Animation &Daily post 26 Jun 2006 07:55 am
Robot Heads
A Scanner Darkly opens on July 11. This is the animated film adapted by Richard Linklater from the Philip K. Dick story. It’s done in the same rotoscoped style (or whatever computer folk call it) used in Waking Life.
There’s an unusual side story to the opening of this film. I caught this article in Saturday’s NY Times: A Strange Loss of Face, More Than Embarrassing.
The “Face” in the headline is really the head of a robot designed by “computer whiz, David Hanson”. This was an android version of the late author, P.K. Dick. The robot would sit and answer questions in a presumably lifelike manner.
Hanson enroute to LA accidentally left the head on his plane in an American Tourister rollaway bag. When he called the airline, they’d located the head, put the bag in a box (so they said) and shipped it to the owner. Unfortunately, the head never arrived .
Gone was the interview between Letterman and the robot-P.K. Dick. Gone were the personal appearances. How did it affect the publicity plan for A Scanner Darkly? My favorite line in the article comes at the end. A studio exec said, “He was perfect for the film. Now he’s disappeared — and that’s perfect for the film too.”
(The robot-head.)
Real life.
- Mark Kennedy has been posting some beautiful thumbnails by Bill Peet on his blog, Temple of the Seven Golden Camels. These drawings from Sword In The Stone are an inspiration. By the way, if you don’t own Bill Peet’s autobiography, you’re missing out on one of the great books available.
