The Beatles Cartoon

While they are my favourite band of all time, I have to confess that I have no idea when I heard my first Beatles song. I may well have been in the crib when it occurred. Then again, it could well have been on The Beatles cartoon which originally aired from September 25, 1965 to September 7, 1969 on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). Today The Beatles is largely forgotten except for those younger Baby Boomers and older Gen Xers who were growing up when it aired, not to mention a few younger die-hard Beatles fans, but for awhile it was among the highest rated cartoons on Saturday morning.

The origins of The Beatles cartoon can be traced back to King Features Syndicate and its head of motion picture and television development at the time, Al Brodax. Among Brodax's first accomplishments at King Features Syndicate was the production of 220 new animated shorts featuring Popeye. Brodax managed to produce these shorts inexpensively and in a short period of time simply by giving much of the work to animation studios overseas. Broadax would also be responsible for the Beetle Bailey, Krazy Kat, and Snuffy Smith cartoons that King Features Syndicate produced in the early Sixties. When Beatlemania swept American shores in 1964, a Saturday morning cartoon based around The Beatles seemed like a sure-fire hit to King Features. Brodax got the rights to do a Beatles cartoon and then set about getting financing from toy giant A. C. Gilbert Company with little more than a rough outline of the show and some preliminary artwork. It was A. C. Gilbert Company that sold ABC on the idea of a Beatles animated series.

With the series sold to ABC, Brodax had only six months to actually produce the show. Fortunately, having produced 220 Popeye cartoons in only a brief amount of time, Brodax already had the experience necessary to get the cartoon out in time. He hired Englishman Peter Sander to design the characters of The Beatles. Like the Popeye cartoons before them, the animation for The Beatles would be handled overseas. TVC (Television Cartoons) London (who later co-produced the classic animated film Yellow Submarine) and Astransa Park of Australia were largely responsible for much of the work, although animation for the series was also done in Canada and Holland. The format of the series was rather simple. Each show would feature two episodes of anywhere from four to six minutes in length, each one based on a Beatles song (which would be featured in the climax of the episode). The episodes generally featured The Beatles either trying to get away from their fans or caught in such unusual situations as facing monsters or spies. In between the episodes would be sing-a-long segments featuring various Beatles songs.

For the voices of The Beatles Brodax hired only two men: American voice actor Paul Frees (who had provided the voice of Boris Badenov for The Bullwinkle Show, among many other animated characters) to voice John and George and Englishman Lance Percival (perhaps then best known for his work on That Was the Week That Was) to voice Paul and Ringo. Brodax also made the controversial decision of not letting the actors mimic the Beatles' actual voices. Brodax thought that American children would not understand anything approaching The Beatles' natural, Liverpudlian accents and thus Frees and Percival gave The Beatles of the animated series accents that Americans think of as stereotypically English. Of the characters, only Ringo sounded even faintly Liverpudlian (and even his voice on the cartoon was far from that of the typical Scouse). The worst was perhaps the voice given John Lennon, who sounded more like Inspector Fenwick from Dudley Do-Right (no coincidence, as Frees had also voiced that character) than anyone else. It would be Brodax's unfortunate choice regarding the voices of The Beatles that would keep the cartoon off the airwaves in the United Kingdom for many, many years. Hearing the voices, no less than The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein banned the cartoon from British airwaves, fearing that most Brits would be offended by them. The cartoon would not air in the United Kingdom until years and years after it was first broadcast in the United States.

Regardless, The Beatles was a runaway hit when it debuted Saturday morning, September 25, 1965 on ABC. It received among the highest ratings of any Saturday morning cartoon up until that time, a phenomenal 52 percent of viewers. Naturally, The Beatles was renewed for a second season, with six brand new episodes featuring such songs as "Nowhere Man" and "Paperback Writer." Unfortunately, the series did not receive the phenomenal ratings it had in its first season. Much of this was due to the success of the TV show Batman in primetime. Not only had that series became an outright fad, but it spurred a cycle towards superhero cartoons on Saturday morning. Facing such stiff competition as Space Ghost on CBS, The Beatles cartoon found it more difficult to compete. Another reason for the series' decline may have been that many of The Beatles' fans were simply growing up and simply felt too mature to be watching Saturday morning cartoons. At any rate, The Beatles was renewed for a third season. The third season would see five new episodes featuring such songs as "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Tomorrow Never Knows." It would also see the series take a turn towards psychedelia. In fact, a few of the episodes actually foreshadow the work that would be done on Yellow Submarine, albeit on a smaller and cheaper scale. The Beatles would return for a fourth and final season, although it consisted entirely of reruns and was aired on Sunday morning.

