CineSavant Column

Tuesday April 28, 2020

Hello!

Correspondent Jonathan Gluckman likes to comb through ancient 78rpm recordings, and found this spicy item from 1934: Gene Kardos Orchestra: Zombie 1934. It hasn’t garnered too many hits, but it has a great sound. I don’t know if it’s a stretch to claim it was inspired by the great Bela Lugosi movie. Could people in 1934 dance to a song with this tempo? Jonathan tells us to hold on to hear the ‘Eeeks!’ at the finale.


And Jonathan bounces back with a second great link. This one is a Disney Character Training Film for Disneyland theme park actors to play Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear. A number of choice clips from Song of the South are included. It’s a great aide to understanding the Disney Mentality — the tone of the film does grant the viewer/employee some respect. I watch this animation and wonder if Br’er Fox is the exact same animated character as the fox seen in the creepy wartime cartoon Chicken Little.

Watching this thing also reminds me of long-ago school trips to Disneyland, when some joker among us couldn’t resist pulling a character’s tail. The poor workers baking in those costumes hour after hour didn’t deserve the aggravation. They say those characters never talk? Pull a tail once too often, and learn some new four-letter words!


If you haven’t noticed, ordering many products from Europe right now, including video discs, has been put ON HOLD. Different reasons are cited in different places, the most common being that they’re putting an emphasis on expediting essential shipping — people are dying out there for a lack of supplies.

If this is the worst inconvenience I personally experience in this ‘unusual year,’ I’ll continue to say my prayers and be grateful. Please know that we’re also affected by the topsy-turvy life disruption — even if we mostly keep doing what we did before.

Thanks for reading  — Glenn Erickson