Jack Frost

One of only two films that I'm aware of that are centered around the glorious mid-winter holiday that is Groundhog Day, Jack Frost (1979) is not one of the more widely remembered or beloved works from Rankin/Bass but it is still pretty enjoyable nonetheless, if only for some sheer silliness that occurs during its short 48 minute running time.

Caution: spoilers ahead!

This latter period Rankin/Bass stop-motion animated TV special, narrated by a bed ridden groundhog named Pardon-Me-Pete who looks suspiciously like a small, fuzzy Buddy Hackett, takes place in the vaguely eastern European village of January Junction, where downtrodden pumpkin peasants eke out a meager existence under the thumb of the tyrannical Kubla Kraus--the king of the Cossacks--who rides around the countryside on his steam powered mechanical horse, Klangstomper, stealing each hard earned and practically worthless copper kaputnik for "taxes" (100 copper kaputniks equals only a penny in this land of extreme inflation).

Where it gets truly bizarre is when the villainous Kubla Kraus, all alone in his castle atop Miserable Mountain, whips out a small metal homunculus named "Dummy" and proceeds to have a conversation with his creepily complimentary yes-man alter ego--a true puppet dictatorship in action; meanwhile the hero of our story, Jack Frost--now posing as effete human tailor Jack Snip instead of the powerful invisible Sylph he truly is, in a futile attempt to win the love of a local peasant girl--valiantly tries to rouse the peasants to rebel against the autocratic Kubla Kraus!

Some other stuff happens too: the villagers happily cut up icicles into "ice coins" to trade in "ice money" during the winter months when they're plentiful thanks to Jack Frost, and they give empty boxes called "dream presents" to each other for Christmas since they're all too poor to afford real gifts.  In the end, Jack Frost voluntarily renounces his humanity to return to his invisible, immortal weather elemental form in order to save the townsfolk from the terror of Kubla Kraus (shades of Superman II), and the girl he attempted to win, instead marries a tall blond haired, blue eyed, lantern jawed knight in golden armor instead of the strange and slight clothes maker/invisible creature of Faerie.  Jack Frost returns alone to his home in the clouds, a wiser and more bitter pagan spirit elemental.  The end.

Oh well, you can't win 'em all kids.

Here's a short promo for a repeat airing from 1980:

Musica Moonday: Groundhog Day Edition

Pardon-Me-Pete singing that old chestnut, "I've Got a Day Named After Me, February Two":

Krull

How have I never seen this movie before now?

Then again I finally watched The NeverEnding Story for the first time just last summer so I guess there's always "new" stuff out there for idiots like me to "discover" (have you heard of that band Led Zeppelin?  They're totally awesome!).  Having picked up Krull on Blu-ray* for the low, low price of $4.99 (new) at my local MovieStop recently I have to say: I loved the hell out of this fun 1983 sci-fi/fantasy adventure, and I don't care who knows it!  As far as I'm concerned Krull is the best damn Star Wars film since Return of the Jedi.

Prince Colwyn rockin' the Glaive and flippin' the bird

This pulpy swashbuckling Saturday matinee mash-up of Arthurian sword and sorcery and pew-pew laser gun action involves a motley band of outlaws (including a comedy relief shape shifter, a giant melancholic cyclops, and a scruffy Liam Neeson) led by the Robin Hood-like Prince Colwyn (Ken Marshall, armed with a big five bladed ninja throwing star called a Glaive) as he and his merry men attempt to rescue Colwyn's betrothed, the Princess Lyssa (Lysette Anthony), held prisoner in the Black Fortress in the clutches of the villainous Beast and his vile army of Slayers.  It's got a rousing score by James Horner, which in my estimation certainly elevates it above mere standard B-movie status, along with some nice action set pieces, some inspired organic/bio-mechanical set designs and beautiful location shots; it also has a couple of actors that would appear together in Dune the following year (Francesa Annis and Freddie Jones), and even the future Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts, Rubeus Hagrid himself (Robbie Coltrane).

In this age of overly green-screened, CGI Hobbitry/bombast, Krull is a genre flick that made this viewer particularly wistful for the craftsmanship and handmade artistry of pre-digital cinematic illusion: matte paintings, miniatures, prosthetics, stop motion animation (there's a lengthy scene involving a giant stop motion animated transparent glass spider that was particularly enjoyable); these ancient techniques are all used liberally and effectively throughout this fun film.  Certainly, some of these effects don't look 100% realistic--but then again neither did all the high tech CGI wizardry of Peter Jackson's recent Hobbit trilogy either (budgeted at a whopping $750 million versus Krull's relatively modest $27 million). And for a movie that depicts the magnificent, majestic creatures known on the planet Krull as Fire Mares (horses that are so fast that ribbons of fire literally burst forth behind them from their hooves as they run, much like Doc Brown's DeLorean when it travels through time!  Oh and they can fly too!) do we even care about realism?  Should we even care?

Still, regardless of how ridiculous the whole premise is in the first place, I say give me real live Fire Mares over CGI bunny-sleds any day!

*Just a few words on the Blu-ray: it's super cheap but looks good--crisp and clean while still looking very film like with lots of nice grain left intact, but there are NO extras: no subtitles, no alternate audio tracks, not even a chapter list, let alone a trailer; just a menu screen with a "play movie" button.  It does have chapter stops though, so it's got that going for it.  Hey, it's from Mill Creek, what do you expect?

Here's the trailer:

Merrie Christmas to all!

"Hardrock, Coco and Joe - The Three Little Dwarfs" from Centaur Productions:

Musica Moonday

"Suzy Snowflake" from Centaur Productions:

Musica Moonday

"The Snow Miser Song" from Rankin/Bass' The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974):

We'll return after these important messages...

Common Household Deities of North America, Mid to Late Twentieth Century

No. 6,  The Mother Goddess of Breakfast Syrups:

We'll be right back...

Common Household Deities of North America, Mid to Late Twentieth Century

No. 5, The small god of indigestion:

We'll return after these messages...

Common Household Deities of North America, Mid to Late Twentieth Century

No. 4, The Doughboy*:



*Note: If I recall my world history lessons correctly, despite the innocent, even adorable appearance of these chubby little fire elementals, during the time of the Great War, millions of roused Doughboys left behind the warmth and comfort of their hearthside haunts to fight and die valiantly on the front lines against the Huns and their legions of barbaric Grünriesen (Green Giants) and bloodthirsty Koolaidmensch (Kool-Aid Men).

Musica Moonday

"The Mummy" by Little Tibia and the Fibias from Mad Monster Party? (1967):

Salute Your Shorts: The Collector

Salute Your Shorts #1: In which your humble host introduces a short film that has temporarily caught his Mayfly-like fancy...

In this inaugural edition of Channel 73 WODS-TV's newest weekend feature--which we've deigned to christen as "Salute Your Shorts"--herein lies a personal favorite that I thought was one of the most magical and mind bending things I had ever seen back in 1978:  The Collector, the incomparable Mike Jittlov's stop motion animated tribute to Mickey Mouse mania on the occasion of the ubiquitous rodent's fiftieth birthday celebration.

Enjoy!