While The Beatles cartoon was well received by youngsters in the United States, it was not particularly well received by The Beatles themselves. John Lennon himself complained that it made them look like "the bloody Flintstones." None of The Beatles were particularly happy with the voices given them on the cartoon. It was because of their unhappiness with the television cartoon that The Beatles would ultimately have little to do with the classic Yellow Submarine. Eventually some of The Beatles would reverse their opinions of the series. Talking to writer Roy Carr, Lennon would later say he got a blast out of watching reruns of the series. In 1999 Harrison would admit that he found the show's episodes "so bad or silly they were good..."

Regardless of The Beatles' initial feelings about the cartoon themselves, it would have a lasting impact. Indeed, it may well have been the first television cartoon to have been based on real people. It was also the first animated series to be based on a rock group. Its influence on Saturday morning cartoons would be seen well into the Seventies. Such cartoons as The Archie Show, The Brady Kids, and even Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! would incorporate popular music years after The Beatles left the air. In the Seventies even pop groups such as The Jackson Five and The Osmonds would have their own short lived, animated cartoons. It must also be pointed out The Beatles is one of the earliest examples of rock video (albeit in animated form), pre-dating even The Monkees.

A more important legacy of The Beatles cartoon may be the classic movie Yellow Submarine. Al Brodax, who produced The Beatles animated series, initially came up with the idea of producing an animated feature based on The Beatles' songs, suggesting to Brian Epstein that this could satisfy The Beatles' agreement with United Artists to do a third film (after A Hard Days Night and Help!). With the rights to do the film secured, Brodax then hired TVC London to produce the feature itself. Indeed, the film was directed by the late, great George Dunning of TVC London and Jack Stokes of TVC London served as its animation director. While Yellow Submarine would ultimately look very different from the Saturday morning cartoon, it was in many respects an outgrowth of that cartoon produced by many of the same people and two of the same companies (King Features Syndicate and TVC London).

Of course, the most lasting impact that The Beatles would have would be the creation of new Beatles fans. There can be little doubt that for many this TV series was their first introduction to the band. Indeed, I rather suspect that my first real exposure to the music of The Beatles may have been through this cartoon. At any rate, I have fond memories of watching, in reruns on St. Louis station KPLR.

While there can be no doubt that The Beatles cartoon had a lasting impact, the question of whether it was actually good or not is a different matter. Even those who saw The Beatles in its original have had little opportunity to do so since it first aired. Television station KPLR in St. Louis re-ran the cartoon from the Seventies well into the Eighties. In 1986 and 1987 MTV reran the series. More recently several episodes, as well as the third season opening (featuring "And Your Bird Can Sing"),  have become available on YouTube and other video sharing sites. Having watched many of episodes on YouTube, I can honestly say that as Saturday morning cartoons go, it was actually pretty good. The animation does leave something to be desired (let's face it, we are not talking a feature film here), but, comparatively speaking, it is actually quite good for a Saturday morning cartoon of its time (let it not be said that the folks at TVC London did not have a talent for making do with a little of nothing). As to the episodes themselves, they are both funny and imaginative. As to the musical sequences, they vary in quality, but many are very well done. Seen today, forty one years after its debut, The Beatles seems both fresh and innovative.

That having been said, my one caveat with the series are the voices of The Beatles themselves. As a Beatles fan I have heard The Beatles many times over the years and the voices of the cartoon characters sound nothing like them. In fact, I find the "Inspector Fenwick" voice foisted on Lennon particularly annoying. I have to say that I think Brodax made a big mistake in insisting that the characters of The Beatles did not mimic the real life voices of The Beatles. Beyond the fact that even at that time any Beatle fan would realise the cartoon characters sounded nothing like the originals, there is the simple fact that I think even in 1965 the average American had no problem understanding the way The Beatles spoke. Both A Hard Days Night and Help! featured The Beatles with their accents intact and both were hugely successful. On Yellow Submarine (apparently against Brodax's wishes in the beginning) the decision was made that the actors would mimic The Beatles' voices--they were so successful that to this day many do not realise that The Beatles did not provide their own voices in the film. Yet, Yellow Submarine was initially more successful in America than it was in Britain! I then think that the characters of The Beatles on the cartoon could have easily spoken with Liverpudlian accents without affecting American children's understanding of what they were saying or the cartoon's success. In fact, I think Brodax's decision may have impeded the cartoon's success over all. Let's face it, would Brian Epstein have banned the cartoon in the United Kingdom if the characters had sounded more like the actual Beatles?

