Like its lauded predecessor Back To The Start, Chipotle’s new ambitious short–The Scarecrow, out of CAA Marketing–features an ecological message, an accomplished vocalist’s cover of a well-known song (Fiona Apple crooning “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) and eloquent animation.
The latter is compliments of Moonbot Studios in Shreveport, Louisiana, winner of a Best Animated Short Film Oscar in 2012 for The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. Music supervision on The Scarecrow was handled by duotone audio group.
The Scarecrow pits crows against crows, except this time the latter are the scary ones. The robotic crows operate the Crow Foods factory which churns out processed foods. The factory’s workers are scarecrows who have lost their jobs on the farm. In the bleak factory, cows and chickens are pumped full of hormones. One scarecrow, though, ultimately breaks out and forms his own restaurant where he serves all natural food.
While several of the same dynamics in The Scarecrow carry over from Back To The Start, the major new wrinkle in this latest initiative is an interactive game designed to further engage audiences. Players can rescue animals and bring them to open pastures while also bringing wholesome foods to residents of a city called Plenty.
Here’s The Scarecrow short:
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More