tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post2364443623339519444..comments2023-12-31T01:23:39.943-05:00Comments on Mayerson on Animation: Invitation to the DanceMark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-30413685535760367512011-09-19T13:50:04.998-04:002011-09-19T13:50:04.998-04:00I've never seen the whole film, only the clip ...I've never seen the whole film, only the clip embedded, but the animation here strikes me as having the same lifelessness as all of the non-Avery MGM animation had at the time. Clunky character design and dull movement = no fun.Thadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04443425643665474645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-71955792724134785902011-09-19T13:24:32.344-04:002011-09-19T13:24:32.344-04:00This film is available on DVD at Warner Archives. ...This film is available on DVD at Warner Archives. It is NOT great. Some fun stuff here and there, but a massive ego project for Gene Kelly.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-10601924924571912392011-09-18T15:08:06.086-04:002011-09-18T15:08:06.086-04:00I've got a newspaper clipping from the time of...I've got a newspaper clipping from the time of release which praises Fred Quimby, as if he had anything to do with it. Not a mention at all about Mike Lah's animation.Yowphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09264605351878574044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-8691784000083080962011-09-18T09:48:28.143-04:002011-09-18T09:48:28.143-04:00I've always liked "Invitation to the Danc...I've always liked "Invitation to the Dance", a film that I've had on VHS for many years. This animated Arabian sequence is one of a trilogy of stories, the other two being completely live-action. This segment with the serpent I think is quite brilliant and inventive in its stylized movement - the kind of thing drawn animation does best. I love the way her coils are used to cleverly simulate arms and legs. <br /><br />The latter half of the Arabian story is less inspired, with the dancing of the harem girl and the two henchmen being too obviously rotoscoped and naturalistic in the way they move. I wish that the rotoscoping had been used only as a point of departure, and that their movement be more wildly stylized in the final animation like that of the serpent. Still a fun sequence, though, and the whole film is proof that Gene Kelly was trying to explore dancing in ever more inventive ways on-screen.Pete Emsliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01451607722482352366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-81171343778324473752011-09-18T09:19:37.694-04:002011-09-18T09:19:37.694-04:00Wow. You are right. I've never heard of that...Wow. You are right. I've never heard of that movie! Very nice.Rodney Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17953461648033310302noreply@blogger.com