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Now ever since I started "Whyboy Spotlights..." I've wanted to spotlight one amazing group of people. The online animators of the Internet. Yes from Egoraptor to Lowbrow Studios I love most online animation. Actually I watch more online cartoons then I do regular cartoons and I think it's for the reason that online animators have a lot more freedom when it comes to creativity. Over the years it seems as animation production companies like Teletoon have become very "safe" unwilling to push the boundaries in fear of outcry but online animators don't really have those constrictive foundry constraints. They are able to work on anything they want (within reason of course) which allows for some truly creative series and characters to become formed. So, every so often I'm gonna devote a Whyboy Spotlights... to either a few animators at a time or to an animation studio that's awesome. Today I'm spotlighting a brand new production studio run by those two loveable scamps over at Smosh, Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla. That's right if you haven't read the title of this article it’s SHUT UP! Cartoons in the spotlight today.

SPOTLIGHTED BY Les of Manic Expression

After rewatching this movie I can really tell that this movie deserves a Cartoon Corner review of its own. Not because it's bad but because it would be very interesting to compare the 2008 movie to the 1970 animated short as well as the original 1952 book. Obviously by that you can already deduce that I really liked this movie and I feel that it fully deserves the title of best Dr. Seuss movie adaptation which when you think about it isn't that much of an accomplishment.

Anyway onto the story which is mainly just given away in the title. Horton the elephant hears a Who. Simple. Straight forward. Nothing that the 1970 short hadn't already pulled off so how does  the 2008 movie differentiate itself because. Well first off it changes the two main characters personalities that being Horton and the Who Horton comes in contact with. Let's start with who's character obviously changed the most that being Horton who in this movie is played by the comedic master Jim Carrey. I love Jim Carrey in almost all his roles. He just has tons of fun in any role that he plays to an almost worrying degree. This however was a major pitfall that Carrey fell into when he previously played The Grinch in the 2000 only decent adaptation of How The Grinch Stole Christmas. The movie was fine in it's own right it added plot elements that quite frankly contradicted the message of the story but the main saving grace of the movie was Jim Carrey but even then he only saved it because he's naturally funny. It wasn't the fact that he was a good Grinch. In my own words he missed the point of the character so bad he wasn't even in the same country as it. The cold heartless mean spirited Grinch was gone and replaced with the mugging hyperactive green asshole that we saw on screen.

Some of these points can be used again when describing Horton's character. While in the short he was just a polite and kind everyman saving the Who's because that was the right thing to do in the movie he constantly mugs at the camera, spazzes out, and would be considered insane in every meaning of the word. This change however... works. This will probably get me spat upon on the streets but the Horton in the book and the short were just bland. They were both nice guys but being just a nice guy is boring for people to spend an hour and a half watching. Carrey brings new life to the character which makes the character interesting to watch and Carrey does bring a lot of the big laughs in the movie. But Carrey as shown in performances like in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind can play serious as well and when the mood goes low Carrey can work with it bringing his charm to the moment that makes even the sadder of scenes a joy to watch.

Now onto the second of this double act the Who. In the adaptation he was a simple minded professor looking for knowledge vastly beyond his own comprehension and again while his character held up for a short most would DEFINITELY find him dull if the same character was stretched in this movie. So now he's a eccentric mayor played by Steve Carrell. I didn't really know what to make of that. I'm one who never found Steve all that funny in most his roles mainly because he downplayed his reactions and performance but here he is just going above my expectations. Great reactions and a truly fun filled performance.

*THIS SPOTLIGHT WAS WRITTEN FOR A FILM HISTORY CLASS SO THERE ARE SPOILERS TO THE MAX. IF YOU WANT TO WATCH THE MOVIE AND DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED DO NOT READ THIS SPOTLIGHT*

          If Alfred Hitchcock were to have dropped dead in 1959 he would still have been known as one of the greatest directors in film history. Directing classics like The 39 Steps (1935), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) as well as the 1956 remake, Notorious (1946), Strangers on a Train (1951), Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954) and today’s topic Vertigo (1958). Hitchcock’s Vertigo is based on the french novel D’Entre les Morts by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac which held a mixture of many genres that he loved to delve into much like his previous movies, genres including detective mystery, thriller, romance and horror. Hitchcock luckily was able to get the rights to D’Entre les Morts unlike the last time he dealt with Boileau and Narcejac. Alfred Hitchcock missed out on purchasing the rights to the Boileau and Narcejac first novel, Celle qui n'était plus, by just a few hours, Véra Clouzot a Brazilian-born French film actress and screenwriter having gotten to the authors first. Véra took the book and made Les Diaboliques that in 2007 was listed as one of the top 25 horror films on Time magazine.

