Without blinking once...
May 18, 2009 4:22 PM Subscribe
Artist and animator Cory Godbee has started Terrible Yellow Eyes, a blog tribute to Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.
Entries include catching up with old friends, and a more psychological take. It's not all Godbee's show, however, he's invited some talented colleagues to contribute.
Entries include catching up with old friends, and a more psychological take. It's not all Godbee's show, however, he's invited some talented colleagues to contribute.
The Little Bear books are quite nice. The TV show is indeed syrupy and bland. Too bad really.
posted by GuyZero at 5:03 PM on May 18, 2009
posted by GuyZero at 5:03 PM on May 18, 2009
Nice. Should find a way to work in a little of Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back
posted by adamrice at 5:04 PM on May 18, 2009
posted by adamrice at 5:04 PM on May 18, 2009
Related -- recent FPP: Trailer for Where the Wild Things Are.
posted by ericb at 5:24 PM on May 18, 2009
posted by ericb at 5:24 PM on May 18, 2009
Yeah, Artw, I hear you about the twee, bland, syrupy Little Bear... it's so awful. Kid's TV in the states (and everywhere, probably) is just so disappointingly bad, it's why we pulled the antenna years ago and only do DVDs with our 9-year-old. Speaking of which, the animated adaptations of Wild Things and others (with music and perfectnarration by Peter Schickele of PDQ Bach fame) are really good, you should definitely get ahold of those, if you don't have them already.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:28 PM on May 18, 2009
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:28 PM on May 18, 2009
This link made my day! Thanks! I had so many Sendak-illustrated books as a kid, and I think that the sense of wonder and strangeness that threaded through them all was an excellent thing.
posted by rivenwanderer at 6:41 PM on May 18, 2009
posted by rivenwanderer at 6:41 PM on May 18, 2009
Makes me smile--thank you for the link!
TV show is indeed syrupy and bland.
It is bland. And traditional. And fairly conservative. But it is one of the handful of shows I'll let my 4 and 5yo sons watch. Father Bear in a three piece suit has got to be a positive role model. ;>
posted by njbradburn at 6:58 PM on May 18, 2009
TV show is indeed syrupy and bland.
It is bland. And traditional. And fairly conservative. But it is one of the handful of shows I'll let my 4 and 5yo sons watch. Father Bear in a three piece suit has got to be a positive role model. ;>
posted by njbradburn at 6:58 PM on May 18, 2009
also well worth checking out, WE LOVE YOU SO, the official blog for the "Wild Things" film ...
The film represents years of work from hundreds of different artists, writers, photographers, musicians, actors, and creators of all degrees. This place has been established to help shed some light on many of the small influences that have converged to make this massive project a reality.
posted by philip-random at 7:47 PM on May 18, 2009
The film represents years of work from hundreds of different artists, writers, photographers, musicians, actors, and creators of all degrees. This place has been established to help shed some light on many of the small influences that have converged to make this massive project a reality.
posted by philip-random at 7:47 PM on May 18, 2009
Weirdly the Maurice Sendak product that most comes into our lives is not Wild Things or anything like that but Little Bear, a series of books he illustrated, and the cartoon based on it.
Oh god, I remember that Little Bear cartoon. It was so weird and unbearable. Everyone spoke in this horrible, saccharine, slightly-delayed way that made them into some sort of unholy uncanny valley elementals.
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 8:15 PM on May 18, 2009
Oh god, I remember that Little Bear cartoon. It was so weird and unbearable. Everyone spoke in this horrible, saccharine, slightly-delayed way that made them into some sort of unholy uncanny valley elementals.
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 8:15 PM on May 18, 2009
Quick! Let's dismiss him as a Hipster.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 8:27 PM on May 18, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by ActingTheGoat at 8:27 PM on May 18, 2009 [1 favorite]
Cool stuff. I grew up loving Wild Things and I'm looking forward to the film.
Fun side note:
In the early 00's I took a job in NYC working with Macy's parent company, Federated Merchandising Group. Macy's is of course well known for their public events promotion, particularly the Independence Day fireworks show, the annual flower exhibition, and of course the most famous of them all - the Thanksgiving Day parade. They very smartly staff these events with "volunteer" employees who have regular day-jobs working for the company.
My divisional boss, the nutjob who headed up merchandising for men's tailored clothing for all of Macy's and their (at the time) sister divisions, happened to be a well-tenured balloon pilot for the parade, and an avid recruiter of new pilots. Most of my coworkers in the fashion industry were either women or fabulously gay men, most of whom had little or no interest in taking responsibility for 60-some people holding down a massive inflated canvass toy. My response, when he asked me, however, if I was interested in guiding one through the frozen tundra of Manhattan: OH HELL YES.
