#also fun fact charlie's song is inspired by life is strange

[jollyinha]

Random Songs I Associate With YV BOYS - Part 1 (?)

(And imma about to COOK with this one)

AURON

"I keep my closet free of skeletons

'Cause I'm much better at digging graves"

SETH

"My mother said I was always afraid of the dark

But I'm not, I don't mind having a ghost in my bed"

CHARLIE

"When I hear you and I, after I've been lost at sea

I surrender, even better than the memories"

ALPHONSE

"Sugar in a bowl, on your coffee table

Animals that sleep on your dinning room floor in your house

You are just waiting for time to pass by one second at a time"

[caramelcal]

Songwriting and Fake Dating {3}

Word Count: 2.2k

a/n: hey guys! hope you all enjoy this one as you enjoyed the last one...

this is dedicated to charlie’s mustache. rip :(

also thanks to the person who originally requested this, legend behavior hahah :) hope you guys are having a wonderful night lovelies x 

disclaimer: I do not condone the use of my work/writing without my permission. The only place this has been posted is on my (rosemoonmist) tumblr account. This has not been posted on any other platform either. If you see any plagiarism of my work please let me know! <3 People work hard on their fics, so don’t steal them ty.

taglist:@gia-kerks​ @phantompogues​ @thesweetestsinner​ @honeyheartzz​ @ifilwtmfc​ @hoechx​ @merceret​ @katrin-okay​ @diosa75​

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Another line is drawn right through the words he tried to write. Luke wants to throw his notebook at the wall. He can’t think, or write, the words just aren’t coming to him anymore. He claws at his hair as if pulling on the strands will allow his brain to breathe and come up with the lyrics he had been trying to write for the past two hours. It used to be so easy but he knows why it isn’t working. It wasn’t rocket science.

The words came easy when he was with you, maybe it was the excitement of having someone to write with, or maybe it was the emotions that you both pulled from. It just wasn’t the same anymore. It’s almost like you were the inspiration, the lyrics, and now that you were no longer there, the lyrics weren’t either. Even if you guys didn’t know each other that long and you weren’t the closest, you guys seemed to click and you wrote so much better with each other.

Maybe he just needs a breather. That’s what Luke banks on, that once he goes outside and caught wind of the fresh air, the words will come back. He places down his guitar and his pen and sets out for outside.

Before long, he finds himself sitting on the back porch, one knee up next to his chest and the other splayed in front of him. His eyes are trained upon the dark sky, watching the stars. He barely hears the quiet footsteps that approach him but he sees them sit down beside him, knees up to their chest, hugging them.

“Carrie,” Luke acknowledges, not even looking towards his step-sister when he breaks the silence between the two.

“Luke.”

They fall back into another silence for a few moments, simply watching the stars together. However, Luke’s attention isn’t really on the stars anymore as he thinks about the girl beside him. He remembered when his mom first told him that she was getting remarried and that he was going to get a step-sister. He remembers when they met, and Carrie was just a little too entitled for his taste, and Luke was a little too “street” for hers. They didn’t exactly get off on the best foot, and there were times that there was still some friction in their relationship which certainly wasn’t helped when Luke joined Julie and the Phantoms, but there were times that they were okay; when they shared a sibling bond.

It was hard for both of them to get used to each other, and their parents getting married. For Luke, it had been just him and his mom for a while, so he couldn’t help but feel apprehensive for this new life, not only for him to have a new step-dad and step-sister, but in case this man hurt his mom too. Yet, for Carrie it was different, it had always just been her and Trevor after her mom died during labor. She didn’t know what it was like having a mom, and she didn’t know if she wanted it. Arguably, she was scared; scared that her dad would no longer have time for her and would be spending it all with Emily but that definitely wasn’t the case.

Actually, everything worked out quite well, and soon enough Luke and Emily were moving into the Wilson’s household. It was a strange experience for Luke like he was invited into a whole other world. They came from very different backgrounds, Luke and Emily had never been well off, but Carrie never had to worry about not being able to pay the bills or anything to do with that, so their personalities were quite different. Yet, over the past few weeks, they had become significantly closer and spent more time talking to each other. Luke would show Carrie the songs you guys wrote, and Carrie would show Luke the choreography that you guys had been working on.

They knew exactly why they had become closer, they weren’t stupid. It was all because of you, you were their common ground. You brought the two siblings together.

“You miss her,” Luke comments, breaking the everlasting silence as he glances over at his sister. She isn’t facing the sky anymore and is instead looking down at her legs. It’s been two weeks since you and Carrie fought, where Carrie kicked you out of Dirty Candy, and she hadn’t spoken to you since.

Carrie is quiet for a few moments, almost as if she is battling herself on whether or not she should answer Luke, but she does, quietly, “Of course I do, she’s my best friend.”

A silence fills the air yet again, and Luke doesn’t know whether or not to answer Carrie. The girl has never actually opened up to him before, so for her to tell him that she was missing you was something that was new territory for the both of them. He knew that she missed you, you would have to be insane not to and he was pretty sure this was the longest that Carrie had ever gone without talking to you, so it was like life had been shifted entirely.

“You miss her too,” It’s a simple statement that Carrie makes, but it makes Luke sigh. He does, of course he does. He can’t even write without you.

“She won’t pick up my calls,” Luke says, ducking his head down as he traces the patterns on the ground of the porch. At this rate, he’s probably called you like twenty times in the last week but he always gets sent to voicemail. He knows it’s intentional, but every time he picks up his phone and presses the dial button, there’s a part that hopes you’ll pick up; that you’ll come over and wrote songs with him.

“I won’t pick up hers either,” Carrie admits, biting her lip as she continues to watch the sky, “The dirty candy girls have been bashing her, for putting the band in second place. I just want to scream at them to stop.”

“You should, it isn’t y/n’s fault. She was on her way to the studio that day but I dragged her up to my room. She lost her best friend for just helping me out with a dumb song.”

Carrie knows that Luke feels guilt for all of this. All three of them are miserable without each other and they all know it. Yet, they’re all filled with too much pride to apologize, or even to pick up one another’s calls. They know that they can’t go on like this, because as it goes on they all just feel worse and worse, but no one seems willing to make the first move.

“She always goes out her way to help others, huh?” Carrie says, reminiscing on the number of people that you have helped in the time that you guys have been friends. She remembers the way you give the Dirty Candy girls your water and snacks when they forgot theirs, meaning that you would often to without, helping old people cross the street and just being generally helpful.

You were always so eager to help anyone and everyone, no matter who it was, and that was something that Carrie always admired about you, “Most helpful person I know.”

After Luke’s statement, they are enveloped in another silence, both watching the sky peacefully before a shooting star flies overhead. They don’t speak of it, simply enjoying one another’s company which isn’t something they often find themselves doing. Deep down, they both like each other’s company, and each other, but they never say anything, both too stubborn to do so.

After a few more minutes, Luke gets up, lightly patting his sister on the shoulder, “You should answer her calls, Car.”

. . .

Being a waitress was actually surprisingly fun for you. Normally, you enjoyed serving customers, interacting with people and it was a way to get some extra money. However, right now you wanted nothing less than to be out of here, despite having hours left of your shift; in fact, you had just started.

Normally, customers were respectful and nice, but this one...this one was testing your limits. What made it worse, was that it was none other than Kayla, Carrie’s replace best friend for you and she was shouting, trying to embarrass you in front of not only the customers but in front of your colleagues as well. She’s with a few other friends, but Carrie isn’t there.

Passing you a smirk, she wipes her hand across the table, purposefully making the cutlery drop, “Pick it up, waitress.”

The rest of her group snicker as you try to hold the embarrassed blush that rises to your face. Closing your eyes momentarily, you sigh, “Kayla, I know I haven’t been the best band member but-”

“I don’t think you get it, y/n,” Kayla cuts you off, standing up and walking right in front of you, “Carrie has already told you that you’re done. I hope you would at least have a bit of dignity and to accept that instead of coming begging to me after Carrie didn’t pick up your calls.”

After she says that, Carrie obnoxiously chews on her gum, the other girls snickering. Looking around at them, their eyes on you as they laughed let you clearly know that you were no longer friends with any of the Dirty Candy girls. They were only friends with you to get in with Carrie and it makes you feel dumb that you didn’t realize that beforehand.

“Pathetic,” Kayla spits, looking up and down at the sight of your ducked head.

“Hey, watch it would you Kayla? I think you forget that even though Carrie is annoyed at y/n right now, as soon as she gets over that y/n will be right where she belongs in Dirty Candy again and as Carrie’s best friend,” Julie speaks up from the booth beside them, eyes squinting at the girl, “I think you’re letting this all go to your head too much.”

“You have no idea what Carrie is like, Julie. Plus, even if you told her that I was being a bitch to y/n she won’t listen to you,” Kayla snorts, rolling her eyes at the other girl.

“She’ll listen to her brother though, and we all know that he’ll believe me over you,” Julie responds sassily, Alex and Reggie who were beside her sharing glances. Often, they didn’t like to get involved in drama, and Julie didn’t either but just hearing how these girls were treating you made them feel horrible.

“Whatever,” Kayla says, rolling her eyes again before standing up, “Let's go girls, there seems to be a loser convention going on in here right now.”

Kayla doesn’t seem to be embarrassed, but you know well enough that she is getting out of there before she shows it. The girls are quick to follow behind her, all brushing you off and acting better than you as they pass.

Yet, you don’t pay attention to them for long as you turn towards the girl, giving her a small smile, “Thanks, Julie.”

“No problem, y/n,” Julie smiles, turning her head towards you sweetly. Noticing Alex and Reggie looking at you, you give them a shy wave and a smile before your attention is turned back towards Julie, “Can you do me a favor?”

“Of course, what’s up?” You’re prepared to take Julie’s order, considering that is what you expected her to want you to do but what she says next surprises you.

“Don’t be too hard on Luke, he really didn’t mean to get in between you and Carrie. And we just wanted to say that even if you don’t get back in with Dirty Candy, our band will always be open for you.”

. . .

It’s much later in the night, the café empty apart from you, humming softly a tune from a song you can’t remember the name of. You’re dancing a little as you give the tables one last wipe down before making your way behind the counter again. It was your turn to lock up for the night, the other waitresses already away home but you actually liked it when it was like this.

You didn’t even have the lights on as you took of your small apron-like thing and hung it up. Reaching for the keys, you stop when you hear the bell ringing, signaling that someone had entered the shop. Could they not read the closed sign?

“Sorry, we’re closed right now-” You say, whirling around and meeting hazel eyes, voice cutting off when you saw who was standing there. Clearing your throat, you shift awkwardly between two feet, “Luke.”

“Hey y/n,” Luke says softly, his hair is messy under his navy colored beanie, but you know you can’t talk, yours probably looks a lot worse. He takes a step towards you before speaking again, his voice still soft, “We need to talk.”

[thesibfiles]

Courtney going on tour right after?

Theres a misconception that after Kurts death, Courtney went straight on tour right away. This is false. The album was already set to release a few days after and they couldnt change that on such a short notice. Promotion for the album was cancelled and she pushed back the tour 4 months.

“Live Through This was supposed to provide Love an opportunity to step out from her famous husband’s shadow. “It’s annoying now, and it’s been annoying for nine years, Love said in a 1999 Jane Magazine interview of always being connected to Cobain. Released four days after Cobain’s body was found, the album’s promotion was put on hold. Rather than retreat from the public eye, Love openly mourned and helped fans of Cobain and Nirvana make sense of the singer’s death. She sat with grieving teenagers gathered outside the couple’s Seattle home and recorded a reading of parts of his suicide note that was played at the singer’s memorial that gathered near the Space Needle. In the days following his death, Love showed a very raw and emotional side and admitted that, like many fans, she didn’t have all the answers. 

It was, and still is, impossible for people to discuss Live Through This without noting the irony of the album’s title. Love has said the name was not a prediction at all, but instead a reflection of all she had endured in the months leading up to its release, including a very public custody fight with the Los Angeles Department of Family Services over daughter Frances Bean. Rumors suggested that Cobain had written much of Live Through This (it’s Miss World, not Mister, just FYI). “I’d be proud as hell to say that he wrote something on it, but I wouldn’t let him. It was too Yoko for me. It’s like, ‘No fucking way, man! I’ve got a good band, I don’t fucking need your help,’” was Love’s response to critics in Spin’s oral history of Live Through This. Love and Cobain often shared notebooks and lyrics with each other, and while there is talk of Cobain’s influence on Love’s work, or the writing of all of it, less is mentioned in the press of her impact on his lyrics and music. Rather than sucking all the life out of Nirvana or threatening the success of the band, like many assumed she would do, she inspired Cobain. Fun fact: In Utero, Nirvana’s last album, was named after a line from one of Love’s poems.

