"I'm afraid we won't be able to follow the original plan
It's Christmas. ”
In the past few days, although a British news has not caused an uproar in China, it must have brought a lot of "shock" to people living in the United Kingdom - this year's "Christmas" will be affected by the epidemic and will be "forced to cancel". British Prime Minister Boris made a speech with a heavy heart, saying: "I am afraid that we will not be able to spend Christmas as originally planned." ”
Figure | In response to the "out of control" outbreak, British Prime Minister Boris announced a new lockdown plan during Christmas, with London in the highest level of lockdown.
As soon as the news came out, many citizens living in London left London overnight, and the reporter of the Post newspaper "looked up at the sky and sighed" in the Sunday newspaper: "When will such a nightmare end?" As a "former international student" who has left the UK and lives in China, the author seems to feel some "déjà vu" when looking at the tense epidemic prevention situation in the UK today, and I can't help but be more grateful for the correct epidemic prevention decision made by the Chinese government nearly a year ago.
The image above | There were long queues at the airport, but 30 countries urgently introduced a "flight ban" on the United Kingdom, and the British government announced that anyone who "left London without special reasons" would be fined.
The following figure | On the first day of the lockdown, Regent Street was still covered with Christmas decorations, but the streets were empty and a man dressed as Santa Claus was rollerblading in the driveway.
For Western countries, Christmas and the consequent cross-Chinese New Year's Eve can be said to be as important as our Spring Festival, on Christmas Eve people generally have to go home to reunite, open the gifts prepared by their families, enjoy a big meal, and look forward to a better year. Of course, in some of these families, Christmas is inseparable, as well as those "Holiday Movies" that bring them joy and emotion.
This year, Netflix also gave fans who love holiday movies a special gift — a "Christmas documentary" that tells the story behind the scenes of classic holiday movies, "The Holiday Movies that made us." This two-part documentary series is a special episode of Netflix's "The Movies that made us" (2019) in 2019, the first episode mainly introduces us to the behind-the-scenes story of the well-known Christmas movie "Christmas Genie" in the United States, and the second episode brings us the world's first stop-motion feature film, "The Nightmare of Christmas Eve".
So today, let the little woo introduce the unknown little stories behind these two festival movies that can be said to be famous through this documentary!
The Christmas Wizard
A timeless Christmas classic movie
Before we talk about Elf (2003), we have to mention one movie, Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer, a 52-minute stop-motion animated television film produced by Rankin/Bass Productions in 1964.
This work is about Rudolph, who was born with a strange red nose, being ostracized by the people in the Christmas Village, and the elf Hemi, who is sick with him, is ridiculed because he has different aspirations from other elves, one man and one deer after leaving the Christmas Village to embark on a journey, they meet many good friends, and with their help, Rudolph finally defeats the Snow Monster, and becomes the leader of the reindeer in bad weather, using his red nose to illuminate the way ahead for Santa Claus and save Christmas.
Figure | Poster of Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer
Perhaps from today's point of view, this 64-year work has been biased towards "pediatrics" in terms of narrative method and story composition, which is more like a fairy tale, and incorporates the philosophy of "being yourself" and "embracing them differently" and so on. But the work really affected one person, David Berenbaum.
Growing up in Philadelphia, David Belenbaum, who grew up with an inseparable attachment to Christmas and Christmas movies, left his hometown of winter in 1993 for Los Angeles, where the weather was very different from Philadelphia and his unsatisfactory work made him feel out of place with the city. In order to make himself "feel at home", he chose to use the Christmas holidays to re-watch his favorite Christmas movies at home. And when he re-watched "Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer", he suddenly had the idea of creating "Christmas Elf".
Figure | David Belenbaum has loved Christmas movies since he was a child.
If in "Red-nosed Reindeer Rudolph", Rudolph is incompatible with the entire Christmas village because of his red nose, then buddy, the male protagonist of "The Christmas Elf", is incompatible with New York City because of his dress and unusual way of doing things. But as Buddy goes from "not being welcomed", to falling in love, to gradually warming his father with his kindness, "Christmas Elf" makes people smile, no longer just the absurd and funny paragraphs in the film, but the smile from the heart after feeling the power of that warmth.
