a modernist allegory that goes "boing boing"
February 24, 2007 12:40 AM   Subscribe

Robert "Bobe" Cannon's 1951 Oscar-winning animated short "Gerald McBoing Boing" (u2b), is an early example of a modernist animation style (previously) experimented by UPA studios in an attempt to counteract the mounting realism of Disney cartoons. (The 2005 series it inspired is currently re-running on Boomerang.)

On another note entirely, Theodor "Seuss" Geisel's character Gerald is considered one of a number of celebrities with autism.
posted by progosk (43 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
ack: that last link was meant to be this.
posted by progosk at 12:42 AM on February 24, 2007


Uh, if Lisa is autistic then so is most of Metafilter.
posted by allen.spaulding at 12:46 AM on February 24, 2007


Autism is the new gay!
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:52 AM on February 24, 2007 [1 favorite]


I planned on doing this on AskMefor a while:

What is the origin of the "Blanky Blankblank" derogatory naming meme. Is this it?
posted by sourwookie at 1:10 AM on February 24, 2007


Criminy. I meant "Blanky Mcblankblank.
posted by sourwookie at 1:12 AM on February 24, 2007


Jane Austen? Famous for writing extraordinarly well observed comedies of social etiquette and subtle, delicate characterizations?

This does not fit with what I know of autism or autistic spectrum disorders.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 1:14 AM on February 24, 2007


That list is absolutely ridiculous. Any character or person that is slightly 'strange' in any way is claimed as autistic/aspergers syndrome. I mean, I might be prepared to accept that Newton had aspergers. That actually has some evidence and credible reports from psychiatrists. The rest is pure speculation, and not even backed up with any evidence. As for the contemporary figures I am going to need to see an official medical diagnosis of some kind.

PeterMcDermott is absolutely right about it being the new gay.
posted by leibniz at 2:29 AM on February 24, 2007


Man, that is a beautifully designed cartoon.

For more John Hubley goodness, check out these adorable MayPo commercials (1, 2), and
this ad
and this gorgeous short
and this Academy Award winner
And this music video by Emily Hubley, daughter of John and Faith. (Maybe not the same quality, but god, I love that song.)

God Bless the Google!
posted by maryh at 2:32 AM on February 24, 2007 [1 favorite]


And Ba'al bless the YouTube, more specifically. I was just too misty over "Big Brown Eyes" to see my error.
posted by maryh at 2:42 AM on February 24, 2007


> Uh, if Lisa is autistic then so is most of Metafilter.

If Gerald is autistic then so is most of Metafilter. From memory, but never to be forgotten:

"One day he went BOOM like a big keg of powder."
posted by jfuller at 2:55 AM on February 24, 2007


Beethoven, Strauss, Mozart and Bartók are considered to have autistic traits, but not Liszt?

With the way he banged on those keys?
posted by three blind mice at 3:19 AM on February 24, 2007


it might be just me, but doesn't every contributor to mefi have a bit of aspergers to them? or as my drinking buddy, the child psych says, "ASS-BURGERS."
posted by rhymesinister at 3:53 AM on February 24, 2007


ok, had a few beers & didn't even see jfuller's comment. I second the pervasive aspergers diagnosis across the hefi universe.
posted by rhymesinister at 3:55 AM on February 24, 2007


Is "the new gay" the new "the new black"?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:11 AM on February 24, 2007 [1 favorite]


the tasmanian devil? daleks? which doctor who did they mean? what a list ...
posted by pyramid termite at 4:11 AM on February 24, 2007


Also, cartoon characters are not celebrities. Or famous people.
posted by sour cream at 4:40 AM on February 24, 2007


My youngest son is AS; as we were getting to grips with a previous misdiagnosis, we realised that I am in there too.
Had to wait until I was sixty-nine to discover it. Explains so much.
posted by Cennad at 4:49 AM on February 24, 2007


think if i mail them about arnold ziffel, they'll add him to the list?
posted by pyramid termite at 4:55 AM on February 24, 2007


...as we were getting to grips with a previous misdiagnosis, we realised that I am in there too. Had to wait until I was sixty-nine to discover it. Explains so much.

Next time, try a different position.

(Just a friendly pull of your chain, Cennad. I'm resolving a similar triagnosis here.)
posted by hal9k at 5:37 AM on February 24, 2007


list sucks, list sucks, list sucks, list sucks, list sucks, list sucks

going to kmart, going to kmart, going to kmart
posted by HuronBob at 5:38 AM on February 24, 2007 [1 favorite]


That list about celebrities with autistic qualities is BS. Maybe if they had some kind of reason what those autistic qualities are then it would have some merit, but this just links to bios or IMDB. (Am I missing something?)

