ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

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Dir: Martine Chartrand

Âme noire/Black Soul won twenty-two awards including the Golden Bear for best short film in Berlin, the Jutra for best animation film and the Crystal Heart in Indianapolis.
[...]
However, it was in Âme noire/Black Soul (2001), her second short film, that she revealed the breadth and originality of her art. Abandoning drawing on paper and employing for the first time the demanding technique of painting on glass, Chartrand tackled the enormous subject of the history of Black peoples, depicting the Black Pharaohs of Nubian Egypt and the slave trade with the same brilliance, mixing on a single sound track the tribal music of ancient Africa and American jazz.

The simplicity of the film’s structure – a grandmother telling the history of her people to her grandson – gave the filmmaker the scope to travel in space and time, to move from Africa to the West Indies and then from the United States to Canada, to show the loneliness of the cotton fields, the slaves’ courage, suffering and rebellion, to let us hear the crack of the whip, the dignity of the singing and the deep voice of the Reverend Martin Luther King dreaming of brotherhood and a better future for his children.

This series of images interwoven with references that take us back to the origins of coffee, sugar and cotton, the collage of sounds and pieces of music as rich as the shimmering colours, come together to create a fresco, a broad panorama that encompasses both the famous and the nameless, kings and poor folk, old people and children.

[southendmd]

The film is dedicated to Howard Ashman, the lyricist, who died before the movie's completion. At the end of the final credits, you can read the dedication: "To our friend Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul, we will be forever grateful."

Here's the wonderful prologue, narrated by David Ogden Stiers:

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__x8CYAVMbk[/youtube]

[MaineWriter]

Some comments from IMDb:

This humorous short is based on a children's folk song that I recently learned dates back to 1893. The original song was written by Harry S. Miller under the dated and clumsy title "The Cat Came Back: A Comic Negro Absurdity." Cordell Barker alters the lyrics just slightly but the intent is wholly intact. That darn cat just won't leave!

There are many little pockets of funny in this over-all comedic short but one of my favorite is when Mr. Johnson tries to entertain the Evil Kitty with his old baby rattle and then looks lovingly at his baby picture. The year cited on the picture frame is 1903!

and

This short, nominated for an Academy Award, is one of the two shorts produced under the auspieces of the National Film Board of Canada that most people would recognize (the other is Bob's Birthday) even if they've never seen anything else. The first time I saw this, I wondered if John Weldon and/or Cordell Barker had stood next to Richard Condie too long and mutated! I learned that Condie was directly and significantly involved in its creation. If you are one of the 28 people out there who haven't seen this cartoon, then why are you reading this? Go watch it, for heaven's sake! Most highly recommended.

And if you are one of those 28 people, here it is for your viewing pleasure!

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnoEbld_ht4[/youtube]

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An early abstract short from the master, Norman McLaren, while he lived in the U.S.



Isn't Youtube great?
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3-vsKwQ0Cg[/youtube]

[southendmd]

A Max Fleischer cartoon.

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFbU4tFiBMU[/youtube]

[MaineWriter]

The first X-rated cartoon!



I remember seeing this in college...but that's about all I remember!

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[southendmd]

Includes a funny scene concerning a billboard for Egyptian cigarettes:

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNFq38cFr0U[/youtube]

[MaineWriter]

from IMDb:

You can tell this is another early Popeye (the fourth one ever) with the ultra-macho and strong (almost Superman) powers of our hero, and Olive putting up with anything just to be with her sailor man. Here, after Popeye's introductory song which he sings while walking down the street past a lot of tough guys, good and bad, Popeye calls on Olive. He does so by throwing a boulder through her top-story window! He shimmies down the water drain into a barrel but doesn't seem bothered by that. When he asks if she wants to go the rodeo, she says OK, and off they go.

The rodeo proves to be the showdown we have seen for so many Popeye cartoons: Popeye vs. Bluto. In this story, Bluto is part of the rodeo, billed as "The Great Bluto." Olive reaches in her blouse (this was pre-Hays Code days) and gets her money out and pays for both of them. Wow, too bad Popeye didn't have Olive under his thumb like this in later years.

However, this is the first instance (of many to come) where Olive turns fickle and is enamored by some feat the beastly Bluto performs. "Ohh, what man," she cools after Bluto gives a great exhibition of horse riding.

Popeye's jealousy kicks in and the real fun starts as each guy tries to outdo the other to impress Olive. Of course, Bluto kidnaps Olive to set the customary finale.

There are some funny sights in here, such as a big bull turning the tables on Bluto, tying him up and then taking bows from the fans! The end is clever, too, with the "meat market."

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