Sadly, songwriting rumors would be replaced by other rumors. Women are often vilified and condemned for the deaths of their male partners. Love, like all women, was supposed to save her partner from death and addiction. Fans of Cobain projected all their anger and resentment over the loss of the Nirvana front man onto Love, and soon she was blamed for not only his addiction but also his death. There are even two movies devoted to the theory that Courtney killed Kurt: the awful Soaked in Bleach (2015) and the equally awful Kurt & Courtney (1998). If you think we’ve come a long way, baby, sadly we haven’t. 

One year after Anthony Bourdain’s death, Asia Argento is still being blamed, and in September 2018, Ariana Grande had to take a break from social media after fans blamed her for the death of her ex Mac Miller. A few months later, she would be blamed for new beau Pete Davidson’s mental health and addiction issues. It’s amazing she finds the time to write hit songs what with all the dude destruction she has going on. When women are not being blamed for the deaths of the men in their lives, they are being attacked for not grieving properly. “She wasn’t crying. She’s got $30 million coming to her. Do you blame her for being so cool?” a hospital staffer said of Yoko Ono following John Lennon’s murder in 1980. 

About four months after Cobain’s death, Love went on tour to promote her new album. Some questioned and judged why she would go on tour so soon, but Love has said it was a necessity. She had a young daughter to support. She needed to work. She also, sadly, still needed to prove herself. “I would like to think that I’m not getting the sympathy vote, and the only way to do that is to prove that what I’ve got is real,” Love told Rolling Stone in 1994.

Twenty-five years later, Cobain’s death still hangs over Live Through This. In the days leading up to the anniversary of Cobain’s death, former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur wrote an open letter to music magazine Kerrang saying she “would not stand for Kurt’s death overshadowing the life and work of the women he left behind this year.”

“We were extremely well designed for each other,” Love has said of her relationship with Cobain. In a letter reprinted in Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love, she calls him “my everything. the top half on my fraction.” The two had similar upbringings, both came from broken homes and spent childhoods shuttling between relatives and friends. They both grew up longing for love and acceptance. When we tell the story of Kurt and Courtney we talk about drugs and destruction, but we don’t talk enough about love.

The two also shared an intense drive and ambition. “I didn’t want to marry a rock star, I wanted to be one,” Love said in a 1992 Sassy interview. Evidence of her drive can be found in the many notes and to-do lists she kept, some of which are collected in Dirty Blonde. There are reminders to send her acting résumé to agencies, to write three to four new songs a week, to “achieve L.A. visibility.” A scene in the documentary Kurt & Courtney features an ex of Love’s reading from one of her to-do lists, which has “become friends with Michael Stipe” as the number one task to complete (not only did Love do this, but he is her daughter’s godfather). This ambition is not surprising from a woman who, when she was younger, mailed a tape of herself singing to Neil Sedaka in hopes of getting signed. Love knew what she wanted at an early age, and what she wanted was fame.

She was certainly living by the “do not hurt yourself, destroy yourself, mangle yourself to get the football captain. Be the football captain!” motto she championed in the 1995 documentary Not Bad for a Girl. Ambition is often a dirty word when it is used to describe women and Love is no exception. She has been repeatedly described as calculating and controlling when she should be rewarded for her blond ambition and viewed as an inspiration. Critics and the press often call her a gold digger who only married Cobain for fame and money. They fail to mention that when the two met Pretty on the Inside was actually selling more copies than Bleach, Nirvana’s debut album. Even post-Kurt, Love’s intentions were always under scrutiny. On the Today Show to do press for The People vs. Larry Flynt, Love refused to talk about her past drug use, despite the host’s repeated questions, saying the topic was not an appropriate fit for the show’s demographic. She was right, but it didn’t stop a writer from describing the move as “calculating” in a 1998 Spin piece.

Cobain was ambitious too; he was just much slyer and more secretive about it. He was known to call his manager and complain when MTV didn’t play Nirvana’s videos enough, and he would correct journalists who misquoted the band’s sales figures in interviews. While success is typically celebrated and rewarded for men and it certainly was for Cobain, he also had to be mindful of the slacker generation that loved Nirvana and greeted success — and especially mainstream success —

While female celebrities like Love are criticized for their rebellion, male celebrities, like Cobain for example, are celebrated and mythologized for it. Cobain and Love both struggled with addiction, but it is Love who is repeatedly vilified for her drug use. “She was vilified for being a mess, for being a drug addict, for not being a great parent — in other words, all of the things we expect in a male rock star,” said Bust magazine in a piece in the magazine’s 20th anniversary issue, which featured Love on the cover.

We make jokes about the drug antics of male celebrities from Keith Richards to Charlie Sheen, idolizing their debauchery and depravity. The new Netflix/Lifetime movie by Jack Daniels, The Dirt, about Mötley Crüe, takes the band’s excesses to almost comic levels. Check out crazy tourmate Ozzy Osbourne snorting a line of ants by a hotel pool! Such zany antics! I would love to see Lindsay Lohan try to get away with that. We never allow women to live down their arrests and their addictions, but we repeatedly allow men to have a redemption arc. Robert Downey Jr. was in and out of jail and on and off drugs for much of the mid to late ’90s, but we rarely, if ever, talk about his past.

When Love isn’t being attacked for her addiction issues, she is being judged for her parenting. Love’s first unflattering press was “Strange Love,” the much publicized 1992 Vanity Fair profile by Lynn Hirschberg. While the piece talks at length about Love’s drug use and constantly questions her parenting ability, it doesn’t paint Cobain in the same light. “It is appalling to think that she would be taking drugs when she knew she was pregnant,” says one close friend in the piece. Hirschberg relies on many unnamed sources and focuses often on the tabloid-like aspects of Love’s life and addictions. “Courtney has a long history with drugs. She loves Percodans (‘They make me vacuum’), and has dabbled with heroin off and on since she was eighteen, once even snorting it in Room 101 of the Chelsea Hotel, where Nancy Spungen died,” she writes. “Reportedly, Kurt didn’t do much more than drink until he met Courtney.” (Even when it is reported by Kurt and Krist that Kurt tried heroin in 1989, way before Courtney, It was also known that he smoked weed and used caugh syrup to get high in 1989 and 1990.)

This double standard was common in coverage of the couple. In Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the 2015 documentary by Brett Morgen, Love asks her husband, “Why does everyone think you’re the good one and I’m the bad one?” Later in the film we see a scene of Frances Bean’s first haircut. The child sits on Cobain’s lap while Love searches for a comb and scissors. The camera shows Cobain nodding off, and while he maintains that he is just tired, it’s clear he’s not. The scene is painful to watch, especially because those around Cobain carry on like nothing in wrong, giving the feeling this is just like any other day in the Love-Cobain household. The scene is a reminder of how the press treated Cobain’s addiction when he was alive. They just carried on like nothing was wrong, instead directing all their judgement at Love.

[introvertguide]

Influential Directors of the Silent Film Era

Upon hearing that I am a fan of silent era film, people will ask if I have a favorite actor or movie from the time period. However, when I am asked about my favorites from other fans of silent film, it tends to involve my favorite director. This is because silent film actors had to over gesticulate and performed in an unrealistic way and could not use their tone or words to convey emotion. The directors also did not have a way to review as they shot and would have to use editing skills and strategic cover shots to make sure that everything was done properly and come out the way they imagined it. It was up to the director to be creative and they were forced to be innovative and create ways to convey their vision. Luckily for many average or poor directors of the time, audiences were easily impressed. However, today's more demanding and sophisticated audiences can look back at some of the genius behind the films of silent era Hollywood.

Alice Guy-Blache: Matrimony's Speed Limit (1913) and The Fairy of the Cabbages (1896)

Art director of the film studio The Solax Company, the largest pre-Hollywood movie studio, and camera operator for the France based Gaumont Studio headed up by Louis Lemiere, this woman was a director before any kind of gender expectations were even established. She was a pioneer of the use of audio recordings in conjunction with images and the first filmmaker to systematically develop narrative filming. Guy-Blanche didn't just record an image but used editing and juxtaposition to reveal a story behind the moving pictures. In 1914, when Hollywood studios hired almost exclusively upper class white men as directors, she famously said that there was nothing involved in the staging of a movie that a woman could not do just as easily as a man.

Charlie Chaplin: The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1923), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936), and The Great Dictator (1940)

It is unfortunate that many people today think of Chaplin as silly or for screwball comedy when, in fact, he was a great satirist of the time. He created his comedy through the eyes of the lower economic class that suffered indignities over which they had no control. He traversed the world as his "Tramp" character who found his fortune by being amiable and lucky. The idea that a good attitude and a turn of luck could result in happiness was all that many Americans had during the World Wars and the Great Depression. He played the part of the sad clown and he was eventually kicked out of the country for poking fun at American society. Today he is beloved for his work, but he was more infamous than famous during a large part of his life.

Buster Keaton: Sherlock Jr. (1924), The General (1926), and The Cameraman (1928).

That man that performed the most dangerous of stunts with a deadpan expression, Buster Keaton was a great actor, athlete, stuntman, writer, producer, and director. It is amazing that you could get so much emotion out of a silent actor who does not emote, but Keaton managed to do it. He was also never afraid to go big, often putting his own well being at risk to capture a good shot. Not as well known for his cinematography or editing as many of the other directors of the time, he instead captured performances that were amazing no matter how they were filmed. Famous stunts include the side of a house falling down around him, standing on the front of a moving train, sitting on the side rail of a moving train, and grabbing on to a speeding car with one hand to hitch a ride. If you like films by Jackie Chan, know that he models his films after the work of Buster Keaton: high action and high comedy.

Cecil B. Demille: The Cheat (1915), Male and Female (1919), and The Ten Commandments (1923)

Known as the father of the Hollywood motion picture industry, Demille was the first director to make a real box office hit. He is likely best known for making The Ten Commandments in 1923 and then remaking it again in 1956. If not that, he was also known for his scandalous dramas that depicted women in the nude. This was pre-Code silent film so the rules about what could be shown had not been established. Demille made 30 large production successful films in the silent era and was the most famous director of the time which gave him a lot of freedom. His trademarks were Roman orgies, battles with large wild animals, and large bath scenes. His films are not what most modern film watchers think of when they are considering silent films. That famous quote from the movie Sunset Boulevard in 1950 in which the fading silent actress says "All right, Mr. Demille. I'm ready for my close-up," is referring to this director.

D.W. Griffith: Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916)

Griffith started making films in 1908 and put out just about everything that he recorded. He made 482 films between 1908 and 1914, although most of these were shorts. His most famous film today is absolutely Birth of a Nation and it is one of the most outlandishly racist films of the time. The depiction of black Americans as evil and the Klu Klux Klan as heroes who are protecting the nation didn't even really go over well at that time. Some believe that his follow up the next year called Intolerance was an apology, but the film actually addresses religious and class intolerance and avoids the topic of racism. At the time, Griffith films were known for the massive sets and casts of thousands of extras, but today he is known for his racist social commentary.

Sergei Eisenstein: Battleship Potemkin (1925)

This eccentric Russian director was a pioneer of film theory and the use of montage to show the passage of time. His reputation at the time would probably be similar to Tim Burton or maybe David Lynch. He had a very specific strange style that made his films different from any others. The film Battleship Potemkin is considered to be one of the best movies of all time as rated by Sight and Sound, and generally considered as a great experimental film that found fame in Hollywood as well as Russia.

F.W. Murnau: Nosferatu (1922), Faust (1926), and Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

I think that most people would know the bald-headed long-nailed vampire Nosferatu that was a silent era phenomena. It was so iconic that the German film studio that produced the movie was sued by the estate of Bram Stoker and had to close. Faust was his last big budget German film and has an iconic shot of the demon Mephisto raining plague down on a town that was the inspiration for the Demon Mountain in Fantasia (1940). Also, Sunrise is considered one of the best movies of all time by the AFI and by Sight and Sound as well as my favorite silent film. Fun facts: 1) more of Murnau's films have been lost then are still watchable and 2) he died in a car wreck at only 40 when he hired a car to drive up the California coast and the driver was only 14.

