubs, and high rise apartments.

Sorry, I have written almost an entire post and have not explained the Jessica Rabbit connection. Well, Jessica (sultry-ly voiced by Kathleen Turner) was a big deal when the movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, was released in 1988. More popular a costume during Halloween than that year's trashy French maid or nurse, she was a beauty to be imitated. However, she was not an original, in fact, she was modeled on the femme fatales created by Tex in the three cartoons below. These lusciously curvy and clever bombshells were clearly the inspiration for Jessica.

Oh, and do not forget the importance of their antagonist, "Wolfie," the Zoot-suited playboy who was part of the chain-smoking, cocktail-drinking lifestyle that was depicted as a temptation to our heroines. Some version of this sophisticated, urbane, and slightly swarmy wolf appeared in more than a few Tex Avery cartoon features.

Here are a few images and links to the cartoon shorts themselves.

The Tex Avery Fairy Tales

 

 

Swing Shift Cinderella (1945)
Wikipedia entry

Red Hot Riding Hood (1943)
Wikipedia entry

 

Little Rural Riding Hood (1949)
Wikipedia entry



The Bear's Tale (1940)

During my research I found that he created more of these types of fairy tales, so there are more that I need to track down. The other's are: Cinderella meets Fella (1938), Little Red Walking Hood (1937), The Bear's Tale (1940), Blitz Wolf aka Three Little Pigs (1942), and a Gander at Mother Goose (1940).

All of these plus the three above are available on DVD.

Fashion In Film: Brave (2012)

Director: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, Steve Purcell
Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly
Costume Design: Connie Chung

Two of my loves together: Sewing + Animation

I first wrote about it here regarding the movie Coraline and just recently read this fascinating article from the blog Clothes On Film about how the costumes of Pixar's Brave were created using computer simulation and their industry's form of "sewing".

Connie Chung, Simulation Supervisor on Brave:

"Basically, at Pixar, what we do is model the garments in 3D and then we have a proprietary software we use to essentially sew them all together. {...} There are sometimes features like the frills on Merida’s dress or her sleeves; we wanted to use the traditional techniques of gathering so we still “sewed” them on."

Yes, and to be aware of those gathering techniques, the studio actually hired digital tailoring artists who have previous experience in traditional costume design and dress making or have taken sewing classes in order to know how fabric weighs and drapes. Most definitely a skill that would be invaluable when modeling with wool tartans I expect.

Step 1. Costume design sketch



Step 2. Digital "sewing" pattern for Merida's dress!



Step 3. Garment fully realized.

Also related and equally as fascinating is this story on Babble about the clothing process and this article from FX Guide on rendering the ferociously curly hair of Merida, the lead character and the realistic fur of the animals in the film.

Images: Courtesy of Disney Pixar

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Flashback to Coraline Goodness

You know I loved the movie Coraline when it came out. The 3-D version was lovely, still can't forget the fireflies. I even admired the plastic figurines that were available.

However, what I loved the most about the film is that it was stop motion and therefore, every little prop or costume was real and hand made. Here is a great interview with Coraline's costume designer, Deborah Cook from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) Museum's blog. Enjoy!

Deborah Cook Interview

Just look at those little clothes AND the shoes! I could seriously squeal right now.

August 2018 Update: a new interview with Deborah Cook, Laika Films' fashion designer.

Image: FIDM blog

MUST SEE: Coraline in 3-D

I highly recommend seeing Coraline in 3-D if possible. I decided to treat myself and found myself oohing and aahing at lots of the effects. I have to admit I was shocked at the price when I got up to the window, so be prepared that you will be paying extra for the 3-D lusciousness. In my city, the non-matinee priced ticket was $12.

However, from the previews, there will be at least three more animated in 3-D movies coming out in the future. So, hopefully, I'll get a chance to recycle and BMOS (bring-my-own-specs.)

Everything was so beautiful, made even more special knowing that most everything seen was handmade. Just wait till you see the garden and the two "performances" within the film.

Wow, I want to say so much about this film but then I don't want to ruin anything so I will just say that the talent accumulated for this film was amazing! Also, here is a stream-of-conscious list that I wrote in the theater of things that stuck in my mind. After you see the film they may make sense and if you want to discuss, we'll just talk in the comments, ok?

French & Saunders
spink
forcible
They Must Be Giants
origami moths on clothespins
canopy bed
bustle skirts
lazy susan
kangaroo mice
mushrooms and damp

Intrigued?

Fashion In Film: Oh, Coraline!!

Have you heard about the Coraline movie? Directed by Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas) it is based on the novel by Neil Gaiman See the trailer here. Also check out the incredible movie website and more movie info on Gaiman's MouseCircus website. This book, Coraline: A Visual Companion and these alphabet posters look great too!

I am definitely going to see this!

They produced an incredible viral marketing scheme that involved bloggers and related to the multitudes of hand made objects that were used in the filming. These two websites have tracked down the 50 artisan-made boxes that were sent to the various bloggers around the country; Notcot and Super Punch. I would have freaked if I had gotten one of these, especially the one with the miniature tools, seen here.

If I could I would also buy up a lot of the merchandise. I love miniature movie figurines from animated movies. Animation (starting with Saturday morning cartoons) is something that my 19-year old nephew and I have always had in common. He collects the larger "15 in models from sci-fi and horror films. So even though the ones he has are usually extremely gruesome, I can still appreciate the love. A few years ago I had him track down a Harley Quinn from Batman: The Animated Series, even though I ended up not getting her in the end.


But check out these 7" Bendy Fashion Dolls (that's what they called them) of Coraline that will be available in March from Forbidden Planet. I waaant one.


*Though this movie is animated, most of the objects shown were created by hand; in duplicate. The marketing kits that went out included some of the objects actually used in the filming along with Henry Selick's autograph. How exquisite is that!

How could I have not told you this?!

I just realized that even though I earlier revealed by Daniel Craig crush and the fact that I don't like UK actors having to hide their accents on US television, I have never spoken about my long life as a Anglophile or the fact that I adore illustration and animation. So with this post, that all will change from now on.

The video I showed last week (that has me in a thrall) for Winter Song just happened to be designed by a British firm, Crush Design and Art Direction.

A true treat for you is that a higher resolution version can be seen here, (found via Cartoon Brew)

Also welcome Ward-O-Matic and Orange You Lucky to my blog roll. Ward has a great blogroll of illustrators and animators you should check out.

A Winter Song to You...

I can't stop listening to this song; sad but beautiful.


Winter Song* - Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson

Many of you have probably discovered this by yourself months ago, but I just did and I am truly in LOVE with the video!

This is from the album, The Hotel Cafe presents Winter Songs. It may be a bit late to enjoy over the holidays, but I think with the weather many of us are enjoying/loathing, it still warrants a listen. Also the purchase or download of this album benefits the Susan G. Koman for the Cure. So please enjoy and Happy New Year!

* In my opinion, the answer is: YES!