From Les Diaboliques

Vertigo starred a Hitchcock movie veteran, James Stewert, and newcomer Kim Novak who was in fact not Hitchcock’s first choice for her role in the movie. Originally Hitchcock wanted Vera Miles to play the character of Madeline/Judy, the duo role of playing both a suicidal housewife and the busybody everyday worker girl, but became pregnant before the shooting so she had to be replaced by Kim Novak. Ironically, Novak had to complete quite a lot of pre-filming commitments as well as take a mandated vacation given to her by Paramount Pictures and by then Miles had her child and was available to act in the movie. Nevertheless, Hitchcock decided to go with Novak.

It is said that with truly great art must come truly great suffering. During pre-production of Vertigo Hitchcock was diagnosed with a hernia and spent the first night of his life in hospital. Two months later he was back in hospital for kidney stones. Another saying is that behind every great man is an even greater woman. In Hitchcock’s case this woman was his wife, Alma Hitchcock. Near the completion of the film Alma, his soul mate and muse, was diagnosed with cancer; this sent Hitchcock into a spell of hysteria. A man who so famously feared losing control had found the person he loved the most in a position he was powerless to help. This period in his life greatly affected several themes in Vertigo.

Finally onto actually looking at the actual movie Vertigo. Vertigo is the tale of detective John “Scottie” Fergueson who suffers from acrophobia, which is the fear of heights. The opening of a film is conventionally the first method of structuring a work. Hitchcock uses it spectacularly himself in Rear Window; The camera glides into an apartment, past various visual indicators, such as ornaments and photographs that expose aspects of the occupants' life. The camera finally comes to rest on a sleeping James Stewart, constricted by a leg cast and confined to a wheelchair. This opening scene provides the viewer with all the necessary information about the protagonist, his character, his career, his environment, and his current predicament. The opening title sequence of Vertigo however does none of this. We first see a woman we don't know who she is or where we are. This woman isn't Kim Novak and in fact we never see her again. We fall into her eye and then into a series of spirals. There is no direction or stability here; the colors don't match; only the motif of the spiral is constant.
We are then introduced to Scottie as he fails in an attempt to catch somebody because of his own inability to jump due to suffering from Vertigo. He is then responsible for the death of a police officer that saves his life. We see more of the theme of the spiral, here with the use of the tracking in, dolly out 'vertigo' shot. This shot occurs seven times throughout the film and is also a structuring motif. It is the visual approximation of the mind and body of Scottie and shows a perception problem. It was a new type of point of view shot. Irmin Roberts, a Paramount second-unit cameraman developed this shot. By zooming in and pulling out the camera it creates an unsettling in-camera effect that appears to undermine normal visual perception. This technique goes by many names; the "Hitchcock zoom" or the "Vertigo effect"; "Hitchcock shot" or "Vertigo shot"; the "Smash Zoom" or "Smash Shot"; the "Jaws shot"; A "zolly"; the Trombone Effect and many other names but the technical term for this shot is the dolly zoom. It represents ambiguous feelings of attraction and repulsion, which are our feelings towards the characters, the feelings of Judy and Scottie; Madeleine and the grave; Madeleine and Scottie; Carlata and her child; and Elster and Madeleine.

The scene ends leaving Scottie hanging for his life and we pick the movie up at his ex-fiancée Midge’s apartment played by Barbara Bel Geddes; we are never shown how Scottie got off the roof. This happens a number of times throughout the film, though the two most pronounced stops are after the two main deaths. Some people have complained that because of this the film is unbelievable or that it makes no sense. Although Hitchcock didn't explain everything that happened in his films they were never unbelievable. For instance he often relayed on chance happenings to begin the plot, most clearly in Strangers on a Train. Here I think Hitchcock creates a dreamlike feel. We've all had dreams where things move forward even though they aren't fully explained. You wake up and think hang on a minute that doesn't work. This is further emphasized by the look of the film. Hitchcock uses a number of different lens, diffusions, green hues, fogs, filters, and various densities to achieve Vertigo's look.

Scottie having decided to retire not wanting his Vertigo to hurt anyone else but he is then talked into one last case by his old acquaintance Gavin Elster played by Tom Helmore. Elster wants Scottie to tail his wife because he has reason to believe that his wife, Madeline, has been possessed. Although very skeptical that his wife is actually possessed Scottie takes the job and begins to trail Madeline to everywhere she goes. As he follows Madeline through museums, graveyards, and forest haunts Scottie becomes obsessed with this phantom woman who apparently believes herself to be the reincarnation of a turn-of-the-century belle named Carlotta. Visually Hitchcock reinforces this loss of objectivity and descent into obsession by photographing Scottie's wanderings in soft-focus and at a gliding, dreamlike pace. In the scenes of Scottie tailing Madeleine by car through the streets of San Francisco, the vehicle seems to be floating above the pavement. This feeling is enhanced even more by the lilting, musical background of master film composer Bernard Herrmann. With the growth of Scottie's obsession comes an equal and concurrent increase in the credibility of Madeleine's claims. Her appearance, her strange visits to places that Carlotta frequented, and her speech in the middle of the film all seemed to confirm her belief that she was the reincarnated Carlotta.

