Re: Thomas The Tank


"Jane Sullivan" <never@xxxxx> wrote in message news:l5qDm.54929$Wx3.33553@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"simon" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:Gd2dnel-OaV_hkPXnZ2dnUVZ8hidnZ2d@xxxxxxxxx

"MartinS" <me@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:Z_kDm.55202$Ku5.46444@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"simon" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"Wolf K" <wekirch@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote...
MartinS wrote:
[...]

I agree. Having characters speak patronisingly to the viewers and
ask for responses, as in Dora the Explorer, has spread to Mickey
Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and others. Thankfully my 5-year-old grandson
now prefers the old Looney Toons and Popeye shows, which are just
entertainment and maybe not so PC or "educational" as some
spoilsports would like. They are shown in Canada on "Toon Retro",
rather than the kiddie channels such as Family and Treehouse.

Your grandson understands the difference between a story and a
sermon. Good for him.

I used to wonder why well-educated people believe that writing
stories with obvious messages would teach anyone anything. Not
anymore: there are people who just don't understand how the
imagination works, perhaps they suffer from limited imaginations
themselves. These are often also the people who want to ban books
with bad words etc in them. They believe in a kind of verbal magic:
expose a kid to a bad word, and the kid will be infected forever.
Literalists of all religious and non-religious persuasions suffer
from this odd quirk of the mind.

Now someone will think, "Yes, but Jesus used parables to teach his
lessons." He did. But he was careful to a) use examples from everyday
life; and b) preface his stories with the subject of his moral. Why
did he do this? Because his parables aren't obviously "educational".
In fact, people have argued about their "real" meaning for about
2,000 years. ;-)

Agree with what you say there, especially about the patronising bit,
most important is the requirement to entertain after which some sort
of message can be inserted. however the US sitcom method of sit and
talk for 2 minutes solves all problems doesnt quite work.
We've just started to let our son watch the Simpsons but are very
careful to stamp out any attempt at emulation - got to teach the
difference between that and reality as he will be exposed to unsavery
charachters throughout life, cannot protect from that. Plus there are
some amusing bits in it (now am forced to watch as well).

Main difference notice between original modelled Thomas and more
recent CGI (shugsomething) is the script must be of high enough
quality to keep attention, CGI appear to depend more on dancing images
and exciting sounds. Doesnt have to be that way - look at original
Star Wars.

2001 and the original Star Wars didn't use CGI. They used mechanically
or computer controlled models and tracking cameras, and sophisticated
matting techniques for backgrounds and views through windows. All the
spacecraft were physical scale models (as was DS9). The weightless
scenes in 2001 were simulated by hanging the actors upside down and
filming from below, so you couldn't see the support wires.

--
Martin S.

then am even more impressed by Star Wars, some films would have depended on those expensive effects and left it at that, but these have a good script as well.

If you want to watch films with no CGI, good effects and wonderful scripts then I would recommend Wallace and Gromit.


Cheers,
Simon

Not against CGI, just that it seems to make them lazy with rest of film content. Have enjoyed the absurd but gentle humour of W&G. However, for me the best of all is Flash Gordon. the story, the script, the characters, the actors, the music and the wow Princess .....Dare I say unbeatable.

Cheers,
Simon

.

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