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Dennis Nyback Films
For Europe Spring 2005
In 1995 I made my first film tour of Europe. Since
then I have
made seven more film tours of Europe and also showed films in Japan,
Korea, Australia, Iceland, England, and other places around the world
and in many cities in the USA. I am now concentrating
on writing and
this could be that 2005 will be my last tour of
Europe. In 1995 I
presented Bad Bugs Bunny. It remains the most
popular film program I have created. To mark
the anniversary I am
bringing it back to Europe starting April 5, 2005. I will
stay a
minimum of a month. I will also bring two
new shows. My second
animation show will be The World Festival of Puppet Animation.
My live action shorts program will be Really the Blues.
Details about these three programs will be found below.
My in person fee for this year will be the same as last
year: 220
Euros for one program, 330 Euros for two and 400 Euros
for three. I
will also need a private place to sleep and dinner the night of a
show. As usual I will pay for my own transportation to
venues. I now
have a website which should help in getting people to come to my
shows: www.dennisnybackfilms.com
There are clips from Jammin the Blues and Gumby Racer in streaming
video at http://dennisnybackfilms.com/filmclips/film_clips.htm so
you can get a taste of the films I will be showing.
Bad Bugs Bunny: The Dark Side of
Warner Brothers Animation
After showing Bad Bugs Bunny in thirty cities in Europe in
1995 it
showed in Australia and Great Britain. I was still getting
requests
for it in 1999 and showed it in two cities in Europe
including Gothenburg where it drew a crowd of eight hundred
people.
It is comprised of ten suppressed cartoons that show the
true history
of America: Sex, Violence and Racism! None of these
cartoons has been
issued on commercial video tape in their complete, uncensored
form. The first big attempt to rewrite the past and censor
cartoons was
in 1968. Eleven Warner Brothers cartoons were selected to never
be
shown again. Three of those cartoons are in this program in their
complete, original form. I use Bugs Bunny as the icon for
the greater
output of Warner Brothers animation. Bugs Bunny does not appear
in
every cartoon. I have tried to make this an equal opportunity
offensive program with cartoons insulting as many ethnic groups and
sensibilities as possible. The lawyers for Warner Brothers have
tried
to stop me from showing this program. This is not the complete
program
but these are all copywrite free and in the public domain.
Hare Ribbin (Bob Clampett 1946)
This is
the original version of this cartoon with the homicide ending that
was
changed to suicide a month or so after it came out. See
Bugs commit
violent murder.
He Was Her Man (Friz Freleng
1937) A long suppressed cartoon due to it's extreme
violence toward women.
Sioux Me (Ben Hardaway,
1939) Native American stereotypes galore.
The rainmaker must produce rain or the chief will slit his
throat.
Let It Be Me (Friz Freleng, 1936) Caricature of Bing Crosby as a woman abusing cad. He successfully sued Warner?s to stop the showing of this cartoon. Ali Baba Bound (Bob Clampett, 1940) Porky Pig battles stereotyped Arabs. This includes a tasteless joke about a suicide bomber. All This And Rabbit Stew (1943) One of the original censored 11. Bugs Bunny and a Step N Fetchit type black man. In the 1950's this cartoon was remade using all of the cells except for the black man. Elmer Fudd replaced him. The World Festival of Puppet
Animation
Historic puppet and stop motion animation from around the
world.
The two great masters of Puppet animation are featured: Wladyslaw
Starewicz and George Pal. The films are from 1909 to 1949.
The
development of puppet animation can be seen.
The Automatic Moving Company (Emile
Cohl,
France, 1909) Emile Cohl was the first animator. This is a
great
example of stop motion animation. A moving company arrives
with no
driver at an apartment. All of the boxes and furniture get out of
the
truck, unpack, assemble in the room, sweep up and leave, with no human
beings to help.
The Revenge of the Kinomograph Kameraman (1912, Wladyslaw
Starewicz, Russia) A truly amazing puppet animation
tale using insects
to tell a tale of lust, betrayal, violence and
redemption. Many modern
animators have copied the work of Starewicz including
Tim Burton, Jan Svankmajer, The Quay
Brothers, and creators of Toy Story.
La Voix du rossignol aka
The Voice of the Nightingale
(1922, Wladyslaw Starewicz, France) Starewicz was forced to flee
Russia
during the revolution. He settled in France where he lived and
worked
for the rest of his life. This is a beautiful rendition of the
famous
folk tale in beautiful "Prizma Colour."
It's A Bird (1930, Charlie Bowers,
USA) Charlie
Bowers was one of the first and best masters of stop motion puppet
animation. He worked as early as in 1916 and trained many others
in the
art of animation. This live action and animated short features
what he
called "The Bowers Process." It has to be seen to be believed.
Mr.
Bowers was born in 1889 and died in 1946. An added bonus of It's
a
Bird is that he acts in it in the main role (not the bird, he is
Charley Chucklehead).
