Gem Writes

The hyper realistic style is actually limiting the animators, rather than freeing them. The style makes it much harder to have memorable character designs and good expressions. Real lions don’t need to do things like emote in a way that humans can understand – but characters in a film do. The original movie was more cartoony not due to animation limitations of the time, but because that style genuinely serves the story better.

To show you what I mean, compare these two shots of Simba, from right after Scar says “run away and never return.”

Here is a clear reaction, with a strong beat for us to connect with before the character makes a decision. Even without any dialogue, even without any context, you can understand the emotion there just by the expression and the mannerisms. Is it realistic? No! He’s bright yellow and has eyebrows. But do we empathize with him? Yes!

Meanwhile, here is… a lion. Turning and running. No expression, no beats, no character moments, nothing. He actually can’t express himself because the animators are locked into the realistic style. If they tried to animate a strong expression as warranted for the scene, it would look terrible. Is it realistic? Hell yeah! Look at those textures! Look at that fur! But do we empathize with him? …nah. Not really.

To conclude: when you’re retelling Hamlet with a bunch of animated lions, cartoonish-ness is your friend, not your enemy.

The Englishman

Here’s an old barn converted into a book-filled guest house. 

It’s pretty hard to pick a favorite hair choice for Margaret–she has great hair. But these are the main categories of her hair through the years, at least.

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1, Bangs piled under hat or helmet:

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2: Partial ponytail, to keep the strands out of her face:

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3: Full-on Seventies bombshell. A lot of layers and, often, super light platinum blonde.

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4: Dramatic blonde waves with no bangs, a more Fifties look:

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5: Pretty, girlish fringe with or without barrettes:

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6: The seldom-seen topknot!

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7. The seldom-seen pigtails!

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8. The perm, fortunately seen only once (s11e12, “Say No More”).

20. Rumor at the Top

Solidly entertaining, but this one does recycle an old story, of the company all reacting to the idea that they will be split up.

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19. Give ‘Em Hell, Hawkeye

Hawk blows up at the President (in a letter) and Margaret makes a decorative fountain out of bedpans. Woo!

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18. Snap Judgment & Snappier Judgment (I & II)

A lot of interesting twists and turns in this drama of Klinger getting in legal hot water. My main sticking point is the depiction of Charles as a bit of a worm when he decides to be Klinger’s lawyer.

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17. ‘Twas the Day After Christmas

Role reversals and cold-weather fashions—fun for all.

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16. Heroes

A famous boxer dies at the MASH amid a flurry of publicity. A strangely-structured episode that keeps you guessing.

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15. Picture This

Classic temper tantrums from everyone, especially the Swamp dwellers when they fight enough to drive Hawk to his own private cabin.

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14. Identity Crisis

The drama of the soldier with the fake identity would be seen again in Mad Men decades later. I also like the prank they play on Mathes’s ex.

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13. That Darn Kid

A goat eats everyone’s pay, and then eats Van Zandt’s report. The season finale is light and wacky after some very heavy fare this year.

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12. Promotion Commotion

Hooray for Klinger’s promotion! Better luck next time, Rizzo.

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11. Pressure Points

Sidney (yay) helps Col. Potter through a bout of extreme self-doubt after he makes a mistake in surgery (boo).

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10. The Birthday Girls

A tender, emotional story about Margaret’s birthday balanced out by the earthy triumph of the pregnant cow. That was an odd sentence to write.

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09. Blood and Guts

A great episode, thick with anti-war sentiment—Hawkeye’s disdain for the ghoul Clayton Kibbee is warranted, no matter how jolly he may be. And there’s motorcycle stuff!

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08. Wheelers and Dealers

Color me interested, always, in moody BJ. This time he picks up a gambling addiction because he’s anxious about Peg taking a job.

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07. Where There’s a Will, There’s a War

A nice spin on the letter-home trope, when a terrified Hawk writes his will at Battalion Aid.

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06. Communication Breakdown

Nude Charles, etc.

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05. That’s Show Biz (I & II)

The lively season premiere, with ample room for all the USO performers to form attachments in the hospital. They’re not so different, you know.

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04. Follies of the Living, Concerns of the Dead

A super well-done and affecting ghost story. Experimental, deeply sad.

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03. A Holy Mess

DAMN this is a powerful twenty-something minutes of television. Father Mulcahy stands up to a crazed gunman and proves himself more Christ-like than even we, his biggest fans, ever expected.

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02. Sons and Bowlers

Yes, the “sports” episode is all funny and slapstick on the one side. But meanwhile, Charles is keeping Hawkeye’s secret about Daniel Pierce’s flagging health—ending in one of the series’s most beautiful monologues. I thought about transcribing it here, but it’s better just to watch it.

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01. The Tooth Shall Set You Free

They bring a dangerous bigot to justice, and wrap up a dental problem, with equal grace and cleverness. Grave social issues are handled here with a truly impressive light touch.

To have a nook of one’s own, tucked away behind favorite books. 

ches

1. Port Elizabeth (South Africa)

2. Unknown

3. Nairobi (Kenya)

4. Pretoria (South Africa)

5. Aburi Botanical Gardens (Ghana)

6. Cape Town (South Africa)

7. Pretoria (South Africa)

8. Harare (Zimbabwe)

9. Windhoek (Namibia)

10. Windhoek (Namibia)

To @kushandwizdom this is a rather unfair portrayal of Africa as a whole since half of these are literally just South Africa.  So Instead to add to this post and better dispel the myth of Africa as the vast wasteland of poverty most people think, I found a much more mixed collection of pics from various countries.

Luanda, Angola

Agadir, Morocco

Lagos, Nigeria

Cairo, Egypt

Port Louis, Mauritius

Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire

Algiers, Algeria

Tripoli, Libya

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Tunis, Tunisia

A redneck neighbor once asked my mom (in the 80s) if they had cars in Peru. Sigh.