Fame, doubt--Lewis Carroll

"Lewis Carroll Hated Fame So Much, He Sometimes Regretted Writing Alice"

by

Lauren Davis

April 18th, 2014

io9

Charles Dodgson, the author and mathematician better known as Lewis Carroll, wrote about a young girl lost in surreal dreamscapes. But Dodgson had trouble navigating treacherous landscape of his own: literary fame.

The author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass wrote in 1891 letter to one Mrs. Symonds, explaining his particular discomfort with his fame:

    I don't think I explained successfully my reasons for disliking letters of mine being put into autograph-collections. All that sort of publicity leads to strangers hearing of my real name in connection with the books, and to my being pointed out to, and started at by, strangers, and treated as a 'lion.' And I hate all that so intensely that sometimes I almost wish I had never written any books at all.

The letter was recently sold through Bonhams at auction for £11,875 by the University of Southern California, meaning the anti-fame missive has landed in a place very much obsessed with fame: Los Angeles.

"Fame-Hating Lewis Carroll Letter Lands in Los Angeles"

by

Jennifer Schuessler

April 17th, 2014

The New York Times

A letter by Lewis Carroll declaring his hatred for fame and sometime wish that he had never written “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” has now found a home in the epicenter of the global celebrity hellscape: Los Angeles.

The University of Southern California announced that it is the new owner of the letter, which was purchased anonymously at the London auction house Bonhams in March for $19,800, several times the estimate.

In the three-page letter, written to his friend Anne Symonds in 1891, Carroll (whose real name was Charles Dodgson) railed against collectors of his autograph letters. “All of that sort of publicity leads to strangers hearing of my real name in connection with the books, and to my being pointed out to and stared at by strangers and being treated as a ‘lion,’” he wrote. “And I hate all of that so intensely that sometimes I almost wish I had never written any books at all.”

In a statement, Abby Saunders, the curator of the university’s collection of more than 3,000 books, pamphlets, games and other items relating to Carroll, acknowledged the dry humor that could be made of the new acquisition. “Here in Los Angeles, where celebrity culture goes hand in hand with the film industry,” she said, “Carroll’s thoughts on fame are especially poignant.”

Missed it...Charles Lutwidge Dodgson's birthday

Probably the most beloved child literature author was born on January 27th,1832. Adults enjoy his literature too.

Above is a snap of a stage production of Alice in Wonderland taken by Victorian society photographer Alexander Bassano in 1900 at the Vaudeville Theatre.

Use the blog's search engine for many more items on Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland.

Disney dumps 2D animation

As the way of landline telephones and desktop PCs.

"Disney turns away from hand-drawn animation"

Studio says none of its animation companies are working in the traditional 2D format, and there are no current plans to do so again

by

Ben Child   

March 7th, 2013

guardian.co.uk

Disney, the Hollywood titan which brought the world classics such as Fantasia, Bambi and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, has admitted it has no current plans to make hand drawn animated films.

Speaking at an annual shareholder's meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, on Wednesday, chief executive Bob Iger revealed that none of the studio's animation companies was working on 2D, hand-drawn material for the big screen. While Iger did not rule out returning in the future to the style which made the company famous, the long gestation period for Hollywood animated productions means a gap of several years before any new film might emerge.

"To my knowledge we're not developing a 2D or hand-drawn feature animated film right now," said Iger. "There is a fair amount of activity going on in hand-drawn animation but it's largely for television at this point. We're not necessarily ruling out the possibility [of] a feature but there isn't any in development at the company at the moment."
The news will upset fans of traditional hand-drawn animation, who had been cheered by the revival of the form under John Lasseter, the Pixar boss who also became Disney Animation's chief creative officer in 2006. Lasseter told a London audience for a 2009 screening of Bolt (a CGI animation) that he had re-hired many of the animators who were ditched by the previous regime because of the emergence of computer-generated technology in the 1990s.

"Unfortunately 2D became the excuse for poor storytelling," said Lasseter, who pioneered the CGI animation revolution with Toy Story in 1995. "The general consensus was that audiences did not want to watch hand-drawn animated films, which is of course completely ridiculous. The day I stepped in we got in touch with these guys and set about bringing back the artists that Disney had laid off."
The studio subsequently put the hand-drawn animation The Princess and the Frog into production. The traditional musical, based on the Brothers Grimm story the Frog Prince but relocating the action to 1920s New Orleans, was well-reviewed but failed to mirror the astounding success of Pixar at the box office with a middling return of $267m (£178m). Another hand-drawn animation – 2011's Winnie the Pooh – drew praise from critics but pulled in just $33m across the globe. Meanwhile, Disney CGI efforts such as 2009's Bolt and 2010's Tangled grossed $310m and $590m respectively.

