Apr 6, 2011

Dali Tribute


Appropriately set to a song titled "Dali" from Bernard Fevre's 2009 album The Strange New World Of Bernard Fevre, a youtube video plays Warner Bros. 1938 short film Porky in Wackyland and its 1949 color remake Dough for the Do-Do side-by-side to easily compare the changes made. Taking place in a Salvador Dali inspired world, the introduction of color allows for more obvious references to Dali's work in Dough for the Do-Do. The title screen may be the greatest edit to point out the Dali references in the remake. (see above). Melting clocks hang on a clothesline in Dali's signature desolate, mountainous landscape, a drastic change from the black background and animated Porky selling newspapers in the original Porky in Wackyland. Substitutions for objects in the background make the transition from surreal to Dali-esque, for example: giant mushrooms are substituted with rock statues and giant skeletons, an igloo is substituted with a half-buried guitar, and angular sculptures are substituted with more fluid, ambiguous shapes. Dali's famous clocks appear multiple times in the remake in the forms of stop watches, grandfather clocks, and sundials. While the first film may have made suggestions towards Dali's work, the remake seems to be more of a tribute to it.


-Melanie-

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