I always wondered what it might have been like, sitting in the cinema and watching Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer. Jolson was singing everywhere but, in that moment, he was singing for an audience in a small and intimate room. Finally, we had a sound canvas where we could see and hear what Jolson’s performances were really like.
I always wondered what it might have been like, sitting in the cinema and watching Steamboat Willie. Mickey Mouse spoke like you and me, albeit in a voice that was more high-pitched. The sound and visual canvases were extended as imaginations became real although the characters clearly weren’t.
I may have understood it back in 1977 the first time I saw The Millennium Falcon make the jump into hyperspace. I love science fiction movies and I had never seen anything like that before. The visual canvas was amazing.
Was 1928-1977 the great era of Hollywood innovation? Walt Disney led the charge on many fronts. His studio used a multi-plane camera to give cartoons the illusion of three dimensions. He recognised the potential of synchronised sound, even for cartoons. He saw the potential for feature length animation and did not give up when Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs began to be referred to as “Disney’s Folly”. He harnessed the evocative natures of art and music to create Fantasia. Finally, he could see how technology could be used to make animation more efficient. The Jungle Book, the last feature made while Walt was still alive, used Xerox copying to print the cels that would become the film, something that was much cheaper than having multiple artists drawing cels by hand.
In some ways, George Lucas was always Disney’s heir apparent. In Star Wars (now A New Hope) Lucas was using technology in different ways to create marvellous scenes. By marvellous, I mean the footage was something at which to marvel. It was a lot of the charm of Star Wars, seeing things we’d never seen before. It was pure and unadulterated escapism.
However, it was short lived. By the time The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones came out, much of the innovation was less about what was on screen than how the films were projected in the cinema. Digitally. Nevertheless, it should not have been a surprise that Disney eventually bought Lucasfilm.
In recent years and currently, Disney is and a lot of Hollywood are, in my view, displaying a dearth of creativity. Instead, they are rehashing old animated features in live action versions. It’s the same old story, a variation of the summer re-run. So far, Disney has released these new versions of The Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo and Aladdin have been released. And next The Lion King is on the horizon. Yet the stories are not new.
I can understand why Disney is doing this. It is cheaper. There is no need to develop characters that an audience might like to see. It’s already tried and true.
It’s a similar cost effectiveness in relation to Disney’s purchase of Marvel Comics. I’ve been reading comic books for years. Yet for Disney, the company is a treasure trove of completed character development. It’s just a matter of sifting through them all to find those with whom an audience will connect. The same could be said of AOL Time Warner’s acquisition of DC Comics that has led to a plethora of comic book films and TV series.
Am I wrong to want something more from Hollywood? Or is the Dream Factory turning itself into the stuff of nightmares?