Humorous Phases of Funny Faces

From the vantage point of 96 years later, this is, comparatively speaking, rather simplistic and quite limited in contrast to work done today. But, also comparatively speaking, so would a certain single engine airplane seen at Kitty Hawk 99 years ago in contrast to a Lear Jet. There's more wit and imagination in any 90 seconds of this short than can be found in 60-90 minutes of some of the animated features I've seen in the last few years. Viewed in context and realizing its age and the circumstances of its creation, you begin to realize just how remarkable and notable this piece of work truly is and that it truly is magic. A very early step, if not the first step, on the path that gave us Felix the Cat, Koko the Clown, Betty Boop, Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, Tom and Jerry and countless others. Each generation builds on what comes before. But, of necessity, there must be that first layer and the strength of that foundation is key to the growth of the medium. Work like this must be remembered and appreciated. In a world where the past is increasingly no earlier than breakfast today for all too many people (not that past generations have been all that much better), works like this need to be spotlighted and preserved for the future to benefit from. Well worth watching. Recommended, particularly to animators or fans of animation.

And here I am. Still reviewing some key examples of early animation on celluloid. Today, I decided to focus on another more recognized work from film genius James Stuart Blackton, the renowned Father of Animation, which I find much more elaborated, but equally effective, than his previous work on animation: the remarkable "The Enchanted Drawing".

"Humorous Phases of Funny Faces" not only is as captivating as the aforementioned film, but it also nearly surpasses it, especially considering the creativity that Blackton put in the drawings, in which new techniques already used still shine in this one, such as cut-out and stop-motion, this time used in a more natural and fluid way, helping to bring a new level of realism to their creations.

As if that were not enough, this time we do not see Blackton in person, but only his hands, giving the drawings the absolute protagonism.

The effort and dedication that was put to make this short is indeed admirable, besides being a meaningful contribution to the development of animation in film, in a time when it was developed slowly, until it became what we know today.

The artist's hand and a blackboard..a quick sketch of a face..another face, a cigar, a cloud of smoke, and suddenly, a whole new art form is born. No genius here, absolutely terrible drawing, but it's the first one as far as we know, and deserves a bit of credit just for that..Melies did stop motion first, and there were hundreds of flip books using the persistence of vision to animate line drawings before this silly little strip of celluloid came along. Nonetheless, everyone who has ever enjoyed a Tex Avery or Disney cartoon should know the humble origins of the form, and this is one example.

If you're a lover of really old movies, this is a real charmer. This is an animated version of a 'chalk talk' or 'lightning drawing' vaudeville act. It has an animated title, and each segment of the film begins with J. Stuart Blackton drawing each character. Sure, the animation is crude and occasionally Mr. Blackton's hand pops up during the animated parts, but is forgivable since this is recognized as the first animated cartoon ever. The white-on-black drawing and caracatures from an era gone by give it a sublimely surreal quality.

This film is highly reminiscent of some of the films by Georges Méliès because of the film's extensive use of trick cinematography--an art perfected by Méliès before the director of this film got his start. In fact, the Méliès short THE UNTAMABLE WHISKERS (1904) is an awful lot like this film except instead of just having cartoons come to life due to stop-motion, this earlier film features Georges Méliès himself interacting with the drawings. Both are pretty antiquated by today's standards, but because they are short and pretty creative, they are also both very watchable. This J. Stuart Blackton film isn't quite as good or innovative, but this shouldn't stop you from giving it a look on google video.