"Are they stuck to the floor?" "No, to the system!"

September 25, 2015 12:14 PM

"Clad in green robes, Mike Jittlov races at 500 m.p.h. through the Northern California hills, across an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and horizontally along the wall of a downtown Hollywood building. He moves so fast that when he slips on a banana peel, he flies into orbit."

Also known as the Wizard of Speed and Time, Mike Jittlov was a struggling independent filmmaker in Hollywood in the late 70's and 80's. In 1979, he created a short film featuring stop motion animation techniques named The Wizard of Speed and Time.

The film segment gains popularity at science fiction conventions around the country, prompting Jittlov to create a semi-fictionalized account of how the short came to be made, also titled The Wizard of Speed and Time. This film focuses on the technical details of special effects of the time, as well as exhibiting the frustration Jittlov felt in the heavily unionized atmosphere of Hollywood.

The feature film was created in 1983, and shown around the country throughout the 1980s. It was later released on VHS and laserdisc. No DVD has ever been released, but Jittlov himself has given permission for the film to be released as a DVD image file via peer-to-peer networks.

posted by turtlebackriding (44 comments total)

Flashing back so hard to the video room at LosCon in the Pasadena Hilton in...1986, I think?
posted by The Tensor at 12:22 PM on September 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

I had only seen screencaps of this short prior to today, and I had always thought he looked like Michael Ironside with that grin, which makes him a lot scarier.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 12:27 PM on September 25, 2015

I remember Mike as a minor Net celeb during early Usenet days. Finally saw the finished product a few years ago. It's neat stuff.
posted by scalefree at 12:29 PM on September 25, 2015

As an example of the best effects being invisible, the Chinese theater pay phone that the Hollywood wanna-be uses to report on her experiences is just a receiver wrapped around a fence.
posted by maxsparber at 12:30 PM on September 25, 2015 [4 favorites]

(holds up a card giving this post a '10')
posted by chimpsonfilm at 12:31 PM on September 25, 2015 [9 favorites]

Now to go dig out the rip of the laserdisc that I have somewhere. Probably next to my signed Frank Freas movie poster....
posted by beowulf573 at 12:34 PM on September 25, 2015

(holds up a card giving this post a '10')

YOUR CARDS ARE NOW DIAMONDS GOLD STARS
posted by Potomac Avenue at 12:35 PM on September 25, 2015 [4 favorites]

OMG! I read about this in Cinemagic back in the day, but never saw it until just now.

The thing that intrigued me at the time is that they asked about him running across the lake and he was cagey with his answer, saying "I didn't get my Adidas wet." I have to say that finally seeing that part is a bit of a letdown. The rest is pretty great.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 12:52 PM on September 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

Is there a prize for the best first post in first post month?

After this first post I think maybe we need one.
posted by bukvich at 12:54 PM on September 25, 2015

Mike Jittlov's Wizworld is still online, and is also a relic from past times, as the front page still includes the webring links, and some links to other sites that were last online in 2002 (Archive.org link). "Check back frequently! ASCII art expected soon!"
posted by filthy light thief at 12:56 PM on September 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

Oh, man, serious flashbacks! Right up there with Buckaroo Banzai and the original video Christmas card by the South Park guys for items passed from hand to hand back in my younger geek days.
posted by tavella at 12:57 PM on September 25, 2015 [5 favorites]

Oh man, I remember watching the short film (and other short films) in movie rooms at sci-cons. Definitely a formative part of my teen years.
posted by rmd1023 at 1:19 PM on September 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

Flashing back so hard to the video room at LosCon in the Pasadena Hilton in...1986, I think?

I think I saw the original at one of the Atlanta cons (in the days before everything was eaten by the Dragon) sometime during the first Bush administration. One of my friends at that time was an aspiring filmmaker and hugely, hugely into Wizard of Speed and Time.

("Huh," he says, "who knew Night Flight had a blog?")
posted by octobersurprise at 1:37 PM on September 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

When a particularly hip social studies teacher showed it to our class in 1988, he paired it with Blaze Glory.
posted by Ian A.T. at 1:43 PM on September 25, 2015 [2 favorites]

I love this movie. I rented the VHS multiple times back in Ye Olden Dayes. Since Jittlov has given his seal of approval, does anyone have a link to the DVD image? I'd love to watch it in better resolution.

"It's that poltergeist again!"
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:44 PM on September 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

Jittlov is also an animator. If you saw the movie "Ghost", you'll probably remember the scene near the end where demons drag the bad buy off to Hell. Jittlov animated that.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 1:54 PM on September 25, 2015 [9 favorites]

The whole thing is about animation.

I showed it to a friend and when we got to the short within the movie she said "if that's all stop motion he's a fucking genius!"