Figure | Whether it is visual presentation, or costumes, character settings, "Christmas Elf" can be said to be in the same line as "Red-nosed Reindeer Rudolph".
After the script was completed, David approached two producers, Jon Berg and Todd Komarnicki.
Perhaps the names of these two producers are very unfamiliar, and indeed, they were indeed unknown juniors at that time. But if you talk about the movies they're producing today, you might be surprised — Jon Borg is a producer for DC's Justice League, a producer for Wonder Woman and Aquaman, and a producer for Atango's 2014 high-scoring sci-fi work Edge of Tomorrow and the 2019 thriller Doctor Sleep. Todd Komalnikki was the screenwriter of Captain Sully.
Figure | Todd Komalniki and Jon Borg. Both of them are no longer the "stunned youth" of the past.
These three "no-name pawns" were all shy at that time, and Jon Borg said bluntly in the documentary, "I can only afford coffee", and what really brought the three people together was the hit on the lead actor. After reading the script, everyone thought that Will Ferrell was the perfect choice for the hero, although Will Farrell had not yet become famous in the film industry at that time, and his popularity came from the "Saturday Night Live" column he co-hosted.
Figure | Will Farrell's performance on Saturday Night Live led the two producers to believe he was Buddy's perfect choice.
Despite the fact that the producers, writers, and celebrities agreed to perform, the film's path did not go smoothly. After being rejected by several film production companies, a junior producer named Carl Boyette threw an "olive branch" to them. However, the "big guy" who has now become the producer of the new version of "Dune" was just a "rookie" at that time. He had no experience in filmmaking, but simply wanted to see more of his idol, Will Farrell, and he took over the script and fell in love with the script.
With a production company, a producer, a producer, a screenwriter and a lead actor, "Christmas Elf" is only one last soul character away from the official "set sail" -
Figure | He is The Right Hand man of Stark in Iron Man, One of the producers of The Avengers, the founder of the recently hit Mandalorian series and the director of some episodes, Jon Feiru.
Don't look at Jon Favreau, who is now one of Hollywood's top directors, who had no experience as a feature film director at the time, and who, as we know him, is an actor. Jon Feiru shares a special Christmas plot with David Belenbaum. Jon M Fei Ru's mother died at the time of Fei Ru, and she died around Christmas, so Christmas movies for Fei Ru are not only a matter of joy and warmth, but also a way to heal with her father.
And David, when he was a child, his father died, and "Christmas Elf" is not only a Christmas movie for him, but also a movie that pursues "father".
Perhaps because both have similar experiences and feelings, David did not hesitate to choose Jon Feiru as the director of "Christmas Elf".
Figure | Jon Feiru and Will Farrell at work while taking pictures on the streets of New York.
In this way, "Christmas Genie" began to take its own path, and eventually completely changed the Christmas of many people.
There is no doubt that the birth of "Christmas Elf" has also experienced many twists and turns, and there have been people who hope to change the setting of the heroine Joey to a prostitute; the final crucial touching scene of the film was cut during the test screening, just for fear that the audience will not be able to understand the laughter of the film. But in the end, this group of fledgling young people did not compromise, they still insisted on their ideas, and really guarded the work they regarded as the most precious.
Perhaps the reason why "Christmas Elf" can still look so moving to this day may not only rely on moving stories and hilarious jokes, but while watching the film, the audience can still feel the sincere heart of the workers behind it!
Figure | This group of young creators also started their careers in the film and television industry with this work, and gradually became what they are today.
"The Nightmare Before Christmas"
A film that doesn't really belong to Tim Burton
Although tim Burton is given the title of the film, the "behind-the-scenes hero" who really led to the formation of the work is someone else.
Compared to the warmth of "Christmas Fairy", "The Nightmare Before Christmas" actually looks almost without the warmth and brightness of Christmas. The film tells the story of Jack, the pumpkin king who lives in Halloween City, who is tired of frightening others, and decides to become a Santa Claus after accidentally breaking into Christmas Town, but finally with the help of the kind-hearted Sally, he sees himself clearly and saves Santa Claus and returns Christmas to people. He also began a new love journey with Sally.
