A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving: Exploring the evolution of animation

Evolving Animation

I grew up with Charlie Brown, as each holiday came my family and I would watch these classic films. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is the compelling story of Charlie Brown and his quirky friends coming together and sharing Thanksgiving dinner together. This film was made in 1973, 40 years ago! It is insane to think this was created so long ago. 

I think it is very interesting how much animation has progressed. I believe Charles Schulz was ahead of his time and created descriptive and intriguing stories. He was the definition of what a real storyteller is and his stories were instant classics. 

The picture above is a clear depiction of how animation has truly changed and evolved at a rapid rate. Animation movies today are so real looking that at times I forget that I am watching drawn characters. Compare this picture to this adorable picture of Puss in Boots:

This picture is so realistic, compared to Charlie Brown and is almost three dimensional. " I absolutely love the modern day evolution of Disney and other animated filmmakers these days. The animation process continues to improve with magical and colorful visual effects, sensational facial expressions, and remarkable scripts" This quote is from an article I read called "The Evolution of Animation" and the author expresses that he loves the classic animation films, but also enjoys the modern day animations as well. The classics of older animation include most Disney movies, such as the classic "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs".

The two pictures above are different styles of animation, however, in modern day we are using different and more advanced programs. The advancement of animation is incredible and amazing. I am excited to see what animation looks in another 40 years! 

Notorious

For this week's post I wanted to talk about a movie that I watched last week and that I would highly recommend. I'm talking about Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious. As with most of Hitchcock's movies, I wasn't disappointed with this one. It was the perfect combination of a romantic and suspenseful thriller. I feel that what makes Hitchcock's movies so compelling is the fact that he takes his time to set up the sequence of events that will lead to the resolution. I notice a variety of elements in this movie that we've discussed in the past. Like the key which served as a Mcguffin. I feel it was an essential element to move the story along and keep the audience enthralled.

Another Mcguffin that I noticed in Notorious was the bottles of wines in the wine cellar.

Hitchcock doesn't really expands why they were transporting this substance in the wine. He just uses the wine bottles to bring the story together. Another interesting fact about the way Hitchcock tells a story is that his story lines are very focused. Even thought this story took place in a Post-World War II setting, Hitchcock didn't emphasized this story line. He focused more on Devlin, Alicia, and Alexander's story. I feel that this helped me engage more in the story and care more about the destiny of this characters.

WEEDS

Well, given that Dave already posted about Dexter... (rude) I'm making my post about my second favorite showtime show, Weeds. Weeds is currently on its seventh and probably final season . The first 3 seasons of Weeds are just amazing. The story is great, and the built up in the story arc is both interesting and fresh. I honestly can say that the season 2 series finale is one of the best season finale's I've seen on TV, because the climax reaches a point where all of the story lines crash together, raising the stakes for the lead character (Nancy).

One of the things that make this show pretty special is that it's a dark comedy, meaning that it combines both drama and comedy. So, If you are into both of these genres this is the show for you. Seasons 4 and 5 and 6 are not the best, given that the show takes a different direction which in my opinion, is not that smart to do in a Tv show. So you might wonder why I'm still watching this show if the first 3 seasons are the best, well by this point I feel really attached to its characters. As a viewer I am interested in knowing if they are going to make it at the end of the day, Plus I think the show it's funny. Also, I feel that this season of Weeds improved from its predecessors.

I love the characters of this show, and the casting for it is excellent. For example, Nancy Botwin (played by Mary Louise Parker) is the strongest character. She is the leader, and the one who decides how things are going to be. The decisions that Nancy makes put her, and her family in either funny or atrocious situations. I think it's entertaining watching these characters trying to clean Nancy's mess ups.