In my experience, it's pretty easy to selectively pick out "autistic" qualities in a lot of non-autistic or non-spectrum people, and sometimes you can reach ridiculous conclusions. While it's great that people are more aware of the autism spectrum these days, I think some people are getting carried away with diagnoses.
posted by lilac girl at 5:56 AM on February 24, 2007


The guy who shows up at 4:55 or so looks like he's first cousins with the plutocrat in the board game Monopoly.
posted by pax digita at 6:00 AM on February 24, 2007


This kinda thing is annoying. Don't people realize autism is something REAL and SERIOUS? Being weird or feeling awkward or struggling with school and social situations does not make you autistic.
posted by thirteenkiller at 6:02 AM on February 24, 2007


Scientific progress goes "boink?"
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:50 AM on February 24, 2007 [1 favorite]


Autism is not the new gay, at least according to last night's 20/20, which offered the claim that autism/Asperger's is getting diagnosed for situations ranging from that used to be diagnosed as retardation to being a geek or socially awkward. Reasons for this range from 'it's nicer than being called retarded' to 'now my child can get federally-funded classes to address this problem.' Would you want your gay child having to go to classes to 'fix their problem'?
posted by kimota at 7:09 AM on February 24, 2007


I wonder if lack of reading comprehension is a symptom of autism, in which case, yes, most of MeFi is autistic. From the link: "And others listed may just be unusual individuals." So yes, it's a crappy, useless list, but he is not saying that everyone on the list has autism or Asperger's.
posted by I Am Not a Lobster at 7:16 AM on February 24, 2007


Oh people, people, people. Don't you know that it's not okay to be a human being with quirks and eccentricities anymore? No, no, no, no, no. If you are deviant in any way, you have some sort of disease or disorder. Everyone needs to be nice little happy-pill swallowing consumer automatons.

We used to have what you call "personal characteristics" but, helllloooo! Hi, it's the 21st century calling. We have a cure for that now, you know.
posted by Afroblanco at 7:29 AM on February 24, 2007 [1 favorite]


[this is absurd]
posted by psmealey at 7:54 AM on February 24, 2007


You're getting a bit excited Afroblanco. Hold still, while I ... there. In a few moments the shot will start working and you will feel much calmer.
No need to post anymore.
posted by jouke at 8:12 AM on February 24, 2007


Of course, it wasn't long before studios realized how much cheaper limited animation was to do, and we started getting the "vast landfill" that was most of children's animation in the 70s and 80s.

Please don't use multiple paragraphs on your front page post.
posted by grouse at 8:17 AM on February 24, 2007


Last decade, there was a list of alleged bipolar cases.

Prior to that, you had your alleged deliquents, alleged Communists, alleged witches, alleged Jews, and alleged Christians.

It's obvious these individuals were horse thieves.
posted by Smart Dalek at 8:52 AM on February 24, 2007


Five years ago he would have had ADHD. I wonder what disorder he'll be retconned into having had five years from now?
posted by George_Spiggott at 9:05 AM on February 24, 2007


This comment may have restless leg syndrome.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:17 AM on February 24, 2007 [1 favorite]


Prior to that, you had your alleged deliquents, alleged Communists, alleged witches, alleged Jews, and alleged Christians.

You know who else had Autism? Yeah, that's right....
posted by Afroblanco at 9:48 AM on February 24, 2007 [1 favorite]


Thanks for this. UPA toons are the best. And there would have been a lot more of them, except that studio founder Hubley was blacklisted in 1952.
posted by milquetoast at 10:09 AM on February 24, 2007


They're just listing anyone even slightly "nerdy". I mean Al Gore? Woody Allen? Whatever.
posted by delmoi at 11:03 AM on February 24, 2007



Hubley + Ella Fitzgerald = gold.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 1:05 PM on February 24, 2007


I hadn't realized that the accepted definition of autism was enlarged to include anyone who has at one time or another exhibited socially inappropriate behavior.
posted by Tommy Gnosis at 2:13 PM on February 24, 2007


Thanks for the Hubleyfest, maryh.

I remember watching the Hubleys' "The Hole", with Dizzy Gillespie as one of the voice actors, in high school. Amazing stuff. "The Border" was another one of theirs that still resonates.

And with Hollywood animation reaching new heights of obsessive realism, it would be good to have another animation counter-movement about now.
posted by QuietDesperation at 2:13 PM on February 24, 2007


Wow, thanks for that - I'd heard about Gerald McBoingBoing but never seen it.

Never mind the graphics tho: that music's wild!
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:31 PM on February 24, 2007


People used to be eccentric.

I think that British peers are still allowed to.
posted by bad grammar at 9:16 PM on February 24, 2007


all of my life, i've had an until-now secret fascination with the number 47. guess that makes me autistic. just not a celebrity. can't have everything.
posted by etaoin at 6:02 AM on February 25, 2007


I just realized tonight that one of the voices in Cockabooty is Yo La Tengo's Georgia Hubley.
posted by barjo at 9:51 PM on February 25, 2007


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