The cartoon “Rocky and Bulwinkle” and “Dudley-Do-Right” resembles
the film clips “Vintage Women Tied to Railroad Tracks” and “Flicker Flash Backs
Silent Film Highlights” intentionally mainly in three ways.
First of all, the cartoons succeeded in mimicking film’s humorous/sarcastic
style. In the film, with the allegro background
music and special editing effects of
the film, characters portray the scenes in a clownish way. However, since the plot is about a dangerous and
serious situation of ladies trying to escape from the train track, there is a
strong sense of sarcasm in these scenes. In the cartoons, it even goes further
to use animals as speaking characters, while sharing the ironic style. There
are deeper social and political implications hidden behind the absurd
performances.
Secondly, the plots and character settings share obvious
similarities. Both type of productions
have some bad guys who try to murder the lady by tying her on the track, and
the good guys (typically with a ride/house) who eventually saves the ladies
from being killed. This typical melodrama theme of “Good VS. Evil” as a result
of exaggeration connects the two types of productions together in a direct way.
It seems each character has a clear mission or role in the story. The evil guys in both cartoon and film have a hat and mustache, and they are all dressed in black. On the other
hand, the good ones always dress in much brighter colors, and they are always
successful in saving the victims. The general plot lines are fast and lots of
details are cut.
Finally, the dramatic displaying of emotion in the cartoons closely resembles those in the film clips. In “Vintage Women Tied to Railroad
Tracks”, when “the evil” is angry, he jumps up and down like he is on fire. In
a cartoon production such as “Dudley-Do-Right”, more flexibility is allowed. Anything
can happen in a cartoon. People can be ripped into pieces in a second, and even
animals can communicate and have a conscious mind like human beings.
In theater acting, showing of emotion is one of the basic elements. On
a stage where no close-up view is
possible, the exaggeration of the dynamic of the play is the only way to
deliver messages to the audiences. For example, in real life or movies we can
take a close look on someone’s facial expression and get a brief message about
his/her feelings. However, on the stage it is harder to observe small moves. Therefore,
the cartoons and film clips’ dramatic nature resembles stage plays. In order to
deliver some certain sarcastic message in a really short production, the
performing have to be theatrical.
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