Since it left ABC in 1969 very little has been seen of The Beatles in the United States. Only a few TV stations in America would rerun the cartoon, among them KPLR in ST. Louis and WSNS in Chicago. And as stated earlier, MTV reran The Beatles in 1986 and 1987. In the Nineties Apple Corps Ltd. bought the rights to the cartoon. Since then very little has been seen of them, save for the few that have surfaced on YouTube, other video sharing sites, and a few bootleg DVDs. Given its significance in the history of American animation and the history of The Beatles (at least here in America), I am personally hoping that Apple Corps Ltd. will one day release the series on DVD. Of course, if they do, I also hope they re-dub the voices with something more appropriately Liverpudlian....

It Was 26 Years Ago Today...

It is strange sometimes the days that human beings choose to observe. A nation's government can declare a day a "national holiday" and, yet, no one will celebrate it (for example, Columbus Day). At the same time, however, there are traditional holidays that nearly everyone celebrates and, yet, somehow they have never been granted them the status of national holidays (for example, Halloween and Valentine's Day). And then there are those days we choose to observe as individuals ourselves. These are days when something important occurred in our lives--when someone was born, when someone died, when someone got married, and so on. This is one of those days for me. The difference is that today it was not someone I knew personally who died, yet someone who had an enormous impact on my life regardless.

It was 26 years ago today that John Lennon was murdered in front of the Dakota in New York City. Every year I observe the day by listening to several Beatles songs and John Lennon songs, and usually watching one of The Beatles movies (this year it will probably be Yellow Submarine). If I could, I would probably even take the day off from work. And I'm not the only one who observes this day. Every year in New York City, Lennon fans gather in the area of Central Park known as Strawberry Fields. Music is banned there all year around with the exception of one day--the day of Lennon's death. On this day every year fans will be allowed to sing and play Lennon's songs there. I'm sure that there are mass observances elsewhere, particularly in his hometown of Liverpool. Neither the United Kingdom nor the United States have ever declared the day of Lennon's death a national holiday. I doubt it will ever be declared a day of mass mourning. And yet I suspect many, many more people observe it than Labour Day.

The reasons for this are very simple. Often times nations will arbitrarily decide to declare a holiday in the name of an idea. An example of this is Labour Day. Unfortunately, what governments don't realise is that people simply aren't that thrilled about celebrating ideas. Other times they will declare a national holiday in honour of some event or someone who actually had little impact on people's lives and hence seems distant and important to them. An example of this is Columbus Day. Given that people already lived in the Americas, the idea that Columbus "discovered" the Americas is debatable. For that matter, he was never even close to North America and Leif Ericson crossed the Atlantic long before Columbus. But the day of John Lennon's death is different. Lennon had an enormous impact on individual's lives. His music is still popular after over forty years. Arguably, of all the composers of the 20th century, Lennon and McCartney may well have had the biggest influence on popular music, more so than even Berlin, the Gershwins, and Porter. It is for that reason that over 5000 people gathered outside the Dakota the day of his death to mourn him. And for that reason that people still mourn him. And while I doubt the day of his death will ever be declared a national holiday, it really won't matter. People will still be observing the day of his death a century from now.

Holiday Books for Kids

With the Yuletide and Hanukkah only a few weeks away, I thought it might be a good idea to discuss a topic suitable for the season--namely, children's books that make good reading over the holidays.

Of course, the most famous children's story for the holidays may well be the poem originally published as "A Visit from St. Nicholas," but now better known as "The Night Before Chirstmas." Commonly thought to have been written by Clement Clarke Moore (although some have argued for Henry Livingston Jr. as the author) and first published in the New York Sentinel on December 23, 1823. it established much of the mythos surrounding Santa Claus here in America. Among the concepts it introduced were the general appearance of St. Nick (as a fat, jolly old man who wears fur and boots), his use of reindeer to pull his sleigh, and the names of his reindeer. Given that the poem established much of the Santa Claus myth here in America, children can still relate to the poem even 183 years after its first appearance (about the only question I've ever received is why the poem doesn't mention Rudolph, to which the answer is that he wasn't born yet...).

