Sunday, July 06, 2008 Covington: Whimsy By Gary Covington Looking In
THIS piece started out life called Fantasy, a title it turned out inappropriate as, as usual, I veered off in all directions, my original intention -- to write a few words about movie fantasies -- gone by the board.
So -- fantasy -- goblins and elves, small furry creatures wearing dinner suits, trees that walk and talk. Hardly a manly topic and me a fan? Don't be ridiculous.
But then I'll remember The Wind in the Willows and what a great tale it is. I'll remember valiantly resisting the Lord of the Rings trilogy for nigh on two decades before surrendering to the inevitable and -- surprise, surprise -- enjoying the book immensely. And I'll remember how these days I come out of the video store bearing whimsy like Stardust or Arthur and the Minimoys.
First fantasy? Nursery rhymes and fairy tales -- Mother Goose, the Old Woman who lived in a Shoe and the Three Billy Goats Gruff.
The goats linger because long, long ago and far, far away, at junior school our final lesson of every day was something of a romp. Perhaps we'd get a general knowledge quiz, a rousing song or a noisy fairy tale and none is noisier than the Three Billy Goats Gruff trip-trapping their way across the Troll's bridge.
We'd roar out the words and beat out the time, stamping our feet on the wooden floor and banging our fists on the desks. Teacher knew what she was about -- we'd pour out of school still shouting out the rhyme, a happy lot and eager to go to school the next day.
Next came the Victorian fantasies -- Alice, The Water Babies and Peter Pan; kiddie volumes published in large format and illustrated with beautiful woodcuts.
Alice was an eye-opener. How was it possible for one person to possess such imagination? To come up with characters like the Cheshire Cat, a hookah-smoking caterpillar and the Jabberwock, a nasty piece of work if ever there was.
The Water babies were tamer stuff, an enchanting underwater kingdom but a bit stern, the book populated with people such as Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby and Mrs Bedonebyasyoudid. Peter Pan was high adventure -- flying, pirate galleons and the dastardly Captain Hook.
Peter Pan, thanks to the genius of Walt Disney, transferred from the printed page to the movie screen in 1953. It wasn't Walt's first encounter with fantasy -- the literally fantastic Fantasia had been released in 1940.
Since those early days -- Fantasia, The Wizard of Oz, The Man who could work Miracles -- fantasy has remained popular both with the movie makers and their audience, popularity proving the showman's maxim that fantasy equals spectacle equals entertainment equals rear ends on seats.
It's a tricky genre though. Fantasy almost always works on the printed page because the reader is supplying the imagination and hence the visuals. On screen both are provided by the moviemaker and occasionally it all goes horribly wrong.
The biggest clunker of modern times has to be Peter Jackson's marathon Ring trilogy. Far too long -- ploddingly long -- and far too serious; dark fantasy demands a light touch. Witness Tim Burton's pair of Gothic musicals, The Nightmare before Christmas and the Corpse Bride. Both are dark as dark can be, grotesque, macabre and yet Nightmare used to play regularly on our TV screens at Christmas because it's such fun and fantasy should be fun. So there.