Erich von Stroheim: Greed (1924)

Maker of very strange German Expressionist films, Stroheim films are often listed as Horror or Mystery even though he considered himself a dramatic film maker. His most famous movie Greed was supposed to be amazing with an 8 hour run time but it was cut drastically to the point that it makes no sense and was both critically and publicly panned when an extremely abridged version was released in the U.S. Over half the film was lost and a complete version no longer exists. Besides this film, Stroheim was even better known for being the butler in the film Sunset Boulevard as a former director who retired to be with an aging silent film star. He also made a movie called Between Two Women (1937) that told the story of a female burn victim that was inspired by the story of his wife being burned in an explosion in a shop on the actual Sunset Boulevard.

Victor Fleming: The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Gone With the Wind (1939)

Although not known for his silent films, Fleming did get his start during the silent era. He was a cinematographer for D.W. Griffith and then Fleming directed his first film in 1919. Most of his silent films were swashbuckling action movies with Douglas Fairbanks or formulaic westerns. He is the only director to have two films on the AFI top 10 and they happened to have come out the same year.

Hal Roach: Lonesome Luke films starring Harold Lloyd, Our Gang shorts, Laurel and Hardy shorts, and Of Mice and Men (1939)

It is not really fair to put Hal Roach in the silent era directors because he was influential at the time but he had a 75 year career. He was a producer and film studio head and even had a studio named after himself. His biggest contribution to the silent era was his production of Harold Lloyd short comedies and he continued to produce films in the early talkies including Laurel and Hardy shorts, Our Gang shorts, and Wil Rogers films. Roach was the inspiration for the film Sullivan's Travels, in which a famous director who only did frivolous comedies goes out into the world to find inspiration to find a serious drama. Roach did direct a single serious drama, Of Mice and Men, but it came out in 1939 and was buried underneath the works of Victor Fleming. The wealthy cigar smoking studio head that many people think of when they picture a film studio suit is based on this guy. The man would not quit and stayed in the business into his 90s and lived to the ripe old age of 100.

[sinceileftyoublog]

Indigo De Souza Interview: Compassion for Different Modalities

Photo by Charlie Boss

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Calling from her home near Asheville, North Carolina earlier this month, singer-songwriter Indigo De Souza is getting ready to go on tour behind her terrific sophomore album Any Shape You Take (Saddle Creek). Like everyone, she’s anxious about navigating the current COVID-19 landscape, but how she and her band adapt to a live performance and play the multi-dimensional songs that make up the record seems to be of little concern. I guess if I was as talented as De Souza, I wouldn’t be worried, either. Released last month, Any Shape You Take is a stunning series of ruminations on love and relationships, platonic and romantic, that span a number of years in De Souza’s life. Raised in a conservative small town in North Carolina by a mom who was an artist, De Souza doesn’t shy away from the fact that her family did not fit in. At the encouragement of her mother, she leaned into her artistic visions, making music as early as 9 years old, releasing her first EP in 2016.

After self-releasing her (very appropriately titled) first album I Love My Mom in 2018, De Souza signed to indie stalwarts Saddle Creek, who rereleased her debut and supplied her with the means to craft a much larger-sounding follow-up. Working with prolific secret weapon co-producer Brad Cook, her first proper label release occupies an incredible amount of genre territory. “This is the way I’m going to bend,” announces De Souza on auto-tuned synth pop opener “17″ before, well, bending in a number of different directions. “Darker Than Death” and “Die/Cry”, nervous songs that were written years ago, sport fitting build-ups, the former’s slow hi hats and cymbals giving way to jolts of guitar noise, the latter’s jangly rock taking a back seat to yelped harmonies. Songs like “Pretty Pictures” and “Hold U” reenter the dance world, the latter an especially catchy neo soul and funk highlight, a simple earworm of a love song. In the end, whether playing scraped, slow-burning guitar or rubbery keyboard, De Souza’s thoughtful and honest meditations center the emotionally charged album, one of the very best of the year.

De Souza takes her live show to the Beat Kitchen tonight and tomorrow night (both sold out) with Dan Wriggins of Friendship opening. Read our interview with De Souza about the making of Any Shape You Take and her songwriting process.

Since I Left You: On Any Shape You Take, there seems to be a good mix of folks you’ve worked with before and folks you’re working with for the first time. What did each group bring to the table?

Indigo De Souza: Brad Cook was co-producing. It was my first time working with a producer on something. That was crazy. He was very supportive of everything and very encouraging. It was nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of who wanted to encourage my vision. I also worked with Alex [Farrar] and Adam [McDaniel] from drop of sun studios in Asheville. They’re both just so sweet and talented. They were engineering but also helped with production as well. I ended up getting really close with Alex, and me and Alex finished out the album together doing vocal overdubs and random overdubs. It feels like he did a lot of production on the album and was a star for me in the process. They were all great to work with. It was interesting to me to have so many people working on the album.

What I realized after the fact, [though], was that it was kind of distracting for me to have so many brains working on it. It taught me I actually feel very confidently about my vision for songs, and I can trust myself to have ideas for my own songs. I think I was scared going in that I was going to come up blank in that scenario because it was such a high-pressure thing, getting on a label and making a high-production album. But I definitely thrived in the space. It was really fun.

SILY: It shows in the finished product. There are so many different styles and subgenres within the record. Do you listen to all the types of music that show up on this record?

IDS: Yeah, for sure. Mostly, I listen to pop music and dance music. That’s probably my most daily genre. I don’t listen to a lot of music daily, though. I listen to music probably a couple times a week when I’m in the car, but it’s so random, and the genres I listen to are pretty random. It depends on my mood. I think when I’m writing, it’s the same way, whether I’m writing a poppier or rock-based song. They’re different moods for me.

SILY: How do you generally approach juxtaposing lyrics with instrumentation?

IDS: With writing, it’s different every time the way they fall into place together. I do notice that one of the more common ways it happens is I’ll be going about my day and hear a melody in my head and start humming it and realize I’m making it up, that I have no record of it before. I’ll start attaching feeling to the melody, depending on what I’m feeling, and at first I’ll be singing gibberish with the melody, but I’ll usually get some headphones on and plug into the computer so I can sing into a microphone. I’ll mess around with the melody and sing random words until something true to me kind of sticks. That’s usually how it goes. Sometimes, I [do] sit down and it comes out in one breath, like the song is already written in my mind.

Honestly, it’s so normalized how songwriting is. It’s such a strange, magical thing that people can write songs that have never been written before. [laughs]

SILY: Thematically, there are a lot of songs on Any Shape You Take where you’re feeling doubts about a relationship, like on “Darker Than Death”. Someone’s feeling bad, and you’re wondering whether it’s you making them feel bad. And on “Die, Cry”, you sing, “I’d rather die than see you cry.” On the other hand, there are some songs like “Pretty Pictures” where you know your place more within the relationship, and you know what’s eventually gonna happen to it. How do you balance those feelings of doubt with knowing what’s gonna happen?

IDS: It’s funny, because the first two songs you mention were written a very long time ago when I was in the only very long-term relationship I’ve ever been in. I was very confused in that time and was having a hard time in general with my mental health. “Pretty Pictures” is the newest song on the album, a last minute addition because another song we had on there didn’t really fit. We looked through my demos folder and chose “Pretty Pictures”, the most recent song I had written at the time, and recorded it for the album. They’re totally different times in my life, and how you said it is definitely how I was. There’s a time I was more confused, and now, love is more simple in my life, and I can process things and see how they are, have compassion for different modalities.

SILY: I love the line on “Way Out”, “There are no monsters underneath your bed, and I’ll never be the only thing you love.” It’s a very logical statement in the face of unbridled emotion that can make you think illogically. Is that contrast something you think shows up throughout the record?

IDS: Within love, over time, I’ve realized that there’s not one person for anybody. There’s a lot of fluidity in the ways people can feel towards other people. That line is definitely a nod to allowing people to love many other people and not taking it personally.

SILY: From a singing perspective, you have a lot of different vocal stylings on the record. I found it interesting you led it off with a track where you’re super auto-tuned. Can you tell me about that decision?

IDS: “17” originally was this demo I made in 2016 or 2017. It was a very old demo. In 2018 or so, I brought the demo to my band at the time, and we created a live version of that song that was nothing like the recording that you hear. The recording was so weird and had a lot of auto-tune and higher-pitched and lower-pitched vocals. We had a live version we played for a while that’s on Audiotree. Whenever we were recording Any Shape You Take, we started to record it the live way and realized it wasn’t feeling right. We listened to the old demo, and it gave this wake up kick to everyone. We got excited by how the demo sounded because we hadn’t heard it in so long. We realized we wanted to record it based on the demo. So that song sounds very similar to the way the demo originally sounded.

SILY: What’s the story behind the album title?

IDS: There are so many layers to the album title. [laughs] It came to me mostly because the album takes so many musical shapes but also so many emotional shapes. It feels like a lot of the themes in the album are about change and acceptance of change and acceptance of a full spectrum of feelings of pain and grief and allowing people to take many forms. It was mainly inspired by the fact that I’ve taken so many forms in my life and am witness to the way changing forms yourself can either push people away or pull them in closer. I’ve always been so appreciative of the people in my life who allow me to take so many different forms and are still there to witness and care about me, whether we’re close to each other or far away. That’s the main reason I wanted to call the album Any Shape You Take. The most beautiful kind of love you can have is allowing someone to be themselves and shift in and out of things freely.

SILY: Is your live show faithful to the studio versions of the songs, or did you have to learn how to adapt the songs to the stage?

IDS: A lot of them sound very similar to the recording. We’ve been having so much fun practicing them and playing them live.

SILY: Is there one in particular you’re most looking forward to playing?

IDS: I love playing “Bad Dream”. That’s just a crazy song to play live because it’s so loud and rowdy. [laughs]

SILY: You have that falsetto in the middle of it, too.

IDS: Yeah. It’s so fun.

SILY: Anything you’ve been listening to, reading, or watching lately that’s caught your attention?

IDS: I’m excited that one of my favorite authors, Tao Lin, just put out a book I haven’t been able to get fully into. It’s called Leave Society. I just got it in the mail last week. Other than that, I’ve just been so, so busy with interviews and work on the computer and with my manager, staying on top of this crazy shift happening on top of my life. I haven’t taken in a lot of media. I was just watching Love Island recently because I wanted to shut my brain down. Somebody was telling me about Sexy Beasts last night, which sounds insane. I’m excited to watch that.

[aurora-stantler-our-historian]

PEOPLE I’D LIKE TO KNOW BETTER:

TAGGED BY:

@wraith-of-christmas-future

TAGGING:

@victoriafreakingmcqueen, @bunnylouisegrimes, @blushingkate, @xdaughter-of-bloddyfacex and anyone that wishes to participate

ONE: ALIAS/NAME

Fae or Emmy Enn

TWO: BIRTHDAY

June 19th

THREE: ZODIAC SIGN

Sun: Gemini, Moon: Gemini

FOUR: HEIGHT

5′3″ 1/2 (I joke and say that I’m technically 5′4″ cause I’m only a half inch shorter than that height. It’s so annoying! Just give me that extra half inch!)

FIVE: HOBBIES

Going to Renaissance Faires, cosplay, writing, drawing, going to convention/comic-cons, video games, reading, walking my two dogs, singing, listening to music, (I may end up taking up playing my piano again), and photography!

Some pictures of my life some taken by me and just random moments of the Ren Faires of me in costume:

A family friend let me take photos of their horses

My most recent cosplay: Kaylee Frye from Joss Whedon’s Friefly and Serenity.

Texas Ren Faire, 2020

Costume was pieced together by me, headband of leaves made by me, wings were a a long ago birthday present and the ears were bought long ago from a lovely shop that specialized in making them out at Scarborough Ren Faire.

And these lil’ babies are my pride and joys (well not the cat so much) But The top one is Leo, The middle one is Hermione and the cat is Pixi.

SEVEN: FAVOURITE BOOKS

The Wheel of Time Series(14 books long and I can’t choose a favourite one), NOS4A2 and The Wraith graphic novel(Those two kind of go hand in hand), Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman, Kings Assassin by Juli Enn (This book was written by my mother and is the only one of her works that is published), The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson, The Sandman Series graphic novels by Neil Gaiman, The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King, The Stand by Stephen King, Horns by Joe Hill, and The Princess Bride.