If there is a holiday story as famous as "A Visit from St. Nicholas," it is probably A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Of course, A Christmas Carol is not a children's story, but a novella written for adults. That having been said, older children and teenagers can easily appreciate the classic tale. Today we tend to take the story for granted, particularly after the numerous dramatic, movie, and television adaptations that have been made, not to mention the many parodies. But A Christmas Carol was very influential on its first appearance. When first published in 1843, the old Yuletide traditions in England were dying out. The success of A Christmas Carol helped revive interest in these ancient customs. Ultimately, the novella would become Dickens' most famous work and one of the most famous holiday stories of all time.

Not nearly as famous as either "A Visit from St. Nicholoas" or A Christmas Carol is The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum, most famous for his series of Oz books. The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus essentially tells how Santa Claus became, well, Santa Claus. The novel is filled with the usual imagination and originality with which Baum filled his Oz books. And there may even be a link to the Oz books. The villain of the book is the Gnome King, perhaps a variation on the Nome King, the recurring archnemesis of Baum's heroes in his Oz books... Any child who enjoys Baum's Oz books will probably appreciate The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus as well.

Of course, for many of us born in the late 20th century, the classic holiday story is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" by Dr. Seuss. First published in 1957, it has become perhaps his most famous work and arguably his most successful. Indeed, like "Scrooge" before it, "Grinch" has become a slang term for anyone who despises the holidays. The book was adapted into the classic, animated TV special in 1966, directed by Seuss's old friend and animation giant Chuck Jones. It has become a perennial part of the holiday ever since. It was also adapted into a wretched major motion picture in 2000. Forget the movie. Read the book and then watch the classic TV special instead....

Dr. Seuss was not the only great author of the 20th century to indulge himself in the holidays. J. R. R. Tolkien did so as well in letters he wrote to his children as Father Christmas. Tolkien wrote these letters to his children between 1920 and 1942. And in the course of the letters he creates his own mythos for Father Christmas, quite different from that created in "A Visit From St. Nicholas." Indeed, the elvan script called Tengwar makes its first appearance in print in these letters, well before the publication of The Hobbit! The letters were eventually published in 1976 as The Father Christmas Letters, then republished and retitled Letters From Father Christmas in 2004. They are well worth reading not only for Tolkien enthusiasts, but for anyone who wants to read something imaginative to their children for the holidays.

A Christmas Carol and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" are regarded as Yuletide classics. And many of us grew up reading them. A more recent entry in this list is "The Polar Express." This book was first published in 1985 and tells the tale of a young boy, whose belief in Santa Claus is slipping. The boy is then taken to the North Pole on the Polar Express to see Ol' St. Nick himself. The book is fairly short--it can be read in three minutes--but conveys the meaning of the holidays perfectly. It was adapted into an animated movie in 2004 by director Robert Zemeckis, which greatly expanded on the book without losing the general spirit or moral of the book. I rather suspect the film will become a holiday classic as well.

Of course, Christian parents may well wish to entertain and educate their children over the holidays by reading them the Biblical accounts of the birth of Jesus over Christmas.

Not being Christian myself, I am well aware that other holidays fall in December besides Christmas and I don't think it would be right to leave them out. I don't know of too many children's books dedicated to Hanukkah, but there are a few out there. Jewish parents may be interested in "I Have a Little Dreidel" by Maxie Baum. It is an adaptation of the traditional "Dreidel Song" associated with Hanukkah. Another fine book about the holiday is The Stone Lamp: Eight Stories of Hanukkah Through History. The book tells eight different tales surrounding the holiday throughout history. It is written for older children, but I think younger children could appreciate it as well.

For many of us the holidays are a very important time of year. And many of us have fond memories of our parents or other adults important in our life reading various holiday classics to us. Personally, I can think of no better way to celebrate the Yuletide, Christmas, or Hanukkah than reading about the holidays to the children in one's life. Not only does reading such material to children help entertain them, but it can endow in them the true meaning behind the holidays and continue those traditions passed down from old.

Snow

For those of you here in the United States who have not seen the news and do not live in the Midwest, we had a massive snowstorm here overnight. I left work early last night with two co-workers and it took a half hour for us to make what is usually a ten minute drive. This morning I awakened to around 15 inches of snow. Keep in mind that here in Missouri we rarely have any significant snowfall before January and we have gone entire winters without any significant snows at all.

As for myself, I called work and told them I would not be coming in today. My best friend there did the same and I have no doubt many others did as well. All of the schools cancelled classes today and, for what is I believe only the third time in its history, the University of Missouri even cancelled classes. Many businesses simply did not open. In St. Louis the Gateway Arch was closed because of ice covering the ground around it. Flights were delayed at numerous airports because of the snow, including Lambert in St. Louis and O'Hare in Chicago. Power outages in both eastern Missouri and western Illinois left millions without power. I think it is safe to say this is one snowstorm that won't be soon forgotten.