Madman, genius--the line is so fine.

Which is also something the movie is about.
posted by clauclauclaudia at 2:01 PM on September 25, 2015 [3 favorites]

Man, I miss Night Flight. That was an enormous part of my cultural upbringing as a teen in the 80's.
posted by davelog at 2:12 PM on September 25, 2015 [8 favorites]

I've always felt that Jitlov was a man who was just too soon by about two or three decades. He struggled with trying to fit himself into the studio system, but I think he would have had much more reach as a creator searching for an audience had he come up in the YouTube era instead. Though that would have meant embracing digital tools, and he's always struck me as being married to the craft of putting light to celluloid.

If I ever meet him, I'd love to not shake his hand.
posted by radwolf76 at 2:18 PM on September 25, 2015 [5 favorites]

This movie was played over and over and over and over in our dorm/apartment back in the early 90's. (one of my housemates was a wannabe-animator.) = I can quote it at length. And until now, it seemed like NO ONE ELSE EVER HEARD OF IT. Thank you for this!
posted by The otter lady at 2:50 PM on September 25, 2015 [2 favorites]

See also the Jittlovist Tumblr, which features some decent-quality copies of his early short films. For some reason the videos are unlisted on YouTube so you can't find them by searching there.

(I'm personally fond of Time Tripper.)
posted by neckro23 at 3:05 PM on September 25, 2015

I rented the HELL out of this at our video store in the 90s, to the point they offered to get me a copy. I didn't take them up on it.

I should get the DVD image and burn it. My wife has never seen it.
posted by mephron at 3:05 PM on September 25, 2015 [2 favorites]

20 years ago on USENET, I was an acolyte of (Mefi's own) James "Kibo" Parry who often raved (sometimes genuinely raving) about Mike Jittlov and this short film. I do recall seeing Jittlov on USENET, but to what extent I don't recall. I'm sure that I eventually would've conceived on my own of looking this up in the Youtube Era, but I'm very glad you did.

Your next mission, should you choose to accept it, is to track down Corey McAbee's "An American Astronaut." This comment will self-destruct in 5 seconds.
posted by Sunburnt at 3:06 PM on September 25, 2015 [5 favorites]

Jeeeeepers. Building a multiplane for $200 is a feat unto itself.
posted by butterstick at 3:08 PM on September 25, 2015

Ooh, this is the thread where we get to use the confusing homophone pixilation.
posted by tss at 3:27 PM on September 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

Pssst, Sunburnt. An American Astronaut.
posted by zoinks at 4:45 PM on September 25, 2015 [2 favorites]

Oh, man, I am about 90% sure I still have this on VHS. I don't even have a VCR anymore, but there are a handful of tapes I can't part with. I am now double-extra guilt-free about watching it online.

PS: Hey boy, hey boy, I got a message for you! The movie you want, American Astronaut, is on Hulu, too.
posted by ernielundquist at 5:39 PM on September 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

Here's that Jittlov animation from "Ghost". It starts about 1:30.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:01 PM on September 25, 2015

This and the Crash Test Dummies are the only two videos from my childhood that I still own on VHS.

Also: The Soundtrack!
posted by rebent at 7:48 PM on September 25, 2015

Huh. That bit where he's running so fast it's just glimpses of cities and landmarks - now I know where the Justice League Unlimited creators got the idea for the Flash's POV shots while in "Divided We Fall".
posted by jason_steakums at 12:10 AM on September 26, 2015

I had an umpteenth generation tape of "Wizard" and the "Time Tripper" linked above. Also had this Petula Clark video Jitlov also did:

http://youtu.be/Brj3vX2Hiuk
posted by marxchivist at 8:09 AM on September 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Had the "wait, I would have bet money I'd shared this with you" conversation with the spouse earlier today. [Honestly, I think it was back when he was working night shifts and he must have fallen asleep while watching it, like with Delicatessen.] In any event, got to remedy this!
posted by Lexica at 7:56 PM on September 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

It's like the antithesis to Slow Bob in the Lower Dimensions.
posted by infinitewindow at 11:45 PM on September 27, 2015 [4 favorites]

I saw Jittlov speak at Philcon back around 1991. He narrated a reel of what we'd now call DVD extras, including some freeze-frames where he showed the things he'd snuck into the backgrounds, like a Viking's head drawn into one of the clouds. It was the highlight of that con.
posted by foldedfish at 10:12 AM on September 28, 2015

I've always felt that Jitlov was a man who was just too soon by about two or three decades. He struggled with trying to fit himself into the studio system, but I think he would have had much more reach as a creator searching for an audience had he come up in the YouTube era instead.

Conversely, if he'd been born later, he'd just be another brief meme-person I expect. Or maybe a Cyriak. There wouldn't be the meta-story of his movie being distributed the way it was, which was part of the magic of the thing.

