Heaven and Earth Magic (AKA Number 12, AKA The Magic Feature) (1962) - The Weirdest Animated Feature Ever

 

What is the weirdest movie you have ever seen? Not even animated, just straight up the most bizarre, come up with a list is that would help, but I want you to think of the weirdest movies you have ever seen. I'll be honest, my taste in cinema has been pretty... normal is kind of the right word, like if you look at my favourite movies, even the weirdest ones are still pretty normal, nothing to artsy on my list. I have looked at weirder movies before, but nothing that was explicitly an "Avant-garde" movie. Some of the weirder movies I've watched have been more difficult to review than others, and the closest thing I have reviewed to an "art film" would probably be Fantasia. Heaven and Earth Magic is going to be the toughest movie I have ever had to review, because it is, first and fore-most, an art film, and that makes it tricky to review in any normal sense of the word. I'm always up for a writing challenge, so let's see what I can do with this one.

So what is Heaven and Earth Magic? It is an avant-garde independent feature created with cutout animation. There isn't much of an identifiable plot here, but there is one apparently. Director Harry Everett Smith describes something of a sequence of events, but really, none of that really matters. There's something about a watermelon and a dog, a woman and then a skeleton and just a bunch of random things put together that somewhat loosely transition into each other, which is more like things appear and disappear as the scene morphs into another. A lot of what happens reminds me of those animated sequences in Monty Python's Flying Circus, I really would not be surprised if Terry Gilliam took heavy inspiration from this movie.

The cutout animation is very interesting, a lot of it also reminds me of Jan Švankmajer's work. Somethings move smoothly, others move much more choppily, and it's not really that distracting. I think the only complaint I have about the visual style is that sometimes it is very difficult to really see what is going on. I don't know if it's the camera or what background was used or the images he chose, but the dark areas are too dark and can lead to some of the images becoming blended with the solid black background. This movie is also in black and white, and I always confuse it for a movie from the 1950s, not that black and white cinema completely died out in the 1960s, but it's around here that I start believing that black and white becomes more of a choice for directors rather than what was most common, I dunno this movie's look just gives me vibes of the 1950s, but I guess that says more about me than this movie.

The audio is a mix of sound effects, bell rings, idle banter, animal noises, dripping sounds, sloshing noises, carnival barking, there's no real spoken dialogue. This isn't as egregious as something like... Revolution 9 by The Beatles, the most uncomfortable musical experience I've ever had, but I can see how it might make some viewers uneasy. I don't think it's too overly stimulating though, like I would mostly have to pause the movie more because of just how weird this movie is, not really how much noise was happening. It's not at the same level as the Raggedy Ann and Andy Movie, but depending on your noise sensitivity, what noises specifically overstimulate you, or just how well you handle random noises with no real rhythm, it may be a bit much. I'd recommend watching the first few minutes, seeing how you handle it and continuing from there if you're up for it. I wasn't too over-stimulated by this movie, but I am aware I don't speak for everyone.

I have always been of the belief that art is, more than anything else, a form of communication. Sometimes that thing your saying can be as simple as "The sky is pretty at night", or maybe it's complex. I do have to wonder what the purpose of Heaven and Earth Magic really is. Is it just an experiment in the odd and bizarre? Does it say something about cinema or animation? The movie wasn't even initially titled "Heaven and Earth Magic", so what is the title in reference too? Sadly, Harry Smith passed away in 1991 and the person who gave the movie it's more known title, Jonas Mekas, passed away in 2019, but the truth is we probably wouldn't get straight answers from them anyway. This is definitely a great movie to speculate about, but is it a good movie in and of itself?

The problem with art films is that they are made for a very specific audience, i.e. not your average movie goer. So they can be a fun little adventure for some people to take off the beat and path, but for most people it's only going to that, something different. I am not into art film, again my whole view of art is that it is a form of communication, but I can't say this movie is "bad", not because I really like it, but more because it kind of defies labels of quality. I really do have to wonder how much this influenced animators like Terry Gilliam or Jan Švankmajer, like this had to have been influential in its own little sphere, your favourite animator's favourite animation sort of. So, I guess I have to fall back on my standards of "Do I like it?" and "Do I Recommend it?". In answer to the first question... I guess? This isn't a Ruby Gillman situation where I want to like it but can't help but be critical of it, it's more of a "This isn't my cup of tea so I don't even know how I feel about it". That being said, at no point did I ever want to turn this movie off out of boredom or disdain, it was more of a "I reached my limit for this type of thing and need a break", which does also sort of answer the second question.