With all of the problems associated with snowstorms such as this one, it probably seems odd to many that in Anglo-American pop culture there is a certain romance associated with snow. Indeed, there are even songs about the subject. The classic "Winter Wonderland" is often thought of as a Christmas song, but it makes no mention of the holiday whatsoever. Instead, it is about two lovers taking a leisurely walk through the snow. Like "Winter Wonderland," "Let It Snow" is also thought of as a Christmas song, even though it makes no mention of the holiday. And "Let It Snow" is also about two lovers, although in this case it is two lovers who are snuggled up safe and sound inside. "Baby, It's Cold Outside" also makes no mention of Christmas, even though it is sometimes associated with the holiday as well. While "Winter Wonderland" describes two lovers taking a leisurely walk outside and "Let It Snow" describes two snuggled together inside, "Baby, It's Cold Outside" is a plea from one lover to another not to leave because, well, it's cold outside... From these songs one would think that snowstorms are a time of romance when there is nothing better than snuggling up with one's beloved. I have to admit, I really can't argue with that logic...

Snow isn't just romanticised in music, however, as it is also somewhat romanticised in the movies as well. There is no better example of this than It's a Wonderful Life. As the movie moves towards its climax, in which George Bailey suffers through the biggest crisis of his life, it is snowing in Bedford Falls. In the dark, depressing, alternate reality in which George Bailey was never born, however, it seems significant that, while there is snow on the ground in Potterville, it is not snowing. Indeed, when George returns to his own reality, one of the first things he notices is that it is snowing again! Quite simply, in It's a Wonderful Life snow seems representative of George Bailey's symbolic death and rebirth.

Of course, snow usually doesn't appear in movies as a part of a symbolic death and rebirth. More often than not it is simply a setting for romance. I can think of a number of movies in which love has bloomed in wintry settings: The Man Who Came to Dinner, Serendipity, When Harry Met Sally, The Apartment (well, I can't recall any snow in that one, but it was cold nonetheless...), and so on. It seems that in the movies snow and wintry weather can make for romance.

As I said earlier, given the problems snowstorms can cause, it might seem curious that there is a certain romance associated with snow in Anglo-American pop culture. I think much of this may well be due to its association with the Yuletide. Indeed, many people, perhaps the majority of people, hope for snow on the holidays, feeling that it makes the season feel more like, well, the season. Since snow is associated with the holidays, it is then also associated with the feelings of home, hearth, and family that are also associated with the holidays.

On a deeper level, even in this industrialised age, people might unconsciously realise that good snows in the winter are necessary to a good growing season in the spring. Winter snows provide much of the moisture necessary for growing crops in the spring. I rather suspect that in ancient times, then, the largely rural populations associated good snows with the prosperity that comes with good harvests. Quite simply, although they might cause problems in the present, good snowfalls are actually a good thing when it comes to agriculture.

Of course, I guess I don't have to point out that heavy snow and cold weather provide the perfect excuse for snuggling up with one's significant other beside a nice, warm fire. It is little wonder that this has been the subject of so many songs, and that so many movies have portrayed winter as a time for romance. I must admit that I can think of nothing better than snuggling on a cold, winter day....

Amled, prinsen af Jylland (AKA Royal Deceit)

Most people in the English speaking world are familiar with William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. What they may not know is that the tale of Hamlet did not originate with Shakespeare. It appears in the fourth book of the Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus, a history of Denmark published in the 13th century. Saxo's tale is in many ways similar to that of Hamlet, but differs in many ways as well. In Saxo's version the father of Amleth (Hamlet is the Anglicised version), King Horvendill, is murdered by his brother Feng. And just as in Shakespeare's version, Amleth feigns madness. But in Saxo's version, Amleth never contrives to reveal Feng's guilt through staging a play. Instead, he bides his time, all the while discreetly disposing of Feng's followers. In the meantime, Feng is suspicious of Amleth and puts him through various tests in order to prove he is not mad. Needles to say, Amleth passes all of these tests, thus insuring his charade of insanity is maintained. Of course, it is unlikely that Saxo's version of the tale is the original and the story of Amleth probably predates the Gesta Danorum. The tale may have been part of the lost Skjoldunga Saga (an earlier history of the Danish kings or "Skoldungs") and probably formed a part of the Danish oral tradition.