Figure | When the King of Halloween mistakenly breaks into Christmas Town, a magical journey truly begins.
The story behind the birth of this work is equally exciting.
Tim Burton, who had not yet become famous in his early years, worked at Disney, but soon Tim Burton discovered that he didn't really love Disney's cute animated characters, but during his time at Disney, Tim Burton also became acquainted with Henry Selick and Rick Heinrichs. These two contributed greatly to the birth of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in the future.
At that time, the obscure group of three began to gradually turn Tim Burton's paintings into sculptures, until one day Tim Burton had a whim to explore the story of what would happen after Jack the Skeleton Man crossed into Christmas Town. However, the project was vetoed by the Disney executives at the time, which also brought Tim's time at Disney to an end, but the "witty" Disney firmly held the ownership of the project in its own hands before Tim Burton left.
Figure | It seems that Disney's "wit" and "foresight" are not a day's work
After leaving Disney, Tim Burton was discovered by Paul Renbens to direct his first feature film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), which was a huge success. It can also be said that Tim Burton has been able to enjoy a smooth career as a director since then.
Figure | Tim Burton (left) and Paul Rebbins (right) on set.
But Paul Rebbins didn't just unearth Tim Burton. It was he who brought Danny Elfman, the film and television soundtrack artist who is now in the ascendancy, on the path of film scoring. After scoring The Adventures of Ridiculous Little Bastards, Tim Burton and Danny Yefman collaborated on several films, including Batman (1989), which grossed $400 million.
Figure | Danny Yefman, who has scored well-known works such as Justice League, Avengers 2, Charlotte's Net, Zombie Bride and so on.
The uneventful Tim Burton went back to Disney and asked to buy back the rights to "The Nightmare Before Christmas" that they held in their hands. The witty Disney said, why not make it together? Thus, after gaining full control of the film and the $18 million cost, the production of "Christmas Horror Night" really began.
However, at this time, Warner Bros., who had tasted the sweetness, once again approached Tim Burton, invited him to shoot the Batman sequel Batman Returns (Batman Returns.1992), and gave all control to Tim Burton.
The distraught Tim Burton originally wanted to give the task of supervising "Christmas Horror Night" to Rick Hayne Ridges, who was also the art director of batman returns, but Rick also thought that the challenge of making two films at the same time was too great, and in the end, Rick invited Henry Celik, who had been a member of the three-member team, to direct the film for Tim Burton.
Figure | Tim Burton poses with Henry Celik at the set
Figure | A group photo of all the staff of "The Nightmare Before Christmas"
However, the cooperation between the three-person squad does not seem to be as "harmonious" as imagined, in order to ensure that "Christmas Night Horror" is full of "Bolton flavor" at all times, Rick has to take a plane every weekend from the filming location of "Batman Returns" to the production site of "Christmas Night Horror" to "correct" the direction of the project.
Figure | Initially, Rick simply used a fax machine to "overwatch", but as production progressed, eventually Rick began flying to San Francisco every weekend to make sure the film was always the way Tim Burton wanted it to be.
At this moment, the original screenwriter of "Nightmare Before Christmas", Michael McDowell, became addicted to drugs and could not complete the script, and was eventually fired from the crew. Interestingly, the script for "The Nightmare Before Christmas" was written by Caroline Thompson, who was living with Danny Yeffman at the time.
Caroline Thompson also worked with Tim Burton in the famous Edward Scissorhands (1990). After Caroline took over, she began to gradually string together Yefman's completed songs to form a story, but she also found that because the songs preceded the script, the image of Jack left her little space, but the image of the heroine Sally was not standing up at all.
If Danny Yeffman poured "herself" into jack to a large extent, Caroline also put her soul into it when she created Sally. Thinking of it this way, it is quite romantic.
Figure | Danny Yefman and Caroline Thompson were photographed, but the two eventually broke up.
Still, the wonderful behind-the-scenes story is far from over.
As the film was about to be completed, there was a discussion within the creative team about whether to revise the ending. Director Henry expressed that he wanted the ending of the film to be changed to Dr. Finkelstein, the real boss, and he has been pretending to be Mr. Buke. However, Tim Burton hated the ending so much that he kicked through the office wall. This "celebrity kick" can be said to have caused a lot of discussion in the crew, and eventually the crew even removed this part of the wall and framed it.
