"Smart Talk With Raisin" was a small animated short directed and produced by none other than John R. Dilworth, the man behind the ever popular Courage the Cowardly Dog. It, along with several other animated shorts before and after it, premiered on January 30th 1994 on Liquid MTV. And my, does it have Mr. Dilworth written all over it.
In true style, it's weird, its surreal, off the wall, and definitely full of reminiscent visuals, if you have seen Courage. The plot focuses on a young girl, Raisin, and her delinquent brother, Malcolm, watching their dog Hamilton (who is seemingly a precursor to Courage) perform a magic show. While Raisin is a supporter of Hamiltons magic show, (which, he has up to this point yet to perform), her brother Malcolm is a naysayer to the nth degree. Throughout the film, he continually discourages Hamilton, claiming he is not fit to be a magician, that he should just give it up. After Malcolm catches the recieving end of corporal punishment by his mother (for selling coupons at school), Raisin continues to support her dog as he finally performs his magic trick.
This, to me, is brilliant. Placing surrealism aside, I feel it's a basic example of a very clear message. No extra depth, just a cut and dry message. Don't let others get you down, regardless of the circumstances, for they are fearful of their own shortcomings. Malcolm obviously serves as "the negative influence" while Raisin served as well, really, the courage for her dog and his sense of self worth. Yeah, as weird as it is, it sets a very clear precident, and is John R. Dilworth simply saying, "hey, I wont stop from trying to reach my goal". Deep meaning aside, the film is also rather humorous, including some residuals present in Courage, such as bug eyes, crooked teeth and outright silly facial expressions. My theory? Raisin is the daughter of a young Muriel and Eustace.
No comments:
Post a Comment