EIGHT: LAST SONG LISTENED TO

She Talks to Angels by The Black Crowes

NINE: LAST SHOW WATCHED:

The Rookie and also NOS4A2 is a continuing watching not only to get the timeline right for playing Aurora but for my fics as well

TEN: INSPIRATION FOR MUSE:

Okie dokie, so Aurora is an original character I created to fit into the universe of NOS4A2. That being said, I take a lot of inspiration from the show, BBC’s Sherlock for Aurora’s lack of regard to danger and treading on thin ice. I also draw inspiration from Belle in Beauty and the Beast as she is the definition of strange of odd to anyone in a small town at that. If I find soemthing that really speaks to me, I take what I need and use that to influence how Aurora is. I unintentionally made Aurora Stantler a mirror to Charlie Manx, so it’s a lot of fun to me, to do analysis on Charlie and compare that to how I have made Aurora. Music wise, it is a lot of classic rock, some musical soundtracks, certain songs from the nineties and present day, all to depict her mood and what stage she is at mentality wise, songs that speak to the things that Aurora has been through, as well as just an overall vibe from her.  History channel shows are also a great inspiration for Aurora’s Creative Ablilities and profession as she is a Historian.

ELEVEN: MEANING BEHIND YOUR URL:

Heh.  Nothing fancy, just that I wanted to have her name and historian in it. Actually this started out as an idea being ping-ponged between @wraith-of-christmas-future and @victoriafreakingmcqueen on my discord server about if there was a case over Charlie, Cassie, and Millie(also Lorrie depending on which ‘verse our threads take place in) disappearing back after Charlie got the Wraith and discovered Christmasland for the first time. We all gave the character a collective name, Our Historian.We figured that Our Historian solved cold cases and tried to give closure to the families affected by them and she stumbled upon said Manx Case and ran across Charlie, not realizing that she was, in fact, a  Creative herself.  It was just my choice to give said character a name and here I am role-playing as her. Hence why it is aurora-stantler-our-historian.

[chipmunkfanno1love]

Songs I Hope Will Be Sung in the"Trolls" franchise.

Here are some songs I would love for the characters of “Trolls” characters to sing in the 2020 sequel, the upcoming "Trolls: The Beat Goes On" TV series or possibly the holiday special coming out this year. I could consider these suggestions for other “Trolls” related projects as well. Here’s my list of songs, the characters I think would sound best singing it and possible situations the characters might be while singing it.

A/N: These are purely fan-made ideas and has nothing to do with what is actually going to happen in the franchise. I own nothing related to the “Trolls” franchise, nor do I own any of the songs I have suggested for future related work. Some of these songs have been previously used in other “Trolls” related fan works, so I’m sure I’m not the first person to think consider these songs for the “Trolls” franchise, but otherwise my ideas here are all original I take no credit for any other fan works in which these songs have been in previously. I confess I may have been loosely inspired by other movie soundtracks for my ideas, including “Strange Magic”, “Ella Enchanted”, "An Extremely Goofy Movie”, "The Book of Life" and the Australian film “The Sapphires”. I take no credit for whatsoever for the these soundtracks. I’ve provided video links as shortcuts so you guys can get a feel for the music and lyrics which could be used in the film, but I don’t own any of the videos themselves. Anyway, on to my ideas!

“Trolls 2” song ideas

“I Want to Know What Love Is” originally by Foreigner

Character/s singing: Branch and Poppy

Situation: Branch wants to move ahead in his relationship with Poppy and propose marriage to her, but feels apprehensive about the fact that if he does marry her it will mean that he will become king of the trolls (or prince regent possibly), which is something he doesn’t feel he’s prepared or right for. He also feels fearful of losing Poppy, just like he lost his grandma and doesn’t feel he can face that heartache again.

Poppy is also struggling with her own insecurities, though she’s trying her best to hide them through her usual positive attitude. She wants desperately to be Branch’s wife and for him to be her husband and king (or prince) consort, but she is secretly worried that Branch will break her heart like Creek did.

By the end of the song though, both feel confident that they are ready to take a step of faith in their relationship; truly ready to “…know what love is.”

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raNGeq3_DtM

“I Can’t Help Falling Love With You” originally by Elvis Presley

Character/s singing: Branch and Poppy

Situation: I thought this would be a beautiful song for Branch and Poppy to sing as a romantic duet by the campfire (maybe with use of Poppy’s ukulele). I know a lot of fans agree that this song suits the couple. I imagine it would be a good song for them to sing before Branch proposes to Poppy, or at least the first time he attempts to do so.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGJTaP6anOU

Andrea Bocelli and Katharine McPhee duet version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLS0kRAsSoo

“Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore” by REO Speedwagon

Character/s singing: King Gristle Jr. and Branch

Situation: I thought it would be cool if Branch gave King Gristle Jr. singing lessons (maybe Gristle could play the piano and/or guitar as well). For most of the lessons, Gristle performs incredibly poorly and starts to mope about how he's never going to be able sing. To encourage Gristle’s confidence, Branch suggests that the young king think of the main thing that inspires him and makes him the most happy. For him that's an easy answer: Bridget. Branch himself admits that Poppy inspires him in the same way Bridget does for Gristle, and is his source of happiness. Both men agree it’s their love for their girlfriends that inspires them and gives them confidence.

In his moment of confidence, Gristle finally feels inspired, and begins to sing about how he feels about Bridget. Branch joins in with Gristle, thinking about his feelings for Poppy. I could probably see some funny moments with Gristle doing some rock star moves, e.g. rocking out on a mop like a guitar, hanging his tongue out, etc. I could probably see him and Branch sliding across the floor (maybe Branch could do his tricks on Gristle’s shoulder) and (as the lyrics say) literally crashing through doors as they do it. I could see the song being both comedic and touching at the same time. Maybe Justin Timberlake could take his experiences from coaching Christopher Mintz-Plasse in singing, and play this a bit into his role of Branch coaching Gristle in singing.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpOULjyy-n8

“Open Your Heart” by Madonna

Characters singing: Poppy as a child, teenager and (of course) an adult.

Situation: I thought this would be good song to have in a flashback to Poppy and Branch’s childhood, teenage years and the year before they left for Bergen Town. During the flashbacks we see the day that Poppy and Branch first (officially) met (Branch probably knew Poppy as toddler, but she probably didn’t officially meet him until she got older) and their later years when Poppy tried to win over Branch’s friendship and teach him how to be happy, much to her lack of success. We could also see things from Branch’s point of view, as we see signs of his growing crush on Poppy and his struggles to hide these feelings for her. I could probably see the music sequence being somewhat similar in structure to Disney Frozen’s “Do You Wanna Build a Snowman” as each verse changes to a different stage of Poppy and Branch’s life and how their attitudes changed over time, e.g. with Poppy more determined to succeed but also more frustrated with Branch’s resistance, while Branch continues to act harsh and cold but secretly shows signs of love and attraction towards Poppy in private.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snsTmi9N9Gs

“Smile (Charlie Chaplin Song)

Character/s singing: Poppy and/or Bridget, and (maybe) Branch.

Situation: I thought Poppy or maybe Bridget (if Poppy isn’t around, e.g. if she was kidnapped, and Bridget, Branch and their friends are trying to find her) could sing this song to comfort Branch in a stressful and sad situation. He could sing along himself if he felt up to it.

Glee version video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bZxamUU0x4

“Firework” by Katy Perry and “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey (I thought they would make a good mash-up)

Character/s singing: Poppy, Branch, Bridget, King Gristle Jr. and the Snack Pack.

Situation: Two great songs that would make a good mash-up.

“Firework” video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BtI43kqkOI

“Don’t Stop Believin’” video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBEXSiFzOfU

“Strange Magic” by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)

Character singing: Biggie or Guy Diamond

Situation: I thought this might be a good song for either Biggie or Guy Diamond to sing. I personally would love for more members of the Snack Pack to have their own solos, but I thought this song might be good for either of these two. I imagine either of these two singing this in adoration towards a love-interest as they watch them from a distance. I have an OC in my mind who I thought could be a love-interest for either of them (I might share more information in another post), though I’m open for them being paired with another member of the Snack Pack (there are hints from a Troll-Love Box merchandise that Guy Diamond could be paired with DJ Suki, while Biggie could be paired with Smidge, but that’s not proved to be canon as of yet. I’m personally open-minded to the Guy Diamond/Satin ship).

I personally see either of them being paired with another character and singing this song (plus my next suggestion) in the upcoming TV series.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11A8JZ-RDDo

“Ella Enchanted version” link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WKB23DmFf0

“Strange Magic” movie version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dp97JMRCTY

Silvergolwolf’s Love-Box reference: https://silvergoldwolf.tumblr.com/tagged/love-book

“You Make Me Feel Like Dancing”  by Leo Sayer

Character singing: Biggie or Guy Diamond and (maybe) a new original character or a member of the Snack Pack.

Situation:  I imagine this as a beautiful duet between either Biggie or Guy Diamond, and a love interest of theirs. Ultimately it’s a declaration of love song as the couple dance together in the forest. I may write more information in another post.  

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDlvPD9qCao

“An Extremely Goofy Movie” duet version (my main inspiration for this song): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWykoj8glW8

“Ella Enchanted” remix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfdc9FkhhJo

“I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) originally by Four Tops

Character singing: Bridget and King Gristle Jr., or Creek (if he’s still alive).

Situation: I thought this song would make a good romantic duet for Bridget and King Gristle Jr. (maybe some of the female trolls and/or Bergans could do back-up vocals). Though I also considered it a good song for Creek (if he’s possibly still alive) to sing to Poppy, as his rather pathetic and unsuccessful way of winning his way back into her affections.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z59EVHU8MjI

“Strange Magic” version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDQva2j-xTQ

“The Sapphires” version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-9clgjzrQc

“I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor

Character singing: Poppy

Situation: I thought this would be a good and fairly comical song for Poppy to sing if Creek ever returned and tried to weasel his way back into her affections without taking any real responsibility for his past actions. To me this song sounds so Poppy! It’s fun and has a lot attitude to it, plus it could give some hints to her relationship with Branch too. I reckon Anna Kendrick would do an awesome job on this song.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBR2G-iI3-I

“Creep” (Clean Version) by Radiohead

Character singing: Teenage Branch (sung in his mind)

Situation: I thought song would work well in a flashback of Branch in his teenage years. I think this song emphasises well of his feelings for Poppy while it also shows his insecurities about himself and his negative grey attitude. I could probably see Branch singing this song (inside his head of course, as he doesn’t allow himself to sing at this stage of his life) after watching one of Poppy’s parties from a distance and seeing her with Creek, which causes some jealousy. I reckon him admiring Poppy from a distance and hearing some of the negative comments Poppy’s friends (especially Creek) are saying about him, like “He’s a creep." and "He’s a weirdo.” (along the lines of the song), and how he isn’t a good influence for Poppy and she doesn’t need to worry about him. Deeply hurt and insecure, Branch continues on gathering sticks while his thoughts sadly sing about how he feels he’ll never be good enough for Poppy; unable to deny his feelings for her nonetheless. The songs lines like “…you’re skin makes me cry.” matches perfectly well to Branch’s insecurities about his grey appearance I think.  

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZiNtbgm9oM

"The Book of Life” version (the level of clean language I think they would need to take in the “Trolls 2” movie if they ever used this song): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzvkrIF95nE&t=5s

“How Will I Know" by Whitney Huston

Character singing: Poppy and (maybe) Bridget, perhaps DJ Suki, Satin, Chenille and perhaps some Bergen girls could do back-up vocals.

Situation: I thought this would be a good for Poppy as she explores her feelings for Branch and tries to figure out if he really is her true love, as she felt certain with Creek previously and turned out to be wrong. Maybe Bridget could sing this song as well as she also has some moments of insecurity in her relationship with King Gristle Jr. I could probably see these two singing this song as a duet, as both try to advise and reassure each other that they have both found the man of their dreams.