So this is how I first came to find myself walking backwards around the parking lot outside Giants' stadium on a cool October Saturday morning, with orange gloves on and a whistle, directing a bunch of store employees from NJ who were holding down one of the training balloons.
And then the much-awaited day comes when they announce who is piloting which balloons - a secretive and very suspect process leads up to this in which the most senior employees flex their considerable muscle behind the scenes to influence their ability to get the newest and most coveted balloons. I, as a new rookie pilot peon, of course had no say and would be piloting whatever dregs fell from their table as they greedily picked their stallions of choice (yet still they are to this day "awarded" in an announcement as if the process is actually legitimate).
And of course, I ended up with the balloon that I would have picked if I could have had my choice - the one no one else wanted - I was the pilot for the Where the Wild Things Are balloon, in my first Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.
Suck it, Spiderman.
posted by allkindsoftime at 2:26 AM on May 19, 2009 [11 favorites]
Fun side note:
In the early 00's I took a job in NYC working with Macy's parent company, Federated Merchandising Group. Macy's is of course well known for their public events promotion, particularly the Independence Day fireworks show, the annual flower exhibition, and of course the most famous of them all - the Thanksgiving Day parade. They very smartly staff these events with "volunteer" employees who have regular day-jobs working for the company.
My divisional boss, the nutjob who headed up merchandising for men's tailored clothing for all of Macy's and their (at the time) sister divisions, happened to be a well-tenured balloon pilot for the parade, and an avid recruiter of new pilots. Most of my coworkers in the fashion industry were either women or fabulously gay men, most of whom had little or no interest in taking responsibility for 60-some people holding down a massive inflated canvass toy. My response, when he asked me, however, if I was interested in guiding one through the frozen tundra of Manhattan: OH HELL YES.
So this is how I first came to find myself walking backwards around the parking lot outside Giants' stadium on a cool October Saturday morning, with orange gloves on and a whistle, directing a bunch of store employees from NJ who were holding down one of the training balloons.
And then the much-awaited day comes when they announce who is piloting which balloons - a secretive and very suspect process leads up to this in which the most senior employees flex their considerable muscle behind the scenes to influence their ability to get the newest and most coveted balloons. I, as a new rookie pilot peon, of course had no say and would be piloting whatever dregs fell from their table as they greedily picked their stallions of choice (yet still they are to this day "awarded" in an announcement as if the process is actually legitimate).
And of course, I ended up with the balloon that I would have picked if I could have had my choice - the one no one else wanted - I was the pilot for the Where the Wild Things Are balloon, in my first Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.
Suck it, Spiderman.
posted by allkindsoftime at 2:26 AM on May 19, 2009 [11 favorites]
Loved your story, allkindsoftime.
Where the Wild Things Are is one of my favorite books, and probably the only book I memorized so that I could narrate it to my kids over and over again, holding it out to them so that they could enjoy the fantastic illustrations.
The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another, his mother called him, "WILD THING!"...
Just a lovely, lovely book for kids.
posted by misha at 8:28 AM on May 19, 2009
Where the Wild Things Are is one of my favorite books, and probably the only book I memorized so that I could narrate it to my kids over and over again, holding it out to them so that they could enjoy the fantastic illustrations.
The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another, his mother called him, "WILD THING!"...
Just a lovely, lovely book for kids.
posted by misha at 8:28 AM on May 19, 2009
What misha said.
I have the double pleasure of owning and reading it to my kids in TWO languages (English and Hebrew). My toddler daughter knows both versions backwards and forwards, and loves delivering some of the choicest lines, like when Max yells "Stop!" - "Sheket!" ("Quiet!" in Hebrew).
It's been a while... I think I know what I'm reading at bedtime tonight :-) Thanks!
posted by yiftach at 9:14 AM on May 19, 2009
I have the double pleasure of owning and reading it to my kids in TWO languages (English and Hebrew). My toddler daughter knows both versions backwards and forwards, and loves delivering some of the choicest lines, like when Max yells "Stop!" - "Sheket!" ("Quiet!" in Hebrew).
It's been a while... I think I know what I'm reading at bedtime tonight :-) Thanks!
posted by yiftach at 9:14 AM on May 19, 2009
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posted by Artw at 4:45 PM on May 18, 2009 [1 favorite]