I was given a copy of it unexpectedly in 1990 by an SCA friend. I kind of thought she was crazy, just handing me a VHS tape and a flyer and saying "you have to see this." But the good kind of crazy.
posted by Foosnark at 2:34 PM on September 29, 2015 [2 favorites]

This and the mention of Night Flight reminds me of Gisèle Kérozène. It supposedly wasn't made until 1989, but I was until now anyway certain that I saw it as a teenager at least a couple years before that. I could have sworn it was on Night Flight that I saw it, but maybe I'm misremembering.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 7:54 PM on September 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Great post. I wonder what Mike Jittlov is up to these days. His most recent IMDB listing is a short from 2002.
posted by zardoz at 2:05 AM on September 30, 2015

swear to beezus my intro to this movie was the song "Wizard of Speed and Time" by Leslie Fish off a Bayfilk recording.

i can still sing it (mostly) from memory.

no wonder mom worried about me. I was such a hopeless nerd. -_-
posted by offalark at 6:01 PM on September 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

Man, finally, the post I'd never expected to see. I've met Jittlov and have not shaken his hand. I also met his mother (lovely woman, she plays his mother in the film). We were able to chat at his house (movie set on location at his house) and he's every bit as strange and wonderful as you'd expect. Has some odd views - seemed to believe that anyone working to get the movie out should do it for free so he could get all the money. Was talking about getting a film scanner to scan the film and release it online. He claims the film was never legally released, as it apparently needed his signature. I got a signed unreleased Kelly Freas WoSaT poster, which was amazing. We even found a new easter egg in the poster while examining it.

My dad found this movie when I was a kid; we watched the hell out of it and still love it to this day. The music was changed for the first stop motion short because they couldn't get the rights to his initial music; you can find the first version in his demo reel.

Let's see if I can remember all the trivia I've picked up about this movie over the decades:
* All producers in the movie should have been named after cigarrete brands, but Richard Kaye insisted his character be named Richard Bookman
* The pool scene was filmed at William Shatner's house and the initial audio was in Esperanto. It was redubbed in English
* Jitlov really does hold his breath for the scene
* Every Union Representative scene was the same actor at the same desk in the same room.
* The film unsubtlely plays with filmaking - when Jittlov has shown Bookman his demo reel in the theater the camera does every shot mentioned by Bookman as they're mentioned
* A scene was shot in Steve's Pizza plays feature sumo wrestlers that was apparently "hilarious" as per Jittlov. Never saw it.
* Every stop-motion short is filled with what he called subliminal and I'd now call easter eggs - go through any one of them frame-by-frame. Grab the laserdisk for the best image quality if you can find a copy.
* Jittlov claims that Richard Kaye not only played a scumbag producer but was also a scumbag producer IRL
* The short with the Time Machine from the early movie based on H.G. Well's book use the actual prop.
* The Holland scenes from the Wizard Run sketch are mostly Solvang, outside of LA.
* The movie is about an aspiring filmaker (played by Jittlov) trying to make a film and getting screwed by a producer (Richard Kaye). In reality, the movie was illegally released by Richard Kaye and Jittlov has never seen a penny from it.
* Woody Allen is believed to have a cameo appearance. I believe this is incorrect and he was not in the film.

I once showed this mo
posted by caphector at 10:28 AM on October 1, 2015 [7 favorites]

Unfinished sentence:

I once showed the movie to a friend. He now no longer trusts my film recommendations. :-(
posted by caphector at 10:43 AM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Woody Allen is believed to have a cameo appearance. I believe this is incorrect and he was not in the film.

No spoken lines so it could just be a spot-on celebrity impersonator but premise of the running gag is that Woody Allen just might be the sort of person to give silent "They went that-a-way" nods to a heated chase scene going on in a studio backlot.

(Relevant scene starts at 1 hour, 9 minutes, 30 seconds mark in the youtube linked to above, if the link doesn't load the starting time correctly.)
posted by radwolf76 at 6:32 PM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

There's a parody took it to the Macs: The Wizard of Quick and Time.
posted by BiggerJ at 5:27 PM on October 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Ah man, I gave the cardboard movie collateral to a friend, who was a huge fan, when I worked in a video store. The stuff was in a very large, flat cardboard box that I had relabeled, "Hickory Farms" the smoked meat and cheese emporium. He was happy that it was not smoked summer sausage that doubled as skis.
posted by jadepearl at 5:30 AM on October 5, 2015

Ha, I was just wondering if a post about WoSaT had been done yet, as I saw the original short recently for the first time in a long long while. And now I can't get the goddamn song out of my head. Awesome FFPP!
posted by not_on_display at 5:32 PM on October 6, 2015