A/N: I’ll give credit to FoxesnBoxes Broppy fan video for inspiring me to add this song to this list.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3-hY-hlhBg

FoxenBoxes page link: https://foxesnboxes.tumblr.com/

“Don’t Go Breaking My Heart" by Elton John and Kiki Dee 

Character singing: Poppy, Branch and possibly other characters

Situation: I thought this would be a good song for the main characters to sing during the end credits.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0qW9P-uYfM

Ella Enchanted movie version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6941Mpf4fq0

"Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis Presley

Character singing: Poppy or the card version of Branch

Situation: A good song for a flashback, to emphasis Branch’s loneliness back in his grey days. Maybe Branch could slam the card shut when it gets to the line ”…I’m feeling so lonely I could die.“ just when it gets to the word "die”.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9BLw4W5KU8

Justin Timberlake cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfDsCEM8kL4

“Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper

Character singing: Branch, maybe Poppy and their future child

Situation: I thought this would be a good song for Branch and Poppy to sing to their future child (I personally think they might have a daughter) as a way of letting her/him know that they will always be there for her/him. I could more imagine Branch and Poppy having a child in a third film if they plan on making one, but you never know what they could do in the sequel.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdQY7BusJNU

“The Girl is Mine” by Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney

Character singing: Branch and Creek

Situation: I thought it might be interesting if Creek is still alive and makes a return in the sequel that he and Branch sing a competitive duet as they possibly fight over Poppy. I’m not so sure about my choice of song, but this is the only male duet that sounded best in this situation, plus the fact that one singer is American and the other is British is another bonus. Though the lyrics could be shortened, changed or swapped over to suit the characters better if necessary. I’m open to other suggestions for competitive male duets if anyone can point one out to me.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y96mdVTMByk

"Bye Bye Bye” by *NSYNC

Character singing: Branch, maybe Poppy

Situation: I thought Branch could sing the “…you may hate [it] but that ain’t no lie…bye bye bye.” to mock Creek as he and Poppy throw him out of Poppy’s pod, regarding Poppy rejecting Creek. Plus, maybe Poppy could throw in a “Bye bye!” in speech form as she locks Creek out of her pod. I thought the line could humorous, plus add a bit of nostalgia from Justin Timberlake’s old boy band days.  

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo-KmOd3i7s

There are other songs I would love to hear being sung in the “Trolls” franchise, including a few solos for the Snack Pack, but I’m not sure what situation to put them in. I thought maybe they might do well in a short film, e.g. something like “Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party” or “Far Far Away Idol”. Even in small clips I reckon these songs could be used.

“Vogue” by Madonna

Character singing: Satin and Chenille

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuJQSAiODqI

“Wannabe” by The Spice Girls

Character singing: DJ Suki and Cooper (on the rap part)

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw-QRyQcFH8

“Jai Ho (You Are My Destiny)” - The PussycatDolls version with A.R Rahman

Character singing: Guy Diamond

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc5OyXmHD0w

Movie version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iYYn0eybkY

“My Funny Friend and Me” by Sting

Character singing: Biggie

Situation: Singing to Mr. Dinkles

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAUZtWQf9kQ

“Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen (only the chorus and bridge rather than the whole song)

Character singing: Bridget and King Gristle Jr.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XucmoWQmO5E

So what do you guys think of my ideas? I’d love to hear your opinions.

[papermoth-bird-blog]

New Orleans: clowns & cowboys; pairings & partings

The past few days I’ve slowed my steady current of explorations and settled into a much more casual canter about town. In doing so, I’ve been able to start to crack the doors open as to what the people who live & stay & play here are really like. What they like to do. You know, community stuff (which my Hufflepuff heart truly craves). I’ve been riding a bike around the bywater & marigny. I’ve been feeling like Kiki (from Kiki’s delivery service) & it’s filled me with a certain kind of witchy-bliss. My heart is truly happy here- it feels understood here (not because of the people, necessarily but) because of the rhythm of the city itself. 

It feels ridiculous to say- but I am really going to miss this city. It feels like one big White Rabbit that never ends. I love hearing the murmurings of what people are planning for their Mardi Gras costume & the Krewes they are apart of (Krewe de Crow! Krewe du Vieux!) The costumes- as Asa put it- are the physical articulations of every individuals personal God. Empowering themselves in their truest forms. It has my head spinning. I’d really, really love to get a Mardi Gras tradition kick started in Halifax. I kinda feel like we could have a good thing going- I mean at least for a house party, because God knows no one would actually want to be outside that time of year in Halifax. In the very least, I’m going to strongly encourage Costumes at this upcoming White Rabbit (although, many people already get that). 

I’m still circling the idea about “learning about death” here. I mean, in a way, I feel like if anything I learned about what inside me really makes me feel alive- that being art, oddities, openess and kindness. I certainly learned a lot about that. It helped me let go of a lot of the heaviness that followed me from Halifax & beyond. I mean, there is something to be said in that too in the way that New Orleans celebrates death itself. I learned a lot about the Second Line funerals. Apparently the Prince & David Bowie parades were just as/ if not wilder than Mardi Gras. There is so much to that. In celebrating the ends of things, just as you do the beginnings. I mean, the trip itself was such a big learning thing for me. The death of the chapter of stuck-ness. I’ll take that- if that’s what it was. 

Life & Silliness found me at many many points throughout my days here. Even in the later ones in which I fell ill. I feel in love a few times over here. I found myself craving to stay. At the very least, I want to come back. I really do think I will- but with art supplies- which I think would make the whole thing so much better. 

The last few days were slow, because I decided to make the evening activities more of a priority. Shaking “farm time” is still proving a little difficult. I am so glad I did try to fight it though. We went to Preservation hall (which is expensive, but worth it) for some of the best jazz i’ve heard all week. Later, we went to st. Roch (which on tuesdays you can get a beer & a hair cut for 10$!) & we tried our best to keep up with all the other fantastic country dancers. Siberia is another fun bar/music spot- with really great eastern european food. Milly played there- her set was great. She has a very witchy/eastern/traditional thing going for her. I really am glad I got to see her play while I was here. Actually, last night I got to see her puppet show as well! It was about aliens & global warming. She dressed as a grampa (which had Artemis cracking up the whole time) & sang all the dialogue. It was pretty brilliant. 

In fact, all the acts were kinda wonderful. There were some really vulnerable writing pieces. A poetry/harp/performanceShavingPiece, story telling, a drag cowboy, self-written show tunes. The evening ended with a candlelit saw song performance. The whole thing had me very inspired and ready to create myself. There were also such great pieces of wisdom that were dilvulged. Particularily something said by Charlie “the cowboy prince”- who said something about making a point of saying “Human becomings” instead of “human beings” that had me thinking quite a bit. Catherine- the woman hosting the show, made a little booklet of lots of great questions/prompts that I believe I will be thinking on for some time yet. 

All these people seem to be wanderers too- which is quite inspiring in grounding in someway. They clearly have a thriving community here too, despite the consistent comings/goings of this group of people. It reminds me that you can always come back, no matter how far you wander. I’m just a little sad that I’m going right when I was really starting to feel at home here. 

Funny enough though, another reminder of this lesson croped up quite magically. Last year, I travelled to Colombia with a couple friends for an art residency. There we met another young artist named Molly- who goes to Oberlain, but is from Chicago originally. A couple days ago she messaged me out of the blue to say that she saw that I was in New Orleans- and she was too= for another few hours. We weren’t sure if it would work out for us to meet. Then her flight got cancelled, and so, I met up with her & her parents. We had a bit of lunch at Elizabeth’s (in the Bywater). We chit chatted & it felt natural all over again. It’s funny. Some people (and it seems, more and more people) don’t waste time with strangeness- that is to say committing to strangerhood. Life is too short not to take risks and be vulnerable. I haven’t regretted one moment that I took a chance to talk to someone, despite is being a challenge to get myself to do it at certain points. 

A trope that keeps coming up for me in such an obvious way is that of the cowboy. (UMMM HELLO my going away party was SPACE COWBOY. Which was the most well suited theme party I’ve ever had). The lonesome wanderer. With nothing but the desert surrounding them, to act as their mirror. Ryn talked about that last night. Being alone in the desert. The enforced meditation that happens there. A perfect place to think. “Where you can be without walls.” A perfect place to pray. Actually, as it happens, Ryn was just living in Sedona for 6 months. She said “Sedona is a really special place; it’s where healer’s go to heal.” It’s given me a lot to think about, but everyone of them draws me closer to that place. The more I do, the more people come into my path & encourage me to go there too. It feels a little spooky & oh so right. A few different people have said this journey sounds like a movie script. I always laugh, but it’s kinda true. I feel very guided & supported in my efforts. I mean........ I definitely need to be more mindful of my budget for sure, but outside of that it’s going quite well. 

I was on the phone with Morgan this morning scheming up very good schemes. A friend of his is coming to New Orleans by chance, in the next few days. So, we were dreaming up a scavenger hunt I could make for her when she arrives. I mean, I do wish I had more time to do so, as my bus for Nashville leaves tonight. I love scavenger hunts though- and I especially love making them, so I’m quite thrilled to have the project to fill my day. Silliness & friendship & adventure all around. I couldn’t be happier--- except perhaps, if I didn’t have this cold. 

[jafreitag]

Disco Shrine: The Liner Notes Interview

The internet is weird.

Late last summer, I received an email from a guy named Scott Brown. I know alot of Browns in NWI, and one is named Scott. He runs a breakfast place in town, and his daughter is the Sweetheart of Downtown Valpo – my dear amiga CBB, and my best friend’s best friend.

I see Scott sorta regularly at Brown family events. Super nice guy, great dad, great grandpa. Quick with a handshake and a smile. We’re on good terms, but not like email tight. So why would he email me and title it “Inspiring New Visuals Indie Electro Artist”? Huh?

Different Scott Brown, turns out. The SB who emailed me promotes music. Here’s what he said (bold is him):

“Hi there, 

  We are excited to send you the new visuals by indie/electro pop artist Disco Shrine. Entitled “Up in the Air” the video and song narrate the struggle her parents faced when immigrating to America from Iran and is the perfect anthem for the current situation in America. Disco Shrine is also known as a sought after DJ and has toured extensively throughout the US, as well as having been featured in outlets such as The 405 and Earmilk, among others.

Thanks so much for watching and for your support!”

I immediately hit OM on Slack to ask if he had met a Mr. Brown at a blog conference or something. Nope. Apparently, Liner Notes crossed the radar of an A&R guy on the Left Coast. Not sure how, not complaining. Anyway, my brother’s grad school ���partner-in-crime” is a badass woman of Iranian decent, and her parents immigrated to the U.S. around the time of the revolution there in the late ’70s. So I was intrigued enough to listen to “Up in the Air.” Glad I did.

Disco Shrine is the nom de musique of Jessica Delijani, and she, too, is a badass woman of Iranian descent. The email from SB called her the “pop spark plug behind Disco Shrine,” and added that she “makes music that plays around with the contrast between high energy electronic beats and sensual melodies.” More SB: “By embodying the mission of empowerment, Disco Shrine thrives off of being an outlet for listeners to be carefree, accepted, and liberated through dance music.” Great stuff, but enough mansplain. Let’s let Jessica talk about “Up in the Air” herself:

“This song is about my parents immigrating to America from Iran after escaping the Iranian revolution in the 70’s. ‘Up in the Air’ paints a picture of them literally up in the air on their plane ride over to America, leaving the past behind and looking towards their new future. It’s also symbolic of their whole lives suddenly being up in the air, uncertain, and not knowing what to expect at all.  It’s more so in my mother’s perspective and the strength she had to leave her whole life behind to bring a better life for her children and family. “ 

Jessica was born/raised in the San Fernando Valley, and grew up with watching traditional Persian jam sessions with her family. She taught herself how to play guitar and banjo, and started writing and performing folk music as a teenager, before debuting as Disco Shrine in 2015. I dropped a few DS songs on playlists last summer, and connected with her via Instagram. Eventually, I sent her some interview questions, which she was kind enough to answer.

JF: Hi. Before I get to real questions, I have a silly, preliminary one. What should I call you? Disco Shrine? DS? Jessica?

DS: Hey, Jason! People call me Jess and sometimes Disco. I answer to any and all, haha.

JF: Are you a lyric-first or a music-first person? Like do you find the melody, then put words to it, or vice versa?

DS: Honestly, I have worked both ways. I think I tend to come up with the melody first, and then lay out lyrics. But some of my favorite songs I’ve written have been when I have something I need to get out, and those lines or lyrics end up remolding the song.

JF: What’s your workflow?  Notebooks, voice memos, both?

DS: Millions and millions of voice memos and notepad (the app).