Over the years, Shakespeare's version of the tale has been filmed many times. Insofar as I know, Saxo's older version of the Amleth legend has only been filmed once. Esteemed director Gabriel Axel had long wanted to adapt Saxo's story of Amleth for the big screen. In 1994 his dream saw fruition as the movie Amled, prinsen of Jylland, known throughout much of Europe as Prince of Jutland and in America as Royal Deceit. Amled, prinsen of Jylland is a very loyal adaptation of Saxo's version of the tale, as Amled (played by a young Christian Bale) feigns madness in order to avenge his father's death at the hands of Fenge (Gabriel Byrne).

The movie's strong point is simply the performances of its cast. Christian Bale is believable as Amled, convincing even when he is feigning madness. And Gabriel Byrne is suitably duplicitous as Fenge, making him an all too realistic villain. As might expected, Helen Mirren gives her usual good performance in the role of Geruth, Amled's mother. For those who enjoy seeing now famous actors in their early roles, there is Kate Beckinsale in one of her earliest film roles and Andy Serkis (best known as Gollum from The Lord of the Rings movies) in his very first film role.

The screenplay by Gabriel Axel and Erik Kjersgaard (who was also the historical advisor on the film) is also quite good. Rather than rush the plot, Axel and Kjersgaard give the movie a very deliberate pace, allowing things to unfold in time. They also give the characters some very fine dialogue fitting a story of murder and vengeance. And the locations, all of them in Denmark, are beautiful.

This is not to say that Amled, prinsen of Jylland is a perfect film. It does have its flaws, nearly all of them due to the fact that it was shot on a very low budget. Even in the Dark Ages, the nobility would have dressed a bit more elaborately than Amled and his family do. Indeed, it seems as if there was only one Thor's hammer pendant shared among the cast members! The battle scenes feature armies of no more than 40 to 50 men at most. While the Battle of Hastings took place several hundred years later than Amleth lived (if he ever really existed), it is notable that the English fielded an army estimated at seven to eight thousand and the Normans had an army of approximately the same size. It is in these ways that the low budget ultimately undermines some of the film's realism. At the same time the low budget also undermines the film's story. We are never shown the murder of Amled's father and brother--we are merely told that they are killed in the narration.

Beyond the constraints that the budget created, in many ways Amled, prinsen of Jylland feels like a movie that was never quite completed. The editing is sometimes only adequate and at yet other times downright poor. And much of the plot is told in the narration (the perfect example being the fact that the murder of Amled's father and brother are never portrayed in the film--we are simply told that they were murdered by the narrator).

Despite these flaws, Amled, prinsen af Jylland is certainly worth viewing, although it is certainly not suited to all tastes. Those accustomed to slick, Hollywood productions with a fast pace might well be put off by the movie. That having been said, for those who do not mind movies with lower budgets and that are not quite as lavish as those put out by the major studios might well appreciate this film. I would particularly recommend it to anyone interested in Germanic mythology, Danish history, or the Dark Ages. It has some very good performances and a compelling story that is very different from that we know from Shakespeare's play.

Three More Deaths

As if recently losing both Jack Palance and Robert Altman were not enough, there have been three more deaths of people were at least somewhat famous. Their names may not have been recognised by the general public, but these were individuals who had an impact on my life nonetheless.

The most famous of the three is probably Broadway lyrics and Hollywood screenwriter Betty Comden. She died 23 at the age of 89 from heart failure. Comden was part of a team with Adolph Green. Together they wrote the lyrics and often the books many Broadway shows. They were perhaps most famous for writing the screenplays to the classic movie musicals On the Town, Singin' in the Rain, The Band Wagon, and It's Always Fair Weather.

Betty Comden was born in New York City on May 13, 1917. She was studying drama at New York City University when she met Adolph Green, who was struggling to become an actor. The two formed their own troupe, called the Revuers. Comden and Green were not the only members of the group who would one day be famous. There was a young musician who accompanied them on piano named Leonard Bernstein who was part of the troupe, as well as a comedian who would one day become well known as Judy Holiday. The Revuers met with enough success to receive movie offers and made their movie debut in a very small part of Greenwich Village from 1944.