Scottie continues his obsessive stalking of Madeline until she attempts suicide when she jumps into the San Francisco Bay. The obsessive romance between the two now comes face to face. Scottie continues to follow her to his house and they decide to spend the day together because Scottie fears Madeleine might commit suicide. The two travel to Muir Woods where Madeleine, embarrassed from confessing that her dreams sound mad, runs to the ocean and they kiss. Upon hearing the details of her nightmares Scottie identifies the setting as Mission San Juan Bautista. Scottie takes Madeleine there where they proclaim their love for each other. But love truly shatters when Madeline runs up to the bell tower in hopes to end her life. Due to Scottie’s vertigo he is unable to reach the top and Madeline plummets to her death.

Scottie after Madeline’s death being labeled a suicide goes into a deep depression, suffering from hellish dreams that are showcased through painter John Ferren’s spiral pattern visuals.  While treated in a sanatorium, he becomes mute, haunted by vivid nightmares and although Midge visits, his condition remains the same. After release, Scottie haunts the places that Madeleine visited, often imagining that he sees her spotting several Madeline look-a-likes. Hitchcock actually used his dream theme to great effect here as well. By throwing Kim Novak into scenes and pulling the camera very far back Hitchcock would have Novak removed from the scene and replaced with one of the many look-a-likes to make Scottie look even more insane then he already seemed. One day, he spots a woman who reminds him of Madeleine. Scottie follows the woman to her hotel room where she identifies herself as Judy Barton from Kansas. Though initially suspicious and defensive, Judy eventually agrees to join Scottie for dinner.

After Scottie leaves Judy has a flashback revealing she was, in fact, the woman known as "Madeleine," but she is not Gavin's wife. Judy writes a confession letter to Scottie explaining she was an accomplice to the real Madeleine Elster's murder by Gavin, and how Gavin had taken advantage of Scottie's acrophobia. Originally Hitchcock was unsure whether to keep the "letter writing scene" or not. He decided to remove it but Herbert Coleman, Vertigo's associate producer and a frequent collaborator with Hitchcock, felt the removal was a mistake. However, Hitchcock said, "Release it just like that." James Stewart agreed with Hitchcock and said to Coleman "Herbie, you shouldn't get so upset with Hitch. The picture's not that important." When the head of Paramount, Barney Balaban received news of the edits he was very vocal about the edits and ordered Hitchcock to "Put the picture back the way it was." As a result, the "letter writing scene" remained in the final film. Scottie starts to transform Judy into Madeline as he changes the clothing she wears and even dies her hair blonde all to keep the image of the past ghost alive. Hitchcock had a dramatic preference for blonde women, stating that the audience would be more suspicious of a brunette. Many of these blondes were of the Grace Kelly variety: perfect, aloof ice goddesses, who also have a hidden red-hot inner fire. One of Hitchcock's earliest films, The Lodger (1927), featured a serial killer who stalks blonde women. Blonde actress Anny Ondra famously starred in Hitchcock's first sound film Blackmail (1929). Hitchcock said he used blonde actresses in his films, not because of an attraction to them, but because of a tradition that began with silent star Mary Pickford. The director said that blondes were "a symbol of the heroine". He also thought they photographed better in black and white, which was the predominant film for most dramas for many years.

Scottie realizes the truth that Judy and Madeine are the same person when Judy wears a unique necklace that he saw in the portrait of Carlotta Valdes and in turn worn by Madeline. Instead of dinner, Scottie insists on taking Judy to the Mission San Juan Bautista, the site of Madeline’s supposed death. There, he reveals that he wants to reenact the event that led to his madness, admitting that he now knows Madeleine and Judy are the same. Scottie forces her up the bell tower and angrily presses Judy to admit her deceit. Scottie reaches the top, conquering his acrophobia at last. Judy confesses that Gavin had hired her to pose as a possessed Madeleine; Gavin faked the suicide by tossing the body of his already-murdered wife from the bell tower.