JF: Where have you played? The email that I got from a PR guy mentioned “all of the quintessential LA landmarks” and some fests. Any shows or sets stick out?

DS: This year has been a wild year of checking venues off of my bucket list and some that I didn’t even know I wanted. I played Santa Monica Pier, which was crazy, because Santa Monica Pier was iconic for my parents, when they first immigrated here. So to see their daughter performing a big festival (Pier 360) was crazy for them and really special for me.

Playing Baby’s All Right in New York was also pretty magical. The crowd was so amazing and fun. I ended up crowd surfing and getting this gnarly scar on my leg … totally worth it.

I’ve also created this strange pattern of playing really unconventional places this year. I played this warehouse party where I performed on an old geometro car. I had my music video release party in a Barber Shop and I also threw my single release party for Everyday at a Laundromat.

I’ve also created this strange pattern of playing really unconventional places this year. I played this warehouse party, where I performed on an old Geo Metro car. I had my music video release in a barber shop, and I also threw my single release party for “Everyday” at a Laundromat.

The biggest reason behind doing this release party in a Laundromat is because of everything a laundromat is symbolic of (workin’ hard, the everyday hustle, helping local businesses, the fact that they’re usually immigrant owned or used, etc…)! I would never have had the same opportunities and freedom to pursue what I love, if my parents didn’t immigrate to America. “Everyday” is all about seizing that opportunity and not taking it for granted. And what better way to celebrate that than through a Laundromat Party!

I also just played at a large benefit festival called The Billy Ball with Charli XCX, Dorian Electra, Allie X, Vincent, Daya, Leland, Chester Lockhart, etc. All proceeds go towards helping a young artist get life saving cancer treatment. It was a dream come true playing in front of such a huge crowd of people that were so receptive, especially for such a good cause.

JF: Have you toured much? And what’s that like? What’s the life of a “indie/electro pop artist” on the road?  I’m imagining it’s you and tidy cases, and not so much instruments, cables, and speakers.

DS: I have toured and travelled a lot this year. Half of it has been for live shows, and the other half has been for DJing. It’s so much fun, and it feeds so much of my soul, but it definitely gets exhausting at times, too. What I love most about it is just connecting with the crowd and meeting people across the country. Whenever I play shows out of town, I usually keep the set up pretty minimal. It’s usually just me, a dj, and maybe back up dancers. I’ll have a live band for my hometown shows

JF: I dropped “Soft Fur” onto a recent playlist between Moses Sumney and Blood Orange – good company, haha. Who are your influences? Anybody you want to single out? I just checked out your Disco Diamonds playlist. I saw Empress Of on there, and her new record is great.

DS: Love both of them. It’s so hard to answer that question, because I feel like who I’m listening to is constantly changing, and I admire different things about different artists that help me grow. So it’s really not just any few people I take from. I think I tend to love and listen to a lot of badass pop artists like Empress Of, Elohim, Hayley Kyiko, etc. Some of my faves from this year are Dorian Electra, Phem, Holychild, Zella Day, Mallrat, and the queen Ariana Grande.

Gwen Stefani, circa No Doubt, is definitely my spirit animal on stage. I feel like I always tell myself to channel Gwen before I hit a stage.

JF: Genre-wise, how would you classify DS? What do you think about the state of electronic music? What do you find interesting, and what do you find boring? What would you change?

DS: I would say that I make really melodic, upbeat music that you can bob your head to on a drive or on a dance floor. I love that the sky is the limit right now. A lot of mainstream music is experimenting with genres and non-formulaic type pop, which I think is pretty cool, because it opens the door to experiment more – and, hopefully, makes people more open-minded.

JF: And what about the state of the music industry?

DS: Ugh, I can’t even with this …

JF: Turning to “Up in the Air,” it’s obviously personal. Would you share some of your parents’ story?

DS: “Up in the Air” was written shortly after I found out about the crazy journey my parents went through to get my family to America. I was so inspired by the tale I heard, one that involved escaping prison, fleeing the country, and finding a way to get a greencard to America. I was in such disbelief that it was my mom and dad that did something so brave for the hope of a better future, and it really inspired me. That’s how “Up in the Air” was born. We wrote and finished it in an hour with my friend/producer Samuel Jacob Lopez, Jr. (coqui).

In a lot of ways it breaks my heart to think about other people trying to get to America and not being able to do so. Everyday I think about what my life would be like if I didn’t have the freedom and opportunities that I have. And it’s sad that there are others out there that are trying to have the same opportunities, but are being stopped.

JF: Favorite place in the world?

DS: Lake Como Italy was the most breathtakingly beautiful place I have ever been to, and it’s crazy that a place that looks that beautiful exists in this world. So, yes, Lake Como.

JF: You’re LA-based, so best restaurant in LA? Best bar in LA?

DS: My go-to spot is this amazing tex-mex brunch restaurant called Homestate in Los Feliz. Their breakfast tacos are bomb. They’re also right next to this coffee shop Go Get Em Tiger. Getting coffee their after breakfast tacos is sort of a Sunday morning ritual.

Fave bar is the secret tiki room at Cliftons in DTLA.

JF: Favorite food?

DS: Mexican food! Whenever I leave LA, I always find myself missing good Mexican food the most.

JF: Favorite and least favorite words?  For the latter, my best friend/wife would say “moist,” but that seems too easy.

DS: I just hung out with a bunch of my Australian friends – shoutout to Oh Boy, Tanssi, Lover, and Tekie. They’re amazing musicians, and they taught me so many Aussie phrases that I love. I think the one that stuck the most was “redhot”. It basically means sus or suspicious.

JF: The new single, “Everyday,” with Omenihu just dropped. How did that collaboration come about?

DS: Omenihu and I met at School Night earlier this year. He photobombed a photo I was taking on the stairs, and we ended up laughing and talking for like an hour. He was living in Austin at the time and told me he was planning on moving to LA. We just got along really well and kept in touch over the next few months.

Then I ended up writing Everyday, which is all about moving to a new place and having all the odds against you, but persevering and taking advantage of the opportunities you have. And I knew I wanted Omenihu on it because he was going on the same journey – soon to move to LA in pursuit of his dreams and not knowing anyone here, facing challenges, etc. So the timing of it all was really perfect. I sent him the song, and he loved it and ended up sending me his verse back in a voice memo the same day. It was really serendipitous.

JF: What are you working on? New material? Shows? This is your chance to shamelessly  plug anything.

DS: Yess haha! I just threw my release party at a Laundromat in Los Feliz which featured special guests Wes Period (just toured w/ Macklemore and Kesha), Phem (just toured w/ Lil Xan), Dorian Electra (toured + featured w/ Charli XCX), Mood Killer, Dance Yourself Clean etc… Who are all artists I admire so much and are each killing it in their own lanes. Next year, I plan on releasing way more music and throwing even weirder release parties.

I have a show on 1/21 at The Echo too

There you go. I’ve done four interviews with musicians so far on LN. All have been fun, but the first three were people that I know, so they were pretty easy. I stretched a bit to do this one, and Jess couldn’t have been nicer – reachable, relatable, and genuinely sweet. Big thanks to her, and best wishes for a huge 2019!!

You can check out Disco Shrine on Spotify. Here’s a playlist that I compiled of her material so far. It’s all good, and well worth your time.

And here are her links:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/discoshrine/

Website: https://discoshrine.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DiscoShrine

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/discoshrine

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/discoshrine

More soon.

JF

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[disndatradio]

Danny Elfman Talks The Nightmare Before Christmas, Released 25 Years Ago Today

It’s late Wednesday evening in London and Danny Elfman is admittedly jet-lagged. “We’re right in the middle of scoring Dumbo,” says the iconic composer of the upcoming live-action adaptation of the classic story starring Danny DeVito and directed by his frequent collaborator Tim Burton. “All I can say right now about it is that the elephant is pretty goddamn cute,” laughs Elfman. “I never know, ever what (my films) are going to be, so what I do is the best I can.”

It’s that attitude that has guided Elfman in his career as one of today’s most well-known composers, working on a litany of iconic projects, from the instantly recognizable themes for shows such as The Simpsons and Desperate Housewives to scores for smashes ranging from Men In Black to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films, Fifty Shades Of Grey, Avengers: Age Of Ultron, and countless more.

Watch Trent Reznor, Danny Elfman, & Hans Zimmer discuss their work.

However, it’s Elfman’s creative partnership with Burton on the majority of the director’s filmography that has defined his career, starting with Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure in 1985 and stretching through Batman, Batman Returns, Edward Scissorhands, Big Fish, Corpse Bride, and Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. “What made us get along for decades, I couldn’t answer,” muses Elfman of Burton. “He’s a weird guy but he doesn’t seem weird next to me. Tim and I grew up in similar ways, which probably had something to do with it. We were both ‘monster kids,’ an odd subculture of children of the ’60s who grew up on these great low-budget horror films. When I first met him, his idol was Vincent Price and mine was Peter Lorre.”

Throughout their vast and uniquely strange partnership, one film stands among them as one whose fandom has taken on a life of its own. Twenty-five years ago today, their stop-motion animated The Nightmare Before Christmas hit theaters and helped define a new era of “monster kids,” serving as a respite to the saccharine animated children’s films of the time. A twisted musical tale focused on kidnapping Santa Claus that combined elements of the whimsical nature of Christmas and the dark fun of Halloween and whose lead character was a skeleton (aptly dubbed Jack Skellington), the film quickly turned into a labor of love for the duo. “I remember Tim sent me an outline, but then I didn’t hear anything about it for a while,” says Elfman of his earliest memories of the process. “Finally we got together and he said he needed to start doing something, but there was no script and neither of us knew how to start a musical.”

Burton had a vivid vision for the film but was simultaneously working on Batman Returns, the highly anticipated sequel to his hit 1989 film, and relegated Nightmare directing duties to Henry Selick. “I remember Henry was in Oakland ready to start shooting, but all we had was an outline for the story,” says Elfman. “So we just started working on the songs (as a starting point). It turned out to be the simplest writing I’d ever done.”

Burton would visit Elfman and explain the story of the movie, chapter by chapter. “He had all of these great pictures and drawings, as well as lines and poems; fragments of stuff. I remember a number of times I pushed him out the door because I started hearing the songs in my head. I’d start right on that, and three days later I’d have a demo which I’d come back and play for him. Then we’d start the next part of the story.”

Elfman’s goal was to achieve a musical timelessness and called on a bevy of inspirations when penning songs ranging from the anthemic “This Is Halloween” to the mischievous “Kidnap The Sandy Claws.” “I wanted it to sound like it was written 50 or 100 years ago, so I turned my own influences for that stuff. Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, which was a major thing in my life, was a source, as well musicals from Cole Porter and Gershwin, and to a certain extent, Rodgers and Hammerstein.” For “What’s This?,” during which Skellington discovers the vibrant Christmas Town, Elfman turned his attention to the Victorian era. “The lyrics are very fast and constant, like some of my favorite Gilbert and Sullivan songs.”

Once a full script was concocted by Elfman’s then-girlfriend Caroline Thompson (the three previously collaborated on Beetlejuice), the movie went into production. The outcome seemed promising, until an ominous preview screening. “I remember a producer saying afterwards, ‘Well, kids hate it.’ Then I did a junket, and every person would ask me, ‘So if this isn’t for kids, who is this for?’ I’d say, ‘If your kids aren’t afraid of Halloween, they won’t be afraid of Nightmare.’”

Despite being the first animated movie nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and the film nabbing a Golden Globe nod for Best Score, Elfman remembers an underwhelming reception. “It came and went pretty quickly and didn’t do very well. Nobody understood what it was or how to market it. I put so much into this project, including so much of my own personality, that it really hurt. At the time I was really depressed after it came out. I put so much into it and it was gone.”

Perhaps appropriate to the movie’s theme, Nightmare was brought back from the proverbial dead as time went on. After becoming a hit on VHS, the movie began generating a cult fanbase in the ensuing years, something Disney was quick to seize on. “A lot of studios would ignore their (back catalog), but Disney to their credit understood what it was and started getting behind it again,” says Elfman, whose idea of its fandom was crystallized just over a decade after its release. “I remember being with Tim in Tokyo, and we were seeing Nightmare merchandise all over. There was even a club in Tokyo dedicated to Nightmare. We thought it was amazing and it was a good sense of this thing still surviving.”