Their first real success would not be in the movies, however, but on Broadway. With Bernstein they collaborated on the musical On the Town, which centred on three sailors on leave in New York City. It ran from December 1944 to February 1946. Comden and Green's next few Broadway shows were not very successful, although by this time they had also met with success in Hollywood. They had written the screenplays for Good News and The Barkleys of Broadway. What cemented their success in Hollywood, however, was an adaptation of the show that brought them their first success on Broadway. They wrote the screenplay for the classic movie musical On the Town, starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra as two of the sailors on leave in the Big Apple.

It would be the movies that would see Comden and Green reach the pinnacle of their artistic success. Singin' in the Rain starred Gene Kelly as silent star Donald Lockwood and Donald O'Connor as his sidekick in the last days of Hollywood's Silent Era. It is considered by many to be the greatest movie musical of all time, and it is definitely one of the most iconic. Even people who have never seen the film can recognise Kelly's dance with the umbrella to the title song.

Comden and Green followed up their success with Singin' in the Rain with screenplays for The Band Wagon and It's Always Fair Weather. Sadly, even after the success of Singin' in the Rain, Hollywood musicals were in decline. The bulk of Comden and Green's work would then be on the stage. Among their successes were Bells are Ringing, the revue A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Applause, and Wonderful Town.

The collaboration between Comden and Green produced some of the greatest theatrical musicals and movie musicals ever made. In fact, the success of their partnership led many to believe they were married. In response Comden and Green would always say they were...just not to each other. While they were never romantically involved, they shared a comic flair and a gift for dialogue unequalled on either Broadway or in Hollywood. I must admit, On the Town, Singin' in the Rain, and The Band Wagon number among my favourite movies.

Although not nearly as famous as Comden and Green, the creations of TV writer and producer Chris Hayward loom large in American pop culture. Hayward died November 20 at the age of 81 after a long illness. Hayward is perhaps most famous as the creator of Dudley Do-Right and one of the writers for Jay Ward's classic Rocky and Friends (later and better known as The Bullwinkle Show).

Hayward was born in Bayonne, New Jersey on June 19, 1925. His first work in television was on Jay Ward's Crusader Rabbit, the first cartoon created exclusively for television. He would come onto his own as a writer working on Ward's Rocky and Friends, for which he created the Dudley Do-Right segment. As a writer he would also write for such series as My Mother the Car, Get Smart, He and She, and Alice. He was a producer on Get Smart and Barney Miler. With Alan Burns he developed The Munsters and created the series My Mother the Car. He was nominated for Emmys for Outstanding Comedy Series (for Barney Miller) and Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series (for the episode "The Hero," co-written with Danny Arnold) in 1976. He won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for the episode "The Coming Out Party" of He and She, co-written with Alan Burns.

In addition to writing for television, Hayward was also a singer and songwriter. He had actually arranged music for dance orchestras and even sung on both the radio and on records.

Hayward was arguably one of the best television writers of the Sixties and Seventies. He possessed a dry wit and a gift for satire that would not be seen again until the debut of The Simpsons. He wrote some of the best episodes of the best shows of their time (Get Smart, He and She, and Barney Miller). And while there are many who believe that My Mother the Car is the worst show of all time, don't believe it for a minute. I have seen a few episodes of the notorious series, and at least two of them possessed the wry humour for which the team of Chris Hayward and Alan Burns were known.

The third important person who died was not nearly as famous as either Betty Comden or Chris Hayward, nor was he a creator of pop culture artefacts as they were. Instead, Dr. Jerry Bails was a student of pop cutlure--one of the first to take seriously the study of the medium of comic books. Jerry Bails died the night of November 23 at the age of 73 from a heart attack.

Jerry Bails was born on June 26, 1933. Growing up in Kansas City, Missouri, he fell in love with comic books while still young. In particular, he became a devoted fan of the Justice Society of America (the JSA, for short), the first team of superheroes ever created. As a child he bought nearly every issue of All Star Comics, the magazine which featured the Justice Society. Even as he studied for his Bachelors degree in Physics at the University of Kansas City, even as he studied for a Masters degree in Math, he never forgot the Justice Society of America. When DC Comics revived their superhero line in 1956 with the creation of a new Flash (the original had been a member of JSA), Bails actively campaigned for the return of the original Justice Society of America to the pages of comic books, along with fellow Missourian and future comic book writer Roy Thomas.

It was in 1961 that Jerry Bails published the first issue of the fanzine Alter-Ego. Alter-Ego was pivotal in the history of comic book fandom in two ways. First, it focused not only on current comic book heroes, but the superheroes of the Golden Age. This would generate more interest in the Golden Age heroes and would eventually pave the way for their return. If the JSA has their own series now, it is largely because of Jerry Bails. Second, Alter Ego allowed comic book fans to network with each other. As a result, comic book fandom started to organise.

