The CalArts Story from Christine Ziemba (CalArts) on Vimeo.
The cultural life of Los Angeles seemed like such a glorious dream when Disney produced this video promoting the planned Hollywood campus for the CalArts art school. The voice is Sebastian Cabot, aka "Bagheera" in Jungle Book.------
Previously on GJ: A visit to CalArts Animation.
5 comments:
I LOVE those Disney productions! They take me back to a time when the future seemed bright. I remember the World's Fair of that same year and its uncomplicated and happy view of how good life would get.
I also couldn't help but notice: this was produced before corn syrup and media addiction made so many Americans overweight.
The only person who looked like she might lose a pound or two in the whole video was the life drawing model, and I'll bet she was selected for her ample proportions.
Thanks so much for posting this. I have what might be an almost morbid fascination for the Disney documentaries of the '50s and '60s, with their blithely glib optimism.
The subject matter is near and dear to my heart as well--I actually live within view of CalArts (I'm sure you already know this, but the campus ended up being built in a sleepy suburb north of greater Los Angeles) and have great respect for its extraordinary vision, students, and faculty, even if I can't afford going there myself (I make do with the community college across the street). Additionally, it's utterly fascinating to see downtown actually free from its usual tangle of skyscrapers (although those were soon to come after this film was produced).
Well, I had better cut this short before it turns into yet another one of those annoying hybrids of fan letter and autobiography that no one likes to read. (Obligatory autobiographical portion: I have loved dinosaurs since before I can remember and loved Dinotopia since the first book was given to me by wise grandparents.)
Let me just say that a kind and brilliant friend of mine alerted me to the existence of this blog just a few days ago. I finally finished reading through all of the blog's back entries and am now fully prepared to do some damage as a contributing commentator.
P.S. I am clandestinely, yet eagerly, awaiting the day when you resume Art By Committee.
(Oh dear, so much for cutting it short. Future comments shall, assuredly, not be this verbose.)
I would very much like to see those architectrural illustrations as hi-res jpegs. I really liked the combination of the clean, straight edges needed for this kind of work, with the skilful and free brushwork.
Dan, yes, a fun time capsule. And those students seem so clean cut and conventional, but I bet they saw themselves as cutting edge rebels.
Surfin, Wow! I'm impressed that you slogged through all the back posts and that you're willing to take more abuse. I welcome comments of any length, and off-topic is OK.
David, I agree--those gouache architectural renderings are arguably the most impressive works of art in the whole presentation. There's one wet-into-wet sky that knocked me out.
Thank you! That's good to know. My comments can be obnoxiously long and tangential at times. Looking forward to more discussion in the future.
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