In recent years Rotten Tomatoes named it one of the best Christmas movies of all time, with Disney re-releasing it multiple times, including making it the first stop motion animated film converted into 3D. In addition, an album of covers were released in both 2006 and 2008 with Fall Out Boy taking the reigns of “What’s This?” and two versions of opening track “This Is Halloween” courtesy Marilyn Manson and Panic! At the Disco. Meanwhile, on both Spotify and Apple Music, the vast majority of Elfman’s top-streaming tracks are from Nightmare.

As a result of the interest, Elfman has brought the movie’s music to life with a concert experience of the film, complete with a live orchestra and Elfman performing the character of Jack Skellington in a successful run that stretched into three shows this year at Los Angeles’ famed Hollywood Bowl. This year’s trio of concerts, which went down last weekend, also featured cast members Catherine O’Hara (Sally) and Ken Page (Oogie Boogie). “When we first talked about it, I thought it was insane,” says Elfman of the live shows. “I thought I’d be singing to empty seats. I could have never imagined that that this year we’ll be doing our sixth, seventh and eighth shows at the Hollywood Bowl, all of which bring out kids, teenagers, and both younger and older people.”

Elfman calls the concerts, and the movie’s lasting impact in general, a dream (or perhaps more appropriately, a nightmare) come true. “Of all the things I’ve worked on that I would have wished to find a second life, and I’ve worked on a million movies that died early deaths, it would have been Nightmare. I got that wish and that’s why I’m doing these shows. And the fact that kids come see it is the ultimate revenge. It just makes me say, ‘You were wrong… Kids like it!’”

This article was originally published at Billboard.

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[mikiefresh]

In my last post, I promised to produce another list of artists and groups that I either missed entirely, didn't listen to very much, or whatever. All of these albums were released in 2017, so consider this to be an augmentation of my Best Of list. Had I known about a few of these albums earlier, I would have changed up my Best Of 2017 List to include them, thus reducing the heavy hip hop content. Anyway, again in no particular order, here is some more great music to check out from last year... Priests - Nothing Feels Natural

I am not sure why, but I have always loved poppy, post-punk/indie rock a la Karen O and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Maybe it is the memory of seeing Blondie live in concert at The Tibetan Freedom Concert in 1999. Anyway, this band fulfills that in ways that the female-fronted groups from the Best of 2017 list did not. Where Alvvays and The Courtneys had a garage essence to their poppy, punky indie rock, Priests is even more raw, with spoken word lyrics, layered over faster melodies and crunchy guitars. This album is on 6 Best of 2017 lists, including Pitchfork, Billboard, Stereogum, and NPR.  Chicano Batman - Freedom is Free

I love the earlier Chicano Batman stuff, and it physically hurt me to not be able to include this album on my list. It just doesn't have the strong essence of funky, latin rock that I love from the other albums - instead focusing on lighter melodies and softer songs, albeit with lyrics about social issues. However, some other best of lists probably include this album. I say if you like this one, go listen to the older stuff and you will be blown away.  The Weather Station - self-titled 

A self-titled album as your fourth is a bold move in my opinion, however, she seems to have hit her stride with this one. Love songs and ballads presented in a bold, powerful way make up most of this self-titled album. Moody and introspective, the folksy alt-country draws the listener in; "Thirty" is a highlight on the album. She brings to mind Joni Mitchell and Jewel, but is not to be confused with either one. Charly Bliss - Guppy

I don't know how I missed this band - they combine fuzzed out, orchestrated guitars somewhere between Weezer and Radiohead, with sweet, sugary female vocals. I think they really rock. While comparisons to Veruca Salt and Paramore can also be made, it doesn't cheapen the greatness that is Charly Bliss. The music is so fun, I would most definitely have included this album on my Best Of 2017 List.   Tyler Childers - Purgatory

Another artist that I am sad to have missed out on, Tyler Childers plays new country that sounds like the Appalachian mountains, where I spent time every summer of my childhood. Fiddles, bluegrass melodies, and production by Sturgill Simpson brings us yet another great, authentic country artist. I hope this album inspires many new listeners that love old Willie Nelson- and Waylon Jennings- style country. He, also, would have taken a spot on my 50 Best List of 2017. Zola Jesus - Okovi 

Dark, intense, operatic, and stunningly beautiful at times, the newest release by Zola Jesus is not my favorite album; however, the musicality, production, and content here are astounding and notable. Urgent, emotional, compelling, and gothic, this album is for those looking for something that satisfies the darker urges.  Yaeji - EP2

Again, an artist that completely slipped by me...that after discovering, I really like. She sing song raps slowly and methodically, in this hushed, subtle, Korean-English combo that is uniquely catchy and interesting. She is kind of a rapper, it is kind of techno-ish, but her music is hard to define. If you like genre-bending new sounds, check her out. Her version of "Passionfruit" is incredibly dope, possibly better than the original, and has earned a spot on my faves playlist on Spotify. Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked at Me

Certainly the most death-centered, morbid, intensely sad album that I have ever come across. The artist recently lost his wife, and the whole album is dedicated to songs about her life/that loss/the aftermath. If you need a good cry, give this a listen. It sounds like sparse, stripped down Ben Gibbard/Postal Service -esque vocals and music, while maximizing the melancholy simplicity of that sound. This album is sad. It is about death. Listen with caution. I'm sure it will pop up on many best of lists this year.  Danay Suarez - Palabras Manuales

This album is freaking amazing. I don't even know where to start. She sings and raps in Spanish with so much fluidity that listeners will be drawn in immediately. Straddling the line between rapper and singer, jazz and hip hop, she brings out many aspects of her Cuban heritage in her songs. Modern reggae and reggaeton can be heard, but also classic Afro-Cuban rhythms a la Buena Vista Social Club; the mixing of the modern and classic is dope, and will delight listeners of many types of music. If you are into Spanish-language music at all, listen to this. Parquet Courts - MILANO

Finally, a male-fronted post-punk/indie-rock group! Perhaps the most interesting combination album of last year, Italian composer Daniele Luppi's work with Parquet Courts and Karen O produced a throwback sound that is reminiscent of the early NYC punk ethos. The album hearkens back to Velvet Underground, but makes it this new noise, mostly due to Karen O's strong vocals. As stated above, I love Karen O and pretty much everything she does musically. Benjamin Clementine - I Tell A Fly

Benjamin Clementine put out an album in 2016 that absolutely blew me away. I found out about him through an interview with David Byrne (of Talking Heads), and was immediately drawn to its theatrical vocals, piano-driven melodies, and curious song orchestrations. This album makes that album look boring by comparison, full of overly theatrical, cinematic themes, with incredibly powerful, intense vocals, and strangely complex and equally cinematic instrumentation. It would have been on my Best of list for sure, so check it out for something totally unique.  LOOPRAT - In < No Time

I know I hinted that there was already enough hip hop on my Best of 2017 list, but I had to shout out these homies. LOOPRAT is a St. Louis born-and-bred hip hop collective, consisting of over a dozen members. They are 5 MC's, a full band, and a backup singer, and their live shows are incredible. A live hip hop band, most similar to The Roots, but incorporating other elements of hip hop and jazz as well, they play regularly at small colleges in the midwestern region. I've had the pleasure of getting to know 3 of the MC's in the group, and they are on the path to greatness. Watch out for this crew - they are coming for your ears. White Reaper - The World's Best American Band

It is a damn shame that I didn't listen to this album more over the course of the year. It should have been on my Best of 2017 list for sure, especially due to the fact that it is the only true rock and roll album that I listened to all year. These guys play good, old-fashioned American rock and roll, rocking out with party anthems and rock ballads alike. You will see this album on other best of lists for sure. If you like this one, check out both of their earlier albums - you won't be disappointed.  I'm not sure what I've got coming on next week's blog, perhaps something non-music related, considering I have reviewed over 60 artists in the past 2 posts alone. Please feel free to comment below! #musicreviews #showreviews #moviereviews #entertainmentreviews

[gwynnew]

'Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas' turns 40: An oral history of Jim Henson's holiday Muppet musical

‘Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas’ (Photo: Sony Home Pictures Entertainment/ The Jim Henson Company)

When it comes to Christmas specials, either Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas is among your favorites, or you haven’t seen it yet.  Jim Henson’s captivating musical, starring an ensemble of delightful Muppet critters, has never attained the holiday ubiquity of, say, A Charlie Brown Christmas (with which it shares a gentle humor and sincerity) or the subsequent The Muppet Christmas Carol, releasted in 1992, two years after Henson’s death. For years, it was impossible to find on home video. Nevertheless, Emmet Otter and his friends have maintained a devoted fanbase since their special first aired in December 1977, a following that’s bound to grow now that a 40th anniversary edition of Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas has been released on DVD.

The 53-minute film tells the story of Ma Otter and her son Emmet, who live a simple but joyful life by the river in Frogtown Hollow.  With Christmas around the corner, mother and son know that they’re too poor to buy each other gifts, so each secretly enters the Frogtown Hollow talent contest in hopes of spending the prize money on Christmas.  Emmet, with his woodland friends, forms the jug-band of the title, but must ruin his mother’s income-generating washtub to make a washtub bass; Ma decides to perform a song, and makes a similar, O. Henry-esque sacrifice. When the talent contest takes a surprising turn, Ma and Emmet think all is lost — until they receive the best Christmas gift they never expected.

In addition to being a heartwarming piece of entertainment, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas was a landmark film for the Henson Company. More cinematic and ambitious than any of the Muppets’ previous television projects — with full sets, animatronics, and puppets custom-built for the story — the special paved the way for Henson-produced feature films like The Muppet Movie and The Dark Crystal. Even as he moved onto bigger things, Emmet Otter remained a favorite project of Henson’s throughout his life. His collaborators, including Muppet performers Frank Oz and Dave Goelz and songwriter Paul Williams, still feel the same way. As Goelz told Yahoo Entertainment, Emmet Otter “got right at the essence of Jim’s philosophy — the decency, the sense of giving. And we need that more than ever these days.”

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas premiere, Yahoo Entertainment had a conversation with Oz and Goelz (soon to be reunited onscreen in director Oz’s documentary Muppet Guys Talking), who spoke together for the first time about their Emmet Otter memories.  Yahoo also talked to Williams, who shared the stories behind timeless songs like Ma Otter’s ballad “Our World.” Here is the oral history of Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, from three of Henson’s closest and most devoted collaborators.

Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (Photo: Sony Home Pictures Entertainment/The Jim Henson Company)

Jim Henson and his crew shot Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas in Toronto in March 1977. (The Muppet Show had premiered five months earlier, and Henson’s puppets were still best-known as residents of Sesame Street, then in its eighth season.) The hour-long film, based on a children’s book of the same name by Russell and Lillian Hoban, was adapted for the screen by Muppet Show writer Jerry Juhl.  To write the songs that were crucial to the musical story, Henson approached singer-songwriter Paul Williams, one of The Muppet Show’s early guests and the writer of contemporary radio hits like the Carpenters’ “Rainy Days and Mondays” and Three Dog Night’s “An Old-Fashioned Love Song.”

Paul Williams: I just hit it off beautifully with Jim and with the Muppeteers right from the start. I loved their humor. I love that there was kind of a dark edge to them, with all the bright and sparkly stuff they were doing. But Jim said, “We’re gonna do a special based on a children’s book called Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas.” And he also mentioned that down the line, they were going to be be tackling their first feature-length motion picture, and that he thought this would be a great introductory thing to see how well we worked together. It was interesting because the kind of music that it required was very different than anything I’d ever done.  It was what I would refer to as “Americana.” 

All of the characters in Emmet Otter’s world, more than 30 including non-speaking roles, were played by six puppeteers, Henson included. Frank Oz, the Muppets’ star performer, puppeteered Ma Otter — but unusually, the man behind Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Bert, Grover, and Cookie Monster was dubbed with the voice of another performer, singer Marilyn Sokol.   

Frank Oz: I would be thrown in jail if I tried to sing those songs. Songs that beautiful needed a beautiful voice; it was always intended that way. I just performed it with the dialogue live, and then in post-production Marilyn put her voice in. But Marilyn had already recorded those songs, so on set I could sing to Marilyn’s tempo and feeling and everything. And she was a beautiful singer. 