It may not all be hard lines for the style that made the studio famous, however. One US blogger covering the news of hand-drawn animation's demise has pointed to rumours that Disney is planning a feature using similar techniques to the Oscar-winning short film Paperman. That film was produced by animators working with computers who were drawing rather than modelling images. The studio's animated film arm is also offering an eight-week intern program specifically in 2D animation this summer.


Something new in animation...Disney's "Paperman"

"Alice in Wonderland" interpretative compilation

Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland--the "unbirthday tea party".

This is the first known screen adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.

1903

Give it some thought...Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland [and Through the looking Glass] probably have the distinction of more literary and film interpretations than any other piece of literature.

Arthur Rackham

Salvador Dali

And the celluloid world has had scores of presentations from professional to amateur...animated, live, stop motion [Lou Bunin, Jan Svanmajer, and Walt Disney].

Trailer for Jan Svanmajer's Alice...

And the amateur has been busy too with some wild interpretations. You have to remember that it is quite difficult to express on film the subtle logic of Lewis Carroll so most stick to the basic framework.

Here are some sample amateur films...

This is the most difficult to follow...

And, this is the best...

Move over Alice...George, Paul, Ringo, and John took over

Constance Bennett as Alice

Two of the more mysterious tunes from the Fab Four. Anyone wish to offer something more than what Wikipedia provided?

I Am the Walrus

B-side to the Hello, Goodbye

1967

I am he as you are he as you are me
And we are all together
See how they run like pigs from a gun see how they fly
I'm crying
Sitting on a cornflake waiting for the van to come
Corporation teeshirt, stupid bloody Tuesday
Man you been a naughty boy. You let your face grow long
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen
I am the walrus, goo goo goo joob
Mister City Policeman sitting, pretty little policemen in a row
See how they fly like Lucy in the sky, see how they run
I'm crying, I'm crying
I'm crying, I'm crying
Yellow matter custard dripping from a dead dog's eye
Crabalocker fishwife pornographic priestess
Boy you been a naughty girl, you let your knickers down
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen
I am the walrus, goo goo goo joob
Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun
If the sun don't come
You get a tan from standing in the English rain
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen
I am the walrus, goo goo goo joob goo goo goo goo joob
Expert textpert choking smokers
Don't you think the joker laughs at you? (Ha ha ha! He he he! Ha ha ha!)
See how they smile like pigs in a sty, see how they snied
I'm crying
Semolina pilchard climbing up the Eiffel Tower
Elementary penguin singing Hare Krishna
Man you should have seen them kicking Edgar Alan Poe
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen
I am the walrus, goo goo goo joob goo goo goo joob
Goo goo goo joob goo goo goo joob
Goo gooooooooooo jooba jooba jooba jooba jooba jooba
Jooba jooba
Jooba jooba
Jooba jooba

Glass Onion

The White Album

1968

I told you about strawberry fields,
You know the place where nothing is real
Well here's another place you can go
Where everthing flows.
Looking through the bent backed tulips
To see how the other half lives
Looking through a glass onion.
I told you about the walrus and me-man
You know that we're as close as can be-man.
Well here's another clue for you all,
The walrus was Paul.
Standing on the cast iron shore-yeah,
Lady Madonna trying to make ends meet-yeah.
Looking through a glass onion.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.
Looking through a glass onion.
I told you about the fool on the hill,
I tell you man he living there still.
Well here's another place you can be,
Listen to me.
Fixing a hole in the ocean
Trying to make a dove-tail joint-yeah
Looking through a glass onion

I Am the Walrus [Wikipedia]

Glass Onion [Wikipedia]

Lewis Carroll fun

"Nearly Deafened And Disoriented, Alice Is Besieged By The Carcophonic Chaos Of Fifty Two Mischievous Playing Cards"--Mercury

"Alice In Wonderland: An Interactive Adventure"

"Alice's Maze"

Lewis Carroll’s Puzzle Page