This is another movie I have to give a Slight Recommendation to under the condition that I know it will not be for everyone, granted it's only just over an hour in run-time so if you can stomach weird art-film stuff, it's not too long, and if it sounds like something you'd be interested it, you can find a copy on YouTube or their might be a DVD available somewhere, though the Harry Smith Archives site priced it at fifty dollars so maybe stick yo YouTube. To be fair, the movie is also in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book, and for what it's worth, I will definitely never forget about this movie, so I guess I do have to recommend it on some level, but only slightly.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1964) - Yes, this counts as a movie

To get this out of the way, the AFI and BFI do classify the minimum running length of a feature film has to be 40 minutes, so yeah, this counts. Plus, I really do want to look at more older animated movies, so I would have probably stretched my rules anyway for this one.

That being said, since it is the month of winter festivals, most notably Christmas, I figured I had to look at a holiday film this month, and you know what, I'll be damned if I let another Christmas go by without watching this one, this was one of the specials I used to watch a lot as a child, this and Frost the Snowman and of course the classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Of course, having become much older, and watching this with a more critical view, how does it hold up?

The plot of the movie is well known, Rudolph is born with a glowing red nose and becomes an outcast amongst other reindeer. Meanwhile, one of Santa's elves named Hermey is also outcasted because he doesn't like to make toys and instead wants to be a dentist. When the two meet, they decide to run away and come across a prospector named Yukon Cornelius. After being chased by the Abominable Snowmonster, the trio find themselves on the island of misfit toys, where they wish to stay. The king of the island however, says they cannot, but allows them to stay one night on the promise that when they return to Christmas Town, they tell Santa about the island so he can find homes for the toys. Rudolph strikes out on his own during the night to avoid getting his friends hurt by the snowmonster, and realizes he can not run from his problems and goes home, to find that his family and friend left to look for him. He finds them, but is attacked by the snowmonster, but they're all saved by Hermey and Cornelius, who then head back to Santa's workshop, they all make-up, and then learn of a bad storm that might cancel Christmas, but then Santa has the bright idea (Pun intended), that Rudolph's glowing nose might help guide them.

Man, the plot is a lot longer than the film made it seem. Overall, I am going to be more lenient towards the plot of this one. While I would typically comment on the use of time skip and narrator, I do have to concede that this is a Television special, and those usually only go up to an hour, and there is only so much you can do in an hour. Even so, while some important things did get rushed, the plot is still mostly solid, and even when something big was glanced over like Rudolph coming to the realization he can't run from his problems, while it would have been nice if it was a scene of cinematic quality, I will concede that, a throw-away, blink and you'll miss it explanation is better than no explanation. So, while the plot is not of cinematic quality, it is still a solid and easy to follow plot, even if my explanation makes it seem complicated.

I do think the characters are charming as well. They aren't exactly complex, but they have a goal and they have their own thoughts. Rudolph doesn't want to put his friends in danger, Yukon Cornelius welcomes others alongside him with joy, again the characters are not of cinematic quality, but they are still identifiable, and charming enough that I never disliked watching them. Even the side characters I kind of liked, I especially like Donner, and how he does realize that he was too hard on his son.

Speaking of which, yeah, this film has garnered a bit of a reputation recently, and not a very positive one. Some say that it says that differences will be mocked until they can be used to serve one's purpose.

Stop that.

If you actually watch the special, you will know that it wasn't the storm that made everyone change their minds about Rudolph, it was the bravery he displayed trying to save his family and friends. Again, something that might have been better explained by the plot being more detailed, but what can we do? We need not forget that Donner went out to find his son way before the storm began. Of course, people also say that the special kind of encourages bullying, but I think that might be an over exaggeration, it's like saying SpongeBob promotes working for exposure. Even if you actually think that, the other reindeer are kind of supposed to be seen as jerks, and we are meant to sympathize with Rudolph.

But now let's talk about the animation. Being a stop motion animator myself, yeah, this special doesn't have great animation. Even for the time I would have to assume it looked choppy and basic. Keep in mind, some of our first filmed animations were stop motion, look up J. Stuart Blackton. On top of that, I noticed a few small errors here and there like mouths not syncing properly and repetitive movements. Despite that, the animation is not actually terrible, scenes like the wind storm blowing things away, that is actually quite impressive and a lot of the movement itself is actually pretty smooth. Yeah, some of it is jerky and some of the models look sparse and cheap, but I never found myself overly critical of the animation or visuals.

And I think there is one reason why, the special is not great on a critical point of view. Characters are simple, the plot glances over important moments and the animation is a bit crude. That being said, it still is a lot better than other hour long films I've seen in all of those aspects. Characters do have a goal they wish to obtain, the plot is simple and flows well and the animation does have it's moments. However, none of that is why this special is well loved, it's well loved because it is just so charming.