Phillips Broadcast of 1938 (1938,
George Pal,
Einhoven Holland) George Pal was born in 1908 in Cegled
Hungary. George Pal and his wife traveled around Europe in
the early
thirties one step ahead of the Gestapo. He established his
"Dollywood"
studio in Holland in the mid thirties and moved to America in
1939.
This is a fabulous cartoon.
Jack and the Beanstalk (1955, Lotte
Reiniger,
Berlin) Lotte Reiniger worked in the exacting medium of
silhouette
animation. She was born in Berlin in 1899 and began creating
her
beautiful creations in 1919. She continued to work through 1975
and
died in 1981.
Alice in Wonderland (1950, Lou
Bunin, England)
Lou Bunin was born in 1904 and began working with puppets in the
thirties. He produced a feature length live action and puppet
version
of Alice in Wonderland in 1950. This is ten minute condensed
version
of the feature which features the actress Joan Marsh and some marvelous
puppets.
Hot Lips Jasper (1945, George Pal,
USA) Another
example of the fabulous artistry of George Pal. He created a
series of
cartoons featuring the black character Jasper. This one has Louis
Armstrong losing his trumpet, which Jasper finds. George Pal is
now
mostly remembered for his feature length movies Tom Thumb, The Time
Machine, and the Seven Faces of of Dr. Lao which he made in the fifties
and sixties after stopping his short film productions.
Gumby Racer (1957, Art Clokey,
USA) This is the
favorite of all my Gumby cartoons. The race in this is much
better
than the race in Star Wars - Phantom Menace.
Really The Blues
100 minutes of vintage blues music on film. It is shame that
almost all of the great blues stars of the twenties and thirties were
never filmed. That said, this show will feature the only known
film of
the Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith, from 1929. It
will also have
Billie Holiday, Jimmie Rushing, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee,
Thelonius Monk, Lester Young, Count Basie, and a slew of other
great
musicians playing REAL BLUES and BOOGIE WOOGIE. That is not to be
confused with the electric blues that passes for blues music
today.
All of the films will be from 1929 to 1964.
Jammin' The Blues (1944, Gjon Mili)
There are
those who consider this the greatest music short ever made. Oh,
those
are older people who do not consider anything on MTV as in the
running. It is a great work of art featuring Lester Young,
Illinois
Jacquet, Sweets Edison, Big Sid Catlett, Barney Kessel, and other
greats. It really cooks!
The Sound of Jazz (1957, CBS) This
was a TV show
broadcast live just in time to capture some of the greatest acts of all
time before they died. Billie Holiday, Lester Young and Pee Wee
Russell all died with two years of the broadcast. The show makes
the
point that all jazz is based on blues. It assembled this amazing
group
of stars to prove that point. Coleman Hawkins, Count Basie,
Thelonious Monk, Red Allen, Milt Hinton, Jimmie Rushing, Jo Jones and
many others play a dozen great blues numbers including I Left My Baby
(Jimmie Rushing), Dickie's Dream (The Basie Band) and Fine and
Mellow
(Billie Holiday).
Minor Mode Blues (1962, National
Council of
Churches) The Max Roach Quintette with Booker Little played on
and
appeared in a religious TV show called The Hipster, the Delinquent and
the Square. This instrumental blues number is from the middle of
the
show. Booker Little was a real good trumpet player who joined Max
Roach after Clifford Brown was killed.
Bald Headed Woman (1964, TV) Harry
Belefonte sings the blues.
Hootie Blues (1964, TV)
Brownie McGee and Sonny
Terry were a blues team that worked together from 1939 until Sonny died
in 1986. This clip of them playing their composition Hootie Blues
is
from a Harry Belefonte TV show.
Fare Thee Well (1943, Soundies
Corporation)
Not a lot is known about the gospel group Day, Dusk and Dawn. I'm
really glad they appeared in this film because without it they might be
completely forgotten. It is a real treat.
Rumboogie (1942, Soundies
Corporation) Another
forgotten guy saved by appearing in a Soundie was the rockin blues man
Maurice Rocco. Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis both copied his
act. See it here.
Cheating Woman Blues (1943
Soundies
Corporation) Cowboy singer Red River Dave in a saloon
sings about the
woman who done him wrong and has brought to thoughts of violence and
suicide.
I'm A Good Good Woman (1943 Soundies
Corporation) Una Mae Carlise plays boogie woogie piano and sings.
Ration Blues (1942 Soundies
Corporation) The great Louis Jordan and his Tympanee Five rock
the blues.
St. Louis Blues (1929, Dudley
Murphy) The only
film ever made of the Empress of the Blues herself, Bessie Smith.
One
of the greatest things about film is that it allows us to look at the
twentieth Century. There is no previous century we can examine in
the
same way. If this film did not exist the true greatness of Bessie
Smith would be harder to appreciate.
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For more information about booking The Blaxploitation Cartoon Special, click here