After two long years of production, the film was finally completed, and during the test screening, Caroline told Tim Bolton that "I can do better about the ending", but unexpectedly caused the anger of Tim Burton, who even smashed a clip machine after a violent run. Caroline didn't get a chance to rewrite the film's ending in the end.
Figure | I never expected Tim Burton to have such a side
In this way, in 1993, the film was finally released. However, in order to expand the film's influence, the filmmakers added the words "Tim Burton's" before the title of "The Nightmare Before Christmas Night". This also made other working members feel a little "wronged". Although it was they who had sweated for years, the fruits of this labor were finally easily harvested by Tim Burton. In fact, even today, there may still be many people who think that the film was directed by Tim Burton, but this is far from the case.
Figure | "Tim Burton's" "The Nightmare Before Christmas"
2020
Christmas movies never stop
In 2020, the epidemic for the film and television industry can be described as fatal, in order to prevent the outbreak of the epidemic, many countries have formulated extremely strict epidemic prevention policies for the crew, but even so, the film and television colleagues at home and abroad still strive to create a "Christmas movie list" for us.
Figure | In the Christmas movies of 2020, there are also hidden masterpieces that bring happiness to people.
"Holiday Dating" (Holidate) shows us how a pair of "pseudo couples" who only disguise themselves as couples to cope with their families on holidays can fake the real drama and really do it, step by step falling in love, becoming a real couple, and poking at the "girlish heart" of countless people while being funny, and letting people discover how love is gradually emerging.
Figure | "Holiday Dating" stills, after a year of large and small festivals, the feelings of male and female protagonists are also gradually advancing.
"Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey" wraps us in a steampunk style for us a song and dance drama for all ages, telling the story of how a little girl helps her grandfather regain her confidence and "faith" in life through her ingenuity. Although the plot is a bit low, it is also a good choice for the family to relax.
Figure | stills of "Jingle Bells", the little girl finally saved the relationship between the three generations of grandchildren and also saved her grandfather's career through her kindness and faith.
The animated film Angela's Christmas Wish centers on the reunion, telling the story of a little girl Angela who embarks on an adventure with her brothers and friends in order to reunite her father and celebrate Christmas. Similarly, the audience of the film is still aimed at children of the lower age, but watching the film from the perspective of adults can still feel melted and warm.
Figure | Angela's Christmas Wish poster
"The Lego Movie" also launched a Christmas special this year, "The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special", which pays tribute to the "Star Wars" series throughout the film, which can be said to be a "Christmas compulsory course" for Star Wars fans. In the forty-minute run, the film contains almost all the memes related to the Star Wars series, not even the recent "Mandalorian", and watching Rey travel through time and interact with the Star Wars characters we are familiar with.
Figure | The characters we have in mind are all on the scene, and with funny lines, it is hilarious.
This year's LGBTQ-themed Christmas films are equally remarkable, with "Happiest Season" joined by Kristen Stewart and McKenzie Davis, which tells us about director Duvald's personal experience, returning to the family while also showing the audience how difficult it is for a woman who grew up in a conservative family to really face herself. At the same time, director Duval also conveyed his kindness in the interview to those who experienced the struggle, "No matter where your journey goes, it will be fine."
Figure | Although the film eventually returns to the happy ending that Christmas movies should have, the questions raised by the film are indeed worth pondering.
In addition, there are many long-awaited movies at home and abroad that have been released and launched at Christmas and the end of the year, wonder woman 1984 (Wonder Woman 1984), Soul, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Small Axe Series, Bomb Disposal Expert 2, Send You a Little Red Flower, etc., are long-awaited and worth seeing. Maybe this year's Christmas and New Year's Day, people at home and abroad still can't go anywhere. But at least, there are still these film and television works to accompany you and bring you some warmth and touch.
So, which one is your favorite Christmas movie this year? Tell the little woo in the comments!
Finally, I wish you all --
*This article is published exclusively by Cinemaoo, the content only represents the views of the author, does not represent the position of this public account. Unauthorized reproduction is not permitted.
directed by