This is where Vertigo shows a little age in its story. Much like a lot of old movies certain plot points become sillier as time goes on. In Vertigo, the final twist ending is that a nun pops out of nowhere in the clock tower which scares Judy so badly she accidentally runs off the tower dropping to her death. The nun then quickly rings the bell and runs away probably to Mexico considering what just happened could be considered man slaughter. The ending just seems like it was pulled out of nowhere because Hitchcock couldn’t figure out how to end with the love interest dead and make it ironically profound. Actually there is a way to make this scene less goofy if only slightly have the nun on a lower floor ring the bell and the ringing is so loud it scares Judy and she then falls to her death. The music and the sound of the bell ringing would have made this scene a little more profound. As it stands the ending scene can be shortened to the phrase “Oops-e-doodles.” Hitchcock even had an idea for an alternate ending where that showed Midge listening to a radio report of Gavin Elster's capture in Europe. When Scottie enters, she switches the radio off. They share a drink and look out of the window in silence. The original ending may have been goofy but this alternate ending would have killed the momentum of Judy’s death. An old saying once said that you should always end on a high note and despite the goofiness Vertigo ends on a truly dramatic and profound note.

Boo!

Vertigo during its primary release in San Francisco on May 9, 1958 where it received mixed reviews and its performance at the box office was average receiving on around 3 million dollars on the initial release which barely paid for their budget of $2,479,000. I can see why this movie wouldn’t have done great at the time. For Hitchcock fans at the time this story diverts from the romantic thriller storyline to more mystery even though the mystery is solved with 1/3 of the movie still remaining. The music by Bernard Herrmann who has done film scores for such films like Citizen Kane shows his mastery of music as he gives the movie the dream-like edge that enforces the theme of spirals and dreaming. Some of the music in fact shows up in the recent masterpiece The Artist showing us the timeless quality of Herrmann’s work. Vertigo is a very good movie but I’m hesitant to call it a masterpiece. The characters are well rounded and interesting all conveying ambiguity in their characters which made them all have a sense of mystery but some characters drop off the face of the earth in the middle of the movie not getting any form of proper send off despite how enjoyable their characters were. The story has also aged rather disjointedly. The biggest two glaring issues from this are the appearing nun ending and Scottie’s actual tailing. Last time I checked if you wanted to tail someone in a car you need to be farther then 3 feet away in your car. When Scottie is trailing her at the museum and apartments at least he’s a little ways off so it’s more believable that Madeline couldn’t see him but in the car he might as well put a flashing siren on top of his hood if he wanted to be subtler. I guess this goes with the theme of dreams but it seems rather backwards to sacrifice a believable story to convey some sort of message when really a storyteller’s first priority is telling the story. Vertigo is a good aged romantic mystery thriller with a few story hiccups that would make the audience scratch their heads but fortunately not stop the film.

NEXT TIME: Whyboy Spotlights... Horton Hears a Who

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Written by: Taylor "Whyboy" Wyatt

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Rating 94%

Oh joyous day! As an animation nut as I am I love the Studio Ghibli films. From masterpieces like Castle in the Sky to films I found decent like Only Yesterday. I found that I’ve never been let down by Studio Ghibli. Unfortunately though I’ve never had the chance to see one of these great movies in theaters until now. The Secret of Arrietty was among the films I had to see this year alongside The Pirates and (I know I’ll get a lot of crap for saying this) The Lorax. But how did The Secret live up to my expectations.
As most of you have heard The Secret of Arrietty is based of Mary Norton’s The Borrowers series of books and that leads to the plot having to work fairly harder to distinguish itself from the dozens of Borrowers inspired books, TV shows, and movies and from where I stand it really doesn’t stray far from them but surprisingly it doesn't come off as derivative. Shaun a boy about to have a heart operation goes to his mother’s old summer home to find some rest and relaxation. It isn’t long before he finds and accidentally puts in danger the small new borrower Arrietty, a courageous girl, who is trying to cope with her new role of being a borrower. If I gave any more of a plot summary and I’d be spoiling the plot so I’ll leave it at that.

*NOTE: My Whyboy Spotlights... Series will now be changed into a series of written reviews. This Heavy Metal review however was for my Film History Class but it basically entails everything I will put into a normal Whyboy Spotlights... Review. Hope you Enjoy :)*

A variety of music flows in and out of our lives constantly from the cool jazzes to country classics.  Heavy metal was a genre that never captured my interest. Most songs entailing sacrificing virgins to Satan, having one’s way with women, splitting open a demon’s head with a blade that’s also a gun. That’s obviously not all heavy metal is but that is the type of stereotype that over the years has encased the genre alienating potential listeners. In 1981 however there came Heavy Metal a movie that would definitely not change any of the previously mentioned stereotype and enforce it until it’s juvenile content made you feel physically sick.

Today Whyboy Spotlights the new Steven Spielberg World War 1 flick based around the most magestic of all creatures. HORSES!!! Enjoy.

War Horse is Owned by Dreamworks SKG

LAST WHYBOY SPOTLIGHTS... The Wolfman (2010) Remake

Jordan Tucker's Deviantart Account http://highinheaven.deviantart.com

Whyboy takes a look at the 2010 remake of the 1941 Classic Horror movie, The Wolfman.

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