Bails was the author of The Who's Who of American Comic Books, The Collector's Guide to the First Heroic Age of Comics, and Technology and Human Values. With Howard Keltner he co-wrote The Authoritative Index to DC Comics.

Dr. Bails was a central figure in the history of comic book fandom. He was a powerful force in organising fandom. He was also pivotal in the revival of DC Comics' Golden Age characters in the Sixties. And I have little doubt that it was largely because of Dr. Bails' efforts that the serious study of comic books as a medium is now accepted today. While he may not have created pop culture artefacts himself, he was certainly important in recording their history and insuring their study.

Casino Royale

Ever since I first saw Dr. No on TV, I have been a Bond fan. I have seen all of them, usually multiple times (even the bad ones like Moonraker and Licence to Kill). Unfortunately, while I loved Pierce Brosnan as 007, I have thought for some time that the Bond franchise was going stale. The World is Not Enough in particular seemed like a compilation of stunts and set pieces from other Bond movies. It seemed as if EON Productions had run out of anything original to do with regards to the Bond films. Fortunately, this is not the case with Casino Royale.

This is not your father's James Bond movie. Gone are the numerous explosions, outlandish gadgets and the villain's secret fortresses. There are a few explosions in this film, but they number far fewer than those in past Bond movies (especially those from the Roger Moore era). And while there are gadgets to be had in this movie, they are much more realistic than gondolas that can transform into hovercraft or invisible cars. At the same time, however, this is very much your father's James Bond movie (or your grandfather's James Bond movie, if you're very young). James bond is not simply a charming rogue with an over active libido. He is a brutal killer, the assassin for Queen and country of the original novels and the earliest Sean Connery films. Indeed, the chases and explosions of many past Bond films have been replaced with some of the most visceral fight scenes in any 007 movie. To a large degree Casino Royale reminds me of both Dr. No and From Russia with Love, where the action often consisted of Bond's physical confrontations with deadly opponents. Even the opening credits seem to belong to the era of Connery; they reminded me of the opening credits of any number of spy films from the Sixties.

Indeed, Casino Royale is not only the first Bond movie in some time to have been based on one of Ian Fleming's novels (namely, the first Bond novel ever written), but it is also the first in a long time to be somewhat loyal to the novel upon which it is based. The basic plot of the novel, in which Bond must bankrupt the villain Le Chiffre in a card game, survives in the movie. Some scenes (including a particularly brutal one between Bond and Le Chiffre) and even lines from the book made it into the movie. I don't know how Ian Fleming would have felt about many of the Bond movies, but I have a feeling he would have liked Casino Royale.

Of course, the big question on many people's minds is how Daniel Craig actually played Bond. My answer to this question is that he does very, very well. Craig has a more difficult job than many of the actors who have stepped in the role, playing Bond at the beginning of his career as a 00 agent. Craig must not only show us why Bond came to treat women as ultimately disposable, why he prefers his martinis shaken and not stirred, and, to sum it up, how he became "Bond, James Bond," but retain enough of the personality of Bond in his later years that we can realistically believe this is 007. Personally, I think he succeeds admirably. In fact, Craig adds some depth and even a touch of sensitivity to his portrayal of Bond, something that was sometimes lacking even in the Sean Connery Bond movies.

Craig's task of portraying Bond realistically at the start of his career is aided a good deal by his fellow cast members. As Vesper Lynd, Eva Green is no mere bit of scenery, but creates a character who is intelligent and has a mind of her own. Mads Mikkelson is suitably villainous as Le Chiffre, who is definitely not the interchangeable power mad megalomaniac of many Bond movies. Le Chiffre has a life of his own, complete with his own goals and motivations. He is certainly not a straw man created for Bond to knock down. It is because the characters in Casino Royale are so well developed that director Martin Campbell gives us one of the best set pieces in any Bond film--the card game in which Bond faces off against Le Chiffre. Between the performances of Craig and Mikkelson and Campbell's direction, it is easily one of the most taut, most suspenseful set pieces in the franchise's history.

As I said earlier, the past few years I could not help but think the Bond franchise was going stale. Casino Royale is then precisely what it needed--a fresh start by going back to Ian's Fleming's novels and the early Connery movies, while at the same time giving us something new as well. I can only hope that EON Productions can follow up Casino Royale with a series of Bond films that are as good--and as different--as it is.