It's simple, but that helps many viewers get attached to it. It's cheap, but they still put effort into it. It is a special that I enjoy watching every year, and I am sure that many other do to. It is a charming special, and it has some good elements that keep it from faltering on a critical level. Honestly, I think the only problem I really have with this special, is a small one but still; How cool would it be to have a cowboy that rides an ostrich? Ostriches are cool, why is the cowboy on the ostrich a misfit toy? I would love to have a toy cowboy on an ostrich.

Anyway, this is a classic special and one that you're probably watching every year.

Yellow Submarine (1968) - Bizarre, Psychedelic and Weird.

It can't be of any surprise that one of the biggest bands in the world had a movie, actually The Beatles had a couple movies mostly due to contractual obligations, but that's another story. Yellow Submarine was the third movie made under this contract, and it was also probably a major loophole too. The Beatles only took a minor role appearance wise in this movie as the animated Beatles were voiced by different actors. Considering the time period this movie was made in and the lack of involvement from the band, you'd think the movie would be a total mess. The end result however, is a psychedelic, bizarre and fascinating film.

Yellow Submarine is about The Beatles being taken to Pepperland to help stop an invasion by the Blue Meanies. As this movie is a musical, plot takes a back seat to the settings, which are mostly bizarre locations they go past in the titular Yellow Submarine. These settings include the Sea of Time, Sea of Monsters, Sea of Nothing and The Sea of Holes. Some of these encounters really only exist so they can have a musical number, like the Sea of Science where they do nothing except play "Only a Northern Song". That is not to say that some of these settings don't forward the plot in anyway, scenes like the Sea of Nothing introduce an important character to the film while also having their song number. It's kind neat how some scenes have their cake and eat it too.

As this is a musical starring The Beatles, it only makes sense that the soundtrack is comprised of their music. Aside from background compositions, each song in the soundtrack is taken from a previous Beatles album, including Rubber Soul, Revolver, Magical Mystery Tour and of course, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, one of my personal favourite albums ever.

Yeah, this is where I'm going to admit a bit of bias here as I love The Beatles. While I don't like all the group's music, the soundtrack to this movie is overall pretty solid. "Nowhere Man", "Elanor Rigby" and "Hey Bulldog" are great songs and could be considered for my favourite Beatles song, but the movie also has my favourite song by the band as well. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is not only my favourite Beatles song, but it also leads to a very visually impressive moment in the film. The soundtrack really isn't going to shock anybody, and it won't do anything for people that aren't fans of The Beatles, but I do think the selected songs work.

The art-style is a crazy mix, some abstract and cartoony designs, such as in the Sea of Monsters, and some rotoscope looking designs, like in England. One would think these styles would clash, but the movie reserves most of the more realistic designs for backgrounds after the band leaves England, leaving the cartoony and abstract designs in the forefront. It's more the animation where the film's visuals fall apart. Not to discredit the hours of hard work the many animators put into this movie, but there was still some stilted character movement and some animation errors, like a flower popping in and out of existence. The rest of the animation looks pretty smooth, although I can give this movie some leeway as this was made in the 1960s by a studio that wasn't Disney. In many respects, this movie might have been a huge gamble at the time. The song sequences are also very well animated. The segments for "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Only a Northern Song" are psychedelic beauties to watch, and "Nowhere Man" is very creative with the characters leaving behind colours and patterns as they move around in this blank white world of nothing.

The characters are entertaining enough. The Beatles make a lot of dry remarks to each other and the settings, and Captain Fred is an energetic character. My two favourite characters are Jeremy Hillary Boob and the Chief Blue Meanie. Jeremy is a bizarre character who can do almost anything, writing with his feet, painting a playable piano and speaking in rhyme. He is introduced as this productive and happy being, but he has his moments of being sad, frustrated and embarrassed. He's an entertaining character to watch for sure, but the Chief Blue Meanie really steals the show. His voice acting and animation are done really well, and he is just a blast to witness. He yells and screams and laughs and he's just a lot of fun.

Yellow Submarine is a bizarre, strange and fascinating movie, and dare I say it, it's also very unique. I've never seen a movie like Yellow Submarine before, and it all comes down to the animation. Yellow Submarine really shows off the medium of animation and what you can achieve with it. It's one of those movies that would not work as a live-action film, and I don't think it would have worked as a 3D motion-capture remake either. For Beatles fans, this is a must see, for musical and animation fans, I'd also recommend this highly. Even taking the visuals out, the soundtrack is good, the humour is mildly amusing and the Blue Meanie alone makes this movie worth seeing at least once. Yellow Submarine is a bizarre, psychedelic and strange movie, and that is what makes it so wonderful and unique.