Watch Ma (voiced by Marilyn Sokol, puppeteered by Frank Oz) and Emmet (Jerry Nelson) perform ‘Ain’t No Hole in the Washtub’:

Dave Goelz, best known for the character of Gonzo, had just recently become a Muppet performer. He started out as a builder in the creature workshop, where he built several of the puppets for Emmet Otter. In the special, he played Wendell porcupine, Emmet’s slow-witted but lovable best friend.

Dave Goelz: Wendell Porcupine was a breakthrough for me at the time, because I’d only done one season on The Muppet Show and I was really a beginner. And I had some success with that character just ad-libbing in the studio. You know, Wendell had a crush on Emmett’s mother. He just loved her and he wanted to spend time with her and it was all kind of strange. But that was just off-camera.

Oz:  And can I say, since I did the mother: I don’t think that obsession was truly platonic.

Goelz: [laughs] I wasn’t gonna go there.

Oz: No, Wendell was a great character, Davey. I love Wendell. He’s so pure. 

Rounding out the cast were fellow Muppet performers Jerry Nelson, who played Emmet; Richard Hunt, who played Emmet’s bandmate Charlie; and Eren Ozker, who played the minor female characters (and had been the only female performer on the first season of The Muppet Show).  All of the performers played multiple creatures; for example, every performer in Emmet Otter’s cuddly jug-band doubled as a member of their ill-mannered rock-and-roll rivals, the Riverbottom Nightmare band.

Goelz: In the bad guy group, I had this catfish. And I had fun doing the fish because we built a squirt mechanism into him so he could spit water. That was his wise-guy thing. Frank’s was that he was extremely tough, his word was law. [laughs] And it was just fun to do these idiots.

Oz:  My guy [Chuck] — he was the leader of the group. In high school, you know when you’ve got the bad guy everybody follows, and he’s a guy who just is so cool? I saw him that way. He reminds me of guys in high school that I was scared of. [laughs]

Goelz: Oh yeah, absolutely. “I’m not hungry, I’m huuuungry.” [laughs] Oh, I loved it. Frank oftentimes will find a moment like that, and it will just be a standout in a whole television show or film. In Muppet Christmas Carol, it was Sam Eagle talking to young Scrooge about a career in “business.” The obscene lust that Sam Eagle had for “business!” Just finding those little moments that you never, ever forget.

Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (Photo: Sony Home Pictures Entertainment/ The Jim Henson Company)

The songs in Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas are meant to sound like timeless American standards, songs that Ma Otter and her family would have been singing for generations. A few titles were suggested by the book, but the majority were invented from scratch by Paul Williams, who found working with Henson and the Muppets to be uniquely inspiring.

 Williams: There’s such an amazing energy that you get working around Jim. I think the more calm you are, the easier the flow of the creative source. If I get tense and say, “Oh my god, I gotta finish this,” things slow down a little bit. But if you can stay as relaxed as Jim seem to be? The songs just poured out of me.

Oz: Paul got the spirit of Muppets and Jim. Not everybody can, you know? People don’t often get the fact of the sense of purity and the sense of play and the sense of integrity of character. They sometimes, as an adult, try to make things clever or funny. But Paul just approached it the same way Jim did, and we did. He had that ability to, in a way, be one of us in the musical realm.

Williams: I think the big mistake that a lot of songwriters make when they’re writing for a musical is to try to write a hit song. And I never did that.

Goelz: But you know, he wrote this lovely song “Barbecue” — “Barbecue lifts my spirit, I swear it never fails” — you know, it made me want barbecue whenever I heard it. And then he turned right around and created this incredible spiritual, “When the River Meets the Sea,” that seems like it’s been around forever. It’s so eternal and it’s so profound. I used to sing it to my kids every night when we put them to bed.

Watch (from left) Harvey Beaver (Jim Henson), Charlie Muskrat (Richard Hunt), Emmet Otter (Jerry Nelson), and Wendell Porcupine (Dave Goelz) sing ‘Barbecue’:

Williams: I remember eating barbecue, and that I would always get it under my nails. I think maybe the first line I got was, “The sauce mama makes’ll stay there forever if you dare to get it under your nails.” And I think that because I was such a middle-of-the road writer, writing for the Carpenters and Three Dog Night, that that first line is very personal: “When you meet somebody who don’t like soul food they still got a soul, and it don’t mean that you ain’t got rhythm if you don’t like rock and roll.” There’s probably a little bit of something defensive in that about, no, I’m not part of the Laurel Canyon, Crosby-Stills-Nash-and-Young crowd, or that hardcore rock-and-roll, Rolling Stones music is not what I wrote. But just because I don’t write rock and roll doesn’t mean that I don’t have a soul. [The next line is] “If your taste’s like mine you like cider not wine” — which is interesting because I’m 27 years sober now, but at the time I definitely preferred wine. But I thought, it’s for the kids. 

Oz:  The music was just the most beautiful stuff. Paul’s written other stuff for us and it’s beautiful, but somehow this is really extraordinary.

Williams: I love the way that “Our World” and “Brothers” come together at the end. You know, I’m an old hippie. In the ’60s I was up in San Francisco with flowers in my hair like everybody else was, and my love beads and my tie dye T-shirts and camouflage pants and work boots and long hair and a top hat with a feather in it. So “Our World” is very, very much in that spirit. It’s a little hymn, you know? It’s like a little hymn. 

Watch The ‘Our World/Brothers’ medley from ‘Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas’:

When characters perform songs in the story, they actually “play” their individual instrument parts. The tracks were pre-recorded, so they weren’t making the music live — but the Muppeteers put enormous effort into getting it right.  

Oz: We all worked hard on that. If you look at Wendell playing the jug — Davey got that jug track, and he rehearsed that jug track alone. I got the washtub track with a single string. We each got our own part and rehearsed it, and then when it was mixed together, we knew our parts. And we always took pride in the fact that we didn’t fake all that stuff; we really rehearsed that very well. We’d do that for The Muppet Show too.

Emmet Otter was a labor of love for all involved, but days of shooting with puppets could be repetitive and tedious. This is illustrated, hilariously, by an outtake reel of a single shot included on the DVD. (Watch it below.) In the 10-second shot, Ma (Oz, pre-voice dubbing) and Emmet are standing outside a music store that is being trashed by the Riverbottom Nightmare band. A drum is supposed to come rolling out of the door and land in front of them. When the drum doesn’t land in the right place, Henson resets the shot again, and again, and again, a total of 33 times, while the puppeteers ad-lib between takes.

Oz: The drum rolling was classic. I remember we rehearsed it. Jerry and I were underneath the set, just like all the other performers, so we’re in two holes. And in the rehearsal it landed beautifully, perfect  — so we thought, we’ll do it again. It must have been 30, 40 takes? But Jim would not give up. We’d be there all day long.

Watch The outtakes reel for the drum-rolling scene:

Goelz: That’s the thing that differentiates the Muppets: nobody else is crazy enough to do this.

Oz: It’s true. These days you have CG, and it’s just not as much fun because you can always throw money at something and do it. But when we did it with Jim it was real time. And so you had to be a little bit crazy – and Jim was, in that regard. He would just do anything. And I think Davey’s right, nobody actually understood the depth of experience we went through to fulfill Jim’s vision.

Goelz: That commitment is so deep and so persistent. It was actually a lesson about life, too, for me anyway. I went on from there and I thought: If something’s really important, you do whatever it takes.

Oz: What was funny to me was, that take was like shooting dice. There’s no way you could control that drum! [laughs] It was just blind faith that it would do it again.

Goelz: It’s probably worth saying that Frank and Jerry were in a lot of pain during that, because underneath that set, when you have your arm stuck in a hole, there are all these beams that go right through where your head is supposed to be. And so your head can’t be where it normally is on your shoulders; you have to put it off to the side somewhere. And it hurts like crazy. And when you go over and over like that for as long as that was, you’re in a lot of pain. And in spite of that you have to perform; you have to compartmentalize it.

Oz: And that’s what we learned from Jim. And Dave does the same thing and Richie Hunt did the same thing — all of us did the same thing, where I say, we just sustained the pain to get the performance. All of us did.

Goelz: And at the same time, Frank was still throwing in ad libs after every failure. 

As a puppeteer, Goelz had his own unique physical challenge on Emmet Otter set: performing the catfish in a full tank of water during the Riverbottom Nightmare Band’s performance. (Watch it below.)

Goelz: That was a scary thing, because the set-up was, the fish tank was built into the set. It had a hole in the upstage side, away from the camera, and a wetsuit arm glued securely into it so you could fill the tank with water, put the arm inside the wetsuit on, and then somebody would put the puppet on your hand. And I was sitting on a forklift truck; there was a palette on a forklift truck that held me at the right height so I could put my arm into this tank. I remember just the whole time I was terrified that somebody might come along and turn the switch, and if that palette went down, my arm would just be cut off like a guillotine! [laughs] I think Frank knew that and he really loved it.

Oz: I love anytime when somebody else is in pain. Sure. [laughs]

Goelz: Especially me, for some reason.

Oz: Oh there’s many reasons.

The Riverbottom Nightmare Band performs their signature song. Performers include Dave Goelz as the catfish dancing in the water tank and Frank Oz as lead singer and keyboardist Chuck. 

Though filled with old-fashioned charm, Emmet Otter actually employed a savvy blend of age-old puppetry techniques and cutting-edge animatronic technology. Engineering wizard Franz “Faz” Fazakas, a frequent Muppet collaborator, designed the rowboat that could be steered along the set’s 50-foot river, and rigged versions of Ma and Emmet that could be operated via remote control while they were on the water. 

Goelz:  The boat was super high tech. The radio-controlled Emmet and the radio-controlled boat worked together so Emmet could row it around, just like a real rowboat.

Oz: And while the boat was being rowed around, Ma could be singing, because of the remote control. However, when it got into a closer shot, Jim just put the boat in front of the river — so we’re on the studio floor, and the camera’s shooting at us past the river in the background.

Goelz: For close-ups, they wanted to use hand puppets for better manipulation than you can get with a remote control figure. Same thing was done in The Dark Crystal actually, same exact technique.  But then on the same shoot, we also had puppets marionetted. So occasionally in long shots, you’d see Emmet walking across this big wide shot as a marionette. And that was very primitive; they looked pretty silly walking along with their feet kicking out as they walked. But to me it’s all part of the charm. I just love that it’s that way.

‘Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas’ (Photo: Sony Home Pictures Entertainment/ The Jim Henson Company)

Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas premiered on Canadian television in December 1977, followed by an HBO premiere in 1978 and a network premiere on ABC in 1980. The critically acclaimed special provided a groundwork for the Muppets’ feature films, which took Henson’s detailed world-building, groundbreaking special effects, and Muppet-specific cinematic techniques to a new level.  Williams went on to write songs for The Muppet Movie, The Muppet Christmas Carol, and the 2008 stage adaptation of Emmet Otter. The tale of Frogtown Hollow continued to hold a special place in the hearts of those involved — including Henson, who included one of Emmet Otter’s songs in the musical program he designed for his memorial service (held in New York City on May 21, 1990, five days after his death).  

Williams: The last thing that I ever expected was to hear “When the River Meets the Sea” at Jim’s funeral. It was an especially emotional moment in the funeral for me. But I think that the songs in Emmet Otter, and the way that Emmet Otter rolled out, is exactly what Jim wanted. I think it’s a gorgeous little jewel of the Muppets at their best.

Oz: If people made Emmet Otter these days, they would make it for little children. We never made it for children. We just did it for ourselves, and so we enjoyed it for ourselves.

Goelz: None of us talked about it — especially Jim — but I think that this show represented Jim’s philosophy very accurately. And I think in all of our work, a part of it may have been that we were trying to show a world the way we’d like the world to be.

Oz:  It’s such a chancey thing that Jim always did, which is take a chance on real purity and sweetness. We don’t want cloying, we don’t like cute — but sweet is legitimate. And Jim just went for it.

Goelz: You know, we just did two shows with the Muppets at the Hollywood Bowl back in September. They were literally like these long, extended Muppet Shows. And we had packed houses, eighteen thousand people in the audience. You could just feel their hunger for decency, and innocence and whimsy. The world really wants that right now.

Watch Ma Otter sing ‘When the River Meets the Sea’: 

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Frank Oz admits ‘it hurt’ to give up Muppets, says they’ll never be as ‘touching and soulful’ (exclusive)

‘Princess Bride’ at 30: Cary Elwes on the scene he dreamed up, his battle scar, and those extreme fans